Velatria - Dorothy (Review)

When you are starting your career, there is a great temptation to follow the path that has already been passed - it frees you from the need to think about next step. But in meantime, competitors can break a big jackpot, just stepping aside.

My Rating: 56/100

Source: metal-archives.com

I heard a lot of music, which is usually called "J-Rock." Yoshiki (drummer from X-Japan) said that J-Rock was a mistake. Аnd I see confirmation of his words more and more: lately it has turned into a bunch of one-day bands. I also noticed a common pattern that unites them: a pompous look, standard guitar chords, pseudophilosophical lyrics about "something sublime."

I also see something like this here. We see a bit of a kind of hard-n-heavy. That is, here the standard (for hard-n-heavy) constructions tried to somehow diversify. Keyword is "tried." I think that the attempt failed: the same pattern, but with solo on Hammond organ. Here is a rather weak composer's work. The last straw of my patience was too standard chorus in second track.

We continue with voice - it's hard to call it good. Yes, a soft mezzo-soprano is always a joy for ears. But here is a rather monotonous voice sound. Nevertheless, it's noticeable that vocalist knows his limit and does not overexert himself. Well, I hope she knows where to develop - there is a good potential here.

Guitar does not particularly surprise. Here are guitar parts at the level of a 15-year-old student who learned yesterday the difference between cadence and tempo. Yes, in second track there is a delightful solo, but compared to the general constructions, it looks like an attempt to save the situation. And what really pleased me was the availability of a keyboards. Yes, a lot of piano in second track are a bad idea. Solo on Hammond organ in first track is a pleasant surprise. Rhythm section looks more interesting. In both compositions. Yes, I don't hear anything very unusual here, but drummer knows his work well.

Yes, they are beginners who do not know much. But in this form they have no prospects. Okay, me, for example, don't have opportunity to devote much time to art. The most I can do is release a new review every 3-7 days. But these guys have everything: talent, equipment and good opportunities. Even this release sounds very high quality, which is a rarity for first work. But they lack something fundamental. Perhaps they have already changed - six months have passed since the release of this release. But one thing is for sure: in this form they will reach a certain popularity, but not for long. They will necessarily change. The only question is what will change: playing style, project name or costs of promotion.

Loudness - Rise to Glory (Review)

Usually I don't pay attention to popular bands - degree of fame is not an quality indicator. But the classical bands from 80's are a special phenomenon. They have a special charm that can be explained quite simply. But I will not explain all features for a long time. I will talk about new album of band Loudness.

My Rating: 82/100

Source: metal-archives.com

80's ended, 90's began - the time of musical experiments. This also affected this band. In period from 2000 to 2010, band's work was something incomprehensible. First a strange album Pandemonium (2001). Then doom metal in album Terror (2004). Then there is progressive sound on dropped tuning in albums Breaking the Taboo (2006), Metal Mad (2008) and The Everlasting (2009). And only King Of Pain (2010) marked a return to classical sound on standard tuning.

Well, band has a very rich experience, so you expect a special sound from them. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find something very special here - classical hard-n-heavy has long been researched from beginning to end and it's hard to come up with anything new in this field in our time. But nevertheless it's worth noting that composer managed to make the compositions interesting and diverse. There are slow tracks (5, 10, 12 tracks), and fast (6, 9 tracks) and instrumental parts very well emphasize the ideas of each of the songs. Also really liked the idea of ​​using "industrial" sounds to emphasize the idea (6 tracks).

Vocalist has long proved his high skill level. And now again it confirms. His interesting timbre of voice is difficult to describe - you can only enjoy it.

After name Akira Takasaki, comments are superfluous - such a great talent is indecent to discuss. But nevertheless it's necessary to say that guitar parts are performed at highest level. Also worth noting is very interesting construction of riffs. It would seem that there is nothing complicated, but it makes a great impression. Sometimes you can hear segments on clean - this perfectly complements the constructions. About guitar solos do not say - they are so beautiful. Rhythm section is also very diverse and interesting. Here, both calm (7, 10 track) and very intense (6, 8, 9 track) parts. Even at a moderate pace the drummer performs very interesting parts (2, 11 tracks). A real master, there's nothing more to say.

This release is for people who are stuck somewhere between the late 70s and early 80s. I don't want to say that it's bad - quality is determined by intellectual value, not the release date. I want to say that here you will not find something new. Well, in this genre has long been nothing new. But real talent does not know the word "genre".

Mary's Blood - Revenant (Preview)

Over time, any band ends with a wave of inspiration and project begins to produce boring sounds sets. Someone before, someone later, but it happens. But Mary's Blood is one of the few bands that has held a high level for many years. And recently they showed a small part of new work.



This is not an review, so I will be brief. I don't quite understand the concept - title has a hint of something supernatural, but in lirycs it's noticeable in only a few places (2, 8, 9 tracks). However, overall impression is very good. Of course, it's noticeable that the composer's target was to install a general constructions. That is, the listener receives maximum emotions. Usually this goes to the detriment of instrumental parts, but this is not the case.

Very strong voice. Earlier I did not like vocalist from this band, but in the last two years serious work on the mistakes is noticeable.

Guitar is something incredible. In detail, I'll tell you everything in review. Now I can only say that Saki is a true master.

Rhythm section is very diverse and constructions are pretty good. Of course, I will tell you in detail in review. But now I will note that drummer from this band is not in vain called a copy of Dave Lombardo.

This is not the whole album, but it's already noticeable that they are showing their great talent again. If the album will is as I suppose, rating will be 92-97 out of 100.

10 guitar riffs that changed my life

Recently saw Jared video, in which he talks about the 10 guitar riffs that changed his life. Today I decided to tell you about it too. So, 10 guitar riffs that changed my life.

1. X-Japan - X (Power Metal/Speed Metal).
2. Slayer - Black Magic (Thrash Metal).
3. Trivium - Pull Harder On the Strings Of Your Martyr (Thrash Metal/Groove Metal).
4. In Flames - Artifact Of The Black Rain (Melodic Death Metal).
5. Lamb Of God - Redneck (Groove Metal).
6. Bullet For My Valentine - Hit The Floor (Metalcore).
7. Bullet For My Valentine - Ashes Of The Innocent (Thrash Metal/Metalcore).
8. Killswitch Engage - My Last Serenade (Metalcore).
9. Periphery - Insomnia (Groove Metal/Progressive Metal/Djent).
10. Kino - Peremen (Post-Punk, New Wave)

I will not describe all causes and consequences - this will not be enough for one blog entry. The only thing I notice is that at first the complexity gradually increased, then the notion "genre" ceased to exist for me at all.

9 string guitar vs bass

Previous blog entry made me ask myself another similar question: why not just take a bass instead of a 9 string guitar? This video perfectly shows the difference.



Great job. You can see that guitarist and the bassist are playing in unison. But sound of instruments is different even if you apply the same tone.

On video uses guitar Schecter Hellraiser C9 and some bass (they are not much different). Scale length of this guitar is 28 inches (baritone), scale length of bass is 35.5 inches. This implies using a different strings set. That is, for these reasons, oscillations (and, as a consequence, the timbral coloring) will be very different. Also pickups construction is slightly different. Therefore, pedals or processors always indicate for which instrument they are intended. I even saw a pedal specifically for extended range guitars or with a dropped tuning (Ibanez 7th heaven).

Well, this is not a review, so we'll finish this.

8 string guitar vs 6 string guitar with Digitech Whammy

Let's imagine this situation: you want to play on guitar with very low tuning. But you only have a six-string guitar with a standard E tuning and a regular string set. Having a more guitars is too expensive, each time changing the strings is too expensive, and also long. Here this device can help. It costs 200 USD.



Great job. You may notice that the sound is very different, although the notes are completely identical.

Theoretical explanation is quite simple. Imagine several units of some material of different sizes. A similar attack force is applied to them. The sound will be different in frequency and something else. This "something" is called "timbre" - the coloring of sound, reported to it by overtones, resonances, ect.

It's the same with strings. After attack, not one frequency is formed, but a whole set of frequencies, at the peak top there will be exactly that frequency that you wanted. Who does not understand about "peak" - google "Gauss distribution." Actually, difference in sound is due to construction features. 7 and 8 strings are thicker than 5 and 6, that is, the oscillations will be different. And, if we can lower the basic note, then we can not affect the oscillations (overtones, resonances). Yes, there is deeper processing of frequency, but this is another topic.

So, let's sum up. Advantages of 8 string guitar:

• Sound is more natural.
• Wider range.
• You look very cool with this.

Advantages of a 6 string guitar with Digitech Whammy:

• Less weight.
• Frequency changes in real time - it's very suitable for experimental music.
• You don't need to have several guitars with different tunings.

What to choose? You decide.

Kevin Lytle - Trial And Error (Review)

Well, first days of year are not presented with any new releases. Therefore, we will consider something released earlier. Recently on Twitter, I came across the account of an interesting musician Kevin Lytle. Also, I recently found out that he has an album about which I will tell today.

Source:
kevinlytle.bandcamp.com

My Rating: 75/100

I will not be write with pathos like "I am very rarely surprised, but ...". I'll just say that album is pretty good. When I finished listening to this album, I couldn't say anything about it. Really. I am currently writing this review, but I don't know what to write. I was very surprised by methods of artistic task solving: minimum quantity, but used to maximum. Guy just plays guitar and sings. Thats all. There are no borders, no labels, no prejudices. Here I remembered phrase of Mikhail Kalashnikov "Creating a simple is harder than creating a complex".

Do I need to say the album turned out to be interesting? I think this is superfluous. An even, monotonous narrative with rather deep texts permeates this album from beginning to the end. Because of this, album has its own special, oppressive atmosphere. At first it seems that this is quickie. Until we hear a voice. First of all, it should be noted that vocalist does't use all his abilities. Here we hear a monotonous narrative - this is by no means the pinnacle of mastery. But here vocal parts amazingly accurately emphasize the lyrics. An exception is 4 track - vocal technique can't be appropriate for this lyric.

Instrumental parties don't shine with any particular originality and complexity. Fans of a technical playing here will not find something interesting. But they are composed very accurately, supplementing the voice and lyrics. The only inconvenient moment is traced in tracks 7 and 9 - instrumental parts are poorly compatible with voice. Nevertheless, I very rarely hear such an accurate solution to an artistic task. Therefore, a detailed description of instrumental parts is quite difficult.

For the reasons stated above, I can't accurately describe this album. What can I talk about, if I couldn't even genre name? But it made a great impression on me. Formulated the task and performed it - this is simple. Someone might say that it's boring. But this is real skill.

5 parameters to understand whether guitarist can play metal

How to determine if a guitarist can play metal? It's pretty simple. This is told by guitar teacher Yuri Shilnikov.



He argues that in order to see skill level, five parameters are enough. But first the reservation follows: these parameters are valid only under conditions of correctly put experiment. Also, some shortcomings you can be heard by high-skilled guitarists - no one is perfect. Nevertheless, we will begin:

First. Presence of a clean pause. That is, a person plays something and in pauses everything is clean - nothing needs to be cleaned in sequencer.

Second. Scrape while changing chords. If you can hear - it's a full bottom, it's worse than any punk, it's an absolute zero. Best indicator is to play muted fifth.

Third. Attack, speed of sound formation. Attack must be as sharp as a boxer's punch.

Last parameter is one whole, but for better understanding, narrator divides it into two subgroups. This is a desync: macro-desync and micro-desync. Macro-desync includes early clamps. For example, when a guitarist tries to play a fifth, but it has a gurgling sound. We need it to sound very sharp, like a gunshot. In fact, it's quite difficult and few people can immediately do it. Also, the early change of position refers to macro-desync. Consider a sequence of two fifth: in this play hand often leaves earlier than necessary. This is a fairly common mistake.

As for micro-desync: here author cites an example of a passage with a scale - first plays incorrectly, then plays correctly. On first example, you hear that passage is buried in some junk, on second - the notes are clearly audible.

This is basis and if a person has a lot of mistakes in these parameters - it's not metal, it's children's games. Of course, the parameters are much larger. But this will be enough to assess your skill level and understand what you can.

Show-Ya - Aurora (Review)

Japanese music scene crisis in 2000s has hit hard on many projects. One such project was band Show-Ya, which from 1998 to 2012 existed only formally. Members were engaged in their projects. In main - just released compilations and DVDs. Nevertheless, 2015 was marked by final return of this project - they release a very interesting album Progress. And this year they release album Aurora, which we will consider today.

My Rating: 87/100

Source - metal-archives.com

Frankly, I can be impressed only by methods of solving an artistic tasks. When I evaluated this release in front of me were not specialists with 40 years of experience and not even 60 year old grannies. There were only 11 pieces of audio data. And this album was able to impress me. Here we hear classic Hard Rock/Heavy Metal exactly as it was created in the West in 70s. It would seem that almost 50 years have passed, what else can be surprised? It turned out that this is possible. There are no strictly limited patterns. Here composer very expertly approached his work: the fineness of talent of each member is maximized.

Almost 40 years of experience are noticeable here - vocalist knows that he knows how. No show-offs, only a clean skill. Of course, there were voice effects (end of 4th track), but this was required by context of artistic task. Even in 9th and 11th tracks, you can see an excellent voice control, despite the rather aggressive drawing.

Standard string (4, 6, 8 track), academic piano sound (5, 6, 8 track), "Acid" synthesizer (2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11 track), Hammond Organ (1, 2, 3 , 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 track) and even a harpsichord (3 track). After all this list it's already difficult to give comments. But in addition to this, we still hear nice scales and a very precise underline of each composition. Keyboardist knows his business well.

Guitarist here is not particularly surprised - we saw a much steeper guitar technique. Nevertheless, here the general structures pleases hearing. A pleasant surprise was the overall aggressive structures of guitar parts in 9th and 11th tracks. And also use of whammy bar in solo (5, 11 track), tapping (11 track).

"Classic Hard Rock/Heavy Metal rhythm section" - usually comments here are superfluous. Nevertheless, here you can see many interesting things. But basically, it's a bassist's job. Here we hear interesting bass parts, and this is a very rare phenomenon. We also hear bass solo (3 tracks). About drummer can say a little. Yes, there are interesting fills (3, 5, 8, 11 track), but there is nothing more to note. Nevertheless, big surprise was for me a blast-beat (9, 11 track).

No crises, no time frame will stop real talent. But if, for example, Akira Takasaki (guitarist from Loudness) has been experimenting with sound for a long time, then these girls just waited for a moment. Yes, they will never repeat legendary album "Outerlimits". But they show us again and again that it's too early to leave the stage.

How i write reviews

After a several reviews, I decided to write how I do it. That is, what and how I value. But first I want to clarify one important point. Criticism - is not just stretching the phrase "I did't like" for three or four thousand symbols. Criticism is a very valuable tool for musicians and listeners. Criticism creates understanding. What the musician(-s) did, how he did it, how it looks from the outside, what the overall structure looks like - this is also a large amount of work.

So, let's begin. First we have an introduction. There may be some prequel here. There can be a story about what led me to listening this release. Here there can be reflections on various genre shades (especially if it does't enter into my personal preferences). There can be reflections on thinking / behavior of project members. Or maybe some stuff that first came to mind.

You already noticed, I use rating system. Rating is measured in parrots. For those who don't understand - this meme from this cartoon. It matters "an intuitive assessment that is not attached to strict standards."



And I also mark my assessment with different colors. You could notice the green and yellow. But I will use more.

• From 0 to 24 - Red. Absolutely unlistenable shit.
• From 25 to 49 - Orange. Project is trying to do something, but there is not enough of something significant.
• From 50 to 84 - Yellow. Quite a diverse category. There are wonderful talents here, which were not enough for something. It can be completely devoid of talent persons, who put their best to the limit of their abilities. Or another doll with serious support from the outside.
• From 85 to 100 - Green. Excellent masters work, in which everything was fine.

Yes, your eyes have not deceived you. "Green" segment is just 15 points. There is nothing surprising. Average ("yellow") rating is a very wide variety, and "green" rating is not a frequent occurrence. I have so far evaluated only four releases. And I also try not to listen to releases that I can estimate lower than 30. My favorite music is that it's rather complicated and interesting, and turning it into something completely unintelligible - you have to try to do this. I can also refuse evaluation. For example, if result of work is priceless, or there may be great difficulties in evaluating an extremely specific work .

But let's return to our musicians. Introduction somehow smoothly flows into evaluation of the whole work. I try not to make harsh statements and categorically evaluate this or that element. I understand that people can't be the same, everyone thinks differently. Nevertheless, first composer work is evaluated: general sructure, subject of the narrative (if any), setting of artistic task, methods of its implementation, variety of these methods.

Then voice is evaluated. Statement of breathing, pronunciation (if the language is not native), a variety of vocal techniques. If there is good hearing and good headphones, then this can all be heard.

And also instrumentalists are evaluated. Instrumental parties are of varying complexity. Depending on complexity and interest of instrumental parts, you can evaluate separately each instrumentalist, individually each subgroup (lead and rhythm section) or just write a few words about everyone. There is a lot of space here, so I don't stick to any narrow patterns.

Conclusion is also a separate story. There necessarily will be an opinion on general intellectual value, assessment of the perspective and some advice (if required).

Love of art is not the only thing that moves me: art can be loved in silence. I also want to convey to musicians and listeners what they lack. I hope I succeed.

Baskerville - Opus Aeternum (Review)

I listen a lot to music. That's why it's very difficult to surprise me. For last ten years I was surprised only by three power metal bands: Alhambra, Light Bringer, Octaviagrace. At a minimum, these bands unite a special, unique style.

My Rating: 71/100

Source - metal-archives.com

After two full-lengths albums this band could already develop its own unique style. That is, you click "Play" and instantly say "This [Band name]". I remembered this because it's not noticeable here. Title in Latin and drawing: on background of the sky a sword and some pattern are depicted. Kitsch is felt from beginning. Well, contents is the main. I can't say that this impression is completely refuted in listening. Here is a good combination of templates. But it looks very cool. Also there is no frank quickie. This disease affects many bands. But it's noticeable here that each composition was polished to an absolute luster.

Voice is good. Vocalist has excellent abilities. Someone might say that he looks like Masatoshi Ono or someone else, but I will not label them. I'll just say that it's done excellently. You can also notice that vocal parts are very diverse. Here you can see both excellent control of the top, and emotional outbursts.

The first thing you can notice is keyboard player. It does't take much of composition - it does't reach the label "symphony". But there is a great variety of keyboards. Synthesizer well emphasizes the best aspects of compositions, making a good album impression.

There is no need to recall what "guitar" means in power metal. But here the situation is quite interesting. When you just listen to it without trying analysis, it causes very strong emotions. When you start to disassemble in parts and analyze - nothing complicated. This is achieved through an excellent combination of riffs - it's noticeable good composer's work. Insane solos complete this interesting constructions.

Band does't have a constant bassist. Therefore, there are two options: a session member or sampler. But I was wrong - guitarist wrote down the bass. This can explain a few groove constructions (when bass repeats guitar) - guitarist sees composition very peculiar. Nevertheless, bass has several interesting segments (in 6 and 8 tracks), but the rest are standard patterns. Drums have a more successful patterns combination - again it's noticeable that composer has done a good job with this.

I can say that a good band released an good release. But here we will not find something special. Here we will not find any interesting ideas or unique style. Here is just a wide range of standard ideas and patterns that are simply polished to an absolute luster. Well, this also requires great abilities. And members have these abilities. But it should be keep in mind that expensive Ferrari and an old Toyota will have only one purpose - to spin the wheels.

Virtual bass: Fodera Yinyang VS Scarbee pre-bass

I really love playing guitar, but I don't have other instruments. Therefore, writing rhythm section for a long time was a big problem. The solution was the use of VST plug-ins in sequencer. Tried several pieces and decided to compare the most interesting. Today we considering two virtual instruments. First is Fodera Yinyang from Ample Sound. Second is Scarbee pre-bass from Native Instruments.

Fodera Yinyang  

Let's imagine this situation: we will give two different people headphones with an ideally accurate frequency response and ask for opinion. The first is usual average people, which does't see any reason to pay for headphones more than 2 bucks. The second is a person who has good hearing and extensive knowledge about sound (musician, sound engineer, etc.). I think you can imagine what they will say.

Approximately the same thing here. It would seem, four strings, standard tuning, two pickups, well, what can you think of yet? However, from very beginning, you understand that this is something unusual. Then we googled the title of this instrument and see that the same device uses Victor Wooten. A specialist of this level can't take bullshit.

Advantages:

• Suitable for soloing and non-standard ideas. Perfect sounding of hammer-on/pull-off, natural harmonics, slap, tapping and scales. Very soft glissando.
• There are many different instruments for forming a timbre. There is a distortion here - you can feel like Cliff Burton.
• You can choose between active and passive electronics.
• Sound is completely processed - there are no unnecessary resonances, noises.
• Significantly shortens running time without losing sound quality - many elements are automated. Just write or import midi file into track, select elements of timbre and enjoy result.
• Also here is the function Riffer, which makes it easy to compose parts or generate random.
• Interface is well thought out - very convenient arrangement of elements.

Disadvantages:

• Apply this instrument to a usual rhythm section - it's like digging a garden in a tuxedo. Yes, this plugin has a very interesting sound, but to pull the fourth string under the bass drum is better to choose something else.
• It requires a lot of CPU resources.
• Automation erases some shades. For example, here is a strange (for real instrument) algorithm for switching strings, but it can't be done manually.

Scarbee pre-bass 

Sound of legendary Fender Precision Bass '72 is now available in VST format. Further description is pointless: this instrument has been showing excellent sound for decades. Users are given a clean sound. Absolutely clean - sound was recorded in a line.

Advantages:

• A raw sound that can be finely tuned in accordance with your artistic task.
• Extensive possibilities: suitable for soloing and rhythm section. Everything depends only on your artistic task, your knowledge, your imagination and the resources of your cpu.
• Strings can be switched manually. This is very important: one note can be played in different ways, but usually only one sound is recorded.
• Composer not only hears, but also sees the process. Below the neck there is a text footnote that displays the last note and the last used articulation.
• Minimum interface elements is only what is needed.

Disadvantages:

• Bad suitable for non-standard ideas.
• The need for fine-tuning sound is a lot of time spent. Add an cabinet emulator, remove resonances and noise. Not everyone likes this. And also the whole process of processing can take much more CPU resources than previous plug-in.
• Do you think that simplicity is a small amount of CPU resources? This is not always true. This plugin is just part of one large Kontakt platform, which is very demanding on CPU.

Here are such interesting opposites.

Best video about dropped guitar tunings

I've seen a lot of blog entrys and video, which explains the characteristic features of guitar technique in many genres. But this video surprised me very much.



Guy just plays on guitar in various tunes (from standart E to Drop E). This is genius.

Spider Lilly - Change/Pain (Review)

From beginners usually don't expect much. Often you are happy if they just did something good.

My Rating: 60/100

Today I'm reviewing first release of band Spider Lilly, which is titled "Change / Pain". I will not say that it's a very interesting title, but for first single it will be enough. So, the first thing you can notice is the poor recording quality. Well, they at least guessed to remove unnecessary resonances from guitar and that's good.

Here we hear riffs on drop tuning that are very characteristic for groove / nu-metal, as well as a large amount of synthesizer. You can also notice that compositions are very similar. But there are noticeable differences: in first track we hear a slap on bass, and in second we have more complicated synthesizer's parts. Also compositions end in different ways. This is all that distinguishes them. It seems that there was originally one composition, which was slightly changed, so it was split into two parts.

First thing we pay attention to voice. There is a reverb that sounds very natural. As if vocals were recorded in a large empty room with two microphones (first - closer to vocalist, second - in another part of the room). If this is true, then this can be called a good idea. But voice sounds very indistinct. And if clean is not noticeable, extreme techniques show all flaws. Sound is as if they just took microphone, performed the parts and inserted result into mix. No, vocalist has a pretty good skill, but voice processing is not noticeable.

Instrumental parts are simple. And guitar part is no exception. Yes, there is an "acid" synthesizer that performs scales. But it could be better. She is such an interesting guitarist, but she plays simple parts. About bassist you can say the same thing. Most of the time bassist performs standard constructions. Nevertheless, even here there are interesting segments. In first track, we hear a slap, and in second interesting scales. And also there is a very "hook" structure of drums, which is a bad decision. Nevertheless, here there are breakdowns, where relative diversity of drum parts is noticeable. And also at the end of composition, drums are changing significantly. A small variety is available here.

This work is rather weak, but for beginners this is a good result. And if they extend this idea, it can turn out very interesting. I can say that they have a good start to their careers.

Unique guitars - Villanizer

I think you saw a lot in terms of guitar body design. But designers don't cease to amaze. On Internet, I noticed an interesting guitar - Villanizer.

Yes, steampunk style is very attractive because it allows creating very illogical designs. And sometimes you can even stick a few gears and proudly hang a label "steampunk." Nevertheless, an interesting approach is evident here. Protrusions, imitating rivets, create impression of an iron construction. Image of rust and abrasions is always a good solution. Bronze hardware are also an interesting solution. Also in the gap, you can see something that gives feeling of an iron frame. Another interesting solution is placement of a pressure meter on one of edges. Designer thought out the concept of steam machine well.

On video you can see how it looks in work.

Guitar pedal handmade

In Russia, people are always looking for opportunities to do something themselves. For example, a guitar pedal: in Russia it's very expensive. Yes, there is a company Yerasov, but this company has a very small production and can't fully satisfy the great demand.

On YouTube, I found two videos that describe process of self-manufacturing guitar overdrive pedal.





Diagram shows that technically this is fuzz, but sound will be overdrive. Author of video claims that this device is costs 200 rub (3.37 USD). Price includes only components of chip and knobs - the rest is free. Case is made of a candy box. But instead of a printed circuit board, cardboard is used. Also, instead of a button, a simple switcher was installed. Therefore it's impossible to call it a pedal - switching is done by hand (not by foot). Also, author did not attach power socket (beginners usually don't have a power supply), instead there is a place for connecting a "PP3" type battery.

First video shows the scheme and build process. Author did not comment on installation of each element, but only highlighted it in red. Also an important detail: negative must be connected to case.

On second video you can hear sound that this device creates. It's impossible to play serious concerts with this, but for an beginner's level it's a great option.

Phantom Excaliver - Maboroshi no seiken (Review)

I know many bands that use emotions to hide flaws. Someone does it good. Someone does it bad. Nevertheless, some category of people can't be deceived.

My Rating: 65/100


It's difficult to describe Eastern band with help of Western standards. Initially, in the West, this band was described as: "Melodic Hardcore with Power Metal Influence", although guys only slightly strengthened melodic death metal. And really, my acquaintance with this band was very speedy and showy.

But now it's noticeable that composer took a more serious approach to his work. Now this band has a greater variety of methods for solving an artistic tasks. Now this is not an ordinary grinding at more than 200 bpm with screams of "something sublime." Nevertheless, composer's work remains at low level: fast-maded solutions still occupy most of this work.

We hear an interesting structure of vocal parts. Besides screaming on verse and clean on chorus, you can also hear narrative. Yes, this is not everywhere, but digression from standard pattern is always a good solution. I also feel a very strong vocalist. The only negative point here is strange sound of high notes.

Guitarist also performs more interesting parts. In previous album, the bet on guitar did't justify itself. Yes, playing fast scales is cool, but life does't end there. However, this has been fixed. It became noticeable that guitar parts were changed and now high skill of guitarist perfectly hides poor composer's work. Also we hear a keyboards. But parts of this instrument are fairly simple and appear only in one track.

Rhythm section is pretty boring. But if bassist plays very interesting parts, then drummer's parts are a continuous stream of boredom. In addition to standard (for the heavy metal) pattern, we hear the blast-beat and the "Booty Camp" beat. That's all. I don't want to say that this is something bad - drums keep overall structures well. But you could come up with something more interesting.

What can you say at the end? They are very talented musicians. Also in this album there is a wider view, in comparison with the work of 2015. But in the end we see just ordinary middle-rating metal band. Obviously, they lack something. Hiding flaws with strong emotions with slightly shocking details is all they thought of. Standard solutions can ruin excellent talent - this we saw with band Area51. This we also see now.

Aldious - We Are (MV)

On November 12, Aldious released a new mv We Are. Album will be released on November 29th.



Release two albums in one year? It's possible, but it's very difficult to do. Writing instrumental parts for one 4-5 minutes song lasts about two hours. It's possible and for 40 minutes, but this will be just a combination of standard patterns. However, this is just playing around with one idea that comes to mind not every day. Processing one guitar track, and them in a mix, a minimum of four, is a minimum of three hours. Bass does't use distortion, but for good sound it's not enough just to remove all useless resonances and overwind the saturation. Nevertheless, it should be written down, but no one can play perfectly from first time - it's one more working day. I no longer mention a lot of bureaucratic subtleties in sales. That is, to compose, record, compile and start selling more than one quality-made metal album a year, one must be God or Iron Chino. But since God does't exist, there are few options. I'm afraid that album will be fast-made and it's released only to be often in field of view of a wide audience. When you bet on quantity, nothing good can be done.

Fears also arose in listening to this song. Here we see a general aggressive constructions - it's interesting. But instrumental seems to me very simple. Perhaps, because I expect a lot from Marina, although previous release showed that this is not necessary. Perhaps, because I expect a lot from overall construction of album. Nevertheless, most noteworthy is lyrics, which consists of several words. It's written in description of video. Yes, we hear anthem-like chorus, but this ends with ideas of songwriter. Rino is bad vocalist, and if she exhausts songwriter's resource, then it will be wasted.

Somehow they did it very cheap. If album is made as I suppose, then score will be 55-60 out of 100.

Unique guitars - Djent Stick (Russian Edition)

Those who follow music channels on Youtube can know Jared Dines and his djent stick. He has already told a lot about this device, so there's no point in talking about him. Today I want to write about a similar device, which is made in Russia.



On this video you can see very rough work. Several pieces of wood are connected together, creating a kind of body and a recess for pickups. Bass pickups are installed here. I have not been able to see where the electronics are, but obviously it's outside the body. Also a strange solution to solder the wire to bridge. I could't see for what it was done.

Video lasts just a minute. Sound like a guitar for 150-200 USD. But you can notice that the base is fairly simple to manufacture.

Kanimega - Noose (Review)

What is the difference between good and bad specialist? Bad specialist learned a few facts and applies them whenever possible. A lot of loud statements with complaints about external circumstances are attributes of a bad specialist. Good specialist has a way of thinking. He sees task and issues a solution. A master of his craft, who does everything so well that it only remains to admire the result.

My Rating: 87/100

Source - metal-archives.com

I did not just remembered it. The top musician's skill is writing and performing of such interesting compositions that critics can only silently applaud. This album can be confidently called so. Here we hear thrash / groove metal with a little hardcore influence. In the 90s-00s this would be a good platform for interesting ideas. But in our time is already a reusable pattern, on which it's difficult to come up with something interesting. Nevertheless, much depends on the composer.

But here work at highest level. You may think that subject of struggles has deep thoughts and such songs can be written by everyone person. However, in methods of solving an artistic tasks, there are many shades that show the difference between professional and easy rider. This composer could see this fine line.

Voice is very sharp and dirty. Vocal style reminded me of James Hetfield. This voice is ideal for solving artistic tasks of this kind. Write about this something else is quite difficult, since this part is composed perfectly.

But if everything is clear with vocal parts, the instrumental parts are something interesting. This can't be called very difficult. On basis of simple constructions, a wide variety of riffs was created. This is definitely a positive moment, because it's hard to come up here something interesting. Rhythm section can also surprises with a relatively large variety. With bassist everything is clear: most of his parts are guitar repetition, creation of a groove pattern. But drums are more interesting. Usually drum parts of this music is standard (for NWOBHM) formula. But here we hear that every song is a unique work of a drummer. In this genre you have high hopes for drums - and here expectations are justified.

I can continue praise for this project for a long time. It's unfortunate that this band will not continue activities. This project could give out many good and interesting works. But members will continue their work in project Dragdown.