INFOS : webzine@femmemetalwebzine.net
Webzine dedicated to the metal band fronted by girls. We also like ambient,darkwave,rock & electronic music.
INFOS : webzine@femmemetalwebzine.net
Webzine dedicated to the metal band fronted by girls. We also like ambient,darkwave,rock & electronic music.
Label : Simmons Records/Universal Music Canada
Review by Tony Cannella
You can describe the band Kobra and the Lotus in one word. Metal! That’s it. If you want to know what genre or sub-genre to put them in, their self-titled debut album is about as metal as it gets. Hailing from Canada Kobra and the Lotus is a band that fans who have a love for pure metal, should seek out. There are a growing number of current bands who are bringing metal back to its purest form, but with all due respect to some great bands; in fact it is a great movement in the genre but you would be hard pressed to find a band better than Kobra and the Lotus. They have also received attention from Kiss’ fire breathing demon Gene Simmons who signed them to his label. Kobra and the Lotus’ debut album is a relentless metal extravaganza from the word go and the opening track “50 Shades of Evil”. Lead vocalist Kobra Paige has such a huge voice that has so much power behind it that it is right there in-your-face and impossible not to feel it – her metal-ness cannot be denied. Also impressive is the songwriting and the guitar work from Timothy Vega and Jasio Kulakowski. Next is the grinding “Welcome to my Funeral”. The final song is the blistering “Ana of Karmika” which features a galloping Iron Maiden feel to it musically and end things with a bang. The 10-songs on display here are laced with heavy riffs, some great melodic moments and just a huge sound that does more than pay homage to metal of the past – sure those Judas Priest and Iron Maiden influences are there (they have also been compared to the NWOBHM movement, but I don’t really hear it), but the material is far beyond a band that is simply paying respect to their hero’s. Kobra and the Lotus deliver the songs with such sincerity and ferocity. They are the real deal. Highlights include: “Forever One”, “Heaven’s Veins”, “Sanctuary” and “No Rest For the Wicked”. There is really not much more to say about Kobra and the Lotus except for the fact that this is not only the best debut I have heard all year but in a number of years. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love all of the different styles of metal I am exposed to with this gig – and I have had the pleasure of being exposed to many, many great bands, but sometimes it is easy to become jaded, then along comes a band like Kobra and the Lotus who re-ignites my excitement in metal and music in general. This album did it for me.
Rating - 98/100
Tracklist
Line Up
Links
Interview by Si Smith
From the gothic wastes of Québec, Canada, come a band determind to put some melancholy back in your day - Endless Night cite some of their inspirations as “traumas, suffering, murder and mourning”. Yet one listen to their debut CD “Haunted Lullabies” shows that not all is doom and gloom. There are also some hefty guitar riffs on here and some meaty solos. So what is it that drives Endless Night? I spoke to vocalist and keyboardist Emi to find out…
Firstly, thanks very much for the interview and a warm welcome from all at Femme Metal.
I also want to thank you! It’s an honor to be interviewed by Femme Metal!
Endless Night is a four-piece at present. It can’t be helped noticing however that a lot of the publicity focuses on you - how have you found it stepping into the role of front-person for the band? Is it a role that comes naturally to you?
First of all, I entered the band as a keyboardist. I had no idea I was about to become a frontwoman! But it soon became evident: we needed one. So I decided to give it a try. Since then, I have never stopped loving it! In everyday life, I am calm and introverted but with Endless Night I express myself and rock on! It’s because music is very much like storytelling; and I’ve got a story to tell.
As this is your debut release, many of our readers may not yet be aware of you. Would you like to introduce your fellow band-members to us, and maybe tell us how they all contribute to Endless Night?
Wared is the guitarist. He is the strength in Endless Night’s sound: pure emotions, no futile detours. He pays a huge attention to his sound. He is an excellent organizer and views the band not only as a member, but also with a manager’s eye. Franky is a self-taught bassist. He brings to us an energized and fierce sound. For him, Endless Night is not only about expressing suffering and darkness, it’s also an undeniable effort to bring his passion and music to a higher level. The drummer, Jay, is the most recent member of the band. He’s a well-grown musician we can always count on. He’s been studying his instrument for a long time now and knows how to bring a catchy melody to life. And as the signer, I am the member who is the most in touch with the band’s concepts and moods. Everyone takes part in the songwriting process, but I am the only lyrics writer.
The band was formed “officially” in 2008 with you on vocals and piano. How do you manage to put your all into the vocal performance when you are also the musician at the piano? Does it pose problems live?
I have learned the piano for more than eleven years now, so I am able to coordinate my hands with my voice without any problems. It just takes a little practice. But I don’t find it interesting to see a front person locked behind the keyboard, so we have most of the pianos and choirs on playback. I like to move on stage!
You managed to get a track featured on the World of Glass compilation. In what ways did that help you?
It gives us visibility in a different context than MySpace or Facebook. Because it is an all women-fronted metal bands compilation, our music can be listened to by people who have more chance of loving it but would have maybe not find us without this. It also gave us some contacts with very great people we are very thankful to, Raquel Senra, for instance.
Your debut CD is self-financed, something that is becoming more popular these days. If you don’t mind me asking, what was the most expensive part of the process (just to warn any up and coming bands that might be heading that way) ? What were the main advantages or drawbacks of doing things this way?
The most expensive part of the process were the recording sessions. The main advantage was our independence: we had the choice to do whatever we wanted to with our sound. Obviously, the main drawback is the production’s cost.
On your Facebook page you quote contrasting bands such as Evanescence and Rammstein as some of your influences. In what way do other bands such as these influence your sound?
We draw inspiration form a great variety of bands, because every member of Endless Night has different influences. However, some of these influences are common. These show in subtle ways, sometimes in the musicality of the melodies, in the drum lines, in the “catchiness” of the guitar riffs, or in the visual aspect.
Across the album you seem to have a preference for the lower register in your vocals. How do you think that assists in conveying some of the emotion of the songs?
This low register gives a heavy mood to the songs. It can express anger or sadness. However, since the album recording, my voice has evolved a lot, as has my higher register. But even in high notes, my voice is never crystal-clear, it always keeps a deep, round sound; I’m a mezzo-soprano.
“Hear This Now” is one of your heavier songs. What is it you would like us to hear in this song?
It talks about unhealthy habits that we all have that make our world worse than it should be; that make our world darker and darker, but also, this is one of our songs that, as of today, has been rethought a little bit to be more catchy to make a stronger contrast with the lyrics.
Like many bands before you, you have included a ballad on the album, “Burial (for My Mortician)”. As this is mostly you and the piano, does this song have any particular personal meaning for you?
Yes, it is the first song I entirely wrote the musical parts and the lyrics, as all my lyrics, have a deep meaning. They are basically a story of lost friendship.
As the album is quite a melancholy offering, how would you hope that a listener would feel after listening to your album?
We wish that the listener would enter into our mood and musical environment but not necessarily feel depressed: we only wish the listener to find himself and to travel in our music, so that he lives the story we tell in each song.
Bands often develop and mature as they produce more albums. How would you envisage Endless Night developing by the time of your next release?
Our next release will be less eclectic; it will have a more defined sound. We worked very hard on defining what we want to stand out in our music and in which way we want to tell our stories, but now, I think we have found it. A heavier sound with more catchy vocal lines, less experimental structures and powerful, but not overloaded drum lines is where we have headed.
The band has stated that its intention is “Établir un contraste entre l’enfance et l’horreur, la nuit”…how do you think this album fulfils that?
Lyrically, most of the songs fulfil this goal, for instance, “Trauma”, “Winter Cloak”, “Childhood Prejudice”. Musically, it’s the combination of soft piano melodies with more heavy guitars that brings us there.
I went on to Pixule.com where fans can vote for their favourite band on CD3 of the World of Glass compilation. (of course I voted for you…) The results so far is that you are third from the top!! Far above more “well-established” bands such as Pythia, Echoterra and Ancient Bards, who only managed to scrape 1% of the vote each. How does that make you feel?
Thanks for voting for us! We are pleased to see these results! It shows that we have wonderful friends and fans. We always try to make strong bonds with them, because the human experience is important for us. As I said before, that music can be about storytelling, but it’s also about giving, and we give all that we can!
One final question before we leave: you are a four-piece, but would you introduce us to the fifth member of the band that we see you holding in your myspace photo?
Haha!! This is a little doll we had for a photoshoot and we thought it showed well the innocence and the sensibility of childhood. However, we don’t have it anymore: it has been replaced by a teddy bear with a blue bow. It is on our album cover and I bring it on stage in every show, it is like our mascot! Haha!!
Thank you once again for your time, and we wish you well in the band’s future!!
Thank’s to YOU!!! I wish long life to Femme Metal!
Links
Interview by Andy Axworthy
It is always more interesting when you get the view from the inside. Sometimes we need to be reminded that bands just do not normally manifest fully-formed with a distribution and record deal. Ability and a bit of luck might provide the opportunity but sheer hard work, belief and determination usually sustains it all, and with an album as strong as “Euphorialight”, Finland’s Embassy of Silence have the right ingredients to move everything to the next level. Femme Metal grabbed some quality time with vocalist Ines Lukkanen to talk, amongst other things, about the story so far, keeping it real, plans for world domination and Mediterranean cookery… Read on.
Hi Ines - a warm welcome from the inmates here at Femme Metal : ) How is the world treating you today?
Quite well, thanks for asking! Looking forward to my birthday bash, and although this is one hectic week, I’m happy to take this chance to sit down, relax and answer some questions. It’s been nearly a year since “Euphorialight” was released into the wild.
Has is been a headlong rush since then or have you managed to occasionally stop and smell the flowers along the way? What have been your personal highlights so far?
It’s been a lot of work, to be honest, both before and after the release. Can’t really say we’ve enjoyed leisurely rock star life so far, since performing live, advertising, composing new material doing the occasional interview and so forth (in addition to our other projects, personal life and day-jobs) take a lion’s share of our time. It’s a labour of love. Even though we’ve done interviews several pages long or gotten fabulous ratings and reviews, personal highlights of mine have been other things, like seeing people in the crowd sing along to our songs or having them come up to me after a show, saying they were so touched, they couldn’t help but cry. I may sound pretentious, but as a performer, that can’t be topped.
The album itself is a delicious blend of style and substance that is refreshingly difficult to pin down to any one rock genre and that alone is enough to set “Euphorialight” apart from the crowd. How would you describe the Embassy of Silence sound to those not lucky enough to have heard the album yet?
A dreaded question appears…this is one of those times you wish you had a patented answer. Although the style of our songs vary, there is always an undertow of slightly melancholic beauty, whether it be grandiose or subdued. Some songs are notoriously difficult to bore into, let alone whistle or hum along to, others open up quite easily without being fast-food. Our sound isn’t exactly rock or metal, and it’s not quite pop or goth either, but all of those things with a twist of progressiveness. Just when you think “hey, this kinda sounds like…” something happens, and you go “…no, wait…”.
I say ‘those not lucky enough…’ because the album is fiendishly difficult to track down in these parts, or at least to stumble upon if you are not already aware of EoS. Are there any plans with Supernova for wider release or availability in the near future and if so, which countries are likely to be next in line?
I really, really wish I’d know, so that I could tell you. We’d make our album available everywhere, if it were up to our resources! What I can say is that the country we’re trying to cover next – at least to some extent – is the U.S., but since that’ll have to be a result of our own arduous efforts, the future remains foggy. We’ll keep you guys posted!
Looking at the promo pictures on your website there is a juicy sense of humour at work in everything EoS. You have the slightly glazed expression of someone who just knows the rest of the band members are up to something unspeakable in the background. There’s nothing like working with a bunch of professionals! Could you introduce them and give our readers some background on how EoS came together?
Haha! To be perfectly honest, that glazed look is more due to the fact that I have no idea how to pose presentably, and would rather be mucking about in the background with the rest of the monkeys. This pack of baboons (warning; may include traces of nuts) are as follows: Tero Kalliomäki, the guitar-player, co-founder and main composer of EoS (also one of my best friends). Samu Lahtinen, bass-player and devil’s advocate, who’s been in the band since the beginning; our angelic-looking keyboard-player and kid-at-heart, Harri Koskela; Second guitar-player and side-crackingly funny, bear-like dude by the name of Jarno Suodenjoki; and lastly, our spanking-new drummer Make Lievonen, who’s not only a great drummer, but also a very likeable fellow. Yeah, and then there’s this red-headed midget who would croon into the microphone if she could reach it.
How about yourself? The EoS journey started back in 2007, but how did you originally get started with singing? Did you (and do you still) have any icons that have influenced your style?
I’ve always sang. Ever since I can remember. I sang at daycare, at school, and joined bands when I was old enough to do so! The closest I’ve gotten to a classical training was singing at a few choirs where I acquired the right breathing technique, but other than that it’s pretty much been a matter of learning by ear. I haven’t had any huge idols whose pictures I would’ve plastered all over my walls, but the vocalists I’ve admired and even learned things from have been Skin from Skunk Anansie, Dani Klein from Vaya Con Dios, Shirley Manson from Garbage and the jazz-singer Randy Crawford. Most of these phenomenal women remain my favorites to this day, with the addition of, for example, the amazing Kate Bush and Beth Gibbons from Portishead.
How about your musical influences? Could you share with us any particular tracks or albums that hit the spot every time where your personal tastes are concerned and maybe tell us a little about why you like them so much?
Damn, you ask things I could go on about forever and ever! If I’d be held at gunpoint I probably couldn’t be able to pinpoint just a couple of songs without having second thoughts afterward. Both I and Tero share some bands that have had some influence to our songs, such as Opeth, Type 0 Negative, Portishead, Ulver and Anathema. The songs “Chaos Path” or “Ad Astra” by Arcturus, the album “Murder Nature” by Head Control System and music by the Finnish band Poets of the Fall all vibrate on my frequency, so to speak. I should stop, but I haven’t mentioned Meshuggah or Rammstein or Ihsahn… The reason I like any of these is because they either evoke strong emotions for different reasons, be it raw power of the sound, ingenious lyrics or spine-chilling, insurmountably incredible composition work. I’ve once said in another interview, that some music is impossible to hide from if it passes the gates of your ears, where it quite shamelessly ravages your brain and inhabits your heart from the moment you let it in.
The song titles on “Euphorialight” are very descriptive and almost tell a story in themselves. What comes first – the title, the lyrics or the inspiration - or do you find they seem to feed off each other and evolve as you write?
The title comes last, that’s for sure. There are even times when I only decide the name of a song at the very last minute, and until that moment, they’re still carrying childishly humorous working-titles along the lines of “Raisin” or “Poontang-reggae”. I know, I know. Anyway, there’s no certain way things progress, but usually I listen to the crude instrumental version, and catch the general vibe. Inspiration may come then, or sometimes I write lyrics first and ‘pimp’ them to match the song under construction.
There are some interesting themes running through your songs, and at times it is almost like you taken a look at the seven sins and spiced them up with a few more of your own : ) Where do you get your ideas and do you find you write with one theme or focus in mind or take a more kaleidoscopic approach with your thoughts and imagination?
Definitely the latter. Since songs aren’t composed during a short period of time, the moods and styles shift from one extreme to another, and I don’t tend to apply censorship or filter ideas, thinking “but these lyrics won’t fit the overall theme, to the bin with you lot, then”. Considering this, it’s quite astounding that the themes on “Euphorialight” really do seem to revolve around the “7 deadly sins; now with 25% more sin!” as you mentioned. On the other hand, what else is there to tell about besides the sins, love, good, evil, death and life, not just in music, but in literature and movies as well? So yes, I’m super random when it comes to writing.
In terms of tracks, a personal favourite is “Euphorialight”. To cunningly avoid the usual question here, which track do you think gets the best crowd reaction and which is the most satisfying to play live (and why) ?
The favorites of our audience seem to vary a lot, but the tunes that get the crowd to bounce or sing along more often than not are “Catherine and Heathcliff”, “Void”, “Soul-broken” and “Baron Samedi”. “Baron Samedi” is also the one song that seems to boost the band’s energy level, which is usually the reason we try to play it early at our shows. It’s an especially fun jingle to play!
There is an Escher-like quality to the cd artwork that reflects the songs on the album in that the harder you look/listen the more you actually see/hear. Can you tell us something of the ideas behind this?
We originally toyed with the slightly corny idea of a raven’s eye, in which there would have been a reflection of burning sugar on an absithe spoon. We trashed that one, but the raven remained as a symbolic figure. In the end we gave Kalle Pyyhtinen of UtuDesigns free reign with only the guideline that there might be the bird, and the general colour-theme would be teal. He came up with this result that perfectly captured what we were after, and what “Euphorialight” sounds like. I’m also totally impressed that you caught that, we’re always slightly uncertain whether we’re too subtle with these things.
Given your experiences with the two eps (“Wendigo Winter” and “Pristine”) and the current album, what will you take forward and what would you do differently next time you enter the studio?
As we’ve already made new songs, and are currently recording demo versions for some of them, I don’t have to think theoretically at all. What I’ve learned is that even though it’s sometimes frustrating to do many takes of one song, it’s not okay to let the feeling flatten, because that’ll affect the result. No matter how pissed off I may be, I’ll have to take that energy and convert it into something positive. I’ve also come to learn the ways my voice behaves, and what I’m able to do with it. One of the most important aspects of this is that I can use my “big girl gig-voice” during recording sessions.
You seem to have a pretty broad-minded approach with EoS. What’s your personal philosophy when it comes to dealing with the pace of change in everything the music business throws at you?
I think you wrote this question in the sense that music industry expects a certain image and a certain easy-to-chew recipe from all bands and their music, if they’re to be successful. This we can shrug off and do what feels right. When it comes to trusting the industry, that’s another story. It’s easy to get disappointed, and even easier to get screwed over. In the words of Pat Benatar, “we can’t afford to be innocent”.
Away from the microphone, do you have any hobbies or other interests that keep you going?? What do you do to chill out or warm up when you get some quality downtime?
I’m a busy gal! I exercise regularly (and at least pretend to enjoy it), read books, listen to music and watch movies, like the vast majority of people do from time to time. I also draw comics, play games (even tabletop RPG) and hang out with my friends and significant other. I love cooking, too. Lately I’ve been making Mediterranean food – you can’t go wrong with olive-oil and garlic!
How about a Plan B? If you were not singing what would you be doing instead?
Since EoS doesn’t put much bread on my table as it is, I suppose I’d be doing what I’m doing now – I’m a lowly office-rat – but with some other artistic outlet for my creative bursts. I might write more, and as I already write both poetry and journalistic texts, that’s probably what I’d be concentrating on.
2011 started well, with EoS getting best band and album for 2010 on Tuskasi – congratulations! What does the rest of the year hold for EoS and what can your fans look forward to?
World domination, hopefully! In all seriousness, though, next to conquering the international markets, our top priority at the moment is to compose and throw awesome gigs. It’s still pretty early, and part of the fun is not knowing. We can only do our best, right?
Ines, thanks for taking time out to talk to us. Is there anything else you would like to add for your fans and readers?
Don’t you dare give up on us, we’re not giving up on you either! We’re tirelessly toiling day and night to make our fresh produce available where you are, no matter how long it takes. Keep supporting us, check out our website www.embassyofsilence.net , listen to us through Spotify, and join our deranged family at Embassy of Silence’s Facebook Group. We love you long time!
Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * Facebook * Site
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Label : Music Buy Mail
Review by Tony Cannella
Bosnia is not known as a hotbed for metal music, or music in general for that matter, so that is what makes the band Heaven Rain somewhat unique. The band sites Kamelot, Sonata Arctica and Nightwish as some of their chief influences, but I can’t really say that they sound like any of these bands. The band has previously released one full-length album back in 2008 and is back at with an album of new material called “Second Sun”. Musically, Heaven Rain contains plenty of soaring melodies with plenty of power and power metal influence behind them, but vocalist Miona Graorac is what sets this band apart from their influences. Her style is more rock than metal and not what I was expecting at all – that is not meant to be a negative, to the contrary it is one of the things that I really liked about this band – and is a refreshing change from the norm. Another thing I liked is the musicianship which shifts from power metal to hard rock and once in a while to prog metal. The intro “Close to Dawn” kicks off this 41-minute foray into melodic metal and segues into the song “Heaven Rain”. “My Only One” is an infectious mid-tempo song that is the first song I would play for anyone I wanted to introduce this band to. This is the song that stands out the most for me. “Nowhere” is a nice ballad and the band picks up the tempo for the next song “Raven in Heart”. Other highlights include: “Dreamless”, “Face of Misery” and “When Day Fades to Dark”. “Second Sun” flows really nice and Heaven Rain shows that Bosnians can indeed rock on a high level.
Rating - 78/100
Tracklist
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MySpace * ReverbNation * Facebook * Site
Label : Scarlet Records
Review by Tony Cannella
The Italian band Evenoire has been with us since 2006 and in 2009 they gave us a decent four song EP called “I Will Stay”. Now the band returns with their full-length debut “Vitriol”. It is a well known fact that the country of Italy has give us many, many great female fronted bands and with “Vitriol” Evenoire are sure to add to the Italian tradition of great metal. On “Vitriol”, Evenoire really doesn’t create any boundaries for themselves, they aren’t beholden to any one style, and that is refreshing. They combine the best elements of symphonic, folk, gothic and progressive metal with a medieval vibe in some of the songs to create one of the best albums of the year thus far. Vocalist Lisy Stefanoni’s has so many layers to her vocals and is a powerful presence throughout the album. As far as pure singers go, she is one of the best that I have heard in a long time. Of course opinions are all subjective but I would put her in the same class as Floor Jansen, Simone Simons, Sharon den Adel and Tarja Turunen, she is that good. The intro “Vitriol” is a quiet piano and symphonic piece that leads into the symphonic “Days of the Blackbird”; this track features blasts of heaviness and changing tempos to deliver an excellent opener. Lisy sings in both an operatic and soaring rock style, something she is able to do throughout the album is sing in a number of different styles in one song. “Misleading Paradise”, opens with a flute played by Lisy (which is prominently featured throughout the album), before the crunching power riffing of guitarists Alessandro Gervasi and Toshiro Brunelli joins the fray. Damn, this song is just so infectious it is impossible not to like. Aside from the flute this is actually a pretty straight-forward rock/metal tune. This is just pure awesomeness. “Forever Gone” is next and has a slower heavy tempo to it, and features some death grunts (just a little bit) in the background. The intro “The Prayer” (featuring only acoustic guitar and soft vocals from Lisy) leads into the folk-ish beginning of “Girl By the Lake” which is one of two songs over 7-minutes long (the other is “Misleading Paradise”), this song fast became my favorite – it kind of reminded me of “Mother Earth” era Within Temptation with Lisy sounding a bit like Sharon den Adel at times. Next is “Minstrel of Dolomite” which kind of has a Blackmore’s Night vibe to it at the start, but quickly evolves into a song that is unmistakably Evenoire. After the final two songs “Alchimia” and “Wise King” closes out the disc, there is really nothing I can criticize about it. In the last three years between the EP and “Vitriol” the band has grown so much and in doing so has delivered a fantastic debut and proves they are a band to be taken seriously. I can talk or write about “Vitriol” till I am blue in the face, but mere words will not do it justice, it must be heard.
Rating - 100/100
Tracklist
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Label : Sound Age Productions
Review by Vard Aman
Rarog (the band) formed in 2004 in Moscow (although Shmel’ had been writing material for some time already), released their debut album “Az Boga Vedayu!” in 2006 and then went a little quiet for a while, mainly due to a series of line up changes (Shmel’ also played bass for Kalevala from 2007-2011). Now they’re back with 2 albums in quick succession, “Vzoidi Solntse” in 2011 and now this one, “Syny Sokola”; and they’re doing very well for themselves. Rarog play Slavic Folk/Pagan Metal – a unique subgenre of Folk/Pagan Metal that has gradually left its native lands and is now growing ever more popular in the Metal world abroad, thanks largely to its most iconic band, Arkona. For Rarog, comparisons with Arkona are inevitable but not entirely justified; they may both share the same musical roots, but both bands have their own unique distinctive sounds. Still, fans of Arkona are likely to enjoy Rarog too, and for those who have not yet been introduced to the subgenre of Slavic Folk/Pagan Metal, Rarog are as good an introduction to it as any. Rarog are also more versatile and progressive than many of the other bands in their subgenre, and this should make them more easily accessible to fans of other subgenres. Their musical style moves with ease from the typical Slavic folk progressions to a fast Pagan/Black Metal style with furious blast beats, to a slow melodic Doom Metal style without ever losing their distinctive sound. Like most Slavic Folk/Pagan Metal, Rarog makes use of several different traditional Slavic musical instruments to compliment their sound; and in Rarog’s case, a few non-traditional ones as well, like violins and cello.
Their lyrical topics cover ancient Slavic myths and legends, the history of the Slavs and Slavic Paganism before the Christian invasion in what was then Rus. Since 2010 Rarog has been fronted by Aleksandra Sidorova (also a member of Moscow’s Silver Voice choir), and it is her voice that gives Rarog its real edge – she is the beautiful Siren-like call of the Firebird (if I may mix up legends slightly). She is capable of many different vocal styles; the two that are most prevalent on this album are her Slavic folk style and her academic/operatic style. She excels at both; but what really makes Aleksandra an exceptional singer is the uniqueness of her voice and the emotion she is capable of generating. At times, her voice takes on an almost innocent childlike quality, at other times it is more plaintive, sometimes even desperately so - she can bring her voice to just about breaking yet stops just short, without ever losing her vocal control. It is haunting indeed. Few academic/operatic singers are capable of generating such emotion… or maybe it’s just that they don’t try, maybe they are concentrating so much on vocal control and projection that they end up forfeiting the emotion and become effectively singing machines. Aleksandra proves that an academic/operatic singer can have both total control and convey powerful emotion at the same time; and it is very, very effective! While I’m at it: if you want to hear how operatic vibrato can be used in such a way that it leaves the listener with gooseflesh and a lump in the throat (as opposed to making the cat go AWOL), listen to how Aleksandra uses it at around the 1:00 mark in “Serdechnaya”. Seriously, wow!
Male vocals, both clean and growls (and battle cries), are provided by Shmel’; and he is also very good at what he does. The production is clear, similar to the previous album, but the songwriting on “Сыны Сокола” is better and it is a more mature album overall – Rarog is a band that is continuing to improve. Highlights from the album there are aplenty: “Syn Sokola”, the first track is brutal and fast, with some beautiful violin melodies; “Ognenniy Mech” is a heavy Folk Metal song; “Rogneda” has a slow tempo in which Aleksandra’s versatility and range of styles comes to the fore; “Perunova Ren” is fast and furious, good to have in the heat of battle (with a slight breather in the middle); “Veschiy Sokol” has a climatic feel to it as does the final (Rarog) track “Serdtse Voevody”, which is a slow and powerful track where Shmel’ gets to show his own versatility as well. But out of all the highlights on this album the biggest one is the third track, “Serdechnaya” – easily one of my candidates for song of the decade so far. It is a slow and powerful song with amazing melodies and harmonies, and features one of the best and most unique singers around delivering a performance of note! The album ends with “Krov Nashih Vragov”, which is a Russian cover (in Russian) of “Blood of My Enemies” by Manowar.
Rarog make the song their own while staying true to the original. Lyrically, the gist of it is the same. Norsemen (Varyags) had a large influence on Rus up to the tenth century CE prior to the Christian invasion and occupied much of the Northern Rus states, so the Norse mythology that makes up the background to the lyrics of “Blood of My Enemies” is not really that out of place. How well the Varyags and the Eastern Slavs got along at the time (people being people) I do not know, that’s a question for some genuine historians (and not a CD reviewer), but one thing that is known well enough is that what came next for both Slavic and Nordic Paganism was not exactly pleasant. But the legends and the cultural knowledge have survived and Rarog (and others) are here to tell you about them; and if you do not understand what they’re singing about, no worries, just turn up the volume and admire the awesome power of the Firebird, and melt to its hauntingly beautiful call.
Rating - 90/100
Tracklist
Line Up
Links
Label : Darknagar Records
Review by Vard Aman
NeverDie formed in 2005 in Oktyabrsky, Republic of Bashkortostan in Russia. You’d better look that up on Wikipedia – Oktyabrsky that is, you should already know where Russia is by now: it’s the place that Sarah Palin can see from her house. Or perhaps I should rather say “allegedly see” – we are talking about Sarah Palin here. It is possible that she has simply named her vegetable garden “Russia” – and that might be another reason she’s so determined to shoot all the wolves in the area: perhaps “they might not have lost the vegetarian instincts that they picked up on Noah’s Ark yet”. Anyway, I digress; on with the review. “The Source of Black Water” is NeverDie’s second full length album (the first being “Forgotten World” in 2008). There are things that I like about this album, things that I don’t and things that I think are OK. I’ve actually made one of those brainstorming mind map things that I used to make in high school, complete with a drawing of mind mapping superhero, Captain Brainstorm: with a flowing cape; a tight-fitting top with the letters “BS” written on it; and an enormous har… *ahem*… REVIEW!!! Let’s start off with the “OK” category: after an impressive intro and an equally impressive opening of the first song, we get our first taste of the vocalist, Regina. Regina uses two different vocal styles: an operatic style (more on that later) and growls. She is a good growler, but not great; she certainly does not have the growling capacity of singers like Angela Gossow, Elvira Alchemida or Masha Scream. When you hear Angela for the first time, you take another look at the CD booklet: maybe it was a misprint, maybe it was meant to be “Angelo”. When you hear Elvira for the first time you start backing away from the speakers expecting a demon to emerge from their depths to rip your heart out with steel-like claws. When you hear Masha for the first time you suddenly realize that the shield you brought to this particular battle isn’t going to be nearly strong enough. But when you hear Regina for the first time, all you think is “Ahh, she’s growling. Cool!”. She is no Cadaveria either.
OK, she’s a young Cadaveria – I do get the impression that growling is a fairly recently acquired talent for Regina and that she will get much better at it. Still, her growling is decent; and is most certainly the more listenable of her two vocal styles on this album. The production is quite good, although the distorted guitars are a little muddy in places. They sound as if they’ve been downtuned quite a lot which is not an uncommon practice by bands playing this kind of music. Now for “what I don’t like”: What kills NeverDie for me (pun intended) are Regina’s operatic vocals on this album. She is certainly not a bad operatic singer technically and she hits all the notes perfectly, but it is the way that she uses her voice that is the problem. There is no feeling or emotion in her voice at all, she just sings. The vocal melodies are all over the place, in some places it even sounds as if she is just singing random notes over a particular part of the song. The result is that her operatic vocals do not compliment the music at all, but instead clashes and fights with it. There seems to be such a conscious effort, even desperation to write vocal melodies that are different to the rest of the music (or maybe just to show off) that considerations as to what would best suit the music are an afterthought at best. “Because I can” beats “because I should”; and the result is that both the music and the vocals suffer. NeverDie suffers. Occasionally she does come good: for example in certain parts between 2:00 and 2:30 in “Red Marble”, then it sounds great; but it doesn’t last, Regina soon returns to her wailing battle with the music again. Sorry, but no! And finally “what I do like”: Instrumentally, the band is great. They conjure up some powerful riffs, driving rhythms and intricate melodies; and when they slow it down they sound adequately doomy. The songwriting is good and well thought out, although it does lack a bit of variation from song to song despite the tempo changes. NeverDie has their sound, and although it is molded around a tried-and-tested formula, it is still something that they can honestly enough call their own. In conclusion: I’ve seen NeverDie described as “Gothic Doom Metal”, and “Extreme Gothic Metal”, but on “The Source of Black Water” they are neither. I would describe them as Melodic Death elements of Thrash and Doom Metal. I fail to find any Gothic influences anywhere. I cannot really pick any highlights off the album, I’d have to choose the songs where the operatic vocals annoy me the least or the instrumentation is good enough to make up for it: if pressed, I’d choose “Water Shine” as my favourite. After listening to “The Source of Black Water” I was interested to hear some material off their previous album “Forgotten World”, and discovered 4 tracks off that album available for download from their official website.
There are no growls on these 4 tracks, the sound is clearer (although the drum sound is not as good) and they are more Doom orientated. The vocals are better; some of the problems are still present (or “starting to develop” I should rather say) but much less so, and I found all 4 of these songs better than anything from “The Source of Black Water”. I do not know what the rest of “Forgotten World” sounds like, but based on the strength of the 4 songs available from their website, NeverDie seem to have taken a step backwards. If Regina can rein herself in and cut out her needless vocal antics and if she can vary her vocal styles so that they better suit the music she is singing over, and if she can learn to sing with a bit of feeling and emotion, NeverDie would be much better (and “The Source of Black Water” would have been a much better album). Her growls are fine; they just need a little more time to develop into something that could be described as awesome… like a hungry leopard that does not approve of the fence between itself and that delicious McDonalds burger you keep bouncing on the ground in front of it. So that’s that; the thingymajigs on my mind map are now all crossed out; and all that remains is the drawing of mind mapping superhero, Captain Brainstorm: with his flowing cape; his tight-fitting top; and his enormous hard hat.
Rating - 65/100
Tracklist
Line Up
Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * Facebook * Site
Interview by Claudio Grippi
This time we let the guitarist and mastermind, Anastasia, intruduce this young German band symphonic metal caressed by JRR Tolkien’s symphonies and some real kick ass girl power (hahahahaha men this time you’re the minority). Well, hail to the girl power, isn’t?
Hello Anastasia! Thank you for taking the time for this interview. Let’s start immediately. First of all, How are you?I would like to start with a simple question. Where does the name Arven come from? What is its meaning? Is it somehow related to the name Arwen from the movie trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”?
Yes, you got it right. We named the band after the female character from the book “Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien. Well, we are certainly not the first band to look for a name in his book but Arwen seemed perfect for us because the beautiful story of an she-elf, who gives up her immortality for a love of a mortal man, represents very well everything our music stands for: intense passion and strong emotions.
How did this project start?
Before I founded the band Arven, I have already played in a couple of metal bands, where I always was the only female musician. I thought it’s a bit sad that metal music is so men-dominated and on the other hand I was personally acquainted with 2 girls, who also played in metal bands. So when I started to compose songs and wanted to found a band it seemed only natural to me to try and form a female metal band. But finding capable female musicians, who would be interested in playing metal turned out to be a real challenge. The search for musicians lasted almost a year and at times I was so frustrated, that I almost gave up. It seemed to be impossible to find what I was searching for, no matter how hard I tried. But in the end I’m really happy that I didn’t give up, because finally I got lucky and Arven finally came into the world. I can say that for me it’s a big pleasure and an honour to make music with the girls of Arven and it’s one of the best things I ever experienced in life!
Why did you choose “Music of Light” as the title of the album? Does it have a special meaning for the band since it is also the opening track of the album?
On the one hand “Music of Light” was a title of one of our early songs, that represents our musical style really well. On the other hand “Music of Light” seemed like a good description for our musical style in general, as you can associate “light” and “clear” or “ardent” with our sound. This double meaning seemed interesting so we choose it to be the album title.
Arven is mainly composed of ladies with several musical backgrounds: from classical music to metal. Which musical backgrounds or bands do you mostly inspire to when it comes to song writing? Is it a specific choice you made to hire female-only musicians and singers? Or it just came as it is?
Yes, like I said earlier it was a choice. From the beginning I wanted the band to stand out of the crowd in some way. There are very many metal bands out there with a female singer and sometimes you see a girl play an instrument in a metal band. But I know of only very few metal bands, where the song writing and the whole musical concept has been done by female musicians, so from that perspective Arven creates a feminine version of metal.
In your opinion, what are the main differences in terms of song writing within a group of five girls and one boy? Do you think ‘female song writing’ is more detail-oriented?
I don’t think that the song writing process itself is different in a female band but our tastes may be. In general our music seems to be softer, than the most men-dominated metal bands are, but actually we didn’t plan it to be this way. Our desire was (and still is) to explore different styles of metal from soft to hard and create our own version of it: there is a distinct soft and feminine side to our album but we also like to contrast it with powerful aggressive energy, that you could call our masculine side.
As far as the lyrics are concerned, what are the main topics that inspire you?
In our song writing process music always comes first and lyrics are created after the song is almost finished. This way we have to find a theme for a song that fits the mood created by the music. Basically we try to write lyrics that mean something to us, we put a lot of our very personal experiences in the lyrics, though it may be not so obvious sometimes. As a songwriter I put a lot of myself into my music and with Carina I’m very lucky to have found a singer, who us able to express the feelings that I put in the music in a genuinely way. She really “means” what she sings about. Typically for a female dominant band there are a few love songs on our album: in “Music of Light” we tried to capture the euphoria of being freshly in love whereas “Till Death do us Part” is about a painful experience of a breakup. The song “My Dear Friend” is the song that means most to me, I wrote it after the death of a close friend of mine. But not all songs on the CD are earnest, “Raise your Cups” is a cheerful party-song, for example and “Midwinter Nights” is a fairy tale with reversed gender roles.
Your new album has been released recently. This is a very delicate time for new female-fronted metal bands to come out with new, interesting material among the greatest female-fronted metal bands. How do you think “Music of Light” may find its way into the listener’s heart?
Considering the great number of the female-fronted metal bands on the market it’s indeed a difficult time for a new band that plays this kind of music. Often times we get the: “Please, not yet another female-fronted band out there” message, even before someone even listened to our music for one second and it can be very frustrating, after you put so much passion and energy into the songs. But in the end, we just have to accept that fact and we certainly wouldn’t change our musical style because of that. No matter what, we will stay true to our style and hope that there are enough people our there who follow their hearts instead of just being in line with the musical trend.
This album features many well-known names in this genre. Stefan Schmidt from Van Canto and Sascha Paeth (producer) are among these, for example. How did their experience help contribute to the production of the album? Did they influence your sound somehow or did you already have a clear picture of the album?
Working with Stef (Stefan) Schmidt was a great experience for us. He met us at one of our live-shows and he liked our music and offered some great ideas, so that we ended up doing some kind of a “song writing workshop” with him, where we took some new song material of Arven and experimented with different arrangements and song structures. He is a real professional and a very skilled and experienced musician and we enjoyed to work with him so much, that we decided to record the choirs for the album in his studio. You can hear Stef among the male voices in the choirs. We think that he did a great job and would like to thank him one more time for supporting us along our way. Finally Sascha Paeth did the mastering of the album and gave the sound of “Music Of Light” it’s final touch.
How would you describe the new album in terms of genre? It seems you are fond of Medieval/Celtic music.
I was always fascinated by medieval music because of it’s background and history. Every music tells it’s own story,and I am very interested in this time. I love the instruments and the sound of medieval melodies so it became one of the main musical influences for the album. We are often asked the question about genre but for me this question is not one the really important ones.
Do you think your sound is going towards symphonic or power metal in the near future?
Actually right now we are experimenting with both. We have a couple of new up-tempo power metal songs that are a lot of fun to play life. On the other hand I’m thrilled by the idea of using more orchestral arrangements in future but it’s a relatively new approach to me and will certainly take time to get the results that I’d like to have in this area.
What are your plans for the future?
Our greatest wish right now is to play live-shows as often as possible because playing live in front of our fans is what a metal band is all about in the first place. This year a number of live-concerts are already planned and we are very much looking forward to the shows. On the other hand we are working on new material for a second album and we hope that it wont be long until we enter the studio one more time and go on the musical journey and find out where it would lead us to this time.
One last question. Are you planning to tour in Europe supporting other bands or are you looking for promoters for your own tour?
As a young band it’s not quite easy to get the opportunity to play great live shows, but we hope that we will be able to play more live shows in Europe in near future. We already played in France a couple of times last year and we got excellent feedback from our fans there, so we are curious to see more countries, visit new places and get to know more people who are interested in metal.
Anastasia, thank you very much for your time! Is there anything you would like to say to our readers?
Thank you for your interest in our music and the band and also thanks to our fans all around the world! We didn’t expect that much positive feedback and we are happy to find that our music is so well received. Best wishes for all of you, and who knows, maybe one day we can meet at a live show ;-).
Credit Photos
Photos by angst-im-wald.com
Links
Interview by Claudio Grippi
This time we let the guitarist and mastermind, Anastasia, intruduce this young German band symphonic metal caressed by JRR Tolkien’s symphonies and some real kick ass girl power (hahahahaha men this time you’re the minority). Well, hail to the girl power, isn’t?
Hello Anastasia! Thank you for taking the time for this interview. Let’s start immediately. First of all, How are you?I would like to start with a simple question. Where does the name Arven come from? What is its meaning? Is it somehow related to the name Arwen from the movie trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”?
Yes, you got it right. We named the band after the female character from the book “Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien. Well, we are certainly not the first band to look for a name in his book but Arwen seemed perfect for us because the beautiful story of an she-elf, who gives up her immortality for a love of a mortal man, represents very well everything our music stands for: intense passion and strong emotions.
How did this project start?
Before I founded the band Arven, I have already played in a couple of metal bands, where I always was the only female musician. I thought it’s a bit sad that metal music is so men-dominated and on the other hand I was personally acquainted with 2 girls, who also played in metal bands. So when I started to compose songs and wanted to found a band it seemed only natural to me to try and form a female metal band. But finding capable female musicians, who would be interested in playing metal turned out to be a real challenge. The search for musicians lasted almost a year and at times I was so frustrated, that I almost gave up. It seemed to be impossible to find what I was searching for, no matter how hard I tried. But in the end I’m really happy that I didn’t give up, because finally I got lucky and Arven finally came into the world. I can say that for me it’s a big pleasure and an honour to make music with the girls of Arven and it’s one of the best things I ever experienced in life!
Why did you choose “Music of Light” as the title of the album? Does it have a special meaning for the band since it is also the opening track of the album?
On the one hand “Music of Light” was a title of one of our early songs, that represents our musical style really well. On the other hand “Music of Light” seemed like a good description for our musical style in general, as you can associate “light” and “clear” or “ardent” with our sound. This double meaning seemed interesting so we choose it to be the album title.
Arven is mainly composed of ladies with several musical backgrounds: from classical music to metal. Which musical backgrounds or bands do you mostly inspire to when it comes to song writing? Is it a specific choice you made to hire female-only musicians and singers? Or it just came as it is?
Yes, like I said earlier it was a choice. From the beginning I wanted the band to stand out of the crowd in some way. There are very many metal bands out there with a female singer and sometimes you see a girl play an instrument in a metal band. But I know of only very few metal bands, where the song writing and the whole musical concept has been done by female musicians, so from that perspective Arven creates a feminine version of metal.
In your opinion, what are the main differences in terms of song writing within a group of five girls and one boy? Do you think ‘female song writing’ is more detail-oriented?
I don’t think that the song writing process itself is different in a female band but our tastes may be. In general our music seems to be softer, than the most men-dominated metal bands are, but actually we didn’t plan it to be this way. Our desire was (and still is) to explore different styles of metal from soft to hard and create our own version of it: there is a distinct soft and feminine side to our album but we also like to contrast it with powerful aggressive energy, that you could call our masculine side.
As far as the lyrics are concerned, what are the main topics that inspire you?
In our song writing process music always comes first and lyrics are created after the song is almost finished. This way we have to find a theme for a song that fits the mood created by the music. Basically we try to write lyrics that mean something to us, we put a lot of our very personal experiences in the lyrics, though it may be not so obvious sometimes. As a songwriter I put a lot of myself into my music and with Carina I’m very lucky to have found a singer, who us able to express the feelings that I put in the music in a genuinely way. She really “means” what she sings about. Typically for a female dominant band there are a few love songs on our album: in “Music of Light” we tried to capture the euphoria of being freshly in love whereas “Till Death do us Part” is about a painful experience of a breakup. The song “My Dear Friend” is the song that means most to me, I wrote it after the death of a close friend of mine. But not all songs on the CD are earnest, “Raise your Cups” is a cheerful party-song, for example and “Midwinter Nights” is a fairy tale with reversed gender roles.
Your new album has been released recently. This is a very delicate time for new female-fronted metal bands to come out with new, interesting material among the greatest female-fronted metal bands. How do you think “Music of Light” may find its way into the listener’s heart?
Considering the great number of the female-fronted metal bands on the market it’s indeed a difficult time for a new band that plays this kind of music. Often times we get the: “Please, not yet another female-fronted band out there” message, even before someone even listened to our music for one second and it can be very frustrating, after you put so much passion and energy into the songs. But in the end, we just have to accept that fact and we certainly wouldn’t change our musical style because of that. No matter what, we will stay true to our style and hope that there are enough people our there who follow their hearts instead of just being in line with the musical trend.
This album features many well-known names in this genre. Stefan Schmidt from Van Canto and Sascha Paeth (producer) are among these, for example. How did their experience help contribute to the production of the album? Did they influence your sound somehow or did you already have a clear picture of the album?
Working with Stef (Stefan) Schmidt was a great experience for us. He met us at one of our live-shows and he liked our music and offered some great ideas, so that we ended up doing some kind of a “song writing workshop” with him, where we took some new song material of Arven and experimented with different arrangements and song structures. He is a real professional and a very skilled and experienced musician and we enjoyed to work with him so much, that we decided to record the choirs for the album in his studio. You can hear Stef among the male voices in the choirs. We think that he did a great job and would like to thank him one more time for supporting us along our way. Finally Sascha Paeth did the mastering of the album and gave the sound of “Music Of Light” it’s final touch.
How would you describe the new album in terms of genre? It seems you are fond of Medieval/Celtic music.
I was always fascinated by medieval music because of it’s background and history. Every music tells it’s own story,and I am very interested in this time. I love the instruments and the sound of medieval melodies so it became one of the main musical influences for the album. We are often asked the question about genre but for me this question is not one the really important ones.
Do you think your sound is going towards symphonic or power metal in the near future?
Actually right now we are experimenting with both. We have a couple of new up-tempo power metal songs that are a lot of fun to play life. On the other hand I’m thrilled by the idea of using more orchestral arrangements in future but it’s a relatively new approach to me and will certainly take time to get the results that I’d like to have in this area.
What are your plans for the future?
Our greatest wish right now is to play live-shows as often as possible because playing live in front of our fans is what a metal band is all about in the first place. This year a number of live-concerts are already planned and we are very much looking forward to the shows. On the other hand we are working on new material for a second album and we hope that it wont be long until we enter the studio one more time and go on the musical journey and find out where it would lead us to this time.
One last question. Are you planning to tour in Europe supporting other bands or are you looking for promoters for your own tour?
As a young band it’s not quite easy to get the opportunity to play great live shows, but we hope that we will be able to play more live shows in Europe in near future. We already played in France a couple of times last year and we got excellent feedback from our fans there, so we are curious to see more countries, visit new places and get to know more people who are interested in metal.
Anastasia, thank you very much for your time! Is there anything you would like to say to our readers?
Thank you for your interest in our music and the band and also thanks to our fans all around the world! We didn’t expect that much positive feedback and we are happy to find that our music is so well received. Best wishes for all of you, and who knows, maybe one day we can meet at a live show ;-).
Credit Photos
Photos by angst-im-wald.com
Links
Independent Release
Review by Luisa Mercier
After two full-lengths and several single releases, Sleepthief is back with a new, beautiful official single, accompanied by a stunning video. For all of you, that still are not familiar with his music, Sleepthief is the project behind which hides the American producer Justin Elswick. His music is a soulful blending of electronica, Celtic influences, synth-pop, ambient and classical music. The new single features once again the distinctive vocals of Jody Quine (known for her work with Balligomingo) over an emotional layered track that will leave you speechless. The song is inspired by the wish that all of us has experienced in life: the yearning to find someone who could love us and understands us, but not always is meant to happen. So, it is quite bittersweet, melancholic, sad, though soaring and uplifting also thank you to Jody Quine amazing work on backing vocals. I think they add a lot more to the whole atmosphere. Music, as usual, is thoroughly crafted, with lots of layers starting from electronica to strings and piano. What makes Sleepthief music stands out in my opinion is his ability in expressing feelings and conveying it to his audience. It is not by chance that all of us are always so moved by his songs. I warmly invite you to give this song a try and, if you like it, to the rest of his discography too. The single is out 11th June along with three remixes by Justin and his collaborator Israel Curtis (Psychosomatic Mix), Blue Stone and DjMikel.
Rating - 80/100
Tracklist
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Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * Facebook * Twitter * Site
