Zitat:Just before the kick-off of The Blackest Of The Black tour in the USA, with Danzig and others, Norwegian Dimmu Borgir releases a new DVD: ”˜The Invaluable Darkness”™, named after the tour from autumn 2007. The package comes out in a great packing and is made out of two DVD”™s and a CD: the CD contains the intimate show at the Norwegian P3 studio, the show of which some songs also made it to the DVD-part.

Core of the package are of course the two DVD-disks, in stereo and surround (choose by the menu): DVD 1 is a registration of last year”™s European tour (which explains the title) and ”˜Behind The Scenes”™-footage, where we get a nice look into the life of Dimmu Borgir off stage and the daily routine while being on the road. This part is a good omen of what the American audience can expect on stage this autumn. DVD 2 is a bit more versatile: a great recording of their 2007 Wacken show (with a different set list), an intimate show in front of just 60 people at the Norwegian P3 studio and the band”™s six videos and some other small things. The CD is, like just mentioned, the full audio version of the P3 show; twelve songs in stead of just the three hits that made it to the DVD footage.

The coverage of ”˜The Invaluable Darkness”™ tour concerns mainly the final show of the leg at the band”™s home base Oslo, added with footage from the shows in Berlin and London. The sound is adequate, although the guitars are a bit much in the background, compared to the drums and especially the keyboards. As you may have read in our interview from last month, the image is every now and then shown as if you are watching a malfunctioning TV-screen; the result of a, at that time, non working US camera of which the band decided to use it nevertheless, be it in an over-the-top malfunctioning mode.
The other part of this disk is a good depicture of the daily life when playing in such a band: not just the long lasting moments on the road (life in a nightliner), but also visits to the ESP-factory and the studio where the band”™s leather clothing is being made or, on the road, being repaired. For those unaware yet: life on the road can be a drag, which leads to jokes and puns not everybody will understand at once. To me, the Dimmu flip flops and the Peter Gabriel version about live drummer Laureano were nice examples of that part of the illustrious life on the road.

The second DVD is a top rendering of the massive show the band did at Wacken 2007. good sound, good visual footage and a well thought of set, which is a bit less orientated at the ”˜In Sorte Diaboli”™ album which cam out in September of that same year. As Silenoz told us, this show was kind of a gamble: due to the huge line-up of Wacken you don”™t have a lot of time to get the sound right. Well, they gambled right because the Wacken footage is in my eyes the best show of the three recorded, giving you a real deal Dimmu Borgir show. The second show on this disc contains three Dimmu Borgir hit songs (the favorites) of a show they did at the Norwegian P3 studio, in front of a selected audience of 60 people or so. No show issues on this one, just the band playing in their stage outfit in front of an intimate stage setting, something you are not likely to see a lot regarding the band”™s current status.
The third main topic concerns the six official videos the band has done so far, in which way you don”™t have to depend on the internet if you want to see one of them. The DVD offers the following songs: ”˜Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse”™, ”˜Vredesbyrd”™, ”˜Sorgens Kammer Del II”™, ”˜The Serpentine Offering”™, ”˜The Sacrilegious Scorn”™ and ”˜The Chosen Legacy”™. Of course you might miss videos like ”˜Mourning Palace”™ and ”˜Arcane Lifeforce Mysteria”™, yet those were more like live videos. What disappoints me a bit, is the footage from the Gold Award show, where the band is being presented a gold disc for the success of their album. On the other hand, such an award is of course a highlight for the band itself regarding public appreciation, so why not those few extra minutes on this disk? And finally there is the almost compulsory gallery part, and those who know the band, will know that there will be some fine theatrical pictures among them.

All in all this ”˜The Invaluable Darkness”™ DVD has turned out to be a nice treat to the fans, both the older, but especially the newer fans. The sound is not always sublime, yet on the other hand very honest, so without studio tricks which often kill the life feeling. Of all footage I have seen from this band, this is the most versatile one. When deal with the question whether it gives an honest display towards the American fans, I can say that I went to both the club tour (in Tilburg in stead of the places where this footage was being shot) and Wacken 2007 are truthful footage of those shows. Of course other bands have come up with even more spectacular DVD”™s, but the band”™s wish to give the fans value for money has been fulfilled: a very honest DVD!

Moin!




Ich war nicht so der Fan der letzten Misery Index Scheiblette, doch die neue überzeugt mich doch durch sehr passende Sound, eingängiges gutes Songwriting und dem ganzen andere Schabernack. Sehr guter Deathgrind halt

Hier mal ne Proffesionelle Meinung:

Zitat:With the economy continuing to spiral downward, the financial "misery index" will keep increasing. Music has a tendency to reflect what's going on in society, and I have a feeling we're going to be hearing a lot of very angry music for a while. The band Misery Index has no shortage of anger or brutality.

Traitors opens with an aggressive two minute instrumental, and though the tempos ebb and flow, the intensity is maintained throughout the CD. Misery Index combines death metal with grind and deathcore, and mixes things up very well.

Some songs are fast and technical with flailing blast beats, while others are slower and sonically devastating. The band's songwriting is right on the money.

A lot of bands in this genre keep the songs short, and Misery Index does several two minute tracks. They are also able to stretch things out, and their four and five minute songs have enough diversity and are sufficiently compelling to hold the listener's interest.

Improved songwriting, outstanding drumming, excellent guitars and brutal vocals make Traitors Misery Index's best album so far.

VÖ: 2003

Genre: Instrumental Rock

Label: -

Herkunftsland: USA


Tracklist:

01. The Hornet
02. Behold The Panther Stone
03. Feeding Frenzy
04. Celebrity Shark Week
05. Slide Rule
06. Under The Table
07. Dark Horse
08. The Rig
09. Crockett & Tubbs
10. Reisenberg
11. Red Shoes

Spielzeit: 33:47

Zitat:As progressive rock and prog-metal fans, we detest jamming on principal. We like our music to be tight and composed and intellectual, right? The keywords are musicianship, mixing and mastering, virtuosity, and complexity.

Well you'll find precisely none of that on Darediablo's Feeding Frenzy – and yet the damn thing works!

This is retro '70s style hard rock. It is purely instrumental with a trio playing a rumbling bass, a distorted guitar, a retro Fender Rhodes, a smoking Hammond; all driven by aggressive and unrelenting drums. It sounds like a jam session of three very capable masters of heavy, unremitting funkgroove stoner rock with a nudge and a wink to fusion. This is head banging and fist pumping and raw and it rocks. This is guys-kind-of-music played by guys-kind-of-guys for guys-kind-of-guys Geeks and chicks enter at their own risk 'cause this music has balls!.

Go pick up a bass guitar. See how heavy and how long it is? Okay - pluck one of those long, fat strings. Hard. See how heavy that string vibration feels? Now hit the Metal-Master pedal set to DOD for some death metal distortion. Get your buddy on a growling Hammond and start jamming to a jazz-rock groove – and you're getting close to the Darediablo sound.

The music never lets up. There are no ballads or over sophisticated time signatures, yet beneath the heavy foot-tapping almost industrial rhythms and the repetitive simplicity there is enough deceptive intricacy to keep your attention through the 35-minutes and the 11-tracks. And if not – then you can spend the time trying to figure the relationship between each purely instrumental track – obviously devoid of lyrics and obvious meaning – and the sometimes whacky track titles. What do "Red Shoes", "Behold the Panther Stone" "Celebrity Shark Week", and " Crockett & Tubbs" have to do with anything? Ah well - it just adds to the fun.

It's not quite prog-rock, it's not quite metal, and it's not quite fusion; and it's not leaving the CD player for a long time!

VÖ: 2008

Genre: Thrash Metal

Label: Zaentz Records

Herkunftsland: USA


Tracklist:

01. Bonded By Blood
02. Exodus
03. And Then There Were None
04. A Lesson In Violence
05. Metal Command
06. Piranah
07. No Love
08. Deliver Us To Evil
09. Strike Of The Beast
10. Hells Breath (Bonus Track)

Spielzeit: 46:35

Zitat:Auf eine großartige Diskussion bzw. die Thematik einzugehen, welchen Sinn es hatte, den Meilenstein der Thrash Geschichte namens "Bonded By Blood“ neu einzuhämmern, lasse ich an dieser Stelle lieber mal sein. Fragen dazu werden zum baldigen Interview mit EXODUS sicherlich geklärt werden können. Fakt ist, dass "Let There Be Blood“ nichts anderes ist als "Bonded By Blood“ mit neuem Sound und Sänger.

Gary Holt und Co. haben ja bereits mit ihrem letzten Album “The Atrocity Exhibition (Exhibit A)“ bewiesen, dass es ihnen immer noch sehr leicht fällt, eine Thrash-Granate zu konstruieren und mit dem für EXODUS typischen Sound zu versehen. Da macht dann auch das neue bzw. alte Album keinen Unterschied. Der Sound ist fett und bombastisch wie schon auf den letzten drei Scheiben, Rob Dukes kreischt sich durch die geilen Songs wie ein junger Gott, kommt dabei allerdings nicht an den leider verstorbenen Originalsänger Paul Baloff heran. Das muss er auch nicht, den Paul bleibt unvergessen und vor allem Einzigartig. Rob Dukes macht seine Sache so, wie er es am besten kann. Nicht mehr und nicht weniger.

Natürlich werden die Puristen jammern, dass man hier eine Entweihung eines unsterblichen Klassikers begangen habe. Aber man muss es auch mal aus anderer Sicht betrachten. Viele Thrash-Metal-Fans jüngeren Kalibers sind mit "Bonded By Blood“ nicht vertraut oder kommen mit dem etwas altbackenen Sound der alten Aufnahmen nicht klar. EXODUS möchten hier wahrscheinlich ihre Chance nutzen, die geilen und schädelspaltenden Stücke wie "Bonded By Blood“, "Exodus“, "A Lesson In Violence“, "Piranha“ oder "Deliver Us To Evil“ eben diesen jüngeren Fans in einem ganz neuen Glanz zu präsentieren. Seien es Sound oder Gesang, die Aufnahme macht bei objektiver Betrachtung genauso viel Spaß, als wenn man sich die Scheibe aus dem Jahr 1985 anhört. Auch auf die Gefahr hin, dass ich beim nächsten Event gesteinigt werde, aber das Coverbild von "Let There Be Blood“ gefällt mir persönlich besser als das Original von "Bonded By Blood“.

Tja, und so polarisieren EXODUS mal wieder und werden mit dem Release für reichlich Gesprächsstoff, Diskussionen der Fans und Kritik sorgen. Kleiner Tipp: Lasst euch stattdessen lieber von der Platte ordentlich beschallen und wenn sie euch nicht gefällt, dann hört euch eben das Original an. Zum Kauf verpflichtet ist hier niemand. Ach ja, diesem Klassiker eine Benotung zu verpassen wäre nicht wirklich sinnvoll, da man außer 10 Punkten eigentlich nichts vergeben kann. Da es sich hierbei um ein Re-Release handelt, spare ich mir die Benotung sowieso.