Dear Maelstrom readers,

We’re fucking insane. We just keep getting bigger and more unconventional. It’s out of control. This, our 13th issue, is our biggest yet, with more than 150 reviews and 17 interviews with all sorts of wacky and cool bands.

We’re off our rockers for sure. In how many zines can you find reviews of Malaysian goregrind next to American alt-country? Yeah, we’ve got all that. Why? Because we like it. Do we expect you to get it? No. The fact remains we’re as wholeheartedly into Woodtemple as we are into Sixteen Horsepower.

To help us out with our visions of appreciation of musical diversity, we’ve gone out and recruited four super writers who are pretty cool people, too. (Not to mention completely nuts.) Please welcome Dave McGonigle, who despite being a research scientist, seems to know everything about everything that’s not metal; and Jason Thornberry, a grizzled zine mercenary whose appreciation for Marduk and funk exemplifies what Maelstrom stands for. The testosterone levels around the Maelstrom camp were getting a little out of control, so we went out and found Larissa Parson, a living dictionary of indie rock; and Samaki Dorsey, whose thirst for live shows is frankly cause for concern; Look out for these certifiable individuals’ work in our pages.

Of course we’ve still got our core of writers bringing you the best the underground has to offer that we can get our hard-working hands on. We’re sad to announce the departure of ~Vargscarr~, who had been with us from the beginning. We’ll miss his poignant and entertaining commentary. However, we’re extremely excited to say that Steppenvvolf, Maelstrom’s co-founder, has returned to the fold! And Maelstrom without Steppenvvolf is just not Maelstrom.

Speaking of excitement, our man Abhishek Chatterjee, whose lust for musical brutality even worries us, is all worked up about his new “top three picks of the issue” idea. We’ve decided to let him run with it. So, here they are:

1. Alienation Mental - Ball Spouter
2. Disgorge - Necrholocaust
3. Scent of Death - Entangled in Hate

Despite undertaking the lunatic journey of backpacking through India for two months on a whim, Tom Orgad still managed to provide us with some stuff, as well as a hilarious travel diary. It seems that Tom is still recuperating.

And as pumped up as we are about issue #13, issue #14 will have even more goodies, like a chat with Helloween, Cradle of Filth, Oxbow, Solefald and so, so much more. We can hardly wait.

Before you go off to read, please take a look at two letters that our readers submitted, showing that both rational thought and tolerance, but also the opposites, exist in the metal world.

- Roberto Martinelli

from: Karen Kay (paganwish@hotmail.com)

I’m writing this article not knowing really where to start from as much as there is to tell the masses about metal music and Satanism. Actually, what really incites me to write this is the controversy around this issue that many talk-shows have been dealing with lately and sadly with a lot of prejudice. So basically, this is not going to be one of those objective articles that smoothes both edges and gets nowhere.

I am not a Satanist; I try to be as Christian as can be, but I don’t claim to be an authority on the matter of religions either. I’m just a person who has spent the past decade listening to metal music in all its kinds and styles and appreciating the extraordinary, not-so-common subjects dealt with far away from the so-cliché, superficial themes tackled by the other styles.

To claim that all metal heads are Satanists is far-fetched, but unfortunately most of the alleged authorities discussing this issue fall into the pit of generalization, forgetting that there is a whole lot of metal bands who have nothing to do with Satanism, and these are the ones - the only ones, mind you - that any real metal head in my place would try to vindicate. We also forget that music is a form of art, just like writing or sculpting or dancing. We have horror novels; we have horror movies, why is it forbidden to have horror music? How come we have never heard anyone banning the works of Edgar Alan Poe, the master of horror, death, blood and murder? Why should we complain about lyrics which express the feelings of sorrow, emptiness and doom? In reality metal music is just like poetry, and it only takes sensible and romantic characters to appreciate the beauty of, for horror and death and pain are a concrete part of life. To deny this and pretend that the world is only love and peace and happiness would only be a fettered illusion. Metal music just delves into the realms of the id, and dares to reveal the parts in ourselves that we keep buried. Its themes romanticize death and bereavement; that only the weaker minds might consider this messages from the so-called Devil. It is an outlet, a pipe of release to all those negative feelings of pain and grief one goes through, that only an artist can handle deftly.

And still people go on to believe that metal music leads to suicide, which is only close to ridicule. If this was true, then I would have been just a soul damned to hell by now. I can state hundreds of examples of cases of suicide, where the victims don’t even know what metal music is. That’s all to say that it’s the psychological state of the person, regardless of the kind of music he/she listens to, which brings them to the state of depression, which might eventually lead to suicide. It is not because some people have taken their own lives by listening to metal music that such music should be condemned, but we should be as far-sighted as to realize that these people should have been treated at psychologists and psychiatrists for misinterpreting reality. If millions of people die from car crashes every year, we don’t go and ban cars, but we just learn what driving is about and drive more slowly.

As to the matter of clothing, it really strikes me as being utterly absurd. How can we forget that music isn’t a matter of putting notes and tunes together but a matter of style as well? A metal head isn’t a person you meet every day or anytime or any place. It’s a person with an original, sensible and sensitive character. The dark look is just that of someone who tends to be different and not essentially negatively different. Besides most bands, whether metal or not, seek to find a certain commercial image and communicate it to their audience, why should we go and pick on superficial accessories pertaining only to a certain style of dress? I wear black most of the time, I wear dark make-up all the time, and I am really into spikes and tattoos. Does that make me a Satanist? Absolutely not, for I teach at a Catholic school, I pray to God Almighty every morning and night, and I lead a very peaceful life. And still this doesn’t stop me from having my proper style of dress and my own original look. Actually, the way this image is communicated by the media relating this style of dress to Satanism is being done very randomly. It just condemns innocent people to the stake and beholds them with a lot of unnecessary prejudice. It’s high time we got over some appearances.

It might seem to some that my article is in favor of Satanism, but it is only in favor of the art of metal music. I’m just trying to explain what most people either fail to see or just know nothing about: it’s not whenever we hear a growl or heavy guitars that some work of evil is being done, it is not whenever someone wears black and gets pierced that he/she follows the Church of Satan, and definitely it is not whenever someone commits suicide that he/she’s done it because of listening to loud music. Enough of narrow-mindedness and prejudice! It takes a lot of research and studying before tackling such a sensitive subject. Condemnations aren’t to be done so arbitrarily, or it would only make it another of those middle-ages witchcraft hunts redeemed only after hundreds of years.

Dear Karen,

Thank you for your eloquent and thoughtful letter. You certainly bring up some excellent points.
- Roberto Martinelli

from: “GBK Hordes” (sperm_of_the_antichrist@hotmail.com)

We find it interesting that of all of the Maelstrom’s experienced contributors (10 years listening to Metallica, wow!) an Israeli Jew is chosen to review Arghoslent’s Incorrigible Bigotry. We are guessing that the editors of the Maelstrom felt that an Israeli Jew who apparently has been overwhelmed by creations of bands as Lux Occulta (?) Yes (?) Gentle Giant (??) is the ideal candidate to provide unbiased and informative reviews of militant metal output?.

We are not quite sure what Orgad means by “old-fashioned harmonized two-note-chord based death metal phrases,” though that phrase sure contains a lot of hyphens. Most likely, the meaning of this phrase, like the validity of this review, exists solely in Orgad?s oriental mind. His criticisms of Arghoslent’s “output” are, in fact, lies. A side by side comparison with any similar (there are few) metal album would prove this to even the dullest listener. Since Arghoslent makes music for militant metal hordes and not Jewish philosophers (like Marx?) it simply must go over Orgad’s head. In an attempt to cover his utter unworthiness as a reviewer, Orgad resorts to defamation. He defames Arghoslent because he hates us, he hates us because he fears us. This is where the truth of the matter is revealed to him; he should fear and hate Arghoslent because Arghoslent is a complete rejection of him and what he stands for.

Where Orgad errs is in making his feelings public.

Orgad represents the epitome of Jewishness. He is a meddler, one who goes stirring trouble, judging what he can never create, a muckraker, a liar, vicious, defensive. He is the “clever weakling” hiding behind his computer screen and poisoned pen. His intellect, of which he is so obviously proud, is not exceptional by any means. A quick scan of Webster’s Dictionary indicates that “folky” and “contrapunct” are used in quite imaginative ways. In fact “contrapunct” doesn’t seem to be listed at all, perhaps Orgad
meant “contrapuntal.” It’s amazing that in this day and age, people still feel that by throwing together run-on sentences with multi-syllable words and referring to moderately obscure (yet absolutely overrated) supposed “cutting edge” music that they demonstrate intelligence. On the contrary, these palaverous (go ahead, look it up! It’s ok! Use it in your next review!) ejaculations only prove that Orgad is a little boy hiding behind his big words. This way, he never has to say anything. We suggest that Orgad read some Hemingway or Julius Caeser so he learns how to communicate eloquently without resorting to verbal diarrhea. Secondly, Arghoslent suggests that the Maelstrom convert their zine to an Israeli-Jewish, pseudo-intellectual, semi-progressive rock, self-indulgent music forum if they insist on keeping the likes of Orgad around. Finally, we suggest Orgad remain in Tel-Aviv. Though he may be under the constant threat of suicide bombers and scud missile attacks, he is far safer than if he ever dares to darken the grassy plains of Virginia.

The Maelstrom does its audience a grave disservice by having Israeli Jews review the likes of Arghoslent.

Dear GBK,

Thanks for your letter. I can agree with you when you say that Tom put way too much thought into that review, certainly much more thought than was necessary for something as re-hashed and unoriginal as (your band) Arghoslent’s Incorrigible Bigotry. The fact that Tom decides to not be offended by your rampant hate toward his people is something we find pretty remarkable, as a matter of fact. Too bad you can't put yours aside. But that’s fine, because Maelstrom isn’t for you. Goodbye. - Roberto Martinelli

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Extreme music is like drugs. Something comes along and a dose of it totally overwhelms the listener through its qualities of being fast or weirdly angular or deteriorated or bizarre or just fucked up. Then, if the listener likes it and keeps returning to it, the sounds eventually seem to slow down in his or her head, making the surrounding sound planes easier to comprehend. Then it's time for a new, more intense fix. The process repeats itself again and again.

1349 is the latest fix. This Norwegian black metal band has released an MCD (reviewed in issue #7) a few years ago that was adequate, but nowhere near as impacting as this. Liberation is a full-length album's worth of unbelievable speed and intensity.

The Norwegians still can write some of the best black metal riffs in the world; ruggedly melodic and fierce and proud, with that signature way of sustained, high-pitched picking. It's remarkable that as a group, the Norwegians have a very different, and arguably superior style to that of their neighbors, the Swedes, who prefer a more flowery signature whose delivery carries less weight but perhaps more grace. Seems like there's some parallels between the two countries' languages. But I digress. 1349 unleash track after track of hard-hitting Norwegian riff through fuzzed out, fucked up black metal guitars and bass, fronted by perfectly scathing vocals by a man whose vocal delivery can only be a result of him being on fire.

But the best of all is the impossible drumming of Satyricon's Frost. I say "impossible" as the drums have got to be sped up. There's just no human way anyone could play like this (and the resonance of the drums do sound unnaturally shorter and faster). But then again, maybe there is a way, and knowing what Frost has been capable of in Satyricon, the notion seems more and more plausible. But sped up or not, it really doesn't matter, as the resulting sonic experience is what is most important.

You listen to bands like Anaal Nathrakh or Octinomos, who use drum machines as their percussive intent is beyond any mortal's capabilities, but then that perception is put into question when you hear this. Near omnipresent inhuman speed and precision take a rest only a few times to let you breathe before choking you again with sustained strikes that most capable drummers couldn't play with two hands. The drums are mixed in with the all the rage of the other elements and delivered in an atypical sounding production that brings up images of listening to an album while you record it at 2X speed during a sandstorm.

Liberation may just do that, and free you, for a while at least, from whatever angst you may be carrying. Forget Marduk, you want this. At least until the next fix. (9/10) 

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Abyss Lord hail from Germany and are the fifth such band that I am reviewing in this issue (No don’t ask me which are the other ones, just keep reading all the reviews till you find out..heh). This four-song MCD is not as disappointing as some of their comrades’, but still not much worth getting all excited about.

Their intentions are pretty clear right from the start: to write classic death metal songs in the style of Bolt Thrower. Well, the compositions do not attain classic status in this recording but they are pretty solid nevertheless. Solid, except for the third song, “Abyss Lord.” Here they suddenly decided to give the Bolt Thrower worship some rest and record something that sounds like a cross between Diabolus in Musica-era Slayer and Six Feet Under (I don’t have to mention which era of Six Feet Under; everything they’ve ever released sounds the same and is crap).

As far as the other songs are concerned, “F.F. Terror” is the best of the lot, filled with all those hauntingly melodic and creepy crawly moments that make The IVth Crusade (Bolt Thrower) such a pleasure to listen to. “Loathsome Dreaming” is so classic Bolt Thrower that they might even be covering them! This song also has the only experimental part in the whole CD, a nice transition from distorted heavy guitars to acoustic, spoken word section. Abyss Lord should perhaps focus on adding more parts like this to their sound so that next time around they sound less like a Bolt Thrower cover band. I have said the B-word too many times already, but if you like that style of death metal, keep your eye on this band. (5.6/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Aeons Confer, a six-piece band from Hamburg, Germany, certainly impresses on this six-song, 17-minute demo MCDR. The music is largely in the vein of fast Dimmu Borgir, but not as in your face. The melodies are aptly chosen to accompany the speedy constructions, and the material benefits by the way all the instruments are in harmony with each other.

The digital production, too, sounds great, although the choice of drum trigger sound could be better and less alien. If you like your metal to suggest to you sidereal images of comets streaking in an aggressive fashion, then contact this band. (7/10)

review by: Laurent Martini

Imagine that you took the best of the Pixies and mixed it with what you loved best about Smashing Pumpkins. Would you like that? Then you’ll love Aerogramme, or should I say you’ll love the first two songs off of Sleep and Release. Afterwards, it’s a different story.

“Indiscretion #243" and “Black Path” are the best opening songs I’ve heard to an album since James’ Please to Meet You. They are incredible musical gems sounding like the offshoot of the Pixies’ “Debaser” and Pumpkins’ “Disharm.” How could such a great beginning go so wrong? And what’s up with the label Matador? This is the exact same thing that happened with Interpol’s album.

The rest of Sleep and Release is so disappointing it hurts. “A Simple Process” is slow and lacks originality. “Older” and “Not Really” are indiscernible from a thousand other angsty anthems, and “Yes” is just plain bad. The only worthwhile song near the end is “In Gratitude,” and that’s mostly because one’s been listening to crap for the past 20 minutes.

This inconsistency would usually make me give the band a bad review but here I feel cheated and frustrated because of the absolute greatness of the opening tracks. It seems that Aerogramme might be trying to do too much, mixing in too many influences thus causing the output to greatly suffer. The band needs to choose which road it wants to travel; the Pixies (yes, yes, yes) or the “I am a very deep and angry white male” (no, no, no!!!!!) (5.5/10)

review by: Larissa Parson

While perhaps some of the tracks on Aereogramme’s latest are unoriginal, there is something to be said for the beauty of a formula. Take, for example, “A Simple Process of Elimination,” which fits nicely into the niche recently popularized by such current luminaries as Sigur Rós, with a bit of Mogwai thrown in for good measure. There’s nothing wrong with slowing down every now and then to savor the sounds you can make with a guitar. At full volume in a two-ton metal box on the road, this album is transcendent.

For what it’s worth, “Older” does start out like any old angst-ridden tune, but quickly puts brakes on the tempo, leading into another soundscape. Lyrically, perhaps, it is lacking, but we all have those “emo” days. I will admit that “No Really Everything’s Fine” and “Wood” are fairly pedestrian. That’s what the skip button is made for. The last three tracks on the album, however, are worth waiting for. “A Winter’s Dischord,” an acoustic piece, and “—“ end the album as peacefully as it began loud, but not without making a brief foray into loudness. (7.5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

A Darker Monument marks a return to form of Aeturnus' former glory. Well, sort of. While fans of Aeturnus' initial style - the one with the endless, droning riffs and proud, medieval acoustic interludes - may find some of that past splendour to savor here, A Darker Monument is rather more like Shadows of Old, the record that marked Aeturnus' move into slicker, more death metal territory.

Perhaps A Darker Monument is in comparison to the edifice that Aeturnus erected in their previous record, Ascension of Terror (review in issue #7), as the new record is slower and lower. And it's really great.

The criticisms made in the review of Ascension… were too harsh overall, as that record is quite good, but undoubtedly mediocre by Aeturnus' standards. (As of fall, 2004, we're utterly reversing our review of Ascension to proclaim it a triumph -- Roberto) What's been improved on so much on A Darker… is the production, which really gives the heavier compositions more weight. Ares' vocals are fuller and richer, the signature riffs have more depth, and the trademark drumming sounds more organic, which all contribute to a strange sense of thunderous calm.

Like on Shadows of Old Aeturnus still has its share of death metal riffs, which are concentrated mainly in the first half of the album. However, the rampant, obnoxious instances when these elements got out of control on Ascension of Terror have been tempered; so, no more horrendously out of place pinch harmonics here. The only iffy moments here come in song two, where some rather strange, half clean and half harsh, multi-tracked vocal experimentation is going on. Hopefully this will go in the same bin as Ares' clean singing forays on Shadows of Old.

The second half is more like the old band people like me fell in love with due to the relatively relaxed feeling from the absence of such death metal leanings and a mid-paced plod that allows the trademark Aeturnus signatures to come out more, signatures that ironically have been becoming more pronounced since the bands stylistic change when Shadows… was released.

Are Aeturnus' best albums their first two full-lengths? Yes. Will Aeturnus go back to its old style? No. Should we lament this? Not really, for despite a bit of concern after the last record, it turns out that Aeturnus has not lost its character after all. In fact, it's gotten stronger, although the band could still stand to be a bit less brutal. Fans and newcomers alike will definitely like this record from this exciting and original band. (8/10) 

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Ladies and Gentlemen, please get ready to shed all notions of what technical, extreme and bizarre death/grind is. Forget your Cryptopsies, forget your Cephalic Carnages, you have now entered the world of Alienation Mental.

Ball Spouter is a very vague title for an album, and it brought to my mind images of a machine gone out of control, spinning at terminal velocity and spewing out smouldering ball bearings. Which, as it turned out to be, is quite an apt description of Alienation Mental’s style, if not for the fact that they hardly sound out of control at all. Never before have I heard such insanely fast and complicated riff structures being churned out with such an absolute sniper-rifle precision.

How this band manages to stay in time is beyond me. From finger ripping fast riffs to the chunky style grind of Intense Hammer Rage, they never lose a beat in between. On top of that they even add bizarre electronic elements, DJ disc scratching and other weird assortments into their music. This firmly consolidates my belief that the Czech Republic has the best talent as far as grind is concerned. Woe to the man who thinks grind is boring, conventional, dogmatic and simple to play, for I am going to play him Alienation Mental and watch him go numb with absolute shock.

They have two guitarists, Pavel and Michal, who are responsible for most of the carnage, which Jarda the drum terrorist shares in. He works on two speed levels: fast blastbeats and even faster blastbeats. Milan has been credited with the screams but there seems to be some backing vocals as I hear low pitched growls, insane shrieking and frog croaks in the due course of the album. I cannot even begin to imagine what the bassist, Mirek, must be going through in trying to keep up with these maniacs. He does an admirable job.

Only Origin’s recent album gives this some competition in terms of technicality, but ultimately Alienation Mental has the upper edge because they have also written some amazing riffs that you remember after the album’s finished. Even the experimental parts like the song “Children of South” with its rap like disc scratching and hip hop beats just exude an aura of total coolness. The bottom line, obviously is that this is one album you JUST NEED TO HAVE. This is my Pick of the Issue #1.

Band Contact: alienation.mental@centrum.cz Label Contact: lolokar@mybox.cz (10/10) 

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Not one, not two, but three All is Suffering recordings have made their way to the Maelstrom review desk, which is good news for all as this band should be taken notice of. On the six-track Execution by Flamethrower, All is Suffering continue to provide some good ass-kicking with their hybrid style of extreme metal genres and punk. Compared to the quintessential The Past: Vindictive Sadisms of Petty Bureaucrats (reviewed in issue #12 and Roberto's top ten albums of 2002), Execution by Flamethrower is much more punk, and as a result, actually sounds kind of happy in comparison, as impossible as that seems.

And while Execution by Flamethrower is good, it pales in comparison to the crushing splendor of The Past…, which we can certainly excuse All is Suffering for not ever managing to duplicate. The vocals aren't as insane and the seething, furious riffs and stunning drumming are largely absent. If you haven't heard The Past…, stop reading now, contact Crucial Blast Industries and get that record. Like me, you'll want all this other stuff too. (7/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Funny how mediums and locales make a difference on a listener’s impressions. The two tracks on this 7" that are also found on the latest CD (reviewed above) by this essential band sounded good the four times I listened to them on my headphones and in my car, but here they sound awesome. I dunno why. Give my roommate’s shitty record player and halfway decent stereo, and the medium of vinyl the credit. A nice 7" to pick up if you’re a vinyl maniac. (8/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Like the other 7" reviewed in this issue, Mauthausen also sounds killer, but I’m tacking on a disclaimer that you may have to listen to it on my roommate’s stereo to get the full effect.

Seriously, though, the three songs that are on display here that are taken from the full length The Past: Vindictive Sadisms of Petty Bureaucrats (reviewed in last issue and in my top 10 of 2002!) are superb. Thankfully, the track “Mauthausen” and its soul crushing choral interlude made the cut. The emotion conveyed by this track is the perfect aural counterbalance to the hauntingly provocative artwork of a Nazi in the process of hanging a man while a girl dangles on the end of her own rope. All three people in the picture have the same expression. It hits you right there in your gut, just like this crushing band. (8/10)

review by: Matt Smith

I enjoyed this CD more than most everything else I reviewed this time around. “Blistering” is a good adjective to describe it. Allegiance is like a mixture of Marduk (which is appropriate, since Allegiance now has Fredrick Andersson and his crazy-fast extremities) and Amon Amarth, soaking their Viking-themed black metal in blast beats and fast-picked guitars.

The drum fills are insanely fast and accurate, though accuracy never seems to be a problem with the Swedes. A few slower parts featuring synthesizers or acoustic guitars are thrown in for variety, and prove that Allegiance can do a little down-tempo stuff. But the best parts are blazing fast and raw as hell. I’ll definitely be listening to Hymns of Blod for as long as I can stand its intensity. (8.5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

The debut album of Amber Asylum, the brainchild of the prolific violinist Kris Force, has been re-mastered and reissued with three bonus tracks. These aren't the tacked on kind of bonus thingies that are so often on reissues; you know, like demo tape stuff or live stuff whose sound quality is entirely different and who ultimately break the flow of the album. Not at all; these bonus tracks are as integral to Frozen in Amber as track one, "Volcano Suite."

Frozen in Amber is a collection of mostly acoustic instruments such as cello, piano, clarinet, guitar and violin that are reinforced by some plugged in instruments like samplers and keyboards. Vocals surface occasionally, invoking images of the shades of beautiful women's souls. The whole is an eclectic and cohesive collection of pieces that range from the 10-minute "Volcano Suite" and its melodic themes, to much shorter pieces of rich, droning ambiance.

Force and company deliver taste, style and clarity on every melancholic note. On Frozen in Amber, Amber Asylum has a knack for being able to bend notes in and out of key ever so slightly, often giving the music a feeling of decaying decadence, like a luxurious tea parlor that's falling apart. By the time the interpretation of Bach's "Cello Suite in G Major," with scratchy record ambience and minimal vocals, comes to a close, you can actually see the ghosts float across the room.

Frozen in Amber weaves a classy tapestry of warmth and melancholy to soothe the hearts of savage beasts of all musical tastes. Where so many classical music albums fail, Frozen in Amber succeeds as its music is precisely composed with the intention to be presented on a recorded medium and enjoyed as such. We definitely recommend you getting this, especially if you own and loved the original issue. (8/10)

review by: Roberto Martinellli

Wow, ANOTHER Anaal Nathrakh record! I can’t get enough. This latest recording from these most hate filled British high-tech metallers is largely in the same vein as their debut album, The Codex Necro (review in issue #7), but with a less heavy production.

So you’ll get more of the insanely precise, blistering riffs with fucked to shit vocals and drum machine on overdrive, but with less of the fluff, as When Fire Rains Down... is plainly six songs with no intros or outros or samples. It’s not all choking speed this time, as the album slows down quite a bit, especially around the end of the record. Also making a debut are clean vocals, which are a success.

Guest starring on this EP are Attila Csihar and Seth Teitan of Aborym fame, who both bring something to the table with their trademark vocals and excellent solos, respectively. Csihar does all the vocals on one track, so no duets with the regular Anaal Nathrakh vocalist.

Providing perhaps a bit less of an impact than The Codex Necro, When Fire Rains Down from the Sky, Mankind Will Reap As It Has Sown is a necessary purchase for anyone who liked the debut, as well as those who are fans of Aborym or Octinomos, or just lovers of fast and fucked music. (8/10) 

review by: Jez Andrews

I admit that it was NOT the best of ideas to listen to a lot of Rush and Dream Theater before taking my first taste of Andromeda. There are quite a few bands whose music is both complex and diverse, yet effective and accessible at the same time. The true greats are those who create such music without any signs of strain or imitation. Before going any further, it should be pointed out that this, the second album from these rising Swedish metallers, is steeped in Dream Theater influence The shifting time signatures and moods, the jazzy keyboard solos, the soulful vocals, virtuoso basslines, it's all there. Do not, however, imagine that I'm trying to rip into them. The tracks have been recorded fantastically.

The title track sounds like the work of Mike Patton, but despite this and the aforementioned prog metal inspiration, Andromeda have put a great deal of themselves into this album. The song structures have been very well designed, and the very ambience of II=I allows the listener to feel treated to the finer, more cultured side of metal. Yup, Andromenda are among the Frasier Cranes of their art.

After a while, the track listing became more and more meaningless, as I preferred to think of the album as one continuous stream of flashy musicianship and thrilling uncertainty. The band would probably hate me for saying so, but I really don't see this as the kind of stuff you could headbang to, much less play accurate air guitar (though my respect goes out to those who could). The moments of chugging thrash seemed to compliment the background nicely, yet with one snap of the fingers, the guitars could become part of the background themselves. There is something most elegant, and at the same time annoying ly boy band-ish about “Castaway,” but this being the most straight-forward' track, I was willing to overlook any flaws. The one real criticism I have of Andromeda is that they seem to get off on their use of odd time and syncopation. When applied in moderation, it can have most effective results, but these guys are just going overboard, especially on “Parasite” and “One in My Head.”

Rhythmn-wise, one for the Meshuggah fans, and anybody who finds themselves drawn to this album, it would also be worth checking out Planet X's Moon Babies. (7.5/10) 

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Antigama’s five covers of grind/punk band Siekiera are heavy and crushing and tough. With a bass guitar sound as big as a house and simple, infectious riffs that explode regularly into blast beat craziness, it’s a really good time. The vocals are gruff and muscular, and the combination of the huge guitar tone and the grindcore like snare that cuts through with its pinging is a nice contrast.

Jan Ag’s act is a cool contrast in itself, but only for a while, and only in relation to the Antigama side. This one man side project of famed grind band Agathocles features a lot of warped vocals and instrumentation propelled by a dancy drum machine. The vox and tones are thick and work well for the first track or maybe two, but dummy, rhythmic lyrics about swinging an axe in my back get old fast. Jan Ag’s work could be better if the overall sound were thicker and heavier. (Antigama 7/10, Jan Ag 3.8/10) 

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Calling this a promo rehearsal is doing Antigama a disservice. You might expect this to have been recorded in some shitty basment, and the result to be rough and muddy, but it’s quite the opposite. The four tracks of grindy/punky, freak out music presented here are heavy without being bloated, and vary in speed without varying in intensity.

It’s cool to see that Antigama’s own, proper style has more depth than the material that was displayed on the split with Jan Ag (see below). Here, tasty elements like epileptic saxophone that is mixed just right complements the killer bass work to create engaging songs. The final track is a Godflesh cover “Anything is Mine,” and its slow, crushing delivery is an excellent way to round out this all-too short, nine-minute MCD. Great demo. (7/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Just as we recommend albums to you, there are others that we feel it is our duty to steer you clear of. The Austerity Program’s Terra Nova EP is one of the latter. I haven’t heard every record that Hydrahead has put out, but I feel secure in saying that this is by far the worst thing to come out from that generally reliable label.

The Austerity Program is billed as being the music of two dorky, middle-class white guys trying to be hard. Don’t expect a twist. Sure, there are elements that this duo does that speak of some interesting experimentation, but much of the time you get the impression that the Terra Nova EP is like an inside joke that you’re a third party to.

It’s kind of good for the first two and a half minutes. The guitar and bass have a nice ambiance to them. The sound of the instruments and the drum machine may be flat and too clinical, but it could be promising. However, whatever high hopes are dashed immediately once the first vocals are uttered. Out of control, cracking and limp, the feeble attempts at both extremity and something approaching melody doom this project. The way the lyrics come across as bad Beatnik poetry cements the notion of an album that’s attempting to be arty. Plainly avoid. (1/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Part two of two of this latest, Viking inspired chapter from this metal institution features more of the same vibe found on part one, and even more bad yet epic singing. But we love it because it’s Bathory.

Truly, now, the singing is very, very bad - like the worst stuff in Nordland I, but throughout the entire record, and much worse even than the landmark Twilight of the Gods album. The sort of melodic, kind of screamed and very strained vocals work if you try hard throughout to keep in mind that the singer is a Viking warrior. I mean, beyond the mastery of the patented “o-o-o-o” style, Vikings aren’t supposed to be able to sing well, are they? (Well, not the men, anyway.)

This aside, the music on Nordland II is perhaps the most epic yet from this seminal metal band. Things get more aggressive at times, like on the thrashy parts of “Death and Resurrection of a Northern Son,” but mostly the music speaks of how fucking great it is to be a Scandinavian warrior. The sound has a definite old school feel to it, and those who have loved Bathory for a long time will surely not be disappointed.

And that’s really it in a nutshell. Bathory fans will love this, but Johnny-come-latelys might not get what the big whoop is all about. Being into Bathory is as much about being interested in the music as it is in the mystique and history, and if you get that, then buy this record.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

There’s no doubt that the trio that make up Big Baby Satan had a great time making this CD and really enjoy being in this band. Maelstrom supports them in this. However, the issue at hand is whether you, the reader, should spend money or effort on this or any recording we review. Sadly, in this case the answer is no.

Big Baby Satan play heavy, simplistic metal with rock beats, and thus are able to play the style with no problem. And although the guitar and bass tones are right, the biggest strike against them is in the restrained production that really does the band a disservice.

Big Baby Satan’s song ideas don’t go much farther beyond two and a half minutes of generic riffing that does nothing to impress the listener with any notion that thought or care was put into arrangements. The last track is a total goof-off cover of a Dio song with sloppy vocals. While this was no doubt really fun for the three Big Baby Satan dudes to do, it doesn’t make any connection to anyone approaching it from a stranger’s point of view. Indeed, that sums up the entire record. I hate writing reviews like this. (0.5/10)

review by: Matt Smith

Biohazard, eh? Sophistication still doesn’t play a big role in their music, and I think they’re trying to do something that’s a little to foreign to them. They’re attempting to be harder than they’re physically able. Song titles like “Heads Kicked In” and “Beaten Senseless” don’t even make for amusing content, let alone innovation.

The “new” Biohazard appears to be inspired by Sepultura more than anyone, but they don’t pull it off. The vocals, for example, sometimes sound like Max Cavalera on a bad day. However, occasional deep growls layered on top of crunchy guitars sound good with a tribal-sounding beat in the background.

Kill or be Killed is not entirely disagreeable, but much of it is unoriginal and unimpressive. Stoner-metal fans might enjoy some of the slow, drudging sections. Their consistent 4/4 pattern makes Biohazard easy to follow, but essentially there’s not enough going on to keep the music interesting. (3/10)

review by: Laurent Martini

Orchards and Caravans is a mix of sound collages and of mood and musical experiments. Overall, the album is fairly good with an interesting mix of instruments (“Mary Ann”) and ghostly vocals (“Animals of the Summit”) that create a wonderful, ethereal sound.

Unfortunately, at times the band drags on as they seem lost in their experimentation with no clear way to go and no end in sight. This makes for what seems interminable songs (though most clock in at under three minutes) and a few letdowns. “The Repetitive Pillar of Clouds” is a disappointing follow up to the imaginative “White Sundials Faced the Sun.” Overall a good buy but not as good as Glenn Donaldson's primary band, Thuja. (6/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

The only other Blood album I have heard is the debut, Impulse to Destroy, and not much seems to have changed with their song structures since then. They still can’t handle any more than two riffs per song. Okay, sure, credit is due to the band that they haven’t betrayed their roots, but after seven albums you would expect any band to significantly improve their song writing skills. I also agree they have come up with some nice catchy riffs but why do they have to kill each and every good riff they write by repeating it five times in a song?

The sound is pretty good and the guitars get a heavy treatment. The emphasis on grindcore is much less pronounced on this album and instead there are a lot of old school death metal influences. But these influences sound drunk and retarded rather than dark and evil. And evidently after using two riffs per song, sometimes even less, they still ran out of riffs and had to re-use some riffs with some modifications. For instance, “Garbage Can Biotope” starts off with a very similar riff found in album opener “Blood Pulsation.”

The best moments on this album are the aggressive blasts on “Jesus Descent,” the catchy riffs on “Penalty” and “Wormbody,” and the cool song “Breaking Bounds.” I might enjoy this album when I’m drunk, but as long as I’m sober and in my senses, I can live without it. (4.5/10) 

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

The cover art reminded me of Dismember’s Like an Ever Flowing Stream album, which featured a picture of the band members dripping blood from head to toe. All suspicions of this being old school styled death metal were confirmed as soon as the first song, “Unleashing Hell,” started.

I had missed out on their debut offering, Monument of Death, but I remember reading in a lot of places that it was really not an album worth getting. On first listen of this new record, I did not find too much to freak out on, but this has been slowly growing on me. Imagine Cannibal Corpse riffs from The Bleeding-era mixed with the rhythmic sense of modern day Vader and liberal dosages of thrash riffs, and you have Blood Red Throne.

Sometimes they carry the Cannibal Corpse admiration a bit too far, like on “Razor Jack,” where there is a blatant rip-off of a riff from Cannibal’s “Pulverized.” Anyhow the music is pretty tight and I like the way the thrash riffs bleed into this death metal carnage, sometimes giving rise to the impression I’m listening to Vomitory at half their speed.

“Bleeders Lament” has a damn good solo and it’s a pity that none of the other songs show much in the way of good leads. There are no major standout parts other than this solo and it’s the complete album that works as a whole: creating a sound of old school death metal that everyone who grew up listening to Cannibal Corpse and Slayer is going to enjoy.

There is not one, but two hidden songs. Both are pretty much in the same style as the rest of the material, but the first one might just be the most brutal track on the CD. A negative point is that there is no double bass on this album (no, I refuse to call that metallic clickety clack thing as a double bass), and a humorous point about the album is the way the band members like to identify themselves in the booklet. No, not by their faces, but by their feet… (6.2/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

This is the band from which the offshoot Funeral Inception (reviewed in issue 12) was formed. I was expecting some Suffocation influenced brutal death metal and I wasn’t off the mark by much. Musically, there isn’t much difference between Bloody Gore and Funeral Inception other than the fact that the latter are a little bit more dynamic and complex.

The sound on this album is decent. It could have been a lot heavier. The first song, “Slices of Flesh Are Being Devoured,” reminds me of Pyaemia during the chugging palm muted riffs. Throughout the album, repetitions are kept to a minimum level and the number of riffs are greater. “Eaten By Worms” is a decent track but there are no standout riffs in it. “Bathing Your Soul with Gore Tears” and “Shrivel and Rot” are both good songs with constant variations.

As soon as “Unrecognizable Mutilations” started, I recognized a riff on it that I had heard before. On checking the song list of Funeral Inception’s “Anthems of Disenchantment” album I found out that they had used the song as well. This song is one of the most complex songs on this album along with “Drowned in Impurity.” Overall, this is a pretty good album, though the sameness of the material is going to put off all but the most die hard of brutal death metal die-hards. (5.7/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Previously only available as a Japanese import, Boris' Amplifier Worship is just that: the reverence of the actual, physical weight that can emanate from an amp when a guitar is tuned as low as it can go and then fiddled with. But Amplifier Worship isn't only guitar drones. There are some atypical aspects for this genre that pepper the album, like a bongo section and some faster, punk parts with vocals in Japanese. It's a good disk, but people new to this band are definitely encouraged to check out Flood first. (6.5/10)

review by: Jason Thornberry

Phoenix commences with a coarse, almost emo-core disposition (“Worst Part”), and shifts into stringent, militaristic riffing by track three (“Closer”). The mantra-like ending of “Closer” recalls Garrison, and the mini album ends with phrasing that makes you think of Cave In on its Tides of Tomorrow EP.

Some of the chords on “Closer” can induce dizziness, but knowledge that the geezer playing them has a degree in jazz guitar will help bring things into focus. I can count on exactly one finger the number of antecedents he’s got, and if you guessed Page Hamilton (Helmet) you’ve won a free toaster oven.

It isn’t at all fair to them though to jump straight to an “emo” classification whilst summing up their newest, just because the man on the mic (Fred Mascherino, the same guy who plays guitar) doesn’t growl, shout, or act like someone's stapled his sac. They’re the logical progression/conclusion to what everyone else is (literally) shouting about. This, their second EP release, and third recording overall, touches post hardcore like the sunset after a storm. (7/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

These guys seem to be a very confused bunch. Looking at their artwork and song titles you would expect some gory brutal death metal, yet when you look at the picture of these five masked guys, you’ll see one guy sporting a Dimmu Borgir tee and also attired in spike belts. Then you listen to the music itself, and it turns out to melodic death/thrash.

But what the fuck were they ever thinking when they named one of their songs “Raining Blood”? Bunuh’s music does not hold up half a candle in front of the legendary Slayer song, and such impertinence deserves a tight slap in the face. The music mostly consists of tried and tested and rehashed thrash riffs and lackluster drumming. The growling vocals give the whole thing a death metal feel, but lack any kind of power to make them sound captivating.

There are two bonus songs that were supposedly recorded by the previous band that these guys were part of, and the second one, “Psychiatric Disorder,” is the only song on this MCD that crosses the barely-decent mark. Now there is an asterisk next to the song title and I don’t know what that is supposed to mean. Maybe it’s a cover and not their own song. Whatever. I’ll stay away from Bunuh until they get some fresh ideas for their music and songtitles, coz right now they bore the shit out of me. (3.7/10)

review by: Jez Andrews

Far be it from me to discourage a band who are willing to go out there and give it their all, but the phrase that most readily comes to mind right now is "let the past be the past." Byfist are practically a tribute to the trades of Anthrax, Mercyful Fate and Judas Priest.

Now don't get me wrong, I have the deepest respect and admiration for all the giants of the 80's thrash scene, but Byfist seem intent on re-inventing the whole thing for the new millennium. Giving credit where it's due, were this released in 1983, they would most likely have been hailed as heavy metal heroes (believe me, there is a great deal of musical talent among them), but in the present day, the old school sound is best left in the hands of those who first made it. Not that I would say no to seeing them live in a metal club if the opportunity was there... (5.5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Mauro Berchi, the driving force behind Canaan, Italy's premier Goth band, runs his band a lot like an overview of his record label, Eibon, which focuses greatly on ambient, experimental and noise acts. For Canaan does the Goth thing superbly, lush and sensual and melancholic, but with a faint glimmer of hope that shines through in the exquisite melodies; but there are also the dark, lulling ambient mood pieces that are spread out between the songs.

A Canaan record is a relaxing, soothing and delectable experience. The songs are well composed and sound great from the clever drumming to the almost always great vocals. The latter are sometimes in Italian, which gives an even stronger flavor to this band, kind of like the more melancholy moments to the Morricone soundtrack of "Cinema Paradiso."

You can certainly pick out the Goth influences in Canaan, but it's made original with the seamless incorporation of the ambient elements. And like all Canaan records, the music is as high a priority as the packaging, which reflects the attention to detail and true artistic ideals of Berchi and co. Heartily recommended. (8.3/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Boy, you’d better hold on tight to your trousers. When the thick guitar sound generated by these guys hits you head-on, ripping everything around you into shreds, the last thing you want to do is stand bare-assed with your privates exposed to this slaughter.

This is some great crusty grindcore brought to you by this four-piece Aussie band. I like to think of them as a more rocking version of early Brutal Truth. They groove and grind their way through 11 tracks in about 13 minutes, keeping all pretense of technicality at bay. There are some really stupid intros on offer here, which I guess might be pretty funny when you’re stoned, but since the total play time is just 13 minutes I really wish they had done away with these and given me more grind!

There are two guitarists in the band but they seem to be just doubling each other. Probably that explains the mammoth sound they have achieved here. The songs are of optimum length, with enough punch to make me hit the repeat button continuously, and I can listen to this MCD four or five times in a row without any problem. The best songs are probably the first (“Chemical Imbalance”) and the last (“A.O.D”). Totally enjoyable. (8/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Carcass Grinder from Japan plays some intense and catchy grindcore. The sound is very raw and is definitely a very lo-fi recording. The vocals make the music sound more chaotic than it actually is with a lot of drawn out snarls and screams. According to the cd inlay, there are five members contributing to the vocal onslaught: two vocalists and the guitarist, bassist and drummer all providing backing vocals. With a better sound this could be as devastating as Captain Cleanoff, but ultimately falls short of making an effective impact. My favorite songs on this are the extremely catchy “Rapebyeyes” and “CDY.”

Demisor (from Singapore) on the other hand boast a much better sound. They start off with a rocking instrumental (intriguingly entitled “Forever!!! Fuck Yeah!!! Let’s Get Trendy!!!”) replete with melodic solos and the like.. Apparently they decided being trendy wasn’t such a great idea after all, since after this song all melody is thrown out of the window and in come the furious blast beats. The riffs are a high speed blur and constantly change tempos, driving the songs forward. They do not forget the need to inject some good headbanging moments either, and “As the Whisper in the Morning Dawn” is a good example of this. They blast through nine songs in no time and put up an impressive performance overall. (Carcass Grinder: 6.5/10 Demisor: 7/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Hmmm….scratching the surface, this seems like another triumph by one of our favorite dirty, filthy, nasty and totally reprehensible but oh-so-great bands, Carpathian Forest. The unmistakable vocals of Nattefrost, the trademark bass sound, and that particular way the drums are played and mixed. Uh-huh, Carpathian Forest can do no wrong.

Whoops. While Defending the Throne of Evil does sound like the Carpathian Forest that we know and love, some stylistic changes that can be at best qualified as curious have done a number on this band. We’re talking mostly about the keyboards that are on nearly every track of the disk. These keys are of the cheesy, blatantly synthesized "ooh" and "aah" sort, the kind very at home in campy goth rock or third rate Dimmu Borgir type bands. Sometimes the keys have a circus flair to them, which should definitely cause concern amongst fans of this band. Sure, Carpathian Forest has used keys before, and well (like on Strange Old Brew's "The Return of the Freezing Wind"), but this is an entirely different matter.

The punk influence in the riffs is also mostly gone, which is a major, major shame. It does pop up here and again, like on "One with the Earth," but that element that made albums like Strange Old Brew a masterpiece has been removed to a result that's almost eerie. Like, it sounds like Carpathian Forest, but… that's not Carpathian Forest... And in this band's case, with the punk influences go the energy and attitude.

In terms of the sound, it's almost too much of a good thing. Nattefrost's vocals are produced to sound bigger and even more Nattefrost-like, and the trademark instrumental sound is similarly bloated. Why, considering the previously mentioned points and looking at the booklet photographs and art, which are even more sideshow than ever before, you can't help but think that Defending the Throne of Evil is the cartoon version of Carpathian Forest - the sort of Japanese super deformed, bobble head doll version of this Norwegian great.

It's not all disappointing, although in the same breath we have to say that the album picks up at the second to last track, which features saxophone, and the last track, which is a sort of trip-hoppy with a scratchy record sound on top. It's a lot like the end to Morbid Fascination of Death.

So it's hard to swallow. There is something undoubtedly funny about this record. It sort of showed up in the stores one day, unexpected - a nice surprise, not on the usual Avantgarde Music label, but on Season of Mist. But there's just something not right. Honestly, if it turned out that this was some sort of doppleganger band, that would sit better than trying to figure out what's up with this record. As awful as the notion is, it seems that Carpathian Forest have become caricatures of themselves. The message on the inside sleeve says, "Carpathian Forest must be destroyed." Please let it not be true. (4/10)

review by: Larissa Parson

Cat Power (Chan Marshall) is notorious in some circles for the live show she puts on. Unlike some artists whose live shows far outstrip the impressions one gets from in-studio work, Marshall’s live act is more like someone struggling with very real and very terrifying neuroses, trying desperately to remain present in the space she’s occupying. It’s like watching a car crash in progress, not being able to do anything but watch and hope that no one ends up broken.

Her March show at the 9:30 club in Washington DC was one such show, and I had the great honor to be there. When Chan stepped onstage with a band to back her, everyone in the audience was clearly delighted, calling out, "we love you, Chan." And for ten minutes, we were all enraptured, as Chan sat down and played guitar with her band, and sang to us with her eerie, wonderful voice. And then the band left her to play the piano. That’s where the show began to go wrong. For Marshall had a problem, and she wanted us to know: she had to pee. This became the rest of the show; by the time she’d finally managed to get through “Names,” one of the most powerful songs on her most recent release, You Are Free, which she started and stopped three times, half of the audience was gone. And she still had to pee.

For me, that show ruined Cat Power’s music for all of ten minutes. You Are Free is a tremendous return to songwriting for Marshall, who hasn’t released an album of originals since 1998’s stunning Moon Pix. The same qualities that make Chan Marshall awkward and shy on stage come across as authentic and tortured (in a good way) on her studio efforts, and You Are Free is the best she’s sounded. Her voice, as rawly tender as always, is put to excellent use here. And while the album seems to veer schizophrenically from piano-and-voice narratives like the opener, “I Don’t’ Blame You” to the considerably more upbeat “Free,” to spend a whole album on the desolate melodies of the slower songs would be too much for most people to handle uninterrupted. “Free,” “Speak for Me,” “He War,” break up the tone and almost trick us into thinking Chan is a rock star, not a singer-songwriter.

Tracks like “Fool” and “Maybe Not” bring us back to the old familiar Chan we knew and loved on Moon Pix, showcasing her voice and twisting our hearts. “Names” is certainly the most tear-jerking song on the album, in fact painful to listen to, but so good - a list of children abused, what they suffered, how old they were, what they did to each other, where they are now (mostly dead). The album fades by the end - “Evolution,” the closer, is a disappointment, with Eddie Vedder whispering backup, instead of being the spooky tune it sets out to be. Track 11-13 are just fine on their own, but by the time you’ve made it through “Names” it’s time for something noisier, which these just don’t deliver. Nevertheless, if you haven’t yet discovered Cat Power and want something slow and sad and lovely, this is a good album to start with, and won’t disappoint. (7.5/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

From the same label that brought us Alienation Mental comes another grind act, Cerebral Turbulency. These guys lean more towards straightforward and catchy grindcore. This album seems to carry on right from where their previous effort, Forces Closing Down, left off. Of course, there are a few differences: the thicker and clearer production, the countless vocal styles used and sharper and more focused songwriting. Also they seem to have experimented with some weird time changes and stuff like on “Yes! Legitimate” and “Different World.” But for the most part of the album they are still the same band I had heard before: a grindcore band with a penchant for writing great catchy tunes as well the propensity to launch into some blisteringly intense sessions.

Trust me, when they catch you in the middle of one of their groovy parts, you’re going to drop whatever you are doing and end up headbanging to this stuff like a maniac, either voluntarily or involuntarily. The biggest selling point of this album is definitely the variety on offer, and as I write this very sentence I am treated to a melodic solo on “Adios a las corridas,” followed soon after by the punkish “Don’t Let Her Consume!”

The vocal styles cover almost the entire gamut of the extreme metal range, from hardcore to deep death metal growling, to grindcore screaming, to guttural goregrind gurgling - and also some frog croaks. Like Alienation Mental, they have also experimented with some electronica on “Development,” though the results are less than spectacular.

It’s hard to pinpoint any particular favorites here, especially as they cover 26 songs in under 35 minutes and so many different things happen in each song. Obviously these guys have taken pains to ensure that this does not turn out to be a boring or standard grindcore album, and they have been entirely successful. (8/10)

review by: Jez Andrews

Hmmmm....song titles like “Devil's Reign” and “Guardian of the Gates”....the printed sentiment, "Stay Evil...Eternal Hails!"... Sounds pretty metal to me.

The sound is described as “classic black thrash.” What it is, in reality, is half punk and half sub-standard Venom imitation. What kind of material Chemikiller are set to release in the future, I know not. I only hope for their sake that Hell's Rock N Roll was just a fucking terrible example of their work. So there it is: sixteen minutes and eleven seconds of my life wasted. (1.5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

To be clear, this is NOT a new Converge record. Rather, it’s a collection of the band’s earliest studio releases, some demo stuff, and a couple live tracks. As such, there is absolutely no reason to get this before acquiring the band’s finest hour, Jane Doe, which may be the greatest metalcore record ever.

Now, if you have either gone out and gotten Jane Doe and liked it, or are a long time fan of this band, Unloved and Weeded Out will not disappoint. It’s even better than you might think for an album of early stuff, as every track on this disk has great sound. The insane, scythe-like vocals that sum up teenage angst in a sound are just as extreme. While the band wasn’t as technical or innovative back then as they are now, there’s plenty to check out, especially on the song “Jacob’s Ladder.” The digipak packaging and art is also excellent.

However, being early material from a budding metalcore band’s career, the songs have that interchangeable aspect to them. But, like we said, it’s not the album to get first. (6/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Should we congratulate Cradle of Filth in being the first band to be considered black metal to be signed to a gargantuan, corporate label? I think so. Hasn't that been Cradle's objective all along? The problem with the animosity that conservative black metal fans feel  is precisely about regarding Cradle as a black metal band, which it of course isn't. Let that go and you might be able to actually come to the conclusion that Cradle of Filth actually makes good records, and Damnation and a Day is a good record.

The album is a lot to chew on, though, what at 17 tracks and 77 minutes, with 72 extra musicians in the form of a Hungarian choir and orchestra. The result certainly has a good deal of grandiose, soundtrack-like feel to it. The orchestral and choir parts are tasteful and great, as are the few narrative bits.

The actual parts where Cradle of Filth, the proper band, plays are also very good. Damnation and a Day is a stockpile of good riffs and engaging songs, although there doesn't seem to be any one tune that stands out above the rest. The transitions between the metal and non-metal parts isn't entirely seamless, though, mainly due to a sense that the classical musicians are there not necessarily because of a concrete need for them. Dani's vocals are also a bit of a surprise (this coming from one who is only casually familiar with Cradle's discography), as they're held back quite a bit considering he's the main focus of the band. Those preposterous, eagle shriek signatures are really, really toned down here.

It may take a few listens to really get your mind around all that's going on here. Despite its extreme length, Damnation and a Day's music is well crafted. Sure, some may never be able to come to grips with Dani Filth's vocals, but there's a great deal to appreciate otherwise. Fans will undoubtedly love this disk, as will those who can let go of the limiting notions of what Cradle of Filth should be. (7/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Cranial Incisored (Indonesia) are aiming to be a mixture of Cenotaph (Turkey) like grind with the technical eccentricity of Cephalic Carnage. Ambitious as that may sound, the guitarist does a great job of coming up with some complicated riff structures and weird time signatures. In fact, some of this stuff is so convoluted I initially thought they were playing total crap! It took quite a few devoted listens to the opener “Felo De Se” before things started to make sense.

But it is the drumming that needs to be stepped up a notch. The bad drum sound doesn’t help: the snare can hardly be heard. The music is so blatantly influenced by Cenotaph with the all the split second acceleration and deceleration going on, I have a feeling the drummer is having a tough a time just keeping up with the pace of changes.

The guttural vocals fit in nicely with the music and the bassist seems to be having a whale of a time; check out the slapping abound on “Popped off the Hook.” Most of the songs are quite short and I hope they rectify that next time around. Cranial Incisored seem to be on the same evolution level as Cenotaph’s “Voluptuously Minced” and they can become big names soon, provided they practice enough! (5.5/10) 

review by: Jez Andrews

Crossover are a thrashy death metal band from Greece. A lyrical excerpt from the Book of Leviathan (courtesy of Chruch of Satan) is used for this album's intro (“Debaucher by the Pilgrimage”), giving way to a satisfying dish of old school death metal with a slight Strapping Young Lad feeling to the vocals.

Crossover have a very honest and straight forward style that has remained potent and relevant for fifteen years or more, adding their own ingredients to the cooking pot along the way. The lyrical theme is loosely based on that of Deicide, with lashings of social outrage and nightmares of the apocalypse. I like the subtle use of keyboards - subtle but effective.

My favourite track (following a cover of Rotting Christ's “In the Sign of Evil Existence”) is “God Possessed,” a chunky and crushing one-fingered salute to the man upstairs. And oh, yes, nicely hidden track 66.

Okay, I like what I hear so far, but like a porn enthusiast stuck between Amsterdam and Hamburg, it could go either way from here. (6.1/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Whether live or in studio, there is no better example of performance and efficiency than Cryptopsy. This French Canadian front runner’s first official live album does a pretty good job of translating the experience of seeing this juggernaut on stage, but does come up short in a couple areas.

Cryptopsy’s musical performance is awesome. The 10 songs played in this set, captured in 2002 in Montreal, are true to their studio form. If nothing they prove that Cryptopsy plays even faster live.

I think I can speak for any fan of technical death that the anticipation of being able to hear one of Flo Mounier’s drum solos immortalized on plastic is reason enough to buy this record. As expected, the solo is impressive, but Mounier is very hard on himself and you know that he must be unhappy with it.

While the sound of the show is clear, it’s a little flat and choked. The songs don’t jump out of the speakers to ensnare you in the music’s whirlwind brutality. There is also something lacking in terms of atmosphere. Certainly the intro of ambient music and crowd noise leads the listener into mounting anticipation, but from there, there’s not a whole lot to draw you into the “I’m there” feeling. Cryptopsy are very cut-and-dried and mechanical on this recording. They go from song to song like on a checklist. The set ends and there is no encore.

New frontman Martin Lacroix is perhaps the reason for this. His in between song interactions with the audience are samey and he doesn’t exude much charisma. We may have been spoiled by the sheer intensity that previous frontman Mike DiSalvo radiated by merely standing in place. Seeing Lacroix live shows that he puts his all into his performance and then some, but he’s got shoes to fill that are perhaps too large for him.

Lacroix was hired as he is sort of a Jack of All Trades, and as such, he handles the material written during the tenures of his two predecessors well, but at 3/4 strength. We’ll have to wait and see how he does with material written expressly for him as Cryptopsy’s frontman to be able to make a better decision. (6.6/10)

review by: Dave McGonigle

The picture of Cul De Sac that accompanies their latest album is slightly blurred in some places, giving the photograph an out-of focus, woozy feel to it. It’s an ambiance that carries over to the majority of tracks on their stunning new album, Death of the Sun, where traditional instruments vie for foreground space with drifting clouds of electronics, “found sounds” and distant percussion.

Make no mistake about it, though: these boys are seasoned veterans of the 90s instrumental rock scene, pre-(post-rock), even, so you’re in safe hands. From the opening track “Dust of Butterflies” to the final “I remember nothing more,” you’re treated to some fantastically well-realized and recorded music: every beat of Jon Proudman’s monolithic percussion in “Turok, Son of Stone” echoes through your skull, complementing the eerie female vocal; and rarely have found sounds been used so well as on “Bellvue Bridge,” band leader Glenn Jones’ homage to a childhood playground.

My one complaint, if I’m allowed one, is that I don’t really get a feeling for the involvement of the band’s new member, Jake Trussel, who is credited with various sampling and sequencing duties throughout the record and is supposed to ensure that the band doesn’t sound like “a band jamming along to pre-recorded tapes,” as Robin Amos puts it. Perhaps the problem is that Cul De Sac are already so far beyond such a trivial description (their last albums have all used various amounts of studio trickery and samples) that the new album is merely another step along a path that they began some time ago. And it’s really all the better for it: few bands can sound quite so, well, organic and elemental as Cul de Sac…if the Meters ever played post-rock, here’s what it would sound like. Pretty damn good. (9/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Culper Ring is a side project of Kris Force (Amber Asylum), Mason Jones (Subarachnoid Space) and Steve Von Till (Neurosis) that was recorded in three individual days over the course of five years from 1997-2001, and then shelved until now.

You can hear the similarities to the three members’ primary bands, and Force’s Amber Asylum’s soft, decaying violin and acoustic instrument-driven sound in particular. However, Amber Asylum is a raging rock concert in comparison to Culper Ring.

355 is lovely, as lovely as the transition from the last moments of life to the land of the dead. Extremely languid notes from the strings and guitars shift as ethereally as the ambient, ghost-like vocals. It’s calming, yet in an unsettling way. At the end of the day, as all three compositions on 355 were improvised, the listener is left with a mood piece that, although well done, is basically just that. (5/10)

review by: Dave McGonigle

The late, great Andy Warhol is perhaps best remembered for his belief that one day we would all be famous for 15 minutes. Sadly, Andy spun his quarter-hour out a little more than necessary: for example, you try sitting through some of his strange 10 hour films without shouting ‘pretentious art-wank’ at the top of your voice. This trifling matter aside, I think we all know what he was getting at.

Cheap and easily accessible media means that we can all have our 15 minutes, should we want them. The seamy underbelly of all this technology, however, is that many projects that probably should have been kept amongst friends are now offered to us as valid releases. Take the one-off disc 355 by Culper Ring, for example. Three mates from different bands get together in 1997, decide to jam and produce some heavy, dark, foreboding tracks. Flip to some time later. Mates get together again, but this time it looks like the happy pills are working, as their music comes out of the spin cycle clean and fresh. Fast forward to 2001. Same again. Instead, however, of sticking the masters in a drawer marked “wedding videos,” the three decide to combine the two sessions.

Does it work? Well, no, for the most part. The most surprising thing is how well the two different sessions fit together - the least surprising thing is that there’s really no tension between the background menace and the instrumentation played on top. Track 5 points to the direction that the record could have taken - sparse guitar notes echo over backwards loops while a whispered voiceover says disturbing, half-perceived phrases. For the most part, though, it’s just not essential enough to distinguish itself from the crowd. Culper Ring may have got their 15 minutes here, but I reckon you’re better off watching that video your mate did of his sister giving birth. (4.5/10)

review by: The Condor

I should say right up front that I have some “issues” with Deathwish Records, the label that released this Cursed One record. I'm sure they weren't doing it to me on purpose, but I had been consistently suckered in the past after picking up any one of their amazingly designed, and VERY METAL looking CDs only to discover the band was in fact not metal, or even heavy, but some boring, rehashed, tepid punk rock cookie cutter hardcore band. Not that it has to be metal to be good, but it does have to be good. So I didn't have high hopes for this one to be quite honest.

But boy, was I pleasantly surprised. Don't know much about the Cursed One, but they are HEAVY, and they are METAL, in a sort of metal core, used-to-be-punk-rock but discovered Slayer and black metal and traded my studded wrist band in for a spiked gauntlet sort of way.

Huge, thick guitars spit out chunky, downtuned riffs with furiously howled vocals, pounding and chaotic drumming, fucked up tempos, drony instrumental breakdowns and all sorts of stops and starts. Noisy and heavy and just weird enough to pull slightly ahead of their metal core brethren. Think some weird mix of Converge, Coalesce, Pantera, and the Melvins, with lots of cool minor key melodies, almost-industrial rhythms, found sound samples, some old school punk rock-ness, and some very heavy metal. (7/10) 

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Dark Fortress’ debut album (review here) was a tepid success as it borrowed largely from the established formula of Dissection. On the sophomore album, this German black metal band has relaxed its delivery and gone in a more original direction.

The stylistic changes aren’t necessarily better, though. Some are, like memorable riffs and constructions in “In Morte Aeternitas,” and a mid-paced energy throughout the record that works reasonably well. Others, like the goofy keyboards or glaringly out of place, mediocre female vocals on “Passage to Extinction,” do not. Overall, Profane Genocidal Creations feels quite long-winded, and not necessarily because the album is 70+ minutes. Getting through the whole thing more than once is unlikely.

So originality loses the battle on this day. Profane Genocidal Creations is a decent record. Dark Fortress is clearly in the second tier of German black metal, which of course isn’t too shabby. (6/10) 

review by: Jez Andrews

The second offering, and first full-length album, from German black metallers Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult is something I have been itching to get hold of for quite some time. Living in the UK, this task proved mighty difficult, as can often be the case with underground black metal releases from across the sea. But finally, patience prevailed and was richly rewarded.

Follow the Calls for Battle was recorded back in 2001 and is one of the true highlights in today's black metal scene. DNS do not follow trends and are the epitome of true black metal; cold, powerful, violent music, devoid of compromise. No weak tracks to be found here and some of the most impressive vocals I have heard in quite some time, paricularly on haunting dark ambient interlude “The Resentful Wanderer.”

The thundering reverb of Horrn's drums and cymbals is one of the key focus points of this album, and the riffing is everything I could have hoped for (“Pestilential Deathride” being an especially magnificent and hateful blast of defiance).

Whilst listening to the more intense moments of this album, my thoughts were jumping about in a perculiar manner. First and foemost, the thought that this is what Mayhem should have become, and also the sound of Prince Vigo from “Ghostbusters 2" declaring "What was will be, what is will be no more..."

It's a scorching cocktail of Bathory, early Emperor (minus the keyboards), and their own hellraising style. Comparisons could also be made with the likes of Nargaroth and perhaps the glory days of Satyricon, but there is something to be said for leaving comparisons aside and recognising Follow the Calls for Battle for what it is: Essential listening if you take your black metal seriously. (10/10) 

review by: Jez Andrews

Once upon a time, I was flicking through the pages of eBay, in the hope that I would stumble across an undiscovered treasure. I searched through the auctions of black metal items, perusing those that were utterly unknown to me. My interest was held by a German black metal band called Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult. After securing the LP they had split with Texan black metallers Pyre and awaiting its arrival, I realised I had found more than I had bargained for.

I would describe DNS as one of the most perfect black metal bands I have ever heard. Cold, raw, brutal, and full of violent emotional atmosphere. All this is acheived without the use of keyboards or orchestras, just four musicians who are dedicated to black metal's roots and the downfall of humanity. I cannot pick a single hole in any of the five tracks of the Pest Called Humanity demo, except that it has made me impatient to hear more. From “Ars Moriendi” to “Centuries of Mine,” it's a true blackhearted roar from the underground, accompanied by seething anti-Christian principles. What can I say? They MUST be heard.

Pyre are a slightly different kettle of fish. They seem to have adopted a simplistic production, and a style similar to early Marduk. Their four-track demo “Luciferian Dark Age” is a blistering taster for the upcoming full-length album to be released hopefully in the near future. This band have made it perfectly clear that their sound will never be compromised, and if the like of “Baleful Living Shadow” is anything to go by, they mean it. (Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult: 10/10, Pyre 8/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

While it’s clear that this seminal Norwegian black metal band is past its artistic and creative peak, there’s something reassuring about every time a new Darkthrone album comes out. As long as this group is alive and making records, there’s a secure feeling that black metal is going to be ok.

So while the new Darkthrone’s music isn’t really extremely exciting in itself, its objective is reached. Darkthrone is no longer employing the necro sound it popularized, but the energy is still raw and black and true to form, much like the sound on Plaguewielder, the last album. Where once Darkthrone albums had the same, freezing, danceless beat all the way through, Hate Them has quite a few groovy parts that are, of course, respectfully within the stringent realms of black metal.

The extremely short time it took to record and mix this album - 26 hours - is a point that isn’t downplayed. It’s fitting, really, as the mystique of the minimalism of the simple riffs and rhythms makes this group’s brand of black metal all the more effective. And there’s something fundamentally wrong with a primitive sounding band taking weeks to produce an album, isn’t there?

But the coolest part of the album is one that can’t be recognized merely by listening to it. More now than ever, Fenriz’s lyrics are deeply stimulating in their syntax and through his penchant for poetic, semi-invented words. Transcending the typical black metal gibberish, reading the lyrics on Hate Them are almost better than listening to the album itself.

While Hate Them isn’t as good as Plaguewielder, it’ll appeal to those who liked it in the same way. For me, even if I hated this record, I’d still buy it. (7/10)

review by: Jez Andrews

Defleshed are one of the most accomplished death metal acts to be heard these days, and are a most welcome part of the scene (especially now that we have been so cruelly deprived of Angelcorpse).

Royal Straight Flesh has all you could want in a death metal album. Vicious, rasping vocals, smoothly crafted riffs, blastbeats, crisp production, the whole nine yards. The superb structure and focused attitude of the songs has become a trademark for Defleshed. They have not the complexity of Nile, nor the classic value of early Deicide, but Royal Straight Flesh is still one hell of a punch in the face.

My attention was first drawn to the band by 1997's Under the Blade, and from what I've heard of their material, Defleshed haven't really put a foot wrong.

Though each track on this album is as great as the last, the title track would have to be my favourite, if only for the hook of the chorus. “Dangerous When Dead” was another track that gave me a rush, and at three minutes thirty five seconds is the longest track on the album. Can't help feeling that the main riff to closing track “Brakefailure” is ripped straight from vintage Slayer.....

Death metal fans, it's good. It's all good... (8.5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Whenever the fledgling band that I'm in gets together to practice, we invariably record our session on a shitty hand tape recorder. We do it primarily to record what we often do spontaneously so that way we can have a record later to go back to and try to remember what we did, often being puzzled at how the hell we pulled it off and at a loss on how to do it again.

So why am I bringing up this seemingly unrelated information in the review of Demure's demo? It's because the sound quality is exactly the same as my band's practices. I'm willing to bet $10 that this is how they recorded it. I'm pretty sure I'd be ten bucks richer as the press release states the demo was recorded in one of the member's living room. Each song is preceded by a minor intro stating the song title, and then Demure launch into some sort of noisy grind death punk. This formula is repeated six times.

It's unclear what Demure's intention is in circulating this demo. We can all sympathize if they lack the funds to afford to record a proper one to circulate, but this is ridiculous. Abstain from booze for a month and go into a studio, guys.

I'm not even going to begin to pass judgement on the quality of Demure's playing or material. Frankly, although they sound like they can hold it together as a band, that's neither here nor there at this point. The fact is that this zine is here to tell you what to check out and ultimately what to spend your money on, and there is no reason to look into this band until they make a proper recording. If one day this group becomes cult, then this demo might have some value, but we're putting the horse in front of the cart on that one. (0/10) 

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

It really is too bad that the production on this CD totally sucks. Desmaad (from Germany) plays a style of grind / old school death metal mixture with pretty basic riffs and songwriting. Which means if the sound is shit, then the whole thing sounds like shit. And as I said it really is a pity, as I think this stuff would have sounded pretty good with a nice heavy sound. As of now, the songs are awash in static and white noise and the guitars sound like sand paper being scraped across the strings. These guys are obviously very fond of early Napalm Death as is evident on songs like grinding “Ardath Bay.”

There are two live songs that I approached with much trepidation, but surprisingly the live tracks were less vexing. The first one is called “Phoenix” and started off quite aggressively, but lost it somewhere along the way with too many slowdowns. The second one is called “Utopia” and this is a crusty little piece and by far the most enjoyable song on the whole disc. I hope to hell the next Desmaad release gets a better sound, coz frankly this is pretty trying. (2/10) 

review by: Matt Smith

There’s nothing mind-blowing here. Cold Steel... is what I would describe as “not bad.” Destroyer 666 hasn’t done anything new in this album, but they still sound pretty good. The drums aren’t noteworthy, but they’re accurate. The guitars are similarly unimpressive, and the vocals aren’t anything special. The production stays out of the way.

Each instrument is clearly audible and nothing seems to dominate, which allows the music to be heard for what it is. In light of this, maybe they could have used some distortion. Destroyer 666’s latest, run of the mill release makes it pretty clear that they need some more practice before they make another album, lest they flood the market with more of the same-old. (5/10)

review by: Jason Thornberry

Axl Rose is more interested in Rogaine now that his mojo has been given to Dirty Power singer Patrick Goodwin. The same goes for the energy, spit and sweat of the rock from recent decades past. Dirty Power has it, and the idea of a band going back to basics is almost genius.

It’s simple: Lose the concepts, the charades associated with the Rock Star Pose, and you have an album that would sound great coming out of the stereo in a Trans Am. Goodwin also plays guitar in Pansy Division, and here adds his Gibson SG and raw voice to the low end of Nick Ulman, the drums of Jeff Potts (from Planet Seven), and Steve Perron (Les Paul).

A quartet with OG ferocity and meteaul from the days of Bon Scott. Just as I predict the return of long ‘ol hair on guys, bands will start sounding more like Dirty Power than Dashboard or Radiohead, finally. With Jack Endino (Nirvana) producing, Dirty Power’s got eleven tracks of ”turn it up, maaan” motivation. The tracks go by in a blur, and I’m gonna play it until my neighbors know the words. (8.5/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Speechless, utterly speechless, was the state I was in after listening to the third album from the band that put Mexico on the goregrind map after the release of their classic Chronic Corpora Infest debut. The shock on hearing one of the sickest bands ever change their style to something more resembling death metal than their ultra-gore approach of the past, the ecstasy on hearing one of my favourite bands release such a marvelous album, the rage which the searing riffs instilled in me, the sadomasochistic sense of satisfaction at receiving such a pummeling from these guys were just some of the emotions running through my head.

The first signs of change were noticeable after a cursory look at the songtitles. Gone were the titles that read like “Urethrive Decortico Xanthomatose Mucogested Scaffolds” and in their place were actual English words! Their previous album, Forensick had a very dirty production while this has a crystal clear sound. Forensick sounded good and gory back then, but as I listen to this, I wonder how it might sound with a production like this.

Disgorge’s previous albums conjured up frightful images of bodies exploding and gore being splattered everywhere, but this album, right from the intro leading upto “Raise the Pestilence” has a very dark and dare I say, “necro” feel to it. The cover is a near perfect representation of this feeling, as it shows a dark prison cell littered with dead bodies. The music is arranged in a stunning manner, with intense, brutal passages and maniacal, thrashing sections meshing together seamlessly. Antimo sounds like a ravenous beast on the prowl and Edgar churns out riffs as if he is possessed by the gods of killer death metal. Willy provides the grind feel to this album with his ever-chaotic drum devastation. He attains blinding speed on the double bass and on the blastbeats with seemingly effortless ease.

A word of caution: it is advisable to wear a neck brace while listening to this. You will headbang like crazy. Involuntarily. Don’t tell me later that I didn’t warn you. For instance, listen to the riffs that come in at 4:08 during “Raise The Pestilence” or the riff that comes in at exactly three minutes into “Ravenous Funeral Carnage.” God help the man who comes within my striking range during this part as I totally fly off the wall whenever I listen to it.

Disgorge could not have chosen a more fitting title for this album. Each and every song is a total fucking holocaust of the most devastating proportions. I could never have imagined Disgorge would come up with such tight and from-the-guts death metal, but they have and I salute them for it. It took another ultra killer album (Alienation Mental - Ball Spouter) to displace this from the top spot, and thus “Necrholocaust” takes honours as Pick of the Month #2. If this doesn’t make your eyes burn red with death metal rage then nothing ever will. (9.5/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

There is no fooling around on this promo CD of German grinders Divine Noise Attack. Simplistic but highly effective grindcore in the vein of Obliterate, which is another way of saying they are highly influenced by Napalm Death. I don’t have the tracklist with me as I write this review so I’ll have to refer to songs by their numbers only.

After listening to the first few songs, I am sure of one thing: you don’t want to get into the moshpit without protective gear when these guys are playing. This is just ideal fodder material for violent moshing, not too fast, enough slow passages mixed with the faster blast beat sections and plenty of riffs that make you want to headbang and punch the guy standing next to you at the same time.

The start to the sixth song is so dead on Napalm Death that I was sure it was a cover song, until the screaming black metallish vocals made an appearance. The seventh song has some great riffs, but I wish they hadn’t put in the “fuck offs” at the end. That made it sound really amateurish. The aggressiveness seems to dip gradually after this song though the quality doesn’t. The riff that comes in at 0:58 into the eighth song is identical to a riff that Blood have used on their new album, but Divine Noise Attack is so much more interesting and adventurous. All of you who are unfamiliar with this band I would advise you to check them out. (7.5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Dödfödd, a three-man black metal band from Sweden, have made a fine effort on this album. The sound is naturally lo-fi and the music is in that Swedish black metal style that is loaded with heart-rending, blurry melodies backed by monotonous, fast drums and anguished vocals. Dödfödd is also proud to say that no keyboards were used on this album, which is commendable as the band has done excellent atmospheric parts with guitars and bass what most bands of this type would have done with synths.

Sure, you've heard it a lot before, but Dödfödd has an edge that many of the bigger names in Swedish black metal today lack. Call it a true morbid black metal spirit, but there's something weightier that more polished and musically talented bands like Naglfar can't deliver. And while Dödfödd isn't going to be hailed as the latest avatars of the true black metal style, this is an album worth getting.

Being a DIY release, the only thing really annoying about this album is the inconvenience of having a 40-minute album all on one side of a 90-minute tape. Don't they make 40-minute tapes? (7/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

addendum 12/27/04:

I gave Aphelion a tepid review in 2003. Since then, I've come to find that it is in fact an excellent record filled with memorable melodies, gorgeous vocals, and well crafted songs. Sure, it's metal "popera," but the band knows what it's doing. As this band's style has grown on me (this writing is at the time of the release of their fourth album), Aphelion has shown itself to be as good as anything this remarkable group of Austrians has produced. (8.5/10)

original review, 05/2003:  

In the candy-coated, flowery world of European power metal, Edenbridge is the wimpiest of the wimpy. This band is so wussy that it makes Stratovarius seem like Slayer in comparison. But that's all good, for in its embracing of the anti-image of metal while being a metal band, Edenbridge made a pretty enjoyable album in last year's Arcana (review here).

Aphelion, the new record, not too surprisingly sounds a lot like its predecessor. However, it's nowhere near as good. Over a career that now spans three records, Edenbridge's music has always been very low on calories, but this is ridiculous. The melodies and structures are similar, but Lanvall, the Edenbridge guitarist who writes and produces everything the band does, has gone even softer this time.

It really all comes down to the melodies and hooks not being so present here. To pinpoint even further, while the vocals of Sabine Edelsbacher are as lovely as always, there's a definite lack of passion that is especially noticeable this time around. Edelsbacher's trained, talented, sort of operatic voice is generally nonplussed; or perhaps the melodies that are given to her to sing aren't really all that challenging or interesting for her. By the time the last track, featuring guest vocals by DC Cooper, finally rolls around, the injection of some grit and force is a very welcome change.

So we recommend you start with the band's best work, Arcana. If you like that, you'll probably want to get this. Also, if they haven't already, fans of Nightwish are certainly encouraged to check Edenbridge out. (6/10) 

review by: Roberto Martinelli

We were totally bowled over by the brilliance of the first album by Eikenskaden (reviewed in issue #9), the so-called side project of Mystic Forest's Stéfan Kozak. Arty and weird and stunningly original, we looked forward to more, and more we have received.

The Last Dance is creativity within what is accepted in the black metal spectrum. Uniquely caustic and impassionate, the blistering fuzz of the fucked production is sliced through by clean piano melodies. As ever, the feeling of angst and sadness are the main players, be it during the manic, melodic, wall-of-noise riffs backed by relentless drumming to the more relaxed, piano segments with spoken parts that remind us of a scene in a French movie where the main character is depressed and reflecting on his life and loves.

Some relatively minor but important stylistic changes have been made, the most prominent of which are the vocals. For one, it seems that someone has really been enjoying De Misteriis Dom Sathanas lately. The Last Dance's vocals have also been greatly turned down in a way that make them stick to the melodies from the guitars and bass, making them more of a layer in the maelstrom of sound rather than an element to ride above it all. The constant explosions caused by the mere playing of a guitar string or the hitting of any part of the drum kit found on the first record have also been turned down, which could be considered as a good or bad thing.

While it's tough to say that The Last Dance is better than The Black Laments Symphony (the first record), it is certainly on par. The Black Laments… is more experimental and bizarre, but in a way that turns out is all too similar to the first two works of Mystic Forest's. As promised in the interview with Kozak in issue #12, Eikenskaden is beginning to move in a separate direction from Mystic Forest (I'll give you an advance tip to tell you that the next, yet unreleased Eikenskaden's style is even more removed from the main band). Be sure to get this and anything else by this one-of-a-kind French genius. (9/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

When Maelstrom's own Tom Orgad was visiting India, I played this CD for him. He found it interesting in the sense that it was quite obvious musically that no one was going to take this seriously. Obviously the band members surely didn’t expect anyone to take it seriously either. However, the extreme misogynist tendencies of the lyrics didn’t really indicate this was some kind of silly joke project.

I was rather ecstatic that Tom found this CD even remotely interesting and tried my best to dump it on him, but alas, he shrewdly circumvented all my efforts at getting rid of this piece of plastic crap. As a result, I am now stuck with having to listen to this musical atrocity and try to form coherent words out of the mixture of anger and amusement running through my head.

Looking back, things were amiss right from the start, what from the omnipresent, gay pink colour to the little description scrawled in big letters on a piece of paper stating that “we are influenced by Depeche Mode and Napalm Death.” Depeche Mode and Napalm Death? Interesting, I thought. Hah.

When it comes to music, patience is not a virtue. It is a pain in the ass. And Estrogenocide had me reaching for painkillers faster than you can say, “we suck.” Kindergarten level synth pop that has no semblance with anything to do with Napalm Death or even metal. There is a reason why metal bands do not use synths in place of guitar, and that is to avoid ending up sounding like eunuchs. The lyrics of the last song, “Balls,” quite perfectly summed up my feelings about Estrogenocide: “I wish you had balls so I could kick you in them.”

review by: Roberto Martinelli

The more I listen to Ewiges Reich's Zeit des Erwachens, the more it becomes apparent how essential this black metal album is. It should come as no surprise that the band is from Germany, who, time and again, is proving that it is the most reliable source for totally relevant and masterful black metal, joining the ranks of such greats as Nargaroth, Nagelfar, Bethlehem, Silencer and Lunar Aurora.

In summary of what Ewiges Reich does, it doesn't seem that they would be all that special, for basically the song parts consist primarily of a black metal characteristic triplet blast beat (largely inspired by Fredrik Andersson of Marduk, but elaborated on quite a bit) and fittingly raging guitar riffs and maniac vocals. Ok, so this describes about 60 percent of all black metal ever. Yes, but this isn't accounting for the sound and delivery. Zeit des Erwachens has that sound that's dead on, true to the core black metal: it's rough but powerful without being thin and necro; drawing its strength not from fancy triggered drums and slick production but from the very ancient energy of a medieval church's torch lit crypts and the piled up bones of generations. To spice things up, Ewiges Reich throw in three very effective, calm but creepy ambient pieces that set the stage before the main music kicks you in the stomach in the most welcome way one could hope to experience such a thing.

So you might think that this would get old, but think again. It actually gets better each time. If you love good, real black metal, then rush out and get this. Pick up Forest while you're at it, too (see below), and you'll be thanking me later. Trust me. (9/10) 

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

This is impressive! Hate and darkness drips like coagulating blood from this release. Blackened death metal is how Excommunion describe their music, and I have to agree with them.

This album has six of the most lengthy songs you will hear in this genre. There is a whole lot of concept building going on behind this band involving demons and other nice creatures of the night. The vocals really do sound like a demon’s. I’m telling you the snarls are downright scary, and just check out the vocals at the start of the title track.

Excommunion have managed to create a sound that is pure stark evil personified. If you liked Immolation’s Here in After, you are going to love this album. Those same kind of bone jarring harmonics accompany the distorted notes that seemingly float along in a cloud of hate ridden blasphemy. All the songs are pretty long winded and can be appreciated only when you have the time to sit down and soak them in properly. The double bass has a good sound even though it sounds triggered. The guitars sound pretty raw and not particularly heavy and that is instrumental in giving these guys a different sound.

The best songs are the aggressive “The Rites of the Excommunion” and “Rendering the Demon Gate.” If you like death metal that oozes class and feel, you shouldn’t miss this. (8/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Fallen World are from Singapore and they start off with the tight groove of “Let Me Speak” and show the promise of delivering some good grind. Unfortunately it did not turn out be so. Apart from this song and the cool Terrorizer-like whirlwind riffs of “Abuse Of Authority” and “Stand Against Child Prostitution,” this is pretty much a punkish and upbeat kind of grindcore that really does not inspire me to do much other than sit in my chair and tap my foot to the occasional riff. The fact that most of the riffs are pretty basic does not help their cause much either. I am sure they can and will improve in the future and guys, if you are reading this, do get rid of those gay GWAR like vocals in “Where’s My Money?” (5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

For the first four tracks on this Russian black metal duo's self titled album, curiously released seven years after it was recorded, the going is good - very good - albeit in a tried and true style. Forest is heavily influenced by Darkthrone, and that shines (or, rather, wilts) through in the simple, repetitive style and the total Nocturno Culto worship on the vocals, circa the type of stuff that he and his mates were doing around A Blaze in the Northern Sky and Under a Funeral Moon.

Around the end of song two, more and more clean vocals of the o-o-o-o, vaguely Viking (read: "I really can't sing my way out of a paper bag so I do it this way") genre surface, and they so add to the songs' total cult value. Yeah, these vocals are totally great.

See, this is what you would call honest to goodness black metal if the genre didn't stand for all that's unholy. This is true black metal: it's boring, but that's the point, and it excels in this; it sounds decayed and dark like the art on the album cover, but without being over-the-top and in your face about it. You realize more and more that some of these black metal bands in the past years that have been going for the necro sound are doing so by means that are way more complex and involved than the Scandinavian bands of yore achieved with simply shitty equipment. There's no way you can get something to sound as bad as some Krieg records unless you take steps to make it so. And necro black metal that smacks of effort is really lame.

So Forest would be a totally recommendable for the first four tracks whose style is described above, but then you get to track five, which wipes the slate clean. This monolithic, nearly 20-minute track was recorded in 1994, two years prior to the other stuff on Forest, and aside from the bassless sound, is entirely different. Imagine some sort of cryptic folk music the likes made by our favorite whacked out band Kemialliset Ystävät plays, with creepy acoustic instruments that sound like they're falling apart, and clean, wailing, far off vocals. It's kind of like the black metal version of sitar music, and it's worth the price of admission all in itself. You SO need this album. (9/10)

review by: Jez Andrews

Well, I can't deny that I like this. Keyboard-driven black metal is not always my thing, but Hybernation has been so meticulously constructed that I can't help but have a high appreciation for the music.

This is the third full-length album from the Norwegian four-piece (featuring former Gehenna axeman Dolgar) and from numerous accounts, it appears that Forlorn have made radical changes in their sound since making their recording debut in 1996. From majestic Viking black metal to the futuristic theme of their current release. There are points of this album that merge more with goth/industrial, most notably “Abuse” and various track intros.

Hybernation isn't what I would call an inspiring black metal work, but it most definitely has its charms. I notice that the speed gear doesn't kick in until closing track “Silent Demise,” which is well worth the wait. The double bass drum blasts of S.Winter help to give the music a sense of domination, in the vein of Dimmu Borgir and Eclipse.

I would recommend this to all who enjoy their black metal with plenty of frills. For those of you who prefer it cold and brutal, I would point you in the direction of Forlorn's earlier works. (7/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This 14-track, 24-minute album of black metal by this French four-piece may not be at all original, but it succeeds in its sound. I really like the way the guitars and bass buzz while the pummeling drums scuttle along in their own wonderfully morbid way. The sound of the vocals are great: raw, and as if the vocalist had been skinned alive. The result is that special kind of dark bliss that this lo-fi music can achieve when done well. Even though the album isn't very long, it's just enough of an engaging time for the medium that this band pulls off well.

The 24 minutes include a not very interesting, 2-minute "creepy" intro and three tracks at the end that are totally tedious, possibly rehearsal tracks recorded on a tape recorder, played back and recorded on another tape recorder - that's how bad it is. Still, people like the Vlad Tepes rehearsals, so what do I know? (6.8/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Malta is a tiny island nation in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sardinia and Tunisia. The official language is Maltese, which is a unique mix of Italian and Arabic. It’s also the home of Forsaken, a doom band in the vein of Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus.

It seems that the members of Forsaken have been milling about in bands in the Maltese scene for at least ten years now. The Maltese scene... such mentions of underground movements in microscopic countries will never cease to amaze and charm us.

Iconoclast has some good things going for it, most notably an excellent rhythm guitar tone and some very impressive guitar solos. The feel for this kind of doom is there, but that’s largely the problem, for Forsaken takes the cheesy elements of Candlemass and magnifies them without adding any originality of its own. So while there are pockets of brilliance, the keyboards are goofy, and the songs drag on too long.

The vocals of Leo Stivala are passable, but unfortunately are not up to the task to make the average songs on this album more engaging. In the vein of Solitude Aeturnus, yes, but sadly not recommendable. Check out the new Madder Mortem or While Heaven Wept (both reviewed in this issue) for your heavy metal doom fix. (5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

The Gathering has been steadily developing this style that their fledgling label, Psychonaut, is pushing as trip rock. This style is kind of like trip hop, but with “trip” being the being the main ingredient and “hop” being nigh nonexistent; something that’s vaguely in the sme category as Portishead, but much less electronic and scratchy. You know, the kind of stuff that was found in songs like “Amity,” songs that blend the melancholic feel that the beautiful vocals of Anneke Van Giersbergen does with music that is sort of jazzy, sort of loungey, and totally great. Sure, this once cheesy doom metal band has been becoming less and less metal since their first Van Giersbergen-fronted record, but so what? People who will have a problem with that will have long since abandoned this band.

Souvenirs is a much less adventurous affair than the previous record, if_then_else. That is to say, The Gathering aren’t throwing in so many different types of songs and feels this time. Rather, Souvenirs is very much a cut and dried album made up of 10 songs. The record is much quieter, something that is greatly made so by elements as obvious as an even less rock approach to the songs, or less obvious elements like the drummer playing with a closed hi-hat this time.

Fans of this often copied, never replicated group will not be disappointed with Souvenirs. There are a few really superb songs, like “Broken Glass” and “You Learn about It,” which have the record’s most exquisite vocal melodies and choruses. The rest of the songs all have something nice to offer, but the last two tracks are pretty ho-hum. There is some hype about the last track, on which Kris Rygg (of Ulver and Jester Records) sings a duet with Van Giersbergen. You might be hoping for a vocal performance along the line of his last, excellent work on Arcturus’ The Sham Mirrors, but it’s turns out to be nondescript and passable.

Although Hans Rutten, The Gathering’s drummer, seems to think if_then_else was largely a hurried mess (read more about that in the interview with Rutten in this issue), this Gathering fan would heartily disagree. While Souvenirs is a welcome addition to this wonderful band’s discography, if_then_else clearly remains the album to beat. (7/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Although it is by no means a bad album, the latest record by this front-running band in the Dutch death metal scene is a disappointment. God Dethroned seemed to have been getting better and better since the release of Bloody Blasphemy (two albums ago). The band was starting to move away from the sloppy, raw sound of their first albums and really started to get a hold of how to incorporate melody and contrasts into their music. The production and musicianship also were improving.

With Ravenous (review in issue #8), the band had really made something great. The mix and compositions were coming together superbly, and we could all hope for more of the same in the future. So where does Into the Lungs of Hell go wrong? Well, the main culprit is the production. This time around, it seems as if some effort to make the music more clear and technical was made. (Mind you, the sound on the previous records was beyond reproach in terms of this.) However, there has been quite a bit sacrificed in the way of fullness, aggression and heaviness in favor of sterile sounding drums and flatter guitars.

Secondly, there has been an important stylistic change as God Dethroned seem to have all but abandoned the softer, prettier parts that would surface mainly during guitar solos and the odd interlude-like parts, like a piano bit. While the cool guitar harmonies are still there, the contrasts that made the last two records so good have been junked for stuff that's more "brutal." The only problem is that it's more boring, especially when applied to the less-than crushing production. It's also curious why the band chose to open the album with the slowest and most mundane song on the disk.

Vocally, this may be God Dethroned's best performance in terms of marrying clarity and aggression. You can practically hear everything that is being said. However, herein lies another problem, for God Dethroned has never been super at writing lyrics, whose clarity of conveyance has hurt the band as well - but to a lesser extent - on previous records. However, in terms of poor lyrics, God Dethroned seems to have degraded from goofy to inane and tired, like on the song "Soul Sweeper": "God is dead, your god is dead/ God is dead…I am the devil!/ Soul reaper…soul sweeper!" It's a bit of a pity, really, as God Dethroned was good enough to explain the ideas of each of their songs in the booklet, but aren't able to convert these good ideas into good lyrics.

So, you get the idea. This is the biggest disappointment since Iniquity's Grime, which, like God Dethroned, sacrificed the tasty for the brutal and came up short (albeit in different ways.) Note that this record normally comes as a 2CD set, with the second, 10-track CD featuring live cuts, re-recorded old songs and video clips. However, since the promo only features the first CD, I cannot comment on the bonus disk, although one can only imagine it would sweeten the package. (5.6/10)

review by: Jez Andrews

Atmospheric black metal can always be a bit of a gamble. If the balance is tipped further towards the keyboards, it can be even more of a gamble. When is it no longer black metal? The debate has lasted for quite a while now. Austria's Golden Dawn have managed somehow to sit on the fence and do a pretty damn good job of it.

The re-mastered debut album The Art of Dreaming is an impressive black metal album, though not without fault. Whoever gave the go-ahead for the futuristic dance groove on the intro to “Sub Specie Aeternitatis” should be hung, drawn and quartered. Having said that, the guitars have a nice strong presence, and the keyboard instrumentals are well crafted.

The almost calypso-type section of “Per aspera ad astra” certainly requires further explanation - indeed much of this CD is quite out of the ordinary. The highest quality tracks of actual black metal are “Ideosynchronicity,” “The Art of Dreaming” and closing track “Beyond the Mortal Shell,” though even the latter has the occasional oddball moment.

I'm sure there are those who would argue that the “atmosphere” only manages to weaken the music, but I think that if anything, it adds a certain spice to set Golden Dawn apart from the rest of the herd. (7.2/10)

review by: Jez Andrews

Atmospheric black metal can always be a bit of a gamble. If the balance is tipped further towards the keyboards, it can be even more of a gamble. When is it no longer black metal? The debate has lasted for quite a while now. Austria's Golden Dawn have managed somehow to sit on the fence and do a pretty damn good job of it.

Masquerade, the much anticipated second Golden Dawn album has far more ultra modern layers to it, not least displayed by the shapely video game sprite on the cover. There is a lot more musical variation this time around, both good change and bad. The tracks, particularly “Doomsday Celebration” and “Unborn Again,” seem to be more upbeat and ear-friendly. Clean vocals play a very prominent part in this album, and I confess to being quite a fan of Masquerade's diversity, though I would hardly refer to it as black metal. The entire album is beautifully executed and manages to be catchy without being cheesey. I can imagine that this would be ideal to nurse a broken heart for some reason, but I recommend it to the masses who just want something new and fresh. (7.3/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Grave are back after six long years. The world surely hasn’t been waiting with baited breath to hear from them again, not after the disgrace Hating Life was. And even though it starts off in fine fashion with the skull pounding “Rise” and hauntingly beautiful chorus part to “Behold the Flames,” this album should be renamed to Still Trying to Crawl out of the Grave We Dug for Ourselves. That’s because apart from the two above mentioned songs, this is insipid material that brings one thought to my mind over and over again: “hey, I’ve heard this riff before!”

Staying in the slow to medium slow range most of the time does not help their cause, either. “Dead is Better” hovers just under the “decent” mark. The rest of the songs bore me. Maybe I am being too harsh but let’s face it, this does not come near previous classics like Into the Grave and You’ll Never See. Those are the two albums any Grave material is going to be compared with. (5/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

I was unsure what to expect from this quartet. On opening the cover sleeve I was greeted with the sight of one of the band members wearing a Pantera t-shirt. The fact that the guy next to him was wearing a Impetigo shirt and that this CD was out on Bizarre Leprous Productions saved it from being relegated to an abysmally low position in my next-CD-to-hear list.

On paying closer attention to the song list, I realized that I had no reason to worry at all: there were covers of Impetigo, Ulcerous Phlegm and Shitlickers songs. Grossmember play gore grind with a powerful sound. No doubt, Impetigo are one of their main influences, as they seem to mainly rely on nailing down tight and heavy grooves, sometimes followed by classic grindcore style blasting. They seem to have been around for a long time as their list of releases is quite extensive (two tapes, one split tape, five split EPs and one full length previous to this). Both Wojtek and Daniel have been credited for guitar as well as bass, so I guess the guitarist/bassist position is interchangeable in this band.

I found that I could listen to the whole album in one stretch quite easily and there isn’t much variation in quality throughout. This is good solid grind workmanship, with more emphasis on catchy riffs and grooves than on speed. “War Time” and “Money it’s Your Fucking Religion” have some great, catchy riffs and “Life Like A Nightmare” is one of the few tracks where they really let rip. The drums have a very clear sound and drummer Radek is at his best on “False Unity.” The vocal approach sometimes reminded me of Blood’s Impulse to Destroy debut, and the overall vibe is kind of similar too, but this album is much more technically proficient.

The Impetigo (“Boneyard”) and Ulcerous Phlegm cover songs are well performed, but I really can’t understand the purpose behind the Shitlickers cover. Just one riff is played a few times and then the song ends.

One complaint I have with this release is that it’s fucking tough to make out which song is playing due to the absence of a track list numbering on the back of the CD. With 24 songs on offer here, it is a pain in the ass to count the song number every time you are curious to know which song is actually going on. Apart from this minor omission, this is a damn fine album. As an added incentive, there are four bonus tracks, all of which are taken from their split EP with Cock and Ball Torture. (7/10) 

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

If you are a gore/grind fan, the chances are high that you would like to know more about this band. Rightly so, because this is a demented gore holocaust coming right out from the southern most depths of India. And I’m especially happy that they have managed to put out one of the sickest releases on one of the sickest labels ever, Bizarre Leprous Productions.

This full length debut of Gruesome Malady contains 10 tracks that will rot your brains dry! The album opener is the track “Maladorous Ejaculation,” which was present on the promo CD (review here). This track sets the tone for the rest of the album with putrid vocal effects and an absolutely murderous harmonic riff. From here on, these two sick freaks (Vikram and Jimmy) churn out stuff that ranges from merely disgusting to utterly vile. Take for example the disgusting intro to “Foul Gases Emanating from a Ruptured Anal Tract,” which befits the song title pretty well, or the delectably titled “Ingest the Excrement.”

But it is the sound generated by these guys, rather than just the songtitles, which actually give you the feeling of being trapped in a rotten quagmire. The vocals are so completely over the top that one cannot help but try to imagine the process that can lead to such inhuman sounds being put on tape, and to me it sounds like some one splashing around in a tub filled with blood and gore and gargling with it at the same time.

The icing on the cake, without any doubt, has to be Jimmy’s riffing. High pitched squeals, harmonics, crazy leads, all of these pop up when you least expect it, and I don’t even want to try to calculate what time signatures he’s been using here. It is next to impossible to describe the kind of riffs he comes up with, but let me just say that this is the most unorthodox and bizarre axework you will ever get to hear in this genre. Vikram seems to be having a blast here, and gives us plenty of blasts (beats) too. He doesn’t experiment much on the drums and that helps to keep the focus on the grind part of the music.

The drum sound is the only thing I can complain about, as it does not pack in the total punch that this music requires. It sure would have helped if the snare especially had sounded a bit more hard hitting. But in front of an effort like this, there are but just minor details. This stuff is sicker than a Ebola patient in terminal stage, get in touch with Gruesome Malady now! (8.5/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

If you ask me, leaving aside the music totally, Hell Dormant has to be appreciated for even having the guts to release a CD like this. They are the first death/gore band I have heard from Pakistan and for a band to exist in such a society where any deviation from society’s norms meets the strictest punishment (just yesterday a man charged with breaking a neon sign with verses of the Koran written on it, was given life imprisonment there!) is remarkable.

Their lyrics are really gory and brutal and I hope for their sake that this does not fall into the hands of any Islamic clergyman. As far as the music goes, the production could have been a bit better. This was recorded somewhere called Outcry Studios, and the mixing just hasn’t been done too well. The guitar can be heard, but it has too much of low end in it, with the mids missing and thus, lacking punch. Mind you, I don’t want a crystal clear sound, but at least something that sounds sick and heavy.

The riffing has a raw death metal edge to it, and some cool thrashy parts add extra flavour to it. The drums haven’t been mixed too well either. I can only hear the hi-hats prominently and the double bass can be heard whenever the music quiets down a bit. And as for the snare, I have no idea where the heck it is.

Album opener “Necro Obsession” has some nice grind riffs too that would have sounded great with blastbeats, but there are no blasts in this song (I cant hear any, at least!), just very fast double bass. Kamran provides some deathish growling, but rather than being a full throated growl, his voice sounds mostly like he’s breathing heavily into the mic.

The next song, “Twisted,” is undoubtedly the best song on the album, with some really catchy riffs. “Mass Grave” is a seven minute song that remains in low gear for the most part, and considering the amount of repetitions going on, gets a bit boring near the end. “Dissected” is a good song with a lot of thrashy riffs, and the vocals are also a bit more effective. “Skinned Alive” is a dragging song with some very basic riffs. Last song “Belly Open Wide” also has very basic and commonplace riffing bit it still sounds cool to my ears thanks to the extremely fast double bass work.

All the songs have simple structures with a lot of repetitions, but in the case of the first two songs, the great riffs offset any feeling of boredom caused by the rigid formats of the songs. Overall, this CD is a nice piece of old school styled death metal. I hope to hear more material from this Pakistani band soon! (and hopefully with a better production). (5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This Edinburgh, Scotland duo's take on the guitar-driven noise genre has a few things going for it. For one, despite being recorded in various bed and living rooms, the sound is very good. Some of the driving riffs and wall-of-noise passages are fairly good in themselves and serve their intended purpose.

Hex's glaring problem is that it is very unclear as to what the band's artistic or even sonic intention is. The six tracks, which range from a few minutes to a 40-minute sprawler, feel like they were improvised on the spot. Many of the riffs are repetitive and tedious and seemingly slapped together randomly, which can also be applied to looped sound sample of human voice in which one person sounds like a turkey. This could be all good, but it's not joined together in a way that instills any confidence in the listener that Hex really knows what it's doing yet. Please keep at it. Bring a pencil and paper. (3.2/10)

review by: The Condor

review by: Roberto Martinelli

HssH is a French one-man band that makes some kind of industrial/ noise/ black metal hybrid. The tracks on this three-song demo are rather long, each approaching the 10-minute mark. Rather than building a steady atmosphere, within these tracks are frequent changes from plodding noise that explodes into fits of firecracker drum machine and then even into some dancy electronica.

Unfortunately, what doesn't work with all these changes is that they aren't very cohesive. The parts arbitrarily follow one another, and the end result is counterproductive to the mood. By the time the 30-minute recording is over, the listener is left realizing, "I guess it's over."

It's not all a wasted effort, however. There are some pockets that weave a nice, DIY black atmosphere, and the heaviness of the fuzz makes up for the lack of bass. Keep in mind also that I haven't been able to quite comprehend what makes black industrial projects like the stuff by K. Nordvargr the darlings of the genre that they are, but I can say that MZ 412's Burning the Church of God is where you should start if you're looking into getting into this kind of thing. May I also steer you towards the Norwegian industrial black metal project Gloom (reviewed in issue #8). (3.5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

I don't know where it happened, but somewhere along the line pigs became icons of true metal warrior-dom. How this came about is a mystery, but its evidence can be seen time and again in the vocal approaches in the realm of brutal death metal. So now we can place Porky and his kin right alongside goats and ravens as worthy animal emissaries to the world of metal. Human Mincer is the latest in the sick, pummeling procession of these bands that revel in downtuned guitars, energetic drumming and those absurd, guttural vocals.

Human Mincer's press release has them compared to bands like Pyaemia and Insision, both bands that have received Maelstrom's seal of approval for being fine technical brutal death metal. Embryonized is up to par with the best of this genre with its sharp musicianship and well-suited, pounding production. Maybe not as good as Disgorge (see above), but fans of the style will like it. (7/10)

review by: Dave McGonigle

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

This promo contains four songs and an intro and outro. The bio says that they play “virtual” death grind so I was a bit skeptical at first, but this is pretty good stuff, I have to say. The “virtual” element is borne out of the small industrial samples they use here and there and the drums, which sound very artificial.

The bio claims that they have a live drummer now, but listening to the speed of the double bass pedals and the blast beats, I have a strong feeling they have either used triggers or have programmed the drums. But whatever they have done, they seem to have taken pains to ensure that it has been done well.

There are a lot of tempo changes throughout. The ease with which they make the transitions from the blazingly fast to the solid groove sections highlight the fact that they have plenty of experience under their belts. I see no mention of this band being signed by a label, and I find that hard to believe. These guys have been going at it for the last 10 years and judging by the quality of this demo, they definitely are technically proficient. So what seems to be keeping the labels at bay? Weird.

Anyway, back to the music. Jaroslav’s riffs are very dynamic, mixing in plenty of speedy picking and slower, palm muted heavy-as-hell riffs. “Two Different Ways” has an absolute skull crusher of a riff starting and ending the song. There are some chaotic solos lurking in the depths, too. The bass can be heard in only a few places and on a whole Tomas does a good job of keeping up with the many changes.

Michal is the only one credited with the vocals, and if I hadn’t read that I’m sure I would have said that there are at least three different vocalists. Gutteral grind vokills, death metal growls and some higher pitched snarling - there sure is a lot of vocal variety in this.

Clocking in at just under 12 minutes, this CD gets over before you have even had chance to react to the death grind spewed out by these Czechs, which leaves only one solution: a constant abuse of the "repeat" button. (7.5/10)

review by: Laurent Martini

With a great band name and great album cover I just couldn’t wait to dive into this album. Interpol delivers with the first two songs on the album, “Untitled” and “Obstacle 1.” The band’s feel is similar to brit-pop influenced Kent and Rialto but with a more guitar driven sound.

Unfortunately, after the second song, the rest of the album fades off and misses the mark. The rest of the songs don’t explore any new territory and come off as cheap knockoffs of “Untitled” and “Obstacle 1.” The album almost becomes boring and repetitive and with much less intensity. Having a later song named “Obstacle 2," which is slightly similar to “Obstacle 1" reinforces the feeling that Interpol either gave up or ran of ideas. To recycle songs from previous albums is ok but to recycle a song that appears five songs before is pretty terrible.  (6/10)

review by: Jez Andrews

This was infuriating to listen to. A band who obviously have a wealth of talent at their disposal and favour a solid mid-paced thrash approach, being dragged through by passages of nu metal and terrible, whiney vocals.

There are some genuinely great ideas on Dead or Dreaming. A sound use of melody and guitar virtuosity, and the riffing can be of truly stunning quality, sometimes akin to that of Arch Enemy or Testament. With a little re-working, each and every track on this album could be a blinder. The would-be tracks of distinction are, to my mind, “Unholy (Fields of the Dead)” and “Selling God” (the latter of which gladly sees one or both of the band's death metal vocalists on duty).

If you can stomache its shortcomings, I strongly advise the purchase of this CD. I myself can see a short and simple solution: Lose the sections of kiddy metal and the WHINEY FUCKING VOCALS! Write some more meaningful lyrics, and recruit Chuck Billy or Tom Angelripper for crooning detail, and you will have yourself a band to be worshipped. (6.8/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Jesters Moon is a four piece that plays a strong variety of hard rock/ metal. The band has a lot going for it in terms of the conviction and quality of its musicianship and delivery. The songs all come across very full and there are some wonderfully tasty drum chops (especially on the instrumental track "Amnesia") and guitar licks and solos. In terms of their style, there's a little bit of the old Rush and a little bit of the new, which is mixed in with more standard hard rock hooks and metal flourishes that catch you.

The big minus, unfortunately, are the vocals, which, truth be told, are terrible. At first it seems that they have to grow on you, as the opening song, "The Battle," makes the heaviest use of the vocal effect that comes and goes throughout the record. But then it becomes plain that the effect is there probably to try to give the vocals a dimension that they're lacking. Again, to the band's detriment, the vocals often sound like a bad version of Ozzy Osbourne multitracked with Lee Dorrian's little brother, which is bad enough, except that some effort to be tuneful is attempted here, and it often becomes hard to cope with.

It's really a shame that the vocals are in the state they are. I totally sympathize with Jesters Moon's plight, as finding a proper vocalist in this day and age for this kind of music in this country is the most difficult piece of the puzzle; and in Jesters Moon's case it's not so simple as to just kick out the singer as he also brings excellent guitar playing to the band and writes most of the music. Keep at it, Jesters Moon! You're so close! Write up an ad like, "Totally kick ass band seeks equally talented singer." I hope you find each other. (5/10)

review by: Laurent Martini

If you don’t like Judas Priest, you suck. Having established that one truth, let’s move on to the review. Live albums are like best of albums in that the band will only play their big hits. If you like the band then you’ll like the album.

Live in London is filled with old favorites like “Breaking the Law” and “Hell Bent for Leather” and mixes in all the rest from “A Touch of Evil” to “Desert Plains.” The band is as bad ass as always, even sounding heavier and meaner live, and new singer Ripper (a great first name) Owens does a good job as lead.

But this is not like your grandmother’s Judas Priest. As a fan of the band for more than 15 years, I just can’t get used to Ripper’s voice. Sure the high, piercing staccato screams are there but his voice is much deeper than Halford’s. The songs are great but they sound like something’s just not right. I mean, the Spice Girls were not the same after Ginger left, right? (We swear he’s trying to be funny, we hope - Roberto) So if you’re a Priest fan you’ll of course love this album. If you’re looking for an introduction to this seminal band then I suggest British Steel; and if you want your Priest live then Unleashed in the East (Live in Japan) is a great buy. (6.5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

After releasing one of the best dark ambient albums of 2002 (review and interview here) Karjalan Sissit has returned with another triumph.

And it would have been acceptable if Karjalan Sissit’s sole member, the Finn Markus Pesonen, had made another album like his fuzzy, bombastic debut, but Miserere is not a repeat.

Blending frightening industrial sounds with stunning string arrangements, Pesonen achieves a effect that is nothing short of incapacitating on the listener. When one of the many giant plates of orchestral beauty is played, your very soul drops in awe of this towering thing. We must congratulate Pesonen for splicing in actual string pieces, rather than going the more common way and using synthesizers, which is almost invariably a doomed idea from the start.

The industrial elements are largely in the form of steamy, thundering percussion, which gets quite relentless and deliciously unsettling in some parts. Same goes for the morbidly fascinating clips of a man screaming, a speech, and an engagingly strange talking section. All the previous parts are in what we assume to be Finnish.

As ever, Pesonen’s work is focused on militaristic themes. His penchant for inserting military-related music or songs of the period he is writing about (as seen on the last album, which had polka songs his soldier grandfather loved) again surfaces here in the inclusion of “Over There,” the famous American song written to stir up enthusiasm for WWI.

The only downside to Miserere is the opening track, which is very banal dark ambient fare with a looped, spoken bit in English about how the speaker is a hunter who kills the weak so the strong survive, blablabla. It’s third-rate science fiction fare that is to be skipped. But when Miserere comes to a close with its most melodic and haunting orchestral theme, you too will be reaching for the play button once again. (8.5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This could be it. This could be the album that Katatonia will never be able to top. A lot of people (including myself) were converted to the “new” Katatonia through the previous record, Last Fair Deal Gone Down. That album has a lot of great moments, but you could feel that there was definitely room for improvement.

Thus, the approach to Viva Emptiness is much like Last Fair Deal..., but that room has been filled. Jonas Renske’s vocals are even more melodious, clean and despondent than before - conveying a unique edge to contrast the melancholic yet rocking edge of the music.

The heavy songs rock hard, while the softer ones, like the brilliant “Omerta,” have excellent touch. The solid riffs and permanently memorable choruses mean that every song on Viva Emptiness has something to offer.

The only criticism that can be pointed to the band is their rather careless use of curse words. Over the last two albums at least, Katatonia has been into jabbing the listener by including the word “fuck” into songs. It does provide some edge, yes, but seems equally a device to make all the conservative mommies cover their mouths and elicit a “parental advisory” sticker. So I guess there is an every so slight sliver of room for improvement. One of the best albums this year for sure. (9/10)

review by: Jez Andrews

Alright, for the Goths among you, there are some pretty catchy numbers a la Star Industry to be found on Seti, and a great deal of effort has obviously been made to make this a polished and precise release.

Now, for the metallers among you, grab your guns and follow me. It is damn near impossible to stomache that certain members of this band ever had black metal credentials. They can give themselves all the artsy fartsy aliases they want, but they can't hide from the torrent of disappointment and abuse left in their wake.

The progress of The Koveneant (formerly Covenant) can be easily charted: In Times before the Light - sans nads, but still true to the frozen North, Nexus Polaris - chunky, commercial, and it began to pay the bills, Animatronic - pass the PVC, and Seti - "Oh, look at that, smudged eyeliner, broken nail, and we're on in two minutes!"

I have no doubt that this album will sell very well, but it will be difficult for many not to resent the changes in style, image, and attitude. I mean to say, if it had been made clear from the beginning that industrial rock had been their agenda, then I would have had more appreciation for their efforts, even if the music was still not to my liking. But this band was spawned from a scene that thrived on a sound of extremity and brutal honesty, uncontaminated by decorative electronic samples and loops, and in that sense, Seti makes for some troubled listening. On the other hand, within the genre to which The Kovenant now seem to belong, you could do a lot worse. (3/10)

review by: Laurent Martini

Many bands continue to make a certain genre of music well after that genre is dead, gone and most likely hated. Most of those bands suck anyways, but then there are those that just shine. And thus we have Legacy.

You’ve got to feel sorry for Legacy because 16 years ago they would have been huge: ruling the airwaves and MTV and snorting so much coke in the hot tub attached to the back of their limo that they would have felt as if nothing could take them down. But times change, hair is less teased and Britney Fox is no more. Legacy’s self titled album is filled with guitarist’s Hansson heavy lead guitar and cool riffs, especially on the outro to “Leave it Alone.” Roseberry’s deep voice is a perfect contrast to the soaring solos. Think Skid Row at around the time of Slave to the Grind and that’s where Legacy lies. If you liked that sound then you’ll love this band. (8/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Not to be confused with Thunderbolt (also reviewed in this issue), Lightning Bolt is a math rock duo from Rhode Island whose instruments apparently are only bass and drums.

If correct, that’s pretty impressive, considering what the two members get out of these instruments. Lightning Bolt has quite a few similarities to Hella, one of our favorite math rock bands, (read the review of Hella in issue #10) in that much of their music is so whacked out and technical and fast. Imagine 100 modems dialing up and connecting in time with each other, and then speed that up times four, and you’re starting to get the picture.

But unlike Hella, it’s not all showoff technicality all the time. Lightning Bolt has a good bit of slower, crushing sludge parts. You could sort of argue that it’s all pretty sludgy, as Lightning Bolt is very noisy and feedback-ridden and distorted and screechy, but in a way that’s technically impressive. There are vocals too, but they’re thin and warped, like if you were trying to hear someone through an electric sandstorm. Certainly for math rock people, or for anyone who appreciates totally masterful, off the cuff drumming. (7/10) 

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Porno death metallers Lividity are back with their third full length, and what a pleasure it is! I popped this in after throwing out the Mucupurulent CD (see below) and was almost ecstatic to hear the classic Lividity sound beefed up and heavier than ever before!

All the factors that have helped Lividity develop a distinct sound are present: Matt’s trademark high pitched snarls, the funny porno intros and catchy as hell riffs. Some new elements have been added like little melodic sections such as on songs like “Anal Autopsy” or the intro to “Unrelenting Homicidal Obsession.”

As with the previous Lividity albums, there is nothing groundbreaking about this. In fact this is just the type of band that you either love at first listen or become totally indifferent towards. Most of the songs consist of moderate paced double bass providing the background for rumbling old school death metal and mosh parts.

It was great to listen to the sequel of the “Pussy Lover” song from their debut album “Fetish For The Sick,” entitled as “Second Cumming (Pussy Lover Pt II).” I may be wrong but the blast beats sound just a little bit slower than the early version. I liked all the songs, and my favorite will probably have to be “Fetal Scabs” as it is the most aggressive song on the record. This will appease fans of both old school and brutal death metal, and if you can tolerate blatantly sexist song titles like “A Woman’s Place Is on My Face,” then this is for you. (8/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

There's no doubt that the film adaptation of Tolkien's classic trilogy is one of the finest works in all of movie history, so this review has nothing to do with critiquing the film. So why are we featuring this article? Because this is the retarded version of "The Fellowship of the Ring," a version in which the ring wraiths are called "ravers," the Throne of Gondor is "the second condo," and everyone is the son of Aragorn.

As you may have caught on, some of us at Maelstrom are big fans of inadvertent retardation: Benighted Leams, the first Esoteric record, Andras… shit, the majority of black metal; there's something about a result that is unintentionally bizarre - probably part of the charm is that it's unique. Since the outcome was most likely the result of an amateur mistake, and the artist probably doesn't know how he or she did it in the first place, it means it can probably never be produced again.

Such is the case with this DVD, which is a bootleg from what we suspect is Taiwan. It came out before the official DVDs did, and it's obvious where the pirates got it from when you see the message on the screen about the movie being an advance Academy screener, not to be copied. Being a copy, the quality is inferior, but that's not the point.

As anyone who has ever come in contact with East Asian entertainment or pop culture knows, Asians have a…err…unique grasp of the English language. Due to the vast difference in language structure, the English that comes out of these countries is often inimitably hilarious and random to the extreme. For people like me who have lived in these cultures for extended periods of time, a sense of what is truly wonder and appreciation arises from this awesome ability to shape my native language into ways that I could never do. The feeling from such encounters is some sort of idiot epiphany.

Everything that's English, anywhere on the box or in the movie's English subtitles, is a scream. It's impossible to watch this DVD for more than 20 minutes at a time, as you get exhausted. You know that a corker is right around the corner, and when it hits, it's devastating. There are two synopses of the movie on the back of the box, both of which have nothing to do with "The Lord of the Rings," or anything else, it seems. Here's one of them, and keep in mind that everything typed within quotes is AS IS on the box or in the movie:

"Snowboarding through life, David Aames appears to lead life. Handsome, wealthy and charismatic, the young New York publishing executive's The gorst prevents her from being hired by R.T.T.R.S., a major corporate security company, she becomes exceeding frustrated. Determined to prove a point. SAM infiltrates the security system and breaks into their. In this fast paced action thriller, a CIA agent is forced to retire from service who's the bane of every high school senior's life. In a bid to win the Student Body President election."

As if the synopses and credits (that list the main actors as "Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd and Bill Boyd") aren't enough, there are the captions, which are so inept that sometimes when captions are put under the subtitled parts when people are speaking Elvish, the words aren't copied correctly. Here are but some samples, which have been coded as regular for the actual, spoken lines and bold for the retarded ones:

Frodo (upon Gandalf's arrival): Half the Shire's been invited!

Frodo: Office Strider has been invited!

Gandalf (to Aragorn): There is one who could unite them; one who could reclaim the throne of Gondor.

Gandalf: There is one who could unite them; one who could recleanse the throne of god.

Gandalf (to Frodo before his departure from the Shire): My dear Frodo… hobbits really are amazing creatures: you can learn all that there is to know about them in a month, and yet after 100 years, they can still surprise you.

Gandalf: My dear Frodo… Hope you see some amazing creatures. You can learn all that out there in a month.

Frodo (when first seeing Gandalf): Gandalf, I'm glad you're back.

Gandalf: So am I, dear boy.

Frodo: Gandalf, I'm glad you're back.

Gandalf: I am, you boy.

Boromir (about Aragorn): This is Isildur's heir?

Boromir: This is the Dutch heir?

The list goes on and on and on, but you get the idea. It's astounding that the people responsible for this work couldn't find any old native English speaker to check what they were doing. Thank you so much for not doing so! I have only the purest of motives when I say I hope for nothing more than for the next episode of this epic saga to be put in these good hands. (by the way, if you want a complete transcript of the back of the box, please write me and I'll give it to you.) (cult/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Heavy metal, and power metal in particular, has caused many a scoff through its male fixations on dragons and fantasy themes. I can’t blame people for laughing. It is totally absurd (but is it more absurd than singing about your baby?).

Perhaps the debate about what is more or less silly will wait for another day. The bigger problem is that you can totally tell that said metal bands generally have no connection to their lyrics about knights in armor and slaying dragons. Power metal music demands power metal cliché lyrics, and that’s what we’ll do, the bands think.

So when a band comes along and writes an entirely empassioned concept album about an obscure 70s science-fiction role playing game, people will snicker. But this has happened before with the albums of The Lord Weird Slough Feg. And, like before, just listening to the record makes you realize that as geeky as such an album seems on paper, you won’t hear lyrics delivered with as much conviction as the ones on Traveller.

When guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Mike Scalzi sings “release the spores,” you know he means it. Scalzi and co. are in their tenth year and on their fourth record now, having battled tepid interest from the majority of the metal world, and still are making the most original and BEST possible heavy metal available.

We’ve written about Slough Feg in the past (see the review of their reissued first album here), saying how it’s mind boggling that the metal faithful hasn’t embraced this band more. But it is how it is.

If you’re a returning Slough Feg lunatic, Traveller may seem inferior to the previous triumph, Down Among the Deadmen. While Down... does have more immediately catchy and memorable individual riffs, repeated listens to Traveller will reveal that it’s a grower. After eight spins of this quintessential disk, it becomes clear that this is Slough Feg’s best work to date.

Energetic, Celtically-inspired melodies and true metal harmonies and solos in the vein of Iron Maiden abound, fronted by the unmistakable lyrics of Scalzi, who is in his own right a grower. No note is wasted, and no passage is frivolous. It all fits in a glorious tribute to the power of originality and imagination, and is as truly and triumphantly metal as they come. Slough Feg and Lost Horizon (see next page) are in a bitter struggle for the best metal record of the year. There should be enough room on the podium for both of these totally original bands. (10/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

It seemed improbable, but Lost Horizon has managed to outdo the genius that was Awakening the World, their first record (which, by the way, was my record of the year in 2001. See the review here).

Lost Horizon continues to excel in being the ideal of what heavy metal should be while at the same time not being a copycat. No, the spirit of Lost Horizon is as honest and stirring to the connoisseur as it is goofy and ridiculous to the uninitiated. The band continues to maintain the Braveheart in space look, and still thanks their favorite video games and movies in the liner notes. The members still use the most preposterously wonderful stage names, and have now added two more to the fold. One of them is named Perspicacious Protector (the full-time keyboardist). There’s something inexplicably brilliant about that.

But to those that this band has touched, what is cheesy and silly is really nothing short of glorious. As on Awakening the World, the sound of Lost Horizon, from the mega-talented vocals of Ethereal Magnanimus (Daniel Heiman, who is singing much higher on this record) to the synth tones, is perfect. Once again, the mere ride cymbal sound of Preternatural Transmogrifier (Daniel Nyquist, whom we interviewed in issue #4) alone is worth getting this album. This energy is as always reflected in the empowering lyrics, which are about being strong and proud and metal. Again, ideal.

Musically, what was already masterful has been made even better by more complex and interesting arrangements and solos, and an even ampler supply of sublime vocal melodies and transitions in each song.

This time around, Lost Horizon has gone softer. No, not in a stupid metal ballad way. Rest assured, there is no shortage of energy and intense drums, fills, and guitar and synth acrobatics. Trust me, even if you don’t like power metal, this band is something that transcends the genre. If you do like power metal, you’re a total fool not to get this before anything else. Lost Horizon is so purely metal you’re going to feel sick if you hear it. A lock for my pick of the issue, which is obvious, as A Flame to the Ground Beneath is the best power metal record EVER. You read it here. (10/10 and beyond)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This side project of Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Man Gloom, et al), Stephen O’Malley (Sunn, Khanate, et al), and James Plotkin (Phantomsmasher, et al) is like the soundtrack to a ghost town.

Mind Control for Infants is an album of extreme lethargy, whose notes seem to take the listener along through the dusty alleys of long uninhabited streets and past creaking doors on their last legs. The mood is primarily of cold, solitary reflection, but there are sustained passages of warm, comforting remembrance, primarily concentrated at the beginning of the record. (5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

I’d like to publicly acknowledge that I’m a total dork for having given the Lugubrum/Finsternis split a bad review (in issue #9). The write up basically says that Lugubrum is a Darkthrone clone and that the compositions are of little if any interest.

Whatever. If by any chance I turned you off to this band, go back and change everything that I said, for Lugubrum is the best thing since...well, Darkthrone, and maybe even better.

Yes, Lugubrum is very much in the Darkthrone style in terms of sound and cult feel, but it’s got many unique dimensions, of which musically are killer doom riffs and slow songs that space out the fast ones brilliantly.

But the surface is still merely being scratched, for there is so much more to enjoy about this band. Lugubrum plays “Boersk black metal,” which translates to “total goofballs from Flemish Belgium who dress up like Hillbillies and worship beer, carrots and shit. Oh, yeah, and they also play necro black metal.”

It’s impossible for Lugubrum to be a Darkthrone clone, not with personality like that. Only a unique band could yield such song titles as “Beard of Disease” and “Midgets of Evil,” and could give such hilarious interviews (read up on them at http://www.fmp666.com/lugubrum/lugubrum.html).

Certainly we at Maelstrom would not recommend a band simply because it amuses us (well, maybe we would, but we’d tell you so), for Lugubrum goes beyond a wacky theme; cult spills from this band’s work like beer from an overflowing stein. The sound, the riffs, the delivery... all is perfect. Stuff like a logo with two arms crossed and hands doing the sign of the horns while holding a carrot and a beer bottle, and with the caption “beer us or die!!!” is just icing.

Speaking of icing, this reissue of De Totem comes with two bonus tracks, which are great. Ok, enough reading for you. All true black metal fans as well as those with a unique appreciation for the bizarre are obliged to get everything this band has ever recorded. (9.5/10)

review by: Larissa Parson

The press release accompanying this album boasts that Finnish group Lullacry “is indeed up to the task of not only outdoing the musical quality of their earlier releases, but also opening new doors towards a more crossover and alternative audience.” As a member of the more alternative target audience, I have to say, I seriously doubt the truth of this statement.

This album is so bad, it’s almost addictive: the worst of 80s rock combined with the most angst-ridden lyrics you can imagine. If only one could say that the lyrics are the worst part. But it goes deeper than that. The few tracks that could be good, as far as their instrumentation goes, have such magnificently bad lyrics that you can’t listen. An example is “Heart of Darkness,” which appears well into the second half of the album, features a great bass line, a few crunchy multi-guitar binges, and lyrics like: “Please save me from the heart of darkness/ Please save me from my darkest hour/ I gave everything I had to give /Please save me from the heart of darkness,” all sung in perfect saccharine harmony, which makes it hard to take these pleas seriously. Please save me.

If the tunes were catchier, this might be as much fun as T.a.T.u. Instead, I was left thinking that if this band could stick with rockin’ hard, and get rid of a little bit of melodrama, this could almost be listenable. (2/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Norwegian Madder Mortem seems to have come out of nowhere to make such a fine product inside and out, for everything about Deadlands, from the lyrics to the packaging, contributes to a monumental doom metal record.

Of the schools of doom, Madder Mortem is in that Candlemass branch - the kind that's not excruciatingly slow or sludgy or retro sounding; nor is it Gothy or symphonic. It's just heavy metal doom; crushing material driven by guitars and bass and drums, and with massive, lilting melodies. To draw some quick comparisons, the vocal delivery and multi-tracked harmonies often sound a great deal like the stuff on Solitude Aeturnus' most recent record, Adagio. At other times, mainly during the single track, solo vocal parts, the vocals are much like The Gathering's Anneke Von Giersbergen on her doomier songs. Categorizing this band by using Candlemass as an example is a bit misleading, as Madder Mortem doesn't share the absurd, cheesy facets of the first incarnations of the Swedish greats.

So, everything is just right. A pace that is despondent and totally crushing, yet immediately approachable - massive and churning without falling into the trap of the material suffering because of its slowness. From this wasteland of soul rending compositions and arrangements arise the vocals of Agnete Kirkevaag, whose delivery is colossal while simultaneously conveying delicacy and grace. Since all the vocals are clean, poor lyrics would be very vulnerable, but thankfully the lyrics are as good as everything else. They are well written as prose and do nothing but add more and more layers to the sublime sense of beautiful, powerful misery.

Although Deadlands doesn't appear to be a concept album, the artwork and lyrics convey strong themes of a wasteland where people are in a perpetual, inescapable state of bondage and forced labor - kind of like the industrial version of a fantasy Egyptian pyramid building hell. In "Silverspine," Kirkevaag sings: "This is all yours if you want it/ My sick landscape, dry and fevered/ My survival and the hunger/ Growing older in a heartbeat." In "Deadlands," the listener is faced with such words as: "All I wanted was a little discipline/ A master's touch to give me some serenity within/ Now I know there's no one there to save me from myself."

Of course the record would be nowhere without riffs, and Deadlands has got those in droves. Look especially for the stunning main riff to the song "Rust Cleansing" and the brilliant instrumental arrangements that are presented with the best possible production. Where so many metal records, even good ones, have obvious creative holes in them, (more often than not in the quality of the lyrics) Deadlands has none. It's a carefully and tastefully crafted work. Look for this to be the best doom record of the year, and certainly the surprise pick of this issue. (9.5/10) 

review by: Jez Andrews

Until this three-track promo arrived at my house, I had never heard the name Maple Cross. What I heard through my stereo speakers was nothing short of miraculous. In the space of three short tracks, this band have managed what many bands fail to achieve in their whole careers. They have created both pain and strength within straight-up heavy metal, slightly reminiscent of In Flames and Entombed. What moved me most about this recording (other than the simple urge to headbang) was how much the vocals of Marco reminded me of the late Chuck Schuldiner on Death's Live In L.A. album. The songs are both heavy and melodic, with pretty nice production.

If this is just a taste of things to come, i'll be keeping my eyes wide open. (9/10)

review by: Jason Thornberry

Metal evolves, and we’re left with the consequences. I write this review with a mouth full of salt water (seriously) so I can accurately convey the mood of the album. If I swallow the water I’ll puke, and these songs make me feel similar -- in a good way. The darkest riffs lie beneath posthaste blast beats and words like “cloak the earth with a thousand nights and billion dead.” Sounds like this Swedish band is talking about George W. Bush again. World Funeral is poisoned - impregnated with venom, which could make it more than you can handle - and it goes well with the news on, the sound on the telly down, and this in its place. (8.5/10)

review by: Matt Smith

Marduk has been one of my favorites since I began listening to metal, and World Funeral is no disappointment. Blistering drums and guitars let up only occasionally. The vocals are as rich and evil as ever. The Satan-praising glorification of death and descriptions of necrophilia leave a listener feeling more unholy than ever. They even bring in a touch of “ultraviolence,” replacing synthesizers with guitars on their rendition of the “Clockwork Orange” title music.

Every second of the album is as it should be. Each beat or riff hits with perfect accuracy. Although some songs are slower than Marduk often attempts, everything stays interesting and it only helps to show off their skills. World Funeral is a great album, 12 years in the making. (9/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This five-piece Italian band, whose name loosely translates to something like "atomic snack," has decided to make a career of taking the style of Metallica during its glory years and making it live into the 21st century. In this, Merendine Atomiche does a good job. You can hear the Metallica signatures, but the riffs aren't ripped off. In fact, Merendine Atomiche has quite a few good, original riffs and constructions.

The high points of this CD, which was recorded at the renowned Sulight Studios in Sweden (I thought that place closed down…?) are the rhythm guitars and bass, which are punchy and heavy in true Hetfield and Burton fashion. The guest solo by Jeff Waters (Annihilator) on "Game Over" is particularly tasty as well. So while it still may sting to contemplate how much Metallica has sucked for so long, Merendine Atomiche may provide a nice balm for the pain. (6/10)

review by: Jez Andrews

On first inspection, I was expecting nothing more than second rate Cradle of Filth clones. There is a certain hint of Cradle to the keyboards, true, but the Dark Duneral style blast of the overlay puts paid to any suspicion of gothic weakness. Not the most vicious of black metal, and the sound is admittedly a little clean cut, but its pretty seething stuff regardless.

Now that Cradle and Hecate Enthroned have ironed out the creases of street cred in their sound, it's refreshing to hear bands like Misteltein who have roughly stuck to the black metal side of the law. My only misgivings are the subtle signs that they too shall one day stray from the path. But enough of the future, enjoy the present while it lasts.

Tremendous riffing throughout, and none of the techno drum machine antics that let down Tidfall. Misteltein have laid down some great ideas on Divine Desecrate Complete, ones that could become something very special if used in the right way, always remembering that attempts at stirring atmosphere have gone pear-shaped in the cases of Abyssos and Evenfall. The talents they possess must be constantly nurtured to safeguard and develop the tight styling of their efforts thus far. And those efforts are pretty remarkable. (8/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

We've written some articles about this Hispanic four piece in our live review section, and now we've gotten the chance to tell you about one of their records. Morbosidad has triumphed in the live setting due to the incessant, almost droning vibe of their old school, rough and fast as hell music. One would hope that this same energy could be ported over in the recording studio, and luckily it has.

Morbosidad is total war cult metal. Don't ask me how any of their songs go; I haven't got a clue. It's not about that, though. It's about the darkness and barbarity of their relentless attack. Morbosidad wears their adoration for Bathory on their sleeves, (or, rather on their chests) and so much of the vibe in their music is influenced by old, OLD Bathory, but sped up and more rumbling. The sound of the music is right on, and the possessed, morbid vocals are the perfect match. The only thing that totally doesn't fit about this album is the cover art, which frontman Tomas Stench will be the first to tell you is totally wrong, not so much because it's complete shit, but it's complete shit that doesn't reflect the content of the CD at all. Colors and computer graphics be gone!

Listening to this band is all about the vibe. It's a lot like putting on an ambient record. It rumbles and satisfies in it being so monotonous in its speed and incoherence. Cool stuff. Hail. (7.8/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

The only time I have heard any music related to Mucupurulent was when Cock and Ball Torture covered one of their songs for the “Where Girls Learn To Piss On Command” MCD. That song was pretty much the standard porno grind affair that CBT specialize in, so I was expecting something similar to that out here, even though the cover did give me some premonition that things were not what they seemed to be.

Death n’ roll is what the music sounds like now, and frankly this style is just not my cup of tea. I didn’t enjoy any of Entombed’s material after Wolverine Blues and neither did I like any of Unleashed’s later death n’ roll style albums. However, the more I listen to Soul Reaver, the more sure I become that I will prefer any of those aforementioned to this.

Soul Reaver is a mid-paced, plodding album infested with numerous nondescript “groovy” riffs, and comes off sounding like a limp Pro Pain (i.e. without the aggression) in most places. They sure seem to be intent on attaining commercial success, now that it is within their reach due to a signing with the big label, Morbid Records, but if that means they are going to produce dance-able death metal albums, sorry guys: find someone else to support your album. The only things I liked about this record were the solos on “Back to the Bones” and “Vermin.” (1.8/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Don’t know why some metal CDs can be boring and lame while others are boring but totally great, but it’s true. Nebel’s record (which I believe is called Hymns of Destruction) is definitely in the latter category. All the songs are the same, feature fast-picked yet drone-y riffs with melodic elements paced by blistering yet monotonous drums. Meanwhile, deep, raspy vocals ramble on in an equally plodding fashion.

It works primarily because of the sound, which conveys the impressively played material in just the right heavy and brutal fashion. Marrying this with the ambient nature of the music results in that unique type of bliss that blurry, extreme metal of this nature can offer. Check it out. (7.7/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

I can barely write this review without bursting into tears. It's not fair to Naglfar, who I'm sure mean well, but it's that the other Nagelfar - the one with the extra "e," the one from Germany - is now an ex-band, having broken up last year. And every mention of this alive and well Swedish group makes me lament what could have been. For you see, not only is Nagelfar clearly Naglfar's superior, but superior to just about any black metal band out there.

But enough of that. The issue at hand is Sheol, Naglfar's latest record. And it's a good record; clearly better than the also good MCD we reviewed in issue #7. Naglfar's music is fast and, in true Swedish fashion, crammed with as much musical fuzz and amorphousness as possible while still remaining totally tight and orchestrated, supplying plenty of little melodies to pick at. If you need a comparison, think Dissection but faster and slicker.

However, the commentary in the review in issue #7 still remains true about this band now as it ever has: there's just something missing. For all the fancy shmancy production and effort in playing as extremely and as well as possible, there's an issue of a lack of clear identity or, dare I say it, soul. Sheol blasts along, but there's nothing about it that says, "this is Naglfar." ("the Swedish band," at that.)

Please excuse my inability to leave out Nagelfar in all this. Imagine if there were a band called Iron Meiden from Holland that somehow became very popular, but to you were just a shell compared to the band that totally owns your soul every time you put on one of its albums. Could you ever listen to the other guys entirely impartially?

Do I expect Naglfar to be more like Nagelfar? Of course not, in a stylistic sense; that would be absurd. But what I do wish is that Naglfar could somehow soothe the hurt of one of my favorite bands breaking up too soon by putting out something that really brings something more than just another excellently put together and played Swedish extreme metal album that doesn't have much to it beyond that. In my perfect world, Naglfar would be the ones who broke up. Snif. (6/10)

review by: ~Eternus~

This French band completely surprised me. Having never been a major fan of the French black metal scene in general, save for a few quality bands, I didn’t expect much. Their first album, Light of a Dead Star with its simplistic, fuzzy sounding riffs of earlier Darkthrone, and slightly surreal atmosphere akin to Manes and had more than enough variation to keep me interested.

Now this follow up album has all of these elements yet I can`t help but feel it lacks something. When I play the first album over again it just seems to work better. However, Shadows from the Past is still a quality raw black metal release, there are still some great riffs, gravel-throated vocals and that eerie atmosphere that I think will definitely appeal to the fans of the likes of Armagedda, Mutiilation, Gorgoroth, Craft, and of course worshippers of Under a Funeral Moon-era Darkthrone. If you get this and appreciate it I highly recommend you track down Light of a Dead Star and compare the two for yourself. (7/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

It is no big secret that Canada has some of the finest metal musicians, and now it is time to add Neuraxis to the list. Melody bleeds into brutality with such seamless precision that you are marveling at stunningly beautiful guitar riffs one moment while violently headbanging and playing air blast beats the next moment. Perhaps the songs “Impulse” and “Fractionized” are the best examples of this.

This album has been recorded at Z-Sound Studio, which has been used by bands like Gorguts and Cryptopsy before. The sound attained on this will only serve to heighten the prestige of that studio. Everything can be heard perfectly clearly except perhaps the bass guitar which seems to be buried in the mix. Some of the songs have absolutely breathtakingly technical axework. Fuck that, make that all the songs.

I am reminded of Aphasia, another Canadian band, quite a few times through the course of this album, invariably when the vocalist starts screaming over a melodic riff going on in the background. The drummer puts up a highly impressive show, too. Take a listen to “Essence” and try not to imagine him with an extra pair of arms. You wont be able to. There is not a single bone of contention I have in regards to this album and this has turned out to be everything that I was hoping the Vehemence album would or could be. No filler riffs, no plodding moments, this almost qualified in my top three list. Oh, and I think this is only available in Europe at the moment. Please check the Morbid Records site for further information. (all info in our links page - Roberto) (9.3/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

The other two No Escape Records releases I have reviewed in this issue (Captain Cleanoff and Vaginal Carnage) sound like ear candy when compared to this. This is the real gore grind deal folks, no kidding.

For those people who missed out on the N.V.E / Bradyphagia split that came out last year (like me) this is a chance to check out these Brazilian sickos again. What makes it even better is that this is a full length (30 minute) album. The first thing I noticed about their sound is that the drumming is very varied and interesting, and absolutely brutal too. The riffing gets very undiscernible sometimes and Fred (drums) takes control of the groove with a lot of cool patterns and fills, thereby turning what might have been chaotic sections into gory structured carnage.

Gore grind lovers have nothing to worry about, nothing on this release is anything other than sick splattering gore! The guitars are tuned very low and they sound really heavy when they get into one of those Cock and Ball Torture-like grooves, and the rest of the time they rumble along with John’s insane wild hog snorting vocals. Fred has been credited with most of the songwriting and thus it’s no wonder that the drums play a major role in this.

“Subcutaneous Defleshment (Part II)” and “How to Hide a Ravaged Body…Bathtub with Sulfuric Acid” features some awesome drumming. There are two cover songs, one by Dead Infection and the other by Doom. Both are pretty well done, especially the Dead Infection cover of “After Accident.” Some of the intros just spoil the feeling of continuity between songs, which work best as an uninterrupted flow of vileness, and silly intros of screaming girls put me off. Anyway, this is very sick and brutal goregrind, something that should be in your collection today! (8/10)

review by: Jason Thornberry

A band who shuns the media, with insularity and a fixed opposition to suck-sess is more “punk” by that idea alone; so they could be playing toe-tappin’ countrified tunes about sowing your oats, but NOFX would still be the real ‘ting to me.

And with this short release, a justifiably cynical appetizer to their impending The War on Errorism album, you get Fat Mike, El Hefe, Melvin, and drummer Smelly fiddling with clichés while laughing at the “scene” on “Medio-core” (“how was the band, they were okay -- not great, but pretty good -- they played the songs I knew they would, some old some new, same formula stays true we can concur”).

Yet when it all ends the whiff of creative disgust stays in the room with you until their Rock Against Bush tour visits your college campus, and you’ll get to see the most spot-on-tight, and seriocomic speed-rock (new genre) laid to wax since, well, their last album. (7/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This Finnish sextet is yet another in a seemingly endless stream of bands that come from Scandinavia that can play to a very high standard. Omnium Gatherum in particular sounds like a mix of the best of what Children of Bodom and Dark Tranquillity's latest album, Damage Done, has to offer.

Omnium Gatherum's melodic death metal stylings aren't as cotton candy or over the top as Children of Bodom, nor is it as heavy as Dark Tranquility. Rather, Omnium goes for a more reserved, quiet approach while developing a uniqueness to these already established styles. If you like this kind of music, then this is sure to be a hit with you. (7.5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Fusing Euro power metal with a little prog, Opus Atlantica's metal is certainly of the pretty, wanky variety. Right, from the singer's voice to the drum production to the airy guitar tones, it's very, very wussy, but it's so good.

So while this Swedish group's stuff is hardly heavy, their flair for song writing and arrangement makes for an enjoyable listen. The instrumental flashiness never forsakes song quality, and the instruments all come together in a pleasant mix of proficiency and clarity. I really liked the Bach cover of "Cello Suite in G Major" on track 5. It so exemplifies everything that's subjectively fabulous and objectively absurd about power metal. If this style of music is your thing, try to get a hold of this. (8/10)

review by: Jason Thornberry

Colin Richardson is at the knobs today, and he knows how to make Overkill sound just like the New York thrash band I loved in the late eighties -- most of the time. But singer Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth is blessed (?) with a considerably irritating voice usually, and sometimes he takes it too far (which is defined here as the 5:24 duration of the first track). Still, the presence of the bottom end is one of Richardson’s specialties; just ask Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower, Carcass, Brutal Truth, Anathema, Sepultura, or Godflesh.

The bass guitar in particular is the star of Killbox 13, with D.D. Verni’s sound having grown beyond proportion to any of their material recorded “backintheday.” Ellsworth’s voice got on my fucking tits terminally this time round, unfortunately, and I had to switch it off and go outside. I returned hoping to steady my nerves by tuning him out, but by “Unholy” (#9) it was clear that Killbox 13 wouldn’t get repeat spins from me, especially with Blitz-boy attempting to scat sing his way to perdition with loud overdubs leading to the choruses. If this album were available instrumentally I’d probably set up the beginning of “Crystal Clear” as my alarm clock, but otherwise it’s a coaster or my garbage collector can give it a listen. (3/10)

review by: Jason Thornberry

A nameless combo is serving little purpose other than to inspire Ozma, etcetera, etcetera, to try bettering the self-effacing, arena-ready heavy pop they’ve by now reduced to a formula.

Spending Time on the Borderline begins with a few space age barre chords, but the budget for experimentation runs dry rapidly. If only someone qualified thickened the sound overall it would seem less like a garage band practicing on an expensive ghetto blaster - the vocals in particular.

Will Ozma rise above the imputation of a tribute band with a record deal? They’ve already been around long enough to learn fresh moves, and a newfound Ukranian balalaika supports their protocol as purveyors of “Russian Coldfusion,” but it’s actually an indirect way of saying the bright red car now has a single coat of white paint. (5/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Parricide is a brutal death metal band from Poland. This album was recorded way back in 2000 but it seems to have been made available only recently. I’m not too sure if I have heard of this four piece band before, but the adage “better late than never” sure holds good in this case.

Reading the liner notes it’s evident that this band has been in action for quite a long time (more than 13 years) and thus there’s little surprise that this is a good, tight exhibition of death metal musicianship. The music is like a combination of brutal death metal (Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse) and dark, brooding death metal that bring bands like Incantation to mind.

Actually, stylistically speaking, the core of Parricide’s music is on the same platform as Excommunion (review in this issue): the intent to create death metal “songs” rather than trying to be the fastest or sickest sounding. The songs have been recorded in chronological order, and things start to get really interesting only from about the third or fourth song onwards. The first few songs are solid and well written, but ultimately very standard death metal fare.

Starting with the track “Watched (by Shades),” the level of complexity starts to increase gradually. And in “One Step to Deviation” they start exploring the regions of desolation by employing those artificial harmonics ala Incantation. By the time the seventh song is reached, Parricide sound much more brutal and complex than at the start. “Nothing Consider Aeons” and “Step of Evolution” have some pretty good riffs, though a few of these riffs I’m sure I have heard before.

“Coming Dawn” is a good song, too, with some tight riffing but the song right after it, “Burnt Offerings” is one of the big low points of the album. This is a totally pointless and boring song.

These guys end their show with a cover of Cannibal Corpse’s “Hammer Smashed Face.” It sounds like they didn’t want to slow down where they were supposed to, and this ends up sounding much faster than the original. But I really feel that the chorus riff with the hammer-ons and pull-offs sounds best when played slow, like Cannibal corpse do. In any case, it’s good that these guys tried something different and it ends the album on a good note.

I cannot recommend this album wholeheartedly to everyone, even though I like it quite a bit, mostly due to the fact that in order to appreciate it one really has to concentrate hard. As I have said before, the musicianship is good, but perhaps the next time around they might want to write some riffs that really stand out from the rest of the crowd. (7/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Pelican’s instrumental music fits in well on the roster of quality releases by Hydrahead Records: it’s heavy, it’s soothing, it’s got a sense of artistry to it, it’s clearly influenced by Isis.

The CD starts off kind of slowly, but by the end of it, you find yourself humming the rhythmic riffs to the building intensity of the music. It’s over too soon, so you press play again. Could use some vocals, though.

By the way, Pelican is billed as an EP and therefore is available for around $8, which is a damn good price for a quality half hour record. (6.3/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

A few years after the death of Chuck Shuldiner put an end to the Control Denied project, that band’s singer, Tim Aymar, has resurfaced in the metal world with this new band, Pharaoh.

I know I’m not alone in thinking that Control Denied seemed like the best thing ever on paper, but the results really fell very short. Fortunately, this is not the case with Pharaoh, which plays an invigorating, galloping style of old school heavy metal with strong nods to Iron Maiden.

After the Fire is loaded with super riffs and harmonies. Aymar’s vocals are rough and melodic, and fit the style very well. So it’s a pretty simple album review. Pharaoh is great and nostalgic without being the least tired or rehashed. Too bad for Pharaoh that it’s in the same issue as the new Lost Horizon and The Lord Weird Slough Feg. Our recommendation to those seeking classic heavy metal is to get those other two records and, if you have money left, pick this up. It’s well worth it. (8/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Even a cursory listen to this 33-minute album will leave the listener in no doubt marveling at the capabilities of these musicians. Featuring ex-members of Pessimist, this four-piece band starts off in a very humble fashion with the song “Chaingod.” This is a mid paced death metal song with nice riffs but pretty straightforward compared to the rest of the album.

“Cathexis” sees them stepping on the gas a bit. One interesting thing about this song is how Rob varies his vocal delivery according to the speed of the music. The music suddenly flies off the handle from the 2nd minute onwards with some really technical and cool interplay amongst the various instruments. “In the Dust of Your Nothingness” starts off with a driving riff and is definitely the most catchy song on this CD.

“Tear at the Flesh” has some black metallish screaming vocals and from this song onwards the experimental side of Psychotogen comes to the fore. Tony’s bass work is at its best in this song with shitloads of slapping and awesome fills. There’s even a very cool jazz break in this song. This is very technical stuff that these guys are pulling off here, and pulling off well.

“Follow Me (into Hell)” starts off with an acoustic intro before reverting back to the technical madness. There are some blistering fast riffs in this song and some pretty fast double bass work as well. The time changes are even faster and more complicated than the previous songs.

Next up is the instrumental song “Psychotogen”. This is a complete experimental freak-out. Discordant solos combine with bloody awesome bass work and tribal like drum beats. When the acoustic guitar kicked in, I was immediately reminded of that instrumental Sepultura song from Chaos A.D., but this is way more crazy shit.

The last song, “Death of the Old Ways,” is the longest song, running almost to seven minutes. Not the best way to end the album, as I thought the song was an anticlimax considering the merits of the songs that came before this. Anyway, there are two things you need to do after reading this review: read my interview with drummer Chris (in this issue) and buy the album. As simple as that. (8.4/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Putrid Pile is a one man effort whose culprit’s name is Shaun Lacanne that brings to the table an enjoyable hybrid of old school brutal death metal like Cannibal Corpse’s early material and some elements from the modern school of brutal death like Dying Fetus. The latter consists of a lot of the mosh riffs that are found in every nook and cranny of the death metal world nowadays, and a lot of people might get sick to their stomachs due to the generic nature of this, but then I’m also sure that was one of the main intentions of Lacanne’s: to make people feel sick to their stomachs (the ultra demented lyrics are sure to work!).

In my opinion, the fact that he has not overused the blastbeat at all, and has come up with so many instantly headbangeable riffs, has saved this album from total oblivion. The guitar sound is beyond heavy. It is literally gonad crushing. And the great drum sound helps in crushing the gonads even better. Shaun’s vocals alternate between deep grunts and higher pitched snarls. As far as the bass goes, as in most of the one man projects, the bass guitar does not get much importance and is recorded with the sole purpose of backing up the guitar to get the thumping low end into the mix.

Two of my favorite songs on this are “Remnants of Insanity” and “Severed Head Memento.” Both have really good riffs and the former sounds deeply influenced by Cannibal Corpse. Some of the songs, like the title song and “Covered in Excrement” have those slow parts where the old school influences really shine through in some basic but highly enjoyable riffing. The last three or four songs get a bit dragging, but on the whole this is a impressive release. (7/10)

review by: Laurent Martini

First off, nice album title. Second, imaginative and great album intro. It’s pretty clever and I will not ruin it with a lame explanation. Thirdly, WICKED AWESOME BAND!!!! I am now a Queens of the Stone Age fan, even if all the rest of their albums are polkas, Songs for the Deaf is amazing.

This band does it all from the thrash sound of “You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire” to the jive of “No One Knows” and to the 60s-ish “Another Love Song.” This band does it all and does it well, weaving influences into their heavy sound without having it come off lame. Standout tracks are “You Think...”, the great base line becoming a mind blowing riff of "Hanging Tree" and the heavy metal “Yellow Submarine”- like “God is in the Radio.” (9.5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

I imagine this group's time must be divided equally between playing their instruments and pumping iron; Reclusion's take on metal is a very muscular one.

Within seconds of the opening track, connoisseurs will immediately identify this band as being Swedish, what with the super tight playing and trademark riffing. Reclusion is very nearly a metalcore band, blending a healthy dose if its country's patented approach to metal that At the Gates popularized and fusing in gruff, hardcore-like vocals and stop-start rhythms ala Fear Factory.

The faster stuff is excellently played and benefits from the record's wonderful, polished production. All the instruments sound right, and the odd song features solos that display some very tasty chops. However, the slower songs, while still played to the same high standard, are a little iffy. Songs such as the one where the singer says he's "what you would call a flesh and blood time bomb," and where he asks if he'll back down, being answered by his band mates, "no!" is a little macho and goofy. You can imagine the singer running around the stage in a wife-beater and long shorts with a long key chain (again, bringing up the hardcore imagery).

However, when Reclusion keep things fast, there are fewer things to pick at. This band is on the verge of releasing a great album. The next one is apparently in the works. The musicianship and production are firmly in place, all we can ask for now is maybe a little more originality and perhaps some thought into writing songs with more depth. (6.2/10)

review by: Jason Thornberry

Lately when a band employs somebody who actually knows their way around a microphone, and mixes in a few guitars that aren’t just reaching for The Big Riff, they’re mistaken for being ‘pro-emo,’ or prone to jumping around in matching outfits. The Jam did it, and those stylish suits looked purty good on them, but isn’t it hard to tell some of these new bands apart today?

Rock Kills Kid doesn’t seem to give two shits if what they wear to the photo session will correspond. They’re stubborn guys, and still refer to themselves an “alternative” band. Do you remember that little genre? Alternative rock is revived with this EP -- a substitute to The Hives the way bands like Nirvana helped provide the alternative to Poison. (6/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Rossomahaar's Quaerite Lux in Tenebris is an odd mélange of death and black metal. The riffs are kind of speedy and melodic in a black metal sense, sometimes more chuggy, but the use of the bass and drums that go along with the growly vocals are more of a death metal thing. The compositions aren't terrible; rather, there are some good, if generic, riffs. Then Rossomahaar throws in weedy keyboards too.

This Russian band has always been rather awkward. Their previous record, Imperium Tenebrarum, if memory serves me correctly, had a much rawer production that was muddled and detracted from the compositions, which were so-so. And then there was the cover of a classic Metallica instrumental (I can't remember which), except it was called something different and with Rossomahaar's lyrics added in. Yeah, pretty random.

Quaerite… is much more clean and the sound separated, but unfortunately in a way that also hurts the band's chances. The drums sound like they're made of plastic, and the guitars sound hollow and diluted. This does allow the bass to shine through with some nice little flourishes, but the whole is just weedy. To be clear, necro is necro and it can be done very well (see next paragraph), but this is not necro, it's limp.

All this brings us to this conclusion: Rossomahaar may be the most well known Russian black metal band outside their country, as the promo proclaims. I don't claim to be an expert on Russian black metal, as most of the bands from that country have been mediocre, but I can say for certain that no one should buy any album from a Russian black metal band before they buy Forest's Forest (the review is in this issue). The style is very different, but Forest succeeds on a sonic and emotional level in every way that Rossomahaar fails. (4.2/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

One of the biggest pleasures in life is to pop a CD a of a band you have never heard of in your player and then spend the next few minutes of your life being pummeled to death by it. This is exactly the case with Scent of Death. This Spanish band came out of nowhere and caught me by surprise, unleashing the kind of furious death metal frenzy that one usually gets only from the seasoned veterans.

Album opener “Living Structures” starts innocuously with some female choir vocals, and then…BAM!!! Into damnation we descend! Totally savage death metal with a good deal of technical prowess is their obvious strength. There are some pretty complex rhythm pattern shifts near the end of the song and a good solo, too. “Tortured Mind” continues in the same vein, with ultra fast riffing and blast beats blending into slower sections consisting of fleeting, artificial harmonics.

Scent of Death sounds like elements of Gorguts, Suffocation and Gorgasm all combined into one. I am particularly reminded of Gorguts’ Erosion of Sanity album by Bernardo’s vocals and the pinch harmonic riffs on “Feeling The Fear” and “Entangled In Hate.” Gorgasm again comes to mind when they launch into those frenetic, palm muted chugging sections, along with Nuno’s inhuman blast beat devastation. I can literally feel my heart rate shoot up while listening to “Feeling the Fear.”

There are two instrumentals on this MCD, the first being “Perpetual,” which was written by a friend of the bands’ (read the interview in this issue). This is a beautiful song with some nice solos and it reminds me of the old days when bands like Gorguts, Brutality, Disincarnate etc. used to have those wonderful instrumentals in their albums. The other one is “Epilogue,” with another guest musician, the violinist Leonardo. A beautiful way to end such a savage recording.

It is a pity that there are only four proper songs as I’m sure that were this a full length, it would have destroyed everything else in this issue. As it is now, “Entangled In Hate” comes in behind Alienation Mental and Disgorge as my Pick of the Month #3. (8.5/10) 

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Passage to the Other Side is good American style power metal featuring Joey Vera (Armored Saint) and Jack Frost (Metalium). There are more than a few similarities in the bass riffs and drum patterns to Judas Priest's Painkiller. The vocals of James Rivera are very well done, and when he sings high he sounds like Bruce Dickinson.

Passage to the Other Side is one of those rare power metal albums from the States that is just good in all aspects. All the members can play very well and the singer is great. This has been a rarity in this country for a long time, whereas good power metal with good vocals is much more commonplace in Europe. Of course, being an American band, Seven Witches doesn't have a keyboardist, nor are its songs candy coated, happy tunes. A good outing that hungry fans of this particular style will like. (6.5/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

This is an easy one. If you like death metal that incessantly smashes you with brutality and sickness, add this to your list.

Severe Torture has been compared to Cannibal Corpse since day one, and the similarities are certainly present here in the spastic riff style, arrangements and changes. However, Severe Torture are superior to what Cannibal has been doing since 1996's Vile. While Misanthropic Carnage is an album of the same song slightly tweaked in nine different ways, it exemplifies death metal with its savagery and excellent production. Good fun. (7/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Siksakubur is a brutal death metal band from Indonesia, and I think this is a re-release of their demo from 2000. The most immediate frame of reference I could think of while listening to this was Canada’s Hidden Pride. But I doubt that many of you would have heard of them, so let me say that Siksakubur’s music is very much Suffocation influenced, has a perfectly unpolished sound. It is interesting enough to have kept a position reserved for it on my play list ever since it arrived.

The musicianship is good, the synchronization between guitar string and drum skin of a high order and amateurishness kept to a minimum. This is kind of surprising if you look at the band photo at the back of the CD cover. I’ll be surprised if any of those guys (at least when the photos were taken) are above 18 or 20. The vocals sound very matured, though they seem to have some effects added like a bit of echo and reverb making it sound more drawn out. I think they have used a pitchshifter, too.

The music isn’t as brutal as some of the other bands out there, mostly for the reason that the drummer doesn’t rely too much on the blastbeats and neither is the riffing ultra-fast. But as I said before, all the songs are interesting and that in itself is no small feat. The first two songs have some good melodic riffs while the rest of the songs concentrate on the brutality. The bass work is pretty good, you can hear the bassist doing little runs in almost all the songs. The nice, clear sound he has helps too. My favorite songs on this would be “Into Your Sickening Intestines” and “Decayed Flesh.” (7/10)

review by: Jason Thornberry

This band should be popular by now, with a Le Shok mind-set, including contempt for the rule makers, loyalty to rule breakers, and bottles of black hair dye. If Since By Man existed in 1986 you’d see them with bleached locks to the middle of their backs, leather pants, and come hither looks for the big-titted girls in the front row. They’re just products of their era, and that time is nearly over.

The track “Death of Decadence” got numerous spins, but there wasn’t a sequel. Their label even included it, and only it, on the website. Come hither. Other songs seemed held together by the saliva from chewing a wad of bubblegum, and little else. Their music’s not poorly played at all; but it’s predictable enough you’ll guess what’s coming next, and usually be right.

There are eleven dissonant anti-songs about giving up: “Don’t save me from the noose, don’t save me from the sinking ships.“ Blah-blah-blah. Plus the concert photos of this Milwaukee quintet show them being cra-zay, and holding their instruments aloft, as if in contribution to the same Gods of Rock & Roll they should be against by punk-cred default. 

They likely consider this album a step away from the norm (a more arithmetical take on punk than usual), and I might too, if I had been in a sealed chamber this past four years. But don’t be fooled thinking Since By Man wouldn’t sign a major label contract in as long as it’d take you to fall asleep with this on “Fucking loud,” as the print on the disk tells you to play it. (5/10)

review by: Larissa Parson

The first album I thought of when I heard this disc was Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ The Firstborn is Dead. Hardly surprising, as Cave is one the of the artists frontman David Eugene Edwards lists as an influence. Edwards shares Cave’s love of the hidden backroads of America, where strange things happen, usually involving Jesus, death, and love. For Edwards, the grandson of a traveling Nazarene preacher, this is genetic. It is clear that Edwards is coming at many of the same traditions as Cave from an angle slightly skewed.

Much like one of Edwards’ other named influences, Johnny Cash, Sixteen Horsepower seem to be favoring reinterpreting the music of others to writing new music these days, hence the title Folklore. Four of the ten tracks are original, the rest are covers - among the many threads woven the fabric of the album are Hank Williams, the Carter Family, Nina Simone and traditional Hungarian and Tuvan songs. And yet the album as a whole is nearly seamless, a continuous mourning for something lost among the twisted roots of aging trees in the godless wilderness.

What makes this album great is not the vitriolic intensity of the band’s earlier work (but this may be due to the many changes in line-up the band has seen over the years), but the threat of violence lying just under the surface of an otherwise fairly quiet, dark album. “Hutterite Mile,” the opening track, makes clear from the start that this is not going to be a loud album, building from a simple guitar line to interventions by violins against the plaintive declarations of Edwards’ voice. The refrain, “it is no mystery I know my way from here,” suggests that Edwards is well aware that he’s deviating from his former path.

There are two exceptions to the biblical gloom - a version of the Carter Family’s “Single Girl,” which might almost be thought of as cheerful, if it were not just a bit off center, and the album’s closer, “La Roche Parasol,” which resembles the sound of a nightmare taking place at a street festival in Paris, where accordions mock passers-by.

I would rank “Horse-Head Fiddle,” based on Tuvan throat-singing, as one of the eeriest, most beautiful tracks on the album - Edwards’ vocals are a bracing contrast to the harmonium, flute and miscellaneous moans backing him. “Sinnerman” follows this track, and while I must admit I prefer Nina Simone’s version, what Edwards does with it is worth a listen. Put on this album when you’re in a melancholy mood, open a bottle of whisky, and bask in the southern Goth feel of the album. (8.5/10)

review by: Matt Smith

Besides the use of guitars and the occasional dark atmosphere, Soda Ash is metal’s polar opposite. Slow, cynical pop is what I’d call it. There are some good synthesizers and atmospheric sounds, though most of the time these sections don’t really progress. That’s one of my main gripes about this album: the songs don’t really go anywhere once they’ve begun.

The problem here is that Soda Ash relies too much on Erin Knowles-Krapf, their lead singer, to carry the listener’s interest until the end, but she just isn’t good for it. The lyrics are too cryptic to be very meaningful and her voice is weak and wavering. Most of the time her singing lines are layered on top of one another incompatibly, and it gets to be a pretty big distraction thinking the whole time about how tuneless the vocal lines are. Soda Ash creates an interesting mood with their slow, understated sound, but it’s just not my cup of tea. My interest wanes until I finally find myself getting pissed off about how bad Knowles-Krapf sounds. It’s possible Soda Ash intends the discord as part of their unique sound, but my inability to get past it makes it hard for me to enjoy the entire package. (4/10)

review by: Matt Smith

Soilwork is steadily heading toward a good balance between a clean, tight sound and a thrashy edge. Figure Number Five picks up where Natural Born Chaos (the previous album) left off - they’ve taken out some of the harmonized choruses in favor of a harsher, single vocal line and have again added a few good-sounding synths. Thankfully, the synthesized stuff is pretty minimal, so as to avoid cheesiness.

In the true Soilwork style, Figure Number Five is excellently produced (too well, some might say), each track is a song in the structural sense (verse, chorus, verse, etc.), and they’re not afraid to write slow parts in. Bjorn “Speed” Strid’s vocals have progressed noticeably since the band’s debut, Steelbath Suicide, and he sounds fuller and richer in ...Five than he did even in Natural Born Chaos. As usual, there are some good grooves and the album as a whole is very listenable. Soilwork is definitely on its way - Figure Number Five is their best one yet. (7.5/10) 

review by: The Condor

Not sure what it is that turned Solefald from their grim blackness into a goofy electronic/metal hybrid, then into a super technical genre hopping "modern" black metal band, and finally into a melancholic dark metal prog band. But whatever it is, I love it.

Very few bands have been so interesting to watch and remained so totally unpredictable. While this unpredictability has not always served them well (the musical mis-step that was the sort of appalling Neonism), it has managed to keep them sonically original and served to alienate their core fan base with every new release. And c'mon, you gotta love a band with that sort of single mindedness.

This time around their overt weirdness is blunted a bit and it serves them well. The songs are still weird, but subtlely, in structure and melody, rather than the brick-in-the-face, over the top weirdness of their past efforts. The sound here is melancholic and mournful, with lots of acoustic guitars and piano, chantlike clean vocals and really catchy hooks. The first band I thought of when I threw this on was definitely Katatonia.

Midtempo minor key epics with gorgeously sorrowful melodies and amazing production. The occasional circusy/ prog rock keyboards or Gerry Rafferty (remember “Baker Street”?) saxophones won't let you forget that you're still listening to Solefald, and the once-in-a-while bursts of furious blast beats and growled guttural vocals help remind us that the band we're listening to was actually once a real black metal band. Not their best record by a long shot (that would be the amazing and fucked up Pills Against the Ancient Ills - review here) nor the heaviest (that would be their debut, The Linear Scaffold) just a gorgeous chunk of sad heaviness, and the next perfectly illogical step in Solefald's musical evolution. (8/10)

review by: Matt Smith

Immune is a good listen, but not too impressive. Lance Garvin’s drumming style is generally more rock-y than I’d prefer, Rocky Gray’s guitar lines occasionally get too repetitive, and I’m not crazy about most of Chad Moore’s scratchy growl, which has a breathy, strained quality to it.

The harmonized choruses incorporate an emotional ballad quality that gets kind of corny and is sometimes slightly out of tune. The songs are not as technical as I’d like, either.

But amid all these mediocrities are hidden gems - times when it all comes together: a good blast beat and a guitar line to make your head nod with a more subtle vocal line nestled in. The intros are especially good in this respect; it’s just that the songs are pretty predictable and don’t seem to get any better after the first minute. Garvin and Gray are also in Living Sacrifice, whose album, Conceived in Fire, was one of my favorites last year. I prefer Living Sacrifice in just about every conceivable way, but that doesn’t mean Soul Embraced is bad. They’ve just got a way to go before they’re very good. (5.5/10)

review by: Larissa Parson

If you are at all fond of music that moves more slowly than most people think it should; If you like the sound of a good twisted slide guitar; If you want to hear music that is too country for alt-country and too alt for blues, this is the band for you. Chicago band Souled American is what Godspeed! You Black Emperor would sound like if Godspeed were a band with banjos and acoustic guitars and twangy-voiced vocalists instead of drums and cellos. While this band has languished too long unheard, there have been many ardent fans in the past: for proof, simply head on over to http://www.ragandboneshop.com/fifty.html and see what all the buzz is about. Then pick up these albums and enjoy.

Framed is actually a compendium of the band’s four releases between 1988 and 1991, which were until relatively recently banished to record-store used bins due to the bankruptcy of Souled American’s label, Rough Trade. The four albums were re-released in November 1998 by San Francisco’s tUMULt label (post-1991, the band recorded two albums, Frozen and Notes Campfire for the Moll label in Europe; these were reissued in 1999). Taken as whole, the collection shows the band’s progression from country-based rock to the slower, more experimental style showcased on Sonny, a collection of covers that contorts the originals to meet Souled American’s standards. Around the Horn too shares this strange meandering style. The overall effect is not unpleasant, perhaps best suited for a hot afternoon, where a speeded-up tune would be an offense to the motionless air. (9/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Overall, this is a decent to good power metal CD. The really great aspects about it come from its production, which is beyond reproach: full and meaty and clear and aptly chosen for an album such as this. The band is also quite good, with some fairly good riffs, and the singer isn't one you can complain about. Stylistically, think of a Euro power metal band that has more than a few similarities to Judas Priest.

So power metal fans will probably dig this record. More critical fans may have a bone or two to pick, though, as Predator of the Empire, from its structures to lyrics, is very generic. The lyrics in particular are in true D&D style, mindlessly talking about slaying dragons and other such topics. Well, in these cases it's really about the vocals, and those are fine, so it's less of a problem. The songs, while being cut from the proper metal cloth, get a little redundant sometimes as the chorus is repeated far too many times, especially on "Heavy Metal God," a song about some non-descript musical deity. But as generic and formulaic as it is, Predator of the Empire is as metal as they come, so I guess it's a success. (5.8/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Summoning, the Austrian duo that's WAY into Tolkien, has released this two song MCD of unreleased stuff from four to six years past that was never committed to any of their albums. If you're a fan and hear this MCD, you may understand why, as the material, while still recognizable as Summoning, has quite a different feel.

Well, I'm mostly thinking of the first track, "Arkenstone," a beautiful piece. While Summoning's music nearly always has this element of bombast to go along with sweeping tunes that are as goofy as they are great, this track is far more relaxed. Slowly developing melody lines come and go, and the listener is soothed by the well-chosen keyboard tones and trademark tom-heavy drums. Like both the tracks on Lost Tales, "Arkenstone" features no vocals aside from clips taken from "different Tolkien broadcasts."

But while track one is a huge hit, track two, "Saruman," is a big flop. From the outset, with a silly sounding spoken intro, the track launches into a primary theme that can best be described as the medieval version of the kind of music that you'd hear on self-help audio tapes between the parts where the guy tells you how to take control of your life. Summoning can use obscure Tolkien-related sound bytes well, and sometimes they fail. Such is the case here with a repetitive bit about someone proclaiming himself to be Saruman, and the rest of the line trails off from there.

So is a 16-minute album that is half some of the best stuff by Summoning ever and half the worst worth your $10? For me, it turned out to be. (6/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Sunn has come a long way since the last record of theirs I heard, 00 Void (review in issue #6). On that they were basically doing what Earth pioneered, namely guitar and bass drone, but even slower and with a fatter production. But they couldn't top Earth.

A couple albums later is White 1, which is still of course a drone record, but it's got some distinct and successful flavors to it. Certainly Sunn and Earth and their ilk don't make the kind of records in which there are tracks that are necessarily better than others, as they are basically have the same intent. I'd be surprised to hear someone say, "Dude! Earth 2 is all about track three!" No.

But on White 1, the three tracks are different. My Wall is a sprawling, wandering narrative that is backed by ambient drones. The mantra-like narrative, which is structured like a song, is a bit like Dead Raven Choir, but more audible and focused, a bit like Edgar Allan Poe and "The Ride of Paul Revere" all mixed up. It works, as the narrator (guest vocals by Julian Cope) has an engaging if a bit silly delivery as he talks about meddlesome bells and the wail of Johnny Guitar.

But we're just getting to the good bits. The new Sunn has got the talents of Runhild Gammelsæter, whom you may remember as the gorgeous Scandinavian babe who did the shockingly brutal vocals on the only recording of Thorr's Hammer, which was an old project of Sunn's Stephen O'Malley. This time around, the vocals are in an ominous, spoken Norwegian, and the dronescapes are suitably more frantic and engaging, largely in part to a heavy drum machine plod. The third track, the most ambient, drifting piece, is also supposed to contain Gammelsæter's vocals, but they're hard to perceive.

So will people not familiar with this kind of thing suddenly get it if they hear White 1? Don't count on it. I'm not even sure I get what guitar drone is necessarily all about, but I enjoyed this album. (7/10)

review by: Dave McGonigle

Neurot, neurot, neurot. It’s not really the name of a record label in San Francisco, oh no, monsieur. Say it three times into the mirror at midnight and the ambie-man comes, bringing his hordes of dark ambient minions to scare you when you’d really rather settle down with a nice cup of camomile and Music for Airports. It’s probably Eno’s idea of hell, and it’s certainly not far off from mine, either. If you want to get on my bad side, make a record that uses the pitch shift on your keyboard a lot. A lot. Then have lots of low frequency, “scary” noises in the background. Then call yourself something that combines two animal names, oh, I don’t know, how about “Tarantula Hawk”? No? Ok, how about “MouseCobra”?….Yeah, I prefer "Tarantula Hawk," too.

Shame about the record, though. Derivative riffs and a cartoon-like scent of impending apocalypse do not a good record make. However, it’s not all bad….when the band want to rock, they rock like bastards. Sadly, the only time the band wants to really rock is on the last track. Shame, really. Oh, and please, if you do repeat “Neurot” three times in front of a mirror at midnight, don’t write to us telling us about it. We don’t want to know.

review by: Jason Thornberry

That drummer has to be sweating a ton! Rehearsal spaces, clubs, and studios can be so poorly ventilated. The singer’s volcano pissed about something or other as well. An imaginative emotion--fury. No one’s angry these days, rebel. I wonder if he wears a studded belt while he screams: “I find comfort in this because there’s none in you,” he cries, remaining in character.

When you look like your briefs are soaked with a flesh-eating amalgam (examining the inner artwork) you’ve got to display physical/psychic anguish to keep it real, aight? His brand of apathy isn’t about smiling; it’s about being perma-bummed. With him “singing” I’ve managed to reach track eight, and it sounded like the same song with binary gaps, plus someone’s ready to give the drummer CPR. Their take on math-core, like other pillaged genres, is a fascinating concept initially, yet you can only squeeze so much blood out of a turnip.

review by: Matt Smith

Thunderbolt is black metal right down to the pictures of axe-wielding guys in the woods wearing lots of makeup and large, upside-down crucifixes. Melodic guitars wash over blast beats. A scratchy vocal line is impossible to understand even you try to follow along in the lyric booklet. Paimon seems to be using romantic-sounding broken English mainly to denounce Judo-Christianity and tout the Aryan race while describing scenes of “funeral mist” and wandering north through mystic forests “in the embrace of winter.” Of course, there’s a track that starts with the sound of rain and the crack of thunder.

The musicianship is pretty tight, but there’s nothing mind-blowing here. Sons of the Darkness is a middle-of-the-road Polish black metal album. There’s not much to fault it on besides the apparent lack of originality - a good one to add to your ever-growing collection of obscure black metal with national socialist themes.

Editor's note: to read Maelstrom's stance on covering music by neo-fascist/ NS artists, click here.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Time Requiem's music is a blend of power metal and prog. So you'll get plenty of double bass (courtesy of Darkane's Peter Wildoer) mixed in with lots of classical influences and that keyboard sound that is so prevalent in both prog and Swedish happy metal bands, a sound that sounds plastic. Like Tupperware.

If you're an aficionado of the above-mentioned genres, the songs on Time Requiem sound most like the stuff on Yngwie Malmsteen's Alchemy, except the wanky guitar solos have been replaced with wanky keyboard ones, and the other members of the band play a bigger role. Keyboards are definitely the main instrument featured here, which is no surprise as the band leader and writer of all the music is keyboardist Richard Andersson, who previously played in the band Majestic.

Being prog metal, there is also a fair amount of similarities to Dream Theater, but they're not blatant or excessive. These comparisons surface mostly through the synth tones, but also through a few of the melody lines sung by Apollo Papathanasio (also of Majestic), whose voice in itself sounds nothing like Dream Theater's singer.

Time Requiem tries hard to be an exciting and engaging band. It does succeed to a good extent, being almost breathtakingly technical at times. However, these attempts at wowing the listener are a bit too forced and without much purpose other than for musical masturbation, as on track 8, which is a fairly short instrumental piece made up entirely of start/stop riffs and tricky note placements. As cool as it may be while listening to this particular track, the listener is left perplexed as to what the point of it all was once the track is over. This same feeling exists to a much lesser effect to varying but noticeable degrees throughout this album.

The clear, professional, but less than "killer" metal production may be a negative aspect for some, but the way this album comes up just short lies largely in the songs being more flashy, speedy showcases than tunes. Not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, and certainly staffed by musicians that can really play well, there is little doubt that fans of the cut-and-dried version of the prog side of metal will enjoy this, but for other, more standard power metal fans, I'd recommend checking out Opus Atlantica (see above) first, as the latter is largely in the same style, but with better songs and a more solid presence.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

The Hortator's Lament is another successful semi-discography of an annihilating doom band by the master purveyors, Southern Lord. This label recently put out the Grief comp (review here), so if you liked that, then stop reading now and put Toadliquor on your list.

When we say that Toadliquor is a doom band, we're not talking about bluesy, stoner doom, we're talking about apocalyptic, crushing doom. Maelstrom's The Condor is fond of calling this type of thing D O O M, and I think he would approve of using this tag here. Black Sabbath is like a nursery rhyme compared to this; Electric Wizard is a jaunty ditty. The pace is slow and massive and every note is a deliberate smashing in of the listener's skull. The vocals make you think of a man in a straightjacket being recorded while being stuck at the bottom of a deep crevasse. Despite their slowness, the songs have this tremendous energy to them that engages you like a faster record would.

However, being a compilation (of the band's first LP, from 1994, and some unreleased tracks), the record is quite long (71 minutes). So it can get exhausting, especially since Toadliquor don't vary much from their formula, which, effective as it is, gets repetitive after a while. So while this crushes Black Sabbath sonically, there is no comparison song wise. But that isn't the point, is it?

review by: Jez Andrews

I now find myself in unfamiliar territory. Christian metal. As most of my music collection comprises of bands who have taken a neutral or anti-Christian stance, this is quite a tough bastard to review.

The music itself is pretty much akin to modern thrash, with only nu-metal style vocals that really let it down. There are some very enjoyable moments in the instrumental sections, enhanced by the lead guitar tracks of (ex-)Megadeth's Marty Friedman.

Tourniquet have put together quite an imaginative album that shows them to have great potential, but it has to be said that Christianity, when combined with metal, is just plain embarassing. For fuck's sake, you wouldn't hear Cliff Richard singing “In League with Satan,” would you? Heavy metal has been described enough times as the music of the devil, and since when have we been ashamed of that? Metallers were once the rebels of society, shunned by the moral majority and so proud of their music's evil nature that they plastered it all over their walls and t-shirts, and even had their own salute. I must say that “Christian metal” is a contadiction in terms.

Okay, now that i've got that off my chest, back to the music. Putting aside the religeous elements of the lyrics and sleevenotes, I would recommend Where Moth and Rust Destroy to any fans of Anthrax, Sacred Reich, and strangely enough, Rhapsody. The use of melody and speed metal is most entertaining and I would not call Tourniquet run-of-the-mill by any standard. An album of quality, but it could do with a few “Hail Satan”s.

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Adaptation and Survival is a beautifully packaged noise concept piece based on the lives and ecosystems of insects. All the sounds found on the two CDs are thus derived from actual recordings of insects, and then warped and fucked in studio. It’s a fascinating idea, and I can say that I was very keen on hearing this.

Ultimately, the most interesting things about this album turns out to be the concept and execution. The tracks are pretty interchangeable, consisting mostly of whirrs and swelling buzzes that make your heart race. It’s a dynamic record, but certainly not a musical one.

As they have done in the past, Tribes of Neurot are recommending that you play more than one CD at once. Remember that Grace record that was meant to be played simultaneously with Neurosis’ Times of Grace? Well, this is a bit of the same deal, although this time you don’t have to be so anal as to pause both records and then press “play” on two remote controls at e-x-a-c-t-l-y the same time.

Adaptation and Survival is one of those records that’s all about turning the stereo up to frightening levels of sound, to the point where what’s coming out is an actual, physical presence. You then peer into the shifting, concrete form and see where your mind goes. For most, it won’t go so far, but for the noise freaks, this is a kick ass product. Definitely worth a dabble.

review by: Steppenvvolf

The name made me curious. Having seen the movie “The Ninth Gate” by Roman Polanski some time ago I wondered what three more gates might have to offer… And indeed the number of gates does make a difference. Whereas the movie lacks in keeping up the atmosphere of the presence of subtle evil, Twelfth Gate`s first full-length album does not fail in this respect at all.

The songs are at their core deeply influenced by 80`s metal, namely Iron Maiden, as it seems. Often the slower parts reminded me of where metal once came from. But more than being just a plain remake of the old stuff Twelfth Gate has managed to incorporate new elements in a way that makes a very genuine distinguishable sound. Let`s just say at times I heard Iced Earth from afar. Then ,there was another part in the song “Wheel of Life” that might as well have jumped out of Peter Steele`s sick soul.

The vocals are superb as you expect for a decent powermetal combo. The guitar sound and riffs are pretty trashmetal, not as you would expect would match the vocals, but it does.

Something very notable is the solid overall production of this album. While unfortunately the mass of metal bands have their bass lines just as an afterthought, Twelfth Gate`s bass line is mumbling its somber spells of evocation all way through. If you find yourself looking wistfully at your old Maiden records, wondering why metal had to spawn so many subgenres, Twelfth Gate might be your band. Check out some samples at http://www.twelfthgate.net

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Argh… User Ne is sooo close to having made a superb record. This Spanish metal band certainly gets top marks for adventurousness, mixing in a wealth of cultural music from its country's history. So you'll have more typical, dark and heavy metal with double bass and growly vocals that will shift into gorgeous female signing in Andaluz, flamenco guitar and passages that praise the Muslim influence on Spain's culture during medieval times.

And the sections can be as weird and cool as they are varied and tasteful. Retarded high pitched accents and just plain off-the-wall vocals make User Ne sound like the Spanish, Moorish version of Brazil's Tuatha De Danaan or even Chile's Bewitched, who are both in their own rights entrancingly weird.

The parts that just don't make it come in the form of awkward transitions from rough to calm, and the entirety of the track "An Mis Theimous," which is a terrible, terrible choral track, whose elements pop up ever so often in bits of the rest of the album.

So that's how close User Ne is. We still think you should check out this record, though, as the contrasts of styles that nearly fit together seamlessly speak of some visionary album to come. (6.5/10)

review by: Abhishek Chatterjee

Dirty, filthy, gore grind from the sewers of Australia, this is what we have here. Musically, Vaginal Carnage are like a mixture of the speedy grind played by Malignant Tumor and the ultra heavy groove style of Cock and Ball Torture. The guitar sound is quite fuzzy but still packs in plenty of punch and Benny (guitar/bass) has put in some killer riffs on songs like “Chaps With Flaps” and the title song.

For most of the total run time (not a lot mind you, this clocks in at just under 15 minutes), the music hovers around the more-than-decent level, though things start getting just a little bit nondescript at the end. The drumming is pretty impressive with the strangely named Max Wheel giving us plenty of blasts, rolls and double pedal kicks. The bass drum sound sucks though, sounding like a soggy piece of cardboard, but Max Wheel makes up for it with his relentless blasting in songs like “On the Brasko” and “Shit In My Mouth.”

As far as the vocals go, they sound surprisingly unprocessed for this style of music. There are a lot of intros too, with the title song having the funniest of them all. I enjoyed this release and don’t have much to complain about, except for the annoying intro to “Mad Mullet Cunts,” which drags on for ever and ever.

review by: Matt Smith

Vassago is a confident, no bullshit band. Formed in 1997 by Sin and Pepa from Lord Belial (Does anyone else think the names of these two make a humorous combination?), their promotional flyer says they’re an “Extreme Aggressive Black Speed Metal War from Sweden.” I don’t think I could put it better myself, but I’ll try.

Satanic bloodlust carries these “knights” on an auditory spree of destruction. Each song starts as fast as it finishes; Vassago doesn’t know the meaning of the word “slow.” The CD is a constant barrage of fast drumming and high-pitched screams about Satan and rectal bleeding blanketed by heavily distorted guitar lines. There’s the occasional short, furious guitar solo, but not much else serves to break Vassago’s unrelenting formula of “hit it as hard as you can and say scary stuff.” It works for them, really.

Knights from Hell is an interesting listen, especially when I keep flipping through the insert and thinking, “Did he just say what I think he did?” The lyrical content is harsher than the English is choppy. Much of it reminds me of Amon Amarth in its imagery and fiery mood, but the best lines are the ones that are just trying to be as mean and sick as possible.

“Kill in Satans name [sic] / Fight for Satan / You will die / Kill in Satans name / A massive dose of bullets / straight in your face … ” from “Thou Shalt Kill” is one of my favorites. But this one, from “Anal Fistfuck,” takes the cake: “Impossible bowel-movements / through analy [sic] intruded objects / disturbing my sleep.” Boy, if there’s one thing I have trouble sleeping through, it’s objects intruding my anus.

These down-to-earth themes to which nearly everyone can relate are sure to capture the hearts and minds of conscientious music listeners everywhere. Knights from Hell is an intense, entertaining listen that is fun in spite of itself (you know, how the cover of Butchered at Birth is "fun"), and 15 tracks crammed into 30 minutes rarely makes for a boring album. Not to mention the chuckle out of the fact that the founding members are named Sin and Pepa. (7/10)

review by: Roberto Martinelli

Death metal heads take note. If you're into pummeling material that's well constructed and played to a high degree of skill, you'll be very pleased with Vital Remains' latest album.

This band seems to fall apart and then reconstruct itself with each passing record. As always, founding member Tony Lazaro can be found on guitars. Handling all the other instrumental duties is Dave Suzuki, who, if memory serves me correctly, just played drums and sometimes bass on past albums. Not only is Suzuki's drumming super, but his leads are as well. Taking over vocal duties from the guy who was on the last record is none other than Glen Benton of Deicide fame. His vocals sound excellent here, but might have been a little better if he had more variety to his delivery.

The songs are on the long side for the style, being at least six minutes and as long as 10, but have quite a few good riffs per track. As can be expected, the pace is fast and brutal, but Vital Remains eases off on the kill switch to present some tasty melodies and interesting solos that are atypical to this kind of music. There appears to have been a good deal of effort into structuring the songs, and the title track, the best on the disk, is the best example.

The production is very clear, almost to a fault. The drums, which provide an almost constant double bass foundation for various overlying hand patters, are the main culprits in making the material often numbing. A more organic sounding production and some more variety of kick drum patterns might have helped here. The guitars and bass sound good. Still, if you don't mind near constant pummeling that has depth to it, you'll definitely like this record.

Some points may be deducted in your personal case if the rehashing of anti-Christian lyrics and vocals, which Benton and co. have been repeating for almost 15 years, are becoming tiresome. Focusing on the lyrics and themes of Dechristianize reveals a band that is totally running through the death metal lyric image motions, and this unfortunately does detract some from the end product.

I hesitate to call this the best Vital Remains yet. I seem to think Into Cold Darkness is better, only because of the darker, more organic and evil atmosphere of the record. Dechristianize's material is certainly better than the overrated Dawn of the Apocalypse, and far more interesting than Forever Underground. It's a close call. It's good to hear some modern US death metal whose purpose has a bit more to it than constant speed and technicality. (7.5/10)

review by: Jason Thornberry

Dechristianize begins innocently enough. Chanting monks set up the first tune just after a rainstorm, and you’ve already got the feeling things are going to get creepy. I can’t recall the name of the tune their humming, but it’s in every other horror film made in the past twenty-five years. Not only that, but the cover shows Jesus H. Christ being nudged by centurions whilst trying to mind his own business, and get on with being crucified to a pentagram in hell, or at least San Bernardino.

Glen Benton is the singer of Vital Remains, so without being a total dickhead, I’m guessing there’ll be blastbeats galore with his vocals slightly up in the mix, growling up a storm about beheaded prophets and all that jazz. I’m not cheating either, I’ve actually turned this off, and am just guessing, so if Dechristianize ends up sounding like Teenage Fanclub, my apologies to Glen and his son Master Satan Spawn, the Caco-Daemon.

Fuuuck! I was right. Apparently I’m the only one who likes a little variation in metal. This album gets its point across, but only if you’ve never ever heard Deicide, Bathory, or Venom, although Venom at least had a sense of humor. Dechristianize is like being chased by the same nasal-sounding hornet for a decade. (5/10)

review by: Matt Smith

Rich environments of sound - a general, piercing ambience - characterize Void’s first full-length album. OCD and Ionman, two musical engineers, have made an extremely production-oriented, digital-sounding metal(?) album. At least the promotional material says it’s metal. Shrill, trebly guitars and a scathing vocal line are the only things that would suggest it. The guitars pierce the eardrums while a drum machine ticks away in the background.

There is a general abstractness to Posthuman: Abrupt starts and stops, time changes, and layers of altered samples all serve to keep the listener’s attention. I checked more than twice to see if the CD was skipping. Void has undeniably found their own unique sound somewhere in between industrial and grindcore after taking a pit stop near drum and bass. I really enjoyed Posthuman and hope to hear more from Void, but I’m not sure if OCD and Ionman could do a live show up-to-par. They certainly make the evilest electronic music I’ve ever heard. (7.5/10)