Reviews

VANGUARD..'HYDRALCHEMY'

(Shadow World Records) Reviewed 7th October 2009

Aimee stumbled across Vanguard by accident via Last FM. And when I learnt that they are a Gothic Metal Band from Finland, well I just had to investigate further! Finland of course being the mecca of all things rock and metal. And boy, am I glad I checked this band out further, and indeed, after a little bit of hunting around, I was able to track a copy of this cd down. Utilising both clean female and harsh male vocals, 'Hydralchemy' is a very catchy offering indeed. Kicking off with a brief intro that then leads us straight into the heavy but melodic 'Spellbroken', I knew I had a winner here - right up my (and Aimee's) alleyway. Heavy guitars, keys and the dual vocals of both Suvi G (female) and J. Grym (male) feature throughout. I quite frankly love it. Check out 'Scion' for a song that will hang around in your head for ages (and ages). And the ballad 'Untold', featuring the cello of Aapo Romu I just love! This album so happens to be very good! And the digi-pak also includes as a bonus track, a cover of Type O Negative's 'Black No 1'. Awesome stuff! 9/10 (Reviewed by Dave)

VARIOUS..'DEMONIC and DIVINE'

(Femme Metal Records) Reviewed 19th August 2009

Female fronted rock and metal is alive and well. And most of these femme bands do not sound like Evanescence or Nightwish as some sections of the media will have you believe. Femme Metal is a project that the delectable Caz runs from Kent (my home county too), and here is a double compilation cd featuring a whole host of Femme Metal Bands. Where do I start? Let's just say there is some awesome music on offer here within the 30 tracks, and as a consequence is sure worth checking out by fans of the melodic, symphonic and gothic female fronted genre. Furthermore, proceeds from the sale of this little package goes to The Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK. A great buy...get it from www.FemmeMetalStore.Net/ ...9/10 (Reviewed by Dave)

VELVETSEAL..'LEND ME YOUR WINGS'

(Dark Balance) Reviewed 2nd August 2009

The debut album from the Hungarian four piece, who describe their music as symphonic dark metal, which just about sums it up. This is perfect for fans of Sirenia and Delain. Gabee has a good voice, and possibly the world’s longest eyelashes, and the songs are all good, in particular ‘Lend Me Your Wings, ‘The Devine Comedy?’, and the ballad ‘Where Statues Cry’. In fact the whole album is good, but perhaps lacks the wow factor to lift it into the premier league. A very promising debut and all in all a really good listen. 8/10 (Reviewed by Phil Wooldridge)

VENTURIA..'HYBRID'

(Lion Music) Reviewed 7th September 2008

'Hybrid' is the 2nd Release from this awesome band that features the dual vocal attack of New York based Marc Ferreira and VENTURIA's female vocalist, French lass Lydie Robin. Marc Ferreira may well be a name known amongst AOR circles, but he is now well established with Venturia. 'Hybrid' is actually an apt name for this record, as it combines Metal with beautiful clean pop-melodies, technical progressive rock + classical and electronic music. Some awesome metal on this cd, with the opening Salvo of 'Swearing Lies' and 'Be The One', testimony to this. This cd sure is a grower that takes two or three listens, but basically we have an awesome slab of well produced technical metal here. Other faves on this up tempo release include the heavy and melodic 'Pearls Of Dawn', 'Will You Save Me' and 'Why? This Women's Life' (my fave track! Awesome vocals on this one). This is a good release from Lion Music that we have on our hands here, so check it out, live with it for a couple of spins and it will not disappoint! 8/10 (Reviewed by Dave)

VISIONS OF ATLANTIS..'TRINITY'

(Napalm Records) Reviewed 11th April 2007

If you are into symphonic metal a la Nightwish, this cd is for you. This is Visions Of Atlantis 3rd offering. Their previous, 'Eternal Endless Infinity' and 'Cast Away' were ok, but they never quite cut it for me. I felt that perhaps there was a little something missing in the vocal dept. But this latest 'Trinity', is an awesome improvement. Vocals are now provided by new female vocalist Melissa Ferlaak, with clean male vocals by Mario Plank. On their previous releases, I always found Mario's vocals too nasally, but even he has improved! As for the cd itself. It's great stuff, kicking off with 'At The Back of Beyond', followed swiftly by the very melodic 'The Secret', it is obvious this cd will follow the path trodden by Nightwish. 'Passing Dead End' is another up tempo number with Nightwish Influences. 'The Poem' is a slower track with the main vocals provided by Mario. Indeed, the interplay between the two vocalists works well throughout the album. 'Return To You' showcases Melissa's operatic vocals very well. Indeed, all the tracks on this cd are good, finishing with the hymn like 'Seven Seas'. Ok, I think that some reviewers will slag this album because the obvious Nightwish Influences. I will judge 'Trinity' by the music alone. Good production too. Go and buy on 25th May. We like it. 8/10 (Reviewed by Dave).

VIVEYNNE..'BECOMING JANE DOE'

(Independent Release) Reviewed 2nd June 2009

Viveynne is an awesome band from Canada fronted by the lovely Mikaila (Mikki), and the cd (ep) on offer here features 8 tracks that run in at around 27 minutes in total. This is the perfect way to showcase this young girl's vocals, and believe you me, awesome vocals we have here too. The record gets underway with 'Blood To Bleed' that starts slowly with Mikki's soaring vocals instantly making an impression, and the band then joins in giving the song a bit of uummph!! Next up we have the awesome title track, a haunting song that vocally reminds me of Amy Lee (as do other songs on this release), and an excellent song it is too. This little epic continues with the more upbeat 'This Phobia' and I am speechless at the quality of the music on offer. Other highlights for me are 'Goodbye Good Morning' and 'Come Crawling', but having said this, all the music is of an extremely high quality. I just want to say something here and maybe Mikki is fed up with the reference. But she is only 14 years old, writes all the material herself and plays piano and synths, and her band sound a tight unit. This is an act that I am sure has the ability to take on the heavyweights on mainland Europe where this type of sound is more or less the mainstream. Record labels, check out www.myspace.com/viveynne and then start your orderly queues here - enough said! 8/10 (Reviewed by Dave)

VOICES OF DESTINY..'FROM THE ASHES'

(Massacre Records) Reviewed 22nd January 2010

Voices of Destiny hail from Germany and feature the vocals of front lady Maike Holzmann, with occasional dual male vox from Lukas Palme, who is also in charge of the keyboard dept. 'From The Ashes' is their debut offering and I suppose follows a tried and tested formula - female fronted (in a 'near' at times operatic style) with occasional male but not overdone gruff vocals. Kicking off with the rather catchy 'Ray Of Hope', it seems we are onto a winner here. Not bad, not bad at all! 'Twisting The Knife' keeps the momentum going as does 'Return From The Ashes'. 'Ice Cold' slows things down a touch, well so you think, until the guitars, keys and drums kick in! The album kinda continues in a similar vein. Okay, I have heard all this before, but for a debut it ain't bad. I quite like 'Apathy', a slower number, nice use of accoustic guitar coupled with keys giving this song a cool atmosphere, while 'Bitter Visions' is another slower and rather hauting tune. In summary, if you are into Within Temptation, Coronatus and the like, this little platter is worth parting with your hard earned cash. Release date is 26th Feb, and it can be pre ordered from the normal outlets. 8/10 (Reviewed by Dave)

VRILLION..'SOURCE OF POWER' EP

(Self Release) Reviewed 13th October 2009

This is the debut EP from ‘alternative’ gothic metal band Vrillion from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. They are fronted by Chloe who has a clear, folky voice. The first track ‘Flesh is so Easily Torn’ has a quirky, Rhapsody like vibe, with medieval folk influences. The next song ‘The Crazy Clown Song’ is the sort of madness Diablo Swing Orchestra would come up with. The fact that I saw them play it at the Madhouse with their young fan club wearing Stephen King Clown masks only made it even more surreal. The next 3 songs are Nightwishesque, the catchy ‘Killer Instinct’, ‘Reason’ with a lovely flute intro courtesy of Chloe, and the suitably anthemic ‘The Battle’. The CD ends with the medieval folk metal of ‘Sweet Mistress’. This is a highly enjoyable 30 minute listen, and I would love to see them given the opportunity to record a full album in a really good studio. Go and have a look at their Myspace site, www.myspace.com/vrillion , the EP should be out shortly. 8/10 (Reviewed by Phil)