REVIEW: DESIRE - TALES OF PAIN AND DESIRE

 

DESIRE - TALES OF PAIN AND DESIRE (Independent, 2001)

Recorded at Lakiz Studios

Sound Engineering by Nick Terezakis

Tracks: 1- Desire, 2- Icons of the Past, 3- Messiah, 4- Passing Away, 5- The Saddest Tale of Fate, 6- Liliac - Icons of the past reprise, 7- Window of doom

This is a mix of gothic metal with some doomy parts and a whispering vocalist (in the vein of Johan Edlund from Tiamat). The main feeling on this recording is the one of sadness and depression. And this feelings are evident through the melodies that the guitarists are playing all over the songs contained here. There are certain tracks like "Messiah" which are more straight forward rock (and it is mixed lower than the other tracks), and others that are more embellished like "The Saddest Tale of Fate" with its clean guitar intro with melodic lines. I would like them to mix better the drums (which are programmed), specially the cymbals that are really loud covering certain parts of guitars in some parts. Favorite tracks: "Icons of the Past", "The Saddest Tale of Fate" and "Window of Doom"

REVIEW: DEICIDE - INSINERATEHYMN

 

DEICIDE - INSINERATEHYMN (Roadrunner Recs., 2001)

Produced by Deicide

Engineered and Mixed by Jim Morris. Recorded and mixed at Morrisound Studios

Artwork by Glenn Orenstein

Tracks: 1- Bible Basher, 2- Forever Hate You, 3- Standing in the Flames, 4- Remnant of a Hopeless Path, 5- The Gift That Keeps on Giving, 6- Halls of Warship, 7- Suffer Again, 8- Worst Enemy, 9- Apocalyptic Fear, 10- Refusal of Pennance

Deicide is back!! Yes, they are back doing what they best know and that is their death metal with their full-of-hate lyrics and with those brutal vocals (as always Glen Benton is doing his guttural shouts ). There are some riffs here that can be considered new for Deicide, for example the first one in "Standing In the Flames" (before they enter on the high speed mode and in some breaks that they use in the middle). Demolition man Steve Asheim is in great shape as always, going from fast parts to slow and back without any problems. I think that maube the band should explore riffs like the ones in the beginning of "Remnant of Hopeless Path" or maybe the ones in the beginning of "Worst Enemy" to give more variation to their music. Favorite tracks: "Forever Hate You", "Remnant of a Hopeless Path" and "Suffer Again". Contact: www.roadrunnerrecords.com

REVIEW: DEFEATED SANITY - PROMO 2000

 

DEFEATED SANITY - PROMO 2000 (Independent, 2000)

Produced by Defeated Sanity

Mastered by Tino Köhler

Tracks: 1- the Parasite, 2- Forensic Entomology, 3- Horrid Decomposition, 4- Expectoration of Fear, 5- Retreat of the Conquered

A fast drum fill starts this album in a crushing way. Then the band enters and their extremely mayhemic death metal fills the air. The music is extremely fast with a lot of blast beats. I think that what gives this band their super strength is the combination between the guitar sound (extremely low end and very tight with the bass ) and the crushing drummer. The vocals are extremely guttural and fit the music really good. The sound is a little bit muddy and maybe mixing the instruments more clearly will make the resulkts more effective for this band. Lovers of the style will sure find a good option in Defeated Sanity. Favorite tracks: "Horrid Decomposition", "Retreat of the Conquered". Contact: Tino Köhler - Römhilder Str. 201 (98646) Gleichamberg

REVIEW: DEEDS OF FLESH - MARK OF THE LEGION

 

DEEDS OF FLESH - MARK OF THE LEGION (Unique Leader Recs., 2002)

Produced by Deeds of Flesh

Recorded at Moon Productions, Arroyo Grande, CA

Artwork by Zig

Tracks: 1- Cleansed by Fire, 2- An Eternity of Feasting and Brawling, 3- Mark of the Legion, 4- Spewing Profligacy, 5- Fulfilled in Warfare, 6- Contest of Wills , 7- Master of Murder, 8- Ideal Genocide, 6- Drink the Blood

One of the most brutal US death metal bands is back. Yes, Deeds of Flesh comes back from hell to crush us with their amazingly brutal death metal. The music here is fast, but I think that this band designs all their tracks in order to crush and disembowel you even in the slower parts. In fact I think that the better riffs are the ones like the one in "An Eternity of Feasting and Brawling at 2:26....amazingly crushing and followed then by some riff with pinch harmonics that nearly decapitates the listener with their power. The sound here is amazingly good and that adds a lot to the final result. Specially I would like to remark how well mixed are the drums and fundamentally the ride cymbal and the double bass which are fundamental for Deeds of Flesh´s music. Along with the Cinerary one this is the most brutal album of the month !!! Favorite tracks: "Contest of Wills", "Fulfilled in Warfare" and "Ideal Genocide". Contact: www.uniqueleader.com

REVIEW: DEATH DEVICE - SEPTICEMIA

 

DEATH DEVICE - SEPTICEMIA (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Sotiris Noukas

Recorded at Underground Studios, Thessaloniki, Greece

Artwork by "La Morte" Jean Delville

Tracks: 1- Death To Death, 2- Skinned Alive, 3- Into the Formalin, 4- Evil Under Cassock, 5- Serial Killer, 6- Under The Leadeership of a Liar God

Ultra blasting death/grind is what Death Device plays. From the first seconds of "Death to Death" you have crushing guitars along with blast beats and an extremely guttural vocals (they are similar to Chris Barnes ones in Cannibal Corpse´s "Eaten Back To life") I like a lot when the band changes rhythms and make rhythms that are more twisted like the ones at 0:53 of "Death to Death" or the beginning of "Dkinned Alive". The recording has a really good sound, specially on the guitars that make a huge wall of sound grinding your brain!!! Check this band to see how well they can crush you with their music ! Favorite tracks: "Evil Under Cassock", " Serial Killer" and "Death To Death".

REVIEW: DAVIDIAN - ... IN PAIN

 

DAVIDIAN - ... IN PAIN (Independent, 2000)

Recorded at Proberaum Plüderhausen

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- The face you´ll never see again, 3- Crescent Nation, 4- Burning Witches, 5- Torture, 6- Outro

An interesting bass intro opens this CD, then the bass pattern is joined by the guitars that are very well harmonized. In the end of this intro the drums enter, making a small demonstration of Davidian´s music before getting into "the Face You´ll never seen again". The two first bands that come to my mind while listening to this CD are: Kreator, because of the vocals and certain guitar riffs, and Coroner, because of certain guitar dissonances and clean intros. There are influences of thrash and some of hardcore (check for example "Crescent Nation" with multiple breaks and changes). Davidian has two very good guitarists whom I would like to listen more (and with a better mix), in the person of Alex and Micha. Their short solos and melodies give a lot of atmosphere to Davidian´s music. For fans of aggressive metal. Favorite tracks: "Burning Witches" and "Torture". Contact: www.davidian-metal.de

REVIEW: CRUEL HUMANITY - ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER

 

CRUEL HUMANITY - ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Cruel Humanity

Recorded by Cruel Humanity

Tracks: 1- Atlantian Dreams / On the Edge of Forever, 2- Something That Bleeds, 3- Dogs of War, 4- Before Dawn, 5- Raid

I like the way this CD starts with a sort of keyboard introduction with some electronics going on here and there before getting into "On the Edge of Forever" a sort of musical piece with heavy use of keyboards and a raw guitar (which is difficult to discern) and a blast beat. What I don´t like are the vocals they sound really unnatural and like a chainsaw. This type of vocals contrast a lot with the rest of the music (despite the bad quality of sound in the guitars). Maybe using vocals with less effects on them will have a better result. The main thing here are the keyboards which make the tracks more epic and interesting and balance the raw side of Cruel Humanity´s music. And there is a big contrast (which I like) with the electronic drums. Favorite tracks: "Something That Bleeds", "Before Dawn" (with better sound) and "Raid"

REVIEW: CORONA BOREALIS - CANTUS PAGANUS

 

CORONA BOREALIS - CANTUS PAGANUS (Well of Urd / Hammerheart Recs., 2000)

Produced by Kristian and Pytten

Recorded at Grieghallen Studios, Bergen

Artwork by Eirik Vie

Tracks: 1- Cantus Paganus, 2- Tourdion, 3- Bordeaux, 4- Rencontre a St. Chartier, 5- Morning Song, 6- Molendinar, 7- Tristans Lament, 8- La Rotta, 9- Non Puesc Sofrir Qua La Dolor, 10- Ouvrez Moi la Porte, 11- Chaconetta tedesca, 12- The Pretty Harvestress, 13- Bay of Douarnenez, 14- Stella Splendens, 15- Tir Na N´Og, 16- Bjørgvindans

I must admit that I love the type of music that Corona Borealis does. That melodic spirit that flows through all their songs is really a way to take you to a land of dreams. In fact you can imagine the woods and the wilderness while listening to their music. Another thing that I like here is that all the tracks are quite different one from each other. Listen to "Tourdion" with that beautiful combination of guitars and flutes and see how subtle and elegant Corona Borealis can be. Also, here Ronny, Kristian and the multiple guest musicians play only instruments that can be found on celtic and european ancient cultures giving that extra flavour of being listening something that is ancient and at the same time new. I would like to listen their new album when they release it. Favorite tracks: The whole album. Contact: www.hammerheartamerica.com

REVIEW: CINERARY - RITUALS OF DESECRATION

 

CINERARY - RITUALS OF DESECRATION (Deepsend Recs., 2001)

Produced by Cinerary and Tom Jingles

Recorded at Moon Studio, Arroyo Grande, Ca

Artwork by Matt Richards

Tracks: 1- Undying, 2- Inheriting the Deified, 3- Recapitated, 4- Rituals of Desecration, 5- Hung by Intestines, 6- God of Cremation

Cinerary has absolutely no mercy for the listener !!! They start at full speed with their extremely ultrabrutal death/grind. The blast beats are all over the place and they are enhanced by a great sound. In fact the sound that this recording has helps a lot to make the tracks much more brutal because the instruments don´t get lost in the mix. From the start with an extremelty fast blast beat in "Undying" up to the end of "God of Cremation", the last track, the band crushes you with their speed and their powerful riffs. There are two types of voclas here: one more guttural, more typical from death metal and a screaming one that is used in grindcore and here in the fastest parts. There are also some slower moments which are really dense and whose rhythm then gets into a fast blast beat!!!!!! If you want to be crushed musically then Cinerary is a great choice !!!! Favorite tracks: "Inheriting the Deified", "Recapitated" and "Hung by Intestines". Contact: www.deepsendrecords.com

REVIEW: CHAOTIC HOPE - LUNAR WINDS

 

CHAOTIC HOPE - LUNAR WINDS (Independent , 2001)

Produced by Chaotic Hope

Recorded in November 2000

Artwork by Darkteth

Tracks: 1- I, The Wanderer, 2- Oceanus, 3- Beyond the Gloomy Summits of Oblivion, 4- Black Wings

"I, The Wanderer" opens this CD in a majestic form, full of mysticism before getting in the hyper fast black metal of "Oceanus". The band makes a good balance between raw black metal and more elaborated one: there are parts full of speed and there are parts really subtle like the unison between guitars and keyboards on "Oceanus". There is plenty of speed here and a lot of dark atmospheres (mainly due to the heavy use of keyboards chord progressions to embellish the tracks). The band is really tight and I think they should achieve a better guitar sound to make this a black metal classic. Favorite tracks: "Beyond the Gloomy Summits of Oblivion" and "Black Wings".