Archives for June 11, 2004

Vero – How Does It Feel

June 11, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

‘How Does It Feel’ is Vero’s debut recorded effort and it comes in the form of a single which will be featured on their forthcoming album ‘Inborn.’ Vero are an exciting young rock band taking influences from the American music scene with such bands as Deftones and Foo Fighters. These two are very apparent in the formula of their music and the fact that they have such a familiar sound could help them in winning over the masses in the UK with video playlisting on both Kerrang and Scuzz TV.

Vero are a very exciting band who have been hanging around the scene for a good while now but have never given anyone the pleasure of a recorded effort. This single is breaking the cycle and what an effort it is to break the cycle too. They have a hell of a lot of angst in the music with melody laced verses and anthemic choruses which are sure to impress even the most hardened of Rock fans. There are only three members in Vero but it sounds like there are a hell lot more, as the sound that this band creates is absolutely immense. This band are hard rocking, raw mentalists that will get inside your head with their music and mess around with it as much as they can.

‘How Does It Feel’ is a totally amazing single track – there is no denying that, but the B-side ‘Stay Alive’ is also a powering little number that could quite easily be released as one itself. It definitely has the power to be one – the raw aggression is certainly there with the grinding guitars, super bass lines and frantic drumming, coupled with the absolutely blinding vocal skills of lead man Marc here. It is great to read that not only is Marc the vocalist but he is also the guitarist because both of these are done extremely well, and sometimes when a vocalist also plays an instrument – one of the two can be a bit lacking.

Vero are sure to gain some degree of success in this fine year of Rock because they definitely have a fine talent with superb skill being shown all round. Vero have the ability to go far in this business and I see no reason why before long the band shouldn’t be gracing the covers of such magazines as Kerrang. If they can manage to conquer the television world with the amazing video for this track then there will be no stopping them from going on to covermount success.

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Zero Cipher – Demo

June 11, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

This is a 3 track demo from the amazing UK band that is Zero Cipher. What I love about this band is that they never seem to tire of being heavy – in fact every time I have heard them lately they seem to have got heavier, yet at the same time become more refined and increasingly talented and interesting to listen to. I have reviewed two of the bands releases before now and had been incredibly impressed with what I had heard – this demo here is no exception. I love every minute of this demo with its heavy edge, and the Zero Cipher special ingredients that make them who they are – I can never quite put my finger on it, but there is definitely something about this band that I love and admire.

All 3 of these tracks are extremely good to listen to – I love heavy music and Zero Cipher do indeed fit the bill of being a heavy band. They have some awesome shouty vocals, fast drum beats, grimey guitar riffs, and pulsing bass lines that are sure to put a smile on your little face. This band are so talented it is unbelievable – I don’t know how they do it, seriously but they really are an immensely talented band and I appreciate them for this. They are all tremendous musicians that know what sound they want to be creating with their instruments so hop straight to it. What you have to love the most about this band are the guitar riffs as they are just so heavy and anger filled – you have to hear them to believe them to be honest but when you listen to these guitar riffs every inch of your body is filled with hate because of the pure passion which is being released through the guitar. Somehow the band manage to convey emotion through their instruments – which really is the sign of a good musician! Not only do the vocals have deep meaning but the instruments as well as they each seem to have there own hidden message and agenda. I feel that opening track ‘The Hijack’ has been chosen extremely carefully on this demo to kick it off as it is an extremely catchy little number and just like the other two holds a ton of aggression. I feel that this is the best track of the three so that is why I think that the band have thought long and hard about it as people often go on first impressions – so placing the best track at the start means that people are more likely to listen on and see what the band is about.

This is an incredible CD and I will definitely be listening to it again in the future. It really is a good sign to see the band producing such a stunner in a demo as if they can do this in a demo recording then who knows what is to expected from them when their next full length emerges. My guess is it’ll be absolute carnage and as a result will be an ultimate success in the Metal scene.

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Rock Against Bush – Volume 1

June 11, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

On this CD, 26 bands have come together in order to try and raise political awareness, and serve justice by getting that dangerous, irresponsible, idiot son of an asshole out of power. We have known that NoFx feel strongly about George Bush for some time now and they have now released this CD – so hopefully some good will come out of it and we will see some change in the Whitehouse – preferably in the form of a brand new president.

There are some very big names that have come together for this CD – as you look down the track listing you notice such bands on the bill as NoFx, Descendents, Pennywise, Ministry, The Offspring, The Ataris, Less Than Jake, and even Sum41. In the past, Sum41 have had a lot of stick because of their success – but new song ‘Moron’ shows that the band can rock out with the best of them as it is a really strong track and should soon shut people up who have labelled them as ‘corporate sellouts.’ There are some extremely strong tunes here and from a variety of different genres – proving that it is not just the Punk Rock scene that cares about the current political state of affairs. Anti-Flag make a superb contribution to this CD with track ‘The School Of Assasins,’ which has some serious bite and will really get your Punk Rock juices flowing. Anti-Flag are a super band and this track is further proof that they are one of the best Punk bands around at the moment. Ministry also stake their claim in the CD with their fantastic effort. This one really goes down a treat as it is always good to hear the heavy vibes of Ministry and they sure are sounding heavy on this one. RX Bandits make their contribution to the CD with ‘Overcome (The Recapitulation.)’ This is a nice, catchy little reggae number that shows off the band at their best. I am not always a fan of the band but this really is a storming contribution and really works well on the CD – giving a nice mellowed out feel mid way through the listing.

Some bands on the CD however really fail to impress or capture your attention whatsoever. The Ataris for example, sound like they have recorded ‘Heaven Is Falling’ in the bathroom. They may be quite famous but that doesn’t mean that they can produce crap and people will lap it up – they don’t seem to grasp the fact that in order to keep peoples respect you have to work for it. Another one, which disappoints is Offspring track ‘Baghdad’ as it is just a bit of a shoddy re-recording of one of their old tracks. I think that they probably could have done a lot better on this one and was quite disappointed with what I heard from them as I was looking forward to listening to what they had to offer but it just didn’t work for me. Less Than Jake are given the honour of leading the CD to a climax so the opportunity is there for the taking for them but they just seem to mess it up. It is a good track, but they have re-recorded it with the guest vocals of Billy Bragg – his voice really doesn’t work well with the Less Than Jake vocals so you get a bit of a cringeworthy effort in this one as what should be a good track has been spoilt by incompatibility.

So, for the most part this is a pretty amazing CD with a huge array of bands coming together for a good cause! Don’t be put off by the bad tracks as there are really plenty of other tracks to float your boat and in buying this CD you will hopefully be doing the economy a bit of good. So, lets put up a united front against George W Bush – please join me in being the proud owner of the ‘Rock Against Bush – Volume 1’ compilation CD and make sure you play it loud and proud.

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Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.