Rock

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Liv Kristine – Skintight (2010)

    cover

    First of all we have to disclose that we are HUGE fans of Liv Kristine and we have loved almost every thing she has ever released in her career, until now. “Skintight” shows the desperation of an artist trying to break into ‘mainstream’ music. With Leaves’ Eyes and Atrocity being highly popular and very different musical outlets you would image that such a quality singer like Liv would have enough.

    Since 1998, Liv has been releasing stuff promoting her solo career. We loved “Deus Ex Machina” since it was a nice break from her main gig back in those days (Theater of Tragedy) and it featured some nice folk-ish songs with some other pop-ish material mixed in between. Not much came of this (except in Norway) and she went back to releasing ToT albums until she got the boot in 2003. And we feel that her best chance at ‘mainstream’ commercial success was with “Musique” and “Assembly”, some electronic/techno oriented albums that shined with her vocals.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Pussy Sisster – Pussy Sisster (2010)

    cover

    With one of the most annoying and shitty looking MySpace pages in the world, today we have Pussy Sisster and their self-titled release. Usually whenever we have a band that has the words pussy, snatch, virginal, and Satan on their name we immediately deduct 10 points of their review. For Pussy Sisster, we did not do this since their name actually embodies everything this band stands for and their rock-star looks.

    Playing hard-hitting Rock and Roll, the band does a great job in capturing the sound of bands like Kiss, Poison, Cinderella, Mötley Crue, etc. Pussy Sisster has the right sound and look to make people re-live their glory days listening to the previously mentioned bands while doing their hair (and other activities).

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Fright Night – The Play of Pain (2010)

    cover

    In our big digital pile of electronic promos today we discovered this amazing release that makes us wonder why the hell didn’t we listened to this album before. This Fright Night, there are several bands with this name, is a band that hails from Russia, and has a very unique and deeply depressive sound.

    With a lineup featuring two super hot girls, one on guitars/vocals and the other one handling the keyboard duties, this is probably one of the few bands that is truly pleasing both visually and aurally The band plays a very interesting Gothic Rock with some Darkwave elements that will haunt your dreams for weeks to come.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Saint To Sinner – The Unveiling (2010)

    cover

    We receive a high volume of releases from bands every month, always claiming that they sound like nobody else, and end up sounding like everybody else. This is not the case when it comes to Saint To Sinner, hailing from Rhode Island, USA the band does a great job at having a very unique sound to them. And here is where their little problem occurs.

    The band’s combination of Rock and different genres of Metal sounds a bit chaotic at times, and sometimes the female vocals are going in one direction, and the music is going somewhere else. Desiree Villegas as a very hypnotic and versatile singing style, but in some sections her vocals sound very odd, like the spoken backing section, and the awful ‘rapping’ on the song “Anti-corporate”. Some comparisons to Amy Lee of Evanescence are in order, but her voice sound less over produced and feels more natural.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Black River – Black’n’Roll (2010)

    cover

    Featuring members from the almighty Behemoth, Vesania and Dimmu Borgir we have today Black River and their second full-length release “Black’n’Roll”. Playing Hard Rock/Stoner Rock, this band is something we would never have expected from members of primarily Black Metal bands. However, with “Black’n’Roll’ the band will surely turn more than one heads with their super catchy Rock music.

    Black River starts rocking since the funny titled song “Barf Bag” and continues to blast one catchy song after another one. There is not a single track on this release that is not full of traditional Hard Rock that will make you want to headbang since the opening riff until the last.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Big Ball – Hotter Than Hell (2010)

    cover

    Who ordered and nicely cooked AC/DC clone?, apparently AFM records did with Big Ball. While the band never denies, and even encourages, the label of AC/DC clones, we find them to be good at capturing AC/DC’s sound and essence and providing a tiny-little-bit of their own into “Hotter Than Hell”, the band’s first full-length release.

    As the band states, if you hate AC/DC you will hate us, so if you do then stop reading and move on to the next review. Big Ball is a pretty decent clone/tribute band to AC/DC and even the vocals sound strikingly similar to earlier the earlier style of Brian Johnson, but sometimes get a bit raspier and sound more like Udo Dirkschneider, still not bad.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Sabbath Assembly - Restored to One (2010)

    cover

    With a highly elaborate theological foundation we have Sabbath Assembly, a gathering of musicians featuring Jex Thoth. Following the ideologies of Process Church of the Final Judgment a cult from the 60’s and 70’s, Sabbath Assambly’s “Restored to One” is a ‘re-charging’ of this cult’s hymns and brought to the general audience in form of psychedelic rock songs.

    We love anything that has to do with theology, and especially stuff about cults so “Restored to One” is a very interest release for us. The whole idea of having three great gods of the universe in Jehovah, Lucifer and Satan, sound like a crack-pot theory that my friend would cook up during an acid trip. However, not all ideas behind the Process Church were as crazy as this one.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    The Ocean – Heliocentric (2010)

    cover

    As one of the most complex and intricate albums we have received in 2010, “Heliocentric” is an interesting release that will keep you guessing what’s next until the album comes to an end. The band does a great job at mixing Post Rock influences with Progressive elements.

    Compared to their previous release “Precambrian”, “Heliocentric” is less complex and shows how the band is consolidating on a sound and sticking to it. This new release does have moments when they use cello, trumpets and other things, but it’s never abused and just complements the music very nicely.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Lacrimas Profundere – The Grandiose Nowhere (2010)

    cover

    The ever changing Lacrimas Profundere has finally settled down playing Gothic Rock in the last few albums and now we have “The Grandiose Nowhere”, a very solid release that will surely please fans of the genre. The band has only one remaining original member from its legendary Gothic Doom Metal early days, and the new additions to its lineup have shaped their current sound graciously into Gothic Rock greatness.

    “The Grandiose Nowhere” is a very traditional Gothic Rock album, but what makes it stand out is the atmospheres created by the keyboards. This pushes the band’s sound to be darker than other bands like HIM, Charon,To.Die.For, etc., and makes their music more appealing to the pure Gothic Metal fans.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Elysion - Silent Scream (2009)

    cover

    Hailing from Greece, Elysion is probably one of the next big things hit Gothic Rock scene, and they will surely take it by surprise since their debut album "Silent Scream" is very spectacular. Engineered by Ted Jensen (Evanescence, Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Nickelback, Korn, Marilyn Manson) the album sounds amazing, showcasing every single detail of the band's music.

    Don't go making any conclusions yet, you are probably thinking that this band is all production and no substance, but you are very wrong to assume this since Elysion creates very good music that has enough depth by it self to get them respect from all their peers. I have to say that the band's sound is very commercial, but I don't see any problem with this since the band has never claimed to be anything else, or changed their style drastically in this direction. And as long the music is good an enjoyable I don't see any problem with commercial Gothic Rock music (i.e. H.I.M, The 69 Eyes, etc).

Pages

Recent Image Galleries