REVIEW: ENIGMATIK - WHERE EVIL IS CLOISTERED

 

ENIGMATIK - WHERE EVIL IS CLOISTERED (PROMO) (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Enigmatik

Tracks: 1- All Light has Failed, 2- Prophesies of Doom, 3- Lifeless Dimensions, 4- Enter The Realm of Enigma

Cover Art by Enigmatik

This band´s music can be described by saying that they play black metal with many atmospheric passages. I don´t know if the titles of the songs that I put on this review are correct because I couldn´t find the titles order or something like that. The band is incredibly fast in many places and they have a lot of interesting arrangements (specially on the keyboards that are fundamental to Enigmatik´s music). The fourth track (that came in a separated CD) is the one that sounds better with a different mix from the other three and this mix is the one that I liked most for Enigmatik´s music (I would mix a little bit lower the drums cymbals here and a little bit louder the keys). If you like bands like Dimmu Borgir but with a much rawer sound and interesting orchestral arrangements then you would surely like Enigmatik.

Favorite tracks: The four

Contact: www.enigmatik.fr.st

REVIEW: ENEMYNSIDE - VIOLENT BEATS

 

ENEMYNSIDE - VIOLENT BEATS (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Enemynside

Tracks: 1- Speed killing, 2- P.O.M. (Peace of Mind), 3- In Memory Free

Cover Art by Enemynside

Wow! This MCD starts violently with "Speed Killing", a track that wouldn´t be out of palce in albums like "Master of Puppets" or "Fabulous Disaster" but with a more aggressive sound!! Here we see an interesting evolution from the guys from Enemynside when comparing with "From the Cradle To the Way". The sound here is better, specially the drums and they deliver more aggression on each of the three tracks here. There is always the amazing thrash metal style that is typical of Enemynside but on this recording the singer has shown a more violent side of his singing (check "P.O.M."). Some of the guitar riffs are complex and give a lot of arrangements to the songs. This is a really powerful release and I hope that this guys release a full length album really soon!

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: Contact: http://welcome.to/enemynside or www.enemynside.com

REVIEW: ENEMYNSIDE - FROM THE CRADLE TO THE WAY

 

ENEMYNSIDE - FROM THE CRADLE TO THE WAY (Independent, 2000)

Produced By: Enemynside

Tracks: 1- Bad Junks, 2- (Someone´s) Past, 3- Scars, 4- The Place

Cover Art by Enemynside

Pure speed thrash metal!!!!! Yes, as I am saying really often I think that thrash metal is making a big comeback to the metal scene. But this is not thrash metal as it used to be in the mid and late eighties (even if there is a lot of influence of bands from that era). The guys in Enemynside have taken classic thrash metal and have added other more recent influences to achieve their own sound, and above all they have a singer that sings completely different than the ones that sing in ths style. The guitar riffs remind me to bands like Exodus but they are more twisted and have more breaks and a bigger sound. Some of the tracks are faster like "(Someone´s) Past" and each of them delivers a lot of aggression and a t the same time a lot of feeling through the melodies created by the guitarists and the singer (who has a lot of interesting phrases that catch the listener´s ear). Thumbs up for Enemynside !

Favorite tracks: "Bad Junks" and "Scars"

Contact: http://welcome.to/enemynside or www.enemynside.com

REVIEW: EARTHMOVER - PROMO CD

 

EARTHMOVER - PROMO CD (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Earthmover

Tracks: 1- Slow Death, 2- Autominds, 3- Soul Revenge, 4- Pointless Prayer

Cover Art by Dino Baudone

Earthmover´s music is powerful heavy metal with modern influences and melodies. This band is really focused on writing good songs and each thing here is done in order to achieve this results. Here we have powerful guitar riffs (with a great guitar sound) that give the songs the power that they deserve, then there is the rhythm section that gives a lot of place for the guitars and the singer to develope their ideas. The keyboards here help to add a lot of harmony helping the work of the guitars and adding more atmosphere to each of the tracks. And then, there is the singer, who is a really powerful one and knows that using the middle ranges and even using some more forced vocals (like in "Autominds") he can give even more strength to the songs. The sound of the recording is good specially on the guitars that sound really crushing

Favorite tracks: "Autominds" and "Soul Revenge"

Contact: earthmover@libero.it

REVIEW: DOWNRIGHT MALICE - SPIT YOUR HATE OUT

 

DOWNRIGHT MALICE - SPIT YOUR HATE OUT (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Downright Malice

Tracks: 1- Spit Your Hate Out, 2- Cage, 3- Colored In Black, 4- Violated Forest, 5- S.M.C.

Cover Art by Didier Bauer

Recorded on 8 Track Studio by Didier Bauer 

Downright Malice is an extremely aggressive band. Their sound is really modern and has a lot of impact on the listener through teir heavy yet rhythmic riffs and through the hateful lyrics that the singer spits song after song. I find interesting that this guys have mixed this extremely heavy parts with more climatic ones as in tracks like "Colored In Black" (thumbs up for the singer who can do really aggressive parts and melodies without hesitation). The guitar sound is really heavy and modern and the riffs are not of the ones that are so fast that you can barely distinguish what they are playing. In fact the guitarist prefers to do heavier riffs with more rhythmic quality and more arrangements that give more heaviness to the songs here. Modern and aggressive metal!

Favorite tracks: "Spit Your Hate Out", "Colored In Black" and "Violated Forest"

Contact: downright-malice.didier@wandoo.fr

REVIEW: DITHYRAMBS - DITHYRAMBS 2001

 

DITHYRAMBS - DITHYRAMBS 2001 (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Dithyrambs

Tracks: 1- Gastro-man, 2- Destitute, 3- Dampish life, 4- Sliding through the Air, 5- Shit´s Crust, 6- Final Love, 7- Shit´s Dust

Cover Art by Danijel Zezelj

Recorded at Music Viva Studio 

Dithyrambs is a classic band coming directly from Italy. Their music has elements of rock and roll, metal and elements of punk and other styles. The main goal of this band is to create good songs and they achieved this on this seven tracks that we have here. All the songs here have been recorded live in the studio and you can feel that energy that playing live gives to some bands. There are many passages where this guys play with clean guitars and give a lot of room to the Andrea Pacini, the guitarist and singer to create interesting melodies (with a definite Italian touch on them). All the songs here have a lot of dynamic parts and a lot of energy and it makes me wonder how a live show of Dithyrambs can be. I think that what describes better the music of Dithyrambs is: pure energy with different moods and parts and with a great attitude for their music.

Favorite tracks: "Destitute", "Dampish Life" and "Shit´s Crust"

Contact: www.dithyrambs.com

REVIEW: DIACLASE - DIACLASE

 

DIACLASE - DIACLASE (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Vincent Voineau

Tracks: 1- Ecchymose, 2- En Patience, 3- Closes, 4- Insomnie

Cover Art by Vincent Voineau

This guy Vincent Voineau is amazing! He is the only composer and player in Diaclase´s music. And his main goal on this recording has been to achieve new sounds, new feelings and new ambientations through Diaclase´s music. I think this guy really loves to experiment and he demonstrates this through this four tracks. There are a lot of cold and eerie atmospheres created by Voineau using a lot of electronic elements and adding an interesting industrial and ambient touch to the music here. I think this music is ideal to listen in the dark so you can concentrate on trying to listen to each element that is played on each of this amazing tracks. Vincent also adds his voice to all the compositions, and this vocals have been processed in order to fit the general feeling of the recording (he does a lot of melodies with his voice and the industrial and machinal feeling gets even better). Those who like experimentation will surely like Diaclase.

Favorite tracks: the four

Contact: diaclase@caramail.com

REVIEW: DEVILRY - INHUMANE REGIMENT EP

 

DEVILRY - INHUMANE REGIMENT EP (Blazing Productions, 2001)

Produced By: Devilry

Tracks: 1- Lightning War, 2- Vengeance Unfolds, 3- Vermincineration, 4- Regeneration

Cover Art by Devilry

Here we have utter brutality from thsi band whose name is really becoming bigger in the extreme music scene. Here we have four tracks from this 7" EP that are played at top speed and that are extremely brutal. The vocals go from guttural to screaming in all the tarcks and every beat, every note, every chord is designed here to smash your brain into pieces. The sound is good and that helps a lot the brutality of this guys making the EP sound even more violent, raw and bestial than it would be with worse sound. Here the listener will find no rest....this is pure violent death metal in its most devastating kind !

Favorite tracks: "Lightning War" and "Vengeance Unfolds"

Contact: www.blazing.ws

REVIEW: DECOMPOSING SERENITY / MICROPHALLUS SPLIT CD

 

DECOMPOSING SERENITY / MICROPHALLUS SPLIT CD (Lofty Storm Recs, 2001)

Tracks: There are 39 tracks here of pure grind dementia!!!!!

 

This are almost forty tracks with pure grind/death from these two projects. First comes Decomposing Serenity (we reviewd some CD from them in a past issue) with their ultra mechanical and fast death metal with grindcore influences. They deliver their extreme brutality on their short compositions and they slow down in rares ocassions. Their music is extremely fast and they have a drum sound that uses a lot of double bass and a lot of breaks that makes the music sound really like a machine (this guy is truly a beast). Then comes Microphallus whose music is more mechanical due to the fact that he doesn´t use instruments and instead he uses a drum amchine and processed sounds to achieve this grind madness. The lyrics are about serial killers and here we have also a Regurgitate cover. This is a split CD that will delight all those lovers of grindcore and the fastest death metal.

Favorite tracks: "Chase Had Great Taste", "Dissected Necks around my bed" and "I perform for the decayed"

Contact: www.loftystorm.hpg.com.br

REVIEW: DECADENCE - THEATRE OF ECLIPSE

 

DECADENCE - THEATRE OF ECLIPSE (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Decadence

Tracks: 1- Intro - Decaydence; 2- I Movement: Light Collapse, 3- II Movement: E.C.L.I.P.S.E, 4- Interlude - Part I, 5- Interlude - Part II, 6- III Movement: The Infinite Aiming, 7- IV Movement: Ethereal...and the Thorns; 8- V Movement: Near The Altar of Madness, 9- Outro: Midnight Requiem

Recorded by Decadence

This band is fucking amazing!! Decadence plays OBSCURE METAL, that is a style that has elements of death metal, black metal, ambient, and a lot of keyboards and progressive arrangements. All of this styles have been mixed here and they have added a darker sound and the blackest of atmospheres in order to achieve the Decadence sound. The main thing here is that despite being aggressive this music has a lot of feeling and beauty on each of the arrangements. This guys have great technical skills in order to play the different parts and the many changes that Decadence´s music has (Kyrion is an amazing keyboard player and while listening to some piano passages on "Interlude - Part I" I think that he has had some classical training that is really good for his way of playing that fits perfectly Decadence´s music. Check this masterpiece or die!

Favorite tracks: All the CD is a masterpiece

Contact: www.obscuremetal.com

REVIEW: DEATHFROST - DEATHFROST

 

DEATHFROST - DEATHFROST (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Deathfrost

Tracks: 1- Ticket To Hell (Ausf. E), 2- Search Area, 3- Two Leg Bugs, 4- Time To Sacrifice, 5- Ticket To Hell (ausf. R)

Deathfrost is a weird band, its one of the bands that leaves you thinking about their music and about the experimentation that they do in their recordings: In fact this band uses distorted guitars but they use a lot of electronic percussion and electronics sounds that give a sort of industrial feeling to each of the songs. In tracks like "Search Area" they have achieved a strange but catchy sound and rhythm, that is really dense and original at the same time. The vocals on this recording are of the guttural type but sometimes with a whispering style (not as you are accustomed to listen in death or black metal bands). This is pure originality and experimentation, I suggest to listen to it with a really open mind.

Favorite tracks: "Search Area", "Ticket to hell (ausf. E)" and "Time to Sacrifice"

Contact: http://nav.to/deathfrost

REVIEW: DEAD POETIC - FOUR WALL BLACKMAIL

 

DEAD POETIC - FOUR WALL BLACKMAIL (Solid State Recs, 2002)

 

Produced By: Barry Poynter and Jason Magnussen

Tracks: 1- Burgundy, 2- The Corporate Enthusiast, 3- A Green Desire, 4- Four Wall Blackmail, 5- August Winterman, 6- Ollie Otson, 7- Bliss Tearing Eyes, 8- Stereochild, 9- Arlinton Arms, 10- Tell Myself Goodbye

Recorded at Poynter´s Palace

Here we have a band with two sides: the first one is the rocking side with distorted guitars, interesting rhythms and some screaming vocals, then there is the pop side with a lot of melodies in the vocals and catchy choruses. The combination gives you an idea of how Dead Poetic Sound. One thing that surprised me is that there are a lot of screaming vocals and they are really well combined with the more melodic part (I would say that this band is the perfect link between the releases of Tooth and Nail Recs. and the ones by Solid State Recs). You can feel the power of this band in the heaviest parts and then sing the choruses along the songs....I find this release strange and amazing and with a lot of originality on each of the songs (I find really interesting hown they brake peaceful parts with some screaming and heavy guitars!!). This is the missing link !!

Favorite tracks: "A Green Desire", "August Winterman" and "Arlinton Arms"

Contact: www.solidstaterecords.com

REVIEW: DARK DISCIPLE - BENEATH THE INVERTED CROSS

 

DARK DISCIPLE - BENEATH THE INVERTED CROSS (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Dark Disciple

Tracks: 1- Beneath the Inverted Cross, 2- Revelations in Black, 3- Headless By Dawn; 4- Bonus track

Layout by Dark Disciple

I expected a black metal band here but this CD starts as an extremely brutal death metal band with a sound that is distorted as hell !! This guys are one of the most brutal bands on Earth and they achieve this brutality through their hyper fast rhythms, their blast beats and an extremely distorted guitar sound (I think they use a distorted bass too to make the riffs even more brutal). Incredibly there are some melodic solos in tracks like "Beneath the Inverted Cross" played at full speed just before the end of the track. The second track has some sort of black metal screaming but it is really slow in some parts (almost doom) and then it has extremely guttural vocals and then again the guitar riffs are closer to death metal than to any lother style (and then there are some fast parts in the same track!!!!). Here you have fifteeen minutews of pure brutality in an original way !!!!

Favorite tracks: "Revelations in Black" and "Headless By Dawn"

Contact: www.darkdisciple.net

REVIEW: CREMATORIUM - FOR ALL OUR SINS

 

CREMATORIUM - FOR ALL OUR SINS (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Crematorium

Cover Art by Crematorium

This is the new offering from this amazing band that mixes elements of death metal, black metal, thrash metal and hardcore within their style. This time they offer here fourteen tracks of pure powerful metal with speed in many of the tracks and the exact dose of brutality that the band needs to destroy the listener´s brain. This guys show here again that they have the technical skills that are needed to perform this compositions in a correct way. Here is the bestiality of the band in all fourteen tracks and the good thing is that Crematorium has found a way to compose songs without repeating themselves and making each one of them sound different from the other. A great band.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.daggas.net/crematorium

REVIEW: CREMATORIUM - A WORLD WHERE ONLY NIGHTMARES PREVAIL

CREMATORIUM - A WORLD WHERE ONLY NIGHTMARES PREVAIL (Dismal Recs., 2001)

Produced By: Crematorium

Tracks: 1- Cast the Stone, 2- Carved From Deceit, 3- Unlearn, 4- Whiplash

Recorded by Kiley DeJesus

Recorded at DDG Recordings

This CD starts with a song that is different from the Crematorium style with more rhythm than on the recording that we reviewed previously, and with more modern hardcore influences. Then, on the second track they make a shift to a style closer to the death/black/thrash metal that is typical of Crematorium´s music but this time mixing it with the new elements and rhythms that I mentioned before. One thing that amaze me of this band is that they have many different vocal styles and they seem to be really eclectic in the compositions never loosing their extreme heaviness and their brutality. To end this recording we have here a Metallica cover of "Whiplash" done in the Crematorium style making the track heavier and giving good honour to this classic composition.

Favorite tracks: "Carved from Deceit" and "Unlearn"

Contact: www.daggas.net/crematorium

REVIEW: CREMATORIUM - EPICEDIUMS OF THE DAMNED

 

CREMATORIUM - EPICEDIUMS OF THE DAMNED (Dismal Recs., 1997 )

Produced By: Crematorium

Tracks: 1- Lands Plagued, 2- Disbelief, 3- Coma of the Soul, 4- Unholy Massacre, 5- Corporate Malignance, 6- Painless; Lifeless, 7- Sufferance of Life, 8- Unfound Face, 9- Dismal

Cover Art by Lea Rudko

Recorded at Funlife Studios  and Time Capsule Studios

Crematorium brings us here their deathly music!! We can describe their music saying that has a lot of elements of death metal, some of black metal and a lot of good arrangements with interesting melodies (just check "Coma of the Soul" and the beginning of "Ungoly Massacre"). Some of the guitar riffs reminded me of old Autopsy because of the rhythm that they have and they are really well combined with slower parts (almost doom in some places) and with the keyboards that add a lot of dark atmosphere to the music here. There are guitar solos and acoustic parts that are essential to the Crematorium sound (the guitarist, Mark, is killer, having a lot of technique and feeling iun his solos). The CD has a really raw sound that makes a big contrast with the more climatic parts. This band is a great surprise for me...they are killer. A must.

Favorite tracks: All the CD

Contact: www.daggas.net/crematorium

REVIEW: CONSCIOUS - IN MASSES MAY WE CONQUER

 

CONSCIOUS - IN MASSES MAY WE CONQUER (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Conscious

Tracks: 1- Dreams of Dominance, 2- Veil of Wonder, 3- At One With Death, 4- Delusions of Grandeur, 5- Conscious

Mixed by Jarod Ferguson

Recorded by Jarod Ferguson 

I am surprised on how many good bands are out there and how has the quality of the musicians got better in the latest years. And this happens to me specially with brutal bands: and bands like Conscious is the proof of this. Whilke in the early nineties the most brutal bands used to record their songs fast as hell and witha poor sound, nowadays we have bands like Conscious with good tracks, extreme brutality and a really professional sound. Here we have hyper fast riffs combined with more mid paced riffs, we have double bass drumming and we have fast and furious guitar riffs. And everything can be listened in a really good way because the sound of the recording is really good (I would have mixed the guitars just a little bit higher). Here we can almost feel the vocalist spitting the lyrics full of hate. And the drums shine, specially the double bass and the crash cymbals. So, Conscious is for me a demonstration that brutality in death metal doesn´t mean have a murky sound. Instead, this guys prove us that with a good sound brutal bands are even more brutal. Thumbs up.

Favorite tracks: "Dreams of Dominance", "Delusions of Grandeur" and "Conscious".

Contact: www.mp3.com/Conscious

REVIEW: CONFLIGO - HEATHEN PRIDE

 

CONFLIGO - HEATHEN PRIDE (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Confligo

Tracks: 1- The Legacy Of..., 2- ...Eternal Warriors, 3- the Circle of Fire, 4- The Land of Shining Shields, 5- Caudium 321 a.C, 6- The Sacred Enclosure of Kerrii, 7- Heathen Pride, 8- Diumpais Poem, 9- Epilogue

Cover Art by Meddix Yhades

Recorded by Meddix Yhades and Magister Tifernum 

This is with no doubt not only one of the recordings of the month but also one of the best records of the year!!!! Confligo have perfectly made a fusion of black and death metal with classical elments and amazing orchestration. Here we have nine splendid tracks full of amazing arrangements and melodies that are designed to revive different feelings in the listener: anguish, sadness. And everything is done here with extreme beauty: from the orchestration, to the keyboards arrangement to the guitar melodies. This guys know what they are doing and how to achieve the results that they want. One extra point goes to this guys for having the help of such a talented soprano as Antonella Raimondi is. A must for every lover of music in all its forms.

Favorite tracks: A masterpiece

REVIEW: COCK AND BALL TORTURE / DISGORGE SPLIT CD

 

COCK AND BALL TORTURE / DISGORGE SPLIT CD (Lofty Storm Recs, 2002)

Tracks: CBT: 1- The Torture Bondage Boys, 2- Poontang Clan, 3- Tampon Terrorizer, 4- Lesbian latex Legion

Disgorge: 5- Goremassacre Perversity, 2- Grotesque Devourment, 3- Inhuman

Cover Art by Sascha/Grindesign

Recorded by C. Steiner (CBT) and Carlos Padilla (Disgorge)

Here we have this duo of grind gore porn freaks!!!! And they have made a killer split CD here ! First we have the four tracks by Cock and Ball Torture with their typical crushing guitar sound and with Sascha´s gurgling vocals that are the trademark of the band. The songs are really fast and heavy and the sound lets us appreciate all the four tracks. Then come Disgorge with their ultrafast goregrind that has no mercy for the listener. This guys are ultrafast with extremely guttural vocals and they have become one of the main bands in the goregrind scene. Lovers of grind will be delighted with Disgorge´s blast beats and fouble bass drumming and with the fast chainsaw like guitar riffs. Plus there is a Grave cover here that fit perfectly Disgorge´s style even if Grave is a completely different band in style.

Favorite tracks: "Poontang Clan", "Tampon Terrorizer" and "Grotesque Devourment"

Contact: www.loftystorm.hpg.com.br

REVIEW: CIRIBUS - SEPTIC REGURGITANT

 

CIRIBUS - SEPTIC REGURGITANT (Independent, 2001)

Produced 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

Cover Art by Ciribus

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 really 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: CHRISTIAN DEATH - LOVER OF SIN

 

CHRISTIAN DEATH - LOVER OF SIN (Candlelight Records, 2002)

Produced By: Valor

Tracks: 1- You Should Have Died, 2- Unspoken, 3- Stone Cold, 4- The Vision, 5- Darkness Walks With Me, 6- No Shame, 7- Paradox, 8- Where the Dead Sleep, 9- Eulogy Cathedral, 10- Lamb to the Slaughter

Cover Art by Valor

Here we have a classic band whose sound has been an inspiration for bands as different as Type O Negative and Morbid Angel. But the good thing about Christian Death is that they have not become stagnant musically as many other classical bands have. As you can listen on this new recording the band has taken many modern sounds and adapted them to Christian Death´s music. Here you can listen fast parts in a black metal way, then climatic and atmospheric passages like on "Stone Cold" and you have the omniprescent vocals of Valor and Damond Jinya (who also sings in Savatage). Then there are the keyboards arrangements done by new member Maitri that are essential to Christian Death´s sound. This is classical band that must be listened in order to know that this bands can evolve too and make always great albums like this "Lover of Sin" with its heaviness and darkness.

Favorite tracks: "You Should Have Died", "No Shame" and "Where the Dead Sleep"

Contact: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

REVIEW: CHANGELING - NEVER SAY NEVER

 

CHANGELING - NEVER SAY NEVER (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Changeling

Tracks: 1- Newborn, 2- Prayer, 3- Losery, 4- Crazy, 5- Five-Six, 6- Warning, 7- Saved, 8- Oskorei, 9- Emdee 2

Cover Art by Shava

Recorded at  Basques Audio Productions

Changeling rocks! This band has really a lot of energy in their songs and here they deliver nine of them with a lot of power. The music of this band is a mix of hard rock, metal and it has some alternative touches (mainly from bands like Alice in Chains, that is the darkest bands). One thing that gives a lot of identity to the band´s music are the vocals of Alexandre Duran who sings with a lot of energy and adapts the voice to the mood of each of the songs and who also made the visual and musical concept of the band. One thing to remark is that all the songs here are memorable, they have catchy riffs, choruses and melodies that leaves you singing all the songs after the CD is finished. Each of the song has also riffs that are designed for live shows with great energy ...and that is the main point here: extremely energetic heavy rock. Check it !!

Favorite tracks: "Newborn", "Crazy" and "Warning"

Contact: www.geocities.com/changelingrocks

REVIEW: CALMSITE - DEADWEIGHT

 

CALMSITE - DEADWEIGHT (Independent, 2002)

 

Produced By: Jani Loikas

Tracks: 1- Payment in Full, 2- Grace the Doll, 3- Heavy Breeder

Cover Art by Calm Site

This MCD left me wanting more Calm Site music. The music here is death metal with a lot of melody and guitar arrangements. Every thing, every note here is designed to create a good son. And that is what sets Calm Site apart from any other death emtal band, their songs. The compositional skills of this guys are extremely well developed and they have created three dark opuses here that get immediately the listener´s attention through the melodies and riffs (the riffs are really rhythmic and catchy). The sound of the recording is good but I think this guys should mix a little bit higher the rhythm guitars in order to give even more heaviness to their music. If you like melodic death metal with many ideas (including some rocking riffs) then you should check Calm Site.

Favorite tracks: The three. Don´t miss a step from this guys!!

Contact: http://listen.to/calmsite

REVIEW: CADAVERIC CREMATORIUM - CRY NOW, MOTHERFUCKER

 

CADAVERIC CREMATORIUM - CRY NOW, MOTHERFUCKER (Independent, 2001)

Produced By: Cadaveric Crematorium

Tracks: 1- Incredible Hulk, 2- Butcher?, 3- Love in Formaline, 4- Cerebral Liquefaction, 5- Your Cat, 6- Emorragia, 7- Cadaveric Crematorium, 8- Outrobus, 9- Cannibal Cops, 10- Hannibal Corpse

Cover Art by Archvile

Recorded at  Cadaveric Studios

Brutality is the main goal of this band and they achieve it in many ways. Not only with speed that this album has and in big quantities (including blast beats and double bass). In fact, the band uses some crushing riffs (with downtuned guitars that sound extremely fat) that are even more devastating than the fastest parts because of their extreme heaviness. The tracks here are complex and have many changes, some of them really difficult to play like the ones in "Love in Formaline" that change tempos abruptly. The vocals are extremely guttural and there are some counterpoints with the screaming voice type. The bass player is a beast behind the bass accentuating a lot the drumbeats and adding a lot of bottom end to the guitar riffs. Brutality at top level!!!!!!

Favorite tracks: "Love in Formaline", "Cerebral Liquefaction" and "Emorragia"

Contact: Ventuz@tiscalinet.it

REVIEW: BOUND AND GAGGED - FORNICATE THE GUTTED

 

BOUND AND GAGGED - FORNICATE THE GUTTED (United Guttural Recs., 2002)

Produced By: Bound and Gagged

Tracks: 1- Seven Bodies, 2- Rape the Dowager, 3- Bloody Chunks of Menstral Flow, 4- Blistered, 5- The Chrome Uterus, 6- Intentional Internal Ingestion, 7- Paraphilic Piquerism, 8- Choking and Gargling, 9- Revel In Ejaculate, 10- XX

Cover Art by Eric Ridgeway

Recorded at RMS Recordings

Here we have this band whose music is brutal as hell grind death with some technical elements. I have to explain this. This guys have super fast parts like a grindcore band and the vocals are extremely distorted as are on the style. Then they have riffs that are closer to death metal in the parts thata the drumming is not blast beats, and then this guys have technical skills that are necessary in order to play all the changes, riffs and rhythms that this guys do through the ten songs that are on this CD. But the main thing here is the extreme brutality thta each of the tracks has (and this brutality is even more effective because of the good sound that this recording has). Lovers of bestial death metal or grindcore with ideas will surely like Bound and gagged´s music.

Favorite tracks: "Seven Bodies", "Blistered" and "Choking and Gargling"

Contact: www.unitedguttural.com

REVIEW: BOETZ - CALL TO ARMS

 

BOETZ - CALL TO ARMS (Balls Out Records, 2001)

Produced By: Ernest Robert Boetz

Tracks: 1- Call to Arms, 2- Green Back Crack, 3- Weak in the Knees, 4- Rock'n'roll is Good, 5-Shinin' , 6- Getting Over You, 7- Oh Boy!, 8- Don´t Mean A Thing, 9- Wish, 10- Almost To Scotland

Recorded at Exocet Studios 

Pure heavy rock and roll is what Ernest Robert Boetz does with his band. The CD starts with full energy with the title track that features Motörhead´s legend Lemmy kilminster trading vocals with Ernest. Pure energy !!! This CD has ten refreshing songs that can remind you to a much heavier Kiss or bands like Motörhead, that is, bands that have made a religion from rock´n´roll. And Boetz is creating their own religion with this pure rock release. The guitars are loud and distorted as the style requires and the bass and drums leave a lot of space for guitar and vocals that are the main ingredients here. The compositions have a lot of power on them and the good sound that this recording has helps a lot to achieve the results that Boetz wants. Pure rock and roll done with a lot of passion and dedication!!!! If you like bands like the ones mentioned before or AC/DC you will surely like Boetz a lot !!

Favorite tracks: "Call to Arms", "Don´t Mean a Thing" and "Wish"

Contact: www.boetz.com

REVIEW: BARATA - REGRESSO

 

BARATA - REGRESSO (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Barata

Tracks: 1- Downnn, 2- Cries, 3- Revelation, 4- Misery, 5- 'Self' Sented, 6- Unity

Cover Art by Barata

Recorded at Threnody Studios 

Barata plays modern metal with some hardcore influences. Ultra heavy riffs that make an emphasis on heaviness and not on speed (even if "Cries starts really fast !!!) is what we have here. All of them seem to have been designed to make the crowd jump and mosh in a concert. The main element here is the heaviness and the power that each of the six tracks contained here deliver. The drums are very rhythmic as modern metal requires and they have been really well mixed. The singer is powerful and is of the type required by a band of this style. The sound of this release is really good and that is really good to achieve what this guys wanted: extreme heaviness.

Favorite tracks: "Downnn", "Cries" and "Misery"

Contact: www.barata.nl

REVIEW: BADLAND - AXIS OF CAVITY

 

BADLAND - AXIS OF CAVITY (Bruce´s Fingers, 2002)

Produced By: Simon H. Fell

Tracks: 1- Axis of Cavity, 2- Arm of The Sea, 3- Groove For Deep Branch, 4- Surface For Talice, 5- The temporal Bones, 6- Birdie, 7- The Scapula Angles, 8- Spinous Process, 9- Bow, Stick and Reed

Cover Art by Simon H. Fell

Recorded at the Steam Rooms 

This month we have many releases that feature great musician Simon H. Fell playing double bass in different formats and lineups. And we will start with this Badland review. Badland is a trio consisting of Fell in double bass, Simon Rose on alto saxophone and Steve Noble on drums. This trio takes a lot of elements from jazz and then twist them into new shapes and forms, experimenting constantly with new sounds, rhythms and musical phrases. Here we have Fell and Noble constructing a musical skeleton with their rhythms and phrases and we have Rose adding flesh to the bones. There are moments that are more chaotic like at 3:00 in "Arm of the Sea" and there are many other moments that are more relaxed. Here you have experimentation on each track, on each minute and on each second. This is music done by musicians who stretch boundaries.

Favorite tracks: "Axis of Cavity", "Birdie" and "The Scapula Angles"

Contact: www.brucesfingers.com

REVIEW: ATROCIOUS DEVOURED - GOLDEN JAIL

 

ATROCIOUS DEVOURED - GOLDEN JAIL (Independent, 2002 )

Produced By: Atrocious Devoured

Tracks: 1- Hatred, 2- Killer Gods, 3- Golden Jail, 4- Live Murders, 5- I don´t Like it, 6- Murderer

Cover Art by Atrocious Devoured

A bestial band that plays extremely brutal death metal with interesting guitar arrangements. That is what Atrocious Devoured music sounds like. Fats riffs with extremely distorted guitar, drum beats at full speed with some blast beats in some of the tracks, brutal vocals. Everything here is conceived to brutalize the ears. There are some rhythmic riffs in tracks like "I don´t like it" that are designed to add more heaviness to the tracks and that are even more effective than the fastest ones. The sound of the recording is raw and direct so the band has achieved something like a "live sound" on this recording. Here you have a band with power and brutality for headbanging while listening to it.

Favorite tracks: "Hatred", "Killer Gods" and "Live Murders"

Contact: http://perso.infonie.fr/atrocious.dev

REVIEW: ASTRAY - PROMO 2002

 

ASTRAY - PROMO 2002 (Independent, 2002)

Produced By: Astray

Tracks: 1- Welcome To the Cult, 2- Barbed Wire Paradise, 3- Bleeding Here

Cover Art by Astray

Astray has found the perfect way to combine the agression of styles like black metal and death metal with many melodies and arrangements. Their music brings to my mind some shades of bands like for example Primordial, that is bands that have a lot of power and aggression in their music but that at the same time they have the melodic arrangements that give a lot of quality to the songs. Here we have a great keyboard player that adds a lot of melodies and feelings to Astray´s songs giving a lot of identity to the band while the guitarists spit their riffs with total rage. The vocals are screaming ones in total black metal fashion and are fundamental to the aggressive sound of Astray´s music. If you love bands who combine really well extreme agression with quality and melodies here you have a band for you!!

Favorite tracks: The three

Contact: www.astrayband.com