Track List:1- Perfect Enemy, 2- Random´s Manifest Pt. 1, 3- Psycho love, 4- Sense of Annihilation, 5- Curse of Flesh, 6- In Sorrow, 7- Random´s Manifest Pt. II, 8- Misery colored yellow-black, 9- Teach To Kill, 10- Future Deadlock, 11- Random´s Manifest Pt. III, 12- W.A.R. (Wrong and Right)  

 Modern death metal in all its splendour. Acid Death, a greek death metal machine driven by an almost mechanical drum (courtesy of Costas T.). I loved the music of "Random´s Manifest Pt-1" with interesting keyboard parts, solos and a piano thrown into this death metal madness (really progressive...I wish this track would have been longer). The main element here is the antagony between the most brutal aprts and the dark melodies and experiments that this guys do through the whole recording....for example they do clean arpeggios after fast riffs or they throw a lot of clean guitars. There are also some keyboards enhancing all the results. Killer CD !!!!Favorite tracks: The whole recording. Contact: http://harmaforum.gr/Acid_Death/index_acid.html

Technical data:

Directly from the Netherlands here it comes one of the most emblematic bands from that country. Their music goes along the death metal paths with a more modeern touch that brings them also close to bands like Sepultura or Fear Factory. But this band puts more emphasis on brutality and in certain tracks like "The Stress Factor" on speed (this track has an excellent guitar phrase played over the chorus) and rhythm (killer double bass drumming in some tracks), without forgetting to add melodies here and there to spice up the results (as in the beginning of "Spikes and Pain" just to give an example). A really potent album from this band that has also the fame of being a great live act. Favorite tracks: "On the Throne" (melodies over a blast beat?!?!?!), "Red Harvest" and "Punishment for Decency". Contact: www.crash-inc.com

Technical data:

What a great album !! Why? First of all because of the amazing vocals by Kelly Godshall (amazingly clean with beautiful modulations and great intensity). Second, because of the different that are all the songs and the diversity of textures (from really clean to really heavy within the same track), third, because of the introspective nature of the tracks...specially "Burning at Sunset" is a killer. How can I define the music of Amber Spyglass? Well...this is difficult but take some heavy band like The Gathering, mix it with Ataraxia and Black Tape for a Blue Girl and Loreena Mc Kennitt and you will have an approximation. Great musicianship (guitars, bass and keyboards), great melodies and great atmospheres. Favorite tracks: "Burning at Sunset", "Going Down" and "Simple To Say". Contact: www.amberspyglass.net

Technical data:

Directly from Spain arrives Azrael´s forth album....this one is called "Dimension IV". An eerie introduction leads us into "Sacrificio" in the vein of the strongest power metal. The strangest thing that this band has are the choruses which sound really Spanish. Another thing that got my attention is the guitar sound that is really heavy (heavier than in most of power metal bands) and the drums are mixed in a way that makes them sound really pure, specially the hihat. Thanks god this band does not use too much the galloping rhyhms that most heavy/power metal bands (specially europeans) use nowadays. There are some interesting ideas, specially on the guitar solos and in some keyboard phrases. Favorite tracks: "Nada Que Temer", "Mujer de Hielo" and "La Luz de Ishtar". Contact: www.locomotivemusic.com   

Technical data:

 A climatic intro with some whispering vocals leads us into "Sederunt", a slow and atmospheric black metal track full of keyboards and whispering voclas with electronic drums and no guitars. In fact the main instrument here are the keyboards and that turns this work into a more original one. The keyboards are used to create dark atmospheres and to enhance the different kind of vocals that are used throughout the release. This one must be listen to see the constant experimentation that some bands do. Contact: valkalac@mail.ru

Technical data:

Bestia is a band from Estonia dedicated to black metal in its purest form. Raw guitars, screaming vocals, hyper fast tempos are some of the charachteristics of their music. Apart from this items, they use two things that are remarkable: riffs that are more rhythmics (as the one that starts "Igaveseks Koos" )and lots of hyper fast guitar melodies. In fact some of the riffs would not be out of place in a heavy metal band. Another thing to remark is that when they use this slower riffs, they use extremely dark tonalities in order to enhance the atmosphere of the songs. The overall sound is pretty good but I think that this guys in a Studio can do much better. This CD is total blackness guaranteed (and it ends with an ambient/electronic track called "Esoteric Madness"). Favorite tracks: "Viirastus Töusvas Tules" and "Igaviku Laps". Contact: www.zone.ee/bestia

 

BRUTAL MIND "DEMO 2001" / KRATER "HELL" (Independent, 2001):

Track List: Krater - Hell: 1- Hell, 2- Clinic Death, 3- Darkness, 4- Fleshless Sorrow, 5- We aur sol suls to the Devil, 6- Hell - BG, Krater 1991.

Brutal Mind: 1- Die, 2- Gutringer

Michael from Bulgaria is the brain behind these two projects (one of them, Krater is from the beginning of the nineties and I think it has split up) whose music can be described as progressive/ experimental death metal. Krater´s music is full of great epic keyboards. It is interesting to see Michael´s vocals to be so different from what one is accustomed to listen. Brutal Mind has a more modern sound with some heavy metal touches in the guitars (to define it, the track "Die" has guitars that are sometimes heavy metal and sometimes black metal). In Brutal Mind the vocals are more guttural and the speed is one of the main features along with some tempo changes. Also there are some interesting influences of bands like Celtic Frost or the first Coroner in the guitars too. I would like Michael to use the heavy keyboards that he used to put on Krater´s music into Brutal Mind too  

 

CHARNEL HOUSE - SAMPLE OF MURDER (Independent, 2000):

Track List: 1- Of Blood and Bone, 2-Tale of Murder, 3- No reason To Die, 4- Dance of the Dead, 5- Comatose In A Coffin. 

Is this death metal? No, but it has elemnts of the style. Is this thrash metal? No, it is more than that. In fact on this release Charnel House combines the power of death metal with thrash rhythms and riffs that are full of grooves and rhythms (for example on "Tale of Murder" there are riffs and vocals that wouldn´t be out of place in a Grip Inc. Release). Purist Death metal fans don´t worry !! Here there are some fast parts with killer fast drumming on "Dance of the Dead"!! Tharash metal fans rejoice while checking the same track in its old school thrash metal runs and guitar solos.. This guys should continue making music on this vein and emphasizing the more groovy parts. The overall sound of the recording is good but I think the guitars can be mixed better and that will give more power to the music. This guys are releasing their new CD "From Birth to Burial" too!! Favorite tracks: "Tale of Murder", "Comatose in a Coffin". Contact: www.mp3.com/ACharnelHouse

 

CHRIS BURN ENSEMBLE - THE PLACE 1991 (Emanem Disc, 2001):

Technical data:

Difital Recording by Martin Davidson, London, October 13^th, 1991.

Editing, mastering and Design by Martin Davidson

Front cover photo from a book dating around 1890.

Track List: 1- Presponse, 2- The Piano Ate Card, 3- Pollock #82, 4- Southern Samba A Go-Go, 5- Hammer Hint, 6- Blocks and Arches.

Let´s do a lit of all the instruments that we have here: flutes, saxophones, violins, cello, guitar, pianos, percussion, synthesizer and electronics, et, etc. All this instruments are used in the context of compositions for improvisers. The result is really heterogeneous...sometimes calm and melodic, sometimes crazy and noisy, sometimes more coherent, sometimes less. It is really interesting as an exercise for musicians to see how well nine musicians can interact while improvising and being spontaneous. Also it is interesting how sometimes an idea is developed in a really sort spam of time and some of them take more or less seventeen minutes to reach the climax (like on "The Piano Ate Card"). A really heterogeneous release. Favorite tracks: "The Piano Ate Card", "Hammer Hint" and "Blocks and Arches". Contact: www.emanemdisc.com   

Technical data:

Interesting release from this band from the province of Córdoba, Argentina, mixing things of heavy metal with some thrash and doom parts. This is a band that must be taking on account on the metal scene from Argentina because they are mixing influences from seventies, eighties and nineties metal delivering songs with great quality. One thing that I have to point out here is their heavy use of keyboards that on my way of thinking provides a bigger range of possibilities to Cronos music. There is a big contrast between the raw sounding guitars and the clean majestic keyboards here and soundwise I would have liked them to mix a little bit louder the snare drum that gets a bit lost in the mix. Favorite tracks: "Nubes Negras", "Antiguos Ritos" and "Vuelo al Dolor". Contact: cronosband@latinmail.com

Technical data:

Track List: 1- Errosive Prayer, 2- Salt Iron Blood, 3- 2000 Years, 4- Black Box, 5- Limited Access, 6- Short Circuit (Materialisation of Abomination).

Viy O.D. is the mind behind Cybernetic Errosion and the only memeber who plays and programs all the instruments. The CD opens with some electronic rhythms and industrial noises before getting into the main riffs of "Errosive Prayer", an instrumental of death-industrial-electronic metal with really heavy riffs over an electronic base. After this fast first tracks...darkness takes command of the music, going into an electronic-atmospheric-gothic sounding track called "Salt Iron Blood" where we can hear Viy O.D´s vocals that are really depressing and sound great over the keyboards chords. What can we find here? Anguish, darkness, obscurity, experimentation through all the tracks (check for example "2000 years", it is like a soundtrack to a funeral...great!). I hope Viy can also release soon his other projects (they are in different veins than Cybernetic Errosion) that I would like to listen. Favorite tracks: "Salt Iron Blood", "Limited Access" and "Black Box". Contact: ulv815@hotmail.com

 

DEMENTOR - ENSLAVE THE WEAK (Osmose Prods., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded /Mixed at Pro Art Studios June/August 2000.

Engineered by Milos Rojko

Produced by Dementor and Milos Rojko

Track List: 1- Enslave the Weak, 2- Feeding the Fire, 3- Rewrite the Past, 4- Death is Coming, 5- Inverted Darkness, 6- Reborn Again, 7- Killing Christians, 8- Foolish Believers, 9- Opposites Beyond Eternity.

Pure death metal is what this Slovakian band specializes in. They do death metal in the vein of bands like Morbid Angel but with their own personality. The good thing here is listening slow guitar riffs over a killer double bass drumming, prefering doing things with good taste than speeding for the sake of speed. I take my hat off in Holloshman´s drumming. He is a killer drummer and drives the bands music while the guitarists construct the main structure with their riffs and guitar solos. René Blahusiak´s vocals are growling but very clear at the same time and you can understand every word of the lyrics. I think they have made a good evolution since their previous CD "The Art of Blasphemy". Favorite tracks: "Opposites Beyond Eternity", " Death is Coming" and "Killing Christians". Contact: www.dementor.sk

 

DEMENTOR - THE ART OF BLASPHEMY (Qabalah Prods., 1999):

Track List: 1- Devil´s Rebirth, 2- The False Faith, 3- Time for Death, 4- Waiting the Death, 5- Love, 6-Requiem to the Cursed Lust, 7- The Art of Blasphemy, 8- Taste of Dead Meat, 9- Gate of Eternity, 10- The Eyes of the Beast

 This is Dementor´s previous album and it was a good one (not as good as "Enslave The Weak"). I think that the band has evolved really good since this recording because nowadays their music is much more interesting. While in this CD all is brutality and speed, in "Enslave The Weak" there are more arrangements, more subtle things and more creativity. It is good to see an album like this together with their latest to see how the band evolved. If you love raw death metal you will prefer this one. Favorite tracks: "The False Faith", "Love" (this is more similar of what was going to come in the next album) and "Taste of Dead Meat". Contact: www.dementor.sk

 

DEPRAVED - DECADENCE AND LUST (Warpath Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded, mixed and mastered in Second Side Studio January-March 2001.

Cover concept by Depraved. Design by Virginie, painting by Franck.

Track List: 1-Strangulation with Human leather, 2- Mass killer, 3- Cannibalistic Rites, 4- Decadence and Lust, 5- Winds of tribal Voices, 6- Exciting Murder, 7- Masturbation in Worms, 8- Scream !!!, 9- Seeds of Perversion, 10- Follow Ignorance, 11- the Hand of death, 12- Dive into Sexual Depravity 

Bestial death grind with no mercy for the listener !! This guys start at full speed with "Strangulation with Human Leather" in the vein of the most extreme death metal bands crushing you like an atomic bomb !! And this guys do not stop after the first track...in fact they are full speed, hate and violence from beginning to end. Fans of the style will love it as much as detractors will hate them. I like how the recording is mixed with the guitars and the bass in the front (despite the speed and the blast beats and all the stuff you can hear clearly the bass pumping through all the tracks). I think this guys should emphasize licks like the ones in "Exciting Murder" (0:50) or the beginning of "Masturbation in Worms". Favorite tracks: "Strangulation with Human Leather", "Masturbation in Worms" and "Seeds of Perversion". Contact: warpathrecords@aol.com

 

DESTRUCTION - THE ANTICHRIST (Nuclear Blast, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at The Abyss Studios

Track List: 1- Days of Confussion, 2- thrash Till Death, 3- Nailed to the Cross, 4- Dictators of Cruelty, 5- Bullets from Hell, 6- Strangulated Pride, 7- Meet your Destiny, 8- Creations of the Underworld, 9- Godfather of Slander, 10- Let Your Mind Rot, 11- The Heretic

Schmier and company are back, this time with "The Antichrist", an album whose making has been somewhat touched by bad luck (as they explain in their webiste). As in their previous album"All Hell Breaks Loose" the music is thrash metal as they used to play in the classical era of the band (before "Cracked Brain") with a really good production, specially in the drums department and in the crushing sound of the guitars. Songs like "Tharsh Till Death" or "Nailed To the Cross" are only a sample of the Destruction sound that made this band famous during the eighties. This is a classical band who knows what their fans wnat and deliver it perfectly. Favorite tracks: "Bullets from HelL", "Meet your destiny" and "Creations of the underworld". Contact: www.nuclearblast.de. Distributes for Argentina: Icarus Recs. icarus@ba.net or icarusmusic@speedy.com.ar

 

DIVE IN MINDS - INNOCENT VICTIMS (Furias Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Nestor Iencenella from Iencenella Records Studios.

Executive Production: Eduardo Mallada, Musical Production: Dive In Minds.

Art Cover: Hector Tito Gervan.

Track List:1- Suffering, 2- Holocaust of the Human Being, 3- Innocent Victims, 4- Torment, 5- Hijos, 6- Under the Power of Men, 7- Come Back from Death, 8- Humanity Death, 9- Desperate Yells of Confinement.

Dive in Minds is band from Bahía Blanca, a city in the south of the Province of Buenos Aires, Artgentina. Their style is extremely progressive and technical death metal. Influences of this band are Death (Individual Thought Patterns/Symbolic era), In Flames, Dark Tranquillity  and bands of the style. The main point here is tthe excellent work of guitars, bass and drums and the excelent sound that the band has achieved. This guys deserve to be a really succesfull band world wide...check their guitar solos, their rhythms (killer drummer), the phrases that the bassist makes (in a Steve Di Giorgio fashion), the clean interludes, the changes, the complexity of the tracks. There is nothing that this guys can not do. One of the albums of the month. Favorite tracks: All the CD. Contact: furias@ssdnet.com.ar or calling (+54-11)4583-9955 or fax: (+54-11) 4581-4066.

 

ENFORSAKEN- EMBRACED BY MISERY (Lifeless Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Studio One, December 2000

Engineered by Chris Djuricic. Mixed by Enforsaken and Chris Djuricic

Cover Artwork Carlos del Olmo Holmberg at www.nailstream.com

Track List: 1- Of open Wounds..., 2- The Acting Parts, 3- Embraced by Misery, 4-Dead Light, Dead Night, 5- Into the Everblack, 6- Standing in the Shadows.

Enforsaken is a really aggressive band whose music transits the path of death metal. I would call this a more sophisticated kind of death metal because of the variety of arrangements that the band makes in the tracks, for example doing some arpegios with distorted guitars like in "Of Open Wounds..." or interesting soloing (check the solos on the same track). The vocals reminded sometimes of Carcass (but they use a lot of different types of vocals) and I would define the music as Carcass meets Kreator meets Celtic Frost meets Morbid Angel. They have achieved a good sound on this release, specially on guitars and drums. I think the song that I would choose as the best is "The Acting Parts" because of the great arrangements and the catchy chorus (with a really deep vocals) and because of the mixture of straight forward metal with blast beats. A promisory recording. Favorite tracks: "The Acting parts", "Dead Light, dead night" (with slow beginning, really technical) and "Into the Everblack". Contact: www.enforsaken.com or http://lifelessrecords.8k.com

 

EVAN PARKER - THE AYES HAVE IT (Emanem Disc, 2001):

Technical data:

Analogue studio recording in 1-4 made in London, December 1983.

Digital Concert Recording by Martin Davidson, London August 1, 1991.

Editing, masteringa and design by Martin Davidson.

Track List:1- Aye 1, 2- Aye 2, 3- Aye 3, 4- Aye 4, 5- The Eyes Have it 

This is an album with two parts...the first one is comprised of four tracks with improvisations in a trio format recorded in studio on 1983 and that features Parker´s excelent skills as saxophonist while Paul Rogers constructs the double bass structure for him to improvise while making uncommon sounds with his instruments and while Jamie Muir developes his undesciphrable percussion playing and enhances the eerie feeling by using some toys. The second part of this release onsist in a 36 and a half minutes jam in quartet format this time including a trombone (this is a recording from 1991). The sound in this second part is better, specially on the saxophone and I like a lot the interventions and unisons of Parker and Wierbos (trombone). Close minded people abstain. Favorite track: "The Eyes Have It", and "Aye 2". Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

 

FEEBLE MINDED/LIMITS OF NESCIENT - SPLIT CD (Grodhaisn Prods./Copremesis Recs., 2001):

Track List: Feeble Minded: 1- Final War (intro), 2- History, 3- Miss Dissection, 4- XXX,. 5- Alone, 6- Tommyknockers, 7- The Dying Landscape, 8- The Pool, 9- Period_3 (chaos), 10- Miss D (Sweet pills Mix)

Limits of Nescient: 1- 33, 2- Dunia Di Tanganku, 3- The Appaling Instinct, 4- Unsur Yang Layu, 5- Disbelieve Cover, 6- Voluntary Fabrication, 7- Bleed, 8- Remains-Sisa, 9- Pulp (fiction Theme), 10- Predetinated

 A chaotic introduction called "Final War" let us into the world of Feeble Minded. A czech death metal band whose main feature are the powerful riffs in the more rhythmic Morbid Angel tradition. Another thing that caught my attention was the used of programmed drums which I think are a positive point for the band (insome bands this can be positive and in some negative depending on how they are used). I would like to point out that the riffs are carefully constructed and they are really far from the wall of noise that some bands of the style do in their fastest parts. Also there are some grind parts that sound really good and very...tidy? Yes !!. Tracks like "Miss Dissection" are a good example of what I said: Calculated rhythms and rotten vocals. The other band Limits of Nescient is a band that plays some death metal and uses some similar riffs, but in a different way than Feeble Minded, without abusing the speed also and prefering to create something more original than fast. It is a pity that they have split up. The sound of the Feeble Minded tracks is better than the Limits of Nescient, specially on the drums department that sounds quite hollow in the second band and really strong in the first one. Favorite tracks: "The Dying Landscape", "Alone" and "Dunia Di Tanganku". Contact: http://grodhaisn.cjb.net

 

GRAVE DIGGER - THE GRAVE DIGGER (Nuclear Blast, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and mixed at Principal Studios

Track List: 1- Son of Evil, 2- The Grave Digger, 3- Raven, 4- Scythe of Time, 5- Spirits of the Dead, 6- The House, 7- King Pest, 8- Sacred Fire, 9- Funeral Procession, 10- Haunted Palace, 11- Silence

I don´t know if it is for the new studio techniques or because the band decided to change their sound that when this band got reunited in 1993 they got heavier than they were in the eighties. In fact their music continued to be very similar but their sound is more in the front, better mixed. Now, year 2001, Grave Digger is back, this time with ex-Rage Manni Schmidt on guitar (he is risponsible of part of the music of the best Rage albums like "Perfect Man", "Secrets in a Weird World"). Here his guitar shines in a very similar context than in Rage....fronted by the vocals of Chris Boltendahl, Schmidt is allowed to do a lot of solos and interesting riffs. The main difference with the latest albums "Excalibur" or "Knights of the Cross" is that the lyrics and some atmospheres are darker this time, the first ones centered on Edgar Allan Poe´s writing instead of some medieval tale. Favorite tracks: "The Grave Digger", "Spirits of the Dead" and "King Pest". Contact: www.nuclearblast.de Distributes for Argentina: Icarus Recs: icarus@ba.net or icarusmusic@speedy.com.ar

 

HIGHLORD - WHEN THE AURORA FALLS (PROMO) (Icarus Recs., 2001):

 

Track List: 1- When the Aurora Falls, 2- Don´t Kill Me Again, 3- Frozen Heaven, 4- We Are Gods

Power metal in the vein of Rhapsody but with less orchestration and somewhat more direct. This is pure power metal done in the italian way. In fact the thing that differentiates this band from Rhapsody is fundamentally the sound that is somewhat inferior and the singer which should give more power to his vocals in order to fit better with the rest of the music. The four tracks in this promo CD follow the same vein with a good guitarist and a good keyboardist which are the centre of the music here. The version released by Icarus Recs. has a bonus track recorded specially for Southamerican fans. Favorite tracks: "Don´t kill me again" and "We are Gods". Contact: icarus@ba.net or icarusmusic@speedy.com.ar

 

HOWARD RILEY TRIO - OVERGROUND (Emanem Disc, 2001):

Technical data:

Analogue recording made in London, August 28, 1974 and November 1, 1975.

Editing, masteringa and design by Martin Davidson.

Analogue to digital transfer by Paul Wilson

Track List:1- Loops, 2- Pages, 3- Spliced, 4- Recognition, 5- Overground

Another jewel edited by Emanem Disc. This time is a recording by the Howard Riley Trio, formed by Howard Riley on piano, Barry Guy on double bass and Tony Oxley on Percussion and Live Electronics. A killer experimental recording driven by the piano runs of Riley who is like the director of the trio building up some basement for the other two musicians to improvise and unleash their musical thoughts. I like specially the way in which Riley improvises, doing runs, chords and some interesting odd tempos and phrases while Barry Guy is doing his job on the double bass and Oxley crushes his percussion set doing the most amazing sounds. For lovers of experimentation. Favorite tracks: "Pages" and "Overground" (this track is over twenty minutes long and is a compendium of madness). Contact: www.emanemdisc.com   

 

HURT. - HURT. (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at the Factory, Vancouver .

Produced, Mixed and Mastered by Jeff Pauze

Cover artwork by Viy.

Track List: 1- Deemon, 2- Onion, 3- Lobo, 4- Fuckfeast, 5- Eat the Worm, 6- Slavecrown

Full speed grinding your brain with no mercy. This is Skull crushing grind/death !! The CD opens with "Deemon" a totally grinding track at full speed with vocals that are typical of the style. Brutality is other of the words that come into my mind while listening this band. I find much more interesting the second track called "Onion" with an interesting opening riffs (I think this guys must explore things like this more often or like the riff they use at 0:50 on this same track). In this second track the use of blast beats is less abusive and the drummer has a lot more opportunity to show what he is capable of doing ( for example interesting snare drums and double bass paterns). "Lobo" is another track where we can see what this guy can do behind the drum kit (interesting stops and cymbals on this track). For death metal fans and obviously grindcore ones. Favorite tracks: "Lobo", "Eat The Worm" and "Onion". Contact: www.hurting.org   

Technical data:

This is an album of this black/death metal beasts consisting on tracks recorded through all their career that were considered rarities, some new tracks, two covers and some live tracks taken from the "Plague Across Europe Tour" on 12^th february, 2001. Also this recording feature a participation of Schmier (Destruction) on guest vocals on the track "Cursed Legions". This band goes in the path of the blackest of metals ( on tracks like "The Pale Black Death" you can hear a definite Venom influence, in fact I like this track more than some of the speediest ones becaus here they show more interesting ideas). It is interesting to see the evolution since the 1995-1996 tracks whose sound is not so good, compared to the newest ones like the two first tracks (from 2001 and 1999) and the covers of King Diamond´s "Abigail" (march 2000) and Venom´s "Countess Bathory" (March 2001) (this versions are really crushing) whose sound is definitely much better. Also the sound of the live recording is really muddy( it sounds like air recording).This is a CD for collectionists of black metal and for those who don´t know In Aeternus and want to have a good sample on their music . Favorite tracks: "Cursed legions", "Countess Bathory" and "Wolves Blood (live)". Contact: In Southamerica: furias@ssdnet.com.ar or calling (+54-11)4583-9955 or fax: (+54-11) 4581-4066. Rest of the world: www.necropolisrec.com

Technical data:

Here is a classic hevay metal band !!! I have been listening this band since their release called "Ample Destruction". Their sound has changed a lot since them (since the time Joey Tafolla was in the band), and their sound is much heavier still melodic today. In fact what has changed a lot and for better is the guitar sound. Since they are recording at Morrisound their guitars sound heavier and fuller. The vocals of Harry "The Tyrant " Conklin is up there like always. Fans of power metal should know this band instead of more of those that are out there because here is more originality, more skills and a lot of thrash metal influences that should be useful to the genre for don´t becoming stagnant. Favorite tracks: "Frozen in Fear", "The Silent" and "Power Surge" (crushing rhythms here...lot of thrash metal and screaming vocals). Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

 

JEZABEL - A TODO O NADA (PROMO) (Icarus Recs., 2001):

Track List: 1- Eternamente, 2- Días de Gloria, 3- Cuando Dudes en Seguir, 4- Estirpe

Heavy metal with certain progressive touches (specially on the keyboards that I think should be used more because they sound really good and can add a lot to the music) with a great work of guitars and good ideas. This is heavy metal for those who love bands like Rhapsody, Stratovarius, Helloween and it has nothing to envy to those band (except the popularity and the sales). Excelent work of the bass player doing certain interesting arrangements in "Días de Gloria". Songs like "Cuando Dudes en Seguir" are really potent and will be loved by power metal fans (good guitar riffs). I have to point out that the edition that Icarus is releasing comes with an excelent box package and a poster of the cover art. Contact: icarus@ba.net or icarusmusic@speedy.com.ar

Technical data:

Legend guitarist John Russell unleash madness in this duets with drummer percussionist Roger Turner. This time, Russell uses an acoustic plectrum guitar which sounds sometimes like a banjo, sometimes like a citar, sometimes like a harp (depending on how he plays it). A lot of weird sounding improvisation is done here. Russell plays tremolos, harmonics and some glissandos while Turner explores his percussion set in an odd manner. Check for example "Fire at my Ribs" with some strange drum patterns by Turner while Russell picks the strings of his guitar in a wild fashion. Interesting experimental duets. Favorite tracks: "Fire at my Ribs", "Piercing the Second Sky" and " Fulcrum". Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

 

KNELL - KLICH BEZODNY (The Flaming Arts, 1998):

Technical data:

Recorded in January-April 1998

Mixed by Verba Denis

Logo by Pondon Viktor

Track List: 1- Predvestnik Gibely, 2- Vo Ime, 3- Vestnik Zimnikh Volodov, 4- Bind i repel, 5-Kaidani, 6- Klich Bezodny, 7- Mogitngi Viter

When this tape began I was transported to the darkest of worlds, full of black forests and fog. Dark images came to my mind. "Vo Ime" starts the depression with a lot of guitar melodies that are original for this sort of black metal. In fact I think this is the ingredient that the band has to use always, along with the omniprescent keyboards to set them apart from other bands of the style. The drums are programmed and that gives a strange taste of electronics to the final product, that for me helps the final result (it is better to listen this than a badly mixed drummer doing blast beats).Contact: valkalac@mail.ru

Technical data:

This is a deppressive metal act that is endorsed by In Flames singer Anders Friden, who offered this guys to record in his studios. The music is very dark with lots of passages of keyboards and vocals that accentuate the pain that theya re transmitting (they sometimes are similar to those of Amorphis Pasi Koskinen). There are really subtle moments like the beginning of "Languish" follow by bursts of anguish and sadness reflected by this musicians. The music is halfway between doom, death and gothic...but allways emphasizing the darkest part also in the more commercial tracks. Following the path of bands like Anathema and the more commercial My Dying Bride. Favorite tracks: "Same Face", "Taint of Shame" and  "Moulded Pain". Contact: www.nuclearblast.de . Distributes in exclussivity for Argentina: Icarus Recs. icarus@ba.net or icarusmusic@speedy.com.ar

 

MANIPULATED SLAVES - THE LEGENDARY BLACK JADE (Worldchaos Production, 2001):

Technical data:

Produced by Bat and Tery

Guest musicians: Johan Liiva (ex-Arch Enemy), Yuko (Fatima Hill)- vocals, Saeko (ex-Fairy Mirror)-vocals, Maya (Threat) - violins

Track List: 1- Thrust Sword into the Earth, 2- The Way of the Emperor, 3- Woman in the Iron Mask, 4- The Broken Chain, 5- Eyes Filled With Tears, 6- Man From the Horizon, 7- Capital Punishment, 8- Assault on the Enemy, 9- Bearing the Final Pain.

What a great surprise !! From Japan comes Manipulated Slaves and this is their second album. His style can be defined as melodic death/thrash metal and they do it really well!!. Specially I liked the "melodic" aspect which is centered in melancholic and epic melodies (as you can listen in the first track) done by guitars, while there are some excelent female vocals that do a great contrapósition with the more aggressive vocals. Good combination of aggressive music (check the mentioned vocals and the drumming which has an excelent sound) and melody ( great guitar solos, female vocals, violins, twin guitars). It is an excellent fusion between death metal and classical heavy metal (if you don´t believe this check the guitars on "Woman in the iron Mask" (4:10)...I think they wouldn´t be out of place in Iron Maiden). Favorite tracks: "The Way of the Emperor", "The Broken Chain" and "Assault on the Enemy". Contact: worldkdm@syd.odn.ne.jp

 

MATT WESTON - VACUUMS (Sachimay Recs., 2000):

Technical data:

Percussion and electronics master Matt Weston has released this experimental CD with compositions entitled "Vacuum". This is music very differnt from all the other projects in which he participates. In fact here he is the only musician doing all the electronics and percussion. The experimental music contained here goes from extremely subtle percussion passages, like in the beginning of "Vacuums II" for example to louder passages were he puts an emphasis on the intensity of his improvisation. Fans of experimental drumming will be delighted with this release. Favorite tracks: "Vacuums III" and "Vacuum IV". Contact: www.mattweston.com

Technical data:

This is one half of what Maudlin of The Well offers this time (The other half is called "Leaving your Body Map" and I will comment on that one later). The result is great, being this two CD set one of my favorite albums of the year... going from extremely calm and exotic tracks like the opening "The Blue Ghost/Shedding Qliphot" to the death/blast "They aren´t all beautiful without a pause. But the main feature in Maudlin of the Well´s music is experimentation through different rhythms, includding some odd-time signature tempos, melodies, instrumentation (use of saxophones, clean guitars, and all they can put his hands on), atmospheres (all of this you can find even within only one song here), different vocalizations, etc, etc.. Each song here is a world on its own, with subtle details that make each of them unique and lots of changes within them (there must be dozens of changes within each track...really difficult and technical). Bow down to receive Maudlin´s latest offering. Buy or die !!!. Favorite tracks: the whole album from beginning to end. Contact: www.darksymphonies.com

 

MAUDLIN OF THE WELL - LEAVING YOUR BODY MAP (Dark Symphonies, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Zing Recording Studios.

Engineered by Jim Fogarty

Mastered at Peerless Mastering by Jeff Lipton

Track List: 1- Stones of October´s Sobbing, 2- Gleam in Ranks, 3- Bizarre Flowers/A Violent Mist, 4- The Curve that to an angle Turn´d, 5- Sleep is a curse, 6- Riseth He, the Numberless, 7- Monstruously Low Tide

This is the other part of the Maudlin of The Well release. As "Bath" this opens with a climatic track full of sax and arpeggiated guitars in the beginning called "Stones of October´s Sobbing" before getting into a doom/death like part in 1:30...but the sax and keyboards part continue !!!!!. I love the experimentation of this guys and I love their heavy use of uncommon things that will do close-minded purists to smash their heads against the wall (there are some passages on this tracks that won´t be out of place in a free jazz context...those killer sax lines !!). It is no secret that I love the complex and the original and here we have both ...amazing !! Hail to Dark Symphonies for having such a great band with them !! Favorite tracks: Again the whole album from beginning to end. Contact: www.darksymphonies.com 

Technical data:

Extremely raw and fast black/death metal directly from Bielorrussia. The music here is aggressive and fast but played with a good technique that allows this band to do some interesting tempo changes and breaks. There is a lot of inflence from eighties thrash metal bands, specially in certain rhythms and in the guitar solos. 6 song are on this tape and they follow this path without slowing too much. This is for black and death metal fans. Favorite tracks: "Out of Flesh", "The Spell of Death". Contact: valkalac@mail.ru

Technical data:

Track List:  1- Surface Tension, 2- Salamander 

This is another experiment from the mind of Michael Prime. This time he uses as a sound source elements from the nature to experiment with its sounds. In the first track the main element is water wre he uses his water machine that he has specially assembled in the studio. In the second track the element tahat is the source of sound is fire: he has recorded fire sounds and then he has manipulated the sound in the computer. The result is very weird and demonstrates what I always say: with an open mind there is no limit for music and experimentation. Contact: mikep@myco.demon.co.uk

 

MIGUEL SIGALES - EL LUGAR DE LOS MILAGROS (Independent., 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded /Mixed at Swami Records-November 1998.

Engineer: Miguel di Genova

Layout and Graphics by Gustavo Alonso

Track List: 1-Navegante hacia el fin de los mares, 2- El lugar de los milagros (Brutal Confusión), 3- Cerca de la fuga, 4- Más que mil palabras, 5- Hazme Libre, 6- 1911, 7- Sueños "Scaramouche", 8- Paisajes de ayer, 9- Presto.

Miguel Sigales is a great guitarist and composer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. And this is his instrumental debut. His style is somewhere between Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Greg Howe and Tony Macalpine. It is really great to see how much technical skills and feeling this guy has. In fact what is interesting from Sigales playing is the fusion of styles in his playing from neoclassical runs to really rocking licks all done witth freat taste. The tracks are really well developed and I liked a lot certain aspects like the power and the sound of the band that supports him (including the drums samples that are mixed very good and they don´t sound thin). I would like to listen more from him, and he is playing live this month....I am not going to miss it. Favorite tracks: "Más que mil palabras", "1911" (with a lot of clean guitar) and "Sueños "Scaramouche" . Contact: sigalesguitar@hotmail.com

Here is the newest album from guitar virtuoso Mike Campese. This CD shows us a less introspective side of his playing than the one in "Total Freedom" his previous CD. Exploring melodies and moods through all the recording using different textures and guitar arrangements seem to be Campese´s main goal. And he has achieved it. It is really great to see how much technique this guy has and how well he uses to fit his songs (the good thing is that he puts all his knowledge to create the best songs that is possible instead of showing how much he can do on the fretboard). Check for example the semi-acoustic "Torches" with its darker sounding melodies (in fact here we can listen to some flamenco-like playing). Or check the beautiful Vai/Satriani/Macalpine/Chastain like melodies on "Dark Aqua". Plus the sound of the recording is incredible. Mike Campese is one name to be known when you talk about guitar. Favorite track: "Torches", "Happy Snow" and "Velvet". Contact: www.mikecampese.com

 

MIKE CAMPESE - TOTAL FREEDOM (Independent, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded at Virtual Sound Recording Studio

Remastered by Ted Malia - May 2001

Produced by Mike Campese

Cover Photo by Dan Castle

Track List: 1- Amberay, 2- Sea, 3- Thunder and Rain, 4- Sun, 5- heaven, 6- Jungle, 7- Last Train Out, 8- Blizzard, 9- Indian War, 10- Space, 11- Freedom, 12- Jewels

A great acoustic piece "Amberay" opens this CD of guitar maestro Mike Campese. Great taste, technique, great compositional skills is what Mike is all about. He can play from the most delicated acoustic texture to the heavier than hell riff or solo. Total Freedom is an album full of great guitar melodies and it explores the solo side of Mike Campese, because this is an album of solo guitar (only accompanied by some keyboards here and there). There are some overdubbings, so you can listen to Campese doing the melodies and the chord progressions at the same time with really good taste. Some of the tracks reminded me of Marty Friedman´s solo album "Scenes" or tu some of David Chastaín´s acoustic pieces. There are also some bluegrass and fusion influences too. A must for guitar fans. Favorite tracks: "Thunder and Rain", "Jungle" and "Blizzard". Contact: www.mikecampese.com

 

MOONSPELL - DARKNESS & HOPE (Century Media, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Finnvox Studios, Helsinki.

Produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa

Track List: 1- Darkness and Hope, 2- Firewalking, 3- Nocturna, 4- Heartshaped Abyss, 5- Devilred, 6- Ghostsong, 7- Rapaces, 8- Made of Storm, 9- How we became Fire, 10- Than The Serpent in my Arms, 9- Os Senhores da Guerra

It is interesting to see how Moonspell has developed their own sound and style. This time the result goes in the middlem path between "Irreligious" and " Sin/Pecado". That is it sounds heavier than "Sin/Pecado" with some screaming vocals in some parts and heavier guitars (like in "Irreligious"), but retaining the melodic and gothic side that they reached on the aforementioned release (a clear example of this is the difference between the second track "Firewalking" where the heavier parts are more evident and the third one "Nocturna" where the more climatic, lighter parts are the main feature). The music is dark as always full of melodies and with the enchanting vocals of Fernando Ribeiro greatly singing through all the recording. Also there are the omniprescent synths and samplers of Pedro Paixao that in some places reminded me of the ones in Paradise Lost´s "Host" and the heavy guitars that this time are more present in some of the tracks. Favorite tracks: "Firewalking", "Devilred" and "Than The Serpent in my Arms". Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

 

MYSTIC PROPHECY - VENGEANCE (Crash Music., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mixed by Music Factory Studio /Seltmans.

Mastered by Eroc´s Mastering Ranch

Produced by R.D. Lipiakis, M. Albrecht.

Cover Design: Mario Le Mole

Track List: 1- 1545-The Beginning, 2- Sky´s Burning, 3- Damnation and Darkness, 4- Welcome In the Damned Circle, 5- Dark Side of the Moon, 6- River of Hate, 7- In the Mirror, 8- In the Distance, 9- When Shadows Fall, 10- Fallen Angel

Another release from metal label Crash Music and is very differnt from the Altar one that I commented above. While the Altar release was closer to death metal and this is a release of total heavy/power/thrash metal and the first thing that got my attention is how good the CD sounds. The production here enhances the sound of guitars, drums and vocals making them sound more powerful. Power metallers will hail this release because it has all the elements of the genre but far much better done than some of those mediocres bands that are out there. And what I like more are certain thrash metal elements from the eighties that I can listen in their music such as some vocals and choruses that are certainly welcome to my ears. Favorite trcks: "Sky´s Burning", "Welcome in the Damned Circle", "In the Distance". Contact: www.crash-inc.com

 

 

NIGHTWISH - OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY (Nems Enterprises, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded by tero Kinnunen at Caverock and Mikko Karmila at Finnvox - February/March 2001

Live tracks recorded by Transmix Ox at Tullikamari, Tampere, Finalnd 29/12/00

Mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox

Cover Image by Sami Vänskä.

Track List: 1- Over The Hills and Far Away, 2- 10^th Man Down, 3- Away, 4- Astral Romance (version 2001), 5- The Kinslayer (live), 6- She Is My Sin (live), 7- Sacrament of Wilderness (live), 8- Walking in the Air (live), 9- Beauty and the Beast (live), 10- Wishmaster (live), 11- Sleepwalker (heavy version)  

And well, the best part of this CD for me are the live tracks...they are played in an almost exact version as the one in studio, but the sound is rawer (specially Emppu´s guitar). I liked specially the version of "Sacrament of Wilderness" (a little bit faster than in "Oceanborn". Favorite tracks: "Sacrament of Wilderness", "She is My Sin" and "Kinslayer". Contact. Nems@nems.com.ar

 

NOMED - DEMO 2001 (Independent, 2001):

Track List: 1- Winds of Heart, 2- The Voice of Demon, 3- Metal Quest, 4- In the Darkness, 5- Feel the Pain, 6- Disbelief

Andre Lemesle is the main composer of Nomed´s music which we could call death/black/viking metal with thrashy and heavy metal riffs and interesting keyboards progressions and atmospheres. Which is the fundamental element here? Believe it or not, the atmospheres created by the guitar riffs and the keyboards. In fact, some of the riffs are really twisted and are accompanied later by great keyboards scales and progressions , like in the middle part of "Metal Quest". It is fascinating the contrast between this more melodic and intrincated parts with the raw and sometimes guttural vocals. I think that lemeslé is looking not only for brutality but also for originality in his work. Watch out death metal...here is Nomed !! Favorite tracks: "Metal Quest" and "Feel the Pain" (with great keyboards-piano and great guitar, sometimes doubled by the keyboard). Contact: lemesleandre@aol.com

 

NOMENMORTIS - HOW I LEARN TO BLEED...FOR THE THINGS I WISH TO FORGET (Jackhammer Music, 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded at Accelerate Studios

Track List: 1- Mercy Dies Right Now (intro), 2- War Chant of the Hated Spawn, 3- maggot Tribe, 4- Tedd Deireadh - Conjunction for Armaggeddon, 5- Left there something to live for?, 6- Seen Through the Thorns of Despair, 7- Empirium of Mist, 8- Something Almost Buried, 9- Another Starblaze...Another Tragedy?, 10- Unholy Voices of Reason - Godexpeller, 11- Outcry of Senseless Sacrificed - Let me die at Last, 12- Eternal Shadow has Arrived (outro)

Death metal !! Yes, death metal in all its magnitude is what this band brings us with their latest release (they are recording new stuff now). The music here is technical death metal with an emphasis in brutality and really well constructed guitar solos . Crushing rhythms and a fat guitar sound made this release a powerful one within the realm of death metal music. Favorite tracks: "Unholy Voices of Reason...", "Outcry of Senseless Sacrificed..." and "Left there something to live for?". Contact: nomenmortis@post.sk

 

NOMENMORTIS - PROMO 2001 (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded, Mixed and Mastered between 16 may and 18 june, 2001 at Tomako´s Sound Laboratory.

Track List: 1- Mitgefangen Mitgehangen (Neckbreaking Consequences), 2- Stunning Sweetness of Revenge, 3- Steel Wind Symphony, 4- Something Almost Buried (2001 Re-recording)

Nomenmortis, one othe main names in the Slovakian death metal scene is here with a demonstration of what they are doing nowadays. The music is brutal death metal with some vocals that are similar to those used by grindcore bands (because they are really guttural). There are all the elements of the style: fast rhythms, drums at a thousand miles per hour, guttural vocals, maniac solos. I think that the band should use more riffs like some of the used in "Stunning Sweetness of Revenge" which are one of the more interesting ones here. This promo has a good sound, specially on guitars (but I think that the final result when they finish recording their new CD will be much better). It is good to see that this band is evolving in a really good way. Contact: nomenmortis@post.sk

 

NO SPAGHETTI EDITION - LISTEN...AND TELL ME WHAT IT WAS (Sofa Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded in Rainbow Studio, Oslo by Jan Erik Kongshaug.

Mixed and Mastered by Thomas Hukkelberg.

Produced by Tonny Kluften, Ingar Zach and Ivar Grydeland.

Artwork by Mari Ihlebæk

Track List:1- Mir 1.4, 2- Drop the Boy, 3- Moscowskaja, 4- If Mountains Could Sing, 5- The Night, The Death and the Universe, 6- A Country Practice, 7- Spaghetti Fingers, 8- Mr. Thompson

Norwegian experimental/improvisational label Sofa Recs.has teamed musicians of great quality like Ingar Zach, Frode Haltli, Paal Nilssen-Love, Ingebrit Flaten, Ivar Grydeland and many more in an improvisational supergroup called No Spaghetti Edition. And again the music is pure madness and a search of intuitive music, sometimes really melodic, sometimes noisy, sometimes peaceful, sometimes climatic. In fact the great thing about this recording is the way in which it surprises you with sudden bursts of screams, piano and drums (as for example on the openning track "Mir1.4"). The main thing here is spontaneity and they succeed in being spontaneous on each track. Favorite tracks: "Drop The Boy", If Mountains Could Sing" and "Spaghetti Fingers". Contact: http://sofa.norcd.no

Technical data:

Recorded at Odor of Pears Studio.

Engineered and Produced by Joe K.

Graphic Design by Russell Ragar.

Track List:1- Invocation, 2-Cage, 3- Underground, 4- In Sodom Again, 5- Fuck Christianity, 6- Dildo, 7- Babies Without Faces, 8- Joan

A charming oriental melody opens the CD along with the enchanting vocals of Diana Blackwell. This is Odor of Pears, a trío consisting of Diana Blackwell on vocals, Joe K. On music and Russell Ragar on Visuals. The result is an hypnotic kind of music full of melodies where Blackwell´s vocals are the main feature and gives the music its distinctive touch. Keyboards and electronics are all over this CD creating a dark atmosphere, almost mechanical, succeeding in transmit the sensations of loneliness, oppression, darkness. I like a lot "Cage" with its keyboard bases (like vocals) below Blackwell´s voice that gets deeper for this track. The compositions here can be described in one word: climatic, or maybe atmospheric, or maybe ethereal. A must for people looking for new sensations. Favorite tracks: "Cage", "Fuck Christianity" (a future classic) and "Babies Without Faces". Contact: www.odorofpears.com

 

O´ROURKE-PRIME -PREVOST - ALPHA LEMUR ECHO TWO (Mycophile Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Track 1 recorded live at Jackman´s Lane Centre, London 1994.

Track 2 recorded 27/8/90 in Catford.

Artwork by Michael Prime

Mixed by Jim O´Rourke

Track List:  1- Lemur, 2-Alpha

This is a recording of a live performance by Jim O´Rourke on guitar and electronics,m Eddie Prevost on percussion and Michael Prime on bioactivity, water and electronics!!!. There are two tracks here: one of them is more than 35 minutes long and every second here is total experimentation from this weird trio. Here they go from the most calm, almost silent mood in the beginning to some chaotic noises, to sounds that are completely new to the listener. It is amazing to listen to the sounds that Prevost and O´Rourke do while Prime provides the background for the experimentation to unfold. The second track is 17 minutes long and it presents a more meditative atmosphere between this trio with sounds as subtle as the wind blowing through the trees. For people looking for new sensations. Contact: mikep@myco.demon.co.uk

 

PROJEKT SAMPLER - SUMMER 2001 (Projekt Recs., 2001):

Track List: 1- Space (Mira), 2- In Theory (Mira), 3- Shine (Lowsunday), 4- The Hues of Longing (Mors Syphilitica), 5- Isabella (This Ascension), 6- Serve me (Unto Ashes), 7- They Killed Three Little Maids (Unto Ashes), 8- Sien (Rajna), 9- Structures from Silence (Steve Roach), 10- Walking Upright ii (Steve Roach), 11- Fleeting Space (Vidna Obmana), 12- So True (Frolic), 13- Nine Hours Later (Lycia)

 Here is another sampler from Projekt Recs. the label specialized in really climatic bands (there is a lot of heterogeneity among the bands). The first thing that got my attention is the great sound that the tracks contained here have. They are mixed really cristal clear, specially the vocals that are fundamental in tracks like the ones by Mira (she has an amazingly pure voice not so far from Theatre of Tragedy´s Liv Kristine). I would like to emphasize the work of bands like Mors Syphilitica band that has a very personal sound somewhere between gothic/celtic music and new age with some Enya touches in the female vocals. Also to emphasize here are the two tracks by Unto Ashes that are really atmospheric full of electronics and keyboards with an amazing whispering female vocalist and some vocal harmonies that are really dark (are this women harmonizing in fourths in "Serve Me"??). A sampler of climatic releases in which I like more the darker ones with female vocals. Favorite tracks: "Serve Me", "The Hues of longing" and "Space". Contact: www.projekt.com

 

PROPHET - BROKEN PROMISE (Independent., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded /Mixed by Jukka Puurula at MD-Studios in 6 days.

Produced by Aleksi Ahokas and Sami Kikkalainen

Mastered by J.P. Mönkkönen at CD-Iinja

Layout and Graphics by Prophet and pervohenkka@hotmail.com

What a surprise !! I listened the first few seconds of the first tracks and I found some catchy melody done by the vocals but in a rock way...then the whole band enters the scene and what I find is excellent gothic metal. All the tracks here were composed by Aleksi Ahokas and he knew what he wanted: heavy guitars, dark atmospheres, lots of melodies and lots of hooks for the listener. This is a great example of how a band can sound melodic without loosing strength on the way. I find some shades of the great norwegian band In The Woods in the vocals section (specially on the deppressive "I kiss and Let you Die"). An excellent production make the good points of this recording to stand out, specially in the guitar melodies. There are some guest musicians here: H. Sorvali on keyboards (Finntroll, Moonsorrow), Seppo Numela (Denigrate) on a guitar solo and Henri Vilberg (Diablerie, Triones) on growls. Favorite tracks: "I don´t believe in love", "I Kiss and Let You Die". Contact: www.brokenpromise.cjb.net

Technical data:

Track List: 1- Watching the World Die, 2- Eulogy (Part II), 3- Slumber, 4- Realm of the dead

It is funny to see how sometimes certain stereotypes can fool you. One of this stereotypes says that if you have a CD with a really dark cover featuring some dark painting including some diabolic figures, then you must be looking at a black/death metal CD. But here we have that really dark cover artwork and the music is completely different from what I expected. In fact what we have here is great hard rock with some grunge and stoner influences. The first track "Watching the World Die" reminded me of old Soundgarden ("Louder Than Love" era). Crushing guitar rhythms and twisted vocal melodies are the main features here. Riffs that reach heaviness using power chords instead of one note speed lines. Drums that are played giving a lot of space to the others instruments to breath. The good thing about this CD is that it is not hard rock, it is not grunge, it is not stoner rock, it is not hardcore, but has things of all this styles. Favorite tracks: "Watching the World Die" and "Realm of the Dead". Contact: www.purgation.com and www.mp3.com/purgation

Technical data:

This is a group of demented geniuses doing improvised music in an spontaneous way: 99 Hooker on chaos poetry and electrified sax, Ernesto Díaz-Infante on amplified acoustic guitar, piano, toy piano and glockenspies, Chris Forsyth on electric guitar, Akio Mokuno on G3 Powerbook (???) and Ross Bonadonna on studio manipulation. The result is experimental an funny at the same time, specially the chaos poetry ("Where is your accent from? CNN?"). The variety of instruments and the way they are played does not allow me to identify completely who is playing which part but the whole improvisation sounds really good. Who said that improvisational music was boring and for serious people?. Favorite tracks: "Pavement Jam...", "We Shoul´ve Known" and "Local Bomb". Contact: www.paxrecordings.com

Technical data:

Can we call this music Progressive Death Metal? I think so !! But this is really progressive...listen to the keyboards and Imagine that in Dream Theater...they would not be out of place...but here they are applied to a death metal band...Amazing!!! And they give a lot of originality to Sacred Sin´s music. Another thing that makkes this recording special is the amazing sound. The band recorded this CD on their own studio and it was engineered by the guitarist Pedro Miguel who seems to have known what he wanted when he did his job (one thing that got my attention is the sound of the bass drums, really tight, almost electronic). I will mention some things that you can find on this album: melodies, twin guitars, harmonies, breaks, acoustic passages, tempo changes, keyboard passages, speed, unholy heaviness, some female vocals, lyrics in english, german, french and latin, great guitar and keyboard solos...you have everything on one CD. One of the albums of the month. Favorite tracks: The whole album. Contact: www.demolitionrecords.com or http://welcome.to/sacredsin

 

SATHANAS - THY DARK HEAVENS (Blackmetal.com, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at the Audioloft in Ambridge Pennsylvania April 2001.

Engineered By Buzzy Beck.

Track List: 1- Winged Black Spirit, 2- To Bring Torture, 3- Empire Daemonum, 4- Thy Dark Heavens, 5-March Through Fire, 6-Queen Of The Netherworld, 7 -Curse Your Saviour, 8- Banished To Eternity.

Black/death metal directly from hell!!!!!! This is Sathanas first CD for the new Blackmetal.com label and is a really good surprise beginning with the great sound that this release has and continuing with the great black thrash metal riffs that are delivered in each track. The music is really powerful and the guitars have the sound that all black metal bands should have (this is for bands that record their guitars that sound like a saw instead of a guitar): heavy, deep, fat sound and supported by a greatbass that helps to make the riffs bigger and harder. Check as an example the first track: "Winged Black Spirit" that is a song for saying: Hail Satan! And bang your head!!. The most interesting element here is how original are Paul´s riffs. They sound powerful and they are all very different one from each other and that makes "Thy Dark heavens" a very interesting album. Dark Spirits awake with this crushing album. Favorite tracks: "To bring Torture", "Thy Dark heavens" and "March Through Fire". Contact:  http://members.tripod.com/sathanas3

 

SONATA ARCTICA - SILENCE (Nems Enterprises, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Tici Tico Studio by Ahn Kortelainen.

Mixed by Mikko Karmila at Finnvox Studios

Mastered at Finnvox Studios by Mika Jussila

Cover artwork and loo by Eric Phillippe.

Track List: 1- ...of Silence, 2- Weballergy, 3- False News Travel Fast, 4- The End of This Chapter, 5- Black Sheep, 6- Land of the Free, 7- Last Drop Falls, 8- San Sebastian (revisited), 9- Sing in Silence, 10-Revontulet, 11- Tallulah, 12- Wolf and Raven, 13- The Power of One

Sonata Artica´s new record is similar to their debut album but has some elements that are more pleasant to my ears, like for example more solos that are not in the vein of Timo Tolkki or Yngwie Malmsteen but they are more original instead. Tony Kakko is singing better on this release with less abuse of high pitches. In fact I think he is the vital point of Sonata Arctica. There are some rhythms apart from the usual race and galloping from power metal bands ( in fact the rhythms here reminded me a lot of Nightwish). There is still too much Helloween influence in some parts (for example in the chorus of "Weballergy") but they are not so similar now. Good piano parts (for example on "The End of This Chapter" )that I think the band should use more often to add some atmospheres to some of the tracks. There is also a more conscious search of different textures like on "Sing in Silence". Those who liked their debut album wilkl sure like this one too, eventhough there are different elements. Favorite tracks: "The End of This Chapter", "Black Sheep" and "Sing In Silence". Contact: nems@nems.com.ar

 

SPONTANEOUS MUSIC ENSEMBLE- CHALLENGE (Emanem Disc, 2001):

Technical data:

Analogue Recording made in London by Eddie Kramer on March 1966 and April 1967.

Mixing, Editing, mastering and Design by Martin Davidson

Analogue to Digital Transfer by Paul Wilson

Track List:1- E.D.´s Message, 2-B.Ornette, 3- Club 66, 4- Lday of Reckoning, 5- End to a Beginning, 6- Travelling Together, 7- Little Red Head, 8- After Listening, 9- End To a Beginning, 10- Distant Little Soul

Emanem Discs is founding new treasures every time and editing them on CD. For example this are free jazz recordings by the Spontaneous Music Ensemble done during 1966 and 1967. With such great musicians as Trevor Watts on alto and soprano sax, Kenny Wheeler on flugelhorn and Jeff Clyne on double bass, the music here is pure improvisation and experimentation, clearly dominated by Watts sax that brings shades of classical 1950s-1960s jazz whil flying free to improvise over his bandmates structures. There are some shinning moments here like Paul Rutherford´s trombone on "Day of Reckoning", followed inmediately by Watts say in a really moody phrase. This a testimony from a time when free jazz was in all its splendour. Favorite tracks: "2.B.Ornette" (as the title says...really Ornette Coleman), "Travelling Together" and "Day of Reckoning". Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

 

STORMHAMMER - COLD DESERT MOON (Century Media, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and mixed by Rudy Kronenberger at Crownhill Studios.

Cover Artwork by Markus Glanz

Track List: 1- Sinner´s Soul, 2- The Law, 3- Breach of Faith, 4- Yells of Rage, 5- Misty Hills, 6- Children of Dawn, 7- Doomsday, 8- Cold Desert Moon, 9- A Dragon´s Tear, 10- Nobody´s Child, 11- Masquerade of Life, 12- Strength of Wisdom.

This is Stormhammer second album and I think that is pretty more direct than their debut album. New vocalist Tommi Lion (ex-Drifter) sounds a little bit more rough than the previous one (Michael Schinkel). The music goes through the path of power/heavy metal in the vein of bands like Blind Guardian and Jag panzer to name only a few, that is not as clean as Helloween or Rhapsody and not as rough as a thrash metal band would be. In fact the sound of the guitars is heavier than in the above mentioned bands. There are all the elements of the style (power metal fans will be delighted) fast runs, solos, harmonized choruses, etc. etc. Favorite tracks: "Breach of Faith", " Cold Desert Moon" and "Masquerade of Life". Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

 

STUCK MOJO - VIOLATE THIS...10 YEARS OF RARITIES 1991-2001 (Century Media, 2001):

Track List:1- Ten years, 2- Revolution, 3- Not Promised Tomorrow, 4- No pride, no respect, 5- Southern pride, 6- Wratchild, 7- Shout at the Devil, 8-Hate must be a gift, 9- Despise, 10- Twisted, 11- Only the Strong Survive, 12- Pigwalk, 13- No Regrets, 14- Propaganda, 15- Love has no Color, 16- Hotlanta, 17- Babylon, 18 - Mojo Funk

It is a pity how a genre that bands like Stuck Mojo or Clawfinger did so good (adding each one their special brand of influences) has been bastardized by the MTV culture and the media. In fact 90% of the bands that are now doing this mixture of metal with rap or hip-hop are just a crappy copy of what this bands did since the early nineties and they are of poor quality (Well...in the eighties MTV fucked metal putting all those spray hair assholes bands without talents, then in the nineties flooded the scene with Pearl Jam/Nirvana clones and now this...). Enough talk. Here is Stuck Mojo ...one of the bands that make better this style and this is an album of rarities and new tracks: there are new tracks like "Ten Years" or "Revolution" and then there are interesting things like the Iron Maiden Cover ("Wrathchild") or the Mötley Crüe one ("Shout at The Devil") . In fact they have transformed this song into their own by adding that special style that Stuck Mojo has. Another thing here is the difference in sound that there is between the new tracks and the olders (the newer sound far better). Favorite tracks: "Ten Years", "Only The Strong Survive" and "No Regrets". Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

 

SUMMON- NO THOUGHTS FROM THE SKY (Blackened Moon Prods., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Wormhole Productions, Grand Rapids, MI.

Recorded, Mixed and Produced by Summon and Kenny Roberts

Mastered at LIM Studios by Lou

Artwork by Xaphan

Track List: 1- No Thoughts from the Sky, 2- Beneath the Cryptic Tombs, 3- Beyond the Away, 4- Descension, 5- Black Wind Abyss, 6- The Surrounding Darkness, 7- Perverse Serenity, 8- Unto Which I Fall, 9- Spectral Void, 10- Raging Toward Burning Flames

Total death!!!!! Directly from Michigan we have Summon, a band dedicated to the power, speed and brutality of death/black metal. The drummer is really technical and know how to do the famous blast beats while ataining some originality in his rhythmic patterns (listen for example to "Beyond the Away" with the breaks and changes), he is also a double bass maniac. One thing that I would say is that the band has really good guitar riffs and I think that they have to emphasize the more rhythmic parts in order to get a more effective result (like the parts in the beginning of "Perverse Serenity". Or the beginning of "Unto Which I fall"). This band uses also some odd-timing in parts of their tracks. Favorite tracks: " Unto Which I Fall", "Raging Toward Burning Flames" (in the vein of old Morbid Angel). Contact: www.angelfire.com/mi/summon

 

SYLVIA HALLETT - WHITE FOG (Emanem Disc, 2001):

Technical data:

Design and Mastering by Sylvia Hallett and Martin Davidson

Wheelsongs recorded at LMC Soound by Mick Ritchie

Tracks 7 and 8 recorded at Summerhill Studio by Sylvia Hallett

Track List: 1- A Wheelwright used to live here, 2- Violet, 3- Woman with Dustpan and Brush, 4- White Fog, 5- Private War, 6- Walnut, 7- The Onyx Rook, 8- Snail and Curlew

This is a total experimental recording by Sylvia Hallett. This woman uses here a lot of objects to produce her music in a really interesting way. In fact the six first tracks here are played using a bowed bicycle wheel, vocals and a lot of digital delay effects. It is interesting to listen to this type of ambient music because it opens new boundaries to the realm of experimental music. Sometimes the music here is like a soundtrack of madness with all the effects and eerie feelings that this music brings to the mind. There is also one track of an amazing violin and voice improvisation without overdubs. And also a tape collage soundtrack for a dance film called "Body of Land". This is really interesting but you have to be openminded and expect the unexpected. Favorite tracks: "Violet, "Private War" and "Snail and Curlew" . Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

 

TERTIUM NON DATA - HERS IS BLOOD (Crowd Control Activities, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded and Mixed at Smithco & Grinder Tool and Die, Kansas City

Produced and Mixed by Brett Smith and John Bergin

Artwork and Design by John Bergin

Track List:1- I know you well, 2- Final Resting Place: Snow, 3- Box-Golden Section, 4- Low, 5- Box-Inside, 6- Hers is Blood, 7- Angelbox Closed, 8- Wisdom, 9- Blackness Burning, 10- When the Levee Brakes.

Do you know when the music that you are listening is climatic and introspective? If you don´t know, you will learn it while listening to Tertium Non Data. The music here is full of passages where the instrumentation (keyboards and electronics in most of the CD) create those textures that make your soul feel dark and lonely. The music is somewhere in between ambient, industrial and electronic with excellent femenine vocals (Lori Demanche has a really sensual voice) in some of the tracks and whispering male vocals. The funny thing about this release is that includes a cover of Led Zeppelin´s "When the Levee Breaks" that is completely different from the original version (full of electronic beats and processed harmonica...really original). Purists will hate this version...open minded people will like it. Favorite tracks: "Final Resting place: Snow", "Low" and "Hers is Blood" . Contact: www.crowdcontrol.cc

 

THERION - SECRET OF THE RUNES (Nuclear Blast, 2001):

Track List: 1- Ginnungagap (Prologue), 2- Asgård, 3- Midgård, 4- Schwarzalbenheim (Svartalfheim), 5- Jotunheim, 6- Ljusalfheim, 7- Vanaheim, 8- Nifelheim, 9- Muspelheim, 10- Helheim, 11- Secret of the Runes (Epilogue)

Kings of symphonic dark gothic metal are back ! This time the al,bum is centered on nordic Mythology and specially on the world tree called Yggdrasil which consists in nine different worlds which have each one different charachteristics and which are described here through all the tracks. Christofer Johnsson seems to be very comfortable with this style of music he created with the release of "Theli" in 1996 (eventhough they had explored this path in some tracks of "Lepaca Kliffoth"). Here you have all the elements that have made Therion a worldwide success: excellent orchestral arrangements, female operistic vocals, harmonized classical choruses, deep male vocals. This time he does not have the help of one main female vocalist like was Martina (ex-Dreams of Sanity) and he is using a lot of clean and acoustic guitars and flutes and harpsichords mixing climatic moments with heavier ones driven by drums and heavy guitars like on "Midgård". This is another step in the Therion saga. Favorite tracks: "Asgård", "Schwarzalbenheim (Svartalfheim)" and "Nifelheim". Contact: www.nuclearblast.de Distributes for Argentina: Icarus Recs. icarus@ba.net or icarusmusic@speedy.com.ar

 

THE UNDECIDED - MORE TO SEE (Tooth and Nail Recs., 2000):

Technical data:

Recorded at Private Ear Recording, Winnipeg.

Produced by Neil King and The Undecided

Engineered and Mixed by Neil King

Cover Photo by Brandon Ebel

Track List:1- The Youngest Son, 2- Lifted, 3- Cries for Jubilee, 4- What Happened to Our Love?, 5- Hope, 6- Sands of Time, 7- My Story, 8- Songs of Counter Culture, 9- Time for Change, 10- Safe With me, 11- A Thought Away

Tooth and Nail Recs. is delivering a lot of bands that could be really hits in MTV or in the radio. This one is a good example: The Undecided´s music is a mixture of punk rock, hard rock and pop. With a vocalist that could be typical of bands like  The Stone Roses or stuff like that and distorted guitars, putting really hooky choruses here and there to make songs instantaneous comercial hits. Sometimes is close to Bad Religion, sometimes closer to The Offspring or  Green Day or Blink 182. And they have a song that starts like a ballad before getting much faster called "What Happened to our love" that I would put as his first single. Favorite tracks: "Lifted, "Hope" and "My Story". Contact: www.toothandnail.com

 

TVANGESTE - DAMNATION OF REGIOMONTUM (Valgalder Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded /Mixed/Mastered at TV4 Studios by Alex A., Kallingrad,Russia.

Produced and Arranged by Tvangeste

Exec. Producers: Michael Chirva, Vano Maioroff

Cover: Voron Studio

Track List: 1-From Nameless Oracle, 2- Angel´s Retreat, 3- Damnation of Reiomontum, 4- Thinking..., 5- Born to be King of Innerself.

Extremely climatic and full of melodies black metal is contained in this beautiful CD. The music of this qartet has two main ingredients: the excelent keyboards and pianos of Victoria Koulbachnaia and the melodic guitars of Nikolay Kazmin, that make this band stand out from the bands of the genre (Victoria´s keyboards are everywhere, doing melodies, chord progressions, etc. for example check the passage at 10:11 in "From Nameless Oracle"). One thing that I find strange is the sound of programmed drums (the band has no drummer). The tracks are long and there are a lot of ideas developing on them where this great musicians find enough space to express themselves. There are also to guest musicians: Olaa on female vocals (great ones) and Anna on cellos an violins that help to bring darkness to the listener ears. Favorite tracks: ""From nameless Oracle", "Damnation of Regiomontum" (beautiful piano along with violin) and "Thinking...". Contact: www.valgalder.com or www.tvangeste.com

 

VORE - LORDS OF THE STORM (Independent, 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Aaron Allen at Buzzwo Studios.

Produced by Aaron Allen and Vore

Artwork and Layout by Odis Holcomb

Track List: 1- Veils of Oblivion, 2- Godslayer, 3- Host of Abomination, 4- To Be a God, 5- Lurker Above, 6- Lost Nation, 7- Agony, 8- Opaque, 9- Primordial Conquest, 10- Forging a new Vision

Death metal with excellent guitar riffs that put the accent on the rhythm instead of the speed. I can listen in this guys some influences of thrash metal, some of old death metal bands like Entombed or Dismember, and some stuff of bands like Pantera or doom metal bands. All this influences are thrown in a mixing machine and adding some identity, here is Vore´s music. It is interesting how this guys are proving something that I think is like an axiom....that in most of the cases a good riffs ends up being heavier than a blast beat or some riff bassed only in one note speed runs. The sound of this release is good specially on the guitars and vocals, I would have mixed different the drums and put them a little bit more in the front, but the overall mix is good. Favorite tracks: "Godslayer", "Lurker Above" and "Opaque" (an instrumental with acoustic guitar...most death metal bands would have shaken with fear just imagining putting something like this on their albums). Contact: www.vore.org  

 

WAR - WE ARE...TOTAL WAR (Orion Music Entertainment/Necropolis Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Tracks 1-7 recorded at The Abyss - Nov. 1996. Produced by WAR and Petr Tägtgren.

Tracks 8-14 recorded at The Abyss - Oct. 1997. Produced by WAR and Mikael Hedlund.

Cover and Album design by Blackmoon

Track List: 1- Satan, 2- I am Elite, 3- Total War, 4- The Sons of War, 5- Revenge, 6- Reapers of Satan, 7- Satan´s Millenium, 8- War, 9- Rapture, 10- Ave Satan, 11- Soldiers of Satan, 12- 666, 13- We are War, 14- Bombenhagel.

This is a kind of supergroup of the scandinavian black/death metal scene. Joining efforts here are Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy, The Abyss, etc.), It (Vondur), Blackmoon (Necrophobic, Dark Funeral, Infernal), All (Vondur) and Mikael Hedlund. This album compiles the best tracks of War´s two releases called "Total War" and "We are War". Extremely fast and raw tracks full of blast beats and All´s screamin anguish vocals. It and Blackmoon grind through all the recording with their chainsaw-like guitars.while Peter Tägtgren drums furiously breaking your neck with his blast beats. The seven last tracks have a different sound (I like more the way the guitars sound on the seven first tracks, they are better mixed). Also this CD includes a cover track of Sodom´s "Bombenhagel" in a ripping version. Favorite tracks: "I am Elite", "Reapers of Satan" and "Ave Satan" (it sounds like old Venom !!!). Contact: In Southamerica: furias@ssdnet.com.ar or calling (+54-11)4583-9955 or fax: (+54-11) 4581-4066. Rest of the world: www.necropolisrec.com

 

WITCHFYNDE - THE AWAKENING (Demolition Recs., 2001):

Technical data:

Recorded at Foundry Recording Studio

Cover Artwork by Mike Schindler at Dragon Design

Track List: 1- Hell Hath No Fury, 2- Death of Innocence, 3-Vampyre´s Tale, 4- Blessed Be, 2- To the Devil a Daughter, 6- The Awakening, 7-Unholy Shadows, 8- Astep Closer (To Hell), 9-Unknown Soldier, 10- Ghost Dancer

Power/thrash metal in a real pure format!! It has been a lot of time since the last time that I heard an album like this one. All the elements that were really popular in the late eighties in the thrash/power metal scene are hear: crunchy rhythms, good vocals, guitar solos, twin guitars, thrash drum patterns. There are also some subtle moments like on the darker "Vampyre´s Tale" or in the Iron Maiden-like "Blessed Be" (it reminded me of "Remember Tomorrow"). The difference between this guys and the actual power metal scene is that Witchfynde goes to the rawer side of the style instead of using (or abusing) the neoclassical influences that so popular seem to be in the style nowadays, and prefer to use darker melodies, less high-pitched melodies (sometimes similar to those of Vicious Rumours Carl Albert). Interesting release from a style that has not dissappeared. Favorite tracks: "Hell Hath No Fury", "Vampyre´s Tale" and "Unknown Soldier". Contact: www.demolitionrecords.com

 

XENOMORPH - BANEFUL STEALTH DESIRE (Independent, 2001):

 

Track List:1- Dragon´s Breath, 2- Post-human (The X-morph Deathcult), 3- Blood of the Stars, 4- Storm Innocent Eve, 5- On the Most Blackened Wings, 6- Bestia Infernali, 7- Last Contribution to Art, 8- Once Upon Armageddon.

Judging for this recording Xenomorph is the ideal band to start to hit your head and fists against the wall ina a frenzy. Take Fear Factory, put something of bands like Aeon and The Forsaken, mix it with some Carcass and Death and you will have an approximate idea of how this band sounds. Xenomorph exudes agression and brutality through every pore of their skin, retaining some subtle elements like the ska-like passage in "Dragon´s Breath" (1:27) or the guitar passage in "Blood of Stars" (1:25). The main element here is the killer drummer who is really tight and is a master of double bass drumming. Listen this release and feel the fury !!!!. Favorite tracks: "Post-human...", "Storm Innocent Eve" and "Bestia Infernali". Contact: www.x-morph.com