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DEMO 98 REVIEWSWell, this might be the best three bucks you’ll spend all year. A.S. have put together three very well written, catchy songs, that they refer to as Melodic Death Metal. Well, I’m not sure that I’d call this Death Metal exactly, but I suppose it’s as heavy as the new DEATH album, so maybe... Except for when they break out the cleanly sung vocals, which I don’t mind, but some of you might. At any rate, it’s all very well done, with generally excellent production, and for only $3, you’d be crazy to not check this out. - 9 - Ray Metal Curse Zine Assisting Sorrow presents a promo to us CD of 3 songs, produced very well. They are classified like melody and progressive death metal and they carry their style well. The guitar is often melody, the solos structured very well and they are not all the time in the carpet right to show that the weather are able to be full with notes, on the contrary, they are slow fox trot but really well done. The drum is very technical with some blasts and it even from time to time offers jazzed master keys to us which is based very well with the remainder of the music especially with beginning of Controversy, it is really bizzarre and special. The vocal one makes me think a little of vocal of Carcass, low register and castling but not too so that one can nevertheless distinguish well the words, with share perhaps the Unknown song which has vocal acute with the attempt King Diamond but good, I forgive them? A full length CD is envisaged very soon, it is a group to supervise for the fans music progressive. -Stéph- http://www.sangfrais.com from France The Louisville-based quartet, Assisting Sorrow , which is firmly entrenched in the Europeon melodic Death Metal vein, and quite capably at that. Utilizing ample harmonics and some skilled lead guitar work along with some adventurous drumming, the bands skills leap forth in the first 30 seconds of the opening track. Citing influences as diverse as IRON MAIDEN, ATROCITY, SANCTUARY, & ATHIEST, the band are definitely in an advanced league that very few US newcomers have been able to match. With an appropriately harsh vocal style, there’s an awful lot of potential lurking within these scant 13 minutes, and their decidedly Scandinavian sound will surely sit well with the many fans of Swedish Melodic Death. The 3rd sons “Unknown” comes out unexpectedly with some upper register clean vocals. Fans of this style are urged to check this out. By Ula Gehret with Metal Maniacs This band is awesome. Absolutely dominating a black Death style. Assisting Sorrow execute note oriented rhythms, never losing sight of meaty chords to give the songs a thick substance. I was most impressed with the off time and mesmerizing intro to the track “Controversy” which perfectly demonstrates Assisting Sorrow’s highly developed playing abilities, elevated understanding of melody and how to use it inventively. Heavy CORONER influenced? Its in there baby, with rolling disharmonic squawks & enthusiastic structures. The vocal talents of Mike Barnes from ABOMINANT are another check in the plus column. Yet another American band that isn’t afraid to be influenced by the European scene, Assisting Sorrow have taken the Black Metal style, stripped it of all cheesy clichés and added their own personalities into the fray for emotive & unique results. There is something completely wrong if these guys don’t get signed soon. By Marty Rytoken with Worm Gear Magazine Remember CATACLYSM from Kentucky? Remember they had a free demo tape circulating a number of years ago? Well, A.S. has 2 members from that now defunct act. They now play “melodic & progressive Death Metal” that is a description I can live with. Very melodic, tight , & catchy death metal w/ heaps of inspiration from ‘80’s power/heavy metal like IRON MAIDEN, HELSTAR, FATES WARNING & etc. This is one great talented band, they are mature and classy and it shows in their silky music. Did I mention this is another CDR release? Assisting Sorrow performs technical death metal with strong progressive influences. This CD is quite promising. Strong Drumming & jazzy, progressive guitar riffs are what stood out. ABOMINANT vocalist Mike Barnes contributes vocals. Barnes remains his normally Brutal self, yet concocts a totally different style from his trademark Abominant death rasp. If you enjoy melodic, intelligent Death Metal, Assisting Sorrow will not let you down. - Mike Rogers from Sociopathic Deaspair What if you took Power Metal and mixed it with technical death metal along the lines of ATHIEST? Well Assisting Sorrow is what you might come up with. Despite the name, there are far from being a doom band. Instead, you get the aforementioned mix of Power & Death that may well point to the future of the scene. -Metal Nightmare zine Assisting Sorrow, Blackish Metal from the United States. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it Black Metal but the influence is there. Sounds like a cross between Thrash & Black. A.S. is a very talented band : musical arrangements, vocals, & production is good. These guys have a bright future if they stay with it. – from Khaos A.D. zine Assisting Sorrow’s debut demo is definitely noteworthy they meld some punishing Death Metal with melodic influences to create a cool mix that could appeal to either set of fans as well as Black Metallers. While the rhythms and vocals are the most Brutal part of the mix, it’s the guitars which shift between Heavy Chords and then more melodic, introspective breaks. Another facet of the band is their odd progressive moments where they will break into these more jazzy moments and really shake things up a bit.-Marco Barbieri from Ill-literature zine This is pure Progressive Power metal (DREAM THEATRE-STYLE) mixed with Melodic Death Metal (Swedish style)… on the paper (or better on the Video) its an original solution, but its hard to do it well… There are 2 singers, one good death metal screamer, & one not to good clean singer, and this is too important for the final result of the music. With a real melodic singer, this band can become really big. 7 out 10 ASSISTING SORROW – song Promo 99' REVIEWS Where Assisting Sorrow's debut, 3-song demo was laden in technically derived death metal with its fair share of Coroner leanings, the latest offering from this talented unit is far more progressive metal based. The clean singing has become more of a part of their formula, and is a nice offset to the deep, yet coherant death moans of mIke Barnes (some of you may know him from the band Abominant), but I'm still having problems getting into the whole Power Metal movement and all the bands it is inspiring. The music itself has taken a less perplexing presence, emitting a solid European affinity as ultra melodic rhythms , & soaring solo work tastefully empower this music, but they seem to stifle that pleasing sense of aggresion that made their debut so hammering in its complexity. As the acoustic intro & pristine vocals creep in to "Future Silence" before blazing off into more triumphant guitar work & brief blast fills that add texture, I'm beginning to fear that Kentucky's Assisting Sorrow is indeed mellowing out as they become more comfortable with their highly openminded use of various styles of metal. They are still overflowing with a strong talent that will get them signed, but they are venturing into more accessible territories that I tend to avoid in my listening appreciation. If you are less bothered by the incorporation of a progressive Power Metal style than I am, I encourage you to check out this gifted band. 4 new tracks and an excellent production - Marty Rytoken from Worm Gear #9 ASSISTING SORROW – Future Silence CD 99' Reviews This CD is a combination of Assisting Sorrow's '99 promo and their '98 demo, plus a cover of King Diamond's "The Invisible Guests". This band combines elements of traditional, progressive, thrash, and death metal, and they do quite a good job of it. The music is melodic and powerful, thrashing at times, and on some songs they also use classical-style guitar and keyboards. In fact, three members are keyboard players, but they don't overuse them, the way some bands do; the keyboard use is kept to a minimum on this album. There are also two vocalists; Mike Barnes on "growls", who also plays keyboards, and guitarist/second keysman Chris Leffler on "clean vocals" (Chris is also the chief songwriter) These guys are quite talented (Chris is a very good guitarist), they play solid metal, and the different styles of metal they use gel quite well. Their music packs a punch, and the album thrashes out from start to finish! One song that stood out for me was the title track, which starts off like a ballad with classical guitar and "clean" singing from Chris, then kicks into gear for the second half, with Chris and Mike swapping vocal duties back and forth, singing in their respective styles, which makes for a good contrast between the two. As I mentioned earlier, the album contains a cover of King Diamond's "The Invisible Guests", which is unlisted and closes the album. They do a good job covering this King classic, too. I think they do His Dark Majesty justice! These guys are a good band, they have their own style, and they're METAL! That's enough to get my seal of approval! – Jonathan Mariante Ballbuster Magazine Reviews for 2003 Demo! ASSISTING SORROW - EPO-1 (2 song demo) (Self released~2003) Another surprise. I arrive at home and find a package from Louisville (hell what a place for a metal band to be :-D ). It was quite strange as I knew nobody from there. Well with the package came a 2 song CD Demo and the history of this band. Just to resume this is a band that has been active since the mid-90’s with what we could call really bad luck in the form of many line up changes, frustrations and stuff. And it’s really a pity as I only can define this band as AWESOME. Hell if every demo would have this quality this would be the shit. Assisting Sorrow plays technical death metal (with lots of melodies) that can remind you of bands like Into Eternity (and believe me that these guys nothing to envy to the Into Eternity guys) and sometimes of bands like Sceptic. All the members of the band are high skilled musicians, as it can be heard in the way they play the songs, and also both songs are really great compositions courtesy of the brothers Chris and Brian Leffler (lead & rhythm guitars/clean vocals and drums). Also we have to notice the vocalist is a girl but hell she screams and growls as if she were a man. They are now recording their first full-length album and I can’t wait to listen to it if it’s as good as this demo. Kick ass stuff that you can’t let go (and if you want this excellent demo get in contact with Chris). -Loucypher with www.metalgospel.com More reviews on the way from Satan’s Candy Basket, Ill-Literature, & Many more |