Wolfpakk

Virtuoso keyboardist Vivien Lalu has created a new progressive metal epic featuring an all star cast:Band [A-Z]---Martin LeMar (Mekong Delta) - VocalsMike LePond (SymphonyX) - BassSimone Mularoni (DGM) - GuitarsVirgil Donati (PlanetX)- DrumsVivien Lalu (Shadrane) - KeyboardsGuests [A-Z]---Jens Johansson (Stratovarius)Joop Wolters (Shadrane)Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater)Marco Sfogli (James LaBrie)Mike Andersson (Cloudscape, Fullforce)Peter Wildoer (Darkane, James LaBrie)Born of Noelle and Michel Lalu, musicians from the ‘70s French progressive act Polene, Vivien Lalu has released a surplus of recordings through an array of different bands and projects since 1997, as the keyboard player for underground black/doom band Time For A Change. At the turn of the millennium Lalu played keys for two underground progressive metal bands from Paris, Sad Warden and then Mind’s Orchard, and in 2002 was hired by Hubi Meisel (ex-Dreamscape vocalist) to compose and record the keys for his solo album EmOcean, the following year doing the same for Meisel’s sophomore album Kailash, both of which were released by Lion Music.It was at this time Vivien Lalu begins recruiting his own associates from major prog and metal bands — some of which he shares time composing music alongside in progressive metal act Shadrane — and forms his own solo project, LALU. The first full-length Oniric Metal was released on Lion Music in 2005 and began an entirely new chapter for this composer and his insatiable need to create mind-expanding, cinematic music.These accomplishments helped Lalu to begin securing score and soundtrack work for film and television; over the last few years he’s written many cues for the orchestral soundtrack for the Warner Bros movie Seuls Two, for the show Science X made in association with Lucasfilm Ltd. Additionally he joined the production team behind Laszlo Jones in order to assist the recordings and production of Banana Nation (Universal Music Group). He’s composed many soundtracks for French television, music and sound effects for Neko Entertainment, worked as a sound designer for Ubisoft Entertainment and much more.After collaborating with Shadow Gallery for a song on their Digital Ghosts album, and working with Canadian drummer Chris Nalbandian for his Paralysis of Analysis solo album — recording all keys and sharing solos with Derek Sherinian and Alex Argento — Vivien finally settled in and began work on the second LALU opus. Handling all composition and songwriting duties, as well as all keyboards on the massive production, Vivien weaved the cloth of the new album with vocalist Martin LeMar (Mekong Delta), bassist Mike LePond (SymphonyX), guitarist Simone Mularoni (DGM), drummer Virgil Donati (PlanetX), the album’s parts recorded in several countries including the United States (Los Angeles and New York), Germany and Italy, produced by Lalu in his own studio, and mixed at Boumbox Studio in Paris by Yan Memmi (Dio’s Lock Up The Wolves, Marcus Miller’s The Sun Don’t Lie, etc.). Additional contributions from Jens Johansson (Stratovarius), Joop Wolters (Shadrane), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Marco Sfogli (James LaBrie), Mike Andersson (Cloudscape) and Peter Wildoer (James LaBrie) were also carefully built into the album, the final product boasting over fifty minutes of exceptional, massive  cinematic, atmospheric metal Lalu has dubbed, Atomic Ark. 

"Christianity and Heavy Metal have never really been the most obvious of bedfellows. Ever since the formation of the genre at the end of the 1960's, the relationship between Heavy Metal, in particular the more extreme variations of it, and the established Church, have been, for the most part, frosty. This doesn't mean that the two cannot come together though; There are countless great bands that have been playing great music that pays homage, rather than expressing outright hatred, to Christianity; TROUBLE, MORTIFICATION, HORDE, CRIMSON MOONLIGHT and DIVINEFIRE are the first bands that spring to mind for me every time I hear some closed minded moron quote that old, cringe-worthy and wholly incorrect adage about the Devil having the best tunes. Slovakian Power Metallers, SIGNUM REGIS, are one such band that are not only proving this phrase wrong, but are also using their knowledge of their faith to create great themes and concepts for their albums. Their last full length, for example, was based around Moses' liberation of the Israelites and their trials in the desert. This latest EP is full of the sort of classic Power Metal that many have grown to love, and it sounds amazing.This EP opens with a very solid, powerful opener, "Living Well". This is a great piece of Power Metal, with all the hallmarks of the genre; with a few harder aspects peppering the classic sound, which gives it it's own unique flavour. All this track’s elements work well together; it's really well mixed, and doesn't wander into the realms of cheesiness as some Power Metal has a tendency to, and above all, it's a great way to kick the record off. "Through the Desert, Through the Storm" treads down a much more straightforward Heavy Metal path, with razor sharp guitar lines, angelic vocals and some fairly interesting keyboard parts thrown in for good measure. The chorus is great, with some genuinely hair-raising parts that were just made for singing along to. "My Guide In The Night" is another really good piece of Power Metal with brilliant vocals and guitar work, punishing drums and some really cool keyboard sections. The fourth track, "Come and Take It", is perhaps the most straight forward Power Metal song on here, with plenty of great hooks to keep the listener interested. The penultimate track, a re-recorded version of "All Over the World", sounds even better for having been redone, and sits very well among the bands newer material.  "Vengeance Liar", which closes this EP, is perhaps the strongest song on this record apart from "Through the Desert, Through the Storm", and has a really cool, classic Power Metal sound with some genuinely inspired guitar playing and really spectacular vocals to match. It sounds awesome, and is a very good high note to end this record on.This EP is very good. Anyone who loves Power Metal will most likely enjoy this. This sounds like a band that have honed their style and perfected their image, now ready to take their music to the world at large. I'd highly recommend this EP, and indeed the rest of this bands awesome back catalogue, to anyone who loves, powerful, uplifting Metal music." - Metal Temple

"Every year since I have started listening to metal music I have always somehow got myself in the comforting grip of a brilliant solo album that doesn’t heavily rely on singing. Whether discovered or newly released, it’s nice for the instruments to do the talking when you see names like Steve Vai cropping up on the new releases shelf in HMV. Gus G is mainly recognised as the guitarist for Firewind, but he’s also the guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and raised his profile even higher as a sensational guitarist. He finally gets to shred until he bleeds, and he has help from Jeff Scott Soto, Elize Ryd, Jacob Bunton and Mats Leven to lend their vocals to Brand New Revolution. With plenty of bands and experience, Gus G will have the spotlight shining upon his strong posture.The Quest already pumps you up for what is yet to come on the album. It’s absolutely incredible. An action-packed, energetic introduction that fades out softly into the album title track as Bunton sings on that as well as Burn and We Are One. All of these have a savage hard rock sound that stamps its way along the audio waves that are shooting through my headphones with excellent solos (what else would you expect?) that sizzle that brain of mine like bacon on a grill. Elize Ryd lends her vocals on What Lies Below, adding some aggression and crunch to the album, making way for the ballad Behind Those Eyes. Jeff Scott Soto provides his legendary voice on Gone To Stay, returning to the hard rock vibe Bunton provides along with One More Try. This song is sandwiched between ballads, decent ballads to be precise.Come Hell or High Water is the first song to feature Mats Leven, possibly one of my favourites on the album, along with his last two If It Ends Today and The Demon Inside. His vocals screeching through these songs something to behold, as it is with the vocalists on this album. If It Ends Today is added to the soft rock list, as the ballads on this album aren’t ‘80s glam cheesy it makes this album essential. Scott Soto has one last song with Generation G that is in between the latter two of Leven’s tunes, a song that has a similar vibe to Youth Gone Wild by Skid Row when it comes to uniting a group of people one way or another, it’s uplifting. The Demon Inside finishes this album with slow tempo and crunching riff and catchy chorus, fading out quickly.Brand New Revolution is a remarkable listen, for those guitar fanatics who are just expecting instrumental songs from a guitarists solo album will be hushed by The Quest as well as Gus G‘s incredible talent that shifts through the album. It’s blend of hard rock and ballads often made me think of Whitesnake, but only for the mix of moods, not the sound. The vocalists were an absolute treat to listen to and the production work from Jay Ruxton and Mike Fraser was just perfect. Brand New Revolution does everything perfectly to show that Gus G doesn’t fuck about, he has stuck to his guns and fired out this monstrous yet honourable album." - Heavy Magazine Australia

Reissue of the first album from this Italian folk metal band.  Vocals are sung in Italian and English.  Death and clean vocals abound."We’ve seen folk music/metal coming from some of the most notable places forest-dwelling metal would always sprout mushroom-like from, and as we all know, those are usually the best places to find them. But, lately, there have been other, slightly less frosty countries that have undertaken the natural-acoustics-meet-electronics, each with their own take and persuasion, and, for better or worse, worth donning the musical loincloth. Thankfully, the sensation of the creative pool becoming too crowded hasn’t come to pass, so one would be able to appreciate a little country differentiation if it means solid, worthy products.So, with that, can a country that’s been noted for creative, over-the-top melodic metal do the same, but in a different flavor? Let’s find out…Right away, it’s fairly evident that Furor Gallico are playing with a full stylistic deck, giving listener plentiful bouts of folk metal fury that comes more as a barbarian horde than a group of drunks lost in the woods. Odes to sword-swinging victory are the order of the day, wherein the fine Italian countryside is set ablaze in the name of all things heathenish and wild, albeit at a nice, almost leisurely pace. Things move from one extreme to the next, thankfully coming off naturally rather than just slapping some guitars and strings together and hoping for the best, and thus ensuring varying degrees of enjoyment on that end from start to finish. Taking a rather North-born approach, the Gallico gang takes to the metallic spectrum with powerful riffs, snazzy leads, raging growls/screams and pounding drum work while soft strings, glittery harp and flute work underscore the madness with a liltiness more befitting a nice evening beside the fire. Still, like other groups of their musical primordial soup, it fits, and it works.The group does its job and does it quite well, there’s no denying that. However, the threat exists in that they may be playing it a little TOO comfortably. For as fine as their s/t debut is, it runs the risk of sounding too similar to some of their contemporaries and not truly forging a path of its own. Then again, such criticism could very well be moot as a result of this being their first full length, and I’m hoping that’s the case, as I’d hate to see these guys fall into a rut they may not be able to get out of. First album doldrums are usually the test necessary to cow a group of musical bastards away from the mire of the unoriginal, wherein many an accolade and extra album sold is the prize in the end. Normally, not doing so would lead to disaster right from the foundation, but on a good day, these guys hearken enough strong song writing to keep your focus enough to know that something’s going down, where such fine examples include the likes of “Ancient Rites”, “The Gods Have Returned” and “Golden Spiral” coming at you like spiked gauntlets to the temple.At the end of the day I was quite taken with what Furor Gallico had to offer, with the hope that future endeavors will make things all the more fantastic and creative. But so far, things are looking up, and I can see them staying on my radar for quite a while now." - Metal Archives

Fourth studio album from Leprous reinforces the fact that they are one of the most innovative and cutting edge bands working in the prog metal idiom.  The music of Coal has already kicked up a bit of controversy from the early listeners.  The music isn't quite as angular and frenetic as Bilateral.  Atmospheric passages similar to Tall Poppy Syndrome are perhaps a bit more prevalant as well.  All in all it's clearly identifiable as Leprous.  Ihsahn guests on one of the tracks - don't forget Leprous is his backing band.  Nice guys - great band.  Highly recommended."Considering Leprous‘s previous album Bilateral is considered by many to be a masterpiece of progressive metal; Norway’s Leprous had a tall order in front of themselves. Coming up with a followup to such a critically acclaimed and beloved album is no doubt a daunting task. Despite that, after two long years of waiting, Leprous have conjured the successor to Bilateral, and it’s called Coal. Usually, when bands release an album after their magnum opus, the result is either a “version 2.0″ of the previous album, or it’s a return back to the normal style of the band. Leprous have taken a bold turn instead, and they have reinvented themselves. Coal is clearly a Leprous album, carrying all their trademark touches, but it’s also very fresh and unique.With Bilateral, the band were clearly rooted in a sound that has been defined by the big names of progressive metal. By applying their characteristic syncopation, moody riffs and singer Einar Solberg’s haunting and powerful vocals, they were able to perfect an already existing sound. With Coal, the band have taken a different direction. The album is very dense, emotional, and quite avant-garde at times. While there are some more traditional songs similar to Bilateral, there’s also an air of neo-80s on some songs, while others carry some characteristics of modern Scandinavian indie bands. Longtime fans of Leprous will definitely see the direction that has been present since the band’s inception, but listeners who know of them only via Bilateral might be slightly confused. In the end, Leprous have always been about mood, and Coal is oozing with it.In terms of structure, Coal is more similar to Tall Poppy Syndrome than Bilateral (but not too similar to either in the end). The songs are slow burners, setting up a mood, then deliberately building on it until overwhelming the listener with the climax. Everything is very subtle, the production making every hit of every instrument matter. Each song is an exercise in building an atmosphere by slowly adding layers to form a very powerful sound. Einar Solberg is at his best here, he has taken his voice to the next level. He was already an amazing vocalist, but Coal sees him becoming a master of expression. There are many progressive metal bands nowadays with clean singers who can hit insanely high notes and execute amazing melodies. But what is often lost is the soft touch, the control over timbre that makes one’s voice special. Einar is a master of timbre, and he uses his abilities to their full extent in Coal. While this is an album about the big picture and constructing an ambiance with the convergence of all instruments, his unparalleled vocal skills definitely deserve a special mention, because he is what hammers down the emotions and makes this album so special.As mentioned before, Coal is a deliberate album, where attention is paid to every instrument. And the production, by Ihsahn (who also has a stellar guest appearance on the closing track), is perfect for this. Especially of note are the drums, they sound very real and quaint. The intimate feeling of some of the songs can directly be attributed to the unconventional drum sound. The drumming has also taken a turn for the more subtle, with small flourishes and cymbal runs building tension in the more atmospheric sections of some songs. The bass is also clearly audible and adds to the sound. The guitar work isn’t as flashy as Bilateral for the most part, but it also has more character because of that. It should come as no surprise to longtime followers of the band, but Leprous are masters of doing more with less, and all of the instruments reflect this. Another production detail worth noting is the presence of keyboards. The keyboard work is more prominent now. In Bilateral it was used mostly to add some extra layers to parts driven by the guitars, but here the keyboards form the building blocks of the sound. This is perhaps what sets the album apart from Leprous’s previous work, the heavier focus on atmosphere and a dense aural landscape. This might be disappointing to some who preferred the more direct approach of Bilateral, as Coal is less “metal”, but the more developed sound suits the band.In terms of songs, Coal is a very diverse album. The first three songs and the closer can be interpreted as a direct evolution of the band’s sound from their previous work, then there is the extremely moody and emotional masterpiece “The Cloak”. This is where the album takes a turn for the introspective, as the rest of the songs are quite experimental and ethereal. Overall, the album has a very clear journey with a defined start and end, and it works quite well. Some of the later songs can feel like they last half a minute too long, but the deliberate pacing of the album makes more sense as is.In the end, it’s hard to deny that Coal is yet another masterpiece by Leprous. The songs ooze character and deliberation. Coal is expressive, emotional and brave. It might not be what everyone expected after Bilateral, but Leprous have defied expectations and raised the bar again." - Heavy Blog Is Heavy

"Formed in Athens, the band PSYCRENCE saw the light of day in 2009, in December 2010 they released a self-produced demo EP entitled “Distance” which has received an excellent and very encouraging acclaim by the press and the fans alike, a fact that’s leads PSYCRENCE to play many stages in their native country, it includes an highly rewarded spot at the famous festival's "Tunes In Progress" bill.Now it’s time for the release of their debut album, “A Frail Deception” and it’s time for a deep analysis of this burning platter, full of progressive elements, both inherited from the new and old tradition, melted and boosted carefully, with the additions of some down tuning heaviness and many intriguing atmospheric sounds. Their music style and its definition is hard to explain but it also contains a tons of familiar elements subtly borrowed to many legendary heroes… You’ll name it, isn't it?! As an example, the first tune “A Losing Game” starts with a melodic pattern of piano enhanced with layers of synthesizers overdubbed by an asymmetric guitar riffage, very classic in its construction and perfectly measured and dosed, with an impressive Lead vocals performance in order to complete this archetypal picture of the Progressive Metal of the 90’s… Nothing really new but the tradition is respected and honored by such a smart and fine introductive track.The sonic production work gets a result near to perfection, scoring the privilege of being clear and strong in the exact doses, the best way to give justice at their amazing playing talents and developing an enjoyable path of sounds for songs like “Convergence” as it belongs to a more difficult breed of composition that really need some more time to penetrate your psyche… See you at the Coda. With the continuity of those four cuts that follow now “Forced Evolution” / ”Moral Decay” / ”Subconscious Eyes” / ”Incised Path” it reveals to us another side of their specifies, it holds a new density but also a real melodic richness, the opulent and refined Keyboards / Guitar harmonized canvas, built under a perfect construction of a complex duo is jaw dropping, the rhythmic section is tight as any Modern Power Metal but with a more elaborated harmonic maze on the top of it. The sharp riffing duet of guitars can be at the same time sophisticated and chaotic, bold and delicate, insidious or vicious but also elusive, their manic riffage is on the insistent mood, hypnotic or fierce and their solos spots are technically improved yet particularly demented in “Moral Decay”… ”Incised Path” contains also a bunch of NWOBHM flavors compensated by a still very relaxed kind of proggy crooning courtesy of singer Takis Nikolakakis.“Distance” is indeed another superbly crafted song, it's a Darker number hiding into a real progressive outfit, because of the arrangements as it builds itself layer after layer, until surprisingly providing a new found intensity and a new edge in the chorus section, starting with an incessant creeping riff that leads to another damn fine solo interaction. The track n°8 “Reflection” is another guitar driven, a fast paced and heavy thing, drums part are more direct, less audacious than the early titles but with a fury of melody improved by this always fantastic voice somewhere between Andy Kravljaca (ELSESPHERE / SEVENTH WONDER / SILENT CALL / AEON ZEN) and Nils K. Rue (PAGAN’S MIND / ex-X-WORLD 5 / ex-EIDOLON) with some hints of Tobias Sammett’s vibrato“Hold Close The Flame” is the closing number and surely the most addictive of all, a slower pace, an ethereal clean guitar motif and an emotive vocals performance in the early QUEENSRYCHE‘s musical inspiration, in spite of the title being close to a famous track of the mythical “Warning”, the signature style is palpable and concrete, it's crystal clear to me that it belongs to an idolatry homage to the Tate / DeGarmo / Wilton legacies.After the glorious releases by compatriots WARDRUM or UNTIL RAIN, I will believe that something musically exceptional is happening in this Mediterranean Hellenic territory, much alike the Italian phenomenon and its legions of talented group appearing like a spontaneous generation of talented spirits in the vein of FATES WARNING / QUEENSRYCHE / CIRCUS MAXIMUS / REDEMPTION / AEON ZEN or EUMERIA. A very classy collection of songs in the key of smartness and elegance, exquisitely set in an evaluative mood in order to conquer the hearts but mostly the mind of those Progressive Metal lovers." - Metal Temple