cd0402b

REVIEWS - APRIL 2004

VII GATES - FIRE, WALK WITH ME (Sound Riot Records, 2003)
	Produced By: Richard Bengtsson
	Tracks: 1- Bounded by Hatem 2- The Saviour, 3- Seconds Left to Live, 4- Under the Crossed Bones, 5- So Far Away, 6- Tormented, 7- Love Ballet, 8- A Dark Room of My Mind, 9- Like a Rock, 10- The Madman Inside
Mastered at Digital Audio Studio	Recorded at
From Sweden comes the storm in the form of the powerful and magnifiscent VII Gates !! This guys deliver on this album pure heavy metal with a really powerful guitar sound and with elements of other styles such as power metal, progressive metal and also some thrash in some of the guitar riffs. One of the main things here is the contrast between the climatic keyboards and the heavier than fuck guitars. The good thing is that the band uses more rhythmic riffs than most of the bands in the style that prefer playing fast runs or gallopings. Here we have great guest musicians: Kee Marcello (Europe), Chris Amott (Arch Enemy) and many more. One thing to remark is the good sound that this band has and that gives clarity and power to them at the same time. Plus, I have also to remark the good job done by the singer here that knows how to be powerful and also how to deliver good melodies with his big vocal range. Pure metal the way it must be done !!!
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.sevengates.se or www.soundriot.net

ABIURA - PROMO 2003 (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Abiura
	Tracks: 1- Soundtrack for a dead end, 2- I Join the Endless Line, 3- Nel Nome del Padre
Cover Art by Abiura	Recorded at Audiostudios Studio
A keyboards intro opens up this three song promo from this italian band delivering a haunting melody. After a while comes the band with full power playing clever guitar riffs in a brutal death metal context. One remarkable thing is the combination of really good riffs with clever double bass drumming. And here you can feel also some thrash metal influence in this deathly guys music. Specially in riffs like the one at 2:30 in "Soundtrack for a dead end". This guys deliver here three powerful death metal tracks with a raw sound that combines crushing guitars with drumming full of hihat and with some blast beats (such as the ones in "I join..."). Here are also some technical tempo changes and rhythm breaks. The vocals are really extreme in the most brutal death style. This album is totally recommendable to those who love the most brutal styles in metal.
Favorite tracks: the three	Contact: www.abiura.com or www.std-distro.cjb.net

ACRIMONY INC.- PROMO CD II SUMMER 2003 (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Acrimony
	Tracks: 1- Idee Fixe, 2- Gallows Bird, 3- Sun/dawn/obsession, 4- Expiry
Cover Art by Acrimony
What a killer album !!! The guys in Acrimony Inc. Have managed to achieve excellent four tracks on this recording full of death metal done with good technical skills that allowed them to do passages full of multiple changes and arrangements. I would not hesitate to call the music here progressive death metal because of the multiple ideas, arrangements and harmonizations that are all over this recording. It is great to feel the contrast between the heavy guitars and the orchestrating keyboards. There are some oriental melodies here and there that add a spcial feeling to the music of this album contrasting with the extreme vocals. Plus the recording has a really good sound emphasizing each arrangement that ahs been done here. A must.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: http://acrimony.cjb.net

AMETROPIE - BEI STURM UND MONDENSCHEIN (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Klaus Spangenberg and Ametropie
	Tracks: 1- Die Hexe, 2- Im Dunklen Samt von Traurige Nacht, 3- Ruf des Raben, 4- Des Lebens Elexier, 5- Bis in Alle Ewigkeit
Cover Art by Tobias Schmücking
Ametropie has succesfully combined elements of black metal and death metal into their own style taking elements from both this styles and succesfully fusing them into their own compositions. The main thing here is the combination of guitar riffs with a killer guitar that delivers good dark melodies through all the album. Plus, the keyboards have here are essential to deliver the most climatic parts changing from chord progressions to haunting melodies like in "Im Dunklen Samt..." The vocals give the more extreme feeling to the music adding a black emtal feeling to the music. The vocals are mixed a little bit high for my taste, and I think that maybe burying it a little bit more in the mix and putting the guitars a little bit highr would give more power to the band. THis is an album full of ideas that takes influences from inimaginable sources and create a really dark style of music full of feeling and imaginative passages.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact:

ARACHNOVORE - GRAVE STONE (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Arachnovore
	Tracks: 1- Grave Stone, 2- Impaled Ripper, 3- Blood Sucker, 4- Incoming Evil Forces, 5- Past Scripture, 6- Black Mind, 7- Fog of a Fantastic War, 8- Coming from Hell
Cover Art by Arachnovore	Recorded at Bertrand´s home studio
Bertrand Cunin is the main brain behind this aggressive project that we have in our hands now. Starting at full speed since the first second, the album fastly sets into an aggressive death metal feeling with guttural yet obscure vocals (her he is using a reverb on the vocals that adds them a really dark feeling). There are multiple changes in speed and rhythm here but there is a good use of repetition in riffs and breaks that gives a lot of coherence to the music here. There is use of programmed drums here and that adds a cold feeling to the music that Arachnovore does, creating and interesting environment here. The sound is raw and a little bit muddy, and I think that a better mix could do really well to Arachnovore´s music, specially mixing a little bit up the guitars. Really aggressive deathly music.
Favorite tracks: "Blood Sucker", "Black Mind" and "Coming from Hell"	Contact: www.arachnovore.fr.st

ARAFEL - THE WAY OF DEFENDER (Sound Age Productions, 2003)
	Produced By: Arafel
	Tracks: 1- The Birth, 2- Ten Shots, 3- The First Battle, 4- On the Dark Way, 5- The Ice, 6- Requiem
Cover Art by Arafel
An acoustic guitar intro starts this album. But soon comes a blasting black metal discharge. Then the clean guitars return and after that the music turns into great black metal with interesting keyboards arrangements. This combination of brutality and grimness with excellent arrangements is the trademark of Arafel´s music. Plus, they know how to deliver an extremely dark sound in their music. Don´t get me wrong. here there are plenty of blast beats and also interesting viking metal elements, but Arafel is a really original outfit. The guitar riffs are cleverly developed (much better than most of the extreme black emtal bands) with intensity and amazing dominion of the atmospheres. Plus the songs are long and that allows this guys to develope really well the compositions. The album has only a vicdeo clip of the track "The Ice". Pure black dark metal with good ideas!!
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: soundage@online.ru

ASH AND ELM - ASH AND ELM (2 TRACK CD) (Catharsis Music, 2003)
	Produced By: Ash and Elm
	Tracks: 1- Gods of Sin, 2- Blood Culture
Cover Art by Ash and Elm
Starting at full speed with "Gods of Sin" with a catchy yet extreme rhythm, this amazing band succeeds in delivering their blend of modern thrash metal. This is an interesting showcase of how thrash and metal music have evolved. Here we have a band that plays some thrashy rhythms and they combine it with interesting vocals that know how to deliver the feeling that the music here needs, sounding sometimes pure metal and sometimes more extreme. At teh same time there is a really modern sound in the guitars that gives a lot of up to date sound to the music here. And there is also a death metal feeling in some of the parts here. There is a big difference insound in both tracks. I prefer the second track where everything sounds louder and more devastating and where the guitars sound lower tuned and more in your face (I think that mixing the first track like this one could be a good idea). This band is really a good one and leave you wanting more music from them.
Favorite tracks: Both	Contact: www.ashandelm.com

ASH AND ELM - ASH AND ELM (Catharsis Music, 2003)
	Produced By: Ash and Elm
	Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Blood Culture, 3- Beneath the Sun, 4- Visions from the Past, 5- Vlad, 6- Time Scar, 7- Fire Hardened
Cover Art by Ash and Elm
A short intro with an interesting melody opens the gates to the Ash and Elm realm. A place full of metal riffs and great melodies and good musicianship (killer rhythm section + killer guitars). A palce full of heavy guitars and good musicianship. And also a place full of aggression in their ultra heavy thrashing rhythms and its heavy as hell guitars. As I said in the rpevious review here you have the best showcase of how thrash metal has evolved, taking elements frokm other styles, modernizing itself and taking teh shape of this crushing band. This album has a really huge sound and that helps a lot to the band to sound as heavy as they want. This album is devastating and at the same time full of ideas that keep you paying all the attention possible to each of the movements that this band does. This album is a good example of how metal must be done.
Favorite tracks: All the CD.	Contact: www.ashandelm.com

ASTRAL DEMISE - EON +1 (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Astral Demise
	Tracks: 1- My Horizon, 2- Nova´s End, 3- Future Embraced, 4- Serene, +5- Engaging the Void
Cover Art by Astral Demise
Astral demise is the creature of Phil Eros-433 Almaraz who is the only composer and brain behind the music here. Here you have very raw music done in a black metal style but with emphasis in the rhythms instead of the speed. There are some keyboards and programmed drums that give a special feeling to the music, orchestrating the more climatic moments. Phil is good in combining the more extreme vocals in the fastest parts with more singed ones in the atmosphereic parts when the compositions need them. The guitar sound is extremely raw here, giving a really extreme feeling to the compositions. But I think that the main thing here is the combination of this raw guitars passages with th more climatic ones where the keyboards are the main ingredient. This is really obscure music with some experimental shades which I think would appeal to any lover of blakc metal with an open mind.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: astraldemise@hotmail.com

BASILISK - IN THE ROOM OF LIGHTS (Independent, 1997)
	Produced By: Basilisk
	Tracks: 1- Excellent Nothing, 2- Blindensee, 3- Worte des Lorns, 4- In the Room of Lights, 5- Desperation, 6- Und Auch der Himmel Brennt
Cover Art by Basilisk	Recorded at S.W Tonstudio
This is quite an old release from this german band but since we have received also their newer music we have decided to review both albums here. Basilisk´s music is extremely climatic taking elements from bands like early Tiamat or early Anathema and putting it together with their own sound whose combination of heavy guitars and orchestrating keyboards are the essence of Basilisk´s music. The music here is full of atmospheres with an emphasis in the dark side of the music specter. The track "Worte des Lorns " is for my taste the hit of this album with a catchy guitar riff combined wityh extreme vocals. And the combination of the rhythms with melodies and the extreme vocals is the essence of Basilisk´s music and that is extremely evident here on this album with six really well developed songs that are powerful and haunting at the same time. The lyrics in the tracks in german add a differrent feeling that sounds good when sung in the heaviest parts. A really good work.
Favorite tracks: "Worte des Lorns", "In the Room of Lights" and "Desperation"	Contact: www.basilisk.de

BASILISK - ...BETWEEN LIGHT AND SHADOW (Independent, 2001)
	Produced By: Basilisk and Fred Rapp
	Tracks: 1- Dämmerung, 2- Leaving Sun, 3- Vampire, 4- Sense of Words, 5- Dark Side of the Moon, 6- New Harmony, 7- Dorothea, 8- Fantasy
Cover Art by Rudy	Recorded at Rappiat Mobile Studios
This is Basilisk´s latest recording and sure it is a really good one ! Starting with the crushing yet climatic "Dámmerung" the band shows how much they have evolved since their previous "In the Room of Lights". The compositions are better developed and the sound is much much better, specially on the guitars that sound more powerful and heavier. The compositions here have that extremely dark feeling that Basilisk´s music has and here are very important the keyboards that deliver dark chord progressions over the heavy guitar riffs that sound sometimes pure metal, sometimes thrash metal, sometimes more deathly. The band uses mid paced rhythms and sometimes slower ones to develope the atmospheres that they want to transmit to the listener. The most extreme side are the vocals thata re really growling iun a doom metal way and sometimes combined with epic lines. The guitars deliver also interesting melodies and arrangements that fill each space that must be filled in order to make this music really unique. This is a must have.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.basilisk.de

BENEATH - TIME HYSTERIA (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Beneath
	Tracks: 1- Tides of Time, 2- Entrapment, 3- Reasons Undefined, 4- Time Hysteria
Cover Art by Zdzislaw Beksinski	Recorded at Studio Eight
This is technical melodic heavy/thrash with some elements of death metal in some arrangements. And surely the band has done a really good work here, specially the guitars that deliver original riffs making each of the tracks really memorable. The vocals have a lot of variations here going from sort of an eighties thrash style full of power and anger to full death metal screams within the same composition. There are also some guttural screams here and there. But the main thing here is the combination between th crushing guitars and the solid rhythm section which is the essence of the band. The band surely knows how to combine aggression with more atmospheric moments and that becomes evident while listening to each of the compositions on this CD. There is some use of acoustic guitars but the trademark here are the heavy and constantly changing guitars that define Beneath´s sound. This is a totally recommendable album.
Favorite tracks: The four.	Contact: http://welcome.to/beneath

BESESSEN - SCHLACHTHOF (Twilight- Vertrieb, 2003)
	Produced By: Besessen
	Tracks: 1- Kannibalischer Selbstmord, 2- Der Schlachthof ist kein Spielplatz, 3- Der Schwarze Schaft, 4- Fellfresse, 5- Deformiert, 6-Mordende Opfer, 7- Blinde Suche, 8- Ferfall, 9- Brecher
Cover Art by Hartworks	Recorded at Rosenquarz Tonstudio
Thius is an album of pure brutality. Yes, the main thing here besides the good quality of the music is that every little piece of music here has been designed in order to smash your brain. Here there are a lot of huge guitar riffs played with a really huge sound that klobotomy your brain with their heaviness. There is a lot of fast drumming but the good thing is that this guys combine the fastest parts with a lot of technique that allows the drummer to create great passages with his double drumming, with the ride cymbal and with the toms making things even more intereting rhythmically speaking. The band is tight as hell, and you have to check the guitar work combined with the bass to feel how they pound your soul track after track.The track "Der Schlachthof..." has a lot of old german thrash influences and is sort of a mix between Sodom and brutal death metal. And I think that adds a lot to the music because it gives a lot of identity to Besessen´s music and gives variation to the feelings in each of the compositions. This is pure brutal death with some thrash influences that are the essence of this bestial band.
Favorite tracks: "Kannibalischer Selbstmord", "Deformiert" and "Mordende Opfer"	Contact: www.band-besessen.de

BLACKLOUD - 6^TH 6^TH 6^TH (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Jimbo Burton
	Tracks: 1- Future Shock, 2- Circular, 3- Artificial light, 4- Lucid, 5- Dusting, 6- Formation, 7- Scrubble Dubbed, 8- Derangement, 9- Black Ball, 10- Guns, 11- Tanker, 12- War Chief
Cover Art by Jimbo Burton
Jimbo Burton is the main brain behind this amazing band / project. The music is completely centered around the bass guitar and Jimbo has been capable of developing twelve interesting compositions that always surprise with the many ideas that he shows. Here we have a distorted bass in some tracks and in others a bass that is cleaner (or, as in "Circular", a bass with a lot of flanger), and that is the centre of the compositions along with Kimbo´s vocals that are really weird. The compositions here are really original and there is a lot of boundaries breaking through this album because Jimbo has no limits in his creative mind and you can see it here with the many different rhythms that he makes and also in the way he programmes the drums, sounding really mechanical at times, and more fluent in other places. This is pure experimentation from this unconventional musician from whom we would like to listen even more music.
Favorite tracks: "Tanker", "Black Ball" and "Lucid"	Contact: www.blackloud.com

BONE CRUSHING ANNIHILATION - BONE CRUSHING ANNIHILATION (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Bone Crushing Annihilation
	Tracks: 1- Hatred, 2- The Rage, 3- It´s Time to Riot, 4- Truth to Reality, 5- Homicidal Suicide, 6- Bring it enemy (Time for revenge), 7- Live to Die, 8- Fuck Off, 9- Slash, kill, repeat..., 10- Losing My Mind, 11- Non-Existent
Cover Art by Bone Crushing Annihilation
An eerie bass passage opens up "Hatred" the first track of this brain smashing recording. And every note, every riff, every beat here is conceived in order to crush the listener with its brutality. The name of the band is really appropriate: Bone Crushing Annihilation. And that is what they do from beginning to end here: they crush your whole fucking body with their aggression. The guitar riffs are really low tuned and they are like a wall of sound smashing over your head. The rhythms are fast but there is no abuse of speed here preferring to concentrate in more rhythmic and heavy parts. And there is originality in the guitar riffs, in the sense that they are not a bunch of fast notes thrown together but they are really well developed. The vocals are really guttural as this style of music demands and there are alos other screaming voices more in the grindcore vein. The sound is muddy and I think that a better mix could give even more direct in your face sound to the music of this devastating band. This is what I call music designed to smash your skull into pieces.
Favorite tracks: "Hatred", "Homicidal Suicide" and "Live to Die"	Contact: http://B-C-A.tripod.com

BOTTOM - FEELS SO GOOD WHEN YOU´RE GONE (Man´s Ruin Recs., 2003)
	Produced By: Bottom and Billy Anderson
	Tracks: 1- Hell.of.a.life, 2- Forever Gone, 3- X on Yr hed, 4- Love Song 2 no 1, 5- Got Meth, 6- Deathspin, 7- Meatbuzz, 8- Tower:xvi; 9- Angermeistar
Recorded at Sharkbite Studio
If I were a recording label I would sure try to sign this band. Why? Because they have everything to be a top name in the heavy rock/metal scene. They have the crushing riffs with an interesting rhythmic quality and they have good melodies that stick into your mind in the first listening. Plus they have a really versatile singer who knows how to fit the mood of the music perfectly. And they have some seventies influences really well disguised into their own sound. Each of the tracjks here is memorable and you can follow the cleverly constructed choruses that have great hooks. The sound of the band is good with that seventies feeling that I said before in the guitars but with a more modern sound in them that makes them heavier. A band destined to be in the top.
Favorite tracks: "Hell.of.a.life", "Deathspin" and "Got Meth"	Contact: www.mansruin.com or www.bottommusic.com

BUGEN HAGEN - EXPULSION (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Bugen Hagen
	Tracks: 1- It Shall Never Be Done, 2- No Breeding Ground, 3- These things must be ripped in the bad, 4- Horror Channel, 5- Selfish Nation
Cover Art by Bugen Hagen	Recorded at Soundlodge Studios
Devastating from the first riff, this band that plays what can be called modern death/thrash metal blasts you with "It Shall Never Be Done", a track with plenty of crushing guitar riffs and with interesting drumming that includes several double bass passages and original patterns that emphasize the heaviness of the music here. The guitars combine fast riffs with more rhythmic ones that are the essence of BugenHagen´s music. There are really extreme vocals that fit perfectly the music of the band and that create their own feeling. And it is like the music here has an eighties feeling but played with a much more modern sound that makes the tracks more crushing. There are a lot of technical skills here because there are multiple changes in tempo and some breaks that have to have good musicianship in order to be played correctly. A Really good band coming directly from Moormerland, Germany.
Favorite tracks: "It Shall Never Be Done", "Horror Channel" and "Selfish Nation"	Contact: www.bugenhagen.de.vu

CALAMUS - A FEW LINES IN MIND (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Markus Ball
	Tracks: 1- Who´s Gonna Lie to Me, 2- All Fear, 3- Devil´s Run, 4- Heal All Pain Video
Cover Art by Calamus
Acoustic guitars open this album before a calm climatic voice starts delivering the lyrics. Then the heavy guitars enter creating a heavy basis for the song. Then the singer changes moods and starts adding more power to fit the rest of the band. And that is what Calamus is about: pure energy unleashed but with a subtle side that shows the listener multiple feelings contained on the band[s compositions. The three tracks on this MCD are memorable and have that sort of seventies feeling which is a trademark of the band. The songs leave you wanting more from this band whose goal is creating good memorable songs …and surely they have achieved it
Favorite tracks: the three	Contact: www.calamusic.de

CALAMUS - THESE DAYS (Cargo Records, 2003)
	Produced By: Markus Ball
	Tracks: 1- Heal All Pain, 2- Golden Dreams, 3- These Days, 4- Devil, 5- In Between, 6- Your Highway, 7- The Blind Man, 8- On the Run, 9- Shitkicker, 10- Hold Me, 11- Still Holding On, 12- Under My Thumb
	Recorded at Decadance Studio
This is pure rocking music with a mix of new music and seventies influences. With a really versatile singer that knows how to give the exact feeling to the music that the band is playing, Calamus is an experience of rhythmic guitar riffs with some stoner rock sounds and also with some alternative influences on them. But the guitars sound heavier than in most of the bands of the style. Here we have twelve tracks (eleven plus a cover of "Under my Thumb") that have memorable melodies and choruses that will surely stick in your brain really soon. The recording has the sound that it has to: fuzzy guitars with distortion and drumming with a lot of ride cymbal and interesting hihat work. Lovers of rocking music with a lot of energy will surely like Calamus.
Favorite tracks: "The Blind Man", "Devil" and "These Days"	Contact: www.calamusic.de or www.cargo-records.de

CALVARIUM - THE SKULL OF GOLGOTHA (Dynamic Arts Recs., 2003)
	Produced By: Calvarium
	Tracks: 1- Three Nails and the Hammer of Satan, 2- Horns of Hate, 3- Jumalviha, 4- Death Worship, 5- Siunatum Surma, 6- Morbid Hordes Revenge, 7- Herramme on Saapuva, 8- Dedication in Misanthropy, 9- Suicide Manifesto
Cover Art by Calvarium
Calvarium is a fucking finnish black metal machine and they show it here through this nine unholy tracks full of blast beats and fast riffs and also with some darker than hell melodies that give a different feeling to the music here. The combination of the rawest parts with this melodies played at a fast pace is a trademark of Calvarium´s music. Screaming extreme vocals are what you will find on this album and they fit perfectly this blackest of all musics. The sound is raw but really well mixed making each instrument sound compact and precise even in the fastest parts (here the merit is also of the band that is realy tight). There are some thrash elements here too and this combination of this parts and the fastest black metal ones is essential here too when combined with the more epic and melodic parts to create Calvarium´s identity. Black metal for unholy souls !!!!
Favorite tracks: "Horns of Hate", "Morbid Hordes revenge" and "Dedication in Misanthropy"	Contact: www.dynamicartsrecords.com

CEREBRAL EFFUSION - VIOLENCE IN MOTION (Unmatched Brutality Recs., 2004)
	Produced By: Angel, Xabi and Cerebral Effusion
	Tracks: 1- Bloody Ecstasy, 2- Dismembered, 3- Forthcoming Cannibalism, 4- The Inescapable Bond of..., 5- Unnatural Disturbed Flesh, 6- Homicide and Justified Medicine, 7- Violence in Motion, 8- Human Butchery, 9- Sodomized by Daddy
Cover Art by Eöl	Recorded at Tala Studios
Pure brutality. Everything here is brutal. From the gutiars that deliver incredibly fast riffs to the blast beating drums, to the heavier aprts thata re slower but much heavier even than the faster ones. Cerebral Effusion is a demolishing band full of brutality and with ultra guttural vocals. The voices are so guttural that they sound almost grindcore, almost as a low tuned instrument. There are plenty of rhythm changes and tempo changes that make the compositions really complex in many places. Plus, I have to remark the good sound that this recording has, specially on the guitars that have a huge sound and the drums that sound almostlike a machine because of its precission. Lover of brutality can have an orgasm here !
Favorite tracks: "Forthcoming...", "Violence..." and "Human Butchery"	Contact: www.unmatchedbrutality.com

CHAMBER - YOU AND WHAT ARMY (Independent, 2002)
	Produced By: Chamber and Tommy Joyner
	Tracks: 1- Dropping Like Flies, 2- Spirit Veering Black, 3-Bottom Feeder, 4- I Man God, 5- Madness, 6- 12 Pack, 7- Heavy Loads Unlimited, 8- Mad 9V, 9- Strong Like Us
Cover Art by www.rizzio.net	Recorded at MilkBoy Studios
The first track "Dropping like flies" is a brutal metal hit!! With this screamed chorus that sticks in your maind and the heavier than fuck, yet slow rhythm that is played below the composition is easily reminded after you have listened to it once and I think it is a perfect track for a live show because it sounds brutal yet controlled. And this band is like that: brutal but solid as a rock, really aggressive on every chord, on every beat on every rhythm that they play. The compositions are really well developed, specially the rhythms are the core of the music here changing from riff to riff fluently. The band knows how to be brutalwithout needing to speed up, preferring to play crushing guitar riffs that are the essence of the band. The vocals are brutal, yet clear giving and eighties extreme feeling (sort of a Venom feeling) that sounds original while spitting the lyrics along the modern sounding riffs. The guitar sound is really brutal and the mix is a really good one. Chamber is a band whose music deserves to be listened by a huge audience, specially live because they must be devastating.
Favorite tracks: "Dropping Like Flies", "Madness" and "Heavy Loads Unlimited	Contact: www.chamberarmy.com

CHILDREN OF BODOM - HATE CREW DEATHROLL (Spinefarm Recs., 2003)
	Produced By: Anssi Kippo
	Tracks: 1- Needled 24/7, 2- Sixpounder, 3- Chokehold (Cocked´n´loaded), 4- Bodom Beach Terror, 5- Angels Don´t Kill, 6- Triple Corpse Hammerblow, 7- You´re better off dead, 8- Lil´Bloodred Ridin´Hood, 9- Hate Crew Deathroll, 10- Silent Scream
	Recorded at Astia Studio
Here is the latest Chilren of Bodom recording and here you can see tat the band si always exploring the path that made them famous. That is the combination of pure power metal with death metal elements and extreme vocals. That is, the band is really solid and makes memorable songs album after album, and I think that they have developed their own sound and style. Janne Warman´s keyboards are becoming increasingly essential here being, along with the technical guitars, the main element in Children of Bodom´s music orchestrating each part and adding a particular sound to the band. The tracks are complex and this guys are becoming each time better musicians in morder to play this technical parts fluently. Thisis another milestone in the path that Children of Bodom has created and that continues to explore with each new album.
Favorite tracks: "Sixpounder", "Triple Corpse..." and "You´re better off dead"	Contact: www.spinefarm.fi

CLAYMORE - RELEASED (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Claymore
	Tracks: 1- Released, 2- Dying in a Dream, 3- Master of Wishes, 4- Beast in the Crowd, 5- Me Personal War
Cover Art by Claymore
Directly from Bulgary comes this climatic band whose music can be defined as brutal yet subtle. The addition of omniprescent keyboards is essential here because they create incredible passages through all this recording. The guitars add heaviness with the riffs and also melody with some beautiful and dark lines that they deliver through all the compositions. The vocals here are really guttural and contrast heavily with the melodic work that the band does through the five tracks contained on this CD. I would like to call Claymore´s style "orchestrated death metal" because of the incredible arrangements that fit really well even in the most brutal parts and because of the good technical skills that the abnd has in order to develope really well the compositions. The sound of the recording is extremely raw, specially on the drums adding a different feeling to the band´s music. I would like the band to mix much louder the guitars to make sort of a wall of guitar riffing in order to fit better with the keyboards. This is with no doubt a band with incredible compositions that will be liked by any lover of dark music and also for lovers of really good musicianship .
Favorite tracks: "Released", "Master of Wishes" and "Beast in the Crowd"	Contact: claymore_band@yahoo.com

COERCION - LIFEWORK (Animate Records, 2003)
	Produced By: Coercion
	Tracks: 1- Man vs Man, 2- Push and Hold, 3- Consumed, 4- Four Walls, 5- Passive Tool
Cover Art by Nyman	Recorded at Studio Lowpoint
Pure brutality from the first second to the last !!!! this recording was conceived to melt your brain through the five tracks that it contains. Here we have extremely heavy guitar riffs that are at the same time fast and really aggressive and that sometimes turn into more rhythmic ones that are the heaviest on earth. We have a really solid drummer who emphasizes each of the rhythms played here with his open drumming full of patterns done with the ride cymbal, full of breaks and full of really fast drumming. The vocals here are really extreme being guttural but clearer enough for you to follow the lyrics. The recording has a raw sound, specially on drums and that adds a wild feeling to the music here. The songs are well developed and sound like a Panzer Division over your fucking head. This utter brutality in almost seventeen minutes of crushing music !!
Favorite tracks: The five	Contact: www.coercion.tk or www.animate-records.com

CONCEPT - PRIMAL ORIGINS (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Archibald
	Tracks: 1- Earth Consumed, 2- Ruins of One, 3- Biogenus (Sepsis), 4- In Shadows Dwell
Cover Art by Tomos Brangwyn and Archibald	Recorded at Cybershrine Studios
Man, this really extreme and creative at the same time. The music, and specially the vocals are really extreme sometimes screaming at the top of the lungs and sometimes extremely guttural. The music here has a really mechanical feeling that combined with the heavy guitars and the orchestarting keyboards gives the Concept trademark. The programmed drums are sometimes fast doing blast beats and sometimes more rhythmical, more in the industrial vein (specially when combined with the ultra distirted guitars). And the guitars create from smashing riffs to interesting arrangements, adding eerie melodies in some places giving a complete idea of a futuristic and desolated world. The sound is good with that industrial feeling thta I mentioned before, due to the combination of programmed drums and really distorted guitars. There is experimentation here but everything si done with a lot of coherence. A smashing cybernetic album.
Favorite tracks: The five	Contact: www.conceptshrine.com

CRADLE OF FILTH - DAMNATION AND A DAY (Sony Music, 2003)
	Produced By: Cradle of Filth
	Tracks: 1- The Promise of Fever, 2- Hurt and Virtue, 3- AnEnemy Led the Tempest, 4- Better to Reign in Hell, 5- Serpent Tongue Pt 1, 6- Serpent Tongue Pt 2, 7- Carrion, 8- Presents from the poison hearted, 9- Doberman Pharaoh, 10- Babalon A.D., 11- Mannequin, 12- Thank God for the suffering, 13- The Smoke of her burning
Cover Art by John Coulthart	Recorded at Parkgate Studios
I never understood why people and journalists acclaimed Cradle of Filth as such a great band. I agree that "Dusk and her Embrace" was a good black metal album, but I didn´t find an element that could distinguish them from any other of the thousands of good bands of the style. Who knows? Sure the band has good songs and good orchestrations in many of them but I find that most of their material is quite similar. On this album we have more of the more rhythmic riffs that I would like the band to play more oftne in order to find their own sound. There are also the omniprescent shrieks of Dani Filth (I would like him to do something differently now, ten years after their first album). This album has a really good mix that allows each instrument to shine. This is an album recommendable for lovers of this band and also for those who have never heard their music before (there are seventeen tracks here but I only got the names of twelve of them).
Favorite tracks: "Hurt and Virtue", "Better to reign in hell" and "Carrion"	Contact: www.cradleoffilth.com

CRUSHING CASPARS - FULL FLAVOUR (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Crushing Caspars
	Tracks: 1- Good Morning, 2- Caspars Attack, 3- All For Me, 4- Provocation, 5- Bloodshot Eyes, 6- Your Mind, 7- Palefaces, 8- P.R.Asshole, 9- Circle, 10- Doglike, 11- Gravity, 12- Company, 13- Isolated, 14- Phoney, 15- Remember, 16- Time to Go
	Recorded at Blue Hospital Studios
Fucking powerful music, mix of metal, hardcore and punk. Sort of a Motorhead but with more power than their latest albums (this guys have "the eye of the tiger"!!). The songs here are short and effective being really well constructed and designed for the mosh pit. The guitars sound huge and they play really straight in your face riffs while the vocals spit with anger the lyrics.. sort of a more variated Biohazard in some of the tracks. The voices are killer with lots of choruses and interesting harmonies in someparts and with brutality in others. The rhythm sectio is solid as a rock and really direct. One remarkable thing on this album is the really good and in your face sound that the guitars and the drums have making each track really powerful as they deserve.
Favorite tracks: "Caspars Attack", "Palefaces" and "Doglike"	Contact:

CRYPTIC WARNING - INTERNALLY REVILED (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Cryptic Warning
	Tracks: 1- From Cathalyst to Catharsis, 2- Chainsaw Sacrifice Ritual, 3- Internally Reviled
Cover Art by Evan Duplessis	Recorded at Second Story Studios
This is a brutal trio coming directly from Boston, Massachussets and the style that they played can be defined as a mix of modern thrash wkith some death metal elements. Their music is technical and this guys have the essntial skills that are needed to make all the compositions sound tight and solid. There are interesting guitar solos here that when combined with the riffs develope interesting compositions that are devastating yet have a lot of quality. I have to remark that this album sounds raw and powerful, almost like played live (when the guitar does the solos the bakground consists in the bass and drums so you can have a good idea of how this band sounds in a live concert). There are some eighties thrash influences here in the multiple tempo and patterns changes whioch I liked a lot and this is the essence of Cryptic Warning: the multiple riffs and breaks and the technical changes. The vocals are clear and brutal, occassionally throwing a guttural part into the music. This is a really powerful trio whose music is at the same time brutal and imaginative.
Favorite tracks: the three	Contact: www.crypticwarning.com

CRYPTIC WARNING - LIVE ON WERS (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Cryptic Warning
	Tracks: 1- Set 1: From Catalyst to Catharsis -Rite of Initiation - Snakestrike, 2- Set 2: Charred Earth - Caught Beneath Conscience - Chainsaw Sacrifice Ritual
Cover Art by Cryptic Warning	Recorded at
Here we have the opportunity to listen how this brutal band sounds in a live environment. Here you can feel the groove that this band delivers on each of the tracks here while changing from brutal to powerful and then back to brutal again. Their mix of brutal and death metal reaches its climax in tracks like "From Catalyst to Catharsis". The sound here is a little bit muddy and a better mix could have made this even more powerful. Each of the compositions here sounds full of power and there are no overdubs here. This is exactly how the band sounds live (you can listen that only the rhythm section remains while the guitars is doing some nice solos. The vocals sound even more brutal when played live than in the studio recording. There are also here some of the Cryptioc Warning´s trademarks such as some technical breaks done by this great drummer. A good display of violent and interesting music.
Favorite tracks: "From Catalyst...", "Chainsaw..." and "Charred Earth"	Contact: www.crypticwarning.com

DAATH - FUTILITY (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Eyal Levi
	Tracks: 1- The One, 2- Placenta, 3- Filter, 4- Child Says, 5- Infestation, 6- Concentrate Living, 7- Blender for the Baby, 8- Slow, 9- Just for a Second, 10- Crystasis
Cover Art by Michael Kameron	Recorded at Hairy Breakfast Prods.
A curious intro opens up this album with acoustic guitars that give such as an oriental feeling before getting directly into "Placenta" a track with weird fast riffs (really crushing ones) and extreme vocals that spit the vocals in a completely different way than would do any other. It is excellent the idea of combining this crushing guitar riffs with oparts with clean guitars that deliver interesting melodic passages on each track. Plus there are synths creating orchestration, arrangements and adding some electronic elements to Daath´s music. All the compositions here have multiple changes within them showing the imagination and inspiration of this guys that goes beyond what you could have heard before. Besides, the album has a really good mix that makes clear each of the arrangements, each of the phrases that they deliver through all the album. One of the albums of the month.
Favorite tracks: The whole album	Contact: www.daathmusic.com

DARK DISCIPLE - UNHOLY HATE GORE (Morbid Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Dark Disciple
	Tracks: 1- Jesus Loves You, 2- Serving the Priest, 3- Annihilation of the living, 4- A thousand corpses, 5- Vile Infection, 6- Reign of Terror, 7- 666 Stab Wounds, 8- Human Killing Machine, 9- Welcome to Purgatory, 10- Unholy Hate Gore

Favorite tracks: "Vile Infection", "Human Killing Machine" and "Serving the Priest"	Contact: www.morbidrecords.de or www.darkdisciple.com

DEAD REMAINS -DEATHLESS TORTURE (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Dead Remains
	Tracks: 1- Slimy Sins, 2- Deathless Torture, 3- Misanthropic Paradise, 4- Reptile, 5- To Love a Dying Victim, 6- Lycantroph, 7- Da Vinci, 8- Zodiac
Cover Art by Dead Remains
This is a really brutal album and you have to know it just by watching the cover art. And when you listen the first riff you will certify that Dead Remains is a really extreme abnd full of deadly ideas and with rotting compositions that will blast you with just one listening. Here you have plenty of double bass drumming, many fast rhythms (the rhythm section sounds really tight and solid) and also you have devastating guitar riffs played with an extremely fat sound that acts like a wall of sound when you turn up the volume. The vocals here are really in the death metal way: that is guttural and screamed, acting almost like another instrumenbt to spit the brutality directly in your face. The sound of the album is not really good and I think that a better mix could give even more brutality to this amazing band. Plus the cover of Macabre´s "Zodiac" adds the final touch to this bestial album full of death metal aggression changing the feeling but keeping it extremely brutal.
Favorite tracks: "Deathless Torture", "Misanthropic Paradise" and "Lycantroph"	Contact: www.deadremains.de

DEATHCHAIN - DEADMEAT DISCIPLES (Dynamic Arts Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Deathchain
	Tracks: 1- Chaos Wartech, 2- Rabid Vultures, 3- Poltergeist (The Nemesis), 4- March of the Thousand Legions, 5- Carnal Immage, 6- Undertaker, 7- Skeletal Claws, 8- Carrier of Pestilence, 9- Deadmeat Disciples

Pure utter brutality is what this killer band delivers from begining to end here. Full speed is one of the ingredients here and crushing guitar riffs is other. Here we have brutal vocals with different sounds (one more guttural, the other more of the screaming type) thata re cleverly combined in order to achieve the most brutal result possible. I have to remark the excellent sound that this recording has making each note, each beat shine with utter bestiality. Everything here is designed to devastate the listener and I have to say that this guys have succeeded at it. Pure bestiality
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.dynamicartsrecords.com

DEATHFROST - DART OF SETH (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Deathfrost
	Tracks: 1- Venite Belzebuth, 2- Killed In Action, 3- Herd of Pigs Possessed by Demons, 4- Idle Brain, 5- Dart of Seth , 6- Rubber Gloves, 7- CAMONOBEWEHNE, 8- I Love the Dead, 9- Idle Track (early version)
Cover Art by Deathfrost
We reviewed Deathfrost´s previous labum some issues back and here we have their new recording. As always, their music is powerful and raw with really extreme vocals (they are always distorted adding a really extreme feeling to each of the compositions. Here we have a combination between ultra fast tracks like "Venite Belzebuth" and others that are really climatic and kind of slower such as "Killed in Action". Deathfrost´s trademark is teh combination of the wildest moments with more climatic ones and here we can listen to many lof this changes in mood. The music is experimental and original, specially the guitars that deliver many interesting riffs that are the core of the music here. The sound of the recording is extremely raw and that is the way the band likes to sound in order to be more extreme. This is pure bestiality with interesting original elements.
Favorite tracks: "Killed in Action", "Dart of Seth" and "Idle Brain"	Contact: http://nav.to/deathfrost

DEGRADE - FEASTING ON BLOODY CHUNKS (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Degrade
	Tracks: 1- Blunt Needle Lobotomy, 2- Degraded into Worms, 3- Proud to Kill, 4- Feasting on Bloody Chunks
	Recorded at Studio Mätverket
Directly from Sweden comes the technical brutality of Degrade’s utter bestial death metal. With one of the most guttural vocals that you can find in the underground Degrade has managed here to blast your brain into a fucking liquid solution through four tracks full of brutal riffs and incredibly fast drumming and brutal vocals. The sound is raw and direct and gives the energy that the guitar riffs and the faster than the speed of light drumming deserves. One of the main ingredients here are the ultra guttural vocals that spit the blasphemic lyrics that this album has. This guys are devastating from beginning to end and they will not rest until they have turn you into dust .This is extreme aggression at its most brutal level.
Favorite tracks: the four	Contact: www.degrade.tk

DEMENTAL - TALES OF ALIENATION (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Demental
	Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- At the Gate of War, 3- Creatures Indesirables, 5- Cirrus, 6- Virtual N.D.E., 7- Possession Bestial, 8- The Lost Legion, 9- Experimentation Temporelle, 10- Visionary Man
Cover Art by Melanie Simard
After a climatic opening with the intro, clean guitars enter and are later combined with heavier ones in order to show the destructive music of Demental. The music here is fast with some melodic elements that for me are the essence of Demental´s music (and sets them apart from all the other bands in this brutal style). There are death metal vocals here sometimes more guttural (almost grindcore in many parts) and sometimes of the more screaming type spitting the vocals and adding a really extreme feeling to themusic. One of the main tings here are the multiple rhythm breaks and changes (as you can listen in "At the Gate of War" where the band goes from slow to fast and then go into a break and then into an almost grind part . there is a lot of rehearsal here and that is evident in the perfect way that this tracks are played even in really difficult parts. This is brutality done with good musicianship and original ideas that are taken to the extreme and developed in order to always surprise.
Favorite tracks: "Possession Bestial", "Cirrus" and "The Lost Legion"	Contact: www.demental.com

DEMON REALM - A LEGEND OF POWER (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Demon Realm
	Tracks: 1- Spheres of Conquest, 2- Assuming the Form, 3- Pandaemonium Incarnate, 4- I Am Hate, 5- Flow Through the Black Stars, 6- For the Sin of Ages, 7- Thy Altar of Darkness, 8- Burning Hate, 9- The Coming, 10-Darkness Is, 11-We Take the throne, 12- The Path, 13-
Cover Art by Demon Realm
A dark epic intro opens this album with some ignote melody combineed with some drums. After a minute or so enters this ultra aggressive and extreme black metal band spitting their curses at full speed with their chainsaw like guitars and their ultra fast riffing. Here there is full speed guaranteed and also realy anguished vocals. There are blast beats in many places and you can feel the blasphemy that this ultraaggressive band delivers on each of the thirteen tracks contained on this album. Nothing can save you from the stampede that this band creates on each track: the guitars burn your soul with the fast riffs and the screams finish the work reducing your brain to dark ashes. The sound is extremely raw and I think that the vocals are a little bit up in the mix (or the guitars should be louder). This is pure unholy black metal with some interesting thrash passages and a really raw and direct sound.
Favorite tracks: "Pandaemonium Incarnate", "Burning Hate" and "For the Sin of Ages"	Contact:

DIS - FORCES OF GREED (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Dis
	Tracks: 1- Forces of Greed, 2- Overload, 3- Disillusion, 4- Remembrance, 5- Point of No Return
Cover Art by Linda Dielemans	Recorded at Studio Brooklyn
What an amazing band !!! This band has succesfully mixed really technical death metal (the vocies are death metal but the music goes well beyond this style) with electric and acoustic violins and with many interesting melodies. It is amazing to listen the violins creating melodies and arrangements full of beauty in a context of aggression as the one this band delivers. Plus this band has a lot of technique in their playing and you can see how good musicians they are through the five tracks. In the track "Remembrance" there are guest female by Sehna Peelen which I find really heartful plenty of feelings and that fits perfectly the music of the band. This album is really a must have to see how well interesting arrangements can be combined with heaviness and how a band can deliver five tracks with clever harmonies and great technical skills. A must.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.disbrotherhood.nl

DODECAMERON - KALIKANTZARO´S WRATH (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Dodecameron
	Tracks: 1- The Sign of the Dodecameron (intro), 2- The wrath of Kalikantzaro´s Disciples, 3-The arrival of evil essence over ancient fields, 4- The twelve eves of darkness (the Dodecameron), 5- Might and Honor (Declaration of War), 6- The Beginning of the long and Dark Way (outro)

Sounds of storms and an eerie keyboards intro with haunting melodies and orchestration leads us directly into the mayhemic world of Dodecameron. Here you will find pure black metal full of hatred and with the extreme dark feeling that this kind of music must have. The band surely knows how to go fast as many parts here have incredibly fast riffs and hyper fast drumming. But I think that here the essential instrument are the keyboards that orchestrate all the compositions and that add the darkest of feelings to the music here. The main influence here are the norwegian black metal scene bands but this guys have their identity as they deliver interesting tempo changes and breaks before getting into full speed again. The vocals are really extreme and the sound here is raw yet clear enough to make the guitars powerful and to be fully audible. A good thing is that the drums are mixed loud enough to give the music that powerful punch that this kind of drumming gives. This is pure black metal for lovers of the darkest side of metal !!
Favorite tracks: "The wrath...", "The arrival..:" and "Might and Honor"	Contact: www.dodecameron.netfirms.com

DRASTIQUE - PLEASURELIGION (Beyond Prods, 2003)
	Produced By: Chris Buchman
	Tracks: 1- Senses, 2- The Succubus, 3- Legacy of Fascination, 4- Perfect Nothing, 5- Maria Magdalena, 6- Immortal Beloved, 7- Voyage Dans la Femme
Cover Art by Jan Saudek	Recorded at Unearthly Studios
This is with no doubt one of the recordings of the year. Yes, the quality of each of the compositions of this album is overwhelming. Every musical piece here is clkeverly orchestrated and at the same time here we have heavy guitars that add a lot of power to the music. This guitars are almost death metal ones and at the same time there are multiple double bass drumming parts. One of the main things here is the excellent vocal work with male and female vocals (Fay has a really beautiful yet dark voice that gives a lot fo feeling to the music). There is plenty of orchestrations and melodic arrangements here that contrast heavily with the heavier (where there are some interesting extreme voices). There are two elements thata re essential here besides those already described: 1- the keyboards that orchestrate each of the compositiones, 2- The dark feeling that all this album has and that shows us the esence of Drastique´s music. A masterpiece.
Favorite tracks: all the CD	Contact: www.drastique.com or www.beyondprod.com

DRUNK MOTHER FUCKERS - FUCK YOU (Very Different Recordings, 2003)
	Produced By: Very Different Recordings
	Tracks: 1- My Friend?, 2- I´ve Lost, 3- Black Skies, 4- Designated Loser, 5- Fuck the Job, 6- Big Daddy, 7- Little Preppy World, 8- Hittin´the Bottle, 9- Broken Down Old Dog, 10- Paper Wings, 11- No Labels, 12- August Blue, 13- Designated Loser (reprise)
Cover Art by	Recorded at - I´ve Lost,
This band is pure heavy rock with a big influence from seventies band, specially in the sound of the guitars and in the song structures. This band has created here thirteen memorable songs full of catchy riffs and full of guitar solos that reminded me a little bit of Ted Nugent. The songs are really well developed with some of them being heavier like "I´ve Lost", with many guitar arrangements and multiple ideas but with a lot of coherence that can make you sing the choruses along with the band. As I said before, the sound is really seventies and the recording and mix has been done in that way, keeping the seventies spirit of the music....and I really liked that. This is a sorely missed style of bands and I think they give a lot of fresh air to the rcking scene.
Favorite tracks: "Black Skies", "Hittin the Bottle" and "NO Labels"	Contact: www.verydifferentrecordings.com

DUNKELGRAFEN - ORIS DIABOLIS (Miriquidi Prods., 2003)
	Produced By: Dunkelgrafen
	Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Eldorado (der Sinsternis), 3- Throne of the Old Gods, 4- Mythos Vlad Tepes Dracul, 5- Black Demon, Shaitan´s Warrior, 6- Beltane, 7- Oris Diabolis, 8- Portrait of an Antichrist, 9- Whore Babylon, 10- Outro
	Recorded at Black Flame Studio
Dunkelgrafen delivers here eight tracks, an intro and an outro of pure climatic black metal. Despite the raw nature of Dunkelgrafen´s riffs and the extreme vocals, the band manages to create interesting dark passages through all this recording. And that is the nature of the band: using riffs that are not ultra fast, they create atmospheres that transport you directly into the deepest of hells. There are harmonized riffs such as the one at 2:35 of "Eldorado" which I found origianl and cleverly played in this black metal context. There is some old school influence here and there but everything here is done in order to give a feeling of sorrow and darkness. There are also clean guitars in the middle of some of the compositions adding even more to taht feeling. The sound is good yet raw, specially on the guitars. Pure black metal with strong emphasis in the dark arrangements.
Favorite tracks: "Eldorado", "Mythos Vlad..." and "Portrait of an Antichrist"	Contact: www.dunkelgrafen-band.de.vu or www.miriquidi-productions.com

DYING PASSION - VOYAGE (PROMO) (Metal Breath Prods., 2003)
	Produced By: Dying Passion
	Tracks: 1- On the Road, 2- Microcosmos, 3- Pilgrimage
Cover Art by Dying Passion
Full of climatic parts and aggressive passages the music of Dying Passion is a challenge to the senses because of the multiple arrangements and atmospheres that it has. Each of the different harmonizations done with keyboards, guitars or violins is cleverly used here in order to make the listener open his mind to this climatic music. Combining heavy guitar riffs that add a lot of power with climatic female vocals (this woman that sings in "Microcosmos" is amazing, full of feeling). On this promo I have three tracks of púre amazing musicianship and each of this three tracks is a masterpiece. If I do an extrapolation I have to say that Dying Passion is one of the best bands that I have ever listened to, full of melancholy and power. An extraordinary band and release.
Favorite tracks: the three. A masterpiece	Contact: www.volny.cz/metalbreath

ECLIPTICA - THE LEGEND OF KING ARTUS (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Ecliptica
	Tracks: 1- Introduction, 2- In the Name of England, 3- Artus and Excalibur, 4- Wizard of the King, 5- Guinevere, 6- Camelot, 7- Into the depths of darkness, 8- Morgana Le Fay, 9- Warrior of Death, 10- Intimate of the king, 11- The queens confession, 12- the holy grail, 13- Prepare for war, 14- Return of the dragon, 15-the end, 16- Avalon (my spirit never dies)
	Recorded at The Factory Studios
As you may have suspected this is a conceptual album telling us the tale of king Artus from England and of Excalibur his powerful sword. The music here is pure heavy metal with eopic melodies that are the essence of Ecliptica´s music. Markus Winkler is the main brain behind the music here and he has done a good job. He plays the guitars here and he also programmed the drums that sound quite odd but effective. The other members of teh band are Alfred Gollubich on bass and many talented vocalists, both male and female (each one is associated with one charachter of the story), that give different feelings to the music. The songs are really well developed and are really interconnected with a lot of coherence in order to give form to a unique piece. The sound of the recording is a little bit muddy and I think that mixing guitars louder could be a good idea in order to make them shine. Maybe with a better sound the band could sound more powerful. A good piece of pure metal with good ideas and incredible melodies.
Favorite tracks: "IN teh name of England", "Warrior of Death" and "Return of the Dragon"	Contact: www.ecliptica.at.tt

EDENBRIDGE - APHELION (Massacre Records, 2003)
	Produced By: Lanvall
	Tracks: 1- The Undiscovered Land, 2- Skyward, 3- The final curtain, 4- Perennial dreams, 5- Fly at Higher Game, 6- As Far as eyes can see, 7- The whispering gallery, 8- Deadend Fire, 9- Farpoint Anywhere, 10- Where Silence has lease, 11- Red Ball in Blue Sky
	Recorded at House of Audio Studios
Here is the newest work by this power progressive metal band. And this album is really close to the previous "Ahrcana" but it has for my taste a better sound. The songs are really well crafted as always with that power metal rhythms and the multiple arrangements that give that sort of progressive feeling to the band. And as always we have the enchanting voice of Sabine Edelsbacher adding her fierce power when the song needs it and her sweetness when the composition needs more introspective parts. The guitars sound heavier than before and that is a really positive point in my view (Lanvall plays killer riffs and amazing melodic arrangements). And I have to remark the tight and extremely well rehearsed that this band is (specially the rhythm section). This is a band that really carries on developing their own way.
Favorite tracks: "Skyward", "As far...:" and "Deadend Fire	Contact: www.edenbridge.org

ELITE - KAMPEN (Paragon Recs., 2004)
	Mastered By: Thomas Bardsen
	Tracks: 1- Berserkerens Manifest, 2- Tusen år i lysets vold, 3- Brent av Lyset, 4- Kampen for vårt Norrønne rike, 5- Trollkvinnens sang, 6- Fanget i Vrede
Engineered by Ort Solbakken
This is what I call viking metal !! That is music closer to black metal but with some epic quality that makes it more magnificent than bands of this dark style. The lyrics are obviously dealing with vikings, ancient mythology and paganism. The guitars are really fast and the band is really extreme but at the same time knows how to turn into darker passags or more melancholic sections like the beginning of "Tusen år..." There is some classic metal influences in riffs such as the one in "Berserkerens Manifest" (with some Black Sabbath sounding taken to the extreme) and that adds a different feeling and contrast to the faster ones that are closer to black metal. The sound of the recording is good yet raw and the instruments are mixed really loud, so you can listen almost like ina live performance. This is extreme metal done with good musicanship and taking to the darker extreme !!
Favorite tracks: "Tusen år...", "Brent..." and "Trollkvinnens sang"	Contact: www.paragonrecords.net

ENEMY - LIFE IS A DREAM - RAW DEMO (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Enemy
	Tracks: 1- Lord of Darkness, 2- Consecration of Time, 3- Madman, 4- Cold Heart, 5- Scared, 6- Red Devil, 7- The Unexpected
Cover Art by Zovot	Recorded at Empire Theatre
Good catchy songs played with a lot of heaviness in the guitars are what Enemy has specialized themselves into. Yes, this songs are really heavy sounding with crushing raw guitars, with clever drumming and with good vocals that fit perfectly the mood of the compositions. There is some eighties influence of bands like Vicious Rumours here and I liked that a lot because combined with a more modern sound as this band does, the result is devastating. There are many changes in riffs and the songs change feelings in many parts before getting into the main choruses again. The sound of the recording is raw but I think this is a raw demo of teh final product (and even as raw as here the music is excellent !!!!). This is pure metal with elements from other styles and I really liked this combination. Pure metal
Favorite tracks: "Lord of Darkness" and "The Unexpected" and "Cold Heart"	Contact: www.enemy.szm.com

ERCKLENTZ / NEUMANN - OBERFLÄCHENSPANNUNG (Charhizma Recs., 2004)
	Produced By: Charhizma Recs
	Tracks: 1- Pünktlich, 2- Der Kleine Farmer, 3- Pruh, 7- Rost, 5- Oberflächenspannung
Cover Art by www.anjaweber.com	Recorded at Steim Amsterdam
This album opens up with some electronic sounds and it soon gets into full experimentation mode where Sabine Ercklentz and Andrea Neumann construct incredible structures with a myriad of sounds and noises. Ercklentz works here with trumpet and electronics and Neumann with inside piano and mixing desk (quite weird!!!). The result are five incredible spontaneous compositions where this two incredible musicians develope idea after idea witha lot of spontaneity, with improvisation, combining rhythmic qualities of the instruments that they play with sounds that are almost ambient. The music here is not easy to understand but you can not help to be fascinated with the way they have constructed this amazing musical pieces. Really spontaneous and boundaries breaking !!!
Favorite tracks: "Der Kleine Farmer", "Rost" and "Pruh"	Contact: www.charhizma.com

EVIL BARDS - THROUGH THE MASK OF SOLITUDE (Mae Prods., 2003)
	Produced By: Rig
	Tracks: 1- Child of Arrogance, 2- Black Clouds, 3- Rose fo Tears, 4- Don´t Follow My Way, 5- Cloud, 6- Introspection, 7- My Ego´s Neglect, 8- H.O.I.
Cover Art by Rhae	Recorded at Hob Studios
Starting with full energy since the first guitar riff, this band shows that they are really solid in playing their style of technical melodic death metal. Why am I saying that they play such a style? Because the band has incredibly technical riffs with some influences of pure heavy metal. At the same time they have really aggressive death metal vocals and they know also how to develop good melodies in their compositions in order to make them extremely memorable. And they use female and clean vocals too!!! The band sounds really tight and well rehearsed and that is extremely evident in the multiple arrangements that they deliver on the eight tracks that this album has. The sound of the recording is really clear and that is essential for this type of music in order to make each sound really compact and each orchestration fully audible and enjoyable to the listener. This album is a must have.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.evilbards.com

EXSECRATOR - AWAKENING OF THE ABYSS (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Exsecrator
	Tracks: 1- Christian Agony, 2- Desecrated Catacomb, 3- Devour My Soul, 4- ...And Darkness on his face, 5- Christian Agony (video)
	Recorded at Blue Train´s Studio
Brutal as hell but yet technical this badn succeeds in four tracks to blast your brain with their aggressive brutal death and at the same time to surprise with good arrangements, harmonizations and interesting rhythms and pattern changes . There are interesting two guitar harmonies in some fast riffs such as the ones in the beginning of "Christian Agony". The voicals here are of the most guttural kind that you can find anywhere (in fact they advice in the booklet that there is no vocal armonizers used here). The sound is raw but the guitars sound really huge creating devastating passages that will surprise with its aggression. The band sounds really tight and that is essential here, ijhn a kind of music that is designed to crush you. A devastating release.
Favorite tracks: "Christian Agony" and "Devour My Soul"	Contact: www.exsecrator.tk

EYEKON - TABULA RASA (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Eyekon
	Tracks: 1- Omen, 2- Tabula Rasa

Two tracks on this CD are enough to show to the listener the power of this band. And also here you can see how well the compositions are constructed in order to show the listener a good combination between powerful and climatic moments. Anders keyboards are essential in order to achieve the atmospheres that the band wants to deliver through the tracks. And the guitars add the much needed power when they are distorted and also some climatic parts when they are clean. I have to remark the role of the singer here that is to add a lot of feeling to the music through his good middle ranged voice, fiting really well the music of the rest of the band. There is virtuosism here in the keyboards solos and in the multiple changes that this progressive band has. The only problem here is that two tracks leave you wanting much more from Eyekon…and we will have to wait until they release their newer stuff. We want more !
Favorite tracks: Both	Contact: www.eyekon.nu

FIRESTORM - BACK FROM HELL (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Firestorm
	Tracks: 1- Resurrected, 2- Back from hell, 3- Tears of fire, 4- Heading for Tomorrow, 5- Paralyze my Fear, 6- War, 7- Understand, 8- Sunny Lane, 9- Final Contest
Cover Art by Firestorm
A short intro sends us directly into the pure metal world of this Austrian band. Full of energetic guitar riffs and memorable melodies this band knows how to develop interesting compositions whose choruses will surely stick into your mind after the first listening (jut check the title track and you will see what I am talking about). I have to remark the versatility of the singer here who is aggressive or subtle as the composition needs the vocals to be. The music has a certain eighties metal feeling which I liked a lot since it has not been used since that era and I think that this band manages it very well. There are good guitar solos that show the technical skills that the lead guitarist here has. The album has a good sound that gives extra points to this pure metal release. Lovers of classic metal will surely love this one.
Favorite tracks: "Resurrected", "Tears of Fire" and "War"	Contact: www.thefirestorm.com

FOR MY PAIN - FALLEN (Spinefarm Recs., 2003)
	Produced By: For My Pain...
	Tracks: 1- My Wound is Deeper than Yours, 2- Dancer in the Dark, 3- Queen Misery, 4- Sea of Emotions, 5- Rapture of Lust, 6- Broken Days, 7- Dear Carniwhore, 8- Bed of Dead Leaves, 9- Autumn Harmony, 10- Tomorrow is a Closed Gate (Dead for so long)
Cover Art by Travis Smith	Recorded at Tico Tico Studios
For My Pain is Nightwish´s Tuomas Holopainen side project. And I have to say that despite some similarities in some of the arrangements this band has many different elements when compared with Tuomas other band. Where things in Nightwish are bright and majestic here the arrangements show a more melancholic side. Juha Kylmänen is a really versatile vocalist and his voice adds a lot of feeling to each of the compositions here changing mood when the song needs it. There are also some female vocals completely different from the ones that Tarja Turunen could do. The guitars sound really heavy and this combined with Tuomas everorchestrating keyboards are the heart and soul of For My Pain´s music. Plus, the infinite melodies that you will find here show a path where the composition develops the main ideas. The mix of this album is really perfect, sounding quite similar to the latest Nightwish albums. Here we have another showcase of the talent of this mastermind called Tuomas Holopainen.
Favorite tracks: "Dancerin the dark", "Rapture of Lust" and "Autumn Harmony"	Contact: www.spinefarm.fi

FORTISION - FORTISION (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Fortision
	Tracks: 1- Winds of the Black Hole, 2- Forgotten Wisdom, 3- Imperial, 4- Dimension Door of the Sky, 5- Katharia, 6- Frozen Memories, 7-
	Recorded at DSP Studio
Fortision is a band whose music transports you into the darkest of worlds through their black metal riffs and arrangements. Starting with an intro and getting into "Forgotten Wisdom" the band shows that their music is extremely dark and melancholic, yet really extreme. The band has fast tempos and also mid tempos where things get more climatic. Tracks like "Imperial" are pure speed and unholy screams that will surely take you into dark forests while you listen to the music. There is a lot of brutality here but the main thing are the dark atmospheres which are omniprescent through. There is some use of clean guitars in "Katharia" that emphasizes all the darkness. Plus, there are a couple of hidden tracks here that follow the same path. Pure black metal with great dark atmospheres.
Favorite tracks: "Imperial", "Dimension..:" and "Frozen Memories"	Contact:

FROZEN SHADOWS - HANTISES (Holy Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Frozen Shadows
	Tracks: 1- As Old as Time Itself, 2- Des Siecles d´Epitaphes, 3- Battered Souls, 4- A L´Ombre du mal, 5- Through Fields of Mercilessness, 6- Darkness Enfolds, 7- Strangled by Fear, 8- Towards the Chambers of Nihil
Grim fuckin black metal from Canada !!!!!!!! This is pure raw and unholy black metal designed to crush your brain with their powerful riffs and with the fast drumming delivered here. One thing that sets Frozen Shadows appart from other bands in the style is their sound that is clearer and more powerful despite being raw as hell. One trademark of Frozen Shadows music is the use of climatic riffs that despite being really brutal they deliver darkness that is essential for the band´s music. The drumming here is fast but the drummer prefers to create interesting patterns instead of doing simple blast beats (as an example you can check the beginning of "Battered Souls"). There are certain elements of classic bands like Celtic Frost in some of the riffs and that adds a different perspective adding a more thrashy sound to the band. The vocals are really extreme and conrtast heavily with the more climatic parts. This is pure black metal done with a lot of quality and with strong emphasis in the dark feelings.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: holyrecords@wanadoo.fr

GUN BARREL - BATTLE-TESTED (Limb Music, 2003)
	Produced By: Piet Sielck
	Tracks: 1- Battle-Tested, 2- We Believe in Nothing, 3- My Last Ale, 4- Roll of the Dice, 5- Rebel Tune, 6- Lonely Rider, 7- Party in the Hall of Fame, 8- Lover Like a Gun, 9- Scream of the Killer, 10- The Raven, 11- Save my Heart from you, 12- Death Knell Dance
Cover Art by Marc Klinnert
Fucking pure heavy metal the way it must be done !!! Heavy guitars playing interesting rhythms and with catchy choruses and melodies that make each song instantly recognizable. Here we have a band that has a distinctive german flavour in their music. Startiing with the title track, a song destined to be a classic, this band has created here twelve interesting compositions that will stick in your mind with its metal fury. The vocals are sort of a mix between Running Wild´s Rock´n´Rolf with some thrashy overtones. The band is really tight and extremely well rehearsed and you can see this in the solvency of each of the songs here.