Waco Jesus-Filth
(Morbid/PHD, 2003)

I'm a huge fan of death metal, but I'm pretty sick and tired of the same old sexist lyrics that seem to be plauging the scene lately. When did death metal go from having intelligent yet dark lyrics to sexist, homophobic lyrics? I don't mind some humour in it, but this goes a bit too far. It's too bad too, because this bands music is really vicious and quite energetic. Think of a mix of Dying Fetus and Lividity and you get an idea as to what these guys sound like. It's blasting high energy death grind, but when the band has a song called Fag Basher how serious do they expect you to take them?

Winds-The Imaginary Direction of Time
(The End, 2004)

For me when a band combines classical music and metal it’s hard to look past the Yngwie Malmsteen comparison. I wasn’t going into this expecting to hear the comparison, but after a somber introduction passage with spoken vocals in came the first solo. Yep, it was full of arpeggios and sweeping. Musically, the band is more along the lines of say progressive power metal, but the soloing is definitely straight out of the Yngwie handbook.

One thing this band definitely has going for them is that they write interesting songs that are actually quite original. I think this might also create a bit of where they stumble though. Some parts just don’t flow incredibly well. It’s not that it sounds forced, but more so that is sounds disjointed. If there were going for that effect it definitely worked. Possibly they wanted the contrast. After all a lot of symphonies are built out of contrasting themes.

I’d definitely have to say that this isn’t a particularly guitar driven band. The actual core of the songs are pretty quiet in terms of guitars, but the solos are plentiful and this guy is pretty damn amazing, It’s cutting them short, but this is the type of band people will listen to just for the solos. It’s not that the songs are just a vehicle for the solos, but he’s that good that people will definitely take notice.

The main driving force behind the band is actually the keyboards and the strings section. The guitar is pretty low key in the background contributing mainly rhythm tracks and the odd melody to match what the strings are playing. I wouldn’t have minded the guitar sound being a bit beefier and they upping the heaviness of the band once in awhile, but it might not exactly fit what they are trying to do.

I honestly wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get into this, but I am definitely impressed. I think they could possibly do a bit more to make individual songs stand out, but they are definitely on the right track.

Within Y-Extended Mental Dimensions
(Candlelight USA, 2004)

It still amazes me how there can still be trends within an underground scene. The current trend seems to be bands pretending they are from Sweden and playing their best imitation of At the Gates. Well, for all of the weak bands, Within Y are here to show you how the real deal does it. Within Y are actually from Sweden, and guess what, they play fierce and melodic death metal that lays waste to all of the trendy bands out there.

The first thing I noticed was that Within Y play with a lot of conviction and energy. I guess in terms of musical output they have similarities to bands like The Haunted, At the Gates or Dark Tranquility. I think they might have a bit more of an energetic approach though, as well as more of a rock feel to some of the riffs. The rock feel comes across in a lot of the more groove oriented passages. They do have the thrash tempo riffs as well, but it’s the slower sections that help them stay creative.

I think that the vocals help add a lot of energy to the bands sound. The singer has an incredible scream and isn’t afraid to let loose and scream his head off. He also seems to have a good ear for letting the songs breath, A lot of singers seem to think that they need to sing from the beginning of the song straight through to the end. But you need to have moments that let the music breath and allow riffs to be heard. He isn’t afraid to back off and let the music have some room from time to time.

I’m a sucker for a tight, energetic production and this album has pretty much what I would consider a perfect production. The guitar sound is heavy, and thick, yet it doesn’t thin out at all during the faster sections. The drums are powerful, and while they could very well be triggered, it doesn’t take away from the power at all. I suppose that the bass guitar could have possibly been a bit louder, but that’s a pretty small complaint.

In a genre that is becoming as crowded as this one, it seems like it’s becoming almost impossible to stand out. Within Y should have no trouble with an album like this though. With one listen, you’ll realize that these guys have a lot to offer and hopefully they’ll be around for a long time yet.