Meet Empalot, the evil little brother of Gojira who will slap you in the face with their snazzy jazz influenced wacky terror metal. Sure, they are a side project of the French mastodon-like death-metal band, but with a twist disturbingly twisted. Though you can still hear the thunderous footsteps of the giant lizard, it's more like Godzilla is high on cocaine with Mano Chao on a Piñata party.

Oddly frighteningly as that may seem, it's instantaneously catchy. The vocals are mostly in French, but sometimes they pop out an English chorus or line. Expect everything of the vocals, from jazzy to delirious, black to death, avantgarde to dark cabaret or chanson. Trumpets play a nice part too, giving it the carnaval/french/jazz edge while the guitar plays everything from catchy riffs to wicked solo's and thick layered Gojira style riffing. The drums follow exceptionally well and seem to have no problem with the sudden tempo changes and mid stops.

This band is liquid fun and should not be spilled because it's behind the bigger bottles out there. Be aware though, copies of Empalot's albums (Brout (demo), Tous Aux Cépes and En Concert) are hard to find bastards, but it's worth the search. They're still played often in my playlists even after many months, and I'm not done for them for at least a few years, maybe never. get your gritty hands on this blingbling while you still can.

I got this CD from my wife a few years ago, listened to it and found it too quirky at the moment and put it aside again. Then a year or so passed and she urged me to try it again, I did.

One can't even begin to describe the style which Kong is playing, because it doesn't exist yet, they invented it. It's labeled here as progressive metal but that's a bit rough, try adding some industrial/techno sounds with hypnotic psychedelic rock. And not the old boring Pink Floyd psychedelic, I'm talking Ozric Tentacles psychedelic here. Then mix in some heavy metal guitars and a rave beat (not too hard) and forget about vocals. That's as close as you can get to describing their genre.

EARMINeD really grows on you since you never had any stuff like this, it's a bit hard to appreciate at first. But don't be scared, it's not like Dysrhythmia, these are all definite songs, though they transition nice into each other and are all quite unique in their own way. KONG seriously knows how the keep the groove while trying too sound not too experimental. The tempo usually is the same but it's the guitar and samples that are played alone or together which builds up every song to a great climax. If you're new to KONG, start with EARMINeD, just like Mr. Bungle's California, it is the most listenable of the bunch and will give you a great insight in their unscrupulous minds.

And no, it's not metal, but harder than rock with heavy metal elements. Though every album sounds different from another, EARMINeD is really a final phase in the KONG legacy, they did come out with another album called 'ƒREAKÇONTRØL' but that's more dance/techno that rock/metal. This is the perfect mix between dance/techno and rock/metal, and not in an industrial way like Pain or Rammstein, more like a mix between Ozric Tentacles and Dysrhythmia with a heavy overtone like Karma to Burn.

The songs are quite catchy too and you'll be humming them for a long time. I would say this music comes as close to an LSD trip as possible. If you're hooked you will find that no other band even remotely resembles KONG and you'll be so dissapointed to hear that KONG split up 7 years ago.

Maybe I can make your day, since May 2007 some band members agreed to try recording an album again (it itched) and are planning to release the beast somewhere in 2008.

Oh, and did I mention that they played quadraphonicaly live? Meaning they surrounded their audience, each member had their own little mini stage with light effects ready to hypnotize the crowd.

You didn't hear it from me.

Immediately while listening to H.O.P.E you can't deny the amazing resemblance to UK's top chart new-prog band 'Muse'. Fans of Muse hail their hero's because of the singers unique falsetto singing (also performed by Radiohead), now the other things are the spaced out melodies, twirling keyboards and strings. These are the things which are surprisingly similar but with a black metal twist. It's not blistering hard, but not tantalizing soft either, the loudest song is 'A Light Dispair' and could easily be a track performed by Hollenthon in their 'With Vilest of Worms to Dwell' era, almost movie like.

The amazing thing here is that's it's a solo album, one vision by one man (again, like Hollenthon). Another brilliant addition are the vocals, not only do they get you goosebumps in 'Muse'-mode, but will get you pumped up in 'black-metal' mode, yes there are harsh vocals too. This is where the black metal pops in, the harsh and clear vocals are always dueling, always trying to overpower the other, but never winning. It's sometimes like a never ending climax. Occasionally there are female vocals in the background but the awesome addition are the robot voices just before the bridges. Sometimes there is even heavy-metal/thrash style singing.

The keyboards/synthesizers are an excellent part of the musical trip presented by H.O.P.E, adding piano interludes where emotion is relaxed and switching to more electronic styles while in 'black-metal'-mode. It's flabbergasting how diverse and complete the songs are, the guitars are swirling and almost crying with emotion. I've never been so surprised by an artist like this before and 'Reason and Divine' is my all-time #1 album.

It is a 'concept album', sure most would say it's not black metal, some say it's not rock, some might even call it pop with a metal-twist or the other way around. The best way to describe H.O.P.E is by calling it symphonic black metal with a unexpected twist like Stolen Babies, sprinkled with some Muse and Hollenthon on top, finished with a slice of nice fresh Dialectic Soul.

I hope this review makes clear how unique this diamond is and will give you at least the urge to try it.

They (Eutonazia Kordax) refer to their music as 'apocalyptic black' metal (Bands seem to like giving their music a 'different' or non-existing genre, obviously to get noticed), which is a good name and all but I would rather call it symphonic black metal. However, that doesn't mean they sound like the other symphonic black metal bands out there, far from it. Maybe we should take that 'apocalyptic' tag serious...

Мечты (Mechty) (which means 'dreams') is sung in Russian so good luck with that, but the sound they produce is very much like Dialectic Soul (also Russian), but not like Hollenthon for example. Don't expect female voices, movie themes and operatic singing. It's harsh vocals and catchy (yes, catchy) melodies backed up with an mid-tempo marching-like drumming style (which they perfected since their 2004 demo). On the background you can hear the keyboard swirling away giving it the 'apocalyptic' mood we discussed earlier, but not in a poppy kind of way. These guys are serious.

Although 'Mechty' is self-released because they can't seem to find any good record labels in Russia (Quote: "...in Russia no good metal sound makers. The main problem with mastering. And no good labels... We doing all with our own hands..."), they really seem to know what they're doing. Although the sound isn't as crisp as the professional bands out there, it is way better than usual black metal sound (which sounds like it was recorded through a phone line), and better than most self-released albums I heard. Better yet, you wouldn't even know if I hadn't told you.

Give this upcoming band a try and you might even have a new favorite artist/album. Most bands develop their definitive sound over a few albums, Eutonazia Kordax hits the spot right on with their 1st album. It also makes you wonder why there are so few that sound like them because it sounds familiar in a way. So if you're up for some refreshing new symph/black, this time with lemon.

Dialectic Soul has made quite an impact with their release 'Terpsychora', not only does it sound much more professional than it's predecessor but you almost would think it was another band. Not that the music is so different, it's just so much better. Not one song resembles another on this gem, you'll remember each song since it has it's own unique melody while keeping the music tight and consistent throughout the album. It's hard to pick a favorite song here, since they all sound equally great, even the instrumental Transarctica is so well played you won't even miss the vocals.

Now, about their sound. There are a few different kind of symphonic black metal bands out there, so think of a mix between Daemonicium and Illnath. Every song has a keyboard leading it but not in an electronic way, it sounds more like a piano. The melodies are cleverly unique and are a big part of the music. So are the guitars which swirl in an out of mesmerizing solo's, sometimes dueling with the keyboard, other times finishing it.

The vocals are something too, from evil black to low growls to group singing, all understandable and powerful sung. There never seems to be a dull moment on this album as weird as it sounds, they really seem to be coming out of nowhere with this release. The pace keeps going with some mid tempo intervals, but never long enough to loose the motion of your head banging up and down.

Insanely high recommended.
You'll never want to let go off this baby once in possession...