ABLAZE MY SORROW "The Plague" (No
Fashion) Apparently Originality took a wrong turn somewhere on
it's way to Sweden leaving them stucked with a single formula
for death metal which everybody seemed to get their hands on.
Obviously this will sooner or later fuck up things seriously
but as for now, with bands like ABLAZE MY SORROW, at least
there's an undisputed quality over the Sounds of Sweden TM. I
don't quite understand why somebody doesn't try out something
new, but at the same time I guess one shouldn't change a
winning team...or something like that? (My patients with this
style do however start to wear thin).
ABRAMELIN "Abramelin" (Repulse) I
remember getting ABRAMELIN's "Transgression From
Acheron" MCD several years back from Drowned Productions
and as I found it quite good I've wondered whatever happened to
them after that release. Well, now I got the answer as
Repulse've put out their debut full-lenght for a world-wide
exposure, about two years after it was initially released in
their homecountry Australia! And like many of their countrymen
ABRAMELIN stick to sheer, uncompromising brutality. The basis
is technincal, US-styled deathmetal, and it wouldn't be so far
fetched to compare them with CANNIBAL CORPSE as they keep a
very raw and brutal sound but manages to throw in some more
melodic and cathcy parts too. The vocals is of the ultra-deep
and growly kind and even if there's alot of killer stuff here,
it get's a little boring after a while. Very recommendable for
the total death-heads though!
A CANOROUS QUINTET "The Only Pure
Hate" (No Fashion) Another band that snuck a peak in the
AT THE GATES cookbook and added some DISSECTION for good taste.
Accordingly this is another good example of current Swedish
death metal, professionally executed, lots of killer riffs but
missing the personal touch that bring a band up from the
masses. Songs like Red and The Complete Emptiness certainly
works well enough, and Everbleed is special in it's own way;
very calm and atmospheric. Overall a strong release, but it
would have been nice to hear something new from our brothers in
the east.
ADORIOR "Like Cutting The
Sleeping" (Head Not Found) I think this band is from
England but don't let that scare you away. There isn't a
corpspainted, dishwashing doofoos anywhere in site! Well,
perhaps they use corpsepaint for what I know cause musically
they lend some stuff from early- to mideighties thrash and some
from newer DARKTHRONE (who then again also lend quite a bit
from early-to mideighties thrash when one think about it). In
other words the music is cold and aggressive, with some fast
and intense riffing and is actually keeping an acceptable
standard. And don't let the fact that they have a female singer
fool you, - she does sound quite menacing!
ADRAMELECH "Seven" MCD (Repulse)
AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGH! (To use a classic death metal review
phrase). Heavy as fuck death metal from Finland tears through
my brain as the disc starts to spin, and I don't want to waste
your time explaining how good it is. So to make it short, three
new songs + two live tracks recorded during the Repulsive Tour
'97 comprise this little trip into utter brutallity and
BOLTTHROWEResque heaviness. Death to all!!!
AETERNUS "And so the Night
Became..." (Hammerheart) AETERNUS is out with their second
album now and it's a great effort for sure. Most adequately
labeled Dark Metal, AETERNUS mix elements from black and death
metal in a way that brings forth a dark and sinister, yet very
powerful sound. The thundering and catchy rythms makes me think
at HADES sometimes, but it sounds more "mature" and
complex. This is AETERNUS at their best and definitely one of
the better recent Norwegian releases!!
AMON AMARTH "Once Sent From the Golden
Hall" (Metal Blade) AMON AMARTH can easily be put in the
category "Melodic, Swedish Death Metal", but with a
heavier and more powerful output than most bands in that genre.
This allows "Once Sent..." to be an album that should
be worth picking up also for those who normally feel a bit
distanced from bands like DARK TRANQUILITY and IN FLAMES. The
lyrics is a Viking tale of blood and steel, perhaps not among
the best of it's kind though. Regardless of that "Once
Sent..." is definitely an album worth spending some time
with.
THE ANCIENT'S REBIRTH "Damnated Hell's
Arrival" MCD (Necropolis) At first I thought this one
sounded pretty shitty (hey, that rhymed!), but then I gave it
some more subsequent listens and found out that it grew on me
for every time. The basis here is black metal with thrashy
additions. The sound is pretty good and a lot of the riffs are
really catchy and got a great feel to them. Not all the stuff
on the disc is of an equally good quality, but enough so to
make it all worthwhile. A blackened version of the KREATOR
classic Flag of Hate is thrown in on the bargain too.
ARCKANUM "Kampen" (Necropolis)
Why anyone would want to sit through an entire ARCKANUM Cd and
much less a double Cd is beyond my understanding. It's not that
it's that bad, but the overall impression is one of extreme
longing for putting on something else than this album. The
production is inevtiably boring and a lot of the riffing aren't
exactly of premium class either. I don't want to write this off
completely, but 75 minutes is too much even though the
occasional bright moments pop up now and then. There are
actually still many releases out there that's really worth
listening to, which leaves very little time for a nondescript
black metal album like "Kampen".
AUBERON "The Tale of Black"
(Black Mark) AUBERON take the concept Swedish melodic death
metal even further when they add melodic, Heavy Metal-like
singing and progressive elements to their music. The basis lies
very much in the well known style but with these additions a
more intriguing work has been accomplished. This should leave
room for the fans of traditional metal to catch up on the
release too.
AUTUMN VERSES "Tunes Of
Disconsolation" (Solistitium) Surprisingly enough, after a
glance at the ultra-lame cover (what the hell is buggin' that
guy!?), I found what must be among the best Finnish bands at
the moment. Melodic and symphonic black metal with a seemingly
strong EMPEROR influence should be fair description for this
quartet. Obviously it's not conducted with the same skill and
grandeur but the feeling is there nevertheless. The production
is uncomplainable and I can only admit that this is a very
convincing debut and dare you to check it out. You won't regret
it!!
AVULSED "Cybergore" (Repulse) I
don't know who's bright idea it was to make a techno remix of
"Eminence in Putresence", but he should immeditatly
be sent to bed without supper!
BALTAK "Macedonian Darkness and
Evil" (Battlegod/ Warhead) I say, this is some of the
sickest and most intense black metal that has ever defiled my
stereo! It's full throttle all the way and even if the vocals
are bit over-the-top and if the music become a bit predictable
after a while it surely manages to bring that ever welcome
hellish feeling into our livingrooms. If you dislike blackmetal
before you hear this (then you shouldn't read this rag by the
way), you're either gonna hate it with all your life or kick
the bucket before you're half-way through. Believe you me,
BALTAK is one of the ugliest, most extreme entities that lurks
this side of the galaxy!
BENIGHTED LEAMS "Astral
Tenebrion" (Supernal Music) Man, what's wrong with this
dude!! That "normal singing" is even worse then what
I present in the shower! Some of the riffs are pretty good and
if it wasn't for the lame drum rythms and the even lamer vocals
(there's also some highpitched screaming which is totally
anoying) it wouldn't have been that bad, but an OK and rather
experimental (black) metal CD. Now it's pretty much a complete
waste.
BESEECH "...from a Bleeding
Heart" (Metal Blade) Being one of Metal Blade's latest
discoveries, BESEECH fill in the until now vacant place on the
label of doom/gothic metal. I personally is not too found of
the term gothic metal as it more than often mean we have to
suffer through a sticky, sugar sweet album packed with one
cliché after the other. "...from a Bleeding
Heart" do touch, or should one say, embrace such elements
in their full blossom, but at the same time they manage to
bring in some rather heavy riffs which makes it kinda'
listenable. The vocalwork, both male and female, is very well
conducted except for some parts which are a bit to cheesy, so
I'm willing to extend myself to giving BECHEESE eh, BESEECH the
'approved' stamp - barely.
BLISS "Sin to Skin" (Massacre) I
really can't find many praising words for these English Goth
rockers and their debut album. Mainly because stuff like what
we get served here leaves me with a foul, sticky taste of
commercialism and overpretentiousness. Of course it might all
descend from my dislike for the music presented; a mix of
electronic, gothic rock and slow paced metal. Rythms like that
just make me itch all over...
BOLTTHROWER "Mercenary" (Metal
Blade) Yezzzzz, there's no doubt that the English baddies still
got the magic touch. From the first tunes explodes out from the
stereo there's never a single question risen about the identity
of the band playing. Of course some people may find
BOLTTHROWER's everlasting interest for all that's connected
with war worn out and think that they've heard the music all
before, but if the lone survivors of the British Death Metal
hey-days has captured your interest with their five previous
albums you're sure as hell gonna get a kick out of this one
too. Maybe not as easy to catch on to as their last masterpice,
"...For Victory", "Mercenary" is still an
excellent album, if not only for the simple and honest
brutallity that's always been a major part of BOLTTHROWER's
sound, but also for the fact that they still know how to make
those deadly riffs the way only they can do it. With heads held
high, they once again march gloriously into battle!
CASTIGATE "Bring Me The Head Of Jesus
Christ" (System Shock) Another brutal death metal assault
comes in the form of Castigate, a band of which I have very
little information. I'm not sure where they're from, but I
think this is their second album and it's real bonebreaker!
Early nineties american death metal is the description I find
most fitting, and there's some really heavy stuff moving around
here. The vocals changes from deep growling to more
DEICIDE-like "high pitched" growling and CASTIGATE
have probably drawn some musical inspiration from just DEICIDE.
There's a lot of slower, heavy parts too which makes the album
very varied; but still heavy as fuck! This is death metal with
balls!
CATAMENIA "Halls of Frozen North"
(Massacre) "CATAMENIA is one of the most catchy and
"commercial" bands in the Black/Nordic-metal
genre...", so states the press-sheet that came with the Cd
and they're oh so right about that one, as "Hall
of..." is executed with the most disgusting, soft sounding
"flavour of the month" style that only a bunch of
immature wankers would dare to put their names on. Why a label
like Massacre even wants to be mentioned in the same sentence
as this miserable lot defies every law of common sense.
CEMETARY "Sweetest Tragedies"
(Black Mark) To me CETMETARY has never been a good band and
they won't ever be one either as they've split up by now. This
is therefore supposed to be a last teardripping farewell in the
form of thriteen previously released tracks. In other, words
it's a compilation of the band's very best material (or
whatever)... Some of the songs is somekinda' techincal (often
mid-paced) death metal which are the best (and probably oldest)
parts of the album. The majority of the material though is a
mixture of doom/gothic metal and some rock stuff. The CEMETARY
fans should have all the songs here already, but if you're
curious about this band (after all they are really hyped), take
listen to this before you decide to pick up their albums. I
guess compilations like this really is for the new fans only...
CENTINEX "Reborn Through Flames"
(Repulse) "Reborn through Flames" finds CENTINEX
still holding high the banner of Swedish death metal. No big
surprises are offered here but isn't that just what is expected
from these guys. Some might have thought that CENTINEX had
strayed onto a different path when they signed up with Repulse,
but no, heavy Swedish death metal is still their thing. Very
classic sounding, with their own style of course, and a good
heap of intense metal is put down on tape. Being their fourt
album, "Reborn through Flames" sounds surprisngly
fresh, taking into consideration that they've been dabbling
around in the same fields since 1990. And while CENTINEX
explore their roots with Under the Guillotine it's just to
stand up, bang your head rip the strings on your air guitar.
CHRIST AGONY "Trilogy" (Pagan
Records) I must say that at the time being it seems like CHRIST
AGONY is going to some kind of identity crisis. Some of the
stuff on "Trilogy", which by the way is their fifth
album, is OK sounding dark/black metal while most parts have a
not very pleasant industrial sound. The last four "bonus
tracks" are quite different from the rest with a darker
and more primitive feeling and are by far the best material on
the album (not making them premium class though). And when
these songs are from their '92 demo "Epitaph of
Christ", one should start to suspect that the band is
heading in the wrong direction now a days.
CRANIUM "Speed Metal Satan" MCD
(Necropolis) Originally brought to life back in '85, but only
after a year or so in existence going dormant, CRANIUM slipped
out of it's long sleep two years ago, attacking the world with
a hellish aggression akin to SLAYER's "Hell Awaits".
Necropolis soon did the only right thing and added the band to
the family. Staying on the blacker side of thrash/speed metal
in the 90's isn't an all easy job, but CRANIUM manages to keep
their head above the fiery pits of hell just long enough to
haul themselves safely ashore. It will be interesting however
to see if they manage to keep it up on a full lenght album.
Meanwhile, follow the Riders of Damnation on the Storm of Steel
and Hate.
CRANIUM "Speed Metal Slaughter"
(Necropolis) I had barely had time to digest "Speed Metal
Satan" before the Necropolis crew kindly forwarded me
CRANIUM's similary titled full-lenght. The beer's flowing
freely and the chainsaws are buzzing like angry bees as the
tunes of "Speed Metal Slaughter" pound out their raw,
hell-bent aggression. With references to early eighties goldies
as "Show No Mercy" and "Sentence of Death"
CRANIUM successfully manage to pull off a bloodstained psycho
trip spiced with some totally insane vocalwork courtesy of
Fredrik Söderberg (who at a daily basis is found ripping
the strings for DAWN). Sounding like a hybrid of Udo, Steve
Souza, Schmier and the highpitched shrieks of Gezol (SABBAT)
Söderberg's voice is definitely one of the most
outstanding and perhaps for some, annoying, elements of
CRANIUM's speed metal onslaught. With vocals such as these and
with the buzz-saw like speed riffing, "Speed Metal
Slaughter" washes away all doubts I was left with after
the MCD. Get this one at once or join your local disco!
THE CROWN "Hell is Here" (Metal
Blade) Really taking me off guard with it's varied, full
fledged metal onslaught, THE CROWN's latest offering to this
depraved world is a iron clad boot in the groin of all critics
of Swedish metal. Straying away from what's commonly expected
from that part of the world, they deliver a delicious mix of
brutal grind, dark death/black metal and even leaves some fine
traces of thrash and heavy metal. The overall impression is
that of an overwhelming aggression, and the intense riffing,
added some impressive solo work and the ocasional addition of
some subtle keyboards (in Black Ligthning) makes room for a
metal experience of the better kind. And when they end of with
such a heavy tune as Death By My Side they proove that they're
able to do something outstanding beside their normal repertoire
as well. And if this wasn't enought the cover photo/art is
fuckin' awsome - metal to the core!!!
DAN SWANÖ "Moontower"
Cdsingle (Black Mark) I'm not sure about you but I for one has
lost count of all the albums and projects Dan Swanö has
been involved with. Now with a single out as a taster for the
debut album of his self titled new project the man has
(acording to himself) done exactly what he wanted; a musical
journey into the symphonic rock/metal genre, spiced with his
usual semi-growling (that was not his own words). A lot of the
main melody lines is done on the keyboards which makes it sound
like somewhat a mixture of seventees progressive rock, a
softened EDGE OF SANITY and pre-"Elegy" AMORPHIS. I
wouldn't recomend this for the die-hard death-heads but if you
can take some more experimental stuff it could be a good pick.
DAN SWANÖ "Moontower" (Black
Mark) The "Moontower" full-lenght album is very much
as the single. Featuring all three songs from that one and 5
more in addition. A musical description shouldn't be necessary
as you find that above, so if you thought that sounded
interesting and want the full package go for this one instead.
DARK FUNERAL "Vobiscum Satanas"
(No Fashion) Hell opens it's gates once more and unleashes the
demon riders upon the world. At least that is what it sounds
like as the opening tunes of "Vobiscum Satanas", DARK
FUNERAL's second opus breaks loose from my speakers and fill
the room with utter satanic blasphemies. DARK FUNERAL soon
clears up any questions as to why they are among the most
recognized, and at the same time hated black metal acts of
today with and all out aggressive and hateful attack on all
that's good and holy. Blasting through the eight tracks like a
Hellsent tornado "Vobiscum Satanas" is oh so
deligthfully painful and not to mention head and shoulders
above their previous effort "The Secrets of Black
Arts".
DARKEN "Darken" MCD (Defiled)
Surprisingly fresh and well conducted, DARKEN's debut on disc
really spice up the stagnated metal scene we're now stuck in.
Fronted by excellent guitar work the three songs blends melodic
heavy metal with the darker sides of the genre, touching the
black metal area in a way akin to ARCTURUS' "Aspera
Hiems..." album. The vocals are of the blacker kind and
fit in really well, contributing to the darkended atmosphere
that captures this release in a beatufil but ominous veil of
seducive mystery.
DAWN "Slaughtersun (Crown of the
Triarchy)" (Necropolis) Phew, the wave of Swedish extreme
metal acts never seem to have an end, does it!? Fortunately
DAWN is one of the more pleasant accuaintances as their
DISSECTION style death metal holds a very detectable quality,
pushing DAWN to the forward ranks among their kin. The vocals
are perhaps a bit too screamy, but hey, that only help to keep
them from getting too close to DISSECTION (from whom DAWN seems
to have picked more than just a little inspiration), so it
can't be all bad. Very professionaly executed, lots of killer
bits and parts, and even if it lacks some originality it still
is about as good as it gets.
DEMONIC "The Empire Of Agony"
(Necropolis) One of Norway's smaller bands for sure is this
unholy duo playing aggressive and primitive black metal. The
occasional (rare)good riffs pop up, but it's like you've heard
it all so many times before. Very familiar sounds for sure, and
I have nothing more to add than, typical (boring)Scandinavian
black metal. Don't loose any sleep over this one.
DESEKRATOR "Metal For Demons"
(Hammerheart) What is this world coming to!? I'm not sure if
all of this album was done just for the heck of it or what is
going on... It's supposed to be old black/thrash metal, which I
can agree with at some points - even though it's really poor
black/thrash, but some of the songs are just too lame. I'm sure
it was supposed to be funny, but it has turned out to be rather
embarassing and if I was one of the "creators" of
this festering pool of urine I would hope that people would
forget it faster than the playing time of a GORGOROTH album.
The confused individuals involved with this reeking heep of
garbage should hope that it won't destroy all of their
credibillity as serious musicians in their real bands, so I'll
choose not to mention their names in hope to save what's left
of their red-whipped asses. The chick on the cover is good
looking though, but what does that help when you can't even see
her boobs!
EDENROT "The Land Where The Crow
Starves" MCD (Twilight Records) Someone is trying hard to
sound original here, but it's not an all out succesfull atempt.
First of all a heavier prodcution would've helped out quite a
bit, but the actual song material isn't too strong either. As I
said, EDENROT got a rather original sound and they really hit
the mark from time to time, but I feel that the compostions
would benefit for some more time and rewriting. What we're
dealing with is a kind of heavy/epic/doom metal kind of thing
with vocals ranging from normal singing to sharp death shrieks.
EDENROT is a band worth remembering when the next album is due
for release.
EVOKE "Dreaming the Reality"
(System Shock) Another fine slab of Death metal out on System
Shock is presentd in the form of EVOKE's latest offering.
Brutal but catchy death rythms added some carefully selected
thrash metal riffing sums up the contents of this album. The
technical skills are uncomplainable and with the powerful
production this turns out just great! EVOKE and System Shock
and has fullfilled their part of the deal so now it's up to you
to close it by spending some of your hard earened cash on
"Dreaming The Reality".
EXMORTEM "Dejected in Obscurity"
(Euphonious/ VOW) While an all out brutal sound more than once
has caused an insipid and lifeless death metal album, Danish
EXMORTEM proofs with their 2nd effort that this is not always
the case. The most prominent feature is actually the sheer
bruality that is ever present on all nine tracks, and there is
an honest dedication behind it that makes "Dejected in
Obscurity" something of a modern Death Metal curiosity.
The vocals are of the really growly kind, which I normally
don't have approve, but somehow they (almost) seem to fit this
time. Also musically we're dealing with the American style
brutality, and there isn't even the faintest hint of Swedish
melodies present, so while EXMORTEM in many ways represent the
traditional Death Metal sound, they sound very genuine and
distanced from the trends of to day.
FALL OF THE LEAF "Evanecent,
Everfading" (Defiled) Mixing folk tunes with dark, melodic
metal, FALL OF THE LEAFE still don't quite got the abillity to
create anything more than pretty average. Many of the songs are
decent enough, but the overall impression is that the
compositions aren't interesting enough after a while to keep up
the spirit throughout the entire album. Worth a listen
though...
FORCED TO DECAY "Perkussive
Perlokution" (System Shock) Oh, this was not very good.
Actually, I think I hate it. The vocals are fucking annoying
and put on top of a mixture of "Death" metal and some
Hardcore resembling stuff, it's just born to loose...
GRIEF OF EMERALD "Nightspawn"
(Listenable) In addition to SOILWORK (see below) Listeable has
in GRIEF OF EMERALD been able to secure another Swedish band
with a definite style and integrity. Straying of from the
common path followed by most current Swedish bands, these five
guys have managed to come up with an album, so dark and
aggressive that I'm tempted to describe it as something like
EMPEROR meets DARK FUNERAL. It's mostly an 120 mph race, but
with the addition of some really haunting keyboards it doesn't
get the chance to sound boring. Also refreshing brakes from the
hellpaced speed, in the form of some heavy and sinister riffing
(esp. in the track Day of Doom) bring variation and add to the
whole material an atmoshpere that very much comprise the whole
album into one dark orgy of the finest blackend death metal...
GUILLOTINE "Under The Guillotine"
(Necropolis) Many will probably lift an eyebrow to the title of
this Swedish outfit's debut album, especially if I tell you
that it consist of some very eighties' sounding thrash metal!
But have no fear. GUILLOTINE has by far created the most
successful and enjoyable retro thrash sound this side 1990.
While countless (Norwegian) bands are stealing riffs for what
their life's worth, the sons of Sweden manages what everyone
should stride for; an original, yet familiar sound - a brutal
attack of sheer, raw power and intensity.
HEAVENWOOD "Swallow" (Massacre)
Who the hell need antoher gothic pop band from Portugal!?
Extremely lame poptunes mixed with sissy vocals and poor heavy
metal riffing makes the cornerstones of this faggy album. And
as if that wasn't enough they dragged the chick from Theatre of
Tragedy into the studio and squeezed the last squeeks out of
her...
HORNA "Kohti Undeksän
Nousua" (Solistitium) For a moment I considered putting on
the last HORNA Cd "Hiidentorni" so I could make some
comparisons, but I remembered how much I thought it sucked so I
decided to use my time on something else. Fortunately this
sounds much better than what I can remember that first one did,
and there are some pretty good riffs scattered around. Still,
it's too predictable and without any real highlights which
isn't really good enough in to day's overcrowded black metal
scene. They're on the right track though - maybe next time?
IMPACT WINTER "Destroy the World"
MCD First our minds were tortured by BALTAK (see above) and now
we're further mentally raped by the blizzard that is IMPACT
WINTER. You thought ZYKLON-B was violent Death metal? Think
again muchacho!! "Destroy the World" is
ultra-aggressive and brutal death metal which can only come
from some of Australia's sickest minds. This is so fucking
intense and shredding that I almost feel like severly banging
my head in the wall til my brain pops out. The singer sounds
like Varg Vikernes with a glowing hot branding-iron up his ass,
which obviously can be pretty annoying - both for him and us, -
but at the same time it's so fuckin' insane that I let it pass
as a part of one of the sickest, unholiest and most brutal
death metal releases ever!! Somebody, give this band a deal!!!!
INFAMY "The Blood Shall Flow"
(Repulse) Hey Ho, Let's Go! This was surely some intense shit.
If I tell you they got songtitles like The Maggots are in Me,
Cranial Implosion, Bodily Disembowelment and Onslaught of
Carnage you should be aware of what INFAMY is up to. Based in
the hell-hole known to mankind as Los-Angeles it's no wonder
they have a lot of aggression to get rid of. Lyrically it
points towards CANNIBAL CORPSE, but musically it's more in the
vein of IMMOLATION and INCANTATION where heavy, catchy and
pounding rythms trade with a thundering, hellpaced
metal-onslaught, leaving us with a good, yet somehow worn-out
death metal release.
IN RUINS "Four Seasons of Grey"
(Metal Blade) Quite different from what we're used to from the
American shores these days, this Pensylvanian three piece mix
heavy metal with melodic death/doom metal. Well deployed
atmospheric melodies and riffs play the most important roles
and along with several good harmony breaks comprise the
majority of album. Faster parts are incorporated to but these
mostly work as quick tempo changes making it all the more
interesting.
KING DIAMOND "Voodoo" (Massacre)
Among last year's metal highlights is of course KING DIAMOND's
new album "Voodoo". Capturing much of the same spirit
(and there's a lot of spirits here) as their earlier ablums
this is a must for all fans of real heavy/speed metal. The
opening track "LOA" House packs such intense and
catchy riffing and vocal melodies that it's already secured a
place among my fave KD songs. And by all means this is an album
that in it's wholeness is in close race for a place alongside
immortal classics as "Abigail" and "Them".
Again we are also dealing with a concept album, this time, as
the title vagely suggests; Voodoo. The story short summarized
is about the LaFayettes, a family who moves into a mansion
placed at an old Voodo burial ground, and you should have some
ideas about how it goes from there. Perhaps we're sensing a
lighter approach in King's lyrics as he sings about the
pregnant Sarah LaFayette: "...This is no Abigail, this
child will survive"...then again maybe not.
LOTHLORIEN "The Primal Event"
(Black Mark) The Swedish plague is never ending and the latest
bacteria is a young band called LOTHLORIEN. Spicing up their
brand of Swedish metal with symphonic elements delivered on
both synths and in some rather refreshing guitar work they
actually manage to bring something pretty fresh to the genre.
Despite this the majority of the material and the actual
performance reek of a style that was overripe allready a couple
of years ago.
LYCANTHROPY "As the Mourners
Arise" (PtE) We briefly encountered LYCANTHROPY in FB#2
when their "Veils Of Sorrow" Mcd was releasd, and now
it's time for a full-lenght album. These Americans has
obviously collected some pretty good response worldwide, which
I can't fully understand. Musically they're in the melodic,
softer black metal area and ocasionally manage do something
decent. But it sound a bit unprofessional and most of the
material they've come up with just isn't interesting enough put
up to the day's standard. The production is very clear, but
lacking in power which could also be said for the music it
self.
MALEVOLENT CREATION "Eterneal"
(System Shock) Setting the standard back in '91 with their
classic debut "The Ten Commandments", MALEVOLENT
CREATION also prooved with this album that they still knew how
to bring forth the beast of metal as furious blast beats trade
with heavy as fuck thrash riffing. Crushing all in their path
with their trademark mixture of aggressive death metal and
ultra brutal thrash M.C. is on top of the situation, delivering
the goods with undisputable integrity and lethal presicion.
MALEVOLENT CREATION "The Fine Art Of
Murder" (System Shock) This all new album from our
favourite US deathrashers welcomes the return of singer Bret
Hoffman and guitarist Rob Barret, but if this is the reason for
the slight change of program is not up to me to say. The vocals
are now a bit higher (in tune) than what I expected from M.C.
and the album is overall faster and angrier than what I've
heard of their previous albums (counting "Eternal"
and "The Ten Commandments"). I'm not quite sure if I
endorse this changes fully, but no matter what, this shit still
rules and it sounds as menacing as ever! "The Fine art of
Murder" is definitely a Malevolent Creation.
MAZE OF TORMENT "Faster Disaster"
(Iron Fist) Blasting their way to the boundaries of hell, MAZE
OF TORMENT have with their second album put out a full-fledged
metal attack so packed with aggression and brutallity that it's
hard to see it as anything but a winner! The mixture of brutal
thrash and good ol' death metal sends it straight to the top,
and when some pinpoints to vintage SLAYER and early DESTRUCTION
comes creeping the circle is complete. Drop your cocks, grab
your socks and run for your local metalshop and urge them to
get you a copy Faster than you can say Disaster.
MENTAL CRYPT "Extreme Unction"
(Black Mark) Some pretty intense stuff is brought to us by this
Swedish gang. MENTAL CRYPT has managed to create a personal
sound and the outcome as whole is very decent. I would
categorize this as technical, extreme thrash metal on the
borderline of death. The fact that they are Swedish doesn't
really come as any big surprise after listening to
"Extreme Unction", but they manage to stay away from
the typical Sounds Of SwedenTM, which makes it all the more
interesting. So I would say that all in all MENTAL CRYPT should
be satisfied with their product.
NIFELHEIM "Devil's Force"
(Necropolis) While NIFELHEIM still hasn't topped the Sodomizer
track from their debut, "Devil's Force" as a whole
supersedes it's predecessor. The sound is far superior to the
self-titled debut and songs like The Final Slaughter and
Satanic Mass are the ultimate statements from one of the
scene's ugliest and most uncompromising acts. Once again
spewing out 8 songs of the most insane Black/ Speed metal,
NIFELHEIM's clearly convincing as to why they have become the
brand name for chaos, aggression and sheer hellish blasphemies
in the late nineties. As they so characteristically say it
themselves; All Hail Satanic Psychotic sickos! NOW FUCK OFF!!!
NOCTURNAL BREED "No Retreat...No
Surrender" (Hammerheart) I was never really impressed by
NOCTURNAL BREED's first atempt and I can't say that "No
Retreat..." will go down in my book as one of the classics
either. The material presented is much too standard and very
little innovative which just makes it glide in and disappear
among the most of the retro-thrash albums of the last couple of
years. However, some of the riffs are heavier and also the
vocals doesn't seem so screamy as on the debut which have lead
to a more powerful sound, which is good... so if you liked the
"Aggressor" album you shouldn't hate this one either.
OPHTHALAMIA "A long Journey"
(Necropolis) This is actually OPHTHALAMIA's third full-lenght
but at the same time it's their first. Makes sense, eh? To
explain, it's their first one re-recorded with a new title (it
was originally called "A Journey in Darkness").
Unfortunately I've never heard the original recording as I
ordered it from Avantgarde in it's time but they ripped me off
so I never saw anything of that album, just thought I should
mention it! Anyway, at least Necropolis is an honourable lot so
it's good to see them putting this one out now as it's some
killer stuff. The music is somewhat slow to mid-paced,
depressive yet harmonic black/doom metal, written and performed
with high skill and originallity (if you've heard the "Via
Dolorosa" album, I can tell you it's much in the same
direction). The vocal work of All (replacing Legion, now with
MARDUK), fits perfectly in with IT's brilliant riffs and with
ex-DISSECTION hammerman Ole Öhman behind the kit it (IT?)
really can't fail. Nice guys as they are they've also included
a (new?) previously unreleased track as well as a cover of the
"Welcome to Hell" classic Sons of Satan. Join the
journey into the Swedish Darkness!!
OPHTHALAMIA "Dominion" (No
Fashion) Not long after the relase of the above reviewed album,
another OPHTHALMIA release found it's way into my mail box,
this time a nicely wrapped disc containing their all new 3rd
record. They have sped up a bit since last time, not much, but
it's noteable and with this in mind prepare your self for a
journey into a doomy, black-rock world of haunting, melancholic
melodies, energic, at times Rock'n Roll- like riffing and doom
laden moments of beautifully dark music. The variety that so
very much makes OPHTHALMAIA a highly succesfull band become
very obvious in tracks like Time for War, Dominion and Great
are the Deeds of Death, It's doubtful that you'll ever hear
such twisted beatuy anywhere else, and "Dominion",
even though it's definitely a fresh sounding album, is as
OPHTHALAMIAN as it could be.
PATH OF DEBRIS "The Eyes Of The
Basilisk" (System Shock) Creating a varied and diverse
album certainly didn't do any good for this lot. Even if there
are some ocational good and raw riffing coming up now and then
the majority of the material is to weak and infested with some
very stupid and happy metal-rock parts. Very melodic and very
approachable and probably a quite OK album if you don't like
metal too much but think it's cool to listen to because your
big brother does it.
PENTACLE "...rides the Moonstorm"
(Damnation) The three Deadly Dutch Dudes are back, and as
always they fucking shred! For those of you who have been
unfortuante, or stupid, enough to miss these guys so far, I can
tell that what they do is some doomy death/thrash with
references of early CELTIC FROST and a solid dose of late
eighties/early nineties (dutch) death metal as well as some
ripping thrash stuff. Do not for a second think that PENTACLE
is another one of those eighties retro (read: rip-off) bands
that have blessed, or plagued, the scene for the last years.
They have over the eight/nine years they've been going
established a very personal sound which set them apart from
your usual band of the latest thrash metal craze. First and
foremost because they have a very heavy, and deathly sound and
avoid the weak thrash/black metal riffs and vocals, PENTACLE
score high on the orginality rating, while still keeping a
traditional death metal sound. One of the heaviest albums this
year for sure, "...Rides the Moonstorm" will be
played over and over again 'til your stereo burst out in
flames!
PERISHED "Kark" (Solistitium)
Eagerly awaited by many, PERISHED's debut album shouldn't leave
anyone who're familiar with their music disappointed. Not that
those of you who don't know this Norwegian bunch of booze
hounds already should be disappointed either, but I think it's
fair to say that "Kark" will probably not break any
major boundaries. When that is said I would like to clear up
any misunderstandings I may have planted in you regarding the
quality of the album. The music (somekind of pagan/ black
metal) is performed in high class with high skill and there are
alot of really good stuff here. Songs like Stier til Visdoms
Krefter, Iskalde Stroemmer & Befri de Trolske Toner keep a
very high standard and the clever use of synths add just the
right touch of melancholia. The majority of the riffs are in a
pretty fast ,straight forward manner, while other really
surprise with clear thrash or even heavy metal influences and
some folk-like tunes can occasionally be heard as well. This
one is out on LP too, so all you vinyl freaks should try to get
a copy of that one!
PROFANUM "Profanum Aeternum: Eminence
of Satanic Imperial Art" (Pagan Records) There is one
thing (or more presisely two) that this album lacks, and that's
some good ol' guitars. And when I say so it's not just because
these are hidden way back in the production, but actually
because they are non-existent! Yep, that's it, not one damn
guitar or even a bass!! The idea was probably to do something
new and interesting, but in fact it is this that slams the lid
on the coffin. With some fuckin' heavy guitar riffs the album
could have come out pretty good, but now it sounds all too
weak. The band has put their fate in pianos, violins and stuff
like that, which actually works fine on it's own or mixed with
metal, but when only drums and black metallish vocals are
brought in it just sounds incomplete. Sure some of the
orchestrated parts works out well, but that alone is not
enough.
REINCARNATION "Void" (Repulse)
Extremely standard and boring death metal with extremely boring
growly vocals. And when the band looks like a bunch of
retarded, misplaced skatepunks it couldn't get much worse.
ROTTEN SOUND "Under Pressure"
(Repulse) I'll be damned! The day I should find a release
labeled "Grind/Crust/Hardcore" even slightly amusing
was one I never thought would come. However with this output
from Finnish ROTTEN SOUND I must say that they almost managed
to convince me. Personally I would label this as death/grind,
and that of the most brutal and energic kind. The sound is
fuckin great and heavy (something one might find a bit
bewildering when one look at the band name), and quite a bit of
the material is really killer too! Furious blast beats and
awsome riffing alongside with some really sick and brutal
vocals (which steers perfectly clear of the deep growling)
makes it all worthwhile, although I find it getting boring
after a while. But when I find it interesting, even only for a
while, "Under Pressure" should be the best of it's
kind and a real treat for the fans of this kind of metal. I
really don't see the hardcore in this album though!?
ROTTING HEAD "Backwardness"
(Shock Wave) My life is still not so boring that I find
pleasure in releases like this though. "Backwardness"
is nothing more than a poor rehash of NAPALM DEATH around
"Utopia Banished", with crappy environmental/social
awareness lyrics.
SAVIOUR MACHINE "Legend - part
II" (Massacre) Boring, symphonic/electro/industrial
crap... I couldn't care less if this lot live or die!
SOILWORK "Steel Bath Suicide"
(Listenable) Taking up the heritage from one of their country's
greatest, but sadly defunct acts, AT THE GATES, SOILWORK
delivers a crushing, technical death metal debut. But in
addition adding late-CARCASS like rock 'n roll riffing SOILWORK
manages to bring through a very interesting and highly
professional sound. From the opening instrumental Enter the
Angel Diabolique, with it's excellent heavy metal guitar work,
to the rock 'n rollish ending with The Aardvark Trail
"Steel Bath Suicide" is definitely an album placing
SOILWORK among the best of the best.
SOLITUDE AETERNUS "Through the Darkest
Hour/ Downfall" (System Shock) I don't' think I'm going to
far when I use words as epic and majestic to describe the music
of SOLITUDE AETERNUS. Their brand of doom/power metal is really
put to it's right on the first half (the only one I was
provided with) of this double album, featuring bought
"Through the Darkes Hour" and the
"Downfall" albums, the latter which I got here. If
you ever had the faintest interest for doom metal, or really
heavy power metal there's no reason whatsoever for you to pass
on this one. Featuring excellent vocal works, heavy, downbeat
riffing and an all comprising somber atmosphere I see no reason
to do anything but bow down and receive the gift of doom metal
that is here delivered to us upon a silver tray.
STRUTTER "Motherfuckers from the
Bowels of Hell" (Stereo Hog) Light up the pipe, pop a beer
and keep on rockin'!! STRUTTER rocks hard with their
alco-soaked, demented rock'n roll, closely related to our very
own TURBONEGRO. Songs like I don't give a Fuck and Gimme some
Coke is perfect for any worn out, retarded metal brain who for
some moments just want to get away from all bombastic
arrangements, brutal growling or hellpaced guitar riffing and,
well, just don't give a fuck... This is as back to the basics
(and then some) as it can be, and in all it's glorious,
laidback, innocent simplicity STRUTTER delivers half and hour
of no nonsense, straight forward rock'n roll.
THORR'S HAMMER "Dommedagsnatt"
MCD (Southern Lord Recordings) "Dommedagsnatt" was
originally released on cassette through Moribound, but now SLR
has put it out again, this time on CD. THORR'S HAMMER is a
weird, dark and gloomy doom band that was brought to earth by
Stephen O'Malley (DESCENT mag and cover layout for several
bands) and a fellow named Greg Anderson, in 1994. The basis is
as said very dark, depressive and primitive doom metal
accompanied by growling death grunts as well as some sinister
talking/singing, all courtesy of Norwegian Runhild
Gammelsæter (if I read the infosheet right she's actually
the one responsible for that guttural belching!!!?). The
concept in itself is quite interesting, but I'm not totally
convinced by the musical achievements. The songs have a very
dark atmosphere, but they tend to come out a bit too simple and
the vocals sound very monotonous after a while. While this is
obviously something negative it also brings genuinity and raw
and brutal darkness to the sound. Definitely not for the
suicidal depressives!
VADER "Live In Japan" (System
Shock) As I've barely heard a couple of songs of VADER prior to
this album I find it a bit difficult to review as I don't now
what they sound like on a studio recording. But if they sound
as brutal on a studio recording As they do live then I guess
they do OK. Even though the singer's communication with the
audience between the songs is a bit, well dodgy, the response
is very good and brings a good live atmosphere. The music is,
as most of you know, MORBID ANGEL influenced death metal, with
a lot of tempo changes and brutal riffing and some shredding
solo work. In their set you'll also find two covers, where
Black Sabbath turns out pretty boring, but Reign in Blood is
performed quite well and brutal as hell! If you, like me, are
unacquainted with VADER's music, this is a good starting point
and it works well as a live album too.
VARIOUS ARTISTS "A Black Mark Tribute
- Vol. II" (Black Mark) Holy Guacamole, this is one crappy
compilation!! Usually good bands like EDGE OF SANITY, BATHORY
& NECROPHOBIC can't save this stain on the world's mattress
as they all pretty much suck like the rest. I don't say that
the bands suck themselves, but the cover songs they do here are
all equally lame sounding. I won't waste a minute more of my
life on this stinking lump of dead meat. Talk about
disappointment!!!
VARIOUS ARTISTS "In Conspiracy with
Satan - a tribute to Bathory" (Hellspawn/ No Fashion)
Well, it certainly took some time to get this baby out, but
when it finally arrived it actually made quite an impression.
I'm not exactly overwhelmed with the concept of tribute albums,
as they more than often fail to give justice to the original
recordings, and so "In Conspiracy with Satan" manage
to rise above most of it's counterparts. Perhaps because the
early BATHORY material isn't the most demanding, technically
speaking, perhaps because BATHORY's music is closer to what
many of the bands do normally, than let's say SLAYER, METALLICA
or MERCYFUL FATE (who all had their fair share of tributes)...
Nevertheless, the majority of the bands here are Swedish, with
two exceptions in the form of EMPEROR and SATYRICON. The latter
does nothing memorable while EMPEROR's A Fine Day to Die is
among the highlights of the album. OPHTHALAMIA deliver
Sacrifice in a very convincing way and GEHENNAH sounds
surpisingly tight and fresh doing Reaper. NIFELHEIM keeps a
very traditional sound with Die in Fire, THE ABYSS' Armageddon
hits like a kick in the groin and NECROPHOBIC Fire is close to
topping this release with an outstanding, heavy version of one
of my own BATHORY faves, Enter The Eternal Fire. Further
partner's in crime are DARK FUNERAL; Equimanthorn and Call from
the Grave - both satisfying versions, UNANIMATED; Raise the
Dead - another goody, SACRAMENTUM; 13 Candles, MARDUK In
Conspiracy with Satan and Woman of Dark Desires, WAR; War (what
else!?) and LORD BELIAL with Massacre - along with SATYRICON's
Born for Burning the definite let-down of the release. So the
final conclusion must be that despite a three years delay this
was worth it's wait as we finally got a tribute album that
didn't fail miserably, but actually managed to revive some good
old classics!
VARIOUS ARTISTS "Statements of
Intent" (Wicked World) Earaches new sublabel Wicked World
start of their career with a compilation featuring sixteen
different bands from various labels. The Cd can actually be
split up in two parts were one consists of Swedish death metal
and the other is comprised of more varied material. In the
first bulk we find bands like THE HAUNTED, GARDENIAN, DARK
TRANQUILITY, IN FLAMES, NAGLFAR, ARCH ENEMY, EUCHARIST and
GANDALF. Most of these are doing their thing very well, even
though it sounds very familiar, and esp. GARDENIAN (Deserted)
IN FLAMES (Goliath's Disarm their Davids's) and THE HAUNTED
(Shattered) come out of it with a particulary good result, but
I can't help but thinking that the latter would have benefitted
from a new vocalist that doesn't sound so Hardcore. Well, on
the other part of the album there's bands like PRIMORDIAL,
DIMMU BORGIR, KATATONIA, THE CROWN, DERANGED, DECEMBER WOLVES
and THY SERPENT. The three first should be familiar to most
people, while THE CROWN (former CROWN OF THORNS) and DERANGED
both deliver good and aggressive death metal. DECEMBER WOLVES
(from the US) got a rather Norwegian sound, perhaps comparable
to DØDHEIMSGARD. THY SERPENT has made a name for
themselves also outside their native Finland with two previous
albums, and here we get a cut from their third one, but without
really impressing me. The formula is midtempo standard black
metal, still it got it's moments. The high number of Swedish
sounding bands might put some people off, but the quality of
the recordings are so high that I can recommend this
compilation to everyone who's into modern extreme metal or just
want to check out some of the stuff that's happening in today's
scene, something which this CD is a good indicator of.
VELES "Black Hateful Metal" (No
Colours) For this is wisdom; Let him who hath understanding
reckon that which is crap, for it has a human name, and it's
name is VELES! "Black Hateful Metal"... yeah, right!!
"Fucking Pathetic Shit" is what it is! Why these
morons even bother to continue what they're doing qualifies for
the World's seventh wonder... Never in my life (at least not
since the last Veles release) have I heard such a shitty excuse
for an album as this nonsense! I wouldn't even use this disc to
scrape dog-droppings of my shoe, as it would be an offense to
shit!!!
VERMIN "Millennium Ride" (No
Fashion) Oh Yeah! What we got here is one of this year's
ultimate drinking soundtracks. VERMIN spits out their demonic
be-bop with a deadly groove in a mixture of extreme metal and
hellbent rock 'n roll. You will certainly find similarities to
another well-known Swedish death metal band turned rock 'n
roll, but VERMIN executes their dirty duties in far more
satisfying fashion with some of the most aggressive and catchy
rhythms that has ever penetrated my beer soaked brain. Not once
during the album do I find myself bored and now, after three
subsequently listening I still want to put it on one more time.
The only problem is that it really makes me thirsty...
VONDUR "The Galactic Rock n' Roll
Empire" MCD (Necropolis) Musically VONDUR is pretty dull
stuff, but the concept is hilarious! On this mini disc the evil
stormtroopers has covered JUDAS PRIEST, ELVIS and MÖTLEY
CRUE as well as including two of their own
"masterpieces" (ehm). (My CD-player counted seven
tracks while the info sheet says five?). Rocka Rolla is
actually the best song here which doesn't really say that much
about the rest of the disc... Also the cover picture is
something special; a neat mixing and trixing of MÖTLEY
CRUE and the ugly mugs of IT and ALL. You just got to see it! I
urge you all to check out the VONDUR interview in HERESY mag #2
(see Messengers of the Underground section) though as it's much
funnier than their music!
VORDVEN "Towards the Forzen
Stream" (No Colours) What's wrong with this picure; The
image of a beautiful summer landscape with sizzling stream and
waterfall, and the title "Towards the Frozen
Stream"!? Yeah, you got it!! Obviously you can't expect
too much though when other song titles include Moonlight in the
Northern Sky, Dream of Northside and When the Snowcrystals
Reaches the Nightgleam. It's a real winner folks! The music is
actually surprinsingly well conducted (as opposed to the
expectations), the vocals are of course pretty lame and the
overall feeling is that of naive happiness which naturally
isn't very positive. Better than most No Colours releases
though!
WAR Total War" MCD (Necropolis)
Featuring well known names like IT and All (ABRUPTUM,
OPHTHALAMIA, VONDUR), Blackmoon (ex-DARK FUNERAL) and as well
as Mikael Hedlund and Peter Tägtgren of HYPOCRISY/ THE
ABYSS fame, there should be high expectations for this release.
Perhaps being a bit too predictable "Total War" still
manage to deliver the goods, much due to the ultra heavy
production. The playing time is only seventeen minutes but it
might be just that which makes this disc quite listenable. The
formula is an uncompromising black metal assault with hyper
fast blast beats and simple but fucking heavy and aggressive
riffing. Reapers of Satan give room for a short breath of air
but only for so long, as Satan's Millenium breaks loose in a
furious full frontal assault!
WÅTTAMEZZ "Kinky Bastard"
Not my everyday cup of karsk perhaps, but it's sure cool to dig
this one out from the shelves from time to time. These Booze
Brothers delivers nine catchy, high-octane thrash tunes with
some Hard Core influences. Some of the HC stuff isn't too cool
(hey, that's twice in the same review), but the thrashy parts
are very listenable and the vocals are killer, which
aasføxxzaaa@¤##$.)8v.... mental
breakdown...bzzzzzzz...don't compute.... Who cares anyway????
This is mostly pretty good shit so why does I really bother
going on. Also it's the last review so you're probably totally
fed up with my crap talk...
