Sakramentum ‎– Beyond The Dark Mountains

Label:

Miner Recordings ‎– MR 009

Format:

CD, EP

Country:

Serbia

Released:

2012

Genre:

Rock

Style:

Black Metal, Death Metal, Symphonic Metal

Eerste EP van het Servische Sakramentum, een female fronted metalband met uiteenlopende interesses. Ivana Savic is een eyecatcher en in dit geval ook een earcatcher.

Beyond the Dark Mountains is een symfonisch black/death-plaatje geworden dat niet meteen voor de hand liggende combinaties laat horen. Siebenbürgen/Graveworm-melodieën, vaak op een black metal-blastbeat, inclusief sprookjessynths, worden aangevuld met eerder naar death metal klinkende screams en grunts. Het contrast tussen de vocalen en de frêle tunes is vaak erg groot, misschien heeft de opname in de Paradox Studio daar iets mee te maken. Hoe dan ook, het is geen evidente mix en slechts weggelegd voor luisteraars met een brede smaak. Luistertip: When Darkness Surrounds.

Tracklisting:

1. Dark Trail of the Ancestors
2. Victims of War
3. When Darkness Surrounds
4. Relentless Angel
5. All Beauty Must Die

Line-up:

• Marko Dragutinovic Max – Bass
• Dimitrije Vasic – Drums
• Goran Truca Zivkovic – Guitars
• Coa Lukovic – Keyboards
• Ivana Savic – Vocals

 

Concrete Sun ‎– Sky Is High

Label:

Miner Recordings ‎– MR 011

Format:

CD

Country:

Serbia

Released:

2012

Genre:

Rock

Style:

Southern Rock, Doom Metal

I remember when groove metal happened back in the early 90s. Pantera released their masterpieces Cowboys from Hell and Vulgar Display of Power, and suddenly the metal scene exploded with groovy bands - many of whom were established thrash bands who embraced the groove to various degrees, while the rest were upcoming new bands. Soon the scene consisted of a few original bands surrounded by a mass of Pantera-clones, and suddenly the groove metal star went supernova and imploded on itself, falling out of favor before the 90s ended. This is partially because of the mass of sub par Pantera-clone and because the groove was embraced and, in many cases, dumbed down by the nu metal bands of the late 90s and later by the metalcore bands of the noughties, while a more interesting and, dare I say, true version of the metal groove was kept alive in the underground sludge metal scene.

It seems now that new life has been blown into the groove metal monster - probably thanks to the increasing popularity of sludge metal - and, with releases like Diretone's upcoming eponymous debut and "Sky Is High" by Serbian rockers Concrete Sun, which was released earlier this month, there is focus on both quality, originality and homage to the great groove metal acts of the 90s.

"Sky Is High" is a massive riff-based grooving monster of a rock album. While there seems to be a clear influence from sludge metal, Concrete Sun's sound is much tighter and less twangy than the typical sludge sound, and Sky Is High has more sonically in common with the thrash metal bands who went groovy in the 90s in the sense that, while the groove is in focus, Concrete Sun also appear to be aiming at precision and tightness in both riffage and in the overall performance. I would say that, if one were to compare this album to releases from the golden era of groove metal, the best point of comparison would be releases like Overkill's "I Hear Black", Anthrax' "The Sound of White Noise", Sacred Reich's "Independent", and perhaps Exodus' "Force of Habit". Now all of these releases were not exactly popular when they were released, but what I like about them is that they were different from the undefinable mass of groove metal releases the came out at the time, and I think it is great that Concrete Sun sound more like those releases than the many Pantera-clones that made up the major groove metal population. I mean, obviously, the Pantera-inspiration is there and is reflected in some of the riffs, but we are not talking rip-offs here.

Not only is "Sky Is High" solid and groovy, most of the tracks are based on some awesome drives and then, for a groove metal album, it is also quite varied with tracks like 'Just a Beginning', 'Euphoria' and 'Hide Behind' being groovy motorcycle-friendly metal rockers, while the title track is heavy and melodic, and a tune like 'Ruff Song' is an all out old school hard rocker, whereas 'Last Man Under the Sun' is a dark and heavy blues-tinged alternative rock/metal track. The vocals also deserve mention, as the vocalist has a really unique voice (think Bobby Blitz meets Manic Frustration-era Eric Wagner with a touch of Wolfsbane-era Blaze Bayley in the more mellow parts); it may take a spin or two to get used to, but his vocals are rock 'n' roll as f*ck and really fit the music perfectly. Another thing that screams rock 'n' roll are the guitar solos which steer clear of any sort of shredding, instead drawing on the blues and are more akin to the solos heard in much 90s alternative rock.

Fans of groove metal as well as sludge metal and even alternative metal/rock should definitely invest in "Sky Is High".

 

Concrete Sun ‎– Eight

Label:

Miner Recordings ‎– MR 040

Format:

CD

Country:

Serbia

Released:

2014

Genre:

Rock

Style:

Stoner Rock, Southern Rock

Concrete Sun is a Novi Sad line-up founded in 2007, which after four years of work realized its debut album "Sky is High", initially as a free download, and with the agility of Miner records it was reissued in cd format, at the end of 2012.

The debut album presented them as a convincing musician, immersed in the American heavy, grunge and stoner sound of the first half of the nineties. Enumerating the impact would take time, but let’s just mention the ones immediately noticeable like Down or Alice In Chains. There are also those less noticeable that can be discerned only after a few auditions (for example, the occasional mild echoes of Exodus from the "Force of Habbit" phase or the overtone of the Testament from the same period, primarily in singing). It is obvious that Concrete Sun positioned its sound completely at that time in the mentioned time period, but what is a plus for them is that the material recorded on the album "Sky Is High" sounds fresh and not too retro. This year's new album, "Eight", brings a partially more modern sound, less stoner vibe, the songs are faster, the riffs are shorter and more sharp. The production seems to be a shade more successful (and the debut album had a good production for the local conditions), and the bass guitar got more space in the arrangements. Strahinja Cerovina has once again confirmed himself as one of the better singers on the Serbian heavy scene and he sovereignly leads the band through eight new songs (hence the title of the album). The order of the songs is not the happiest, so after five songs that make up the most impressive part of the material, there are two slower, longer and bulkier "Vagabound's Dream" and "Silver Tear" (a video was recorded for the latter). Thus, the second half of the album is subordinated in quality to the first, and for the very end, an unnecessary stylistic rehearsal on the theme of the southern sound "Chained Up & Out Of Blues" was left. The cover was performed very pompously and all congratulations to Miner records, which enabled them a booklet of twenty pages with lyrics of all the songs and accompanying, solidly ambitious, photos. On the other hand, I was unable to decipher the connection between the album title and the photo on the front of the cover, as well as the connection between the photo on the back of the cover and the rest of the booklet. It is a band with obvious potential, which has two noticed albums behind it and the support of the record label, and which on the next album might finally turn things around in its favor and achieve more noticeable success outside the heavy scene. This is supported by the current video for the song "The Galley", and the announcement of the release of the album on vinyl, but it would help the band to continue to remove the influence of other bands from their sound and continue to form its original author's stamp. In the end, "Eight" will surely, despite some objections, find its place on the lists of the best metal albums of this year released in the former Yugoslavia, but perhaps it would be more important than that to be presented as much as possible at live performances.

 

Concrete Sun ‎– Sky Is High

Label:

Miner Recordings ‎– MR 011

Format:

CD

Country:

Serbia

Released:

2012

Genre:

Rock

Style:

Southern Rock, Doom Metal

Imagine if you will, your ears being scraped alongside the rusty innards of a pickup trucks back end, now add the dull thud of a hangover, that is how this album made me feel and I hadn’t even drunk the night before.

Now don’t get me wrong I love Southern Rock, from “Down” to “Black Stone Cherry”. But “Sky is High” left me wanting more, as if I had been sat in front of a buffet of Michelin star food and instead was made to eat dirt.

The thing that annoyed me by far the most on this album was the lazy songwriting, for example, “D.A.N.U.B.E” and “God Forsaken Prostitute” are almost identical at the beginning, I may be being pedantic but since when has every other song on an album had to start with exactly the same chord, tone and tempo? We all love palm muting, but let’s not do a Zakk Wylde, who at least can pull off using the same technique over and over again.

Concrete Sun suggest they have taken influences from “a blend of southern rock, blues, stoner, groove, sludge and grunge”, but that doesn’t mean they should have taken all those influences and turned them into one gelatinous lump.

But enough of the terrible analogies, I will try and give some constructive criticism, firstly, the voice, either it was recorded badly or it just isn’t up to scratch, and I say that as there were points at which I thought the voice had a certain quality to it, but nine times out of ten it sounded like a bad mix of James Hetfield and M Shadows.

The guitar-work is lazy; there is a lot of potential as sometimes I find myself picking out in the bottom of the mix a good lick and wonder whether it was lost in bad production or if nobody thought to say, look you CAN write, so write more like that three seconds just there. And my god where are the bass and drums? I had to strain my ears to hear the bass and when I did I was pleasantly surprised, the bassline was good, really good in fact, but I had to crank my sound up to find it.

Overall then, the album is dull, lazy and perhaps quite typical for a debut release. It needs work, there’s good to be found, but it’s hidden amongst the muck

 Band: Concrete Sun

 

Location: Novi Sad, Serbia

Album: “Sky Is High”

Concrete Sun is a Southern/Stoner, Sludge, Grudge band from Novi Sad, Serbia. Yes that’s right, muthafuckin’ Serbia. Southern fried metal reaches deep into all parts of this planet for sure.

Listening to this freshman release from these boys I instantly hear their influences and I would imagine their heroes, such as the mighty Pantera, Down, COC, which all was birthed by Sabbath. Having said that I would really love to hear a little more dynamics from their own sound and input then hearing those other bands mentioned above, which isn’t easy as it sounds, hell I know that from experience. These guys are awesome musicians, no doubt, so let’s begin with some tracks I feel are key to making this a slammin’ cd.

Track one is “Just A Beginning”. This heavy grooving ,really catchy intro with a tasteful quick solo added, kicks off this album. I like the overall feel and vocals that is slammin’ all the way through. Track three is a very commercial radio friendly track, that if the right people and money behind it could have possible put this band on the map not just a small loyal fan following. With a great intro that is very similar to Down’s “Stone The Crow”, this track is very bluesy, heavy sludge riffs that we all love to jam too. Chorus is also catchy and full of life that I’m sure is a crowd favorite. Another track that I really dug was “Junkyard Dog”. Kicks off with that old Pantera slam. Heavy chunkin’ riffs with that awesome drum sound that Dime and Vinnie brought to life, completely infectious!

Overall this a decent freshman release from these guys. I’m sure with hard work and the right producer their songs will continue to improve with every album they create. This band isn’t going anywhere but up ,lets just hope they stay together and on the radar.

Orest – “Iza Ogledala” – by Alek

Orest – “Iza Ogledala” – by Alek

I don’t know if Belgrade if fruitful for this kind of bands but the first moments of the album sent me back to the legendary album “Dalje neces moci...” from SMF. I simply love that vibe and it’s a great, great deal. (Note: I am mentioning that as a compliment!) You never know when Orest are serious or joking, but anyway, the jokes are serious, believe me. It’s a great way to describe the society we live in. Orest are comfortable in the region of thrash/groove metal, thats for sure. The sound is freaking great. You know when you try to connect the whole concept of the band’s album with their sound? Yeah, that’s a dream of many, many bands. Although this is their debut album, Orest stands firmly on the ground. I would like to point to their guitar players... Man, solos are on their fucking place!!! I think it should also be underlined to mention that the lyrics are on serbian language and that is a step that not many bands decide to do (not speaking just for the serbian bands, but in general). I guess the nature and the approach of the lyrics dictates it, but hey, we are not searching for excuses. Great and brave step guys!

Let’s start, the album starts with “Alkohol”, song which brings a story that most of us (if not everybody) went through. Getting drunk... Then... Somehow I think that “Organe mi daj” will be the highlight of this album for me. Let’s gamble and go on. This song has all the great ingredients of a very, very good thrashing song and starts with a solo! Ok, let’s move on and scratch the surface of the other songs. I am not a great fan of clean vocals, especially when they come in some metalcore way. The song “Moj zivot je mala greska” is fulfilled with that, but what hit me is the greatest guitar solo on the album that is, hmmm, exactly on this song. “Heroin” is the song that I am sure will bang your head off. This is the sharp thrashing spirit of the album and it just drives and drives. The title song of the album “Iza Ogledala/Ogledalo” come with a great naration, especially: “You are not lost, you know exactly where you are... Behind the mirror...!” Another great song, another great solos... The lyrics? Well, you should guess that the song does not carry the title of the album for nothing. Please, read the lyrics. “Vernik” and “Kap sa neba” represent, for my ear, the most alternative/progressive aspect of the band and if I am right there are even some stoner parts there.

I noticed another thing of the album, but on the lyrical side of it. I feel that this album has four parts that make a story. The first part are the songs “Alkohol”, “Organe mi daj” and “Srce”, the second “Moj zivot je mala greska”, “Strah” and “Heroin”, the third “Iza ogledala” i “Ogledalo” and the fourth “Vernik” and “Kap sa neba”. All these songs in these parts are kind of connected, both in lyrical and musical way.

All in all this is a band that we should wacth carefully and closley. They made a hell of an impression in me and I will surely wait for the next album. I don’t know if they have recorded a video, but if not I hope they’ll do it soon. This is a release that should fulfill many many personal collections!

9/10

Enemy Inside – “One More Time” – by Alek

Enemy Inside – “One More Time” – by Alek

Enemy Inside – One More Time

Label: Miner Recordings

Year: 16.10.2015

Format: CD (Jewelcase)

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Genre: Rock

Still: Speed/Thrash

Old school thrash metal comes in many forms and Enemy Inside are one of the arguments. The album “One More Time” was self recorded, mixed and mastered by the band, to be precise, by Zlatko Slatinac, their guitar player and a guitarist of a historical metal act from Belgrade, Bombarder. Enemy Inside also entered in the Miner’s net. So let’s go to the point. This album is a comeback of a musician that was “somewhere in time” for about 28 yeras (after his guitaring in Bombarder) and that can be felt in the band’s lyrics and in the riffs also, who explode in old schoolering.

Anyway and anyhow I separate this album in parts and I guess those indicators of the “parts” come as a certain point(s) that the band makes. The first three songs come in one sound with great riffs that in those 10-12 minutes travelled in my head and came to some old school Pro Pain sound. A sound that reminds me of the older Pro Pain. To be clear, I’m not talking about stealing or copying riffs but the general vibe of the songs. And that’s pretty cool. Suddenly, there is the song “Thrashing Way” that comes packed in a totally different sound and I guess it was made that way to underline the heavy side of the song, the vocal is different, the guitars are thinner and sharper. Also, I cannot hold myself not to mention that this song pulled me back to 1992’s “Church of the Trully Warped” album from G.B.H. A punk band that metalized themselves with that album...

“Machine of Hate” returns the previous sound and takes the third part of the album (for my ears). Even the band is thrash metal oriented, this song has a great old school death metal riffs (such you can hear in Six Feet Under’s “Warpath” for example). It is one of my favourite songs! And then, again we enter in the fourth part of the album, “Brothers in Arms” and “Enemy Inside” who are also sounding different but in some way are complementary. 

The last two songs (the fifth part) “Horde” i “Metalni Bog” are not in english and have a heavy metal vibe.

Having in mind Zlatko’s comeback on the scene after so many years some of us can understand why there are different (in sound and in genre and composing) songs (I as call them parts). I guess those are songs from different period of time in Zlatko’s life. Some may say it’s not professional, but who knows, and who says that it shoud be “that way”. I take this album as a compilation of life and time events, nothing more, nothing less.

I reckon the overall sound could’ve been way way better. A little bit more mixing here and there to get a better balance. If we take those things as positives than they surely should represent a positive critic for Enemy Inside to make a compact sounding album next time. Overall this is a good metal release!

7.5/10