Sad news: The music world mourns the loss of Ray Manzarek (74), founding Member and keyboarder of The Doors, White Zombie drummer Phil Buerstatte (44) and Uriah Heep bassist Trevor Bolder (63). R.I.P.!
German Hardrockers BERSERKER will donate 18.000€ to the Berlin cancer charity for children on May 25. November 2011 BERSERKER front man Schröder was diagnosed with cancer, now he is cancer-free. In 2012 the band collected money for this charity at their concerts and will also continue to do so in the future. Slayer´s Jeff Hanneman is dead: he passed away at about 11AM on May 2nd near his Southern California home because of liver failure due to an infection after a spider bite. R.I.P. Jeff!
The Siberian Jay music video "I´m Holding" featuring Mikko Sirén from Apocalyptica on drums - we reported about the videoshoot in our "1h with" Special - can be watched here: http://youtu.be/C-hSNurZVcs
If you like Death Metal. If you like Black Metal. If you like some Industrial. If you like beer. If you like the Ukraine. You've never been in Ukraine? Then you buy beer and the new CD "Totentanz" by Thunderkraft. You will not reach the Ukraine, but you have beer and from the musical point of view the other things - and they are from the Ukraine. And sound really good, a bit different than the usual Metal.
This means that first you wonder why "experimentally exceptional" - because the promoter says so? "A Time Will Come" is full of pressure a little in the direction of folk metal, reminiscent of Finntroll, fat guitar riffs and sinister black metal growls mixed with a melodic, by the keyboards supported basic theme, Heavy-Metal guitar lines meandering solo the action and are reminiscent of Kreator, but basically you realize that guitarist Alafern - founder of the band from Charkiw, the second largest city in the country - originates from black-metal roots. Basically it is angry, and aggressive energy blasts forward, but it is also imaginative and lards the cosmos with electronic sound gadgets.
"Mass Defect" integrates such electronic components. But even a flute mingles with the sounds. The type of singing in its brutal darkness creates sometimes neighborhood to Moonspell leader Fernando Ribeiro. "Totentanz" in German is an exciting song, hectic electronic sequences are combined with nervous percussion. "Death Will not Separate Us" creates smoothly a relaxed balancing and leads then to a kind of concertante ballad integrating a classical guitar solo. "The Future World" could be good for the headbangers, if a trademark of Thunderkraft wouldn´t be a tricky rhythm and tempo changes. The band has made an effort in the songwriting and caused a lot of variety. There is through the whole disc to discover a lot. "Towards A New Dawn" at the end poaches in the symphonic field of "Industrial Celtic Folk", slow but solid as a soundtrack to an epic. Also Celtic, although with more Metal power finally the "The Creator of Life."
Metal in our day is going to evolve. The new software technology seduces new forms of sound. Moreover, the pressure is very strong, to stand out somehow the crowd of the other Metal bands. Purely linguistically Thunderkraft makes already an exception and sings in Russian, Ukrainian - and German. Finally no ubiquitous "international" English. The band strives for rich diversity and tries to develop its own profile by stylistic range. That alone is not an experiment, but is managed well and energetic. A little bit of it sits between the chairs and requires from the metal-lovers some tolerance and flexibility. Let's hope that Thunderkraft does not need another seven years until the next album, but to continue their road concentrated and consequent. And if folk is integrated - perhaps even Ukrainian?
Tracklist:
01. A Time Will Come
02. Mass Defect
03. Totentanz
04. Death Won´t Separate Us
05. The Future World
06. A Crumpled Story
07. Where The Dream Flows...
08. Towards A New Dawn
09. The Creator Of Life
