Global Fobia (promo) |Kaos Krew, 2010| 
Tinnitus, Shine, Arabian Shake, The Loop, DisOrder
Global Fobia it's the third release by Finnish industrial metal band with a line-up consisting of Uffe (guitars, keyboards and programming), Göran (lead guitarist, lead vocals) and Tomas (bass, backing vocals).
After several listenings it's sure the album brings rather simple songs based on repetitive guitar riffs, solos and synth backgrounds. There are also nice drum beats and interesting arrangements in „The Loop” with the southern USA music like add-ons (f.e. ZZ Top style).
I found „Shine” interesting as well however it lacks also a wider construction of the song, but I am suggesting more complicated arrangements because I can see guys can play guitars very well. Moreover „Shine” needs more lyrics and if Göran's skills of guitar play are very good I cannot tell the same about his vocals. He's definitely not attracted to effect the listeners with his own voice. Other than that „Arabian Shake” has cool guitar riffs interlaced with the song and indeed somewhat reminds the Far East music inspiration, but on the other side it lacks vocals but also any hard hit drums would be greatly appreciated.
The last song on the promo called „Disorder” is underlined by very sharp guitars sound but there are also rather flat drum beats and when it comes to my taste, too much of the synths used. Such a mixture reminds me that typical European form of industrial metal, where
stricte trash or black metal bands add poor, easily accessible samples to their raging guitars. The effect isn't stunning for sure.
I liked the artwork of the CD which shows a wide, dry, cracked land and nothing else on the horizon. There's a blond girl perhaps 4-5 years old, wearing a light dress and rocking on a swing with her back turned to whoever is watching. That's a truly great example of an empty childhood image which lacks joy and attractions and where rocking on a simple wooden swing and dealing with her own thoughts or dreams are the only entertainment.
Kaos Krew has some potential to make their music bigger but they should work more on enriching their songs arrangements, empowering their drum beats and bass but also looking for a lead singer with a gravelly powerful hard rock voice so that the effects of their work would sound much better.
(Katarzyna 'NINa' Górnisiewicz. Proofreading: Scott M. Owens. Must not be used for promotional or commercial purposes. See a Legal Note for the copyrights below)
Devour |Top Records, 2006| 
1. Trust Me, 2. Inflamed, 3. Devour, 4. Coffin Nails, 5. Fat Chance, 6. Belly Dancer, 7. Greed, 8. Electrified, 9. Pain, 10. A Visit at Belmonte, 11. Nuttertools
This 3 piece industrial metal band hails from Finland and was founded in 2004. It's their first full length (the band released a promo Under Destruction in 2005) album and got very positive reviews in more than 30 magazines located in different parts of world, mostly metal music orientated. As far as we know the metal scene is far wide in North Europe so thus my expectations were directed towards guitar orientated music with a little addition of samplers.
The songs are a mixture of industrial metal and hard rock music with juicy guitar solos which will stand for an original vibe of Kaos Krew if they decide to support the guitar driven industrial music scene for a longer time. Some of the tracks are instrumental, some other include vocals. My favorite track is Coffin Nails, kept in a stable rhythm, enriched with edgy guitars and a very cool refrain. I pay attention to this track every time the album is in my CD player. Also Greed and following it Electrified contain a memorable lead guitar solo. Tracks are rather short, good enough to be used for some video games. Try to mix Van Halen with Shotgun Messiah, Razed in Black, and a bit of Skrew so you'll have an idea tho it's only a bit of an idea. Find more at their official website (
http://www.kaoskrewmusic.com) which contains samples of all 11 tracks from Devour and also at Myspace profile (
http://www.myspace.com/kaoskrewmusic). The CD is released in a very professional way, with good quality printing and an remarkable front artwork by Jennifer Arning. The CD includes also 3 songs from their previous promo "Under Destruction".
(
Katarzyna NINa Górnisiewicz. Must not be used for promotional or commercial purposes. See a Legal Note for the copyrights below)
Myspace |
Official
