CD Review: Gungnir - Ragnarök (Viking Metal, 2018)

It's time to go into the brutal direction. But this band sneaks in lot's of fine tuned elements that you  normally wouldn't expect of such a release that has been heavily inspired by the classic Bathory albums.

The cover of Gungnir's debut EP "Ragnarök", (c) by Gungnir, used with kind permission

Introduction
Gungnir were formed by Yngve (Flames, Deviser, ex-W.E.B.), along with long-time friend and bandmate in other projects Jim havok (Chained And Desperate), on October 2016. Inspired by Bathory's legacy they created a band with the sole purpose of reviving ancient sagas and myths, found in the Norse mythology and the Eddas.

After taking all of 2017 slowly composing and recording, they recruited Ithonas from the Hellenic black metal band Dizziness to handle the vocals for the EP. Zel from the mighty Ancient also appeared as a guest vocalist for the cover in Bathory's "Enter the Eternal Fire" cover.

Summary
The soundshell is held in the absolute classic direction. This means it's pure and direct in-your-face metal all the way. The band doesn't fiddle around too much with setting up but lay's it down heavy and raw.

Anyway while listening to the EP and banging to the rough notes you'll spot little but important changes in the sound taking you away from the dominating songwriting freshing up the sound. It's those moments that you'll open your ears and wonder what's going onthere. It's the unusual use of rhythm and/or guitars that come in at points where you wouldn't expect them.

For instance there is the track "The Wanderer". The drums go a disctinctivly different direction. First I wondered a lot how that should fit to the direction chosen. But similar to the vocals they are more versatile not only brutal. A bit of battle glory feelings and a bit of the noise of the battlefield can be imagined this way.

"Fenrir" is wrapped in a more compact soundcase. I helps to keep the agression level up. The vocals are fat in here. Again a nice contrast to the other tunes.

Preview-Track-Stream and Purchase-Link
As a quick introduction I recommend to go with the track "Fenrir".



Please take this as a recommendation to pick up a physical copy - you'll be rewarded a cover of Bathory's "Enter the Eternal Fire" as bonus material. A picture of the tape on Facebook already looks tasting with it's white styled sleeve and the white-housed tape inside.

The CD will be released through Metal Throne Productions (limited to 500) and the tape will be spread by Mercyful Hell Prods (limited to 150). While typing this the physical edition of both CD and tape are sold out from the band directly but can still get them from the labels. Meanwhile the digital version of the EP is still available from Bandcamp.

Keep in touch with the band through Bandcamp or Facebook or even Google Plus.

St Nicholas Day gift: Missiles Of October - Better Days

It's the day again where you should give your wishlist and add some bread for the journey of St Nicholas. As for me it feels as if the list of wishes get's smaller with every year because those things can not be bought in shops....

But Missiles Of October left a nice present for all of us. Their album "Better Days" is a kicking mixture of raw vocals, pounding rhythm and dirty rough guitars. It feels great and helps a lot to let some pressure burn. It's stuff like Helmet used to craft back in their prime days I also feel slightly reminded of the anger level of Motörhead recordings - this also goes for the direct sound the recording offers.

The download is available for free but please consider to give a little to this band based in Bruxelles, Belgium. Every little bit helps them to keep on the road and play a show near you or to be able to record more music for us in the future.

You may also pick a CD or vinyl. The CD comes with nice stickers in a cool package. Just have a look at the cover - think of putting one of the cats to your next letter. Wouldn't that look cool? You can order directly via Bandcamp. A detailed list of additional retailers is at the bottom of the same Bandcamp page.

Missiles Of October Better Days album cover, (c) by Missiles Of October, used with kind permission

Finally make sure to stay tuned with the band through a Facebook connection.

CD Review: Trap Lord - Drowning In The Wave (Classic Metal, 2017)

Wow, it's not to be heard often that young bands completly give their passion to the classic days of Metal. This record shows that roughness can be found out there if you're tired of all the polished music.

The front cover of Traplords "Drowning In The Wave" record, (c) by Traplord, used with kind permission

Summary

Having heard the songs of Trap Lord several times it gave me a deep reminder of how I started out with music. I used to listen from tapes. They give a direct and raw rendition of the music and that's what these track do for me, too.

Drawing inspiration of bands such as Motörhead and Saxon the music that can be heard sounds as if taken of a live show or rehearsal recording. The band doesn't give too much on polishing their music but instead cares more of the pure heavness. The guitars scream it all out on this one while drums and bass give a very basic note to it as if taken directly of the instruments without any other preparation done instead of attaching a microphone to it.

The fine thing is that slight modern elements have been sneaked into the sound with cleverness. They mix up the straight on forward sound every here and there but never ruin the listening enjoyment. The tempo varies and many groove parts add to the fun of the music. Most tunes come with shorter duration but less can be more - it's better in my ears to have straight good material instead lengthy stuff that doesn't hit the point.

Don't let the raw sound of this package give a negative impression. I enjoyed every minute of it. It feels natural this way and having started out with analogue equipment it inspired me to resurrect my tapes once again.

Album Stream and Purchase-Link

If you'd like to have a quick tip I  point you to the track "Idle Minds" (Song five). It gave me a great intoduction to this band and I hope it will make sure you jump on the train quickly.

The full release is available digitally on the band's Bandcamp page or check out the Heavy Baby Records Bandcamp page to get one of the limited physical copies of the release.

Contact Data

The band shows up on Facebook so make sure to follow the guys over there.

Vinyl Review: Heavy Baby Sea Slugs - The Minotaur / Trout Fishin' Man (2016)

A really raw piece of music, this experimental seven inch disc will make every listener happy who likes to endeavour something new and prefers to see music as a journey on his mind. It's like reading a book - everyone has a own imagination to the input that comes along.

Preface

It's not coming along often that a vinyl record fly's into my postbox but these days it happened and gave a good feeling to the writer of these lines. I mean how often do you touch one of these small round pieces of music in this times? The process alone of putting the vinyl on the table of the player, selecting the correct Round's per minute option and finally putting the tonearm carefully on the record is something special and sort of ritual.

The packaging

The double-sided cover itself is something unique - I've not seen something similar before. It reminds me of Iron Maidens old albums like Somewhere In Time or Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son where the full picture only comes to life when you add both the front and back cover. This one follows a similar concept and I like the way it's done. Good old handcrafted art. You rarely get to see this in 2016.

The cover of the Heavy Baby Sea Slugs 7' The Minotaur, (c) by Claire Taylor

The music

'The Minotaur' is centered around a doomy core and 'Trout Fishin Man' leans towards down-tuned noise rock. A really raw piece of music, but I love keeping it heavy and direct.

The Minotaur has a dark and heavy riff in it's center core. I like the way the groove spreads around this one. The haunting voices and effects give it a mighty atmosphere as if somehing bigger is sharing a message throughout the sound. A wall of sound that needs some closer listen to get fully through it.

Trout Fishin' Man: This song has a heavily distorted riff running through it. I needed some repeats to get to the point but you can hear that this has many layers put together all over. Surely a experimental track to be remembered. But no evolution has ever come from going the same ways over and over again. It always just happens where you try new paths. And that's what this track surely does.

Purchase-Link / Player

Do yourselfs a treat and purchase one of the limited edition seven inch vinyl records from the band's Bandcamp page directly. It comes along with one white and one black labeled side. Inside the cover you'll find the record as well as a little sheed with details about the release and the text of The Minotaur on the backside. The whole package is protected with a proper plastic foil bag. It all comes along handcrafted but with much love and dedication. Please support such efforts with your puchase. As for a first listen you can listen to the Heavy Baby Sea Slugs single right here.

Make sure to keep in touch with band during the Bandcamp page or see the Facebook presence of the record company of the band.

CD Review: Pander - Fierce Self (2015)

A stonerrock album for all those of you who like their music raw, hard, dirty and direct. A excellent package of heavy riffs, great rhythm and diverse songwriting. Come inside for some live sounding pounding music.

Band Introduction

Pander is a stonermetal band from the norther region of the Netherlands. In 2012 they released their first record "Go". In Oktocber 2014 the band started the work on "Fierce Self" and signed with Stichting Metalization who have taken over duties for the album release and distribution.
In July 2015 the band had to face the death of guitarist and founder Andre Boumer who passed away at the age of 40 as the result of cancer. The band happily didn't gave up and completed the new album which saw the light of day on 24th december 2015. It is dedicated to the memory of their bandmate who can be heard on some of the nine tracks of "Fierce Self".

The frontcover of Panders "Fierce Self", (c) by Pander, used with kind permission

Summary

The album is like a answer to one of my wishes. I always wanted to hear a record that really comes close to the feeling of being in a rehearsal room with that feeling of the pressure the sound creates only at those places. "Fierce Self" is one of the few records I found that has this feeling to it. The tracks are also connected to each other so you have the impression that the band is doing the final rehearsal just before the tour or the next show is coming up and is playing all the tracks in a row.

Musically it's a heavy riffing album with softer vocals and a good potion of groove with it. It has a fat sounding rhythm section with it that you'll remember having listened to the music. The songs all come along differently so it'll take some replays to get all the details that can be heard on the album. As well as sounding live it's also a CD that comes with a quality at the recording technique so it's well worth giving some money away for it.

You'll receive a fine digipack CD package with a dark and gloomy artwork but if you keep the circumstances in mind that happened during the album creation it's only understandable that the artwork couldn't show up in a happier way. Even if you look at the backside of the Compact Disc itself you'll see a mention the band left for Andre Bouma. Far too many great musicians leave us these days but we can only hope that this band will push on forward no matter what comes next.

Player

The whole album can be heard from the Soundcloud widget below.


Purchase-Link

You can purchase the download directly at the Bandcamp page of Pander for 4,50 Euro or order a fine CD copy from Stichting Metalization for 5 Euro plus shipping and handling. If you prefer iTunes you might be happy to see that the album is up for purchase their as well.

Also make sure to connect to Pander using Facebook.