Distant Past (SWITZERLAND)

[Horex]

Distant Past - Utopian Void (2014)











Year : 2014
Style : Melodic Heavy Metal
Country : Switzerland
Audio : 320 kbps + front
Size : 112 mb

Bio:

Distant Past is the brainchild of Adriano Troiano. After leaving “Emerald” in 2001, he formed his own group “Evil Eye” the same year. The group featured Alain Curty on guitar and Kaspar Zwirner on drums, two of his school friends. After being disappointed by the direction the band was taking, Troiano opted to drop out his own group, to concentrate on a Studio project, which eventually became Distant Past.Setting up a studio at his home he contacted a few friends to make his first recording experiences. The fist Album “Science Reality” was finished in 2003.Right after the completion of this album, Troiano immediately started to work on the follow-up “Extraordinary Indication of unnatural Perception” which was released as a retail CD in 2005. Guest featured Christoph Schafer on guitars (who also worked on the first album) and new singer Reto Guggisberg, next to Zwirner and Curty. The brothers Michael and Thomas Vaucher of “Emerald” also made guest appearances on the Album, which would pave the way for Troiano to return to their band in 2006.The recording process of the “Alpha Draconis” took shape in 2008. Joining him on his most sophisticated and aggressive work to date were: new drummer Al Spicher (who joined Emerald in 2007) and new singer Angelo Schafer (Remote Lane). Next to Alain Curty (now a Member of Deathflow, along Spicher) and a special appearance of David Luterbacher (Deathflow), the CD features guests Andy Bächler (ex-Emerald / Fühlifliisch), who drums the 13-min Epic “the Serpent” and his Emerald-cohort Michael Vaucher, who returns for yet another melodic Solo.The newest Distant Past Album proves that this Studio Project has a lot to offer and will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

Album:

"Utopian Void", the new album by Swiss Heavy Metal band DISTANT PAST was great listening to and I enjoyed doing this review. What I relished the most is that Distant Past is a very versatile band that brings back the glory days of 80’s Metal, and the past sounds very good.The album opening track “A Day Of Darkness” starts with a verse from the Old Testament (from Zephaniah 1:17(. The song reminds me of 80’s Metal bands like DOKKEN. The following tracks “Sceptre” and “On The Edge” issue the vibe of early days Thrash mixed with 80’s classic Metal. On “Faces” DISTANT PAST resemble GRAVE DIGGER while on “Kingdom Of Shadows” they go back to the old 80’s melodies. That 80’s sound continues and peaks at the corners of “Helpless” that starts like a soft ballad but very soon transforms into a fast tempo song that makes you head bang and air guitar away, and until the end of the album that 80’s blast continues and does not disappoint.As for me, I can only recommend the album and can only hope that DISTANT PAST will bring back the past to the present for you as they did for me.

Line-Up:

Jvo Julmy – Vocals
Adriano Troiano – Bass & Keyboards
Christoph Schafer – Guitar on Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9
Alain Curty – Guitar on Tracks 3, 6, 8, 10
Al Spicher – Drums on Tracks 1, 7
Andy Bächler – Drums on Tracks 2, 3, 6, 10
“The Onion”– Drums on Tracks 4, 5, 8, 9
Cornelia Curty – Violin on Track 8
David Luterbacher – Guest Guitar Solo on Track 3

Tracklist:

01. A Day of Darkness
02. Sceptre
03. On the Edge
04. Faces
05. Kingdom of Shadows
06. Helpless
07. Guided By The Stars
08. Breath - The Spell
09. The Illusion
10. The Hell of Verdun
11. Signs Of The End
12. Touched By the Gods




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

[Horex]

Distant Past - Rise Of The Fallen (2016)













Year : 2016
Style : Melodic Heavy Metal
Country : Switzerland
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 114 mb

Bio:

Distant Past is the brainchild of Adriano Troiano. After leaving “Emerald” in 2001, he formed his own group “Evil Eye” the same year. The group featured Alain Curty on guitar and Kaspar Zwirner on drums, two of his school friends. After being disappointed by the direction the band was taking, Troiano opted to drop out his own group, to concentrate on a Studio project, which eventually became Distant Past.Setting up a studio at his home he contacted a few friends to make his first recording experiences. The fist Album “Science Reality” was finished in 2003.Right after the completion of this album, Troiano immediately started to work on the follow-up “Extraordinary Indication of unnatural Perception” which was released as a retail CD in 2005. Guest featured Christoph Schafer on guitars (who also worked on the first album) and new singer Reto Guggisberg, next to Zwirner and Curty. The brothers Michael and Thomas Vaucher of “Emerald” also made guest appearances on the Album, which would pave the way for Troiano to return to their band in 2006.The recording process of the “Alpha Draconis” took shape in 2008. Joining him on his most sophisticated and aggressive work to date were: new drummer Al Spicher (who joined Emerald in 2007) and new singer Angelo Schafer (Remote Lane). Next to Alain Curty (now a Member of Deathflow, along Spicher) and a special appearance of David Luterbacher (Deathflow), the CD features guests Andy Bächler (ex-Emerald / Fühlifliisch), who drums the 13-min Epic “the Serpent” and his Emerald-cohort Michael Vaucher, who returns for yet another melodic Solo.The newest Distant Past Album proves that this Studio Project has a lot to offer and will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

Album:

Swimming around the European heavy metal universe for better than 14 years is Switzerland's Distant Past. Two demos and two albums in their collective pockets, the band returns, after three years, with Rise Of The Fallen. So, it's a concept album, as described by press material, about "the eternal struggle of the Temptation of Lucifer vs. the Teachings of God�s Son." I'm guessing the latter refers to Jesus Christ, but I could be wrong. Being a Christian myself, I find it hard to believe that heavy metal lyricist and bass player knows anything about true Christian faith or theology. But I could be wrong.Regarding Rise Of The Fallen, I'll say this at the start: I didn't like the vocals. Yeah, I get it. They've got Gloryhammer's Thomas L. Winkler to be the son of god (note the lower case) and Distant Past vocalist Jvo Julmy to be Lucifer. The former is more melodic, the latter more harsh. Like I said, I get the juxtaposition for the concept.But the heavy power metal is pretty cool. A driving rhythm section, twin guitar harmonies, epic guitar solos. Melody comes through in the arrangements. The mix is kind of muddled. You hear the vocals, but the riffs and rhythm section are somewhat of a blur. Basically, everything runs together, sounds the same, and becomes redundant. The leads are nice, but basically what you would expect.At this point, I'm wondering what would have persuaded me beyond ambivalence. Nothing comes to mind. As I said, the heavy power metal is pretty fine, repetitious, yet well-played. I don't know. Nothing here, no song, really gripped me, caught my attention. Listen yourself, you may have a different opinion.

Line-Up:

Jvo Julmy - Vocals - See also: ex-Emerald
Adriano Troiano - Bass, Vocals (2002-present) - See also: ex-Emerald, ex-Evil Eye
Alain Curty - Guitars (lead & rhythm) (2002-present) - See also: ex-Deadflow, ex-Evil Eye
Christoph Schafer - Guitars (lead) (2002-present) - See also: ex-Orpheus
Geri Baeriswyl - Drums (2014-present)

Tracklist:

01. Masters of Duality 05:03
02. Die as One 03:05
03. End of the World 04:54
04. Ark of the Saviour 04:18
05. Scriptural Truth 05:43
06. Redemption 04:38
07. The Road to Golgotha 05:05
08. Heroes Die 06:31
09. The Ascension 04:19
10. By the Light of the Mornign Star 05:19




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

[Horex]

Distant Past - The Final Stage (2021)













Year : 2021
Style : Melodic Heavy Metal
Country : Switzerland
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 97 mb

Bio:

Distant Past is the brainchild of Adriano Troiano. After leaving “Emerald” in 2001, he formed his own group “Evil Eye” the same year. The group featured Alain Curty on guitar and Kaspar Zwirner on drums, two of his school friends. After being disappointed by the direction the band was taking, Troiano opted to drop out his own group, to concentrate on a Studio project, which eventually became Distant Past.Setting up a studio at his home he contacted a few friends to make his first recording experiences. The fist Album “Science Reality” was finished in 2003.Right after the completion of this album, Troiano immediately started to work on the follow-up “Extraordinary Indication of unnatural Perception” which was released as a retail CD in 2005. Guest featured Christoph Schafer on guitars (who also worked on the first album) and new singer Reto Guggisberg, next to Zwirner and Curty. The brothers Michael and Thomas Vaucher of “Emerald” also made guest appearances on the Album, which would pave the way for Troiano to return to their band in 2006.The recording process of the “Alpha Draconis” took shape in 2008. Joining him on his most sophisticated and aggressive work to date were: new drummer Al Spicher (who joined Emerald in 2007) and new singer Angelo Schafer (Remote Lane). Next to Alain Curty (now a Member of Deathflow, along Spicher) and a special appearance of David Luterbacher (Deathflow), the CD features guests Andy Bächler (ex-Emerald / Fühlifliisch), who drums the 13-min Epic “the Serpent” and his Emerald-cohort Michael Vaucher, who returns for yet another melodic Solo.The newest Distant Past Album proves that this Studio Project has a lot to offer and will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

Album:

After their third album "Rise Of The Fallen" (2016), it was quiet about the Swiss band DISTANT PAST. They made a few appearances for the first time, but failed because of a stable lineup. So singer Jvo Julmy and bassist Adriano Troiano started looking for new comrades and are now starting all over again with a new line-up.The personnel reset was followed by a stylistic realignment. While DISTANT PAST tended more towards US-embossed steel on the predecessor, the new disc is now clearly going back to the classic NWoBHM. In my humble opinion this also fits better with Jvo Julmy's vocals. With shorter songs, the Swiss get to the heart of the matter faster and can thus accommodate nine and a half songs in just under 45 minutes. Nine and a half? Well, the acoustic intermezzo doesn't really matter at a little over a minute. It is also nice to see that with the new guitar group, the confusion in the coordination of the six strings that was addressed in our reviews of the previous two albums could be put aside. The new duo Sollberger / Laederach doesn’t harmonize at Downing / Tipton level yet, but they throw some high-class harmonies out of their sleeves. Listen to the opener "Kill The Dragon", which together with "I Am Omega" clearly marks one of the two highlights of the album. I find deficits in the vocal area, which at times is not fully fermented and almost a bit too thin, like in "Staring At The Stars". What a terrific catchy tune that would have been if the chorus had been tweaked a bit! Sometimes less is just - well: less.The bottom line is that "The Final Stage" is a pleasantly calm, entertaining Classic Metal album, which has also been given a really rich sound that slips well into the ear. And although DISTANT PAST are reportedly anything but a live band, I can imagine that the songs on this album would work damn well on stage. But that's a completely different topic at the moment anyway ...

Line-Up:

Jvo Julmy - Vocals - See also: ex-Emerald
Ben Sollberger - Guitars
Lorenz Laederach - Guitars
Adriano Troiano - Bass / Vocals (2002-present) - See also: ex-Emerald, ex-Evil Eye
Remo Herrmann - Drums

Tracklist:

01. Kill The Dragon
02. Staring At The Stars
03. Queen Of Sin
04. Fall From Glory
05. I Am Omega
06. The Power Of Evil
07. The Final Stage
08. Dawn City
09. World Of Wires
10. Path Of Fate




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/