DVD REVIEW: Cosmic Infusion - Rise of the Funeral Smoke (Live), By Collin Brophy

Release Date:

5^th December 2013

Venue: BlueFROG, Mumbai, INDIA.

Genre: Atmospheric / Symphonic Black Metal.

Band Members:

Amnish - Guitars (Ex Infernal Wrath).

Amey - Bass (Ex-Infinite Redemption).

Nakul - Guitars (Ex-Infinite Redemption).

Sushan - Vocals and Keyboards (Ex- Infernal Wrath).

Running Time: 37:00 Minutes.

Video edited by Aseem Momin

Audio mixing / editing by Nakul Rathod, Amnish Lohire. Artwork/Layout was by Srinivas Naidu, Shalini Jha

Photographs by Satya Naren

Song set list:

1. Acronycal Éloge.

2. Burial of thy own.

3. Journey.

4. Gothika.

5. Crepheus (Bringer of the End).

After having released their self-titled debut EP on 19th July 2013, Cosmic Infusion was then signed with Transcending Obscurity India, for their next full-length album release. Cosmic Infusion has now released their very first DVD and is the very first Indian Black Metal band to do so.

I was so excited when this DVD arrived.  After having loved the self titled EP, and listening to it at least once a day for a couple of months, I couldn’t wait to put this into the DVD player and watch it. 

The introduction begins with a very cold, grey scene of foggy mountains and a “god” like haunting voice describing the purpose of “Black Metal”, which is “it’s a way of life … the purity, the darkness and its extreme nature is what draws us towards it”.  As the voice climbs over the mountains, with an echo of symphonic music tones in the background, we are immediately taken on a journey to an isolated cabin.  Above the cabin there are what seem like birds, but turn out to be bats flying high in the sky.  As darkness descends, the moon rises and an eerie cold feeling is left to lead you into the music.  This has to be one of the most eerie intros I have seen, and it fits right into the Atmospheric / Symphonic Black Metal that is Cosmic Infusion.

Immediately after the intro, CI kick into their set, with special guest vocalist, Frank Prashant Pawar, who shares vocals on the first song, “Acronycal Éloge” with CI’s, Sushan.  Frank’s deep, raw vocals on this number are just amazing. He and Sushan are able to complement each other’s vocal styles, by giving their all, which is evident in the end result of an incredibly eerie feeling to the song.  After doing the vocals on Acronycal Éloge, Frank paid tribute to someone close, who was not only a fan of the band but a dear friend, who had unfortunately passed away last year.  The bass playing in this song was performed by India’s very own Dr. Hex (Riju Dasgupta from Albatross) who also appears on bass on the song, “Burial Of Thy Own”.  As usual he does an amazing job on the song by demonstrating his own unique style of playing.  Because he is such a perfectionist about his music, he is able to draw the best from those performing with him.

This DVD is exactly what I would have expected from Cosmic Infusion in a live performance.  It displays some incredible guitar playing from both Amnish and Nakul, along with Amey, who is a genius on bass, and with Sushan who did an amazing job, not only on the keyboard, but with his very unique vocals. As a band, they all complement each others playing style. Probably the most amazing thing is that while listening to the music you can’t help but admire the drumming, but the unusual thing is that the band was unable to use their regular drummer as he had to move cities, so the band used program drums for the performance.  Still they were able to create an amazing sound and you really don’t miss the drums because of the incredible sound produced by the rest of the band.

This is a special DVD for me, as I probably will never get the chance to experience the magic of a Cosmic Infusion live performance. During the song, “Journey”, the crowd can be heard singing along with Sushan, which gave me “goosebumps” and made me feel a little envious, for not being there. This entire DVD is like a journey for me. I have listened to the EP, and now I was finally able to watch all the songs being played live. This helped me to put a face to all the band members while watching a brilliant DVD.

The BlueFROG, Mumbai, is probably the best venue to record a live performance directly onto DVD, as it is known for its acoustic excellence.  The venue itself doesn't look all that big, but it seems big enough to host one of India’s best black metal bands.  The venue is very intimate, with a curved stage to give performers room to move and feel closer to the crowd.  It has cathedral ceilings, amazing soundproofing, incredible lighting throughout, to give the songs maximum effectiveness and a sound technician bay to achieve the best possible sound.  The one thing that struck me about this DVD, is that it’s not over produced or mixed too much.   It appeared, to me, as though they didn't use any fancy cameras to record this live performance, which allows the viewer to see the rawness in their performance and feel the music, lumps, bumps and all, which is exactly what Cosmic Infusion should sound like live.

All the songs were performed with humbleness and passion.  You can hear the influences of the bands “Emperor”, “Dimmu Borgir” and “Bathory” weaving their spell throughout their own unique style of music.  There wasn’t one song I thought could have been done better.  If I had to choose a favourite, I would have to pick “Burial of thy own” and “Journey” would come a very close second.  I personally related to some of the lyrics in these songs and felt closer and drawn in to the music. 

If you like Atmospheric / Symphonic Black Metal in its rawest form, with touches of raw emotion from both the band members and the fans, then this DVD is for you. I can only hope that one day that I will experience what it’s like to see Cosmic Infusion in their truest and rawest form … live.

By Collin Brophy

DVD REVIEW: Review of KREATOR DVD "Dying Alive", by Collin Brophy, 2 December 2013

Songs in Order.

Intro: Mars Mantra,

Phantom Antichrist
From Flood To Fire
Enemy Of God
Phobia
Hordes Of Chaos
Civilization Collapse
Voices Of The Dead
Extreme Aggression
People Of The Lie
Death To The World
Endless Pain
Pleasure To Kill
Intro 2 - The Patriarch
Violent Revolution
United in Hate
Betrayer
Flag Of Hate
Tormentor
Outro/Credits

1 X DVD, 2 X CD’s Blu Ray Edition.

The veterans of the thrash machine known as KREATOR return with an amazing DVD set in their hometown of Oberhausen, Germany and recorded on December 22, 2012. The whole sold out show was filmed by 24 cameras, including “guitar cam” and “mosh-pit cams”.

The DVD / Blu-Ray contains footage of the whole Oberhausen concert, a behind-the-scenes documentary as well as video clips.  The DVD runs for approximately 115 minutes.

The opening of show had a huge canvas at the back of the stage; it shows phrases and lyrics from Kreators’s songs, and other images. Then when the see through screen falls down the whole crowd go’s completely crazy. Once the intro Mar Mantra is finished they go straight into Phantom Antichrist, I would have loved to have been right there in the pit with the rest of the crazy meatheads.

I saw Kreator back in Sydney in 2009, they blew me away then, so I was expecting the same, but this is Kreator at their very best. This is the closest I have had to see them since I saw them in Sydney, and I wasn’t disappointed either. This would have to be one of best live metal DVD’s I have seen.

The pyrotechnics and lighting are amazing, plus add the smoke machine and it all adds up you one hell of an awesome DVD. The pits are sick, sweaty crazy metal heads all being there for the one simple reason, they enjoy what Kreator has to offer which is brilliant thrash metal. The camera shots are brilliant, every angle and area is covered. The band and crowd interactions is what it should be, sing along and having lots of fun.

The biggest highlights for me were Phobia, Extreme Aggression, People Of The Lie, Violent Revolution, and Flag Of Hate, all the old classics and some of the new ones. Actually the whole DVD is just amazing. With so many different camera angels, you don’t miss any of the action. I was lucky enough to have watched the Blu ray Edition on a huge TV, at times it felt like I was actually at the show. This is one of those DVD’s that you wished that you were there. From start to finish I loved every moment of this DVD. This is definitely one metal DVD to get for you collection [by Collin Brophy for Busuk Webzine]. 

REVIEW: "We're Not Going to Fake It": Review of TWISTED SISTER "Double Live" DVD

"We're Not Going to Fake It": Review of TWISTED SISTER Double Live DVD

Rating: 85%

TWISTED SISTER, 1980s (you had to be there)

I was a huge fan of the great New York City metal band TWISTED SISTER in 1984 following the release of their multi-platinum commercial breakthrough album Stay Hungry. I was 15-years-old in 1984 and this album was the soundtrack for my last two years of high-school. TWISTED SISTER spent many years slogging away in the bars and clubs of the tri-state area (New Jersey, New York State, Connecticut) before they went to England to record their debut album Under the Blade. No-one can say they did not deserve their success. Working hard, paying their dues, and respecting their fans were the band's business ethics. Like KISS, THE RAMONES, and BLONDIE, they had that typical brash and slightly vain New York City attitude, an attitude you need to have in New York City or you will just be forever ignored and forgotten. Like many New Yorkers this was balanced by real humility, real inner strength, and a street-based code-of-honour that you can see in bands like BIOHAZARD and NY Hardcore.

I must be careful reviewing this DVD as it touches on a sensitive topic: the 9-11 terrorist attacks in New York City. We have many Indonesian readers here so I will carefully outline my politics: I'm left-wing and anti-war. I don't support 9-11 and I don't support the Iraq or Afghanistan wars either. Don't shoot each other, headbang down the front at the metal shows! I agree with Man JASAD's banner "Peace, do not fight each other, motherf****er" at his one-man protest at the court trial for PETERPAN singer "Ariel" (Nazril Irham). I think Man captured the "Bandung spirit" from the 1955 Afro-Asian Conference of the Non-Aligned Nations who were neither for the USA nor for the Soviet Union.

I mention these matters because CD2 of this TWISTED SISTER set shows the band's concert at New York Steel in 2001 where they headlined a bill of ANTHRAX, OVERKILL, ACE FREHLEY BAND, and SEBASTIAN BACH. All of these bands are from either New York City itself (ANTHRAX, ACE FREHLEY) or from the tristate area (OVERKILL) with the exception of the Canadian singer SEBASTIAN BACH. The show was in honour of the New York Police & Fire Widows' & Children's Benefit Fund.

TWISTED SISTER was invited to reform for this special concert in honour of the victims, firefighters, and police personnel involved in 9-11. They had not played together for 13 years and their reunion was the highlight of the show. Disc 2 of this set shows the complete TWISTED SISTER performance and is followed by band interviews where the members reflect on what 9-11 meant to them personally as New Yorkers. This is a metal DVD of huge social significance. Maybe we have not seen metal this socially relevant since SCORPIONS played "Wind of Change" and SEPULTURA sang about poverty and corruption in Brazil.

The band plays in front of a dedicated audience of old-time and old-school fans. If you look at the crowd it is 99% white guys aged over 30 so yes I would have fitted in perfectly. The band wears street clothes and all have shortish hair except for the brilliant and charismatic vocalist Dee Snider. They look like just ordinary guys who walked off the street which is actually what they were as they had all left the music industry and had not played together for 13 years. Dee finds it hard getting into the groove early and no-one seems to know how to react to such an 1980s band playing their 1980s songs in the year 2001. The set starts slowly but by the time the classics from Stay Hungry are reached, such as "Stay Hungry" and "Burn in Hell", the band's chemistry fires up and we are transported back to those glory days of the 1980s before mobile phones, internet, sub-genres, church burnings in Norway, death-growl vocals, metalcore, Slipknot, and Cradle. Metal was just metal in those simpler times. Dee addresses the crowd telling them how angry they were after 9-11 and Dee shows the "F*** Osama" scrawled on the back of his jacket. Songs such as "Burn in Hell", "Stay Hungry", and "Shoot Em Down" take on new meaning just after 9-11 for confused, angry, and depressed New Yorkers. Since most SISTER songs were encouragement to metalheads or attacks on an unnamed enemy they all work very well in this post-9-11 setting. The band then performs its huge hits from the Stay Hungry album: the brilliant "I Wanna Rock" and "We're Not Gonna' Take It" and the performance by now is charged and brilliant and everyone is in the swing of it. For encore we get amazing ballad "The Price" (which surprised fans in 1984 and showed the band's ability to diversify its sound). The lyrics about committing one's life to metal and authenticity and struggle are also very appropriate for post 9-11. The last song is rocker "SMF" also from Stay Hungry. "The Price" plays as background music as we watch people leave the venue from an overhead camera. The crowd is totally relaxed, peaceful, and happy despite the "inflammatory" performance from that "too aggressive" band TWISTED SISTER.

The main highlight for me is the fact that all the original line-up reunited for the show. Very often one or two members go missing in reunions and so we don't get the real deal. Here we have the great line-up of: Dee Snider (Vocals), Mark "The Animal" Mendoza (bass), Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda (guitar), Jay Jay French (guitar), and A. J. Pero (drums). The crowd loves it as Dee introduces these mighty metal warriors one by one.

Next is the interview section where each member individually talks about the reunion and about 9-11. This is excellent and these are very normal and very humble guys who are not part of the music industry anymore. A. J. Pero has a daughter in the eighth grade. Jay Jay French lives in Manhattan. They are very intelligent and strong communicators. Too many rock musicians only can repeat "yeah, man" and "cool, man" at interviews and it is just not interesting. Here Mark Mendoza talks about not wanting to reunite and despising Dee Snider but how the idea of the benefit show convinced him because of the higher purpose. "Fingers" Ojeda talks of how his nephew and sister-in-law were working on the lower floors of the World Trade Centre and escaped unharmed. People speak of how Mendoza brought a gun to band rehearsal because his earlier relationship with Dee Snider had been so bad. Dee Snider speaks of his anger at the very stupid decision not to allow TWISTED SISTER to play the main big benefit concert at Madison Square Gardens because the band was said to be "too aggressive" and "inflammatory". A. J. Pero says he knew of six people who died in the 9-11 attacks. Jay Jay French concludes by saying the event makes him grateful for life and he lives each day as though it could be his last. "Fingers" Ojeda says with the reunion show "something bad came out of something good". I was very impressed by these guys' discussions and attitudes - very metal, very humble, very insightful, and very New York City.

The first CD in this set is of a club show at North Stage Theatre in 1982.

I strongly recommend this DVD. The set list at the New York Steel show in 2001 was as follows: 1 What You Don't Know (Sure Can Hurt You) 2 The Kids Are Back 3 Stay Hungry 4 Burn in Hell 5 You Can't Stop Rock'n'Roll 6 Under the Blade 7 Shoot Em Down 8 Come Back 9 You Know I Cry 10 I Wanna Rock 11 We're Not Gonna' Take it 12 The Price (encore) 13 SMF (encore).

By Jack Frost, 13 February 2012.

TWISTED SISTER page on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twisted_Sister
NEW YORK STEEL page on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Steel
TWISTED SISTER Official Website:
http://www.twistedsister.com/