Pharaoh Overlord: Live in Suomi Finland
(Vivo Records vvivo2007028CD)
Pharaoh Overlord: Live in Suomi Finland
(Vivo Records vvivo2007028CD)
From Aural Innovations #37 (Sep 2007)
Here’s the latest live album by Circle’s alter echo Pharaoh Overlord.
The sound quality is a lot better than on their Battle of the Axehammer live,
and as an extra feature this one has Faust’s Hans Joachim Irmler at least
on synthesizer. The album was recorded in 12.5.2006 at Kipsari, Helsinki and
is remixed by Irmler. There are five tracks on the CD and three of these have
been released in different form on the previous albums. At first we got the
familiar, mid-tempo riff monster “Black Horse” that goes into psychedelic
chaos. The guitars are really heavy and Irmler plays the synth. More or less
the whole track is just one, really blasting riff. The next track “Tutankharmony”
begins with one guitar (Janne?) and the others slowly join in. This is a hypnotic,
rather weird number that has guitars that sound pretty much like random noise.
The end part is again more relaxed. The following track “Zero Gravity”
continues directly from the previous one and is at first quite restful. This
is a monotonic and not so inspired number.
Then it’s time again for a more familiar number when ”Skyline”
boosts from the speakers with full blast! This is heavy shit and hits you like
a baseball bat. The lethally monotonous riff works out great while Irmler conjures
something out of his synth at first in just one key. Later on he adds some melody
into his performance but the guitars and bass still hold on to that one riff.
Then the track gets a bit more chaotic and we get to hear some other stuff as
well, although the familiar riff keeps on pounding at the bottom. This works!
After ten minutes the track gets more minimal just before the end. The album
is finished with another previously known number “Mangrove” that
we get a long version of beginning with drums. Again they go in numbing mid-tempo
and this track also has some synth weirdness. Then the heavy riff kicks in and
some sort of guitar soloing follows. After a while the track is just pure guitar
orgy and I really like it! At around the 13-minute-marker the atmosphere cools
down and the track soon ends. I had somehow missed this gig so it’s really
nice to get to enjoy this instrumental, heavy hypno-metal at a later moment.
This is naturally a must-have for all the Pharaoh Overlord fans and why not
also a good starting point to get introduced to the band! PO rocks.
You can find more information and order the CD here: http://vivo.pl/pharaohoverlord
Reviewed by Santtu Laakso