Eclectic Vibes - February 2008
by Andrew Frey
Ascension of the Watchers featuring Burton C. Bell
This Month, Micro Reviews of: Ascension of the Watchers, Chip Raman, Dreamscape, Egypt Central, Farmers Market, ID Guiness, Imperia, Dub Trio, Kick To Tha Head, Mannhai, No Redeeming Social Value, Ryan Montbleau Band, Yelworc, Vanishing Point
MICRO REVIEWS:
This Month's Rating Scale is from 1- Stinky thru 10 - Effluent
Ascension Of The Watchers - Numinosum
Ascension Of The Watchers
Album title: Numinosum
Record Label: 13th Planet Records
Rating: 3
New brainchild of recently re-inspired vocalist Burton C Bell (Fear Factory, G/Z/R). This stab at emotive spiritually uplifting rock unfortunately comes off bearing a droning, nebulous, implosion of talent and musical fortitude. Not good.
(3958) Page Views
Ascension Of The Watchers online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download Numinosum from Amazon
• Purchase Numinosum on Amazon
Dreamscape - 5th Season
Dreamscape
Album title: 5th Season
Record Label: Locomotive Records
Rating: 8
Progressive metal from Munich, Germany portrayed with theatrics and grandeur. The male vocals are sung with just the right finesse between intense and emotive plus the headbanging grooves are parted with a friendly amount of atmospheric interludes.
(3621) Page Views
Dreamscape online:
• Website • Wiki
• Purchase 5th Season on Amazon
Dub Trio - Another Sound Is Dying
Dub Trio
Album title: Another Sound Is Dying
Record Label: Ipecac Recordings
Rating: 8
Swirling metal, reggae, dub, jazz and a sphincter load of talent together with unscrupulous sounds in an elevator shaft of musical potential that also swings the fulcrum of nefarious fanaticism to produce outlandish yet cohesive results in a Melvins kinda way.
(3777) Page Views
Dub Trio online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download Another Sound Is Dying from Amazon
• Purchase Another Sound Is Dying on Amazon
Egypt Central - Egypt Central (self titled)
Egypt Central
Album title: Egypt Central (self titled)
Record Label: Fat Lady Music
Rating: 4
Originating from Memphis, TN (not Egypt) this highly emotive, overly pimped and polished nu-ish metal is undeniably very hard rock radio friendly, but they appear to have sacrificed their integrity and sold their musical souls to get there. Yawn!
(4089) Page Views
Egypt Central online:
• Website • Wiki
• Purchase Egypt Central (self titled) on Amazon
Farmer's Market - Surfin’ USSR
Farmer's Market
Album title: Surfin’ USSR
Record Label: Ipecac Recordings
Rating: 8
Improbable permutations of traditional Bulgarian melodies along with jazz, folk, and rock that have been percolated to oblique perfection. The songs often lead with uptempo folk rhythms that are broken with soundtrack-ish ambiance and other delightful distractions.
(3960) Page Views
Farmer's Market online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download Surfin’ USSR from Amazon
• Purchase Surfin’ USSR on Amazon
ID Guinness - Cure For The Common Crush
ID Guinness
Album title: Cure For The Common Crush
Record Label: Guinness Records
Rating: 9
A creative Canadian dripping on the goss of Bowie and Pink Floyd via his anthemic psychedelic rock platitudes with ambient quagmires and juxtapositions of frilly frivolity ultimately producing sustained excitement.
(3728) Page Views
ID Guinness online:
• Website
• Purchase Cure For The Common Crush on Amazon
Imperia - Queen of Light
Imperia
Album title: Queen of Light
Record Label: Locomotive Records
Rating: 8
Orchestral bombastics are common place for this atmospheric, melodic, gothic tinged metal outfit. Led vocally by the beautiful and very capable Helena Iren Michaelsen (ex-Trail of Tears) the compositions posture from an aggressive yet progressive viewpoint that is as effective as it is entrancing.
(3633) Page Views
Imperia online:
• Website • Wiki
• Purchase Queen of Light on Amazon
Kick To Tha Head - As We Think So We Are
Kick To Tha Head
Album title: As We Think So We Are
Record Label: Turkey Vulture Records
Rating: 6
Spurting raw punk rhythms coalesced by hardcore attitude, these short yet intense and guttural emanations examine pain and aggression via a curmudgeonous introversion of fantastic frivolity.
(3685) Page Views
Kick To Tha Head online:
• Download As We Think So We Are from Amazon
• Purchase As We Think So We Are on Amazon
Mannhai - Hellroad Caravan
Mannhai
Album title: Hellroad Caravan
Record Label: Locomotive Spain Records
Rating: 8
Heavy groove rockers from Finland with ex-Amorphis front man Pasi Koskinen handling the vocal crooning and cajoling. Their stoner rhythms have a tendency of headbanging their way into my heart and CD player.
(3588) Page Views
Mannhai online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download Hellroad Caravan from Amazon
• Purchase Hellroad Caravan on Amazon
No Redeeming Social Value - Still Drinking
No Redeeming Social Value
Album title: Still Drinking
Record Label: Dead City Records
Rating: 7
Determined to live up to their name, these unabashedly confrontational and alcoholic fueled New York Hardcore addicts hammer home a gaggle of humorously juvenile songs, with titles and concepts to frame their unredeemable status.
(3893) Page Views
No Redeeming Social Value online:
• Website
• Download Still Drinking from Amazon
Chip Raman - Edge Of A Song
Chip Raman
Album title: Edge Of A Song
Record Label: Rosebud Records
Rating: 7
This talented singer/songwriter has packaged art, heart and musical revelry into one cohesive package bearing his name and providing a nice platform for spreading his thought provoking, easy going compositions.
(3809) Page Views
Chip Raman online:
• Website
Ryan Montbleau band - Patience on Friday
Ryan Montbleau band
Album title: Patience on Friday
Record Label: Self Released
Rating: 8
This album, a tribute to the band’s good friend and backup drummer Denis Babin who died in 2006, shows off a zippy, zesty, robust and charismatic singer/songwriter with his band strutting a stoic resonance with a sturdy stance.
(3682) Page Views
Ryan Montbleau band online:
• Website • Wiki
• Purchase Patience on Friday on Amazon
Vanishing Point - The Fourth Season
Vanishing Point
Album title: The Fourth Season
Record Label: Locomotive Records
Rating: 8
Australian born melodic metal with synth and actual singing. Hints of goth and a mixture of progressive and power metal elements manage to magnificently funnel the guitar riffs into a formidable force that has been seen around the globe.
(3662) Page Views
Vanishing Point online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download The Fourth Season from Amazon
• Purchase The Fourth Season on Amazon
Yellworc - Icolation
Yellworc
Album title: Icolation
Record Label: Metropolis Records
Rating: 8
Dark and creepy gothic industrial perturbed by prickly electronic tantalizations of unforeseen atmospheres in a realm of unrequited synthetic love and hate. Icolaiton is the conceptual continuation of the infernal “Trinity- journey.”
(3715) Page Views
Yellworc online:
• Website • Wiki
• Download Icolation from Amazon
• Purchase Icolation on Amazon