Nothing but Everything Will Remain - Project Masquerade (2011)

Nothing but Everything Will Remain is the new album from Project Masquerade, the project created by Dutch guitarist Noud Smeets. With this new album Smeets showcases an amazing talent at composing and arranging and delivers an album filled with intensity,  colourful melodies and incredibly technical guitar parts! The album, which is composed of six tracks, visits many different styles of metal but at the same time somehow remains in its own style building up a very coherent and diverse album. The album features many different singers which adds some nice dynamics and gives space for a few interesting harmonies.  Some tracks of the album include some very powerful riffs, accompanied by a ripping double kick which gives out a great energy, while on other tracks haunting melodies and heavy drum beats are grabbing your hair and force you to headbang! Killer of Life is an interesting piece which reminds of Slayer-like stuff during the first minutes before changing into a different style which again emphasises the incredible amount of different sounds and styles which are incorporated within the album! My only concern with the album is that if some people don’t appreciate a specific style of metal they will get stuck on one song or will have to skip songs just because they don’t feel comfortable with the style. Smeets did take a very different approach while composing the album by blending so many different elements and he is definitely trying to reach fans of a more progressive nature since, despite the fact that the album runs smoothly and has a nice positive energy, I believe that the continuous change of styles can get a bit tiring for a common listener. Fortunately, as mentioned before, this album has only 6 tracks which definitely keeps the smoothness, but repetitive listens of the album might not be easily digested.

Favourite track out of the album is probably Carve Your Soul with its harmonies on the chorus and the ripping guitar solo. This song has a very nice aggressive feel which builds up really nicely and fans of progressive metal will definitely feel at home with this track!

Nothing but Everything Will Remain: 7/10

Posted by Nick

Heritage - Opeth (2011)

I like to consider every new Opeth release as an event. There has been many times where I could just imagine kids of the 70s, gathering altogether to hear a new Led Zeppelin album for the first time and feel the music that these masters were creating. Somehow, I get the desire to do exactly the same with every new Opeth release. When I got Watershed and listened to it for the first time it was an absolutely amazing voyage on the Opeth cruise and I just couldn’t wait to see if Heritage could  give me even more.

Heritage is the new album from Swedish Progressive metalers Opeth released on the 13 of September via Roadrunner Records. The record starts with a very dark and gloomy piano track which bares the title of the album only to kick in to the first single out of Heritage, The Devil’s Orchard. The album has many atmospheric elements into it which we’ve got used to through the years of listening to Opeth. With the many fusion inspired passages Opeth will not disappoint all the fans of progressive metal. The screaming solos and the amazing production of the album will definitely give you chills while the haunting atmosphere that is created throughout the album is just mind travelling! However, passionate Opeth fans will definitely observe that there are no growls on this album. All of the vocals are clean and their melodies seem to carry and support the very gloomy feeling that the album gives out. This results in a lack of aggression that we usually get with Opeth, but I believe that the amount of new elements that are presented on the album are so many and so well executed, that it really doesn’t feel as if anything is missing. This could ultimately be an album which, when assembled with other Opeth’s album, could represent a very different era and sound in the band’s history. In general a very interesting work by Opeth which didn’t disappoint me but, will, I imagine, disappoint some with the lack of growls and aggression. Nevertheless this album is a true masterpiece in its own and only makes you to want to hear it live! By witnessing Opeth live at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2010, when listening to this album I couldn’t stop thinking how amazing this album would have sounded live in there!

There are many tracks on this album which really caught our attention and could be labelled as favourites. Slither gives out a very Rainbow-ish or Deep Purple-ish vibe with its high tempo and the melodies that Akerfeldt uses on the vocals melodies! Compared to previous Opeth releases, the influences that Akerfeldt has been talking about for so long now, are visible more than ever on this album. No surprise that Slither is a tribute to the late Ronnie James Dio. Nepenthe could easily be described as a fusion metal song with the very nu-jazz, in my opinion, intro and the blasting solo which is followed by a typical Opeth passage that most of us adore! Nepenthe was a drug used in ancient days to forget sorrow which relates quite nicely with the lyrics on this album! Finally, but not least, Famine is a very interesting track with a very oriental feel, which has Opeth introducing to us some flute parts which add a very interesting element to the whole sound.

Heritage: 9/10

Posted by Nick

Euroblast Video Review - 21/22 Oct 2011 (Cologne, GE)

Until Fear No Longer Defines Us - Ghost Brigade (2011)

 ALBUM REVIEW

While listening to Ghost Brigade for the first time, at the Amorphis gig in November 2010 in Islington, it was quite clear that this band had something very special about it. And indeed it really does! With their second album Isolation Songs being an amazing album, the band is now back with a brand new album entitled Until Fear No Longer Defines Us out now via Season of Mist. This album, is a more mature and constructed work than any previous releases from the band, but still lacks some elements from Isolation Songs, which made that album so good. In general, the album gives a gloomy and dark atmosphere, as expected, but it seems as if the sonic explosions which made Ghost Brigade so good in the first place, are not sustained enough and this seems to block the energy of the band from coming out. The songs on this album are almost certainly songs that will sound amazing live and honestly I can’t wait to hear this band again with the arsenal of songs that they now have. Lyrically the band really did a great job with some great lines and very nice passages which fit extremely well with the melodic composure of Ghost Brigade. Production wise, Until Fear No Longer Defines Us is not at the top level! Definitely not a bad production, but it feels as if many sonic elements are lacking the power and amplitude they really need to become impressive! To sum up, Ghost Brigade’s latest effort is a good album which didn’t disappoint, despite the fact that I still consider Isolation Songs to be a better album on the over-all. However, this album only makes me really eager to hear the songs live and see what Ghost Brigade can provide with the next album!

Favourite song out of the album is Clawmaster, which is also the first track that we got to hear from the album. This song is an amazing combination of everything that is good in Ghost Brigade! There is atmosphere, feeling, energy and some really great lyrics which all together, combined with the talent of Ghost Brigade, make this an excellent song!

Until Fear No Longer Defines Us: 8/10    

Posted by Nick 

Wasted Sinners - 5 Oct 2011 (The Monarch)

The Monarch has always been known, as a place for good, underground metal. From the opening acts of Metalworks, to the gigs just like the one that happened last Wednesday, you know you will definitely get quality! So on Wednesday first band I got to witness for the night was Roxville, which unfortunately, failed to impress. With a sound which was very much like a mixture of AC/DC, Guns n’ Roses and Aerosmith it was really hard to distinguish anything that really sounded unique and original. Generally, the lack of a good sound and the lack of uniqueness is what took away the interest from the band’s set. Roxville didn’t deliver a great set and failed to create the nice atmosphere that this style of music generally gives out! On the other hand however, the headliners for the night Wasted Sinners, managed to do exactly this. With a slightly sloppy start on the first two songs, mainly due to sound-man issues, the band really picked up afterwards and delivered a very good set filled with original compositions, as well as two covers;  Chuck Berry’s Johnny be Good and Black Crowes’s Hard to Handle(Original by Otis Redding). The original material of the band had a very nice feel and a very energetic rock n’ roll vibe which picked up everyone in the room! Wasted Sinners are definitely a well-rehearsed and tight band and really understand the concept of putting up a good show! Composed by a technically accomplished crew, these boys only need to find and include the uniqueness in their sound and show, to accomplish greater things. Now that’s where the hard part begins!

Wasted Sinners: 8/10 

Roxville: 5/10

Posted by Nick

Euroblast Festival 21-22 Oct 2011 (Cologne - GE)

From the beginning of September we have been very excited here at Peek from the Pit, since in a bit more than two weeks this year’s edition of the Euroblast Festival is about to kick off! This year, the organisers really went for the best line up possible with an amazing accumulation of djent metal bands including Tesseract, Chimp Spanner and Monuments along with two Nuclear Blast djent(arguable) acts, Danish metalers Mnemic and Dutch Textures as headliners! Also on the line up are Sybreed, Vildhjarta, Aliases and London’s very own Subversion. Many things to look out for this year’s edition, but definitely one of the main things we will surely be paying attention to is to hear some new Textures tracks live, out of their new album Dualism, which is out now via Nuclear Blast. And while we’re talking about new songs, there is also a big possibility for some new Chimp Spanner to be heard on Friday night on the Yellow stage (2^nd stage) right after Mnemic’s set, so be prepared! Another very nice addition to this year’s edition are the workshops that will be held by members of Monuments, David Maxim Micic, Jakub Zytecki and Devastating Enemy just before the gigs blast off on the Yellow stage on both days! This means that if you have any question regarding music, genre, composition, gear etc. then you will be very well served. So everything is set up for what looks like it is going to be an epic 2 days of intense guitars, blasting drums, atmospheric mayhem and a hell lot of headbanging! And if you want to be a part of it well you might want to head to www.euroblast.net for tickets! Hurry up, they are starting to run low! See you all in Cologne! 

Posted by Nick

F-Arthemis - 24 Sep 2011 (The Standard)

Take a pinch of Rihanna and violently force it with a bit of distortion and keep on doing it till it bleeds, then put on a hell lot of make-up and a nice silky, sexy dress. What do you get? Four crazy dudes from Italy rocking up Dean Guitar’s show! It was with great pleasure that DOA UK welcomed for this year’s edition Italian heavy metal band ARTHEMIS for a very special show. It was not long ago that Arthemis had released an “outrageous EP” entitled "F-ARTHEMIS Pop Up Your Ass Vol. 1" which was released for Metal Hammer UK and included covers of pop songs from Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Madonna and many, many more. The covers of course were not spared by the Metal that flows in the veins of the Italian quartet and the result was certainly a very enjoyable listen! Well, those of us who were lucky enough to attend DOA UK 2011 got the chance to hear this result live for the first and apparently last time! Frankly I was surprised, not only because F-Arthemis attacked the stage with their stockings and sexy little dresses with a complimentary over-dosage of facial hair but because the whole thing actually sounded metal! With a set-list that consisted of songs such as Don’t Stop the Music, Survivor, Womanizer and Bad it seemed that the crowd was pleased and notably, the lady standing next to me who expressed her satisfaction with the cover of Womanizer saying that this was the best version of the song she’d ever heard, including the original! F-Arthemis: 1, Britney Spears: 0! The boys discharged an amazing amount of energy and showcased their talent at arranging and re-arranging songs into what they really want! Unfortunately the sound of the whole event was not the best and it did make many of the performers, along with the crowd, to suffer. However on a general note, F-Arthemis was a simple concept and it was executed perfectly! Naturally though before the end of the set, the boys gave us a little preview of what is coming up in November, when Arthemis will be touring the UK with Neonfly and Freedom Call, with some of their own material and notably their track Scars on Scars. November looks promising!

F-Arthemis: 18/20
Sound: 3/5
Ambience: 5/5
Presentation: 5/5
Performance: 5/5

Posted by Nick