The Black League - The Ghost Brothel 2009

When I first got my hands on this disc I was a little cynical as to what the sound would be like. After all, the band is made up of members from some pretty extreme metal acts, most worth mentioning Sentenced, Impaled Nazarene, Chaosbreed, Beherit and Lullacry. I had a sort of trepidation, a prejudgment if you will, as to "just how are these straight up metalheads gonna sound doing a stoner throwback to the 60's". Well....pretty damned good as it turns out. Make no qualms about it now, this is a metal band, but a metal band with some serious hippie/southern fried blues.

Fronted by Taneli Jarva(Sentenced, Impaled Nazarene), whose vocals fall somewhere between a Frankenstein mixture of Danny Joe Brown(Molly Hatchet), Glenn Danzig, Roy Orbison,and even Jim Morrison, The Black League is a torrent of sound. Heavy laden guitar riffing from Maike Valanne and Kim "Heavy" Hiltunen resembles Steppenwolf and Sabbath without being a blatant copycat as is all too common in this genre. The soloing is excellent and just eminates the psychedelic sound the band has worked 3 years to craft down to perfection.



Ilkka Tanska is one hell of a bassist and his work with Rale Tiiainen on the drums laying down the monstrous backbeat pushes this release fully into the win category. From the beginning track, "Zero Providence" to the final bars of "Heavy Downer" this album does not have one lacking moment.

This album is a must for fans of the Stoner/psychedic rock and metal genre. Hell, anyone who likes old school rock bands like Molly Hatchet, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Sabbath, Steppenwolf, The Doors and Cream should look into getting this gem as well.

I don't know what it is about Scandinavia, but I can say this: That region of the world has done little but produced some extraordinarily good bands for more than a decade now and The Black League is among the cream of the crop.




Band: The Black League
Album: Ghost Brothel
Genre: Stoner metal/Retro 60's Psychedelic Rock
Country: Finland
Rating: 4/5
Download: Here


By Bez

Dark The Suns - All Ends In Silence

Dark The Suns is a Finnish melodic death/doom/gothic metal combo. Like quite a few other bands from the region, they play a kind of Gothic metal but have delved deeper into the aggressive side of the genre in the aspect that they use alot more in the way of growling. It's in now way a progression of the genre but is very pleasing and will surely satisfy anyone who loves this style of music.

All the songs on this release are depressive and dark in nature, with mid tempo beats being the general theme. It is really a melody driven album and I think that is what is so captivating about it as a whole. Do not get me wrong, nowhere on the album are they reminiscent of HIM or To Die For and it does not lack character or energy. This is a metal band, make no mistake about it. In fact, at points it reminds me of a faster paced Swallow the Sun or Funeral album.



Overall, it is a good album in the genre style and extremely appealing to those who even are not fans of Melodic Death Metal. Comparisons will be drawn to Eternal Tears Of Sorrow or older Theatre Of Tragedy by some as well. Dark The Suns is even a bit like a really melodicMoonspell,their influences are vast and it shows in the crafting of this disc.

If you like Swallow The Sun, Moonspell and (new) Paradise Lost and are not afraid of dark Melodic Finnish Metal, this release was made for you but of course if you're looking for something dark and really heavy I'm afraid that it will be too melodic for you. Have a listen to "All Ends In Silence". Without being perfect, I think that some of you will like it a lot. I know I do.

Band: Dark The Suns
Album: All Ends In Silence
label: Firebox Records
Genre: Gothic/Melodic Death Metal
Rating 4/5
Rapidshare: Here
Torrent:Here

By Bez

Haggard - Tales Of Ithiria

Some 8 years ago i saw a video performance at the now defunct Eurorock festival in Belgium of the band Haggard, who were trying hard with about 15 band members on a small stage to bring across their musical message to the audience with a back then special mix of metal, medieval and renaissance folk with neo-classical elements. They really delivered.

Now the band has its new album out in four years time. Tales of Ithiria is a concept album about a fantasy world created by Haggard where the eternal battle between good and evil is fought. What is immediately noticeable is that the neo-classical part is more present on this recording than the metal part. This makes the Tales of Ithiria album quite accessible to a much larger audience than the metal crowd only. Apparantly a great deal of work has been devoted to this album and musically this metal chamber orchestra again operates on a very high level.

Especially the vocals are a real delight to listen to with the combination of soprano voice and other classical voices, the grunts from band leader Asis Nasseri and the voice of Mike Terrana who has lend his expressive voice to tell the epic stories from Ithiria. The instrumentation consists of bombastic percussion, rock, metal and an orchestral backing. Musically Haggard really found the perfect balance between accessible melodies and harmonies on the one hand and highly complex arrangements on the other.

At moments the atmosphere reminds a bit of Therion due to the opera vocals, but musically Haggard taps from a somewhat more tranquil and majestic vein. Fans of neo-classical music as well as gothic metal will find this a great recording. Quite unexpected is the interpretation of the classic poptune ‘Hijo de la Luna’, originally performed by Mecano and later on also by a.o. Sarah Brightman and the Flemish Latin diva Belle Perez. Haggard invites you to enter the hall of the king and let yourself be enchanted by the stories from the land of Ithiria. A truly magnificent musical work!

Download Here

Artist: Haggard
Album: Tales Of Ithiria
Genre: Classical/Orchestral/Symphonic Metal
website: http://www.myspace.com/haggard2007
rating: 5 out of 5 stars

By Bez

The Giant Hogweed Orchestra

"Wow man....play that record again..." - Lady Bezalel, after hearing TGHO for the first time




OK now, right from the start, don't you Genesis fans get too excited. Despite the name, this Finnish band has nothing in common with the band that more than likely inspired their name. With a sound that is best classified as space/prog rock, the influences are quite clear. The band jetties forth, making some better than average progressive instrumental rock, the biggest comparisons will probably be to Pink Floyd, Camel, Frank Zappa's instrumental free jazz albums, Ozric Tentacles and even jazz legends like Stan Getz and Miles Davis. While not the most innovative band to come along this millenium, TGHO have let their influences mesh well into their sound while not coming off as mere copycats.

This is one of those rare prog bands that come along who use almost no keyboard. Some synthesizers can be heard, but very sparsely. But don't let think for a second it is in any way lacking. The overall sound of the album is still surprisingly rich as they have replaced keyboards with flute, Didgeridoo, and other world tribal instrumentations and the ever present two guitars that dominate their sound. Jyri Traskelin's flute playing is very beautiful and I see a resemblance to Andy Latimer's playing, evenIan Anderson's in a couple of places. The mood of the album is somewhat melancholic, as well expected for the genre, but it's not that dark to be honest. Most of the songs are quite mellow, only "Terästulli" is much heavier, almost space-metal on some of the parts.

"Arabia" is a very short acoustic track (0:49), the guitar has a fat great tone and the melody is quite enjoyable. However, it's the second song, "Spirals" that really gets the album going. My personal favorite from this album, although it's the most Floydian track here. Very melancholic, with lots of flute and great, emotional guitar playing. In the end there's a great climax, with a bit heavier guitar riff. "Terästulli" is clearly the heaviest track here, I don't like it as much as the other two longer tracks, but it's still quite enjoyable. There are hints of fusion and space-metal in this track. "Pelham" is a very beautiful and jazzy tune, the flute really shines here. "Halogen" is the longest track here. It's based around a simple bass-line, with the two guitars and flute almost improvising, great jamming from start to finish. There's a great moog solo in the song, approaching the canterbury/fusion field. The album ends with "Exit", which is very similar to "Arabia". A nice song with lots of flute and acoustic guitar.

This sort of music is right up my alley, and I enjoyed the album tremendously. I hope you do, too.

Band: The Giant Hogweed Orchestra
Album: S/T
Label:Mellow Records
Genre: Space Rock/Prog rock/Progressive metal

By Bez

TGHO - self titled by Bez for SurrealSoundZ

Leave's Eyes - Legend Land EP

"Oh...Momma" - Johnny Bravo



I’m a bit of a sucker for female fronted Gothic metal bands. As a direct result of this I’m a long term Theatre of Tragedy, Nightwish, and After Forever fan. My first listen to this six track EP also very much reminds me of After Forever. Clearly then, this is right up my alley. Plus, for those who know me well already know of my passion for Liv Kristine's vocal harmonies (as well as her smoking hot body....LOL).

This six track EP is a continuation of the "Vinland Saga", which the band started on their last full-length CD. The title song is first off and immediately the Within Temptation comparisons begin. This song is lush and symphonic with a big fat sound jumping out of the speakers and features the clean female vocals of Liv Kristine(formerly of Theatre of Tragedy) with the darker, growling ones of her husband Alexander Krull (Atrocity). "Skraelings", which is track two, strays into Nightwish territory and with Nightwish currently somewhat out of the picture this disc and this song in particular would fit nicely into any Nightwish fan’s collection.

"Viking’s Word" is reminiscent of After Forever with slightly less operatic vocals. As with much of After Forever’s work there’s something missing about this song, it doesn’t fully realize its potential. One thing that Nightwish and Within Temptation have going for them is consistency and I’d argue that Leaves’ Eyes need to attain a level of consistency in order to join their contemporaries at the top of the Gothic metal food chain. But don't get me wrong, this band is well on their way to honing down a formula that will rival even the afformentioned metal gods themselves.

The other songs on this EP are quite powerful and atmospheric and flow on well from the earlier ones. This EP was released to continue the bands’ impetus from their Vinland Saga CD and apparently to give their fans something by means of thanks for their support and as such it works well. I note that it’s retailing fairly cheaply here in the US and I suspect that for many it will act as a good introduction to Leaves’ Eyes. I, for one, have been a fan since I had heard of Liv venturing into another musical project after the departure from the seminal metal legends, Theatre Of Tragedy. This EP seems to be focused on drawing attention to the beauty of Liv's vocals and more fans to the band, and I must say, job well done!

Artist: Leave's Eyes
Album: Legend Land EP
Genre: Gothic/Power/Death Metal

leaves_eyes_-_legend_land

By Bez