Reviews January 2005

 

Voice of Reason, c/o Stefan Muench, Dreihalde 15, 73527 Hussenhofen, Germany

 

 

 

BROKEN STARS -- Staring With Dreams, Ending With Memories (CD / Winged Skull Records)

Coming soon!

 

 

DE-CON -- A Fallen Angel's Voice (CD)

This is one of those self-produced albums (speaking of a demo wouldn't be quite correct as there are 11 songs on the CD with a playing time of over 41 minutes) where everything's just good about. Starting with the layout, the way the band presents itself in the info sheet and finally the music of course. De-Con from Germany found together in 2001 and "A fallen angel's voice" is their second release. The five boys in De-Con play MetalCore with epic song structures, heavy mosh parts and melodic elements. You might think this is nothing new after all these bands coming up with one MetalCore album after the other. Well, of course De-Con are no "revolution" in the MetalCore genre, but the quality of the music can undoubtedly be heard and De-Con really try (and succeed!) to create something refreshing and are not just ripping off the bigger names in that genre. If you're into Metal influenced Hardcore (or Metal with some Hardcore influences), check out this album. There are some really great guitar parts on here ("Pantomime"), but there's one thing that really really gets on my nerves: The clean vocals I don't dig at all. Apart from that a very cool release. Get in touch with them through the band's website www.de-con.net. (Stefan)

 

 

DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? -- Adactapreface (CD / Winged Skull Records)

Coming soon!

 

 

J*A*N FEAT. UDSSR -- Donde Está La Libertad? (CD EP / DIY)

J*A*N feat. UdSSR is probably one of the craziest names for a band I've ever heard, but maybe I just don't get the band's special humour?! I mean, these seven guys and one girl are from Austria, so that says enough, haha. No, just kidding, the four songs on this EP are quite interesting. Usually "interesting" in this context means "not my cup of tea", but in this case they are truly interesting because you can't quite put this band in a certain category. I mean, ok, you could call this a Ska-Punk outfit, but that wouldn't describe the band's sound correctly as the various influences are very diverse. Ska parts, Punk parts, traditional Spanish (?) folk elements, lots of work for the brass section etc. etc. I really think this is a cool EP and way better than bands like the Voodoo Glow Skulls for example (I never really understood why people liked this band so much; I mean the vocals just SUCK!), so go check 'em out. This EP really made me curious for the first full length which should come out in the near future. Until then, you can watch them on tour with WIZO. (Stefan)

 

 

KUNN AND THE MAGIC MUFFINS -- Got Ska? (CD / Winged Skull Records)

Coming soon!

 

 

MOURNING FOR TOMORROW -- s/t (CD Demo)

I received a lot of cool demos lately, and Mourning For Tomorrow are the next in line to come up with a really surprising yet convincing demo. Founded in 2003 these five young guys (or is it just that I am getting old?) feature Bastian on guitar who played in Shanara before, so of you might remember this band. They describe their sound as Screamo Hardcore with influences ranging from Neil Perry to Neurosis. And yes, this description is quite fitting. Two things I usually don't like in Hardcore come together on this demo: German lyrics and complexity. Don't get me wrong: I like complex elements TO A CERTAIN DEGREE but sometimes I have the impression that bands only wanna show how good they can handle their instruments and forget about the songs. Fortunately this is not the case for Mourning Again for the most part, because despite all complexity the songs have still a structure. Secondly, German lyrics. I don't mind German lyrics with certain bands, but especially in Hardcore German lyrics can be quite hard to swallow. Well, Mourning For Tomorrow's words deal with personal as well as political topics, and even though I'd prefer English lyrics (I can't actually say why, it's just that I think they fit better to the music) they're ok. Five songs can be found on this demo, and as the playing time is 28 minutes, you can imagine that these songs are pretty epic. Good stuff, check it out, but better be quick, as my copy is hand numbered, so I guess the whole thing is limited? Contact: www.mourningfortomorrow.com. (Stefan)

 

 

RISE-UP -- Death Inside (CD / Winged Skull Records)

Coming soon!

 

 

SIAMESE -- Emergency Brake (CD / Frog'N Beat Records)

Coming soon!