SUSPERIA VOCALIST SET TO RETURN AT STEINKJER FESTIVAL IN NORWAY
Athera (Pål Mathiesen), vocalist with Norwegian thrashers SUSPERIA is set to return to the stage at the Steinkjer Festival www.steinkjerfestivalen.no in Norway on Friday 26 June 2009. The singer, who earlier this year suffered a heart attack which resulted in major open heart surgery, has made a rapid recovery and doctors have now given him the go ahead to make his comeback.
Athera recently gave his first interview since the heart attack to Belgium's Metal Nose. Talking about his new perspective on life he said " I haven't seen the light or anything but things are certainly different. I would never ever dare to touch any kind of drugs anymore and I don`t understand now how people can pull smoke into their lungs and stuff like that, even though I used to love it. I guess you must go through something like this to realize the dangers and insanity of some of the bad things in life." Read the full interview at Metal Nose here
Susperia's fifth studio album 'Attitude' was released last month via Candlelight Records, entering the official Norwegian Album Charts at position No..28, whilst in the USA it was the No. 3 most added album on specialist Rock Radio Playlists. 'Attitude' is the bands debut for the Candlelight label and features guest appearances from Chuck Billy (Testament) and Shagrath (Dimmu Borgir). Recording took place at Strand Studio and Studio Cyrus, Norway, with the mix being completed at Studio Fredman in Sweden by Henrik Udd and Fredrik Nordstrom (Dimmu Borgir, Arch Enemy, Opeth)
Since their classic “Haunted” (1995) Six Feet Under gives the fans on a regularly basis a piece of craftsmanship. The band around former Cannibal Corpse singer Chris Barnes has guaranteed for years well performed technically no-nonsense death metal with characteristic grunts and texts. The relatively slow death metal, the basic-guitar riffs, the rolling drums and pumping bass are also now the basic ingredients. With “Death by Machete” and “None Will Escape” the fans are immediately reassured: Barnes and co stick to the old formula. This is at the same time the weakness of this record, because sometimes you get the feeling that everything gets a little bit boring in the end. Is the use of some more speed and thrash metal pieces not a too cautious form of experimentation?
The fans won’t care, because at the end of the album, the band backs up the speed. “Ten Deadly Plagues”, “Killed In Your Sleep” and the last song “Murder Addiction” don’t leave much space for imagination. The heavy in your face-style is again driven by Barnes’ voice, which is back again from an old tomb. Nevertheless, a number of songs are played without much passion. In “Seed Of Filth” the band comes up with some nice guitar work and a rare rhythmic experiment, but with this almost everything is said. “Bastard”, originally performed by Motley Crue, comes not even close to the original, but the choice is therefore not obvious. It’s becoming time for Chris Barnes to get the band back on track, because after “13” and “Commandment”, which weren’t the greatest albums of the band, “Death Rituals” belongs to the poor average. Has the band really never digested the departure of Allen West in 1998?
Nederlands:
Met de regelmaat van de klok trakteert Six Feet Under, sinds hun klassieker ‘Haunted’ uit 1995, de liefhebbers op een staaltje vakmanschap. De band rond voormalig Cannibal Corpse-frontman Chris Barnes staat al jaren garant voor technisch prima uitgevoerde no-nonsense death metal met de karakteristieke grunts en teksten. De vrij trage death metal, het basic gitaarwerk, de rollende drums en pompende bas vormen ook nu de basis. Met ‘Death by Machete’ en ‘None Will Escape’ worden de fans al meteen gerustgesteld: Barnes en co houden vast aan de jarenlange succesformule. Dit is tegelijkertijd ook een beetje de zwakte van deze plaat, want toch heb je soms het gevoel dat alles wat gaat vervelen naar het einde toe. Wordt er door af en toe wat meer speed- en thrash metal stukken te gebruiken misschien niet wat te voorzichtig geëxperimenteerd?
De fans zullen er alleszins lak aan hebben, want tegen het einde van de plaat komt de band weer helemaal op kruissnelheid. ‘Ten Deadly Plagues’, ‘Killed In Your Sleep’ en afsluiter ‘Murder Addiction’ laten dan ook niets aan de verbeelding over. De logge in your face-stijl wordt opnieuw vooral gedragen door Barnes’ stem, die weer vanuit een oude graftombe lijkt te komen. Toch lijken een heel aantal songs op automatische piloot gespeeld. In ‘Seed Of Filth’ komt de band nog wel met leuk solowerk en een zeldzaam ritmisch experimentje op de proppen, maar daarmee is zowat alles gezegd. De Motley Crue cover ‘Bastard’ komt qua rock ’n roll gehalte nog niet eens in de buurt van het origineel, maar de keuze is dan ook niet voor de hand liggend. Het wordt echter stilaan tijd voor Chris Barnes om de band terug op de sporen te krijgen, want na ‘13’ en ‘Commandment’, waarvan men ook al niet achterover viel, leunt ‘Death Rituals’ toch iets te veel tegen de slechte middelmaat aan. Zou de band nu werkelijk nooit het vertrek van Allen West in 1998 verteerd hebben?
Tracklist:
1. Death By Machete 2. Involuntary Movement Of Dead Flesh 3. None Will Escape 4. Eulogy For The Undead 5. Seed Of Filth 6. Bastard (Mötley Crüe-cover) 7. Into The Crematorium 8. Shot In The Head 9. Killed In Your Sleep 10. Crossroads To Armageddon 11. Ten Deadly Plagues 12. Crossing The River Styx 13. Murder Addiction
Musicians:
Chris Barnes – Vocals Terry Butler – Bass Greg Gall – Drums Steve Swanson - Guitars
Geplaatst door Vera op woensdag 17 juni 2009 - 22:58:27
