Stright out of Italy, melodic metal band LAHMIA offer up their latest album ‘Into the Abyss’ on to the world, with bone crushing vocals and melodies to keep you on the seat of your chairs. After reviewing their album I took the chance to ask Flavio Gianello (lead guitar, main composer) about the band, the music and the life of it all.
1. Welcome to Metal Shock Finland, I’m Dylan Raine, Can you introduce yourselves?
Hi Dylan and thanks to you and to Metal Shock Finland for the space you are giving us. We are Lahmia and we are from Rome, Italy. We play a layered melodic death metal in which you can find various influences: Swedish and USA death metal doom, black metal but also more classic stuff.
2. How and where did the music start?
The band met its present identity in 2007. In that year we released our first demo titled “An Eternal Memory” which received e great feedback but we actually were still in search of more personal and unique sound. If I put that CD on now I can hear several nice ideas but also a lot of stuff poorly developed.
One year later we released our second EP (“Forget Every Sunrise”) and the goal was almost achieved. The feedback was even better than on the first release so we knew we were on the right way. With demo we found our sound that was finally optimized with “Into the Abyss”: a balance between extreme yet melodic genres.
1. This I Swear
2. Contract
3. Penance
4. Righteous Vengeance
5. Eye (for an Eye)
6. Reflections (Instrumental)
Out of nowhere ‘Mirrorblack’ come in hard with a fury of metal combining heavy attacks of guitar riffs and beats to destroy even the hardest metalheads out there. ‘This I Swear’ uses a mix of fast running riff lines and melody lines to leave a mass of destruction behind it. With the combinations of heavy chugs and vocal effects, this is one really heavy starting track worthy of all great metal tracks.
Into ‘Contract’ and we’re introduced to Saxon’esq melodies and hooks before again the powerful vocals take control taking this track into a new place. Add then the breakdowns between the guitars and drums into the atmospheric chord based structures and harmony lines, you are drawn in and kept there. ‘Penance’ starts with a beautifully haunting classic intro line, so gentle and well played in every element. The pure tonalities of the lead guitars are so well executed with full control and full of atmospheric changes. The vocals are full of expression and thought, adding an additional element of texture to this powerful track.
Into my favourite track on this album ‘Righteous Vengeance’, this is an absolute madhouse track with the vocals screaming their way through the heaviness whilst keeping control, add then the full blast of the melodies and heavy riffing and you have one extremely powerful track. As you get deeper into the track itself the song expands into something quite extraordinary as the lead guitars take control and open up another element, which then leads into a pure heaviness with the growled vocals, and back into the melodies with speed increase between the drums and guitars. Brilliant! ‘Eye (for an Eye)’ starts with an almost ‘symphony x’ type lick opening the track up for so many potentials before the vocals come in to give it a lashing. As you progress further and further into the track your whole experience of the song increases. As you go deeper, the music goes with you, taking you further into more atmospheric changes of the music and vocals.
We leave the album with the instrumental madness that is ‘Reflections’, with the arpeggio sweeps, echoes, delays and multitudes of heaviness with licks and riffs flying in from every corner.
A Beautifully rich album full of textures, key elements and moods to take you on an endless journey of self awakening and discovery!
Absolute Brilliance
Members:
Joe Hughes – Vocals, Guitar,
Rod Boston – Bass,
Jon Woodhead – Guitar,
Ollie King – Drums
Artist: Bejelit Album: Emerge Label: Bakerteam Records Release Date: March 26th, 2012
1. The Darkest Hour
2. C4
3. Don’t Know What You Need
4. Emerge
5. We Got The Tragedy
6. To forget And To Forgive
7. Dancerous
8. Triskelion
9. Fairy Gate
10. The Defending Dreams Battle (Aruna’s Gateway)
11. Deep Water
12. DefCon13
13. Boogeyman
Power metallers Bejelit have just released their fourth full length album ‘Emerge’. Bejelit debuted in 2004 with the critically acclaimed album ‘Hellgate’ and since then they’ve built a solid reputation by releasing two more top-notch efforts and hundreds of shows all over Europe, most notably their 2008 and 2011 appearances at Slovenia’s Metal Camp festival. ‘Emerge’ displays 13 heterogeneous and energetic Power Metal songs enriched by deep lyrical themes and epic scenarios. The music is aggressive but non-destructive, willing to drive the listener to emerge from any adverse situation. Instruments such as accordions, classical guitars and violins have been added to the mix (with a special mention for the guest appearance by Laura Brancorsini of Furor Gallico), giving it an unusual flavor which will no doubt attract even the most demanding audience. ‘Emerge’ was mixed by Nino Laurenne (Sonata Arctica, Amorphis, Wintersun, Elvenking) at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki, Finland, and mastered by Svante Forsbäck at Chartmakers Studios (Rammstein, Korpiklaani, Amorphis).
From the very onset of playing the album, you are thrown into high speed riffs and colourful breakdowns between the vocals and choruses before the shredding takes over and the music takes a new direction. With the power riffs and vocals like that of Dragonforce you are taken into a blast of pure power metal, pitch harmonics, wonderful effects, high calibre licks and melodies, and fun choruses to get your rockin’ to the music. ‘Don’t know what you need’ has a very anthem feel to it, taking the music into a new era; Then comes the much anticipated neo-classical solos, before the shredding takes over and the addictive choruses kick in once again.
Let’s go a little gentle for a moment with the intro to ‘We Got The Tragedy’ with the beautiful finger picking before the metal starts with a well placed flanger effect and the mix of obscure drum beats to confuse the mix. As we go further through the song the synths come in with the melodies of the guitars bringing the song into its own. Look at this alongside the beautifully placed piano’s of ‘To forget And To Forgive’ and you have two emotionally clever pieces of music, well created, brilliantly written and placed. For me, the solo section of ‘To forget and to Forgive’ with the combo between classic blues and rock joined together to make a brilliant mid section of this song, not too over-the-top, is just perfect.
As you progress through the album it just gets faster and faster, until you come to the intro of ‘Deep Water’ with the ocean effects and gentleness of the pianos taking you into a blissful state of being for a moment. Now, that you’ve had that moment of bliss let’s get those gallops charging. A highly addictive melody takes this track into somewhere totally away from the rest of this album. The verses are cleverly crafted with the intricate lyrics pacing alongside the well engineered music. Introducing the violins to the mix and you have a really good attempt of a ‘viking-esq metal’ track hidden deep within a power metal album. Fantastic! After movement 1, you are given the most beautiful breakdown into pianos and violins taking an ambient stroll along the proverbial beach, before high speed metal riffs come back in and take you back into the song with all the madness. Then, out of nowhere, acoustic finger picking comes in and slows the piece down again. Although this is becoming confusing, I am quite happy to become confused for this piece of music. It has been so well written and thought out! Yet again, we’re thrown back into another mix of heavy metal with very powerful vocals and expressions. Ending with the very beautifully textured pianos and waves effects this song has blown out all expectations for the rest of this album, with 11 minutes 18 seconds worth of shear madness just left you, you are left wondering what could possibly follow this.
Along follows the super-rich effects of ‘DefCon13’ building you up into what you are hoping to be a massive final track and well… it sort of is; but not the way you are expecting. Think Opeth mixed with everything you’ve heard so far from this album and you are nearly there. The acoustic guitars and vocals are so well represented within this song creating layers and textures to gently take you elsewhere until the very rich violins and pianos come in once again and expand this song beyond all limitations.
I had started off this album quite unsure of where it was going and now as I hear the end I understand where it was taking me and I thank it. This is not just “another” album; this is an experience, a journey!
01. Ante Bellum
02. The Third Eye
03. Seaquake of Souls
04. Black Roses Kiss
05. The Light beyond the Dream
06. The Seventh Gate
The Mystic Alchemy Suite
07. Scene I: The Final Destination
08. Scene II: Old Memories
09. Scene III: At Twilight
10. Silence after Storming
Turin (Italy) 2003, Progressive-power metal band Opening Scenery is formed and comes to its final stage three years later in 2006, becoming the result of the union of five Musicians pulled together by their passion for metal and progressive.
Immediately you’re thrown into the technical sides of progressive guitar riffs with the Synth melody line taking control. A little further into the first track on the cross between the effect driven vocal sub-lines and choruses you can feel the integrity of this track becoming more and more intriguing step by step. There is a fantastic breakdown using very cleverly executed time signature changes before the heaviness creeps in for a little look at the darkness. ‘Ante Bellum’ is a fabulous first track! ‘Seaquake of Souls’ starts with an almost “Zen” garden take, before the metal guitars destroy that attempt of bliss. Again the vocals and melody lines increase the depth of the music and change your listening mind. As the song progresses a little further the amount of sounds going on at one time is quite excellent; the drums become so hypnotic taking you deeper into the track itself. Another great track brings you ‘The Seventh Gate’ the almost Metallica-esq intro with the malmsteen-esq sequences before the prog takes over. The vocals become super expressive here with the guitar solos creating octave harmonies between the left and right really taking this track into a new era.
Enter ‘The Mystic Alchemy Suite’ with a unique breakdown of sounds and sequences, almost like a ‘B-side’ or the elusive ‘Hidden Tracks’ of an album, but how special these are! ‘Scene II: Old Memories’ is an excellent example of super-expression giving you warm textures and rhythmic progressions beyond the rest of this album. Simply exquisite! The album ends with a gentle peaceful breakdown of choral atmospheres and orchestrated instruments.
Artist: LA STRANGE Album: QUEEN OF DISGUISE Label: ALL OUT MUSIC (2011) Promotion: ATOMIC STUFF
1. Control
2. Addicted to some thoughts
3. Enjoy all their lies
4. Far away
5. Give in to me (Michael Jackson cover)
6. The perfect husband
7. In the silence
8. Keep goin’ on
9. Queen of disguise
10. You finally knocked me down
“When you live for years, hiding constantly behind a mask, at some point you need to express all those feelings that you kept secretly for so long. For some reason you want to, and you need to share your ghosts. Music has always been my favourite way of escape, and I think it’s the best vehicle to find balance between reality and dreams” – Angela Castellani (LA Strange)
LA Strange sings about her own experiences, her intimate feelings and her past. Sometimes they are a little explicit as they deal with such important themes like domestic violence, but they always truthful and sincere. Born in a little village in northern Italy, La Strange is an Italian rock singer. Her strong motivation, natural talent and passion together with a powerful stage presence and un-ending commitment to her music are her main qualities.
So now we know a little about the history of the artist and the foundations for the music, so, what’s the album like? We are basically listening to extremely expressive melodic rock with so many different elements of passion, musical interaction, layers and textures, and the most expressive vocals ever to take a stand on a rock album. From song to song you are taken on a journey into super-expressions and lyrics which can evoke emotions that you didn’t even know were there. Eventually you’ll come to LA Strange’s version of ‘Give In To Me’, a Michael Jackson cover that the singer wanted to record both in tribute to his untimely death and because it was his music that inspired her the most during her childhood and she has really given this track a new light. I fell for ‘The perfect husband’ with the haunting melodies and obscure riffs. The lyrics feel very much of ‘Megalomania’ by Muse with the haunting array of tones of expressions. ‘In the silence’, ‘Far away’, and ‘Enjoy all their lies’ all share beautiful powerful melodies and textures, far beyond that of simple expression. The expressive tones in the vocals of ‘Enjoy all their lies’ reminded me of the diversity in ‘Nina Simone’s’ vocals with their subtle little changes making them even more beautiful than the last passage.
A wonderful album to listen to and become a part of!
Artist: Golden Sextion Album: The Silicon Age Label: logic(il)logic Records / Andromeda Dischi Release Date: 04/02/2012
1. Hi-Tech Love
2. White Wall
3. Sex N’ Roll
4. Portrait
5. So Far From This Day
6. Jesus on My Back
7. Saints Are Gone
8. The Silicon Age
9. Hidden Truth
10. My Pain
11. From High
“Telling people our vision of this world, that’s what we always wanted to do… this album is an indissoluble fusion of lyrics and music, it’s a journey through beautiful and bad things that surround us every day!” – Fabio Dessi (Fabian).
Golden Sextion is a hard rock band founded in Modena in 2007 by Faust and Loose: their aim is to create modern and sophisticated songs, trying to merge at best their influences to impress the audience and to gain more and more fans!
The line-up stabilized in 2009, and consists of Fabio Dessi (Fabian) on vocals, Fausto Giovannini (Faust) on bass, Andrea Lusenti (Loose) on guitars and Gianvittorio Vandelli (Jean) on drums: the guys quickly obtain approval and support from a growing fan base, and decide together to enter the studio to record their first album, “The Silicon Age”.
Into the album and we start with super expressive “dirty” guitars and heavy rock throughout the drums, bass, and vocals. The chorus is absolutely full of sounds and madness, integrating every possible sound into one element. ‘White Wall’ has for the first time introduced an almost synth based “White Noise” effect panning on the left which works exceptionally well, it is totally different but very effective. The Vocals are very typically of all good rock anthems, into the solos and we’re given a blast of Satriani-esq expressions and techniques. ‘So Far From This Day’ just melted me, with the rich synths, combined with the delayed acoustic guitars before the highly expressive vocals come in to take you onto another plane of existence. Into the solo which I’m hoping is going to be something special, and it is! Beautifully rich tones and simple playing (not too over-the-top) which could have easily ruined it, before the vocals come in again and continue this song. Amazing!
As you move further and further through the album you are given a blast of hard hitting anthem tracks from a band which I can only hope to see live one day. The use of progressions and synths are exceptionally well created to produce the best possible outcome of one album. ‘The Silicon Age’ is an excellent example of the expressions being combined into one great piece of music, with everything just fitting into place. With the mix of digital trance-like effects jumping back and forth throughout the track before the octave effect solo guitars come crashing in taking you deeper into the music. We leave this album with ‘From High’ and the highly hypnotic digital bass/synth line before the vocals come in and take it further. A fantastic mix and combination of expression coming out of every crack in the wall!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
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Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 