12 DAYS OF ANARCHY - MORE UNDERGROUND THAN THE INTERNET (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: William Paiffer

Tracks: 1- Wouned Needs, 2- Bomber Command, 3- Necrobutcher, 4- Clinton Youth, 5- Friends Kill, 6- Theme Song, 7- Get a live, 8- Women is Fucking Evil, 9- Dead and Crusty

Cover Art by 12 Days of Anarchy

 Recorded at River City Sound

This is Pure extreme death metal with original riffs that are not typical in the genre and a powerful sound (even if it is extremely raw). This guys deliver nine tracks full of interesting changes and arrangements and with vocals reminiscent of Necroticism-era Carrcass. The guitars sound really fat and they are really low tuned adding heaviness to each of the riffs. The rhythms go from fast to slow and then back giving a lot of variation to each composition. I liked a lot the drummer who does simple arrangements leaving a lot of space to the guitarists to develope their ideas, riffs and melodies. There are many instrumental passages here full of heaviness and extreme guitars. The raw sound gives a more extreme feeling to the recording and this band delivers with a lot of confidence their music. Lovers of death metal with not typical arrangments and originality should check this one. 

Favorite tracks: "Wouned Needs", "Bomber Command" and "Get a Live"

Contact: corpsedisposalunit@hotmail.com

12 DAYS OF ANARCHY - SHALLOW GRAVE II 6.66 MILES EP (Independent, 2000)

Produced By: 12 Days of Anarchy

Tracks: This are all tracks of pure brutal holocaust

Cover Art by 12 Days of Anarchy

Here we have a previous recording by the guys in 12 days of anarchy. And here you can listen the evolution that this band had from this recording to the "More underground..." album. This album is more primitive in sound but the extreme death metal spirit of the music is here with a certain dose of grindcore in some places. The guitars were already sounding really fat and interacting with the bass guitar, specially in the fastest parts. There are many parts that are slower and some of them have keyboards that add a different feeling to the music. This band also uses clean guitars in some palces to add an obscure feeling to their music. This is original death metal from a really extreme band ! 

Contact: corpsedisposalunit@hotmail.com

137 - PRODUCT OF THE ENVIRONMENT (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: 137

Tracks: 1- Slug, 2-13 Shades of Black, 3-Parting Sabbath, 4- Savior, 5- One Too Many

 Recorded at

This is a trio with great rhythmic guitar riffs and an intense rhythm section that delivers rhythmic death metal (I am telling that the style is death emtal because of the extreme guttural vocals but the band goes beyoind the style. Here we have a band that is pure power and aggression and that leaves a lot of spaces where the guitar can enter with its heavy riffs (the guitars have a huge sound that gives a lot of heaviness to the music). The tracks are original and the sound while raw is powerful and gives a more direct, in-your-face sound to 137. There is some seventies influence in teh riffing and that is really good because it adds a lot of hooks to the music, and this riffs are combined with more modern ones to create 137´s sound. A really good effort !!!

Favorite tracks: "13 Shades of Black" , "Slug" and "Savior"

Contact: www.onethirtyseven.net

IV LUNA - LIBERA MENTE (Independent, 2000)

Produced By: IV Luna

Tracks: 1- Balocco, 2- Germogli, 3- La Mia Terra, 4- Libera Mente, 5- Il Velo, 6- Raggiu di Luce

Cover Art by Michelle Chessa and IV Luna

 Recorded at Elefante Bianco Studio

After a climatic intro coming from outer space comes the first track with a heavy mid paced rhythm, heavy guitars and interesting melodies, then comes some acoustic guitars that give a melancholic feeling to the composition. Here you have a band who combine perfectly heaviness and melancholy with a dark atmosphere delivering a music that is obscure as hell ! Here you have multiple arrangements and incredible melodies (sometimes reminding me of classic doom bands like Trouble even if the style is completely different). There are different types of vocals, one more aggressive and another one more melodic and sad. The lyrics in italian language add a special feeling to the songs. The sound of the recording is good, specially on the guitars (the melodies and solos shine through all the recording) This music is complex and this guys deliver the compositions with a lot of power and good technical skills. If you like original bands with aggression and melodies then you should check IV Luna. 

Favorite tracks: "Balocco", "Libera Mente" and "Il Velo"

Contact: julius_4luna@hotmail.com

ABSEMIA - MORBOPRAXIS (Extremist Records, 2002)

Produced By: Absemia

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Septisemia, 3- Calcinado (desesperante sofocación), 4- Obsesivo-morbo-corporal, 5- Neuroperverso Torturador, 6- Repulsivo vómito post mortem, 7- Defunción Fermento Gangrenal, 8- Autopsia a un cadaver en descomposición, 9- Compulsiva hemorragia (inminente final), 10- Crónica Infección

Cover Art by Mariano Tattoo

 Recorded at La Nave de Oseberg Studios

Pure death metal directly from Argentina!!! Yes, Absemia is one of the best bands in the genre here in Argentina and they have chosen to do the most brutal style within death metal. All the tracks have ultra fast riffs with blast beats on the drums and ultra guttural vocals. The sound helps a lot to the music because is raw but enhances the brutality of the music. The lyrics are about gore and madness and they fit the music perfectly. The rhythm section is extremely fast but at the same time is really tight making the band sound really effective, specially in the fastest parts, creating the perfect environment for the lyrics. Pure brutality and aggression directly from the south of the world !!!!

Favorite tracks: "Septisemia", "Neuroperverso Torturador" and "Compulsiva hemorragia"

Contact: www.absemia.8k.com

ABSTRACT - PROMO 2002 (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Abstract

Tracks: 1- Spirals, 2- E-Mages

Cover Art by Abstract

 Recorded at Audidinamica Prato

Here we have two tracks from this really good band that leaves you wanting more of their ultra technical and aggressive metal. Some passages of thius band reminded me of eighties thrash metal bands like Toxik, combined with riffs that wouldn´t be out of place in bands like Atheist or Cynic and I find this really good because this bands are among my all time favourites. The music is heavy metal with complex song structures, amazing musicanship and extremely technical passage. The melodies created here are really good, Guja Piazzesi is an amazing singer and David Zaccagnini is a virtuoso guitar player whose sweep picking solos are a great part of Abstract´s compositions. I have to recommend Abstract to all those who love music played by great musicians with excellent technical skills. We want more from this band!!!

Favorite tracks: Both

Contact: www.abstract-site.com

ADULTERY - AGE OF WINTER KINGS (Avalanche Prods., 2003)

Produced By: Elrabor

Tracks: 1- Silent Breath, 2- Dark Ages, 3- Last Hope, 4- Struggle of Curse, 5- Tears, 6- Confession of Immortality, 7- Crystal Light, 8- The Ancient Prophecy, 9- Black Well, 10- Death of Sun, 11- Silence, 12- The Return of the King, 13- Forgotten Rites, 14- Time I, 15- Time II, 16- Time III, 17- The Final Trial

Cover Art by Franta Zemcik

 Recorded at Bluestudio Trinec

Some screams and battle sounds....then some acoustic guitars and violins....then a really dark and extreme voice ....then comes the rest of the excellent music of this band from the Czech Repucblic. Here we have a band whose style they describe as slavonic black metal. That is this guys with no doubt play black metal (they have speed, they have the really extreme voice) , they also have the dark feeling in the melodies and they also have an epic feeling that most of the bands in black metal style don´t have....and they have many voices that sing epic melodies within some of the songs (they are really original!!). This guys are extreme and have original riffs that are essential to their music. This elements combined with the good sound that the recording has makes a good album...one of those albums that you really enjoy from beginning to end.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: avalancheprod@seznam.cz

ADVENT - VALHÖLL (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Advent

Tracks: 1- Paradise Lost, 2- Valhöll, 3- Shub-Niggurath

Cover Art by Riccardo

 Recorded at DB Studios

This MCD opens powerfully with the track "Paradise Lost" in the vein of bands with a lot of power and at the same time dark melodies and a sort of dark black gothic metal (sometimes black metal in the vocals and sometimes gothic in the cleaner parts). One of the main things here is the combination of majestic keyboards with the heavy guitars and the voices that can be of three different types, a screaming one in the black metal tradition, a clean one with a dark feeling and a more guttural one closer to death metal. I really liked the quality of the compositions that blend together technical riffs with keyboards melodies or chord progressions delivering aggressive music with a lot of feeling and originality. Here we have fast riffs, some blast beats and a good sound that allows the guitars and keyboards to be listened perfectly. This is what I call good musicinaship in a dark metal context !!! A must.  

Favorite tracks: the three.

Contact: www.adventcomes.it

AEONS CONFER - THE SOUL OF THE UNIVERSE (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Aeons Confer

Tracks: 1- The Astral Nexus of Time, 2- Synthetic Misanthropy, 3- Aeonic Dreams, 4- Bringer of Light, 5- The Soul of the Universe, 6- Ad Infinitum

Cover Art by Aeons Confer

With no doubt this is one of the most powerful releases of the year!!!! Here we have a band that has combined perfectly elments of black metal, death metal and modern metal, delivering their own kind of music which I would label symphonic spacial death metal. Here we have amazing keyboards all over the compositions orchestrating each of the musical passages that are part of this album. The guitars are extremely heavy and their sound contrast a lot with the keyboards making a battle between the instruments delivering this powerful music. The vocals are really extreme sometimes screaming and sokmetimes guttural but always delivering totally extreme lyrics and agonizing screams. I have to remark the excellent sound that this recording has...one of the best mixed albums of the year, specially the drums that sound almost like a machine (this guy is a beast with his drumkit). This album is a must....check it or die!!!

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.aeonsconfer.com

AMBASSADOR 21 (Invasion Wreck Chords Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Ambassador 21

Tracks: there are 15 tracks here with most of them toitled in russian.

Cover Art by Ambassador 21

Ambassador 21 is a really weird band full of guitar riffs played with an extrmely industrial sound and many electronic elements going on in all the tracks. Here we have male and female vocals screming, shouting, singing, speaking, whispering. This band has a really good point that most of the bands can not achieve: extreme originality. The combination of hyper distorted guitars with drum amchines and electronic elements gives birth to the Ambassador 21 sound, a sound that is ideal for an apocalyptic movie or something like taht. I have to remark the good sound tat the recording has that makes all the instruments to sound clear despite the extreme distortion and the multiple electronic elements. A really original release. 

Favorite tracks: tracks 3, 6 and 10

Contact: www.ambassador21.com

ANARCHY X - THE QUEENSRYCHE TRIBUTE (Spreadit Agency, 2002)

Produced By: Fabio lentola

Tracks: 1- Walk in the Shadows, 2- Damaged, 3- Revolution Calling, 4- Suite Sister Mary, 5- Silent Lucidity, 6- Queen of the Reich, 7- Someone Else?

Cover Art by Fabio Lentola

 Recorded at Aton Studio

 This is kind of weird: an italian band thta delivers here seven Queensryche tracks in really faithful versions. Here we have really good covers of some of Queensryche´s best tracks (I would include for a next recording tracks like "The Warning", "Breaking the Silence", "The Needle Lies" or "Prophecy"). I really like the way this guys play the songs (in many places I even didn´t notice the differences with teh original versions (for example on "Revolution Calling"). Max Bastasi, Fabio lentola, marco Vaona, Massimiliano barbieri, Fabio leperdi and Valeria Colombo are the musicians here that deliver this seven great compositions with a lot of power and sounding really tight. Queensryche lovers should check this one.

Favorite tracks: "Walk in the Sahdows", "Queen of the Reich" and "Revolution Calling"

Contact: www.anarchy-x.it

ARALLU - SATANIC WAR IN JERUSALEM / THE WAR ON THE WAILING WALL (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Ze Ev Tananboim (Salem)

Tracks: 1- The Sons of Darkness, 2- Jewish Devil, 3- Religious Are Dead, 4- Arallu´s Rage, 5- Evil Has No Boundaries, 6- The Butchered Attacks Again, 7- Jerusalem Gates, 8- War of the Genit, 9- King of Bloodcave, 10- Mesopotamia Story, 11- Arallu´s Warriors, 12- Sword of Death, 13- Morbid Shadow, 14- Warriors of Hell, 15- Mesopotamian Genie, 16- Barbarian Bloodshed, 17- Satanic Birth iN jerusalem, 18- Messenger of Evil World, 19- My Hell, 20- Satan´s War, 21- Kill the traitor

Cover Art by Amit Halachmi

Here we have a band directly from Israel whose brutality is really huge !! Here we have a band that haas no mercy for the listener, crushing your ears from the first track to the last with their powerful death metal. We have here two recordings from the band: "Satanic War in Jerusalem" from 2002 and "The War on the Wailing Wall" from 1999. The newer tracks have a better sound but the band shows that three years before this recording they were haveing really good ideas (both albums were produced by Ze ev Tananboim from Salem). There is a big extreme thrash metal influence, and we can feel some Slayer here (plus they cover their "Evil has No Boundaries" classic) in the riffs and some of the rhythms. Here we have a band that delivers fast as hell tracks but whose main virtue is the extreme aggression taht they show through all this recording. This is over 70 minutes of pure bestiality.

Favorite tracks: "Jewish Devil", "Morbid Shadow", Arallu´s Rage" and "King of Bloodcave

Contact: http://listen.to/arallu

ASCENSION - ASCENSION (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Ascension

Tracks: 1- Rising, 2- Writhing, 3- Black in Men, 4- The Grimace of Angst, 5- Bloodred Letter Day, 6- Road Leads To...?, 7- ...Nowhere, 8- Swallowing Emptiness, 9- Mors Interruptum, 10- Second Ascension

Cover Art by Ascension

Here we have the new album by Ascension….the style is technical death metal with a lot of melodies and arrangements. I like this album a lot because of the good technical skills that this guys show on the tracks. Here we have many complex riffs and melodies and also very interesting guitar solos. This album is a big step forward compared to their previous, specially in sound that here is much cleaner and better mixed and helps a lot to make every arrangement and every note shine. The vocals are really special, deathly but clear and with a dark shade that adds a darker feeling to Ascension´s music. There are some clean guitar arrangements that add a different flavour and I really liked the way this clean passages connect with the mroe brutal ones. One of the recordings of 2003. 

Favorite tracks: All the CD. One of the recordings of 2003

Contact: www.ascension-music.com

ATHANATOR - ATHANATOR (Lixo Sonido + Discos, 2003)

Produced By: Athanator

Tracks: 1- Earth of Blood, 2- Children of Darkness

Cover Art by Athanator

Pure death metal with classic elements and influences of bands like Morbid Angel or early Entombed. Here we have ultra fast riffs and fast rhythms from a tight rhythmic section. The guitars sound really fat and is essential for Athanator´s deathly sound. The vocals are guttural as the style demands and everything here is made in order to deliver brutal compositions and smash the listener with the powerful riffs. This has only two tracks with really good sound and it really leaves you wanting more brutality from this band from Colombia. So, we hope that Lixo will release a full length from this band soon.

Favorite tracks: Both

Contact: www.athanator.8k.com

AUTOPSY TORMENT - TORMENTORIUM (Painkiller Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Autopsy Torment

Tracks: 1- Preludium (Welcome to Tormentorium), 2- Tormentorium, 3- Human Puzzle, 4- I, the morbid and Grotesque, 5- Kill till I die !, 6- Death by Metal, 7- Humanipulation, 8- Death comes slow, 9- Gory to the Brave, 10- Eating human flesh by humans, 11- Bred for Murder

Cover Art by Autopsy Torment

Watching the cover art of this album I expected a straightforward brutal death metal band or maybe a grind band. But I was wrong, because the guys in Autopsy Torment play death thrash metal with riffs that are closer to heavy metal, avoiding hyper fast and untidy parts favoring riffs that let the music breath (sometimes they sound closer to bands like Kreator and other eighties thrash metal bands). The sound of the recording is really raw and that makes things sound even more straightforward giving a more extreme sound to the band´s music. The vocals are more of the type that use bands like Destruction or Kreator than of the guttural type. There are interesting guitar arrangements that make things even more interesting and a classic thrash feeling that combined with Autopsy Torment´s own sound creates a memorable experience on this album. This is pure aggression and brutality but done with interesting arrangements and a good use of classic elements that add a differnt dimension to the band´s music.. 

Favorite tracks: "Tormentorium", "Death by Metal" and "Gory to the Brave"

Contact: www.painkiller-records.com

AVIDOST - A SILENT MASQUERADE (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Avidost

Tracks: 1- Claws of Unrest, 2- Game Called Ruin, 3- Precipice, 4- A Silent Masquerade

Cover Art by Avidost

 Recorded at Studio One, Racine

Avidost´s music is heavy and at the same time subtle. Here we have a great combination of heavy riffs with melodies done with clean and distorted guitars. Everything here has a dark atmosphere that leaves you wanting to listen more Avidost compositions. One of the main elements here is the powerful and enchanting voice of Jennifer Gore who delivers beautiful vocals lines with strength and with right note placement that gives a sad, yet powerful feeling to Avidost´s compositions. I have to remark the really good sound that this recording has making each song shine and lettting the feelings that the musicians want to transmit to effectively reach the listener. If you like this combination of dark and sometimes epic melodies combined with really heavy guitars and interesting rhythms thehn you should check this band !!! 

Favorite tracks: The four

Contact: www.avidost.com

BARRY GUY / BARRE PHILLIPS - ARCUS (Maya Recordings, 1991)

Produced By: Barry Guy and Maya Homburger

Tracks: 1- Prophesies, 2- Wampho, 3- Elliptical, 4- Sundance, 5- Biwok, 6- Old Hunka, 7- Fram, 8- Yldona, 9- Sitsoo, 10-

Cover Art by Albert Irvin

 Recorded at Chapelle Sainte Philomene

Here we have two master improvisers who play instruments with similar charachteristics: Barry Guy on double bass and piccolo bass and Barre Phillips on 5 string bass. Each of this musicians play the improvisational pieces thata re delivered on this album with their own style and you can distinguish perfecly Guy on the left channel and Phillips on the right one. Sometiumes playing lines, sometimes doing percussive arrangements, sometimes playing melodies, but always letting their imagination fly with no limits. "Prophesies" is my absolute favourite track on this album where you can listen the Guy and Phillips delivering his improvisational lines through more than 21 minutes. Going from melody to almost noise but exploring every possibility of the instrument here we have an album recommended for lovers of spontaneity and good musicians with amazing ideas.

Favorite tracks: "Sitsoo", "Biwok" and "Prophesies"

Contact: www.mayarecordings.com

BATTLE HORNS - BATTLEHORNS (Hohenstaufen Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Battle Horns

Tracks: 1-

Cover Art by Battle Horns

Pure raw black emtal with some death metal influences and also some slower parts. Here we have a band whose sound is pure mayhemic black metal in the vein of early norwegian black metal but they combine this with slower and more climatic parts. Here we have difference in the sound of the tracks because they have been extracted from three different demos of the band. But every one of this tracks is extremely raw and delivers pure blasphemy and darker than hell fellings. There are abundant slow parts thata re the most climatic here And also there is heavy use of keybaords in many tracks and that adds harmonies to this band delivering obscure chord progressions. The sound is extremely raw (sometimes a little bit difficult to understand the guitar rifss that are a little bit behind the hihat ) and that adds to the underground feeling of this band. Pure blasphemic black fucking metal !! 

Favorite tracks:

Contact: www.hohenstaufen.ht.st

BEHOLD...THE ARCTOPUS - ARCTOPOCALYPSE NOW (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Behold The Arctopus

Tracks: 1- Alcoholocaust; 2- You Will Be Reincarnated As An Imperial Attack Spaceturtle (Pt. 1)

Cover Art by Behold the Arctopus

Here we have a band that features Colin Marston from the experimental duo Infidel? / Castro!, a great prokject that we reviewed last year. Here we have two long tarcks from this guys who deliver extremely experimental music with amazing musicianship. You have to check the hyper fast riffs the amazing spped in the guitar pharases, really virtuoso solos at times. There are multiple rhythm changes, such as a more maniac Allan Holdsworth in albums like "Atavachron" where he delivers more weird stuff. The guitar sound is extremely heavy and the rhythms are fast but the main thing here isn teh constant experimentation with the instruments. There is killer bass playing that constructs along with the drums the basis of this amazing compositions. This is a must for people who are really open minded and love experimental music.

Favorite tracks: both

Contact: www.beholdthearctopus.com

BLACK CANDLE - THE FACELESS ANGEL (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Black Candle

Tracks: 1- Angel Stench, 2- Synthetic Drama, 3- Coldvoid, 4- He Is, 5- The Faceless Angel, 6- Throne of Rotteness, 7- Praise Your Sins, 8- The Crypt, 9- Dark House, 10- Insects in Your Mouth, 11- His Gleaming Eyes

 Recorded at Emerald Studios

This album kicks off with an extremely dark intro with an occult and obscure atmosphere. Then comes the heavier side with a lot of guitar riffs that are really powerful and contrast with the vocals that are like the ones used in black metal combined with whispering ones that add a darker side to Black Candle´s music . There are many hyper fast riffs in tracks like "Coldvoid" but the essence of this band´s music is the combination of this fast black metal riffs with blast beats with more rhythmic riffs that sound close to bands like Venom or Bathory. The sound of the recording is good and makes the guitars and drums shine giving the strength that this music deserves. Lovers of obscure metal will be delighted with this band.

Favorite tracks: "Synthetic Drama", "

Contact: http://listen.to/blackcandle

BLOOD - DYSANGELIUM (Morbid Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Blood

Tracks: 1- Blood Pulsation, 2- Adrenaline, 3- Schizophrenic Wisdom, 4- Penalty, 5- Wormbody, 6- Where is your Savior now, 7- Jesus Descent, 8- Evil Saints, 9- Poison for the soul, 10- The Heretic, 11- Randy mary, 12- Breaking Bounds, 13- Anthem of Scorn, 14-Cgarbage can Biotope, 15- Godmorphosis, 16- Hate Speech, 17- Malicious Awakening, 18- Demons Call, 19- Son of Shadows, 20- Devil Dance, 21- Dysangelium

Cover Art by Blood

Pure death metal with extremely guttural voices and a lot of aggression in then guitars and the drums. Here we have 21 tracks that have no mercy for the listener. Extremely fat guitar sound combined with low tuned bass parts !!! The guitars are really low tuned as the bass guitar is making things sound really extremely brutal. The tracks are short and are blasts of pure energy in a death metal context making each of the compositions an experiment in ultraviolence. The riffs are technical and the raw sound makes things even heavier but yet complex because of the changes and the twisted riffing. Pure energy to blast your brain !! 

Favorite tracks: "The Heretic", "Godmorphosis" and "Son of Shadows"

Contact: www.morbidrecords.de

BLOODY MARY - BLOODY MARY (Kick Promotion Agency, 2003)

Produced By: Bloody Mary

Tracks: 1- The 2^nd Chance, 2- Little Sister, 3- Drops, 4- The Dreamer, 5- Cease to Burn, 6- Face to Face

Cover Art by Bloody mary

Gothic metal!!!! This band plays a kind of music that many people label in that way: clean guitars, clean voices with a dark feeling in them. There are also heavy guitar and darker tunes like "Cease to Burn" really in the vein of Type O Negative´s darkest songs. There is heavy use of keyboards and tat is essential for Bloody Mary to develope the obscure atmospheres that they are constantly searching. I have to remark the really good sound that this band has and that this recording has too. One of the main things here is the combination of keyboards passages with melodies created by the guitars, sometimes clean, sometimes heavier. This is an album that would appeal to those lovers of gothic music !

Favorite tracks: "Little Sister", "Cease to Burn" and "Face to Face"

Contact: www.kickagency.com

BONEHOUSE - ONWARD TO MAYHEM (Earth AD Recs., 2001)

Produced By: Ulf Nagel and Bonehouse

Tracks: 1- Onward to mayhem, 2- This Means Nothing, 3- Shove That Money Up Yer Ass, 4- Shut Em Down, 5- Instinct for Trouble, 6- Blast Away (the Rich), 7- Razor Tongue, 8- Fascist Pig, 9- Handcuffed and Horny, 10- Disarm Charlton Heston, 11- Indo China, 12- Throwing Dirt Loosing Ground, 13- Against the Mutant Hordes, 14- My Definition

 Recorded at Wellseedamm Studios

Bone house is a band that plays powerful heavy riffs with some hardcore elements and a lot of thrash feeling. Here we have a band whose main goal is to crsuh your brain with their simple and effective guitar riffs (sometimes sounding like a heavier Motorhead) and their powerful vocals. This "Onward to mayhem" is pure energy from beginning to end with crushing rhythms and powerful drumbeats through all the songs. The sound is raw and the crushing guitars can be fully appreciated through all the recording. The vocals are dirty ones, not too guttural but they have the ideal range for this style of music. This is a release full of anger and energy !!!

Favorite tracks: "Shut Em Down", "Shove that Money Up Yer Ass" and "Agains the Mutant Hordes"

Contact: www.bonehouse.de

BROKEN TORSO - THE ULTIMATE ABHORRENCE (Buzo Records, 2002)

Produced By: Broken Torso

Tracks: 1- Buried Alive, 2- Tormented, 3- Homicide, 4- Thrill of Terror, 5- Unforgotten Sins, 6- Hours of Pain, 7- The Ultimate Abhorrence

 Recorded at TWE Studios Enns

What a showcase of pure brutality is this album!!! Here we have band with the most aggressive riffs combined with a lot of tempoc hanges and extremely guttural vocals. Here everything is designed to crush your ears and brains but without letting you get bored. Why I am saying this? Because this band knows how to make a lot of changes in rhythm, riffs and apces in order to make each of the songs really amusicng while being devastatingly heavy ! I have to remark the good production taht is extremely clear in the guitars and makes things even heavier. The drummer is killer and he is the core of the music here with his double bass drummin, his blast beats and the hyper fast rhythms that he construct along all this recording. I recommend this band to all the fans of brutal death metal full of changes and with interesting original touches. A must for lovers of bestiality !!!!!

Favorite tracks: "Buried Alive", "Thrill of Terror" and "Unforgotten Sins"

Contact: www.buzo-records.com

BROWBEAT - AUDIOVIOLENCE (Copro Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Browbeat

Tracks: 1- Before Death..., 2- Till Death, 3- Hater, 4- Face My Rage, 5- Master monster, 6- Pure Smile, 7- Blind Revenge, 8- The Plan, 9- Gray Sky, 10- Your Punisher, 11- Essere il Tuo Specchio, 12- Crush the System, 13- Audioviolence

 Recorded at Red House Recordings

Browbeat is a band whose music I would define as a mix between modern metal (like the one in bands like Machine Head) with a lot of thrash metal elements and some death metal. Here we have a band that delivers ultra aggressive guitar riffs against a rhythm section that sounds like a Panzer Division crushing all that is on its way. I really liked the melodies that create the voices contrasting with the screaming parts and I think that this element is essential for the identity of this band. I have to remark that this recording has an excellent sound and it has been designed to be played really loud and that can make permanent damage to the listener´s brain that will be blasted with the power and aggression of Browbeat´s music. 

Favorite tracks: "Till Death", "Hater" and "Gray Sky"

Contact: www.coprorecords.co.uk

CARNAL LUST - WHORE OF VIOLENCE (Diamond Prods., 2003)

Produced By: Carnal Lust and Franck

Tracks: 1- Psychotic Dementia, 2- Scared, 3- Messiah, 4- Infectious Mind, 5- The Last Soldier, 6- Outlaw, 7- Human Die, 8- Hard Drinker, 9- Lost Into the Chaos, 10- Grind Porc

Here is the new recording of this french bestial death grind band. After their previous "Prepare Your Soul" MCD now we have the opportunity to listen to this new release and we find that there has been a big evolution in this band, specially in the sound that now is more devastating (check the guitars and the drums in "Scared" to see what I am saying). Also here we have better compositions where everything is designed in order to devastate the listener with the bestiality that this band has. Here the riffs are fast and can be clearly discerned from the rest of the music, the drums are a double bass nightmare with some rhythms closer to blast beats and the vocals are extremely guttural but clear (there are various types of vocals, all of them really extreme). This is one of those albums that will be surely be loved by all death metal maniacs and that deliver aggression from the first second to the last. 

Favorite tracks: "Scared", "Messiah" and "Human Die"

Contact: www.diamond-prod.com

CARNAL REDEMPTION - CARNAL REDEMPTION (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Carnal Redemption

Tracks: 1- The Punisher, 2- The Limits of Persistence, 3- Victim of the Cyberworld

Cover Art by C.R. and Eve

 Recorded in November 2001

This bland plays death metal with many thrash influences, a lot of primitive yet technical riffs with influences of eighties bands that makes songs more catchy while being brutal. The sound of this recording is raw making things sound harder and more brutal and the vocals are harsh but really comprehensible and they give a lot of identity to Carnal Redemption´s music. There are many breaks within each of the compositions and that adds a lot of variations to the music here and this guys are really well rehearsed and that allows them to do all this changes and breaks without missing a beat. This multiple changes are essential in Carnal Redmption´s music. This is an album recommended to all death metal fans and also to thrash metal ones.

Favorite tracks: the three

Contact: http://carnalredemption.cjb.net

CELESTY - REIGN OF ELEMENTS (Arise Recs., 2003)

Mastered By: Mika Jussila

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Charge, 3- Revenge, 4- Sword of Salvation, 5- Reign of Elements, 6- Lost in Deliverance, 7- The Sword and the Shield, 8- Battle of Oblivion, 9- Kingdom

Cover Art by Christian Andersson

 Recorded at Fantom Studios

Here we have a finnish band that delivers pure epic power heavy metal with a lot of conviction. The thing that amazes of this band is the perfection in their combination of guitars and drums, a perfection that is really difficult to achieve, but this guys must be extremely well rehearsed. The music goes in the vein of bands like Stratovarius and others of the style with multiple keayboards parts that contrast with the heavy guitars and some neoclassic melodies that leave space for the guitarists to show their technical skills and their virtuosity. Here every second delivers to teh listener a new arrangement, a new melody, a new riff. There are multiple ideas here and that is essential for Celesty´s compositions which are complex yet melodic and powerful. The mix is excellent and that makes things even better. Here we have pure heavy metal done in the best way. 

Favorite tracks: "Revenge", "Lost in Deliverance" and "Kingdom"

Contact: www.celesty.net

CHARLOTTE HUG - NEULAND FOR VIOLA SOLO (Emanem Disc, 2003)

Produced By: Martin Davidson

Tracks: 1- Delirium, 2-Wet, 3- Dweller, 4- Quarry, 5-Dwell On, 6- Wood, 7-Dwellers, 8- Flow, 9- Rotation, 10- Pulsation, 11- Signs, 12- No Land

Cover Art by Charlotte Hug and Martin Davidson

 Recorded at Steinfels Studio

Well, I never have heard before the music of this amazing musician. She plays the viola with a lot of technique and inspiration. Here she is extrmely spontaneous creating improvisational phrases and sounds that amazes because of their variations and different textural qualities. Here everything is about spontaneity and Charlotte Hug´s sounds are really extreme and at the same time really coherent delivering different moods according to the paths that she wants to explore. This album has over one hour of free improvisation that breaks constantly musical paradigms and stretches boundaries with originality and inspiration. A really good work that will appeal to spontaneous music lovers.

Favorite tracks: "Flow", "Rotation" and "Delirium"

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

CHTON - CHTON (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Chton

Tracks: 1- Book of Black Earth, 2- Crawling Chaos

Cover Art by Chton

 Recorded at Skansen Studios

Brutal death metal with a really modern sound in the guitars that play riffs that are not typical of the style preferring to create original riffs instead of doing the typical one note runs that many bands do. Here the guitars combine brutal low tuned guitar riffs with pincha harmonics with more opwn chords and with guitar phrases that add originality to the tunes here. The vocals are extremely guttural and they give all the death metal feeling to the compositions. Plus the vocals have a lot of different shades and variations thata re essential to the feeling of the two songs contained here. The sound of the recording is really good specially in the fat sounding guitars that are designed to crush your brain. This is ear melting music with aggressiona dn brutality and also originality.

Favorite tracks: Both

Contact: www.chton.com

CHURN - 12 EASY STEPS TO ENDSVILLE (Casket Music, 2003)

Produced By: Alan Reilly and Churn

Tracks: There are eleven brutal tracks here !!!

Cover Art by Vic Greenles

 Recorded at Red Eye Studios

Whikle looking to the cover of this album I expected a band with a lot of industrial feeling in their music but I was wrong. Here we have an extremely brutal band with modern sound and incredibly powerful vocals. Here we can say that this band has some similarities with death metal but they play more rhythmic riffs and they emphasize brutality more than speed. The vocals are powerful, sometimes guttural sometimes more of the screaming type but always delivering pure violence. The guitars are lowtuned and deliver crushing riff after devastating riff without stopping a second. Everything here is done with extreme power and brutality. A must for lovers of this combination of death metal and modern metal !!!! 

Favorite tracks: All the album

Contact: www.coprorecords.co.uk

CONTAMINO - MOTHER NATURE GASED (Carnal Records, 2002)

Produced By: Contamino

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- We have arrived, 3- Bombs Away, 4- When the Planets Collide, 5- Macabre Cadavre, 6- Reflect, 7-Bloodbath, 8- World Extinction Phase, 9- Hordes of Darkness, 10- Let there be War, 11- Outro /The End

Cover Art by Carl M.

 Recorded in Gothenburg, Sweden

Contamino is an extremely raw band that takes elements from both death metal and black metal but with bigger influence from the second style in the riffing. After a short intro comes the first burst of energy that is "We have arrived", a track taht blast the listener in a few seconds. The songs here are short and really effective making the listener bang his head against the wall. The guitars sound like chainsaws and play riffs that are extremely fast and dissonant. The vocals are really extreme in the vein of the blackest of black emtal bands. I think that the brutality of the recording could be even more extreme with a better mix but this extremely raw sound makes the things really bestial and you will find yourself trying to follow the blast beats and fast parts. Pure hateful metal !!!!

Favorite tracks: "We Have Arrived", "Bombs Away" and "Hordes of Darkness"

Contact: http://oblivion.lunamorena.net/contamino

CORPSE DISPOSAL UNIT / 12 DAYS OF ANARCHY (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Corpse Disposal Unit

Tracks: 1- Slipknot; 2- Oklahoma Population Bomb, 3- Charles Ng, 4- Leonard Lake´s Lake House, 5- , 6-

 Recorded by Bacon

Corpse Disposal Unit´s music is pure death metal with fast rhythms and some interesting thrash touches, specially in the guitar riffs. Plus, this guys have made a good combination between classic death metal and more modern death metal delivering their own brutal sound. Here everything transpires brutality at its top level, and I think that the combination with more mid paced riffs is essential for the guys in Corpse Disposal Unit´s music. Here we have four tracks of this band at its most brutal level and its an ideal album to listen with the volume really cranked up. Plus, there are two 12 Days of Anarchy tracks that are kind of more old school death and make a good contrast with CDU´s more elaborated compositions. 

Favorite tracks: The first four.

Contact: corpsedisposalunit@hotmail.com

CRIMSON MOONLIGHT - THE COVENANT PROGRESS (Rivel Records, 2003)

Produced By: Tomas Johansson and Crimson Moonlight

Tracks: 1- Mist of the Spiritual Dimension, 2- The Pilgrimage, 3-Path of Pain, 4- Thy Wilderness, 5- Eternal Emperor, 6- A Painting in Dark, 7- Eyes of Beauty, 8- A Thorn in my Heart, 9- The Covenant

Cover Art by Fredrik Sandgren

 Recorded at Dream Factory

Pure hateful black metal with many death metal influences in some parts is what Crimson Moonlight offers us. Here we have aband that combines perfectly the ultrafast riffs and blast beats with more rhythmic passages where some dark and sad melodies are played against heavy drumming and distorted riffs. The vocals give the extreme black metal feeling to the music but they are combined with a more guttural type of voice closer to death metal. There is use of acoustic guitars in some passages such as in the beginning of "The pilgrimage" and that gives variation to the music here. Some parts are complex but everything here is designed to create the more unholy type of black metal music possible. There are many passages that emphasize the dark atmosphere instead of simply going fast and I really appreciated this parts. If you are into pure black metal and you love obscure atmospheres then you have to check Crimson Moonlight.

Favorite tracks: "The pilgrimage", "Eternal Emperor" and "The Covenant"

Contact: www.rivelrecords.com

CUNT GRINDER - ESCAPED FROM MADHOUSE (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Cunt Grinder

Tracks: 1- Intro/Scumfuck, 2- The Reaper, 3- Politessencunt-Song, 4- Zombiedance, 5- Freakshow Bitch, 6- Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch!, 7- R.M., 8- Mundhöhlenschwangerschaft, ...kommt vom Spermasaufen, 9- Garden Party, 10- F.T.B.F.B.F.F:, 11- Pussyfart, 12- Masobitch, 13- You Are My Chosen One, 14- Dear, Mr. Public Executer, 15- Marry, 16- Sudden Manslaughter, 17- Gay-Attack, 18- Drown in My Cum, 19- I am a Necromantic Maniac, 20- Legalize It, 21- House of Violent Fun

Cover Art by Cunt Grinder

After a sexual intro we have Cunt Grinder,a demented band whose music is extremely chaotic and extremely heavy as fuck. This guys play death/grind with heavy riffs and an extremely raw sound in teh guitars that are extremely distorted (the bass is distorted too adding a heavier side to the music). There are many blast beats here and ultra fast rhythms. Here we have riff after riff with amazing double bass drumming in a context of pure brutality. The voices are totally guttural and distorted adn we have different types of extreme vocals through each of the compositions. The tracks are quite similar and they are conceived to demonstrate extreme heaviness to the listener. An ultra fast and heavy release. 

Favorite tracks: "The Reaper", "Freakshow Bitch" and "Gay Attack"

Contact: grindmaster_hippi@yahoo.de

DARK CLOUDS - GLOBAL DEPRESSING SYSTEM (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Dark Clouds

Tracks: 1- Destiny Express, 2- Get you through the Day, 3- Another Man´s Fate / The Promise, 4- Diamond - Cutter, 5- In Desert Lands, 6- Course of life, 7- The Great Disappearing Act, 8- 0049301888130; 9- Doing Time, 10- Determined

 Recorded at Denever Studio

Directly from Hungary comes Dark Clouds with their modern and effective brand of metal. Dark Clouds delivers fast riffs with a lot of rhythm over crushing drumming but without forgetting melodies. Here I have to remark the great work of the singer who can go from the most extreme screams and guttural vocals to a melodic voice with a lot fo middle range and an eerie feeling. Dark Clouds music is original, specially because of this combination of heavier than hell aprts and melodies that are really essential to their sound. The sound of the recording is good, specially on the guitars that sound extremely heavy (I think that this guys have really tuned down their guitars in order to make them sound bigger and heavier) and that are the foundation of the compositions. If you like metal with a lot of aggression, but at the same time with a lot of rhythms designed for the mosh pit and eerie vocal melodies then you must check Dark Clouds.  

Favorite tracks: "Destiny Express", "Course of life" and "Doing Time"

Contact: vtauszik@freemail.hu

DARK LIGHT - I KNOW THE END...AND MAKE THE START (Spreadit Agency, 2003)

Produced By: Darklight

Tracks: 1- the Minstrel, 2- Apocalypse, 3- Falling Tears, 4- Disciple, 5- I Know the end...and make the start, 6- Apocalypse (video)

Cover Art by Cinzia Tarantola

 Recorded at CCS Recording

Here we have a really climatic band that has created five incredible tunes here !!! The main element that I have to remark here is the great voice of Silvia Aprile. This woman has an incredible clean voice and he manages to deliver a lot of power in the heaviest parts and to be really subtle where the song has to be soft. The guitars here are heavy and effective and create riffs that add a lot of power to the music. There is a lot of orchestration and arrangements in this band and that is essential to their musical identity. I have to remark the good sound that this recording has that lets us appreciate the beauty in darkness that this music is. Here everything is done with a lot of feeling an attitude and that is reflected in the compositions. A must.

Favorite tracks: The five

Contact: www.infaccia.com/darklight

DEATH OR GLORY - IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORM (Steelborn Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Death or Glory

Tracks: 1- In the Middle of the Storm, 2- Consecrated Steel, 3- Fight for Glory, 4- Dawn of Victory, 5- Metal Crown, 6- Ghost Knight, 7- Lost in Nowhere, 8- Revenge, 9- Frightening Dreams, 10- Screams Of Fear, 11- Symphony of Fire, 12- March of the Titans

Cover Art by J.M. William Turner

 Recorded at Riversound Studio

Here we have an italian band that plays epic heavy power metal with a lot of keyboards and guitar solos. The main thing here is the combiantion between powerful riffs, melodies and solos. Here we have a band that delivers a lot of virtuoso phrases creating epic melodies and harmonies thata re the eseence of the music here. We have a fluid vocalist called Vyper who creates also melodies with his voice while he sings the epic lyrics that the band has. The sound of the recording is extremely clear and has nothing to envy to the main bands of the genre. The guitars are really loud and the incredible solos shine through all the recording. This is an album for lovers of power / heavy metal with virtousism and plenty of melodies.  

Favorite tracks: "Consecrated Steel", "Metal Crown" and "Screams of Fear"

Contact: www.northwindrecords.com or www.deathorglory.it

DEATHCHAIN - POLTERGEIST (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Late Kauppinen

Tracks: 1- Poltergeist (The Nemesis), 2- Unseen Evil, 3- I Am Terror, 4- Undertaker

 Recorded at Bassment Studio

Fast drums turning into a fast crushing riff open this album. Then the music turns into full speed death thrash metal with intense arrangements. Here we have a band that has achieved a great sound playing rhythmic and hyper fast riffs sounding original and aggressive at the same time. The vocals are really extreme and fit the music perfectly. The guy called "Corpse" spits scream after scream, shriek after shriek adding brutality to the music and also adding hooks and memorable shouts to the choruses. The guitars are fast and play original riffs that I liked mainly in the tempo changes. There is influence of eighties thrash that is really welcome in this band because it adds new elements to this guys music. The sound of this recording is really good and it enhances the intensity and brutality of the music of this finnish crushing band. 

Favorite tracks: The four.

Contact: www.deathchain.cjb.net

DEBODIFIED - UTOPIA IN THE EYES OF A BEAST (Comatose Music, 2003)

Produced By: Debodified and Comatose Music

Tracks: 1- Reprieves for my Enemies, 2- Instinct for Malevolence, 3- Mass Extinction Agenda; 4- Emission of Adrenaline, 5- Uncompromised Extinction, 6- Terminated With Prejudice, 7- Embludgeoned Between Crunches, 8- On this Killing Field

 Recorded at the Sound Lab Studio

One of the most brutal bands ever !!!!! This band devastates you from the first riff to the last one. The guitars are really huge and have an extremely fat sound (they are really low tuned and combined with the low tuned bass we achieve the Debodified sound). Here everything is brutality, even if the things are sometimes really complex (riffs and rhythms sound extremely tight and are really difficult to play correctly, this guys are extremely well rehearsed). The sound of the recording is extremely clear and that makes the music even more brutal. The vocals are extremely guttural going as far in some places as in grind bands....the riffs are fast but this guys prefer to create heavy as hell riffs instead of simply playing fast. I warn you: if you play this one at top volume as I do you will be thrown against the flooor by this hyper deathly riffs. Brutality guaranteed. This is the most bestial release of 2003. 

Favorite tracks: "Reprieves for My Enemies", "Mass Extinction Agenda" and "Uncompromised Extinction"

Contact: www.comatosemusic.com or www.debodified.com

DECAPITATED - NIHILITY (Earache Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Decapitated

Tracks: 1- Perfect Dehumanization, 2- Eternity Too Short, 3- Mother War, 4- Nihility (Anti-Human Manifesto), 5- Names, 6- Spheres of Madness, 7- Babylon´s Pride, 8- Symmetry of Zero

Cover Art by Jacek Wisniewski

 Recorded at Hertz Studio

"Perfect Dehumanisation" opens with full brutality this recording throwing the listener against the wall with their fast drumming and amazing riffs. Here we have a band that plays complex and tight riffs while spitting brutal vocals over them. This guys are not afraid of exploring new territories with their complex riffs and interesting twin arrangements (I find some of them incredibly difficult to play as well as the band does). The drummer is incredible playing a lot of arrangements and different changes over each of the riffs (he is amazing with the double bass). There are some thrash influences here but they are taken to the most brutal side of the style making the riffs and rhythms really death metal. One thing taht I have to remark are the incredible guitar solos that give an eerie feeling to the compositions with their melodies. This album is a must!! 

Favorite tracks: All the album. Complex and brutal!!!

Contact: www.earache.com

DEMON CHILD - SHADOW CULT (Sound Riot Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Demon Child

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- In Darkened World, 3- Supreme Cruelty, 4- The Fallen One has arrived, 5- The Order of the Black Flame (The fallen One Has Arrived Pt. 2), 6- Shadow Cult, 7- Coldblessed, 8- Path of fire and blood, 9- Torch of War

Cover Art by Jason Juta

 Recorded at Pop Studio

This is pure climatic dark black metal with strong emphasis on the parts that can create more obscure passages and with heavy use of keyboards that develope the dark atmosphere that this album has. It is really important here the constrast between the heavy guitars and the cold dark keyboards and this interac5tion is what creates the Demon Child sound. Here we have fast parts but the band prefers to use slower rhythms and riffs in order to develope more anguished sounds full of obscure feelings. The sound of the recording is good and reflects clearly the atmosphere that is created through all the recording. Here we have a band whose black metal awakes the darkest human feelings !!!

Favorite tracks: "In Darkened World" , "The Fallen One..." and "Coldblessed"

Contact: www.soundriot.net

DESCENDING DARKNESS - GEVATTER HEIN (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Descending Darkness

Tracks: 1- Burning Zion, 2- Nectar of Innocence, 3- Spiegel Meiner Seele Part II, 4- Triumph Des Hasses, 5-Gedanken, 6- Gevatter Hein, 7-Awakening in Hell, 8- Voyage (The Darkest Star

Cover Art by Gevatter

Pure blakc metal full of blasphemy and hate !!!! Descending Darkness come directly from Austria and they deliver the rawest black emtal with ultra fast guitars and terrible blast beats that demolish the listener. Here we have Gevatter screaming the darkest of vocals and giving an atmosphere of ultra darkness to Descending Darkness music. There are mid paced parts that give more space to the guitars to develope interesting ideas but everything here is black as the most evil of souls. The sound of the recording is raw and that makes things mroe brutal and at the same time allows the riffs to penetrate directly into your brain. Here we have a band whose main goal is to play the blackest of music and they have achieved it on this album. Pure black metal!!!!

Favorite tracks: "Nectar of Innocence", "Gevatter Hein" and "Awakening in Hell"

Contact: gevatter@helvete.zzn.com

DESECRATION - GORE AND PERVERSION 2 (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Martin Barbour

Tracks: 1- Raping the Corpse (Desecration), 2- Human Gore, 3- Penile Dissection, 4- It Can´t Be My Grave, 5- Dead Bitch in the Skip, 6- No More Room in the Freezer, 7- Mutilated Genitalia, 8- Immense Suffering, 9- To Kill with a Drill, 10- Pharaonic Circuncision, 11- Coprophiliac Connoisseur, 12- Fontanelle Fornication, 13- I.A.I.

Cover Art by Desecration

 Recorded at Philia Studios

After reviewing their "Pathway to Deviance" album last year we thought what could Desecration do to become even heavier. And the answer is here on this "Gore and Perversion 2" album. Here the heaviness and brutality of the tracks go beyond all limits: Desecration plays brutal death metal with perverted lyrics. This album starts with a speaker telling us about Ed Gein´s crimes before getting into their bestiality. Here you have blast beats, fast riffs, brutal guttural vocals, rhythmic riffs designed to burn your brain to ashes. Every item featured in a death metal band is her, augmented and brutalized. Plus this band recording after recording has achieved a better guitar and drums sound that makes their music even more devastating. Thi si the third recording of this guys that I review and they always amaze with their brutality!!

Favorite tracks: "Human Gore", "Dead Bitch..." and "Immense Suffering"

Contact: www.desecration.co.uk

DEVIL MAY CARE - 2002 SAMPLER (Independent., 2002)

Produced By: Devil May Care

Tracks: 1- Gorilla in a Monkey Suit, 2- My Life is a Toilet, 3- I Am Bread

 Recorded live at Carriage House

An eerie bass line opens up this three song sampler of this band whose riffs are violent and effective while being simple and memorable. Here we have extreme screams over devastating guitars and a really raw drum that plays vioent riffs with some punk quality. The songs here are powerful and they have multiple changes that make them more interesting. Plus, I have to remark that there is some use of electronics or samplers that add new dimensions top Devil May Care´s music. The songs have memorable lyrics and choruses that make the songs more sticky to the listener´s brain. The sound is extremely raw and there are almost no overdubs making the band sound like they really sound live (unlike some bands who make a lot of overdubbing in their live recordings). This is a good band that I would really like to see live to feel their full power !! 

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: devilmaycare415@aol.com

DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER (Nuclear Blast Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Die Apokalyptischen Reiter

Tracks: 1- Vier Reiter Stehen Bereit, 2- Warum?, 3- Sehnsucht, 4- Terra Nola, 5- We Will Never Die, 6- Baila Conmigo7- Ride On, 8- Du Kleiner Wicht, 9- Komm, 10- Das Paradies, 11- Fatima, 12- Wo Die Geister Ganz still sterben, 13- Seid Willkommen, 14- Master of the Window

Cover Art by Die Apokalyptischen Reiter

Here we have the new album from this german original band. Here you have compositions that go from straight forward metal to more gothic songs, making the album really enjoyable because of the multiple variations and arrangements. What I like most is the combination of the heavy guitars with the melodic keyboards playing melodies or chord progressions making a contrast between heaviness and subtle arrangements and also the multiple variations within a song and among the songs in this album. Here the lyrics in german language are essential and give a heavier and a darker feeling to DAR´s music (this guys even sing one song in spanish making things even more weird). The recording has a great sound that emphasizes a lot the originality of the compositions and their sheer power !!!.

Favorite tracks: "Das Paradies", "Sehnsucht" and "Seid Wilkommen"

Contact: www.centurymedia.com.br

DISCIPLES OF HATE - DIGGING UP THE GRAVE...:AGAIN (Independent, 2000)

Produced By: Disciples of Hate

Tracks: There are 24 tracks of pure death grind hell here !!

Cover Art by Vader Reactionary

Here we have this band that used to play pure old school death metal with some grind touches in the fastest parts. Here we have death metal as it used to be in the early nineties: raw, guttural, extremely aggressive. Here we have chainsaw like guitars with extremely guttural vocals and screaming voices. Everything here is designed to blast your brain and they succeed despite the rather primitive sound that this recording has. There are frantic guitar solos that add short melodies and maniac sounds to the compositions. This recording is from 1991 (is the demo of that year of this band) and is a good showcase of aggressive music in a point of the evolution that this style had. A piece of extreme metal history. 

Favorite tracks: "sacreligious", "Necrofuck" and "Buried Alive"

Contact: corpsedisposalunit@hotmail.com

DIVINE LUST - DIVINE LUST (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Nuno Loureiro and Divine Lust

Tracks: 1- Again, 2- Alone in the Dark, 3- Morrigan, 4- Where only the Weak Survive, 5- V, 6- Goddess Night, 7- Your Cruel thirst, 8- Embrace, 9- Scarlet Room of Passion, 10- Divine Lust (a story of a bloody passionatte desire), 11- Morrigan - Video Clip

Cover Art by Divine Lust

Directly from Portugal comes this climatic band whose music is really introspective with interesting guitar riffs and amazing keyboards that are essential for the band´s sound. And is this combinations of heavy guitar that sometimes plays fast phrases and riffs and then turns into a more rhythmic pace with the keyboards that are orchestrating each passage that creates the Divine Lust sound. The vocals are sometimes more extreme, sometimes spoken, sometimes sung but always extremely dark and obscure. The melodies are melancholic and in tracks like "Alone in the Dark" they interact with the keyboards chord progressions developing the main theme of the song. The sound of the recording is good, specially in the voice and keys (I would mix a little bit louder the rhythmic guitars, just a little bit) and it allows to appreciate the good compositions that this portuguese band delivers through the ten compositions contained on this album. A really climatic yet powerful album.

Favorite tracks: "Alone in the Dark", "Goddess Night" and "Divine Lust "

Contact: www.divinelust.com

DOMINATE - BURST OUT (Spreadit Agency, 2003)

Produced By: Dominate

Tracks: 1- The Biker, 2- The Maniac, 3- Painful Claws of Despair, 4- Devastating Wrath, 5- Face the Fate Arrows

Cover Art by Dominate

 Recorded at Nadir Studios

 A fast drums rhythm with interesting passages opens this aggressive album before the guitars enter with a heavier than hell riff designed for headbanging. The guitars are fat here but a little bit low in the mix, crushing you with their power. The voice is really heavy metal with some high pitches and some epic feeling and that, mixed with riffs that are not typical of the style give a lot of identity to Dominate. Here you can listen the influence of classic bands like Stratovarius or even Helloween but they are disguised because this guys combine straigh ahead heavy metal riff with more thrash parts and adding some moder nad rhythmic riff here and there to achieve more power in the songs. The sound here is good but I would mix everything a little bit louder, specially the guitars. Here we have metal with good guitars and a tightr hythm section. Powerful release.

Favorite tracks: "The Biker", "Devastating Wrath" and "Face the Fate Arrows"

Contact: www.dominate.too.it

DOOMSTONE - DISHARMONIC (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Jörg Uken

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Hypocrites, 3- Sleepwalker, 4- Killing Ground, 5- Evolutions Wheel, 6- Extinction, 7- Lost, 8- Infection, 9- Faces, 10- Misanthrope

Cover Art by Doomstone

 Recorded at Soundlodge Studios

Doomstone is a band that delivers on this album ten tracks of pure thrash death metal with some black metal shades, specially in the vocals. The main thing here are the powerful rhythms, sometimes closer to death metal, sometimes more thrash metal but always full of strength and energy. This guys are extremely tight to play and they play interesting twisted and complex riffs combined with many tempo changes that are their trademark. The vocals are really deathly but there is also a screaming voice more in the black metal vein (sometimes close to bands like Kreator). This album has a good sound, specially on the guitars and has the Morrisound studios touch, specially in the way in ehich the drums are mixed. Lovers of death/thrash metal should check this one. 

Favorite tracks: "Hypocrites", "Killing Ground" and "Infection"

Contact: www.doomstone.de

DOWN FACTOR - PURE (Scourge Recs., 2001)

Produced By: George Anderson

Tracks: 1- Pure, 2- Brother 6, 3- Open Your Eyes, 4- 13 Crosses, 5- In vein, 6- Judicial hunt, 7- Broken Shell, 8- Hate Inc., 9- Psycho Killer, 10- I, Mental

Cover Art by Michael Bohatch

 Recorded at Fantasy Studios

This is one of the best releases that we have received this year!!!!! Pure aggression and power from beginning to end, pure quality in the playing, done with a lot of technique and ideas. Here we have a band that is full of ideas: Jon Riggs plays machine like drumbeats that are filled with the riffs done by George Anderson and John Santos, played witha devastating sound that smasehes your brain and melts it in the same track. This album has a flawless production that makes each of the instruments shine and show how well this guys develope their ideas within their modern death metal context!! This guys bang you against the wall with their first riff and they crush you til the end of the recording. This is a must for fans of aggressive metal done in the best way!!! 

Favorite tracks: All the album!!!!

Contact: www.down-factor.com

DUNGORTHEB - INTENDED TO... (Perennial Quest Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Dungortheb

Tracks: 1- Twisted Reality, 2- Two Faces, 3- Fate of Humanity, 4- Place of Alienation, 5- Twilight, 6- The Only Rest, 7- Illusion, 8- Beyond the Darkness

 Artwork by the E Ghost

When some issues back I received Dungortheb´s previous recording I was greatly surprised with their extremely technical death metal in the vein of bands like Death ("Human" to "The Sound of Perseverance" era) or Pestilence. This time things are even better due to the better sound in the inwstruments the better mixing and specially due to having more tracks to listen. Dungortheb deliver riff after riff with a lot of complexity and their music has infinite changes of rhythm, there are extremely climatic passages created by the guitars and the bass that interact really well with extreme precission developing new ideas on each second of this recording. The drumming is amazing and Herve Joly does not miss a beat even in the more complex parts creating breaks and structure changes on each track (interesting use of double bass and snare drum and also of ride cymbal). I have to recommend this to all fans of music regardless of the style because here we have a band with extreme musicianship.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.perennialquest.free.fr

EMBRACING WINDS - THE ASTOUNDING DAWN (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Embracing Wind

Tracks: 1- Secret Passage to the Main Gallery, 2- This Magic Land, 3- Transparent and Wild, 4- Astounding Dawn, 5- The Vision, 6- Haunted Wind

Cover Art by Embracing Winds

A keyboards orchestrated intro with an extrmely dark feeling opens this album of darker and melodic music with intense orchestration, excellent arrangements and beautiful voices. Here everything is done to create a dark feeling with a lot of amazing melodies sung by Margarida de Mouda who delivers sometimes operistic vocals, sometimes whispers and sometimes dark melodic lines that fit perfectly the keyboards and the rest of the instruments. There is a heavy guitar that is a little bit in the back in the mix and delivers heavy riffs and intense melodies. The recording has a good sound specially on the keyboards and voices (I would mix a little bit higher the guitar) and succeeds in transmiting the multiple feelings that Embracing Winds creates to the listener. This is one of the albums of the month. 

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.embracingwinds.web.pt

EMPEROR - SCATTERED ASHES: A DECADE OF EMPERIAL WRATH (Candelight Recs./Manic Music, 2003)

Produced By: Emperor

CD 2: 1- A Fine Day To Die, 2- Ærie Descent, 3- Cromlech, 4- Gypsy, 5- Funeral Fog, 6- I Am, 7- Sworn (remix by Ulver), 8- Lord of the Storms, 9- My Empire´s Doom, 10- Moon Over Kara-Shehr, 11- The Ancient Queen, 12- Witches Sabbath, 13- In Longing Spirit, 14- Opus a Satana

Here we have a historical album !! After Emperor´s demise with the release of their latest album "Prometheus..."and their "Emperial Live Ceremony" here comes a compilation that is essential for fans of the band or for those who doesn´t know it and want to take a peek through all their career. Here we have classic tracks from the band like their "Inno a Satana" and songs from all their career spanning "In the Nightside Eclipse", "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk", "IX Equilibrium" and the aforementioned "Prometheus". Here we have all the elements taht amde this band famous...from the fast riffs to the screams, from the multiple rhythm changes to the dark atmospheres and arrangements that they delivered through all their career. Plus we have here some rarities such as the remix done by the guys in Ulver of the track "Sworn", just to give you an example. This is an essential recording in every metal fan collection

Favorite tracks: A historical albums!

Contact: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk or www.manicmusiconline.com

ERED - DARKMAGEDDDON 3.0 (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Abyssal and Ered

Tracks: 1- The Shadowchant, 2- ...Of Blasphemy and Torment

Cover Art by Juanjo Castellano

 Recorded at Maxim Sound Studios

Powerful death metal full of heavier than hell guitar riffs and extreme vocals. Here we have a combination of fast riffs with some complex arrangements and also some open chords that make memorable parts on each of the tracks. The drumming is fast and intense, full of double bass and tempo changes as we can hear in both tracks. There are some ultrafast parts in the vein of Morbid Angel and also some slower more rhythmic ones that add a lot of heaviness to the compositions. The short guitar solos are frantic and they shine thanks to the good mix that this recording has, raw but at the same time clear. Also the vocals that are extreme and guttural are essential for Ered´s music. Death metal with a lot of feeling is what we have here!!!

Favorite tracks: Both

Contact: www.geocities.com/ered666

ERNESTO DIAZ - INFANTE - ERNESTO DIAZ-INFANTE (Pax Recordings., 2003)

Produced By: Ernesto Díaz-Infante

Tracks: There are thirty tracks here of pure experimentation

Cover Art by Ernesto Díaz-Infante

 Recorded at 1502 Studios

Here we have a new showcase of Díaz-Infante´s talent and imagination. Here you have a musician whose music goes so close to noise that makes you gasp but he never looses control over his compositions. Here everything is under control and he delivers interesting sounds and lines using such different instruments as guitar, accordion, violin, piano and also vocals. Here we can listen Díaz-Infante playing with notes, spunds and a lot with silences. And silences are essential on this recording where he uses a lot of instrumental sounds but he lets them breath leaving space for each note to develope on itself. Again, Ernesto Díaz-Infante has shown that he is a musician without boundaries and he has the skills to create amazing spontaneous music. 

Favorite tracks: All the album

Contact: www.paxrecordings.com

EXAWATT - 2K2 (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Exawatt

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- On the Wings, 3- Heretic, 4- Awake in the Cosmic Dream, 5- Odissea Veneziana, 6- Sigh in Time, 7- Outro

Cover Art by Luca Benni

 Recorded at Wizard Studio

This band from Italy delivers through all the tracks on this album incredible heavy power metal full of symphonic and progressive elements. Here Andrea Corsetti´s keyboards are as essential as Daniele Palloni´s guitars. Here we have a band that sounds extremely tight and whose solos are essential for the music (here we have many virtuosos musicians playing incredible guitar licks and keyboards phrases through all the recording ....just an example is their great cover of "Odissea Veneziana" where the speed is fundamental). One of the best things is the great taste that this guys have for melodies making every song sound really melodic, yet powerful without sounding soft. Thumbs up for this guys from Umbertide whose musicianship is at top level! 

Favorite tracks: All the album.

Contact: www.exawatt.it

FLESHART - ART BRUT (Grindethic Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Fleshart

Tracks: 1- Formole Lust, 2- Instinctive Addiction to Cannibalism, 3- Cast Out the Flesh...(Banished cover), 4- I Fuck You dead !!

Cover Art by Kostas

 Recorded at Wave Studio

This is pure brutal death grind with no mercy for the listener….with extremely good and clear sound that lets your brain to be completely destroyed by this guys. Here every note, every drum beat, every grunt is done to devastate your brain with the msot extreme brutality. This is a soundtrack for the apocalypse. This guys have no mercy for your brain and destroy it with their extremely fat sound (the guitars are really down tuned as well as the bass guitar and that makes things even more bestial. The vocals are more guttural than the ones by Satan himself !!!!! Here we have a combination of the most brutal side of death metal and grindcore delivered with an ultra bestial sound. Here we have a recording for lovers of the most brutal side of music !!

Favorite tracks: The four

Contact: www.grindethic.co.uk or www.fleshart.cjb.net

FREEDOM OF THE CITY 2002 - SMALL GROUPS (Emanem Disc, 2003)

Produced By: Martin Davidson

Tracks: CD 1: 1- Ways and Means, 2- The Need for Luxury, 3- Agreeable Work, 4- Free Agreement, 5- Swarming, 6- Violet Revisited, 7- Insect Amnesty, 8- Geese in Ice, 9- The Tottenham Cormorants, 10- For the Second Time, 11- Minute Solo Sequence; CD 2: 1- Under the Greenwood Tree, 2- Monkeyshine, 3- Monkeyshine - End, 4- Gist in Time - Duo, 5- Gist in Time - Solos, 6- Gist in Time - Duo Again, 7- Two of Three, 8- Which End?

 Recorded at Freedom of the City 2002 Festival

The Freedom of the City festival is a place where great improvisers and musicians dedicated to spontaneous music can get together to play. We review last year some recordings of the 2001 edition of this festival and now we have the small groups part of this recordings for 2002. Here we have great musicinas such as Trevor Watts, Veryan Weston, Lol Coxhill, Roger Smith and many others playing alone, in duets and in trios delivering incredible improvisations, some of them more melodic such as the ones by the Weston-Watts duo and others more chaotic and experimental. This is a two CD set, so here you have over 2 and a half hour of pure improvisation and spontaneity. This is a good recording for musicians to see all the different possibilities they can extract from their instruments. Two CDs for the history of improvising music.

Favorite tracks: "Ways and Means", "Under teh Greenwood Tree" and "Gist in Time-Duo"

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

FROM BEYOND - THRASHIN MACHINE (Painkiller Recs., 2003)

Produced By: From Beyond

Tracks: 1- Death Machine, 2- Into the Arena, 3- Nightmare, 4- The Dark Order, 5- Epilogue

Cover Art by From Beyond

This is a band whose music is a mix between early thrash metal in its most extreme version adn some death metal, sorto of an accelerated Venom. Here we have a band that plays fast songs but has a strong thrash metal influence. Here we have raw and fast guitars and we have good guitar interludes such as the one in 3:15 of "Death machine" that opens new possibilities for this band. This band is extremely aggressive and I think this guys are ideal for a devastating live show with their music full of changes and speed. We have raw guitars combining ultra fast death metal riffs with more rhythmic thrash metal ones but everything designed to destroy your brain. The sound is extremely raw and that adds also an eighties feeling to the music. Thrash /death rules !

Favorite tracks: "Death machine" , "Into the Arena" and "The Dark Order"

Contact: www.painkiller-records.com

FUCK THE FACTS - TRACKS FROM 7" SPLIT WITH KASTRAT (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Fuck the Facts

Tracks: 1- All Hands on Desk, 2- Don´t call my slammin outfit cool, whitebread!, 3- gag abflex, 4- Honey, please! Not in front of the children, 5- Math Rock Superstar, 6-$4 Bill, 7- Gated Community, 8- Red Mist, 9-Bowling, 10- yngwie vs. Ftf, 11- If you´re 555 then you´re giving me a fake number, 12- Cold Turkey, 13- Instrumental (hugs and stitches), 14- Cough Droppedd from a Buillding

Cover Art by Topon Das

 Recorded at Total Bastard Studio

Fuck the facts is a band that experiments within the grind / death context. In fact they start this album with a full speed track before getting into more experimetnal tracks with multiple changes and variations. The vocals here are extremely guttural as this style demands but in tracks like "Honey please!..." They use clean guitars to do some weird runs before getting into a more direct heavy metal guitar riff in "Math Rock Superstar". There are slow rhythms and riffs in tracks like "Yngwie vs. FTF" where they made some hiper fast guitar runs like the ones used by the swedish guitar hero. The sound of the recording is raw, specially in the fastest parts. This is an album with a lot of experimentaation but at the same time has a really good sense of humor. 

Favorite tracks: "Honey please", "Instrumental" and "Yngwie Vs. FTF"

Contact: www.fuckthefacts.com

GARY FLANAGAN - FUTURE FASHION (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Ganymede

Tracks: 1- Nightclub, 2- We have the Dance Floor to Ourselves, 3- Metro Boulot Dodo, 4- Dancing to a Modern Beat, 5- Despite All Our Worries, 6- Summertime, 7- French In Action, 8- Super 8 , 9- All We Are, 10- Every Friday Night , 11- Metro Boulot Dodo (fr/action mix), 12-* Nightclub (simulator mix)

 Pure electronic music !!!! I am really glad that Gary sent me this album because this is an usually underrated style and I think that deserves it place here. On this album Gary Flanagan experiments with a lot of electronic sounds and some dancing beats. Plus he uses his particular kind of voice to develope the lyrics and melodies here. This album si a showcase of electronic experimentation within a song context and trying to put a lot of hooks and phrases that the ear can accept easily while delivering a lot of sounds and rhythms. One thing that amazes me a lot of this album is the excellent sound that it has, specially making Gary´s voice sound really close, like if he was singing in the same room where I was listening. Good experimentation in a different format.

Favorite tracks: All the album

Contact: www.garyflanagan.ca

GEZEITEN - DEMO CD (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Gezeiten

Tracks: 1- Ewigkeit, 2- Schizzofrenie, 3- Mr Vielgut, 4- Mondlicht, 5- Rache Der Natur

Cover Art by Gezeiten

What a good band is this one!!! There is heavy use of keyboards and heavy guitars here. Plus, we also have other sources of melodies: tehre are interesting guitar lines and there is an amazing singer with a dark epic voice. Another thing that I liked a lot are the lyrics in german and the way the singer pronounces the lyrics adding a more epic and powerful tone. There are two types of vocals the one that I have just described and another one more extreme, aggressive and closer to death metal or black metal. There are parts with clean guitars that emphasize the feelings that are on this compositions, a feeling of darkness beauty and sadness mixed with epic tonalities. I have to say that this is a really good album and I recommend it to anyone. 

Favorite tracks: The five

Contact: www.gezeiten.com

GREG RAPAPORT - WYRD (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Greg Rapaport

Tracks: 1- 11^th Portal, 2- Mahdah, 3- The Unconscience, 4- Bugjuice, 5-Trust, 6- Diminished Returns, 7- Powderburn, 8- Slik, 9- Darkmatter

Cover Art by Greg Rapaport

 Recorded at Splinterhead Studios

What a good musician is Greg Rapaport. This is a virtuoso guitarist who has created nine excellent compositions here with a lot of guitar phrases and amazing musicianship through all the album. He also plays bass, keyboards and has programmed all the drums here. The songs are sometimes heavier and sometimes closer to fusion. Here I can feel some Steve Vai, some Joe Satriani, some Scott Henderson and some Robert Fripp along with Greg´s own style, creating an original guitar based album with excellent sound and amazing songs. We have here clean guitars, complex rhythms, beautiful solos and experimentation. Guitar lovers and musicians will surely love this one. 

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.gregrapaport.com

GULU LOCUS - CHOCOL-HATE (Nocturnal Music, 2002)

Produced By: Rich D, Nocturnal Music and Gulu Locus

Tracks: 1- Chocol-Hate, 2- I Belong To Extinction, 3- T.N.T., 4- Control?, 5- L.a.s.t. (Mary Quant), 6- Lesson 1: Disturbing, 7- Hurricane, 8- Lesson 2: You are Dead, 9- happy Noise Days

Cover Art by Claudio Baroncelli

 Recorded at Associazione Audiodinamica

Pure brutality is what Gulu locus delivers on this albums. Here we have a band that plays death metal but with more rhythmic riffs and a really modern sound. The compositions here are powerful and each of them are designed to be played in front of a crowd of moshing people. The vocals here are extremely brutal giving the death metal feeling to the tracks. The compositions here have a lot of different riffs and variations that change the mood of the song while surprising the listener. There is plenty of fast parts with excellent drumming (this guy is like a machine behind the drum kit). Here we have an extremely powerful band. Check Gulu Locus.

Favorite tracks: "Chocol-hate", "Control?" and Hurricane"

Contact: www.nocturnalmusic.net or www.kickagency.com

HATE - AWAKENING OF THE LIAR (Empire Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Hate

Tracks: 1- Flagellation, 2- Anti God Extremity, 3- Close to the Nephilim, 4- Immolate the Pope, 5- The Shroud (A Hellish value), 6- The Scrolls, 7- Awakening of the Liar, 8- Serve God, Rely on Me, 9- Grail in the Flesh, 10- Spirit of Gospa

Cover Art by Hate

Death metal !!! Yes, here we have a band that plays extremely brutal and technical death metal in its most aggressive way. Coming directly from Poland the guys in Hate deliver riff after riff and blow your brain into pieces with their blast beats, their fast rhythms and their devastating guttural vocals. Here we have a band that combines hyper fast parts with more rhythmic ones but all delivered with extreme heaviness and brutality. This band has a really good sound and they show this on this bestial recording full of hateful lyrics. I really like the combination of death metal guitars with a big fat sound with the more mechanical drums that contrast heavily but adds a more bestial edge to the music. Here you have brutal death emtal guaranteed. 

Favorite tracks: "Close to the Nephilim", "The Scrolls" and "Grail in the Flesh"

Contact: www.hatesatanic.org or www.empire-records.com.pl

HELD UNDER - HELD UNDER (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Held Under

Tracks: 1- Resewn Scars, 2- Hope´s Dreadful Gift, 3- Left With the Wreckage, 4- Another Stretch of Misery, 5- Within Love Lies Regret...Our Song Continues

Cover Art by Held Under

 Recorded at DMS Studios

What an amazing band !! This band combines perfectly the most aggressive styles in metal, from thrash metal to modern metal with some touches of death metal and some hardcore too. Here we have a band that knows how to combine fast and extremely heavy guitar riffs with vocals that sometimes are aggressive and sometimes melodic adding a lot of personality to the band´s music. Here we have a powerful rhythm section that sounds really tight with some interesting double bass drumming. There are really good solos played with great taste by Dave Seacord and Dave Matthews. If I had to define the band´s music I would define it as the perfect blend between aggression and melodie with a huge sound!! 

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.heldunder.com

HOLY MARTYR - HATRED AND WARLUST (Spreadit Agency, 2003)

Produced By: Holy Martyr

Tracks: 1- Warmonger (A Mission of vengeance and terror), 2- Under Siege, 3- Hatred is My Strength, 4- Son of a King, 5- The Shadow over Innsmouth, 6- Metallian, 7- Frost and Fire (Cirith Ungol)

Cover Art by Marco Angloni

 Holy Martyr is pure metal....a combination of classic heavy metal with eighties thrash metal and a lot of speed metal. Here we have a band that creates powerful tunes with an eighties sound that we have been missing a lot since the times of early tthrash and speed metal. Here we have complex riffs and interesting melodies that are the spirit of this music. Plus we have a vocalist that is really raw and at the same time capable of creating the melodies that the music here needs. The tunes here have epic melodies and arrangements and that makes them memorable and are the kind of songs that are meant to be singed with the fist in teh air. The sound is good and reminds a lot to late eighties metal bands. A bit of fresh air for metal !!!!

Favorite tracks: "Under Siege", "Metallian" and "Son of a King"

Contact: www.holy-martyr.com

ICON OF HYEMES - UNPOPULAR (Kick Promotion Agency, 2002)

Produced By: Icon of Hyemes

Tracks: 1- Start to Blame, 2- A cruel Avantgarde Pt I: Gorevolution, 3- A Cruel Avantgarde Pt 2: Replica, 4- Take My Body To Replacement, 5- Asphyctic Song, 6- CD Rom Track

 Recorded at Fear Studio

Icon of Hyemes, a strange name for a band, but after a listening to their brutal music you have to remember that name because you will associate it with this extremely brutal music. Here we have fast tracks with blast beats and screaming death metal vocals, with guitars that are tight and at the same time develope ideas that make each compostition a showcase of bestiality. I have to remark the great sound that this recording has and that makes things even more brutal and extreme. The best thing here is the combination of this most extreme passages with others where the band shows a more technical side creating arrangements and changes that give a lot of variation to the compositions making this CD a demosntration of technical bestiality. There are five tracks here (plus an excellent CD rom track with photos, a video and bio) and the band leaves you wanting more after the album has finished. I hope they record new tracks soon !!!!

Favorite tracks: "Start to Blame", "A Cruel Avatgarde: Pt I and II" and "Asphyctic Song"

Contact: www.kickagency.com

ILLOGICIST - DISSONANT PERSPECTIVES (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Illogicist

Tracks: 1- The Soul Feeder, 2- Knowledge Curse, 3- Dissonant Perspectives

Cover Art by Illogicist

 Recorded at One Voice Studio

Illogicist is back after last year´s "Polymorphism of Death" with their new recording, a three track CD called "Dissonant Perspectives". And this album delivers tracks of really amazing quality where this italian band shows again their technical skills and the multiple arrangements that they are capable of doing track after track. Here we have their technical death metal withb many thrash and heavy metal influences that suprised us last year but this time things are even more complex and the band sounds even tighter. Luca and Diego are great in the guitars delivering riffs, complex rhythms and virtuoso solos all over the three tracks. Emilio and Remy make an excellent rhythm section that deliver twisted rhythms over which the tracks are contructed. This guys have become one of my favorite bands because I love the complexity of their songs and their musicianship. A must 

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: www.illogicist.com

JESTERS MOON - JESTERS MOON (Men In Black Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Jesters Moon

Tracks: 1- The Battle, 2- Devils Eyes, 3- No Clue, 4- What´s My name, 5- User, 6- Amnesia, 7- You´re On Your Own, 8- Destination Known, 9- Man In a Glass. 10- Backstreets

Cover Art by Jesters Moon

 Recorded at MIB Music Studios

This is with no doubt one of the best releases of the month. Here we have a band that has the perfect combination of melodies, powerful riffs, rocking influences and melodies. This band has mixed classic heavy metal with heavy rock and added a much heavier sound in order to achieve their own sound. Bryce Van Patten´s vocals are really aggressive and are really well harmonized in the palces that they have to and they fit perfectly the aggressive music that the band does. I have to remark the good work of the guitars that go from riff to solo and back again making each of the songs here shine with intelligence, feeling and technique. This band has made a good combination of styles that I think deserve to be experimented even more in the future. A must. 

Favorite tracks:

Contact: http://jestersmoon.iuma.com

JUGLANS REGIA - PRISMA (Spreadit Agency, 2003)

Produced By: Juglans Regia

Tracks: 1- Pioniere, 2- Respira, 3- Giochi di Luce, 4-Crepe, 5- L´Ombra

Cover Art by Juglans Regia

 Recorded at Orbit Studio

This band amazes you from the first track !! This album starts with a very low sounding guitar really distoprted before getting into a much better sounding guitar riff that soon is combined with keyboards. Yes, this is the progressive world of Juglans Regia. This guys combine a lot of complex elements into their own style delivering pure progressive metal with heavy use of keyboards and amazing guitar solos. The singer here is really good and clean reaching tonalities that are difficult to achieve and guiding the melodies and the feeling of the songs. This album has an excellent sound really cristal clear that it is essential for a progressive band like this one so one can listen all the different arrangements and parts that this guys create. Really subtle music done by excellent musicians with powerful elements.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.juglansregia.com

KATATONIA - GHOST OF THE SUN (Peaceville Recs./ Manic Music, 2003)

Produced By: Katatonia

Tracks: 1- Ghost of the Sun, 2- Criminals, 3- Evidence

Here we have the advance MCD from the new Katatonia album. This is a really atmospheric three song CD that is a warning of the path that Katatonia is taking on their new album "Viva Emptiness". In fact, this guys are heavier than on the previous album "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" but at the same time they have retained the introspective side of their music that are essential to their sound. Here the guitars are heavier but we have also here clean guitars and the amazing vocal melodies, really sad and anguished, creating the mood for this guys to develope their songs. The sound of the album is really good as Katatonia has accustomed us, this time with strong emphasis on heavier guitars and harder drumming. Now we have to listen to "Viva Emptiness" to confirm this. 

Favorite tracks: the three

Contact: www.peaceville.com or www.manicmusiconline.com

KILLING CREED - HAVOC (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Killing Creed

Tracks: 1- The End of teh Abyss, 2- From Another War, 3- Hollo Man, 4- Obey the Nightsky

Cover Art by Lorenzo Barbieri

 Recorded at Studio Boltate

 I would call Killing Creed´s music progressive death metal. Why? Because of the multiple arrangements, changes and variations that the music of this italian guys has. Here we have a band with a lot of technical skills who have succesfully mixed death metal, thrash metal, heavy metal and have added to the style their own identity. Here we have complex riffs and melodies, guitar solos and twin guitars. Also we have breaks, tempo changes and difficult drums patterns. The vocals is what essentially gives the death metal feeling to Killing Creed´s music because the band goes beyond any style, being heavy as hell but never getting too much time in any substyle. This is progressive death metal done by excellent musicians full of ideas. A must

Favorite tracks: All the album

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

LECHEROUS NOCTURNE - LECHEROUS NOCTURNE (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Lecherous Nocturne

Tracks: 1- Autoerotic Asphyxiation, 2- Consider the Following, 3- Palluscidal, 4- Horrorgasm, 5- Singe Este Viata, 6- Coitus Per Anum

 Recorded at Led Belly Sound

Some issues back we reviewed Lecherous Nocturne previous recording which was really extreme and full of death metal. Here we have their new release with six tracks of mayhemic death emtal from beginning to end, full of faster than a lightning riffs, drumming blast beats (besides complex arrangements that this killer drummer does). This is a release even more extreme than the previous one and the band has no mercy crushing you from the first riff to the last one. Plus, here the sound is much better and that adds power to the riffs and to the devastating drums. The vocals are really extreme and fit this mayhemic and bestial music perfectly ....here you have a band whose name is brutal extreme mayhemic metal!!!!! 

Favorite tracks: the six tracks

Contact: www.lecherousnocturne.com

LIQUEFIED SKELETON - MALICIOUS DOMINANCE (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Liquefied Skeleton

Tracks: 1- Malicious Dominance, 2- Cleansed, 3- Every Dead Thing, 4- With Deadly

Cover Art by

 Recorded at Springvale Studios

Some issues back we reviewed Liquefied Skeleton´s previous recording "Ripped and Torn" and there we were surprised by the powerful music that this band delivered. Well, this "Malicious Dominance" is even more powerful with a much better sound, specially on the guitars and the drums that sound almost mechanical. The voices are extreme but clear enough to deliver the brutal lyrics tat this band has. There are more solos here and I recommend the band to play even more because they fit really well the music of the compositions. The four tracks here are really well developed and are a step forward for this band whose main goal is brutality with a lot of hooks in the guitar riffs and the rhythms. Completelly recomendable.

Favorite tracks: The Four

Contact: www.liquefiedskeleton.com

LOL COXHILL - OUT TO LUNCH (Emanem Disc, 2003)

Produced By: Martin Davidson

Tracks: 1- Music for Feathery Fronds, 2- The Unlaunched Orchestra, 3- Relaunch One, 4- Relaunch Two

Cover Art by Martin Davidson

Here we have a new recording by sax master Lol Coxhill . this time he offers us four tracks of pure sax solos. Three of them are played on his own in Chicag and London and the remaining one is a track with the Unlaunched Orchestra that features such great musicians as Ian Smith, Pat Thomas, Veryan Weston and Paul Rutherford (among others). Here Coxhill delivers through more than an hour all his sax phrases and improvisations that always amazes with their complexity and their spontaneity. Coxhill is amazing on all tracks and I liked specially the lo0neger ones wyhere he can develope many more ideas. As always Coxhill and the other musicians deliver extreme improvisations sometimes close to noise sometimes melodic but always exploring all the possibilities of their instruments. 

Favorite tracks: "Music for feathery Fronds" and "Relaunch One"

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

LUNA AD NOCTUM - DIMNESS PROFOUND (Pagan Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Luna Ad Noctum

Tracks: 1- Dimness Prologue, 2- Traitor of Sadness and Grief, 3- An Ancient Splendour, 4- The Last Coldest Sunset, 5- Moonlit Sanctum, 6- The Mirror of Our Curse, 7- Mental-Spirit and Flesh, 8- The Evil´s God (Await Us...), 9- Her Raven´s Aura

A short keyboards introductions takes us to the grim world of Luna Ad Noctum. This band is extremely aggressive and blasphemic and their black metal is ultra fast and raw and at the same time has many ideas thta are really interesting. First of all I have to remark the good work that the guitarists have done combining fast black metal riffs with more rhythmic and aggressive ones that give a lot of power to the band´s music. Then I have to remark the excellent keybaords passages and the good that this keybaords sound contrasting with the aggressive guitars. I have to call this music climatic black metal because of the combination of great keybaords orchestration with guitars taht go from full hatred riffs to climatic arrangements that makes things really dark. This is a n album ideal to listen with the lights off and feeling this guyys surround you with their music. A really good album.

Favorite tracks: "Traitor...", "An Ancient Splendour" and " Moonlit Sanctum"

Contact: www.lunaadnoctum.metal.pl

LYZANXIA - MINDCRIMES (Wagram Music, 2003)

Produced By: Fredrik Nordström and Lyzanxia

Tracks: 1- Time Dealer, 2- Medulla Need, 3- Damnesia, 4- Mind Split, 5- Dusk, 6- Game Time, 7- My Blank Confession, 8- Black Side, 9- Silence Code, 10- O.M., 11- Fugitive, 12- Glass Bones

Cover Art by Lyzanxia

Pure aggression and devastation is what this guys deliver on track after track. The guitar riffs are fast and powerful and are played very tight by this really well rehearsed band that delivers here crushing arrangements and complex breaks. The vocals are extremely aggressive and add some death metal feeling to the music (they sound like a more aggressive version of At the Gates), and when combined with a cleaner more melodic voice they deliver compositions that are designed to be classics and that stick really soon in the listener´s mind. This guys have really good technical skills and this allows them to deliver complex riffs and rhythms through all the tracks making each of the songs delivered here a unique experience. One of the best releases of the month. 

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.lyzanxia.com

MAPLE CROSS - NEXT CHAPTER (Firebox Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Maple Cross

Tracks: 1- the Spirit of Northern Brotherhood, 2- Au Revoir, 3- Last Steps of Joe, 4- World Wide Mystery, 5- The Chosen people, 6- Simply Simplicity, 7- Invincibles, 8- Victim of Life, 9- Nothing Starts from the Beginning, 10- Embodiment of Air, 11- New Direction

Cover Art by Maple Cross

 Recorded at Ultima Studio

Maple Cross is back with their new "Next Chapter". This album is much more aggressive than the previous one and has a bigger sound that gives more strength to the compositions and adds a lot of brutality to the songs while making each of the arrangments created more clearer. The riffs are extremely powerful and everything here has been designed in order to devastate the listener (we are not talking about speed or guttural vocals, they have open riffs with some heavy and rocking influences and screaming vocals). The compositions have hooks that stick in the listener´s mind and also there are many interesting guitar arrangements and melodies that give identity to Maple Cross music. An album that is recommended to any metal lover.

Favorite tracks: "The Chosen People", "Au Revoir" and "Embodiment of Air"

Contact: www.maplecross.net or www.firebox.fi

MARKUS EICHENBERGER´S DOMINO - CONCEPT FOR ORCHESTRA (Emanem Disc, 2003)

Produced By: Martin Davidson

Tracks: 1- Part I, 2- Part II, 3- Part III, 4- Part IV, 5- Part V, 6- Part VI

Cover Art by Martin Davidson

 Recorded at DRS Zürich

Great clarinetist Markus Eichenberger has created this musical compostion in six parts that is designed for full improvisation with an orchestra. Here we have great musicians such as Charlotte Hug (whose album we review on this issue too) on viola, Frank Rühl on guitar, Helmut Bieler-Wendt in violin and many more musicians. All this people have the skills necessary to interpret the spontaneous compositions that Markus has created. Here the musicnas play with notes and silences and this ones ar essential here to create the music that they want to transmit. The improvisation here is completely spontaneous and  we can listen how well the instruments interact one with each other. There are memorable parts such as the one in Part II with interaction between the winds and the percussion. I recommend this to lovers of spontaneity and good musicianship.

Favorite tracks: All the composition

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

MARTIN ARCHER - ENGLISH COMMONFLOWERS (Independent., 2002)

Produced By: Martin Archer

Tracks: 1- I´pm Yr Huckleberry, 2- Fantastic Individual, 3- English Commonflowers, 4-Know, 5- Water Grid, 6- Mall Bunnies, 7- Down the Road, 8- Still Life With Absinthe and Pomegranates, 9- Trash White Tonal

Cover Art by Abra Cadaver

 Recorded at Telecottage and The Sound Kitchen

Martin Archer is an amazing composer and musician. On this album he plays instruments as different as keyboards, saxophone, bass guitar and clarinet. He also is a master of electronics and he shows his skills through the nine tracks that are within this album. Each track is an exploration of some feeling that is going through Martin´s mind and soul, where he delivers amazing musical phrases with a lot of original melodies and killer experimentation. Plus the album has other really great guest musicians, such as Vic Middletopn on sax and Charlie Collins on flute and many others. Here each of the tracks is a masterpiece with a lot of ideas development and originality. I will recommend this album to all music lovers no matter which musical style we are listening. 

Favorite tracks: All the album

Contact: www.discus-music.co.uk

MARTIN ARCHER / GERALDINE MONK / JULIE TIPPETS - FLUVIUM (Discus Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Charlie Collins

Tracks: 1- Espial, 2- Fusile, 3- Ghast, 4- Metablethers, 5- Aftershock

Cover Art by Martin Archer

Thsi album is extremely experimental and here we can listen the good musicanship that Martin Archer has, showed in a way that is more extreme than in the solo album that we commented creating sounds that are more different to understand and compositions that have a higher level of complexity and spontaneity. Here Archer is joined by the voices of Geraldine Monk and Julie Tippets that act as another instrument contrasting heavily with Archer´s electronics and saxophones. Here everything is conceived from experimentation doing unbelieavable things with the voices while the electronics deliver a copld feeling with its improvisations. Each of the five pieces here are well developed and show a more extreme side of Martin Archer´s musical personality interacting in a really good way with vocals and sounds. 

Favorite tracks: The five

Contact: www.discus-music.co.uk

MAYA HOMBURGER - G.P.H. TELEMANN XII FANTASIE PER IL VIOLINO SENZA BASSO 1735 (Maya Recordings, 1993)

Produced By: Nicholas Parker and Barry Guy

Tracks: 1- in B flat major, 2- in G Major, 3- in F minor, 4- in D Major, 5- in A Major, 6- in E minor, 7- in E flat Major, 8- in E Major, 9- in B minor, 10- in D Major, 11- in F major, 12- in A minor

 Recorded at Church of St. Michael and All Angels

Maya Homburger is an excellent violinist and excellent musician and she delivers here twelve beautiful fantasies by Georg Phillip Telemann that are a showcase of good technique, excellent taste (the compositions by Telemann are realy beautiful and Maya plays with the right vibrato and feeling that the pieces need). This is a really introspective recording where Maya delivers beautiful phrases with a lot of melody  and harmony. Everything here is bauty and you have here over seventy minutes of the best musicanship and a great execution of masterpieces by this german master of classical music. I recommend this album to all music lovers.

Favorite tracks: All the album is a masterpiece

Contact: www.mayarecordings.com

MERENDINE ATOMICHE - WALK ACROSS FIRE (Dead Sun Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Merendine Atomiche

Tracks: 1- Blood For Glory, 2- Walk Across Fire, 3- Game Over, 4- The Cheat of the Cross, 5- Total Darkness, 6- Revenge, 7- the Spirit of Wolf, 8- Victory Over the Enemies

Cover Art by Emanuele Tenderini

 Recorded at Sunlight Studios

An acoustic overture opens this album in the track "Blood for Glory" before getting into full powerful metal. It is amazing how well this band has evolved since their previous album "The Holy Metal". And they have become heavier with guitars that sound much bigger, drums that are more effective and a lot of guitar arrangements that are essential to Merendine´s sound. The vocals are really powerful while very clear and they give a lot of power to the lyrics that are sung here. We have here Jeff Waters from Annihilator playing a solo in "Game Over" and also Anders Lundmeark doing vocals in "Revenge". There are interesting guitar melodies that sound clear and original giving a melodic touch to the songs. The band sounds extremely tight and I really like the sound with the bass really up in the front giving a lot of dynamics to the compositions.  I recommend this labum to all metal fans !!

Favorite tracks: All the album.

Contact: www.merendineatomiche.3000.it

METAL 4 BREAKFAST COMPILATION (Metal 4 Breakfast Prods., 2003)

Produced By: Metal 4 Breakfast

Tracks: 1- Corpse Disposal Unit: John Doe #3, 2- Suckerpunched: Craven Cane, 3- 12 Days of Anarchy: Lone Wolf, 4- Stinklinger: Bad Mexican Food, 5-Shallow Grave Satanic Symphony: Coverband Remix, 6- DMO: Soldier, 7- Free Weed: Infection, 8- Disciples of Hate: Sacrilegious, 9- Suckerpunched: Ass Fucked, 10- DMO: Towelhead; 11- Corpse Disposal Unit: Leonard Lakes; 12- Dripping Wet Snatch: Shadows of Yesterday; 13- Stinkfinger: I Need a Beer; 14- DMO: Her Ass; 15- Shallow Grave Satanic Symphony; 16- Mc Veigh´s Vision: Nuclear Bomb Terrorist; 17- 12 Days of Anarchy: Eastern Front

Cover Art by Metal 4 Breakfast

Here we have a compilation of bands whose music appear in the Metal 4 Breakfast show, and theya re all extreme ones. Here we have from the death metal with extreme brutality of bands like Corpse Disposal Unit or 12 Days of Anarchy to the more Prong-like sound of bands like Suckerpunched. But every band here has an extreme sound and also a degree of weirdness in their music (check the beginning of "Lone Wolf" or the chorus of "Craven Cane" to see what I am talking about). The sound has a lot of variations here and it depends on each of the bands and how well they have mixed their music. There are bands that sound more primitive and other ones thata re more modern. Here you have seventeen tracks of pure power and brutality !!! A really underground compilation with emphasis on bands that have a name in the underground and that deliver intense music. 

Favorite tracks: tracks number 2, 5, 11 and 15

Contact: corpsedisposalunit@hotmail.com

MORBID ANGEL - GATEWAYS TO ANNIHILATION (Earache Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Morbid Angel and Jim Morris

Tracks: 1- Kawazu, 2- Summoning Redemption, 3- Ageless, Still I Am, 4- He Who Sleeps, 5- To the Victor the spoils, 6- At One With Nothing, 7- Opening of the Gates, 8- Secured Limitations, 9- Awakening, 10- I, 11- God of the Forsaken

 Recorded at Morrisound Recording

Better late than never !! Here is Morbid Angel´s latest output....opening with a more mid paced track called "Summoning Redemption" the band delivers their usual blast of heavier than hell riffs along with Pete Sandoval´s ultra precise double bass drumming. This album has the return of Erik Rutan to the recording lineup so here is the constant clash of styles of Trey and Erik´s guitar contrasting with the powerful vocals by Steve Tucker. Here is everything that you can find in Morbid Angel´s album, complex riffs and rhythms guttural vocals, a huge guitar sound and a clear vocals and drums sound that makes things heavier. Also this album has the experimentation that we found in many of Morbid Angel´s tracks where Trey Azagthoth´s plays dense arrangements over midpaced rhythms (check "He Who Sleeps") instead of doing hyper fast arrangements like he used to did in for example the "Altars of Madness" album. A must for lovers of the band who likes them exploring new ideas in the death metal context.

Favorite tracks: "Ageless, Still I Am", "To the Voictor the Spoils" and "Awakening"

Contact: www.earache.com

MY SHAMEFUL - OF ALL THE WRONG THINGS (Firebox Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Sami Rautio

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Scattered Ashes, 3- Blackend Lies, 4- A Saddened Sunset, 5- The Wind that Burns All, 6- Beneath, 7- I Fear, 8- Blamed

Cover Art by Minna Rautio

This is pure doom !!! Really dense and atmospheric guitar riffs with slow rhythms and a graveyard like voice are the main elements in My Shameful´s music. Here Sami Rautio is the main brain behind this dark as hell music and this sad lyrics. Here we have a man that knows how to transmit to the listener his darkest feelings and fears that he has made into music and he achieves a great result through the eight compositions of this album. This has to be one of the darkest releases ever full of dense guitar chords played over a slow or midtempo but heavy as hell drums and the vocals are a nightmare twisting into the brain of the listener and slithering like a dark snake into its mind to deliver the darkest of the feelings. Here we have one of the darkest and saddest bands in the world. Totally recomendable. 

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.firebox.fi

NAER MATARON - RIVER AT DUSK SCALDING (Black Lotus Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Magus, Embryo and Naer Mataron

Tracks: 1- As teh Clouds of War Gather/ The Continuity of Land and Blood, 2- The Great Meridian Tide, 3- Revolt Agains the Modern World, 4- The Life and Death of Europa, 5- And the Sun (death), 6- The Triumph of Will, 7- Ancestor Worship, 8- Salvatores Dei, 9- The Plunderer, 10- Steppe

 Recorded at Praxis Studio

Black metal !!! pure, unholy, blasphemic, aggressive, antichristian black metal fukll of ultra fast guitar riffs combined with many tempo changes and breaks and some thrash metal influences are what this Greek band does on this album. Here everything is dark from beginning to end and you can listen the combination of chainsaw like guitars with the scremaing vocals and the fast drumming that are the essence of Naer Mataron´s music. Plus this guys have many interesting guitar arrnagements and changes that set them apart from the bands of the style. They have also a modern sound that contrast heavily with the screaming and with the faster parts. This album is really well recorded and is the perfect combiantion between extreme aggressio, brutality and darker than death atmosphere. Check it or die.

Favorite tracks: "The Great Meridian Tide", "The Life and Death of Europa" and "Ancestor Worship"

Contact: www.black-lotus-recs.com or www.naermataron.cjb.net

NARTVIND - UNTIL THEIR RUIN (Painkiller Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Nartvind

Tracks: 1- intro, 2- The End of Another Human Life, 3- Blitzkrieg, 4- ..eternally blessed, damned....shall he suffer, 5- War Propaganda, 6- Black Metal Mist, 7- Flowing Blood, 8- Hail Self Destruction, 9- Balleys of Extermination

Black metal in its rawest style !!! Yes, pure devilish, blasphemic black metal played at hyper speed with chainsaw like riffs and extremely screaming vocals. Here we have a band that goes for the most extreme side of the black metal style with a drummer that smashes his drumkit with his blast beats and his ultra fast rhythms. The sound of the recording is extremely raw making things even darker and making the band sound really underground. The songs are well constructed and developed and everything here is done in order to create the darkest atmosphere that is possible combined with utter aggression and power . I have to recommend tracks like "War Propaganda" or "Flowing Blood" because of their savage riffs and black metal attitude. 

Favorite tracks: "War Propaganda", "Flowing Blood" and "Black metal Mist"

Contact: www.painkiller-records.com

NEW SUN - EXPECTATIONS ( Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Christopher Scott Cooper

Tracks: 1- Mammoth, 2- Cause and Effect 2, 3- Land of Not So, 4- Expectations; 5- Time, and No Words With You, 6- No Mas Uvas, 7- Do You Wish to Know

Cover Art by Dale Beliveau

 Recorded at Annex Digital

 This is pure progressive rock with a lot of melodies that spin in the listeners brain leaving a sensation of harmony and peace and at the same time a feeling of curiosity. Why am I saying this? Because here this guys deliver idea after idea and they keep you wondering what they are going to do next. This guys have amazing technical skills in order to play this parts and arrangements correctly and they also have a big sense of melodies and harmonic arrangements (here you can find guitar, bass, keyboards, violins, piano, and a lot of vocal harmonies). It is amazing how well this guys put together melodies and ideas developing each of the tracks that are on this album,. There is some influence of the seventies progressive rock bands but this guys go beyond this influences using a more modern sound to create their own music. This is a must for all musicians and also for anyone interested in a band that is an endless source of musical ideas.

Favorite tracks: All the album

Contact: www.new-sun.com

NOCTURNA - THE MEANING OF TIME (Spreadit Agency, 2003)

Produced By: Nocturna

Tracks: 1- Apochalypsis Nova, 2- Anywhere Out of This World, 3-Screaming from the Night

Cover Art by Design Studio

 Recorded at Fear Studio

Pure metal with great vocal melodies, complex riffs and many tempo and rhythm changes. This is a heavy metal abnd with some modern influences and modern sound. Here we have guitarists that are really technically proficient and that create all the structure of Nocturna´s music with their riffs, and then we have a really solid rhythm section taht is really well rehearsed and sounds extremely tight. The soul of Noctrurna´s music is the voice of Marco Cialabrini, a guy that can go from the most melodic phrases to heavy power metal singing in the same track. One thing to point out is the excellent sound of the recording with a really good mix that makes the instruments shine. Here we have pure metal with a modern sound and an air of renovation for metal

Favorite tracks: "Apocalypsis Nova" and "Screaming from the Night

Contact: gargoyle@supereva.it

OBLIVION - RENEWAL (C.L. Music and Publishing, 2002)

Produced By: Mick Nordström and Oblivion

Tracks: 1- Pain in pain Out, 2- Faith, 3- Renewal of Our Minds, 4- I.D.W., 5- How Could You, 6- Why, 7- Sovereign God, 8- Get Away, 9- Redeemed, 10- Reject, 11- Cleansing Cleaning

 Recorded at Berghem Studio

Here we have a band that combines modern metal with styles such as death metal and thrash metal. Oblivion sounds really modern and they have managed to put a lot of death metal in their music whilke letting some thrash influences in some voices and riffs that combined creates the Oblivion sound. They have achieved in that way an extremely heavy album with eleven crushing composition where the essential element is the ehaviness of the guitar riffs and the vocals in the pure Mille Petrozza´s style. The good mix helps this guys to deliver even more heaviness on the recording because the guitars sound heavy yet melodic in many places like for example in "Faith" . The drumming leaves a lot of space for the guitars to develope their own rhythm and making Things heavier. This is a good combination of modern metal with other classical styles. Powerful.

Favorite tracks: "Faith", "Sovereign God" and "Reject"

Contact: http://welcome.to/clpublishing

ONE BAD PIG - SWINE FLEW (Independent, 1990)

Produced By: Billy Smiley

Tracks: 1- See me Sweat, 2- Altar Ego, 3- Hey punk, 4- Red River, 5- Bowl of Wrath, 6- Big Stomach, 7- Christmas Time, 8- Judas Kiss, 9- Desperation, 10- Thrash against sin, 11- Swine Flew, 12- When your Love Died, 13- We Want You

Cover Art by Nick Newton

One Bad Pig is a punk rock band with heavy guitars that has been making their music since the eighties and they are a classic now !! and here we have the pleasure to review their music. This album is one of their most classic moments and while listening to it you can understand why. Here we have rocking powerful tunes with good guitar riffs and simple rhythms that stick in your mind very fast making each song really memorable. The vocals are really punk and that adds a seventies vibe to the music that fit perfectly the rest of the band. The sound of the recording is raw and effective and gives a lot of power to the music of this classic band. A must if you want songs that are really catchy while powerful and well designed. 

Favorite tracks: "Swine Flew", "Red River" and "Big Stomach"

Contact: http://www.onebadpig.com

ONE BAD PIG - THE QUINTESSENTIAL ONE BAD PIG VOL.1 (Independent, 1993)

Produced By: Billy Smiley

Tracks: 1- People Cry Out, 2- Lust, 3- I Am the Chief, 4-Let´s Be Frank, 5- I´m not getting any older, 6- The Man in Black, 7- Life´s a Bomb, 8- Sleeping with the World, 9- Isian 6, 10- Red River

Cover Art by Neil Hawkins

 Here we have a compilation of some of One Bad Pig´s better moments. The music here is the punk rock that many of you know now and here they deliver ten of their more rocking tunes. Plus, here we have also a cover of Johnny Cash´s "The Man In Black" in a really good version. The guitars here sound really punk and at the same time tight enough to give more power to the songs. And this is what is essential in One Bad Pig´s music: thir tightness as a band. Despite being wild and rocking this band has created really good tunes along their career and they show this on this album. A must for people who like the band and also for those who doesn´t know it and want to give them a well deserved chance.

Favorite tracks: "People Cry Out", "I´m not getting..." and "Life´s a Bomb"

Contact: http://www.onebadpig.com

ONE BAD PIG - A CHRISTIAN BANNED (Independent, 1986)

Produced By:

Tracks: 1- 6 , 2- Sleepin with the World, 3- Make Me Burn, 4- Blow and Go, 5- Anarchy is Prison, 6- Life´s a Bomb

Cover Art by One Bad Pig

 Recorded at Studio West

This album starts at full speed with "6", a track that can be described as a classic in punk rock. Fast riffs with simple rhythms and catchy choruses are the essence of One Bad Pig´s music. Here the main objective is to create really powerful music with a punk attitude and memorable choruses. And they have succeeded in creating this kind of music. The sound is raw as any punk band needs in order to be powerful and the six tracks here have melodies and energy that are essential to stick in the mnd of the listener 

Favorite tracks: The six

Contact: http://www.onebadpig.com

ONE BAD PIG - LIVE !! BLOW THE HOUSE DOWN! (Independent, 1992)

Produced By: Billy Smiley

Tracks: 1- Prelude: Gren Acres theme, 2- Take a look at yourself, 3- Hey punk, 4- Smash the Guitar, 5- I Scream Sunday, 6- Red River, 7- Judas Kiss, 8- Cut Your hair, 9- Bowl or Wrath, 10- Isaiah 6, 11- Let´s be Frank, 12- Altar Ego, 13- Swine Flew, 14- Godarchy, 15- Kosher, 16- Ice Cream Sundae, 17- Looney Tune, 18- Rock the Casbah, 19- Never Forgetthe Cross

Cover Art by Mike Tabor

 Recorded at Cornerstone Festival

Here we have a live recording from this punk band that deserves to be a classic in the history of the style. Here we have nineteen songs that show how powerful is this band while playing simple riffs and catchy rhythms while Carey Womack spits the lyrics that are sometimes kind of punk anthems and sometimes praises to God. The sound of the recording is raw and catches perfectly the live feeling that a concert recording must have.  The songs sound more powerful here than in their studio versions and some of them are played faster. Plus there is a cover of "Rock the Casbah" by the Clash done in the One Bad Pig way. A great live recording from this classic band !

Favorite tracks: "Take a Look at Yourself", "Altar Ego" and "Let´s be Frank"

Contact: http://www.onebadpig.com

ORION - ILLUSORY EXISTENCE (Spreadit Agency, 2003)

Produced By: Orion

Tracks: 1- Living Agony, 2- Lord Byron, 3- Tragedy (Illusory Existence), 4- Slaves of Yourselves

Cover Art by Orion

A powerful opening tears the wall aparts adn among the ruins comes the power of Orion. Here we have a band that makes pure metal with a good ombination of heavy guitars and keyboard orchestration. The first thing that amazes the lsitener is the fluent use of keyboards to orchestrate every single part of the songs. Here we have a band whose guitars are extremely heavy creating aggressive riffs with some thrash metal influence, but the keybvoards give another dimension to the band´s music. The singer is really aggressive and sounds like the more aggresive thrash metal singers with the use of powerful melodies that give strength and melody to the music. This is pure metal with a lot of arrangements that give originality to the music. The sound of the recording is raw but powerful giving the band the power that they must have in the mix. Powerful metal for all lovers of aggressive music.  

Favorite tracks: "Living Agony" and "Slaves of Yourselves"

Contact: http://orionmetal.8k.com

ORODRUIN - EPICUREAN MASS (PsycheDOOMelic Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Orodruin

Tracks: 1- The Welcoming, 2- Peasants Lament, 3- Melancholia, 4- Pierced by Cruel Winds, 5- Burn the Witch, 6- Unspeakable Truth, 7- War Cry, 8- Epicurean Mass

This "Epicurean Mass" opens with a dark and melancholic keyboards intro that leads us directly into the doomish world of this band. Here we have a band that follows the path that bands like Trouble, Saint Vitus and The Obsessed have made so great! And this band is one of the best that I have heard in a long time with some seventies influences in the guitar riffs, slow and rhythmic riffs and sad and obscure vocal melodies. The band succeeds in delivering a darker than hell album with powerful riffs and extremely cold melodies. The sound of the recording is what this guys needed: loud, raw and remarking the seventies sound of the guitars. There are interesting guitar solos combined with the riffs that add diversity to the songs. The tracks are really well composed and bands like the above mentioned would be proud of Orodruin taking the flame of doom metal

Favorite tracks: "Peasants Lament", "Melancholia" and "Unspeakable Truth"

Contact: www.orodruin.us or www.psycheDOOMelic.com

OVER US EDEN - OVER US EDEN (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Over Us Eden

Tracks: 1- Premonition, 2- Metamorphosis, 3- Fahrenheit Zero, 4- Evil Roots, 5- Deep Cortex, 6- Night Time, 7- Sunchild, 8- In the Eyes of Cygnus, 9- Silent Tree, 10- Deliverance

Cover Art by Over Us Eden

 Recorded by Uli Kusch

What a powerful band is this one! Starting with powerful riffs from the very beginning of the album they deliver powerful tracks with a lot of heavy/power metal feeling but also with a great modern sound and crushing riffs that are not common in the style (plus they have the guitars tuned down (one step?) in order to sound heavier. An amazing sing is that they have a female singer that sound extremely powerful (most male vocalists cannot reach the power that Magali Luyten delivers track after track) and that delivers amazing melodies with a lot of strength . The guitar riffs are devastating and are the soul of Over Us Eden´s music. Plus here we have the recording done by Uli Kusch that makes sound really huge !!! The band is extremely tight and that makes things even more powerful. This is an essential album for any lover of really heavy metal music !!!

Favorite tracks: All teh album

Contact: www.overuseden.com

PANTHEIST - O SOLITUDE - (Firebox Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Pantheist

Tracks: 1- O Solitude, 2- Don´t Mourn, 3- Time, 4- Envy Us, 5- Curse the Morning Light

Cover Art by Oscar Strik

 Recorded at CCR Studios

I would label Pantheist as the perfect band to play in a funeral. Their extremely slow and dark riffs are contrasting with the depressive and sad melodies that the guitars and keyboards create and at the same time fit perfectly the mood of the song delivering songs that are designed to take you to the edge of suicide with its sad and anguished melodies. Rostas vocals are extremely sad and when combined with Nicolas whispering voice they deliver an arcane kind of music that is perfect for listening with the lights out and with your eyes shut letting your mind fly. The sound is really good and I liked specially the keyboards orchestration that are the soul and spirit of Pantheist´s music. Doom lovers have to rejoice with this recording. Really atmospheric 

Favorite tracks: One of the best releases of 2003.

Contact: www.firebox.fi

PANTOKRATOR - BLOD (Rivel Records , 2003)

Produced By: Pantokrator

Tracks: 1- Eden, 2- Förbannad Mark, 3- Blod Ropar Från Jorden, 4- Syndafloden, 5- Bundsförvant, 6- Moria Kallar, 7- Tidevarv, 8- O Guds Lamm, 9- Gudablodets Kraft, 10- Evighetens Gryning

 Recorded in the Kingdom of Sweden

Judging the album by the cover I expected a black metal band with climatic aprts. But I was wrong. This guys are extremely difficult to describe. Sometimes they sound black metal, sometimes thy use heavy keyboards parts to create dark passages and sometimes they sound really death metal due to the combination of complex riffs with guttural vocals. But then the keyboards enter over the heaviest parts and also enters a beautiful female vocal that creates a completely different atmosphere then comes back the heavier than hell part. This band is difficult to describe but if I had to put a label on them I would describe them as dark atmospheric modern black death metal (sounds ridiculous but this guys have achieved their own style). The compositions have many changes in riffs and rhythms and that add points to the final result. The sound is raw but very good. This is one of the albums of the month. 

Favorite tracks: All teh CD

Contact: www.rivelrecords.com

PERISHED - SEID (Displeased Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Ymon

Tracks: 1- Storm of Fall Delight, 2- Dance of the Elves, 3- On Wings of Desire, 4- As Water Turns to Ice, 5- Forged to Woodshed, 6- Departure of Cosmic Union, 7- Untouched by Mortal Life, 8- Burning Heart of Ice

Cover Art by Tom Lovell and Ymon

 Recorded at Skansen Lydstudio

This is pure pagan black metal played with extrmely good sound and interesting arrangements by this guys !! The music is really fast and it is pure black metal with some death emtal touches in some of the vocals. Here we have eight tracks of pure antichristian mayhem played at full speed with good technique and sounding really tight (this guys are extremely well rehearsed because they play a lot of complex parts and made them in a completely correct way. The keyboards here add a darker feeling along with some guitar melodies, such as in "Dance of the Elves". The guitars interact really well playing riffs, rhythms and melodies without missing a beat (excellent fast parts and also acoustic interludes). The sound of the recording enhances a lot the resuults making this album a demonstration of what dark metal is all about!!

Favorite tracks: "Dance of the Elves", "As Water Turns to Ice" and "Forged to Woodshed"

Contact: www.perished.biz

POWER FROM THE SKY - A NEW WAVE OF SWEDISH METAL (C.L. Music and Publishing, 2002)

Produced By: C.L. Music and Publishing

Tracks: 1- WISDOM CALL: Power from the Sky, 2- CRIMSON MOONLIGHT: Touch of Emptiness, 3- AYENNA: Liar, 4- HEAVEN: Know it´s true, 5- LAUDAMUS: Unlimited Love, 6- SANCTIFICA: The dark desires, 7- OBLIVION: Pain In Pain Out, 8- PANTOKRATOR: Divine Light, 9- SONS OF THUNDER: Jesus Viking, 10- WISDOM CALL: Never Satisfied, 11- AYENNA: Spiritual Home, 12- SANCTIFICA: IN the Bleak Midwinter, 13- HEAVEN: Calls My Name, 14- PANTOKRATOR: Ur Intets Mörker, 15- OBLIVION: Why

Here we have an eclectic compillation of swedish metal bands in many different styles. And most of the bands are being reviewed on this issue too! Starting with the pure metal with power metal shades of Wisdom Call and then going fast to Crimson Moonlight´s symphonic dark black metal full of keyboards and aggressive extreme vocals. Then comes one band that I had not heard: Ayenna, that reminded me a little bit to Yngwie Malmsteen and is pure heavy metal with some classical feeling. Bands like Laudamus have a worse sound quality than the other bands (though their music is good and original full of keyboards) but soon comes Sanctifica with their modern metal. We have also great bands like Pantokrator, Oblivion and Sons of Thunder. This are over 70 minutes of pure metal in many different styles that will surely keep you listening to it over and over.

Favorite tracks: All the album

Contact: http://welcome.to/clpublishing

PREVAIL - PREVAIL (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Prevail

Tracks: 1- Illusion of A God, 2- Mind Deception, 3- The Fly, 4- Insanity, 5- Look at him in the Face

Cover Art by Prevail

 Recorded at Nadir Studios

A couple of issues back we reviewed the previous recording of this powerful italian band. This time the recording is even better. Here we have extremely heavy and modern guitar riffs with some hardcore attitude mixed with pure and modern metal creating Prevail´s own brand of music. Here we have the influence of bands like Pro-Pain or Crowbar but this time the things are more aggressive and the five tracks that are on this album reflect  an even more powerful side of Prevail. The sound on the last recording was good but this one is even better making the guitars sound heavier than hell devastating your ears. The voice is really aggressive and here is where I feel the more hardcore attitude that is characteristic of this band´s music. The drumming is really effective and crushes your ears with its rhythms while the guitars melt your brain. Here we have a band that plays extremely aggressive music with an excellent sound !!

Favorite tracks: "Illusion of a God" , "Mind Deception" and "Insanity"

Contact: www.prevail.3000.it

PROFANATION - DEAD MAN ROTTING (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Profanation

Tracks: 1- Attack of the Brain Dead, 2- Dead Man Rotting, 3- (Desire For...) Autopsy, 4- O.C.B. - The Oath Despised, 5- Delicious Preparation, 6- How To Use a Human Being, 7- Blood Drenched Ground, 8- Barbaric Death Metal, 9- Dead World, 10- Mixolydian Ten Bar Blues

Cover Art by Profanation

 Recorded at Polygam Studio

Pure brutality. This is what you will find on this album from this german band. Pure grind death at full speed with guttural vocals and a lot of noise and speed. Here you have a band that creates songs that are longer than in most bands of the style but that create each riff, each drumbeat, each scream to deliver pure brutality to the listener. The guitars sound really fat and that is essential to profanation´s heaviness. There are a lot of blast beats and hyper fast parts but they are combined with mroe rhythmic and death metal riffs that add heaviness to the compositions. It is amazing that you can follow the lyrics that are on the booklet despite the guttural nature of the voices here. The recording has an extremely raw sound and that makes things even more extreme. Pure brutality !!!! 

Favorite tracks: "Attack of teh Brain Dead", "Dead Man Rotting" and "Delicious Preparation"

Contact: grindmaster_hippi@yahoo.de

RAA HOOR KHUIT - PASSAGE THROUGH SEPHIORS (Hit That Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Raa Hoor Khuit

Tracks: 1- Passage through Sephiors, 2- Philosophers Burden, 3- The Source of Eternity, 4- Immortal Twilight Majesty, 5- Unto Perfection, 6- Leader of the Blind, 7- Aeons Apart, 8- Conquest Manifest, 9- The Secrets of Angels, 10- Birth of Immortal Stars

Cover Art by Tobias Kuschill

 Recorded at Hit That

This amazing band from Germany delivers on this recording ten tracks of symphonic black metal full of keyboards and extremely dark atmospheres. I really liked the combination of typical black metal vocals with another type of voals thata re more melodic but darker and more climatic. The guitars are aggressive but the main thing here is the complexity of the songs and the keyboards arrangements that contrast heavily with the faster side of the band´s music. Barachiel´s drums sound really weird, almost electronic and I think that is a problem of the mix. I liked a lot the guitar riffs that are not typical of black metal preferring to concentrate in riffs that can fit perfectly the dark atmospheres of the compositions. Here you have a really original band that knows how to deliver aggressive yet atmospheric music. 

Favorite tracks: ""Philosophers Burden", "Unto Perfection" and "Conquest Manifest"

Contact: www.raa-hoor-khuit.de

RASPATUL - MENGHITUNG AJAL (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Raspatul

Tracks: 1- Intense Intro w/Breaking, 2- Scraped Torn Flesh, 3- Menghitung Ajal, 4- A.O.D. (Annihilation of Divinity), 5- Unholy

Cover Art by Raspatul

 Recorded at TNT Studio

Pure brutality and aggression id what we have on this extremely powerful album. Here we have death metal in its most aggressive format combined with original riffs. I mean, here we have a band that emphasized the energy of their riffs instead of simple speed. This guys prefer to create rhythmic and aggressive riffs thta are much heavier than simple and fast riffs. The guitars sound really fat and they create a wall of sound with them that will smash your brain into pieces. The sound of the recording is good specially on the guitars and the different types of voices that go from scremaing to guttural and back. But the best thing here is the rhythmic quality of the compositions that leave them in your brain even if the CD has finished. This is really aggressive music with original ideas and a lot of power.  

Favorite tracks: the five

Contact: raspatul@hotmail.com

RECLUSION - SHELL OF PAIN (Independent, 200)

Produced By: Reclusion

Tracks: 1- Shelter from pain, 2- Impulsive, 3- Pressure, 4- Reclusion, 5- The Quest, 6- Sacred Ground, 7- Unspoken Fear, 8- A Force of One, 9- Speak the Truth

Cover Art by Reclusion

 Recorded at Los Angered Studios

Reclusion plays powerful modern metal with some death metal influences in the vocals and in some of the drumming. I can say with no doubt that Reclusion is a band that can beat bands like Machine Head with their heaviness and the extreme riffs that they deliver through all this recording. Here we have a guy that crushes you with his drumming full of double bass patterns, another ones that smash your brain with the powerful riffs combined with some melodies and technical solos and we have a killer singer who has iron lungs and screams the lyrics through all the album. The sound of this recording is excellent and makes things even heavier and more effective. A must. 

Favorite tracks: "Impulsive", "Reclusion" and "Unspoken Fear"

Contact: www.reclusion.nu

REFLEX - REFLEX (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Reflex

Tracks: 1- I Could Cry, 2- Aileen, 3- Close To Me

Cover Art by

 Recorded at

This is what I call a climatic album. First of all there is heavy use of clean guitars here which is essential for giving the textures that the band wants to the songs. Then there is a vocalist with a wide range that reaches high pitches and also whispers the lyrics (some names came into my mind Robert Plant, Paul Stanley, and others...so this guy is really good). This is a rocking album full of feeling and melody and I think this guys have succeeded in creating interesting songs combining their guitars with keyboards (I loved the intro to "Aileen", full of feeling) and letting the voices do theior work over the harmonies that they create. Lovers of melodic rock with a lot of subtle elements and a progressive touch will like this one. 

Favorite tracks: the three

Contact: www.reflexonline.net

REQUIEM - LOCK THE DEAD (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Requiem

Tracks: 1- The Days the lights wnt out, 2- B.G.P. +N.W., 3- Black Moon, 4- Concrete Burial,5- Destroyer of life, 6- Spontaneous Combustion, 7- Dead Zone, 8- Ewaltz, 9- Ice pick, 10- Lost in Reality, 11- Beat her Up James

Cover Art by Requiem

 Here we have a recording of this brutal band previous to their "Volume 6" recording. Here things are faster and not so well developed as in the aforementioned album where you can see the evolution that the band has suffered in the time between both recordings. Here we have an ultra fast band with brutal vocals and crushing blast beats in the drumming. The guitars are chainsaw like an extremely fast making all the music here really extreme. The sound is a little bit opaque and I think that mixing the guitars a little bit louder can give even more power to the band (they have solved this on the new album). Here is an album for lovers of brain crushing metal with death influences.

Favorite tracks: "Black Moon", "Destroyer of Life" and "Spontaneous Combustion"

Contact: reqseclorum@webtv.net

REQUIEM - VOLUME 6 (Ketzer Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Requiem and John Capcha

Tracks: 1- Grave, 2- The Pain Inside Me, 3- Strike Your Idols Down, 4- Suffer, 5- Diez to uno, 6- Government, 7- The Sky is Falling In, 8- Unjustifiable, 9- The Angels Will Fall, 10- Cryout, 11- Zero nation, 12- Enemy

Cover Art by Marco Dominguez

Here we have a band that plays brutal and primitive death metal with crushing riffs that sometimes sound really death metal and sometimes are more thrash metal. The sound of the recording is extremely raw and that adds to the old school feeling of this recording. The musicinaship of this guys is really good and they sound tight preferring to play simple and effective guitar riffs and drums rhythms designed to crush your brain. The voices are brutal but not too guttural being instead very clear and sounding like old school bands like early Venom. The guitars sound raw and primitive leaving a lot of room to the voice and to the rhythm section to develope the tracks. Here you have really good metal with a powerful and aggressive sound.

Favorite tracks: "The Pain Inside Me", "Suffer" and "Cryout"

Contact: www.ketzer-records.de or reqseclorum@webtv.net

ROTTEN COLD VS. MONOLITH - SPLIT CD (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Aaron Schüssler, Rotten Cold and Monolith

Tracks: ROTTEN COLD: 1- Hate Above All, 2- C.O.P., 3- Milk of Greed, 4- Aggressolution, 5- Here to Hate You Again, 6- Sunset Denied, 7- Detoxify; MONOLITH: 8- Gibraltar Macrocosmos Gate, 9- Heather Makes Me Crazy, 10- Beth and Mark Mckencey, 11- Flying Dog, 12- Flex O Matic Evil of Death, 13- More Emotions, 14- Too Happy for Me

 Recorded at Moonset Paladis Studios (Monolith) and Digiphonic Studios (Rotten Cold)

Rotten Cold starts this split cd with their furious death grind. Here we have extremely fast tempos with some blast beats and a lot of powerful guitar riffs followed by guttural vocals. The guitars here have a huge sound and everything here is done in order to deliver brutality. The compositions of the band have more of death metal sound than grindcore. Then comes Monolith, opening with a great intro with some interesting arrangements with some melodies and some jazzy touches, before entering to their mayhemic world. Monolith is a weird band going from extreme grind / death to some slower tempo with more melodic vocals. I would really like the band to make combinations of this type of grind/death with some elements of the ones that are in the "Gibraltar..." intro. The sound of Monolith tracks is more muddy and I think they should mix guitars a little bit louder to make things even better. This is a good split that will not bore you as some grind splits do, because this guys have a lot of variations in their tracks.

Favorite tracks: "Milk of greed", "Sunset Denied", "Gibraltar Macrocosmos Gate" and

Contact: http://go.to/monolithcolony or www.run.to/rottencold

RULE OF THUMB - TRIANGLE OF HATE (Chihuahua Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Ivan

Tracks: 1- I am, 2- Neurotic Fear, 3- R.U.S.T., 4- A Rotting Core, 5- Triangle of Hate

Cover Art by Johnny C. For

 Recorded at The Grindhouse Recording Studio

This album started really rhythmically and I thought it was going to be one of those rhythmic bands that are popular. But I was wrong. This guys deliver ultra heavy and brutal death metal with a lot of rhythm and brutality. The amazing thing about this guys are the guitar riffs that are constructed in a certain way that keeps you banging your head through the five compositions here. The sound is really good, specially on the guitars and adds heaviness to the tracks. The voices are really guttural and give the charachteristic death metal feeling to the songs (because the guitars are different from the ones used in the style). Here we have a band that is really tight and search loriginality within the death emtal realm.  The album has a track for your PC where you can find many interesting things about the band.

Favorite tracks: "I Am", "Neurotic Fear" and "A Rotting Core"

Contact: www.ruleofthumb.be

RUPTURE CHRIST - MOLESTING THE ENTRAILS OF THE DISEMBOWELED (Sound Riot Recs., 2003)

Produced By: Rupture Christ

Tracks: 1- Intro (Malevolence Through Molestation), 2- Fetus Fucker, 3- Sludge Oozing Slop Hole, 4- Pus Filled Pussy, 5- Oozing Vaginal Dischargem 6- Penetrating Pre School Pussy, 7- Invading the Placenta, 8- Discharging Parasite Infested Feces, 9- Macaroni and Afterbirth, 10- Gorged on Innards, 11- Cum Ready Cock

 Recorded ain Rusty´s House

 Rupture Christ opens with a classic intro with sounds and some screams before getting in their ultrabestial world full of death metal with some grind elements, specially in the voices. Here we have a band that despite using a lot of speed they mix it with more rhythmic elements in order to add heaviness to their music. The voices here are really extreme mixing an ultra guttural voice (this guys use the voice as another instrument or another way to add brutality to their music) with a screaming one (that also sometimes doubles the guttural one). The mix of this album is good allowing to listen clearly the guitars and also teh bass that is essential for getting that low bottom end sound that Rupture Christ has. Here we have a band whose middle name is brutality!!!

Favorite tracks: "Pus Filled Pussy", "Invading the Placenta", "Macaroni and Afterbirth"

Contact: www.soundriot.net

SCAVENGER - SCAVENGER (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Scavenger

Tracks: 1- Soul of Fire, 2- Times long past, 3- Waited Too Long, 4- Breaking the Chains, 5- War Cry, 6- Shadowed Lands, 7- Fall Out, 8- Slaughter of Innocence

Cover Art by Scavenger

 Recorded at Fatdog Studios

Scavenger is a good surprise of pure metal for the listener !! Here is a band that plays pure metal with a lot of eighties thrash influences, specially on the riffs. There is also a lot of elements of classic heavy metal but played with a more modern sound. The vocals are really thrash metal and sometimes they remind me of the ones by the great Steve "Zetro" Souza (Exodus). I really like the guitar sound that is really compact and powerful at the same time. There are some guitar solos and melodies that are essential for this band and they achieve their own identity through this elements. The songs have sort of an epic feeling that I liked and they are well constructed and composed. If you like bands who bring back elements that were forgotten in the emtal realm and transform them adding a modern sound and their own identity then you surely have to check Scavenger !

Favorite tracks: "Times Long Past", "War Cry" and "Shadowed Lands"

Contact: www.scavenger.now.nu

SECRETS SHE KEPT - SYMPHONIES OF ETERNAL SUFFERING AND DAMNATION (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Secrets She Kept

Tracks: 1- Laid To Rest (The Final Farewell), 2- Damnation Black, 3- Leiden

Cover Art by Secrets She Kept

This is one of those MCDs that are really deceiving. I started listening to it and believing that this was sort of a symphonic black metal band or some gothic kind of band, but after the really melodic and atmospheric intro ("Laid To Rest") comes the most hateful black metal storm you can listen. Yes, here we have this guys that play pure raw black metal with interesting mid paced and slow parts (you have to check "Damnation Black" and be blown away by the blast beats and the hyper fast guitar riffs), sometimes with some acoustic guitar (as in "Leiden"). There are multiple tempo changes with ultrafast and tight guitar riffs and the vocals are sometimes really black metal and sometimes more deathly, really guttural (in the more crushing parts). The sound of the recording is extremely raw and that adds even more heaviness to the tracks, specially on the guitars and drums. Here is pure hate in the form of the most blasphemic black death metal. 

Favorite tracks: the three

Contact: secretsshekept@yahoo.com

SHALLOW GRAVE SATANIC SYMPHONY - DEMO TAPE I (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Shallow Grave Satanic Symphony

Tracks:

Cover Art by Shallow Grave Stanic Symphony

 Recorded at 4 tracks of hell studios

This is an experimental techno band that features Vader Reactionary from 12 Days of Anarchy and Corpse Disposal Unit. This album is really original and is full of sounds and noises and many of them have a sexual feeling going on, but the main thing here is the experimentation with instruments and vocals. I find interesting the vocals by Action Aimee who is also risponsible of the orgasmic screams here. She is sometimes cold and speaks the lyrics and sometimes she whispers them adding a darker feeling to the compositions. Vader Reactionary has created with electronics and guitars interesting passages that show that he knows how to compose within a techno context. The sound is a little bit muddy and I would like them to mix this recording a little bit better to make things even more effective. A ggod original recording.

Favorite tracks: All the demo

Contact: corpsedisposalunit@hotmail.com

SINNERS BLEED - FROM WOMB TO TOMB (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Andreas Hilbert and Sinners Bleed

Tracks: 1- Agony of Self Denial, 2- The Ludo Game, 3- Deathbringer, 4- Sinners Lust, 5- Daemons, 6- Injected Lies, 7- Invisible Knowledge, 8- From Womb to Tomb, 9- Bound

Cover Art by Gunnar Seifert and Sinners Bleed

 Recorded at Soundforge Studios

Directly from Germany comes this technical brutal death metal band. This guys combine perfectly the most brutal kind of death metal possible with complex rhythms, breaks and tempo changes making you wonder what is coming next. Here we have nine tracks of pure death metal with extremely guttural but clear vocals, fat guitars and fast riffs combined with complex drums parts. There are interesting guitar solos where the guitarists show good taste in playing really fast and at the same time creating interesting passages with some melodies. But what I liked most are the multiple changes from fast to more rhythmic and then back to fast (check the end of "Agony of Self Denial" to see what this guys can do). The recording is really well mixed and that is essential to listen really well to the multiple parts that each composition has. A must. 

Favorite tracks: "Agony of Self Denial", "Injected Lies" and "Invisible Knowledge"

Contact: www.sinners-bleed.de

SISKO - 3 (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Laurens Kehl

Tracks: 1- Whatever, 2- Tell Me, 3- Thinking of You

Cover Art by Pixel Path

Sisko brothers are truly original and here they have achieved a recording of intense songs with amazing riffs and arrangements. The first thing that surprises when listening to this album is the excellent quality of the sound, really cristal clear, specially the guitars and the drums. The three tracks here are powerful yet they have a lot of powerful melodies, mostly done by Bruno Sisko who is the singer here. There are many elements from different styles here but it seems to me that this guys have taken the power of metal music and mixed it with melodies closer to gothic or to alternative music creating their own style. The three songs here have many hooks that leaves the songs (specially the choruses) in your ears long after the album has finished. One thing: with three tracks this albums leaves you asking for more Sisko...so I hope they soon release a full length of powerful music like this one.

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: www.siskobrothers.com

SONS OF THUNDER - CIRCUS OF POWER (Rivel Records, 2003)

Produced By: Sons of Thunder

Tracks: 1- Circus of Power, 2- Jesus for President, 3- Rescue Me, 4- Flames of Fire, 5- Superstar, 6- Jesus My Saviour, 7- 777, 8- Destroyer, 9- Fighting, 10-God Rulez, 11- Powerlord, 12- Stockholm City

Cover Art by Klas Pettersson

 Recorded at TL Studio

Pure hard heavy rock is what the guys in Sons of Thunder play. In fact the music is pure hard rock (or the songs have the structure of the style and the sound is extremely heavy) with a lot of heavy influences and pure metal sound in the guitars. Here we have a band that has created twelve songs with a lot of power and with enough hooks to let them stick in the listener´s mind: I find really interesting to combine pure metal with more rocking riffs all played with an extremely heavy and huge sound because that results in Sons of Thunder´s own sound and gives a lot of originallity to the band. There is some keyboard too that adds arrangements in many places too. I have to remark again the originality of this guys and the excellent sound of this rocking record !! 

Favorite tracks: "Rescue Me", "Jesus My Saviour" and "Powerlord"

Contact: www.rivelrecords.com

SOUL TAKERS - THROUGH THE SILENCE OF WORDS (Spreadit Agency, 2002)

Produced By: Soul Takers

Tracks: 1- Desert Dust, 2- The Fakest Jest, 3- My Infinite

Cover Art by Muriel Prandato

 Recorded at Mezzanima Studio

A climatic intro of piano, violin and cello opens in a really beautiful way this album of sad and climatic metal. Then comes a powerful vocalist with perfect intonation and a lot of feeling in his voice. The music here is pure heavy/power metal with some sad touches in the melodies that contrast heavilky with the agressive guitars (with an excellent sound). One of the main elements here is the combination of keyboards and heavy guitars that is primordial for the guys in Soul Takers. There are many tempo changes and riffs here that surprise you constantly while listening this album. This album has a really good sound specially on the guitars and the voices giving even more power to the tunes. There is a dark feeling here that I think sets this band apart from others of the style. Original metal with a lot of ideas.  

Favorite tracks: All the album

Contact: www.soultakers.net

SPELLGATE - LEGENDS OF ARDIGM (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Spellgate

Tracks: 1- The Lands of Ardigm; 2- Curse of Malgei, 3- Najaeti Star

Cover Art by Spellgate

This album opens beautifully with keybaords and a female voice that enchants the listener with their melodies and the arrangements before getting into a sort of power metal tune (I can not fully describe the sound that Spellgate´s music has because they go well beyond styles). The main thing here is the epic quality of the songs that the band creates. The musicianship is really good and that allows the msuicians to create amazing soundscapes that bring to your mind desolate places, for example in "Curse of Malgei" or an epic place in "The lands of Ardigm". The sound of the recording is really good but I would mix the drums a little bit louder. One thing that I have to remark is the excellent work of the female singer that is risponsible of a lot of the melodic passages and feelings.

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: www.spellgate.com

SYSTEM OF A DOWN - STEAL THIS ALBUM (Columbia Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Rock Rubin and Daron Malakian

Tracks: 1- Chic N Sth, 2- Innervision, 3- Bubbles, 4- Boom !, 5- Nüguns, 6- A.D.D., 7- Mr. Jack, 8- I-E-A-I-A-I-O, 9- 36, 10- Pictures, 11- Highway Song, 12- Fuck the System, 13- Ego brain, 14- Thetawaves, 15- Roulette, 16- Streamline

Cover Art by System of a Down

Here is System of a Down´s latest offering, in the form of an album of sixteen tracks taken from the sessions of their previous album "Toxicity". Here the band follows the same path as in that album with some tracks that sound not as good as the ones in that album such as the opener and others that are of the same quality as for example "Innervision". Here this guys show a less twisted side of their music, specially on the lyrics (maybe you have listened to their hit "Boom"). The musicianship here is good as in all their albums and the sound is extremely clear and polished. System of a Down is one of the new bands that I like most because of their originality combined with aggression 

Favorite tracks: "Innervision", "Mr. Jack" and "Fuck the System"

Contact: www.systemofadown.com

THE KRUSHERS - MEGALOI THEOI (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: The Krushers

There are eight tracks of pure hate here !!!!

Cover Art by The Krushers

Here we have a band whose music can be defined as pure thrash balck metal. Here we have many elements of both styles: ultra fast riffs and rhythms, blast beats, unholy screams, ultrafast guitar lines, thrashing riffs. There are multiple guitar lines here that are note progression in the vein of classic corwegian death metal, but there are also some rhythmic riffs more in the thrash styles. The vocals here are really extreme and they deliver unholy lyrics through all the recording while the fastest arrangements are played. The sound of the recording is extremely raw and maybe with a better mix this guys can be even more effective (even if this album is really extreme and is devastating...I listened to it at high volume and it blew me away with their agression). 

Favorite tracks: Tracks 2,3 and 5

Contact:

THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT - THE APOTHEOSIS (Cold Blood Industries, 2003)

Produced By: The Monolith Deathcult

Tracks: 1- Doomed to Slaughter, 2- Forest of Flesh, 3- Cathedral of Corpses Slayer of Jihad Pt. 1, 4- The Malleus Malleficarum manuscript, 5- The Apotheosis, 6- The Deserved Reputation of Cruelty, 7- The Desecration of the Black Stone - Slayer of Jihad Pt II, 8- Der Kriegmeister, 9- Colosseum Carnage

Cover Art by Mick Koopman

 Recorded at The Vision Sound Studio

This month we have plenty of brutal detah metal bands and this is one of the most brutal...I mean this guys sound extremely tight and have a perfect sound and that gives them extra power for their music. The guitars have a sound that is one of the biggest ever heard, really compressed but at the same time low tuned and extremely heavy. Adn when the guitars are combined with the low tuned bass we have the Monolith sound. The drumming is really precise and is the skeleton of Monolith´s music. The guitars and the bass are the flesh and the ultra guttural and violent voices are the soul. As I said before the album has a really good sound that gives more deathly feeling and brutality to the music. One of the msot brutal releases of 2003.

Favorite tracks: "Forest of Flesh", The Malleus Maleficarum..." and The Desecration..."

Contact: www.coldbloodindustries.com

THE USERS - LITTLE BAG OF HOPE (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: The Users

Tracks: 1- Addicted, 2- Sicko, 3- Hollow Head, 4- Kind of Motion, 5- Wave of Mutilation, 6- Let it Go, 7- Review 6, 8- Long Gone Too Much, 9- Letter from Texas, 10- 23726, 11- Something New, 12- Permanent Sleeping, 13- April Fools Joke, 14- In Your Face

This is pure rock!! This band delivers here fourteen songs with rocking riffs and some seventies influences. I caqn hear some southern rock influences in some of the parts. Here all the guitars sound loud and with no too much distrtion. Palms here go to the vocalist who mades a lot of variations making each of the songs memorable. There are choruses that have enough hooks to let the song in your memory long after it has finished. The lyrics have a lot of sense of humour in them and that is essential in The Users music. I liked a lot the vocal lines that reminds me to some seventies or even late sixties band but with a much more modern sound. Here is a bit of fresh air in the rock and roll world and with the help of some tallented producer this band can go easily into the charts. 

Favorite tracks: "Sicko", "Let It Go" and "Something New"

Contact: www.theusers.net

THORAZINE - GENETICIDE (Deathgasm Recs., 2001)

Produced By: Thorazine

Tracks: 1- Into the Chaos, 2- Aborted, 3- Blind Eat the Blind, 4- Geneticide, 5- Fifth Victim, 6- Here I Lay Rotten, 7- Malpractice Makes Perfect, 8- Curbstomp Execution, 9- Injecting Utopia, 10- Baptized in Excrement, 11- Infanticide, 12- Iron Hook Purification, 13- Tortured Existence

 Recorded at C.M.S.S.

Utter brutality full of speed and extremely bestial guitar riffs is what the guys in Thorazine do. Here we have a band that whose every note, every beat, every scream is designed to display all their extreme brutality to the listener. Here we have thirteen tracks that have full speed, crushing rhythms, some blast beats and heavier than hell riffs. The vocals here are extremely guttural and the feeling of brutal death metal is present through all the recording. The sound of the recording is raw, specially on the drums and that makes things even more bestial. The lyrics fit perfectly the music and they are really extreme as the rest of the music is. Here we have a band whose name is synonime of brutality and ultrafast death metal done with a lot of technique.

Favorite tracks: "Aborted", "Here I Lay Rotten" and "Infanticide".

Contact: www.thorazine.ca or www.deathgasm.com

THRONAR - PROMO 2003 (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Robert Aarts

Tracks: 1- Bonded to the Blade Part I (gift from the gods); 2- Bonded to The Blade Part II (screams of thunder), 3- Where Sword, Axe and Bow Stride Together, 4- Crimnor Valora

Here we have this band whose style they have called "battle metal". Their music is pure metal with heavier than hell riffs and some keyboards that make an interesting contrast with the rest of the music. There are some influences of death and black metal in the music but all of them have been mixed and transformed into Thronar´s own sound. I really liked the melodies that the keyboards play against the heavy riffs ! This is essential to Thronar´s music as well as the deathly vocals that are combined with a more grunting or screaming one that have a lot of identity and are really effective to transmit the feeling of the compositions. The lyrics are about ancient wars, honour, pride and fit perfectly the music of this recording. The sound of the recording is raw but clear and adds a good feeling to the music. I would really like a full length because this leaves me wanting more! 

Favorite tracks: The four

Contact: www.thronar.com

TORMENTION - A DISPLAY OF CHAOS (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Mike Kane and Tormention

Tracks: 1- Your Scarred Reality, 2- Damned Existence, 3- Preemptive Misery, 4- Malevolence (live), 5- Bleeding Clear (live)

Cover Art by Russell Furr

 Recorded at Noise Recording

Starting in a really heavy way with "Your Scarred Reality" Tormention delivers their powerful metal through the five tracks that are oin this recording. Their music can be described as thrash metal with modern elements and a lot of heavy guitar riffs. Frantic guitar solos are combined with melodies and more mid paced riffs that add heaviness to the compositions. One of the main elements here are the guitar riffs thata re really memorable and that at the same time are really heavy. The vocals are raw adding a harder feeling to the music. The drumming is not typical and is sometimes twisted making interesting rhythms and breaks. The overall sound is raw and at the same time modern enough with many pinch harmonics in the riffs. A really heavy release that prove that thrash is not dead! 

Favorite tracks: "Your Scarred Reality", "Damned Existence" and "Malevolence"

Contact: www.tormention.net

TOTE STADT / THE NAUTILUS DECONSTRUCTION - SPLIT CD (Radio Obsolete Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Tote Stadt and The Nautilus Deconstruction

The Nautilus Deconstruction: 6- Blank Like Nothing

Cover Art by Obsolete Recordings

 Wow! This guys are completely crazy!!! First the recording starts with Tote Stadt and the first track is a burst of sound that becomes almost noise while you can discern Lacy Folga´s vocals behind. Sounds strange, noisy but good enough to get soon your attention. This split is pure sounds effects that have been used and mixed indifferent forms to create this amazing compositions. Here Andrew Seal is risponsable of the sounds effects and their combinations and he does it in a really weird way. The part of the Nautilus Deconstruction is pure experimentation with sounds, voices and noises and is only one composition that is over 26 minutes long. If you want originality and you have a really really open mind then you can check this one. But I warn you: be really open minded and be prepared to listen to something completely different.

Favorite tracks: "Your Silence is Convienient" and "Watch It Burn"

Contact: www.geocities.com/tote_stadt and Nautilus_Comets@hotmail.com

TROLLHEIMS GROTT - BLOODSOAKED AND ILL FATED (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Trollheims Grott

Tracks: 1- Dehumanize, 2- Exact Answers and Syndicate Solutions, 3- Syndicate Wormcampaign, 4- Operation: Lick the Fungus, 5- Little Shop of Scalpels, 6- Syndicate Haunts You Down, 7- Experimentation, 8- Addicted to Lethal Injections

Cover Art by Trollheims Grott

The perfect mix between death metal, black metal, modern metal and industrial....can the music of this guys be labeled like that? Yes, why not? They have heavy riffs with an industrial sound in some of them. Fast drums and electronics and they have extreme vocals that wouldn´t be out of place in a black metal or death metal band. If you put all this together and add an extremely good sound, then you will have a closer idea of how does Trollheims Grott sound. Here they deliver eight tracks that will leave you wanting more because each of the songs is really unique and have originality while being extremely powerful. I have to remark the good job of the guitarists creating riff after rii making Trollheims Grott´s music extremely heavy and adding some melodies and interesting parts to it. A must.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.woodcutrecords.com

UNTIL DEATH OVERTAKES ME - PRELUDE TO MONOLITH (Firebox Recs., 2003)

Produced By: S

Tracks: 1- Prelude to Monolith, 2- Missing, 3- Absence of life, 4- Slip Away, 5- Marche Funebre

Cover Art by S

 Recorded at Templa Libitina

We reviewed last year Until Death Overtakes Me´s previosu work called "Symphony I and II". This time S, the mastermind and only musician behind this project delivers five long compositions full of the dark atmosphere that he has accustomed us to. Here everything is dark, black, obscure, with no light, everything transmit feelings of loneliness, fear, anguish. S has orchestrated in a great way his five extremely atmospheric doom metal compositions making each of them a masterpiece of depression. Here the main thing are the keyboards that crate the atmospheres contained on this five pieces, then the guitars that are distorted and mixed in a similar way to don´t contrast too much with the keyboards. And then Comes S. Vocals: guttural and fitting the mood of the compositions and its deppressive nature. If I have to describe this album in a few words I would say that is master composition with a really doom feeling. A must. 

Favorite tracks: All

Contact: www.firebox.fi

URKRAFT - 2002 VERSION 2 (Gritt Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Urkraft

Tracks: 1- Nord (Den Første Krig), 2- Solen Brænder Ihjel, 3- Intet Ansigt, 4- Knoglerne Skriger

Cover Art by Robots.dk

 Recorded at SoundZone Studio

This is a death emtal band with a really brutal side and at the same time a technical side that makes their riffs sound polished and powerful making things more brutal. There are a lot of melodies in the guitar riffs, in the slower parts and there are some hyper fast drumming that is essential for the style. This is music designed for headbanging and this guys know how to do it. The vocals are guttural, really deathly. There are many changes in tempos, even within one minute of a song and that gives a lot of variations to the music. Plus we have the additon of a keyboard that delivers a lot of dark chord progressions over which the rest of the band play. Really brutal but extremely climatic and original. 

Favorite tracks: the four

Contact: www.urkraft.dk or www.gritt.dk

URZAMOTH - DRAGONCHILD PROMO (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: Urzamoth

Tracks: 1- Sword of Destiny, 2- Seal of Immortality, 3- Dagger of Faith

 Recorded at Studio Midas

Urzamoth is an extrmely aggressive bands with ultra fast riffs and screaming vocals in the black metal vein. The riffs are not the typicals in the style and they are more rhythmic instead of the one note progression runs that bands like Immortal or Mayhem have made famous. This guys make more emphasis on the heaviest side of the style mixing it with a dark atmosphere that fits perfectly theuir lyrics. The sound is powerfula dn leaves you wanting mroe songs from this guys. I hope they release a full length soon of their darker than hell music.

Favorite tracks: the three

Contact: www.urzamoth.tk

VADER - REVELATIONS (Metal Blade Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Piotr Wiwczarek

Tracks: 1- Epitaph, 2- The Nomad, 3- Wolftribe, 4- Whisper, 5- When Darkness Calls, 6- Torch of War, 7- The Code, 8- Lukeawarm Race, 9- Revelation of Black Moses, Bonus tracks: 10- Reign forever World, 11- Frozen Paths, 12- Privilege of the Gods

 Recorded at Red Studio

Here is a really well knowned band from the Polish underground. Here we have the most brutal death metal on Earth done in a really proficient way as we know Vader does. Here we have ultra fast guitars that have a huuuge sound (this guys play really loud and the guitars have an extremely fat sound that makes them a bestial wall of sound. We also have on this recording technical and fast drumming that devastates the listener from beginning to end. And of course we have Peter´s vocals that give a lot of power to the music fitting perfectly the riffs and making things even more bestial if possible . The sound of the recording is one of the best that I have listened for a while making things even more effective. This "Revelations" will be a classic of bestial death emtal really soon !!

Favorite tracks: All the album

Contact: www.metalblade.com

VLE - BOOK OF ILLUSIONS CHAPTER III (Independent, 2003)

Produced By: the Vle

Tracks: 1- Kano, 2- The Arrival, 3- Crimson, 4- ...of Wood and Water, 5- Ancient Song Set Ablaze, 6- Diana´s Rebirth, 7- Now You Cry, 8- Fornever, 9- The Surest Path, 10- I Will Return...822

Cover Art by Christophe Vacher

After the two mnasterpieces that were the previous chapters of this "Book of Illusions" here comes VLE with the new compositions. And if the two first chapters were great this one is even more amazing and the compositional skills are even better here. It is impossible to describe VLE´s music with few words....lets say that here you have emlements of atmosphereic music, combined with metal and some black metal influences here and there, everything put together with a lot of keyboards, acoustic and clean guitars, distorted ones. The main thing here is creativity, originality and imagination. Everything here is an expression of the dark soul of the brain behind this music (the Vle) and here we can see reflected from his darkest feelings to his worst nightmares, everything done with extremely good musicianship and fine taste. VLE has delivered once again one of the albums of the year.  I recommend to listen this album with your headphones on so you will find new landscapes on each listening.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.mp3.com/vle or vle25@hotmail.com

WARHAG - SINISTER GRIP (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Warhag

Tracks: 1- First Nations, 2- Rage of Angels, 3- Mean Mouth, 4- Into the Castle, 5- Sinister Grip, 6- Saxon´s Return

Cover Art by Chris Lipscombe

 Recorded at Whiskey Cove Studios

What a good band is Warhag....after a short introduction with clean guitars and melodies comes "Rage of Angels", a song designed to deliver heavy metal while remaining for hours in the mind of the listener. What I liked most is the combination of heavy guitars with melodic arrangements and the contrast between Kyle´s male vocals and Joy´s female ones. This band can be labeled as pure heavy metal with many progressive arrangements done mostly with a combination of clean and distorted guitars. The rhythms are sometimes complex and sometimes simple as the compositions require. I have to remark Kyle´s vocals because he has a good middle range voice that fits the music really well and allows to create good atmospheres on the songs. A really good album and we wait a new one really soon ! 

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.warhag.com

WATCH ME BURN - WATCH ME BURN (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Watch me Burn

Tracks: 1- Lester, 2- 32/3rds Numb, 3- Roadkill

 Cover Art by Watch Me Burn

This is an extremely brutal band, specially in the screaming vocals....they are brutal as hell!!!. This woman reminds me a little bit to Holy Moses Sabina Classen because of the energy and bestiality that she uses in the vocals. In fact she is amazingly bestial through the three tracks that are on this MCD. The music is also very extreme and changes rhythms a lot , from slow to fas, then back to slow and then fast again and maybe then even faster. There is also an ultraheavy guitar sound that combines perfectly with the bass thta has a cleaner sound and contrasts with them. The drummer is hyper fast and knows how to make tight rhythm changes that are essential in Watch Me Burn´s music. But the spirit and soul here are the savage vocals which in five minutes (that is what this MCD lasts) smash your brain against the wall. Here we have intensity and brutality !!! !!! nOw we want a full length CD from this savage band from hell.

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: www.angelfire.com/mt2/watchmeburn

WINTERFELL - WINTER IS COMING (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Winterfell

Tracks: 1- Winter is Coming, 2- Son of the Sun, 3- The Will of the Ring, 4- War Angel

Cover Art by Robert Graves

Winterfell starts this MCD with full power with the title track "Winter is Coming". Here we have a band whose music can be described as pure heavy metal with some speed metal  and thrash metal touches that makes it even more interesting. Here we have a combination of multiple guitar riffs and tempo changes that will delight those lovers of the technical side of metal music. Thevocals here are essential to deliver Winterfell´s identity and it is the kind of voice that gives an eerie feeling to the music making it sound powerful and at the same time gives a twist to the melodies making them sound more sad and adding a darker feeling (I think this because of the minor tonalities used here). The sound of the recording is good yet raw making things heavier yet subtle. A good recording and now we await their full length recording !!!

Favorite tracks: The four

Contact: www.winteriscoming.com

WISDOM CALL - WISDOM CALL (C.L. Music and Publishing, 2001)

Produced By: Wisdom Call

Tracks: 1- Power from the Sky, 2- The Last generation, 3- I Believe, 4- Never Satisfied, 5- Wings of Tomorrow, 6- Through Fire, 7- One Way Out, 8- Hold on to the Truth, 9- 15 Years, 10- Time

Cover Art by Kristian Wåhlin

 Recorded at Studio Kornet

This is pure neoclassical heavy metal with some power metal touches. Here we have virtouso musicians that create music that despite being different can be laveled in the same style as Yngwie Malmsteen, Stratovarius but with a more germanic touch as the one in bands like Blind Guardian. Here we have a band that creates epic songs with interesting riffs and amazing melodies. One essential thing here are the guitars that interact heavily with the keyboards doing duts, playing riffs and creating virtuoso solos. But the main thing here are the songs that are really well developed and are full of ideas. Plus, we have a really good sound that is extremely clear and has nothing to envy to the one other more famous bands have. This is pure metal with good musicnship and a neoclassical feeling. 

Favorite tracks: "Power from the Sky", "Through Fire" and "15 Years"

Contact: http://welcome.to/clpublishing

YATTERING - GENOCIDE (Candlelight Recs./Manic Music, 2003)

Produced By: Yattering

Tracks: 1- Genocide, 2- Schism, 3- Message to M.A.R.I.O., 4- Non Adapted Socially, 5- Panic in a Sea of Blood, 6- Inflow (Thought from Outside), 7- Non Typical Homo, 8- Rapist´s Victim, 9- Temptation of a Crime, 10- Murderer (You Are), 11- Living Bomb

Cover Art by Yattering

Yattering is a powerful death metal machine. I am saying these, because this guys use a lot of machine like riffs that give a cold and machinal feeling to the compositions. This gives also a distinctive sound to the band that sets them apart from other bands of the genre, being colder and more climatic. There is use of different type of vocals, some of them guttural, some of them screaming and some of them processed. There is use of some electronic devices that contribute to the aforementioned feeling. I have to remark the tight riffs that the guitarists deliver on each track, sounding really compact and extremely heavy. The sound is excellent. There are really good and climatic guitar solos done with a lot of technique (this guys know how to play their instruments). A must !!

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk or www.manicmusiconline.com