MaYan – “Quarterpast” (2011)
Label : Nuclear Blast Records
Review by Tony Cannella
MaYaN is the new Melodic Death Metal project featuring Mark Jansen of Epica. In addition to Mark – who adds his aggressive vocal style that fans of Epica are already familiar with – MaYaN use several different vocalists on their debut album “Quarterpast”. Joining the regular members of MaYaN to add their monumental vocal talents are: Mark’s Epica band mate Simone Simons, Floor Jansen of ReVamp, Henning Basse of Sons of Seasons and Italian Opera singer Laura Macrí. The singers mentioned do not make mere cameo appearances. Their contributions are quite substantial and they turn up at various points throughout “Quarterpast”. “Quarterpast” opens with “Symphony of Aggression”, Simone and Floor trade off vocals with Mark to help create an absolutely lethal opening track. The grinding and symphonic “Mainstay of Society” is next and again you hear some cool vocal tradeoffs between the male voice and Simone. This was another great song, and one that when all is said-and-done is quite memorable. The track, “Quarterpast” is only about a-minute-and-a-half long. It is basically a movie style intro that features a chorus of the female singers as it leads us into “Course of Life”. Henning Basse from Sons of Seasons makes his first appearance on this track, and adds his clean classic metal vocal style in conjunction with Mark’s brutal death metal style vocals and Floor Jansen’s power packed vocal style. “Savage Massacre” is next and with a title like that, this song better be aggressive, and it is, in fact it is one of the most aggressive tracks on “Quarterpast”. From the ferocity of the previous song, the band shifts gears with the beautiful, symphonic opera track featuring Italian Opera star Laura Macrí. Other highlights: “Bite the Bullet”, “Drown the Demon” and “War on Terror”. If advanced buzz is anything to go by, MaYaN had a lot to live up to with “Quarterpast”, in my opinion; the band has pulled through with flying colors. Mark Jansen has created a solid project that is without a doubt a separate entity from Epica and should stand on its own, although comparisons to his main band are inevitable. There is a lot going on this debut release from MaYaN, it is especially unique how all of the singers are used. Hopefully MaYaN is more than a one off; it should be fun to see how they progress in the future.
Rating – 90/100
Tracklist
- Symphony of Aggression
- Mainstay of Society
- Quarterpast
- Course of Life
- The Savage Massacre
- Essenza Di Te
- Bite the Bullet
- Drown the Demon
- Celibate Aphrodite
- War on Terror
- Tithe
Line Up
- Mark Jansen – Vocals & Guitar
- Isaac Delahaye – Guitar
- Frank Schiphorst- Guitars
- Jack Driessen – Synths & Screams
- Rob van der Loo – Bass
- Arien van Weesenbeek – Drums
Links
Infinitus Mortus – “2012″ (2010)
Independent Release
Review by Tony Cannella
From New Jersey comes the symphonic metal duo Infinitus Mortus. Judging by the sounds coming from their debut “2012″, it is hard to believe that there are only two members in the band. The lead vocalist is Tara and she is joined by the multi-instrumentalist Steve who pretty much does everything else. As you could probably decipher given the album’s title, “2012″ is an ambitious concept album, based around the Mayan prophecy that the world will end in 2012. Dark, Epic and Melodic are three good words to describe “2012″. In front Lady Tara, you have a truly talented vocalist with an expressive operatic style. Steve completes the dark vision with his many talents. The intro “The Dark Rift” gives way to the rapid fire riffing of “The Next Atlantis”. “Worst Plague Of All… Love” begins with some nice piano and then settles nicely into a mid-tempo, heavy, melodic groove. My only complaint – and it is a small one – is that perhaps Tara’s vocals are a little low in the mix. Besides that minor complaint, “2012″ is really loaded with good metal riffs and songs. Highlights include: “Blood Lust”, the symphonic ally beautiful ballad “My Apocalypse”, “The 10th Planet” and the albums closer “A Golden Age”. For those who love conceptual metal, then Infinitus Mortus is a band well worth checking out and “2012″ I’m sure is only the beginning for this Jersey band.
Rating – 88/100
Tracklist
- The Dark Rift
- The Next Atlantis
- Worst Plague of All… Love
- A Drink From the Nile
- Blood Lust
- My Apocalypse
- The 10th Planet
- The Unknown
- The Final Battle
- A Golden Age
Line Up
- Tara Ortiz – Vocals
- Stephen Megna – Guitars, Keyboards, Bass and Drums
Links
Style switcher only on this demo version. Theme styles can be changed from Options page.
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