REVIEW: CRADLE OF FILTH - PROMO SAMPLER

 

CRADLE OF FILTH - PROMO SAMPLER (Koch Records, 200)

Produced by Cradle of Filth

Tracks: 1- Dance Macabre; 2- For Those Who Died; 3- Camilla´s Masque; 4- Her Ghost in the Fog; 5- Malice Through the Looking Glass; 6- Hell Awaits; 7- Hallowed be thy Name; 8- Sodomy and Lust; 9- Once Upon Atrocity; 10- From the Cradle to Enslave

Here is a promo CD of this band that most of you know really well. This CD has some interesting things like some of the band´s hits ("From the Cradle to Enslave" and "Malice Through the Looking Glass" just to name a few of them) that have a great sound and interesting arrangements (keyboards and female vocals are the most significative ones) which are the trademarks of the band. Also here we have really good covers where I would like to remark the great versions of Slayer´s "Hell Awaits" and Iron Maiden´s "Hallowed be thy Name". The sound through all this recording is really good (obviously the newer tracks sound much better than the older ones but that is natural of a band´s progression). This CD is a good sampler of the balance that Cradle of Filth has achieved between heaviness and melodies; between savage riffs and dark atmospheres. A classic band !

Favorite tracks: "For Those Who Died"; "Her Ghost in the Fog" and "Once Upon Atrocity"

Contact: www.kochentertainment.com

REVIEW: COURAGOUS - REMEMBER

 

COURAGOUS - REMEMBER ( House of Faith Records, 2002)

Produced by Lücking and Lohmann

Recorded at Raw Sound Studios

Cover by Christa Bouffil

Tracks: 1- Scared; 2- Sudden Death; 3- Nothin´; 4- Rebirth; 5- Fourth Dimension; 6- ...And Lost; 7- The Prince; 8- A trip of Confidence; 9- Remember; 10- People are People; 11- Brothers in Mind; 12- Listen (live)

Here we have Couragous new release (their latest one before this was "Listen" and I reviewed it on Music Extreme some issues back) and their music has progressed a lot. Here we have the elements that are the main ingredients of Couragous music: heavy riffs, a really good vocalist who knows how to do the melodies that the music requires to achieve the feeling they are searching for and also when to do a more deathlike voice, two killer guitarists that can do melodies, ultra fast riffs and good melodic solos in a great way. Here we have also a great bass player that knows how to support the ehythms of the band and also knows how to do the arrangements that are needed to give a twist to the music. The sound of this recording is much better than the one in "Listen" and this helps a lot to the sound of Couragous and makes their music even more powerful. Plus, the band has developed a great ear for hooks: their songs are really well constructed and have memorable choruses which is essential. Agreat step forward from this great band.

Favorite tracks: "Sudden Death"; "...And Lost" and " A Trip of Confidence".

Contact: www.couragous.de

REVIEW: COUNCIL OF THE FALLEN - REVEALING DAMNATION

 

COUNCIL OF THE FALLEN - REVEALING DAMNATION (Martyr Music Group, 2002)

Produced by Derek Roddy

Recorded at Deerfield Beach

Cover Art by Aaron Fox

Tracks: 1- Search for Purpose; 2- Eternal Suffering; 3- Shadowed Horizon; 4- Secrets No longer; 5- Unveiling the Path; 6- Lying in Wait; 7- Cloaked in Isolation; 8- Demon Winds; 9- Remnants of Existence; 10- Confronting the Absence; 11- Cast from the Heavens; 12- Realms of Conquest

Here we have a death/black metal supergroup!! Yes, Council of the Fallen has members from Hate Eternal and Broken Hope (Sean Baxter also plays in Em Sinfonia). The music is climatic death metal with an emphasis in brutality and dark atmospheres. Here we have crushing guitar riffs with extremely guttural vocals and also we have melodies created with the guitars in order to give another side to the deathly music that Council of the Fallen does. The production is really good (Derek Roddy produced this CD himself) and you can feel the power dripping from all the instruments that are played on this CD. The tracks are well composed and well developed giving the listener all the brutality that it deserves and also a certain amount of melody that is needed to give the tracks their Council of the Fallen identity. A must for lovers of brutality done with quality.

Favorite tracks: "Eternal Sufering"; "Shadowed Horizon" and "Confronting the Absence

Contact: www.martyrmusicgroup.com

REVIEW: CIRIBUS - SEPTIC REGURGITANT

 

CIRIBUS - SEPTIC REGURGITANT (Independent, 2002)

Produced by Ciribus

Cover by Ciribus

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

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

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

Contact: ciribus@msn.com

REVIEW: CEREBRAL TURBULENCE - IMPENETRABLE

 

CEREBRAL TURBULENCY - IMPENETRABLE (Khaaranus Prods., 2002)

Recorded at Studio Shaark

Cover Art by Martin Hudak

Tracks: 1- Feeble Minds of the Nation; 2- Different world; 3- Yes ! Legitimate; 4- Same Choices; 5- Life is About Knowledge; 6- My inner mate; 7- Fear of Indiference, 8- The best in the end; 9- You are your own limit; 10- Throw your mask away; 11- Harsh Future; 12- Adios a las corridas; 13- For money but from the heart; 14- Don´t let her consume; 15- Frenzied Imagination; 16- Loss of identity; 17- Brutes and Animals; 18- Development; 19- You are a poor wretch; 20- kokos; 21- Harmless Citizen; 22- Feeling of Blame; 23- We are also people; 24- Clean Shaven Brains; 25- The more the higher; 26- Suicide

One of the most brutal releases of 2002 comes from this czech band. Full speed combined with crushing rhythms and and extremely huuuuuge guitar sound are the main features in Cerebral Turbulency´s music. A guttural voice that devastates the listener spitting the lyrics full of hate is another fundamental ingredient of the music contained on this CD (sometimes this voice is combined with another one that is more of the screaming type...almost hardcore) . A good surprise is the good sound that this release has which allows the listener to hear all the elements but fundamentally the guitars that are essential to feel Cerebral Turbulency´s power. Palms go to the drums who is like a rhythm machine with no mercy for the people that listen this CD...he plays fast and precise with a lot of use of the snare drum and double bass. A must for fans of brutality.

Favorite tracks: "The Best in the end" ; "Frenzied Imagination" and " Development"

Contact: lolokar@mybox.cz

REVIEW: CARNAL DIAFRAGMA - PREPARATION OF THE PATIENTS FOR EXAMINATION

 

CARNAL DIAFRAGMA - PREPARATION OF THE PATIENTS FOR EXAMINATION (Khaaranus Prods., 2002)

Produced by Carnal Diafragma

Recorded at Fors Studio

Tracks: 1- Ventilace Ritniho otvoru; 2- Scabies; 3- Deformation of anal vice, penis and vulva; 4- Pulverized Testicle; 5- Carrie, go home!; 6- A examination by Rectoscope; 7- Esmeralda, 8- Fist Fucking; 9- Misfortune in love, 10- I feel sick of skinheads; 11-Bakteriocidni Chemoterapeutikum sirokeho spektra; 12- Gorgeous Diphteria; 13- Zapusteni Kompresorove hadice do aortalni trubice; 14- 3 litres of Sperm; 15- Repulsion, 16- Nechtene urezani penisu rezavou pilkou na zelezo; 17- Vomited Shits; 18- Stench Vaginalis; 19- Bloody Issue of Sperm; 20- Satiated Necrophiliac; 21- Mastne Vystriky...; 22- Consequence (cover of gut); 23- IN vitro fertilization; 24- Nepochopitelne vysrani mlynku na kavu; 25- Deranged menarche injection; 26- v hlubinah neuronu

This band is a grind nightmare!!! They have tracks that are short and extremely fast and their riffs are really powerful. I like the way in which the album is mixed (I would like to have the cymbals and hihat mixed more clearly to add more clarity to the fastest parts). The guitar sound is really raw (as grind guitars should be) but mix loud enough to make the music here really energetic. There are several types of vocals on this release: one is very guttural and fits the music in the best way possible, another one is more screaming and then there is a third one that is much more thin that I would like it to be replaced by the guttural one. This are 26 tracks of pure grind madness with good sound and many interesting ideas going on. Fans of grind and brutal death will like this release.

Favorite tracks: "Misfortune in Love"; " 3 Litres of Sperm" and " Satiated Necrophiliac "

Contact: lolokar@mybox.cz

REVIEW: CANNIBAL CORPSE - GORE OBSESSED

 

CANNIBAL CORPSE - GORE OBSESSED (Metal Blade Records, 2002)

Produced by Neil Kernon and Cannibal Corpse

Recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios

Cover Art by Vincent Locke

Tracks: 1- Savage Butchery, 2- Hatchet to the Head; 3- Pit of Zombies; 4- Dormant Bodies Bursting; 5- Compelled to Lacerate; 6- Drowning in Viscera; 7- Hung and Bled; 8- Sanded Faceless; 9- Mutation of the Cadaver; 10- When Death Replaces Life; 11- Grotesque

Cannibal Corpse is back with a new album!!! This time their music has not change a lot compared to "Blood thirst" (and maybe this is the good thing about Cannibal Corpse). They have added some riffs which have more hooks than ususally like the one in the middle section of "Pit of Zombies" or in "Dormant Bodies Bursting". What has changed is the sound of the recording. This time the sound is more huge than ever, specially the guitars...where in albums like "Tomb of the Mutilated" or "Butchered at Birth" you could listen a fast guitar doing riffs here you can listen instead an inmense wall of sound thanks to this guys Jack Owen and Pat O´Brien. A lot of this great sound is also thanks to the rhythm section of Alex Webster and Paul Mazurkiewicz which are tighter than ever. And Neil Kernon has added a lot of power to the mix which is an excellent one. One thing that I would like them to add more are the good guitar solos because I like the way they enter in the tracks and add a new side to Cannibal´s music.

Favorite tracks: "Hatchet to the Head"; "When Death Replaces Life" and "Drowning in Viscera"

Contact: www.metalblade.com

REVIEW: BRAVE - SEARCHING FOR THE SUN

 

BRAVE - SEARCHING FOR THE SUN (Dark Symphonies Recs., 2002)

Produced by Kevin Gutierrez and Brave

Recorded at Assembly Line Studios

Cover Art by Mark Riddick

Tracks: 1- Escape; 2- I believe; 3- Falling Into Bliss; 4- Trapped Inside; 5- Before Nightfall; 6- To Dream Again; 7- Bleed Into Me; 8- New Beginning; 9- Out of Focus; 10- Candle in the Dark; 11- Waiting All This Time

Here we have this band formerly called Arise From Thorns whose album "Before an Audience of Stars" I reviewed many issues back. For those who doesn´t know the band, Brave is a really melodic yet heavy band with a lot of acoustic guitars parts, some use of keayboards and rhythms and with the amazingly beautiful vocals of Michelle Looze. This time we see a real progress in the compositions where each track has a beginnin a middle part and a climax really well developed. And the greatest thing here is the melodic sense that this band has: it seems to me that they have many and many melodies flowing through their minds and they know exactly how to put them together (some of the vocal lines are of extreme beauty...you will not believe it). There is a certain The Gathering influence in some parts which I like a lot but played with Brave´s own identity. A great beginning for this band with a new name !!

Favorite tracks: All the CD is bautiful and extremely melodic. Thumbs up for this band !!!

Contact: www.darksymphonies.com

REVIEW: BRAINDEAD - CROSSING THE DEVICE

 

BRAINDEAD - CROSSING THE DEVICE ( Independent , 2001)

Produced by Braindead

Recorded at Megapeng Studios

Cover by Nicole Streit

Tracks: 1- We´re not Stupid; 2- The New Kingdom; 3- Pain in My Brain; 4- Ghost of Madness; 5- Rain on my Grave; 6- Changes; Bonus tracks: 7- Entfüehrt; 8- So Nit!

What a progress has made this band !! In fact their music has changed a lot since their previous album "For the Last Hour". The main change is in the vocals department where David has decided to use cleaner vocals (I think there is some harmonizing in the vocals too and choruses). This type of vocals make the result more interesting because it adds another dimension to the band´s songs (even if David did not like the final result and even if I miss the rawer vocals sometimes). Another welcomed change is in the guitar sound which this time is like more compressed and sounds heavier than in the previous recording. In fact the whole CD sounds better produced and the tracks have been designed with more hooks in order to be more memorable. A good adavance from this great band !!

Favorite tracks: "The New Kingdom"; "Pain in My Brain" and "Changes"

Contact: www.braindead.ch

REVIEW: BRAINDEAD - FOR THE LAST HOUR

 

BRAINDEAD - FOR THE LAST HOUR (Blackdeath Prods., 1999)

Produced by Braindead

Recorded with Akai DPS12. Jan-June 1999

Cover art by Nicole Streit

Tracks: 1- Circle of Fire; 2- Burning Down, 3- Addicted to Human Flesh; 4- Sudden Death; 5- Die Without Hope; 6- Face to Face; 7- Another Waste of Time; 8- Dreams of Pain; 9- Beyond the Silence; 10- You Die

Braindead comes to us directly from Switzerland and their music is really melodic death metal. Here on this CD they have achieved a great mix of heavy and raw death metal with interesting guitar melodies. In fact this melodies are the main ingredient of the band´s music and I liked a lot the way in which they are played contrasting with the heavy guitar riffs. David´s vocals are raw and fit perfectly the music of the bandmaking the result heavier. I would like the drums to be mixed a little bit higher (as they did on their next album "Crossing the Device") because in that way the double bass patterns and some interesting passages can be listened better. I like a lot the tracks where the riffs are more rhythmic and heavy as hell like for example "Burning Down". A great mix between fast and heavy songs complemented by interesting melodies and atmospheres.

Favorite tracks: "Burning Down"; "Face To Face" and "Dreams of Pain"

Contact: www.braindead.ch

REVIEW: BIRDFLESH - NIGHT OF THE ULTIMATE MOSH

 

BIRDFLESH - NIGHT OF THE ULTIMATE MOSH (Razorback Recs., 2002)

Recorded at Euphony Studios

Cover Art by Gudda

Tracks: 1- Coffinfucker; 2- Master of Violence; 3- Gore in Gore out; 4- Arabian Psycho; 5- Night of the ultimate Mosh; 6- The rolling massgrave; 7- Above, where are you?; 8- Catmouth; 9- Gut to Kill; 10- Bloodshed attack; 11-Eter nal Emotions; 12- Slaughter of flies; 13- Bowelthrasher; 14- Kid of the brown vomit; 15- the evil pig; 16- Everything is shit; 17- Dance on the frozen desert; 18- Crowes in the nose; 19- Death and insanity; 20- Carmolesting dead; 21- Suicide Maniac; 22- Victim of the grind

I have to say that this band surprised me... I expected only another grind band but Birdflesh is not like that. In fact they have moments where they play straight grindcore but there are many places where they play sort of extreme death metal and they show a lot of ideas such as the climatic passage in the first half of "Gore in, gore Out" or the one or two seconds before entering the more hardcore riff in "Night of the ultimate mosh" . This band is fast and brutal and has extremely brutal riffs together with screaming and guttural vocals. But the good thing here is that they throw short ideas here and there to make things more interesting. The sound of this release is good and you can listen this raw band in all their splendour because the instruments are well mixed and the guitars got the sound they deserve. If you are a lover of speed and brutality Birdflesh can be one of your favorite bands.

Favorite tracks: "Gore in Gore Out"; "The rolling massgrave" and " Dance on the Frozen Desert"

Contact: www.razorbackrecords.com

REVIEW: BARRY GUY/ HOWARD RILEY / PHILIPP WACHSMANN - IMPROVISATIONS ARE FOREVER NOW

 

BARRY GUY/ HOWARD RILEY / PHILIPP WACHSMANN - IMPROVISATIONS ARE FOREVER NOW (Emanem Disc, 2002)

Produced by Martin Davidson

Recorded by Adma Skeaping

Cover by Barry Guy

Tracks: 1- Trio One; 2- Trio two; 3- Trio three; 4- Trio Four; 5- Trio Five; 6- Trio Six; 7- Trio Seven; 8- Trio Eight; 9- Trio nine, 10- Trio ten; 11- Trio Eleven

Here is another recording by a couple of musicians whose great music we have reviewed before: This time double bass master Barry Guy and piano magician Howard Riley are joined by Philipp Wachsmann on violin to create some trio improvisations. And the result is excellent, sometimes with a lot of cohession and osmetimes chaotic but with the musicians always in control of the spontaneous compositions. There are two types of trio tracks here: the first eight ones that were recorded in December 1977 and the last three that were recorded in January 1979 and you can feel the difference among this two groups of improvisations. Also we can listen that some trios are done in order to create atmospheres like for example "Trio Three" by using some double bass and violin sustained note while experimenting with the other instruments and some other trios are more like experimentation with melodic and chaotic lines played by each of the musicians (As an example you should check "Trio Four"). A must for lovers of spontaneous music.

Favorite tracks: "Trio One"; "Trio Four" and "Trio ten"

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

REVIEW: AUTUMN CLAN - REQUIEM TO THE SUN

 

AUTUMN CLAN - REQUIEM TO THE SUN (W.A.B. Recs., 2002)

Produced by Boban Milunovic

Recorded at Boom Room Studios

Tracks: 1- New Gothicism; 2- Hollow; 3- Requiem To the Sun; 4- Turnin Away; 5- Dream Sequence; 6- Hate Tunes; 7- Garden of Eden; 8- Abuse Me; 9- Desire; 10- Symphony of Sadness; 11- Mortal; 12- Dissonant Trip; 13- The Lack of Inventive Genius; 14- Through

Here we have a heavy gothic band with intense and dark melodies but also with powerful guitar riffs that makes the songs really hard and contrast with the more calm passages where they use clean guitars and arpeffios. The first thing that strikes you here is the sound of the release that has nothing to envy to the one that bands like for example Anathema have. A key element to Autumn Clan´s music is the voice of their singer and guitarist Jens Hermann who sings in a very ethereal manner but reflecting a lot of anguish in his vocals. The vocal lines and the clean arpeggios contrast with the heavy riffs and I liked a lot the tracks where they are put together such as in the end of "Hollow". There is a lot of feeling of sadness here and I like the way in which this guys reflect it through their music, really dark and powerful.

Favorite tracks: "New Gothicism", "Dream Sequence" and "Abuse Me"

Contact: www.wabrecords.org

REVIEW: ASCENSION - WALKING ON THE PSYCHOPATH

 

ASCENSION - WALKING ON THE PSYCHOPATH (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Ascension

Cover Art by Ascension

Tracks: 1- Into Coppice; 2- Black in Men; 3- Two; 4- Me, the Lunatic; 5- Vertigo; 6- Bloodred Letter Day; 7- Paying the Debt of Nature

Ascension is a death metal band that have the characteristic of using a lot of melodies in their music and a lot of really technical passages. The music on this CD has many breaks and changes and you can listen that this guys are really well rehearsed. There are two types of vocals...one that is more guttural and other that is closer to Kreator´s Mille Petrozza. One thing that I love of this guys is the jazz influence that they have....yes!! they throw jazz lines in all their compositions with clean and distorted guitars and I really like the way it sounds. Also there are many guitar solos which I liked alot because they are done with really good taste and an amazing techncal skills. The bass player also helps to the technical side of Ascension´s music playing excelenet melodic lines that one could imagine in the hands of some fusion or jazz player. Thumbs up for this amazing band and I hope they release their new material soon because I am a fan of them now !! This is one of the CDs of the month

Favorite tracks: All the tracks contained here.

Contact: www.ascension-net.de

REVIEW: ARABESQUE - ARABESQUE

 

ARABESQUE - ARABESQUE (Independent, 2002)

Produced by Arabesque

Cover Art by Arabesque

Tracks: 1- Inner Voice; 2- Last Attempt; 3- Haunted; 4- Instant Daydream

Arabesque is a band that plays what can be defined as progressive hard rock or progressive metal...They have intrincated compositions with excellent musicianship. Many of the arrangements are done by the keyboards and the guy who plays them has a lot of technical skills. There are heavy guitars doing interesting and powerful riffs and many licks that give a lot of strength to the songs. I liked a lot the combination of male and female vocals and I think that Katia Salemi´s ánd Nicole´s vocal range is extremely beautifula nad fits perfectly Arabesque´s songs. The drummer and bassist have a lot of technical skills to play this difficult style with many changes and moods. You can see this through the whole recording where the guys follow the guitars, do arrangements on their own or create intrincated rhyths or simple phrases. A great release.

Favorite tracks: The four contained here are really well devloped musical pieces. And I love Katia and Nicole´s vocals

Contact: www.arabesque-site.com

REVIEW: ANOXIA - DEMO 2002

 

ANOXIA - DEMO 2002 (Independent , 2002)

Produced by Anoxia

Cover art by Anoxia

Tracks: 1- Shaped like a Circle, 2- Without Beauty, 3- Kingdom

This guys form Denmark know exactly which is the best point for mixing heavy riffs with melodies. A great part of this is due to having four independent personalities: a great singer that goes from doing interesting melodies with his voice to doing a Cradle of Filth-like scream (this guys has a great vocal range and knows how to use it); a great guitarist that plays heavy riffs and clean guitar arpeggios (like the ones in the beginning of "Without Beauty"), a bass player with a lot of imagination as you can listen through the three tracks contained here and an imaginative drummer who accentuates in a really good way the songs. Maybe mixing the guitars a little bit louder would add some to the final result but the thing is that this three tracks leave you asking for more Anoxia !!!!

Favorite tracks: The three contained here

Contact: www.anoxia.dk

REVIEW: ANNIHILATOR - CARNIVAL DIABLOS

 

ANNIHILATOR - CARNIVAL DIABLOS (Century Media Records, 2001)

Produced by Jeff Waters

Recorded at Watersound Studios

Cover Art by Joachim Luetke

Tracks: 1- Denied, 2- The Perfect Virus, 3- Battered, 4- Carnival Diablos, 5-Shallow Grave, 6- Time Bomb, 7- The Rush, 8- Insomniac, 9- Liquid Oval, 10- Epic of War, 11- Hunter Killer

Annihilator is back and heavier than ever. Two things add a lot of heaviness to the music: 1- The guitar riffs are more devastating (while technical as always) and faster and they have a bigger sound than in all the previous albums; 2- Joe Comeau´s vocals are really powerful and they make the songs more raw and heavy. The drums sound strangely a bit raw (specially the cymbals and hihat) and this adds also to the heavier result. Annihilator has taken the elments of their first two albums, have modernized and accelerated them and add a much better sound in all the instruments and then they have come with this "Carnival Diablos". I think this is the direction which I like in Annihilator´s music: Their combination of heaviness with melodies and interesting arrangements. A lot of riffs reminded me of eighties thrash metal and I like this element to reappear in Annihilator´s music. Great heavy recording!!!!

Favorite tracks: "Battered", "Time Bomb" and "The Rush"

Contact: www.centurymedia.com  or www.centurymedia.de (Century Media Europe)

REVIEW: ANGEL DUST - OF HUMAN BONDAGE

 

ANGEL DUST - OF HUMAN BONDAGE (Century Media Records, 2002)

Produced by Siggi Bemm and Angel Dust

Recorded at Woodhouse Studios

Cover Art by Gerald Axelrod

Tracks: 1- The Human Bondage; 2- Inhuman; 3- Unreal Soul; 4- Disbeliever; 5- Forever; 6- Unite; 7- Got This Evil; 8- The Cultman; 9- Freedom Awaits; 10- Killer

Here we have the return of Angel Dust after their "Enlighten the Darkness" album. This CD m"OF Human Bondage" is their sixth album (their fourth after their reunion in 1997). Here we see Angel Dust achieving great maturity and showing us their best material up to date. The emphasis on this CD is on the strength and heaviness of the songs. This album shows us the arrival of Richie Wilkinson on guitars replacing Bernd. The guitars are as always fast and furious dropping some power chords in the choruses to meke them more catchy and letting vocalist Dirk Thurisch to introduce his great mid ranged melodies. The sound of the CD is amazing (as it was in their previous album) and here the kmeyboards are clearer than before achieving their climax in tracks like " Inhuman". This CD should be on any metal collection !!

Favorite tracks: All the CD. A great demonstration of heavy power metal the way it should be

Contact: South america: www.centurymedia.com. Europe: www.centurymedia.de

REVIEW: ALIENATION MENTAL - BALL SPOUTER

 

ALIENATION MENTAL - BALL SPOUTER (Khaaranus Prods., 2002)

Produced by Alienation Mental

Recorded at Hostivar Studio

Cover Art by Radim Dvorak

Tracks: 1- The Restricted Cerebral Capacity; 2- Screw; 3- Psychogenes; 4- Crossed Out from the List of the Dead; 5- Children of South; 6- The Scathing Feeling Inside of Me; 7- Blind Alley; 8- One of Infinity; 9- Instru-mental; 10- Apocalyptic Vision of the Future

BRUTALITY!!!!!! Here you have Brutality at full speed and with a guitar sound heavier than hell !!!! But this band uses a lot of elements that are not typical in brutal death metal: to name just a few: odd times signatures in some riffs, bass lines with a clean sound, drums patterns that are not typical of the style (despite using blast beats in many places), interesting and technical guitar solos with really good note placement. Then comes the really good sound that this recording has that remark in a really great manner the achievements that the band has made here. I liked a lot the riffs and specially the breaks where the drums remain alone with the bass playing some solo lines like on "The Restricted Cerebral Capacity". This guys have really a lot to offer to fans of extreme music.

Favorite tracks: "Psychogenes"; "Children of South" and "One of Infinity"

Contact: lolokar@mybox.cz

REVIEW: AB:NORM - INSIDE

 

AB:NORM - INSIDE (Show No Mercy Recs., 2002)

Produced by Michael Heinrich and Ab:Norm

Mixed by Guido Hoizmann

Tracks: 1- Forward; 2- Upstairs; 3- Bleed for Me; 4- Stream; 5- Next Generation; 6- The Third; 7- Fear; 8- Abnormity; 9- Inside; 10- Backward

What a drummer has this band....he is a nightmare, doing a lot of double bass patterns and being fast in the blast beats. Also he plays a lot of breaks and changes and he has a great sound similar to the drums in Fear Factory. Ab: Norm is a powerful and brutal death metal band with many arrangements (in fact the tracks here have many guitar riffs each one and that is great ). The vocals in this band are guttural and fit perfectly the violent music that this guys play. Also I have to remark tha great job that the bass player does through all the recording giving support both to the guitars and to the drums. Another thing that caught my attention is the combination of this music with the aforementioned drums sound that gives sort of an electronic feeling to the tracks and makes the song even heavier. Check this extremely brutal band now !!

Favorite tracks: "Upstairs"; "Next Generation" and "Abnormity"

Contact: www.ab-norm.de

REVIEW: WITCHCRAFT - NO ANGEL OR DEMON

 

WITCHCRAFT - NO ANGEL OR DEMON (Primitive Art Records, 2002)

Produced by Jens Henriksson

Recorded sometime in Space and Time

Cover Photo by Maria Andersson

Tracks: 1- No Angel or Demon; 2- You Bury your head

I have reviewed a lot of doom junkies and stoner rock bands but none of them sounds so "seventies" than Witchcraft. This band seems to have taken their guitars and Fender amps and crank them to create this sounds like some band typical of the seventies. The feeling of the two tracks contained here is really psychodelic and they have interesting melodies which also takes you back to the early seventies era of heavy rock. The guitar riffs are really rhythmic and fit pefectly with Jens Henriksson drumbeats which are almost hypnotic. Fans of seventies rock or stoner or doom will surely like this single. Also the vinyl helps a lot to the total product taking you some years back in time. A great band.

Favorite tracks: Both tracks are really good.

Contact: www.primitiveartrecords.com

REVIEW: WINGS OF FURY - ENIGMA OF LIFE

 

WINGS OF FURY - ENIGMA OF LIFE (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Wings of Fury

Recorded at ARE U Recordings

Artwork by Miriam Dammers

Tracks: 1- The Poem of Truth (intro), 2- Hogmanay Night, 3- Shattered Paradise; 4- the Last Words; 5- Drowning Visions (Outro)

First of all, I have to remarjk that the guys in Wings of Fury told me that they have evolved a lot since the recording of this demo and that they have improved a lot too. Well, I would like to listen their new material because this demo is really a great one !! One thing that I find incredible are Miriam Dammers vocals...they are amazingly clean and they have a lot of power (plus a great technique with a lot of inflexions and vibrato). I liked a lot the way in which the keyboards are used to support Miriam´s vocals creating along with the guitars the main axis of the compositions contained on this CD. The sound can be a little bit better specially mixing the snare drum a litlle bit louder (in the recording the hi hat and cymbals cover it). This is with no doubt one of the recordings of the month.

Favorite tracks: All the CD. If you want the perfect mix between creative heavy music and beauty then Wings of Fury is your choice.

Contact: http://clik.to/wingsoffury or www.wingsoffury.f2s.com

REVIEW: WIGRID - HOFFNUNGSTOD

WIGRID - HOFFNUNGSTOD (No Colours Recs., 2001)

Tracks: 1- Leere, 2- Ort der Einsamkeit, 3- Die Enstehung; 4- Schreie der Verzweiflung; 5- Das Sterben Eines Traumes; 6- Hoffnungstod; 7- Der Weg in Ein Anderes Dasein

Wigrid plays old school death metal in the vein of the first Burzum records with vocals that are really screaming (maybe they should be a little more loud on the mix to achieve a better result)and anguished ones. The music here is really raw and with some changes going from blast beats to some more mid-paced guitar riff. The drums are faster than hell in many parts and in others they play some primitive pattern that fikts the guitar riff in a good way. There are tracks that I like better, as for example tracks number three and four which have more arrangements and have more interesting parts (also "Das Sterben eines Traumes" is their most accesible song with an intro that is really melodic yet distorted). A must for lovers of extremely dark and raw black metal. A must for Burzum fans.

Favorite tracks: "Die Enstehung"; "Schreie der Verzweiflung" and " Hoffnungstod".

Contact: www.no-colours-records.de

REVIEW: VEDIOG SVAOR - IN THE DISTANCE

 

VEDIOG SVAOR - IN THE DISTANCE (Paragon International, 2001)

Tracks: 1- Pavel, 2- Ipsoq Dav; 3- Silex; 4- Curled Up Stars; 5- W; 6- Suffused

Vediog Svaor...a strange name...and a great band. It is amazing the quality of some bands that are appearing in the underground...and Vediog Svaor is one of the best. Their music is really climatic and the compositions are well developed with a lot of melodic phrases while having an extremely heavy sound (some guitars combined with programmed drums are almost industrial....but much heavier). Also it is interesting the big difference that exist among the tracks contained here. While "Ipsoq Dav" is extremely climatic full of clean guitars; "Silex" is totally chaotic, raw and fast with crushing guitars and subrepticious breaks. Tracks like "Curled Up Stars" or " Ipsoq Dav" are extense (over ten minutes each) and they give the band enough space to explore new possibilities. There are a lot of screaming vocals that accentuate the anguish feeling of some parts and also spoken ones that are realy eerie. Amazing album.

Favorite tracks: The whole CD. Amazingly atmospheric and climatic metal album!!

Contact: www.paragonintl.cjb.net

REVIEW: UNTIL DEATH OVERTAKES ME - SYMPHONY I "DEEP DARK RED" & SYMPHONY II "ABSENCE OF LIFE"

 

UNTIL DEATH OVERTAKES ME - SYMPHONY I "DEEP DARK RED" & SYMPHONY II "ABSENCE OF LIFE" (Independent, 2002)

Produced by U.D.O.M.

Recorded at Templa Libitna

Tracks: CDI: 1- Silent Dreams; 2- They never Hope, 3- In the Light of Dying Summer, 4- Never Again, 5- Careless, Painless, Far Away, 6- Towards the Emptiness

CD 2: I- This Dark Day; 2- In the Mist; 3- Absence of life, 4- And Death Took Her smile Away

This two CD set is really amazing: it contains two great compositions (one on each CD) subdivided in various parts. This two compositions are "Symphony I: Deep Dark Red" and "Symphony II: Absence of Life". The first one is a really dark composition with a lot of keyboards that create the environment where the two musicians involved here develope their multiple musical ideas. There are some distorted guitar chords (for example on "Never Again"), but the main thing here are the keyboards that set the scenary for this guys. There are also some sound effects here that turn things even more oppressive. Also the slow percussion (programmed drums) is created to emphasize this feeling.

"Symphony II: Absence of Life" starts in a more melodic way with "They Never Hope", with some clean guitar. And again you will have the dark feeling with some melodies and some guttural vocals (think them as a complement for the music, in fact they are not looking for brutality here). A masterpiece.

Favorite tracks: The two CD set is a masterpiece of dark and atmospheric music with excellent compositional skills and great musical knowledge.

Contact: http://listen.to/udom

REVIEW: TOTIMOSHI - MYSTERIOSO?

 

TOTIMOSHI - MYSTERIOSO? (Berserker Recs., 2002)

Produced by Alex Newport

Artwork by Elizabeth Mc. Grath

Tracks: 1- Float, 2- Screwed, 3- Cellophane, 4- The Bleed, 5- Dirt Farmer, 6- Vitreol-a, 7- Oblivion, 8- Horselaugh

What a powerful release!! Totimoshi is a strange name and the music that this band plays is like a mix between gothic, punk, stoner and metal. The main feature here are the powerful guitars (with a really fat sound that makes the riffs devastating) with interesting riffs that go along the drums in a really great way. Another feature is the vocalist who is versatile and knows how to accentuate certain phrases to achieve a better result being really tight with the rest of the band. The good thing is that this band sounds like Totimoshi and not as any other band from a similar style. An original release full of crunchy chords and interesting ideas.

Favorite tracks: The whole CD is an example of crushing and devastating music.

Contact: www.berserkerrecords.com

REVIEW: TONY WREN / LARRY STABBINS / HOWARD RILEY / MARK SANDERS - FOUR IN THE AFTERNOON

 

TONY WREN / LARRY STABBINS / HOWARD RILEY / MARK SANDERS - FOUR IN THE AFTERNOON (Emanem Disc, 2002)

Produced by Martin Davidson

Recorded by Steve Lowe

Tracks: 1- A Soft Day, 2- Game of Two Halves, 3- Where are the Snows, 4- Rough Crossing, 5- Blue Dark, 6- Embarrasment of Witches, 7- Transcension

This is a kiler quartet: Tony Wren on double bass; Howard Riley on piano; Larry Stabbins on sax and Mark Sanders on percussion. This guys create some of the greatest spontaneous music I have ever heard. They have the musical skills and technique to achieve a great result. It is amazing to listen to Stabbins sax runs played over Riley´s piano arrangements. I think this is one of the ensembles that I feel more interconnected between them in order to achieve great results. Sanders is a killer percussionist and he is risponsible of adding a lot of twisted rhythms to the musical compositions contained on this CD, while Wren adds a lot of bottom end and arrangements to the music. This is one of the best improvisational CDs I have ever heard.

Favorite tracks: "Game of Two halves"; "Rough Crossing" and "Blue Dark".

Contact: www.emanemdisc.com

REVIEW: THE NEW PLAGUE - SHACKLED AND ENSLAVED

 

THE NEW PLAGUE - SHACKLED AND ENSLAVED (Independent, 2001)

Produced by The New Plague

Recorded at Digit Sound Studio

Artwork by Adam Whitley and Shaun Lipsmeyer

Tracks: 1- World Annihilation, 2- Within, 3- Stormbringer, 4- Life, Death and the Abyss, 5- New Worlds, 6- The Great Unknown, 7- Pleasure Thru Pain, 8- Cult of the Dragon, 9- Pazuzu, 10- I Am Misanthrope

This is a band of old school death metal. The music of the New Plague is a blast of fury in the vein of old Morbid Angel, Left Hand Path-era Entombed and also some Venom. So as you may see this is a devastating band. There are certain thrash influences here and there too in their music. Every track here is conceived to be a deathly and powerful discharge. They are fast and brutal with great work of guitarist and drummer (great double bass drumming) who seem to be very well rehearsed and really tight (there are excellent bass passages in "Within" for example at 1:44). The vocals are guttural and fit the music that The New Plague makes perfectly adding more brutality to this powerful trio. Fans of brutal and technical death metal will surely like this one.

Favorite tracks: "Pleasure Thru Pain", "World Annihilation" and "The Great Unknown".

Contact: www.thenewplague.com

REVIEW: THE CULT - BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

 

THE CULT - BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL (Atlantic Recs., 2001)

Produced by Bob Rock

Artwork by P.R. Brown

Tracks: 1- War (The Process), 2- The Saint, 3- Rise, 4- Take the Power, 5- Breathe, 6- Nico, 7- American Gothic, 8- Ashes and Ghosts; 9- Shape the Sky, 10- Speed of Light, 11- True Believers, 12- My Bridges Burn

Of all the bands that were popular in the late eighties and early nineties I always liked The Cult. It seems to me that this guys always prefered to do good songs than combing their hair and using make up and all that bullshit. There are two records which I don´t like that much....one is "Love" (too pop for my taste) and "The Cult" (too alternative, I thought that they were copying other bands). But this latest one goes in the path that albums like "Sonic Temple" or "Ceremony" marked. That is rocking riffs with some Led Zeppelin and seventies influences and one of the strongest Ian Astbury´s performance on vocals. Welcome back to the right track.

Favorite tracks: "Take the Power"; "American Gothic" and "Speed of Light" .

Contact: www.thecultnet.com

REVIEW: SUICIDAL WINDS - VICTIMS IN BLOOD

 

SUICIDAL WINDS - VICTIMS IN BLOOD (No Colours recs., 2002)

Tracks: 1- Victims in Blood, 2- Dimension of Death, 3- Morbid Temptation, 4- Storms of Hell, 5- satanic Wrath, 6- Force of Darkness, 7- Ashes from a Past Life, 8- Outbreak of War, 9- The Mangler, 10- Lord of Abyss, 11- Meaningless Life

Here we have death /thrash metal directly from Sweden and full of energy and hate! This is the second album from this swedish guys and this one is extremely brutal. The influences that I find are from early Kreator and Destruction. Killer riffs with interesting drumming all over the CD. Here we have a band designed for headbanging and crushing you live (I think that a Suicidal Winds show must be devastating). I like a lot the thrash influences that this band has that makes their music sound different than most of the bands that are playing brutal death metal. The vocals are screaming ones and closer to the ones of Mille Petrozza. This band is a great exponent of this tyle and you can see it through this recording.

Favorite tracks: "Victims in Blood"; "Morbid Temptation" and "Ashes from a Past Life".

Contact: www.no-colours-records.de