Francis Bowie - Francis Bowie EP review

Year : 2012
Genre : Synthpop, Intelligent Pop
Label : Independent
Origin : Denmark
Official Site : > - here - <

Francis Bowie is Francis Bowie in Francis Bowie's Francis Bowie EP, and the official name of the trade is pop music of the intelligent kind. The EP represents an odd-, nevertheless pleasing behavior in the sense that it manages to set things more and more right after a relatively trite and ultra-orthodox opening track. From that point on, the lighting and the mood becomes fluorescent and intriguing in a "shady side of the '80s" kind of way, as Francis Bowie takes you on an atmospheric/emotional sonic stroll that indeed is able to resonate with the ethos it is dormantly obliged to resonate with, which is none other than the one represented by world famous name-kin David Bowie. The builds are simultaneously playful, slim, dainty, fragile, while being uncompromisingly dark, though never enough to make a lady frightened - nooooo, no - and there IS the promise of high definition bliss and happiness, but hopelessness is not someone who has no access to the party, either. Read on to know more about this EP.

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Royal Hunt - Show Me How To Live review

Year : 2011
Genre : Progressive Metal Hard Rock
Label : Frontiers Records
Origin : Denmark
Rating : 9.2 / 10

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Denmark's Royal Hunt delivers its eleventh studio album to date. This band has been around since the late '90s, experiencing great success in Japan and Europe, primarily. The album marks the return of American lead vocalist D. C. Cooper who has been absent from the lineup for 13 years, while the band also claims that this particular release represents a conscious return to the "classic Royal Hunt sound".

The record starts out with an atmospheric fantasy battlefield ambient section drowning into a programmed pinball machine orchestra, and, when the actual music starts, the primer agenda emerges in great haste to outline its ambitious silhouettes. Luckily, as the rigorously tamed guitars join into the fray, the monumental pinball synths immediately gain a much more stable and relevant function of absorbing a healthy amount of the bare grit of the guitars, claiming the right to go with their new found partner to wherever they want to. The spin utilizes these hugely bloated synths with great keenness and inventive tendencies, and their beaten-but-not-defeated timber gives and gains all kinds of justices to-, and from the guitars that the band consciously collides them with. Their volumetric presence is so prominent in the mix that they emerge as equals to the guitars and claim focal role amidst the heft-related tools the record has at its disposal.

The resultant-, global character of the sound incorporates a special kind of Bertold Brechtian cartoon-gloom and a funny sense of self-parodistic hopelessness that did not yet decide to end its own suffering or laugh out loud at it instead, combined with a toy-classicism that seeks to emerge as utterly determined through the synthetizers, and I feel it is great fun even when it manages to do that, as well as when it is becoming an intentional parody of itself, because this always happens in a hilarious fashion. Thank God and Co., the record takes itself mad serious and looks more and more good while doing that, so, as the spin progresses, its relentlessness at INSISTING becomes especially likable. Read on to find out more about this sexy release.


As it quickly becomes evident, Royal Hunt has a superb sense for delivering legit, full musculature choruses. The way they sing "One! More! Daaaaaaaay!" in the opening track on top of a gently varied power chord, simply rules you and me and that guy and that, too, and invites the oh!, so delicious Abba metal to mind. As the LP progresses, it turns out that what you are getting is similar in its instinctive nature to an Yngwie Malmsteen album, but this similarity mainly boils down to a mutual tendency of relying on elegant, at heart simplistic classical compositional techniques. The solo releases of original neoclassical hypershredder Yngwie Malmsteen seek to bulldozer you proper into the wall like a Taurus demon who does not love you, while this particular release is not afraid to attempt to entertain with a tamer-, but similarly bombastic and unusual sound in nature. This special sonic alloy is the result of a combination of super-prominent, fluid synth-anatomy and the aggressive guitar work. If you give the ear thoroughly, you can hear how the guitars and the synths are playing different riffs that are flirting with each other, while both instruments are enjoying full administrative rights in the mere character of the sonic rhythm section.

After a tight opening track with a brilliant chorus, I personally feel that the second installment, "Another Man Down", while acceptable, does not pack the same high octane efficiency its direct predecessor spills on you. Consecutive track, "An Empty Shell" starts out as a rabid cinematic score that had enough of its own character and related limits and decided to go me(n)tal. A thrilling, relevant musical experience. A lush, wide, strong instrumental background compliments a verse structure that comes to you right from a particularly disturbing Tim Burton movie, then a strong pre-section of discomforting anticipation and unfolding drama reveals lurking hell that decides to break lose instead and simply does not capitulate until its flames managed to lick off all threads of hairs from your body. The track has a notable tendency to throw in truly impressive instrumental interludes with avid solo riposts traded between synth and solo guitar, and the fact that the performers do not venture into wankfest territory, appeals to the overall experience in extremely convincing fashion. Another superb track.

"Hard Rain's Coming" starts out with an Abba intro, and continues to thread along that superb direction. I especially like D. C. Cooper's content "ha! haaa!" at 0:41, with which he acknowledges the epic belt he just started off the fabric of the song with. This one is a mid-tempo metal ballad with a tremendous rumble and a flamboyant flow, and the chorus finds a way to go Abba instead going for the communist marching song mood, producing another home run. A decent guitar solo also is thrown into the fray to ride on top of phrygian chord structures - yes, I'm a fucking snob - that will make you sit on the edge of your seat if you are not banging your head(s) yet. (Have to be PC with the mutants, too.)

"Half Past Loneliness" is a definite highlight for me, this is what I call a kickass chorus, bitches! The chorus has the 101% Abba going on with a pop metal vibe that reeks irresistible sex appeal all the way through, especially with the backing vocals. My mom heard the song and immediately wanted it on her mp3 player, and expressed on-spot fandomism towards the creators. Pure late '70s brilliant vintage power-pop mounted on a relentless metal wartank, and I like it tremendously, and I think you need to check it out, too. The other part I consider pretty strong on the delivery, is the instrumental section of titular delivery "Show Me How To Live", as the Bertold Brechtian cartoon gloom and the Abba-like pop-determination masterfully clicks together herein.

This release is ripe and sexy all the way through, and has no weaknesses worth pointing a finger on. Strong for the most part, brilliant at certain spots, obtaining this Royal Hunt - Show Me How To Live LP should be your top priority if you want deeply melodic metal that has dignity, charming hooks, a decent amount of brilliant choruses and overall musical exigency.

Rating : 9.2 / 10

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Anubis Gate - Anubis Gate review

Year : 2011
Genre : Progressive Rock/Metal
Label : Nightmare Records
Origin : Denmark
Rating : 9.3 / 10

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Anubis Gate opens up and blows you a million space miles away by the incoming melodic power it invites through itself, but don't be all that afraid - who has the time to fear, anyway? - as the sonic stimulus will stick with you, courtesy of carrying you on its wings while having its sublime run.

This release has the embedded mark of superstrong focus written - almost - all over it, as the content is beyond doubt a vault of legit, relevant harmonic/melodic sculptures, constructs that reign completely free of stone-orthodox compositional techniques and the closely related GTFO-factor. Anubis Gate is at heart accessible, yet truly soulful music with legit life - oxymoron!! - in it, and brings nothing less than elegant reflections of these assuaging facts. Read on to observe how this affair glorifies the epitome of thoughtful melody with the finely calibrated instruments of sci-fi metal.


Anubis Gate sounds thick, meticulously polished, and eloquently varied. The meat-mass of the content though does not show all that much interest to wrap itself around the everyday average rendition of "metal". It does much more interesting things with its monstrous meat-mass, instead. As hinted, the scientifically sculpted, eloquent and exigent melody is of key importance on this LP. If you are a proper snob for exigent melody and harmonic structures AND a proud of that, rest assured that Anubis Gate brings your way on this LP a whole packet of delicious content to soak your starved ears into. The character of the instrumental sound is beyond all doubt metal, and the mean, fat, down-tuned, rumbling kind of it too, yet this rumble is rode by a vocal presence that bravely and magnificently deviates from the unwritten rules of "proper" - PHA! - metal singing.

Former bassist-, now lead vocalist Henrik Fevre has a pleasant timber in his pipes with a solid range to them, and the power needs no extra invitation cards to join the fray, either. The record has clean vocals, exclusively, vocals that border on pop and kick your lousy ass proper nevertheless, and this does not sound to be the result of a lack of capacity to deliver along the orthodox metal channels of rasp/siren-mode/growl/whatnot. This album simply does not need these techniques, since its themes, along with the granite-solid instrumental contribution, are reflecting a pretty integral spiritual stance, one which by sheer, honest anti-interest, negates the need to summon/channel the angst-driven methodologies of the genre. This is not an angry album at all. This is a honest album, and that is the most a record can ever hope for.

The compositions tend to have a quite healthy length to them, which gives the band a suitable amount of real estate to offer solid intro sections and bravely varied middle jams to surround the respective cores of each declarations with. Anubis Gate is not all that concerned with being heavy for the sake of being JUST that, managing to acquire mere heaviness via inflating - in a positive way, mind you - the characteristics of the harmonic structures. This is a truly valiant record in the sense that it never allows itself to stray away from its own-, quite high expectations cultivated and superbly satisfied in the compositional department, - meaning : yes, the songs themselves are slick - and music herein always gets its abundant benefits, having an audibly great and grateful time for the constant efforts being put into entertaining it for what it - music - is.

Anubis Gate is an intelligently serious and seriously intelligent record, but not over-emoted, - only on one occasion : "Uuuuuse yoooour eeeeeyes!!" I promise I will. Now calm down and come here, Henrik. You sound like you need a hug. The lyrical themes mostly are focused on thoughtful - and quite soulful, too - observations regarding the human condition, and there are a whole lot of things to consider on that field, wouldn't you agree? It is quite safe to say that the written contribution on Anubis Gate's latest manages to exhibit ballsy poetic qualities, simply by grabbing the deepest questions by their throats, and not being afraid of any answers this explicit act may yield. It is evident that there are true, legit private investigations loaded into these lyrics as fuel, and these worded thoughts and feelings are very realistic and pleasant to relate to, because they reflect deep aspects of the human condition that humanity as a hive-entity shares and experiences, but the individual is a chickengirl/chikenboy to admit. "Normally." Not Anubis Gate. The lyrics have relevance and balls, and these assertions are not necessarily self-explanatory these days. Until you were born that way, of course.

Rating : 9.3 / 10

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