REVIEW: DECOMPOSING SERENITY - LET US SHOW YOU HOW TO DRAW BLOOD

 

DECOMPOSING SERENITY - LET US SHOW YOU HOW TO DRAW BLOOD (Deepsend Recs., 2002)

Produced by Decomposing Serenity

Cover Art by Decomposing Serenity

Tracks: Here we have 40 tracks of extreme grind gore !!!!!! Brutality guaranteed!!!!!

Favorite tracks: "May I use your teddy bear for the blood?"; "Suspended by a Hook" and "Explain the Screams and bucket of blood"

Here we have in one CD 40 tracks from this grind maniacs!! This recording range from early 1995 sessions to their newest 2002 tracks. Obviously the latest ones have a better sound and are better constructed. This guys are really speed freaks and they push the accelerator and don´t loose it till the end of the recording. I like a lot of parts where this guys achieve a crushing sound like the one in the first tracks which are also the newer ones because I think that this makes Decomposing Serenity more effective. This is a recording that has been completely designed to crush the listener brain and give him a good dose of brutality at hyper speed. Grindcore freaks will surely love this album!!

Contact: www.deepsendrecords.com

REVIEW: CRADLE OF FILTH - PROMO SAMPLER

 

CRADLE OF FILTH - PROMO SAMPLER (Koch Records, 200)

Produced by Cradle of Filth

Tracks: 1- Dance Macabre; 2- For Those Who Died; 3- Camilla´s Masque; 4- Her Ghost in the Fog; 5- Malice Through the Looking Glass; 6- Hell Awaits; 7- Hallowed be thy Name; 8- Sodomy and Lust; 9- Once Upon Atrocity; 10- From the Cradle to Enslave

Here is a promo CD of this band that most of you know really well. This CD has some interesting things like some of the band´s hits ("From the Cradle to Enslave" and "Malice Through the Looking Glass" just to name a few of them) that have a great sound and interesting arrangements (keyboards and female vocals are the most significative ones) which are the trademarks of the band. Also here we have really good covers where I would like to remark the great versions of Slayer´s "Hell Awaits" and Iron Maiden´s "Hallowed be thy Name". The sound through all this recording is really good (obviously the newer tracks sound much better than the older ones but that is natural of a band´s progression). This CD is a good sampler of the balance that Cradle of Filth has achieved between heaviness and melodies; between savage riffs and dark atmospheres. A classic band !

Favorite tracks: "For Those Who Died"; "Her Ghost in the Fog" and "Once Upon Atrocity"

Contact: www.kochentertainment.com

REVIEW: COURAGOUS - REMEMBER

 

COURAGOUS - REMEMBER ( House of Faith Records, 2002)

Produced by Lücking and Lohmann

Recorded at Raw Sound Studios

Cover by Christa Bouffil

Tracks: 1- Scared; 2- Sudden Death; 3- Nothin´; 4- Rebirth; 5- Fourth Dimension; 6- ...And Lost; 7- The Prince; 8- A trip of Confidence; 9- Remember; 10- People are People; 11- Brothers in Mind; 12- Listen (live)

Here we have Couragous new release (their latest one before this was "Listen" and I reviewed it on Music Extreme some issues back) and their music has progressed a lot. Here we have the elements that are the main ingredients of Couragous music: heavy riffs, a really good vocalist who knows how to do the melodies that the music requires to achieve the feeling they are searching for and also when to do a more deathlike voice, two killer guitarists that can do melodies, ultra fast riffs and good melodic solos in a great way. Here we have also a great bass player that knows how to support the ehythms of the band and also knows how to do the arrangements that are needed to give a twist to the music. The sound of this recording is much better than the one in "Listen" and this helps a lot to the sound of Couragous and makes their music even more powerful. Plus, the band has developed a great ear for hooks: their songs are really well constructed and have memorable choruses which is essential. Agreat step forward from this great band.

Favorite tracks: "Sudden Death"; "...And Lost" and " A Trip of Confidence".

Contact: www.couragous.de

REVIEW: COUNCIL OF THE FALLEN - REVEALING DAMNATION

 

COUNCIL OF THE FALLEN - REVEALING DAMNATION (Martyr Music Group, 2002)

Produced by Derek Roddy

Recorded at Deerfield Beach

Cover Art by Aaron Fox

Tracks: 1- Search for Purpose; 2- Eternal Suffering; 3- Shadowed Horizon; 4- Secrets No longer; 5- Unveiling the Path; 6- Lying in Wait; 7- Cloaked in Isolation; 8- Demon Winds; 9- Remnants of Existence; 10- Confronting the Absence; 11- Cast from the Heavens; 12- Realms of Conquest

Here we have a death/black metal supergroup!! Yes, Council of the Fallen has members from Hate Eternal and Broken Hope (Sean Baxter also plays in Em Sinfonia). The music is climatic death metal with an emphasis in brutality and dark atmospheres. Here we have crushing guitar riffs with extremely guttural vocals and also we have melodies created with the guitars in order to give another side to the deathly music that Council of the Fallen does. The production is really good (Derek Roddy produced this CD himself) and you can feel the power dripping from all the instruments that are played on this CD. The tracks are well composed and well developed giving the listener all the brutality that it deserves and also a certain amount of melody that is needed to give the tracks their Council of the Fallen identity. A must for lovers of brutality done with quality.

Favorite tracks: "Eternal Sufering"; "Shadowed Horizon" and "Confronting the Absence

Contact: www.martyrmusicgroup.com

REVIEW: CIRIBUS - SEPTIC REGURGITANT

 

CIRIBUS - SEPTIC REGURGITANT (Independent, 2002)

Produced by Ciribus

Cover 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

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 relly 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: CEREBRAL TURBULENCE - IMPENETRABLE

 

CEREBRAL TURBULENCY - IMPENETRABLE (Khaaranus Prods., 2002)

Recorded at Studio Shaark

Cover Art by Martin Hudak

Tracks: 1- Feeble Minds of the Nation; 2- Different world; 3- Yes ! Legitimate; 4- Same Choices; 5- Life is About Knowledge; 6- My inner mate; 7- Fear of Indiference, 8- The best in the end; 9- You are your own limit; 10- Throw your mask away; 11- Harsh Future; 12- Adios a las corridas; 13- For money but from the heart; 14- Don´t let her consume; 15- Frenzied Imagination; 16- Loss of identity; 17- Brutes and Animals; 18- Development; 19- You are a poor wretch; 20- kokos; 21- Harmless Citizen; 22- Feeling of Blame; 23- We are also people; 24- Clean Shaven Brains; 25- The more the higher; 26- Suicide

One of the most brutal releases of 2002 comes from this czech band. Full speed combined with crushing rhythms and and extremely huuuuuge guitar sound are the main features in Cerebral Turbulency´s music. A guttural voice that devastates the listener spitting the lyrics full of hate is another fundamental ingredient of the music contained on this CD (sometimes this voice is combined with another one that is more of the screaming type...almost hardcore) . A good surprise is the good sound that this release has which allows the listener to hear all the elements but fundamentally the guitars that are essential to feel Cerebral Turbulency´s power. Palms go to the drums who is like a rhythm machine with no mercy for the people that listen this CD...he plays fast and precise with a lot of use of the snare drum and double bass. A must for fans of brutality.

Favorite tracks: "The Best in the end" ; "Frenzied Imagination" and " Development"

Contact: lolokar@mybox.cz

REVIEW: CARNAL DIAFRAGMA - PREPARATION OF THE PATIENTS FOR EXAMINATION

 

CARNAL DIAFRAGMA - PREPARATION OF THE PATIENTS FOR EXAMINATION (Khaaranus Prods., 2002)

Produced by Carnal Diafragma

Recorded at Fors Studio

Tracks: 1- Ventilace Ritniho otvoru; 2- Scabies; 3- Deformation of anal vice, penis and vulva; 4- Pulverized Testicle; 5- Carrie, go home!; 6- A examination by Rectoscope; 7- Esmeralda, 8- Fist Fucking; 9- Misfortune in love, 10- I feel sick of skinheads; 11-Bakteriocidni Chemoterapeutikum sirokeho spektra; 12- Gorgeous Diphteria; 13- Zapusteni Kompresorove hadice do aortalni trubice; 14- 3 litres of Sperm; 15- Repulsion, 16- Nechtene urezani penisu rezavou pilkou na zelezo; 17- Vomited Shits; 18- Stench Vaginalis; 19- Bloody Issue of Sperm; 20- Satiated Necrophiliac; 21- Mastne Vystriky...; 22- Consequence (cover of gut); 23- IN vitro fertilization; 24- Nepochopitelne vysrani mlynku na kavu; 25- Deranged menarche injection; 26- v hlubinah neuronu

This band is a grind nightmare!!! They have tracks that are short and extremely fast and their riffs are really powerful. I like the way in which the album is mixed (I would like to have the cymbals and hihat mixed more clearly to add more clarity to the fastest parts). The guitar sound is really raw (as grind guitars should be) but mix loud enough to make the music here really energetic. There are several types of vocals on this release: one is very guttural and fits the music in the best way possible, another one is more screaming and then there is a third one that is much more thin that I would like it to be replaced by the guttural one. This are 26 tracks of pure grind madness with good sound and many interesting ideas going on. Fans of grind and brutal death will like this release.

Favorite tracks: "Misfortune in Love"; " 3 Litres of Sperm" and " Satiated Necrophiliac "

Contact: lolokar@mybox.cz

REVIEW: CANNIBAL CORPSE - GORE OBSESSED

 

CANNIBAL CORPSE - GORE OBSESSED (Metal Blade Records, 2002)

Produced by Neil Kernon and Cannibal Corpse

Recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios

Cover Art by Vincent Locke

Tracks: 1- Savage Butchery, 2- Hatchet to the Head; 3- Pit of Zombies; 4- Dormant Bodies Bursting; 5- Compelled to Lacerate; 6- Drowning in Viscera; 7- Hung and Bled; 8- Sanded Faceless; 9- Mutation of the Cadaver; 10- When Death Replaces Life; 11- Grotesque

Cannibal Corpse is back with a new album!!! This time their music has not change a lot compared to "Blood thirst" (and maybe this is the good thing about Cannibal Corpse). They have added some riffs which have more hooks than ususally like the one in the middle section of "Pit of Zombies" or in "Dormant Bodies Bursting". What has changed is the sound of the recording. This time the sound is more huge than ever, specially the guitars...where in albums like "Tomb of the Mutilated" or "Butchered at Birth" you could listen a fast guitar doing riffs here you can listen instead an inmense wall of sound thanks to this guys Jack Owen and Pat O´Brien. A lot of this great sound is also thanks to the rhythm section of Alex Webster and Paul Mazurkiewicz which are tighter than ever. And Neil Kernon has added a lot of power to the mix which is an excellent one. One thing that I would like them to add more are the good guitar solos because I like the way they enter in the tracks and add a new side to Cannibal´s music.

Favorite tracks: "Hatchet to the Head"; "When Death Replaces Life" and "Drowning in Viscera"

Contact: www.metalblade.com

REVIEW: BRAVE - SEARCHING FOR THE SUN

 

BRAVE - SEARCHING FOR THE SUN (Dark Symphonies Recs., 2002)

Produced by Kevin Gutierrez and Brave

Recorded at Assembly Line Studios

Cover Art by Mark Riddick

Tracks: 1- Escape; 2- I believe; 3- Falling Into Bliss; 4- Trapped Inside; 5- Before Nightfall; 6- To Dream Again; 7- Bleed Into Me; 8- New Beginning; 9- Out of Focus; 10- Candle in the Dark; 11- Waiting All This Time

Here we have this band formerly called Arise From Thorns whose album "Before an Audience of Stars" I reviewed many issues back. For those who doesn´t know the band, Brave is a really melodic yet heavy band with a lot of acoustic guitars parts, some use of keayboards and rhythms and with the amazingly beautiful vocals of Michelle Looze. This time we see a real progress in the compositions where each track has a beginnin a middle part and a climax really well developed. And the greatest thing here is the melodic sense that this band has: it seems to me that they have many and many melodies flowing through their minds and they know exactly how to put them together (some of the vocal lines are of extreme beauty...you will not believe it). There is a certain The Gathering influence in some parts which I like a lot but played with Brave´s own identity. A great beginning for this band with a new name !!

Favorite tracks: All the CD is bautiful and extremely melodic. Thumbs up for this band !!!

Contact: www.darksymphonies.com

REVIEW: BRAINDEAD - CROSSING THE DEVICE

 

BRAINDEAD - CROSSING THE DEVICE ( Independent , 2001)

Produced by Braindead

Recorded at Megapeng Studios

Cover by Nicole Streit

Tracks: 1- We´re not Stupid; 2- The New Kingdom; 3- Pain in My Brain; 4- Ghost of Madness; 5- Rain on my Grave; 6- Changes; Bonus tracks: 7- Entfüehrt; 8- So Nit!

What a progress has made this band !! In fact their music has changed a lot since their previous album "For the Last Hour". The main change is in the vocals department where David has decided to use cleaner vocals (I think there is some harmonizing in the vocals too and choruses). This type of vocals make the result more interesting because it adds another dimension to the band´s songs (even if David did not like the final result and even if I miss the rawer vocals sometimes). Another welcomed change is in the guitar sound which this time is like more compressed and sounds heavier than in the previous recording. In fact the whole CD sounds better produced and the tracks have been designed with more hooks in order to be more memorable. A good adavance from this great band !!

Favorite tracks: "The New Kingdom"; "Pain in My Brain" and "Changes"

Contact: www.braindead.ch