Igorrr – “Hallelujah” (2012)

Label : Ad Noiseam

Review by Luisa Mercier

I stumbled over French Igorrr (aka Gautier Serre) by mere chance on the Facebook page of another musician and after thirty seconds of listening to the linked track, I was like: What the f***k is this? He is completely crazy, dear readers and categorizing his music is impossible. He mixes every musical genre known on this earth of ours even though the more apparent influences come from Baroque music, Black Metal and electronica (schizofrenic breakcore mainly). You may think that those are very distant genres, but this is not true if you listen to Igorrr. You’ll be listening to dramatic opera vocals one moment and growls and powerful guitars the one right after as in “Damaged Wig” for example (the final part is totally unbelievable).  Continue reading »

Sevendust, Coal Chamber, Lacuna Coil and Stolen Babies April 14, 2013 – Webster Theater (main room) @ Hartford, CT

The Sevendust, Coal Chamber, Lacuna Coil tour rolled into Hartford, Connecticut and played to a packed and crazy house at the Webster Theater.

Just joining the tour is the California based experimental metal band Stolen Babies. This is a name that I have heard only in passing, and this would be my first time experiencing them live or otherwise. Their sound is a quite interesting mix of metal, cabaret, polka – how’s that for an eclectic mixture? The band is fronted by female vocalist Dominique Persi; she also plays the accordion throughout most of their set. Yep, you read that right, a metal band with a full time accordion player. They played for about 30-minutes and I was impressed with their performance. They had a lot of energy and they eventually won over the crowd. Most impressive was the drummer Gil Sharone – he attacked his kit non-stop through the whole set. They are touring in support of their new album “Naught” – which I’m told is “pretty good.” Continue reading »

Clair de Lune – “Introduction to…” DEMO (2012)

Independent Release

Review by Davide Torresan

It’s always nice to discover new bands like this one. Clair De lune tries with this “Introduction to…” to make itself known outside of their country, El Salvador. After some changes in the line-up and in the band’s name, they reached a stable line-up. Their musical style is certainly not classic since they can boast the presence of a violinist, an opera singer and a growler in the group. From these 3 elements I was expecting a gothic metal band, but I was wrong. They do a particular type of symphonic metal with a touch of ordinary madness. I’d say that we are dealing with an avant-garde metal band.

“Introduction to …”, whose cover immediately reminded me the one of “Angels Fall First” by Nightwish, is a demo with only 4 songs that explain directly to the listener the abilities of Clair De Lune. Although the band name is clearly inspired by “Moonlight Sonata” of Beethoven, the atmospheres of this demo are not really calm. After a short orchestrated “Intro”, the very first song makes its appearance: “Soul Mirror”. Continue reading »

Akphaezya – “Anthology IV: The Tragedy of Nerak” (2012)

Label : Code666/Aural Music

Review by Luisa Mercier

After a few years from the acclaimed debut “Anthology II”, French avantgarde metal-band Akphaezya is back with a new and interesting full-length. The structure of “Anthology IV” is that of an Ancient Greece tragedy with Prologue, the following plot and an Epilogue.
Even most of the title are Ancient Greek words, chosen among the most important values and concepts that Greeks used to hold dear. On a musical side note, I have to say that the previous record was very prog and jazzy oriented, while this one is way heavier and maybe more omogenuous.

Above all, shine the vocals of Nehl Aelin (also keyboards player), the talented singer who once again showcases all her versatility. “Prologue” opens “Anthology IV” and it is a short intro where creepy vocals mingle with electronics. Continue reading »

Sweden’s DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA Posts New Music Video For “Black Box Messiah”

Swedish Avantgarde Metal band Diablo Swing Orchestra has released a new video clip for the song “Black Box Messiah” which can be viewed below. The track comes off the band’s “Pandora’s Piñata” album that was published via Candlelight Records on May, 22nd 2012.

Continue reading »