Der Goldene Nazivampir von Absam 2 – Das Geheimnis von Schloß Kottlitz

Well, well, the Germans tried to be funny again but unfortunately they failed miserably. The story is ok even though nothing special but as I always say: “when it comes to movies you do not have to reinvent the wheel, it suffices when a horror flick is creepy, a comedy is funny and B-movie is trashy”. But there is the rub, Der Goldene Nazivampir von Absam 2 is neither fish nor fowl. The movie simply has nothing to offer and besides that: the whole Nazi B-Movie genre died a few years ago.

Talking about the cast, I did not expect anyone being familiar with the art of acting but in the end it was the most famous actor, Oliver Kalkofe who was the worst. Even though Kalkofe played a very small part, he nearly made me jump right into his face and wring his neck. I laughed more during Titanic than to any joke this dude has ever told in his life. Ok, I have to admit that I can’t stand “German humour” because it, most of the time, is superficial, stupid and mediocre. Fanatic Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen SS Otto von Grimm, Knorkator‘s credit song and the film locations are three positive alternations to the rather average B-Movie.

Der Goldene Nazivampir von Absam 2 is a 45 minute long German trash comedy (without being funny) which was filmed in only 15 days. The movie is supposed to be a homage to the Exploitation movie genre and was Lasse Nolte’s graduate thesis film (respect for that!!!). According to director Nolte humans lost their ludic drive through conformism, the mainstream and the eternal search after a veracity, existential orientation, after a congenial visualization of the Zeitgeist. In his eyes Der Goldene Nazivampir von Absam 2 is the inevitable, new iconoclasm of the postmodernism. Well, my dear friend this all sounds really nice and there for sure are some exploitation elements and one can see that he knows his stuff but as I said before it doesn’t really work in the end.




Angel At My Table – In A Heartbeat


Right off the bat: today I’ll delve into a very different region of my musical spectrum, however it’s one that has always had its own place for me. I’m talking about the pop punk genre; especially the one with female singers. Enough suspense: today I’ll talk about Angel At My Table‘s new EP In A Heartbeat.

This is the second EP by the five youngsters hailing from Luxembourg and the predecessor City Romance already entertained me quite well. Even though it didn’t reinvent the wheel it had a nice vibe to it and quite catchy songs. The same can be said for this latest effort since it’s nothing new in terms of music but you can clearly see an impressive evolution: everything sounds more mature and better arranged. And there’s nothing wrong with that because why try to fix something that isn’t broken to begin with?

The first thing that you notice when you pop in the disc is that they’re using crowd vocals more prominently which is always a plus in my book since it allows easy sing-alongs at shows. The second thing you’ll notice, if you’re familiar with bands from the genre, is that they’ve drawn more inspiration from bands like Paramore and Tonight Alive than before. Especially the riffs reminded me a lot of the former band’s album Riot, which is totally fine by me since it’s one of the better records of the genre. You can rest assured though that, as far as I can tell, no riff is stolen…if that’s what you’re thinking now.

The drums are what they should be: not too complicated but at no point boring. This is mostly due to a ton of small drumfills that round the whole thing off nicely. Another nice evolution in comparison to the debut where they were rather straight forward.

Vocally I’m not noticing a huge difference but then again they already were at a high level to begin with. The biggest addition is a guest appearance by Mike Rodrigues of Falling Promises on one song which, against all odds, fits in quite nicely. My personal favorite among the six songs, on a lyrical and performance level, is definitely the “ballad” Silverlight.

To sum it up I can only say that you should keep an eye out for Angel At My Table since they’re conquering the (Luxembourgish) music scene in a heartbeat (see what I did there?) and for a good reason. Check out the band’s Facebook page to keep up with their tour dates and possibilities to buy the EP. Also be sure to check out their brand new video Eclipse below!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clTfWTX5OgQ]

EMF 10th Anniversary Concert

Last Saturday the El Gore team went on a little trip to the west of the country; to be more precise to Folschette where the E.M.F., short for Éisleker Metal Frënn, held a big concert for their ten year existence. The five of us arrived a bit before 4PM and were greeted with our backstage passes and some catering, i.e. beer. Over the course of the day we ran into many familiar faces, made some new acquaintances and generally-speaking had a blast. We decided to take a different approach for the live reviews this time and we’ll have reviews from two different people: Yannick and Dave. Enjoy!

The first band of the day was Dead Eyes Memorial who managed to attract a respectable amount of people despite the early stage time. Despite this only being their second show so far the stage presence of the singer and the drummer impressed me. Because they had the longest sound check before the show they actually had the best sound of the evening I would say, but more about that later. The genre they play is kind of hard to define for me since there’s various “traditional” hardcore elements, coupled with thrash metal elements, but in the end: does it matter? They ended up being an enjoyable opener and that’s what is important.

The second band were the Dirty Crows who were kind of the outsider of the day with their desert rock. Unfortunately a lot of the crowd was elsewhere but the few that remained did seem to enjoy the performance thoroughly, especially the bass got a lot of praise from the people I talked to, although the amp was forced to its knees a couple of times. Since I’ve seen them several times in the past I can say that they managed to pull off a good show, despite many sound difficulties, and to animate the crowd that was hiding at the back of the hall. Fun fact: this was actually the first show out of two that day for the guys.

The next band were Perish With Pride who delivered a nice little change of pace in the form of metalcore. Even though I was a bit underwhelmed by their stage presence at first, they warmed up after the first two songs and managed to deliver after all in that department. I, for one, enjoyed it a lot and they were the main reason for my hurting neck the day after. Definitely my surprise of the day.

Next up were Faraday’s Cage, a heavy metal formation with high-pitched vocals. Since I’m not a huge fan of that type of voice, I took care of a quick errand and missed half their set but what I saw was not really my thing. The keyboard however did add a nice touch to the whole thing.

The fifth band of the evening were Abstract Rapture, local metal matadors, and therefor awaited by many. The crowd went wild as they opened with their hit Dematerialized and continued with a handful of older songs from the first two records before breaking into the new material. Sadly, the show lost a lot of its usual power because the sound was very weak, especially the drums were far from their usual heaviness. The band threw in a tribute song to the E.M.F. which sounded a lot like a AC/DC‘s TNT, but don’t quote me on that.

The second to last act was Girlschool, an all-female rock band who’ve been around since the early eighties. Despite being in the business for more than three decades they still brought a lot of energy and charisma to the stage. A fact that was proven by the amount of people that found their way into the hall. Even though I’m not a huge fan of the genre I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy it, despite the still persisting sound issues.

Last but not least were Gama Bomb, who interestingly enough celebrated their ten year anniversary as well. Their speed thrash metal was well received by a lot of people, especially the denim jacket club in the first row who headbanged and moshed around like no tomorrow. I always enjoy watching an old school moshpit without the ever-so-present violent dancing and I was not disappointed here. Even though the sound was slightly better it still didn’t do it justice and failed to capture me in the end. We ended up leaving just shortly before they finished their set since we were all pretty much exhausted.

To sum it up: the metalheads were given a great variety of bands but the sound was a huge downer in most cases, which was a pity. But I can say that it was a great way to celebrate an anniversary and I hope to be there when it’s the twentieth one instead of the tenth.

~Yannick~

Dead Eyes Memorial: Absolutely not my genre but local band with tons of friends in the audience not letting the band down in terms of welcoming them onstage for their second gig (first ever nationally). The set was plagued by mistakes but the band did not let that bother them, nor did the crowd. Friends/fans surely loved it.

Dirty Crows: My winners of the night, again not really my genre, but the music they write/play does not need to hide behind more popular international acts and that alone deserves a lot of respect. Also having the guts to be the outsider band made them gain my respect. Probably the band with the best sound that night.

Perish With Pride: Sound better on CD than live. Sadly that could be said about every band that played that day as the sound was just horrible throughout the night. Not much to say about the band. Melodic Death Metal with some modern metalcore elements, pretty much everything I hate. Sorry guys.

Faraday’s Cage: Progressive Rock/Metal with eunuch vocals. While many seemed to go outside while the band was playing, it did not put me off. I enjoy the style, but the band wasn’t really memorable songwise. The riffs were basic and generic at best. The awful sound swallowed any attempt by the keyboard player to add his touch to the music. A band with potential for fans of the genre.

Abstract Rapture: The local heroes I suppose…but not my cup of tea. Too modern and groovy for me. Crowd were into it obviously. If you enjoy the genre you’ll love the band, I happen to hate the genre. I think that others have more to say about this gig than me.

Girlschool: Classic band, classic Hardrock sabotaged by the sound nazis. Lots of fans came from abroad to see them and the place seemed somewhat packed from here on. Short set but other than that nothng bad to say. The band obviously knows how to play a gig as they have been around for decades. Good fun!

Gama Bomb: Band delivered their set while handing out beer to fans in the front row. Nice blokes really. Generic speed/crossover thrash with a singer you have to love to enjoy the music. I don’t.

-Dave-

And that’s it, folks. The El Gore team really enjoyed their time with the E.M.F. and felt right at home from the first minute. Special mention for the superb organisation: there was no disturbance or fight whatsoever thanks to the security provided by the competent Crazy Crew, the beers were always served quickly and fresh, the food was delicious and reasonably priced and there was even a little metal market so fans could spend a bit of cash on goodies. Only two minor gripes: first of all, the location was rather remote, and in a more easily accessible place the thing could have had even more visitors. Secondly, even though it’s been mentioned many times already: a better sound could have made this evening even more memorable. Nevertheless it was a night to remember for which we want to thank the E.M.F. and we wish them all the best for the next ten years!

Reminder: don’t forget our competition where you can win a poster signed by ALL of the bands!

-El Gore team-

Trash Monday XXXV


Somehow, in the middle of the nineties, this crack addicted lizard-gigolo appeared out of nothing and terrorized the Portuguese hit parade for a ridiculous 10 weeks in a row. The choreography made it to Unesco’s World Heritage! Booyah!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0lAKW9HmgM]

El Gore competition, the big number two

Yesterday the El Gore team has spent the entire day at the 10th Anniversary of the EMF. Reviews and a video will of course follow soon, but meanwhile we want to give you, our readers, something back for your continued support.

Therefor we bothered all of the bands at the show for their autographs and got a huge poster signed. Of course you can now win this amazing thing and it’s very easy: simply write us an e-mail to elgore1 (at) hotmail.com and we’ll draw a winner on the the day of our one year anniversary, October 4th!

You are a fan of Dead Eyes Memorial, Dirty Crows, Perish With Pride, Faraday’s Cage, Abstract Rapture, Girlschool or Gama Bomb? Then what are you waiting for?! Write us!

-El Gore team-

Interview with Sektemtum


We recently conducted an interview with Reverend Prick of the band Sektemtum. It was done in French but I tried my best to capture the same tone during the translation of the transcript. Enjoy!

El Gore: How did the band come together?
Reverend Prick: Our goal is to destroy what is left of mediocrity, the coalition happened naturally, we united the crème de la crème. Destroy …

EG: What was the first lineup and were there ever any lineup changes?
RP: There is no real line-up. Everything is possible, nothing is set in stone, SKTMTM is the coming together of those that have a common vision. The New World establishes solid foundations. Inconvertible by nature, we would betray ourselves from weariness. In a cat-and-mouse game no one wins, everybody dies.

EG: Was this a one-off thing or are there plans for more music to be recorded?
RP: We are currently working on new stuff for Sektemtum and Doctor Livingstone.

EG: Are there plans to play live?
RP: If the circumstances are right it is imaginable. Our criteria are quite precise, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll find a quality booking agency who would make us want to hit the road, but you never know… And then again, if we tour we would have to mingle with other bands, meet a crowd; all that seems rather boring to me.

EG: What are the main influences of the band?
RP: There are thousands of bands that play this musical genre, the influences come from rock and metal in general. We decided to record a metal album, a style that has been in existence for several decades; just to tell you that our influences are very diverse, yet imprecise.

EG: The band is a bit shrouded in mystery, no band pictures and no information on who played what on the album. Could you clear up which member played what instrument on the album? As I understand, two drummers are in the band.
RP: We are four, we worked together as four, Meyhnac’h, Six, PLCD and myself have worked as a union and if some play drums it doesn’t prevent them from playing other stuff. Six is a talented drummer but also a very good bassist, guitarist. PLCD also plays guitar and bass, he’s a responsive and efficient songwriter, he also sings on the record, as do all the members. This collaboration disregarded the heavy burden that an instrument imposes.

EG: The members of Sektemtum have been active in a lot of different bands. Could you clarify who is still active in what other band and if Sektemtum is considered the main band?
RP: Sektemtum is the only band to have potential in the future, because it’s the best amongst all of them.

EG: Who is responsible for the concept of the band?
RP: All four of us are part of the origins of the band. Guilty but not responsible.

EG: How did the music come to be? How was the songwriting divided?
RP: PLCD does the songwriting, we arrange it, we change it around in the process.

EG: Whose idea was the video?
RP: All four of us are part of the origins of the video. Guilty …
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=karDU2TpDT0]
-Interview by Dave, translation by Yannick-

Motorpsycho – Heavy Metal Fruit

Shame on the author once again, because it was only in 2010 when he came along the prog masters and songwriters from Motorpsycho. Heavy Metal Fruit is sometimes titled as a longer EP, a huge understatement considering the deepness and the length of over 60 minutes playtime.

Their latest release The Death Defying Unicorn from 2012 (featuring Ståle Storløkken) is still too epic for the author to review, although the main reason why he writes this review is the proggy, jazzy and spacy groove that the Norwegians display in this great work. The journey ironically starts with silence, slowly filled with silent guitar sounds before starting with a huge and warm melody joined by psychedelic vocals and a funk that won’t stop until the end of this space odyssey.

By the time Starhammer comes to an end after nearly 13 minutes, X-3 (Knuckelheads In Space) / The Getaway Special kicks off without a warning, taking you with light speed to the next rock’n’roll galaxy. There used to be a comment on last.fm which said something like this would be the perfect soundtrack when cruising with a cosmic chopper through the Milky Way. It is indeed. “Won’t you fly us?” – Of course! And after the landing, the jazzy outro gives the passenger a welcome repose in some space lounge.

“Round round round we go, always slightly faster…” The spacecraft floats calmly on its way to nowhere. But don’t feel too safe, because there are massive turmoils to come, sucking you into a black hole, always faster, always faster, The Bomb-Proof Roll And Beyond (for Arnie Hassle) has knocked you off course.

Close Your Eyes – maybe this is all just a dream, the listener is lost in melancholic piano sounds, space is such an empty and loveless place. W.B.A.T. wakes you up again, a jam session from infinity, the travel must go on! Meteors, burning planets, exploding suns, riff rock! Never ending grooves bring you back on track. The journey is its own reward. Irreality and reality have never been so close to each other; you once again have to close your eyes to see what’s between bass, guitars, drums and funky vocals. Just keep the pace, the end is near.

Not a bit of it! Gullible’s Travails (pt I – IV) shows you the way. It could be an album in itself. The last trip of this odyssey is nearly 21 minutes long and reminds you of the challenges you have to face. “Call it fear, call it hope disguised as anger.” Never have human eyes perceived so many strange galaxies – Zeppelin planets, Sabbath moons, Rings of Floyd. This trip has everything what jazz, prog and acoustic rock have to offer. Even at risk of overusing adjectives: this is an epic and dignified end for the expedition of the spacecraft baptised Heavy Metal Fruit. And it all just has started.

No recommendations. Nothing’s real. Enjoy it.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJXttnGCPDk]

The Empire Shall Fall – Volume 1: Solar Plexus


Killswitch Engage: a name that pretty much every metalhead has at least heard before. Their first album Alive Or Just Breathing featured Jesse Leach as a singer and is to this day still a milestone in metalcore, at least in my opinion. After its success however, he decided to leave the band and did a couple of side-projects, one of them was The Empire Shall Fall. Their 2009 release Awaken went completely unnoticed by me and I was quite delighted when I stumbled over them in 2011 when I heard that they’d release a new album called Volume 1: Solar Plexus.

The record, which as the name might suggest is the first part of a trilogy, was released in December solely in a digital format in order to save unnecessary expenses and took me by complete surprise since I had no real clue what I’d get for my money. But since I absolutely loved Leach’s other project Times Of Grace I decided to give it a shot. To put it mildly: I was not disappointed, at all. I should add that the record was released on vinyl a bit later, for those of you that are into that.

The seven song album starts off quite fast and then almost immediately settles into a mid-paced groovy tempo without losing a bit of its heaviness. The rest of the songs always keeps a similar approach which never puts you out of the atmosphere of the whole thing. More non-traditional instruments, at least to the genre, are thrown in as well on the journey. Things like pianos and saxophones just give it a slight jazz feeling which simply fits perfectly.

Every single instrument has a rich sound and hits home non-stop; especially the guitars sound like your finest djent band at some points and make you wish there was more than twenty-five minutes of music. On top of that are the magnificent vocals which alternate between melodic singing and raw screaming.

That is all I’m going to write since I believe you should check it out for yourself, especially since it’s a rather short pleasure. I for one am looking forward to the sequels to Volume 1; even though their release is sat in the stars, since Jesse rejoined Killswitch Engage and might not have time in the near future. I’m sure that the wait will be worth it though. Be sure to check out their Facebook page and listen to the song below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KZtDwWvGlQ]

The Majestic Unicorns From Hell

Last weekend I went to a small one day festival with my friends from Dirty Crows as I promised them to do their merch booth. I was really looking forward to this gig because I finally had the opportunity to see one special band and to run across a close friend of mine to whom I haven’t spoken to for a long time and in fact is playing in this combo. I am talking about The Majestic Unicorns From Hell. In fact I am not going to write anything about the other bands as this review’s only purpose is doing some publicity for these guys’ amazing music.

Talking about their music I think that the most positive part is its unpredictability, something which has became really rare in music nowadays. The riffs change from fast punkish and metal shreddings to a sludgy, doomy stoner steamroller. As the guys are clearly inspired by metal and different sub-genres, I was positively surprised that there wasn’t any double-bass hammering throughout all the songs which makes the band really sympatico and not less heavier. The drums’ richness live sound perfectly suits the rest of the music. It also would be cool to hear the different songs with a vocalist but I imagine that this is really hard, it is like searching for the Holy Grail. On the one side the vocals have to embrace the weird and hypnotizing sound on the other side they have to stand alone and be unique in order to do justice to the rest. So, take your time and focus on the music!

To conclude I really hope that The Majestic Unicorns From Hell will perform more often in the future and if you ever get the chance to experience them live just check them out, you won’t regret it, promised. I posted their Soundcloud thing in here but I have to say that the music is much more powerful and varied when you experience them live! Looking forward to hearing more from you guys! Also check ‘em out on Facebook.