THE RA-6600 - Alien Planet review

Year : 2015
Genre :Vintage Piano Rock with Glam, Psychedelic, and Doom Drone affections
Label : HEMBOT Records
Origin : United States
Official site : > - here - <

The (Panasonic) RA-6600 is not only a highly renowned vintage equipment suitable for multitrack ound recording, it also is the chosen moniker to highlight occurrences of a quite distinctive brand of sound manipulation - both rhetorically invented and masterminded by RA-6600's premier songwriter and frontman Daniel Olivas.

The disc is a self-referential looped chronicle of insatiably eager introspection, deliberately filtered through the reality tunnel of a 14 year old youngster: a series of six-, straight-to-the-point status reports on six different shades of the ever-abundant cartoon elegy. Filled with harmonic structures that skillfully reflect the most well established traditions of massively piano driven melodic rock, what separates the Ra-6600 project from the countless peers stuck on the Sir Elton John bandwagon, - not as if there were anything necessarily shameful about being stuck in/on anything/anyone - is the sense of evident irony Olivas is able to court these familiar musical passages with. Read on to know more.

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Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls review

Year : 2015
Genre : Power Metal, Heavy Metal
Label : Sanctuary Copyrights/BMG
Origin : United Kingdom
Rating : 9.99 / 10

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There is a huge amount of lore available already on how the practical and creative processes have been shaped and formed that finally brought this release into the position of being able to collide with some precious sunlight in your immediate area.

It is known that the band members have employed a slightly different creative strategy than they usually tend to rely on. Now they came to the studio - the studio in which they recorded "Brave New World", as well - with competent grasps on the musical building blocks that the outlines of the song ideas seemed to be demanding, but they did not spend excessive amounts of time chiseling out and perfecting microscopic details, instead remained intent at keeping the spirit and Eddie unleashed throughout the recording sessions - what could go wrong?

As result of this new found approach, and, given the experience the members have under their belt with live playing, the production characteristics of the disk are quite close to a live recording. It indeed reflects-, and even cherishes the miniscule amounts - and not more - of mathematical inconsistencies that the music is not just ready-, but even is happy to tolerate on the surface of this style of playfully heated, adventurous, oftentimes escapist tell-a-tale rhetorics, because the meaning behind a chunk or a sequence does not have to suffer any type of relevant harm as result of being "just" approximated with superb organic skills that are driven in real time, and not by unmistakably precise calculations. Read on to know more.

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Fear Factory - Genexus review

Year : 2015
Genre : Industrial Metal, Metal
Label : Nuclear Blast
Origin : United States
Rating :  9 / 10

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Following 2012's "The Industrialist", - see review, IF  - Fear Factory returns with a full length that showcases new found commitment towards the hallmark musical style that already have been visited - arguably: created - by the band throughout their memorable "Mechanize" outing, back in 2010.

In retrospect, it seems as if "The Industrialist" album has sought to represent the highly relative calm before the storm that is about to be finally unleashed with this fresh effort, as 2015's "Genexus" is a radically aggressive audio tour right out the box, streamlined and scientifically hyper-optimized to induce instant effects of inescapable cyberpsychosis, as was/is the case with "Mechanize", as well.

You are dehumanized.

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Motörhead - Bad Magic review

Year : 2015
Genre : Heavy Metal, Hard Rock with superb glam affections
Label : UDR Gmbh
Origin : United Kingdom
Rating : 8.2 / 10

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A fresh Motörhead album probably has no other dormant expectation to live up to than to deliver the same quality Lemmy Kilmister - "Did you Kill, Mister?" - and his collaborators have established themselves with on the primordial metal surface. Regardless of your other alleged fascinations, you would need to be quite biased to deny that this group is doubtless synonymous with the mere ethos of metal, and now that Lemmy is about 666 years old, the music that is pouring out of him - the same music, essentially, but there is nothing wrong with this - gets even more sinister. Sinister Kilmister, the frontman did not really lose anything of his charisma as a performer, and his pipes have started to reflect a lifetime of commitment towards the oh, so sweet primordial form of metal. This commitment is commendable, be it to anything.

From a production standpoint, there is no effect wizardry included on this release, and the agenda, not surprisingly, once again is the exploitative-, no-time-to-fuck-around deliverance of super-boomy sonic assaults, arranged into forms that all seek to reflect their original, out-of-the-naked-amp forms as closely as possible, yet no particular regards (snobbery) are given for the final results of their continuous collisions. This very limitation, which, at the same time, is central to the working mechanics of the disc, also equates with the eternal charm of this group. Read on to know more, because Lemmy knows where you live.

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Joe Satriani - Shockwave Supernova review

Year : 2015
Genre : Instrumental Space Bubblegum Blues Rock
Label : Sony Entertainment Music
Origin : United States
Rating : 7.0 / 10

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Joe Satriani once again emerges to declare his virtually timeless commitment towards a very particular wavelength of music which sounds to consist of a doubtless mature command of introverted/contemplative blues rock, combined with an insatiable thirst for 1980's family friendly science fiction TV series ethos.

Truth be told, a portion of Satrani's portfolio reveals a forward-pointing picture of eloquent silence massacre, as whenever he chooses to experiment with orchestrating thrilling collisions between the potentials of largely electronic musical genres AND his particular brand of fretboard acrobatics, then the resultant stimulus always exhibits relevant amounts of evolutionary paths covered, ensuring undeniable novelty for this artist's credit, on which the top of Satriani manages to stay relevant - and even deservedly so.

From these points of evolution onward, - after ensuring the audience that he can deliver true creative novelty IF he chooses to, - Satriani presumably is self-assured to be safe to "finally" utilize his most favorite types of constraints, necessarily and steadily forming to be the quintessential-LY constrained Satriani: the introverted, somber, stoic plastic toy-rock action figure sci-fi blues guitar guy, giving you his family friendly space tourism pinball machine highscore table music, with the immediately recognizable "Satch Touch" all over it.

His song, "Surfing with the Alien" - from the '80s - seems to have cemented a portion of Satriani's soul in said era, when he was both young, fresh and undeniable, with Emperor Palpatine sparks of electricity running on his fingers when playing daguitta' in his video clips - the amount of cheesefest is unprecedented to this day, Ladies and Gents - and later on, the fact and realization of: "shit, time harvests all, my childhood included!", brought fourth a musical element in his material that was/is/probably will be responsible for that super-evident morose tint and introversion that reigns rampant/evident on 99% of his "conventional" releases.

By "conventional", I mean releases he writes from the heart, as opposed of writing from the heart, WHILE demanding a simultaneous evolution from it. Why write anything for a stagnant heart at all? So, demanding a playful and creative heart, would be the optimum. The virtually complete absence of latter optimum stance is something Satriani is highly suspect of, but how can you rightfully criticize him for this, as 1. as noted, he has superb amounts of novelty on other releases, and 2. Yngwie, anyone? Not as if an even more pronounced example at a stagnation could pose as any type of excuse for Satch's questionable willingness to sculpt out a hyper-optimized legacy, that which currently reeks self-repetition.

The music on a conventional Satriani disc is never bad nor sloppy enough to radically criticize its perpetrator for, yet never contains enough stylistic novelty to fuel the enthusiasm of a music snob worth calling one. Whether someone admires this type of family friendly Satch-Touch family space tourism bubblegum pinball machine rock or not, is a question to be addressed by the individual, yet, seeing how Satriani chose to deliver yet another full length on the exact same register, now it is practically safe to say that more will follow, hopefully adjacent to periodic releases of deliberate evolution and innovation.

Read on to know more, though there isn't much else to, not this time.

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Faith No More - Sol Invictus review

Year : 2015
Genre : Alternative Metal
Label : Reclamation Records / Ipecac
Origin : United States
Rating : 9.0 / 10

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What can you say about a new Faith No More full length beside wanting to say everything and then something more about it? The renowned group is notorious for a set of illustrious and well deserved feats, the casual invention of funk-, and alternative metal steadily included among those timeless accomplishments. If you are a newcomer to music in general - which happens to everyone, usually sooner than later - then the mere act of correctly gauging and weighing the significance of this group, is not self-explanatory at all.

Suffice it to say that Faith No More was THE upcoming band that other bands of  excessive amounts of established notoriety of the given era seemed and reported to enjoy listening the most to: Slash of Runs 'N Goses, the members of Metallica, and as I recall, even Nirvana expressed their utter and complete artistic admiration towards what Faith No More was doing even back in 1992, - the era of "Angel Dust", a timeless record to this very day - while Corey Taylor of Slipknot/Stone Sour goes as far as to say that witnessing Faith No More's live performance of Epic in 1990's MTV Awards, - from the audience - has completely rewrote his nervous system and gave him a completely new grasp on music.

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Lamb of God - VII: Sturm und Drang review

Year : 2015
Genre : Groove / Thrash metal crossover with tints of doom
Label : Epic Records
Origin : United States
Rating : 9.2 / 10

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Following 2012's "Revolution", - here is my review of it, IF - Lamb of God returns with a particularly mature disk that showcases clear commitment towards a set of carefully orchestrated evolutionary choices. While the group was renowned and notorious for putting rabid guitars on eloquently purged chili overdose in an attempt to successfully court Southern registers, the Lamb of God of today showcases an even more refined identity, now complimented and highlighted by a musical interest that dares and manages to successfully embrace newly implemented rhetorics of true creative value and mature musical variation.

In the context of Lamb of God, the riffing never was suspect of non-convincing levels of relentless punching power, and this circumstance is once again stressed by a particularly clever and adept command of throwing the mere dynamics of the riffing around with new and fresh approaches/themes that simultaneously come out of nowhere, yet consort with their adjacent elements via establishing true organic connections with them.

It is not that the band makes sure that no sequence will overstay its welcome, it's more like you are not even given sufficient amount of time to comfortably appreciate the pure awesomeness of a given pattern, because right away they will throw yet another one AND a bloody kitchen sink at you. This was intended as a compliment, mind us, because no matter how brief awesomeness is, its character of being "just it", necessarily remains faithful to itself, once you recognize it as such.

If, once the recognition is present in your soul, and you are invited-, even better: commanded by the music to undergo this process again just to arrive hastily to yet another instance of the same optimum realization, then, Pro Tip - > this is the clear sing that you are listening to a great fucking record. This Lamb of God release puts me on this train of much appreciated sonic massacre, then showcases the brakes of the train, only, they are no longer part of the apparatus, as they have been utterly and competely dismantled. Finally!

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Symphony X - Underworld review

Year : 2015
Genre : Progressive Metal
Label : Nuclear Blast
Origin : United States
Rating : 10 / 10

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After 2011's Iconoclast, Symphony X returns with a - logically - consecutive sonic declaration, one that sounds to showcase a commitment to the formula that already has been established and pretty much been perfected even with the latest full length contribution of the group. Once you reach a type of supposedly attainable near-perfection in your selected craft, repeating the results is sufficient enough, as long as your work retains the quality that is high enough to be able to reign above the immediate reach of the tentacles of a random music critic.

Luckily/unfortunately for you, I'm not JUST a random critic, and so I will immediately say that this release is super-similar to Iconoclast, and I will second this notion with a "AND thank god & co. and Symphony X for that, because, frankly, Iconoclast was a blast, hell, even a Nuclear Blast, just to give you a terrible pun(ishment.) Sorry for doing it again.

While the former delivery of the band remains a pleasure to listen to, and it is still easy to spot new-found and delicious things in it, the group just toppled this abundance with a whole new batch of data, which, is mentioned, evidently bears the hallmarks of songcraft and compositional tactics that have been introduced on the 2011 delivery. Yes, the sound is the same, too, and you will fucking love it. (Once again.)

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A & L - Onto the Next Heart review

Track reviewed:
Onto the Next Heart

Release date:
2015

Group Responsible:
A & L

URL to check the track out at:
https://soundcloud.com/buzzrecords-1/next-heart

This review starts out with the official press release of the reviewed track. So be prepared, as consensus reality - which is courted by subjectivity - might even be better-, OR slightly/moderately/vastly altered compared to what the press release states. 

With the overwhelming positive response from their debut release, A&L is back with a new tune. Onto the Next Heart is an upbeat, pop/rock song with catchy hooks and killer guitar riffs and an in-your-face vocal that you will find yourself singing along with. With a vocal style that sounds like The Pretty Reckless meets P!nk, Lana delivers a vocal performance that demands your attention.

A&L is a new act made up of two seasoned industry professionals: Anthony Casuccio and Lana Marie. Anthony is a 20 year music veteran whose production work has been nominated for three Grammy awards, been featured in major music publications and topped the music charts. Lana is an award winning vocalist who has been a long-time force on the WNY music scene and voice to many jingles on radio and television.

Here is my personal review of the track:

The song sounds to me as an authentically collaborative-, yet (in this case: optimally) submissive declaration fueled by an unrelenting urge to find common ground between two traditional fields of popular rhetorics. The harmonic/melodic structure is both pop top to bottom, yet polite to the point from which on you start to have religious visions of Karate Kid and Tony Mon.TAna, and, if this combination does not excite you, then I do not know what to tell you. Experts claim that if you remember the '80s, you weren't even there, anyway.

Among the most relevant optimum traits of the track, the fact how little - if any - it concerns itself with its hyper-polite nature, - it is a bombastic love song from the '80s, at heart  - is truly remarkable. And here is why: though the delivery has both precise songcraft and competent harmonic mastery to support its skillfully constrained musical fascinations, the fact that you are able to hear a '80s disco song orchestrated to-, AND resonated by a present day studio environment, is a doubtless relevant experience that manages to coat itself into a timeless variant of mere charm. I love how the song DARES to be a '80s tribute song without even considering the alleged obligation to feel embarrassed in the process, instead, showcasing its love for the rendered styles with crisp, muscular production values.

The most important thing I'm picking up on this dancefloor-flanker romance-provocer Pia Zadora exclamation mark, is this: the people who were involved in the creation of the track, were having fun all the way throughout its inception and realization, while the form of the song itself is highly/naturally indicative of this mere agenda, of "just let's have fun", and I find nothing wrong with this stance. If you give AT LEAST THIS to me, then you can't commit sins against music that I could not forget with ease tomorrow. All in all, a competent song that manages to find an implausible-, yet OH!, so logical common ground between stone-traditional popism and pink spandex glam metal amourism. And, if you don't like it, then you should seriously admit that your main problem with it is that the things described in the track are happening to someone else, and not to you.

URL to check the track out at:
https://soundcloud.com/buzzrecords-1/next-heart

Where to purchase reviewed contribution:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/onto-next-heart-feat.-anthony/id964835777


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Dataphiles - Steampunk CybercrunkEP review

Year : 2015
Genre : electronica, very cyberpunk
Origin : United Kingdom
Official site: http://www.dataphilesmusic.com

Cyberpunk is not dead, it's just in the process of becoming your reality. Your iPhone approves, and it takes you with itself tonight, as this device will likely be the thing that you will be the most immersed in, as it will always give you what you want it to give you in the given moment, but the same could be said of mere technology, which is "just data", and so are you. Mystical design.

The cyberpunk style that was highly popular throughout the '80s and the '90s, - started as a mini-revolution among bored sci-fi authors - had to arrive to a temporary halt and subsequent,- although restrained hiatus when the then-current technological limitations have reached their maximum capacity in the context of interactive stimulus immersion - "yes, but will I be TRULY there?" (Define YOUR(s) "truly".)

But such boundaries can no longer claim legitimacy to their own once-necessary existence, as computational power is widely becoming almost as accessible as gasoline scented air, in order to calculate and render anything that the imagination is able to conjure. Oldflash: in this day and age, humans are super-reliant on technology - wish you had a dollar every time you've read this? - that which pretty much equates with the primary means to access and consume the exact type of streamlined information that you are looking for, driven by your preferences. A YouTube user has no more pronounced nor more valid relevant existence to you then the seconds you are watching her/him for, and this inherent-, almost romantic level of arrogance is every user's right to exercise. Cyberpunk primarily is a mindset, a school of thought, composed of iconographic inner images and m(o)ods, and the musical testaments seeking to represent these aesthetic sentimens have been around the very moment those bored sci-fi authors have arrived to the experimental conclusion that opposing and fearing technology and its machines are not necessarily the optimum stance. Do NOT oppose technology and machines: integrate them instead. This, I feel, is the exact idea behind the new Dataphiles EP, called Steampunk Cybercrunk. Had you not integrate it, you would not have the chance to assess your experience of it. Read on to know more about the release.

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AlogiA - Elegia Balcanica review

Year : 2015
Genre : Progressive Metal with various key tastes
Origin : Serbia

The moment one hears their latest release kick off from the speakers, one instinctly knows that Serbia's AlogiA enjoys and exercises an excellent command over an abundant amount of especially richly textured metalmongery.

The album features and maintains a relentless urge to offer constant variation on soberly controlled harmonic structures, taking you on thorough and exciting strolls of various sub-genres of metal, smelted into muscular compositions that exhibit clear character and identity.

Sometimes less is more, and it especially is true when the music is of such varied and optimally dense character as you will be subjected to on this release. The band has chosen to display all its key fascinations with metal via a hefty, "no time to waste" attitude. One has the fine feeling of being over soundscapes that would have been suitable to make multiple songs of, yet the band still is willing to refrain from orbiting around an idea for too long, and instead they spoil you with harmonic/melodic intricacy that ofentimes borders on the robust verges and timeless charisma of technical death metal. This is especially true in the context of the instrumental opening track.

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Martyr

Lyrics:

kill me
there's no other way
to complete me
time is alive
and I figured it out all right
it's hard to lose a mind
especially with pride

fuck myself to death now
that's right
giving it all up for something
that must be right
my assumptions are fried
let's pretend that I lied

whether I do want it or not
it makes no difference
you're gonna tear a hole on my life
a one-time precedent

through the realms of regrets
I will know no enemies
I know you will love me
wrong
I know belief is disease

do remind me once again
how to be alive when I don't know?
what gives me the part
that pulls one through?

why is that when I really
achieving something,
after it, it's not the same?
never is the same
you're faithful within
death is your name
never is the same

in the meantime

darling, I will love you
sometimes
ripping apart all the limits
just still confines
see awareness arise
the ultimate weapon is designed

so fuck myself to death now
that's right
giving it all up for something
that must be right
my assumptions are fried
let's pretend that I lied

whether I do want it or not
it makes no difference
you're gonna tear a hole on my life
a one-time precedent

moving on to something
it is never, it's wrong, it's the same
I know you will love me
wrong
I know death is your name

do remind me once again
how to be alive when I don't know?
what gives me the part
that pulls one through?

why is that when I really
achieving something,
after it, it's not the same?
never is the same
you're faithful within
death is your name
never is the same

I want your
I want your soul to fill
life is here
to make you make you feel

Buy this for $3 at:
https://gyzmusic.bandcamp.com/track/martyr

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