REVIEW: THE NATIONAL CEMETERY ORCHESTRA - BEYOND THE SHADOWS

 

THE NATIONAL CEMETERY ORCHESTRA - BEYOND THE SHADOWS (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Karl Nix

Recorded at Spare Bedroom Studios

Cover Art by Karl Nix

Tracks: 1- Lost in a Dream, 2- Red Skies, 3- Time Bleeds Away, 4-Pergamum, 5- Nevermore, 6- Martyr, 7- Oblivion, 8- Stormfront, 9- Quake, 10- Utopia

Karl Nix has done it again! After the previous The National Cemetery Orchestra that we reviewed some issues back he has released this even more experimental CD with heavier guitar sound and a better mix. For those who doesn´t know him Karl Nix is the brain behind The National Cemetery orchestra and he composes and plays all the tracks here. The music on "Beyond The Shadows" is wilder and heavier than on "As Twilight Fades into Night". Here there are instrumental tracks as fast and furious that many black metal bands would really love playing. Some of the tracks here even have electronic blast beats!!!! Here we have as always the omnipresent feeling of darkness but this time Karl has added a lot of guitars to every track. This is a prefect mix of heaviness and experimentation by this really open minded musician.

Favorite tracks: "Lost in a Dream", "Time Bleeds Away" and "Stormfront"

Contact: www.mp3.com/NatlCemteryOrchestr or Nthrazz@hotmail.com

REVIEW: TERATISM - EX INFERNUS

 

TERATISM - EX INFERNUS (Root of All Evil Records, 2002)

Produced by Teratism

Tracks: 1- Resurrection Denied, 2- Hate, 3- Children of Scorn, 4- Resurrection Denied (live)

Here you have more than sixteen minutes of unholy black metal bestiality from this guys. Teratism is a band that have in its lineup members and ex members of bands like Theatre of the Macabre, Anal Blast, Mourning and Azrael...sort of a black metal dream team. The CD opens with an intro for "Resurrection Denied" and when the band enters the sound becomes lower (I think this guys must mix everything higher in order to make the music be listened better). The music on this MCD is pure raw black/death metal with fast guitars with one note riffs, blast beats in some parts and many dark elements. There are some slower moments but pure blasphemic black metal is the main rule here. One of the best thing here is the combination of different types of vocals (all adding brutality) .The tracks have a lot of fury and I think that with a better sound the result can be more devastating (in fact some of the tracks come from Teratism´s demo, I think they can be remixed a little bit). Black metal madness is here!

Favorite tracks: "Resurrection Denied (live)" and "Children of Scorn"

Contact: www.rootofallevil.com

REVIEW: TEARS OF DECAY - SAPROPHYT

 

TEARS OF DECAY - SAPROPHYT (Cudgel Agency, 2002)

Produced by Tears of Decay

Recorded at Audiocheck Studios

Cover Art by Thomas Westphall

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Blind Reality, 3- Tears of Decay, 4- Der Übermensch, 5- Bellum Ominum Contra Omnes, 6- Homo Homini Deus Est, Pt. 2, 7- Soul Suicide, 8- Saprophyt, 9- Kill Fuck Die, 10- Outro

Ultra brutality!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is what we have here. It is amazing how Tears of Decay has managed to express all their anger, hate and despair in one CD. Here we have all the elements that can make a release extremely brutal. Specially if you like double bass drumming here you have a master class from this killer drummer that is Dirk Bakker. Crushing fast riffs are the main thing here but there are slower temnpos like the ones at 0:40 of "Bellum Ominum Contra Omnem" that are heavier than an elephant!! The vocals on this CD are guttural at the most extreme level and also we have vocals of the screaming type. The mix is good and I would like this guys to mix a little bit louder the snare drum and some of the toms (just a little bit...to fit perfectly the guitar avalanch that Tears of Decay creates). You wanted brutality, here you have Tearsd of Decay

Favorite tracks: "Tears of Decay", "Soul Suicide" and "Der Übermensch"

Contact: www.tears-of-decay.de or www.cudgel.de

REVIEW: TAETRE - DIVINE MISANTHROPIC MADNESS

 

TAETRE - DIVINE MISANTHROPIC MADNESS (Mighty Music, 2002)

Produced by Taetre, Andy La Rocque and Tony Felencovich

Recorded at Los Angered Recordings

Cover Art by Aurelien Palice

Tracks: 1- A Veil of Madness, 2- Virus, 3- Paint a Whore as a Saint, 4-No love, 5- Opathetic Organic, 6- Diabolical Age, 7- Destroy the Dreamvoid, 8- Paradox, 9- Fathers Foe, 10-Reclaiming The Spirit, 11- Living the Dream, 12- Deathportal

If you want a perfect definition of what modern death/thrash metal means then you have to listen to this CD. Here we have a lot of death metal in the vocals, in the sound and in a lot of drumming patterns, then we have also a lot of thrash metal in some riffs, in some of the clean guitar parts in some of the vocal lines and also you have a modern sound. I think that this guys have used all this elments to create powerful songs which have been helped by a great mix (King Diamond´s Andy La Rocques is behind the mixing table and he knows what to do with all the volume and equalizing knobs). Here we have solos that are similar to those played in the golden age of thrash (by guys like Exodus´Gary Holt, Testament´s Alex Skolnick and others). On this CD everything is designed to make things powerful: I have one expression for this...."controlled brutality", because they are extremely brutal but they don´t abuse speed and they don´t become soon a ball of noise like many other bands. A great choice.

Favorite tracks: "Opathetic Organic", "Reclaiming the Spirit" and "Paradox"

Contact: www.mightymusic.dk

REVIEW: SOMNUS - THROUGH CREATION´S END

 

SOMNUS - THROUGH CREATION´S END (Root of All Evil Records, 2002)

Produced by Somnus

Tracks: 1- The Gate of Wolves, 2- Warlock´s feast, 3- Dawn of Spirits, 4- Tribunal of Woe, 5- The Deceiver, 6- Lament for Winter´s Passing, 7- Creation´s End, 8- Unfullfilled Prophecy (live), 9- CD ROM Bonus Track

Somnus new album starts powerfully with "The Gate of Wolves" at full speed with all the elements that have made the music of the band known in the underground scene. Here are the guitar riffs which are complex and have some swedish death metal influence, here are the brutal vocals combined with the excellent female vocals, here is the drumming with heavy use of double bass and ride cymbal patterns (really original way of playing). And above all here are the keyboards and the guitar melodies and solos. And if the drumming the heavy riffs and vocals are the skeleton around which Somnus music is constructed, then the keyboards and the guitar melodies and solos are the flesh and soul of it. The complexity of the songs is essential for Somnus sound as also is the sadness and darkness that everything transpires here. A must.

Favorite tracks: Every single note played here

Contact: www.rootofallevil.com

REVIEW: SIC SEED - AKA THE DEVIL BABY

 

SIC SEED - AKA THE DEVIL BABY (Sinternational Recs., 2002)

Produced by Sic Seed

Tracks: 1- Subliminal Envy, 2- Disconnect, 3- Last Right

Here you have three tracks, a little bit more than nine minutes of pure bestiality. The music here is pure brutal death metal with some modern metal influences from the heaviest bands of the genre. Powerful double bass drumming (with some modern metal influences in some of the rhythms tat make more powerful the music than a blast beat would do), a bassist that is really tight and has a really clean sound that fits really well with the guitars and the drums, guitars that are heavy as hell and an ultra wild and screaming vocalist that adds a lot of the brutality to the bands music. I hope this guys release soon a longer CD because their music is ideal to listen at full volume and we want more of their songs!

Favorite tracks: The three.

Contact: www.one40.com/sicseed or www.sinternational.net

REVIEW: SHE´S GORE - SHE´S GORE DEMO 2001

 

SHE´S GORE - SHE´S GORE DEMO 2001 (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Thanit

Recorded and mixed by Thanit

Cover Art by Thanit

Tracks: 1- God on Fire, 2- Fuck me, fuck my dog, 3- Hair in Teeth, 4- Fuck With Hate, 5- Wet Dream may Cum, 6- Tonight

Here we have another project from thanit Thepsitrakon who is also a member of Deathguy (whose CD we review on this issue too). The music here is brutal death with no subtle elments and some grindcore touches in some parts. Here we have extremely brutal death metal riffs played at super speed and with guitars that are tuned really low in some places. Here we don´t have the melodies from bands like Deathguy because this is a pure brutal holocaust demo. The vocals are extremely guttural (not at the point of some grind bands where you can not discern if it is the vocals or another noise) and add a lot of bestiality to the tracks. Maybe the mix is a little bit low for my taste (specially the drums) but I think that Thanit can solve this problem easily. For lovers of utter brutality.

Favorite tracks: "God on Fire", "Hair in teeth" and "Tonight"

Contact: thepsitrakorn@hotmail.com

REVIEW: SHELLYZ RAVEN - DESOLATION

 

SHELLYZ RAVEN - DESOLATION (War is Imminent Prods., 2000)

Produced by Shellyz Raven

Tracks: 1- Falling, 2- Lady of Shadows, 3- Heavenly Torment, 4- Sweet Sister Torment, 5- Desolation, 6- Frost, 7- Forlorn, 8- Nihilist, 9- Monochroma

Shellyz Raven is aband in the vein of bands like The Gathering ("Nightime Birds" era), full of keyboards, with heavy guitar riffs and a great female vocalist (with this middle pitch voice that don´t abuse the higher notes). In fact, here we have nine songs that rely heavily on the keyboards passages along with the crushing guitar riffs which are the axis along which spins Shellyz Raven´s music. The songs are really well constructed and have many elements that catch inmediately the lsitener´s attention and don´t let it go until the end of the recording. First of all are the enchanting vocals, then the riffs that are really open so the keyboards can develope progressions and melodies over them along with the vocals. I habve to say that the mix is really good, specially on the keyboards and vocals which are essential here.

Favorite tracks: "Lady Of Shadows", "Desolation" and "Monochroma"

Contact: www.unholycross.com

REVIEW: SAXORIOR - SAXOT

SAXORIOR - SAXOT (G.U.C. Prods, 2002)

Produced by Kai Uwe Schneider

Recorded at Polygamstudio

Cover Art by Saxorior / Tibor Pallagi

Tracks: 1- Welcome to Another World, 2- Roots of Time, 3- Misguided Promise, 4- Battle of Wittekind, 5-Vicious Circle, 6- Hic Nulla Pax, 7- Fire of Retaliation, 8-Siegfried (Oberture frei nach R. Wagner), 9- Tubular Bells (frei nach Mike Oldfield)

This is one of the albums of the year!!! This CD starts with an epic intro full of keyboards and orchestration before getting into one of the best combinations of brutality and epic melodies that I have ever heard. Imagine for example a band with the riffs of Carcass (era "Heartwork") with some elements of pure heavy metal and death metal and add to it a lot of keyboards for this epic feeling that I have mentioned before and you will have a little idea of what Saxorior´s music sounds. Add a huge guitar sound and a great drumming with lots of double bass parts and you will be closer. Then you have different types of vocals one that sounds lower than the other and that helps a lot to the feeling. Also you can add to the mix two free versions: one of Richard Wagner´s "Siegfried Oberture" and the other one to Mike Oldfield´s "Tubular Bells" both in epic and heavier than hell versions and then you will know how is the sound of one of the best bands I have listened.

Favorite tracks: A masterpiece. Each tracks is amazing!

Contact: www.saxorior.de or www.guc-area.de

REVIEW: SATARIAL - HEIDENLARM

 

SATARIAL - HEIDENLARM (Beyond Prods., 2002)

Produced by Giovanni Indorato

Cover Art by Sephiroth Graphics

Tracks: 1- Lover of the night, 2- Russian Traditional Song, 3- In the Flame of Sabbath, 4- Russian traditional Ballad, 5- Satarial, 6- Satarial untradition Ballad, 7- Do not Baptize my land, 8- Russian Traditional Ballad, 9- The Cup of Heady Pain, 10- Russian traditional Song, 11- Divine Race

I have listened some music from Satarial before, but this is much better.In fact here we have a great mix of metal music with ancient music and sounds. It is great to listen to "Lover of the Night" with the heavy guitars and the flute and keyboards playing melancholic melodies over them while the deathly vocals clash against the female operistic vocals creating a great feeling. One thing that I liked a lot from this recording is that they have mix Satarial´s music with some traditional Russian songs that have a great ancient feeling on them and helps a lot to create the atmosphere that Satartial wanted to create on this album. The sound is amazingly clean and the guitars are really well mixed as well as the other instruments....you can hear every instrument perfecly in a re ally clean way! I can say with no doubt that this is one of the albums of the month!

Favorite tracks: The whole CD is great!

Contact: www.beyondprod.com

REVIEW: SACRIFICIAL - AUTOHATE

 

SACRIFICIAL - AUTOHATE (Mighty Music, 2002)

Produced by Asmus Thomsen

Recorded at Riamuf Studio

Cover Art by Frederik Risom

Tracks: 1- Angel Eyes, 2- In Front of Turmoil, 3- Out of Touch, 4- Confrontation Zone, 5- Victimized, 6- My Kingdom Arise, 7- Away With the Skies, 8- Unadapted, 9- Soul Sale

Here we have one of the best sounding bands of the month (and maybe of the year). This band proves what I been saying for a long time. A band with a perfect crystal clear mix like the one that Sacrificial has sounds much more brutal than bands that sound much more dirty. Here we have a powerful drum that creates heavier than hell rhythms while the guitars play devastating riffs that combined with the bass guitar creates this world of death/thrash metal that Sacrificial plays. Here we have a vocalist that spits with a lot of hatred the vocals through the nine tracks that make this powerful CD. The tracks are fast wbut speed is not the main thing here because I think the band reaches its heaviest point when they play some sort of breaking or some rhythmic riffs that are maybe slower but have a lot of heaviness. If you want a brutal band with great sound then Sacrificial is a good option for you.

Favorite tracks: "Angel Eyes", "Confrontation Zone" and "Soul Sale"

Contact: www.mightymusic.dk

REVIEW: SADISTIC BLOOD MASSACRE - 100% SCHMUTZCORE

 

SADISTIC BLOOD MASSACRE - 100% SCHMUTZCORE (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Sadistic Blood Massacre

Recorded at Himinborg Studio

Cover Art bySadistic Blood Massacre

Tracks: 1- Intro (Return of Texas Chainsaw Massacre), 2- Schweine massacre, 3- Shameless Exhibition of a Shaved Cunt, 4- Corpse Pulsating plate, 5- Her Masters Evildong, 6- Dildo in the Beautycase, 7- Auf´m´Rechng Gxappt, 8- What an we do with a mutilated corpse?, 9- Corpsefucker, 10- Outro (Who has killed Mr. Burns?)

Here we have this death grind band with gore and porn lyrics and an extremely brutal sound. This band has many elments of grindcore like for example the hyper guttural and distorted vocals and they have some elements of death metal in the slower parts. The songs are potent and well crafted with a lot of emphasis on brutality. I think this guys should mix the guitar a little bit louder and the drums too to sound even more brutal. I liked most when thy slow down a little bit like in some parts of "Shameless Exhibition" which sound much heavier than the fastest parts. If you are into grind and brutal death you will like Sadistic Blood Massacre´s music with no subtle elments. Brutality and intensity in ten tracks.

Favorite tracks: "Schweine Massacre", "Corpse Pulsating Plate" and "Corpsefucker"

Contact: sadisticmassacre@aol.com

REVIEW: RUNES ORDER - THE ART OF SCARE AND SORROW

 

RUNES ORDER - THE ART OF SCARE AND SORROW (Beyond Prods. 2002)

Produced by Runes Order

Recorded at Odal Sonica Maze

Cover Art by Jose Iraglia and Argento

Tracks: 1- Twisted Act 1, 2- The Night and his tears, 3- Lies in the Woods, 4- Walls Sweat Images, 5- Night Hunter, 6- A Moment of Agony, 7- Murder is a Faith, 8- Dead Inside, 9- Slaughter, 10- Twisted Act II, 11- Decide, 12- Deceit Forest, 13- Love is a Cold lie, 14- Sacrifice Murder Memories

This CD starts with the ethereal "Twisted Act 1" with keyboards and a lot of climatic parts getting into drums with deathly vocals (which are processed) and adding melodic distorted guitars to create Runes Order own brand of music. Their music is extremely dark and atmospheric with a lot of sadness in the melodies. Here the main point is the obscure nature of each note that is played ....here everything seems to be designed in order to bring anguish and sadness to the listener (even the cries sound in "The night and his tears"). There are a lot of keyboards here that play minor chord progressions while the whispering vocals say the dark lyrics. There are also more electronic tracks like "Lies In the Wood" which are perfect for Runes Order experimentation. I would call this incredible band an experimental one with a focus on the dark spectre of music.

Favorite tracks: The whole album is amazing

Contact: www.beyondprod.com

REVIEW: REV.99 - EVERYTHING CHANGED AFTER 7-11

 

REV.99 - EVERYTHING CHANGED AFTER 7-11 (Pax Recordings, 2002)

Produced by 99 Hooker and Ernesto Díaz Infante

Cover Art by Jeanine Zelkas

Tracks: 1- Christian Music, 2- The Price of Bananas, 3- Britney Spears Autopsy, 4- Everything´s been done before (remix), 5- Where´s the 3 Martini War?, 6- Radical Episcopalianism, 7- Etude Brut, 8- Iron Engineer - 99 hooker, 9- Variable Terror, 10- The Child´s Immortal Soul, 11- What happened?, 12- Iron Engineer - Ross Bonadonna, 13- Moloch in Oxygen Text, 14- Man What Are you doing here, 15- Iron Engineer - Akio Mokuno, 16- Howlers, 17- Notes on a Nervous Breakdown

Experimentation at top level and in maximum proportions! Here we have Rev. 99 which is an amazing group of musicians whose main desire is to experiment with their instruments taking their music to new dimensions and breaking boundaries all the time. Here we have musicians like 99 Hooker, Ernesto Díaz Infante, Chris Forsyth (we know what this guys are capable of doing because we have listen some of their recordings before), Ross Bonadonna and many more. Here we have a lot of experimentation with sounds but all done with a lot of coherence ....check for example "Etude Brute" to see what this guys do and how their music is always trying something new without loosing the main scheme of the song. What I like most is the use of electronics that add a new feeling to the band. If you like experimentation then you should check Rev. 99

Favorite tracks: "Britney Spears Autopsy", "Radical Episcopalianism" and "Variable Terror"

Contact: www.paxrecordings.com

REVIEW: RESURRECTION A. D RECORDS - SUMMER SAMPLER 2002

 

RESURRECTION A. D RECORDS - SUMMER SAMPLER 2002 (Resurrection A.D. Records, 2002)

Tracks: 1- ARSON: Close wounds, 2- SPITVALVES: Last Place, 3- KNUCKLE SANDWICH: American Song, 4- DARK DAY DAWNING: Aphrasia, 5- KICKED IN THE HEAD: Cannonball, 6- THE BAD LUCK 13 RIOT EXTRAVAGANZA: Oh rebekkah how you stalk me; 7- POWERHOUSE: When they come for you, 8- POCKET CHANGE: Bridge too Far

Here we have a sampler from this label that specializes in heavy music but not in any style within the metal realm. So we have eight very different bands here. First starts Arson with their death/ thrash metal with top power, changing fast to Spiritvalves which is more sort of a punky band with winds section or something like that....weird. Then come bands like Dark Day Dawning which I thought was going to be a black metal band but it changes their music soon adding some rocking riffs...another strange band that desereves a good listen! Knuckle Sandwich is pure rock and roll as is also Kicked In the Head (with some sort of punk attitude). Then comes the heaviest band called The Bad Luck 13 Riot Extravaganza with some death elements and a lot of samplers (I would reallylike to listen more from this guys) that give sort of a machine like feeling to their track. This is a good sample of what this eclectic label releases.

Favorite tracks: Dark Day Dawning "Aphrasia", The Bad Luck 13 Riot Extravaganza" Oh Rebbekah..." and Arson "Close Wounds"

Contact: www.resurrection-ad.com

REVIEW: RECUEIL MORBIDE - HURT BY HUMAN RACE

 

RECUEIL MORBIDE - HURT BY HUMAN RACE (Deadsun Records, 2002)

Produced by Stephan Buriez and Recueil Morbide

Recorded at LB Lab Studio

Cover Art by Deather and David Najbrt

Tracks: 1- Harmonity, 2- In Cage, 3- Divagation Esoterique, 4- Tas de Chiennes, 5- Embrace, 6- Never Core Enough, 7- Petrify (Frozen Expectation), 8- Earthwound, 9- Sublime Pleasure

This guys have no mercy!! They crush your brain from the very first second of the first track that starts at full speed with crushing riffs and rhythms. There are many breaks and changes in Recueil Morbide´s music. But this band is not full speed in all the tracks...in fact the second track "In Cage" starts slowly but heavier before getting at full speed again. The vocals are extremely guttural and make great impact in the listener while shouting along the guitar riffs. What I like most is the many changes that each track has and the drums passages (this drummer is killer and plays a lot of difficult passages in which he demosntrates a lot of technique, specially with the double bass. Also here we have a lot of guitar solos that sound relly well contrasting with the brutality of the band. A must for brutality lovers.

Favorite tracks: "Divagation Esoterique", "Embrace" and "Earthwound"

Contact: www.deadsunrecords.com

REVIEW: RAVENCLAW - WHERE MIGHTY RAVENS FLY

RAVENCLAW - WHERE MIGHTY RAVENS FLY (Atlantida Productions, 2002)

Produced by Ravenclaw

Recorded at W.A.R. Studio

Cover Art by Ralf Brandstäter

Tracks: 1- In Battle, 2- Fenriswolf, 3- Shores of Heaven, 4- Valhall (Der Rabenwinter), 5- Ravenclaw, 6- A Vikings Journey, 7- Hermodr a Helferd (Burzum cover), 8- Power and Might, 9- Sword of Honour, 10- Set Sail (A Vikings Journey Part II), 11- Weltenbrand, 12- Atlantida (Fighting for Atlantis)

Starting with the sound of a dialogue of the "Conan the Barbarian" movie here we have this extremely climatical band. In fact this is a duo featuring Alex and Ruslanas. The music is full of dark and melodic passages in the beginning with keyboards that create enchanting melodies while there are background sounds that add some moods to the feelings of the songs. The vocals are mostly spoken and fit perfectly the amazingly dark climates that this guys create. Then what a surprise!! Starting at track number 4 "Valhall" the musci chnages and a programmed drum enter and the keyboards start doing more noisy stuff getting soon into a blast beat with sort of a flute going on....really weird!! There are songs that have many mooods like the long "Set Sail ..." which starts with an ancient melody played with sort of a bagpipe. If you like different moods on one CD then you should check Ravenclaw!!

Favorite tracks: The whole CD is really a masterpiece

Contact: atlantida@ukmerge.omnitel.net

REVIEW: QWESTION - Y

 

QWESTION - Y (Independent, 2002)

Produced by Mike Griffith

Recorded at In the House Studios

Cover Art by Mike Griffith

Tracks: 1- The Mask, 2- Freeprov, 3- Chaos Theory, 4- A Little Swim Before the Walk, 5- Forest of the Norm, 6- Muse, 7- 3one2, 8- Yachacha

Here we have Qwestion music...and this is one that is difficult or almost impossible to label. It has heavy guitar sound in many parts, it has programmed drums (or drums that sound like electronic percussion), it has some samplers and scratching turntables and stuff like that, it has some bluesy and jazzy melodies (check "Freeprov" to see this and be amazed). The music here is instrumental and really complex to play, specially on some changes of rhythms and on the improvised guitar melodies "check again "Freeprov"). The musicians here have a lot of quality and they are really well rehearsed and know how to play together (some tracks have really difficult tempo changes like for example "Chaos theory" which is extremely difficult to play. The sound is good but I would like them to mix louder the guitars to add some extra power to the songs. A must for people who like originality and experimentation.

Favorite tracks: "Chaos Theory", "Forest of the Norm" and " Yachacha"

Contact: www.qwestion.net

REVIEW: QUIETUS - DESTROYER OF WORLDS

 

QUIETUS - DESTROYER OF WORLDS (Independent, 2002)

Produced by Quietus

Recorded at The Shed

Cover Art by Chris Waters

Tracks: 1- Bow (In the Beginning), 2- Bloodsworn, 3- Destroyer of Worlds

I would call Quietus music a mix of ambient (because of some almost ambiental passages), black metal (because of some screaming and spoken vocals and some fast riffs), death metal (because of some riffs and vocals) and industrial (because of the machinal sound of the drums, the samplers and electronic sounds and some distorted vocals that are on the songs contained on this CD). In fact I find elements of this styles here but all have been processed and twisted into the form of Quietus music. The main thing here is experimentation by Chris Waters the only mind behind the music. The only low point here is the sound which buries some of the guitar riffs making them almost inaudible. I think Chris can remix this three tracks because they are really good and with a better sound they can be more effective.

Favorite tracks: The three contained on this CD

Contact: www.geocities.com/quietusband

REVIEW: PSYCROPTIC - THE ISLE OF DISENCHANTMENT

 

PSYCROPTIC - THE ISLE OF DISENCHANTMENT (Independent, 2000)

Produced by Psycroptic

Recorded at Red Planet Studios

Cover Art by Bill Dean

Tracks: 1- Carnival of Vulgarity, 2- The Sword of Uncreation, 3- Condemned by Discontent, 4- Netherworld Reality, 5- The Isle of Disenchantment, 6- Of Dull Eyes Borne, 7- Pycropticpath, 8- Beneath the Ground We Dwell, 9- The Labyrinth

Psycroptic is brutality guaranteed. Here we have this band that spits dethaly riff after deathly riff, drum beat after drumbeat creating a bestial world of death metal in each of their tracks. The riffs are fast and the guitars have a sound that is not similar to the one used by most of the bands of the style. Yes, there sound is more compressed, more compact,, allowing the guitarist to play superfast and technical riffs with razor sharp precission.. Besides the faster more brutal parts, the drummer plays some complex staff, specially some part where he uses a lot the ride cymbal like following some guitar parts. The vocals are extremely heavy and guttural in many places adding a lot of deathly feeling to the music. If you like brutality plus complexity, then check Psycroptic.

Favorite tracks: "The Sword of uncreation", "The Isle of Disenchantment" and "Of Dull Eyes Borne"

Contact: www.geocities.com/psycroptic

REVIEW: PROSAPIA - SOMBRAS ASFIXIANTES

 

PROSAPIA - SOMBRAS ASFIXIANTES (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Prosapia

Recorded at Sergio Delfino´s Studio

Cover Art by Juvi

Tracks: 1- Jinete Oscuro, 2- Clamad por vos

Here we have this two track CD from this band that come from the province of San Juan in the west of Argentina. The music here is mid paced black metal with some thrash elements and a lot of climatic moments (as in the intro of "Clamad por vos" where a melodic and melancholic line is developed by the band in the keyboards). I have to say that living in Argentina and knowing how difficult is to play the most extreme styles here I have to give my thumbs up to this guys because their music has a lot of quality and they have worked hard here. One thing that they have to work a little bit is the sound of the recording that is a little bit muddy, specially on the guitars and drums (the keyboard can sound clearer but is up on the mix, so one can listen what is doing really well). I hope more bands like Prosapia arise from Argentina so we can make a big step on the extreme metal world.

Favorite tracks: Both tracks are good. This guys deserve a better sound

Contact: dr_black_death@yahoo.com

REVIEW: PIERRE VERVLOESEM - GROSSO MODO

 

PIERRE VERVLOESEM - GROSSO MODO (Carbon 7 Records, 2002)

Produced by Guy Segers and Alan Ward

Recorded at Rising Sun Studio

Cover Art by Thierry Mondelaers

Tracks: 1- Hairdressers Go Home, 2- Olympic Troubles, 3- Anti Caking Agency, 4- Amazing Grease, 5- Smacked Down by the Lord Again, 6- Have You Seen Me?, 7- The Terrible Rage of the Sky, 8- Full Metal Carpet, 9- Nobody´s Listening Anyway

Having listened Pierre Vervloesem´s previous album I find this one completely different. This is much more electric and rocking and brings to my mind some shades of King Crimson, Frank Zappa and also some Robert Fripp work (not to mention some early Yes and experimental progressive bands too). He mixes all this influences, adds a lot of his personality and sound and puts it together with a lot of improvisation and spontaneity. Here Vervloesem has been joined by great musicians including Guy Segers on bass, Charles Hayward on drums and Peter Vandenberghe on keyboards. Vervloesem explores new sound through the nine tracks of this CD making experimentation his main goal and achieving great results here.

Favorite tracks: "Hairdressers Go Home", "The Terrible Rage of the Sky" and "Nobody´s listening Anyway"

Contact: www.carbon-7.com

REVIEW: PENTAGRAM - TURN TO STONE

 

PENTAGRAM - TURN TO STONE (Peaceville Records, 2002)

Produced by Pentagram

Tracks: 1- Petrified, 2- Wartime, 3- All Your Sins, 4- Frustration, 5- Burning Saviour, 6- Sinister, 7- Bride of Evil, 8- When the Screams Come, 9- Relentless, 10- Vampire Love, 11- Evil Seed, 12- The Ghoul, 13- Wolf´s Blood, 14- Madman, 15- 20 Buck Spin, 16- Death Row, 17- Live Free and Burn

This is a compilation of Pentagram´s music that was in the three classics released by Peaceville "Relentless", "Day of Reckoning" and "Be forewarned". I think most of the people who read this reviews will surely know well Pentagram´s music. For those who don´t know them they are a classic band who have been playing this sort of doom Black Sabbath like style since the early seventies (in fact the early single "Be Forewarned" is from 1972). Here we have seventeen heavy tunes with elements that bring to mind bands like Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, The Obsessed or the almighty Trouble (this one specially on the vocals lines). The sound is better than in the original versions and sounds clearer without loosing Pentagram´s heavy and distorted sound (I think that specially the drums sound much better this time). A classic band !!!

Favorite tracks: "All your sins", "Burning Saviour" and "Wolf´s Blood"

Contact: www.peaceville.co.uk

REVIEW: ORPHAN GYPSY - DARKLAND DIRECTOR

 

ORPHAN GYPSY - DARKLAND DIRECTOR (Independent, 2002)

Produced by Orphan Gypsy

Recorded at Wall of Sound Studio

Cover Art by Daniel Backlund

Tracks: 1- Darklan, 2- King of Denial, 3- Under The Sun, 4- The Promise

Here we have the MCD from this pure heavy metal band . the music of this sextet is pure european heavy metal with some touches of power metal and lot of powerful riffs mixed with guitar and keyboards melodies. Some of the harmonies reminded me of bands like Stratovarius but this band has two guitars and sound heavier and more raw than the finnish band. The vocals are really clean and melodic and give the perfect melodies for this heavy metal combo. There are some twin guitars which I like and guive a lot of interesting harmonies to the songs on this MCD and fast solos that add a lot of virtuosism to Orphan Gypsy´s music. A really positive point that many heavy metal bands don´t have is the good sound that Orphan Gypsy has....and they sound raw at the same time (I think this is due to the guitars that are not extremely processed as in some bands out there. Metalheads and lovers of classicel metal will like a lot this one.

Favorite tracks: "King of Denial" and "Darkland"

Contact: www.orphangypsy.tk

REVIEW: ORGAN HARVEST - BOWELS WALTZ

 

ORGAN HARVEST - BOWELS WALTZ (Deadsun Records, 2002)

Produced by Organ Harvest

Recorded at Pitch Black Studio

Cover Art by Duncan

Tracks: 1- Dead but raped, 2- Bowels Waltz, 3- Gerontology Zoophilia, 4- Hyarocephalus, 5- My First Fist Fucking, 6- Smoking Sphincter, 7- Intestinal Maggots Enema, 8- Tetraplegic Skull Crushing, 9- Viking, 10- Aftermath, 11- War Consequences, 12- Vaginal Discharge, 13- Testicularburger, 14- Grunge, 15- Brain Eating Indigestion, 16- Scorn

It is incredible how the cover art can fool you. In fact by looking at the cover I thought that this was a gore grind band or something like that. But Organ Harvest does not belong to that style. In fact they have some grinding hyper fast parts (with vocals that fit the style), but they mix them with the most brutal death metal with riffs that are much more effective than simple speed (check the riffs at 0:43 in "Bowel Waltz" which are really thrash metal played with death metal sound or the ones in "Gerontology Zoophilia" to see what I am talking about). There are sixteen bestial tracks here that don´t have space for subtle melodies. Here everything is pure bestiality, power and brutality. Lovers of death metal prepare to check the music of this death/grind band that will rip you apart.

Favorite tracks: "Dead But Raped", "Testicularburger" and "Grunge"

Contact: www.deadsunrecords.com

REVIEW: OPHIOLATRY - ANTI-EVANGELISTIC PROCESS

 

OPHIOLATRY - ANTI-EVANGELISTIC PROCESS (Evil Vengeance Records, 2002)

Produced by Tchello Martins

Recorded at Da Tribo Studios

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Psychodemoniac Mentalities, 3- Messiah of Deformity, 4- Entombed, 5- Havoc, 6- Opposite Monarchy, 7- Anti-Evangelistic Process, 8- Asmodeus-The Destroyer, 9- Breaking the bones of Jesus, 10- Chaos Domination, 11- Vexation

Pure brutal death metal!! Yes, this is what we have here.....fast riffs, extremely fast drumming (with killer double bass drumming...this guy is really a machine behind the drumkit). One thing that got my attention on this CD is the complexity of some ofthe guitar riffs which are extremely difficult to play (and even more difficult is to play them correctly along with the rest of the band). And this is what I consider one of the main features of Ophiolatry´s music: their amazing combination of brutality and complexity within the same track. Did I tell you that the drummer is amazing? Well, let me tell you again as he gets better and better on each track. The vocals are really guttural and fit the brutality of the music, spitting the lyrics full of hatred. The sound is really good, specially on the drums (killer bass drum sound) and that adds a lot of strength to Ophiolatry´s music. Brutality at top level.

Favorite tracks: "Messiah of Deformity", "Opposite Monarchy "and "Breaking the Bones of Jesus"

Contact: ophiolatry@hotmail.com or evil666vengeance@aol.com

REVIEW: OCCULT - RAGE TO REVENGE

 

OCCULT - RAGE TO REVENGE (Painkiller Records, 2002)

Produced by Occult

Recorded at Harrow Studio

Cover Art by www.lowlifemedia.com

Tracks: 1- Mind Domination, 2- Violence and hatred, 3- The Madness Within, 4-Killing for recreation, 5- Thy Creation, 6-Revenge is mine, 7-mark of a Legend, 8- Fatal Disorder, 9-The Desolate One

Occult is for me a classic!! Having listened to their CD "Of Flesh and Blood" and to the single "Violence and Hatred" I really loved the power and deathly riffs that this guys have. Sometimes people refer to certain style of metal as german metal or swedish death metal or finnish metal. Well, Occult sound is pure Dutch death metal. Bands like Occult and Sinister have contributed to create their own brand of death metal. The vocals here are guttural and also we have some of the screaming type which make a contrast with the other one. The guitars make fast riffs but in many places they use heavier and more rhythmic riffs like for example in the end (3:03) of "Mind Domination" where they play a riff completely created for the mosh pit. I think that Occult is one of the bands with a bigger guitar sound combined with powerful bass lines that create this wall of death metal that we all love! This is with no doubt their best album up to date with their heaviest songs.

Favorite tracks: "Violence and Hatred", "Thy Creation" and "Revenge is mine"

Contact: www.occult.nu or www.painkiller-records.com

REVIEW: NORMA JEAN - BLESS THE MARTYR AND KISS THE CHILD

 

NORMA JEAN - BLESS THE MARTYR AND KISS THE CHILD (Solid State Records, 2002)

Produced by Adam D. And Norma Jean

Recorded at Zing Studio

Cover Art by Asterisk Studio

Tracks: 1- The Entire World is Counting on Me and They Don´t Even Know it, 2- Face: Face, 3- Memphis will be Laid to Waste, 4- Creating Something Out of Nothing only to destroy it, 5- Pretty soon, I don´t know what, but something is going to happen, 6- The Shotgun Message, 7- Sometimes it´s our mistakes that make for the greatest ideas, 8- I used to hate cell phones but now I hate car accidents, 9- It was as if the dead man stood upon the air, 10- the Human Face, divine, 11- Organized Beyond Recognition

The cover art of this release fools you a bit...I had not listened Norma Jean´s music before I thought that it was some kind of gothic metal band or something like that, but I was completely wrong. Here we have this band that plays modern metal with a lot of emphasis on the rhythms and a sound that is like a mix of bands like Machine Head, Sepultura, Extol, Pantera and more but with screaming vocals that are sometimes processed giving an industrial feeling to the songs! Crazy? Well, then check for example the riffs in "The Entire World is..." to see the eerie sounds and rhythms that this guys create. But the main thing here is the pure power that the band´s songs have. The guitars are really distorted and have a huge sound that create all the heaviness that the band need to destroy the listener´s brain. One of the best things here is that despite using a lot of distortion and some effects you can listen everytyhing perfectly due to the clear mix.

Favorite tracks: "Memphis will be laid to waste", "Sometimes ...." and "I used to hate..."

Contact: www.solidstaterecords.com

REVIEW: NON OPUS DEI - DIABOLICAL METAL

 

NON OPUS DEI - DIABOLICAL METAL (War is Imminent Productions, 2002)

Recorded at Selani Studio

Cover Art by Alex Hdez

Tracks: 1- Thee I Invoke, 2- Non Opus Dei, 3- Verbum Diaboli, 4- V Bram, 5- Teufelssteine, 6- Hail Lokh, 7- ...Ognia Burzy I Buntu, 8- The Warrior´s Speak, 9- Time to Meet your doom, 10- The Transformation Into the Avathar of Seth, 11- De Nycht Dom Iliaest

An instrumental introduction leads us directly into the world of Non Opus Dei. After the peaceful intro here comes the powerful music of this band with a lot of experimentation. And that is what is essential to their music: Experimentation. Here you have a lot of guitar riffs and twisted rhythms going on each of the songs (this guys are really what I could call progressive death metal). There is heavy use of clean guitars in a lot of parts which are like a breath of air before getting into another distorted and heavy as hell part. Palms go to the drummer too because of the interesting use of different patterns and the use of odd time signatures . I think that if you listen to the song called "Non Opus Dei" you will have a good idea of what this guys are capable of doing. There are interesting melodic solos which add some colours to the songs. If you like bands like Pestilence, Atheist, Believer or Death you have to check Non Opus Dei.

Favorite tracks: "Verbum Diaboli", "Hail Lokh" and "the Warrior´s Speak"

Contact: www.unholycross.com

REVIEW: NOKTURNEL - FURY UNLEASHED

 NOKTURNEL - FURY UNLEASHED (Nokturnel Eclipse Records, 2001)

Produced by Tom Stevens

Recorded at Isotopia Studios

Cover Art by Typhus

Tracks: 1- Legend of the Wolven, 2- Taking Hate to the Grave, 3- Food Chain, 4- I Remain Faithless, 5- Visions of the Haunted, 6- Realm of possession, 7- Forcefed Fear, 8- Immortal Destroyer, 9- A Collision of Dimensions

Here we have this brutal and bestial band whose style is pure death metal but with some shades of black metal that fit the music of the band perfectly. The band plays at full speed most of the time making hyper fast guitar riffs which sound really complex because they are not the usual one note riff that are played in the fastest parts...in fact there are some riffs that are more heavy that are used in breaks and slower parts, and then they use some kind of riff with open strings and runs in the more brutal parts. Tom Stevens is the brain behind Nokturnel and the only member that is left from the original Nokturnel lineup. This time he has been helped by Lee Ribera on bass and session drummer Tophetarath which are a good team to bring Nokturnel´s music to the bestial level that Stebvens want. I strongly recommend this release to death/black metal fans who love brutality and musicianship.

Favorite tracks: "Food Chain", "I remain faithless" and "Immortal Destroyer

Contact: www.nokturneleclipse.com