REVIEW: DEAD AGAIN RECORDS - PRICK PRODUCTIONS : THE DEAD PIT COMPILATION

 

DEAD AGAIN RECORDS - PRICK PRODUCTIONS : THE DEAD PIT COMPILATION (2000) : As the title of this compilation says, this are 19 of the world´s sickest bands. Form legendary bands as Agathocles (Bélgium) up to others that I didn´t know about as Inner War or Grot have their place here. Gorerotted is the band in this compilation with better sound (surprisingly clean) and that amkes that their song shines in the whole CD. This is the main difference with bands such as Deepred, who are a band with great ideas but a bad sound quality. A good surprise for me was Prophecy, band that I had not listened before, iknteresting drum patterns and frenetic guitar solos are framed in their track "Tortured by Deceit". We have also the well known Inhumate with two great songs. The bands in this compilation really show that grind/death is a total standing style and that it is possible to play it with great quality and musicianship. Other bands that are on this CD are: Machetazo, Regorge, Brutal Insanity and Drogheda among others. Favorite tracks: "Gagged, Shagged, Bodybagged" (Gorerotted), "Tortured by Deceit" (Prophecy) and "Underground" (Inhumate). Contact: www.deadagain.fsnet.co.uk or promo@deadagain.fsnet.co.uk

REVIEW: DARK RITUAL - DARK RITUAL

 

DARK RITUAL - DARK RITUAL ( Independent, 2000) : Dark Ritual is aband combining elements of traditional heavy metal with elements of thrash metal, power metal and a little bit of hardcore. The band´s sound is really raw for this style of music and makes the heavier parts more heavy. It is interesting to remark that this band with better production could be really important because they have what they need to do it. I think that an important point to exploit in the future are the skills of the voclaist, who has a really interesting vocal range, specailly on the middle tonalities (in certain moments he reminded me of Glenn Danzig). This MCD has five songs, and my favorite is the second one called "Flesh", with really interesting guitar parts and some choruses kind of hardcore that give some good hooks to the song. Maybe the weak point here is the sound that buries some of the things that this guys do (I think that the hihat covers some guitar parts that would be intersting to remark). Maybe a less muddy sound in the future would help them (I kno that it is a budgetary matter and that they are going to solve that in the future). Favorite tracks: "Flesh" and "Loca". Contact: darkritual@darkritual.com or www.darkritual.com

REVIEW: CIRCLE OF DEAD CHILDREN - THE GENOCIDE MACHINE

 

CIRCLE OF DEAD CHILDREN - THE GENOCIDE MACHINE (Deathvomit Recs. - 2001): This is a Death/ Grind band in te style of extreme bands as de Exhumed, Brutal Truth or Mortician. In fact, I think that what sets this band apart from the others are two things: the guitar parts that are really intelligent and killer, specially in the slower parts (example: "The Genocide Machine" (0:20) and (0:42)), which I think should be more exploited in the future to get more identity and certain drums rhythms that are not typical from the style and that make the listener not feel that the songs are too similar. (listen for example the double bass drumming in the title track (0:46) that makes the song much more interesting that what could have been if he had only played blast beats) I like this record, specially the guitars that sound really tight and the drums (the sound is clear and you can listen all that this guy is doing behind the drumkit). There are also a couple of things that are quite strange for bands of this style, for example the experimental "Isabella´s Nightmare" with keyboards and sound effects or "Extreme Cannibal Smoke!" with a slow beginning and medium sections. Favorite tracks: "Only One Per Coffin", "Extreme Cannibal Smoke!" y "Beethoven´s Children". Contact: www.deathvomit.com.

REVIEW: CHAOS AS SHELTER - MIDNIGHT PRAYER / ILLUSION

 

CHAOS AS SHELTER - MIDNIGHT PRAYER/ILLUSION (Crowd Control Activities - 2001): Really interesting work of this band from Israel fomed by Vadim Gusis, who is the brain behind this project, helped by Vera Agnivolok (guitara in the song "Dream") and Elena Blinder (vocals on "No More Suffering") . This release consists in two CDs, one called "Midnight Prayer" full with ambient parts and full also of synthesized sounds (listen for example "Dead Sea Song" or "Et Filii (Jesus The Swordfish)" to see what I am talking about) centered in a religious thematic (I think that Vadim could explain this better), and the second "Illusion", that is maybe a little bit more accesible (not too much) and spins around the two parts of the song that gives name to the record. This second CD is also full of synthesized sounds and the experimentation is a constant. Favorite tracks: "Et Filii…", "Et Spiritus Sancti (the Gipsy Judgement 2)" from "Midnight Prayer" and "Get Back !", "No More Suffering" and "Lullaby for the Wind" from "Illusions". Contact: crowded@relapse.com

REVIEW: CAGED - DEAD END

 

CAGED - DEAD END (Meathook Recs. - 1999): A powerful recording from this band that mixes extreme hardcore with the most modern elements of heavy music. The CD opens witha n introduction Halloween movie´s style before getting in the first discharge, the song "Packed Fist". The music of this band brings me memories of certain elements of bands like Agnostic Front or the first D.R.I. together with more recent bands as Biohazard, Sepultura or Soulfly. The main characteristic of this band is the combination of the vocals of the singers, one with more growling screams and the other one more high pitched, there are also moments with clean vocals and a lot of screaming choruses. The producction of the CD is good, mainly in the drums that can be fully appreciated here, and also the bass. Maybe the guitars should be a little bit more in the front in the mix to give more impact to the music that is really good (in the beginning of "Sane" they can be more appreciated in the parts that they play in unison with the bass and drums) . Favorite tracks: "AIDS", "Hemorrhaging" and "Immortal". Contact: meathookrecords@mediaone.net o www.meathookrecords.com

REVIEW: BASQUE - FALLING FORWARD

 

BASQUE - FALLING FORWARD (Independent, 2000): An exceptionally beautiful voice opens CD taking us to the magical music world of Basque through the first song "Somefire". This is the classical music of the future: melancholic, soft, climatic with a lot of emphasis on the feelings expressed through the beautiful female voclas of Maryasque. Elements of celtic music and folk are put together in passages adorned by the keyboard chords and the bass (it is interesting to see how Brandt creates all this atmospheres) to conform this dreaming songs. Arpeggios and vocal lines wrap their sonic qualities in songs like "Grey and Green" or "Kamehameha". It is also impressing how well this duo uses dynamics. The best way to describe Basque´s musi is with the sentence that appears in their website: "The objective of Basque is to give silence its place in music - to create space and let people´s minds breath" . Favorite tracks: "Falling Forward", "Grey and Green" and "Inheritance". Contact: http://basquemusic.com or basque@basquemusic.com )

REVIEW: AS ALL DIE - TIME OF WAR AND CONFLICT

 

AS ALL DIE - TIME OF WAR AND CONFLICT (Crowded Control Activities, 2001): This record can be described with one word: climatic. The fundamental theme in these CD, as is pointed by the title us war, and about this Clint Listing, the main brain behind this, makes his lyrics. There are a lot of keyboards bases and guitars used as support ina way that maybe Pink Floyd could use (in their more melancholic material), I mean, to create certain textures. The CD opens with a militar march and the voice of Clint personifying somebody who is sending his people to war. There are depressing songs that are very interesting like, for example, "Johnny Got his Gun" where Listing´s vocals seem a mix between Roger Waters and Johann Edlund from Tiamat ("Wildhoney" era). We can also point out the darkness in tracks like "Mother Earth" with Listing whispering very softly the lyrics, almost imperceptible, making stronger the feeling of desolation that he is trying to show. Favorite tracks: "Johnny Got his Gun", "A Tear for the Hero" and "The Longest Day". Contact: crowded@relapse.com

REVIEW: ABSCESS - TORMENTED

 

ABSCESS - TORMENTED (Necropolis Recs., 2001): This is the first recording for Necropolis Records form these death metal supergroup that was in the lines of Relapse Recs before. Formed by Chris Reifert on drums and vocals (ex Autopsy and Death), Danny Coralles (ex Autopsy) on guitar and Clint Bowen (Hexx) on guitar. The music on this CD is a death metal that goes back to the roots of the style of bands like Autopsy. Some guitar riffs are very interesting like they were for example in the classic of the aforementioned band, "Mental Funeral". This recording has thirteen tracks where the mainfeature are the more climatic parts like the first solo in "Rusted Blood" or the beginning of "Madness and Parasites" or the last solo of "Death Runs Red". The tortured vocals are all over the CD and you can find in them different textures , from a gutural vocalist to another one that is more a barking one in a Carcass style for example. The sound of the recording is fairly good, but it brings to memory the sound that death metal bands used to have in the beginning of the nineties (I think that the band did this on purpose) and maybe it would be better put the drums a little bit up on the mix and to have a sound a little bit less muddy on the guitars to emphasize the band´s strength. The hooks that Autopsy had in their first recordings are present on this one too in all its splendour. Favorite tracks: "Tormented", "Street Trash" and the spectral "Scratching At The Coffin". Contact: www.necropolisrecords.com .

REVIEW: WOHEDNESS - SKELETAL LIFE

 

WOHEDNESS - Skeletal Life (Independent - 2000): Pure grind/death is what this band does and they do it really well!! A really drummer is the fundamental part of this band that goes to the extreme of what is guttural. The riffs are played at hyperspeed. Do you remember "Scum" era Napalm Death? That is the band that Wohedness made me think about. The principal difference is that Wohedness plays more variety of riffs and include short solos in some parts of their music (is it a fuzz distortion pedal what I hear in the solos?). You can hear all this in songs like "Conspired Possession" or "Keeper to Tormentor" (with the most guttural vocals). I think that this band deserve a better production (eventhough the sound is good) to be more effective (perhaps making the drums sound a little less thin than here). They are really good in what they do. Maybe exploring more with the solos and melodies that they use sometimes will be a good idea. My favorite tracks: "Keeper To Tormentor", "Stenchcore Nextdoor" and "Truth of Fiction" (with short blast beats all over the song and some interesting drum breaks). Contact: corpsecore@excite.com  

REVIEW: TIM KASCH - TIM KASCH

 

TIM KASCH - TIM KASCH (Ubus Recs. - 2001): We have here the elements present through all Ubus Recs. Material: experimentation, noise, sounding madness…but here it seems that the device used to generate tis experimentation is different from the one used in other releases. Here it seems that Tim Kasch is using an analog synthesizer or a machine like that. It is interesting that some passages of this recording made me remember some experimentation that progressive rock bands or fusion bands used to do during their improvisations in the mid seventies. It is interesting to listen how many sounds you can achieve using this devices, sounds that are not heard in other part than here where they take experimentation to other levels. Contact: r_kasch@hotmail.com