REVIEW: PROSAPIA - SOMBRAS ASFIXIANTES

 

PROSAPIA - SOMBRAS ASFIXIANTES (Independent, 2001)

Produced by Prosapia

Recorded at Sergio Delfino´s Studio

Cover Art by Juvi

Tracks: 1- Jinete Oscuro, 2- Clamad por vos

Here we have this two track CD from this band that come from the province of San Juan in the west of Argentina. The music here is mid paced black metal with some thrash elements and a lot of climatic moments (as in the intro of "Clamad por vos" where a melodic and melancholic line is developed by the band in the keyboards). I have to say that living in Argentina and knowing how difficult is to play the most extreme styles here I have to give my thumbs up to this guys because their music has a lot of quality and they have worked hard here. One thing that they have to work a little bit is the sound of the recording that is a little bit muddy, specially on the guitars and drums (the keyboard can sound clearer but is up on the mix, so one can listen what is doing really well). I hope more bands like Prosapia arise from Argentina so we can make a big step on the extreme metal world.

Favorite tracks: Both tracks are good. This guys deserve a better sound

Contact: dr_black_death@yahoo.com

REVIEW: PIERRE VERVLOESEM - GROSSO MODO

 

PIERRE VERVLOESEM - GROSSO MODO (Carbon 7 Records, 2002)

Produced by Guy Segers and Alan Ward

Recorded at Rising Sun Studio

Cover Art by Thierry Mondelaers

Tracks: 1- Hairdressers Go Home, 2- Olympic Troubles, 3- Anti Caking Agency, 4- Amazing Grease, 5- Smacked Down by the Lord Again, 6- Have You Seen Me?, 7- The Terrible Rage of the Sky, 8- Full Metal Carpet, 9- Nobody´s Listening Anyway

Having listened Pierre Vervloesem´s previous album I find this one completely different. This is much more electric and rocking and brings to my mind some shades of King Crimson, Frank Zappa and also some Robert Fripp work (not to mention some early Yes and experimental progressive bands too). He mixes all this influences, adds a lot of his personality and sound and puts it together with a lot of improvisation and spontaneity. Here Vervloesem has been joined by great musicians including Guy Segers on bass, Charles Hayward on drums and Peter Vandenberghe on keyboards. Vervloesem explores new sound through the nine tracks of this CD making experimentation his main goal and achieving great results here.

Favorite tracks: "Hairdressers Go Home", "The Terrible Rage of the Sky" and "Nobody´s listening Anyway"

Contact: www.carbon-7.com

REVIEW: PENTAGRAM - TURN TO STONE

 

PENTAGRAM - TURN TO STONE (Peaceville Records, 2002)

Produced by Pentagram

Tracks: 1- Petrified, 2- Wartime, 3- All Your Sins, 4- Frustration, 5- Burning Saviour, 6- Sinister, 7- Bride of Evil, 8- When the Screams Come, 9- Relentless, 10- Vampire Love, 11- Evil Seed, 12- The Ghoul, 13- Wolf´s Blood, 14- Madman, 15- 20 Buck Spin, 16- Death Row, 17- Live Free and Burn

This is a compilation of Pentagram´s music that was in the three classics released by Peaceville "Relentless", "Day of Reckoning" and "Be forewarned". I think most of the people who read this reviews will surely know well Pentagram´s music. For those who don´t know them they are a classic band who have been playing this sort of doom Black Sabbath like style since the early seventies (in fact the early single "Be Forewarned" is from 1972). Here we have seventeen heavy tunes with elements that bring to mind bands like Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, The Obsessed or the almighty Trouble (this one specially on the vocals lines). The sound is better than in the original versions and sounds clearer without loosing Pentagram´s heavy and distorted sound (I think that specially the drums sound much better this time). A classic band !!!

Favorite tracks: "All your sins", "Burning Saviour" and "Wolf´s Blood"

Contact: www.peaceville.co.uk

REVIEW: ORPHAN GYPSY - DARKLAND DIRECTOR

 

ORPHAN GYPSY - DARKLAND DIRECTOR (Independent, 2002)

Produced by Orphan Gypsy

Recorded at Wall of Sound Studio

Cover Art by Daniel Backlund

Tracks: 1- Darklan, 2- King of Denial, 3- Under The Sun, 4- The Promise

Here we have the MCD from this pure heavy metal band . the music of this sextet is pure european heavy metal with some touches of power metal and lot of powerful riffs mixed with guitar and keyboards melodies. Some of the harmonies reminded me of bands like Stratovarius but this band has two guitars and sound heavier and more raw than the finnish band. The vocals are really clean and melodic and give the perfect melodies for this heavy metal combo. There are some twin guitars which I like and guive a lot of interesting harmonies to the songs on this MCD and fast solos that add a lot of virtuosism to Orphan Gypsy´s music. A really positive point that many heavy metal bands don´t have is the good sound that Orphan Gypsy has....and they sound raw at the same time (I think this is due to the guitars that are not extremely processed as in some bands out there. Metalheads and lovers of classicel metal will like a lot this one.

Favorite tracks: "King of Denial" and "Darkland"

Contact: www.orphangypsy.tk

REVIEW: ORGAN HARVEST - BOWELS WALTZ

 

ORGAN HARVEST - BOWELS WALTZ (Deadsun Records, 2002)

Produced by Organ Harvest

Recorded at Pitch Black Studio

Cover Art by Duncan

Tracks: 1- Dead but raped, 2- Bowels Waltz, 3- Gerontology Zoophilia, 4- Hyarocephalus, 5- My First Fist Fucking, 6- Smoking Sphincter, 7- Intestinal Maggots Enema, 8- Tetraplegic Skull Crushing, 9- Viking, 10- Aftermath, 11- War Consequences, 12- Vaginal Discharge, 13- Testicularburger, 14- Grunge, 15- Brain Eating Indigestion, 16- Scorn

It is incredible how the cover art can fool you. In fact by looking at the cover I thought that this was a gore grind band or something like that. But Organ Harvest does not belong to that style. In fact they have some grinding hyper fast parts (with vocals that fit the style), but they mix them with the most brutal death metal with riffs that are much more effective than simple speed (check the riffs at 0:43 in "Bowel Waltz" which are really thrash metal played with death metal sound or the ones in "Gerontology Zoophilia" to see what I am talking about). There are sixteen bestial tracks here that don´t have space for subtle melodies. Here everything is pure bestiality, power and brutality. Lovers of death metal prepare to check the music of this death/grind band that will rip you apart.

Favorite tracks: "Dead But Raped", "Testicularburger" and "Grunge"

Contact: www.deadsunrecords.com

REVIEW: OPHIOLATRY - ANTI-EVANGELISTIC PROCESS

 

OPHIOLATRY - ANTI-EVANGELISTIC PROCESS (Evil Vengeance Records, 2002)

Produced by Tchello Martins

Recorded at Da Tribo Studios

Tracks: 1- Intro, 2- Psychodemoniac Mentalities, 3- Messiah of Deformity, 4- Entombed, 5- Havoc, 6- Opposite Monarchy, 7- Anti-Evangelistic Process, 8- Asmodeus-The Destroyer, 9- Breaking the bones of Jesus, 10- Chaos Domination, 11- Vexation

Pure brutal death metal!! Yes, this is what we have here.....fast riffs, extremely fast drumming (with killer double bass drumming...this guy is really a machine behind the drumkit). One thing that got my attention on this CD is the complexity of some ofthe guitar riffs which are extremely difficult to play (and even more difficult is to play them correctly along with the rest of the band). And this is what I consider one of the main features of Ophiolatry´s music: their amazing combination of brutality and complexity within the same track. Did I tell you that the drummer is amazing? Well, let me tell you again as he gets better and better on each track. The vocals are really guttural and fit the brutality of the music, spitting the lyrics full of hatred. The sound is really good, specially on the drums (killer bass drum sound) and that adds a lot of strength to Ophiolatry´s music. Brutality at top level.

Favorite tracks: "Messiah of Deformity", "Opposite Monarchy "and "Breaking the Bones of Jesus"

Contact: ophiolatry@hotmail.com or evil666vengeance@aol.com

REVIEW: OCCULT - RAGE TO REVENGE

 

OCCULT - RAGE TO REVENGE (Painkiller Records, 2002)

Produced by Occult

Recorded at Harrow Studio

Cover Art by www.lowlifemedia.com

Tracks: 1- Mind Domination, 2- Violence and hatred, 3- The Madness Within, 4-Killing for recreation, 5- Thy Creation, 6-Revenge is mine, 7-mark of a Legend, 8- Fatal Disorder, 9-The Desolate One

Occult is for me a classic!! Having listened to their CD "Of Flesh and Blood" and to the single "Violence and Hatred" I really loved the power and deathly riffs that this guys have. Sometimes people refer to certain style of metal as german metal or swedish death metal or finnish metal. Well, Occult sound is pure Dutch death metal. Bands like Occult and Sinister have contributed to create their own brand of death metal. The vocals here are guttural and also we have some of the screaming type which make a contrast with the other one. The guitars make fast riffs but in many places they use heavier and more rhythmic riffs like for example in the end (3:03) of "Mind Domination" where they play a riff completely created for the mosh pit. I think that Occult is one of the bands with a bigger guitar sound combined with powerful bass lines that create this wall of death metal that we all love! This is with no doubt their best album up to date with their heaviest songs.

Favorite tracks: "Violence and Hatred", "Thy Creation" and "Revenge is mine"

Contact: www.occult.nu or www.painkiller-records.com

REVIEW: NORMA JEAN - BLESS THE MARTYR AND KISS THE CHILD

 

NORMA JEAN - BLESS THE MARTYR AND KISS THE CHILD (Solid State Records, 2002)

Produced by Adam D. And Norma Jean

Recorded at Zing Studio

Cover Art by Asterisk Studio

Tracks: 1- The Entire World is Counting on Me and They Don´t Even Know it, 2- Face: Face, 3- Memphis will be Laid to Waste, 4- Creating Something Out of Nothing only to destroy it, 5- Pretty soon, I don´t know what, but something is going to happen, 6- The Shotgun Message, 7- Sometimes it´s our mistakes that make for the greatest ideas, 8- I used to hate cell phones but now I hate car accidents, 9- It was as if the dead man stood upon the air, 10- the Human Face, divine, 11- Organized Beyond Recognition

The cover art of this release fools you a bit...I had not listened Norma Jean´s music before I thought that it was some kind of gothic metal band or something like that, but I was completely wrong. Here we have this band that plays modern metal with a lot of emphasis on the rhythms and a sound that is like a mix of bands like Machine Head, Sepultura, Extol, Pantera and more but with screaming vocals that are sometimes processed giving an industrial feeling to the songs! Crazy? Well, then check for example the riffs in "The Entire World is..." to see the eerie sounds and rhythms that this guys create. But the main thing here is the pure power that the band´s songs have. The guitars are really distorted and have a huge sound that create all the heaviness that the band need to destroy the listener´s brain. One of the best things here is that despite using a lot of distortion and some effects you can listen everytyhing perfectly due to the clear mix.

Favorite tracks: "Memphis will be laid to waste", "Sometimes ...." and "I used to hate..."

Contact: www.solidstaterecords.com

REVIEW: NON OPUS DEI - DIABOLICAL METAL

 

NON OPUS DEI - DIABOLICAL METAL (War is Imminent Productions, 2002)

Recorded at Selani Studio

Cover Art by Alex Hdez

Tracks: 1- Thee I Invoke, 2- Non Opus Dei, 3- Verbum Diaboli, 4- V Bram, 5- Teufelssteine, 6- Hail Lokh, 7- ...Ognia Burzy I Buntu, 8- The Warrior´s Speak, 9- Time to Meet your doom, 10- The Transformation Into the Avathar of Seth, 11- De Nycht Dom Iliaest

An instrumental introduction leads us directly into the world of Non Opus Dei. After the peaceful intro here comes the powerful music of this band with a lot of experimentation. And that is what is essential to their music: Experimentation. Here you have a lot of guitar riffs and twisted rhythms going on each of the songs (this guys are really what I could call progressive death metal). There is heavy use of clean guitars in a lot of parts which are like a breath of air before getting into another distorted and heavy as hell part. Palms go to the drummer too because of the interesting use of different patterns and the use of odd time signatures . I think that if you listen to the song called "Non Opus Dei" you will have a good idea of what this guys are capable of doing. There are interesting melodic solos which add some colours to the songs. If you like bands like Pestilence, Atheist, Believer or Death you have to check Non Opus Dei.

Favorite tracks: "Verbum Diaboli", "Hail Lokh" and "the Warrior´s Speak"

Contact: www.unholycross.com

REVIEW: NOKTURNEL - FURY UNLEASHED

 NOKTURNEL - FURY UNLEASHED (Nokturnel Eclipse Records, 2001)

Produced by Tom Stevens

Recorded at Isotopia Studios

Cover Art by Typhus

Tracks: 1- Legend of the Wolven, 2- Taking Hate to the Grave, 3- Food Chain, 4- I Remain Faithless, 5- Visions of the Haunted, 6- Realm of possession, 7- Forcefed Fear, 8- Immortal Destroyer, 9- A Collision of Dimensions

Here we have this brutal and bestial band whose style is pure death metal but with some shades of black metal that fit the music of the band perfectly. The band plays at full speed most of the time making hyper fast guitar riffs which sound really complex because they are not the usual one note riff that are played in the fastest parts...in fact there are some riffs that are more heavy that are used in breaks and slower parts, and then they use some kind of riff with open strings and runs in the more brutal parts. Tom Stevens is the brain behind Nokturnel and the only member that is left from the original Nokturnel lineup. This time he has been helped by Lee Ribera on bass and session drummer Tophetarath which are a good team to bring Nokturnel´s music to the bestial level that Stebvens want. I strongly recommend this release to death/black metal fans who love brutality and musicianship.

Favorite tracks: "Food Chain", "I remain faithless" and "Immortal Destroyer

Contact: www.nokturneleclipse.com