Gehenna - Unravel (2013 NN Promo)

"Gehenna used to be one of the more interesting keyboard laden black metal acts, with their “three spells” (1994-1996) being most memorable and highly considered as classics by fans of the genre. But apparently someone stole their grimoire before they could even begin the fourth spell. Adimiron Black still came out however, but it wasn’t as arguably strong as the past material. Years later, the band wandered around like a bunch of confused magicians, wondering where they might have misplaced their beloved grimiore. During this time, several “other” albums were released, which seemed to echo the unfortunate frustration of these gentlemen, who only seemed to want their old grimiore back. This leads us into Unravel and the band’s ultimate fall to rock bottom. This album is so terrible, that a friend of mine told me that it literally put him to sleep while behind the wheel of his truck, causing him to veer off the edge of the road, which certainly could’ve killed him. Worse than anything Satyr did this year, Unravel is unnecessary Ambien that’s about as interesting as watching black paint dry on the wall. It doesn’t matter what these musicians do, it all just comes off as tepid and boring as humanly possible..."

Read More Here: http://newnoisemagazine.com/album-review-gehenna-unravel/

Dead Letter Circus - The Catalyst Fire (2013 NN Promo)

"If you’re a fan of Tool and Tool-like acts like Karnivool, mid-era Chevelle and now Blindead, then you’ll definitely find something here to like in Dead Letter Circus. Though not the muscular prog that one might expect from Tool, the band’s frontman has a glassy approach that sure might remind listeners of Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan at his most delicate. I think it’s the powerful melodies that accentuate showstoppers like “Alone Awake” and “Say Your Prayers” that really seem to meld with me the most, making Dead Letter Circus a hell of an act to follow. The band has a strong chemistry in the fact that the guitarist’s shoegaze melodies just wouldn’t work as well without the frontman’s approach. The band never gets overly heavy, but they don’t need to. They could live on those melodies for years if they wanted to – it’s really that good. If this is going on the radio sometime soon, you can bet I’ll be the first to stand up for it and say, “hey, this isn’t crap!” and I ultimately mean that..."

Read More Here: http://newnoisemagazine.com/album-review-dead-letter-circus-the-catalyst-fire/

Phuture Doom - Phuture Doom (2013 NN Promo)

"These guys asked for a review, so they’re about to get one. But that’s certainly not a bad thing as they’ve released a near perfect electronic album that even makes me overlook the dubstep annoyance in “Burn The Knowledge.” Listen guys, I know that dubstep is a very popular way to go in electronic music, but I’ve heard plenty of acts who have been heavily successful without even a hint of it. Even though they have mixed in black metal riffing with it (and I’m not kidding about this one), it just doesn’t serve to do anything more than to make me frown. But please don’t judge this entire album on just one song, because you’ll be doing a great disservice to the act and to yourself. If there’s one thing I know, it’s trance and these guys are quite fucking skilled at it, if I do say so myself. As a matter of fact, “Black Acid Reign” came in right after that horrible annoyance and definitely got me feeling the grooves instantly. You know when an album hits you, because you really feel it inside! Though there might be a few dubstep hints on the track, I have to say that I don’t mind what’s being done here and consider a dark sort of electronic piece, which reminds me of some of the earlier Infected Mushroom stuff (My Mummy Says, for example) and the injection of strange chants (and yes, those same black metal riffs) make this album one of the most unique electronic pieces that I’ve ever heard in my life..."

Read More Here: http://newnoisemagazine.com/album-review-phuture-doom-phuture-doom/

Interview with Scream Queen Victoria De Mare Now On New Noise!

"Let’s talk about the recording of the album. You had the opportunity to work with several different musicians who each helped to make your album the strong debut that it is. What was it like working with these individuals, and what was the overall recording process like for the disc?

The recording studio like a dance studio to me is like my church. It is where you create the moments that people buy tickets to come see your experience on the stage. It’s the recordings of that magic that live forever and it is more than thrilling to me to create those moments. And no one cares what you look like in the recording studio, unlike working as an actor. It’s all about how you sound and the sound of the music and how it makes you feel when you listen to it.  There was fewer musicians’ work that actually made the final cut of the album than you might think. As a producer, it is more than frustrating when a musician is unprepared and can’t take notes during the session. All the music on the album was co-written by me and my “co-genius” as I like to refer to him; Michael Sean Colin. I am mostly referring to him in my liner notes on the album, and I guess only he would really understand my comments in those notes because he was there. I love the music we create together. It is magical to me. This album was a strong debut because of Michael and I’ll never forget the experience of creating this album with him. It was one of the highlights of my life.

Let’s talk a bit about the movies. You’ve worked with several directors and producers, from the great Roger Corman and of course; Charles Band among others. What do you think is your personal favorite role? What role of yours do you think that fans most admire? Do you have a favorite film?

I’ve worked with a ton of different directors so far in my career of over seventy film and TV productions. Roger was the executive producer of Slaughter Studios and DinoCroc, and Charlie produced Killjoy 3 & Killjoy Goes To Hell. I have two personal favorite roles – “Batty Boop” from the Killjoy series and another role that I can’t talk about yet because the film has not been released yet. I think the fans enjoy me best as Batty Boop & Sarah Ragdale from Werewolf In A Women’s Prison. I’ve actually been recognized in bars, grocery stores and at parties for my performance in Werewolf In A Women’s Prison, believe it or not. (grins.) But it is too hard to say which film is my “favorite” as I’ve loved working on them all."

Read More Here: http://newnoisemagazine.com/interview-victoria-de-mare-hollywoods-hottest-scream-queen/

For those of you who aren't aware of Victoria De Mare, she is famous for playing in Werewolf In A Womens Prison as well as the Killjoy series in which she plays Batty Boop! She just recently finished Gingerdeadman Vs. Evil Bong, which you can find here: http://www.fullmoondirect.com/

Apocalyptica - Wagner Reloaded (Live In Leipzig) (2013 NN Promo)

"I’ve been a fan of Apocalyptica ever since the release of their debut album, Plays Metallica With Four Cellos and have been keeping tabs on them for many years now. The band slowly but surely changed their approach by adding a real drummer and later real guitars. Then they started adding vocals and have worked with some of metal and rock’s most treasured artists. Sure, at this point one can play the “sold out” card, but then again, what else could they have really done with just four cellos? And that brings us into the band’s latest release, which seems to cover a slew of tracks from the orchestral composer Richard Wagner in a way that only Apocalyptica could..."

Read More Here: http://newnoisemagazine.com/album-review-apocalyptica-wagner-reloaded-live-leipzig/

Torii - The Shadow Of The Mountain (2013)

Tracklist:

1. The Shadow Of The Mountain

2. Endless Glacier

3. Inexorable

4. Out Of Time

5. The Great Hall At Dawn

6. Lord Of Waters

7. The Coming Storm

Get it here: http://torii.bandcamp.com/

Yes, after a long time of waiting... It's finally here. First came Torii's original instrumental album, but as I mentioned in my review, it really needed vocals. A few months later, we sat down and worked something out. A few months after that,Torii developed into a full-scale project with the both of us now working to crank out brand new material for you next year. The current lineup for Torii now consists of Bill on the instrumentation and me on the vocals. As a musician, I really think that an awesome job has been wrought on the release; even though I think that some of the vocals here aren't my best (but that's normal, as I judge myself rather harshly.) Lyrics are included with the album, so feel free to decipher my pratterings in whichever way you choose.

I am looking forward to seeing all reviews of this album, so make sure to update me via email when you've posted one. Once again, we're working on new material for next year. Now go out there and enjoy it, and tell others about our hard work in Torii!  

- The Fallen Alchemist

Artillery - Legions (2013 NN Promo)

"Artillery’s brand of thrash metal is pretty damned unmistakable at this point, so you really don’t want them to do any more than to make a good fucking record and that’s what they’ve done here. I’m glad to say that the band has not dipped their tones into djent or core or even the realms of technical metal. It’s just thrash as one might expect and be damned glad for. Even though the disc’s opener “Chill My Bones” has influence from middle-eastern melodies, I’d be a complete idiot if I said that this six minute thrasher wasn’t worth your time. And hell, you might as well just add the rest of the album along with that. As big of a fan of this genre as I am, if my head starts banging without my recollection of it, and while I’m on my lunch break completely oblivious to the fact that one of my managers now thinks I’m crazy, then it’s definitely a good record..."

Read More Here: http://newnoisemagazine.com/album-review-artillery-legions/