7^TH NEMESIS - PROMOTIONAL CD (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: 7^th Nemesis

Tracks: 1- 7^th Banner, 2- Omega Dei, 3- Phoenix Resurrectio

Cover Art by 7^th Nemesis

This is extremely brutal death metal played with a lot of technical skills and with some modern guitar riffs with pinch harmonics that are played here and there in order to add a different feeling to each part. Through the three tracks that the band presents on this CD they show no mercy for the listener, going at full speed and full brutality without hesitation. The drummer here is killer with the double bass works and with the rhythms that he creates besides the fastest parts (he prefers adding heaviness instead doing only blast beats). The vocals are of two types: the guttural one and the more screaming type, both of them adding a lot of brutality to each of the track. The thing that I have to remark is the good sound that this recording has despite being a promotional CD....this good sound also gives a lot more of brutality to the music because you can clearly feel the power of the guitars and the drums!!

Favorite tracks: Th three

Contact: www.7thnemesis.fr.st

ALIENGATES - DARK DAYS QUANTUM (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Aliengates

Tracks: 1- Manual for a Dark Age, 2- Fever The Mind, 3- Saintfilth, 4- Dark Days Quantum, 5- Heartless, 6- Blind Leads Blind

Cover Art by Bjoern Goosses

Recorded at Die Klangfabrik 

A heavier than hell release!!!!Fast riffs with a crushing guitar sounds, powerful and technical drumming with a lot of double bass, screaming and devastating vocals, melodic guitar solos and melodic arrangements designed to give more variation and identity to the songs. All this and more you can find on Aliengates music. Their music is death metal with screaming vocals and witha modern guitar sound that makes the results even more brutal. But this doesn´t end here: there are many climatic moments that are created by the guitars, that have eerie melodies that add a different feeling to the songs. And we have to mention the bestial singer who not only screams but he also knows how to recreate the atmosphere that Aliengates want. The sound of the recording is extremely clear and amazingly good !!!

Favorite tracks: "Fever the Mind", "Saintfilth" and "Heartless"

Contact: www.aliengates.com

ALL BORO KINGS - JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT (Century Media, 2002)

Produced By: All Boro Kings

Tracks: 1- ABK, 2- Twist the Cap, 3- Just for the Fun of It, 4- Blowin Smoke, 5- It´s All Good, 6- The Rat, 7- King of the World, 8- The Party´s On, 9- Independent, 10- 12 Pack, 11- You Got It, 12- Broke, Drunk

All Boro Kings play rocking music with a lot of hooks and very modern influences.. here we have from straight rock and roll to some hip hop and rapping on each of the tracks. This band has also some punk attitudes, specially in some of the vocals. The guitar sound is rocking (I mean is distorted, but not as crushing as in a metal band). All the songs have many hooks on the choruses and on the melodies, specially the ones done with the vocals (you will be singing some of the songs while listening to them for the first time in your life). I think that many of the songs in the album can be potential hits if they are well promoted. This guys rock and they are wild while simple and catchy.

Favorite tracks: "Just For the Fun...", "It´s All Good" and "12 Pack"

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

...AND OCEANS - CYPHER (Century Media, 2002)

Produced By: Tommy Tägtgren

Tracks: 1- Fragile: Pictures of Silence: Melting the Skies, 2- Picturesque: Cataclysm Savour: And the Little Things that Make Us Smile, 3- Angelina: Chthonian Earth: Her Face Form Worms, 4- Halcyon: The Heavy Silence: IN Silent Rain, 5- Aphelion: Light Evanescence: Into Extinction, 6- Opaque: The Morning I Woke Up Dead: Today is the Day, 7- Aphid: Devil Flower: Fruits of Lunacy, 8- Voyage: Lost Between Horizons: Eaten By the Distance, 9- Catharsis: End of Organisms: Absolute Purifications of Sin, 10-Silhouette: IN White Rooms: Vacant Bodies, 11- Comatose: The World Amnesia: Planet Dead, 12- Debris: The Magenta Harvest: Liquid Flesh, 13- Nail: An Odyssey in Flesh: Celebrate the New Skin

Cover Art by Shannon Hourigan

Recorded at Abyss B Studio

And Oceans ia back with their new album. This time they decided to record again in the Abyss Studios and they achieved again their huge sound with things from black / death metal and that mechanical feeling that the band has in their songs thanks to the keyboards and the guitar sound (this guys have a unique guitar sound that together with the keys give this cold dark feeling to the songs). The songs are extremely weird with many dark melodies and multiple arrangements. And, as on every ...And Oceans album we have many original ideas and many interesting parts that give the band a lot of identity. This is a must for any person that loves metal music and has an open mind.

Favorite tracks: All the CD. A masterpiece as always.

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

ANTHENORA - THE GENERAL ´S AWAKENING (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Tony Fonto and Anthenora

Tracks: 1- Planet Jail, 2- Dark Horizon, 3- The Savior, 4- Gemini

Cover Art by Davide Musizzano

Recorded at Remaster Studios 

Metal !!!! In its purest form, with some power metal shades and really modern sound (and some late eighties reminiscences). That is what we have here. This four track MCD delivers a lot of energy and the songs are really memorable (this guys have composed good songs with catchy choruses and epic vocal lines that will be surely sang by metal audiences). One thing that I liked a lot are the guitar solos that are in the songs. This guys have consciously avoided the neoclassical runs and speed solos that many metal bands are using nowadays and they have instead used more original ones with a really good guitar sound. Thumbs up also for the original singer who uses his vocal ranges but not uses shrieks and techniques that have been overabused by other bands.

Favorite tracks: "Planet Jail" and "Dark Horizon"

Contact: www.anthenora.com

ARCH ENEMY - A COLLECTION OF RARE AND UNRELEASED SONGS FROM THE ARCH ENEMY VAULT (Century Media, 2002)

Produced By: Arch Enemy

Tracks: 1- Starbreaker, 2- Aces High, 3- Scream of Anger, 4- Diva Satanica, 5- Fields of Desolation 99, 6- Damnation´s Way, 7- Hydra, 8- Video: The Immortal

Cover Art by Arch Enemy

Here we have some unreleased tracks, covers and other rarities from this great band that recently released their album "Wages of Sin" one of the best in their career. This time they deliver some covers like Judas Priest´+s "Starbreaker" or Iron Maiden´s "Aces High" (this two versions are killer and have even more energy than the original versions). Here you have seven tracks that you will not find anywhere else in Arch Enemy´s discography and that have great sound, power and originality as all Arch Enemy´s albums have. A must for lovers of Arch Enemy, of the bands that have been covered and of original music.

Favorite tracks: "Aces High", "Damnation´s Way" and "Fields of Desolation"

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

ART OF DARKNESS - MIND SUICIDE (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Art of Darkness

Tracks: 1- Maniac Illusions, 2- Eclipse, 3- Totem, 4- Slaves of Reality, 5- Mystique

Cover Art by Dries Lyesen

 Recorded at Nadir Studios

Brutal yet technical death metal witha lot of atmospheres is the style that Art of Darkness plays. Here they present us five compositions with brutal vocals (screaming and guttural depending on the accentuation that the guys want to give to their music. The guitars are like a kick in your stomach and they interact really well with the drums that creates some breaks and changes that are complicated to follow. But one of the main thing here are the melodies that give a lot of feeling to the songs (thumbs up here for the bassist that makes interesting counterpoints with the guitars in some of this parts). The technical skills of the band are really good because if they hadn´t a really good level of musicianship they wouldn´t be able to play this songs. Now we want more songs from them. More!!!!

Favorite tracks: The five!!!

Contact: www.artofdarkness.too.it

ASGAROTH - RED SHIFT (Peaceville Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Asgaroth

Tracks: 1- Naked Eye, 2- Lured Decoy, 3- Cyphred, 4- Bluntness, 5- Buried, 6- Mindscape, 7- Descent to Dion, 8- I, Befouled, 9- 6 Bloodmarks, 10- Sharpedge Solitude, 11- Red Shift..., 12- Video tracks. Naked Eye

Cover Art by Asgaroth

This is one of the most powerful releases of the year! Comin directly from Barcelona, Spain, the guys in Asgaroth have surprised us with this powerful album full of devastating guitars and incredibly heavy parts. But what gives Asgaroth their complete identity is the mix of the crushing guitars with the keyboards that play great melodies and arrangements on top of this rhythmic base. There are also amazing guitar solos that contribute a lot to the dark feeling that all the album has. The vocals are brutal and they fit perfectly the music (and as all the album is really well mixed you can appreciate each of the parts and each of the mukltiple changes that Asgaroth´s music has along with the great vocals). You must have this one!!

Favorite tracks: All of the CD. One of the releases of the year.

Contact: www.peaceville.co.uk

ASHES YOU LEAVE - FIRE (Morbid Records, 2002)

Produced By: Ashes You Leave

Tracks: 1- Free, 2- In Vain, 3- Fire, 4- Hurt, 5- Ready To Cry, 6- Don´t Forget the Planets, 7- A Crimson Shade, 8- Manservant

Mastered by Peter Neuber

This is the fourth album from this great croatian gothic doom metal band, and this new release finds singer Marina much more confident than on the previous "The Inheritance of Sin and Shame" adding new melodies and showing all her vocal skills. Ashes you Leave have consolidated their style sounding like no one else (the mix here is clear and strange and gives the band a unique sound, specaially on the drums). There are many arrangements that reflect the beautiful and dark feelings that this band wants to transmit to the listener. The guitars are heavy and we have Marta´s violins doing a lot of melodies and sometimes harmonizing the vocals with the instrument (check the song "In Vain"). The guitar riffs have become a little bit more complex and at the same time leaves more room to the vocals, keys and violin to do their job on the songs. A must for lovers of dark metal.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.morbidrecords.de

ASTRAY - PROMO 2002 (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Astray

Tracks: 1- Welcome To the Cult, 2- Barbed Wire Paradise, 3- Bleeding Here

Cover Art by Astray

Astray has found the perfect way to combine the agression of styles like black metal and death metal with many melodies and arrangements. Their music brings to my mind some shades of bands like for example Primordial, that is bands that have a lot of power and aggression in their music but that at the same time they have the melodic arrangements that give a lot of quality to the songs. Here we have a great keyboard player that adds a lot of melodies and feelings to Astray´s songs giving a lot of identity to the band while the guitarists spit their riffs with total rage. The vocals are screaming ones in total black metal fashion and are fundamental to the aggressive sound of Astray´s music. If you love bands who combine really well extreme agression with quality and melodies here you have a band for you!!

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: www.astrayband.com

ATROCIOUS DEVOURED - GOLDEN JAIL (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Atrocious Devoured

Tracks: 1- Hatred, 2- Killer Gods, 3- Golden Jail, 4- Live Murders, 5- I don´t Like it, 6- Murderer

Cover Art by Atrocious Devoured

A bestial band that plays extremely brutal death metal with interesting guitar arrangements. That is what Atrocious Devoured music sounds like. Fats riffs with extremely distorted guitar, drum beats at full speed with some blast beats in some of the tracks, brutal vocals. Everything here is conceived to brutalize the ears. There are some rhythmic riffs in tracks like "I don´t like it" that are designed to add more heaviness to the tracks and that are even more effective than the fastest ones. The sound of the recording is raw and direct so the band has achieved something like a "live sound" on this recording. Here you have a band with power and brutality for headbanging while listening to it.

Favorite tracks: "Hatred", "Killer Gods" and "Live Murders"

Contact: http://perso.infonie.fr/atrocious.dev

BADLAND - AXIS OF CAVITY (Bruce´s Fingers, 2002)

Produced By: Simon H. Fell

Tracks: 1- Axis of Cavity, 2- Arm of The Sea, 3- Groove For Deep Branch, 4- Surface For Talice, 5- The temporal Bones, 6- Birdie, 7- The Scapula Angles, 8- Spinous Process, 9- Bow, Stick and Reed

Cover Art by Simon H. Fell

Recorded at the Steam Rooms 

This month we have many releases that feature great musician Simon H. Fell playing double bass in different formats and lineups. And we will start with this Badland review. Badland is a trio consisting of Fell in double bass, Simon Rose on alto saxophone and Steve Noble on drums. This trio takes a lot of elements from jazz and then twist them into new shapes and forms, experimenting constantly with new sounds, rhythms and musical phrases. Here we have Fell and Noble constructing a musical skeleton with their rhythms and phrases and we have Rose adding flesh to the bones. There are moments that are more chaotic like at 3:00 in "Arm of the Sea" and there are many other moments that are more relaxed. Here you have experimentation on each track, on each minute and on each second. This is music done by musicians who stretch boundaries.

Favorite tracks: "Axis of Cavity", "Birdie" and "The Scapula Angles"

Contact: www.brucesfingers.com

BARATA - REGRESSO (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Barata

Tracks: 1- Downnn, 2- Cries, 3- Revelation, 4- Misery, 5- 'Self' Sented, 6- Unity

Cover Art by Barata

Recorded at Threnody Studios 

Barata plays modern metal with some hardcore influences. Ultra heavy riffs that make an emphasis on heaviness and not on speed (even if "Cries starts really fast !!!) is what we have here. All of them seem to have been designed to make the crowd jump and mosh in a concert. The main element here is the heaviness and the power that each of the six tracks contained here deliver. The drums are very rhythmic as modern metal requires and they have been really well mixed. The singer is powerful and is of the type required by a band of this style. The sound of this release is really good and that is really good to achieve what this guys wanted: extreme heaviness.

Favorite tracks: "Downnn", "Cries" and "Misery"

Contact: www.barata.nl

BOETZ - CALL TO ARMS (Balls Out Records, 2001)

Produced By: Ernest Robert Boetz

Tracks: 1- Call to Arms, 2- Green Back Crack, 3- Weak in the Knees, 4- Rock'n'roll is Good, 5-Shinin' , 6- Getting Over You, 7- Oh Boy!, 8- Don´t Mean A Thing, 9- Wish, 10- Almost To Scotland

Recorded at Exocet Studios 

Pure heavy rock and roll is what Ernest Robert Boetz does with his band. The CD starts with full energy with the title track that features Motörhead´s legend Lemmy kilminster trading vocals with Ernest. Pure energy !!! This CD has ten refreshing songs that can remind you to a much heavier Kiss or bands like Motörhead, that is, bands that have made a religion from rock´n´roll. And Boetz is creating their own religion with this pure rock release. The guitars are loud and distorted as the style requires and the bass and drums leave a lot of space for guitar and vocals that are the main ingredients here. The compositions have a lot of power on them and the good sound that this recording has helps a lot to achieve the results that Boetz wants. Pure rock and roll done with a lot of passion and dedication!!!! If you like bands like the ones mentioned before or AC/DC you will surely like Boetz a lot !!

Favorite tracks: "Call to Arms", "Don´t Mean a Thing" and "Wish"

Contact: www.boetz.com

BOUND AND GAGGED - FORNICATE THE GUTTED (United Guttural Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Bound and Gagged

Tracks: 1- Seven Bodies, 2- Rape the Dowager, 3- Bloody Chunks of Menstral Flow, 4- Blistered, 5- The Chrome Uterus, 6- Intentional Internal Ingestion, 7- Paraphilic Piquerism, 8- Choking and Gargling, 9- Revel In Ejaculate, 10- XX

Cover Art by Eric Ridgeway

Recorded at RMS Recordings

Here we have this band whose music is brutal as hell grind death with some technical elements. I have to explain this. This guys have super fast parts like a grindcore band and the vocals are extremely distorted as are on the style. Then they have riffs that are closer to death metal in the parts thata the drumming is not blast beats, and then this guys have technical skills that are necessary in order to play all the changes, riffs and rhythms that this guys do through the ten songs that are on this CD. But the main thing here is the extreme brutality thta each of the tracks has (and this brutality is even more effective because of the good sound that this recording has). Lovers of bestial death metal or grindcore with ideas will surely like Bound and gagged´s music.

Favorite tracks: "Seven Bodies", "Blistered" and "Choking and Gargling"

Contact: www.unitedguttural.com

CADAVERIC CREMATORIUM - CRY NOW, MOTHERFUCKER (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Cadaveric Crematorium

Tracks: 1- Incredible Hulk, 2- Butcher?, 3- Love in Formaline, 4- Cerebral Liquefaction, 5- Your Cat, 6- Emorragia, 7- Cadaveric Crematorium, 8- Outrobus, 9- Cannibal Cops, 10- Hannibal Corpse

Cover Art by Archvile

Recorded at  Cadaveric Studios

Brutality is the main goal of this band and they achieve it in many ways. Not only with speed that this album has and in big quantities (including blast beats and double bass). In fact, the band uses some crushing riffs (with downtuned guitars that sound extremely fat) that are even more devastating than the fastest parts because of their extreme heaviness. The tracks here are complex and have many changes, some of them really difficult to play like the ones in "Love in Formaline" that change tempos abruptly. The vocals are extremely guttural and there are some counterpoints with the screaming voice type. The bass player is a beast behind the bass accentuating a lot the drumbeats and adding a lot of bottom end to the guitar riffs. Brutality at top level!!!!!!

Favorite tracks: "Love in Formaline", "Cerebral Liquefaction" and "Emorragia"

Contact: Ventuz@tiscalinet.it

CALM SITE - DEADWEIGHT (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Jani Loikas

Tracks: 1- Payment in Full, 2- Grace the Doll, 3- Heavy Breeder

Cover Art by Calm Site

This MCD left me wanting more Calm Site music. The music here is death metal with a lot of melody and guitar arrangements. Every thing, every note here is designed to create a good son. And that is what sets Calm Site apart from any other death emtal band, their songs. The compositional skills of this guys are extremely well developed and they have created three dark opuses here that get immediately the listener´s attention through the melodies and riffs (the riffs are really rhythmic and catchy). The sound of the recording is good but I think this guys should mix a little bit higher the rhythm guitars in order to give even more heaviness to their music. If you like melodic death metal with many ideas (including some rocking riffs) then you should check Calm Site.

Favorite tracks: The three. Don´t miss a step from this guys!!

Contact: http://listen.to/calmsite

CHANGELING - NEVER SAY NEVER (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Changeling

Tracks: 1- Newborn, 2- Prayer, 3- Losery, 4- Crazy, 5- Five-Six, 6- Warning, 7- Saved, 8- Oskorei, 9- Emdee 2

Cover Art by Shava

Recorded at  Basques Audio Productions

Changeling rocks! This band has really a lot of energy in their songs and here they deliver nine of them with a lot of power. The music of this band is a mix of hard rock, metal and it has some alternative touches (mainly from bands like Alice in Chains, that is the darkest bands). One thing that gives a lot of identity to the band´s music are the vocals of Alexandre Duran who sings with a lot of energy and adapts the voice to the mood of each of the songs and who also made the visual and musical concept of the band. One thing to remark is that all the songs here are memorable, they have catchy riffs, choruses and melodies that leaves you singing all the songs after the CD is finished. Each of the song has also riffs that are designed for live shows with great energy ...and that is the main point here: extremely energetic heavy rock. Check it !!

Favorite tracks: "Newborn", "Crazy" and "Warning"

Contact: www.geocities.com/changelingrocks

CHRISTIAN DEATH - LOVER OF SIN (Candlelight Records, 2002)

Produced By: Valor

Tracks: 1- You Should Have Died, 2- Unspoken, 3- Stone Cold, 4- The Vision, 5- Darkness Walks With Me, 6- No Shame, 7- Paradox, 8- Where the Dead Sleep, 9- Eulogy Cathedral, 10- Lamb to the Slaughter

Cover Art by Valor

Here we have a classic band whose sound has been an inspiration for bands as different as Type O Negative and Morbid Angel. But the good thing about Christian Death is that they have not become stagnant musically as many other classical bands have. As you can listen on this new recording the band has taken many modern sounds and adapted them to Christian Death´s music. Here you can listen fast parts in a black metal way, then climatic and atmospheric passages like on "Stone Cold" and you have the omniprescent vocals of Valor and Damond Jinya (who also sings in Savatage). Then there are the keyboards arrangements done by new member Maitri that are essential to Christian Death´s sound. This is classical band that must be listened in order to know that this bands can evolve too and make always great albums like this "Lover of Sin" with its heaviness and darkness.

Favorite tracks: "You Should Have Died", "No Shame" and "Where the Dead Sleep"

Contact: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

CIRIBUS - SEPTIC REGURGITANT (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Ciribus

Tracks: 1- Palace of Shame; 2- Sifting through your pieces; 3- Money is Emphysema; 4- Septic Regurgitant; 5- Bridges to Burn; 6- Never Quit, never Die; 7- River Styx; 8- Survival of the Fittest; 9- Spewings Chunks of Monstruous Proportions

Cover Art by Ciribus

Ciribus is an brutal as hell band and here we have this release that is brutality from beginning to end. Technical riffs, hyper fast passages, blast beats and crushing rhythms. I liked a lot the use of pinch harmonics in the guitar riffs that this band does and I would like them to use a lot of ideas like the ones in "Never Quit, Never Die" which I liked a lot. The vocals are really guttural (there are some Mortician influences here which I liked a lot) as the style demands and make a good contrast with the voice that is more thin and screaming. Palms go to the sound that is really clear and allows us to feel the brutality of the recording in a really clear way (this is useful specially in the fastest parts where you can distinguish clearly all the instruments and know eactly what is playing each musician). I can say with no doubt that this is one of the most brutal releases of 2002.

Favorite tracks: "River Styx"; "Bridges to Burn" and "Never quit, never die"

Contact: ciribus@msn.com

COCK AND BALL TORTURE / DISGORGE SPLIT CD (Lofty Storm Recs, 2002)

Disgorge: 5- Goremassacre Perversity, 2- Grotesque Devourment, 3- Inhuman

Cover Art by Sascha/Grindesign

Recorded by C. Steiner (CBT) and Carlos Padilla (Disgorge)

Here we have this duo of grind gore porn freaks!!!! And they have made a killer split CD here ! First we have the four tracks by Cock and Ball Torture with their typical crushing guitar sound and with Sascha´s gurgling vocals that are the trademark of the band. The songs are really fast and heavy and the sound lets us appreciate all the four tracks. Then come Disgorge with their ultrafast goregrind that has no mercy for the listener. This guys are ultrafast with extremely guttural vocals and they have become one of the main bands in the goregrind scene. Lovers of grind will be delighted with Disgorge´s blast beats and fouble bass drumming and with the fast chainsaw like guitar riffs. Plus there is a Grave cover here that fit perfectly Disgorge´s style even if Grave is a completely different band in style.

Favorite tracks: "Poontang Clan", "Tampon Terrorizer" and "Grotesque Devourment"

Contact: www.loftystorm.hpg.com.br

CONFLIGO - HEATHEN PRIDE (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Confligo

Tracks: 1- The Legacy Of..., 2- ...Eternal Warriors, 3- the Circle of Fire, 4- The Land of Shining Shields, 5- Caudium 321 a.C, 6- The Sacred Enclosure of Kerrii, 7- Heathen Pride, 8- Diumpais Poem, 9- Epilogue

Cover Art by Meddix Yhades

Recorded by Meddix Yhades and Magister Tifernum 

This is with no doubt not only one of the recordings of the month but also one of the best records of the year!!!! Confligo have perfectly made a fusion of black and death metal with classical elments and amazing orchestration. Here we have nine splendid tracks full of amazing arrangements and melodies that are designed to revive different feelings in the listener: anguish, sadness. And everything is done here with extreme beauty: from the orchestration, to the keyboards arrangement to the guitar melodies. This guys know what they are doing and how to achieve the results that they want. One extra point goes to this guys for having the help of such a talented soprano as Antonella Raimondi is. A must for every lover of music in all its forms.

Favorite tracks: A masterpiece

Contact:

CONSCIOUS - IN MASSES MAY WE CONQUER (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Conscious

Tracks: 1- Dreams of Dominance, 2- Veil of Wonder, 3- At One With Death, 4- Delusions of Grandeur, 5- Conscious

Mixed by Jarod Ferguson

Recorded by Jarod Ferguson 

I am surprised on how many good bands are out there and how has the quality of the musicians got better in the latest years. And this happens to me specially with brutal bands: and bands like Conscious is the proof of this. Whilke in the early nineties the most brutal bands used to record their songs fast as hell and witha poor sound, nowadays we have bands like Conscious with good tracks, extreme brutality and a really professional sound. Here we have hyper fast riffs combined with more mid paced riffs, we have double bass drumming and we have fast and furious guitar riffs. And everything can be listened in a really good way because the sound of the recording is really good (I would have mixed the guitars just a little bit higher). Here we can almost feel the vocalist spitting the lyrics full of hate. And the drums shine, specially the double bass and the crash cymbals. So, Conscious is for me a demonstration that brutality in death metal doesn´t mean have a murky sound. Instead, this guys prove us that with a good sound brutal bands are even more brutal. Thumbs up.

Favorite tracks: "Dreams of Dominance", "Delusions of Grandeur" and "Conscious".

Contact: www.mp3.com/Conscious

CREMATORIUM - EPICEDIUMS OF THE DAMNED (Dismal Recs., 1997 )

Produced By: Crematorium

Tracks: 1- Lands Plagued, 2- Disbelief, 3- Coma of the Soul, 4- Unholy Massacre, 5- Corporate Malignance, 6- Painless; Lifeless, 7- Sufferance of Life, 8- Unfound Face, 9- Dismal

Cover Art by Lea Rudko

Recorded at Funlife Studios  and Time Capsule Studios

Crematorium brings us here their deathly music!! We can describe their music saying that has a lot of elements of death metal, some of black metal and a lot of good arrangements with interesting melodies (just check "Coma of the Soul" and the beginning of "Ungoly Massacre"). Some of the guitar riffs reminded me of old Autopsy because of the rhythm that they have and they are really well combined with slower parts (almost doom in some places) and with the keyboards that add a lot of dark atmosphere to the music here. There are guitar solos and acoustic parts that are essential to the Crematorium sound (the guitarist, Mark, is killer, having a lot of technique and feeling iun his solos). The CD has a really raw sound that makes a big contrast with the more climatic parts. This band is a great surprise for me...they are killer. A must.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.daggas.net/crematorium

CREMATORIUM - A WORLD WHERE ONLY NIGHTMARES PREVAIL (Dismal Recs., 2001)

Produced By: Crematorium

Tracks: 1- Cast the Stone, 2- Carved From Deceit, 3- Unlearn, 4- Whiplash

Recorded by Kiley DeJesus

Recorded at DDG Recordings

This CD starts with a song that is different from the Crematorium style with more rhythm than on the recording that we reviewed previously, and with more modern hardcore influences. Then, on the second track they make a shift to a style closer to the death/black/thrash metal that is typical of Crematorium´s music but this time mixing it with the new elements and rhythms that I mentioned before. One thing that amaze me of this band is that they have many different vocal styles and they seem to be really eclectic in the compositions never loosing their extreme heaviness and their brutality. To end this recording we have here a Metallica cover of "Whiplash" done in the Crematorium style making the track heavier and giving good honour to this classic composition.

Favorite tracks: "Carved from Deceit" and "Unlearn"

Contact: www.daggas.net/crematorium

CREMATORIUM - FOR ALL OUR SINS (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Crematorium

Cover Art by Crematorium

This is the new offering from this amazing band that mixes elements of death metal, black metal, thrash metal and hardcore within their style. This time they offer here fourteen tracks of pure powerful metal with speed in many of the tracks and the exact dose of brutality that the band needs to destroy the listener´s brain. This guys show here again that they have the technical skills that are needed to perform this compositions in a correct way. Here is the bestiality of the band in all fourteen tracks and the good thing is that Crematorium has found a way to compose songs without repeating themselves and making each one of them sound different from the other. A great band.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.daggas.net/crematorium

DARK DISCIPLE - BENEATH THE INVERTED CROSS (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Dark Disciple

Tracks: 1- Beneath the Inverted Cross, 2- Revelations in Black, 3- Headless By Dawn; 4- Bonus track

Layout by Dark Disciple

I expected a black metal band here but this CD starts as an extremely brutal death metal band with a sound that is distorted as hell !! This guys are one of the most brutal bands on Earth and they achieve this brutality through their hyper fast rhythms, their blast beats and an extremely distorted guitar sound (I think they use a distorted bass too to make the riffs even more brutal). Incredibly there are some melodic solos in tracks like "Beneath the Inverted Cross" played at full speed just before the end of the track. The second track has some sort of black metal screaming but it is really slow in some parts (almost doom) and then it has extremely guttural vocals and then again the guitar riffs are closer to death metal than to any lother style (and then there are some fast parts in the same track!!!!). Here you have fifteeen minutews of pure brutality in an original way !!!!

Favorite tracks: "Revelations in Black" and "Headless By Dawn"

Contact: www.darkdisciple.net

DEAD POETIC - FOUR WALL BLACKMAIL (Solid State Recs, 2002)

Produced By: Barry Poynter and Jason Magnussen

Tracks: 1- Burgundy, 2- The Corporate Enthusiast, 3- A Green Desire, 4- Four Wall Blackmail, 5- August Winterman, 6- Ollie Otson, 7- Bliss Tearing Eyes, 8- Stereochild, 9- Arlinton Arms, 10- Tell Myself Goodbye

Recorded at Poynter´s Palace

Here we have a band with two sides: the first one is the rocking side with distorted guitars, interesting rhythms and some screaming vocals, then there is the pop side with a lot of melodies in the vocals and catchy choruses. The combination gives you an idea of how Dead Poetic Sound. One thing that surprised me is that there are a lot of screaming vocals and they are really well combined with the more melodic part (I would say that this band is the perfect link between the releases of Tooth and Nail Recs. and the ones by Solid State Recs). You can feel the power of this band in the heaviest parts and then sing the choruses along the songs....I find this release strange and amazing and with a lot of originality on each of the songs (I find really interesting hown they brake peaceful parts with some screaming and heavy guitars!!). This is the missing link !!

Favorite tracks: "A Green Desire", "August Winterman" and "Arlinton Arms"

Contact: www.solidstaterecords.com

DEATHFROST - DEATHFROST (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Deathfrost

Tracks: 1- Ticket To Hell (Ausf. E), 2- Search Area, 3- Two Leg Bugs, 4- Time To Sacrifice, 5- Ticket To Hell (ausf. R)

Deathfrost is a weird band, its one of the bands that leaves you thinking about their music and about the experimentation that they do in their recordings: In fact this band uses distorted guitars but they use a lot of electronic percussion and electronics sounds that give a sort of industrial feeling to each of the songs. In tracks like "Search Area" they have achieved a strange but catchy sound and rhythm, that is really dense and original at the same time. The vocals on this recording are of the guttural type but sometimes with a whispering style (not as you are accustomed to listen in death or black metal bands). This is pure originality and experimentation, I suggest to listen to it with a really open mind.

Favorite tracks: "Search Area", "Ticket to hell (ausf. E)" and "Time to Sacrifice"

Contact: http://nav.to/deathfrost

DECADENCE - THEATRE OF ECLIPSE (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Decadence

Tracks: 1- Intro - Decaydence; 2- I Movement: Light Collapse, 3- II Movement: E.C.L.I.P.S.E, 4- Interlude - Part I, 5- Interlude - Part II, 6- III Movement: The Infinite Aiming, 7- IV Movement: Ethereal...and the Thorns; 8- V Movement: Near The Altar of Madness, 9- Outro: Midnight Requiem

Recorded by Decadence

This band is fucking amazing!! Decadence plays OBSCURE METAL, that is a style that has elements of death metal, black metal, ambient, and a lot of keyboards and progressive arrangements. All of this styles have been mixed here and they have added a darker sound and the blackest of atmospheres in order to achieve the Decadence sound. The main thing here is that despite being aggressive this music has a lot of feeling and beauty on each of the arrangements. This guys have great technical skills in order to play the different parts and the many changes that Decadence´s music has (Kyrion is an amazing keyboard player and while listening to some piano passages on "Interlude - Part I" I think that he has had some classical training that is really good for his way of playing that fits perfectly Decadence´s music. Check this masterpiece or die!

Favorite tracks: All the CD is a masterpiece

Contact: www.obscuremetal.com

DECOMPOSING SERENITY / MICROPHALLUS SPLIT CD (Lofty Storm Recs, 2001)

Produced By:

Tracks: There are 39 tracks here of pure grind dementia!!!!!

Cover Art by

This are almost forty tracks with pure grind/death from these two projects. First comes Decomposing Serenity (we reviewd some CD from them in a past issue) with their ultra mechanical and fast death metal with grindcore influences. They deliver their extreme brutality on their short compositions and they slow down in rares ocassions. Their music is extremely fast and they have a drum sound that uses a lot of double bass and a lot of breaks that makes the music sound really like a machine (this guy is truly a beast). Then comes Microphallus whose music is more mechanical due to the fact that he doesn´t use instruments and instead he uses a drum amchine and processed sounds to achieve this grind madness. The lyrics are about serial killers and here we have also a Regurgitate cover. This is a split CD that will delight all those lovers of grindcore and the fastest death metal.

Favorite tracks: "Chase Had Great Taste", "Dissected Necks around my bed" and "I perform for the decayed"

Contact: www.loftystorm.hpg.com.br

DEVILRY - INHUMAN REGIMENT EP (Blazing Productions, 2001)

Produced By: Devilry

Tracks: 1- Lightning War, 2- Vengeance Unfolds, 3- Vermincineration, 4- Regeneration

Cover Art by Devilry

Here we have utter brutality from thsi band whose name is really becoming bigger in the extreme music scene. Here we have four tracks from this 7" EP that are played at top speed and that are extremely brutal. The vocals go from guttural to screaming in all the tarcks and every beat, every note, every chord is designed here to smash your brain into pieces. The sound is good and that helps a lot the brutality of this guys making the EP sound even more violent, raw and bestial than it would be with worse sound. Here the listener will find no rest....this is pure violent death metal in its most devastating kind !

Favorite tracks: "Lightning War" and "Vengeance Unfolds"

Contact: www.blazing.ws

DIACLASE - DIACLASE (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Vincent Voineau

Tracks: 1- Ecchymose, 2- En Patience, 3- Closes, 4- Insomnie

Cover Art by Vincent Voineau

This guy Vincent Voineau is amazing! He is the only composer and player in Diaclase´s music. And his main goal on this recording has been to achieve new sounds, new feelings and new ambientations through Diaclase´s music. I think this guy really loves to experiment and he demonstrates this through this four tracks. There are a lot of cold and eerie atmospheres created by Voineau using a lot of electronic elements and adding an interesting industrial and ambient touch to the music here. I think this music is ideal to listen in the dark so you can concentrate on trying to listen to each element that is played on each of this amazing tracks. Vincent also adds his voice to all the compositions, and this vocals have been processed in order to fit the general feeling of the recording (he does a lot of melodies with his voice and the industrial and machinal feeling gets even better). Those who like experimentation will surely like Diaclase.

Favorite tracks: the four

Contact: diaclase@caramail.com

DITHYRAMBS - DITHYRAMBS 2001 (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Dithyrambs

Tracks: 1- Gastro-man, 2- Destitute, 3- Dampish life, 4- Sliding through the Air, 5- Shit´s Crust, 6- Final Love, 7- Shit´s Dust

Cover Art by Danijel Zezelj

Recorded at Music Viva Studio 

Dithyrambs is a classic band coming directly from Italy. Their music has elements of rock and roll, metal and elements of punk and other styles. The main goal of this band is to create good songs and they achieved this on this seven tracks that we have here. All the songs here have been recorded live in the studio and you can feel that energy that playing live gives to some bands. There are many passages where this guys play with clean guitars and give a lot of room to the Andrea Pacini, the guitarist and singer to create interesting melodies (with a definite Italian touch on them). All the songs here have a lot of dynamic parts and a lot of energy and it makes me wonder how a live show of Dithyrambs can be. I think that what describes better the music of Dithyrambs is: pure energy with different moods and parts and with a great attitude for their music.

Favorite tracks: "Destitute", "Dampish Life" and "Shit´s Crust"

Contact: www.dithyrambs.com

DOWNRIGHT MALICE - SPIT YOUR HATE OUT (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Downright Malice

Tracks: 1- Spit Your Hate Out, 2- Cage, 3- Colored In Black, 4- Violated Forest, 5- S.M.C.

Cover Art by Didier Bauer

Recorded on 8 Track Studio by Didier Bauer 

Downright Malice is an extremely aggressive band. Their sound is really modern and has a lot of impact on the listener through teir heavy yet rhythmic riffs and through the hateful lyrics that the singer spits song after song. I find interesting that this guys have mixed this extremely heavy parts with more climatic ones as in tracks like "Colored In Black" (thumbs up for the singer who can do really aggressive parts and melodies without hesitation). The guitar sound is really heavy and modern and the riffs are not of the ones that are so fast that you can barely distinguish what they are playing. In fact the guitarist prefers to do heavier riffs with more rhythmic quality and more arrangements that give more heaviness to the songs here. Modern and aggressive metal!

Favorite tracks: "Spit Your Hate Out", "Colored In Black" and "Violated Forest"

Contact: downright-malice.didier@wandoo.fr

EARTHMOVER - PROMO CD (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Earthmover

Tracks: 1- Slow Death, 2- Autominds, 3- Soul Revenge, 4- Pointless Prayer

Cover Art by Dino Baudone

Earthmover´s music is powerful heavy metal with modern influences and melodies. This band is really focused on writing good songs and each thing here is done in order to achieve this results. Here we have powerful guitar riffs (with a great guitar sound) that give the songs the power that they deserve, then there is the rhythm section that gives a lot of place for the guitars and the singer to develope their ideas. The keyboards here help to add a lot of harmony helping the work of the guitars and adding more atmosphere to each of the tracks. And then, there is the singer, who is a really powerful one and knows that using the middle ranges and even using some more forced vocals (like in "Autominds") he can give even more strength to the songs. The sound of the recording is good specially on the guitars that sound really crushing

Favorite tracks: "Autominds" and "Soul Revenge"

Contact: earthmover@libero.it

ENEMYNSIDE - FROM THE CRADLE TO THE WAY (Independent, 2000)

Produced By: Enemynside

Tracks: 1- Bad Junks, 2- (Someone´s) Past, 3- Scars, 4- The Place

Cover Art by Enemynside

Pure speed thrash metal!!!!! Yes, as I am saying really often I think that thrash metal is making a big comeback to the metal scene. But this is not thrash metal as it used to be in the mid and late eighties (even if there is a lot of influence of bands from that era). The guys in Enemynside have taken classic thrash metal and have added other more recent influences to achieve their own sound, and above all they have a singer that sings completely different than the ones that sing in ths style. The guitar riffs remind me to bands like Exodus but they are more twisted and have more breaks and a bigger sound. Some of the tracks are faster like "(Someone´s) Past" and each of them delivers a lot of aggression and a t the same time a lot of feeling through the melodies created by the guitarists and the singer (who has a lot of interesting phrases that catch the listener´s ear). Thumbs up for Enemynside !

Favorite tracks: "Bad Junks" and "Scars"

Contact: http://welcome.to/enemynside or www.enemynside.com

ENEMYNSIDE - VIOLENT BEATS (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Enemynside

Tracks: 1- Speed killing, 2- P.O.M. (Peace of Mind), 3- In Memory Free

Cover Art by Enemynside

Wow! This MCD starts violently with "Speed Killing", a track that wouldn´t be out of palce in albums like "Master of Puppets" or "Fabulous Disaster" but with a more aggressive sound!! Here we see an interesting evolution from the guys from Enemynside when comparing with "From the Cradle To the Way". The sound here is better, specially the drums and they deliver more aggression on each of the three tracks here. There is always the amazing thrash metal style that is typical of Enemynside but on this recording the singer has shown a more violent side of his singing (check "P.O.M."). Some of the guitar riffs are complex and give a lot of arrangements to the songs. This is a really powerful release and I hope that this guys release a full length album really soon!

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: Contact: http://welcome.to/enemynside or www.enemynside.com

ENIGMATIK - WHERE EVIL IS CLOISTERED (PROMO) (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Enigmatik

Tracks: 1- All Light has Failed, 2- Prophesies of Doom, 3- Lifeless Dimensions, 4- Enter The Realm of Enigma

Cover Art by Enigmatik

This band´s music can be described by saying that they play black metal with many atmospheric passages. I don´t know if the titles of the songs that I put on this review are correct because I couldn´t find the titles order or something like that. The band is incredibly fast in many places and they have a lot of interesting arrangements (specially on the keyboards that are fundamental to Enigmatik´s music). The fourth track (that came in a separated CD) is the one that sounds better with a different mix from the other three and this mix is the one that I liked most for Enigmatik´s music (I would mix a little bit lower the drums cymbals here and a little bit louder the keys). If you like bands like Dimmu Borgir but with a much rawer sound and interesting orchestral arrangements then you would surely like Enigmatik.

Favorite tracks: The four

Contact: www.enigmatik.fr.st

EVAN PARKER - SIX OF ONE (Psi Records, 2002)

Produced By: Martin Davidson

Tracks: 1- One of Six, 2- Two of Six, 3- Three of Six, 4- Four of Six, 5- Five of Six, 6- Six of One, 7- At Sixes and Sevens

Recorded by Adam Skeaping

Here we have solo improvisations from master musician Evan Parker. This are soprano saxophone solo improvisations that were originally recorded on June 18^th, 1980. Here Parker shows all his skills in developing saxophone lines and ideas in a solo context when all the attention of the listener is on his instrument. And he also shows that he has the technical skills to play them (some of the lines played here requires a lot of knowledge of the instrument and as we know from listening some of his work, Evan has a lot of them). Here you have seven tracks in which Evan Parker explores each of the possibilities of the instrument. He plays fast and slow, really intense or soft but always deliver some new sounds that the listener will find interesting. Solo experimentation at its best.

Favorite tracks: "Two of Six", "At Sixes and Sevens" and "Six of One"

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

EVENFALL - CUMBERSOME (Century Media Recs. , 2002)

Produced By: Boban Milunovic

Tracks: 1- Rawish; 2- Frontloader; 3- Dogma; 4- Entre Dos Tierras; 5- In Absentia Christi; 6- Overcast Sky; 7- Cumbersome; 8- Vangelis Mundi; 9- Unworshipped; 10- Conspectu Mortis II

Cover Art by Carlos del Olmo Holmberg

Recorded at Boom Room Studios

Here is the follow up to "Still In the Grey Dying" and Evenfall has become really soon in one of my favorite bands. Why? Because of the quality of their songs. First of all I love Roberta Staccuneddu´s vocals which contrast with the more deathly ones by Ansgar Zöschg. Roberta has an angelical voice and has a lot of inflexions in her vocal range which allows her to sing the more difficult melodies in a great way. Thumbs up also for Max Boi who plays the keyboards that are essential to Evenfall´s music: He makes excellent chord progressions and amazing melodies through all this album. The music atmosphere is really dark and the main risponsibles here are the guitarists who play dark melodies through all the tracks and also play heavy rhythms that make Evenfall´s music completely original when combined with keyboard calm melodies. A must for everybody!!!!

Favorite tracks: The whole CD is amazing !

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

F.O.B. - BLAME? (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: F.O.B. and Petr Houska

Tracks: 1- Convertable Arrival (intro), 2- Child No More, 3- Vomit the Soul, 4- Bad Morning, 5- Bastards from Hell, 6- Hypocrisy - Morgoth´s Net of Lies, 7- Flowing Waves of Life (outro)

Cover Art by F.O.B.

Recorded at Kovarik´s Barn

Technical and ultra brutal death metal is what we have here. Plenty of arrangements and rhythm changes the music of this band is extremely bestial, specially due to the guttural vocalist that gives an extreme feeling to each of the songs that we can listen on this tape. The thing that I liked more are the guitar arrangements, thata re original and creative within a brutal death metal context. The sound of the recording is good and lets us appreciate all the guitar parts, the drum patterns changes and the extreme vocals. This guys have no mercy and through all this album they will melt your brain while you listen thei crushing compositions.

Favorite tracks: "Vomit the Soul", "Hypocrisy" and "Bastards from hell"

Contact: fob@seznam.cz

FALCONER - CHAPTERS FROM A VALE FORLORN (Metal Blade, 2002 )

Produced By: Falconer

Tracks: 1- Decadence of Dignity, 2- Enter the Glade, 3- Lament of a Minstrel, 4- For Life and Liberty, 5- We Sold Our Homesteads, 6- The Clarion Call, 7- Portals of Light, 8- Stand in Veneration, 9- Busted To the Floor

Cover Art by Jan Meininghaus

Recorded at Los Angered Studios 

Falconer is a band of pure power/heavy metal with many changes in the guitar riffs and the rhythms. They use a lot of parts with double bass drumming (they have achieved a killer sound with the drums). The songs here have an epic feeling on them that is achiueved through some melodies and through the choruses. One thing that I liked from Falconer is that they don´t sound like a German band (tey are from Sweden) as most of the bands in the style do lately (as an example of this take bands like Freedom Call which sound extremely german), and the singer uses his middle range really effectively (yes!! He don´t abuse the high pitches!!). The guitar player prefers to use original riffs and changes of moods instead of the typical one note runs and galloping that some bands in the style overabuse. Falconer is a good option for people looking for something different in the realm of pure heavy metal.

Favorite tracks: "Decadence of Dignity", "For Life and Liberty" and "Stand in Veneration"

Contact: www.metalblade.com

FAUST - ...AND FINALLY FAUST (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Faust

Tracks: 1- Raping the Virgin, 2- History Losers, 3- Pig God Dog, 4- Immortality

Cover Art by Faust

Faust is a band whose music is on the limit between death metal and black metal. The vocals are completely guttural and closer to death metal while some fast parts and some guitar riffs clearly remind the listener of black metal style. This recording is very professional and has really good sound that makes each riff and every drumbeat more efective (the drums sound weird, almost mechanical). The guitar riffs are fast and brutal and melts the listener´s brain in some of the fastest parts. Also the guitars give the identity to the band through some arrangements and melodies like the ones in 2 . This band has also some interesting technical skills in order to play the breaks and changes that are on many of their tracks (there are also some interesting guitar solos). A really good release directly from Italy.

Favorite tracks: The four

Contact: www.deathmetal.it

FLESH MADE SIN - MASTERWORK IN BLOOD (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Marc Ter Braak

Tracks: 1- Thrash is Back Pt. II, 2- Lustful Killing, 3- Tormentor, 4- A Master´s Work in Blood, 5- Taste the Knife, 6- Slicing the Throat

Cover Art by Kim Mirer

Recorded at the Harrow Studios

Recorded in the famous the Harrow Studios this six song CD is a showcase of brutal death/thrash metal. Here I can feel influences of classical bands like Kreator or Destruction mixed with newer ones. And this gives an interesting sound to the guys in Flesh Made Sin. Their music is an example of how well can merge thrash metal with its riffs and arrangements with the brutality of death metal. I would like to remark the excellent job that the drummer is making on this recording adding a lot of odd arrangements besides the hyper fast rhythms. There are crushing riffs and brutal as hell vocals that are the essence of Flesh Made Sin´s music. The sound is extremely good and that adds points to the final result. Check this amazing band from The Netherlands.

Favorite tracks: "Tormentor", "Taste the Knife" and "Slicing the Throat"

Contact: www.fleshmadesin.nl

FLESHGRIND - LIVE IN GERMANY (United Guttural Records, 2002)

Produced By: Rich Lipscomb

Tracks: 1- Sorrow Breed Hatred...Bleed on Me, 2- Litany of Murder, 3- Ejaculate on Entrails, 4- The Supreme Art of Derangement, 5- Anger

Cover Art by Barbie Collado

Recorded at the Fuck the Commerce Open Air Festival 2000

Fleshgrind is a band that sounds heavier live than in studio. Their brutal death grind music is here much more bestial than on their previous albums, sounding rawer and more devastating. I expected a live recording with muddy sound but this one is really clear and each of the instruments is clearly mixed and you can understand even the fastest parts. On this live recording you will find hyper fast rhythms with many blast beats, ultra distorted guitars that will blow your brain, extremely guttural vocals and all the elements that have made Fleshgrind one of the most bestial bands in the death grind scene. There are five songs on this MCD and from the first to the last you will not have rest. This guys are like a grind machine that devastates everything that is on their way!

Favorite tracks: "Litany of Murder" , "Anger" and "Ejaculate on Entrails"

Contact: www.unitedguttural.com

GRAND ALCHEMIST - INTERVENING COMA CELEBRATION (Sound Riot Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Rune Thoen and Grand Alchemist

Tracks: 1- Faced (intro), 2- A Nailed Visual Effect, 3- Down Again, 4- Incurable Longing, 5- Approach (Open the Shell), 6- Intervening Coma-Celebration, 7- Sensemachine, 8- Psyche and a Flower to the New Lifetime, 9- Minds Delusion Sleeps for Creation, 10- Solemn and Sophisticated, 11- Under my Shallow Skin, 12- Snap Up the Raw of Existence

Cover Art by Sigurd and Rune Thoen

Recorded at Studio Elg

Here we have one of the best bands to come from the underground !! The music of this band is really amazing and each of the tracks that are on this CD has wonderful arrangements (incredible keyboards on all the songs!!) and interesting guitar riffs that add heaviness (as the deathly vocals do) while retaining the beauty and darkness of the band´s sound. Each of the songs here has an obscure epic feeling that is achieved thanks to the excellent keyboards arrangements that are fundamental to Grand Alchemist´s sound. The drumming here leaves a lot of place to the guitar but at the same time does a lot of interesting work (check the double bass in tracks like "Down Again"). Each composition is extremely well developed and has many ideas and changes that make the music here extremely interesting.

Favorite tracks: All the CD. One of the records of the year

Contact: www.soundriot.net

GRAYSCALE - WHEN THE GHOSTS ARE GONE (Sound Riot Recs., 2002)

Mastered at Finnvox Studios:

Tracks: 1- The World Today, 2- A Dead Season, 3- Gray Singer, 4- Squeeze, 5- The Fire Inside Me, 6- Absent, 7- Shape in the Shadows, 8- Cast Aside, 9- When the ghosts are Gone

Cover Art by Francesca Di Leandro

Recorded at LaLa Records

The opening with "The World Today" lets us into the world of this finnish band. Their music can be defined as extremely arranged gothic metal. I am saying this because this band has some elements of gothic music, specially on the vocals and at the same time has a heavy guitar sound and multiple arrangements on the keyboards and the guitars that add a new dimension to each of the nine tracks that are on this CD. The dark feeling is all over this recording and this feeling is created through each melody that is done on the songs. The sound of the recording is really good and that makes the darkness even darker and the sadness even more evident. A must for lovers of dark styles.

Favorite tracks: "The World Today", "The Fire Inside" and "Cast Aside"

Contact: www.soundriot.net

HESSION / WHARF / FELL - IMPROVABILLY (Bruce´s Fingers, 2002 )

Produced By: Hession/ Wharf/ Fell

Tracks: 1- Between the Clock and the Bed, 2- Enter, Leave, 3- The Interior of Sight, 4- Self Portrait with Burning Cigarette, 5- The Angel of Hearth and Home

Cover Art by Jo Fell

Recorded at Darkside Studio 

Here we have this recording of three masters of improvisation and experimental music. The CD starts with a fast tune with superb drumming and a lot of interesting experimental sax phrases. Then we have the incredible double bass lines that can beheard through all the recording (Simon Fell not only uses the double bass to create lines to support the sax melodies and phrases, but he also uses the instrument to create sounds that are beyond what one could think can be expressed with it). There are tracks that are more chaotic and others that are closer to jazz standards (like for example "Enter, Leave"). It is amazing how this three muscians can develope a lot of original ideas within a song format. This CD is a must for lovers of experimentation.

Favorite tracks: "Between the clock...", "Enter, Leave" and "The Angel..."

Contact: www.brucesfingers.com

IMPURE DOMAIN - VIVERE DI MALE / THE EVIL WITHIN (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Impure Domain

Tracks: 1- Trance Blood Chant, 2- As A Wolf Among The Sheep, 3- The Perverse Charm of Prevarikation, 4- Mysanthropya Apokalyptyka, 5- Type Triple-Six: Emey Defeated; 6- K.K.K. (Kold Karma of Kaos), 7- Love / Evol ov Evil, 8- The Razorblade Ritual-Kore, 9- The Rise of Hyperboream, 10- 2 B "Byond", 11- Neural inferno (Nihilist Disturbed Mix)

Recorded at SDR Studios 

Impure Domain is a band that always surprises the listener. This CD starts in a really electronic way with a lot of keyboards and distorted sounds, electronic vocals and melodies. The heavy guitars appear in the second track which is almost black metal but mixed with some extremely calm passage where the clean guitars does a lot of arpeggios and the distorted guitar plays only sustained chords and some notes. It is incredible the combination of ultrafast parts with keyboards passages and total experimentation that this band does in all the tracks. I think this CD is a progress when compared to the previous "Progression of Impurity" in sound and ideas, and also in the madness that each of the songs here deliver. Madness guaranteed.

Favorite tracks: "Trance Blood Chant", "The Perverse Charm..." and "The Rise of Hyperboream"

Contact: www.impuredomain.com

IMPURE DOMAIN - PROGRESSION OF IMPURITY (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Impure Domain

Tracks: 1- The Armageddon Scenario, 2-Ecstasy by Losing Race, 3- The Gathering of the Black Powers, 4- By Light Forgotten, 5- Dying Aptera Humana Gens, 6- Requiem larvae

This CD starts wonderfully with a devastating guitar riff followed by some bass phrases and then a combination of brutal as hell music and some keyboards and original elements. The music here has elements of death metal (in some of the vocals and guitar riffs), of black metal (also in the vocals and the fastest parts), of industrial music and many more styles, all perfectly combined in order to create Impure Domain´s chaotic music. This guys have a lot of variation in their songs blending many different riffs to create the song structures. My favourite parts are when they combine the heaviest riffs with the more melodic side like in "The Gathering of the Black Powers" adding a lot of atmosphere to the songs (a special note goes to the bass player who makes remarcable melodic lines in each of the songs). If you like originality and music with many changes and arrangements then you will like Impure Domain.

Favorite tracks: "The gathering...", "By Light Forgotten" and "The Armageddon Scenario"

Contact: www.impuredomain.com

INGERMANLAND - BEYOND EQUATOR (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Oddleif Stensland

Tracks: 1- Networked Vibrations, 2- Mindware lost, 3- The First Moment, 4- Delusion of Madness, 5- Sleeping With Worms, 6- At Dewy Prime

Cover Art by Oddleif Stensland

Recorded at RVPM Studios

Here we have this norwegian progressive metal band whose main goal is creating compositions with great instrumental quality and many arrangements that always surprise the listener with their melodies and multiple changes. And the musicians here (a trio plus one guest musician on keyboards) have amazing technical skills that are necessary for playing this compositions (check the odd timing that the drummer uses in some places). One thing that I found strange are that the vocals are completely different from the ones that can be heard in bands of the same style. This vocals are rawer and add heaviness to the songs...and that is one important point here....the songs are heavy and have a raw sound while having many rhythm changes and arrangements. It is like heavier progressive metal. A must for lovers of complex compositions and great musicianship.

Favorite tracks: "Mindware Lost", "The First Moment" and "Sleeping With Worms"

Contact: http://ingermanland.freeyellow.com

INNER EYE - FROM ETERNAL TO DESTINY (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Inner Eye

Tracks: 1- Deceived Memory, 2- Legitimate Blame, 3- Pack of lies, 4- Cultivated Ignorance

Cover Art by Inner Eye

I really love technical music, and here we have four musicians who know how to play their instruments in many difficult changes, breaks and stops, and odd tempo parts. The music here can be defined as thrash metal with eighties influences but also with some touches of bands like Death or Watchtower. The main thing here are the guitars that deliver riff after riff with complete precission, the bass that does a lot of arrangements and follows perfectly the drums in the odd tempo parts (which are extremely difficult to play. The singer gives a lot of the thrash metal spirit that is present on this recording. Each song here has a lot of arrangements and are really complex. There are many melodies here and guitar solos (check "Legitimate Blame" to feel the good taste of the guitarists. I hope this guys record new songs really soon because this CD left me asking for more.

Favorite tracks: The four on this CD

Contact: inner_eye@lycos.it

INTESTINAL DISGORGE - WHORE SPLATTERED WALLS (Lofty Storm Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Lofty Storm Records

Tracks: 1- |The Hooker Butcher, 2- No Use Crying Over Spilled Bitch, 3- Force Fed Diarrheal Slime, 4- Swamped in Liquefied Fecal Watter, 5- Bitch-ka-bob, 6- Bathing in Urine, 7- Dismemberment on the Bloated Body, 8- Sectioned With a Circular Saw, 9- From Stalking to killing, 10- Chewing on Coagulated Geriatric Feces, 11- Suffocated with a Used Adult Diaper, 12- Consuming Liquefied Insect-ridden Feces, 13- Methods of Disposing of Bodies, 14- Necrocoprophilia, 15- Rotting on your own excrement, 16- Masturbating on Overflowed Diarrheal Toilet Water, 17- Depraved Beyond all Comprehension, 18- Drenched in Gelatinous Sewage, 19- Intercourse With a Maggot Infested Emaciated Corpse, 20-Submerged in Festering Bodily Fluids, 21- Dining on Sludgeous Intestinal Contents, 22- Unheard Screams

Recorded at the Sewer Room

Intestinal Disgorge are sick as hell!! And they have reflected this sickness in their rotten music. This grind beasts have created here twenty two tracks of pure grind in its rawest and most distorted form. The tracks on this CD are super fast but with some slower parts (recalling old Autopsy records) with extremely guttural vocals (and some screaming...are those female screaming?). The guitars sound really distorted and fat and the bass is completely distorted too creating a wall of sound that Intestinal Disgorge uses effectively. Thios is what I call the sickest gore grind full of putrified song titles that fit perfectly the music of the band. Lovers of gore grind will love with no doubt this release from Intestinal Disgorge.

Favorite tracks: "Methods...", "Drenched..." and "Unheard Screams"

Contact: www.loftystorm.hpg.com.br

KAVIAR KAVALIER - STUDIO Y (Obscene Productions, 2002)

Produced By: Kaviar Kavalier

Tracks: 1- Die Moderne Gummiklinik, 2- Julia, 3- Juanita, 4- Riesengebirge, 5- Erzlahung Zu Gummispielen, 6- Schuska Naslapo, 7- Baby Sex Complex, 8- thcaN ahcsitaf aID, 9- Gummiklinik, 10- A Trip to Växjö, 11-Kaviar, 12- 11^th Street, 13- Exzess in San Salvador, 14- Galle Frau, 15-Viva

Cover Art by Chymus

Recorded at Gummistudio

This is what i call a weird band!!! The music of this duet (featuring Necrocock, ex Master´s Hammer, a classical Czech band) can not be described easily. They have many electronic elements and their music is full of keyboards and drum machines and at the same time they achieve heaviness through the use of this instruments and a distorted guitar (sort of a Rammstein but much more weird). The main thing here are the atmospheres that this two musicians create through their heavy use of keyboards and the experimentation that they do on all the tracks. There are some female vocals but they are used like another instrument and notm as the main vocal line. This guys are exploring new sounds and elements in the metal realm achieving strange results. Here we have also as bonus tracks the songs from the "Dreams of Kaviar" album. Weird stuff!!!

Favorite tracks: "Schuska Naslapo", "Julia" and "Baby Sex Complex"

Contact: www.obscene.cz

KURGAN´S BANE - THE FUTURE LIES BROKEN (Independent, 2000)

Produced By: Kurgan´s Bane and John Grant

Tracks: 1- Through the Camer, 2- Just Look at Me Now, 3- Warm Winter Nights, 4- Frankie Five Angels, 5- Headless Mice, 6- Feudal Tourniquet, 7- Nap in E Minor, 8- The Curtain and the Rose, 9- Bad Blood, 10- Regina

Cover Art by Luis Nasser

Recorded at Secret Sound 

Kurgan´s Bane is a band whose style can be defined as progressive metal. It is progressive because of the complex song structures, the many different moods, melodies and atmospheres and the multiple changes. It is metal because of the distorted guitars and the power that each track here has. Here we have members of great bands like Sonus Umbra and we have Pete Laramee, a great guitarist who delivers great riffs and makes tasty solos on the tracks. Each of the songs on this CD has a distinctive personality and many interesting arrangements. A special note must be done on Lisa Francis vocals that are really powerful and give a lot of beauty to the songs constructing melodic lines that fit the musiand at the same time play with different feelings. Lovers of progressive music, here you have Kurgan´s Bane !

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.kurgansbane.com

LAST RITES - PSYCHO KILLER (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Last Rites

Tracks: 1- Psycho Killer, 2- Chainsaw, 3- Skeleton, 4- Paradise Lost, 5- Poisonous

Recorded at Nadir Studios 

What we have here? This is pure thrash metal !!!! Here are the technical riffs that amde the style so big in the eighties, here we have the suffering vocals done by Dave (he uses two types of vocals, one is more classical thrash metal and the other one is closer to bands like Kreator or Carcass), here we have alos the excellent guitar solos (thumbs up for Jan!). The songs here have the coimplexity of the style and at the same time has this memorable choruses and parts that make you start singing the vocals along with the music. The drummer uses a lot of double bass and that adds a lot of extra heaviness to the five songs on this CD. One thing to remark is the good souns that this recording has adding a lot of modern sound to this guys music while helping each of the instruments to be listened clearly.

Favorite tracks: "Chainsaw", "Skeleton" and "Psycho Killer"

Contact: www.last-rites.net

LEFT HAND SOLUTION - LIGHT SHINES BLACK (Mass Produktion, 2001)

Produced By: Left Hand Solution

Tracks: 1- Light Shines Black, 2- Soiled Souls, 3- Missionary man, 4- Lucid Dream Desire, 5- The Crooked Smile, 6- Raven Wings, 7- Vision, 8- Persistence of Memory, 9- Heart Laid Bare, 10- Orient Nights, 11- A Road To Nowhere

Since listening to this album Left Hand Solution (this is their third album) has become one of my absolute favorite bands. For me this guys and girl shows us how to make incredibly good songs that sound powerful and at the same time have a lot of feeling in them. A big part of this is due to singer Mariana Holmberg who has a n extremely personal voice and he uses a lot of middle ranges (in some places she reminded me of ex Phantom Blue Gigi Hangach because of the tonality in which she sings and because of the power that she delivers). The guitar riffs are heavy and effective making a great combination with the non complex drumming that leaves a lot of space to the guitars and vocals to develope each of the songs. A must for any metal fan. Pure energy

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.cabal.se/massproduktion

LUDMILA - LUDMILA (Independent, 2000)

Produced By: Ludmila

Tracks: 1- Orma gravida, 2- Falena, 3- Iova, 4- Dochodjaga, 5- Nuda Quiete

Cover Art by Ludmila

Here we have this amazing project whose two members are Paola Bianchi (voices) and Luca Valisi (bass and drum machine). The main thing on this recording are the atmospheres that are created through the interesting sound that Luca extracts from his bass and from the angelical voices and harmonies that Paola delivers through the five tracks on this MCD. The drum machine gives a mechanical / industrial feeling to some of the tracks that contrasts a lot with the calid voice of the great Paola, this gives an interesting feeling of tension and release to each of the tracks here. There is some clean guitar in many parts of the songs, and this guitars play interesting arpeggios or open chords in order to add a darker feeling to the songs. This is really a project to don´t miss a step!!

Favorite tracks: The five

Contact: http://stage.vitaminic.it/ludmila2/

LUNAR REIGN - LUNAR REIGN (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Lunar Reign

Tracks: 1- Dark Horde, 2- Black Pullet, 3- Laws of Pluto, 4- Heart as Demon, 5- Solomons Key, 6- Ill Will of the Woods, 7- Shattering of the Crystal, 8- Dream of the Necromancer

Cover Art by Lunar Reign

Recorded by Elixium 

Lunar Reign´s music is extremely raw, bestial, yet climatic black metal. Why I am saying this? Because besides the faster and wilder parts that belong to the style, this recording has a lot of atmospheres created by the keyboards and synths that give a lot of dark feeling to each of the tracks. There are also some melodic guitar lines that also help to give this sort of desolation feeling to the tracks (check for example the guitar in "Laws of Pluto"). For lovers of bestial black metal here you have fast riffs with hyper speed drumming (I would like the band to mix a little bit louder the guitars and the drums, I think that can give more power to the songs and mix better with the keys). The vocals are screaming ones as they must be in black metal and there are also some chanting vocals, like in "Black Pullet" that give an eerie feeling to the songs.

Favorite tracks: "Dark Horde", Heart As Demon" and "Shattering of the Crystal"

Contact: http://lunarreign.demonichorde.com

MAPLE CROSS - PROMO 1/02 (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Mapple Cross

Tracks: 1- Invincibles, 2- Simply Simplicity, 3- Au Revoir

Cover Art by Mapple Cross

Recorded at Boogie Cellar 

This band is really amazing!! They are heavy as hell, but they have some rocking riffs. And also they have guitar melodies. And they have a combination of screaming vocals with extremely epic and powerful choruses (check the first track called "Invincibles"). There are extremely brutal parts but there are also melodies and arrangements through all the recording. But all the melodies here add power to the songs and don´t make them lighter (they are arrangements designed to hit the listener harder. The sound of this recording is extremely raw and I think that with a little more time in the studio this guys can make this better (or maybe they wanted this direct sound so the musci crushes you like a kick in your face). The three tracks on this Promo CD leaves you wanting more from this bestial band from Finland!!

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: maplecross@surfeu.fi

MARTYRUM - CONQUERING THE LAND OF SIN (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Martyrum

Tracks: 1- Conquering the Land of Sin, 2- Nordic Domain, 3- Creature of the Light, 4- Burning Blood, 5- Motorbreath

Cover Art by Martyrum

Pure brutal black metal is what we have here with some death metal sounds that give interesting contrasts to the music of this band. Here we have the ultrafast riffs with the tortured vocals that are essential to the blackness of Martyrum´s music. We have some melodies done with this riffs that make one note progressions. And we have here a killer drummer who is a double bass machine and that is fundamental to the essence of Martyrum´s music. All the recording is done at full speed, even the Metallica cover, the glorious "Motorbreath". The sound is good and the guitar sound more brutal with this production where they have been mixed loud enough as the drums to achieve the brutality that this release must have.

Favorite tracks: "Nordic Domain", "Creature of the Light" and "Burning Blood"

Contact: http://martyrum.cjb.net

MIKE ADCOCK & CLIVE BELL - SLEEP IT OFF (Emanem Disc, 2002)

Produced By: Martin Davidson

Tracks: 1- We Open Early, 2- Infanta, 3- Marooned in Red, 4- Near the Airport, 5- Real Lakes, 6- Shuffle and Deal, 7- Rural Roulette, 8- Sketches for a Frenzied Whirling, 9- Holy Appetite, 10- Azure for Beginners, 11- Lullaby for Young Owls, 12- No more Cancan

Cover Art by Mike Adcock

When I thought I have listened all, here come Adcock and Bell to prove me wrong. On this recording they show us extreme experimentation with sounds and phrases using instruments like piano, accordion, harmonica and also shakuhachi, khene, pi saw and other strange ones. Here we have the ultimate experimentation going from melodies to the most atmospheric passages where Bell plays the khenes with a softer touch. The use of multiple instrumentation add a lot of colours to the listener´s mind that is constantly defiedwith new phrases and sounds. The improvisations here are well constructed and they don´t seem chaotic at all as sometimes happens. Most of the tarcks have an eerie atmosphere that I think is due to the use of this winds instruments. For lovers of new sounds!

Favorite tracks: "Infanta", "Rural Roulette" and "Holy Appetite"

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

MOONLIGHT CORPORATION V 1.0 (Sector 19 Recs., 2002)

Compiled by Cynthia Paris at Sector 19

Tracks: 1- Delirium Tremens (Jailbird), 2- Militia Love (S.M.P.), 3- Dagon (Progeria), 4- Twilight World (Aiboforcen), 5- Name of God (Six Past Seven), 6- Tense and Taut (Mouth of Indifference), 7- Jesus Christ V 2.0 (Chaos Engine), 8- Mysterious (System 81), 9- Crucifixion (Arkam Asylum), 10 Human Fragments (Mnemonic), 11- AnimalFarm (Tin.RP), 12- Soul and Substance (Mind Flux Funeral), 13- She Said (St. John´s Eve), 14- Kein Traum (Monoid), 15- Dock to Dock 2001 (Autocad), 16- Fullbandwidth (Silencer), 17- Last Pray (Jailbird)

Mastering by Marisa Dery at The Tape Complex

Here we have this compilation that features sixteen bands from different sides of the electronic specter: from the industrial side represented by bands like Jailbird, to the almost dance in bands like Aïboforcen or Mnemonic or to the almost ambient machine sound of Progeria. Every band here features a lot of electronic sounds and passages and I think is great that we have such different personalities on one CD. There are results which I liked most like the ones of Jailbird, Aïboforcen or Arkam Asylum because they show a lot of the different moods that this bands can achieve while experimenting with their sound and they develop many good ideas on their tracks. This compilation is great for those who like electronic music or for the people who have not listened to it before and want to have a good idea of the different styles that they can find.

Favorite tracks: " Last Pray", "Twilight World" and "Crucifixion"

Contact: www.sector19.com

MORTE INTERNA - WORLDS TOO CAN BE TRANSPLANTED (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Morte Interna

Tracks: 1- Everything is Dead, 2- Survivor Heart, 3- To You My Deaf lover, 4- Worlds Too Can Be Transplanted, 5- The Stairs of The Fear, 6- On the last Hour, 7- A God Borned From a Poisonous Flower, 8- The Dance of the Devil´s Dolls

Cover Art by Morte Interna

This is really experimental!! We can define the music that Morte Interna does on this recording as metal because of the use of extremely distorted guitars (the guitar sound here is extremely raw, like he is using a distortion pedal with a full distorted amp). But the music here has a different feeling than all of the styles that you know. There are multiple rhythm changes and breaks that give a chaotic feeling to each of the songs here. There is the use of programmed drums that add an industrial feeling too and then there are the vocals which are sometimes deathly and sometimes screaming and sometimes distorted. There are guitar phrases that start fast and become faster, like scales or arpeggios and all of a sudden the song end (check "To You My Deaf Lover"). This is a CD that is not designed to be liked in the first listening, you have to listen to it carefully to understand completely what Morte Interna´s music is about. Really experimental.

Favorite tracks: "Survivor Heart", "On the Last Hour" and "The Stairs of the Fear"

Contact: corallorouge@libero.it

MORTE INTERNA - SIT UP ON THE BORDER (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Morte Interna

Tracks: 1- Borned to Be Damned, 2- The Strange Winged Creature, 3- Sit Up on the Border, 4- A Fire Candles Litting, 5- Draging Along My Life

Cover Art by Morte Interna

Here we have five more tracks from this extremely noisy and experimental band from Italy. The songs here are better developed and they have better drumming sound, plus the deathly/distorted vocals are better mixed and can be listened in all their magnitude. The guitar continues to be extremely distorted but this time can be more appreciated. The great thing about Morte Interna´s music is the many changes that are on each one of the songs. There are breaks, distorted solos, rhythm changes, keyboards parts (check the end of "The Strange Winged Creature"). This time there are also some clean guitar parts that are followed immediately by the distorted one (as in the track "Sit Up on the Border"). This is madness guaranteed and total brutal experimetnation.

Favorite tracks: "The Strange Winged..." and "A Fire Candles Litting"

Contact: corallorouge@libero.it

MOURNING BELOVETH - DUST (Sentinel Records, 2002)

Produced By: Mags

Tracks: 1- The Mountins are Mine, 2- In Mourning My Days, 3- Dust, 4- Autumnal Fires, 5- All Hope is Pleading, 6- It Almost Looked Human, 7- Sinistra, 8- Forever Lost Emeralds

Recorded at Academy Studios

We reviewed the original version of this release in the beginning of 2001. Now, Sentinel Records have rereleased this album and added some extra tracks that nmake this release even more interesting. Here we have the doom metal that have made Mourning Beloveth a respected band in the underground. Here we have the excellent production by Mack that extract all the sounds that the band does and puts them as the musicians have imagined to achieve the better possible result. Here we have the climatic parts with some Trouble influences and that seventies like guitar sound that is a trademark along the vocals of the Mourning Beloveth´s sound. One of the extra tracks here is taken from the band´s 1998 demo ("Forever Lost Emeralds") and the other one is from the band´s upcoming album ("It Almost..."). If you like music that shows feelings of depression and despair along with a lot of heaviness in the music then Mourning Beloveth is a good choice for you.

Favorite tracks: "The mountains are Mine", "Dust" and "Sinistra"

Contact: www.sentinel.com

MOZEK MOTORS - TWIN TOWER TORTURE SESSIONS (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Mozek Motors

Tracks: 1- Luzifers Elektrik, 2- Slaughterhouse Fuck, 3- Twin Tower Torture, 4- Rising Hell, 5- Dealing Pain

Cover Art by Mozek Motors

The first track here starts with silence and then an electronic drumbeat. Then, all of a sudden you get into "Slaughterhouse Fuck" which is a full speed grind track with extremely distorted bass and deathly vocals. The next track is even faster, with processed vocals in the background that are different from the ones in the previous track. One thing that is really particular here are the electronic drums doing blast beats and hyperfast rhythms: there are ultra fast double bass patterns and a lot of hihat smashing parts. The riffs are well constructed and my absolute ones favourites are the ones in "Rising Hell (kind of heavier and more rhythmic) and I think this is the way Mozek motors should go in the future. Grind freaks rejoice with Mozek Motors but be open minded because here you have other elements that are not common in the style.

Favorite tracks:

Contact: brookrec@gmx.de

MUCUPURULENT - SOULREAVER (Morbid Records , 2002)

Produced By: Mucupurulent

Tracks: 1- Again, 2- Pain Lasts Forever, 3- Spine of Madness, 4- Back to the Bones, 5- Unbreakable, 6- Soul Reaver, 7- Nightcrawler, 8- The Return of the Squad, 9- Vermin, 10- Like Gasolin, 11- Drive Me Dead

Mastered by Timo Reichert

Recorded at Grind Master Flash Studio

Having never heard anythin of this band before I though Mucupurulent was more of a grindcore band but here we have this band that plays death metal with guttural vocals and with interesting guitar riffs. And I think this is the essential feature of Mucupurulent´s music, their riffs while being ultra heavy and fast have a rhythmic quality on them that makes each of the tracks extremely rhythmic (close minded purists will sure don´t like this) and the band has some keyboard that plays chord progressions in the background giving a lot of originality to this recording. The vocals are extremely guttural but you can understand the lyrics (the mix of this album is really good, specially on the killer drumming and the guitars). If you thought death metal was becoming stagnant then you should check Mucupurulent.

Favorite tracks: "Pain Lasts Forever", "Again" and "Nightcrawler"

Contact: www.morbidrecords.de

MYRKSKOG - SUPERIOR MASSACRE (Candlelight Records, 2002)

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Domain of the Superior, 3- Detain the Skin, 4- Trapped in Torment, 5- Indisposable Deaths, 6- Over the Gore, 7- Blood Ejaculation, 8- Utter Human Murder, 9- Bleeding Wrists, 10- Outro

Here we have one of the most brutal releases of the year. This band features Destructor from Samoth´s band Zyklon and also drummer Secthdamon (Odin/Zyklon) who is extremely bestial on this recording playing rhythm after rhythm, blast after blast in a really brutal manner with an extremely good sound, adding a lot of the brutality that the band has. The guitar riffs here are extremely fast and have a huge sound that combined with the mentioned drums give the extreme heaviness tat this band has (I think this will be an album that a lot of death metal bands will take to the studio in order to have a similar sound when they record). Here we have eight brutal tracks that will not let a piece of your brain in its place. Thumbs Up for the killer sound that this recording has making each instrument shine and adding even more brutality if that is possible!!!!

Favorite tracks: "Domain of The Superior", "Trapped in Torment" and "Blood Ejaculation"

Contact: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

NEGLIGENT COLLATERAL COLLAPSE - R.S.D.E. (Obscene Productions, 2002)

Produced By: Robocop

Tracks: 1- Black Hole Monster in A Spin Releases Energy, 2- Billion Suns, 3- One Thing is Sure, 4- Buzz, 5- The Paul Dirac Medal..., 6- A Generalized Lie Derivative...., 7- KMM-Newton, 8- Electric Dynamo Effect, 9- Literate Phycisist Gets taste For Fiction, 10- Abalysis of Iron line, 11- The Hunt, 12- Payload Specialists, 13- Not Out, 14- MCG-6-30-15, 15- New Generation of Neutrinos..., 16- Something is Collapsed on my analbase, 17- Focused, 18- ON the Return Trip Home, 19- The Brain is Classical, 20- Two Dimensional Penrose..., 21- Quantum Modelling of the Mind, 22- Spacetimes Admitting Isolated Horizons, 23- Chain Reaction´s Domino Aka Termic Firer

Cover Art by Negligent Collateral Collapse

Recorded at Professional Sound Studio

The Czech underground scene must be really big because day after day there are extreme bands coming from that country. Here we have twenty three short compositions of this extreme grind death band. There are songs that are more grindcore than others but each of them is extremely brutal and each of them is played at full speed throwing here and there some rhythmic riff that adds more heaviness to the tracks. The songs are like a sudden burst of deathly energy: they are powerful, extreme and short leaving wanting more. The vocals are extremely guttural, in the grindcore fashion. Also, here there is some programming that gives an industrial feeling to the music that fits perfectly the music, specially when combined with one of the most processed vocals. If you like extremely brutal music with some twists then check this one.

Favorite tracks: Tracks 3, 7, 16

Contact: www.obscene.cz

NO FLESH SPARED - STORMS (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: No Flesh Spared

Tracks: 1- Storms, 2- The Ennead, 3- Trapped, 4- Dread, 5- Awake, 6- No Flesh Spared, 7- Gilles de Laval de Rais, 8- The Emperor, 9- Burial

Cover Art by Axeman Productions

Recorded at Wave Work Studios 

This CD opens up in a very climatic way with rain sound, clean guitars and a spoken voice speaking about the storms. Then it gets into a heavier part with some complex riffs and drums patterns. The tracks here are really heavy and at the same time technical (this guys have complete control of their instruments and they play riffs and melodies that are sometimes really complicated). But above everything is the heaviness of the tracks, each of them played with heavier than hell riffs (supported in a great way by the bass players). The vocals are guttural and fit perfectly the heaviness of the music, and in many places they change into a cleaner voice that along with the guitar melodies add a more atmospheric aspect to No Flesh Spared´s music. I think that people who enjoy listening heavy things with originality and good technical skills will surely like this album.

Favorite tracks: "The Ennead", "Awake" and "The Emperor"

Contact: www.nofleshspared.com

NOVEMBER´S DOOM - TO WELCOME THE FADE (Dark Symphonies, 2002)

Produced By: Neil Kernon

Tracks: 1- Not the Strong, 2- Broken, 3- Lost in a Day, 4- Within My Flesh, 5- If Forever, 6- The Spirit Seed, 7- Torn, 8- the Lifeless Silhouette, 9- Dreams To Follow, 10- Dark Fields for Brilliance

Cover Art by Travis Smith

Mastered at Ocean View

It is amazing how each time that November´s Doom makes a new album they achieve great results....their previous "The Knowing" was really brilliant, and this one is even better. Here we have ten tracks of pure November´s Doom style metal with all what that means: Good riffs, excellent melodies, strong vocals and a great klnowledge of song structure. Plus this time we have Neil Kernon producing this album and adding some great mixing. Each of the songs here has that depressive quality that November´s Doom´s music has and that have made them an unique band. And that is due to the combination of one heavy guitar with some melodies and because of the use of some keyboards and some clean guitars. Plus, to add to the anguished and dark feeling of the recording we have the female ethereal vocals by Nora O´Conner in some palces adding a lot of beauty and darkness with her voice. A must

Favorite tracks: "Not the Strong", "Within My Flesh" and "Torn"

Contact: www.darksymphonies.com

O.D.O. - BLINDED BY HATE (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: O.D.O.

Tracks: 1- Fusion man Weapon, 2- Blinded by Hate, 3- New Torment for Mankind, 4- Dominator

Recorded at Vision Studio

This release is pure thrash metal in its purest form. Here we have those thrash riffs that made the style famous played with a much more modern sound and with vocals that sometimes remind those of Kreator and sometimes those of bands like Sodom or Destruction. There azre multiple riffs here as the most complex thrash metal have, with many melodies and rhythm changes. There are breaks and good arrangements along with a corrosive voice that adds a lot of the thrash feeling to O.D.O.´s music. It is good to listen to bands like this one because they have taken the best of the eighties bands and added a more modern sound creating what I would call a New Wave of Thrash Metal. The sound of the recording is good and at the same time raw giving the band the clarity that they deserve. Thrash is back!!

Favorite tracks: The four

Contact: www.odiodistruzioneorrore.it

ONWARD - REAWAKEN (Century Media, 2002)

Produced By: Toby Knapp and Brett Hansen

Tracks: 1- Reawaken, 2- Night, 3- The Seven Tides of Labyrinthine, 4- Where Evil Follows, 5- Eye of the Nightmare, 6- My Darkest Room, 7- In Due Time, 8- Clockwork Toys, 9- Who Saw the Last Star Fall, 10- The Next Triumph: I) Rememberance, II) Reawakening

Cover Art by Ioannis

Recorded at Audio Art Studios, Las Vegas

Here we have the second album of this band that features in its lineup the guitar virtuoso Toby Knapp. The band plays an elaborated power speed metal with elements of bands like Apocrypha (the ex singer of the band , Steve Plocica, sings here), some Cacophony, Vicious Rumours and bands of the style. Here we have ten really good compositions with heavy guitars and incredible solos and heavy as hell atmospheres. All the tracks have good melodies and they feature an excellent band where the singer Michael Grant shines with his powerful voice. But the main thing here is the combination of good compositions with the extremely virtuoso guitasr work of Knapp. I think that many power metal bands that steal from other bands should check Onward to see how the style can be done with a lot of originality.

Favorite tracks: "Reawaken", "Where Evil Follows" and "Clockwork Toys"

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

OSCULUM OBSCENUM - BODY HURTING ART (Lofty Storm Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Lofty Storm Recs.

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Prince Albert, 3- Enraptured by War, 4- Jesus Gay, 5- Hail the Lesbians, 6- Szandor (into my heart and my vein), 7- Caligula, 8- Bleeding like Abel, 9- Orgasmaniac, 10- U.N.G.O.D., 11- Oh Satanas, 12- Shibary

Release Date: December 2002

This is a release that is different from the grind death that Lofty Storm Records usually release. In fact this band is pure hateful black metal in its purest form, with some touches of death metal. The music here is extremely raw and fast with hyper fast guitars that play black metl riff after riff and ultra fast drumbeats (a lot of blast beats here). The production of this recording is extremely raw making the band sound even more wild with a lot of distortion in the guitars and bass (this sound remembered me of old Immortal albums). I would have mixed a little bit different the drums cymblas because they tend to cover some of the guitar arrangements but this raw sound is what this kind of black metal needs to be even more extreme. Lovers of old black emtal will surely love this one.

Favorite tracks: "Enraptured by War", "Caligula" and "Bleeding Like Abel"

Contact: www.loftystorm.hpg.com.br

PANZER - THE STRONGEST (Spiral Noise Recs., 2001)

Produced By: Mauro and Panzer

Tracks: 1- Fake Games of Heroes, 2- Red Days, 3- Affliction, 4- Show Me!, 5- Box, 6- Speedy, 7- My Night, 8- Your Blood, 9- The Strongest, 10- Fear of God, 11- House of Decadence, 12- The Strongest (reprise)

Recorded at Alchimia Studio 

Here we have a Brazilian thrash metal who has a really modern sound in the guitars and the drums making them sound powerful. The first thing that got my attention is the singer: he sounds sometimes like Slayer´s Tom Araya, but in many places he is more guttural and in other he makes interesting melodies (fitting perfectly the music, such as a heavier John Bush). Here we have a band with an excellent sound (plus excellent mix of the album) who has composed twelve powerful tracks with technical parts and interesting arrangements. One thing that I liked a lot is the killer drumming with a lot of double bass arrangements that are really well combined with the guitar work (I liked a lot the joke in "Red Days" with the riff of Black Sabbath´s "Heaven and Hell" in the middle). This is a band that can be on top of the thrash metal scene and they have a really modern sound (this is another proof that thrash metal is making a comeback) !!

Favorite tracks: The whole CD

Contact: www.panzerthrashers.com.br

PAUL LOVENS/ PAUL HUBWEBER/ JOHN EDWARDS - PAPAJO (Emanem Disc, 2002)

Mastering By: Martin Davidson

Tracks: 1- Spout-Hole Blues, 2- Philantropical Dance, 3- Primitivo Di Mantre, 4- Refrangible, 5- No Reason to Play the Blues

Recorded at Bremen by Paul Hubweber

Here we have trio improvisations and experimentation. On this recording we have Paul lovens on percussion, Paul Hubweber on trombone and John Edwards on double bass. The experimentation here is for moments really quiet and it takes some time for the musicians to develope the ideas which have a lot of variations. An example of this constant changes and quantity of ideas is the track "Primitivo Di Mantre" that is almost half an hour long (three of the tracks here are long improvisations and two are shorter) where Lovens, Hubweber and Edwards show their musicianship and their big imagination to construct new sounds. Lovens also uses a saw to create some percussive sounds in some of the tracks. This musicians also play a lot with silences making stops and rests in the improvisation (knowing that silence is a great way of expression in music).

Favorite tracks: "Primitivo Di Mantre", "Refrangible" and "Philantropical Dance"

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

PAUL ROGERS - LISTEN (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Martin Davidson

Tracks: 1- Listen 99, 2- Listen 99 Bis, 3- Listen 99 Ter, 4- Listen 89

Cover Art by Debra Franses-Bean

Recorded at Theatre P Scarron (1999, May 1) and Sir Walter Scott (1989, October 8)

I really liked this recording a lot. I love the way the doube bass sounds while playing solos. And here Paul Rogers gives us fiour lessons on how to improvise and solo with this instrument. By doing a lot of arpeggios, phrases and constant rhythm changes, Rogers opens his mind to let the ideas flow to the listener´s ears. Each of this solo pieces is a catalog of new sounds and atmospheres that can be created with the double bass. In a way, Rogers is a researcher that is trying always to find something new on his instrument and so he goes from the softest of the melodic parts to the wildest bass solo within the same track. A must for improvisers of any instrument.

Favorite tracks: The four

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

PETE LARAMEE - ALONE BUT NOT LONELY (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Pete Laramee and John Grant

Tracks: 1- Call the Feds, 2- The Rope Swing, 3- Adena Watson, 4- Charlie Brown Wins the Lottery, 5- La Media Gringa, 6- Too Much Eggnog, 7- Split Personality, 8- Walking the Walk, 9- Survivor

Recorded at Cyberella Studios 

Pete Laramee is a guitar virtuoso who also plays in the great progressive metal band Kurgan´s Bane. Here he shows a different side of his musical personality, an instrumental side full of great melodies and virtuosism. On this CD Pete is joined by Sonus Umbra´s rhythm section (Jeff Laramee on drums and Luis Nasser on bass) on most of the tracks to develope nine tracks of great compositional and guitar work. In some parts Pete´s guitar is crying and in others he is expressing a lot of different moods with his instrument. There are beautiful acoustic moments like the ones in "Adena Watson" where there is an appearence of Kurgan´s Bane´s vocalist Lisa Francis doing some background chants. The main thing here is the good taste that Pete has for soloing and for composing beautiful melodies through all the tracks. Really inspirational for guitar players and lovers of instrumental music.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.kurgansbane.com

PREVAIL - RANDOM KILLERS (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Prevail

Tracks: 1- Murderer Song, 2- The Son of Man, 3- The New Messiah, 4- Human Virus, 5- Prey Song, 6- Random Killers

Cover Art by Simone Pittaluga

Recorded at Nadir Studios 

Prevail is a brutal band with many rhythm changes on its music and utter heaviness in their riffs and drumming. One thing that got my attention while listening the first seconds of this CD was the really good sound that this recording has, specially on the drums that sound like bands of the style of Fear Factory or even Pantera (that have more money for production). Then comes the composition. This guys have here six brutal yet technical compositions with influences ranging from thrash metal to modern metal (in the sound, I liked a lot the clean bass sound doinfg slapping and popping in tracks like "Random Killers"). The riffs are twisted and are well developed merging one with the other like a natural progression. The singer is really versatile like a much more brutal Burton C. Bell but with a thrasher side. If you like brutality with quality, check Prevail.

Favorite tracks: "Murderer Song", "Random Killers" and "Human Virus"

Contact: www.prevail.3000.it

PSYCHOTROPIC TRANSCENDENTAL - AX LIBERELD... (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Psychotropic Transcendental and Kuba

Tracks: 1- Ax Libereld, 2- Dirigah nax Ma-zarthilag, 3-Raxus Mahad Kirdail, 4- Sabagih Har Sabagihed, 5- Hava kirr Nax Lanamar, 6- Garmed Il-namars, 7- Or navorunas

Cover Art by Psychotropic Transcendental

Recorded at Cyberstudio

The guys at Psychotropic Transcendental are absolutely crazy! And they reflect this madness in their music. Their music is heavy and at the same times has many different changes and mood (as you can listen in "Dirigah Nax..." where they go from heavy metal to some noise parts in the middle). The band has a really versatile singer who can play from the more melodic lines to the dirtiest and noisiest ones. The guitars play similar phrases within each song giving a strange feeling to the listener and making the melodies enter into his brain. There are a lot of climatic parts that are really calm like the one in the begining of "Raxus Mahad..." with eerie guitar melody and some harmonic while the vocals do some melody that add a lot to the ethereal quality of the music. A must for people that want something new.

Favorite tracks: All the ones in this CD

Contact: www.psychotropic.pl

REQUIEM - THE ARRIVAL (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Arto Räisälä and Teemu Hänninen

Tracks: 1- Arrival, 2- Revival, 3- Broken Alliance, 4- Whispers, 5- The Invisible Touch, 6- Forgotten path, 7- Halls of Eternity, 8- Liquid Hours, 9- Masquerade

Cover Art by Jason Juta

Recorded at Watercastle Studios

This is a pure heavy metal band with an epic feeling on each of the songs. The sound of the band reminds me of the band Stratovarius and some Helloween or Yngwie Malmsteen influences. The riffs are typical of the style and there are many interesting keyboards passages that give a different harmony to each of the tracks. The guitar solos are musical pieces within the compositions and add interesting moments to the tracks. Plu I have to remark the good arrangements that the keyboards do with chord progressions or with solos and melodies. The singer Jouni Nikula is really good at reaching the pitch that is needed for each of the song and he also has harmonized his voice here. The mix is really good and the CD has been mastered at Finnvox Studios achieving a great sound.

Favorite tracks: "Broken Alliance", "Forgotten path" and "Liquid Hours"

Contact: www.requiem.kpnet.com

ROB ZOMBIE - THE SINISTER URGE (Universal, 2001)

Produced By: Scott Humphrey and Rob Zombie

Tracks: 1- Sinners Inc., 2- Demon Speeding, 3- Dead Girl Superstar, 4- Never Gonna Stop, 5- Iron Head, 6- (Go To) California), 7- Feel So Numb, 8- Trnasylvanian Transmissions Pt. 1, 9- Bring Her Down, 10- Scum of the Earth, 11- House of 1000 Corpses

Cover Art by Rob Zombie

Recorded at the Chop Shop 

Here we have Rob Zombie´s latest adventure. This time we have the extra attraction of having many guests on this album. Here is Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Lee and Kerry King helping Rob in some of the tracks. The album shows us Rob Zombie doing the same thing that he is doing since White Zombie´s "La Sexorcisto...", that is rhythmic tracks with heavy tracks and his voice over them. The sound is better than in previous albums, specaially on guitars. For fans of Rob Zombie and White Zombie.

Favorite tracks: "Demon Speeding", "Iron Head" and "Feel So Numb"

Contact: www.robzombie.com

SEAR BLISS - FORSAKEN SYMPHONY (Red Stream Records, 200)

Produced By: Sear Bliss

Tracks: 1- Last Stand, 2- My Journey To the Stars, 3- She Will Return, 4- the Vanishing, 5- The Forsaken, 6- When Death Comes, 7- Eternal Battlefields, 8- Enthralling Mystery, 9-The Hour of Burning

Cover Art by Kris Verwimp

Here we have a great combination of raw and unpolished aggressive black metal with excellent melodies and orchestration. This two different styles contrast a lot on this recording because Sear Bliss has no desire to mix them in any other way. This is like a game of collission between styles that make this hungarian band unique. Here we have the raw sound of the guitars play the fastest parts along with the bestial drumming and then on the slower parts the guitar start doing more melodic riffs and the keyboards orchestration enters adding a darker side to Sear Bliss music. Plus here the band uses a brass section and tuba in order to achieve even darker passages than before and they have succeeded with that. Sear Bliss is a band that has all the elements of black metal and have retained the spirit of this kind of music while searching for something new.

Favorite tracks: "The Forsaken", "She Will Return" and "Enthralling Mystery"

Contact: www.redstream.org

SERIAL BUTCHER - SERIAL BUTCHER (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Serial Butcher

Tracks: 1- A First Grade Teacher´s Pulpification, 2- Hospital Hecatomb, 3- Cum/Gut Expulsion, 4- Where is the rest of Me?, 5- Mangled in the Mortuary, 6- Brutally bashed Baby Boom

Cover Art by Serial Butcher

Brutal as fuck band coming directly from Belgium!! This guys have designed this six compositions in order to make your brain blow into pieces. Each of the tracks here is a showcase of pure brutality in its heaviest form. Here we have blast beats, hyper fast riffs and rhythms, crushing guitar sound with a lot of bottom end (the bass is crushing too), extremely guttural vocals. And the six tracks are bestial ! One thing that got my attention is that in many parts the guitars play slower riffs letting the vocals and the drums breath a lot or they sustain some chord while the other guitar works a lot with other riff or witha solo like on the devastating "Cum/Gut Expulsion". This is brutality in its purest forms but done with many elements that will surely get your attention.

Favorite tracks: "Cum/Gut Expulsion", "Mangled in the Mortuary" and "Hospital hecatomb"

Contact: www.serialbutcher.com

SFQ - THIRTEEN RECTANGLES (Bruce´s Fingers Recs., 2002 )

Produced By: Simon H. Fell

Tracks: 1- Start Frame + soft hard (interpolation 1), 2- Rectangle 1, 3- Rectangle 2, 4- Rectangle 3, 5- Rectangle 4 & 5, 6- Rectangle 6, 7- Rectangle 7, 8- Soft Hard (interpolation 2), 9- Rectangle 8, 10- Rectangle 9, 11- Rectangle 10, 12- Rectangle 11 & 12, 13- Rectangle 13, 14- Soft Hard (interpolation 3)+ end frame

Cover Art by Simon H. Fell

Recorded at Gateway Studio 

Here we have new experimentation from Simon H. Fell and friends. This time the context is closer to standard jazz and makes the experimentation and improvisation a little bit more accesible to ears that are not accustomed to them. Here the piano played by Alex Maguire is playing improvised lines and melodies while the winds section is doing the most extreme sounds. Simon Fell´s double bass pays from walking bass lines to improvised phrases interacting really well with drummer Steve Noble (who is the one that changes rhythms really often here taking the band to new rhythmic lands). It is incredible how this musicians can experiment freely and at the same time don´t loose control of what they are playing, being really coherent and full of virtuosism.

Favorite tracks: "Rectangle 2", "Soft Hard (interpolation 2)" and "Rectangle 6"

Contact: www.brucesfingers.com

SHIP OF FOOLS - LET´S GET THIS MOTHER OUTTA HERE (Peaceville Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Peaceville Recs.

Tracks: 1- Diesel Spaceship, 2- L=SD² , 3- Where is Here, 4- First Light, 5- In the Wake Of, 6- From Time, 7- Passsage by Night, 8- Western Lands, 9- Guidance is Internal, 10- Video CDRom track: L=SD²

Here we have tracks coming from the two albums that this really interesting band released for Peaceville´s sister label Dreamtime Recs in the early nineties. For those who doesn´t know the band it features Les Smith on keyboards who is now playing on Anathema and used to play in Cradle of Filth. The music here is instrumental an full of interesting arrangements, most of them done by the keyboards. Here you can appreciate how this guys were exploring sonic boundaries while developing each of their compositions. This can be trully heard on this CD that feature amazing moemnts from this glorious band. The songs have been mixed by Les Smith to give a more perfect sound and show the world Ship of Fools music in all its magnitude and with better sound. A must

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.peaceville.com

SIKFUK- GORE DELICIOUS (United Guttural Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Sikfuk

Tracks: 1- Semen Dripping Wounds, 2- Orgasm Through Virgin Dissection, 3-Fresh Christian Cunt/Eat that Shit, 4- Still Born Feast / Festering Maggots, 5- Graveyard Pimp / Prostituting the Dead, 6- Maggots Gorelore, 7- Gore Battered and Deep Fried, 8- Anally Aborted, 9- Sloppy Eye Socket Seconds

Mixed by Bob Moore

Recorded at Soundlab recording

Here we have a pure gore grind band from the style that rips tyour barina appart. But despite having many fast moments the main grind feature here are the completely guttural and distorted vocals. Why I am saying this? Because this guys have longer songs, with more changes in the rhythms and they use slower riffs and a bigger sound than most of grind bands do. This can be described as technical grind because this guys have more technical skills than most opf the grind gore bands out there (incredible breaks with bass phrases). Plus they have an amazing bass player who plays the bass with some slapping and popping and always with a clean sound that contrasts with the one done by the guitars adding new feelings to each track and he has good bass technique. If you like new ideas and have anb open mind for grindcore then you should check Sikfuk´s music.

Favorite tracks: "Orgasm...", "Still Born..." and "Graveyard Pimp"

Contact: www.unitedguttural.com

SIMON H. FELL - COMPOSITION No. 30 (Bruce´s Fingers Recs., 2002 )

Produced By: Simon H. Fell

CD 2: 1- Part 5: Guitar, 2- Construct 4, 3- Construct 5, 4- Construct 6, 5- Trio, 6- Part 6: Chord Progression

Cover Art by Simon H. Fell

Here we have this strange and amazing composition done by Simon H. Fell. This a 2 CD set that is divided in many parts. And on each of this parts we have different musicians ensembles playing Fell´s compositions while at the same time imptrovising. Here we have musicians whose work we have reviewed before like John Butcher or Rhodri Davies and whose musicianship is really well known. Here Fell has composed each part for a specific musician and we have here these musicians playing solo parts, duets, trios, quartets and even octets (really difficult harmonies in pieces like "Construct 1"). The music has some swinging qualities but the main thing here is the experimentation in this context searching always for new sounds and new atmospheres, expanding the limits of music.

Favorite tracks: The 2 CD set.

Contact: www.brucesfingers.com

SIMON H. FELL - KALEIDOZYKLEN (Bruce´s Fingers Recs., 2002 )

Produced By: Simon H. Fell

Tracks: 1- Duration, 2- Timbre, 3- Frequency, 4- (In)articulation, 5- Intensity

Cover Art by Simon H. Fell

Recorded at The Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall 

On this recording Simon H. Fell has put into one CD an interesting composition for improvised double bass, clarinet, piano and orchestra. So, here we Fell colaborating with Rachel Cocks on clarinet, Paul Kosciecha on piano and the LSTWO Ensemble conducted by Simon Baines. This compositions show us a different side of Simon Fell´s musical personality, this is a more introspective release with more relaxed improvisation and parts where the combination of ensemble and other instruments gives the listener a sensation of peace while the musicians are still experimenting. The five parts on this CD are really complex and have many different moods on each of them (the first one is more than 26 minutes long and makes all the musicians shine). A must for improvisers.

Favorite tracks: "Duration" and "Frequency"

Contact: www.brucesfingers.com

SONIC YOUTH - MURRAY STREET (Universal, 2002)

Produced By: Sonic Youth

Tracks: 1- The Empty Page, 2- Disconnection Notice, 3- Rain on Tin, 4- Karen Revisited, 5- Radical Adults Lick Godhead Style, 6- Plasti Sun, 7- Sympathy for the Strawberry

Cover Art by Monique Voorhout

Recorded at Echo Canyon 

This CD shows us a relaxed side of Sonic Youth´s music. Here you will not find the sonic experimentation that the band used to do in the late eighties. This is what I could call an "easy listening version of Sonic Youth". Most of the time you will find clean guitars and some dirty ones (not too much) doing melodies in the background. The songs here have a lot of hooks but this is not exactly what I expected from this band (in fact, having seen them live and later seeing Lee Ranaldo solo live too and having listened their previous work I am somewhat disspointed). Don´t get me wrong, the CD is not bad but I expected a different thing (like what surfaces here in tracks like "Plasti Sun").

Favorite tracks: "Plasti Sun", "Karen Revisited"

Contact: www.sonicyouth.com

SOTHIS - INSTINCT (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Sothis

Tracks: 1- Requiescat In Pacem, 2- Psychonoise, 3- Turn off the Light, 4- To The Philosopher

Cover Art by Sothis

Recorded at Temple of Noise Studio 

Thsi band is devastating!! From the beginning they start with their black/death metal full of arrangements and different parts smashing the listener´s brain (plus there are some killer melodies that really give a lot of originality to the band). One of the things that got my attention soon is how well rehearsed thius guys are, they play many different changes and parts without missing a beat and sounding really compact and tight. The vocals are closer to the ones we know in black metal bands but sometimes there are also more guttural ones. Thumbs up for the killer guitarist whose arrangements and solos are essential to the Sothis sound. One thing to remark here is the excellent sound that this recording has, specially on guitars and drums (this drummer is killer with a lot of incredible double bass work). Here we have four brutal and technical tracks for mankind !!!

Favorite tracks: The Four

Contact: megadave78@yahoo.it

STARFLYER 59 - CAN´T STOP EATING EP (Tooth and Nail Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Andy Prickett

Tracks: 1- Compeating, 2- West Coast Friendship, 3- Happy Birthday John, 4- Give Up the War (Stereo mix), 5- Theme From Dromedary

Cover Art by Asterik Studio

I had an odd feeling while listening to this band. On the first track they sounded like a sixties or early seventies band but with a modern sound and that really surprised me. The music of Starflyer 59´s music is simple and at the same time climatic and full of melodies (even the cover they have chosen, "Happy Birthday John" is really melodic). The singer is all the time whispering the vocals with his particular voice, adding a deppressive side to the music of the band ( many different feelings crossed my mind while listening this songs). The guitars play always with a clean sound (sometimes they use some acoustic guitar) doing arpegios and chords that are an essential part of the music on this recording. A realoly melodic release with many dark feelings.

Favorite tracks: "Compeating" and "Give Up the War..."

Contact: www.toothandnail.com

SUHRIM - UNIDENTIFIED FLYING BODY PARTS (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Suhrim

Tracks: 1- Mutilated Corpse, 2- UFB, 3- Old Bomb Fucked Bitch, 4- As You Bleed, 5- House of Gore, 6- Headdrilling - the Odesy, 7- Joyride, 8- 666, 9-Hymn of the Underdog, 10- Shitlover, 11- Shathulud, 12-Headdrilling - the Sequel

Cover Art by Bruno Kan

Recorded at The Cavern Studios

Suhrim has been doing really good in the underground lately spreading their extreme brutality through all the extreme scene.A nd here we have their album full of the heaviest of death metal riffs, the most bestial drumming that a band can have and the growling vocals needed to reach the band´s main goal: transmit extreme brutality through their music. And they have achieved this goal on this album with their mid paced riffs combined with double bass drumming and with the fastest riffs where the vocals growl over and over till the listener´s brain is melted. Each of the tracks here have many parts and riffs and each of them is done to add brutality while giving new dimensions to each composition. I have to remark that this album has an incredibly good sound that enhances even more the bestiality of this guys. Here you have twelve tracks of pure brutality with good musicianship.

Favorite tracks: "UFB", "AS You Bleed" and "Shathulud"

Contact: www.dma.be/lugburz/suhrim

SYSTEM 81 - INVASION (Sector 19 Recs., 2002)

Produced By: System 81

Tracks: 1- Right Here..., 2- One More Ticket, 3- Communicate, 4- Mysterious, 5- This Way, 6- Transmission, 7- Triformis, 8- Wonderland, 9- Aluminum Dreams

This is pure electronic music!! It´s been a long time since I received a band of this charachteristics for reviewing. This band uses all the elements that they can in order to create some electronic atmospheres (that are appropritate for dancing because of the bass drumbeat that is on most of the songs). Here we have many elements that are extremely climatic (this guys use many different sounds in order to achieve the results that they want) while retaining the dancing atmosphere. One thing that amazed me were the vocals that are whispering the lyrics behind the other sounds adding an eerie quality to each of the compositions. A great thing about electronic bands like this one is that they mix really well their recording making the final result brighter than it would be without the great sound. I hope to receive more bands like this one in order to spice up a little bit more the musical tastes of the extreme scene.

Favorite tracks: "One More Ticket", "Mysterious" and "Triformis"

Contact: www.sector19.com

TAD MOROSE - MATTERS OF THE DARK (Century Media, 2002)

Produced By: Tad Morose

Tracks: 1- Sword of Retribution, 2- Matters of the Dark, 3- Ethereal Soul, 4- I Know Your Name, 5- In the Shadows, 6- Another Way, 7- New Clear Skies, 8- Riding the Beast, 9- Reason of the Ghost, 10- The Devil´s Finger, 11- Don´t Pray For Me

Cover Art by Jan Meininghaus

This power metal the way that it must be done: with powerful riffs, interesting solos, heavier than hell sound, twisted melodies and a singer that adds a lot of power besides doing melodies. That is the way bands like Jag Panzer, Vicious Rumours or Jag Panzer have chosen to do their compositions contrasting clearly with softer bands (most of them Helloween clones). This band main goal is to create powerful compositions with heavy feelings and not merely putting together a couple of melodies. Here we have Tad Morose´s heavy sound with amazing vocals and powerful epic choruses that are essential for this band´s music. There are energetic guitars riffs and interesting guitar solos through all this recording and the sound is making the band sound even more powerfully. A must for power metal lovers.

Favorite tracks: "In the Shadows", "Matters of the Dark" and "Riding the Beast"

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

TERMINAL DESCENT - OF DARKEST LIGHT (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Terminal Descent

Tracks: 1- Satanic Mitigation, 2- Maelstrom of Inner Conflict, 3- Atom and Eve (of Science Vs. Religion), 4- Of Darkest Light, 5-Fatality through Futility, 6- Pandemic Somnambulant transition, 7- Let Sleeping Gods Die, 8- Acorn of Deviltry, 9- Acquisition of prescience, 10- Quantum Volition, 11- Rhetorical Quest Ion, 12- Master of My Own Domain, 13- Bound to the Boundless

Cover Art by Tom Hammer

This band is extremely brutal but at the same time has many climatic elements. Yes, the guitars construct incredibly fast riffs in many tracks (with an extremely raw and primitive sound that contrasts with some of the arrangements) but in many places they play melodies and interesting guitar solos that show another dimension of Terminal Descent´s music. There are many changes on each of the songs of this album and the drumming is bestial (I would mix the bass drums louder because there are interesting passages with double bass). The combination of brutality (specially on the vocals) and melodies is an essential feature of this band´s music and I think this guys should use even more melodies over crushing guitars and fast drumming as in "Atom and Eve" that is what gives them a lot of identity.

Favorite tracks: "Of Darkest Light", "Acorn of Deviltry" and "Quantum Volition"

Contact: http://members.tripod.com/terminaldescent

TERMINAL DESCENT - MANIFESTING THE PRESENT (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Terminal Descent

Tracks: 1- I am that I am, 2- The Illusion Barrier, 3- Cultivating the Demon meme, 4- The Doctrine, 5- Taming of Beasts, 6- Hostage To the Devil, 7- Manifest The Present, 8- The Prophets Profit, 9- Subtle Misanthropy, 10- Cryptic Demise

Cover Art by Terminal Descent

This is another offering from this band that has an eerie sound (really raw sounding guitars) with brutal elements like the vocals and melodies and interesting arrangements. It is weird to listen to this band music because of the strange sound that the guitars have, specially when combined with slow drumming that gives a feeling of primitive doom that one is not expecting in the fastest parts that are closer to death metal. The sound of the recording is extremely raw and primitive and gives us the sensation of being listening to a live recording (specially because there are not overdubs and there is only one guitar doing all the arrengements all the time). One fundamental element here are the climatic parts like the beginning of "The Prophets Profit" which I think the band should use even more

Favorite tracks: "The Illusion Barrier", "Taming of Beasts" and "The prophets Profit"

Contact: http://members.tripod.com/terminaldescent

THALARION - TIMES OF DESPONDENCY (Mighty Music, 2002)

Produced By: Roman Slavik and Thalarion

Tracks: 1- 911...As the War Raged, 2- My Bitter Overstrain, 3- Tunes of Despondency, 4- A Tatrastream Romance, 5- Tatyana, 6- My Weakness, 7- Confined, 8- The Endless Cacophony, 9- Fly Away

Cover Art by Jacek Wisniewski

Recorded at Exponent Studio

This wonderful band comes directly from Slovakia and they have composed nine tracks of incredible beauty while at the same time they deliver savage riffs and black metal vocals. One of the main elements here are the keyboards that create the artmospheres that are essential to Thalarion´s music and orchestrates each of the compositions while contrasting with the fast guitars and the heavy drumming. It is really interesting the contrast between the melodies and the devastating guitars, between Juraj brutal vocals and Nela´s clean female vocals (she is great through all the recording). There are many changes on the songs and the band uses a lot of clean guitars combined with keyboards to deliver new atmospheres. One thing to remark is the excellent sopund that this release has, really making all the music shine with its perfection. A must

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.mightymusic.dk

THE BEAST - FIXED BY THE DEVIL (Painkiller Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Nornagest

Tracks: 1- Enter, 2- Fixed By the Devil, 3- Black Ritual, 4- Devil Pig, 5- Satanic Dominion, 6- Leave

Cover Art by Chris Moyen

Here we have this band that is a side project from Enthroned member Nornagest. This black metal beast is joined by Headfukker on drums (that has been replaced by Levithmong) in order to create this MCD of primitive black metal in its rawest form. The sound of this recording reminded me of early Beherit or early Mayhem (demos) where the drums are in the background and the guitars are in the front with a raw sound. The vocals are guttural and typical of early days black metal. Everything here is designed to give the listener the rawest type possible of black metal and with an old european feeling that fits really well this band. Maybe with a little bit better sound the results can be more effective. This album includes a cover of "Devil Pig" from classical band Von. Black metal lovers will like this one, specially those who loved Beherit, old Immortal and early Mayhem.

Favorite tracks: "Black Ritual" and "Satanic Dominion"

Contact: www.painkiller-records.com

THE ALL ANGELS CONCERT 1999-2001 (Emanem Disc, 2002)

Compiled by: Rhodri Davies and Mark Wastell

CD 2: 1- a) Knife, b) Fork, c) Spoon, 2- M&S At St Michel, 3- On the Point of a Needle, 4- Hommage, 5- Even Angels Die

Recorded by Tim Fletcher

The musical pieces contained on this 2 cd set were recorded in different concerts that were played in the St. Michael & All Angels Church, a place with incredible acoustic and resonance as one can listen on the music here. And here we have great musicians doing improvisations with total spontaneity. Some of the artists that played on this concerts have been reviewed by us before like for example John Butcher, Steve Beresfor, Roger Turner and Veryan Weston whose musical quality has been remarked in previews review. Also we have some surprises here that I would like to point out. First is Fabienne Audéoud who is doing the first track of this recording using only amazing vocals showing the incredible vocal range and technique that this artist has. Then Simon Vincent whose work I didn´t know until now. He plays electronics on the track "Hommage" adding special sounds to this concert series. And the grand finale is Veryan Weston playing the church organ with free imagination and extremely open mind (as ll his musical pieces are). One of the best experimental releases of all time.

Favorite tracks: A must

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

THE BLOOD DIVINE - RISE PANTHEON DREAMS (Peaceville Records, 2002)

Produced By: The Blood Divine

Tracks: 1- Aureole, 2- Visions in Blue, 3- As Rapture Fades, 4- Revolt, 5- Wilderness, 6- Sensual Ecstasy, 7- Enhanced By Your Touch, 8- I will Bleed, 9- The Passion Reigns, 10- Leaving Me Helpless, 11- Forever Belongs, 12- So Serene, 13- Crazy Horses (live), 14- Aureole (live)

Taken from Mystica, Awaken and unreleased tracks

This band was like a selection of musicians from the underground that created great music. Here we had ex Anathema singer Darren White, three original Cradle of Filth members (Paul Ryan, Ben Ryan and Paul Allender) and an ex member of Extreme Noise Terror (Was Sarginson on drums). The music on thsi album is a selection of tracks from both The Blood Divine albums and there are also some unreleased and demo tracks that make this album essential for any collector. Here we have this rocking and climatic music created from this twisted minds. The songs here have been mixed and the sound is better than in their original versions adding a lot of energy to the compositions (Darren White is killer here with his powerful vocals combined with a total different music from the one he used to do with Anathema. Here we have fourteen tracks of essential listening for lovers of each of the bands mentioned before and dark powerful music in general.

Favorite tracks: "Aureole", "Visions in Blue" and "I will Bleed"

Contact: www.peaceville.com

THE CIRCLE´S END - LIGHTER THIEVES (SAMPLER)(Independent, 2002)

Produced By: The Circle´s End

Tracks: 1- Kid Viejo, 2- What to Do, 3- Model Citizen, 4- Crazy

Photo by Brandy Ivins

Here we have a band that combines a lot of modern new metal sounds with hip hop and rapping giving some interesting climatic twists to their music using a lot of electronics in order to add a lot of different flavours to their music. Here we have three tracks from their forthcoming EP called "Light Thieves" that will be released really soon. There are some lyrics that are in Spanish, adding a latin feeling to tracks like "Kid Viejo". The tracks. The first track is the one that is more electronic, but the other three are more rocking (I would mix everything a little bit louder, with volume closer to the one on "Kid Viejo"). There are some guitars that give energy to the tracks and contrast with the electronic elements creating an interesting clash. This is an album for lovers of new tendencies in underground music .

Favorite tracks: "Kid Viejo" and "Model Citizen"

Contact: www.circlesendband.com

THE GREAT KAT - WAGNER´S WAR (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: The Great Kat

Tracks: 1- Wagner´s The Ride of the Valkyries for Symphony, Orchestra, Band and Opera Singers, 2- War, 3- Terror, 4- Punishment, 5- Humiliation, 6- Liszt´s Hungarian Rhapsody #2 for Symphony Orchestra and Band, 7- Sarasate´s "Zapateado" for violin, piano and Band

Mixed by Dug and The Great Kat

Engineered by Brian Harding

The Great Kat has been combining her two favorite styles (classical music and hyper wild metal) since the late eighties. The Great Kat here shows us again her hyper fast riffs and solos (and also her super speed on the violins that she plays with great skills). On this recording she has chosen to combine her own composition which are really wild and shredding with her adaptation of classics by Wagner ("Ride of the Valkyries"), Liszt (Hungarian Rhapsody #2) and Sarasate ("Zapateando"). The tracks are short and played at full speed, but The Great Kat doesn´t miss a note and plays the classics and her own compositions with total accuracy. The Great Kat´s compositions are played at full speed and are really wild, going from ultra fast thrash (with screaming and guttural vocals) and adding a lot of classical arrangements and parts. Drummer and bass player have done a big effort to follow the speed of this track without losing the timing. Lovers of guitar will surely have to check this album.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.greatkat.com

THE NEMESI - NEW DAWN (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: The Nemesi

Tracks: 1- End of Time, 2- Free Rage, 3- Live For Myself, 4- New Dawn, 5- Eve of the New World

Cover Art by The Nemesi

Recorded by Andrea Garavaglia 

The Nemesi music can be described as pure metal. Yes, they have a lot of elements of styles like death metal (mainly in the screaming vocals and some riffs), black metal (in some of the vocals and the fast melodic riffs done at full speed) and classical heavy metal (in the guitar melodies and in many solos). But the band has mixed this styles and added a personal dark touch to the sound (this guys have a lot of technical skills too) and they have obtained the "The Nemesi Sound" that can be fully appreciated on the five tracks that we have here on this CD. The thing that I like a lot about this band´s music is that while being aggressive and brutal they have reatined a lot of melodies that helps them to establish their own personality. The problem is that this MCD leaves you wanting more from the Nemesi (they say that on february 2003 they will record their new demo) !!!!!!

Favorite tracks: The five !!

Contact: www.thenemesi.it

THEATRES DES VAMPIRES - SUICIDE VAMPIRE (Blackend Records, 2002)

Produced By: Theatres des Vampires

Tracks: 1- Theatre of Horrors, 2- Lilith Master Inferorum, 3- La Danse Macabre Du Vampire, 4- Queen of the Damned, 5- Bloodlust, 6- Tenebra Deutro, 7- Suicide Vampire, 8- Il Vampiro, 9- Der Makabere Tanz des Vampires (german extended version), 10- Enthrone the Dark Angel (version 2002)

Cover Art by Giada Giusti

Recorded at Alfa Music Studio

Theatres Des Vampires have succesfully mixed black metal with gothic metal with many dark orchestrations creating their own sound and establishing themselves as one of the most interesting abnds in the genre. Here we have the combination of aggression and depression, the combination of fast guitars with extremely heavy sound with keyboards and orchestral arrangements, the combination of black metal vocals with female ones and magnificent choruses. Here we have interesting drumming with multiple changes and great double bass work on each of the tracks. And we have guitars that don´t hesitate in constructing the heaviest of riffs and the darkest of melodies. The mix of this album is great adding more power to each of the compositions and making them sound darker than hell. This is one of the darkest releases of the year.

Favorite tracks: "Il Vampiro", "Queen of the Damned" and "La Danse Macabre..."

Contact: www.blackendrecords.com

THEMSELVES - ...IN THE LAST CHIMERA (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Themselves

Tracks: 1- Within, 2- Time To Rise, 3- Fightin´against Myself, 4- Where, 5- Home, 6- Out of Control

Cover Art by Fabio

Recorded at TS Studio 

Themselves shows us how well they can play their metal style on this CD. Their music can be described as heavy metal with touches of bands like Black Sabbath (in certain slower riffs) and some influence of classical death metal (in the sound of the guitars). But the main thing here is the great combination of complex guitar riffs with melodies and the vocal harmonies (this is essential to the Themselves sound). One of the best things here is the amazing work of the guitars that go from playing heavy riffs to playing melodies and harmonizations (some aprts are really complex) but at the same time constructing each of the songs carefully. I think that Themselves is a good choice for people who is looking for metal with some classical features but at the same time with new elements that give the band their own identity.

Favorite tracks: The six !!

Contact: http://themselves.cjb.net

THUNDER REIGNS - EVIL ONE (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Thunder Reigns

Tracks: 1- Evil One

Cover Art by Thunder Reigns

Here we have one track of pure metal with some thrashy touches. Here we have heavy guitars combined with some drumming that leaves space to the vocals and the guitars to make their melodies and arrangements. The song here is powerful and has interesting guitar work, specially on some of the solos and melodies. The vocals are really raw and seem more of a thrash metal band than to a band like Thunder Reign adding some raw feeling to the song. The recording has good sound, specially on the guitars. I hope to listen more from this guys soon

Contact: www.thunderreigns.com

TONY BIANCO & PAUL DUNMALL w/MARCIO MATTOS & PAUL ROGERS - HOUR GLASS (Emanem Disc, 2002)

Produced By: Martin Davidson

CD 2: The tepees Dive Deeply

Cover Art by Mary Ramsay

Digital Recording by Jon Wilkinson

This recording consist on two improvisational sessions. One was recorded on February 2002 and it features Tony Bianco (percussion) and Paul Dunmall (tenor sax) along with Marcio Mattos on double bass and electronics. The other one features the duo along with Paul Rogers on bass. Here we have improvisation that while being extremely creative it retains some elements of whatn we are accustomed to listen in the free jazz context. Each of the two tracks on this 2 CD set is over an hour long and both feature incredible musicianship as well as many different parts, changes in moods, breaks and tempo changes. This guys know how to improvise being spontaneous and don´t becoming chaotic as sometimes happens. On the recording with Paul Rogers the feeling changes and Dunmall plays soprano sax in order to fit better this new trio. Ideas are really well developed and they have a beginning and a conclusion that can be listened clearly. Lovers of improvisation should check this one.

Favorite tracks: BOTH !!!!

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

TOXIC POISON - NOTHING´S FOREVER (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: HM Studios

Tracks: 1- In the Beginning (intro)/Far Away, 2- The Twin Towers, 3- Rebellion Song, 4- My Dear Friend, 5- Scream of War, 6- Mutant´s Tramps, 7- A Different Life, 8- The Day You´ll Stop To pray

Cover Art by Marco Cestagalli

Recorded at HM Studios 

Toxic Poison is one of those bands that can mix with no difficulty modern sounds with classic thrash or death metal, adding a different perspective to the style. Here we have a band with an excellent sound (the guitars are devastating) whose style is difficult to describe because it has elements of thrash metal (in some rhythms) of death metal in some of the vocals and in the guitar sound, of modern metal in some drum patterns and guitar phrases. One thing to point out is the versatility of the singer, Teo, who does all the different type of vocals in a really good way. Plus, the band has a stranger side in some parts doing some atmospheric passages or some modern style singing (check as an example the track "The Twin Towers" to see all the different styles and parts that this guys do within the same song). I have to remark again the excellent sound that this recording has (nothing to envy to the top bands of the style). A must

Favorite tracks: All. One of the CDs of the Month.

Contact: www.toxicpoison.com

TOXIC VIRGIN - CIRCLE OF POWER (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Oliver Phillips and Christian Moos

Tracks: 1- Broken Wings, 2- Son of the Sun, 3- Restless Hearts, 4- Waiting for the Rain, 5- Rock Tonight, 6- Until The End, 7- Alien lovesong, 8- Our Only Hope, 9- Sailor, 10- Fireball, 11- Don´t Know What I Want, 12- Walk on Water, 13- All For One

Recorded at Spacelab Studios 

Here we have this german band whose music is hard rock with some metal touches and some metal influences. There are softer parts and heavier parts but everything here has an european sound and incredible melodies. The guys in Toxic Virgin sure know how to construct memorable songs with good guitar riffs and melodies and with an original singer that has a special voice really adequated to this music. My aboslute favourite here is the first track "Broken Wings with an amazing melody and epic hcoruses (this band g}has great catchy choruses that will leave you singing their songs.

Contact: www.toxicvirgin.de

TWOTHIRTYEIGHT - YOU SHOULD BE LIVING (Tooth and Nail Recs., 2002)

Produced By: James Paul Wisner

Tracks: 1- Modern Day Prayer, 2- The Sticks are Woven in the Spokes, 3- Forty Hour Increments, 4- Romancing the Ghost, 5- That Sad and Holy Glow, 6- Step into the Light, 7- Sad Semester, 8- I pretend to Choke, 9- Rhythm and Blues, 10- The Bathroom is a Creepy Place for Pictures of your Friends

Recorded at Wisner Prods.

We reviewed the previous Twothirtyeight album some issues ago on Music Extreme and this one is a step forward for this band. As you may know Twothirtyeight plays rock with a pop attitude and some dark elements, specially on the vocal lines. This time the band has taken this dark elements and pushed them some more putting them on all the tracks, so you have that hooks that are typical from the band but this time with a certain feeling of sadness that are transmited through certain guitar arrangements and through the melodies and choruses. The singer gives a lot of personality to the band through his dark for of singing and the vocal melodies he creates. If you like rock with a lot of pop touches, clean guitars, a lot of melodies and a dark feeling then you should check Twothirtyeight

Favorite tracks: "The Sticks are Woven in the Spokes", "Sad Semester" and "The Bathroom..."

Contact: www.toothandnail.com

VALIS - VALIS (Abstract Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Van Conner and Wesley Weresch

Tracks: 1- Indian Giver, 2- Transmutor, 3- Universe, 4- Pass Me By, 5- Meatworm, 6- Yakima Preacher, 7- Kill the Ones You Love, 8- Universe 2, 9- All Phase, 10- Paper Doll, 11- Love Leader, 12- Pilots House

Cover Art by James Bender

Recorded at Uptone Recording Studio

This is pure rock and roll with a seventies feeling in the guitar sound. The music here is really direct and has a lot of guitar and vocal arrangements in the vein of some seventies band (there is some stoner rock sound in some parts too). I liek the way this recording sound because it is really direct and this guys have a sound that I had not listened for a long time. Each of the songs here have power and interesting melodies with some psychedelia in some parts. The mix of the album gives a modern touch to the band´s music that is really welcomed because the guitars sound really in the front and they donm´t have some muddy guitar sound that amny stoner rock bands use trying to sound like seventies band. Here you have pure rock with some heavy feeling and some interesting atmospheres.

Favorite tracks: "Transmutor", "Pass Me By" and "Paper Doll"

Contact: www.valisnet.com

VINTERRIKET - ...UND DIE NACHT KAM SCHWEREN SCHRITTES (Parasite Recs., 2002 )

Produced By: Vinterriket

Tracks: 1- Boten Der Rückkehr, 2- Visionen Nächtlicher Fluten, 3- Im Sog Der Feuer Des Schicksals, 4- Kosmische Schattenspiele, 5- Raben Über Dem Grab Der Vollendung, 6- Die Ruinen Des Jenseits, 7-...Zuruck Blieb Nur die Einige Schwärze

I have reviewed many Vinterriket releases and I have to say that they are possibly the most climatic releases that I have ever reviewed. This new Vinterriket release is in the same style but maybe this time the tracks are more orchestrated and better developed. Each of the compositions here is a jewel for the listener. While listening to this recording I turned off the lights and I almost found myself in a dark wood or some spectral place, just like the ones that are on Vinterriket´s covers. Christopher Ziegler, the only mind and composer behind Vinterriket is getting better on each release and he is composing a lot (this is the fourth release that I review). On this recording (as well as on the other Vinterriket´s releases) you have darkness and beauty as well as good musicianship.

Favorite tracks: All. One of the recordings of the month.

Contact: www.parasiterecords.org or www.neodawn.de

WARLOUD - LEAVE THE HELL (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Warloud

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Leave The Hell, 3- Brave Heart, 4- Mountain King

Cover Art by Claudio Bisca

Recorded at Rainbow Music 

Warloud´s music starts really climatic on this CD with clean guitars and haunting melodies that create the appropiate atmosphere to develope the first track "Leave the Hell". The band plays pure heavy metal with an epic feeling on the songs. This guys have created three good songs here that will leave you singing the choruses with no doubt ("Leave the Hell" has a memorable chorus!!!). There are many guitar riffs but everything here is done in order to fit the songs and creating the parts that each of them needs to be a well developed track. The singer is powerful and is in the vein of those singers that don´t use hyper high pitched vocals....instead he concentrates more in how to give more strength to the songs and uses a lot of middle range vocals. The sound is good but I would like them to mix a little bit lower the vocals and higher the bass drumming (the drummer does a lot of double bass drumming in some places). Good heavy metal directly from Italy.

Favorite tracks: "Leave the Hell" and "Brave Heart"

Contact: poldursgate@tiscalinet.it

WATAIN - PROMO (Blazing Productions, 2002)

Produced By: Watain

Tracks: 1- On Horns Impaled, 2- The Limb Crucifix, 3- Rabid Death´s Curse, 4- My Fists are Him, 5- The Walls of Life Ruptured

Cover Art by Watain

This is unholy black metal in its fastest and rawest format. Here we have the fast guitar riffs that use a middle range of the guitars and the blast beats going all through the tracks. All the tracks here have been taken from CDs, 7" Eps and live tracks from this bestial musical project. The mix here is extremely raw,a dding to the wild sound that Watain has. The vocals are extremely tortured as the style demands and add a lot of the black metal feeling to each track. The sound of the recording changes dependeing of which track was taken from each of the releases of the band (the ones taken from "Rabid Deaths Curse" CD are the ones that sound better for my taste and I think that the guys in Watain should mix like this in the future or even louder). Here you have the most bestial black metal guaranteed.

Favorite tracks: "The Limb Crucifix" and "My Fists Are Him"

Contact: www.blazing.ws