Relief supplies

Somebody was talking about "rotting"...?

Men, I hate this! Where's my beloved sun gone?
It's got fuc*ing rainy season here in Port Royal... and hypocrits and idiots are the only things I hate more than rainy season! If you've seen the movie "Dark City" you can glimpse what's I'm taliking about. Just glimpse... Put together "Dark City" and "Matrix" and you get a good approximation!

Luckily there is METAL!
Come, get some! These jewels have been bringing me some relief during these past days.

MORGANA LEFAY (2008): a bit of a discovery. Very enjoyable. Melodic, but with something thrash-like buzzing in it (the voice and some rythms).

BLAZE (2008): I love this guy! He has learned well in Maiden and he's become one of the few British defenders of a metal very close to MAIDEN: rich in melody, catchy riffs, listenable lyrics and... real singing. Try "Samurai" and tell me that you don't like it! Nice bass work!

VALIENT THOR: absolute discovery. Can't describe it. Give it a try! Nothing you will be headbanging continously on or use for working out. But it's damn funny and there is plenty to listen to in it! If you want info on the band, go here.

Get them beofre they expire. And have fun!

Is this true?

Hei, dudes!
Is this true?
That's an amazing venue! Why am I stil rotting here?

We have to keep it present for the next meeting!

A message from DARK QUARTERER

It is rather normal for the Captain contacting members of bands he loves to bring them his cheers and support. Some of them kindly reply, some do not. DARK QUARTERER - which blew me away this week! - are of the former...! It couldn't have been differently: such a serious musicians are serious people too... and know that contact with fans is important! These a message to the Cpt. from Gianni NEPI, their bass/vocals. Needless to say it made the Cpt. very happy!

«Mi fa veramente piacere che tu ci apprezzi così !!! Noi abbiamo fatto così pochi album in 21 anni...perchè ogni volta abbiamo cercato di inserire brani di qualità (almeno per noi) curando la musica il testo, facendo in modo che ogni cosa fosse al momento e al posto giusto... Tecnica si ma con passione e volontà di dare sempre il meglio di noi. Speriamo di esserci riusciti. Comunque anche in giappone abbiamo un pò di fans e addirittura un gruppo giapponese "metallucifer" ci annovera tra i suoi ispiratori... Anche in Grecia abbiamo una buona schiera di estimatori... Purtroppo in Italia non è così perchè nessuno è profeta in patria e forse perchè facciamo una musica poco digeribile per la maggior parte del pubblico italiano... Comunque noi andiamo avanti per la nostra strada senza compromessi.
Troverai molta differenza tra il primo album e l' ultimo; è cambiato il chitarrista e abbiamo inserito le tastiere, ma a noi il tutto piace e speriamo di condividere anche con te questa nostra emozione. Un abbraccio forte!»

[ENG. transl. It makes me very glad to know that you like our music so much! We managed to put together so few albums in 21 years... But that's because, each time we tried to put on the record only tracks of very good quality (at least the quality we thought it was good), paying extreme care to both music and lyrics, and that in order to get everything at the right place ant the right time. Much technic, but with much passion and our sincere will to give the best of us. We really hope we succeeded. In any case, we managed to get fans in Japan too... There is even a band called METALLUCIFER that claims us among their inspirators. Also in Greece we've got some good supporter... Most regreattably that doesn't happen in Italy. Perhaps that's because "noboy is prophet in his homecountry" (Italian old saying) or simply because we play a kind of music too difficult to digest for the Italian public. Anyhow we don't care about that: we keep on going on our way, without taking compromises.
You will find much difference between the first and the last album, bacause in meantime we changed the guitarrist and started using keyboards. But the whole feeling get us really satisfied and we do hope we can share this satisfaction with you!
A strong hung!]

Good stuff

This sucks!
How can I have ignored for so long such an incredible band!? And they are Italians too...!
Had to come across J13, that introduced them to me, to get to them..!! Guess this is one more of those negative-miracles of the Italian metal scene of years ago... Incredibly talented musicians meeting with jack-ass labels and producers. 8 years of covers with virtually no public concert... Deep sound and perfection research... Then a troubled progress though the first good records and bad labels, and finally the birth of a finally recognized masterpiece... VIOLENCE (2002). HEAVY METAL with epic influences. Check their site for details. Giving you a bite to their first album (128 kbs), because you HAVE TO... Fu*king get it before it expire!

Pirate METAL

Sailors...!
I'm still feeling mercyfull... I always am after a nice gig or/and after I come across fu*king good music! Just kidding...

I'm giving you a shot to the two newly elected "war tunes" albums of PORT ROYAL server (after RUNNING WILD's Port Royal and Under Jolly Roger, of course) ! ALESTORM (2008) and SWASHBUCKLE (2006). Both these treasures comes from England... so, made by people who know what they're dealing with! Get them before they expire!
Have fu*king freeky fun with pirate metal!

Keep on rocking... in MEGURO!

Here we go again, dudes... even if after House of Blues or Irvine Wireless Arena it's REALLY hard switching again to the small live houses arund here..!

MEGURO LIVE STATION's Amusment Park vol. 6.
Small (tiny...) live-house in Meguro (Tokyo). Band list: Zero, Longinus, Vrain and Axbites. Doubt you know any of them: all Japanese groups... I was there for Longinus, but got pleasantly surprised by all the others, which I completely ignored before the gig! By the way, Longinus plays a melodic speed metal with a damn perfect blend of cheese, power, energy, screams and kick-ass performance! Their album (LONGINUS, 2006) is very good, but as Maiden and other bands you get a real hold of them and their sound only live! They're made to play! I came to know them last year (thanks to a HELLHOUND's gig) and then kept following them onward. The guys are really cool on stage: they do enjoy performing - you can get it! - and that's pretty much what METAL should be about!

Zero opened the show. What to say...? Young band: a cute female singer (good performer and full of energy, even if sometimes she pushes her voice beyond the needed); an even prettier female axewoman (got my eyes unwillingly turning on her all the time, while she was pointing at me - at least that was the impression - ... guess because I was the only foreign pirate in the crowd!); a good drummer. The guitar-man freaks around a little bit too much for what he can play at now. Youngster like to attract the attention, but they should concentrate a bit more on the sound and save the performance for the future (he trew the guitar around his neck twice, missing the catch)! Overall impression: they are promising and will certainly grow, but for now it's still "a long way to the top if you wanna rock'n'roll"! [AC/DC]

Longinus : at the cost of sounding repetitive: kick-ass performance! Good tunes, good lyrics (in Japanese) and good fun! Killer drumming; incredible guitar shredding (the axeman is impressive); pounding bass and a singing with a dose of originality (rather rare around here). I love them and I am very impatient to listen to new material as well as to other live gigs. After the show, they blessed me with some chit-chat, pic, CD signing, etc. (they went on purpuse finding out the guitarrist to get me his sign - thanks guys!).
Got also some extra booty... (yeah, J13, always thingking of you!)

Vrain. "OK, nice... but you'll never catch me listening to this stuff", I was thinking during the first track. Too visual... Then the only thing that prevented me from getting one of their CDs was the shortage of money!!! Indeed at half the show they got me! It's not properly metal: speed/melodic inserts, with techno; a bit of pop sound; stuff like that. Spiced up with the female voice of their frontgirl. Yes, again an attractive female singer/keybord player, very talented and good performer (with a voice perhaps too close to that of Onmyoza's singer and many other Japanese female singers). Very skilled guitar-hero (dressed like a Christmass tree, though!) and bassist, and an ABSOLUTELY amazing drummer! Who's this guy???! Star Wars-like Chewbaka look, but an inhuman drum-machine! I wanted to approach them after the show (they were there around), but... well, not knowing anything, it would have been a bit too embarassing. Next time.

Axbites were the highlight of the night. Good musicianship and very pleasant show. Endless guittar "ripping", solos, blasting drumming, etc. Yet, I didn't headbang! Don't know why. A bit tooooooo cheesy (if I tell you that half of the crowd were girls, perhaps you get my point)! The singer has a great voice (Eizo Sakamoto-like) and I would like to listen to him using it with some more originality. Very nice, but "You ain't got an hold on me" [AC/DC]

It's not MAIDEN, nor ARCH or 3IOB... but that it's something! I just quite don't get whay I have a mountain of good shots of Axbites and virtually no one of Zero's chicks...!?

Battleroar

After the awesome To death and Beyond... , which has become one of my three best album of the year, with an act of extreme mercy, I'm giving you a chance to lay your dirty hands on the two first albums of BATTLEROAR. I runsacked a DISC UNION brig today and they've become part of the Cpt. personal treasure chest! Epic Metal at its best! Get them before they expire!