Reviews

I:SCINTILLA..'OPTICS'

(Alfa Matrix) Reviewed 5th June 2007

I:Scintilla are an Alternative electro rock band, and I just love them. Until around a year/18 months ago, I was not really into the electro rock scene. But this band are premier league in this genre. 12 tracks of electro rock. Brittany Bindrim, I:Scintilla's lead singer has been compared to Shirley Manson (Garbage) and Amy Lee. And I just love her voice. The album is full of electro rock classics, with track 11, 'Taken' being one of my favourites. There is also a special edition double cd, featuring a bonus remix cd, that would set the dance floors alight. That in itself by the way is worthy of the purchase price alone! There are two or three tracks that feature on their previous two releases, but any one not familiar with this band, I suggest check out 'OPTICS' first, then look at their back catalogue. This is a very good release within it's genre, which proves that we at Ravenheart Towers are not stuck in a gothic metal groove!!. 9/10 (Reviewed by Dave).

IANASONIC..'CONTROVERSY'

(Self Release) Reviewed 4th August 2010

This Portuguese combo was created four years ago by producer/writer Marco Jung, vocalist/writer Diana Freire, and guitarist/writer João Júlio. Their music is almost impossible to pigeonhole, I suppose a mixture of Evanescence, The Cranberries and a touch of Love and Rockets is closest comparison I can come up with, but this tells only half the story. They add all sorts of electronica and surprising ingredients into the mix, making each song quite an adventure. Songs like ‘Come In, Sit Down, and Relax’, ‘Five Days’, and ‘Pink Balloon’ are excellent up-tempo alt rockers. ‘My Little Bit of Sunshine’ is a groovy shuffle with Marc Bolan ‘ish’ riff, and ‘Bitter Flavour’ an equally catchy pop rock song. ‘Unfaithful Beliefs’ and ‘Love (Can’t Live Without It)’ are more experimental, proggish and atmospheric, while ‘Through and Through’ even sounds like Prince! The last track ‘Too Perfect’ shows their jazzy side with a touch of avante garde, together with the hidden bonus track, the trombone laced bossa nova ‘Too Perfect’, it’s like being in Parisian jazz club in the 60’s, you half expect Simon Templar to walk in! Production is excellent, and the whole album is a delightful and thoroughly fascinating listen. A song like the infectious ‘My Little Bit of Sunshine’ could easily become a hit, especially with that hook; it would certainly go down well on the radio. This is one controversy you won’t want to avoid, so sneak out the backdoor and head to their Myspace, www.myspace.com/ianasonic where you can purloin a copy before the press finds out. 8.5/10 (Reviewed by Phil)

IDEAS..'FONIX/PHOENIX'

(Nail/Hammer Records) Reviewed 8th April 2010

Ideas, Fonix / Phoenix, Nail / Hammer Records
Ideas have a long history going way back to 1994, making them one of Hungary’s earliest metal bands, but is was only with the recruitment of premier league vocalist Anita Kun in 2005 that they really took off. You get two discs, one in their native Hungarian, the other in English, hence the dual title. I wish bands with growlers would follow their example, a ‘clean’ CD and a separate ‘growly’ one, it would keep everyone happy. There’s no need to worry about cookie monsters here, this is supreme quality, Within Temptation mixed with Nightwish, symphonic gothic metal of the highest order. We kick off in grand style with ‘King of Swords’, big impressive sound, delightful piano motif, souring chorus, topped by Anita’s awesome voice. ‘Phoenix’ carries on in similar vein, this album is shaping up to be a cracker. ‘Just Remember’ keeps up the good work, ‘WOW this is good’ I find myself saying as the songs rattle along at a cracking pace. Other highlights include the immense ‘Burn On’, the inspiring ‘Never Believe’, the towering ‘You Decide’, and the final number, the superb ‘Silent Rain’, which starts as a flanged guitar ballad before taking off into a song of epic proportions, a fitting finale to a wonderful album. There is a bonus track on the Hungarian CD, the rousing anthem ‘Hazam Hazam’, a duet with Ficzek András from the band Dalriada; it’s rather interesting to hear the songs in Hungarian which is a dramatic language that gives the music a slightly different slant.The sheer quality of the song writing, production, musicianship and that voice lifts this into the premier league of symphonic gothic metallers, a must buy for fans of the genre, that is if you can get hold of a copy because it has never been released outside Hungary. As they have gone to the trouble of producing a separate English CD, this really deserves an international release. You can try the online shop at their website, http://www.ideasband.com/, the Underground Symphony online store, write to their record company, export@hammerworld.hu, or just have a scout around the net and EBay (remember it has two titles, so try both). This awesome band can also be found at their Myspace site, www.myspace.com/ideasband . You will be richly rewarded for tracking down this beauty, a really amazing discovery, 9/10 (Reviewed by Phil)

ILLUMINATA..'A FRAME OF BEAUTY' EP

(Self Release) Reviewed 5th January 2010

Illuminata are a young symphonic metal band from Austria, and you get three lovely ladies for the price of one. This new EP is the follow up to their debut album, ‘From The Chalice of Dreams’, released in 2008, and I have asked the band for a copy to review after listening to the quality of these songs. ‘A Frame of Beauty’ and ‘Stormy Sea’ are strong, highly melodic symphonic metal songs, halfway between Within Temptation and Nightwish in style, with lovely instrumental and prog flourishes featuring, guitar, piano and flute. The third song is an acoustic number in Polish, ‘Czlowiek bez twarzy’. The trouble with EP’s is that they over too soon, you start getting into the music, and then it stops, and this certainly left me desperate for more. Available for download from I Tunes, I am really looking forward to the full long player. 8.5/10 (Reviewed by Phil)

ILUMINATA..'FROM THE CHALICE OF DREAMS'

(Self Release) Reviewed 26th January 2010

After hearing their new EP, I was keen to have a listen to their first album, released in 2008. Sharing vocal duties at that time with Katarzyna’s rock voice was the semi operatic Joanna Nieniewska who was briefly Vision of Atlantis’s new singer last year, before having to bow out due to personnel problems. Joining them in this visual feast is Sabrina who can really tickle those ivories. What you get after the opening instrumental is 11 excellent, up-tempo, symphonic gothic metal songs, with utterly wonderful vocal interplay and rousing choruses. You really cannot fault their ambition and work ethic, almost all the songs race well past 5 minutes, and I was shocked when I saw that ‘Jeanne Antoinette’ had flown passed the 11 minute mark, it certainly did not seem anything like that long thanks to the fact that all the songs have multiple parts and feature superb instrumental sections featuring flute, piano and guitar, including some lovely gentle passages. You get 74 minutes of music shoehorned into this CD, that is certainly fantastic value for money, and the quality never dips, two of my favourites come at the end, the jolly ‘Jack’, and the ballad ‘In The Twinkling of an Eye’, the title of which just about sums the album up. Both songs really showcase that vocal interplay which is so outstanding and gives the band a unique selling point. My only criticism is the rather muddy production, but I upped the treble and downed the bass, and that cleared the murk. This is great for fans of symphonic gothic metal, and with their new EP further wetting the appetite, this has left me hungry for their new opus. Available by contacting the band on their Myspace site http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm? useaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=151260902. 8.5/10 (Reviewed by Phil)

IMPERIA..'QUEEN OF LIGHT'

(Massacre Records) Reviewed 25th April 2007

I must admit to being unfamiliar with Imperia, until this release, although they do have another recording under their belt, 'The Ancient Dance of Qetish'. Helena Michaelsen also has a solo album to her name, that stands proud in my cd collection. So what about 'Queen Of Light'. Although it really springs no surprises in the world of female fronted gothic metal, I do like it. Helena Michaelsen's vocals are very pleasant, flirting with the operatic on occasion. 'Mirror' kicks off proceedings, with 'Fly Like The Wind' and 'Raped By The Devil' maintaining the pace. 'Broken Wings' slows things down, as do the following two tracks 'Braveheart' and 'Facing Reality'. 'Norway' picks it up again, while the choral bits on the slower 'Abyssum' are very pleasant. The very atmospheric 'The Birth Of'...features Helena's newborn baby (called Angel), and is a real haunting piece! The remainderof the cd continues a similar theme to the previous tracks, with 'TheCalling' a fave of mine! 'Missing You' the final track has loads of atmosphere. Listen to that with your headphones on! While there is nothing original here to my ears, the 13 tracks on offer should certainly be lapped up by lovers of female fronted rock including myself. Buy it! 7.5/10 (Reviewed by Dave).