Chvad SB - Crickets Were The Compass (Silber Records, 2014)

Genre: Drone
Year: 2014
Country: USA
Tracklist:

1. It Haunts Her
2. A Hair Before Sundown
3. The Dust Cloud Permeates
4. People Keep Asking And I Say You're Well
5. There Isn't A Day That Goes By
6.Crickets Were The Compass And The World Goes 'Round  

Review:
Those of you who read my Gut movie review (here), might remember me saying the music had a sort of a eerie electronic vibe, affordable but haunting.

Well good news, Chvad SB (the artist from the Gut soundtrack) has released an album titled "Crickets Were The Compass". While only having 6 songs it clocks in at a whopping 47 minutes of music thats a whole lotta bang for you buck. The music is best described as more of electronic eerie drone music. The sort that you have to listen to with your eyes closed and your mind free to think a story with the music. I feel its excellent stuff for any indie movie maker to use. It's not a release I would recommand playing at a party or just in the car, it's stuff you need to be in the mood for.
And that might be the album biggest fault, it IS long and frankly hard to sit through in one sitting. I had to take a break in between listening because I was loosing focus of the music.

The artwork is done by Richard Sala (http://richardsala.tumblr.com), its well done. It really captures the feel of desolation, loneliness and sense of having lost something. It fits the moody music well.

Since its purely instrumental their is no need for lyrics so I can see why they didn't include a booklet in the release but still It would be great to have even some more artwork and maybe some fotos in a separate booklet next time.

Concluding, what we have here is scary, eerie and a good soundtrack to slowly getting insane. No rating this time because its truly something you like or not. Give it a try.

Where to buy: 
Here

Various Artists - "Metal Scrap Records XX Years Anniversary" compilation /Special Edition Deluxe 2CD Digipack/ (Metal Scrap Records, 2013)

 

Genre: Divers
Year: 2013
Country: Ukraine


Tracklist:
Decade A
01. HELL:ON - Slaughter Smell (feat. Andy La Rocque) 03:38
02. CRUSHER - Misled Youth 03:35
03. CYDIA - Последний Стон (The Last Groan) 04:08
04. UNGRACE - SBM (Death cover) 06:07
05. INFECTED - Disinfected 04:20
06. QUO VADIS - Iron Fist 02:19
07. SYMURAN - Ravens (Amon Amarth cover) 03:51
08. CRYOGENIC IMPLOSION - Process Of Imagination 03:35
09. MAJESTY OF REVIVAL - Newborn Sun 06:45
10. RAM-PAGE - Shadow 02:30
11. LETHARGIA - Привкус Мести (Taste of Revenge) 06:30
12. DRUKNROLL - Моя Звезда (My Star) 04:39
Total playing time: 51:57
Bonus video: interview with Anatoliy “Kruger” Kondyuk,
director of Metal Scrap Records

Decade B
01. DRUKNROLL - Самурай (Samurai) 03:50
02. MIND AFFLICTION - Odium Humani Generis 04:15
03. SYMURAN - All Shall Fall (Immortal cover) 05:50
04. INFECTED - Symbiosys 01:21
05. INFECTED - Erosion Of Brain 02:11
06. VOICE OF MIDNIGHT - Signum Crucis 03:59
07. UNGRACE - Unhuman 03:18
08. Dima Krutyholova (FORCEOUT) - Clarity 03:46
09. SYMPHONY OF SYMBOLS - Controlled Cataclysm 09:54
10. QUO VADIS - Rasputin (Boney M cover) 03:40
11. MAJESTY OF REVIVAL - The Code (Remix) 05:07
Total playing time: 47:13

Bonus videos: CRUSHER, CYDIA, D.HATE, DIMICANDUM, DRUKNROLL,
HELL:ON, NEURONIA, UNITED MIND CLUB, VADIKAN


Maybe we should start with some background to this metal label, Metal Scrap Records,
they began in 1993 as Metal Scrap Production, releasing a paper metal magazine. After a while they released some audio releases as well (starting with compilations). Now about 20 years later the label is stronger then ever, metal label #1 in Ukraine, helping domestic and foreign bands to get out there, releasing cds and organizing concerts.

Why am I telling you this?
Since I got their brand new compilation album here to review. For their 20 year anniversary they released their seventh compilation album

So what do we get here? Bands that span the complete history of the label, I reviewed some of them before (MAJESTY OF REVIVAL, DRUKNROLL, MIND AFFLICTION, FORCEOUT, Lethargia)
The compilation comes in 2 version a normal version and the special edition deluxe version (the version to get and the version I have got).
The Special Edition Deluxe Enhanced 2CD Digipack includes: 23 audio tracks/100 min. of music in various Metal styles, as well as 9 official videos, 17 min. video interview with director of Metal Scrap Records, bandphotos, wallpapers and a  booklet.

The quality of the album is top notch, it feels sturdy looks nice and really professional. 

Not all the songs are the same quality but with a label with that many releases there is bound to be something for everyone.
Also it contains the best cover of a Boney-M song I ever heard. Check it out.

Rating:
No Score

Where to buy:

http://metalscraprecords.com/shop/en/store/product/view/36/3347

Forceout - Delusion (Total Metal Records, 2013)

 

Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Year: 2013
Country:Ukraine
Tracklist:

1. Intro
2. Усе, що є
3. Living in Lie
4. I Need Salvation
5. Lost Feel
6. Свинцеві квіти
7. The Same
8. In the Dark
9. Equilibrium
10. Not My Delusion
11. Outro

Review: 
Forceout presents us with Melodic Death Metal that sounds Swedish but is actually from the Ukraine and guess what?
It's good, no scrap that {ha get it?} it's really good.
The production is top notch. Drum, guitar and bass are all well mixed in and it results in a very clean sound that suits this kind of music. I wasn't expecting this kind of production judging by the country and the album art.
The songs bring a lot of variation themselves, this keeps repeated listenings fresh. And the music does warrant repeated listenings.
A negative aspect could be the fact that the singing is not top of the game, compared to the way the instruments sound, it should have been able to stand out a little bit more against the competition.
It's  not easy to pick a highlight song but mine would be 'Not My Delusion', but frankly their aren't any real stinkers in here.

The cover is of course based on the title 'delusions'. I like that how normally its the evil one looking out of the mirror and here it is the other way around. The booklet contains all the lyrics (even readable this time) with some 'artistic' backgrounds but it's not bad at all. A well done package.

For my part one of the best that metal scrap records have put to disc.
Rating:


Where to buy:
http://metalscraprecords.com/shop/en/store/product/view/37/670

Mind Affliction - Pathetic Humanity (Metal Scrap Records, 2013)

 

Genre: Death/Black Metal
Year: 2013
Country: Poland
Tracklist:

1. Intro
2. Human Centipede
3. Mental
4. Vishe I
5. Druga strona umysłu
6. Vishe II
7. Lithium

Review: 
Mind Affliction already released a 2011 demo titled 'Mental Disorder' after a little waiting they got signed by Metal Scrap Records to release their debut album 'Pathetic Humanity'.
What they present to us on this album is a mix of death and black metal, the first one being the most present.

Too bad it's never more then just mediocre. Not that it sounds bad, or that the songs are crap, it just that they got a long way to go before they get their own identity. It's all very standard, an intro like this has been done a thousand times and thats the feeling I got while listening to the other songs as well. It does gets points for being brutal and unforgiving. I just hope for that extra little more next time. I wonder if they make a better impression live. I hope their next album takes it up a notch.

The booklet is a real letdown, no lyrics just 2 band pictures. I know budgets are always strickt for new bands but still it doesn't offer the fans a whole lot.
The artwork itself is standard as well but I do like the pictures on the disc itself.

Rating:


Where to buy:

NOTTI DEL TERRORE – HAVOC (self released, 2013)

 

Genre: Industrial Metal
Year: 2013
Country: Belgium
Tracklist:

1. Recharge
2. Unstoppable Killing Machine
3. Hellbringer
4. Fixless
5. Summoning Tchernobog
6. My Name
7. Perversatile
8. Downside Of War

Review:

Notti Del Terrore is no newcomer here in the Belgium metal scene. They have already recorded a demo, an EP and a debut album that got them mostly positive reactions from press and fans
I'm reviewing their newly released second album here. Havoc is the title of their new child and it sounds pretty great. The album starts with Recharge and it's a great kick-off song that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go till the end.
Its sounds like it's the early millenium all over again. Think Fear Factory when they where best, late 90s, early 00s.
The band did away with the drum machine on this second record and found their own drum machine 'Fré', who does a great job drumming with machinelike perfection but still giving this a real organic drumming sound. The vocals are powerful and brutal when they need to be and clean when the song asks for it. The riffing is excellent and definitely well done.

  
A lot of industrial bands make the mistake of being drowned in too many samples and losing their metal edge, luckily the band has us covered with some but not too many so no need to write them off in advance for this.

The booklet is well done, it has a nice peace of art in the middle that is reused for the background of the front cover. I love artwork like this, not photoshopped to death but hand drawn. There is a downside as well though, for some reason we don't get the full lyrics inside but only snippets. To bad for people like me who like to listen with the booklet in hand.

A good tidbit of industrial metal that fans of the genre (especially for the older Fear Factory fans) should buy!

Rating:


Where to buy:
http://www.nottidelterrore.com

Lethargia - Divine Madness (Metal Scrap Records, 2013)

Genre: Death Metal
Year: 2012
Country:Ukraïne
Tracklist:  

1.	Прелюдия (Intro)	02:30
2.	Траур похороненых сердец	07:38
3.	Скорбь Сатаны	05:10
4.	Я сожалею...	07:05
5.	Сломаный мир	06:21
6.	Божественное безумие	06:39
7.	Колдовство и одержимость	05:47
8.	Презрение (feat. Диана Ларионова)	06:49
9.	Мистика любви	04:45
10.	Суд грешников	06:45
11.	Кода (Outro)	02:49
12.	Злые нравы	05:19
13.	Нежность и любовь (feat. Евгений Кугаевский)	03:47
		01:11:24

Review:

I have to admit it, if I read about a release thats it's a mix between doom and gothic metal I don't really get all that excited, their seems to be a dozen new bands like this popping up all the time that just seem to mimic my dying bride but with more keyboards/synthesizers.

I wasn't really paying that much attention to this release at first but let me tell you, this second full length by this Ukrainian band won me over pretty quickly. The intro was a nice buildup leading into "Buried Mourning Hearts" which, while quite long didn't fail to grab my attention. Song 3 is where the action started with "Grief Of Satan" where death metal vocals are first introduced in the album. the song has something very mesmerizing about it and with its 5:10 running time it's one of the shorter ones on here. The album has all kinds of different vocals mixed in, sometimes using whispers to set a eerie mood, other-times using grunts or just even normal talking to create different kinds of specific musical moods.
The disc is packed full with 13 songs clocking in about 70 minutes. While some might find this a bit too long, I don't think thats a problem when the music is good. And luckily this is the case.

It's bit a shame the music is sang in russian with no translation provided in the booklets, I do feel that I miss something here. Maybe for the next release their can be a quick summary about the songs in the booklet.
Talking about the booklet, this is one of the best quality ones I've seen so far from this Ukrainian label, very impressive stuff.

I can recommand this release for fans of older gothic/doom releases, espacially to Russian metalheads who will get that little bit more out of it.

Rating:



Where to buy:
http://metalscrap.org.ua/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3472:lethargia-qdivine-madnessq-cd&catid=41:audiocd&Itemid=47

Symphony of Symbols - Stupefying Beliefs (2012, Metal Scrap Records)

Genre: Death Metal
Year: 2012
Country:Ukraïne
Tracklist:  

1.	Cold Season 1	01:10
2.	Time Has Come	10:41
3.	Cold Season 2	01:00
4.	The End of Material Life	08:11
5.	Cold Season 3	00:42
6.	Fire for the Body	08:23
7.	Cold Season 4	01:02
8.	The Fire of Revenge	06:51
9.	Cold Season 5	00:52
10.	Roaming	10:28
11.	Cold Season 6	00:43
12.	Things That Only the Magus Knows	11:10
13.	Cold Season 7	01:15
		01:02:28

Review:
The artwork promises a progressive metal band, but the music delivers death metal like Morbid Angel and Death would give you.
The riffs follow the DeathMetalGuidebook and resemble previously mentioned bands. The singer has a good grunt that does the job but lacks variation. The site mentions that this is death/black metal but I fail to see the black metal elements here. The
While we get 13 songs presented only about half of them are real songs, the others are more progressive interludes that seems a bit out of place for an otherwise standard death metal album. Out of place but still A+ for effort.
 

 
 The booklet seems a bit crowded, it could have used a page or two extra because the 13 songs all have lyrics that they put in. In true Hongerian style it's English that makes little to no sense. I would actually prefer them to write songs in their own language for once.

Rating:


Where to buy:
http://www.metalscrap.org.ua/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2772:symphohy-of-symbols-stupefying-beliefs-cd&catid=41:audiocd&Itemid=47