cd0405b

REVIEWS - JULY 2004

IV LUNA - D´INCANTO (Blond Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Blond Records and IV Luna
	Tracks: 1- Allucinazioni, 2- D´Incanto, 3- Il Dono di Efesto, 4- Dictator Media, 5- A Piedi Nudi, 6- Petali di Cenere, 7- 1945, 8- Ultima Eco, 9- Sull´aria, 10- 1978, 11- Isterica Realtá, 12- Favole
Cover Art by Miki Chessa and IV Luna	Recorded at Elefante Bianco Studios
This is the newest release from italian progressive heavy metal masters IV Luna and I have to say that this is a good step forward compared to the previous album, "Libera Mente". The complexity of the compositions is still here but this time with a better sound (specially on guitars and drums that sound huge and crystal clear). The band sounds extremely tight, which is essential on this type of music making each song really dynamic and defiant with the multiple arrangements. There are some special guests on this album whose participation really bring new elements to the music, such as the vocals of Monica Proietti Tuzia on "A Piedi Nudi" or the flute by Mirko Cicconi on flute. As I said before the mix is almost perfect and that is essential for IV Luna because they deserved this kind of sound to make ach instrument shine. A must.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.quartaluna.com

9^TH PLAGUE - AGE OF SATANIC ENLIGHTENMENT (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: 9^th Plague
	Tracks: 1- Betwixt and between; 2- Beyond the flesh; 3- The Voice of ancient blasphemy
Cover Art by 9^th plague
Smashing your brain brutally since the first second the guys from 9^th Plague are a brutal death machine that destroys everything. Here we have three tracks taht give evidence of the bestiality of this guys. Fast and furious guitar riffs are played over blasting drumming. The band sounds really tight and that extremely rehearsed machine called 9^th Plague succeeds in crushing the listener´s brain with their sheer aggression. The sound of the recording is raw and at the same time clear enough to make the band sound really huge. This is pure brutality done with complete knowledge of how to smash ears and brains.
Favorite tracks: the three	Contact: www.9thplague.com

ABYSS LORD - RISING FROM THE DEPTHS (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Abyss Lord
	Tracks: 1- Cannon Fodder, 2- Abyss Lord, 3- F.F. Terror, 4- Loathsome Dreaming
Cover Art by Jens Dunmann	Recorded at Pivo Studios
Abyss Lord kicks off this CD fastly with incredibly fast rhythms and riffs that show the brutality that this band unleashes from the first second. The band has done here a good combination between the most brutal riffs and other that are more mid tempo and that is essential here for the Abyss Lord sound because it adds a lot of variation and identity to the tracks. There is really fast drumming here but also interesting rhythms where the drums interact cleverly with the guitars letting them develope interesting riffs (there is also plenty of double bass drumming too). The vocals are really death metal, being really of the guttural type....and that leaves you no doubt that you are listening a brutal death metal band. Abyss Lord has achieved here a clear sound that makes things even heavier. Pure death metal unleached !!!
Favorite tracks: The four	Contact: www.abysslord.de

ABYZZ - TERROR MUNDI (Kickass Promorion, 2004)
	Produced By: Abyzz
	Tracks: 1- Intro - Awaking teh Breed, 2- The Breed of Darkness, 3- Buried Alive, 4- Birth of Beauty, 5- Escape, 6- Ignorance, 7- Insektenerde, 8- We Came to Destroy, 9- Your Tears, 10- Zeit Der Welt
Cover Art by Colombo
After the short intro Abyzz starts to deliver their unique kind of death thrash metal full of different guitar riffs, tempo and rhythm changes and dark melodies. On this album the death metal side of the band´s music is more evident than in their "Warmasutra" album. Here the thrash metal influences are a little bit more disguised even if they are omniprescent in the multiple changes and in some of the drumming rhythms. The vocals are really extreme but really clear at the same time which allows you to follow the lyrics perfectly. The sound has a clear mix and at the same time has some rawness typical of wild death metal that fits the music of the band perfectly. A good blend of death and thrash metal with many interesting ideas flowing in the music.
Favorite tracks: "The Breed of Darkness", "Escape" and "Ignorance"	Contact: www.kickass-promotion.de

ABYZZ - WARMASUTRA (Kickass Promotion, 2004)
	Produced By: Abyzz
	Tracks: 1- Loss of All Hope, 2- Warmachinery, 3- Age of the Fading Sun, 4- Ad Nocte Abyss, 5- Inanna´s Sleep, 6- Totenland, 7- Aeon of Fear, 8- Rememberance, 9- Bloodbath, 10- Gods of the Darkest Sky
Cover Art by Sebastian, Alex and www.blue-studio.de	Recorded at Scornlab Studio
This is what I call Death-thrash metal. Despite having certain elements of death metal, this guys have a lot of thrash metal influences and elements that give a lot of variation to their compositions. The combination of really extreme vocals that give the death metal feeling to the music with the more thrash metal guitar riffs and the open drumming that leaves space for developing arrangements are a trademark of this guys music. There are calmer moments such as the beginning of "Rememberance" that add a different feeling to the music that soon turns into a slow paced riff that is extremely heavy and dark, creating one of the band´s most memorable tracks. Abyzz is a band full of creative ideas and whose music can be listened several times getting your attention due to the quality of the compositions and the variations that the music has. A really good album.
Favorite tracks: "Loss of All Hope", "Totenland" and "Rememberance"	Contact: www.kickass-promotion.de

AD NOCTUM - INSANITY FOR LIFESTYLE (Kickass Promotion, 2003)
	Produced By: Ad Noctum
	Tracks: 1- Head On, 2- Infected by Disturbed Believers of a Bygone Time, 3- Alien Element, 4- War, 5- Spiritual Breakout, 6- Interlock, 7- Victimizer, 8- Exposed by Ultrasonic Waves, 9- Insanity for Lifestyle, 10- Fleshy, 11- Out of Favour, 12- Intravenous Systemshock
Cover Art by Ad Noctum and Andy F.
This is pure blasting death metal coming directly from the mind and soul of this power trio. Yes, this is a power trio and here the word "power" is really fitting the music. This guys deliver here eleven tracks full of sonic violence and extreme brutality. The vocals here are really aggressive and guttural and they are used like other instrument in order to make each song more brutal than the other. The bass interacts cleverly with the guitars making the whole tandem sound like a misile coming to your ears and brain. There are interesting ideas like the riffs in "Alien Element" that besides giving a bestial feeling to the music, they also add an eerie element to Ad Noctum´s music. The sound here is raw yet effective giving the conditions for the music to smash directly your brain. Brutality unleashed.
Favorite tracks: "War", "Victimizer" and "Insanity..."	Contact: www.kickass-promotion.de

AD NOCTUM - HOLLOW PEACE (Kickass Promotion, 2001)
	Produced By: Ad Noctum
	Tracks: 1- Unpleasant Sensation, 2- Such a Fucking God, 3- Democratatorship, 4- Clit, 5- Full of Shit, 6- Are you evil?, 7- Within, without control, 8- One of the mighty, 9- Where are the humans?, 10- Lust, 11- Mental Darkness, 12- Take Over, 13- Center of Madness, 14- Beyond Wisdom, 15- Die Away
Cover Art by Ufo
This is Ad Noctum´s previous album (before the "Insanity..." one) and you can appreciate how the band has evolved since this recording. In fact, the band was as powerful on this previous alboum than in the newer one, but the sound here is rawer and less compact. Despite this, the album is really effecive in blowing your brain into pieces with the old school death metal that Ad Noctum plays cleverly. Here you have the heavier than fuck riffs that are the band´s trademark and also the growling vocals that spit the lyrics fullof hate and anger. The drumming is really thrashy letting the guitar riffs be played against them (that is, not abusing blast beats) and sounding heavier than in faster tempos. This is pure energy delivered to the masses by this really tight trio. Pure powerful death metal !!
Favorite tracks: "Such a Fucking God", "Full of Shit" and "Center of Madness"	Contact: www.kickass-promotion.de

ADVENT - THE DAWN (Golden Lake Prods., 2004)
	Produced By: Advent
	Tracks: 1- Paradise Lost, 2- Valholl, 3- Shub-Nigurath, 4- Beyond the Landscape, 5- The Dawn, 6- The thing that sleep in the abyss, 7- Landscape, 8- La lama (the blade), 9- A Closed Room
Cover Art by Anzaldi Riccardo	Recorded at DB Studio and Sub Mix Pro Studio
Last year we reviewed Advent´s previous release called "Valholl". And this one has the main elements that the previous release (besides having some of the tracks) but taken to the next level. For those who doesn´t know Advent´s music is a fusion between death metal, black metal with some elements of classical heavy metal in the gutiars and some of the arrangements. Here you can listen the band playing incredible rhythms and combining them with amazing keyboards arrangements and orchestration (which is one of Advent´s trademarks). Other characteristic are the multiple vocal styles used here in order to fit the feeling of the compositions (sometimes more guttural, sometimes more screaming, sometimes almost gothic). And also the guitars that play fast and slow riffs with a lot of originality. This album is really a masterpiece of darkness.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.adventcomes.it or www.goldenlakeprods.co.uk

AFTER FEED-BACK - AFTER FEED-BACK (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: After Feed-back
	Tracks: 1- One Road Away, 2- I Can´t Breath, 3- War Bites, 4- A Bullet for a Dolar, 5- Equilibrium, 6- That Old Guitar, 7- Get it Real, 8- Empty, 9- Whiteblack, 10- Faithless, 11- XXX
Cover Art by After Feed-back
After Feed-back delivesrs on this album really modern metal coming directly from Spain. The music the band plays is full of rhythms and killer riffs with influences of bands like Soulfly or Sepultura. The vocals are essential here and sometimes they sound really like if this guy is torning apart his lungs, and sometimes they are more calm. Plus he knows how to sing too delivering good vocal melodies. The guitars have a really huge sound, essential when it´s time to play those rhythmic riffs that are a trademark of After Feed-Back´s music.The drumming is really good full of interesting passages, and the songs are really well developed being a complete song instead of just a bunch of riffs thrown together. A really powerful release.
Favorite tracks: "I can´t breath", "Equilibrium" and "Empty"	Contact: www.afterfeedback.com

AGE OF AGONY - THE DARK CONQUERS ALL (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Age of Agony
	Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- The Dark Conquers All, 3- Answer, 4- Evolution, 5- Till the Last Moment (1966)
Cover Art by Age of Agony	Recorded at Home Studio
Raining sounds, climatic atmosphere opens up this album before the band switchs into the full brutal death metal mode. Age of Agony emphasizes the rhythmic riffs which give a lot of heaviness to their music and uses speed only as another element preferring to create heaviness through really good ideas. The band uses some riffs also that are more typical of black metal bands, contrasting with the ones that have a lower tuned sound more in the death metal vein. Kálmán Pápai is a really guttural vocalist that fits perfectly the music of the rest band, giving a huge death emtal feeling to the music. Plus, the band has really good technique in their playing and that is evident in the multiple change s in rhythm and tempo and also in the good developing of the riffs and drumming patterns. Death metal with really good musicianship.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.synaptx.hu/agony/

AGONIZER - WORLD OF FOOLS (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: A.Kippo
	Tracks: 1- World of Fools, 2- Whatever, 3- Say love, 4- Cain the Slayer
Cover Art by www.genocide.tk	Recorded at Astia Studio A
After reviewing the previous release by this finnish band some issues back I remained wanting to listen more from them, and here is their newest release. And what a killer release it is !!! Four tracks, starting with the title track that is a masterpiece of pure metal. This guys have great musicianship and that is evident in all their compositions where they develope interesting ideas in a really tight way combining multiple ideas. One remarkable thing are Modi´s vocals which are melodic yet extremely powerful and at the same time original with his distinctive type of voice. This "World of Fools" has a really great sound, specially on the guitars that sound huge when they have to and climatic in the slower parts such as in the middle of "Whatever". This is a must album for any lover of metal music.
Favorite tracks: the four	Contact: http://agonizer.cjb.net

AN END TO OCTOBRE - A FEEBLE ATTEMPT (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: An End to October
	Tracks: 1- X- Rays taken, 2- Television, 3- A Feeble Attempt
Cover Art by Jamie Spinello	Recorded at Mile 5 Studio
A keyboard phrase opens the album and soon the heavy guitars enter to contrast heavily with them. The music of An End to October is realy heavy and at the same time original. The clever combination of heavier than hell riffs with interesting keyboards melodies and the constat change in riffs and rhythms are essential here. Plus here there is use of extreme vocals and also of melodic ones letting each type emphasize the feeling of the composition. And the compositions are so carefully developed that soon enchant your ears and feeling with the intelligence used to achieve this results. How climatic are some passages !! So climatic that you can lsiten this music in pure darkness and let it transport you to this ethereal and aggressive world. The sound is raw but extremely clear letting all the isntruments be heard with full clarity. A band to keep an eye on.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.anendtooctobre.com

APOKRYPHA - TO THE SEVEN (Black Attakk Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Apokrypha
	Tracks: 1- To the Seven, 2- Humiliation, 3- Earth Beneath, 4- Crowd, 5- Oblivion, 6- Moral Sloth, 7- Noctifer, 8- Ignorance, 9- Climax, 10- Black Demons
Cover Art by Apokrypha
This is one of the msot devastating albums of the month! Starting with an enigmatic riff, the band soon gets into the bestial black/death metal. And there is a heavy combination of black/death metal vocals with interesting heavy/power metal riffs that add a lot of power to Apokrypha´s music. This riffs reminded me of some of Arch Enemy´s tracks and I really loved them because they give a lot of strength to the compositions here. There is a contrast between some climatic mometns and the heavier aprt...and this clash of feelings is another trademark of the band´s music. The vocals are real extreme and add a lot of the black/death metal feeling to the music I have to remark the excellent sound that this recording has where each instrument hits you in the head like a hammer, exploding your brain with their sheer aggression. A must
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.black-attakk.de

ARAGON - ETERNAL QUEST (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: J.R.Friede and Aragon
	Tracks: 1- Eternal Quest, 2- The War has Begun, 3- It´s Me, 4- Scream, 5- Last Farewell, 6- Fading Love, 7- I´m Back, 8- Lies, 9- Blade on Blade, 10- Devil´s Dance, 11- Alive
Cover Art by Aragon	Recorded at TTS Media Music Studio
Pure power heavy metal is what this really tight band from Bochum, Germany plays. Stefan Surbir´s guitar is the heart of the music here playing really heavy riffs and fust runs creating a heavy environment where the interesting keyboards arrangements and the epic vocals are played. And the epic feeling is essential here, emphasized by the incredible keyboards played by Dieter Marquardt that contrast with the heaviness of the guitars and the rhythm section adding a lot of meloy and harmony to Aragon´s music. I have to remark also Stefan´s killer virtuoso solos that are another high point of this recording. And the rhythm section is really tight with really good double bass drumming and solid bass lines. I have to remark the sound which I think gives an even heavier sound to the band, making them sound much more aggressive than most ofthe bands in the style. This is pure power metal with excellent musicianship.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.heavy-aragon-2000.de

ARDULPH ARDEBAHR WALD - KOHLRABENWEISSMETALLICSILBER MELIERTE, GESCHECKTE SCHWARZE PFERDE (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Ardulph Ardebahr Wald
	Tracks: 1- Traumwandler, 2- Gewächs, 3-Funkenregen, 4- Silbergift, 5- Rappen, 6- Luftschloss, 7- Kindt, 8- Immer Du Kommst Näher Im Grauen
Cover Art by Ardulph Ardebahr Wald
The two minds behind Ardulph Arebahr Wald surely know how to create extremely dark yet heavy music. They have achieved eight interesting compositions with heavy guitar sound and with haunting vocals that sound sometimes sorrowful in many parts and in others extremely obscure or even aggressive such as in "Gewächs". The main thing here are the atmospheres that are achieved contrasting heaviness and powerful riffs with melodies that add the darker mood to the music here. The sound is a little bit raw and I think that a better mix on the drums can give Ardulph Ardebahr Wald even more power. This is an album full of original elements that surprises at each new listening.
Favorite tracks: "Gewächs", "Silbergift" and "Kindt"	Contact: www.mp3.de/a_a_wald

ATMOSFEAR - INSIDE THE ATMOSPHERE(Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Atmosfear
	Tracks: 1- Inside the Atmosphere, 2- Cisrcumcision, 3- A cry of dismay, 4- Mysterious, 5- Feardrops, 6- Patience, 7-thinking Progressive, 8- Eleanor Rigby. 9-Zephanish, 10- There is love at the end
Cover Art by Henning Fischer	Recorded at Art of Music Studios
Keyboards sounds opens this album with an enigmatic melody in the title track before the guitars enters, then the keyboards enter into a majestic phase. When the vocals enter the main atmosphere has been created and Oliver Wulff can set his vocal lines with his wide vocal range over a climatic part. Then comes the heavier part delivering a killer heavy guitar rif. Multiple changes are shown on each compositions....this is what I call progressive metal: a coimbination of innovative song structures with multiple samples of virtuosism. The keyboards are essential here orchestrating and playing multiple arrangements at each second. There is a cover of The Beatles "Eleanor Rigby" done in the Atmosfear way with multiple heavy riffs and keyboards but keeping the spirit of the song. This is pure musicianship and virtuosism. Listen or die.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.atmosfear.net

BABYLON MYSTERY ORCHESTRA - DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Sidney Allen Johnson
	Tracks: 1- A habitation of Devils, 2- We Are power, 3- Road to Madness, 4- Whore, 5- It´s My Right, 6- Savages With Cash, 7- Save My Soul, 8- Evado Eversor, 9- Mourning Glory, 10- Divine Justice, 11- Crestfallen
Cover Art by The Design Studio	Recorded at Fallen Angel Studio
Sidney Allen Johnson is the brain behind Babylon Mystery Orchestra. And despite the name of this musical outfit, it is the work of this man who has composed all the songs here and performs all the instruments. The music is pure heavy metal with heavy guitar riffs and mid tempo rhythms full of energy. Here we have some acoustic beautiful moments such as the ones in "Road to Madness". And there are keyboards orchestrating many of the compositions adding majestuosity to them. The combination of the heavy guitar riffs and the keyboards is one of the main ingredients of the music here, and the other one are Sidney´s vocals. The vocals are in the middle range and fit really well the music that Sidney delivers here (much better than using higher pitched vocals). The sound is really powerful, specially on the guitars that are the center of the compositions. A powerful release.
Favorite tracks: "Road to madness", "Whore" and "Mourning Glory"	Contact: www.babylonmysteryorchestra.com

BENIGHTED - INSANE CEPHALIC PRODUCTION (Adipocere Recs., 2004)
	Produced By: Benighted
	Tracks: 1- Bestial Breeding, 2- Stay Brutal, 3- Foetus, 4- Deviant, 5- Perpueral Cannibalism, 6- Self Procalimed God, 7- Dementia (The precocious symptoms of mental perversion), 8- Phlebotomized, 9- Insane Cephalic Production, 10- Insomnies
Cover Art by Benighted
Benighted is what I call a merciless band. From the first riff they step over your brain and reduce it to bloody pulp. Their music is brutal as hell, being death metal but having a combination of the most guttural vocals with others of the screaming type that have some reminiscence of black metal ones. But don´t get me wrong, the band knows how to do really good arrangements adding mid paced parts where the guitars develope solos and other changes. The band sounds extremely tight and well rehearsed through all this album and you know that the main goal is to rip you apart. You have to wonder how this killer band can sound in a live stage....you almost can imagine the mosh pit before the stage while the band is playing their killer brutality. The rhythm section is essential here because the drummer plays incredible fast parts and double bass while the bassist plays closer to the guitars adding an even heavier edge. Pure brain samshing bestiality.
Favorite tracks: "Stay Brutal", "Deviant" and "Self Proclaimed God"	Contact: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/benighted/ or http://www.adipocere.fr/

BETRAYED - THE PURITY OF PAIN (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Betrayed
	Tracks: 1- War of Ages, 2- Gateways to Annihilation, 3- Suicide Rain, 4- Insight, 5- Destroyer, 6- Beyond the Red Line
Cover Art by Betrayed
This is what I call a really direct album. Betrayed plays pure death metal with old school influences and this album has a really live sound. In many places you can almost feel an audience watching the band and see them playing their brutal songs in a stage. Betrayed´s music is pure death metal but it has also some thrash metal influences in some of the riffs and in some of the rhythms. The vocals are guttural as this style of music demands and the drumming sounds really raw and solid. The guitars seem to be recorded almost live because you can not listen many overdubs in them in the recording. There are also some calmer moments like in "Suicide Rain" with clean guitars. As I mentioned before the sound is raw but effective and Betrayed seems comfortable with this kind of sound. Pure brutality with an old school feeling.
Favorite tracks: "War of Ages", "Suicide Rain" and "Destroyer"	Contact: Flo.Hessen@t-online.de

BETRAYED / KARNARIUM - SPLIT TAPE (Into the Warzone Zine, 2003)
	Produced By: Into the Warzone
	Tracks: Betrayed: 1- Fist of Fear; 2- Vergänglichkeit; Karnarium: 3- Offering to Our Kreator; 4- Horrifik Revelry
Cover Art by Into the Warzone
Two tracks from each band are enough to show what they are capable of doing but they leave you wanting more of their aggression and brutality. Starts this split the guys of Betrayed with their killer fast death emtal with thrash influences. Here they deliver two fast songs full of brutality and with an almost live sound whioch I liked a lot because it seems like you are watching them playing live. Both tracks are really solid and there are multiple changes in them that add variation to their music.then comes Karnarium from Sweden with another bestial discharge of ultra grinding brutal death metal. Karnarium´s music is really fast and they are playing bestial blast beats through the two tracks. This two maniacs called Voltage and Funeral Whore have no mercy for the listeners and they unleash all their brutality against your brain. The sound is raw and I think that mixing louder the rhythm guitar would be a good idea. Karnarium are bestial motherfuckers. A great aggressive and brutal split !!
Favorite tracks: the four	Contact: Flo.Hessen@t-online.de

BITTERNESS - SWEET SUICIDE SOLUTIONS (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Christoph Brandes and Bitterness
	Tracks: 1- Architects of the Apocalypse, 2- Burden of Past, 3- Eve of Destruction, 4- the Last Dance, 5- Embrace the Depression, 6- Beyond a Subconscious World, 7- Portal of Haunting Dreams, 8- Sweet Suicide Solution, 9- Twinkling Red Tears, 10- Chain of Command

This is an Aggressive yet climatic release. Here the climatic and atmospheric moments are cleverly combined with the more bestial moments.There are plenty of heavy riffs here, plenty of killer drumming with double bass patterns and plenty of screaming vocals but there are also interesting guitar melodies that transmit a dark feeling to the listener bringing ideas of soprrow and despair to your mind. While listening to this band´s album you will find yourself in a world full of sorrow that is cleverly reflected by Bitterness music and you will listen carefully each note that is played because they are brutal but at the same time really beautiful. The good sound allows to feel all this in its integrity and I have to remark how well mixed this album is.This is an experience for all your senses.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.bitterness.de

BLACK AUTUMN - CULT OF NIHIL (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Black Autumn
	Tracks: 1- Empty Thrones, 2- Serpent King, 3- Blackbirds, 4- The Scent of Graves, 5- A Distant Light Before Dawn, 6- The Seven Gates of Illusionary Vision, 7- Ruins
Cover Art by Black Autumn	Recorded on several locations between 1998 and 2003
I expected a burst of black metal mayhem while looking to this album cover but I was completely wrong. This is darker than any type of metal, this is more dense, this is more sorrowful. Black Autumn knows exactly how to reach that part in your brain and heart where the feeling of sorrow are. Their melancholic music soon transports you into the darkest of worlds....and they don´t need fast riffs and blast beats in order toa chieve this. They use slow or mid tempo guitar riffs (even if there are some fast parts in some of the tracks) and certain melodies that are essential to create that sad feeling that surrounds all their compositions. There are clean guitars that add even more melancholy to the music and the vocals are really distorted and anguished fitting perfectly the feeling of the overall compositions. The sound of the recording is raw but clear making things more obscure aas this guys surely wanted. An aggressive and darker than hell release.
Favorite tracks: "Serpent King", "The Scent..." and "A Distant light..."	Contact: www.blackautumn.de.vu

BLACKGOD / KRIGAR - PRAYING FOR THE DEATH OF MANKIND SPLIT CD (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Blackgod and Krigar
	Tracks: BLACKGOD: 1- Intro, 2- Christian Whore, 3- Blackgod, 4- Hymn 666; KRIGAR: 5- The Holy Blasphemy, 6- The Frozen Darkness, 7- The Sacrificium Offerre Corpus Meum, 8- Battle of Trolls, 9- Gymn
Recorded at Hybreed Studios
Pure black fucking metal is what you will find on this split CD full of hatred and blasphemy. Blackgod starts spitting their unholy bestiality through three tracks at full speed full of blast beats and screaming vocals. Blackgod´s sound is fast and furious and really raw, specially on the guitars that play this fast riffing in an old mayhemic way. The band sounds tight and every note is played in order to devastate the listener. Krigar starts directly with "The Holy Blasphemy at full speed with a rawer sound with louder drums and lower guitars (the drums sounded almost like a drum amchine in many palces). Krigar´s music has more midpaced parts that add to their music a darker side besides the total aggression that their music has. This split CD is recommended to any lover of black metal. Black metal fans will not be dissapointed by this recording from this duo of bands coming directly from the lungs of hell.
Favorite tracks: All the split.	Contact: www.blackgod.fr.st

BLOOD FREAK - SLEAZE MERCHANTS (Razorback Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Blood Freak
	Tracks: 1- Warning, 2- Feast of the undead, 3- Blood, blood and more blood!, 4- Grinding up the dead, 5- Bloodthirsty butchers from beyond, 6- Flesheaters from Outerspace, 7- The gruesome gorehounds, 8- Infested with worms, 9- The cult of the cannibal freaks, 10- I rip your flesh, 11- Gobble up your guts, 12- The slaughterhouse, 13- You are what we eat, 14- Werewolf A-gore-gore, 15- Kill! Kill! Kill!, 16- A Brutal orgy of ghastly terror, 17- Awakening the beast, 18- Insane for gore, 19-, 20- I said...murder, 21- Dr. Cannibal, 22- A Happy ending
Cover Art by Chas Balun	Recorded at Sonic Tracks Studios
This is really insane !!. Starting with a warning about corpses and mutilations the band kicks of with a grinding track called "Feast of the Undead".....this is pure death/grind full of brutality and fast riffs and rhythms recorded in 1990 (mastered and with samples, intros and outros added in 2003)...a classic !!. But they don´t stop with that, cause tracks like "Blood, blood...." combine cleverly the grinding sound with a more rocking part in the middle with an interesting guitar solo (this combination of different styles turned into brutality is present also in many tracks here). But the main thing here is the brutality of the band that is the thing that kicks you in your stomach while listening to this album. The voices are of many different types: guttural, screaming, gurgling and spoken and they follow the feeling of each composition. The sound is really clear and brutal and there is a heavy contrast between the newer tracks and the ones from their 1988 demo (also in the style of playing which it was more of straight forward death metal). Pure brutality and gore.
Favorite tracks: "Blood, blood...", "Gobble up..." and "Bloodthirsty..."	Contact: www.razorbackrecords.com

CARNAL REDEMPTION - PROMO 2004 (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Carnal Redemption
	Tracks: 1- Mass Consuming Lobotomy, 2- All the Echoes
Cover Art by Carnal Redemption
Ultra bestial death metal is what Carnal Redemption does, and as they showed in their previous recording that we reviewed some issues back, they surely know how to play it in an original way combining different types of riffs that are heavier than hell and somewhat innovative. Two tracks are enough to show how brutal this band can be and also how technical they are while changing from riff to riff and from rhythm to rhythm. The vocals are really gutturl and they are used sometimes rhythmically in order to emphasize what the rest of the band is doing. On this release they have achieved a good sound, specially on the guitars that sound really huge and whose riffs are the essence of Carnal Redemption´s music. This is pure brutality delivered by this greek band that will surely make some noise in the worldwide death metal scene.
Favorite tracks: Both	Contact: http://carnalredemption.cjb.net

CHARON - THE DYING DAYLIGHTS (Spinefarm Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Pasi Sipilä and Charon
	Tracks: 1- Failed, 2- Religious/Delicious, 3- Death Can Dance, 4- In Brief War, 5- Guilt on Skin, 6- Unbreak, unchain, 7- Drive, 8- Every Failure, 9- In Trust of No One, 11- No Saint
Cover Art by Travis Smith	Recorded at BRR Studios
This guys surely have a good sound!! I think their music can be defined as a mix between pure heavy metal and gothic metal all played with a really modern sound (the guitars have a really huge sound that adds a lot of heaviness to the tracks). JP Leppäluoto vocals are one of the trademarks of Charon´s music: they are middle ranged and very deep reflecting exactly the dark feeling that Charon music has. There is a remarkable work of the guitars playing not only killer riffs but also really good melodies and solos that add interest to each of the compositions. I have to remark the excellent sound that this recording has, specially on the guitars and the rhythm section. A crushing release.
Favorite tracks: "Failed", "Death can dance" and "Every Failure"	Contact: www.spinefarm.fi

CHRIS BURN / LOL COXHILL / JOHN EDWARDS / PHIL MINTON / JOHN RUSSELL - MOPOMOSO SOLOS 2002 (Emanem Disc, 2004)
	Produced By: Martin Davidson
	Tracks: 1- Brush with Gravity, 2- Pufff, 3- M, 4- Woodcuts,5- Waiting for LOL, 6- Speechless, 7- Traps, 8- Quintet til the end of Time
	Recorded by Tim Fletcher
Well, here we have some work fom great musicians that we have reviewed before like John Russell, Chris Burn, Lol Coxhill, John Edwards and Phil Minton. This musicians are masters of improvisational / spontaneous music and the good thing on this album is to listen them playing solo on some tracks before the climax that is the quintet piece called "Quintet til the end of time". There is also a duet called "Waiting for Lol" between Phil Minton on voice and John Russell on guitar. I have not listened Phil Minton that much before and it is a really surprise to see the way in which he explores with his voice, just like the other musicians do with an instrument. This is a collection album because it shows different improvisational situations where the musician is alone and he must rely on his own innovative capacity in order to develope a composition. This is a musthave for lovers of spontaneous music and improvisation.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

CHRIS FORSYTH / CHRIS HEENAN - S/T (Reify Recordings, 2004)
	Mastered By: Jaime Fennelly
	Tracks: 1- I am not a technologist, 2- I listen, 3- I ask questions, 4- I listen more, 5- I begin to understand, 6- I like the way you use your language
Cover Art by Rebecca Morris	Recorded at Black Helicopter
You coulld only wonder what this spontaneous duo could do with their instruments in an improvised situation before listening to this album. And here you have the answer. Forsyth plays here his guitars and Heenan plays saxophone and clarinets. Every musician here creates different sounds and phrases that are spontaneous and cleverly done creating six interesting improvisational pieces. It is amazing to lsiten Forsyth doing some kind of bassis scratching the guitar strings while Heenan does some phrases that fit perfectly the mood generated by Forsyth. The duo malso works a lot with silences and spaces making sounds and then keeping their instruments silent for a while to make a rest in the listener´s brain. This is master improvisation from a duet that surprises individually and also when playing together.
Favorite tracks: "I listen", "I listen more" and "I begin to understand	Contact: www.reifyrecordings.com

CLERIC - CLERIC (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Cleric
	Tracks: 1- Truth, 2- El Camaron, 3- Eris, Engulfed, 4- Draw (a) Robot
Cover Art by Nick Shellenberger	Recorded at Bowling Otter Recordings
This what I call a really agressive yet climatic release. Opening with some open arpeggios full of distortion the band fastly gets into really fast parts full of screaming extreme vocals. The band sounds devastating combining different vocal styles with a crushing guitar that sounds really crushing while playing the riffs that are the core of Cleric´s music. The first two tracks here are quite long and there are many ideas going on through all the compositions. The changes in guitar riffs and rhythms are essential here (with a certain thrash metal flavour which I liked a lot) and also the parts where agression leaves space for a darker feeling such as in 1:15 of "El Camaron". The band sounds really tight and they have achieved a raw yet compact sound that gives even a more extreme feeling to the music. Pure aggression full of ideas.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.clericmusic.com

COCK AND BALL TORTURE - EGOLEECH (Morbid Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Cock and Ball Torture
	Tracks: 1- Another Arch Abraded, 2- Close ypur eyes and Bear it, 3- Blindfold/ Bare / Submissive, 4- Complex 27, 5- Be Raped / Bereaved, 6- She no longer cared, 7- Sharp and Slender, 8- Sono Sterile Theory, 9- Thickening, 10- Six holes Cut, 11- Thirty Degrees Backwards, 12- Contagious, 13- One Inch Left
Cover Art by Sascha Pahlke
It´s been a long time since I reviewed a Cock and Ball Torture album and I have to say that they surprised me with this album and their evolution. Their sound has changed a lot since the Opus(Sy) VI album that I reviewed before. Now they sound much more compact and their guitars are much more effective in creating the ultra heaviness that is their trademark. The better mix and the better sound that Sascha and his partners have achieved allows them to create ultra heavy compositions full of huge guitar riffs that sound much better than in the past. The voices are as guttural as always but this time they are better used having more impact in the listener, such as supporting the rhythms created by the drums. It is always good to listen to a band like Cock and Ball torture that are not afraid of evolving and sounding better. Pure brutality.
Favorite tracks: "Complex", "Sharp and Slender" and "Six Holes Cut"	Contact: www.morbidrecords.de

COLLISION - ROMANTIC DISPLAY OF LOVE (Bizarre Leprous Prods., 2004)
	Produced By: Collision
	Tracks: 1- Cowboy George, 2- Let the Big Bucks roll in, 3- Hooligan Shit, 4- Fake, 5- Roadkill, 6- Die for a fake god, 7- Bob Ross is Cool, 8- I hate christmas, 9- Out of step, 10- A different kind of hero, 11- Hot Pursuit, 12- Papercupjazzkingkong, 13- Spoiled Rotten 90210, 14- Live free from religion, 15- Trend Called Alternative, 16- Big breasted bimbo´s, 17- Coming Home in a body bag, 18- Child Molester, 19- Radiation is back, 20- Hang teh pope, 21- Hail Satan 666
	Recorded at Tone Shed Studios
I don´t know why I expected a straightforward grindcore band before listening to this album. I was wrong, Collision is much more than that. Take some hardcore, add death metal and then some pieces of grindcore in the fastest parts and then you will have a small idea of how Collision´s music sounds like (some call this grind´n´roll). Screaming vocals, guttural voices, fast drumming with some blast beats in the tracks, crushing guitars with a really fat sound. This are all elements that you will find here. And you will find compositions that are very diffeent one from the other making it easy to listen to the whole album and letting your ears be blown away by this killer band. Plus, the covers of Minor Threat´s "Out of Step" and Nuclear Assault´s "Hang the Pope" add bonus points to this powerful recording. A devastating album....21 tracks of insanity.
Favorite tracks: "Roadkill", "Hooligan Shit" and "Big breasted Bimbo´s"	Contact: http://listen.to/COLLISION or www.bizarreleprous.cz

CONGLOMERATORZ - CONGLOMERATORZ (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Conglomeratorz
	Tracks: 1- Genome Altered Colonies, 2- Anti Grass Theory, 3- Ancient Lunar Oasis
Cover Art by Conglomeratorz
I expected more straight forward death metal but I was completely wrong. Conglomeratorz plays a mix between deathly thrash metal and pure heavy metal making each of the three tracks that this release has really unique because of the combination of different styles of riffs. The vocals give the sort of death metal feeling to the music but the rest of the band creates parts that are completely different from that style delivering really technical parts with mulitiple breaks and tempo changes. There are interludes with acoustic guitars in "Genome Altered Colonies" where the band puts some melodies in the tracks and also some keyboards in "Anti Grass theory". But the main thing here is the originallity of the riffs that give a lot of identity to Conglomeratorz music, sometimes following the keyboards, sometimes the drums, sometimes the vocals. This is pure metal with virtuosism and clver ideas.
Favorite tracks: The three	Contact: www.conglomeratorz.com

CONVICTED - PROMO 2004 (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Convicted
	Tracks: 1- Minds of War, 2- Payback
Cover Art by Convicted
Two tracks are enough to see the full power of this thrashing metal band. Their music goes in between eighties thrash metal and death metal (the vocals are more extreme than in thrash metal but the riffing and rhythms are more rhythmic tan in death metal...got it?). Plus this guys have a modern sound in their guitars and in the mix that distinguish them from other bands of the style. The songs are memorable, specially because of the shouted choruses and because of some of the riffs that stick in your mind really soon. The sound of the recording is really raw and I think that with a better mix the band can sound even more powerful. A killer release that leaves you wanting more from Convicted.
Favorite tracks: Both	Contact: thrashconvicted@hotmail.com

COPPELIUS - 1803 (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Coppelius
	Tracks: 1- I Get Used to It, 2- Be Prepared, 3- Abendstimmung, 4- Dreaming
Cover Art by Coppelius	Recorded at Mute Off Studios
This is what I call a really original release. The music that Coppelius does can not be easily categorized....it has elements of rock, it has elements of metal and it has a lot of harmonies in the vocals and in the instrumentation. Here every melody is carefully constructed giving a weird feeling to the music. Is it a cello what I am listening? I don´pt really know but it is an essential part of Coppelius music since it constructs some melodies and rhythms that are the pure essence of the music here along with the amazing vocals. There is some use of flute in many parts too and there is always good drumming creating the fundamental rhythms that this compositions need. A really original release that leaves you wanting more from this amazing band.
Favorite tracks: The four	Contact: www.coppelius-band.de

COR - FLÜSTERN UND SCHREIEN (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Cor
	Tracks: 1- Einmal mehr, 2- Aufstehen, 3- Stein, 4- 10.000 Volt, 5- Ich Steh Zu Dir, 6- Tod, 7- Ein Mann Verlässt die Stadt, 8- Farben, 9- Rügencore, 10- Gerücht, 11- Gelassen, 12- Mein Herz ist Frei
	Recorded at Sundae Studio
This is pure heavy rock with elements of different metal styles within the context of twelve cleverly developed songs. The basic scheme here is pure rock with heavy guitars. Then you have certain elements of hardcore, thrash and heavy metal in some parts, such as in the choruses or in some of the riffs or rhythms that are played here (an example of this is the track called "Tod"). The vocals here have a lot of identity and just by listening them once you can find out that you are listening to a Cor song. The guitars sound rocking and they are the essence of Cor´s music. Each of the songs here is fully memorable thanks to the catchy riffs and the memorable choruses that are another trademark of Cor´s music. A really good release with great songs.
Favorite tracks: "Stein", "Rügencore" and "Tod"	Contact: www.ruegencore.de

COSTES - HUNG BY THE DICK (Menschenfeind Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Costes
	Tracks: 1- Jacques Cousteau tells the truth to the nation, 2- Anti-costes crusade, 3- Power to me and titi, 4- A Costes Life, 5- A dick in the brain, 6- Big is my Dick, 7- Costes Cock, 8- Take my Sperm, 9- Hung by the dick, 10- Himalaya of Shit, 11- Logic and Mathematic, 12- Melting-Pot, 13- Hollywood Bye-bye, 14- Koreans, part of the plot, 15- Clean Berlin, 16- Europa Please don´t die, 17- this chicken is a nigger, 18- Black baby, white mummy, 19- Heil, Fuck me harder, 20- Send me a truck, 21- Sorry to be so bad, 22- hung by daddy dick, 23-Kill the Races, 24- I Hate my race, 25- Never Lonelette with gillette, 26- Red Jew Dividing in his red sea, 27- Berlin is my bedroom, 28- My Slave titi, 29- Undercover
Cover Art by Costes
This is quite a demented album !! Full of spoken parts and complete texts screamed by Costes. There is some music below the texts and lyrics in a really experimental fashion but the main thing here are the mad lyrics spitted by Costes through all this album. On this album Costes shows all his perversions and his dirty imagination in tracks like "This Chicken is a nigger" or "Hung by the Dick"....this is an album almost impossible to describe. Check it by yourself and be the judge.
Favorite tracks: "A Costes Life", "Koreans..." and "This Chicken..."	Contact: www.menschenfeind.com

CRUCIFIRE - UNBLESSED UNTO HATRED (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Crucifire
	Tracks: 1- The unholy Redeemer, 2- unblessed Unto Hatred, 3- Domain of the Haunted
Cover Art by Crucifire	Recorded at Lock Up Studio
One of the most bestial releases of the year. This is one of those recordings that doesn ´t leave you a second to catch your breath because they start samshing you with their fast and brutal riffs and with the intense drumming. Here you will find really extreme vocals and chainsaw like guitars played at the speed of sound. You will also find a drummer that is really a beast behind the drumkit playing really fast through all the tracks. And teh vocals are really guttural but at the same time have some clarity on them that gives even more strength to their work. The sound of the recording is really raw but extremely powerful, specially the guitars (the drums sound really raw, like if Adam was playing right next to the listener). Bestiality unleashed.
Favorite tracks: the three	Contact: crucifire@hotmail.com

DAMAGED JUSTICE - UNHOLY FIRE (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Damaged Justice
	Tracks: 1- Waiting for...., 2- The Dawn, 3- Fairy Tale, 4- Distance to Destruction, 5- Misery, 6- Unholy Fire, 7- Nightcruiser, 8- Leave your fears behind, 9- Heart of Ash
Cover Art by Damaged Justice	Recorded at
Climatic keyboards open this recording with the intro called "Waiting for..." before the guitars enter with some intriguing melody that soon turns into a killer heavy metal riff. Damaged Justice has heavy guitars combined with open rhythms that allows them to do different riffs and solos. Plus, one of the main elements here are Ron Michel´s keyboards that creates a lot of climatic phrases and parts that are essential for Damaged Justice´s music. Christian Michalak´s voice uses a lot of middle ranges in order to achieve a good feeling for the songs. I would mix louder the guitars and give them a fuller sound in order to make things even heavier. The sound of the recording is raw yet powerful as the Damaged Justice deserves. Killer heavy metal with a climatic element.
Favorite tracks: "The Dawn", "Misery" and "Unholy Fire"	Contact: www.damaged-justice.de

DARK EMBRACE - BITTER END (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Dark Embrace
	Tracks: 1- Dying Breath (intro), 2- Bitter End, 3- The threat of flesh and its libidinous Storms of Silence, 4- Fragility of Life
Cover Art by Dark Embrace	Recorded at Arbg-Estudios
A short keyboard intro gives a beginning to this darker than hell album full of interesting mid paced riffs and killer keyboards arrangements. And the keyboards will continue through all the recording embellishing and orchestrating the compositions while the guitars create heavy riffs over which the extreme vocals are spitted in a really doom metal way. And the vocals fit perfectly the music being darker than hell when the track needs (using a lto of middle ranges and doing some arcane melodies) it and more extreme (of the early Tiamat type) when the track needs heavier elements. Everything here drips darkness and sorrow, and the essential thing here is the combination of the orchestrating keyboards with the heavier parts and this is what gives a lot of identity to Dark Embrace´s music. The sound of the recording is raw but the guitar mix is really good sounding huge and adding a heavier side to Dark Embrace´s music. Pure darkness revealed.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.darkembrace.tk

DARK FORTRESS - STAB WOUNDS (Black Attakk Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Dark Fortress
	Tracks: 1- Iconoclasm Omega, 2- Self Mutilation, 3- Stab Wounds, 4- When 1000 Crypts Awake, 5- Despise the "Living", 6- A Midnight Poem, 7- Rest in Oblivion, 8- Vanitas...No horizon, 9- Like A Somnambulist, 10- Sleep!, 11- Endtime
Cover Art by Dark Fortress
Some issues back we reviewed another Dark Fortress recording and now is time for this "Stab Wounds". Here the music is pure unholy black metal with raw sound and ultra fast riffing. Dark Fortress is a really pure black metal band with rhythms that have some certain thrash influences but played faster. The band does not abuse blast beats even if there are many of them here, preferring to combine them with other rhythms that add more interest to the tracks. There are original guitar riffs that add crushing rhythms to the music such as the one in the beggining of "Self Mutilation" (which I think the band should play more often because they are devastating). The ultra extreme vocals are essential here too because they add agression to darkness fitting really well the music of the band. I have to remark the pure and direct sound that this album has, with the guitars and drums really well mixed, having an effect of blowing you away if you are standing before the amplifiers. Pure unholy black metal the way it must be done.
Favorite tracks: "Self Mutilation", "Stab Wounds" and "A Midnight Poem	Contact: www.black-attakk.de

DAYS OF GRACE - UNIO MYSTICA (Kickass Promotion, 2003)
	Produced By: Days of Grace
	Tracks: 1- Stuck State, 2- One Voice, 3- Secret War, 4- Chosen View, 5- Spoken Words, 6- One Eyed King, 7- Shades, 8- Unio Mystica, 9- The Game, 10- b. Or g., 11- Flaming Raid

The riff that opens this album is really mid tempo but is extremely heavy, enough brutal to torn your brain into pieces. And this guys know how to make each note, each chord sound extremely heavy us hell. One remarkable thing here is the complex drumming: this guy knows how to be brutal without doing blast beats all the time, doing instead more complex rhythms with a lot of use of the ride cymbal. The vocals are really aggressive and guttural in many parts....but there is a lot of variations in them: sometimes guttural, sometimes screaming, sometimes more spoken. The use of this more brutal slow or midtempo riffs allows the band to make each song really memorable and that is an extra point for them because being memorable at the same time than brutal is not so common in the extreme music scene. I have to say my verdict here: if you want an album with great songs and that will surely crush you with their heaviness then you should check this album by Days of Grace.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.kickass-promotion.de or www.daysofgrace.de

DEADPAD - DEADPAD (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Deadpad
	Tracks: 1- In My Shadow, 2- Face the Day, 3- Drown in Hope
Cover Art by Deadpad	Recorded at Roofrops Studios
Killer electronics sounds open thsi release before the rest of the band enters at full force with "In my Shadow". Mick Storrie´s guitars are the essence here with a really huge sound that conmtrasts with the electronics and the programmed drums. The guitars create this rhythms and riffs over which Betty Rogers vocals are delivered. She has a powerful voice that can whisper and sing enigmatic melodies through all the songs being flawless. And he adds a lot of the ethereal feeling that this recording has. Plus John Cook, the bassist, also does more extreme vocals that contrast heavily with Betty´s. Deadpad´s music is a combination of heavier than hell parts and climatic ones. The songs are memorable, having good choruses and lyrics that you can follow really well. I have to point out the good sound that the labum has, specially on the guitars that sound really devastating. A really original release.
Favorite tracks: The three	Contact: www.deadpad.com

DEFILER - EXPIATION IN FILTH (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Tasos Karapapazoglou and Defiler
	Tracks: 1- Expiation in Filth, 2- Razor Vortex, 3- Evil Unspeakable, 4- Manifest of Evil presence, 5- Consume the Chosen
Cover Art by Alex Marinos and Nikk	Recorded at Nemesis Studio
Pure brutality from beginning to end. That is what the guys in Defiler deliver on this recording. The four tracks contained on this CD are mercyless. They spit riff after riff with a lot of speed and extreme aggressive vocals that add an even more extreme feeling to the music. There are some blast beats and a lot of fast riffs that are Defiler´s trademark. The music here is a clever combination of black metal and death metal with ultra speed in many parts. The rhythm section is extremely fat and knows how to do extreme breaks in the music to change tempos. The album has a raw sound, specially on the guitars tat sound really wild yet retaining that dark feeling that this type of metal music must have. This is what I call a really extreme release.
Favorite tracks: "Expiation in Filth", "Razor Vortex" and "Evil unspeakable"	Contact: www.razorvortex.cjb.net

DEMONICIDUTH - POST TENEBRAS LUX (Independent, 2001)
	Produced By: Yvan Piantella and Demoniciduth
	Tracks: 1- Unholy Chants, 2- The Holy Warrior, 3- I The Lord have spoken it, 4- Prepare to Armageddon, 5- Megiddo Massacre, 6- Notre Pére (Our Father)
Cover Art by Pascal Gibert	Recorded at Alchemy Studio
This is white metal. Do you think that this is like white metal was in the eighties with bands like Stryper? You are completely wrong!!! This is pure aggressive music with anti Satan lyrics. Music ally the band has elements of death metal and black metal but lyrically they are completely different from these styles. Here we have midtempo riffs that give a dark feeling to the music and some thrash influence in some of the rhythms, which I liked a lot. The vocals are really extreme of the trollish type adding the most extreme feeling to the music of the band. The drumming uses midtempos and fast parts but without abusing using blast beats all the time, preferring instead to leave more space for the guitars to develope their riffs. The sound of the recording is raw but it fits really well the music of the band. This is a style that was overshadowed in the past but that now has come back with a new attitude and better musicianship.
Favorite tracks: "Unholy Chants", "Prepare..:" and "Meggiddo..."	Contact: www.demoniciduth.cjb.net

DEMONICIDUTH - DOGS OF ANTICHRIST (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Demoniciduth
	Tracks: 1- Oppression, 2- Torrente D´Amour, 3- Dogs of Antichrist, 4- Heaven or Hell

This is a sample of the new Demoniciduth album which is even more extreme than its predecessor. Their music is always really extreme, in the black metal way (despite the lyrics thata re what characterizes the band as white metal) with fast riffs and rhythms that leave a lot of space to the guitars to develope new riffs. Surely there are fast parts but the band goes well beyond simple speed. The vocals sound more extreme on this album being of the screaming/trollish type and fitting the dark atmosphere that the music has on this recording. The sound of the recording is really raw but the guitars are mixed loud giving a lot of power to the music while letting them transmit the feeling of the compositions. I have to remark the good drumming with interesting ideas going on through all the recording. Pure aggressive white fucking metal !!
Favorite tracks: "Oppression" and "Dogs of Antichrist"	Contact: www.demoniciduth.cjb.net

DEREK BAILEY & MILO FINE - SCALE POINTS ON THE FEVER CURVE (Emanem Disc, 2004)
	Produced By: Martin Davidson
	Tracks: 1- Opening Gamut, 2- Extract Before, 3-Extract After, 4- Closing Gambit
Cover Art by Martin Davidson	Recorded by Tim Fletcher
This is alive album recorded in march 2003 and it features a master of guitar spontaneity. He is Derek Bailey, whose music we have reviewed several times in the past. Here he is joined by Milo Fine on drums, clarinets and keyboards in order to deliver four improvisational compositions with great musicianship. The set starts with "Opening Gamut" which is a musical piece of over half an hour long. Here Bailey shows his exploration of the instrument in search of new sounds while Fine does a lot of phrases with the drum kit. From phrases to simple sounds or noises Bailey always finds some new ideas to use in the compositions. You can almost feel each of the compositions going to a climax before ending. This is an album of pure improvisation with two superb musicians (Bailey is almost a legend) who are always innovative and whose music is always inspiring.
Favorite tracks: ""Opening Gamut", "Closing Gambit" and "Extarct After"	Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

DEVIL TO PAY - THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER (Benchmark Recs., 2003)
	Produced By: Devil to pay
	Tracks: 1- Mouthful of Spite, 2- the Lamb, 3- Dinosaur Steps, 4- Whores of Babylon, 5- Angular Shapes, 6- Tractor Fuckin´Trailer, 7- The New Black, 8- Swathe, 9- Lowest Common Denominator, 10- Toreador, 11- Valley of the Dogs
	Recorded at Azmyth Studios
Wow !!! Listening this album while drinking a full bottle of beer is one superb experience. The music of this guys is really rocking and at the same time drug inducing....Heavy yet rocking rhythmic riffs are the essence here with a sort of Black Sabbath feeling and stoner rock sound that are the trademark of Devil To Pay´s music. The songs here are really powerful and at the same time have a certain psychodelic feeling in them which I liked a lot. The vocals are really fitting the music and you can not imagine this type of music with a different type of voice. Eleven memorable songs constitute this album that you can not stop listening until it has ended. The drumming here is really open letting the guitar riffs create the basis of the compositions and adorn them with some melodies that atransport you to desertic lands. A must for lovers of stoner rock and bands like Kyuss.
Favorite tracks: "The Lamb", "Angular Shapes" and "The New Black"	Contact: www.deviltopay.net or www.benchmarkrecords.com

DIABOLICAL BREED - COMPENDIUM INFERNUS (Worldchaos Prods., 2004)
	Produced By: Diabolical Breed
	Tracks: 1- Dies Irae, 2- Descendants of Satan, 3- In Majorent Sathanas Gloriam, 4- Nominis Nocturna, 5- The Night of Shooting Stars, 6- In the Eye of the Storm, 7- Falac Krigere
Cover Art by Diabolical Breed	Recorded at Studio Nord
"Dies Irae" is a dark haunting sounding intro full of keyboards and strange voices that kiks off this really bestial black metal album. Starting with the long track called "Descendants of Satan" the band goes for the throat with their ultra fast riffs and blast beating drums making each of the compositions a true symnphony of chaos. But they don´t stop there, they use more mid paced riffs and rhythms in order to add darkness and heaviness to each of tyhe tracks. And there are also dark melodies created by the guitars making memorable each of the compositions. At the same time, the keyboards add a lot of chord progressions and arrangements that brings more darkness to the band´s sound. The compositions are really long and that allows the band to develope them in its totality adding multiple ideas to them and making much more interesting that in bands that play two minutes songs of pure speed. This is a killer black metal album with the darkest of feelings.
Favorite tracks: "Descendants of Satan", "Nominis Nocturna" and "The Night..."	Contact: www.world-chaos.com

DISINTER - VEDMA - THE DISINTER WITCH PROJECT (Desecrated Prods., 2004)
	Produced By: Disinter
	Tracks: 1- Storm of the Witch, 2- In the Wake of Evil, 3- An Eternity of Pain, 4- Upon the Winds of Vengenace, 5- The Calm Before, 6- Storm of the Witch, 7- Only to Suffer, 8- Tortures of the Damned, 9- Escape Thri Pain, 10- The Place of Bones, 11- Praise to teh Ancients, 12- Upon the winds of vengeance (reprise)
Cover Art by Disinter
This is one of the most bestial releases ever. We have reviewed several times before the work of this killer band and they always surprise with their sheer bestiality. Here we have new tracks mixed with some older ones such as "Storm of the Witch 2001" or the track called "Upon the Winds of Vengeance" which was featured in the "Demonic Portraiture" album. Did you want the most devastating guitar riffs played at full speed with a demonical sound? Here you have it. Did you want blast beats and ultra fast drumming? You have it too with amazing double bass. Did you wanted ultra guttural voices? You have them here, used as another bestial instrument. To sum up, I have to say that this is one of the most brutal release by Disinter which is one of the msot bestial bands on Earth.
Favorite tracks: "Only to Suffer", "Praise to the Ancients" and "In the Wake of Evil"	Contact: www.disinter.com

DISINTER - AS WE BURN (Morbid Records, 2004)
	Mastered By: Peter Neuber
	Tracks: 1- Go away and Rot !!!!, 2- As we burn, 3- Black Seas of Infinity, 4- Born to Darkness, 5- Murals of Horror, 6- Dig Me no grave, 7- A Curse of pain and Hate (Burn With Me), 8- Inferno - as we burn acoustic reprise
Cover Art by Disinter	Mastered at Mega Wimp Studios
This is the newest release from this crushing death metal machine called Disinter. Each album this guys surprise us with more sonic violence coming from their really tight playing, guttural bestial vocals and aggressive riffing. And every time they know how to be more effective in constructing their compositions in order to turn you into a bloody mass. Check track "Black Seas of Infinity" to see what I am talking about (with clever and brutal drumming). The rhythm section sounds as solid and rehearsed as always but their sound is getting better on each new recording. And each note is played carefully in order to crush the listener. This guys have no mercy and their fast and furious rhythms are their essence. The album has a really good sound and that gives even more power to Disinter´s compositions. A really good death metal band full of devastating ideas and good musicianship.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.morbidrecords.de or www.disinter.com

DREAGGAN - GOOD BYE BASTARDS! (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Dreaggan
	Tracks: 1- Descent, 2- Castle of Straw, 3- Dreaggan, 4- Canon Fodders, 6- Goin Mad
Cover Art by Thomas Lombard	Recorded at Jalucine Studio
A Galloping riff opens up the track called "Descent" with full power. And after one listening you can see that the band has evolved a lot since their previous recording that we reviewed some issues back. On this new album the compositions sound much better, specially in the sound that they have achieved (the mix is better on this album, specially on the guitars that sound fuller and heavier). The band continues developing their heavy metal style while putting here and there the thrash elements that are their trademark and creating their own sound that is more personal on each new recording. The guitars have created here interesting riffs that are the heart and soul of Dreaggan´s music while the rhythm section supports them constructing sort of a musical structure where the rest of the band puts their ideas. Dreaggan continues to evolve and each time we listen more interesting and powerful music coming from them.
Favorite tracks: "Descent", "Canon Fodders" and "Goin Mad"	Contact: www.dreaggan.fr.st

DREAMAKER - HUMAN DEVICE (Arise Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Nino Laurenne and Dreamaker
	Tracks: 1- DreamMachines, 2- The Eye of War, 3- Nightmares Factory, 4-Without Angels, 5- Killing, 6- Enemy, 7- Forever in your Arms, 8- Alone Again, 9- Welcome to my hell, 10-Eternal Love, 11- Crystaline Eyes, 12- Awakening
Cover Art by Cavin Fever Media	Recorded at Sonic Pump Studio
A keyboards intro with an epic feeling opens up this album from this spanish band. Then comes the pure power metal that this band delivers full of energy and feeling. I have to say that Dreamaker sounds far better than most of the bands of the style, specially their guitars and rhythms that go well beyond the usual galloping used by others. The voice of Elisa C. Martin gives a lot of power to the music, succeeding where other singers of the style fail to give aggression and magnificence at the same time. The rhythm section is really solid and it is evident that they are extremely well rehearsed keeping good tempos and changing rhythms in the compositions without missing a beat. Dreamaker is a demonstration of how power metal can be done without faling in cliches of the style.
Favorite tracks: "The Eye of War", "Killing" and "Welcome to My Hell"	Contact: www.dreamaker.net

DRILLPOINT - DRILLPOINT (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Jon Van Wingerden
	Tracks: 1- Snapperhead, 2- Eye Awake, 3- Faking, 4- Shoved, 5- Hollow Man, 6- Sick Mind
Cover Art by Drillpoint	Recorded at Audio Valley Studio
Through over twenty minutes this band will surely get into your brain and blow it in pieces with their ultra heavy guitar riffs and their killer rhythms. The rhythms are essential here in creating the ultra heavy environment that is a characteristic of Drillpoint´s music. Over this rhythmic structures are spitted the vocals in a really powerful way following the feeling of the song. Thumbs up for the drummer that is killer in creating new rhythms on each minute of the compositions making the songs rhythmically complex yet retaining the extreme aggression that the band wants to give to them. Thumbs up also for the good sound that this recording has that makes the result even more powerful. A crushing release.
Favorite tracks: "Snapperhead", "Shoved" and "Eye Awake"	Contact: www.drillpoint.net

DRUNKEN ANGELS - GAME OF LOVE (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Claus Prellinger and Drunken Angels
	Tracks: 1- Game of Love, 2- Waste no Tears
Cover Art by Christian Nesshold	Recorded at CCP Tonstudio
A pure motherfucking mix of heavy metal and rock´n´roll played with a really heavy sound is what you will find on this two track CD. Guitar riffs that are really rhythmic are combined with others that are much heavier adding the metal feeling to the music. There is plenty of killer keyboards orchestrating the music and doing clever arrangements here. The vocals are of the middle range tone and that is good for the power of the compositions because while fitting the music of the rest of the band they create melodies that have a lot of power by themselves. There are some interesting guitar solos from a player from which I would love to listen more soon. The songs are really well constructed and are trully memorable. The two tracks leave you wanting more from Drunken Angels because they rule.
Favorite tracks: Both	Contact: www.drunkenangels.at

DUAL - DESTROY ALL IMPROV (Toast and Jam Recordings, 2004)
	Mastering By: Chris Jones
	Tracks: 1- Trampled, 2-Bar fight in karaoke, 3- Sin is plenty, 4- Breaking Down the fence, 5- Protest in the bedroom, 6- Chomping on my leg, 7- Corporate Lies and Deceit, 8- Government Led Hegemony, 9- Asian Retreat, 10- Shredded Truths, 11- Time travel, 12- Forever Lost, 13- Light the match, 14- Monkey key, 15- Topography of my rectum, 16- Sit, stay, 17- Break out of the industrial reservation, 18- Changing the System Channel, 19- Bottled Water, 20- Flipside, 22- Hornets Nest, 23- Come and Eat, 24- that´s right, 25- Rebuilding Destruction, 26- Molotov Cocktail the rich, 27- reading Parenti, 28- You can change your mind?, 29- Taking the wrong turn
	Recorded Live in the Studio
Dual is a clever eperimental duo consisting of Ed Chang on electronics and Doug Theriault on guitars. Here, each of the 29 tracks is a small world of experimentation with electronic sounds, noises and guitar phrases. Theriault plays some chords in tracks like "Sin is Plenty" letting Chang deliver his electronic ideas. But most of the time both musicians are delivering dissonances or multiple rhythms at the same time making each track really innovative. It is amazing to listen Chang twisting and smashing each electronic sound that he delivers, such as a sort of horn in "Protest in the Bedroom" that is twisted and turned making eat a completely different sound in just a few seconds. This is pure experimental music with interesting ideas and a lot of variation (each track is completely different from the other). For open minded people.
Favorite tracks: "Protest in teh Bedroom", "Forever lost" and "Come and Eat"	Contact: www.tandjrec.com

DUSTSUCKER - DUSTSUCKER (Zylinder Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Claus Grabke and Dustsucker
	Tracks: 1- Backslider, 2- Bronco Buster, 3- Live to Be Burned
Cover Art by www.blizzard-music.de and Hannes Kröger	Recorded at Upstairs Studio
This trio from hell delivers three tracks here of pure hard rock with a lot of seventies influences and a definite stoner rock feeling. The songs are fast and powerful played really tight by this guys who are really good musicians. The rhythm section is really solid and that adds a powerful skeleton over which the guitar can construct interesting ideas with its riffs and arrangements. I definetly liked the "desert" feeling that Dustsucker´s music has, reminding me in some places of old Kyuss. The album has a good mix and an overallgood sound that gives sort of a live feeling to the music and at the same time a lot of extra power to the music. It would be great if we could listen more music from this guys soon.
Favorite tracks: The three	Contact: www.dustsucker.de

EFZEG - WÜRM (Charizma Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Efzeg
	Tracks: 1- Günz in, 2- Günz Dus, 3- Riss, 4- Mindel Ena, 5- Mindel Dwa, 6- Würm, 7- Schicht (movie)
Cover Art by Billy Roisz	Recorded at Hugoton and OT301
Efzeg are a group of talented musicians playing in a really spontaneous way their electronic and acoustic instruments creating passages of notorious exploration. This guys are really good musicians and you can feel it while listening the way in which they interact delivering phrases and sounds with their instruments in order to develope this amazing compositions. Each composition here is a conglomerate of sounds that give the listener a strange feeling of being in some sort of trance while listening to them. The sounds go from wave-like noises to electronics sounds that have a distinct quality in them. This is pure experimentation with interesting ideas and the result is a really positive one.
Favorite tracks: "Günz Dus", "Riss" and "Mindel Ena"	Contact: www.charhizma.com

ELISABETHA - UND WIRKLICHKEIT ERFÜLLT DIE SEELE WIEDER (Black Attakk Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Elisabetha
	Tracks: 1- Einleitung: Visionen er Fieberträume, 2- Kinder der Nacht, 3- Unheilvolle kreaturen im Mondlicht, 4- Huren Dracula´s, 5- Fluss der Tränen - Elisabetha´s Fluc, 6- Zurückgewonnene Jugend, 7- Kloster der Hoffnung, 8- Verdorbene Erde, 9- Das Totenschiff Demeter, 10- Der Wolf
Cover Art by Elisabetha
Elisabetha´s music is always extremely dark. And their music is also experimental in many parts where the band chooses not to follow the easy path preferring to concentrate into unconventional arrangements and harmonies. The music here is reallya tmospheric in tracks like "Huren Dracula´s" where the spoken vocals sound like an invitation to enter into the dark kingdom of Elisabetha. There is plenty of keyboards here that add a melancholic feeling to the music while retaining the extremely dark feeling that this music has. You have to be pretty open minded to listen to this guys music because they don´t sound like any other band and I may not be wrong if I say that theya re creating their own music style, creating atmospheres and adding dark harmonies, sometimes heavier and sometimes not. This is a voyage to the darkest feelings of the mind.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.black-attakk.de

ESCAPE FROM THE GHETTO - VOL. 1 (Kick Promotion Agency, 2004)
	Produced By: Kick Promotion Agency
	Tracks: 1- Kardia: Nero; 2- Valery Larbaud: Dublino, 3- Nahui: Human Being, 4- Void Generator: Blue Sky, 5- Madlena: Senza Titolo, 6- Raffaello Simeoni: Controentu; 7- Nonzeta: Mi passa per la testa, 8- Skyriders: Go-Ahead, 9- Embrace: Embrace, 10- OTX-2: Spacca, 11- Ciaff: The Age of No Justice, 12- Crawler: Mislay 1; 13- Be At Pains: Slave to Yourself; 14- Kismet: 2 Months through the hell, 15- Deforge: Immortality; 16- Eviscerate: Playing with Life, 17- Killing Creed: The end of the abyss; 18- Sudden Death: The charge of the light brigade; 19- Undertakers: It´s time to die
Cover Art by Max Guadagnoli
Nineteen bands or artists are here together showing each of them one track. Starting with the lighter tracks the compilation goes fatly to rock and then to the heaviest tunes, such as the one by Nonzeta. The multiplicity of styles adds a lot of interest to the music on this compilation and keeps your attention through all the recording without missing a song. Here are some bands whose music we reviewed in the past such as Deforge, Killing Creed and Sudden Death, each with their own metal styleHere are our well known OTX-2 whose album we are reviewing on this issue too. There is plenty of differences in sounds here because each band has its own sound and mixdependening. This is a really eclectic compilation and I recommend the listener to don´t skip tracks and to give a chance to all of them. A great album.
Favorite tracks: Killing Creed, Deforge and Eviscerate	Contact: www.kickagency.com

ETERNAL TRAGEDY - VOICE OF INSTINCT (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Stefania Ponzilacqua
	Tracks: 1- Eternal Tragedy, 2- Outside of Mercy
Cover Art by Ponzilacqua	Recorded at Iktius Studios
I have lsitened Eternal Tragedy´s first demo and also emailed with Stefy who told me that there was a big change in the music but I have not imagined the killer technical death metal that is on the two tracks that compose this demo. Stefania Ponzilacqua is a really great musician who has a lot of technique in her playing and you can see it here from the beginning to the end when she developes all the incredible riffs and phrases (and also really good guitar solos). Both tracks are long and have multiple changes in tempo and rhythm that keep you wondering what will come next. Iwan Hendrikx drumming is really technical and follows perfectly what Stefania is doing with her guitar, I think he is the drummer that Eternal Tragedy needs. Stefania´s vocals are really of the extreme type and have that reverb that characterized the voice of the great Chuck Schuldiner in albums like "Leprosy" or even "Spiritual Healing". A killer technical release that will keep your mouth open in disbelief while listening the multiple arrangements. A must have.
Favorite tracks: Both	Contact: www.geocities.com/metalentity/Eternal_Tragedy.html

EXALTED - DEMO CD (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Exalted
	Tracks: 1-Intro/ Blood Magic, 2- And the Cinders tell the tale, 3- As the Sky Turns Black, 4- Morbid Eternity
Cover Art by Exalted	Recorded at Superior St. Dungeon
Weeping sounds leave place for the ultrafast and raw black metal that this band creates here. Four tracks are enough to be devastated by this band whose old school black metal with ultra fast drumming, chainsaw like riffs and reverberant extreme vocals blows your mind and delivers it into eternal obscurity. There are some climatic moments where the band shows their darker side, such as in the middle of "Blood Magic" (which has some reminiscence of early Venom), slowing a little bit in order to create a darker atmosphere, returning soon to the faster mode. Exalted are playing really fast and tight through all this recording and the sound of the CD is really raw giving a more underground feeling to the music here. Lovers of the most extreme black metal and of old school bands of the style will surely love Exalted.
Favorite tracks: The four	Contact: exaltedhail@yahoo.com

FIGHT BACK - PROMO CD (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Fight Back
	Tracks: 1- Coming Together Coz Fucking Clever; 2- RPC: Preachers of Totalitarianism and Hypocrisy, 3- Gray Arbitrariness, 4- Labour´s Hygienic Laws, 5- Government Loyalty, 6- To Offer Resistance, 7- Disestablishmentarianism, 8- Information Sniper
	Recorded at
From Russia comes the storm in the shape of Fight Back. This is a band whose music can be described as grindcore but that has many other elemetns in their music, for example some hardcore influences in the more rhythmic parts (the exact word used to describe this music is "fastcore"). And each track here surprises with its bestiality.The track "RPC..." really fools you starting slowly and getting abruptly into pure grind, then to a more hardcore part. The band uses also some more rhythmic parts, even with clean guitar (yes, be open minded and accept this) in "Gray Arbitrariness" but their main thing is the bestial grind full of blast beats and devastating riffs. The vocals are sometimes more of the hardcore type and in others more extreme, really of thescreaming type. This is pure aggression in a fastcore format.
Favorite tracks: "RPC...", "Gray..." and "Government Loyalty"	Contact: www.fightback-fastcore.tk

FILII NIGRANTUM INFERNALIUM - PROMO CD (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Filii Nigrantium Infernalium
	Tracks: 1- Moira, 2- Puta Infernal, 3- Abadia do fogo Negro, 4- Heranca de Outono, 5- Inverno. Trono Inverno, 6- A Era do Abutre
Cover Art by Filii Nigrantium Infernalium
Pure unholy black metal with anguished vocals is what Filii Nigrantium Infernalium delivers on thsi album. This is really primitive sounding black metal with interesting old school influences and an extremely raw sound. Yes, the guitars are right in your face and they sound really like in a live situation. One of the main things here are the screams full of pain that the vocalist delivers through all the compositions. Plus, there is a realy dark atmosphere surrounding all the tracks. I would mix the guitars and bass louder in order to create a heavier environment. I have to remark that there are some dark melodies that give identity to the tracks here making them really memorable. Pure black metal full of uttermost hatred.
Favorite tracks: "Moira", "Abadia doi Fogo Negro" and "Inverno..."	Contact: www.infernalium.com

FIREAXE - VICTORY OR DEATH (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Fireaxe
	Tracks: 1- Failures of the Fathers, 2- Chariot, 3- Food for the Gods, 4- The Covenant / My Name is Joshua, 5- The Great Crusade, 6- Guardian of the Realm, 7- Cut or be Cut, 8- The Soul Doctors, 9- Black Knight

Brian Voth is the brain behind this heavy metal machine. Here we have nine tracks of pure metal full of interesting ideas and melodies. Most of the compositions here have epic tonalities that transport you back in time to the dark ages. Some vocals reminded me in some places of King Diamond but instead of using the darker sound that he uses, here the context is pure epic metal. There are programmed drums on this recording and that gives a machine like feeling to the music that sets Fireaxe apart from most of the bands in the style. The heavy guitars develope good riffing ideas always taking care of combining the heavier and more epic moments. This album is pure metal and lovers of the style will surely enjoy it a lot.
Favorite tracks: "Chariot", "The Great Crusade" and "Black Knight"	Contact: http://www.neptune.net/~bev/Fireaxe.html

FORCES @ WORK - FORCILIZED (independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Forces @ Work
	Tracks: 1- Vortex Phobia, 2- Harvest at the bodyfarm, 3- The benefit of all my senses sharpened, 4- Versus, 5- Husk of the Withered Moth
Cover Art by Forces @ Work and Digi-tal-art	Recorded at Massive Hangover REcording
This is what I call real progressive music. Forces @ Work play really technical music full of interesting arrangements. With some thrash influences in the voice and in some riffing, the band knows how to change from riff to riff or rhythm to rhythm without missing a beat and sounding extremely tight. It is really evident how well rehearsed is the band through all the multiple changes that their music has. Each composition here is full of original ideas and multiple arrangements that made them really amazing to follow. The guitar solos are really great with excellent note placement (this guy is really a virtuoso) and they add a different dimension to Forces @ Work´s music. The album has a good sound and that allows to listen perfectly each of the instruments and each arrangement created by this surprising band. Original metal with virtuoso ideas flowing through the compositions.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.forcesatwork.de

FOURWAYKILL - 24 HOURS TO DIE (Psychophonic Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Martin Nichols and Fourwaykill
	Tracks: 1- 24 hours to die, 2- Discipline, 3- Removing Face, 4- Reclamation Rite, 5- Deadweight, 6- Dusted (S.F.D.), 7- Tappin the Vein
Cover Art by Marcel De Jong	Recorded at the Whitehouse Studios
Power !!! This is what Fourwaykill delivers from beginning to end of this album. Pure sheer power and aggression with huge guitars drumming full of hihat, ride cymbal and multiple cymbals taht smash your brain with clever rhythms and tempo changes. The guitars have a really huge sound and deliver riff after riff and each of the riff is designed to sound heavier than hell. I have to remark the role of Chris on vocals because this guy surely knows how to roar and spit the lyrics and at the same time knows how to put the melody when the composition deserves it. Thumbs up for the good sound that this album has making things even more heavier than it would have been with a weaker sound. This album can be defined as pure aggressiona and pure energy unleashed !!
Favorite tracks: "24 hours to die", "Removing Face" and "Deadweight"	Contact: www.fourwaykill.com

FUNEBRARUM - DORMANT HALLUCINATION (Midnight Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Funebrarum
	Tracks: 1- Darknening of the Dead, 2- Dormant Hallucination , 3- Adoration of abscessed Cadavers
Cover Art by Dan Seagrave	Recorded at Offstage Studios
Funebrarum has in its line up members from the great doom band Evoken. And you can feel the spirit of that band on this release. Here the music is faster in a death metal fashion but not using speed preferring instead to concentrate in the heaviness of the tunes. The guitars sound extremely heavy with a rreally low tuned sound that is the essence of Funebrarum´s music. And they deliver really killer riffs where heaviness is the main element. The vocals are really extreme fitting perfectly the mood of the music and adding even more extreme feeling to the compositions. The rhythm section play open rhythms where the guitars can play over them interesting riffs without making a wall of noise. The three tracks here leave you wanting more from this masters of ultra heaviness and I hope to listen more of their bestial music soon.
Favorite tracks: All the EP	Contact: mailto:Thergothon1@aol.com

GORILLA MONSOON - ...DEMONSTRATING HEAVINESS (Kickass Promotion, 2004)
	Produced By: Gorilla Monsoon
	Tracks: 1- My Way, 2- Born to lose, 3- Hatebreed, 4- Codeine Commander
Cover Art by Ronben	Recorded at Robotronic Studios
A bass phrase opens the track called "My Way" setting the rhythm that the track will have. Then enters the drums and then comes the vocals. The voice starts like in a gothic fashion with really low tones before getting into the heavier parts where it turns into a more aggressive type of voice. Gorilla Monsoon´s music is really climatic yet aggressive, leaving space for the guitars to play riffs that are sometimes almost hardcore, sometimes more of the metal type but always powerful. There are parts, for example in the middle of "Born to Lose" thta are slower and extremely dense. The songs here are really memorable and the vocals have a lot to do with this creating melodies and passages that stick into your mind soon. This is a release whose four tracks are really energetic and leave you wanting more from Gorilla Monsoon. A killer release.
Favorite tracks: The four	Contact: www.kickass-promotion.de

GRAVITY CRASH - GRAVITY CRASH (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Derek Popovich
	Tracks: 1- Beauty vs Brains, 2- Alien Invasion, 3- Germ Warfare, 4- Lost Eternity, 5- SpitKill, 6- Arch Dragon
Cover Art by Derek Popovich
Derek Popovich is the brain behind this band. He plays guitar, bass and does all the voices here. And he is the risponsible of the multiplicity of ideas that this album has. There is an interesting use of dissonances in many of the compositions adding a completely different feeling from what one could expect from them. There are a lot of changes in tempos and rhythms and that adds new emotions to each song. There is use of keyboards in order to add some different orchestration, always used in an unconventional manner, adding chord progressions or electronic sounds in many parts. Popovich´s vocals are of the spoken type and also of the shouting type in the wildest parts. The mix is a little bit low and I would mix everything a little bit louder. This is what I call heavy experimentation.
Favorite tracks: "Beauty vs Brains", "Alien Invasion" and "SpitKill"	Contact: gravitycrash@hotmail.com

GREED - ONE OF SEVEN (Swell Creek Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Malte Rinkens
	Tracks: 1- With Both Legs Broken, 2- Flex, 3- Using your gift, 4- Abuse Me Again, 5- Shockwaves, 6- Ill to the Bone, 7- In Shadows, 8- One of Seven, 9- Fractured, 10- F.U.C.K., 11- Incarcerated, 12- Know This, 13- Post Human
Cover Art by Chris Salmen	Recorded at Westwood Recording Studios
The music on this album is pure metal with modern influences and killer guitar riffs. Each composition here is a demonstration of aggression and power and at the same time of good song compositional skills. Here the riffs construct interesting structures over which the killer vocals are delivered, while the drumming and the bass keep everything really heavy as hell. And the good sound that the recording has helps a lot ot transmit the sonic violence to the listener (specially the guitars and the drums sound really direct and in your face) making this an album that was designed to destroy your brain with its power. The vocals are extremely aggressive and fit the music perfectly. A completely recommendable album for any metal lover.
Favorite tracks: "Using your gift", "IN Shadows" and "Fractured"	Contact: www.greed82.de or www.swellcreek.de

HALGADOM - SEIN UND WERDEN (Sonnenkreuz Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Halgadom
	Tracks: 1- Hyperborea, 2- Wenn Sonnenräder leuchten, 3- Gott in Uns, 4- Sonnenwende, 5- Weg Durch die Zeit, 6- Das Hügelgrab, 7- Runenkraft, 8- Sein und Werden, 9- Stahl, 10- Totenritus
Cover Art by Halgadom	Recorded at Triebsound Studio
What a good album this one is !!!!!! Full of feeling and incredible atmospheres, full of Eva´s enchanting vocals and full of a pagan spirit that flows along all the compositions. While listening to it you feel transported to the german woods. There are many acoustic guitars through all this album whose arpeggios and melodies are essential for Halgadom´s music. Eva´s voice is also other main feature here and is sometimes combined with Frank or Sebastian voices creating really climatic moments. Halgadom knows how to develope melody after melody making them interact cleverly and creating landscapes of pure beauty and ethereal feelings. This is with no doubt one of the albums of the year.
Favorite tracks: All the CD.	Contact: www.halgadom.org

HIRETSUKAN - INVASIVE // EXOTIC (The G7 Welcoming Committee Recs., 2004)
	Produced By: Hiretsukan
	Tracks: 1- Lender of the Last, 2- Michael Cosgrove, 3- Barrell Roll, 4- Driver, 5- Sidesputter, 6- New Lamp Standard, 7-Creeping Death
Cover Art by Maggie Block	Recorded at Cyclone Sound
Starting with full slaughtering force since the first minute this guys have created this music full of screaming vocals and heavy dissonant guitar riffs in orderto blast the listener. The tracks are short and effective creating bursts of aggression that are like a nightmare for lovers of peaceful melodies. The guitar riffs are not of the rhythmic type preferring to emphasize a certain speed and power instead of delivering typical riffs designed for the msoh pit. The extreme vocals are essential here to give the certain thrash death feeling to the music.Plus the cover of Metallica´s "Creeping Death" done in Hiretsukan´s way adds bonus points to this killer blasting release. The sound of the recording is raw but effective, specially on the guitars that have an original sound because of the way they are played. A really aggressive album.
Favorite tracks: "Michael Cosgrove", "New Lamp..." and "Lender..."	Contact: www.g7welcomingcommittee.com

INFINITED HATE - REVEL IN BLODHSED (Displeased Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Infinited Hate
	Tracks: 1- Ill Formed Beast, 2- Tribute to the Dead, 3- Chaos Called Underworld, 4- Bound by Hate, 5- Dreadful Gore, 6- Haunting Noises, 7- Primitive Butchery, 8- Arrival of Doom, 9- Built for the Kill, 10- Blood Evidence, 11- Flag of Hate
Cover Art by www.g-r-a-a-l.com	Recorded at A.M. Studio
Having three Sinister members or ex memebers you have an idea of what you will be lsitening here. Yes, pure aggressive death metal. Here Rachel and Aad Kloosterwaard have joined forces with Ron Van Den Polder to deliver a mix of old school death metal with newer death metal influences. And the result is devastating. You have here eleven tracks that are like a stampede of buffalos over your fucking brain. This is with no doubt one of the most bestial releases of 2004. The ultra fast riffing and the more than brutal drumming full of double bass combined with ultra guttural vocals are the tradmark of Infinited Hate´s music. Everything here is created in order to torn you to pieces. Plus, the cover of Kreator´s "Flag of Hate" is like the strawberry on the cake, adding a great ending to this bestial album. The album has a really clear sound (as the latest Sinister albums but a little bit rawer) that makes the guitars, drums and vocals even more bestial. Pure armaggeddon !!!!
Favorite tracks: "Chaos Called Underworld", "Bound by hate" and "Built for the Kill"	Contact: www.displeasedrecords.com

INHUMATE - LIFE (Grind Your Soul Prods., 2004)
	Produced By: Inhumate
	Tracks: 1- No Answer, 2- A Trip, 3- Blasted (History of a Dive), 4- Destiny?, 5- Labyrinth, 6- I want to kill some...)part IV), 7- Sickness is the law, 8- Sons of Earth, 9- The Fight, 10- For Lust, 11- N.O.S., 12- The Scorpion, 13- Thank You, 14 - Rage, 15- One Day, 16- Life?
Cover Art by Jon Zig	Recorded at Down Town Studio
This is the fourth album by this french bestial grinders and is the fourth part also of the concept that they deliver through all their albums. Their music here is as bestial as always full of the blast beats that are essential in their music and of the heavier than fuck riffs that characterizes Inhumate´s music. This fourth album has a much better sound than their previous ones and they have succeeded in obtaining the huge guitar sound that Inhumate deserved. Everything on this album is pure brutality and pure aggression and each of the songs here will devastate the listener making them headbang along with the music. It would be great to see Inhumate live because, judging by their recordings, they must be like a panzer division stepping over your brain. A pure grinding release that will be loved by lovers of the most extreme metal.
Favorite tracks: "A Trip", "Sickness is the Law" and "For Lust"	Contact: http://www.inhumate.maxximum.org/

ISENBURG - ERZGEBIRGE (Black Attakk Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Isenburg
	Tracks: 1- Isenburg, 2- Wave of Weakness, 3- The Return, 4- Pandemoniac, 5- Hymn to the Son, 6- Erzgebirge
Cover Art by Isenburg
Starting with the track that gives name to the band, fastly getting into their style that I would call black metal with some death metal elements. The band goes at full speed in many moments but there is use of keyboards that orchestrate many parts and that is an essential part of Isenburg´s music. The fast parts contrast heavily with the more climatic ones making a good clash from where arises the essence of the band. The riffs are carefully constructed combinating fast parts with dark melodies and more mid paced riffs like the ones at 1:06 of "Wave of Weakness" which I think give true identity to the band. The music has some elements of death metal in tracks like "The Return" where the voice spits the lyrics over double bass drumming. But as I said before the climatic elements are the essence. The sound of the recording kis raw yet really clear fitting the music perfectly. Original black metal full of dark ideas.
Favorite tracks: "Wave of weakness", "Pandemoniac" and "Hymn..."	Contact: www.black-attakk.de

K.N.S.K. - PROMO TAPE (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: K.N.S.K.
	Tracks: 1- Chaihatsu, 2- Have a Mind of Revolt, 3- Common Sense
Cover Art by K.N.S.K.
K.N.S.K. is a band that comes directly from Tokyo, Japan and whose style can be described as ultra doom metal. The dense atmospheres are here and here we have also the slow rhythms (with some Black Sabbath influences) that characterizes the style. The guitars play mid tempoed or slow riffs over the rhythm section basis and sometimes they throw some dense melody that fits the rest of the music perfectly. There is a seventies feeling here in thesound but the band sounds really modern adding new elements to their music. This is what I call dense music: this guys have achieved perfectly the feeling that doom metal must have being really distorted and creating a really heavy atmosphere. The voclas are really extreme, of the screaming type and add a feeling of anguish to the music of the band. This is killer doom !!!!!
Favorite tracks: The three	Contact: http://listen.to/knsk

K.N.S.K / SLOTH - SPLIT EP (Shifty Records, 2004)
	Produced By: K.N.S.K. and Sloth
	Tracks: K.N.S.K.: 1- Fate Sloth: 2- 2More Songs
Engineered by Kei Saito	Recorded at Gateway Studio
Here we have a killer split by this two eerie bands, each of them with its own musical identity. As we said before, K.N.S.K. plays a really dense doom metal with crushing guitars (here are even more evident than in the promo tape). The good guitar riffs are essential here and they have achieved a good track here with a really dense mood. Sloth seems to have a twisted sense of humour and here they deliver some sick music using samples and noises with an industrial feeling. I definitely liked more the K.N.S.K. side of the split because I think they are a really solid band with great ideas thata re reflected on each of their compositions.
Favorite tracks: K.N.S.K.	Contact: http://listen.to/knsk

KARJALAN SISSIT - KARJALASTA KARJAHTAA (Cyclic Law Records, 2004)
	Produced By: P Bjärgo and Karjalan Sissit
	Tracks: 1- Heilki Karjalasta, 2- Sika Setä, 3- Kunnia Usänmaa, 4- Elämän Kovat Koulut, 5- ESS, 6- Soon the Stroke Striken, 7- Jesus Ställde Un, 8- Haulikolla Hommat Järjestykseen, 9- Tulipunaruusut, 10- Kapitalieren? Nein!, 11- Avivero, 12- Juokse Sina Humma
Cover Art by Ja Bjärgo and Markus Pesonen	Recorded at Erebus Odora Studios
Starting with the difficult name of the band up to their sompositions, everything here is pure experimentation with sounds. Tracks like "Sika Setä" have an industrial feeling due to the machine like sound that Karjalan Sissit delivers on this tracks. And this sounds are the essence of this band delivering them alone or with an orchestration, such as in "Kunnia Usänmaa", always reaching shores of experimentation that are extremely difficult to achieve. The superposition of sounds is another trademark of this band, starting sometimes with one percussive sound and then adding the moreviolent, mechanical sound. There is a very interesting contrast between the calmer parts and the others that sound much dense and heavier, and this contrasts add a lot of interest to the band´s music. This is pure experimentation done in a really unconventional manner. For open minded listeners.
Favorite tracks: "Kunnia Usänmaa", "Soon the..." and "Jesus..."	Contact: www.cycliclaw.com or www.karjalansissit.com

KENITHRA - CD PROMO (Ethnometal Records, 2003)
	Produced By: Kenithra
	Tracks: 1- Ya Chabab, 2- Dounia, 3- Kif-Kif, 4- Malou Malou, 5- Bent Nasse
Cover Art by Kenithra
This is an original release!! Even if they have not put on the cover that ttheir music was oriental metal music I could easily have discovered that. The melodies here have that distinctive sound quality that the music from the middle east has. And everything is done with good distorted guitars that play really rhythmic riffs that are another essential feature of this band´s music. The rhythms here are essential because they are not commonly used in metal but they have that really extreme feeling. Plus there is use of clean guitars doing clear arpeggios that help the band to get from one mood to the other. The vocals have definetly that eastern flavour that I mentioned before and I have to remark the role of the vocalist that is fundamental to achieve the results that the band wants. A really original release.
Favorite tracks: The five	Contact: www.kenitra.ch or www.ethnometal.com

KRIEG - THE BLACK HOUSE (Red Stream Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Krieg
	Tracks: 1- Deconstructing the Eternal Tombs, 2- Deviant, 3- Nemesis, 4- Fleshprison Monolith, 5- Fallen Princes of Slightless Visions, 7- Sickening Voices without Speech, 8- Ruin Under a Burning Sky, 9-...Without Light, 10- Murder Without the burden of Conscience, 11- Venus in Furs, 12- Rooms
	Recorded at Winterblut Studios

One of the darkest releases ofthta we are reviewing this month. And at the same time this is a really aggressive release too. This is darker than hell black metal with many fast moments but whose main feature is the dark feeling that surround each of the compositions here. There are plenty of blast beats here and interesting ride cymbal work by thi drummer called Thron. And the vocals are really anguished ones full of aggression and black feelings. I have to remark the direct and good sound that this recording has making each compositions sound brutal, specially on the guitars thata re spitting fast riffs all the time taking you to the darkest of lands (a killer artwork fits perfectly the mood of the music here. This is a really dark release that I would recommend to any blakc metl lover.
Favorite tracks: "Nemesis", "Sickening voices..." and "Ruin..."	Contact: www.redstream.org

LABOR CD - LABOR SONOR / KULE / BERLIN(Charizma Records, 2004)
	Compiled By: Steffi Weissman and Christof Kurzmann
	Tracks: CD 1 : 1- Phosphor: ohne Titel, 2- Andrea Ermke: Fish in a box, 3- Gregor Hotz: Spiel dir doch selber ein Lied, 4- Robin Hayward: Speech, for connected tuba and phonograph, 5- Asi Föcker: Sitting on a desk, 6- Kai Fagaschinski: Einfache Freuden, 7- Merle Ehlers: Cool Peace after brown Thing, 8- Margareth Kammerer: Timeshaped Face; 9- Sabine Ercklentz: Solo, 10- Alessandro Bossetti: Elfo; 11- Serge Baghdassarians/Boris Baltschun: 040803; 12- Fernanda Farah: Santos Reis CD2: Uli Ertl: Turner Live, 2-Werner Hirsch: Te Amo, 3- Steffi Weismann: What you see is what you get; 4- Rut Waldeyer: The 270 seconds of my life, 5- Barbara Klinker: Saftmass; 6- Sweatshop Orchester: Stricken Lassen; 7-Ella Ziegler: Kollaborationen mit Unbekannten; 8- Adeline Rosenstein: Trabi Studio "Nadjeschda", 9- István Scheibler: Terminator III, 10- Labor Sonor Clip
Cover Art by Asi Föcker
This is a two CD compilation of excellent improvisers musicians coming from the Berlin scene. The first CD features audio tracks and the second CD videos and other stuff. There are incredible performances on this albums and you can see what this superb improvisers can do in this spontaneous situations. From sounds that you would not guess that could come from an instrument to beutiful musical phrases you have all the range here. Every single composition here is a showcase of boundaries breaking experimentation done with a lot of spontaneity by this great musicians. There is heavy experimentation with atmospheres where an instrument creates wves of sound and in tracks where there is another musician tthe latter plays sounds or noises over this waves. It is amazing to see how different musical personalities has each musician here, some of them are more noisy, some of them are more calm and introspective. This is an album that I would recommend to any lover of improvisation, experimentation or spontaneity.
Favorite tracks: "Cool peace...", "Saftmass" and "Elfo"	Contact: www.charhizma.com

LITTLE DEAD BERTHA - TWO SIDES... (Stygian Crypt Prods., 2004)
	Produced By: Little Dead Bertha
	Tracks: 1- Intro. Sunrise, 2- Two sides of..., 3- Frosties war, 4- The Dawn of times, 5- Indifference, 6- Who dares..., 7- Remember future, 8- The timelessness, 9- Furtive World, 10- Wolfdance
	Recorded at D.S: Studio
Coming directly from Russia, the musicians in Little Dead Bertha shows how good can be mixed elements of pure folk full of melodies and typical harmonies with heavier music. That is shown in "Sunrise". Then comes the heavier tunes full of russian-like melodies and really heavy guitar riffs. The combination of clean vocals, aggressive vocals and female voices is essential here giving to the band´s music the exact feeling to transmit the lyrics. The keyboards are another fundamental instrument here creating multiple passages and arrangements that give more majestic feeling to the music. The band sounds extremely tight and rehearsed and that is evident in the multiple changes and parts that each composition has. This recording is recommended to any metal lover that wants good musicanship and interesting compositional skills because here you have both. A completely fundamental recording in any metalhead collection.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: http://stygyancrypt.cjb.net

LITURGY - LITURGY (Unmatched Brutality Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Liturgy
	Tracks: 1- Shrine of Moria, 2- Shrouded in Suffering, 3- Scars of the Saint, 4- Dawn of Ash, 5- Worship Incise, 6- The Bishop´s Gathering, 7- Wounds of Christ, 8- Solemn, 9- The Acolyte´s Exoneration, 10- Cognitive Lust of Mutilation, 11- Infested with Worms
Cover Art by Liturgy
Cinerary was a killer band and here we have some ex members of that brutal band. Also, here we have Brodequin´s guitarist and drumming doing what they know best: crushing skulls with their music. Really extreme and brutal death metal with the most guttural voice that you can imagine. The tracks here are played at full speed and are devastating, making older Cannibal Corpse sound like the Backstreet Boys when compared to them. The drummer is a double bass beast with really precise technique. The sound is raw and direct and specially the guitars sound really huge. Plus the covers of Disgorge and Brodequin add aditional points in brutality to this bestial band. A release designed to smash your brain into pieces.
Favorite tracks: "Solemn", "Scars of the Saint" and "Shrouded in Suffering"	Contact: www.unmatchedbrutality.com

MACHINE MEN - SCARS AND WOUNDS (Dynamic Arts Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Machine Men
	Tracks: 1- Against the Freaks, 2- The gift, 3- The beginning of the end, 4- Silver Dreams, 5- Man in Chains, 6- Betrayed by Angels, 7- Victim, 8- Scars and Wounds
Cover Art by Machine Men
Machine Men are pure heavy metal full of amazing two guitar melodies. Their trademark are the really heavy riffs with some classical influences (I have to say that the guitars sound really huge....much mthan in the main bands of the style). Plus, here we have a really versatile singer who knows how to create vocal lines fullof melody and at the same time powerful enough to follow the music that the band is creating. There are excellent vocal melodies on this recording and the compositions have really memorable choruses that make them stick in your mind really soon. I have to remark the good sound that the instruments have, specially, as I said before, the guitars that have a considerable heaviness in their sound and are mixed really in the front. Any metal lover will surely like this band whose powerful riffs and interesting song structures canmake them a top number in the future.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.machinemen.net or www.dynamicartsrecords.com

MALEFACTION - WHERE THERE IS POWER THERE IS ALWAYS RESISTANCE (G7 Welcoming Committee Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Malefaction
	Tracks: 1- Old gods, new blasphemies, 2- Conected, 3- Fighting the national security state, 4- Right wing obsolescence, 5- The new american century, 6- Faceless thousands, 7- Red industry, 8- Ongoing Plague, 9- Self involved, 10- Another world is possible, 11- Dark Side of the nation, 12- People-hope, 13- A Cold war for a cold world, 14- Closer to grief
Cover Art by Matt Bauer
Full of brutality comes Malefaction, directly from St. Andrews, Canada. The band delivers here fourteen tracks full of power and bestiality. Listening this album completely is like being in the middle of a battle full of misiles: you will surely be blown into ashes....and this album turns your brain into ashes with the sheer brutality that it has. The guitars are really low sounding and construct aggressive and fast riffs while the drummer smashes his drumkit without mercy. The vocals are really extreme and spit the lyrics with hatred and pain. Malefaction has excellent lyrics with a lot of political content, and this lyrics are enhanced by a lot of information that you can find on the booklet. This is an album that is designed to pulverize the listener with fourteen atomic bombs in the form of fourteen brutal tracks. A devastating release.
Favorite tracks: "Old gods...", "Right Wing...." and "Ongoing Plague"	Contact: www.g7welcomingcommittee.com/malefaction

MALEFIC - MALEFIC (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: John Ridler and Stuart Pendergast
	Tracks: 1- Constant, 2- Alone, 3- A Careless Forgery, 4- Tunnel Vision
Cover Art by Adam Pilat
Real aggression drips from this MCD and while listening to the four tracks contained her you can not stop banging your head following the drumming. And one thing that I liked a lot is that despite the extreme brutality of the recording the band delivers interesting ideas (check for instance the excellent solo at 2:05 of "Alone" to see what I am talking about). The main thing here are the rhythms delivered by drums and guitars alike that are the core of Malefic´s compositions. The vocals thrown by Mike Pilat are really aggressive and give a lot of brutality to the songs, spitting without mercy the lyrics that the band has created. The sound that the band has achieved is really good making the guitars sound really huge and the drumming really like a piston impacting your brain!! Brutality with different ideas.
Favorite tracks: The four are pure brutality	Contact: www.malefic.co.uk

MALICE IN WONDERLAND - SIN AND DECADENCE (Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Malice in Wonderland
	Tracks: 1- Nightclub, sin and Decadence, 2- Dancing With you, 3- I love to Sin, 4- My Heart Belongs to You
Cover Art by Anders Vaage	Recorded at S.J.E.F. Studios
Pure rock with really good sound through four tracks with some gothic elements is what you will find in Malice in Wonderland´s music. The combination of the pure rocking riffs with the climatic elements delivered by the keyboards and Chris Wicked´s vocals are the essence of the band´s music. The main thing here are the atmospheres created by this four guys, sometimes sad or introspective like in "My Heart Belongs to You", sometimes more aggressive like in "Nightclub...". there use of clean guitars in the calmest parts and also of heavy ones in the more rocking ones. Malice In Wonderland is a band that deserves recognition and we want to listen more from them really soon.
Favorite tracks: The four	Contact: www.malice-in-wonderland.com

MATERMACHINA - ....INTO SERENITY (Indeopendent, 2004)
	Produced By: Matermachina
	Tracks: 1- Lead me into serenity, 2- Neuroheaven, 3- M473R, 4- Tharsida
Cover Art by Sim	Recorded at One Voice Studio
Talking here about "serenity" is quite a contradiction while listening to this crushing album. Four tracks here with over twenty six minutes are enough to show us the power that Matermachina delivers through their music. Do you want crushing guitars playing devastating riffs? Here you have plenty of them. Do you want aggressive vocals, sometimes more guttural? You have them emphasizeing the aggression, sometimes more of the screaming type, sometimes singing eerie melodies and sometimes more guttural. The four tracks here keep your attention changing from riff to riff and from arrangement to arrangement delivering new passagesd while your ears becoe accustomed to the prior one. And the sound of the recording is a really good one: the mix has been carefully done in order to create the better sound possible for the band to create their music. This is an album that leaves you wanting more from Matermachina. Matermachina rules.
Favorite tracks: the four	Contact: www.matermachina.com

MCM - RITUAL FACTORY (Lion Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Alex Masi
	Tracks: 1- Ritual Factory, 2- The Whole Life, 3- Sahu´s Jewel, 4- Ghost in My House, 5- Dream of Little Ground Fire, 6- Brozo, 7- Dead Monkey Road, 8- Black Market, 9- Ray-Gun, 10- Landings, 11- Red Quantum
Cover Art by Paul Kind	Recorded at Haunted Hill Studios
This is pure virtuosism with excellent guitars created by the genius Alex Masi and the amazing bass of Randy Coven showing all that he can do with the instrument. Plus Coven delivers incredible rhythms with the great John Macaluso on drums...a killer tandem. The music is pure heavy metal with excellent virtuoso arrangements and plenty of solos. The essence here are the melodies played against a crushing rhythm section and the technical parts that are played on each of the compositions. One thing to remark is how different are the songs one from the other adding a lot of interest to this recording. Plus there is a cover of Weather Report´s "Black Market" that is quite faithful to the original but without Joe Zawinul´s keyboards. As I said before, this is pure virtuosism
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.lionmusic.com

MESCHALINA - SOMETHING 2 DIE 4 (Militant Records, 2004)
	Produced By: David Tranquili
	Tracks: 1- Digital Reality, 2- Something 2 die 4, 3- RMX 001, 4- Bleeding USA, 5- RMX 002, 6-Riflessi, 7- RMX 003, 8- Never, 9- RMX 004, 10- Glitter 2003, 11- Opium
Cover Art by S. Teatini & M. Valente	Recorded at Legend Digital Studios
An electronic intro opens up this album before the whole band enters with full power and originality. This band is really original, having guitars that sometimes sound new metal but using a lot of rapping in tracks like "Something 2 die 4" where they have the female vocals of Chiara Ferralis really processed. One of the trademarks of the band is the combinationof electronic elements as can be seen in the multiple short instrumental pieces that are featured here. The use of a programmed drum is another essential element here to give this electronic feeling to Meschalina´s music. The contrast between this electronics and the heavy guitars is essential here to achieve the result that this guys searched for. The sound is raw and clear making each instrument really crushing in the mix. A really original release.
Favorite tracks: "Something 2 die 4", "Never" and "Glitter 2003"	Contact: www.meschalina.com

METAL MAJESTY - THIS IS NOT A DRILL (Lion Music, 2004)
	Produced By: David Clarkson
	Tracks: 1- Grim Reeper, 2- Metal Majesty, 3- The Extra Terrestrial, 4- Wonder Full Life, 5- Magic Chemistry, 6- His Highness Hybris, 7- Maiden head, 8-Licence to chill, 9- Everytime it rains again, 10- Hope and Glory, 11- Deborah, 12-The Moon, 13- Bulgarian Queen, 14- Symphony in V-Minor, 15- Rock nor Roll, 16- Stars Tonight
	Recorded at Studio 3G
Fully orchestrated heavy metal with a lot of keyboards (the essential instrument here along with the guitar) and a definite heavy rock feeling is what Metal Majesty delivers here. Plus, there is also a progressive/symphonic feeling here (some melodies reminded me of early Queen), specially on the vocals that are carefully constructed harmonizing perfectly with the hevy guitar riffs and the keyboards arrangements. Each of the compositions is carefully developed showing good musicianship and virtuosism. Some of the songs have a definite eighties feeling and some of them could vertainly be hits if played constantly. There are some ballads really well constructed even if that is not the part of this recording that I liked most because I feel the other compositions are better and are more my piece of the pie. If I have to describe Metal Majesty in a couple of words I would say "clverly constructed melodies".
Favorite tracks: "Grim Reeper", "Hope and Glory" and "The Moon"	Contact: www.lionmusic.com

MORTAL PASSION - THE LAST WILL BE THE FIRST(Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Mortal Passion
	Tracks: 1- Thoughts of Hate, 2- Intoxication, 3- Bad Time Demon, 4- Cursed to Destroy, 5- Death Roll, 6- Desert Sun, 7- The Sea turns Red, 8- Body Bag, 9- Human Bomb, 10- Diving Into Emptiness, 11- Jack is Back
Cover Art by Mario Dick and Erik Schumacher
Starting at full power with the track "Thoughts of Hate", this thrash metal machine called Mortal Passion delivers eleven tracks of pure energy and strength designed to be played live in front of a huge mosh pit. Take eighties thrash metal and add elements of death metal, such as the more extreme vocals, then add a more modern sound, specially in the guitars and the drums and a huge sound and you will have an idea of how Mortal Passion sounds. Each of the tracks here is completely memorable due to the uniqueness of the guitar riffs and to the structure of the ongs that emphasizes some repetition to make the compositions really memorable. Big thumbs up for Silke and Enrico that delivers the riffs that are the inner core of the band´s music. Here we have really good drumming full of original passages that give a different feeling to the band´s rhythm. This is a demonstration that thrash metal is alive and kicking and that it has modernized itself and passed to the next level, where Mortal Passion is. A must for lovers of the style.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.mortal-passion.de

MY DARKEST HATE - AT WAR (Massacre Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Achim Köhler and My Darkest Hate
	Tracks: 1- I Am at War, 2- Only the Weak, 3- I will follow, 4- Voyeur, 5- Mary, 6- Catch the Bullet, 7- Justice, 8- Assassin, 9- Above the Sky, 10- No Wonder
Cover Art by Travis Smith	Recorded at House of Music Studios
A lower heavy guitar riff opens this album playing a repetitive riff before the rest of the band enters with a midpaced rhythm that preannounces the pure bestiality of this death/thrash metal band. My Darkest Hate is a band specialized in delivering the heaviest riffs possible in mid paced or fast tempos but always making things as heavy as possible (with an incredibly heavy distirted sound) and using sort of a thrash metal influence in some of them. Ultra guttural voices are essential here to add a death metal feeling that makes things even heavier. This voices are combined with other of the screaming type that give a lot of variation to the voices here. The music here has a really good sound that is not extremely polished, keeping the natural aggression that the guitars must have in a band like My Darkest Hate. This is a released designed to blast listeners.
Favorite tracks: "I am at war", "Catch the Bullet" and "Assassin"	Contact: www.mydarkesthate.de or www.massacre-records.com

NECROPHAGIA - GOBLINS BE THINE (Red Stream Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Necrophagia
	Tracks: 1- Sadako´s Curse, 2- To Sleep With the Dead, 3- Young Burial, 4- The Fog, 5- Goblins Be Thine
Cover Art by Arcania	Recorded at Godt Selskap and Electric Space Studios
"Sadako´s Curse" opens with majestic keyboards the new album of this essential band that made Killjoy so famous in the past. Necrophagia 2004 is far more effective than it was in its origins keeping the brutality that made the band so famous but sounding much tighter and rehearsed. The album is really well mixed sounding brutal and at the same time really effective and clear enhancing the power that the band delivers through the five tracks. This incarnation of Necrophagia has in its line up not also Killjoy but also other extreme metal characters such as Iscariah whose musical touch can be fully heard here. I liked a lot a track that is completely different for this band that is "To Sleep with the dead", a new welcome horizon for this classic band, full of keyboards and arrangements that keep the music dark but that are a bit of fresh air within the mayhemic music of Necrophagia. This album is with no doubt a futre classic.
Favorite tracks: "Sadako´s Curse", "Goblins..." and "To Sleep..:"	Contact: www.redstream.org

NEVERLAND - NEVERLAND (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Neverland
	Tracks: 1- Neverland, 2- No Time To Lose, 3- Express Your Servant, 4- Mysteria
Cover Art by Sandro Klopfstein and Neverland	Recorded at Neverland Studio Seon
Opening with killer two guitar riffs Neverland throws themselves into the jaws of heavy metal with a lot of technical and melodic arrangements. Here the melodies combined with powerful riffing is the main ingredient that gives a lot of identity to the band. The vocalist here, Mike Zotter, uses most of the time a middle ranged voice that adds more powerful to the music fitting the rest of the band perfectly. The combination of guitars and keyboards reminds me of bands like Symphony X or Stratovarius but Neverland is different from this bands. And the keyboards are essential orchestrating all the compositions. It is remarkable the sound that this guys have achieved here that has nothing to envy to bands that are in the top ten of the style. Pure metal full of melodic yet energetic ideas.
Favorite tracks: The four	Contact: www.never-land.ch

NOX ARCANA - DARKLORE MANOR (Monolith Graphics, 2004)
	Produced By: Joseph Vargo and William Piotrowski
	Tracks: 1- Legend, 2- Darklore Manor, 3- Threshold of the Dead, 4- Trespasseres, 5- Veil of Darkness, 6- Sanctuary of Shadows, 7- The Grande Hall, 8- Remnants, 9- Phantom Procession, 10- Belladonna, 11- Nursery Rhyme, 12- Music Box, 13- The Forgotten, 14- Noghtmare, 15- No Rest for the Wicked, 16- Omen, 17- Seance, 18- Beyond Midnight, 19- Darkness Immortal, 20- Incantation, 21- Resurrected
	Recorded at Phantom Zone Studios
Having read tat Joseph Vargo used to be in Midnight Syndicate, a band that I like a lot, I was really anxious to listen this album. And I was not dissapointed. Yes, here there are the dark atmospheres and the concept that links all the tracks contained on this album. Here is the imagination of Vargo and his partner here, William Piotrowski , at its full capacity. They describe this as a gothic soundtrack and it is really like that. You can even imagine the story behind, such as you can imagine and Edgar Allan Poe story, like being where the action takes place. Here everything is dark orchestration, black harmonizations, sad melodies and haunting arrangements. Also, you can see how this guys manage to link closely the music with the artwork here whose interaction is really perfect. A masterpiece of darkness.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.noxarcana.com or www.monolithgraphics.com

NU.CLEAR.DAWN - POEM OF A KNIGHT (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Nu.Clear.Dawn
	Tracks: 1- Overture, 2- The Meeting, 3- Falcon and Crow, 4- Revolution, 5- Horses of Steel, 6- Wounded, 7- Memories of the Road, 8- Rebirth
Cover Art by Shant Hagopian	Recorded at Studio 55
This is really melodic heavy/ power metal full of keyboards and interesting arrangements that have an epic quality in them. I mean, the melodies are essential in Nuclear Dawn´s music and they have a classical and epic feeling when combined with heavier parts. There is virtuosism in order to achieve great results and that is evident specially on the guitar solos. The singer reminded in some places to Joe Lynn Turner or to Marc Boals which is a good mix between melody and power. He has a good vocal registry for this type of music. The sound is a little bit raw for this style of music, specially in the drums that sound a little bit back in the mix and I think that maybe with a better mix the band can sound even more powerful. Thumbs up for the rhythm section that is extremely tight and well rehearsed and that can be heard through all the album. Thnis is what I call a good heavy/power metal release.
Favorite tracks: "The Meeting", "Falcon and Crow" and "Wounded"	Contact: www.nucleardawn.com

OFFICIUM TRISTE - REASON (Displeased Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Officium Triste
	Tracks: 1- In Pouring Rain, 2- The Silent Witness, 3- This Inner Twist, 4- The Sun Doesn´t Shine Anymore, 5- A Flower in Decay
Cover Art by Simone	Recorded at El Pato Studios
The music on this album is pure doom full of melancholic keyboards and spectral vocals, with the sorrowful and enchanting feeling that this type of music must have. The guitar riffs sound really huge and are played slowly fitting perfectly the melancholic and sorrowful feeling of the whole album. The tracks are long and they leave a lot of space for the band to develope really cleverly their ideas and their feelings. There are multiple ideas flowing through all this album and the essence is making each of thideas to sound really full of pain and solitude. The album has a really good sound that emphasis the overall feeling of the compositions but the main thing here are the good compositional skills that this guys have making each of the tracks a true masterpiece. A must have.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.displeasedrecords.com or www.officiumtriste.com

OMNISCIENT - ULTIMA DESTRUCTO INFINITUS (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Omniscient
	Tracks: 1- The Mastermind Helix, 2- Witnessing Atrocity, 3- Ultima Destructio Infinitus, 4- Dimension Art of Soul Hipocrisy
Cover Art by Omniscient
Omniscient has no mercy for the listener !!!! From the first second of "The Mastermind Helix" the band steps over your brain and starts to devastate it with their killing climatic death metal. The riffs on this track are really fast and the drumming is complex and everchanging but always extremely aggressive. The vocals sound really extreme combining moments of pure guttural vocals and others more of the screaming type. There are keyboards that create a big contrast with their dark orchestration giving also the climatic element to the music. This guys have really good musicianship that allows them to change a lot the rhythms and tempos of their music, always keeping the spirit of the song. And that is essential to create masterpieces such as the ones contained on this release. I have to say that with no doubt this is one of the releases of the month.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.omniscientgods.com

ONANIZER - ROP (Panda Music, 2004)
	Produced By: Onanizer
	Tracks: 1- Regrind of Competitor, 2- Devoured by Hell of Daily News, 3- Your Better Self, 4- Goodbye Tom, 5- Zodiac, 6- To Be Short of Shouts, 7- The Consumers Conspiracy, 8- So Pure, 9- Ggenetic Ggeneration
Cover Art by Onanizer
Eleven short compositions full of aggression and wild feelings is what we find on this album. Pure extreme death metal is what Onanizer plays with ultra fast drumming, full of blast beats and speed-of-light patterns that create an almost chaotic environment for the ultra fast guitar riffs. This guys have no mercy for the listener crushing his ears and brains from the first minute to the last. The guitars have a chainsaw like sound which give a really extreme feeling to Onanizer´s music and adding a lot of identity to it. The vocals are really extreme being of the screaming type and of the guttural type in many parts. The music here is pure aggression and pure bestiality with ultra grinding tones. I recommend this album to lovers of the most extreme side of metal.
Favorite tracks: "Regrind of Competitor", "Goodbye Tom" and "To be Short..."	Contact: http://onanizer.allmetal.cz

ONEMANDOWN - BURN THE PAST (Sotome Records, 2004)
	Produced By: David and Stephen Dwane
	Tracks: 1- Burn the Past, 2- This Day, 3- Egypt, 4- Moodswings, 5- Reaction is a Choice
Cover Art by Darren Mc Gough	Recorded at Dwan Sound Studios
Pure aggression. That is the way we can categorize Onemandown´s music. Each note here is pure aggression unleashed over the audience and it makes you wonder how a live show of this guys can be. I think that it can surely be overwhelming. The guitars play distorted guitar riffs not in the vein of brutal death but much more original ones while the rhythm section plays rhythms that in tracks like "This Day" sound almost tribal and in other tracks sound more death or thrash metal depending on the song section. Jason Kearney´s vocals are over the top....he is spitting his lungs through all the album and when combined with other type of voices in tracks like "Burn the Past" the resulkt is devastating. The recording has a raw sound that fits the music perfectly and adds to the aggression of Onemandown´s tunes. As I said before, this is pure aggression.
Favorite tracks: "Burn The past", "This Day" and "Reaction is a Choice"	Contact: www.onemandown.info

OPERA IX - MALEVENTUM (Avantgarde Music, 2004)
	Produced By: Dario Mollo and Opera IX
	Tracks: 1- Maleventum, 2- Princess of the Ancient, 3- In the Oath I found the reflection of the hidden mirrors, 4- Unearthed Arcana, 5- Muscaria, 6-Forgotten Gods, 7- In the Raven´s Eyes
Cover Art by Opera IX	Recorded at Damage Inc.
This is the first Opera IX album without the great Cadaveria on vocals and I have to say that despite her leaving the band the spirit of Opera IX has remained the same. Their music is still the black metal that we all know with the dark melodies and arrangements that are their trademark. As happens on each new album they are achieving a better mix and sound, specially on the keyboards and the guitars that this time sound greater than ever. The extremely dark melodies are the essence here and combined with the keyboards orchestration they create the sound of this darker than hell band. The track "Maleventum" is just a showcase of how the band sounds nowadays. A great band that continues developing and improving on each album.
Favorite tracks: "Princess of the Ancient", "Unearthed Arcana" and "Forgotten Gods"	Contact: www.operaix.it

OPHIS - EMPTY, SILENT AND COLD (Independent, 2002)
	Produced By: Philipp Kruppa
	Tracks: 1- Bereavement I: In Praise of Demise, 2- Sledgehammer Assfuck, 3- Pazuzu, 4- Bereavement II: Solitude, 5- the Mirror Never lies, 6- Caressing the Dead, 7- Bereavement III: Sepulture Raindrops, 8- Empty, Silent and Cold, 9- Foulmere
	Recorded at Nameless Grave Studio
A solem organ introduction leads us into the world of Ophis, the dark creature coming from the mind and soul of Philipp Kruppa. And it sure is a dark mind !! Here we have really heavy yet sad compositions that will surely turn your world into black after listening to them. Philipp plays herea ll the instruments and does the vocals and he has achieved really good results. The guitars sound really aggressive and they deliver interesting slow and midtempo riffs that are the soul of Ophis´s music. Plus here we have really extreme vocals in a really doomy way but not as slow as in that style (really deathly ones). And here we have also some programmed drums that give a mechanical cold feeling to some parts giving a really good feeling to this music. This is sadness revealed to the humans through Ophis compositions !!
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: rain-of-ashes@gmx.de

OTX-2 - ARIDO, RUVIDO, CINICO, LIVIDO (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: OTX-2
	Tracks: 1- La Rabbia non basterá, 2- Con l´attitudine, 3- Scappa Via, 4- Stato di Crisi, 5- Spacca!, 6- Colpo al Cuore, 7- Pelle, 8- A.R.C.L.
Cover Art by Ilaria Trombini	Recorded at NHQ Studio
Pure modern metal with interesting rhythms is what OTX-2 plays. With influences of pure metal bands, hardcore bands, new metal bands and also of bands like Rage Against the Machine, the guys in OTX-2 have managed to create eight original tunes full of energy and killer riffs. The guitars play devastating riffs through all this album adding a lot of heaviness to each of the compositions. Each of the rhythms here is designed for the mosh pit and you have to wonder how this band would be in a live situation. The vocals are of the screaming type and certain elements reminded me of a much more wilder Zach De La Rocha. The sound is really raw but the instruments are mixed loud and clear so the result is devastating.
Favorite tracks: "Scappa Via", "Con l´attitudine" and "Colpo al Cuore"	Contact: www.otx-2.com

PAST HELL - AVANT D´AGIR (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Past hell
	Tracks: 1- Pas Plus Bas, 2- Sect Insane, 3- Hope in Hell, 4- Unity Peace, 5- Panique
Cover Art by Past Hell
Take some thrash metal and add it some really modern sound with huge guitar sound and machine like double bass drumming and influences of other metal styles such as death metal or modern metal. Then add really some original riffs and vocals that sounds way beyond all this styles mentioned before and you have an idea of how Past Hell sounds. The music here is extremely powerful and the band sounds extremely tight and rehearsed (specially in the breaks and tempo changes that their music has). The vocals sound really original combining more guttural voices with others that spit the lyrics more rhythmically. The five songs here sound really aggressive and original and at the same time they leave you wanting more from this really amazing band. We know expect a full length release of this devastating band !!
Favorite tracks: The five	Contact: www.pasthell.com

PAUL DUNMALL & PAUL ROGERS - AWARENESS RESPONSE (Emanem Disc, 2004)
	Produced By: Martin Davidson
	Tracks: 1- Pressure Response, 2- Priceless Response, 3- Precious Response
Cover Art by Paul Dunmall and Martin Davidson	Recorded by Jonathan Scott
Paul Dunmall plays here bagpipes and saxophones while Paul Rogers plays an A.L.L. bass which is a 6 string bass that has the range of a cello and a double bass. The result is overwhelming because you can listen in three compositions that are over fifteen minutes long each what this guys are capable of doing. In many places Rogers plays a lower bass line or lower sounds while Dunmall developes sounds that are sometimes more peaceful and sometimes more chaotic with his wind instruments. It is amazing to listen this guys in an almost chaotic situation retaining always coherence in their playing while reaching new horizons with their instruments. The three tracks here are amazing and they keep your attention through all their playing (even if "Priceless Response" is over 23 minutes long"). This is what I call master improvisational music.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

PEOPLE BAND - 1968 (Emanem Disc, 2004)
	Produced By: Charlie Watts
	Tracks: 1- Home Trio, 2- Part 1, 3- Part 2, 4- Conduction 1, 5- Skip to part 3, 6- Part 3, 7- Conduction 2, 8- Part 4, 9- part 5, 10- Conduction 3, 11- Part 6
Cover Art by Martin Davidson	Recorded at Olympic Studios and Mel Davis home
This 1968 recording from this group of amazing musicians is a good showcase of what improvisational music was back in those days. The album starts with a trio piece where Mel Davis on piano and cello, Terry Day on drums and Lyn Dobson on tenor sax interact cleverly creating passages that surprises the listener with their speed and with the coherence that the experimentation has. After this piece this trio joins many other musicians such as Eddie Edem on congas and trumpet, Tony Edwards on drums and Frank Flowers on double bass in order to create other ten experimental music pieces. Here the rhythms played by the drums contrast heavily with the piano parts that add some dissonances and melodies in tracks like "Part 1". The whole ten pieces are pure experimentation, some of them more melodic, some of them more sort of sound exploration. But always showing the virtuosism of this musician. A really spontaneous recording where you can see how a band of ten persons can interact together in different formats.
Favorite tracks: "Skip to Part 3", "Part 6" and "Part 2"	Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

PROJECT HAVOK - SEVERELY DAMAGED (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Kreas and Kafros
	Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Abominant Teratogenesis, 3- Advanced Level Decay, 4- Inbreeding Havok, 5- Living Internal Cells, 6- Rope Out of Vains, 7- Self Raped Torture, 8- OK, 9- Advanced Level Decay, 10- Inbreeding Havok
Cover Art by Iakhos (Kreas)
A doomy opening sets a dark atmosphere for this album before getting into the mayhemic "Abominant Teratogenesis", a really brutal death track with heavier than fuck yet rhythmic riffs are combined with faster parts with ultra grinding drumming. The vocals are really guttural fitting perfectly the bestiality of the music. The guitars are really big, sounding extremely heavy and developing a wall of sound that is essential for Project Havok´s music The programmed drums give a different feeling to the music making it sound mechanicla while extremely brutal adding a lot of originality to the music. Plus there are some calmer moments where the band shows how heaviness can be achieved even with slower rhythms. Brutality taken to the limit with many original ideas.
Favorite tracks: "Abominant..:", "Advanced...." and "Living..."	Contact: kreatokafros@yahoo.gr or iakhos69@yahoo.gr

PUNISHED EARTH - RUINED EMPIRE (Uxicon Records, 2003)
	Produced By: Punished Earth and Rene Savelsberg
	Tracks: 1- Malania, 2- Censored, 3- Ground Zero, 4- The Shame, 5- Killer Anonymous, 6- The Devil Made me Do it, 7- Primal Fear, 8- Ruined Empire, 9- Feng-Shui Demon, 10- Sickness, 11- F++k
Cover Art by Jacob Leonard	Recorded at Transpank Studios
Really distorted guitars are the signature sound of Punished Earth´s music. The guitar riffs in the beginning of "Malania" are mid tempoed paced preferring to emphasize the heaviness instead of the speed of the composition. Then comes the mayhem and the band enters into the full brutal death metal mode. Yes, Punished Earth knows how to be brutal without repeating themselves in the different songs and crushing you with fast and slow tempos: each of the songs here has devastating riffs and incredible fast drumming. The vocals are really extreme and the guttural one is really other of Punished Earth´s trademarks. The album has a raw yet clear sound that emphasizesd the heaviness and brutality of the music. Pure brutality.
Favorite tracks: "Censored", "Killer Anonymous" and "Primal Fear"	Contact: http://come.to/punishedearth/

RATE OF DEPRESS - BLEACH THE SKY (Casket Music, 2004)
	Produced By: Rick Parkhouse
	Tracks: 1- D.O.A., 2- Because you´re mine, 3- Garden of Roses, 4- Bleach the Sky, 5- Two Steps from Paradise, 6- Rise, 7- Why Can´t I Sleep, 8- When A Fad Becomes Fatal, 9- Familiar Faces, 10- Disleksick

A quite difficult to describe music is the one that Rate of Depress does. Surely is heavy as hell but it goes beyond mere heaviness. Their music is heavy and dense yet climatic with many clam parts and many ultra heavy passages. The heavy vocals are extreme but not really distorted or guttural, sounding very clear instead and they are combined with a killer clean voice that sings the choruses in a really great way making the tracks fully memorable. But the main thing here are the guitar arrangements playing heavier than hell riffs and then adding some background melody that makes each composition really original. The different types of vocals are essential here adding that climatic feeling that Rate of Depress music must have. This is a really original release with interesting ideas and utter heaviness combined. A must have.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.coprorecords.co.uk or www.rateofdepress.com

RAVAGE - CURSE OF HEAVEN (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Ravage
	Tracks: 1- Curse of Heaven, 2- Terror´s Head, 3- The Wasteland, 4- Reign Fall, 5- the Wicked Way, 6- The King Forgotten
Cover Art by Ravage
Really well mixed clean guitars open the title track before getting into the full heavy metal mode. Really well crafted songs is what you will find here in a pure heavy metal way (with Iron Maiden influences) and with a modern sound that distinguishes them. There is plenty of epic and memorable melodies here done by the guitars that interact really well developing multiple ideas within the same compositions. The singer has a wide range but he prefers tu use more middle ranges in the vein of singers like Bruce Dickinson in order to keep things more powerful. There are many interesting guitar solos done with a lot of technique an essential twin guitar parts that are like songs within the song. The album has a really good sound as this guys deserve, because it would be a pity that some of this magnificent parts would get lost in a bad mix. This is pure heavy metal the way it must be done: with killer melodies adn heavy riffs.
Favorite tracks: "Curse of Heaven", "Terror´s Head" and "Reign Fall"	Contact: www.665.org/ravage

RICH WEST - BEDOUIN HORNBOOK (pfMENTUM Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Rich West
	Tracks: 1- Bugge, 2- Tribology, 3- Twang, 4- Tread, 5- Friends of teh Vacuum, 6- Tychai 1 and 2, 7- Curly, 8- Furcifer
Cover Art by Jeremy Drake and Jeff Kaiser	Recorded by Scott Fraser
Rich West is a really spontaneous drummer whose music on this album goes from creating eerie soundscapes to amazing rhythms. On this album he is playing together with amazing musicians such as Jeremy Drake on guitar, Scot Ray on tuba, Bruce Friedman on trumpet and Chris Heenan on clarinet and saxophone. Here they deliver amazing improvised phrases and incredible textures through all the album. Despite being really spontaneous and improvising all the time the band has not forgotten melodies and they deliver a lot of them through each of the compositions. It is incredible to listen the tuba delivering rhythms while the rest of the band delivers lines over that rhythms. Each composition here have many moods and multiple changes in pace and rhythm but my absolute favorites are the loneger ones where the band delivers more ideas and it is interesting to see how they develope their improvisations from beginning to end in more than ten minutes. A must for lovers of clever improvisation.
Favorite tracks: "Bugge", "Twang" and "Friends of the Vacuum"	Contact: www.pfmentum.com

RICTUS GRIN - TASTE THE STEEL (Mastermind Produsctions, 2004)
	Produced By: Rictus Grin
	Tracks: 1- Fear, 2- Taste the Steel, 3- We All Shall Rise Again, 4- Crimson Facade, 5- Left Behind, 6- God of Wrath, 7- Six Feet
Cover Art by Eric Pagelsdorf
With a definite eighties thrash and speed metal influence, the guys in Rictus Grin have managed to create seven powerful tracks with really good guitar work and interesting combination of powerful riffing and melody. The vocals sound really like early thrash metal and they have that aggression that this style of music has made famous over the years. The sound of the recording is raw yet manages to keep the guitars up in the front giving a lot of power and a certain live feeling to the music of this recording. There are good melodies here and there that contrast with the crushing guitar riffs that are the essence of Rictus Grin´s music. Plus, there are some modern elements that combined with the influences mentioned before deliver the Rictus Grin sound. Rictus Grin is a breath of fresh aggression in the metal world of the 21^st century.
Favorite tracks: "Fear", "Left Behind" and "God of Wrath"	Contact: www.geocities.com/rictusgrinforever

RODENT SQUEALS - HIGH PITCH DISTRESS CRIES (Menschenfeind Prods, 2004)
	Produced By: Menschenfeind Prods.
	Tracks: 1- Track 1, 2- track 2
Cover Art by Nico Claux
This is kind of weird, if not extremely crazy. Here you have two tracks full of rodent squeals. Yes, here there are no conventional instruments. Only squeals of animals or something that sounds like that, combined to create sort of rhythms or phrases. In fact, while listening both tracks I felt like being in a jungle. This effect can be enhanced more if you can turn off the lights...I think. Well, here I don´t have that much to say. Only that you will have to lsiten all that I described before and that this is with no doubt the craziest recording that I have ever listened.
Favorite tracks: Both are really weird.	Contact: www.menschenfeind.com

SCENT OF FLESH - VALOR IN HATRED (Firebox Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Miitri Aaltonen and Scent of Flesh
	Tracks: 1- Valor in Hatred, 2- The Art of Beheading, 3- Circle of Dark Beliefs, 4- Visions of Death, 5- Descent to Dark Clarity, 6- Unleashed be the Ungodly, 7- Suicidal Cannibalism, 8- The Last Awakening
	Recorded at Music Bros Studio
One of the most bestial releases of 2004 !! Here every note is played having in mind the urge of blasting the brains of the listeners. Here we have a band whose guitar riffs are sometimes faster and sometimes slower but always devastating and heavier than a panzer division. The vocals here are really extreme as this style demands and they sound really effective in creating passages of full brutality along with the crushing drumming and the guitars. I have to remark the role of the escellent rhythm section here who delivers rhythms full of bestiality without letting you breathe: from slower tempo to blast beats in five seconds, this guys are technical while extremely aggressive. The sound of the recording is really clear and that adds even more power to the music here. Pure bestiality turned into music !
Favorite tracks: "Valor in Hatred", "Visions of Death" and "Suicidal Cannibalism"	Contact: www.firebox.fi or www.scentofflesh.net

SCORNAGE - SICK OF BEING HUMAN (Worldchaos Prods, 2004)
	Produced By: Michael Hahn and Scornage
	Tracks: 1- Society Kills, 2- Sick of Being Human, 3- What Lies Beneath, 4- Shied Away from Reality, 5- Age of Scorn, 6- In Our World, 7- No More Hate, 8- Over and Out, 9- Pain Collector, 10- Devil´s Offer
	Recorded at Rosenquarz Studios
"Society Kills" opens with an aggressive discharge this album full of powerful guitar riffs and good technical musicianship. The music here is death metal with certain modern metal touches that add a different perspective to the music here. Really extreme vocals are one of the main elements here, sometimes guttural, sometimes of the shouted type but always powerful and aggressive. The guitar riffs are complex, revealing also a certain thrash metal influence in some parts (I liked this a lot). There is a really good guitar work among the two guitars here and that is a trademark of Scornage´s sound. The drumming is killer with a lot of complex parts and amazing double bass drumming in many passages. I have to remark the good sound that this album has...really clear and powerful. I would recommend this album to any metal lover. A must.
Favorite tracks: All the CD.	Contact: www.scornage.com or www.world-chaos.com

SCRATCHING SOIL - WAR EXPERIENCE (Stygyan Crypt Prods., 2004)
	Produced By: Scratching Soil
	Tracks: 1- No one ...(but rusty salted taste), 2- Tracks in ground bave told, 3- Ice only, 4- Dead by Numbers, 5- II (the bath), 6- III (the action), 7- Envy, 8- Means never, 9- Last Words )last boiled spit),
Cover Art by Imperishable Hate Factory	Recorded at AV Music Studio
Cleverly developed black metal with some death metal influences is what you will find on this album. The music here is extremely fast and it has the dark feeling that thi style must have. The guitars play fast riffs with a good sound (the sound here is much bigger than in most of the releases of this style) and also some one note riffs that add some dark melodies to the music. The vocals here are of the black metal type and they spit complex lyrics that go beyond what one is accustomed to listen (thumbs up for the composer of this lyrics). I have to say that this album has a really clear sound that despite keeping the extreme sound tat a black metal band must have succeeds in adding more power to the guitars and drums. Pure darkness revealed through Scratching Soil.
Favorite tracks: "No one...", "Ice Only" and "Means Never"	Contact: http://stygyancrypt.cjb.net

SECRET DISCOVERY - SECRET DISCOVERY (Drakkar Productions, 2004)
	Produced By: Dirk Riegner
	Tracks: 1- Down, 2- To the Moon, 3- Some of this, 4- Sieh Nicht Zurück, 5- I Turn to You, 6- New Day, 7- The Tragedy Within, 8- More than I Love, 9- Une Derniere Fois, 10-Another Exit, 11- Close as You Are, 12- Pray
Cover Art by K.Hoffmann	Recorded at DRP Studio
I would call Secret Discovery´s music something like gothic metal. Their music has influences from gothic music but in fact they sound much harder than most of the band´s of the styles, having huge guitars that develope heavy riffs that are the axis of the band´s music giving that energy and heaviness that their music has and combined with Dirk´s climatic keyboards that are an essential feature of this amazing band. The dark feeling that surrounds each of the music here is another essential element and is one of the things that set Secret Discovery apart from any other band: they are much darker and heavier. The vocals are really good developed creating amazing passages of loneliness and sadness while retaining full power in other parts. I have to congratulate the band because of the excellent sound achieved on this album making each instrument shine on its own. A totally recomendable album from lovers of sad, melancholic yet powerful music.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.secret-discovery.de or www.drakkar.de

SECULARTHREAT - SECULARTHREAT (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Secularthreat
	Tracks: 1- Deluge of Souls, 2- Killing Hermes, 3- Haunted Head, 4- Violentia, 5- Heart of Darkness, 6- Abstraction, 7- Beyond Misery, 8- Drifters, 9- Pandora´s Box
Cover Art by Secularthreat
With the mercyless beginning of "Deluge of Souls" the band starts crushing your bones with their death/thrash metal. The guys in Secularthreat are really good musicians and have a lot of technique that allows them to change from pattern to pattern, from rhythm to rhythm, from riff to riff without missing a beat. And this constant change is one of Secularthreat´s trademark. There is really good guitar work, not only on the guitar riffs but also in the technical guitar solos that are all over the recording. Plus, there is use of clean guitars in some parts that are the calm before the storm. The vocals are extreme but at the same time clear enough for the lyrics to be fully understandable. The mix is a little bit raw for my taste and I think that maybe with a more compact mix the band can sound even better. This is a recomendable album for lovers of ultra heavy music done with a lot of musicianship.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: vandellism@adelphia.net

SENSE OF DEMISE - BLASPHEMOUS BIRTH / BLEEDING THE RIGHTEOUS (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Sense of Demise
	Tracks: There are nine brutal tracks here
Cover Art by Sense of Demise
Here there are both Sense of Demise´s demos. The first one, "Blasphemous Birth" is from 1997 and shows an extremely aggressive and brutal death metal full of mid paced riffs that sound even heavier than the faster ones. There are blast beats and an extremely guttural voice that shows how brutal a vocalist can be. The 2002 demo, "Bleeding the Righteous" shows a similar music but with a differeent sound: keeping the ultraguttural voice but mixing louder the drums. The result is the same: ultra fucking brutality with plenty of fast guitar riffs (that have a really in your face huge sound). And on this second demo I think that things get even faster and more extreme. I think that fans of the most extreme death metal will surely love this one because it has all the elements that they search in an extremely brutal band.
Favorite tracks: Tracks 1, 7 and 8	Contact:

SERAPHIM SHOCK - HALLOWEEN SEX ´N´VEGAS (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Seraphim Shozk
	Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Sin City, 3- Shapeshifter, 4- Halloween Sex´n´Vegas, 5- Morning Star, 6- Welcome to Heaven, 7- White trash Satan, 8- All Better, 9- Halloween Girl, 10- Perfect Life, 11- Sex Toy, 12- Prey, 13- happily Ever After
Cover Art by Seraphim Shock
Seraphim Shock are a really original band combining pure metal with more modern metal elements and an extremely heavy sound (and also some pure rock as in the title track). Using differnt voices and changing rhythms the band achieves great result in getting the atmospheres that they want in their music. The singer is sort of a mix between Pete Steele (Type O Negative), Glenn Danzig and even Rob Zombie....a killer voice!!. But for me the main thing here are the ultra heavy guitars that played the heaviest of riffs and also some melodies giving power and at the same time a lot of identity to the band´s music (there are also interesting guitar solos). It is remarkable the sound that has been achieved on this recording making things even heavier. There are some sound effects that also add to the mood of the compositions. A killer release.
Favorite tracks: "Shapeshifter", "Perfect Life" and "Prey"	Contact: http://www.seraphimshock.com/

SHAWN LANE REMEMBERED VOL. 1(Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Lard Eric Mattsson for Lion Music
	Tracks: 1- Alex Masi: ...And the Wind cries Shawn, 2- Patrik Carlsson: T-Zone Rhythm, 3- Stephan Forte: Shamns, 4- Craig Eriksson: Mr. Musique, 5- Dave Martone: Mike Crow´s Mailbox of Doom, 6- Charly Sahona: Gray piano´s Flying, 7- George Bellas: Always Remembered; 8- Goncalo Pereira: No Tempo da Laranja Doce, 9- Rusty Cooley: Epilogue for Liza, 10- Marcel Coenen: Delusion; 11- Tony Smotherman: Moonlane Sonata (intro), 12- Francesco Fareri: Colors of Tomorrow, 13- Joop Wolters: Changing Lanes, 14- Lars Eric Mattsson: Five Lanes, 15- Mistheria: The Life of a Miracle

I remembered the day when I first read about Shawn Lane....it was in some interview to some great guitar player (perhaps Joe Satriani). I remember searching for his recording until I finally found one. It was really sad to learn about his untimely death. This is a tribute album for this great guitar player and musician done by other great muscians that here give their respects to Shawn and his great art. Here we have a combination of tracks written by Shawn Lane and others that were made by the musicians appearing on this album in tribute to his great musical memory. And I ahve to say that this is the better tribute a musician can expect. Full of incredible tunes and virtuoso musicianship, full of excellent compositions and guitar work, as Shawn would have loved. Here we have masters like Alex Masi, Lars Eric Mattsson and many more playing with their hearts and delivering really beautiful musical pieces. I can only say one thing: This is a masterpiece.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.lionmusic.com

SMEER - LOUD AND CLEAR (Lion Music, 2004)
	Produced By: Domenic Condo and Smeer
	Tracks: 1- What Else Can I Do, 2- Digging, 3- Mother, 4- Your Time, 5- Condemned, 6- Flying Blind, 7- Creepy, 8- Disease, 9- Afraid, 10- My World, 11- Seed
Cover Art by Bryan Cote	Recorded at Soundwerx Recording Studio
This is a really fucking powerful release! Here you can see how a band can be extremely powerful and at the same time construct clever songs and develope them in a really great way. Here we have a band whose guitars sound huge and whose music can be described sort of a mix between later Anthrax and some System of a Down with some influences of classical metal too. The guitar riffs are crushing and they use a lot of heavy rhythms to make things really aggressive. Each song here is carefully constructed and that is evident in the combination of real heviness and memorable choruses and vocals. The vocalist sounds as powerful as Anthrax´s John Bush but he adds his own personality to the vocal lines ussing different techniques depending on the mood of the song. The excellent sound adds bonus points to this album. A really heavy release with killer compositions.
Favorite tracks: "What Else Can I do", "Your Time" and "Creepy"	Contact: www.lionmusic.com

SUBTERRANEAN MASQUERADE - TEMPORARY PSYCHOTIC STATE (The End Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Tomer Pink and Bryan Hall
	Tracks: 1- Temporary Psychotic State (A recollection of where it all began), 2- Observation through Metamorphosis
Cover Art by Travis Smith	Recorded at Boho Digitallia
Two long tracks are enough to know what this band does: climatic death/doom metal full of interesting melodic ideas and innovative playing. Each of the compositions has many changes in mood and rhythm but what always remains is the dark atmosphere that is chacteristic of Subterranean Masquerade playing. There is use of violin in "Observation through Metamorphosis" adding an even more melancholic feeling with the sad notes that are played. Plus a female voice also contributes to the feeling making really beautiful vocal lines that fit perfectly the mood of the music. The sound of the recording is really clear and that is essential for this type of music because it needs of a good sound to be fully appreciated. This is an extremely melancholic release done with really good musicianship and plenty of ideas.
Favorite tracks: Both	Contact: www.theendrecords.com

SWALLOWING SHIT - SWALLOWING SHIT (The G7 Welcoming Committee Recs., 2004)
	Produced By: Swallowing Shit
	Tracks: 1- Lyrics that may offend the honkys, 2- Burn Winnipeg to the fucking ground, 3- If assholes could fly, this place would be an airport, 4- Pro Abortion, Anti Christ, 5- A Dying hope for a gender exclusive scene, 6- I May be P.C. but you´re a goddamn poseur, 7- More lyrics that may offend the Honkys, 8- You´re not old school, you´re just old, 9- Christian metal = nazi reggae, 10- Riel, 11- I heard songs about animal rights aren´t cool anymore, 12- Ruins, 13- If they hated me, they will hate you, 14- Scathe, 15- Overcome By...

This is an extreme album with no rest from beginning to end. Speed is fundamental here as it is chaos. This guys have no mercy and go at full speed through all this album, specially in tracks like "Burn Winnipeg to the fucking ground". The vocals are screamed at the top of the lungs with sort of an anguished feeling that is chaaracteristic of Swallowing Shit´s compositions. All the compositions here are designed to crush you with their utter speed and aggression and they have almost a live sound that makes you feel like if you were watching the band playing on stage. This is an extremely wild release full of anger and aggression.
Favorite tracks: "Burn Winnipeg...", "Ruins", and "Scathe"	Contact: www.g7welcomingcommittee.com

TAOMENIZOO - TAOMENIZOO (Wormcast Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Arnaud and Taomenizoo
	Tracks: 1- Paranoid Crisis, 2- Dementia, 3- Thorns, 4- Innerängst, 5- Belief, 6- Victims, 7- Sin of Flesh, 8- DNA, 9- Come Inside My Hell, 10- Sadness Enthroned, 11- The Ending + CD-R SECTION
Cover Art by Taomenizoo
Opening with rhythmic riffs with a heavier than hell sound, the opening with "Paranoid Crisis" is really brain bashing !! And what a devastating album is this one. Full of guitar riffs that blast your head into pieces with their utter heaviness. Plus the emphasis here is on heavy rhythms and not on speed making the result more effective than in bands with faster songs but less heavy sound and rhythms.There is really good double bass drumming here with good sound emphasizing the good technique that this guy has. The vocals here are in the vein of bands like Sepultura or Fear Factory but sometimes have sort of a Rob Zombie feeling (in "Thorns", for example) fitting really well the overall feeling of the composition. One remarkable thing here is the amazing sound that this guys have achieved that have nothing to envy to the one of bands like Sepultura. A blasting release !!
Favorite tracks: "Paranoid Crisis", "Victims" and "Sin of Flesh"	Contact: www.taomenizoo.com or www.wormcast.com

TEARS OF ANGER - STILL ALIVE (Lion Music, 2004)
	Produced By: Benny jansson and Björn Jansson
	Tracks: 1- The Awakening, 2- Still Alive, 3- Afraid of the Dark, 4- Sword of Sorrow, 5- Nightmare, 6- Moment of Truth, 7- Revenge Will Come, 8- Watch Me Run, 9- Walk Away, 10- Kings Call, 11-Who I Am
Cover Art by Benny Jansson	Recorded at Sheep Valley Studios, Zinkens Studios and Backbone Studios
"The Awakening" opens up this album with a lot of keyboards and sounds that give sort of an epic feeling to Tears of Anger´s music and then comes the power of the band at the top of their capacity when thee guitar enters playing interesting riffs. I expected only power metal but this band goes beyond that style adding a lot of progressive riffing and amazing rhythms. The vocals are essential here sounding powerful and creating moods emphasized later by the magnificent choruses that the band creates through all the compositions. There is a lot of virtuosism here, specially on the guitars that deliver a lot of solos with a lot of technical skills and feeling. Plus the sound of the recording is really good giving a clear sound to each of the instruments and letting us listen each not that they play.A magnificent release.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.lionmusic.com

THE ETERNAL- THE SOMBRE LIGHT OF ISOLATION (Firebox Records, 2004)
	Produced By: The Eternal
	Tracks: 1- Commemorate the Misery, 2- A Cruel Misfortune, 3- The Eternal, 4- Down, 5- The Sombre Light of Isolation, 6- Black Serenity, 7- Crimson Sacrifice, 8- Harmony of Dissonance, 9- Remembrance Scars, 10- All Hope Lust

I expected a pure doom metal band but I was wrong: the Eternal is a band that musically goes beyond this style playing sorrowful tunes but using more changes and atmospheres than in that style. Here the guitars play riffs, play clean arpeggios, do melodies and arrangements. There are harmonized guitars and some interesting counterpoints in tracks like "A Cruel Misfortune". The vocals reminded me of later Paradise Lost and I really liked it because it sounds full of darkness and sorrow but at the same time makes the tunes really memorable and unique. Each composition here is full of clever arrangements, specially in the gutiars melodies that are played against the heaviest riffs. The rhythm section is solid and leaves a lot of space for the rest of the band to develope their ideas. This is with no doubt one of the albums of the month.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.firebox.fi

THE NEMESI - THE PAIN OF EVIL (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Andrea Garavaglia
	Tracks: 1- He Lives Inside Me, 2- Waiting Your Death, 3- the Pain of Evil, 4- Desolation Soldier, 5- Unreal Creature
Cover Art by Sulphur
Open with a neoclassical guitar and bass passage in "He Lives Inside Me" this italian band soon gets into the heavier side of their music in "Waiting your death" and they surely surprise with their style of music that has a lot of heavy metal influences but at the same time reminds me of late Carcass and of bands like Arch Enemy. They are really original in their sound. The guitar riffs are raw and powerful making a good environment for the deathly screaming vocals to be developed (the vocals are one of the elements that give a definite death metal feeling here). The guitars while playing heavy riffs deliver also interesting haunting melodies that are one of the trademarks of The Nemesi´s music. The bass player has a prominent role on this band making rhythms and also interesting melodic phrases that add arrangements and different features to the music. There are plenty of ideas here and they are really well developed making each composition really original and dynamic.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.thenemesi.it

THE REAPER COMES III (Records, 2004)

	Tracks: 1- Aardvarks: Conglomerate, 2- Eternal Pain: Wrath of Raging Times, 3- Final Cry: Raise of Cain, 4- Garmenhord: Al Onder Den Beenvenden Haeslaere, 5- Hatred: Fractured by Fear, 6- Memorial Park: Selfcaged; 7- Ophis: Pazuzu; 8- Sanity: Das Beil, 9- Sengaya: Behind the Myths, 10- Slaine: Doodwegen; 11- Steelpreacher: Route 666, 12- Tremors: Killing Aggression; 13- Unlight: The Nordic Stormbringer; 14- Warmachine: Eye for an Eye
Cover Art by Jason Engle
Here is a compilation of killer bands with styles going from death metal to thrash metal to pure metal. Here we have many differeent sounds but with one common factor: the power that each band has. Here we have people that we have reviewed like Ophis with their "Pazuzu" full of doomy vocals and some black metal influences or Hatred with their eighties like thrash in "Fractured by Fear". Here we also have Memorial Park and his classical heavy metal mixed with some death metal in the vocals. There are big differeneces in sound from one band to the other, some of them having a better mix than the others. Here you have music for any metal taste and the fourteen tracks show a good range of different styles which is essential to bring to the masses all the possibilities that the metal world gives to them. A really complete compilation.
Favorite tracks: Ophis, Slaine and Tremors	Contact: www.thereapercomes.de

THE SPIRIT LIVES ON - THE MUSIC OF JIMI HENDRIX REVISITED VOL. 1(Lion Music, 2004)
	Produced By: Lion Music
	Tracks: 1- Freedom, 2- Gypsy Eyes, 3- Highway Chile, 4- Cross Town Traffic, 5- Stone Free, 6- Little Wing, 7- Spanish Castle Magic, 8- Bold As Love, 9- Fire, 10- Foxy Lady, 11- 3^rd Stone from the sun, 12- Star Spangled Banner, 13- Little Miss Lover
Cover Art by Monoiwasp
It is always good to listen to a Jimi Hendrix tribute album. This one is the first part of the tribute done by Lion Music musicians and other guests to the great songwriter and guitarist. And a really good thing here is to listen other virtuoso musicians playing his compsotisions. The songs here are faithful to the original versions plus they have some new elements that each virtuoso puts on the music, such as different solos, some keyboards and other arrnagements that keep the spirit of the original version but at the same time adds new attractive elements. An example of this is the modern keyboards sound in "Freedom" that is a really welcome addition to the music that therest of the band here does. Virtuosos playing on this album includes Michael Harris, Lars Eric Mattsson, Chris Poland, Bumblefoot, Richie Kotzen, Randy Coven and many more. Lovers of good guitar playing and of the everinfluential jimi Hendrix will surely love this tribute.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.lionmusic.com

THRIFT STORE HEROES - MOVING ON (Independent, 2003)
	Produced By: Drew Neely
	Tracks: 1- Hey, 2- Tonite, 3- Moving On, 4- My History, 5- Turn Out the Light, 6- Rockstar, 7- Forever, 8- Best of Me, 9- Alright, 10- Where do we go?, 11- Kiss me, 12- Anymore
Cover Art by Erica Brown and Scott Pasciak	Recorded at Thrift Store Studios
Thrift Store Heroes is the baby of Drew Neely who plays guitars, bass, keyboards and does all the vocals and is a pure rocking band. Many of the songs here are potential hits and with a really good promotion and a recording label to support them I wouldnot be surprised to listen songs like "Moving On" in the charts. The songs are carefully constructed and they are extremely memorable, specially because of the melodies and the choruses. Neely is a really good singer for this type of music and his voice fits the music perfectly giving this melodic feeling to them. The album has good sound and maybe with louder guitars can sound even better. This is an album for lovers of melodic rock with excellent melodies.
Favorite tracks: "Rockstar", "Alright" and "Best of Me"	Contact: www.thriftstoreheroes.com

UNDER-RADIO - BAD HEIR WAYS (Lion Music, 2004)
	Produced By: Eric Zimmermann
	Tracks: 1- Bad Heir Ways, 2- Centerpiece, 3- Noel (The cristmas truce), 4- Wedding Song, 5- You wont see the bload until your throat has been cut, 6- Cornerstone, 7- Devil´s from a midwest town, 8- 1916, 9- Build a monument, 10- Safety in numbers
Cover Art by Mike Reyes	Recorded at Gypsy Sound Studio
Under Radio is one of thiose super bands that appear once in a while putting together great musicians that are full of amazing ideas and whose skills with their instruments are betyond doubt. Here we have in one recording the great Eric Zimmermann on guitars, Gregg Bissonette and Mark Zonder on drums and Matt Bissonette on bass. And the good thing is that they show what theya re capable of doing within a song context and not only doing some pirotecnics. Robbie Wyckoff´s vocals are really powerful and that is really good to the band because it helps them to be really powerful. There are multiple changes in rhythm but the main thing here are the multiple guitar arrangements and the memorable hooks that each song has. The rhythm section is really solid as we expected and it is full of virtuosism, specially the drums, doing interesting things with the drumkit and the cymbals. Zimmermann plays riff after riff and does a lot of phrases and does some solos. For lovers of technical musicians with great compositional skills.
Favorite tracks: "Bad Heir Ways", "You wont see..." and "Cornerstone"	Contact: www.lionmusic.com

UTOPIA BANISHED - PROMO CD (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Utopia Banished
	Tracks: 1- The Plague, 2- Night of the Black Wyvern, 3- By Mourning, 4- Fury Arise
Cover Art by Utopia Banished	Recorded at Fast Lane Studios
Going for the throat from the first second, Utopia Banished shows us how brutality can be displayed with good musicanship, originality and good guitar work. The first thing you notice is how tight the guitar tandem is creating killer riffs and good arrangements through all the compositions while the killer drummer plays amazing patterns with a lot of technique. There are plenty of thrash metal elements in the music of Utopia Banished and that adds originality to their work. The vocals are extreme and Danny Augugliaro has managed to keep them really deathly but at the same time to add a lot of originality in them following the rhythms and musical phrases. I have to remark that this band has achieved a really clear sound making each thing fully audible. A must for lovers of deathly music with killer musicianship.
Favorite tracks: the four.	Contact: www.angelfire.com/ny5/bymourning

VERMIN - SOLYPSIS (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Vermin
	Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- The Swallowing Vortex, 3- Fuel for the flames, 4- Dislect, 5- Birth, 6- A Nihilist, 7- Scientific Domination, 8- Collapsed Future Visions
Cover Art by Vermin
This album surprises you with a really calm intro that soon gets into the brutality of "The Swallowing Vortex", a track full of fast drumming (including a fast blast beat). Vermin plays death metal with a lot of brutality and different types of vocals. The voices here are of three types: the main guttural one, the screaming one and other one that is also screaming but in a more extreme form, that generally is used along the most guttural one. The guitars sound heavy and they deliver riff after riff changing tempos and rhythms along the compositions. I would mix the rhythm guitar a little bit louder to add an even more compact sound to Vermin´s music. This is an album full of brutality that smashes your skull from the first surprising track til the end.
Favorite tracks: "Birth", "The Swallowing Vortex" and "A Nihilist"	Contact: www.vermin.tk

VISION - ON THE EDGE (Lion Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Lars Eric Mattsson
	Tracks: 1- Mountain of Love, 2- Girl Goodbye, 3- Prove it to You, 4- On the Edge, 5- Feels so Strange, 6- Feel the Cold Wind, 7- Stranded, 8- Menat to Be, 9- Keepin your Dreams Alive
Cover Art by Monowasp	Recorded at Lion´s Cage
Virtuoso guitarist Lars Eric Mattsson here puts all his talent in a song context within this Vision project. Here he is joined by great vocalist John Jeff Touch who can sing really well Lars compositions, in a vein of a singer like Mike Vescera. Touch has a lot of feeling in his voice and he creates many moods along with Mattsson´s everchanging guitar (there are a lot of heavy passages and also a lot of use of clean guitars and also orchestrating keyboards that make arrangements in many of the parts of the songs). But even if here the compositions have a song structure, the main thing here are the virtuoso guitars that Mattsson makes to shine on every track. Here we have plenty of melodies and incredible solos that are the essence here. The song are really well constructed and are really memorable, specially the choruses that stick in your mind all the time. Pure melodies and virtuosism.
Favorite tracks: "Mountain of Love", "On the Edge" and "Stranded"	Contact: www.lionmusic.com

WHORRID - BITCH BUTCHERS (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Whorrid
	Tracks: 1- Life or Death, 2- Whore Hostage, 3- Time to Bleed
Cover Art by Andrew Rafacz	Recorded at Soto Sound Studio
After listening some times their previous release called "Redrun" I had really fresh in my mind the sound of this guys from Chicago. Then comes this three track MCD that shattered my brain from the first listening. Here we have music in the vein of old Autopsy albums such as "Mental Funeral" but combined with faster tempos and more aggressive parts. You have just to check "Life or Death" to know what I am talking about. Slow tempos, followed by fast runs, everything done with a darker than hell feeling. And everything here has a lot of aggression coming from the ultra distorted guitar riffs (when combined with the bass the sound is like a bulldozer stepping over your ears....killer !!) and the solid drumming that adds brutality. The sound is raw like in "Redrun" but this time is more compact and effective. If I have to say in one sentence what Whorrid sounds like I would say "pure aggression with the most brutal sound".
Favorite tracks: The three	Contact: www.whorrid.com

WINDS - THE IMAGINARY DIRECTION OF TIME (The End Records, 2004)
	Produced By: Winds
	Tracks: 1- What is beauty?, 2- Sounds like desolation, 3- Theory of relativity, 4- Visions of perfection, 5- The fireworks of genesis, 6- Under the Stars, 7- A moment for reflection, 8- Time Without End, 9- The final End, 10- Beyond Fate, 11- Silence in Despair
Cover Art by Travis Smith	Recorded at Toproom Studios and Fagerborg Studios
Yes !!! Here we have the new winds album !!! From album to album this guys have known how to evolve creating always amazing compositions that surpass the previous ones. This time the music is more melodic than in their previous recordings, with a stronger emphasize on the keyboards and on some dark atmospheres. I found this album more introspective than the previous ones and you can almost feel that the band wanted to explore this side of their musical personality on this album. As always we have the clever rhythms created by Jan Axel Von Blomberg (Hellhammer) making solid rhythms while Andy Winter delivers his keyboard orchestration. This time tyhey have also a string quartet consisting on two violins,a viola and a cello that contribute a lot to the overall feeling of this recording. I think that probably close minded back metal fans will not love this one but those who are looking always something new in the dark metal realm will surely dig this album.
Favorite tracks: All the CD	Contact: www.theendrecords.com

ZEROED - WAR OF LIBERATION (Independent, 2004)
	Produced By: Zeroed
	Tracks: 1- Invocation, 2- Black Song, 3- Revenge, 4- Zombie Carrots gone Bezerk, 5- Erde Ruft, 6- Mostly Harmless, 7- War of Liberation, 8- 7^th Plague, 9- Zenized
Cover Art by Oliver Sander	Recorded at Surtr Studio
Some issues back we reviewed Zeroed previous release. Now we have in our hands the follow up to that release. The band has created her nine intense compositions with a guitar sound that would be the envy of many of the top bands in the death metal style. Plus here we have all the elements that are central to Zeroed´s music: the multiple rhythm changes, the technical riffs and drumming, and also the atmospheres created by slower riffs or letting chords sound over faster rhythms. The vocals are really extreme as always, combining the guttural voice (almost grindcore in some of the parts) with the other of the screaming type. Thumbs up for the drummer who is really technical and whose use of double bass and ride cynmbal in tracks like "Black Song" is essential. Zeroed is a really good band whose brutality is really devastating.
Favorite tracks: "Black Song", "Mostly Harmless" and "War of Liberation"	Contact: www.zeroed.net