Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat. When I go to
see a band play live, I want to walk out ofthere saying
“Man, that was great! They played hard, they gave it all they
got, they rocked my world and their shit was together …
fuckin’ cool!” And I’d rather be able to say it without having
to have had the entire experience blurred into enjoyment by
cheap ass draft.
Inner Surge let me do that. I had the chance to check the
band out a few months back at Calgary’s Level 4 Nightclub
(formerly Bourbon Street, formerly Rebar, formerly Dunes,
formerly Gargoyles, etc.) On a cramped little stage, with too
many musicians for the space they had to play in, Inner
Surge kicked some serious ass. The strength of the live
show rests in the rhythm section – a driving combination of
bass and percussion that reminded me somewhat of bands
like Tool and Rage Against the Machine. They’re the only
hard alternative rock band I’ve seen employ a Digeridoo,
which made me snicker at first but won me over soon after.
They played a great set and I wouldn’t think twice about
seeing them again.
At the heart of Inner Surge is one Steve Moore. He’s a
talented guy, don’t get me wrong, but on Solus Verum he
seems to have maybe bitten off a bit more than he could
chew. On the album, Moore composed, performed and
produced the music almost entirely by himself, bringing in
only a handful of guest musicians on very few of the songs.
The music is well written and for the most part well
performed, but Moore’s abilities as a producer are
questionable. The vocals on most of the tracks sound, to be
blunt, pretty awful, and could benefit greatly from the
experience a professional producer would bring to the mix.
The problem is not that Moore is bad singer, it’s just that on
this CD he is pretty poorly recorded. There are places on
the album where the music seems to drown itself out in a
blur of fuzzy bass sounds. Solus Verum would make a great
demo, and it is passable as an album, but I’m afraid it
doesn’t hold up as well as it could.
Despite the points it loses on technical merit, Solus Verum
has more heart and soul in it than anything in the same
vein has shown in years. Steve Moore’s passion for his
music and lyrics shows through on every song the CD.
These songs are some of the most politically motivated
I’ve heard in a long time, especially on the local scene.
Give Moore credit, this is a big project for one guy to try to
undertake by himself. Realistically, he should’ve had more
help with Solus Verum than he seems to have had. If the
live show they put on is any indication of what they’re
capable of, I look forward to hearing more from Inner
Surge in the future.
Live show – 9/10
CD – 6.5/10
-chris parasyte
Category: Issue 03
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Inner Surge – Solus Verum
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Soilwork – Natural Born Chaos
Possibly the best Soilwork album to date, all thanks to the recording talent of Devin (Strapping Young Lad) Townsend. This Swedish band started out in 1995 under the name “Inferior Breed”, producing an album similar to the likes of Pantera and Machine Head. Currently, they have a new keyboardist, Sven Karlson, who is a little more diverse in his playing and effects, than the previous keyboard player. At the same time, the rest of
the band remains as technically proficient as ever. This album is only recommended to people who can deal with a high level of intensity. No wimps allowed. – Brooke Chaisson -
The Cruxshadows – Tears
It took me about five seconds to fall in love with this CD.
Here’s the break down for you
Track One: Tears
I really enjoyed the synth work on this, and the voice of Rouge is very pleasant. As well, the chorus is very uplifting. You’ll love it right off the bat (if at all) and it will continue to grow on you with every listen. Very goth-electro, very cool
Track Two: Tears (Apoptygma Berzerk re-mix)
There are still vomit stains on my carpet from when I heard samples of APB’s Harmonizer. Lucky for The Cruxshadows, APB pulled off a decent remix of Tears. It has the typical progressive layered build up for the first two minutes and the super synthy overdose we have come to expect from APB, but I didn’t add any more stains to my
carpet, so it must have been good.Track Three: Within
My personal favorite. As with the original version of Tears,
the beat is catchy and Rouge’s voice is soft and follows the
synth in perfect sync. This is a fantastic choice for DJ’s –
easily danceable. By now on the CD I notice that the lyrics
on this CD are very spiritual and very metaphorical, more so
than most lyrics I pay attention to. The violins in this track are a nice touch, they follow you throughout the song but just under the level of being noticed, at least at firstTrack Four: Tears (Robbie Tronco/Knobhead remix)
This begins with violins, the violins stop and synth replaces it. Then the violins decide to play along, and somehow the total effect gives a very Egyptian feel. This is my favorite remix of Tears – I’ve always been a sucker
for a violin.Track Five: Jabberwocky
Jabberwocky, which means basically gibberish, starts out with some thunder and a narrative from our man Rouge, and some creepy gothy sounds. I didn’t enjoy this track a lot, but still enjoyed it, I suppose I am a bit partial to Tears on this CD, but that’s just me. If anything this track is creative, but also very short, just under three minutes.
Track Six: Tears (Fictional remix)
Rouges vocals are teched in this track, some will like it, some wont. The synth beat gives off the same aura that APB’s remix did – good, but generic.
Track Seven: Heaven’s Gaze (acoustic tears edit)
I am indifferent to this, it’s definitely different from all the
others, mainly for it’s lack of synth. It’s goth, its got
pianos, and hard to hate. Wait, I changed my mind, the
chorus just came on, I like it! Yes, because of the violins.
Bonus CD Video Track: Tears Recorded Live (Artifact
Tour 2001 , Philadelphia, PA)
This was fun to watch, Rouge’s vocals were pretty good, and he wears one of those head set deals, which allows him to roam about on stage, and even off stage, he actually walked into the audience during the song, I found that very cool. -
Lycia – Interview
Interview with Tara VanFlower By Azriel J. Knight in 2002
One of the big questions that I have is how is the band name supposed to be pronounced? I have heard Lycia, LIE-ceea, Ly-shia. While we are on the topic, what does Lycia Mean?
We pronounce it “LIE SEE UH” but I think the proper
pronunciation is “LIE CHEE UH”. Mike picked the name
Lycia because he was studying Mediterranean culture and
liked the “LOOK AND FEEL” of the word ~e has a degree
in geography).Before we talk about the new album, could you tell us a little background on what Lycia is all about, the sound and the message. This is mainly for those who have yet to hear your music.
We really don’t have any particular “message” to our music. We just write about what we’re going through, our perceptions at any given time. The environment around us is always a large influence on what we create. I think that’s evident with albums like “Cold” and “A Day In The Stark Corner” in particular. The new album is very much in the same vein ……. very, very soaked with our emotions and with our environment.
Tell me about some of your thoughts when you first heard Lycia before you were a member.
Well, I fell in love with Lycia from the first second I heard it. I popped the tape into my cheapo boombox and my jaw dropped …. then Mike’s voice kicked in and I knew I had to know him. I actually wrote Projekt to get his address and remarkably Sam wrote me back and gave it to me. (Sam just recently sent that letter to us in a frame! I have no idea how he still had it!) The music Mike creates never ceases to move me on a very emotional level I still can’t listen to “Stark Corner” without crying. There’s just something about his work that reaches somewhere deep inside ….. and I think it’s something intangible …. and something he would deny.What has been the most successful release? Tell us about that.
Well, I guess that would depends on your definition on success. I think we’re probably most satisfied with the current release. Most of the albums have weird stuff associated with them for us – which makes them somewhat frustrating. The current release feels very comfortable to us …. and artistically very satisfying. In
terms of sales, Ionia is the most successful to date, followed by EstrellaUtilizing one of your side projects, “Estraya” you and Mike did a fund raiser for the September 11th tragedy, how did that go?
We ended up having to cancel our set at the last moment. Mike was having some health problems, which caused us to cancel. The event itself was loads of fun! I really enjoyed hanging out with “Fans” and seeing other bands play. I believed they raised a good amount of money. Also, thanks to Angie for the absolutely gorgeous hand printed cookies and fuzzy spider pen! Mmmm!!!!!!
Okay, finally onto the new album. Give us some background on what it’s all about.
Well, as is the case with all our releases, “Tripping Back
into the Broken Days” chronicles a moment in time for us. Mike nearly died a few years back and this threw us into a huge vacuum of sadness and fear and confusion. Mike was so sick at one point that I would sleep with one hand on his stomach making sure he was still breathing. He had dropped to 112Ibs and his body had begun shutting itself down. Coming through that period and into another period of transition really put us into an emotional loop. “Tripping” really sort of chronicles the time before and the few months after our move from Ohio to Arizona and the miles in between; as well as the emotions associated with all we had been through and where we’re heading. The album has a very natural and emotional feel to it. I think the people who understand the history of Lycia and us personally will really connect with this release and really understand who we are as people. The album has a very rustic sort of “American” feel to it. It reminds me of driving through the grasslands of
Oklahoma……and the hills of West Virginia. I can’t really explain what it feels like to me…..but it gives me the same feelings that
some of Steve Roach’s music gives me – where the atmospheres are so vivid you can physically see them…….and the mood
to me is reminiscent of some of the really old traditional blueqrass music . Just a very earthy, natural, emottonally draining, yet simp1e and beautful in its sadness.
I was under the impression Lycia had closed up for good, was that true at the time it was rumored?
It was absolutely true. We had no intentions of ever working on music again. Mike wouldn’t even talk about music for nearly a year. As I said earlier, he was very sick. We had also really gotten
frustrated with the whole “music game”….and we were no longer even able to attempt “the game” with his illness and having to work full time for health insurance and to pay our bills..
Mike slowly starting picking up the acoustic guitar and playing for fun….then he started writing songs. After we moved to Arizona he couldn’t find work anywhere. He was home everyday waiting for the phone to ring and it was really becoming scary. Basically he decided to record as a way from keeping himself spiraling dangerously deep into depression. He didn’t even
tell me he was recording until the album was almost half finished.
What differences on Tripping Back Into the Broken Days will the fans notice from previous releases? What is the meaning behind the album title?Well, I think “Tripping” still feels very much like Lycia – but I definitely think there’s almost more of an emotional story to this release. We purposely left the vocals a lot drier than on past
releases so that the words could be heard and felt. I think Mike could tell you more about what the title means to him as he named the release ….for me it just represents that no matter how far you come through something traumatic….you can always fall right back into it….and there’s always something around the next corner. For us that’s been the case. As soon as you get through one devastating event there’s another right around the corner. I know some people probably hear our music and think “Man, these people just need to get over it”….but the fact is, if I sat here and told you everything that’s happened to us in the past six years you’d wonder how we’re still standing. We don’t write sad lyrics to feel sorry for ourselves we’re writing about very real and honest emotions…hmm…at least we are honest with ourselves. Writing about these things is in a sense a form of therapy or something. We would like nothing more than to be happy and ride off into the sunset…..unfortunately we haven’t been that lucky yet. We’re always hopeful though…..
Tell us about some of your favorite tracks and the meaning behind those songs.I’ll just speak for my songs. Blue Heron
was inspired by this one day when we first moved to Arizona. We had virtually no money and we basically just went to parks and sat by the water for entertainment. Well, on this particular day
we watched this blue heron standing on the water’s edge hunting for fish. Because things were so different at the time, it caused a lot of tension… and a lot of real panic. I think the song just sort of represents things I was feeling inside….and on that
day it just really overwhelmed me. Another track is Give Up The Ghost. The idea of this song was inspired by the house on the cover of the album. That house was a mile up the street from where we lived in Ohio and had been abandoned my entire life (who knows how much longer). We went out there to take the photos and I got this idea of this lost, dead girl sitting inside the
house wondering where everyone had gone. There was still old furniture in the house and I just got the idea of her sitting in the chair waiting for someone to come home…..waiting for someone
to come and get her. It also has more relevance to my actual life. Asleep in the River has a lot of different meanings to it. I grew up on the Cuyahoga River, so that obviously inspired me. There’s
also this vague “rebirth” theme to it.. Cat and Dog also has more than one meaning to it, the real obvious, simple explanation would be that it’s a love song between a cat and a dog. The rest of the meaning has to do with me watching Mike fall apart – and in my heart hoping and dreaming to see him happy and healthy. It’s Okay To Be Small is about Mike nearly dying watching him waste away… and me telling him it’s okay to be afraid sometimes……and that he doesn’t always have to be the
strong one. I’d like to mention one of his tracks Vacant Winter Day… It’s one of the most beautifully sad songs I have ever heard …… -
Lacuna Coil – Unleashed Memories
This is the fourth and latest release from this Italian
sextet, consisting of fifteen tracks, including five bonus
tracks from their Halflife EP.
Overall, this band is about as progressive as Nightwish
of Finland, but not as intense. At the same time, they’re
not as lame and boring as The Gathering either.
Lyrically, the album can range from being well put
together, to semi-intelligent, to exceptionally dull.
According to Century Media Record’s bio of the band,
they have an ability “To lure the listener into a
thunderously dark and passionate landscape of
soulfulness.” It’s a cheesy phrase, but I’ll actually admit
that a number of tracks, (i.e.: Tracks 1, 4, and 10) have
done so for me, while some others were just typical
boring goth-metal. – Brooke Chaisson -
Fracture – Killernet
My first introduction to Fracture was their single Terror Eyes
featured on Off Seat’s [CLASS IX] compilation. Now, Terror
Eyes took me somewhat by surprise. The track takes about
half the song to build up to full momentum and new and
modified layers are constantly being initiated. My surprise?
It worked beautifully. Despite its sluggishly progressive
timeline, there is nothing sluggish about the material and its
toothiness remains a constant throughout.
So, on to hazarding the originating album. Killernet does not
seem to disappoint. It is a curiously diverse album in that
Fracture did not attempt to duplicate the sound of Terror
Eyes in any other track. I could rant for hours regarding the
hideous redundancy that occurs in so many projects –
sometimes it works, sometimes not. The absence of
redundancy in this project, however, has proven to be a
brilliant stroke. The unvarying quality throughout is welcome
as a constant and I am pleased to find that each track did
offer a comparable level of sophistication and layered
exploration.
Let me explain a little by what I mean when I refer to this
album as being ‘diverse’. Fortunately enough, the vocals
(male) also go in stride with each track’s mood – usually
under a consistent distortion: not too hot, not too cold – just
right.
Soak this album up. Their only other release, Hell is a real
pain to get a hold of. Hell is actually a concoction derived
from Killernet so don’t be too disappointed if it is nowhere to
be found. As for new upcoming material, who knows. But if
this is the only real album Fracture releases, better leave it
at that rather than with a follow up that may never exceed
the expectations put fourth by Killernet – Sarah Cassady -
Econocon – Business Solutions For The Active Terrorist
Straight from the boys of MZ.412 comes Econocon.
Don’t expect the MZ.412 flavour in its purest form, no,
no. Expect harsh electric power noise and harsh vocals
to match. Some interesting material here … not all of it
portrayed with the greatest of tact but definitely some
high points (thank you Old Europa Cafe!). The lack of
tact comes in when the noise element actually becomes
unbearable according to your eardrums and not
necessarily to your taste. Other than that, the material is
arranged in a most reasonable manner and almost
comes across as ‘coordinated experimental’ at times.
There is some variation in tempo, sound, and even style.
And I don’t lie when I say that the vocals are well-suited-very in-your-face with lyrics that give the bird by
themselves. Honestly, I cannot think of another noise
project that melds the vocals so well! If you want to take
a chance, and feel kind of angsty, Econocon seems to
be a good direction to head in. – Sarah Cassady -
Dark Throne – Plaguewielder
The thing I love about this band is that you always pretty
much know what you’re getting into, brutally raw in your
face black metal. Their latest release, Plaguewielder, is no
exception to this rule, delivering exactly what you’d
expect. The production is a little better than usual, with the
drumming a lot clearer and technically executed. These
guys really know how to deliver a down and dirty black n’
roll groove. You could almost say this is beer drinking
music. My favorite song has got to be “Sin Origin”,
sounding a lot like Bathory in a beer swilling stupor with
the lyric, “entertaining Satan on an wet electric stage”.
Yah man, cheers to that. This stuff is great! So break out
a six pack and throw on Plagueweilder. – Greg Manz -
Fear Absolute – The Truth
Fear Absolute claim to have influences of technically
brilliant bands like Dream Theater and Death. But after
listening to this five track demo, I thought that the only
thing that makes this Fredericton, New Brunswick –
based death metal band unique from the typical “cookiemonster
rock”, is that they don’t sound so much like their
on coke or crack (which is a good thing). Other than that,
these guys have no surprises.
However, if this death metal thing really does suit your
fancy, they are releasing their second demo in the very
near future. – Brooke Chiasson -
Mourning After Pill – Ask and Ye Shall Deceive (later renamed to Parasite Priestess)
I didn’t think a decent song could be produced using
Frooty Loops, but The Mourning After Pill proved me
wrong.
I have been aware of this project for about a year now,
and used to frequent the site to check for updates. I
would occasionally plug The Parasitic Need into my
Winamp, which is the first track off this single.
Ask and Ye Shall Deceive has some funky twists and
turns you’ll enjoy, and some you might be mildly
annoyed with – there’s a bit of boring repetition here.
Again, it’s all a matter of opinion of the individual, some
like repetition, some don’t.
AAYSD consists of four original tracks and two remixes.
Most of the songs on here have the certain appeal of a
pleasant dark ambience – the lyrics are a bit cheesy but
Mourning After Pill seems to be a hobby project. My
biggest beef is that it’s an mp3.com release, and most
know about the whole Universal problem that started in
October. I must admit, mp3.com produces better CD’s
now: shrink wrapped and less propaganda.
MAP has some creative elements worth checking out. – Azriel J. Knight
