Bilocate - Sudden Death Syndrome [CD 9/2010]

[lorenzo_kolony]

'Sudden Death Syndrome' rated 8/10 on Italian webzine Alone Music! :Smokedev:

"All'inizio del mese, quando mi è arrivata la lista dei cd da recensire, avevo scorso rapidamente i nomi, selezionando solo quelli che mi interessavano e tralasciando gli altri, fra cui i Bilocate. E per puro caso (un "puro caso" che si chiama Daniele) in seguito ho deciso di inserire anche questa band fra quelle che avrei dovuto recensire. Mai scelta fu più fortunata: Sudden Death Syndrome è uno degli album più interessanti che mi siano capitati in quest'ultimo periodo. Perdonate l'entusiamo, ma ad ogni ascolto mi lascio prendere dal sound cupo e convolgente dei Bilocate e mi convinco sempre più di quanto siano validi ed originali.

Sudden Death Syndrome è il secondo full-length dei giordani Bilocate dopo Dysphoria (2005, ma uscito precedentemente come demo nel 2003) e non è azzardato dire che questo album è davvero degno di lode.

Si comincia con "Humans & The Dark Affiliation", un breve pezzo strumentale che funge da intro e che, con un crescendo che fa da ponte, sfocia della seconda traccia, "Blooded Forest", una lunga suite sapientemente articolata e gestita in modo impeccabile, tanto da far scorrere via ben 17 minuti quasi senza rendersene conto. Poi "The Dead Sea", che si apre con splendide melodie al pianoforte, per poi acquistare corpo e aggressività e ritmi più veloci rispetto alla media dell'album, che si attesta su ritmi più doom. "Ebtehal", la quarta traccia, è forse una delle più atmosferiche e coinvolgenti, con passaggi che ricordano gli Opeth. "Inoculate" è, a parer mio, la traccia in cui si sente in modo più evidente l'influenza della provenienza geografica dei Bilocate, soprattutto nella parte centrale del pezzo, dove troviamo un passaggio strumentale inequivocabilmente orientaleggiante. "Pure Wicked Sins" si attesta su ritmi lenti e trascinati, con parti vocali quasi parlate, sia in clean vocals che in growl, ed in sottofondo un pianoforte che aumenta la tragicità del mood creato dal pezzo. Chiude l'album "The Stone of Hate", pezzo strumentale ancora una volta incredibilmente evocativo, quasi ambient.

Per Sudden Death Syndrome, i Bilocate sono stati in grado di creare un sapiente dosaggio di black e doom, impreziosito da passaggi oriental, tale da rendere l'atmosfera volutamente cupa ed evocativa. Non ho altro da aggiungere, è un album assolutamente da ascoltare." [Roxanne Hyde]

Link:
http://www.alonemusic.it/section.php?article=1820&section=recensioni

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

New interview with BILOCATE on Italian magazine Inferno Rock, issue #03!

More info here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/INFERNO-Rock-Magazine/138564852854088

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

New interview with the band online now on French Vs-webzine.com!

La Jordanie, pays du Moyen-Orient, 92 300 km², 6 200 000 habitants, et 26 groupes de Metal recensés par Metal-Archives. Parmi ces 26 figure BILOCATE, un groupe de Doom/Death Atmosphérique très sympathique et prometteur dont le deuxième album Sudden Death Syndrome sorti en 2010 en Europe a eu les honneurs d'une chronique sur VS. Il est temps d'en savoir un peu plus sur l'univers du groupe avec cette interview du chanteur, Ramzi Essayed.

1 Pourrais-tu présenter brièvement le groupe à nos lecteurs?
BILOCATE est un groupe de « Dark Oriental Death Metal ». Vu comme le groupe de Metal le plus important de Jordanie, BILOCATE a récemment rencontré moult problèmes pour jouer ce style de musique au Moyen-Orient, mais nous faisons toujours de notre mieux pour garder notre musique en vie. Le groupe a débuté en 2003 et a sorti deux albums et une démo à ce jour, et le 3ème album devrait sortir en 2011. Nous jouons beaucoup de concerts (le plus que nous pouvons par rapport à notre boulot et à notre vie privée). Notre dernier album, Sudden Death Syndrome, a fait son chemin sur pas mal de webzines Metal, de mags et de blogs dans ce monde, et a atterri dans l’escarcelle d’un label dévoué et passionné, Kolony Records. Nous sommes fiers de ce deal et nous nous tournons désormais vers le futur.

2 Votre deuxième album, Sudden Death Syndrome, vient d’être réédité par le label italien Kolony Records. J’imagine que ça doit être excitant pour vous de voir votre album distribué en Europe ?
Bien évidemment! Nous avions signé des contrats de distribution auparavant, lorsque l’album était initialement sorti en 2008, avec 5 distributeurs différents. L’album fut disponible en ligne et dans des magasins sélectionnés au sein de l’Europe, mais nous voyons une différence maintenant que Sudden Death Syndrome est pris en charge par Kolony Records. L’album est maintenant disponible partout et signer ce contrat a été une de nos décisions qui n’a jamais été remise en question.

3 Comment s’est passé l’enregistrement de Sudden Death Syndrome ? Comment avez-vous réussi à convaincre Jens Bogren de travailler avec vous sur cet album ?
Le processus d’enregistrement a été très difficile, surtout que les membres du groupe vivent dans 3 pays différents. Donc nous avions dû trouver un moyen de synchroniser nos idées et de composer de la musique solide… Cela a pris son temps mais comme tu l’as entendu le résultat a été meilleur que ce que tout le monde avait imaginé, Jens Bogren y compris. Nous lui avons tout simplement envoyé le mix « brut » et il a apprécié notre musique au point qu’il a été d’accord pour travailler avec nous et produire Sudden Death Syndrome. Il nous a même envoyé ses propres commentaires à propos de BILOCATE et de l’album en particulier, et il nous accueillera à nouveau pour travailler avec lui pour notre prochain album prévu pour le 3ème trimestre 2011.

4 Quelles sont vos influences musicales, où trouvez-vous de l’inspiration ?
Nos influences varient pour chaque membre du groupe, et je pense que ça nous aide à faire une musique qui se démarque et qui est imprévisible parfois. Quelques artistes que nous écoutons et que nous avons écouté : Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Opeth, Katatonia, Bloodbath, Edge of Sanity, My Dying Bride, Porcupine Tree, Emperor, Yearning, Death, Testament, Megadeth, Satyricon, Paradise Lost… et ainsi de suite.

5 Comment le Metal est-il perçu en Jordanie ? Y-a-t-il une scène Metal là-bas, des concerts et si oui comment se place BILOCATE dans cette scène ?
La situation est tout simplement très mauvaise. La courbe de la musique Metal dans la plupart des pays du Moyen-Orient chute inexorablement vers le bas. En ce moment en Jordanie, on peut dire qu’on a atteint le niveau zéro : scène cachée, pas de concerts, pas de magasins Metal, pas de merchandising Metal, pas de magazines, pas de rassemblements… Je laisse votre imagination avoir une idée plus large de la chose, bien qu’il y ait un bon nombre de fans de Metal dans le pays. Mais ils se cachent en dessous d’un rocher pour ne pas avoir de problèmes avec la communauté ou avec les autorités. Pourtant lorsque tu regardes ça avec un esprit ouvert il n’y a rien de mal ou de différent, c’est juste de la musique, qui est supposée servir de divertissement.
BILOCATE est bien placé et est très connu dans la scène Rock/Metal en Jordanie et au Moyen-Orient, nous avons été les premiers à chercher à se faire signer, à avoir une distribution internationale, des endorsements, nous avons joué dans beaucoup de festivals internationaux ce qui a également été un grand accomplissement.

6 Votre premier album, Dysphoria, était sorti en autoproduction. Comment s’est passé sa réalisation à l’époque ?
Dysphoria a été une expérience incroyable qui a fait se rapprocher les membres du groupe et façonné notre vision, notre talent, notre style et a placé BILOCATE sur la carte du monde du Metal… Nous avons reçu beaucoup de bonnes chroniques et pendant ce temps nous nous tournions vers l’inconnu en se demandant comment les médias et nos fans trouveraient notre premier album… Dysphoria a pris forme pas à pas, ligne par ligne et piste par piste, chaque membre du groupe a apporté ses idées et ses pensées, et nous avons réalisé un album longue-durée prêt à être sorti. Il possède beaucoup de grands riffs, et est plein d’idées sur lesquelles il faut vraiment se concentrer pour comprendre.
L’album a été réenregistré et va bientôt ressortir avec un nouveau layout… avec beaucoup de changements dans les pistes et des nouveaux morceaux.

7 Quel est ton sentiment sur le média Internet en tant qu’outil de promotion aujourd’hui, surtout pour un groupe comme le tien ?
C’est un bon outil qui nous a beaucoup aidés, Internet a ses avantages et ses inconvénients mais il nous a aidés à passer le mot et à partager notre musique, il a enlevé des barrières et a rapproché tout le monde. Nous dépendons beaucoup de lui considérant le fait que nous enregistrons et que nous communiquons à distance. Nous essayons de placer notre nom et notre musique presque partout.

8 Connais-tu des groupes français, et aurais-tu des groupes jordaniens à nous recommander ?
Nous ne sommes pas très familiers avec la scène française, nous connaissons juste Adagio, Gojira, Trust… quant à la scène jordanienne, nous vous recommandons de jeter une oreille à Bouq, un groupe de Dark Black Metal.

9 Merci d’avoir répondu à nos questions, as-tu quelque chose d’autre à dire à nos lecteurs ?
Merci pour cette interview, nous espérons que vous avez apprécié Sudden Death Syndrome et à bientôt pour notre prochain album en 2011.

Link:
http://www.vs-webzine.com/new.php?page=new-itw&id_news=1219&pagh=&droite=

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

'Sudden Death Syndrome' rated 3,75/5 by The Metal Crypt!

"While it will certainly remain a small phenomenon, as countries slowly open themselves more to Western culture, there is Heavy Metal in the Arab world. Jordan's Bilocate isn't the first Arab band to rise up from the Middle East, but as the total number of bands from the region is small, their impact is significant. Their new album, Sudden Death Syndrome was mixed and mastered by one of Sweden's great producers, Jens Bogren.

Sudden Death Syndrome is the band's second release, this time on Kolony Records, and again carries a mix of extreme metal and Middle Eastern influences. I was amazed how well Bilocate mixed their culture with Doom/Death Metal. The album is similar to early Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride. Israel's Orphaned Land also did something similar and is a good reference point.

There were moments when I yawned a bit. Some sections of the album felt as though everything was at a standstill. Bilocate is not the first Doom band to have a few "dead" moments in their songs, like on the instrumental closer "The Stone of Hate." While I understand the band's desire to create atmospheric interludes, a few could have been shortened or left off the album entirely. For example, "Blooded Forest," one hell of a long tune at 17 minutes, had quite a few "dead" moments that interfered with the flow of the song. It might not be that melodic, but the feel of the track said it all. A lot of effort went into the keyboards, leaving the guitars to handle the rhythms. In the same way "Ebtehal" and "Inoculate" had a lot of the same qualities as "Blooded Forest" but were much shorter.

Sudden Death Syndrome does nothing if not give the world a new perspective on extreme metal. Even though the album isn't excellent, I have a feeling it will be remembered for more than just the music." [Larry Griffin]

Link:
http://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/review.php?revid=6826

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

Don't miss this latest review of 'Sudden Death Syndrome' - the album was rated 9,5/10 by Rockingboy Webzine! :hotjump::hotjump::hotjump:

"Um es kurz zu machen, man kann BILOCATE zu ihrem zweiten Longplayer nur gratulieren.
Die aus Jordanien stammende Band um die beiden Brüder Ramzi und Waseem EsSayed hat mit SUDDEN DEATH SYNDROME, einem äusserst originellen Mix aus dunkelstem Death Metal inklusive einem starken Anteil Doom, ein absolutes Meisterwerk eingespielt.
Die extrem dicht-dunkle Athmosphäre lässt einen von Anfang an nicht mehr los, man will förmlich wissen wie es von Stück zu Stück weitergeht. Ohne viel „Worte“, oder sagen wir mal geröchelte Growls zu verlieren, schafft es die 6-köpfige Band von Anfang an den Hörer in die Untiefen der jordanischen Höllenschlunde zu ziehen.
Zwischen dem orientalisch anmutenden Intro und dem ähnlich klingenden Outro hören wir eine der abwechslungsreichsten Scheiben dieses Jahres. BILOCATE haben keine Angst davor verschiedendste Stilrichtungen und Instrumente in ihre Musik zu integrieren, und den Hörer damit in verschiedenste Gemütslagen zu versetzen.
Der 17minütige Oberhammer „Blooded Forest“ zieht sich anfänglich zäh wie Lava dahin, die langgezogenen Stöhn-Growls von Ramzi Essayed tun ihr übriges um Dich in tiefster Dunkelheit nach dem Lichtschalter suchen zu lassen...steht da wirklich keiner hinter mir?
Zwischendurch ein kurzes Break , von weither ertönt ein Klavier, engelsgleiche Chöre...dann fühlt man sich plötzlich an den Basslauf aus dem „Rime Of The Ancient Mariner“-Mitteteil von Maiden erinnert. Klar, das Rad können Bilocate auch nicht neu erfinden, hier und da wird abgekupfert, doch die zähe aber gut schmeckende Death-/Doom-Suppe zieht sich sehr kurzweilig über die Zeit und mit „The Dead Sea“, dem erhabenen „Ebtehal“, „Inoculate“ und „Pure Wicked Sins“ warten schon die nächsten Stücke auf ihre Entdeckung.
Auch textlich haben BILOCATE einiges zu bieten. Hier ein Auszug aus „Ebtehal“:

„A new born has touched the earth, He cried from what he had seen
A land filled with darkness, filthy blood spread on his hands
You took his soul from me, an angel he better be
To serve you lord forever and watch my land to burn... „

Obwohl SDS bereits im Jahre 2008 fertiggestellt, hierzulande aber nicht erhältlich war, sollte man meinen dass hier ein Bezug zur momentanen Lage in der arabischen Welt besteht. Dies aber nur am Rande.

Mein Fazit: Eine rundum gelungene harte Death-/ Doom Scheibe mit orientalischen Einflüssen wartet auf ihre Entdeckung. Lasst Euch das Teil nicht entgehen.

Die Band:

Vocals: Ramzi Essayed
Guitars: Rami Haikal
Guitars: Baha Farah
Bass: Hani Al Abadi
Keyboards: Waseem Essayed
Drums: Ahmad Klob

Die Tracks:

1. Humans and the Dark Affiliation
2. Blooded Forest
3. The Dead Sea
4. Ebtehal
5. Inoculate
6. Pure Wicked Sins
7. The Stone Of Hate

Pro:Kein Dauergeknüppel, sondern Härte mit Verstand und viel Abwechslung.
Contra:Kann kein Contra finden, einzig das Solo in „Ebtehal“ kommt sehr bekannt vor..." [Bernd]

Link:
http://www.rockingboy.de/html/bilocate.html

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

A brand new interview by Rockingboy Webzine is available online!

B.F.: First of all let me congratulate for your current album SUDDEN DEATH SYNDROME which is my favourite metal record these days...

Thank you Bernd, we are glad to know that Sudden Death Syndrome made it to your fav collection.

B.F.: Would you please introduce the band to our readers ? Please tell us what the name Bilocate means.

Waseem Essayed: Bilocate is a Jordanian metal band contributing to the Dark Oriental Metal subgenre, established back in 2001 by the 2 brothers Ramzi and Waseem with their friend Hani Al-Abbadi and started actually operating by 2003 when Baha‘ Farah joined the group, We’ve started a journey aging 8 years now through which we’ve accomplished many objective although the road was so rough for us but we managed to make decent releases, live appearances, generic contributions to the local, regional, and international metal scenes, and still developing.

Bilocate is literally taken from “Bilocation“ which means appearing in 2 places simultaneously.

B.F.: Why did european fans have to wait two years for the release of your fantastic record though it was finished in 2008 ?

Ramzi Essayed: Actually the album was distributed all over the world and made available online through many distributors, it also received many reviews (more than 60) in its first year of release and was reviewed by metal.de and metal hammer Germany, metalnews.de and others but as you know it didn’t reach every one due to many reasons maybe one of them that the band couldn’t tour much as we live in 3 different countries and its hard to gather or take long leave from work for a proper tour.

Hani Al Abadi: We've actually gone through a tremendous efforts to get the album into europe upon releasing the album we've had collaborated with some distributors in Europe to have the album available, with such self effort we've managed to get it distributed in a limited way, however the search was on for a label, to take control and thus left some of the weight, it wasn't easy but as an artist coming from unrecognized land, we had to wear different hats, being musician in the first place, being a record label a booking agency and much more, however as with everything hard work must pay off and as long we keep the flame burning.

B.F.: In Germany we have a long grown metal scene since the mid-seventees when bands as the Scorpions or Accept started their careers. Rockmusic is accepted, we have school projects with rockmusic, teenagers play in parents garages...no problems at all.
How about Jordan, how are things going for musicians, especially heavy metal bands ?

Waseem Essayed: Unfortunately nothing from what you’ve described about the scene in Germany is actually available in Jordan, here we just chase the dreams and love of music as they got built up as we grew up listening to tapes and CDs for bands such as the ones you mentioned above, in jordan you’d be lucky to have a garage to play in, or you can go to expensive studios to rehearse, we started practicing in our bedrooms! Then we managed to have a decent jamming place to go to.

Playing live in Jordan for heavy metal bands is actually a joke, Bilocate got officially banned from making any appearances, the thing is, the metal scene here went through many changes, it used to be a decent one in old days, some good bands passed but when you just get suppressed from time to time at some point you wouldn’t have enough energy to keep pursuing, we looked at the whole thing from another perspective and went in a different direction, and I believe we’re doing good.

B.F.: Sorry for asking again, you surely noticed that I don't know much about the land you come from. But I think this is an interesting question: Who influenced you ? European kids join concerts or festivals, so many artists are heroes for them. Who were your heroes ?

Waseem Essayed: Well, as i said above, we also grew up listening to western bands and from a musical perspective we were fans of many bands in Europe and the states, and we surly got influenced by those, in addition to many influnces we absorbed from our region and life itself.

B.F.: Let's talk about your record. As being a fan of 80's metal I was not that much into modern death metal but positively surprised as I first listened to SUDDEN DEATH SYNDROME. The fascinating thing in my opinion is the mixture between extreme doom, let's call it funeral doom and technical death metal. The moody up and down is what makes it absolutely brilliant. A masterpiece.

But after reading the lyrics I asked myself what motivates you writing these words:

„A new born has touched the earth
He cried from what he had seen
A land filled with darkness, filthy blood spread on his hands
You took his soul from me, an angle he better be
To serve you lord forever and watch my land to burn... (Ebtehal)

Ramzi Essayed: Ebtehal was written in a time were we had many killings and wars going in our region, actually the whole album was written in this period and it got effected heavily with it, Ebtehal means the extreme level of praying and for me it was like the land is praying to stop whats happening on it and asking god for salvation, small kids are dying every day and nothing we can do except asking and praying, this has been going on for more than 40 years now.

„Humans falling into the cursed land
The Blood running in me won't be disgraced
I can see the blackness taking Place
But the time of my skin is near the end“ (The Dead Sea)

As I mentioned above its all about our land, and our nature and how it is witnessing the war and killing of humans yet it cant do anything, if it can talk (and I made it talk with my lyrics) it will tell you endless stories.

B.F.: Is life that hard in Jordan, and: Are Bilocate a political Band ?

We are not a political band, we just write what we see and what we feel about it, humans are affected with their surroundings and we are humans after all.

B.F.: In my opinion the Band Bilocate fits very well together musically. How long do you play your instruments. Let's ask your drummer Ahmad Kloub.

Ahmad Kloub: Am playing drums for 12 years now, since I was 13, When I joined Bilocate back in 2006 it was a challenge as its not just playing anymore its feeling the drums and giving it life to go with the music, We as a band we don’t look as combining riffs and beats we let music flow and talk to you.

B.F.: What are your plans for the future ? Is a new record in work ?

Waseem Essayed: Now the most important thing we're putting our focus into is finishing our upcoming album release, we're finalizing on the mixing and mastering part, in addition to working on the album art in parallel, also on a 3rd level we're planning a music video, all details about these updates will be available for the audience soon. As regarding upcoming live appearances, well, we'll be appearing in the Metal Asylum metal nights in Dubai towards July end, other than that we're not having any plans for the rest of the year that we can speak off since as i said previously we're focusing on the album release now, however, I believe we'll be prepared to go in action during the last quarter of the year.

B.F.: Last Question: Who or what is Ebtehal ?

Waseem Essayed: Ebtehal is actually an action in the Islamic faith, it’s when you tend to share spiritual moments of depositaries with God.

Thanx a lot for answering my questions. I wish you all the best for your future." [Bernd]

Link:
http://www.rockingboy.de/html/bilocate_e.html

 

[lorenzo_kolony]

Another great review of 'Sudden Death Syndrome' coming in: 8/10 @ Rock & Metal in My Blood webzine!

La dolcezza e l'armonia delle note di un piano generano un notevole contrasto se vanno ad incorniciare la violenza del Death Metal.
Su questo contrasto di chiaro / scuro la band giordana dei Bilocate ha posto le fondamenta per un album, intitolato "Sudden Death Syndrome", un album ricco di poesia, atmosfera e potenza dalla cui fusione ne è nato un piccolo capolavoro di Melodic Death Metal fuori dagli schemi dettati dalla scena scandinava, maestra indiscussa del genere.
Questo perchè l'omogeneità con la quale questa miriade di elementi ed influenze è quasi una novità assoluta, e considerando le radici culturali della band finisce per sorprendere ancora di più.
Inserito il CD nel lettore e premuto il tasto Play si viene trascinati nella dimensione dell'introduzione strumentale "Humans and the Dark Affiliation", brano che per merito delle sonorità riconduce la mente alla terra di origine dei Bilocate, nel desolato panorama semidesertico di questo paese che ha visto nascere nei paraggi alcuni dei più diffusi culti religiosi.
Sul finale i primi colpi sulle pelli del batterista Ahmad Kloub ci introducono il secondo, lunghissimo brano in stile Progressive "Blooded Forest", che nei suoi 17 minuti di durata non risulta mai monotono o noioso, ma che per merito della creatività della chitarra e della fusione di diverse sezioni padroneggiate dall'alternarsi di più strumenti (batteria, pianoforte e chitarra in successione) finisce per prestarsi ottimamente all'ascolto.
La chiusura, affidata ad un poetico chorus dall'ampio respiro epico, precede il capolavoro "The Dead Sea", brano introdotto da un armonioso pianoforte che si dimostra validissimo strumento acompagnatore e che non stona affatto al fianco del poderoso muro sonoro di puro Death Metal e del potente growl di Ramzi Essayed, riuscendo a fare in modo che l'armonioso alone poetico irrompa senza sconvolgere gli equilibri generati dallo stile Progressive che va via via delineandosi con azzeccatissimi e continui cambi di tempo.
Il brano successivo è la bellissima "Ebtehal", che rivela un'acuta influenza da parte degli Opeth, band maestra indiscussa del Progressive Death Metal mondiale: la canzone è costituita da sezioni brutali alternate ad altre più placide ed introspettive, e persino analizzando il cantato è possibile rilevare qualche assonanza con lo stile di Mikael Akerfeldt.
Si prosegue mantenendo una linea Progressive / Melodic con "Inoculate", brano che denota un rallentamento ritmico e sonorità folkloristiche che non stancano assolutamente, anzi, rendono un brano già accattivante di suo ancora più coinvolgente.
Il finale carico di tensione introduce il dolce pianoforte con il quale parte "Pure Wicked Sins", brano con il quale la band continua ad esplorare lidi Progressive, ma in questo caso più calmi e riflessivi avvalendosi persino del contrasto fra growl e clean vocals.
Un cupo ed arcano intro apre "Stone of Hate", lunghissimo outro e capitolo finale del disco che attanaglia l'atmosfera ingrigendola conferendogli tensione, chiudendo in bellezza un disco con il quale i Bilocate ci hanno fatto rivivere una miriade di stati emotivi.
Per alcuni sarà un album difficilmente comprensibile, ma secondo me è solamente un capolavoro proveniente dall'Underground che non ha nulla da invidiare ai più grandi masterpieces dei gruppi maggiormente blasonati." [mala92maggot]

Link:
http://www.rockandmetalinmyblood.com/readarticle.php?article_id=569