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