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