AARNI / UMBRA NIHIL - SPLIT CD (Firebox Netstore, 2002)

Produced By: Firebox Recs.

Tracks: Aarni: 1- Uddo Sathla, 2- Myrrys, 3- Lider Umdrarum vel Coniunctio, 4- Transcend Humanity, 5- Reaching Azathoth, 6- Anima; Umbra Nihil: 7- Follow and Believe / Fall without Relief, 8- A Mere Shell, 9- My Way to the Lakeshore, 10- Determination, 11- Water in Lungs

Design by Milzer

Then comes Umbra Nihil starting with a more melodic approach and with more doom/death like vocals that makes the music darker and more somber. Then they have hyper distorted guitars that contrast with the keyboards adding a lot of darkest colours to their music. One thing essential here are the guitar melodies which make the songs even more deppressive and interesting. There are many parts where the bass work is essential such as in the middle of "A Mere Shell" where the bass plays a melody that is soon combined with the guitars and whispering vocals. A must for fans of doom. 

Favorite tracks: Aarni: "Myrrys" and "Transcend Humanity". Umbra Nihil: "A Mere Shell" and "Determination"

Contact: www.firebox.fi

ABNORMITY - DEMO 2002 (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Abnormity

Tracks: 1- Fallen In Eternal Dislove, 2- The Perfect Sadness

Cover Art by Henk Van Rensbergen

 Recorded at Trastero Studios

This is a band whose music is climatic because of the way in which the guitars are used and extremely heavy because of the use of fast parts and extreme vocal parts in the black metal way (but there are also clean vocals parts that add a lot of variation to the songs). The two tracks on this MCD are long and let the band do some changes within them going from fast and heavy riffs to more climatic parts with a lot of clean guitars such as the beginning of "The Perfect Sadness" (and they also have riffs changes that are surprising within the songs). The mix of this CD is extremely raw in the heavier parts but surprisingly clean in the parts with clean guitars and vocals. I would like to listen more from them soon.

Favorite tracks: Both tracks.

Contact: http://www.geocities.com/abnormityband

ALL IN VAIN - THE BACKSIDE OF HUMANITY (Spreadit Agency, 2002 )

Produced By: All in Vain and Marrtosh Music

Tracks: 1- Annihilation of the Sun, 2- Psychological limbo, 3- Darkstars (Meteorites), 4- Introspection, 5- The Longed Wisdom, 6- Fallen Angel, 7- Revelations, 8- Epilogue

Cover Art by All in Vain

All in Vain is a band whose music can be described as death/thrash metal with no doubt! They have vocals that are clearly death metal (there is one screming vocal type that sound really original and different from what is common in the style). And this guys also have a lot of thrash emtal influences which can be heard in the riffs and guitar melodies that they make through all the recording (and also in some of the choruses). There are really good melodies, acoustic interludes and twin guitar work that add a lot of dynamics and different feelings to All in Vain´s music. The sound of the recording is good and raw and the guitars which are the key elment here are really well mixed and that allows the listener to appreciate every detail here.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: http://digilander.iol.it/allinvain

ALL TIME PRESENT - DISTANT MICROPHONES PICK UP BOTH DIRECT AND REFLECTED SOUND (Evolving Ear, 2002 )

Produced By: Chris Forsyth and Rich Gross

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Detail 1 , 3-MOCA, 4- MOCA, 5- Detail 2, 6-8 Fringe 1, 9-10 Fringe 2, 11-12 Fringe 3, 13- the true sound of the improv underground

Cover Art by Littlegem Design

 Recorded at Bar XVI, Red Room, MOCA-DC, Fringe Festival and Ear Space

Here we have an experimentation album that features a man whose work we have reviewed before: Chris Forsyth. Here Chris has been joined by two other guitarists and two percussionist in order to create the music without boundaries that All Time Present does. The CD starts with an eerie track with a lot of guitar arpeggios that deliver sort of a strange sounding eastern melody when combined. Then comes the heavier experimentation with lots of sounds going on in each one of the compositions...none of this guys have any problem in being spontaneous and breaking musical boundaries on each phrase or sound that they play. A must for those who like new music and experimentation.

Favorite tracks: "MOCA", "Fringe 3" and "Fringe 2"

Contact: www.evolvingear.com

AMUN RE - MAGIC KINGDOM (Real Treat Recs., 2001)

Produced By: Amun Re

Tracks: 1- Bad Dream, 2- Shadowhunter, 3- Anathema, 4- Reach for the Stars, 5- Avalon, 6- Twilight Pyramid, 7- Child of the Light, 8- I Wish it Back Again, 9- Diablo, 10- Under Dark Skies, 11- Magic Kingdom

Cover Art by Norbert Sigart

 Recorded at Holy Gasoline Recording Studios

Here we have this progressive metal coming directly from Austria. If you want melodies here you have them. They are done mainly through the guitars, keyboards and vocals (here we have beautiful voal harmonies done by a male and a female vocalist that know really well their job). But the main thing here are the keyboards: they play melodies, chord progressions and do a lot of orchestration of the tarcks of this CD. The male vocalist is not of the type that you expect in a band like this. In fact he uses more the middle range of his voice instead of using high pitched vocals (he achieves good harmonies with female vocals that are also in the middle range). I would like Amun Re to mix a little bit louder the guitars so the music will have more power. Lovers of progressive metal will surely like this one.

Favorite tracks: "Shadowhunter", "Twilight Pyramid" and "Under Dark Skies"

Contact: www.amunre.com

ANEURYSM - AWARE (Independent, 2001 )

Produced By: Aneurysm

Tracks: 1- The Cavern, 2- Larva, 3- Inner Side, 4- Ruin, 5- Torment, 6- The Hunt, 7- Ways, 8- All In the Name, 9- CD Rom Track

Cover Art by Giorgia Carteri

 Recorded at Pink Noise Studios

Aneurysm is a band whose music is extremely difficult to label (something like progressive death modern metal can be closer but I think is not fair to describe their music that way because their compositions go well beyond this styles). In fact I have to say that their vocals are sometimes death metal and sometimes cleaner and more melodic and sometimes closer to gothic. The main thing here are the technical skills of this four musicians from Italy. This guys change from riff to riff, from rhythm to rhythm, from clean to extremely heavy within the same song without missing a note. The band is extremely tight and the songs are realy well composed. Palms go to all the musicians because of the excellent work that they have done on this CD (specially the guitarists...Peter is really a virtuoso). One thing that also makes the results better is the extremely great sound that the recording has. Check this CD now!

Favorite tracks: All of them are masterpieces

Contact: www.aneurysm.it

ARCH ENEMY - WAGES OF SIN (Century Media, 2002 )

Produced By: Fredrik Nordström and Michael Amott

Tracks: 1- Enemy Within, 2- Burning Angel, 3- Heart of Darkness, 4- Ravenous, 5- Savage Messiah, 6- Dead Bury their Head, 7- Web of Lies, 8- The First Deadly Sin, 9- Behind the Smile, 10- Snow Bound, 11- Shadows and Dust, 12 - Lament of a Mortal Soul, 13- Bonus Video: Ravenous

 Mixed by Andy Sneap

Arch Enemy is a band that always surprise the listener with something new in their music. A soft keyboard intro in "Enemy Within" starts this powerful CD. In fact the first track starts with a riff that wouldn´t be out of place in a classic power metal band then starts the faster parts and the death and stronger than hell vocals of new singer Angela. She is amazing, in the vein of extreme vocalists like Holy Moses´ Sabina Classen, really extreme. As always, there are complex guitar riffs and a lot of guitar solos (Mike Amott is killer here). I have to speak about the production: Having Fredrik Nordström and Andy Sneap in the production and the mixing Arch Enemy is having the best production in their whole career, sounding better than ever, you can hear each melody, each drumbeat, each scream, all is crystal clear here! Arch Enemy is a band that every metalhead should check because they have a lot of power while having always new ideas..

Favorite tracks: All the CD. Arch Enemy always makes masterpieces

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

AZAGHAL - OF BEASTS AND VULTURES (Evil Horde Records, 2002 )

Produced By: Jani Loikas

Tracks: 1- Helwettiläinen, 2- Welho, 3- Reign, 4- Kaikki Elävä Kuihtun, 5- Of Beasts and Vultures, 6- Peto - 666, 7- Minä Olen Tie, 8- Verenjano, 9- Epilogue, 10- 13 Candles

 Recorded at Cursed Studios

This band is bestial !! And they have made something that I like a lot that is that mix of all the rawest elements of black metal and mixed them with riffs that are closer to heavy metal and also have added acoustic and climatic parts. And the final result is also helped by a really great mix (some black metal bands should check Azaghal to see how their music can sound more powerful with a sound liek this one). There are many interesting atmospheric part with acoustic guitars and keyboard solos and parts such as the one at the end of "Helwettiläinen". The vocals are those typical in the black metal style but this guys have also added some vocals closer to death metal that add a different side to Azaghal´s music. I have to point out the really good quality packaging that this CD has (I think that this is typical from Evil Horde releases). 

Favorite tracks: "Welho", "Of Beasts and Vultures" and "Minä Olen Tie"

Contact: www.evilhorderec.com

BLASPHEMER - LIFE KILLS ( Independent , 2002)

Produced By: Blasphemer

Tracks: 1- Life Kills, 2- Slaughter the Pig, 3- Bat Man Suicide, 4- Strange Abortion, 5- Another Shade That Fades, 6- Outro

Layout by Andrea Cattaneo

Recorded at: GB Studios

One of the most brutal releases that arrived to me this months. This band from Italy is devastating from the first second to the last. This guys know really well how to make songs that have all the most brutal elements: fast parts, crushing guitar sound, guttural vocals. The guitar riffs are well constructed and they seem to be very difficult to play, specially in the fastest parts. The sound of this recording is fairly good, specially on the guitars (that in some brutal bands get buried in the mix) and that adds even more brutality to Blasphemer´s tracks. Plus, there is one funny 22 second song that starts with Batman´s melody in the bass and finishes with a deathly explosion, called "Bat-Man Suicide". If you want brutality here you have this "Life kills" that will satisfy your urge.

Favorite tracks: "Slaughter the Pig", "Life Kills" and "Strange Abortion"

Contact: extremesickness@hotmail.com

BOOMERANG - WEAVEWORLD (Trance Music, 2002 )

Produced By: Boomerang

Tracks: 1- Mourning Sun, 2- Keepers of Light, 3- The Cold One, 4- Into the Night, 5- Weaveworld, 6- Shores of Ithaka, 7- Like Black Like White, 8- Dismanteling Fortress Architecture, 9- Of Blood and Honour

 Recorded by Stefan Grötzinger

Pure metal!!!!! And this is thrash metal the way it used to be in the eighties but with a more modern sound and some power metal touches and melodies !! There are fast drumbeats in the thrash metal way and vocals that can be harsh and at the same time melodic. The songs here have a lot of hooks and they are epic (without using the same german melodies that a lot of power metal bands copy again and again) and powerful. I find really interesting the voalist who adds a lot of the power that the band has and at the same time sings melodies that you can follow and sing. The band has a really european sound (why is it that you can always distinguish europena metal from american metal because of the way the compositions are done?). I find interesting that bands like Boomerang are making a comeback of thrash metal into reality with their powerful music!!

Favorite tracks: "Keepers of Light", "Weaveworld" and "Mourning Sun"

Contact: www.dc-net.de/trance-music

BUNUH - THE TORSO KILLER (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Bunuh

Tracks: 1- Cold Blooded Murder, 2- I Shall kill Again, 3- Humaneater, 4- Killed and Dismembered, 5- Raining Blood, 6- Nymphic Land, 7- Psychiatric Disorder

Cover Art by Nurul

 Recorded at TNT Studios

Directly from Singapore comes this extremely brutal band. Bunuh´s music goes along the path of the most bestial death metal with ultra fast riffs and extremely guttural vocals (sometimes closer to grindcore). This guys use also a lot of rhythmic riffs that make the songs even heavier than using only speed. Is precisely in this riffs and rhythm changes where the band shows that they are really well rehearsed and that they are extrmely tight. The only melodies that you can hear on the songs are the ones done by the guitar solos and maybe some guitar melody.The sound of this recording is good and makes the whole recording even more brutal. Also I have to remark that this CD comes in a digipack presentation with a CD that is semitransparent. Lovers of brutality rejoice!

Favorite tracks: "Cold Blooded Murder", "Humaneater" and "Nymphic Land"

Contact: bunuh2002@hotmail.com

CATHOLICON - 2002 & 1999 PROMO DEMOS (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Catholicon

Tracks: 2002 Promo: 1- Dawn of a Dark Age, 2- Gallery of God´s Love, 3- 14^th Century Apocalypse, 4- Embodiment of All That is Not, 1999 Promo: 5- 14^th Century Apocalypse, 6- Coronation, 7- Heir To The Throne, 8- Remember the Fallen

Since I have just reviewed the 2002 promo demo cd from Catholicon I will review here their promo demo from 1999. Here you can listen how Catholicon´s music has evolved between the two demos. In the 1999 the guitar sound was closer to death metal while the vocals were more of teh black metal type. Also there was less keyboard work than in the 2002 demo (even if it is present in this older version of "14^th Century Apocalypse"). The sound is far more primitive in the older demo and you can feel that the mix was not as good as in the new one. A good starting point to compare the evolution of Catholicon´s music.

Favorite tracks: "Coronation" and "Heir To the Throne"

Contact: www.fuckyourgod.com

CELESTIAL DAWN - GENESIS (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Celestial Dawn

Tracks: 1- Celestial Dawn, 2- Breakdown, 3- Spectre, 4- Another Rising Sun

Cover Art by Brian Kosovan

 Recorded at The Sound Module

This is pure heavy metal!! Here we have this band whose music is metal in its purest form. It has all the elements of the genre, distorted guitars, open riffs that let the vocals do the melodies, and we have a drummer that knows how to play rhythms living a lot of space for the guitars to do their job, there are also melodic guitar solos that creates epic melodies in the songs. The vocals are closer to eightioes thrash metal ones than to typical metal because of the use of some relly high pitches (that bands like Toxik or Hexenhaus used a lot in their music). Here you have a good mix of the instruments that lets you hear perfectly each one of the instruments. Lovers of heavy metal in its purest form will surely like Celestial Dawn´s music

Favorite tracks: "Breakdown" and "Spectre"

Contact: www.celestialdown.com

CHAOS THEORY - THE SMOKEY BASEMENT EP (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Chaos Theory

Tracks: 1- Not for Me, 2- Shame, 3- Give Up

 Recorded in a Smokey Basement

Chaos Theory´s music is difficult to label but it has a lot of elements of eighties thrash metal and of pure heavy metal, such as the vocals and certain rhythms (some passages in "Shame" reminded me of early Anthrax). But despite this, Chaos Theory does not sound like an eighties thrash band. In fact they have a modern guitar sound and a bass player whose bass lines can be clearly listened through the whole recording. The guys here have good technical skills that help them to create the great music that we can listen on this EP. The mix of the three songs is clear and I really hope that this guys record more songs soon to listen the way in which the band evolves. This is a good sign that bands that have been influenced by thrash have developed their own sound, like Chaos theory did and are making a big thrash metal comeback. Thrash is back !!!

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: www.chaostheoryonline.com

CHEMIKILLER - 4 SONG DEMO CDR (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Chemikiller

Tracks: 1- The blackest Night, 2- House of Blood, 3- Seek the Reaper, 4- Flesh Eaters

Cover Art by Chemikiller

Each Chemikiller songs sounds different fom the previous one!! The first track here opens up with a real thrash death riff before getting into a fast thrashy tun, then the second one, "House of Blood" is more rocking with more direct riffs and drumming. The third one is a more direct track and the fourth one is in a Motorhead style (and reminds me a little bit of Sodom´s classic song "Ausgebombt" from teh "Agent Orange" album). But each song is completely different from the other yet retaining the Chemikiller sound...and that is good. The singer here has a very special vocal range (sometimes closer to Tom Angelripper) and that also gives a lot of identity to the tracks. The sound of this four track demo is good and I would like te band to mix the guitar louder so they give some extra power to each of the songs.

Favorite tracks: "Flesh Eaters" and "House of Blood"

Contact: www.chemikiller.cjb.net

COAL CHAMBER - DARK DAYS (Roadrunner Recs., 2001)

Produced By: Ross Hoghart

Tracks: 1- Fiend, 2- Glow, 3- Watershed, 4- Domething Told Me, 5- Dark days, 6- Alienate Me, 7- One Step, 8- Friend, 9- Rowboat, 10- Drove, 11- Empty jar, 12- Beckoned

Cover Art by Kris Mc Caddon

 Recorded at Rumbo Recording Studio

In the life of the band the first album is what brings you immediate success, the second one is the one that solidifies your fame, but it is the third one the one that decides if you are going to continue being succesful or not. Knowing this, the guys and girl in Coal Chamber have started this third CD with a potential hit called "Fiend". The sound continues being the same as in their first two albums, that is heavy guitars with really fat sound, a clean bass guitar that follows closely the guitars, strong vocals and rhythms designed for the mosh pit or for headbanging. The mix of this album is good but no so different from the one in the first two albums. A third album to continue being among the top new metal bands.

Favorite tracks: "Glow", "Fiend" and "Empty Jar"

Contact: www.coalchamber.com

CYCLOPS - CYCLOPS FROM HELL (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Cyclops

Tracks: 1- Welcome to me! (intro), 2- Metal Eye Beast, 3- Kill the Beast (Part One), 4- Bloody tears, 5- Metal Be With Us, 6- Stop this Hell

Cover Art by Mauro Vanzati

 Recorded at Jam Studio

A slow melodic intro lets us into the heavy metal world of Cyclops. Here we have pure heavy metal with interesting guitar arrangements and clean epic vocals. The influences that I find here are those of Iron Maiden, some Helloween and a touch of old Queensryche. One extra point to these guys go for the excellent guitar solos (with lot of feeling and technique). All of the songs here have epic melodies and are of the kind of songs that are composed to be sung with your fist in the air. The mix is good but I would mix a little bit louder the guitars to make the result even heavier. There are some acoustic moments like in "Kill the Beast...". Plus there are lyrics thata re very sentimental (specially for people in Argentina) about the desparecidos and the killings that the militar governments did here in this country. Lovers of heavy metal don´t miss this one.

Favorite tracks: "Bloody Tears", "Metal Eye Beast" and "Stop this Hell"

Contact: www.cyclopsfromhell.com

DARK TRANQUILITY - DAMAGE DONE (Century Media, 2002 )

Produced By: Dark Tranquility and Fredrik Nordström

Tracks: 1- Final Resistance, 2- Hours Passed in Exile, 3- Monochromatic Stains, 4- Single part of two, 5- The treason wall, 6- Format C: For Cortex, 7- Damage Done, 8- Cathode Ray Sunshine, 9- The Enemy, 10-I, Deception, 11- White noise / Black Silence, 12- Ex Nihilo, 13 - Video: Monochromatic Stains

Cover Art by Niklas Sundin

 Recorded at Studio Fredman

 Here is the new album of Swedish death metal gods Dark Tranquility. Yes, one of the founders of the Gothenburg sound are here with "Damage Done". As always the band delivers technical death metal with that typical swedish flavor that we know bands like Dark Tranquility or In Flames have. This band has achieved its own identity and they show this on this latest CD with all the elements that ahve made them famous: fast riffs played with a lot of technical skills, clean guitar interludes, melodic guitar phrases and solos and powerful vocals. When looking back on Dark Tranquility´s career we can find that on each recording they have got a better mix and sound and this one is no exception being the album with tightest mix and more devastating guitars. A classic.

Favorite tracks: "Final Resistance", "The Treason Wall" and "The Enemy"

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

DAVID CLEREST PROJECT (D.C.P) - MISSION: EARTH (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: David Clerest

Tracks: 1- Passage to Xonex, 2-Into the Millinium (155 B.E.), 3- Resolution Song, 4- Queen of Delusion, 5- Written in Heaven, 6- Final Mass Destruction, 7-Get Up and Help, 8- Blinded by a Lie, 9- Transcend Beyond (The Sign)

 Recorded at D.C. Mobile Studios

Favorite tracks: "Resolution Song", "Blinded By a Lie" and "Queen of Delusion"

Contact: www.davidclerestproject.com

DR. CHUNK - DR. CHUNK (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Dr. Chunk

Tracks: 1- Prelude, 2- 11, 3- Psycho, 4- Garden of Sound, 5-Crop Circles, 6-Face The Fear, 7- Disallowed, 8- Rager, 9- Traitor´s View, 10- Desolate, 11- Classified, 12- Feel My pain, 13- Cardboard Genius

Cover Art by Justin Ponsor

 Recorded at Golden Track Studios

I was expecting more of a gore grind band or something like that, but I was wrong. Dr Chunk plays metal with some modern touches and a huge sound ! One thing that got my attention soon is the good sound that this recording has, and specially the combination of bass and drums that sound really huge (plus the drummer plays a lot of double drumming sounding almost like a human machine)! The guitars have a lot of nineties and eighties thrash influences and have the exact amount of distortion to sound monumentally heavy. The vocals are really original and give a lot of identity to Dr. Chunk´s music...the main thing in them is power....this guy is one of the most powerful vocalists I have listened in a while, and he doesn´t need to use guttural vocals or distorted screams. In fact he has a range of voice close to the one that John Bush has and he knows how to use it. Dr. Chunk´s music was for me a welcomed surprise!!!

Favorite tracks: "11", "Crop Circles" and "Rager"

Contact: www.drchunk.com

DRAGSTER - NEW TIMES (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Dragster

Tracks: 1- Break Down, 2- The Chase, 3- Why Do You Kill When You Can Save Lives?, 4- New Times

Cover Art by Público

 Recorded at Nimbus Estudio

It´s been a long time since I last listened to a band playing thrash metal like this brazilian band does. The good thing is to listen this music that has been sadly forgotten (who says that metal don´t have trends?) and that I think will make a comeback really soon while people start searching for new things to explore. This band has influence from eighties thrash metal bands like Overkill, Exodus, Slayer and others and at the same time they have achieved a modern guitar sound. So their music can be labeled as 21^st century thrash metal. Here we have the rhythms of the style with more crushing guitars and the guitar melodies that thrash lovers like while the vocals are really harsh and make some melodies that fit really well the music. Thumbs up for this band and I hope that this style becomes popular in the metal undergroundas in the late eighties again soon!

Favorite tracks:

Contact: www.dragstermetal.com.br

DUNGORTHEB - PROMO 00 (Perennial Quest Recs., 2002 )

Produced By: Dungortheb

Tracks: 1- Beyond The Darkness, 2- Place of Alienation, 3- The Only Rest, 4- Trip

Cover Art by Dungortheb

Dungortheb is a band that plays technical death metal in the style that bands like Death or Sadus have made famous. There are many excellent riffs within each of the songs and many rhythm and tempo changes that make the tracks really interesting. Also, here wqe have incredible guitar melodies and technical guitar solos done with really good taste (in the vein of guitarists as Chiuck Schuldiner, James Murphy, etc.). Since this is a promo from 2000 I would like to know how Dungortheb is sounding now, two years later. I think this guys were in the right path with this release and I hope that their debut will sound as good as this promo. Thumbs up for this guys !!!

Favorite tracks: All the CD. This guys play one of my favorite music styles.

Contact: jean_marc.werly@club-internet.fr

DUNKELSTORM - SCHICKSAL (Furias Recs., 2002 )

Produced By: Eduardo Mallada and Pablo De Luca

Tracks: 1- Requiem For a Stormy Day, 2- Born From Chaos, 3- I Swear Revenge, 4- Schicksal, 5- As the only Witness, 6- Miserable Agony, 7- Eternal Silence, 8- Morbid´s thoughts, 9- When the Snow Became Rain

Cover Art by Sieger

 Recorded by Krauser

This is a good band from Argentina. The music can be somewhat described as progeressive black/death metal with lots of keyboards. The keyboards plus the programmed drums give sort of a cold cybernetic feeling to Dunkelstorm´s songs. One thing that I would like them to change is the guitar sound that is a little bit thin for my taste and I think that a more fat sound would make things more powerful. The vocals here are screaming ones and are sometimes processed adding this industrial feeling that I mentioned before. The sound is good, specially on the keyboards which are the axis of Dunkelstorm´s music. 

Favorite tracks: "Born form Chaos", "I Swear Revenge" and "Miserable Agony"

Contact: www.orionmusic-furias.com.ar or www.dunkelstorm.com

DYNAMIC LIGHTS - RESURRECTION (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Dynamic Lights

Tracks: 1- Breath of the Earth, 2- Breath of the Sun, 3- Awakening / Consciousness, 4- Deception / Revenge, 5- CD Rom Video Section

Cover Art by Raffaele Mariotti

 Recorded at Castriota Studios

Dynamic Lights is a progressive metal band of top quality as you can listen on this CD. Their complex arrangements, changes and amazing vocal harmonies are the main features here. Plus they have a heavy guitarist whose melodies and solos are essential to Dynamic Light´s sound (as also are the excellent keayboards parts). Also we have a killer rhythmic section with a bassist that can play from melodies to rhythm with great skills and a drummer who plays lot of interesting patterns and complex rhythms To sum up, we have here great musicanships who know how to play this amazing compositions full of elements (each time that you listen the songs you find something new that you had not heard before). If you liek bands like Dream Theater then you must listen Dynamic Lights

Favorite tracks: All the CD. Amazing!!

Contact: www.dynamiclights.net

ELENIUM - THEM USED GODS (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Elenium

Tracks: 1- Demigodlike, 2-Outside View, 3- Inbred Infinity

Cover Art by T.R.

 Recorded at Sonic Pump Studios

Here we have this band that plays what I would call extremely progressive death metal. The music here has deathly vocals and also a clean melodic singer who adds a lot of melodies here, plus Elenium has an incredible keyboardist. In fact the first track opened with sorto of a run that could be used in a neoclassical metal album, and this sort of phrases are really well mixed with more crushing rhythms, tempo changes and breaks (like the one at 3:12 in "Demigodlike" where the bass is lef alone with the drums before the whole band enters with keybaords playing at top speed). I really enjoy the combination of heavy guitars and amazing keyboards solos that this band does (this guy Johannes is killer). The sound of the whole MCD is great and this is one band destined to be sitting in the throne of extreme metal really soon!

Favorite tracks: The three tracks here are wonderful

Contact: http://elenium.tripod.com

EMPTINESS - NECRORGY (Independent , 2002)

Produced By: Emptiness

Tracks: 1- Necrorgy, 2- Subhuman Submission, 3- Our Hatred of Generosity, 4- Lead Us Sathanas, 5- Last Echoes Before Nothingness, 6- Xenophobia, 7- Supremacy, 8- Shemamforash, 9- Eternal Rising

Cover Art by N. Daemon

 Recorded by Jeremy

Emptiness is a band whose music can be described as black/death metal with an extremely raw sound combined with a lot of keyboards in some parts (in fact Nerath Daemon who plays guitars and keyboards here is playing also in Enthroned). I am putting black/death to describe Emptiness music here because I think that this band has elements from both styles in their compositions, beginning with the vocals that are a combination of the more guttural voices in death metal with the screaming ones used in balck metal. Then come the guitar riffs, here we have the fastest ones that play some melody with one note progressions are closer to black metal and the more rhythmic and crushing ones are closer to death metal. I would like the keyboards to be a little higher in the mix to add a new dimension to Emptiness music. This CD also contains the "Eternal Rising" MCD recorded in the year 2000. Fans of black and death check Emptiness!

Favorite tracks: "Subhuman Submission", "Lead Us Sathanas" and "Supremacy"

Contact: www.emptiness-oficial.be.tf

ENDRAUM - IN FLIMMERNDER NACHT... (Danse Macabre Rec., 1993)

Produced By: Ensraum

Tracks: 1- Ouvertüre, 2- Schatten Der Nacht, 3- Albatros, 4- Orthosia, 5- Nostalghia, 6- Krumme Schatten im Stummen Muster, 7- Hommage, 8- Dämmerung mein Lichterkranz, 9- Demeter, 10- Zerdrückte Kehle

Cover Art by Endraum

 Recorded at Weisser Herbst Studios

This is quite an old release but I want to review it because of the beauty and magnificence of the music contained on this CD. The music here is really atmospheric and ethereal where the main thing are the keyboards arrangements and the female vocals which are really dark and deppressive. There are also some ethnic elements such as the percussion in some tracks. But everything here is done in order to achieve the darkest music possible. And Endraum does it through the melancholic keyboards and the whispering vocals that you can listen all over the place. This is a classic.

Favorite tracks: All the CD.

ERNESTO DÍAZ-INFANTE & CHRIS FORSYTH - MARCH (Pax Recordings , 2002 )

Produced By: Ernesto Díaz-Infante and Chris Forsyth

Tracks: 1- 13 = Parts 1 to 13

Cover Art by Maria DumLao

 Recorded at Wombat Recording

Here we have the new duet album with the two great guitarists and musicians Ernesto Díaz-Infante and Chris Forsyth whom we have listened in numerous projects as Rev. 99 and All Time Present (this one is reviewed on this issue). On each track here Díaz-Infante and Forsyth develope new ideas and sounds that one may never have imagined could come from a guitar, piano or drum. Some of this sounds are more melodic and some of them are closer to noise, but each one has the trademark of the duo experimentation. Sometimes the improvisation (adorned with some vocals) becomes more weird and loose and sometimes more coherent but this guys are breaking sonic boundaries all the time. As I said with the previous album: fans of experimentation should check this one. 

Favorite tracks: "Part 3", "Part 6" and "Part 8"

Contact: www.paxrecordings.com

EVENT HORIZON - FROM BEGINNING...TO END (Spreadit Agency, 2002 )

Produced By: Event Horizon

Tracks: 1- From Beginning...to end, 2- Darkning Light, 3- King of Unknown Land, 4- Flight of Fantasy, 5- Take me Out (new version)

Engineered by Gianluca Amendolara

 Recorded at Studio Avatara

This is one of the most powerful and imaginative progressive metal bands I have ever listened. Their music has a lot of ideas and at the same time has a lot of power (here is essential the role played by the heavy guitars and the powerful vocalist who adds a lot of energy to the lyrics and not only melodies as most singers in the style do). Here we have musicians that are really virtuosos, specially the keybaord player who does a lot of arrangements and solos through all the recording. An example of this aspects that I have described is the fast song called "Flight of Fantasy", closer to power metal but with much more arrangements and changes that most of the bands of the style do. A must for lovers of melodies and ideas in a heavy context. 

Favorite tracks: The five tracks here

Contact: www.eventhorizonband.com

EXSECRATUM - ADITUS (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Exsecratum

Tracks: 1- The Mighty Frost of North, 2- Wandering Sons of the Obscure throne, 3- Northern Supremacy, 4- The Light of Unholy Souls, 5- A Breezing Vision of Damnation

Cover Art by Lord Azazel

 Recorded at Silver Poddu Studios

This CD starts with some noises and storm sounds in the beginning of "The Mighty Frost of North" before getting into the purest and raw black metal. Here we have the elements of this style: fast guitars with a raw sound, fast drumming and screaming vocals. There are also the riffs in which the guitars are used to create fast melodies ovber which are spitted the hateful lyrics. One thing to remark is the full speed of this release which doesn´t slow done through the whole CD. There are some rhythm changes in tracks like "Northern Supremacy" from one fast riff to another. The sound is fairly good and maybe the guitars and drums can be mixed a little bit better to achieve a bigger black metal sound. This is a CD full of hatred and blasphemy!!!! 

Favorite tracks: "Northern Supremacy", "The Light of Unholy Souls" and "A Breezing Vision..."

Contact: exsecratum@hotmail.com

FANGORN - FANGORN ( G.U.C. Productions, 2002 )

Produced By: Fangorn

Tracks: 1- Paradies, 2- Pfeffer, 3- Phoenix, 4- Freudentanz, 5- Steinheit, 6- Verdammt, 7- Fluss, 8- Koma, 9- Felsen, 10- Herz, 11- Fährmann

Cover Art by Fangorn

Recorded at: Digidirt Studios

Fangorn is a band that sounds really european. With complex songs and many guitar riffs they sound like a mix of Dark Tranquility, Death, Sentenced and bands in that style. But this band has a lot of identity. With the interconection between the male and female vocals (this one are not in the vein that one is accustomed to listen to, in fact I think the range of this woman is a mezzo soprano and sounds really great here), the multiple rhythm and riffs changes. Here we have to point ourt the excelent guitar work with atmospheres, melodies and utter heaviness in the riffs. The sound of the recording is really good and make the results even brighter. Most of the songs here are sung in german and that adds a strange feeling and a lot of heaviness to the music. 

Favorite tracks: All the CD.

Contact: www.guc-area.de

FLOWING TEARS - SERPENTINE (Century Media Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Waldemar Sorychta

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Starfish Ride (for a million dollar handshake), 3- Serpentine, 4- Children of the Sun, 5- The Marching Sane, 6- Breach, 7- Portsall (departure song), 8- Justine, 9- The Carnage People, 10- Merlin, 11- Cupid of the Carrion kind, 12- For Tonight

Cover Art by Axel Hermann

Flowing Tears has the strange characteristic of being a band that can be epic and deppressive at the same time. It is this feeling that makes this band´s music so interesting. The mix of sad and enchanting melodies with the heavy guitars that leave a lot of space to develope interesting ideas is essential for Flowing Tears identity. The band has achieved a point where you listen just a few seconds and you know that it´s Flowing Tears music. And one of the things that make this happen is the powerful voice of Stefanie Duchene which is really melodic but has a lot of strength and energy to deliver. The mix by Waldemar Sorychta has again found the perfect balance between heaviness and beauty, this delicate equilibrium that Flowing tears manage so good. A must

Favorite tracks: A must. All the tracks are fabulous.

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

FREEDOM CALL - ETERNITY (Century Media Recs., 2002 )

Produced By: Dan Zimmerman and Chris Bay

Tracks: 1- Metal Invasion, 2- Flying High, 3- Ages of power, 4- The Spell, 5- Bleeding heart, 6- Warriors, 7- The Eyes of the World, 8- Flame in the Night, 9- Land of light, 10- Island of Dreams, 11- Turn Back Time

Cover Art by Paul Raymond Gregory

 Recorded at FC Studios

In the mid eighties and specially after the "Keeper I and II" albums Helloween set the path that millions of bands would follow in the future. And one of the bands that has done it is Freedom Call. Here the band has found a sound that is a cross between Helloween and Rhapsody and has developed eleven compositions much more powerful than in their previous album. Here we have all the melodies that the style needs and must have. We have the double bass drumming, and the galloping guitars, we have the twin guitars that make solos and melodies in all the songs, and we have the hyper melodic vocals that sing melodies that sound very "german", specially when joined by other voices in the choruses. Here is Freedom Call, a band that maybe with a little bit more of identity and originality could go directly to the top of the metal world.

Favorite tracks: "Ages of power" and "Warriors"

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

GOLD FÜR EISEN - HEIMAT (Interregnum Musik, 2002 )

Produced By: Jörg Rainer-Friede

Tracks: 1- Heimat..., 2- Auf Der Jagd, 3- Stoertebeker, 4- Heimkehrer ´46, 5- ...und alles nur, weil Du nicht gewartet hast, 6- Deutschland, 7- Deuer! (ein Amoklauf), 8- Wieder daheim

Cover Art by Jub

 Recorded at Tepa Tape Studios

Gold Für Eisen´s music is very difficult to describe. Take some elements of german bands like Sodom or Kreator, add some death metal feeling and some double bass drumming (programmed drums sound really good here), then add some choruses that sound extremely "german" and you have a small idea of what this band is about. Their music has a huge guitar sound that makes the music on this CD extremely heavy (the mix is really great and the band knows what to do in order to be heavier). There are certain strange passages like the ones in "Heimkehrer ´46" with spoken voclas and the drums in the background and the bass playing some slow phrases. There are plenty of melodies here done mostly with the guitars and this are essential for the Gold Für Eisen sound combined with the heaviest parts. This is a band that are developing their own style adding a lot of elements to their music.

Favorite tracks: All the tracks

Contact: www.goldfuereisen.de

GOTHA - TAKE YOUR SOUL (Spreadit Agency, 2002 )

Produced By: Gotha

Tracks: 1- Take Your Soul, 2- The Battle, 3- Banshee

 Recorded at Bunker Studio

Here we have Gotha, a powerful thrashcore metal band. I have put "thrashcore" to describe their style bercause I feel they have influences from both styles (mainly thrash metal in some riffs and the solos and hardcore in the voclas and some choruses) and also from calssical heavy metal. The riffs are heavy as hell and I like a lot the arrangements that the bass player does while supporting the rhythm section (some tapping phrases and stuff like that, check "The Battle" to see this). Here we have three tracks, two of average duration and a shorter instrumental one. I hope this guys release a full length soon to listen more of their music. 

Favorite tracks: "The Battle" and "Take Your Soul"

Contact: www.gotha-thrash.com

GRAVEWURM - DARK SOULS OF HELL (Barbarian Wrath Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Gravewurm

Tracks: 1- In Hell we Reign, 2- Evil Oath, 3- Massacre in Heaven, 4- Gravemaster, 5- Raise the Flag, 6- Vengeance we seek, 7- Carnage for the Beast, 8- Ancient Storms of War, 9- The Guardian, 10- Fighting For Evil, 11- Iron Warriors, 12- Merciless Slughter, 13- Wizards of War

Layout by Chorazaim

Strange band this Gravewurm. The first thing that got my attention is the strange distortion that the guitars have. Then come the guitar riffs which are sometimes rhythmical and sometimes slow but never similar to the ones played by black or death metal bands (in fact they are closer to a more heavy metal band or bands like for example Sodom or even Celtic Frost eventhough the music is completely different). The vocals are of the type that some death metal bands use , that is, not extremely guttural but never clean. In tracks like "Massacre in heaven" the music gets faster and rawer. The overall sound of the recording is not really good and maybe with a louder mix and different guitar distortion the music could sound better (also the programmed drums sound really weird here, specially the cymbals).

Favorite tracks: "Evil oath", "Raise the Flag" and "Fighting for Evil"

Contact: www.mp3.com/gravewurm or www.barbarianwrath.org

GREAT VAST FOREST - BATTLETALES AND SONGS OF STEEL (Evil Horde Recs., 2002 )

Produced By: Great Vast Forest

Tracks: 1- Intro/The Kings of power, 2- Pagan kingdom, 3- Wolvesclan, 4- The Gate Behind the Mountain, 5- Masters of the Old War, 6- Cold Souls of the Forest, 7- Majestic South, 8- Stormtroops, 9- Imperial Moon, 10- Outro/ ...and of blood was covered the hill...

Cover Art by Michel B.

 Recorded at Studio Hagnna

Here is this CD from this band whose style I would call war metal or battle metal (nothing to do with Bolt Thrower´s music). I expected some hyper fast black metal but instead I have found something new here. Here we have a music that is not straightforward black metal and not even death metal. Here we have guitar riffs that can be of both styles or maybe even of bands like old Venom (but with a guitar that sounds much more huge). Then comes the keyboards and the melodies: the keys are esential here doing a lot of the background (I would like them to be mixed a little bit higher) and the vocal melodies are specially interesting because they are not common on this style (in fact they make a great contrast with the more black metallish vocals). The fastest parts are devastating and extremely raw but the things that are fundamental for Great Vast Forest is the combination of this raw parts with the more epic ones. As I said in the Azaghal review the packaging here is of great quality. This is blasphemic music with an epic side!! 

Favorite tracks: "Wolvesclan", "Masters of the Old War" and "Stormtroops"

Contact: www.evilhorderec.com

HAND OF DOOM - DREAMS OF RESURRECTION (Gemini Recs., 2001)

Produced By: Hand of Doom

Tracks: 1- Dark Side, 2- Winter Days, 3- Dreams of Resurrection, 4- Deep Waters, 5- King of Beasts, 6- Just Another Days, 7- Tears of Eternity, 8- Ancient Spirit

Cover Art by Roberto Zoppi

 Recorded at Elfo Studio

Hand of Doom is a really good band coming directly from Italy. The music here has elements of heavy metal, thrash metal and some death metal. The main thing here are the good compositions with many different riffs within each song and multiple rhythm changes that add complexity to Hand of Doom´s music. In fact you have to check the first track here called "Dark Side" to see what this guys can do in eight minutes. The essential thing here is the combination between heaviness and melody, between wild vocals and melodic ones, between the crushing guitars and the somber and beautiful keyboards. This is one of the bands that I think will be a big number in the near future.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.handofdoom.it

HOLY MOSES - MASTER OF DISASTER (Century Media, 2002 )

Produced By: Andy Classen

Tracks: 1- Intro; 2- We Are At War; 3- Disorder of the Order; 4- Break the Evil; 5- Deeper; 6- Hell on Earth; 7- I Bleed, 8- Blood Bond; 9- 1.000 Lies, 10- Princess of Hell; 11- Verfolgungswahn; 12- Heaven vs. Hell

Cover Art by Stephan Hagenow

 Recorded at Stage One Studio

Here is Holy Moses new album!!!! After last year´s "Master of Disaster" MCD which marked the return of Sabinna Classen´s band to the arena !! Now we have this "Disorder of the Order" With twelve brutal tracks with many ideas going on through each of the songs this another Holy Moses masterpiece ("the track "Disorder of the Order" is a new classic!!). This new era of Holy Moses has an interesting change in the guitar sound that has become more brutal. Sabina´s vocals are as brutal as ever and this time he changes it a lot through all the track (in some of them she seems to be in real pain and in anothers she is full of anger and hate !!!). I liked a lot Julien Schmidt´s work on drums which is really brutal and has a great sound through all the recording. Also a welcome addition is Andreas Libera on bass who supports in a great way the bottom end sound of the band. A devastating release from this crushing band !!! 

Favorite tracks: All this CD is an extreme experience of brutality. One of the records of the month

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br or www.holymoses.de

HYPNOTHETICALL - IN NEED OF A GOD? (Spreadit Agency, 2002 )

Produced By: Fabio Lentola and Hypnotheticall

Tracks: 1- The Silent Masquerade, 2- Odour of Sanctity, 3- Like a Lamb To the Slaughter,

Cover Art by Hypnotheticall

Hypnotheticall´s music is difficult to describe but it sure is pure metal!!! The riffs and guitar parts as well as the rhythm section remind me sometimes to thrash metal and sometimes to technical death metal . That is, riffs that are fast and powerful and need a lot of technical skills by the musicians to be played. Then comes the singer who is extremely melodic and at the same time ethereal, melancholic and in times deppresive (this guy is killer in creating melodies with his middle range and in some places like in "Odour of Sanctity" he uses a mopre deathly type of vocal). There are excellent clean/acoustig guitar passages that add a different feeling to the songs and there are also many guitar melodies and solos. This guys deserve soon a label to release more of their great songs !!!

Favorite tracks: The three. A killer release

Contact: www.hypnotheticall.com

I.N.R.I. - HYPER BASTARD BREED (Cold Blood Industries , 2002 )

Produced By: I.N.R.I.

Tracks: 1- More Ruthless than the Devil, 2- The Depth Society, 3- Shoot, Hammer and Crush, 4- Terrorfreak, 5- Masturbate, 6- Hyper Bastard Breed, 7- Candidate for the Fuck of God, 8- The Resonance of Triumph, 9- Annihilation, 10- The Glorythrone, 11- Spawn of Abraham, 12- This World´s End, Wipe Out !!, 13- You´re Mighty Privilege, 14- Hell is Rising, 15- The All Consuming Darkness

Cover Art by Jacek Wisniewski

 Recorded at Franky´s Recording Kitchen

A hyper brutal release from this devastating band. From the first second of this release the guys in I.N.R.I. unleash all their violence in the brain of the listener reducing it to ashes!! The tracks here are hyper fast with brutal vocals of the screaming and guttural types (really clearly mixed, you can understand the lyrics with no problem). There are fast guitar solos in many of the tracks and fast drum rhythms with double bass and interesting work with the cymbals. This guys have made a good balance between the heavy rhythmic parts and the fastest parts with drumbeats that are almost blast beats. The sound of the release is really good and enhances a lot the music of this bestial band!!

Favorite tracks: "Masturbate", "The Glorythrone" and "Hell is Rising"

Contact: www.coldbloodindustries.com

IN FLAMES - REROUTE TO REMAIN (Nuclear Blast/Century Media Brasil, 2002 )

Produced By: Daniel Bergstrand

Tracks: 1- Reroute to Remain, 2- System, 3- Drifter, 4- Trigger, 5- Cloud Connected, 6- Transparent, 7- Dawn of a New Day, 8- Egonomic, 9- Minus, 10- Dismiss the Cynics, 11- Free Fall, 12- Dark Signs, 13- Metaphor, 14- Black and White

We reviewed Dark Tranquility´s last album above, so now we have to review the other kings of the Gothenburg sound. And those are the guys from In Flames. The In Flames albums used to be very similar one to the other, but this is quite different, this is more direct and at the same time has more melodies (and most of the melodies have been made by the vocals). Also there are some breaks and changes that are closer to what Dark Tranquility would do (with clean guitars and stuff like that). It seems like In Flames have changed a little bit their style adding some new elements like the mentioned before or the choruses in ths style of bands like Sentenced. There are also some weird sounds like the ones in "System" that are new for In Flames. It is good to see that this band is evolving and finding new ways in which to express their feelings without forgetting their roots and style.  

Favorite tracks: "System", "Drifter" and "Transparent"

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br or www.nuclearblast.de

INSIDE CONFLICT / JUDOBOY - SPLIT CD (Plainfield Recs., 2002 )

Produced By: Plainfield Recs.

Tracks: Inside Conflict: 1- Black Amber, 2- Beheaded Viper, 3- War Inside My Head, 4-Compulsion, 5- Dawn. Judoboy: 6- Sublime, 7- SiPrecieuse

 Recorded at Local #2 and Walnut Groove Studio

Judoboy is not as good as the previous band and they make a big contrast with Inside Conflict. The first thing is the difference in quality of the sound that in this two tracks is a bit muddy. Then the compositions are brutal but they don´t have the same degree of intensity that the other band has. One good thing is that here we have some atmospheric elements when the band slows down a little bit. And also we can appreciate some interesting drumming such as the one in "SiPrecieuse".

Favorite tracks: "Black Amber", "Beheaded Viper" and "Compulsion"

Contact: www.plainfieldrecords.com

JEFF KAISER - 17 THEMES FOR OCKODEKTET (pfMENTUM Records, 2002 )

Produced By: Jeff Kaiser

Tracks: 1- Dirge, 2- Clad Like Birds, 3- Amplifying Their Parallels, 4- Nothing May Be Taken Naturally, 5- Even With Diagrams, 6- One Absolute Material, 7- Figures of this In-Between, 8- Figures to Be Actualities, 9- Figures With Wings, 10- Coincidentia Oppositorum, 11- Where His third Eye Could Be, 12- Fulfilled By the Reflected Image, 13- There is No profit from Dreams, 14- Into that Nothing Between

 Recorded at Ventura City Hall

Jeff Kaiser is a great musician (he pays trumpet here and conducts the music) whose skills as improviser and spontaneous musician can be fully listened on this CD. IN fact this recording features live appearances by the Jeff Kaiser Ockodektet that is a group of great musicians who interact really well (on this recording you can not believe that this guys are improvising). Again we have here the great Ernesto Díaz-Infante playing the acoustic guitar and many other great musicians like Scott Walton on Contrabass or Richie West on drums. It is really amazing listen this guys playing, specially in the moments that they play all together like having a score and in fact they are improvising. The songs here go from atmospheric soft ones like "Clad Like Birds" to almost chaotic ones like "Even With Diagrams". An excellent showcase of spontaneity and improvisation. 

Favorite tracks: "Clad Like Birds", "Figures with wings" and "Coincidentia Oppositorum"

Contact: www.pfmentum.com

KARELIA - USUAL TRAGEDY (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Karelia

Tracks: 1- Letter for an Angel, 2- Usual tragedy, 3- Blind, 4- Daddy´s Grave

Cover Art Idea by Karelia

Here we have this powerful and melodic metal band with a lot of original elements that distinguish them from every other band of the style. The guys in Karelia have achieved a way to create extremely climatic metal songs with some power metal structures in some places and with a heavy metal voice similar to the one in bands like Stratovarius combined with other one similar to the one used by the guys in Moonspell (and there are incredible epic choruses). Also there are many riffs and ideas, as well as keyboards passages that are not common in the style using tempo changes and breaks. One thing that I have to remark is the excellent quality of the sound that ....here you can listen each note played perfectly. An amazing MCD from this promisory band!!

Favorite tracks: The Four

Contact: www.cybernemo.com/karelia

KISS OF DEATH - PROMO 2K2 (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Kiss of Death

Tracks: 1- House of pain, 2- Uncontrolled Reaction, 3- Stronger Than Before

Cover Art by Fabio Chiesa

 Recorded at Panpot Studios

This is a three track promo with brutal tracks that I would call thrash death metal . The vocals remind me a little bit to Kreator but the riffs are completely different from those played by the german band. In fact here we have some much more modern metal influences, specially in the sound that the guitars have. There are good guitar solos which add a lot of melody to the songs and give a special feeling to them. The mix is good and that helps a lot to the songs (specially the guitars that are mixed really loud as it must be). The drummer is crushing in "Uncontrolled Reaqction" playing some unexpected rhythms and fills that give a lot of originality to the songs. Now we have to wait a full length release from this band.

Favorite tracks: the three

Contact: www.kissofdeath.it

LACUNA COIL - HEAVEN´S A LIE (SINGLE) (Century Media Recs., 2002 )

Produced By: Lacuna Coil

Tracks: 1- Heaven´s a Lie, 2- Self Deception

Here we have two songs extracted from Lacuna Coil´s new album called "Comalies". And they show some progress from the previous album, specially in the sound which is deeper and clearer on this new tracks. Here we have Cristina Scabbia´s powerful vocals combined with Andrea Ferro´s ones which are the trademark of the band along with big keyboards that are essential to this two tracks. I wonder if all the album is like this two tracks. I will surely like to listen to it because it must be a masterpiece.

Favorite tracks: The two.

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

LAGRIMAS NEGRAS - IN PENUMBRA (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Lágrimas Negras

Tracks: 1- Distance, 2- Alive, 3- Cross of My heart, 4- El Claro al Final del Camino, 5- Morpheo, 6- Sabanath

 Recorded at Estudios El Tostadero

Coming directly from Spain we have Lágrimas Negras (Black Tears) with this MCD full of dark metal that we can call atmospheric gothic death/ black metal because it has a lot of keyboards and orchestration through all the tracks, it has vocals that can be from a death or black metal band (the tracks are slow or mid paced....don´t expect blast beats here) and it also has other vocals that are clean and sound closer to gothic metal. The recording is well mixed, specially the keyboards that are essential to Lágrimas Negras music. I would like them to mix a little bit louder the guitar and lower the vocals to achieve more tightness in the sound. A must for people who enjoy climatic music with melodic elements and an extremely dark atmosphere.

Favorite tracks: "Cross of My heart", "Alive" and "Morpheo"

Contact: lagrimasnegrassoria@hotmail.com

LIFE KIT - LIFE IS A CODE (Independent, 2000)

Produced By: Bush K.

Tracks: 1- Metamorphosis, 2- Life kit, 3- Bitch, 4- Laps, 5- Bonus Video clip

Cover Art by Androgyne

This is a 4 track MCD from this band that also sent us an advance of their new CD. The first thing that got my attention is how well the drums sound here (in fact this CD opens with a drum passage that sounds extremely powerful). This guys have elements of death and modern (specially in the sound and in the vocals) metal in their music. Another thing that I listen here is the eastern sounding melody that this guys play in the middle of "Metamorphosis". There are some elements closer to bands like Fear Factory (like the guitar sound) even if the rhythms are completely different. The guitars sound really fat creating with the other instruments a wall of sound. The vocalist is really versatile going from a guttural and aggressive voice to a darker type of vocals with no problem. A powerful release!!

Favorite tracks: The four

Contact: www.life-kit.com

LIFE KIT - MONKEY NUMBER ONE (ADVANCE) (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Life Kit

Tracks: 1- The Brief Case Man, 2- A Hand pulls Me Downward, 3- Faith and Lies, 4- Draught Air

This is an advance CD of the new album from the guys of Life Kit (in fact the album´s release date is february 2003 and it will have nine tracks and a multimedia section). When compared to "Life is a Code" this one seem to have a rawer sound (I don´pt know if this is a rough mix or not) and also the songs are much more weird than the ones contained on the previous release. Here we have many changes in riffs, moods and rhythms that are more complex than in the previous album. Also it seems to me that the vocals are darker this time with more harmonies that help to this feeling. There are interesting guitar riffs (played with a strange sounding guitar, I think he is using a lot of flanger effect) that make each song more powerful than the other. I would really like to listen the whole CD because Life Kit main characteristic is that each song is completely different from the other.  

Favorite tracks: The four.

Contact: www.life-kit.com

LIQUEFIED SKELETON - RIPPED AND TORN (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Liquefied Skeleton

Tracks: 1- From Within, 2- Ripped and Torn, 3- Spill the Blood, 4- Messiah

Cover Art by Gilmour Design

 Recorded at Springvale Studios

Hyper fast drumming, guttural vocals, blast beats, super fast riffs, heavier than hell guitars. All this elements are present in Liquefied Skeleton´s music. Their music is hyper fast and they are goingo for the highest level of brutality a band can achieve. There are riffs which I like more like the one at 1:10 of "From Within" (I think this guys have to use more of this riffs because they are devastating). The drummer is amazing in the fastest parts and accentuates really well the rhythmic riffs while adding some double bass drumming. The vocals are guttural as hell and fit perfectly Liquefied Skeleton´s music. One thing that I have to say is that Liquefied Skeleton recorded this MCD as a trio but now they have added another guitarist so the result must be even more crushing. Music designed to melt your brain!!

Favorite tracks: "From Within" and "Ripped and Torn"

Contact: www.liquefiedskeleton.com

MACHINE GUN KELLY - HELL´S INN (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Tommy and Machine Gun Kelly

Tracks: 1- Hell´s Inn, 2- Stoned king, 3- Machine Gun Kelly, 4- On the Run, 5- Danger In the Wasteland

Cover Art by Umberto