soulfly

From the mid-80s until last decade, DYNAMO OPEN AIR in Eindhoven, Netherlands was an iconic metal festival and the go-to-place for metal maniacs from all Europe.

It all started in 1981, when André Verhuysen and a friend opened their Hard Rock Café (not the world-spanning franchise you might think of) within the Dynamo Youth Centre in Eindhoven, the Netherlands and before the year was over, the small group of enthusiasts booked RAVEN, the first ever band to play the venue, who turned in a killer performance for 300 ecstatic fans in a sold-out show.

As the time went on, live acts became the norm and in 1986, to celebrate the 5th anniversary of what by then had become hot under the name Dynamo Rock Club, André launched the first ever DYNAMO OPEN AIR on the car parking lot outside of the club. Bands such as SATAN, ANGEL WITCH and ONSLAUGHT played to an audience estimated at 5.000.

In 1994, DYNAMO OPEN AIR entered the Dutch record books by achieving the largest and longest lasting traffic jam in the history of the Netherlands. At the same time, with a massive 70.000 attendees, it became the largest metal gathering of its time in Europe, possibly in the world! No wonder with acts such as DANZIG, GOREFEST, CLAWFINGER, LIFE OF AGONY, PRONG, SICK OF IT ALL or KYUSS on board. However, that figure got put to shame one year later, counting up to 110.000 metal heads in ‘95.

Trying to find a suitable home for the ever growing festival, DYNAMO OPEN AIR moved its location several times. In 2005 it took place for the last time, featuring top-acts such as TESTAMENT, OBITUARY, TRIVIUM and ANTHRAX. Through the course of its impressive twenty year lifespan, mega-acts such as METALLICA, IRON MAIDEN, PANTERA, MARILYN MANSON, SEPULTURA, MONSTER MAGNET, MACHINE HEAD, BIOHAZARD and many more entered the DYNAMO stages and helped make it one of if not the most influential metal festivals throughout Europe.

Now, 13 years after the festival’s last run and with the help of Caroline/Universal, Dynamo Concerts opens the secret archives of live recordings and starts releasing the legendary concerts for the first time on CD and vinyl as well as digitally, and selected titles on DVD. With more than 300 recorded shows to review and process, it’s an undertaking that will easily stretch over the next couple of years. In many cases, these remastered, unique and previously unreleased or even unheard recordings will be the perfect vehicle to travel back in time and witness first hand, how bands that became superstars later gave their debut performance for a European crowd. Metal history channel galore!

The first two releases, live performances of PANTERA and SOULFLY from 1998, will be available on JUNE 22nd, 2018.

Pantera: Live At Dynamo 1998

Tracklist

1. Walk       

2. A New Level        

3. Suicide Note Pt. II

4. War Nerve

5. Becoming        

6. Sandblasted Skin

7. Hard Lines Sunken Cheeks

8. Primal Concrete Sledge        

9. I’m Broken       

10. Fucking Hostile

11. This Love

12. Domination, Hollow

13. Mouth For War

14. Cowboys From Hell

Soulfly: Live At Dynamo 1998

Tracklist

1. Eye For An Eye

2. No Hope = No Fear

3. Spit

4. Bleed

5. Beneath The Remains/

Dead Embryonic Cells

6. Tribe

7. Bumba

8. Quilombo

9. Prejudice

10. Roots Bloody Roots

11. Attitude

12. The Song Remains Insane

13. First Commandment

(8/10) Almost two years after the pretty good "Retribution" Zoltan Farkas invites to a new 'jump party'.

The groove metal institution didn't only face the glorious side of rock'n'roll. Ektomorf was often described as a copycat of esp. Soulfly but the guys showed over all those years a consistancy that, with all respect, wasn't to find back on the latest Soulfly releases.

"Aggressor" comes with mighty grooving riffs that are an open invitation to jump and bang your head. Farkas and his gang don't care about all the comments they go in the past. They're doing what they love and it feels like the critisism increased the aggression in their sound. Listening to Ektomorf gives me the impression that the guys never reached their comfort zone, which makes the sound of "Aggressor" even hard and brutal.

This kind of music isn't the right stuff for a Sunday afternoon on the couch. This music isn't made for earphones too. "Aggressor" needs to get a live environment in a small and smokey club atmosphere.

Ektomorf are still greedy for good sounds and riffs. The new longplayer proves this very well. Those four guys are still thirsty.

There is one break in the tracklist called "Momento" which is also the end of the album. It's an acoustic track that includes some gypsy sounds and an oriental touch. It's an interesting mixture that fits very well. You can still recognise the tune as being from Ektomorf, even though it sound is totally different from the rest.

I have to say that I like "Aggressor". Regardless of all the bands that might influenced the guys, Ektomorf presents a powerful longplayer that is a sonic energy drink. Prost.

(8/10)

Tracklist:

1. Intro
2. I
3. Aggressor
4. Holocaust
5. Move On
6. Evil by Nature
7. You Can't Get More
8. Emotionless World
9. Eastside
10. Scars
11. Damned Nation
12. You Lost
13. You're Not For Me
14. Memento

​Label: AFM Records

Genre: Groove Metal

Release Date EU: October 30st, 2015

(8/10) French groove institution Dagoba went into the studio to record their newest longplayer "Tales of the black dawn". I can tell you that it's quite heavy stuff that is told in the black dawn.

The new longplayer is already no.6 in the bands history. Two years after "Post mortem nihil est" the four-piece put ten new songs on the new disc that ignites a groove metal firework.

Things start very relaxed. The intro "Epilogue" is a classical piece that feels like a dark ouverture to evil. "The sunset curse" follows and confirms that your thoughts have been right. Brutal riffs and deep growls from Shawter are a statement about what to expect in the coming 41 minutes. 

That Daogba can also add a mighty groove to their songs is what the guys from Marseille prove with tunes like "Born twice" and the six minutes long closer "Morning light". Excellent stuff.

Next to the strong rhythm based music and the energetic vibe it's the more melodic vocallines that are embedded here and there. Those give some of the numbers a well placed break which makes the entire track even more exciting. The mentioned "The sunset curse" is one of those tracks.

"Tales of the black dawn" is a raw and brutal piece of music that should be checked-out by fans from Machine Head and Soulfly. Enjoy the "Tales from the black dawn".

(8/10)

Tracklist:

1. Epilogue
2. The sunset curse
3. Half damn life
4. Eclipsed
5. Born twice
6. The loss
7. Sorcery
8. O, inverted world
9. The dawn
10. Morning light

Label: earMUSIC

Genre: Modern Metal

Release date EU: July 10th, 2015

"Pandemonium", the new album from the Cavalera Conspiracy, will be released on October 31 via Napalm Records.

The Cavalera brothers recorded twekve new tunes and here comes the tracklist:

1. Babylonian Pandemonium
2. Banzai Kamakazi
3. Scum
4. I, Barbarian
5. Cramunhao
6. Apex Predator
7. Insurrection
8. Not Losing the Edge
9. Father of Hate
10. The Crucible
11. Deus Ex Machina
12. Porra

The waiting time comes to an end. In November Max Cavalera and his brother Igor will release a new album the Cavalera Conspiracy. The name of the record will be "Pandemonium" and comes via Napalm Records.

The first track is already online via Loudwire. The name: "Bonzai Kamakazi" taht grooves like hell and has an energy which is awesome. Let's hope that the tune reflects the whole album in a good way.

(6/10) Un, dos tres - cuatro. The Sepultura family tree gets bigger. There is Sepultura, Soulfly and the Cavalera Conspiricy. Now another component is added which is called De La Tierra. The link to Sepultura is guitarist Andreas Kisser, who plays the guitar in De La Tierra.

But the band is not only Andreas Kisser. It is also Andres Gimenez from A.N.I.M.A.L., Sr. Flavio from Los Fabulosos and Alex Gonzalez from Mana.

What does De La Tierra stand for and for what not? The band makes use of the typical rhythmic like the earlier mentioned Brazilian bands. Those elements are definitaly based on the typical South American folk music. De La Tierra combines those with heavy guitar riffs. This is also what we know from Sepultura's "Roots" and Soulfly. The difference is that De La Tierra doesn't reach the aggressiveness from Sepultura, nore they reflect the enegry and the groove from band like Soulfly or the Cavalera Conspiracy. The songs from De La Tierra don't reach the level of those bands. This leads to the fact that the album actually starts to get a bit boring half-way. None the songs really stick and you get the feeling that you have heard it already earlier. None of the songs is a real highlight and they are ambling along, eventhough they are all on an OK level. This is actually sad since my expectations towards this album have been pretty high. I think, that the band has more potential than what they present us with this album.

If you consider Sepultura and Soulfly to your faves you should check this album. For all others I would say, stick the pioneers of this genre.

(6/10)

Tracklist:

1. Intro
2. Somos uno
3. Rostos
4. San asesino
5. Detonar
6. Maldita historia
7. Fuera
8. Chaman de manaus
9. Reducidores de cabezas
10. Corran
11. Cosmonauta quechua

Label: Roadrunner Records

Genre: Thrash Metal

De La Tierra released a video. You wonder who is De La Tierra. It is the band of Sepultura's Andreas Kisser, together with A.N.I.M.A.L.'s Andres Giménez, Sr. Flavio and Alex González. The band worked on their self-titles album which will be released in January via Rodarunner Records. Cool grooving stuff.

(7/10) If someone never gives up than it is Zoltan Farkas from Ektomorf. The band was confronted from time to time with some controversial discussions and feedback, esp. since their sound is/was very much connected to Brazilians Soulfly. This mainly due to the fact that Ektomorf also focus on groove oriented and angry thrash metal. The band released in the meantime eleven records and will release their coming album "Retribution" end of January.

The album comes with 14 songs. With one expection, "Whisper", the tracks are kept to 2-4 minutes rockers. This leads to a total running time of 45 minutes which is OK.

Ektomorf still stands for thrash metal which delivers raw power, aggression and a lot of groove. For me they also go away from the good old Soulfly comparison. They add some elements from bands like Slipknot ("Who the fuck are you") into their songs as well as some hardcore elements. This leads to more of an own identity. On "Numb and sick" Ektomorf got also support from nobody else than Cristian Machado from Il Nīno. The energetic album was mixed and mastered by Tue Madsen. So, the framework for a good album could be better.

How about the songs? As said earlier, most of them are between 2-3 minutes straight to the point. There are for example the really pissed-off tracks like "Who the fuck" are you". The sound makes very clear that the question is not really a very friendly one. The opener "You can't control me" is another song which I like. It has the typical groove, we know from the band combined with a strong riff and aggressive drumming. "I hate you" reflects more the hardcore influences of the band.

I also have to mention "Collapsed bridge" which is a surprise to me. An acoustical song which doesn't really fit into the context of the other songs. It's also not the best song of the album, but it has quite intensive lyrics. Talking about that - Ektomorf still focus on criticising discrimination and reflect on the society, pain and anger. It seems that a lot of these lyrics are based on personal experiences and as said earlier, the band never let get them down by these things.

All in all "Retribution" became a good metal record. The band managed to get more variation into their songwriting which makes it for to one of the better Ektomorf discs. Give it a try.

(7/10)

Tracklist:

1. You can't control me
2. The plagues
3. Face the fear
4. Escape
5. Who the fuck are you
6. Numb and sick
7. Lost and destroyed
8. Souls of fire
9. I hate you
10. Watch me
11. Mass ignorance
12. Save me
13. Whisper
14. Collapsed bridge

​

Label: AFM Records

Genre: Thrash Metal