 |
      |
"THE CRADLE" REVIEWSPERKELE! (Finland), Issue #1, Spring 1996
This is already Gandalf's third demo effort, and I guess, the best one to date, although I think their previous tape was
at least as stong music wise. But the production of this tape beats the shit out of the production on demo II. There are
again four songs on this tape and two of'em are sort of more rocking and slower, and two are more straight forward and
brutal. I must admit I like the slower and groovier tracks better. Jari's vocals have changed from being a bit growly
to a more evil direction, and along that they have also become better. OK, I guess that's all. I just say that it's
not often that you hear this kind of material on a demo. A great piece of catchy, groovy and intense death metal.
Metal Curse (USA), Issue #10, 1996
The amazing production is perhaps the least of this demo's attributes. The songwriting is superb, the playing flawless,
and the vocals are a raspy yell, perhaps not unlike that of At The Gates. I will say that a little polishing of the lyrics
could be done, but not much.
More Than Music Magazine (USA), Issue #7, Summer 1996
Easily the best demo I've received this year. The Cradle, Gandalf's third offering, features very fresh and very beastly metal
despite the fact that it was put to tape nearly a year ago. Jari Hurskainen's ferocious sandpaper snarl puts him in the enviable
company of Swedes Dark Tranquility and At The Gates, while Gandalf's musical technicality can at times be likened to their fellow
countrymen Sentenced. While the first half proves itself a bit more memorable (The Cradle, Dark Memories), don't hesitate
of looking into this if voraciously zipped Lapland metal appels to you.
Underground Scene Report, Issue #19These guys leave no stone unturned when it comes to praise their thing...excellent playing & songwriting, a band that can't be ignored, good musicians. Apparently, one likes to run a bluff on their musical abilities and though the melodic, Metal-ish Death Metal portrayed here ain't exceptional in terms of musicianship and concept, there's no demerits either. The only thing you might possibly blame this band of - apart from their self phrase - is the rather measured performance and the slightly restricted diversity flow within the songs, however closing tune Eagles' Nest sports quite a mixed bag of atmospheric features as well as diffrentiation between songs is more than sufficiant. Songs are either midpaced - to accomodate the NWOBHM type, riff based structures - or fast with matching rhythm riffage or speed picking that, along with the Nordic excerpts and raspy talk vocalage occasionally makes the band lean towards Black Metal, yet one ain't. All in all a nicely done demo in it's genre. Screams From The Gutter, Issue #43, Winter 1996
The name Gandalf and the way it's drawn belies a middle-earth scenario ala Tolkien, but the music is diametric of anything
pixiesh, gnome-like surreal magic. The Finnish band's third demo since '93 portrays aggressive songwriting where intensity
combined with catchiness isn't a forgotten tool as well as know-how for slightly more subtle interludes and where to place
them, as heard in variable points of Eagles' Nest.
Terrorizer (UK), Issue #1, 1997
Fuckin' A! You cannot imagine how glad I am to finally get hold of a demo which
is not only listenable but downright addictive. Hailing from the icy wastes of
Finland, Gandalf specialise in classy melodic death/heavy metal that owes a lot
to their countrymen Sentenced. Coming across like a cross between the bitter,
bitter North From Here and rockier Amok, The Cradle is a throughly enjoyable
bout of over-the-top angst metal which should - may, must! - lead to a recording
contract somewhere along the line.
Soundi (Finland), Issue #1-2, 1996
The self-praise of the letter that follows the demo-tape makes one laugh just as
long as the first notes of music starts to come out of the speakers. Fuck, these
guys just know how good they are. This is plainly the best metal-demo that has
been reviewed in at least a year. The compositions are good and they include
even enough crossover-tendencies that this might get other people into them than
just metalheads. The playing or actually the whole execution works for full. The
soundscape is under control although there could be sometimes a bit more room
for the lead guitar, but at least this way the widdling doesn't get one bored.
The only flaws I can find are the lyrics, which are quite stereotyped when
pondering what life is about. So all in all this is an excellent tape, so it's
no surprise that this gets my special mark which is deserved for only the best.
Good luck and I really hope that we won't meet again within the frames of this
column - if you know what I mean...
Metal-Core (USA), Issue #22
Excellent death metal-band with some of the best riffs this side of New Jersey.
Sick non-generic death metal-vocals as well. Some of the stuff is in the vein of
Morbid Angel in spots. but the band more than stand on their own. Excellent
production too.
Decibels Storm (France), Issue #7For the incult who don't know what Gandalf means or more exactly don't know who Gandalf is, I advise them to rush to the books of J.R.R. Tolkien and especially to the legendary Lord Of The Rings... But let's get back to Gandalf, the band!!! This is the 3rd demo by the band and while I don't know their previous material, The Cradle is a killer demo!!!!! Really!!!!! Gandalf seem to include in their music all the best parts of better-known Finnish bands (Amorphis, Impaled Nazarene, Sentenced) With a good production, they succeed in making very diversified songs.... Sometimes very fast, sometimes more melodic á la Amorphis, but without ever being a clone. Their singer Jari is quite amazing too because he succeed in singing sometimes aggressive, sometimes melodic or in using the darkest growling vocals. The music is good too, so to conclude I just have to advice you to order the demo of a promising band. Voices From The Darkside (Germany), Issue #9
Holy shit, this is already the third demo by Finland's Gandalf (what a name....)
and I've never heard about them before... Well, The Cradle makes me really
curious about their past activities, 'cause this is absolutely great groovy
death metal that sometimes reminds me of Sentenced (before they turned gothic)
and then again of newer Edge Of Sanity (their more brutal stuff)! How good they
really are you can find out quite easily by sending them some cash for this four
song demo of the highest quality in terms of musicianship, packaging and
production! Oh, before I forget to tell ya, vocalist Jari was almost invited to
sing on Waltari's death metal symphony if they hadn't used the Amorphis dude
already. Does that make you curious after all?!? Well, it should... So be
prepared for a deadly dose of straight-into-your-face metal!
HEAVY ODER WAS!?! (Germany), Issue #28
Scandinavia is a stronghold of death & black metal and within Scandinavia
Finland seems to top Sweden by now in terms of high quality bands, which is
proved by Sentenced, Impaled Nazarene or Amorphis. But also great newcomer acts
are coming up, like Paraxism, Adramelech or Gandalf. EMI wanted to get Gandalf's
vocalist for the latest Waltari album (Yeah, Yeah, Die, Die - A Death Metal
Symphony In Deep C), but Tomi Koivusaari from Amorphis already got the job. The
technical abilities are impressive and their complex instrumentation can be
heard in compact tracks, which are musically somewhere between thrash and death
metal. Vocalist Jari not only uses the typical death grunts, he sets new
standards within the music with his powerful voice. I'm pretty sure there's
gonna be a CD release from Gandalf soon.
ABLAZE (Germany), Issue #11
Finland's Gandalf are not really unknown to the scene anymore. They put out two
demos so far and even Waltari wanted originally their vocalist Jari for their
death metal-opera. But they already had the agreement from Tomi (Amorphis) for
that project. Gandalf play death metal, pretty melodic and not that aggressive.
Both elemnts can be found in the same way in their stuff, same goes for Jari's
voice, which sounds like a mixture between grunting and screaming. The songs
themselves are quite good and sometimes remind on Sentenced during their
Amok-period. I guess those people will like Gandalf too. Taneli Jarva,
Sentenced's (ex-) frontman even drew the Gandalf logo. The production is good,
the sound is better than on a lot of CD's these days and there is a picture by
Dali on the folded cover.
"SNAKEBITE" REVIEWSRumba Rock Magazine (Finland), 1996
Gandalf creates traditional heavy metal with the addition of distorted vocals. On the first two songs the band sounds good but
not that interesting in the long run. The use of Iron Maidenesque melody guitar makes the music disposable, especially on the song
Forlorn. This kind of music demands great skill from the players and the members of the band master their instruments more than
well. When the band shifts into 4-wheel-drive through the heavier material they take no prisoners. The closing song on the demo,
Marionette, is a horse of another color. The song starts in a way that is typical for Iron Maiden but shifts, luckily, into a heavier gear.
This is also the longest song on the tape. If I was to call the shots, I would definitely bet my money on songs like Marionette.
Terrorizer (UK), Issue #47, April 1997
Gandalf don't work fast, we just work slow. That's why they have reappeared in Demos within three months of us reviewing their
1995 offering with this, their absolute gem of a 1996 tape. And as could only be expected, 'Snakebite' is even better than
'The Cradle'. The Finns have honed their vicious yet infectiously melodic style to perfection, and the three Sentenced-esque
numbers on offer here rock with a capital 'Rrrr'.
Metal Shock (Italy), Issue #248, 1997
'Snakebite' is the title of this masterpiece promo demo of Gandalf, Finnish band from Helsinki. Helped from a great recording
(it would tempt even Immortal's 'Blizzard Beasts'), Gandalf shoot violently three fabulous songs...try to imagine a mixture between
the first Entombed, the old Sentenced and the last In Flames and you'll obtain the Gandalf sound, technical, powerful and at
the same time original, involving and dynamic...an extraordinary band, nothing else!
More Than Music Magazine (USA), Issue #9, Winter 1996-1997
Sounding like a more fluidic and less manic At The Gates, these Finnish 'melodic death-groovers' follow up their highly
praised demo 'The Cradle', with three more vicious ditties that are no less than equals to their blazing predecessors.
Recorded in a mere 12 hours, 'Snakebite' shows that Gandalf have not only grown in the last year, but captures all the
things that made 'The Cradle' so great; namely, the awe-inspiring guitar play between Timo Nyberg and Santtu Sierilä
and the scratchy screams of Jari Hurskainen.
AARDSCHOK Metal Magazine (Netherlands), Winter 1997
Clearly inspired by their countrymen Amorphis (first CD), Sentenced (second CD) and furthermore among others Carcass
and Entombed, Gandalf succeeds to vomit a pleasant combination of these bands. The filthy death metal of this quintet
explodes of agression and melody. On the one hand they chop without remorse, on the other hand the melodic baselines
keep the songs accessible. The sand-paper throat of singer Jari Hurskainen is great and I think it will not take long before
we can hear this promising band on CD.
NORDIC VISION (Norway),Issue #8
A well-played demo arrived from Finland's Gandalf. Three songs going in the
melodic path of death metal, having a touch of At The Gates among their tunes.
Even so it lacks a bit of the freshness originality gives music, it gets
somewhat grey and cloudy, the kick is lost and never found. It all sound good,
but something concrete to grab hold a hold of is difficult to find. The music is
groovy and melodic, but still not sticking out from the masses. Something is
holding it back and we think it's the lack of fantasy in the music. It circles
too much around the same place, not moving forward into new and exciting
sceneries. But there is good potential in here and we are sure a dose of
originality and fantasy will make this band more than just a talented one.
SCREAM (Norway), Issue #33, February/March 1997
Finland is beginning to mark itself on the metal map and one of those newcomers
is Gandalf. Again we have a band that has taken its name from the University of
Tolkien but how used that has started to be, it won't take long before we'll
hear this band on cd. Because with a demo such as this it won't take long before
they have got themselves a contract. This is juicy metal for those who like a
mix of death, thrash and black metal. If we look more closely, we'll find out
that the black metal here is represented with excellent vocals, whereas the meal
mixed with thrash and speed floats in the background. Melodic riffs, juicy sound
and very good songs makes this one of the best demos I've heard in a really long
time. If you like for example In Flames, will Gandalf most certainly be a band
in your taste. Personally they call it 'melodic death groove'. Search no
further!!!
ROCK HARD (Germany), Issue #1, 1997
Exactly one year ago the Finns of Gandalf (not to be mixed up with the Prog/New
Age band) were able to set a mark for the very first time with their demo The
Cradle. The tape contained four brilliantly produced groovy death metal-tracks,
style-wise being a mix of Edge Of Sanity (groove, power) and Dark Tranquillity
(vocals, melodies). Now there's a follow-up in shape of a 3-song promo demo
entitled Snakebite, which is able to exceed the standards of it's predecessor
easily. Gandalf describe themselves as melodic death groovers, which exactly
describes the whole thing, because the rhythms cause the listener a hard time
sitting calm while the melodies bear a character of being like worms spinning
inside your head. This time the sound turned out even more compact and the fact
that Waltari's frontman Kärtsy originally planned to get the singer of Gandaf
for his Death Metal Symphony is undoubtably another 'pro' for Gandalf. It's
about time that finally a label is taking care of Gandalf's affairs.
INWOLFMENT (Germany)
Gandalf let lightning strike again. Viciousness lent its voice to a well-structured piece
of bangable music full of catchy riffs/melodies and excellent drumming. Straight out of
Hell-sinki comes another Finnish force that has to be heard.
ILL LITTERATURE (USA), 1998
Having been chastised for not mentioning the origin of Gandalf (the Istari
character known as Gandalf The Grey and many other aliases in Tolkien's
fantastic journeys of Middle Earth) by some readers when I reviewed the Finnish
band's previous demo, The Cradle, for my own zine (Screams From The Gutter), I'm
not making that mistake twice. Even though this tape is now around two years
old, it's still very viable, especially with all the mellinfluency of the
Gothenburg bands, and this cassette definitely possesses those traits. Gandalf
are mid-paced and excel at songwriting like Amok-era Sentenced, are
intrinsically motivated musicians á la Dark Tranquillity and In Flames, are very
pleasing to the ear and have the potential of a tidal wave plowing over a
toddler. It's only a matter of time (a short time, too) before they're releasing
something under the standard of a label. The three songs are like moving statues
- solid as the marble they're made of, poised on the pedestial of yo! ur mind
for ages, but move with a heavy, artistic and almost elegant gait that's
reserved for bands who know what they're doing and what they want out of their
creative outlet. Vocalist Jari Hurskainen snarls words almost legibly and never
once endangers the optimum musicianship with any sort of dairy product or
campiness. Looking forward to seeing how many accuse them of being from Sweden.
METAL CURSE (USA), Issue #11
Even more so than their last demo, The Cradle, this is exceptionally
well-produced, written and played. But my favorite part is still the uniquely
raspy vocals. It's difficult these days to have such an individual vocal style,
but Jari makes it sound easy. Their technical, super-intense death/thrash is
hard to forget, even after a single listen. I'm sure we'll be hearing quite a
lot more from this band.
|
"DEADLY FAIRYTALES" REVIEWSMetal Hammer (UK), December 1998
Those who are still struggling to come to terms with Carcass' mutation into Black Star
will surely rejoice at the arrival of Gandalf. There are obvious parallels between Gandalf's
own 'End Of Time', 'The Cradle' and 'The Price Of My Deeds' and the muso-flavoured 'Heartworks'
era of the much-missed Scouse grindcore legends. The guitars are technical but not too widdly,
the vocals on the polite side of the death grunt, and the tempos nicely varied. All in all, then,
a quality release from a band with potential.
Freelance Review, October 1998
When I was given a copy of their debut album, I was
warned that Gandalf sounds light years from what they
were a couple of years ago. That's when I first saw,
and definitely heard, them on stage.
What I was most afraid of was that the singer had finally
gone to a pharmacy to get cough mixture for sore
throat, and begun singing like Elvis. No, I was wrong.
His throat is stronger than hell, and he sounds better
than before. Thanks to overall superb quality production,
you can even hear the lyrics. Because of this, people,
who dislike 45 minutes of snarling, won't get bored.
'Deadly Fairytales' starts with 'End of Time' which is
unusually relaxed to be a metal song. It is good at
tuning me in to what's coming up. 'The Price of My Deeds'
and 'Forlorn' sound like one lengthy piece, a bit boring,
and are so close to each other that it's hard to know where
the first one ends. It confused me enough to say that there
was one song missing. But there the both are.
Otherwise they have put the songs in a good order to make
variety of speed, the fastest 'Stronger Than Hell', and slower
songs with more power, like 'Fade Away' and 'Never Again'.
Bass sounds brilliant showing the best in the fast 'Dark Memories'.
Guitars sound a bit cleanish, lots of good twin lead guitar
attacks. Sometimes you can hear nordic sounding tunes,
for instance in 'Eternal Fire'. But still, the songs are not too
complicated. The whole album is quite straightforward,
power with melodies, and interesting nuances.
The funniest songs are 'Marionette', where we can hear a choir
of babes 'ooohooh'ing for a second, and 'Eternal Fire' with
flamenco guitar - cute as a metal pumpkin. My absolute
favourite on this album is the last song 'Never Again'. While
listening to the album, I didn't have to wait for it because
I like the whole album a lot. 'Deadly Fairytales' is great
kick butt death metal with character!
PERKELE! (Finland), Issue #5, December 1998
Gandalf, a long time force to be reckoned with on the demo scene,
has finally finished their debut album. Something good is always
worth waiting for and so is the case with this one. 'The Cradle'
and 'Marionette', known from the demos, have true classic potential,
the faster 'Dark Memories' steamrolls away in a way that leaves many
death bands paler than their black metal companions. The band has improved
playingwise in a most excellent way. The soundscape of the album, created
together with producer Anssi Kippo, is really rich and full of flavour,
just as one could expect after hearing the Children of Bodom debut.
Special maker's marks to the longitivity and braveness of recording the
already once recorded album again. When you listen to the end result,
this surely payed off. It is interesting to see what kind of reactions the
album will awaken abroad, from the band's point of view everything is in order.
Soundi (Finland), November 1998
Swedish-esque melodic death-riffage, Finnish melancholy and darkness, and
thrash growling reminiscent of Kreator's Mille. All this makes a combination,
which may, very well indeed raise flags throughout Europe. Gandalf strikes a vein.
The melodic death front has been very silent during the days of goth- and black-metal pillaging.
Gandalf offers familiar sounding, own and songwise versatile basic stuff, which is always welcome.
'End Of Time' makes the 'catchiness-indicator' whistle and this is what it's all about in this genre:
extreme music, flavoured with colorful and memorable melodies. During 'Marionette' that indicator explodes.
Recently when the Swedish death-bands started to long for melody, pieces like these were what they had in mind.
'Fade Away' with its haunting beginning may turn out to be a concert favourite, when it is playing, one
can imagine the dry ice machine filling the stage with smoke, heads facing down and the audience listening
to the agony in complete silence. Then when the speed increases, half way through, the mosh pit starts rolling.
Scream Webzine, Issue #43, October/November 1998
This band guested the demo-section once, and was one of the better bands to be
reviewed back then. Gandalf is promoted as 'melodic death-groovers', and I will
best describe them as a mix between In Flames and Dimmu Borgir. It's not the
best album of the year, but it's definately worth checking out. They are brutal and
melodic with a solid dose of the 80s. If you don't recognise their bandname, then
shame on you! Go and buy 'Lord Of The Rings' by Tolkien.
Drunk + Disorderly, December 1998Well weird - I'm sure Gandalf had originally signed to some poxy Scandinavian label a couple of years back - I heard something to that effect when buying their second demo I think. Never mind though. The press suggests Sentenced and Heartwork era Carcass, they must be trying hard to avoid the Gothenburg tag that could be stuck on if other more lazy zine editors aren't pointed in the right direction. Well, forget that, for Gandalf seem to be putting something else in, a dose of wry emotion and cynicsm, without getting too fucked up along the way. Besides, such a tag would propably destroy their career - spurned by those that don't jerk off to In Flames, and still of a different enough variety to be ignored by those who do. Problem is: there are some mediocre bits - 'Dark Memories' for instance, but we can blame that song on Santtu's 'help' in writing the damn piece. Also, the album fuses in some almost trippy parts, subtle enough that they are hidden away as melodic parts! This is not an essential release, regardless of what you're been told, but it will still be second best debut of the year (Children Of Bodom don't even need to try to come in first) unless one of the other bands on the label can offer up something better, and better than a lot of junk we've all had the hazyness of judgement to purchase. Some of us more than others. Firefight, December 1998Going back to the 'cutting edge' with the second of the new releases from Wicked World, you come across the menagerie of Scandinavian cum British influences that is the debut from Finnish metallers Gandalf and it's like one of those jigsaw puzzles that looks really nice on the box but is a pain in the neck to do. All pieces are present, some dark atmosphere and the odd cutting riff out of the Carcass back catalogue ('Dark Memories', 'Strange Than Hell', 'Marionette') are all driven into your ears by a gruff vocal and a driving drum beat but a lot of the basic structure is interchangable and it needs repeated listening before any real character emerges. Two areas are painfully weak. Like many of their peers (Dark Tranquillity etc..) the band need a more rounded vocal and I hate having to go hunting for riffs yet, looked at as nothing more than a debut - the band has not been on record before to my knowledge - it's not unencouraging. The band refrains from using the obligatory keyboards, which is nice, they prefer to concentrate the melody on the basic NWOBHM style solos and have the odd devious power chord which reminded me of Cemetary but, really they need to turn up the gas a little bit more than just on 'Fade Away'. Powerplay, February 1999If you want prime quality metal without the halfbaked satanic lyrics, then look no further than Finland´s death groovers Gandalf. With only two demo´s behind them. 'The Cradle' from 1995 and 'Snakebite' from 1996, Gandalf have made a brilliantly accomplished debut with 'Deadly Fairytales', which is full of melody without losing aggression. Comparisons with Carcass, circa 'Heartwork' can be made with tracks like 'Forlorn', 'The Cradle' and 'Never Again' using the same pure groove-loaded approach. 'Wolverine Blues' era Entombed can also be seen as a reference point, especially on the storming opening track 'End Of Time'. But, Gandalf rise above these bands with tracks like 'Dark Memories', 'Fadeaway' and 'Eternal Fire', proving that you can produce polished performances without losing that raw sound. Gandalf are so much more than a death metal outfit; they are a band full of talent and ability that produce some very catchy songs. With a debut release as strong as this, their future looks very healthy. Metal Maniacs, April 1999
The ground doesn't shake in response to Gandalf's 'Deadly Fairytales' debut, but the record does present an impressively solid
and professional boiling-down of some of the better work done with metal in the 1990s by Carcass, Sentenced and In Flames.
Gandalf, indigenously Finnish, picks up the thread Convulse dropped after Reflections in ´94 and continues to pursuit of
'death rock' that mythical holy grail ideal for this Finnish breed. 'Deadly Fairytales' borrows heavily from the Heartwork,
Amok and The Jester Race works of the aforementioned canon of influence and packs together some carefully selected bits and pieces.
The songs here, with a few sudden exceptions, bounce at a conventional rock tempo. While this helps unify the record and might later
be a basis for some sort of 'style' for the band to claim, the flipside is that the tracks stumble into each other in memory,
with little distinction. Add to this mix some very similar sounding hooks on which songs rely ('End Of Time' and 'The Cradle')
and I almost begin to hear multiple instances of the same song. The hooks themselves are short melodic phrases and never vocal,
which leads to the tedious arrangement in several of the songs. Gandalf's problem is one of agoraphobia. Once they have a hook,
a tempo, or a groove (none of which they have a problem creating), they insist compulsively on remaining within the confines
of that hook, tempo, or groove for the entire song, never letting one good idea lead to another. Under-achievement, maybe.
The proof lies in the two fast songs, 'Dark Memories' and 'Stronger Than Hell'. These tracks are different from the remainder of
the album because of their speed, but they too insist on remaining at the same tempo throughout. No loss of momentum, but no gain.
The songs lack the intermidiate transitions that create a journey from beginning to end. Deadly Fairytales is not unworthy of praise,
though, and my toughness on the songwriting aspects needs qualification. The band has an impressive Gothenburg-ish tightness,
easing thrugh some weird time signatures ('Marionette', 'Fade Away') and giving worthy homage to Gotheburg's greats in
'Eternal Fire' and 'Stronger Than Hell'. 'Eternal Fire' also boasts a killer drum fill coming out of the solo section.
The production bristles with a brightness seldom heard and graciously appreciated by the ears, but offers none of the roughness
that might further the band toward the rock ethic it seeks. The cheap-gag alarm sounded four times in the course of the record:
female vocals, sampling a scratchy LP, distorted spoken vocals and the crossfade with the piano at the end of 'Never Again'.
Once the members of Gandalf begin to take more risks within their songs, I´ll be quick to the pulpit to praise them. Until then,
the mere professionality of 'Deadly Fairytales' is enough for me, to choose it over other Finnish death rock crap like Babylon Whores
and Xysma, but the songwriting is not enough to make me a devotee of the death rock sound in general.
"ROCK HELL" REVIEWS
MetalReviews.com |
|
|
The Gandalf Rock Hell Revisited Non-Commercial Tribute Page 2013
| www.obsidiandawn.com | www.davidocchino.com |
