Ankit Sood

Awaken I Am – “Blind Love”

 Posted by on September 25, 2017 at 23:37  No Responses »
Sep 252017
 

Alternate rockers from Gold coast of Brisbane, Awaken I am, are set to release their sophomore album, “Blind Love” on the 29th of September under Victory records. Awaken I am, raised to fame when their debut album “Shields and Crowns” reached the #3 spot on I-tunes Metal chart. Having toured with Chiodos, The Devil Wears Prada and Emarosa in the past, the band made headlines when they appeared at the So What Festival in Dallas. Predominant in the Australian scene, the band bagged a worldwide deal with Victory records at the end 2016.

Right at the outset the band’s sound is very different from what I’ve heard over the years, a far cry from the traditional alt-Rock. The band however takes a bold step while shaping its music as it pushes itself to the realms of Pop-Rock. The songs have upbeat soundscapes, even though the songs speak of struggles with ones past. Be it for the staccato guitar riffs that fill up the songs, or the electronic elements, the songs do get pretty catchy at the chorus. Adam has an impressive vocal range and showcases his style as he juggles rap, with an occasional falsetto and ties it up beautifully with his melodies on the choruses. Continue reading »

Power Quest – “Sixth Dimension”

 Posted by on September 10, 2017 at 20:25  No Responses »
Sep 102017
 

For Old timers, Power Quest has been a familiar name since March 2001, when Steve Williams parted ways with DragonForce, and approached Steve Scott (Ex- Shadowkeep) to join him for bass. Eventually Sam Totman and Adam Bickers joined them on guitars (temporarily) while vocalist and rhythm guitarist Alessio Garavello, who was recommended to the band by Maurizio Chiarello (the label manager at Underground Symphony Records) brought along, Andrea Martongell and replaced Adam Bickers relieving him off his guitar duties. The band didn’t have a stable drummer until Francesco Tresca decided to join Power quest fulltime. Fast forward to 2013, and we hear Steve announcing the split quoting lack of financial and record label support.

After a three-year hiatus, Steve Williams through his Youtube channel and bands’ website announced the regroup of the Power Metal band Power Quest. On 29th June this year the band confirmed the release of their sixth Studio album, “Sixth Dimension”. With this we saw Andy Kopczyk (of I AM I fame) along with Glyndwr Williams (of Triaxis) joining the ranks as permanent members of the band, alongside Ashley Edison on Lead vocals, Paul Finnie thumping on bass and Rich Smith lashing the drums. The album is due to release on the 13th October on Inner Wound recordings. It was recorded and mixed at Rogue Studios, London by Alessio Garavello  and Steve Williams, mastered by Jens Bogren (of Dragonforce, Symphony X, Arch Enemy fame) and artwork for the cover by Felipe Machado Franco ( of Blind Guardian, Rhapsody of Fire, Iced Earth fame). Continue reading »

Conveyer – “No Future”

 Posted by on August 27, 2017 at 22:13  No Responses »
Aug 272017
 

In 2011 a bunch of dudes from Eau Claire, Wisconsin came together to form what was to be known as “Conveyer”. Since its formation the band released 3 EPs “Signal Fire”, “Empty Handed” & “MMXII” before releasing their first full length album Worn Out which was self-released in 2013. Following its release the band went through a lot of line-up changes and signed up with Victory Record to release their first studio album “When Given Time To Grow” in 2015. The band toured alongside Ghost Key, Until we are ghosts, Dwell and a couple of other bands in 2013.

“Conveyer” came out with their second studio Album “No Future” in June 2017 via Victory records. Listening to Hardcore really stirs me up and gives me adrenaline in the best possible way :). This bands exhibits raw unabated energy throughout the length of the album. They are quite traditional when it comes to song writing, and claims never to have used a computer to do so. Impressive eh? Brooks mentions that Song writing is an important aspect for the band and every band member is encouraged to throw in ideas.

So I queued in the album, which opens softly with “Dust” and gathers momentum with rugged guitar chops and marching/blast beats. The sound on this song sets the flavour for the rest of the album. Next up “The Whetstone” treads on dark territory with “a blade through my stubborn soul” setting up a hardcore back drop with an ambient elements on the fore front. Continue reading »

The Royal – “Seven”

 Posted by on July 31, 2017 at 22:44  No Responses »
Jul 312017
 

Back in 2012 five youngsters got together to put in their energy and thought to what would later be known as The Royal. The Netherlands’ Melodic Metalcore outfit known for their tremendous stage presence are out with their second album, Seven, which was released in March 2017 on the Long Branch records. The band lists August Burns Red, While She Sleeps, Northlane and Parkway Drive as some of their influences.

They released “Origins” EP in 2012 and their first single “Blind Eye” in 2013. This was followed by their first full-length “Dreamcatchers” in 2014. The band fuses metal, groove and melody to form a distinctive blend of Metalcore. The band made headways in the past while playing support shows for acts like Architects and Breakdown Of Sanity and gained attention at festivals like Jera On Air and Impericon Festival. With 11 songs in their arsenal and 47 minutes of runtime, I got straight listening to the album.

The album opens up with “Thunder”, which echos your living room with a touch of reverb and blasts right in with chugging guitars and guttural screams. The song maintains an upbeat rhythm with blast beats kicking throughout the song. As the song progresses it onboards shards of heaviness engulfed in melody, which would definitely captivate your interest. Moving on to, “Feeding Wolves”, the band puts out a complete different style with a very catchy guitar riff which eventually progresses to what becomes the main guitar riff for the song. The transition is flawless and impeccable, the song moves from point A to B with so many progressions that it becomes hard to keep a track of a definite strong structure. This definitely makes the album very interesting. Continue reading »

Seventh Angel – “Demo Collection”

 Posted by on June 11, 2017 at 22:40  No Responses »
Jun 112017
 

Seventh Angel, a British Christian metal band formed in 1987 by Ian Arkley, Andrew Blount and Scott Rawson, were coined as the pioneers of the Thrash metal scene in Great Britain and considered to be the best metal act in the UK (back in the days!). Their sound has a combination of Doom and Thrash metal, and had performed concerts at the Greenbelt festival, supporting the American rock band One Bad Pig and headlined the Metal Meltdown festival in 1990, played concerts in Germany and the Netherlands before disbanding in 1992.

The album titled “Demo Collection” surfaced the social media early in 2017, signed by the record label Bombworks Records and released on 25th April 2017. Bombworks Records had been pestering Ian to release some of the bands early demos, and when Ian finally relented, he blessed all his fans with these hidden demos. “Heed the Warning“ demo, which were released with some live tracks in past years, had been taken direct from Ian’s personal cassette and remastered so it’s a completely different version. Jeff Mortimer remastered these demos ranging from Red Demo (March 1989), Rehearsal Demo (November 1989), Heed The Warning Demo (1990), And Dust Of Years Demo (2008).

“Heed the Warning” opens with a bell chiming, swooshing in with a hypnotic tapping on the lead guitar, chunky and meaty guitar riffs, accentuates the heaviness with shrilling voice. The blitzing guitar solo is subdued within the loud rhythm guitars. Continue reading »

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