Tag Archives: Albums

The Album of the Day!

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Kayser - Read Your EnemyKayser (Helsingborg, Sweden)

Read Your Enemy, 2014, Listenable Records

As a contrast of Soilwork’s more melodic style, but closer to Darkane’s trash intensity this comeback release from the Helsingborg band Kayser is an extreme highlight. Track after track I smile in my car at high volume moving myself back to my teenage room playing air guitar to long intense riffs and heavy drums. In an article in Helsingborg’s Dagblad February 17, 2014 by Stefan Lindqvist the band’s style is described as American influenced thrash metal with influences initially from Megadeth, Slayer and Black Sabbath. ‘Buy, buy’ – it’s a must! Also have a look at Upcoming events. Soon it’s ‘buy, buy’ tickets for a gig at the Tivoli in Helsingborg.

Recommended tracks: Read Your Enemy, Almost Home Where I belong, He Knows Your Secrets…but, enjoy all tracks in a really compact production.

The Albums of the Year!

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Soilwork (Helsingborg, Sweden)

The Living Infinite, 2013, Nuclear Blast Records

Readers may understand the strong feelings for Soilwork. The band with its roots in the soil of the region just closely south from here. Many critics doubted the success of releasing a double CD, all in all, with 20 songs. The album was welcomed by the fans and the critics gave  highest marks in many of the reviews.

Recommended tracks: This Momentary Bliss, The Living Infinite I and II, Antidotes In Passing, Parasite Blues (as here earlier indicated…don’t forget to read the lyrics, which are very influenced by the metalsouth nature and surroundings).

Darkane (Helsingborg, Sweden)

The Sinister Supremacy, 2013, Massacre Records

How great it was to meet Darkane live again at the Metalbar, Tivoli, and to see them again at KB, Malmö, recently was just great!! The sixth album release is from many said to be their best. Also like Soilwork is Darkane with roots from the next door village south from here.

Recommended tracks: The Decline, The Sinister Supremacy, Hate Repentant State

Odyssey / Black Temple (Helsingborg, Sweden)

Abysmal Despair, 2012, Transubstans Records

The album is from 2012, but qualifies here due to its high quality as a debut album. Also this album was welcomed with high scoring reviews by local culture critics. This is a hard noise rock band and, not to forget, hard working live band. The energy experienced and described in an earlier post qualify these guys as the most promising band seen here in many years. We can only hope that their mission is now spread over a wider landscape in the aftermath of their recent European touring together with Bombus. When can we get more songs, Black Temple??

Recommended tracks: Wicked With, Abysmal despair, Keloma, No Fucking Way, Darkred

Free Fall (Karlstad/Stockholm, Sweden)

Power & Volume, 2013, Nuclear Blast records

Freedom Rockers, they have been classified as. I would say that with an musical upbringing in the 1970’s with bands like Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, AC/DC and Frank Zappa streams of happiness and nostalgia flow from listening to Free Fall. Mattias Bärjed who formed the band has heavy experience from The Soundtrack Of Our Lives has manged to put together a classical line up with drums, guitars, bass and vocals. The voice of Kim Fransson made a bunch load of us older guys (read: older AC/DC fans) happy when Free Fall kicked off the Metalsouth idea during Christmas Rock at the Tivoli late December 2012. Fabulous stuff!! Fantastic debut and just waiting for more!!

Recommended tracks: Power & Volume, Free Fall, World Domination

The Album of the Day!

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Darkane (Helsingborg, Sweden)28516[1]

Rusted Angel, 1998, War Music

To prepare for a highly waited for visit and welcome at the Kulturbolaget (KB) in Malmö tomorrow Sunday December 8, a recommendation of Darkane listening must take place. The debut album in connection with the latest album will be the natural selections. The connecting link is, of course, Lawrence Mackrory on vocals, who returns on the fabulous album released this year. More on that below, but this is where it all started. The feeling of a strong and consistent path of Darkane from debut until today is great. You can trust these guys. Listen to Rusted Angel and feel that the quality delivered over the years is extremely high. Have a look at the comments from their comeback gig at the Tivoli earlier this  autumn on this blog.

Recommended tracks: Bound, Rape of Mankind, Rusted Angel, July 1999

darkane-sinistersupremacy[1]

Darkane (Helsingborg, Sweden

The Sinister Supremacy, 2013, Massacre Records

At the Darkane comeback at the Tivoli in Helsingborg earlier this autumn most of the tracks on this Album were played. As described, from that gig the band did an excellent performance

in all aspects. Great to see and hear Lawrence Mackrory back on vocals. The link back to the debut album is clear an the consistency is just wonderful. No experiments on going more melodic or to try other routes for commercial purposes. It’s really rough and really authentic. You can trust these guys (as always) and the hope is that they will wake up all of their ‘older fans’ to see that the future of success lies ahead! At KB tomorrow we will be a bunch of guys welcoming them as support to Dark Tranquillity, but what a support it will be! The rumour of having Soilwork and Darkane on the stage at the same time seems to be true, but we will have to go to London into 2014 to make it happen. BUT, why not?? A one hour flight and this dream will come true!!

Recommended tracks: The Sinister Supremacy, Ostracized, Humanity Defined…and more or less all other tracks!!

The Album of the Day!

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Black Temple (Helsingborg, Sweden) imagesCA8DYFQG

Abysmal Despair, 2012, Transubstans Records

Black Temple, formerly called Odyssey, acts support for Bombus at the Beta in Copenhagen tonight Saturday December 7. Due to the annoying storm called ‘Sven’ in the southern Sweden public transports over the bridge to Copenhagen are negatively effected an my own prescence won’t sadly happen. The least to be done here is to strongly recommend Black Temple’s debut album Abysmal Despair (released in the name of Odyssey). Have a look at some formidable videos on Youtube and Wicked Witch is cruel!! Then a great good luck for a successful gig tonight!

Recommended tracks: Wicket Witch, Abysmal Despair, This Ship Is Sinking

Bombus (Gothenburg, Sweden)46312[1]

The Poet And The Parrot, 2013, Century Media Records Ltd

It becomes even harder to miss also Bombus this evening at the Beta in Copenhagen when reading the latest issue of the Close-Up magazine (#158) where this album is voted the second best album of the year 2013. Please, read the previous impressions on this blog and seeing them here in Helsingborg was a privilege. Then Bombus was support to Danko Jones in a sold out Tivoli! Please, Bombus, give us another chance and continue your Into The Fire Tour closer to us also in southern Sweden and, please, have Black Temple as support for total metalsouth happiness.

Recommended tracks: The Poet And The Parrot, Into The Fire, Cut Deep

The Album of the Day!

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Soilwork (Helsingborg, Sweden)imagesCABPLWDJ

The Panic Broadcast, 2010, Nuclear Blast

As here earlier described, are there strong feelings for the latest release from Soilwork The Living Infinite, but I will here start with my first album encounter with Soilwork via a free CD in the magazine Close-Up some three years ago. Since then I have purchased all of the Soilwork album production enjoying and discovering a depth in music and lyrics.

Recommended tracks (and in the following order): The Thrill, Night Comes Clean, Epitome

Amorphis (Helsinki, Finland)Amorphis_-_Skyforger[1]

Skyforger, 2009, Nuclear Blast

From a metalsouth point of view if Soilwork is of liking Amorphis can be an additional ingredient into the field of melodic death-and heavy metal. This album took me through a weekly vacuum cleaning of the house. Vacuum cleaning can be rather inspirational this way!!

Recommended tracks: Sampo, Sky is Mine, Majestic Beast, Skyforger

Entombed (Stockholm, Sweden)Entombed1

Left Hand Path, 1990, Earache Records

As mentioned as a t-shirt reference in the first post of this blog Entombed started as Nihilist in 1987. In 1989 they continued as Entombed and released their first album Left Hand Path in 1990. When cheating and going slow during a gym session Entombed is a great energy raiser. Their first album is one of their absolute best! Their coming album release beginning of 2014 will be of highest interest. Any direction back to the origin would be fantastic!

Recommended tracks: Left Hand Path, Supposed to Rot, Bitter Loss, Morbid Devourment, Abnormally Deceased…and all other.

Darkane dominates!

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On Saturday October 5, Darkane was back on stage at the Metal Bar (Tivoli) in Helsingborg. Five years have passed since the band released an album and to be back on stage to play most of the songs from the Sinister Supremacy release from this year put some pressure on the band members and some great expectations in us fans who were there to meet Darkane live again.

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The album has been met by great reviews and personally I think it’s the best of the six albums they have released. The introduction of the new beer ‘Darkale’ from the micro brewery Helsingborgs Bryggeri was another reason to be at the Metal Bar in good time before Darkane was to perform. The Metal Bar opened at 20.00 with a promise to have Darkane on stage at 22.00. We were there already at 19.30 in order to secure some space in this smaller establishment housing approximately 200 people. Too early we were there, but only to be met by band members Peter Wildoer (drums) and Christofer Malmström (guitars) shaking our hands and wishing us most welcome. What a welcome and what a great feeling of being really close to the band’s music! I have followed their career via the CD’s, DVD, reading articles and reviews and here I am discussing the new beer with Peter Wildoer, to which Darkane has lent part of its name and logo type. An irrelevant comment here may be that the Darkale beer was most drinkable an can be a huge success.

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Darkane dominates!! At the regular Darkane slow intro with Peter Wildoer entering the stage, sitting down at the drum set giving a deep sigh we can see that some thoughts are there on how this will go. BUT, from the first strike Darkane is back and the one hour performance is incredibly intense and hits us in our faces massively.

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Finally, I must also mention and thank Klas Ideberg (guitars), Jörgen Löfberg (bass) and Lawrence Mackrory (vocals) in this great performance. Lawrence Mackrory is back again on vocals. He did vocals on Darkane’s debut album ‘Rusted Angel’ (1999) and with this fantastic comeback we can only hope that he will be a stable factor of the sound that the band currently gives. His t-shirt stating ‘Nihilist’ directs our thoughts up north to Stockholm where Nihilist towards the end of the 1980’s (1987-1989) set the base for the current band Entombed, which surely will be mentioned later at this blog.

A big bonus was given to us when the previous Darkane singer Andreas Sydow (currently with Riot Horse) entered the stage and did Chaos vs. Order together with Lawrence Mackrory.Thank you to Darkane for a great performance and we look forward to seeing you again at Kulturbolaget, in Malmö, on December 8, 2013.

(Inspirational articles and reviews: Close-Up Magazine #152/David Noaksson; Helsingborgs Dagblad, Oct. 7, 2013/Hannes Grönberg)