As with any recent addition to a niche subgenre, newcomers to the '60s girl group/surf rock-inspired scene are going to be compared to the movement's forerunners and inspirations. Night Minutes' debut full-length is sure to receive at least a handful of comparisons to fellow Scandinavians The Raveonettes (It's a Trap! already got that ball rolling a year ago with a review of the song "Sweetheart at the funeral" from their self-titled EP), and while these comparisons can be useful to establish an idea of the band's sound, with smaller subgenres these parallels can prove limiting -- if I'm already into The Raveonettes and Glasvegas, I may feel that I've reached my saturation point for jangly, Jesus and Mary Chain-esque indie pop and not even bother to read past the first mention of Phil Spector. Night Minutes certainly share characteristics with groups like The Raveonettes and Glasvegas, especially in the latter two's darker moments, but it is where the overlap ends that the band comes into its own. As a few critics noted with Weekend's debut "Sports", there are numerous places on "Grateful depression" where '60s pop and post-punk coalesce, somewhat unsurprising given the years band member Max J Hansson spent with prior act Cut City, and with the prominent use of electronic drums and synths one can find echoes of New Order throughout the album. And there is an edginess to "Grateful depression" that is often lacking on their contemporaries' records, moments like the end of "Purely hated" where the distorted pop shifts into a near-breakdown -- with acts like The Raveonettes, overproduction often undercuts the impact of their heavier moments, reducing walls of distortion to torrents of white noise. While only an eight-track record, "Grateful depression" is surprisingly hard to grow weary of, and spared of weak songs it can be enjoyed in its entirety. Summer might be drawing to a close, but there's enough sun and shadow to make this offering more than just a summer record. - Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
If you're in any way familiar with the work of legendary Italian horror director Lucio Fulci and his longtime musical collaborator Fabio Frizzi, you'll adore this second album by Swedish prog-horror crew Anima Morte. Whilst the entire album harks back to the good old days of Italian horror, there are notable similarities between various songs and their cinematic counterparts, all given a prog-metal overhaul. "The revenant", for example, is like an updated version of Frizzi's work on "City of the living dead" whilst the title track isn't too far removed from Stelvio Cipriani's sterling work on Umberto Lenzi's 1980 classic "Nightmare city". There are numerous examples of this on here -- too many to list in a review -- but mention must be made of that fact that this album is a creative homage to an inspirational film movement rather than a rip-off of cult soundtracks. A sublime production highlights every nuance of the band's wonderful creativity and, while the music will appeal to a select audience rather than wow the masses, it will wow anyone who gives it a chance. - John Norby
Dusted reviews the new Tuusanuuskat on and comes away with a final assessment that pretty much sums up all of the label's releases for me: http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6627
It's clear from the offset that this album is something unique. After all, when you have so many tracks in which beauty and madness share a simultaneous space, there's no denying that there's a creative genius at work here. As it happens, we have two creative geniuses in collaboration on this album: Norway's Svein Egil Hatlevik (here under the guise of Zweizz) and the sadly departed US-chaos merchant Joey Hopkins (of Midget Factory fame). The two met online a few years ago and promptly put their maniacal heads together to come up with eleven tracks of unclassifiable weirdness that have culminated in this self-titled opus. There's so much going on here that it's impossible to take in on one listen, from the Commodore 64-industrial barrage of "dWill 2 dPower" to the off-kilter ABBA-esque musings of "How we ate the flesh", this is an album that commands respect. Track of the album is "The goat", which kicks off with a cybersheep chorus followed by something that sounds like a bizarre reimagining of the "Alien" soundtrack. The album also benefits from a wealth of guest appearances from Carl-Michael Eide (Virus, Aura Noir), Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver), Torgny Knutson Amdam (Amulet) and Ingrid Aarvik Berge (Norma Sass), to name a few. To the untrained ear most of this might sound like random incoherence. In actual fact, it's one of the best lessons in controlled chaos that you're ever likely to find. This is a whole new level. This is lounge music for lunatics. - John Norby
The Stockholm crew have taken some flak from the death metal community since they first hit the streets around two years ago and, to be honest, it's understandable in a way. Iron Lamb might consist of three parts Repugnant and one part Daniel Ekeroth, but to say that there's not a hint of extreme metal in "The original sin" is quite the understatement. You can see why the death metallers were plenty pissed, then, as they've probably checked this out on the back of the lineup and been sickened to the bone at the distinct lack of filth. Iron Lamb is punked-up metal that, to these ears at least, is like a slightly more uptempo -- and more technically proficient -- Dog Eat Dog in a lot of places, and often sounds off like a lot of the covers found on Slayer's "Undisputed attitude" album. Despite the obvious potential shown here, from the decent (yet already done to death) songwriting to the musical expertise on offer, "The original sin" fails to hit the highs promised by the involvement of such talent. It's a difficult album to sit through, mainly because of a production that fails to pack the punch it should together with weak-as-water hardcore vocals that lack the vehemence that the music would clearly have benefitted from. This sounds like a band of extremely talented metal musicians who have tried their hand at a simple genre and succeeded in creating something that has been done so much better by so many others in the past. It's a damn shame, because on paper it's a project that I would love to love. - John Norby
Today's lead story: Gaffa publishes a review of Swedish rockers Takidaso heinous, the dudes take the time to complain to Aftonbladet about it. The gist for non-Swedish speakers: Gaffa said Takida vocalist Robert Pettersson sounds like he has Downs Syndrome which, as we all know, is a terrible insult to anyone afflicted with that condition. No one wants to be accused of sounding like Robert, especially not the handicapped.
The first thing I'll say about this album is that it's a grower. First impressions are that it's yet another run-of-the-mill technical death metal blastfest, but after a few listens "Death gods" begins to redeem itself. There's nothing entirely new going on here at all, rather it's a collection of tunes that border on the oldschool Swedish sound and style and that manage to better the output of a great deal of the Swedish bands who have been embracing the revival over the last few years. That's not to say that Deathchain are jumping on the funeral cart -- they've been in the business of doing their own thing for the last decade and they've been damn good at it too. The bottom line on describing "Death gods" is that it will appeal to anyone hoping to find something a little more high-end in the current HM-2 explosion. The production does a good job of extracting maximum heaviness from all involved and, in the oversaturation within this genre right now, this can often be a deciding factor in purchase decisions. A bit more listener perseverance than usual required for this one but that's what elevates it from a 2 to a 7. - John Norby
In the short space of time that Oslo's Execration have been around they've managed to build a reputation as being one of Norway's heaviest bands. With their feet planted firmly on old-school death metal ground, they have nevertheless managed to create something of an enigmatic body of work in their second full length, "Odes of the occult". Right from the beginning -- and in various other sections of the album -- they give off a heavy stoner vibe that blends with their death metal overtones to perfection. It's an effortless combination that makes for one of the most interesting albums to come out of the country in years and, above all, it works. From the predominately mid-paced opener "Ode to obscurity", through the dronetastic "Intermezzo I" and "Intermezzo II", to the relentless blasting of "Grains", the band manages to cover all corners of the extreme metal spectrum in an utterly convincing manner. Slightly reminiscent of Autopsy in places, where "Odes of the occult" really shines is in its ability to create an overwhelming atmosphere throughout. The production is bang on the money; it's tight, but far from clinical; dirty, but far from sloppy. It ticks all the right boxes and it's an album that truly captures the essence of what the early death metal movement was all about. - John Norby
Night Minutes
Anima Morte
Zweizz & Joey Hopkins
Iron Lamb
Deathchain
Execration
