Live Review: DUST/MooM/Rainbow Cobra @ Strauss, Jerusalem [7th January 2016]

  This is an absolute first for Punkalovich. Despite there being a few shows in Tel Aviv, including friends Almunim Metim, NEAT and Mondo Gecko, I have traveled to Jerusalem to the underground basement known as Strauss. Situated in the very Haredi area of Zichron Moshe/Geula in Jerusalem, this venue is the absolute opposite of its surrounding; a special place where punks come to enjoy cheap beer and noisy music. Tonight, it is the amazing DUST and MooM who have brought me over to the holy city. 

Rainbow Cobra

   Starting close to 11pm, first band Rainbow Cobra get under way. I was previously unfamiliar with the band but turns out that it is another band involving crazy Juan (Shchurdistan/Dilema/Bat Hayam HaKtana/etc..) on guitar/back up vocals and (South African) Rob (Marmara Streisand) on drums.
   With Eran on vocals and Daniella (ex-Mitan vocalist) on bass, the music is pretty much in the same lines as some of Juan's previous bands, playing pretty noisy crust. His guitar skills and evil vocals have always been the best things about everything he's been in and that stays the same with Rainbow Cobra. His riffs flip in between old school thrash and death metal, even sometimes throwing in some classic soloing. As impressive as that is, it tends to feel let down by Eran's vocals which are mostly repetitive shouting that don't always compliment the musical style. Things get more interesting when Juan and Eran do dual vocals. The songs come across more brutal and take me back to when dual vocals/2 vocalists was quite the trend in the late 90s/early 00s. Eran is at least quite a character to witness but his vocals alone just don't impress me.
  All round, there seemed to be a few mistakes here and there which they at least laughed off and flowed with, which is better and more professional than stopping and starting again. For someone who seems to have been drumming for a long time, Rob's drumming is still pretty minimal. When it comes to playing grooves, their effectiveness tends to get lost and fills in general come off as weak. But I guess this is what punk was always meant to be; energy over skill. Besides Juan's aforementioned talents, there still isn't really anything in the performance or the songs that make Rainbow Cobra really stand out.

2/5

MooM

  Ever since I first saw them some time back, I fell in love with MooM. They play a mixture of crusty powerviolence and sludge a la EYEHATEGOD. The EP (see review) is everything one hopes in an EP of this style; short with both fast parts and slow breakdowns and just extremely heavy. Whereas the EP, recorded originally as a demo, has a raw roughness about it, in a live setting with good enough sound, the band sound so tight that it's unbelievable.
  I didn't really make notes throughout the set because I just wanted to enjoy them. Although I've seen them before, this is the smallest setting I've seen them in and managed to get myself right in front of them. This is how MooM need to be viewed; right up close. Every single little movement every member of the band makes is an important and magical experience. The way Sima (vocals) screams with possibly even more gusto than she does in Not On Tour, Gad's (bass) antics as he vigorously plays and how his face goes all demonic as he growls, Ezra's (guitar) cool demeanour and Heshbon's (drums) flailing yet totally rhythmical arms all make MooM's live performance one of the most exciting I've ever seen. I found myself grinning from ear to ear and trying to stop myself from punching anyone or breaking anything. It might be difficult to tell songs apart at the moment but that will change with time.
 Obviously, this style is not everyone's taste, but being someone who appreciates the likes of EYEHATEGOD, DOOM and more beatdown bands like Xibalba, MooM give me the hit I need. They're basically the nearest thing Israel has to a beatdown and maybe even the nearest thing Israel has to a tight powerviolence band.

5/5

Side note: After MooM, I decided to go for a walk to try and find somewhere open to just buy a soft drink or something. Not only did I not find anything nearby open, but the streets were an absolute mess. The large trash cans had been set on fire and turned over with rubbish flying all over the place. There were fire engines and also quite a few police vans present. Turns out, this was a violent protest by the Haredi community in response to the death of a baby, allegedly shaken by a carer/nanny, whom the community did not wish to have an autopsy that the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court had ordered. It's all a bit crazy, but it's interesting to know that this sort of stuff happens over things like this.

DUST

  I have probably said this enough times on this blog, but I frickin' love DUST, I do. They may have been playing the same set of songs for quite some time, bar a few new ones which I still haven't quite gelled with yet, but luckily the majority are songs that I am more than happy to hear and go crazy to time and time again.
  The tracks from their first record, all of which they play tonight, still get me super pumped. Numb still has one of my favourite intros; melodic and a little tribal, giving it quite an epic feel, before smashing into hardcore groove and the shouting of "WAAAAKE THE FUCK UP!" As well as songs like Midas Touch, Slipping Away and PMA bringing out the hardcore kid in me, currently unreleased but already live staples such as Plastic, Role Model and the (usually) set closer Sick and Tired sound as awesome as ever, even in this tiny place. Once again, frontman Eyva was happy enough to let me do that final line of Sick and Tired. Don't really know how it sounded, but I always have fun shouting it. 
  Dust take after bands like John Coffey and even The Bronx, in some ways; having that hardcore energy and PMA but experimenting with more stoner rock-like riffs and grooves and different time signatures. Most hardcore in Israel is along the lines of straight up hardcore punk or border on metalcore with low toned "chugs", but DUST take all their influences and make hardcore that's a whole lot more interesting. 
   Ofek (guitar), Guy (bass) and Ran (drums) are all incredibly competent musicians and consistently tight. Evya does have a strong voice but he tends to do the same thing a lot. I'm only starting to notice this after about 2 years of seeing and listening to them. As much as I still like his vocals, I guess I would just love to hear him suddenly try some melody or use some more rhythmical/rap-like delivery. Unfortunately, he is also one of those many frontmen who will walk up and down looking at the floor for most part of the show. He does interact with the crowd at times, which is more than some, but it's maybe something that he and other vocalists (including myself) need to pay attention to. 
   A DUST debut album is meant to happen soon and I for one can't wait for it. Although some of the new stuff I hear in shows get a bit lost on me, I am interested in any other tracks they might have up their sleeves. 

5/5

Live Review and Album Review: Sintax: Sway For A Better Day release show @ Gargarin, Tel Aviv [30th May 2015]

   Although there was a show at Koro tonight I could have gone to review (my apologies to both Jeronimo and Krokodil Popular, whom I was hoping to give support to, and Regel Sabres, who I don't really know), I have ended up tonight at Gagarin in South Tel Aviv for yet another metal show. Tonight celebrates the release of Jerusalem Metal band Sintax's new album, Sway For A Better Day. As most of the set consists of songs from the new album, I shall be doing my first ever 2-in-1, reviewing both the show and the album.

         Photo by Sharon Shapira

   I have seen Sintax once or twice (I can't really remember) over the last few years and never really paid proper attention to them. I always thought they were good but never all that memorable. Tonight, I have come to check them out with the proper attention deserved and also give support to the two Sintax members I know from hardcore band "03" (Efes Shalosh), Lemmy and Misha. Misha has even turned up in a No Turning Back shirt, which has to be a first for out here.
    There were two supporting bands, Mechanigod and Sinnery, who I missed due to tardiness, but managed to turn up just in time for the main act. Ascending the stage to the sounds of sirens and under quite blinding lights, it is quite an epic entrance despite a low turn out. The band then kicks in to the set opener, the weirdly named Fine Line To Sodomy (track 5 on the album). The song has an amazing opening riff with thrash drumming and basically stays pretty old school throughout the song. The chorus is very headbang inducing, although I'm not really seeing much of that amongst the crowd. The band are putting a lot of energy into the performance. I already know that Lemmy (rhythm guitar) and Misha (bass) are great performers from their 03 shows. Lemmy is jumping every chance he gets as Misha strums his bass with gusto and an aggressive (although incredibly content) expression on his face. Lead guitarist Roi (ex-Shworchtsechaye) keeps reminding me of Shane Embury of Napalm Death; he's a mature (in age) fellow with big hair and a goatee (technically, Embury has a Van Dyke) who plays standing quite still but still oozing coolness. Frontman Yehi (frontman of Caveman King and owner of Blaze Bar in Jerusalem) has great vocals and a proper metal presence but sometimes lacks on the enthusiasm and energy that the rest of the band shows.

    Photo by Sharon Shapira

Next song, Up For The Physical (track 8), is quite classic metal in style, especially with its long and haunting melodic intro. The "Stop wasting my time" refrain is infectious and can be used in any pissed off situation. Throughout the song, the style switches from the more classic metal sound to pure thrash, ending with an amazing thrashy climax. Drummer Nir, who, from where I am standing, is pretty hidden in darkness, seems a bit off in this song. The cymbal crashes didn't seem to be in the right places and the fills often seemed like he was squeezing too much in. Despite that, he continued to play spot on throughout the show. 
    Shooting Starts is a very new song which is set to be put on the next record. It's a heavy and groovy track. The vocal rhythm and general feel of parts of the song reminded me of the heavy parts of a song called Fundamental by PUYA. It's almost on the verge of rap metal and I for one am not complaining. Lemmy is encouraging the crowd with all his might like some sort of knight leading his men to victory. He's so metal, it's not even cheesy...just brilliant. The band then invite Orel from Mechanigod to join in on guitar for I Get It Now (track 7). The song has a frantic intro, with fast paced riffing and chaotic drumming. The song stays pretty thrash throughout and causes major headbanging. At the show, the sound was a bit muffled so everything was a bit unclear. On record, however, the song is clearly a banger with an awesome ending. 
   Title track Sway For A Better Day (track 2) takes us back to a more old school vibe with some solid standard 4/4 drumming which then switches to 6/8 at around the 1:30 mark (yeh...I'm getting all technical on your asses right now!) and back to straight up metal. There's a more modern metal groove near the middle of the song which, at the show, got me swinging my head as Lemmy bounced over the place. Let's Get Mental (track 3) starts slow, heavy and demonic. The guitar melody could easily be summoning Satan [Punkalovich does not endorse Satan worship or the black arts in anyway...although The Craft is a great movie]. The pace then picks up and the "pit" here tonight eventually opens up, although there's still not a lot of people. The song is a great thrash number with changing drums patterns and interesting breakdowns. The "Let's get mental" refrain near the end of the song is something that, with time, all fans will be throwing their horns and shouting along to. 
  The following few songs in the set are newer songs lined up for the next release. Moti (Spawn of Evil vocalist) joins the band for a song entitled Pen Sword, which starts off groovy and then goes full on thrash. Finally, there's a bit more excitement on stage as Moti is properly engaging the crowd with eye contact, hand gestures, a lot of hair swinging and an evil yet incredibly pleasurable smirk. I already liked Moti from when I saw Spawn of Evil first time I came to Gargarin so I'm not really all that surprised. Both Hate People and Most Hated Man In The Universe give us a dosage of both thrash and groove, with the pit opening up again during the latter. 
     The Answer...The Name... (track 6) marches itself into thunderous double kick and chugging guitars followed by blast beats and fast riffing. The song itself, especially on record, sounds a lot like classic Metallica, which isn't a bad thing at all. I didn't really get that feeling live; it just came off as raw death metal. Either way, it's good old fashioned fun!

Photo by Sharon Shapira

   The band then treat us to two covers. The first song turned out to be You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks by Seasick Steve. Unexpected and interesting cover song choices are always a thumbs up in my book. Even though I had a feeling the original was not even a metal song (the slide guitar was a bit of a giveaway), they still played it their own way which had me far from thinking it was a Seasick Steve cover. This song was then followed by a proper hardcore bassline from Misha. As soon as it started I thought to myself "Don't I know this?" Ex-Instinct frontman/current 03 frontman/current Best bassist Jenia who was standing next to me then asks me "This id Pro-Pain, right?" Pro-Pain are one of my favourite bands so I was going to kill myself if I didn't recognise this. It wasn't until the "Outta my way! I'm coming like a freight train right on through ya" part of the chorus that I realised that this was Don't Kill Yourself To Live and my wish for a band out here to cover Pro-Pain is actually coming to fruition. I thought it might be one of the more hardcore or crossover bands so this is a great surprise. I of course move from my comfy spot at the bar to try and put some life in the empty space by singing along at the front of the stage. Even Lemmy coming down into the crowd for the whole song didn't really get anyone excited. THIS IS PRO-PAIN, PEOPLE!
   After a new, more hardcore sounding song entitled Lunch Time Funeral and the fairly progressive and melodic Four More Years (track 4), the band treat us to yet another new song which doesn't even have a name. The song itself reminds me of the Stampin' Ground song Officer Down. The vocals seemed to run the same and had a very similar groove (I'm using "groove" a lot in this, aren't I? I need to find a new word...) 

   All in all, I am glad I came tonight to celebrate with the band and see and hear them properly. They both surprised and impressed me with there mixture of classic metal, hardcore and thrash. The newer songs sound great and I am now very eager to hear what is yet to come. Sway For A Better Day is a great listen. The fact that it's mixed, mastered and partly recorded by the legendary (in my eyes) Mark Mynett of long forgotten Manchester electronic metal band Kill II This in itself is pretty cool. Everything is played to perfection and Yehi's vocals sound immense, sometimes even more heavy on certain tracks than others. The only thing that bugged me at first were the toms. Maybe it's because I am a drummer and I pay more attention to these things, but the toms are incredibly high pitched and also quite high in the mix. After a while, former drummer Rom's impressive musicianship trumps the actual tom sounds and it all seems to work. Although this album didn't make me jump for joy and isn't breaking any boundaries, it has it's moments and will please many a metal fan.

Live: 4/5
Album: 3.5/5

Thanks to Sharon Shapira [Facebook] for the photos. 

Review: Arallu - Geniewar [2015]

Back in November, I reviewed a metal show called SPAWNFEST. One of the more interesting bands on that bill were Jerusalem black metallers Arallu. I was impressed by their stage presence, as well as their use of Middle Eastern (Mizrachi) rhythms, samples and traditional instruments. Their 5th studio album, GENIEWAR, released just this passed week on 1st January, brings you so much more of that. The album was produced and mixed along with Dory Bar Or from Eternal Gray and mastered in LA by Maor Applebaum (Rob Halford/Mayhem/Yngwie Malmsteen/etc..). At the show, I saw them as more of a thrash band. In this record, the black metal side to them really shines through.

  Album opener, Evil Finest, really helps set the tone of what we're expected from the record. There is an array of traditional Arabic/Middle Eastern instruments such as darbuka, other such percussion and string instruments such as the saz, oud and kanoon. The heavy guitars join in on the melody, reassuring us that this is indeed a metal record. Second but first proper track, From The Desert To The Ice, follows suit, incorporating similar instruments into the song's own intro. They then unleash a demonic riff that slowly works its way into a Middle Eastern rhythm before showcasing Arallu's Slayer style of metal. Song is over 7 minutes long and has a lot of dynamics and styles, including headbanging grooves, hair spinning thrashy parts and the bouncy Middle Eastern rhythm. If you had forgotten the name of the record, we are luckily reminded of it with the "GENIEWAR" gang chant. Everything already sounds super tight on this first track and the production, with all the extra instrumentation, is very impressive. Vocals by frontman and bassist Moti AKA "Butchered" are heavy and demonic, and we even get treated to a Tom Araya-like scream near the end. 

   Third track Bloodshed Around continues the Slayer theme but also incorporates a bit more of a black metal sound with blasts beats. At one point, the blast beats are accompanied by a Middle Eastern melody played on a traditional woodwind instrument (not sure which). This works surprisingly well and really shows how creative this band are and also how proud they are of their Middle Eastern heritage. Fourth track is a cover of Iron Maiden's Powerslave. This sounds as if it's being sung by someone different. Butchered's vocals are very black metal on this; very harsh and evil sounding, more so than on the previous tracks. They also seem to have managed to incorporate every single traditional Middle Eastern instrument possible throughout the track and especially at the song's middle section. The original track already has a bit of an Egyptian/Middle Eastern, which may be why they relate to it and chose to cover it is. However, it is the addition of traditional instruments and the extra evil vocals that really make this a "cover" and not just a carbon copy. 

  Fifth track Coronation starts with quite a simple riff which you expect is going to lead into slow pounding drums. Instead, we get uplifting 4/4 drumming accompanied by, almost tribal, darbuka rhythms.... which sounds amazing. The song swims in and out of an evil distorted vocal section and proper thrash and black metal bits, including anger-inducing blast beats. Pretty sure I even heard a shofar (ram's horn) at one point. At the 3:38 mark (yes...I find this worthy enough of actually displaying the exact time), there is what I would call a bit of a "beatdown", reminiscent of some of the more tougher hardcore I used to (and sometimes still do) listen to.

  On this album, and what I noticed in their shows, the band use Hebrew spoken word samples. We can hear these on sixth track Metal Troops 666, seventh track Giv'at HaTachmoshet (The Battle of Ammunition Hill) and on ninth track Tzook Eitan ("Operation Protective Edge"). When it comes to hearing Hebrew in this way, I am still not perfect at translating, but it all seems to be "war-based". For a band that considers themselves not to be a political band, they do take pride in their state and the army. This is a bit refreshing for me as a majority of people I meet through the punk scene are the exact opposite, having managed to get exemption from the army do community service instead. Song meanings and band beliefs aside, the album continues its merry way through thrash metal, Middle Eastern rhythms and blast beats, with Giv'at HaTachmoshet really standing as a bit different to the rest of the album. Although not stated on the promo packs (although possibly on the physical copies), both this and final track Hayalim Almonim (Unknown Soldiers) are re-workings of old Hebrew songs. In Giv'at... (original song), a spoken word sample leads into a thrashy riff that starts off reminiscent of the Joe 90 theme (for those unfamiliar, click here). It then has an almost punk feel about the song...like when Slayer covered punk and hardcore songs. There are even gang chant "woahs". This is however contrasted by the blast beats which help make the track just that bit more meNtal. It changes pace a little bit in the middle, sounding a bit more power metal. We then get back to the more punk bit after a mental blast beat section accompanied by more samples. This is almost a proper sing-a-long. Hayalim Almonim finishes off the album, incorporating a choir singing the original song's lyrics as the band play at slow, almost marching pace, building slightly, bit by bit.

  
Track list:
1) Evil Finest
2) From The Desert To The Ice
3) Bloodshed Around
4) Powerslave (Iron Maiden Cover)
5) Coronation
6) Metal Troops 666
7) Giv'at HaTachmoshet
8) Underworld Resistance
9) Tzook Eitan 
10) Hayalim Almonim

  For those of you who like their thrash and black metal (preferably not one or the other) then this is an audio delight. The arabic/Mizrachi flavours might not be for everyone, but if you're worldly and are already aware of bands such as Orphaned Land and even Nile, then this, and even the rest of Arallu's back catalogue, could be an interesting addition to your collection. Guitarists Gal and Omri play tight throughout, not needing to resort to overcomplicated (and sometimes unnecessary) shredding. Drummer Assaf is also impressive; shifting dynamics within songs. I am assuming that most of the additional percussion is also played by him, which is what really makes this album special. Their devotion to the army and acceptance of war certainly will not and does not agree with everyone, but musically this is a ridiculously enjoyable record. Even I, who does not really consider himself much of a metal fan nor fan of Mizrachi music, thinks this is a really interesting listen.

4.5/5

For my Israeli readers, Arallu's official release show takes place this Thursday, 8th January, at Gagarin, Tel Aviv. Doors 20:00. Entry is ₪60, which will include a copy of the album to each ticket holder. BARGAIN!