Rocket Review : Not Over Yet

Album : Not Over Yet EP
Artist : Cyanide
www.cyanidemusic.com
www.myspace.com/worldofcyanide

The 1^st time I heard Cyanide was at the Launchpad Eliminations at Hard Rock Café, Mumbai. Rohan Kale’s brilliant riffing, Rohan Soloman’s melodious vocals, Bharat Bindal’s smooth bass lines & Srijan’s tight tempo’s certainly caught the eye of the Mumbai crowd & every judge on the panel. Cyanide became a force to reckon with.

Cyanide is a Delhi based alternative band which was formed 2001. They started out as a school band which won a couple of band competitions. After a couple of line – up changes later, Cyanide finally released their most awaited EP titled ‘Not Over Yet‘. They currently have the most perfect line – up which features Rohan Solomon on Lead Vocals/Guitar, Srijan Mahajan on Drums, Rohan Kale on Bass/Backing Vocals, Nikhil Malik - Guitar/Backing Vocals.

Living up to the “Modern Alternative Rock” genre, Cyanide has undoubtedly created a splendid 5 song EP which was recorded at the Grey Studios, Delhi & was mastered by the well - known Anupam Roy. The band has a very heavy yet melodic feel which has helped increase their popularity amongst the the heavy listeners as well. The signature sound created by Cyanide can be seen throughout their EP.

Let me break it down for you.

Cover Design: The cover isn’t very attractive at all. It looks very dull & its not something that I would purchase if hadn’t heard about the band before. The only thing I like about it is the “Parental Advisory” logo on it which makes you wonder what’s so explicit about the Cd.

Tracks:

1. Not Over Yet – This song starts off with an incredibly distorted riff which certainly is the most unforgettable riff on the entire EP. Srijan‘s excellent drumming skills can be heard throughout the song. Lyrically, the song speaks about liberating oneself from strife & uncertainties that appear in life. The best part about this song is the bridge where the song goes acoustic & then the tremendous build up after it. At the end of the song you’re hooked on the lyrics of the song “Cuz now it’s not too ......... Now it’s not too late”
2. Pretence – Pretence has a very thrash-metal intro. This song has a incredibly metal feel to it but at the same time there is simple melody which tends to stick in the minds of the listener. The bass line in the interlude of the song brings about a new variation in the song. The lyrics speak of the pretense of marriages. Lines like

“Infiltrating, Hyperventilating, Hypocrisy all in all
Illusive passions and pretentious actions, A leap which results in a fall
Inane reasons backed by pessimism, Always willing to fight”

make this the most well written song on the EP.

3. Holding Cell – Holding Cell is one of Cyanide’s older compositions. The timing in the intro is not your regular 4/4 beat. This is a song about a desire to overcome blinding depression. It has a simple melodic chorus. The short yet distinct lead at the end of the song is surely remarkable.
4. Untold Misery – Untold misery is the 1^st song written by Cyanide. The lyrics of the song are quite weak compared to their other tracks on the album. The song begins with mellow guitar picking & Rohan’s calm harmonious vocals. Srijan’s minute work with the cymbals in between the chorus adds a lot of details to the song. The chorus has an incredibly easy tune & anyone can sing along to it. The lead solo in the song is too short but awesome and it keeps you asking for more.
5. Tomorrow – This is probably the best way to end the Ep. The lyrics mainly speak about war .The song begins with a well panned out crunchy guitar riff on the left side of my headphones. The verse has a sudden drops every time the vocals come in. This not only creates a whole new dimension but also adds to the intensity of the song. The break down in the middle with just the bass & drums sounds extremely neat and well thought out. This is the best song on the entire disc.It has been released as a single in the compilation “Delhi Underground” by HMV Sa Re Ga Ma.
   You can even watch the music video made for the Delhi Underground Compilation: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=37136876
   

Overall, the Ep comes across as an excellent effort by a well – experienced band. The detail put into each song is easily recognizable. Even the variety within the 5 songs is quite commendable. Cyanide is indeed something to die for!!

Review by Jared

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Rocket Review : Return to Darkness

After hearing the clips, seeing the video, seeing all the tweets and facebook updates not listening to this was like being near a chocolate cake and not eating it. Finally when my doorbell rang this morning and I saw that Brown Box in which I usually get all DSR CD’s, I knew that this was the album and could wait to spin it. In the last 12 hours I have heard this 4 times already. The first time I heard it was on normal computer speakers and it still killed me, BUT the next time when my mom had gone to work and the home was empty I decided to play it on the 5.1 in the living room (after reading Mikhail’s review that said it would sound awesome on a 5.1) And right from the first track till the closing note I couldn’t believe the excellence of the quality of the music.


The Packaging – The EP and A Darkness descends most disappointing thing was the low quality jewel case which I had managed to break in 2 days. But this one is a sturdy, nice jewel case and doesn’t have C.D. written on the back.



Artwork – The cover which I had seen so many times looked a little duller but never the less stood out from the rest of the albums so far by the band. Each page has its own artwork which is a good thing. Also the artwork has been printed on really high quality paper and when you do not open it looks like a 36 page booklet but is an 18 page one.


The Music –

1. Between Infinity and Oblivion - This is a two minute instrumental. Those who pre-ordered the Box set would recognize it as the background music from the website. When you hear this you feel like something’s coming towards you. Something big, mighty and powerful, which is exactly what this album is. This is one of the Best album opener’s I have heard in a long time and I hope live the band opens with this too.

2. Dreams and Darkness Unite - Just like in ‘The Darkness Descends’ where there is no gap between ‘The prelude to Darkness’ and ‘Dreams of the Dead’. The same thing has been done here also it has been executed very smoothly. It kicks off with a riff and blast beats. Lyrically you can connect with the ‘Beyond to Darkness’ EP on this song. About midway in the song there is a guitar breakdown and it changes the theme of the song. When the guitar part changes so does the frame of mind the warrior changes.

3. The Warrior’s Return – The intro of this song makes you feel like someone royal is being welcomed after a long exile, and I’m not just saying this because the song is called ‘The warrior’s Return’. After the Intro it has a really power metal feel to it but all that changes after and you can see black/death metal part of DR. No wonder you can’t classify them to one genre and have to place them in the category of Demonic Metal. And suddenly there is calm. If you listen to this on a good set of speaker it actually feels like you’re alone and cold winds are blowing beside you this part features a keyboard break down. An after this a really awesome solo is there which will blow you apart, and it merges very nicely with the mood of the song. And as Mikhail said in his review not just mindless shredding. Lyrically the song tells you about the warriors ‘Return To Darkness’ and his purpose of returning. Also in the end there is another solo which is a really amazing one and is hard to believe the amount of feel in it.

4. A Tragedy Befallen – This is my favorite song on the album. It features clear clean vocals. The beginning is extremely aggressive and brutal. Also it creates a very eerie feeling when there is a verse sung almost in a whisper. This song has my favorite solo on the album too. It talks about the sorrow one feels after committing a mistake.

5. The Unrelenting Surge Of Vengeance - The song everybody has heard and enjoyed. The intro to verse transition on this is very amazing. It makes you feel the anger. This track is good musically and sounds good, but that power that hits you when you hear it is a little low on this one compared to the other songs on the album. But after the keyboard breakdown even this one changes its face completely. Another song I will not forget so easily.

6. Bound By Blood, Fire And Stone - A melo-death feel can be heard in this song specially in the intro. After the growls of the first you can hear clean vocals coming from a distance. The drumming on this one is extremely amazing. The riffs and the bass lines and the drumming mix very well together. The vocals in the end make you feel the aggression of the warrior.

7. Lord Of Pestilence – The intro is like the calm before a storm. It is like the eye of the cyclone. It will bring back memories of the ‘Beyond the Darkness’ EP. This song was the song I anticipated the most being eleven minutes long. As soon the clean part is over, the cyclone starts its devastation. In the midway of the song all the anger and energy seems to break lose, there is a really long growl in this part which I really couldn’t believe. After this part there is a keyboard breakdown which leads to my favourite section of the song. This part features aggressive vocals but at the same time are clear you can understand what is being said if you pay a little attention to them.

8. Dismembering The Fallen - This song had been released on the band’s MySpace page earlier. Before I had heard the rest of the Album this was my favorite DR Track. When I heard this on a 5.1 I realized that the panning of this is amazing you can feel the drum rolls move back and forth. The riff and the number of changes is what I like about this song.

9. The Final Stand – The intro sounds like the beginning of the war scene in the movies. The song contains nice keyboard patterns mixed with heavy riffs. Lyrically this song talks about the end of the enemy. This song also has an excellent solo. The Keyboard part in the end sets the mood of the end of the song. It feels like you are moving forward and you can hear that with the guitar part going more and more distant.

10. Omega, I – This is the most brutal song on the album and has lyrical contribution by Daniel on it. This song closes the trilogy well tells you about its end. The closing part has a really ‘catchy’ riff and after it is the calm part which is the end of this long journey.

This album is worth every single buck spent on it. From artwork to music to lyrics everything is top notch. Buy the album if you haven’t already!

Demonic Resurrection Website : http://www.demonicresurrection.in/
Reviewed by Eshaan Sood

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