Soziedad Alkoholika - Intoxikazión Etílika

Time for some hardcore. Or crossover. Anyway, this is Soziedad Alkoholika (something like Alkoholik Soziety, if you translated it into English), a pretty hardcore band from the Basque Country in Spain. These guys are so hardcore, for years they were banned from playing in many places in their native Spain under accusations that they used their profits to fund the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, better known as the ETA, an international terrorist/separatist organization that operates chiefly in Spain and southern France with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country.
Of course, the media can be a bit sensationalist.

The reality is this:
This band was formed in 1988, a time where many bands in the Spanish scene were shifting their punk style to metal.
This is their first demo released in 1990, containing one of their most famous and controversial songs, Nos Vimos En Berlín, that speaks out against the violence commited by Jews against others and is often taken by the media as an anti-Semite song.
Perhaps the acid lyrical content is not of much interest to most of my readers who don't understand the Spanish language, but the music might be. Like I said, this is the aggressive mix of hardcore and thrash metal that many call crossover, but unlike many bands labeled so, this isn't one leaning towards the other, or a band that plays one with the influence of another and then turns to the other. No... is is literally what happens when you combine primitive thrash metal and dissident hardcore at their best.

The only flaw this demo has is exactly that, that it's just a demo and you can't expect amazing production quality from a demo released almost 21 years ago. But many of these songs would resurface in later releases, and they would be the ones that would turn this band into the monster that it is today, widely recognized and successful in the underground of Spain and Latin America, in particular Mexico.

Soziedad Alkoholika - Intoxikazión Etílika

Tracklist:

1. S.H.A.K.T.A.L.E.
2. No Eres Mas [You Aren't More]
3. Por Favor Deja De Echarme Aceite Hirviendo En Los Ojos (Parte 1) [Please Stop Throwing Boiling Oil In My Eyes (Part 1)]
4. Intoxikazión Etílika [Ethylic Intoxication]
5. Nos Vimos En Berlín [We Saw Each Other In Berlin]
6. Lo Tienes Fácil [You Have It Easy]
7. Padre Black & Decker [Black & Decker Priest]
8. Kontra La Agresión Kastrazión [Against Aggression Castration]
9. La Última Partida [The Last Match]
10. Por Favor Deja De Echarme Aceite Hirviendo En Los Ojos (Parte 2) [Please Stop Throwing Boiling Oil In My Eyes (Part 2)]
11. Sin Dios Ni Ná [With No God Nor Nah]

Text between [ ] represents the translation of the titles.

Gorelord - Force Fed On Human Flesh

"10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 6... 6..."
That's how this awesome album begins.
As I described in my previous Gorelord post, this is a one-man project that plays brutal, groovy, fun death metal with memorable riffs.
In the style of Necrophagia, a band Frediablo played in at one point, the lyrical content is based on horror movie scenarios --including samples of horror movies-- and death metal clichés, and sometimes are so overdone, it feels a bit satirical. Whether that's Frediablo's intention or not, I ignore; but I find it slightly amusing.

Of interest to some may be that the final track of this album features guest performances by Frediablo's former bandmates in Wurdulak, Killjoy of Necrophagia and Maniac of Mayhem.

I highly recommend this to people who like the more atypical death metal and those who value cool riffs. This is probably not to the liking of most people who indulge in more traditional, well-known death metal, like Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Vital Remains, Morbid Angel, Necrophagist, Six Feet Under, etc...; especially if you take your death metal very seriously.

Gorelord - Force Fed On Human Flesh

Tracklist:

1. Dismember Virgin Limbs
2. Crushed Skull On Christian Shoulders
3. Crucified Goat Drenched In Blasphemic Blood
4. Force Fed On Human Flesh
5. Necrophilic Orgy In Entrails & Cum
6. Chainsaw Ripping Skin
7. Alive When Fucking The Dead
8. Maggots Impaled
9. Hell's Kitchen

Collide - Two Headed Monster

I figured I'd been posting way too much metal, so here's a pretty cool album if you're into gothic music.
This is Collide, a duo that's been together since 1992, located in Los Angeles, USA.
The band's name comes from the "collision" of sounds, with singer kaRIN's beautiful ethereal voice and composer Statik's awesome electronic music. As far as the music goes, it is a strange mix of darkwave, trip-hop and a little industrial/EBM and rock thrown in sometimes. This would be their fifth album, excluding their remix albums, and though not my favorite, a pretty cool one.

I would recommend this to anyone into gothic music, or anyone looking for something "softer" than what I usually post here, yet not quite conventional and certainly very interesting, but appropriate to kick back and relax to.

Collide - Two Headed Monster

Tracklist:

1. Tongue Tied & Twisted
2. Chaotic
3. A Little Too Much
4. Pure Bliss
5. Spaces In Between
6. Silently Creeping
7. Head Spin
8. Two Headed Monster
9. Shifting
10. Utopia

Adorned Brood - Heldentat

Today I'm gonna post 2006's Heldentat, the fifth album by Adorned Brood. I was introduced to this German band by a very special girl in my life sometime around 2007 or '08, and quickly became a fan of their first album, Hiltia, released in 1996, three years after the band formed.

The band's style was a different form of blackened folk metal, like most folk metal bands outside Spain, apparently. It was different because while the black metal influence was very big, it was very atypical... it was rather "musical", in my opinion. Perhaps when I post that album in the near future I'll find a better explanation.

I only acquired this one roughly a year ago, and only really discovered a few months after. This album, by contrast, features a style of folk metal that was very little to do with black metal. The vocals are mostly clean (and includes female vox), the distorted guitars, when used, have a very different down-tuned sound and play another type of riffs altogether, and the "metal" comes from short, explosive outbursts or just said guitars following a melody/harmony or playing a simple riff, rather than being an essential element.
The "folk" side of it remains similar, although it carries a lot more weight now than it did in Hiltia. It should be noted that, for their folk sound, they only use acoustic guitars and a flute. Nothing more.
Also, unlike previous albums where only one or two songs weren't in English, this is almost entirely sung in German.

In conclusion, if you want something a little bit different, or if you're a fan of folk metal (including the non-black metalish bands, like Skyclad, Mägo de Oz or Saurom Lamderth), this is for you.
Also, if your mates are into metal and drinking, there is a great alcohol anthem here (7 Tage Lang)!

Adorned Brood - Heldentat

Tracklist:

1. Es Ist Zeit... [It Is Time...]
2. Tanze Mit Dem Tod [Dance of Death]
3. In Vitro [Within Glass*]
4. Farewell
5. Sandmann [Sandman]
6. Der Albtraum [The Nightmare]
7. 7 Tage Lang [7 Days Long]
8. Tierra del Fuego [Land of Fire**]
9. Gezeichnet [Signed]
10. Felidae
11. Heldentat [Feat]
12. ...Sie Ist Erwacht [...She Is Awakened]

Text between [ ] represents the translation of the titles.
* = Translation from Latin.
** = Translation from Spanish.

Ved Buens Ende - Written In Waters

This band is Ved Buens Ende, which means "by the end of the bow", in reference to Bifröst, the mythological burning rainbow bridge that connects Midgard and Asgard. The band formed in 1994, disbanded in '97, got together again in 2006 with plans to record a new album and called it quits again in early 2007 without taking their plans into action.
This is the only album they managed to record, although there's a demo too, which was recently re-released with bonus tracks, and which I'll be posting later.

This is rather obscure, although this band's small and scattered following seems pretty hardcore to me. Indeed, I'm a very big fan of the very little work they managed to put out.
I'll have to say... this is one of those albums I post where I have to warn you that this isn't for everyone. I got into this from the moment I hit "Play" the first time, but I understand many people have had a very hard time getting into this before becoming fanatics.
This album is... odd. Some would describe it as complex, atmospheric, doom-ish, jazzy, obscure metal with very basic black metal influences here and there. I don't know if I agree with that, but I'll agree that it's complex... very much so.
I'll come out with a cliché again and say that you'd have to listen to this.

I guess the best I can do is say that I consider this to be post-black metal, that I think it's silly that some people call it avant-garde despite the weirdness, and that if you're into black metal, post-black metal, the not-quite-"progressive" complex music and/or the weird, this is probably if interest to you. If not, it's very unlikely you'll find something here.


Ved Buens Ende - Written In Waters

Tracklist:

1. I Sang For The Swans
2. You, That May Wither
3. It's Magic
4. Den Saakaldte
5. Carrier of Wounds
6. Coiled In Wings
7. Autumn Leaves
8. Remembrance Of Things Past
9. To Swarm Deserted Away

The Pianist OST

Time for another score/soundtrack!

This time it's the masterpiece of a movie that The Pianist (directed by Roman Polanski and starring Adrien Brody and Thomas Kretschmann) was.

The score is written by Wojciech Kilar, although this album only really features a single, brief (but nice) track by him; the rest consists of Chopin's pieces. Some of my favorite compositions by him are featured here, and he's quite possibly my favorite "classical" composer.

If you have never heard Frédéric Chopin, slap yourself in the back of the head for me, and then get this. It's not optional.
I don't wanna rant for long, but Frédéric Chopin wrote some of the most beautiful and depressive music ever. It's not heart-breaking, it's unforgivingly heart-fucking-shattering. He's also easily one of the most skilled piano virtuosi that ever lived.

If you know Chopin and don't like him, then there is something wrong with you. Seriously.

The Pianist

Tracklist:

1. Nocturne in C-Sharp minor

2. Nocturne in E minor, Op. 72, No. 1

3. Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1

4. Ballade No. 2 in F Major, Op. 38

5. Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23

6. Waltz No. 3 in A minor, Op. 34, No. 2

7. Prelude in E minor, Op. 28, No. 4

8. Andante Spianato, Op. 22

9. Grande Polonaise, Op. 22

10. Moving to the Ghetto Oct. 31, 1940 *

11. Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17, No. 4

* = the only track by Wojciech Kilar here.

The 3rd And The Mortal - Tears Laid In Earth

Today I feel like posting this album, The 3rd And The Mortal's debut album, Tears Laid In Earth.
This band formed in 1992, in Trondheim, Norway. Notably, one of the founding members was the gorgeous and amazing Kari Rueslåtten, who is today a famous pop singer in Norway, and who I will be posting later on.
This is the band that started it all. I think it's safe to assume that most of the average readers of this blog have at the very least heard of bands like The Gathering, Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Epica and Theatre of Tragedy. All of those bands, and more, owe a lot to these guys.

The 3rd And The Mortal started out playing a form of doom metal that used distorted guitars and heavy drumming with clean guitars and Kari's beatiful voice.
They would later become more and more experimental.

I won't rant about this album. In fact, I don't think it's an amazing piece, although it has some pretty nice atmospheres, and excellent vocal work. What can I say? I'm a big fan of Ms. Rueslåtten, even though I'm not 100% sure how to pronounce her last name.
I would recommend this album to anyone who has any interest in metal history, particularly regarding all these famle-fronted bands, to hardcore fans of Kari, and to people looking for slower, darker stuff that's not quite the typical Doom.

The 3rd And The Mortal - Tears Laid In Earth

Tracklist:

1. Vandring
2. Why So Lonely
3. Atupoéma
4. Death-Hymn
5. Shaman
6. Trial of Past
7. Lengsel
8. Salva Me
9. Song
10. In Mist Shrouded
11. Oceana


EDIT: It has come to my attention that, for some bizarre reason, I posted this album missing one track... or rather, substituting one track for another in this band's following EP with another singer, a song called From The Depth of Memories... it's a great song, and I like it better than the one it substituted, but for the sake of doing things right, I'll be correcting this mistake and sharing said EP in the following days.

Dark Lunacy - Devoid

So I thought, why end the trend of Italian bands so soon?
Here's one I enjoy very much. Oblivious to this I was, until relatively recently, when a fine friend told me about this wonderful band over a bottle of scotch.
Now I bring you Dark Lunacy's debut album, Devoid.
This band was formed in Parma, Italy, in the year of 1997.

Founded by singer Mike "Lunacy" and guitarist Enomys. Joined by the first of many bassist and drummers, Harpad and Baijkal, respectively, the recorded this album in 1999 and released it the following year.

Enomys has described Dark Lunacy's music as "Dramatic Death Metal". Many of us, however, would say that they play a brand of Melodic Death Metal with strong Gothic influences and some Doom overtones.

As I said in the Lord Vampyr post, Dark Lunacy is one of those bands in Italy that writes good lyrics in what they express, but not precisely how they express them. Many of us can look past that and enjoy them (when we can understand them, anyway), but others wouldprobably find them amusing if not annoying for the sheer amount of grammatical errors.
Example?:

"From my vanish life
Take me, I run to you
And show me your beauty side
And save me
With your sacrifice"
The music itself is what I enjoy most about this band. Often sorrowful and melancholic in their own particular way, and very beautiful. It's a simple, typical formula, but the distinction comes with the addition of a string quartet, often playing simple but very beautiful arrangements that add a lot of color to the otherwise average composition. This is not to say the other instruments don't have their moments as well, but these are few and far between.
If you don't know this band but are curious, I highly suggest heading over to YouTube or the awesome GrooveShark and checking out my favorite song of theirs, and also this album's "hit", the gorgeous, brilliant track titled Dolls. I won't rant about that song alone because I don't want to create high expectations, but for many people, it's what makes them fall in love with this band. It's the song that no one can call overrated and mean it... to do so would be to blatantly and unsuccessfully try to be "kvlt" and "tr00".

Dark Lunacy - Devoid

Tracklist:

1. Dolls
2. Stalingrad
3. Forlorn
4. Frozen Memory
5. Cold Embrace
6. December
7. Devoid
8. Varen'Ka
9. Time For Decay
10. Fall
11. Take My Cry

Lord Vampyr - De Vampyrica Philosophia

Those are the two covers of this great album, titled De Vampyrica Philosophia, by Lord Vampyr.
As I mentioned in my previous post about Theatres des Vampires, this is Alessandro Nunziati's (aka Lord Vampyr) solo band.
It's very reminiscent of Theatres des Vampires, and fans of Alessandro's former band will very likely find a lot to like here, but don't be fooled. It's reminiscent; not a carbon copy. This band has its own sound and offers different things that TDV.
In relation to my previous post, I'll also state that this album is much heavier than Nightbreed of Macabria.

To those reading this and not having a clue what this is about: this is very well-played symphonic and melodic black metal, with gothic undertones, and a persistent lyrical theme about vampires and related subjects. This album in particular follows a story.
While I'm not one to demand that lyrics are good or have certain characteristic to them, I value lyrics I find enjoyable.
While Lord Vampyr doesn't seem to speak English with absolute dominion (quite far from that, actually...), a trait he seems to share with many of the more well-known Italian bands (Dark Lunacy, anyone?), if one looks beyond the evident grammatical errors, the lyrics paint interesting pictures. They are very well-expressed, in a way. And some people have stated that they find a certain charm in them. If you're a grammar nazi, then perhaps at the very least, you'll find it somewhat amusing.
Another point about this album that I value a lot, is Lord Vampyr's versatile vocals. He uses clean vox in various ranges, as well as black metal-like vocals, and a few spoken parts. That probably doesn't sound particularly varied, but there's a very clear difference between his melodious mid-high pitch clean voice and his deep, low clean voice.
Additionally, while the band is composed by the usual instruments for this type of music (guitars, drums, bass, keyboards & vox), the music feels varied. There are pianos, harpsichords, symphonic keyboards, acoustic guitars... there are blast-beats, slow piano parts, a weird keyboard solo at some point, and so on. I find that in metal, there's an endless amount of albums that have a sound. A whole album, a single sound. This is one of the reasons I had such a hard time getting nito the more extreme sub-genres like death, black and doom metal. I personally enjoy very much when I don't get that from an album, and this is one those cases. Perhaps to the average Madonna fan, a song like Die Herrschaft Des Bluts and a song like Morgana sound very much alike, but to the average metalhead, the whole composition style of the two tracks feels like a very big contrast. Indeed, the credits will reveal different members were involved in each song, and it's refreshing.


In conclusion, if you like melodic/symphonic black/gothic metal that doesn't feel like it's on one of the major labels, that doesn't give off that Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth commercial vibe, you're probably going to love this. If you're a fan of Theatres des Vampires, particularly the early/mid period, you'll likely dig this too.
However, I would generally recommend this very much to anyone who likes metal in general.

Lastly, if you like this but it's new to you, you may want to check out Theatres des Vampires.


Lord Vampyr - De Vampyrica Philosophia

Tracklist:

1. De Vampyrica Philosophia (Intro)
2. Carmilla...Whispers From The Grave
3. A Sad Litany Of Vampires
4. Nocturnal Vampire's Orgy
5. Blood Lovers
6. Morgana
7. The Ophelia's Ghost
8. Die Herrschaft Des Bluts
9. ...Now...Sleep...