Honningbarna ‘Verden En Enkel’ Album Review

Honningbarna are a Norwegian band whose musical style has been likened to bands such as The Bronx, The Hives and Fucked Up. ‘Verden En Enkel’ is their latest album which has been produced by Pelle Gunnerfeldt, who has worked with Refused and The Hives.

The first track, titled ‘Dodtid’ has a strong guitar riff and is full of energy right from the beginning. ‘Ikke La Deg Rive Med’ is a short but fast-paced song, further emphasising the passion and energy emerging from Honningbarna. ‘Velkommen Tilbake’ features very impressive guitaring and strong shouting vocals. The fourth track, ‘Tynn Is’ has a slower pace than the previous track, but still includes the energy which arises from Edvard Valberg’s vocals. ‘Fritt Ord Fritt Fram’ features fast-paced vocals and a catchy guitar riff, making it one of the tracks that stand out the most on ‘Verden En Enkel’. The technical guitaring and strong bass line in ‘God Jul Jesus’ proves that the members of Honningbarna are all very skilled and talented musicians. ‘Fuck Kunst (Dans Dans)’ is Honningbarna’s latest single and it’s easy to hear why it is so popular: the guitar solo is incredible and the lyrics are very catchy. The opening guitar-playing in ‘Offerdans’ is amazing, which continues throughout both the song and the whole album. ‘Ned’ is a song which you could easily imagine Honningbarna playing live due to the great guitaring and the energy which comes from Edvard’s vocals. The opening bass line in ‘Si Nei’ is very strong and the breakdown near the end of the song is very impressive. ‘Verden Er Enkel’ is another passionate song where the vocals really stand out on the track, alongside yet another impressive guitar solo. The final track on the album is ‘Gi Oss Kick’, which is a strong closing track as it is still full of energy and fast-paced vocals.

To say that Honningbarna are unique would be a huge understatement, but if you’re into Norwegian music which is full of energy and passion, then they are definitely a band that you need to listen to.

‘Verden En Enkel’ is out 6^th of May via G Records/EMI Norway.

Check out Honningbarna here: http://www.facebook.com/honningbarna

Tarantulah ‘Kedamaian Jalan Hitam’ EP Review

Tarantulah are a four-piece metal band from Malaysia. ‘Kedamaian Jalan Hitam’, which translates to ‘Peace Way Black’ in English, is their first four track raw demo. ‘Viva La Peace’ is the first track on the EP, which has a very distorted sound to it and features heavy shouting vocals. ‘Pukul Mereka Dalam Diam’ opens with the sound of sirens and progresses into brutal thrash riffs and grunting vocals from lead singer Man Rabaxx. The third track is also very distorted, adding to the raw vibe of the EP. The final track ‘Durjana Si Dajjal’ features more thrash guitar riffs and harsh vocals. All in all, ‘Kedamaian Jalan Hitam’ proves that metal can be found in countries all over the world and it doesn’t always need to be edited and mastered.

Check out Tarantulah here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tarantulah-MALAYSIA/

Apollo Gets The Girl ‘Kitten’ Single Review

Apollo Gets The Girl are a three-piece synth band from Glasgow. ‘Kitten’ is their latest single, which is a song full of psychedelic synth beats and strong male vocals. It is almost impossible to listen to ‘Kitten’ just once, due to how different it is and how hard it is to categorize it. None the less, it is very catchy and upbeat. The track is very unique and it will be unlike anything you have ever heard before, so if you enjoy listening to something a bit different then I’d highly recommend Apollo Gets The Girl!

Check out ‘Kitten’ here: https://soundcloud.com/apollogetsthegirl/kitten
Check out Apollo Gets The Girl here: http://www.facebook.com/apollogetsthegirl/

Beatastic ‘GL1TCH3S’ Album Review

Following on from the release of his album ‘This Lazer Life’ last year, electronica performer Beatastic is back, this time with his latest album ‘GL1TCH3S’. Opening with ‘Glitchy’, a fusion of indie rock and electronica, the album is off to a great start. ‘LCTR’ is a track which demonstrates how unique Beatastic’s music is due to the wide range of different sounds and instruments used. ‘Give Up’ features Ayla and the song has more of a mellow vibe to it. It is a very relaxing song to listen to compared to some of Beatastic’s earlier work, which is a lot more fast-paced and electronic. Next on the album is the slow but deep song and the acoustic guitar works well with his rich vocals. ‘Together/Forever’ has a post-rock feel to it and the repetitive lyrics make it one of the most catchy songs on the album. Further demonstrating his musical progression is the track ’26 Years’, which is another mellow song but this time fused with a rock music vibe. ‘Addiction’ is a great example of a song which uses influences from both electronica and rock music and the beat is very strong. The use of piano in ‘How Fast the Fog Comes In’ is beautiful and it’s a very slow and heartfelt song. ‘Every Monday is Fine’ has a repetitive chorus, making it memorable and catchy. Opening with acoustic guitar, ‘If You Want To Be Mine’ is a short but pleasant song which features Brook Gulliver. ‘Let’s Make Today About Today’ is a very unique song which features many different instruments and Global Graffiti. ‘Bedtime’ features an interesting guitar riff and mellow vocals. ‘High Tide’ is another mellow song which includes vocals from Jenny Thompson. The last song on the album is ‘Comets and Nebulas’, which last over eight minutes and concludes the album well due to the constant change of pace in the song.

‘GL1TCH3S’ is out on April 30^th.

Check out Beatastic here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/BEATASTIC/

Collapse ‘Arms and the Covenant’ Album Review

Collapse are a metal band from London who formed in 2009. Their latest album, ‘Arms and the Covenant’ is a hard-hitting record full of heavy riffs and impressive harsh vocals. The title track opens with a great guitar riff and it’s apparent from the start that Collapse are bringing something fresh to the metal scene. Duncan Wilkinson’s vocals are very strong in ‘The Cursed’ and merge well with the fast-paced guitaring. ‘The Death Of Man’ is a brutal and striking song, full of tight drum beats and harsh growls. Opening with technical guitaring, ‘Acolyte’ features well-written lyrics and a very impressive guitar solo near the end of the track. ‘Bloodlet’ is one of the songs that stood out the most on the album due to it being of a slightly slower pace yet still as brutal as the fast-paced songs. ‘Follow’ is a haunted-sounding song with more of a melodic metal vibe and horror-filled lyrics. ‘Of Iron’ is one of the strongest songs on ‘Arms and the Covenant’ as Duncan’s vocals are brutal and the guitar shredding sounds amazing. ‘Attrition’ is another fast-paced and fierce song, proving that Collapse are definitely strong contenders in the British metal scene. Ending their impressive album with a cover of ‘Heartwork’ by Carcass, Collapse’s latest album is both enjoyable to listen to and full of great metal songs.

‘Arms and the Covenant’ is due for release on April 1^st via Transcend Music.

Check out Collapse here: http://www.facebook.com/CollapseEngland

Here Is Your Temple ‘So High’ Single Review

Here Is Your Temple are an alt-pop band from Sweden. Their latest single ‘So High’ has an almost ambient/synth pop vibe to it, with electronic beats and mellow vocals. The pulsing bass line further enforces the fusion of pop, dance and electric music, making them unlike any band that you have heard before. The chorus is catchy and lead singer Emily McWilliam’s vocals are both unique and easy to listen to. Here Is Your Temple are a must-listen for fans of bands such as Empire Of The Sun and Depeche Mode. 

Check out the single here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lHK_fPJVhY&feature=youtu.be
Check out Here Is Your Temple here: http://www.facebook.com/HereIsYourTemple

Devil Sold His Soul, The Defiled, Gojira and Ghost at O2 Academy Bournemouth 22/3/13

Post-hardcore band Devil Sold His Soul opened the show, and with their energetic stage performance they definitely set the tone for the rest of the night. The harsh vocals from lead singer Ed Gibbs were outstanding and blended well with the harmonic guitar riffs. Devil Sold His Soul bring a fresh take to post-hardcore music and they received a great crowd reception in Bournemouth.

After recently getting signed to Nuclear Blast Records and having finished recording their album new ‘Daggers’, the past couple of months have been great for metal band The Defiled. Their performance proved exactly why they were chosen for the third time to play on the Jagermeister tour: their energy on stage is contagious and it’s almost impossible to stand still whilst watching them perform. ‘Call To Arms’ was definitely a crowd favourite and it will be interesting to see what musical direction they take when their new album is released later this year.

French metal band Gojira are well-known for being an incredible live band, and tonight in Bournemouth was no exception. Opening with ‘Explosia’ from their latest album ‘L’Enfant Sauvage’, Gojira definitely rocked the O2 Academy. The crowd reception was incredible, there were mosh pits and headbangers everywhere. The heavy riffs and harsh vocals from lead singer Joe Duplantier were amazing, especially in the metal anthem ‘The Heaviest Matter Of The Universe’. Gojira are definitely one of the best live bands in the metal scene at the moment and I’d highly recommend that you see them at least once!

Swedish heavy metal band Ghost have always been somewhat of a mystery to many, mainly due to five of the band members wearing hooded robes, whilst lead singer Papa Emeritus wears a cardinal outfit. Despite their identities being a secret, Papa Emeritus managed to interact with the crowd perfectly, instructing them when to sing and clap, whilst the crowd obeyed him as if he was the real pope. With a backdrop of a church, lots of smoke and incense being burnt, it almost felt as if you were in a real church, apart from the metal music and hundreds of metal fans. They played classic songs, such as ‘Satan Prayer’ and ‘Ritual’, as well as their impressive new song ‘Year Zero’.  All in all, it was an incredible night of metal music for only £5! 

Check out Devil Sold His Soul here: http://www.facebook.com/devilsoldhissoul
Check out The Defiled here: http://www.facebook.com/thedefiled
Check out Gojira here: https://www.facebook.com/GojiraMusic
Check out Ghost here: http://www.facebook.com/thebandghost

Interview with The AvD from The Defiled 22/3/13

The AvD plays the keyboard and sings backing vocals in The Defiled. I caught up with him on the day of the Bournemouth show of the Jagermeister tour.

Julia: How would you describe your musical style to someone who hasn’t heard it before?
The AvD: Our musical style to someone who hasn’t heard it before? Like a rusty trombone on a sunny day! They’ve described us as ‘industrial metal’ a lot, whatever you want to call us. We’ve written acoustic tracks, we’ve written metal tracks, we’ve written a track that may surprise some people on the new album, so whatever really. That’s up to you guys to pigeon-hole us.

Julia: Who would you say are your major influences?
The AvD: I don’t know, everything really. Growing up, I think anything you do in life is just an amalgamation of whatever you’ve experienced really, so I guess we just get into the studio and whatever comes out comes out. Yeah, I can’t really pin-point one person that changed my life. I’d say maybe when I was younger Nine Inch Nails influenced me a lot into what I studied, but yeah, I wouldn’t say that it’s a major influence on what I write.

Julia: How has the tour been going so far?
The AvD: It has been going really well. It’s a privilege and an honour to be invited for the third year in row to the Jager tour, they treat us really well on this and to play with Gojira and Ghost is amazing. We’re really big fans of those bands so it’s really good.

Julia: How does it feel to sign with Nuclear Blast?
The AvD: Nuclear Blast, ah man! It feels like a payoff for many years of work. To be honest we’ve wanted to work with Monty and Mark, who are the new, I guess, head A&R guys over there now. We’ve been talking to Monty since he was working at Roadrunner Records and when they closed down we were like ‘Oh right, so I guess that’s over now.’ But he was like ‘No, come to Nuclear Blast!’ So we did. It feels really good to finally get a record deal and get recognised. The reckoning is coming! It will be good!

Julia: How is the new album going?

The AvD: Yeah, it is recorded; we recorded it in Florida with Jason Suecof. We recorded fifteen tracks and I think we’re going to release eleven. It is going to be called ‘Daggers’ and it’s sounding pretty brutal, I think. I don’t know, I hope you guys like it, basically!

Julia: How does it feel to be playing in Bournemouth tonight?
The AvD: Bournemouth! Man, we used to play Bournemouth in… What was it called? I can’t remember. ‘The Gander’? We used to play really little clubs over here and now we’re playing the O2 Academy, so it feels really good. Showing people we’ve moved on, really.

Julia: What’s your favourite thing about touring?
The AvD: My favourite thing about touring is seeing parts of the world I’ve never seen before. Touring just makes you a better person, I think, because you’ve got to respect people in a certain way that you don’t need to generally in life. You live in a really close proximity to people and everyone has their little weird things and it makes you just learn to leave people alone and give people down time. I think it makes you a better person, that’s the best thing about touring.

Julia: What would you say is your favourite song that you’ve written?
The AvD: That I’ve written? I don’t know, I like all of them, that’s why I wrote them! I’d say the one that means a lot to me is ‘Five Minutes’ on the new album ‘Daggers’ because it’s about a family member that died, so that means a lot to me. I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite, but you know.

Julia: Do you have much else planned for 2013?
The AvD: Yeah, a lot planned for 2013! Basically once we release this record this summer it’s go, go, go! It’s going to get a worldwide release and we’re going to be touring globally. We’re going to be playing festivals, we’re going to be releasing our reworks album, we’re probably going to release a covers EP as well. I don’t know if we’re going to do it as a deluxe edition of ‘Daggers’ or whatever, but we’ll see.

Listen to the interview here: https://soundcloud.com/juliaconopo/interview-with-the-avd-from
Check out The Defiled here: http://www.facebook.com/thedefiled/

Seven Deadly, For The Imperium, Left Unscarred and Breed 77 at The Cellar in Southampton 14/3/13

The first band on stage to kick off an evening of metal was Seven Deadly, a melodic/thrash metal band from the UK. Their songs were packed full of strong riffs and fast drum beats, alongside impressive clean and harsh vocals from lead singer Archie Wilson. Closing their set with ‘From This Darkness’, an exciting song which is fast-paced and features an impressive guitar solo, Seven Deadly definitely gained themselves many new fans from their short but sweet set.

Finish metal band For The Imperium’s energy filled the room the second they got on stage and they were certainly anything but boring live. Every song that they played sounded unique and lead singer Hakim Hietikko’s harsh vocals were both brutal and powerful. For The Imperium managed to run around on stage whilst still playing incredibly well, making them a great band to watch live.

Five-piece metalcore band Left Unscarred stood out well due to their ability to interact with the crowd well and very heavy breakdowns.  Lead singer Duane Oakes’ harsh vocals blended well with bassist Spike’s clean vocals, adding a melodic vibe to their metalcore sound. 

Breed 77 stole the show with their unique fusion of metal and flamenco music. They had a great crowd reception, with most of the audience singing along to every song. Playing songs from their brand new album ‘The Evil Inside’, such as ‘Broken Pieces’, which features strong riffs and well-written lyrics, and old classics such as ‘The River’, they managed to please both old and new fans. Their cover of Alice Cooper’s ‘Poison’ was amazing and definitely a crowd-pleaser. Paul Isola’s vocals are incredible and captivated the crowd well. If you’re looking for an outstanding and unique metal band, Breed 77 are definitely the band for you. 

Check out Seven Deadly here: http://www.facebook.com/sevendeadly1
Check out For The Imperium here: http://www.facebook.com/fortheimperium
Check out Left Unscarred here: http://www.facebook.com/LeftUnscarred
Check out Breed 77 here: http://www.facebook.com/breed77
Photography by Rob Campion: http://www.facebook.com/RobCampionPhotography