IVEZA and ELEMENTS

Already aware of and having enjoyed earlier electronica led sounds from Serbian multi-instrumentalist Ivan ‘Iveza’ Ivezic, there was plenty of intrigue when discovering his new project Iveza And Elements. What it discovered was an enthralling muscular fusion between electro and rock which ignites the ear before moving on to the senses and accompanying aspects. The quartet from Kragujevac is an emerging force which on the evidence of their first couple of songs is set for a potent horizon.

Alongside Ivezic, whose history past and current includes playing in Thimble(hardcore/screamo/new school),KBO!(legendary punk/hardcore band founded in the 80`s) and Librium(melodic/post hardcore) as well as his solo electronica cored work, the band consists of Marko Sujica, Predrag Spasojevic, and Nikola Vasic. Together, as evidenced by Fireman and The World Is Gonna Stop, the four-piece creates an expanse of sound which defies precise labelling but reaps the essences of a great many seeds for its own individual persuasion. Industrial, alternative, and electro metal all find a loud whisper within the songs and add to the imaginative and riveting temptation offered.

Fireman is a song which immediately seizes the ear with a mighty commanding grip; forceful riffs and vocal strikes scything through the electro dazzle being expelled around the ear. The brewing tempest soon breaks into a stride of hungry energy and snarling aggression; the guitars, drums, and bass all growling with rapacious urgency whilst the keys dance and transfix the senses with exhilarating warmth and invention. Like a mix of Celldweller, Marilyn Mansion, Houston!, and Terminal Choice, the song rampages with refreshing intensity and insatiable enterprise, chewing and caressing the emotions with equal greed and potency. It is industrial metal at its most compelling and thrilling, and alone makes the band a certain target on the radar.

The World Is Gonna Stop ventures down a less metallic avenue, its electronic ambience and expressive melodic narrative a sonic heat within colour drenched electro imagination. This is not to say the song lacks sinews, its rhythmic framing caging the ear with firm inescapable skill, but the venture is more a sultry blaze of smouldering vocal tempting and keys sculpted sunlight which washes over the listener like a vibrant dawn and sizzling sunset. The mentioned vocals are a gentle call compared to the aggressive snapping delivery in Fireman, but as impressive as the unique sounds and evocative atmosphere borne.

With another song, Revelation, a track which sits somewhere between the two covered here, bringing further irresistible quality and adventure to the opening introduction of the band, there is only intensive anticipation for the future of and creativity from Iveza And Elements. It is impossible not to keep a close eye upon them after the unveiling of their first songs, an excited eye.

https://www.facebook.com/IvezaAndElements

RingMaster 20/05/2013

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Project Silence: 424

    A new scourge to confront extreme noise fans, Project Silence is a Finnish band which is a brawl of intense promise and in 424 has unleashed an album equally as powerful and striking. Though not without flaws, the release is an immense conviction of brutality and bewitching enterprise, in fact that its only real prime issue in that it offers so much in diversity and ideas it risks confusing the listener into indecision over its impressive contents.

From Kuopio, the quintet of Delacroix (vocals, programming, keyboards), Mr. Sanderz (guitar), J (guitar), Silve R (drums), and Sturmpanzerjäger (bass), combine a ferocious furnace of industrial metal, dark electro, trance, aggrotech, and black metal, setting the band somewhere between God Destruction and The Browning with primal essences of Mortiis adding their serpentine malevolence. Formed in 2008 as originally a solo project of Delacroix, the band released its first songs soon after as a free download before working on their debut album and releasing a pair of preview songs in 2010. Obstacles and delays held up the album until the powerful collection of invention and aggression was released at the tail end of 2012. Now with its experimental muscular confrontations open to the world there is an expectation, after listening to 424 that Project Silence is on the first major step of an impending forceful ascent.

The title track wraps around the ear first, the electronic instrumental a warm expanse of electro warmth over slightly blistered ambience whilst keys evoke a tender yet firm invitation to the heart of the release. The piece gives no indication of the destructive intent to follow though its brief minute and a half is merely a pleasing slight-of-hand as the malice of Pressure Revolution takes its place. The track plunders the ear initially with electronic teases and riotous shouts before gaining a stride of rampant electronics and hungry riffs. In full flight the song is a storm of brawling intensity, grazing acidic vocal squalls, and transfixing sonic rain of melodies and electro shards of infection. It is an undemanding yet sinewy encounter which has essences of Houston! and Celldweller within its heated stance.

The following My Reality immediately invades the ear with a darker ambience and invading shadows leading to a malicious caustic vocal and predatory black metal flavoured persuasion. Whereas its predecessor was a relatively direct offense the songwriting here is an evolving and senses searching journey which ravishes and seduces with equal hunger and effect. A guitar power metal infused temptation is just one seamless escapade on the insidious encounter whilst the symphonic caresses in the latter part of its presence is an extra fire of unexpected pleasure to add further diversity to song and release as is Stardancer (Raven’s whore). The track opens with a trance soaked wash which persuasively leads one right into the furnace of rampaging energy and riffs driven by a ravenous breath. Once more it is a song which into its onslaught skilfully and passionately merges a distinct spicery, the track a raptorial tempest which shifts from bringing loud whispers of Rammstein and The Kovennant to those of Firewind and Enter Shikari.

The corrosive Keeper with its dramatic keys, euphoric ambient symphony, and riveting electronic grandeur, is a powerful and compelling slice of symphonic metal imagination but again as with all songs employs a weave of provocative textures and sounds which crosses genres and appetites. As mentioned at times you feel there is almost too much going on, though everything is with a craft and inventive sculpture it is impossible to refuse its addictive lure and the more you immerse within the album the more its persuasion is dominant.

From the singular techno presence of Sky, Space and Twilight Zone, a track which perfectly accomplished did not manage to spark any fires without that viciousness that pervades throughout the rest of the album, and the black metal malignancy of the again strong but ultimately uninspiring Alone (Crushed by Your Lies), the album is soon preying on the passions once more with firstly the feral BEAST and its successor Cage of Hate. The first of the pair fuses black and pagan metal into a voracious devouring of the senses with dazzling yet shadowed industrial magnetism whilst the latter is an incendiary soundscape of spiralling elements and ideas from again a wealth of genres and styles brought into a contagious slightly suffocating maelstrom of imagination.

424 is completed by the dark electro metal revelry of Everything where again the likes of Rammstein stalk thoughts and the short evocative instrumental Promise to bring a rounded closure to the release. It is an excellent release which impresses from start to finish whilst breeding an even more powerful promise and anticipation of the band in the future when they find their unique voice, which suggested by the album is still a search in progress. The bottom-line is Project Silence left us enthused and breathless, enough said.

http://www.projectsilence.info

8/10

RingMaster 27/02/2013

 

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Houston! – Mechanical Sunshine

Houston! is one of those bands that despite being around for a few years suddenly falls into view from nowhere like a starburst of quality and intriguing sounds. The band from Piacenza, Italy formed in 2006 releasing the demo Never Alcoholized within the first year but it was the release of their debut album Fast in Elegance in 2008 on US label Sliptrick Records that notice outside of their homeland began to stir. Opening for Vengeance and a first European tour followed through the year and into 2009, continually building up their fan base with sold out shows across Europe. Still though there was much more scope to be discovered worldwide and with the release of their second album Mechanical Sunshine on Tanzan Music on June 24^th, a major stride will be taken to achieve that. The reason for confidence that soon Houston! will be a name on many more lips is because their new release is simply impressive. Bursting with 14 tracks of smartly fused gothic c electric and hard rock sounds fuelled by a vein of strong metal riffs, it surprises, inspires and most of all deeply satisfies.

The album starts after a brief instrumental with Planet Terror, a striding track built on tight nu- metal riffs and hard rock melodies and vocals, a combination that on the surface is not immediately encouraging but under the artful songwriting of Houston! it works a treat. It is with the next track though that the real uniqueness of their sound announces itself and shines. Anghell Clown erupts with a Korn/Primer 55 like groove with a slow Manson vocal delivery and intermittent warped circus melodies. The track expands with a hard rock group chorus but never strays too far from the metal almost dark industrial flavour. Vocalist Niccolo Savinelli can deliver many styles with his fine voice, from a hard dark growl, through metal aggression and simply with straight rock flavours, he is able to mix it up neatly and never going too far in one direction.   

The next tracks Let Me Shout and Mechanical Breath stay more with the hard rock sound, the first being a relatively straight forward and satisfying song and the latter having a more gothic tone and strong guitar solo from Phil. The tracks do not move into anything too adventurous though this is not to say the tracks are merely ordinary but up against the more menacing and inventive tracks before and following they do not stand out as blatantly. The melodramatic gothic Black Rose rises up next with driving riffs and a darker intensity from bassist Gaby Facchini and the powerful drums of Giovanni Savinelli, showing the difference just mentioned. There is a cool gothic cinematic feel about the song and one can visualise a potent emotive video for it in the mind as it plays out.

The album as it progresses ebbs and flows, always holding a fine consistency with bursts of stunning songs regularly breaking out. The industrial/hard rock blend of Generation ’09, My Swedish Baby Looks Like A Star with its Dope like energetic and irresistible groove, and the best track on the album the stomping stormer Sick, Sex, Six, are all thrilling examples of the quartet’s infectious and inviting music. Amongst the raucous rock grinding sounds the band also show their skill with expressive ballads such as One Day and Cold, showcasing the ability and variation in the bands songwriting to bring something unique with each individual song.

Mechanical Sunshine closes with a cover of the Rob Zombie classic Dragula. The band produce a fine effort and though it is impossible to come near to the original it does make a fun way to end the album and after the previous great tracks it is merely a good enjoyable addition rather than a musical statement. Houston! has created an album that explodes with great sounds and creatively realised ideas and should bring them into the awareness of a much bigger audience. Further on they could explore two directions, the hard rock tradition or a harder darker metal edged sound which currently seems their destiny going by Mechanical Sunshine. This is a must listen release that will impress everyone who ventures into it.

Houston! will be touring across Europe in summer/fall 2011.

For more information, please visit: www.myspace.com/houstonband.

Pete RingMaster 10/06/2011

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