| MUSIC REVIEWS (December 2004) |
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| ANCIENT MALUS - DEMO 2 ($ song CD) This is just a promo copy of the bands second CD demo release. These guys play a raw mix of old school Death Metal & Black Metal together. The music is very aggressive & raw sounding Death Metal. There are lots of blasts & heavy guitar shredding as well. The music is a little dark sounding too. The vocals are very low end Death & Black Metal crossover type vocals. This is a pretty decent CD from these guys for fans of both Black & Death Metal to check out!!! - hailblackmetal@hotmail.com / www.angelfire.com/realm3/ANCIENTMALUS |
| ANTHRAX - THE GREATER OF TWO EVILS (14 song CD) SANCTUARY RECORDS GROUP I was very pleased to find this promo CD in my mail box. I have always been a huge fan of ANTHRAX & they have always been one of my favorites These guys are one of the first Metal bands I can remember being into. ANTHRAX is one of & always will be one of the best Thrash Metal bands out there. This new album is a collection of songs voted on by their fans on the bands website. It covers their catalog from 1984-1990 when Joey Belladonna was in the band. They re-did some great tunes like "Among The Living", "Indians", "Madhouse", "I Am The Law, "Death Rider" & more all with John Bush on vocals. I've always liked John on vocals & he does a good job of bringing new life to some old classics. The new versions almost sound like new songs instead of the originals. Any fan of ANTHRAX will be quite pleased with this disc!!!! ANTHRAX rules!!! - www.ANTHRAX.com |
| BELZEBUL / SKULLFACE 1983 - SPLIT (14 song CD) SYMBOLIC PROD. These two bands hail from France & this is my first time experiencing either. The first eight tracks are from BELZEBUL. The band plays weird Experimental Death Metal music. The music sounds like Death Metal with lots of noise & static all balled in it. The vocals are real harsh screaching screams. The tracks 9-14 belong to SKULLFACE 1983. These guys play old school brutal Death Metal music with some slight touches of Experimental tossed in. There is some static like guitar sounds in the music too. The vocals are low end Death growls & gurggles. I liked this band better than the first one. - 24 RUE DE BORDEAUX / 57970 YUTZ / FRANCE |
| CORE TIL DEATH 3 - COMPILATION (20 song CD) HEAVY CORE RECORDS This is a very cool compilation CD put out by HEAVY CORE RECORDS. This is the third installment of the series. The CD is all professionally done & comes with all bands contact information. The bands on this compilation play all styles of extreme music from Thrash, Death & Doom to Grind, Black & hardcore. There are 20 bands & 20 songs featured. The bands include MALEVOLENT CREATION, SKITZO, LOW TWELVE, ALCHYMIST, CHAINSNAP, CHAINSAW HOMICIDE, BEVERLY BEER BELLYS & 13 others. This is a must have compilation for any fan of extremely heavy Metal music!!! - P.O. BOX 4324 / BLOOMINGTON, IL. 61702 / www.CORETILDEATH.com |
| DEAD CHRETIENS / CUM SOCK - HATED IN CANADA / FRESH & DEAD - SPLIT (27 song CD) This is a split release from two Canadian bands. The first 9 tracks are from DEAD CHRETIENS who play some very raw old school Punk Rock music. They have an old 70's Punk Rock feel to their music. The vocals are done in a harsh screaming Punk style. These guys reminded me of one of the bands I used to help manage called DEATH CORE! The last 18 songs come from the band CUM SOCK. These guys play a mixture of Death, Punk & Noisecore music. The music here is very raw & aggressive sounding. The vocals also blend across Death, Punk & Noise too. These is a split for fans of old school Experimental Punk music. - spunkzine@yahoo.com / CUMSOCK@hotmail.com |
| EQUILIBRIUM / IRON YOUTH - SPLIT (15 song CD) SYMBOLIC PROD. The first 8 tracks on this split belong to the band EQUILIBRIUM. The songs here are from previous demos & unrealeased tracks. The music is a mix of Death Metal & Experimental Noise music. The music also has a Doom feel to it as well. There is a lot of static in the guitar sound & it has a mechanical feel like it's all programmed. Tracks 9-15 are from the band IRON YOUTH. These guys are an Experimental Noise band. They have lots of spacey Experimental noises & sounds all through out the release. There are some vocals on the songs, but not everyone. I'm not really into this style, so it's hard for me to really get into these guys, but I like them better than a lot of bands of this style!!! - paradisenoise@aol.com / worldnihil@gmx.de |
| END OF MAN - SELF TITLED (5 song CD) MAIM RECORDS END OF MAN plays a mixture of Thrash Metal & Hardcore music. The music has a classic Thrash Metal feel with lots of Hardcore grooves & beats. There is some Thrash guitar shredding in the music as well. They do toss in some breakdowns at times too. The vocals are done in an old school Thrash Metal style with some slight Hardcore touches. They reminded me a lot of NUCLEAR ASSAULT & some EXCEL mixed with FORBIDDEN. These guys really rip & should be given some attention!!! - END_OF_MAN@lycos.com / www.geocities.com/ENDOFMANph |
| GODLESS TRUTH - ARROGANCE OF SUPREME POWER (7 song CD) LACERATED ENEMY RECORDS This is the fourth CD release from this great Metal band out of Czech Republic. These guys play ultra sick Death Metal music. They have a very tight & technical sound. I love the thick bass sounds all through out the disc. They do toss in some Thrash Metal & Grindcore influences as well. The vocals are a mix of low end Death growls & mid to higher ranged Death growls. This is by far the best release from these guys yet!!! - P.O. BOX 53 / 77111 OLOMOUC 1 / CZECH REPUBLIC / www.GODLESSTRUTH.com |
| GWAR - WAR PARTY (11 song CD) DRT ENTERTAINMENT The trouble makers from Antartica are back with their first studio album in 3 years as well as their first album not on METAL BALDE RECORDS. By now I'm sure most Metal heads out there know of GWAR. Most people either love em or hate em. I love them & they are my favorite band & have been for many years now! "WAR PARTY" takes us back to the times of "SCUM DOGS OF THE UNIVERSE" & "AMERICA MUST BE DESTROYED". The music is heavier, harder & more intense than the last few releases. GWAR combines elements of Metal, Hardcore, Death, Punk & even good old Rock & Roll to create their sound. I love all the change ups, grooves, breakdowns, stop & starts & hooks all mixed in the songs. GWAR has so much variety while still sticking to their Metal roots. Oderous' vocals are real throaty & harsh sounding & at times reminds me of old Punk bands from the late 70's early 80's. GWAR rules & so does this new album. Even if you don't like GWAR you still must see them live!!! - www.GWAR.net |
| HINYOUKI / CTHULHU - SPLIT (8 song CD) SYMBOLIC PROD. The first seven tracks on this disc belong to HINYOUKI. This band plays very crazy & experimental Noise music. The music is very staticey & noisey all through out. I could never get into this style, but I've heard a lot of these projects, so there must be a lot of people into it. Track eight is by the band CTHULHU. This band also plays Experimental type music, but they are not as noisey & have a little more atmosphere to their sound. There were some really weird sounds used here!!! - HINYOUKI@mixmail.com / CTHULHU - 24 RUE DE BORDEAUX / 57970 YUTZ / FRANCE |
| HIRAX - THE NEW AGE OF TERROR (11 song CD) MAUSOLEUM / BLACK DEVIL RECORDS HIRAX is a Metal band from the Bay Area that emerged on the scene in the Early 80's. After many line up changes, different bands started, these Thrash Metalers are back with a very good release. They still have that classic Thrash Metal sound, but have tossed in some technical aspects as well. The music has lots of cool grooves & catchy riffs. The vocals are done in a clean Thrash Metal style with some higher pitched Power Metal ones tossed in. Fans of the bands previous releases or bands like EXCITER, FORBIDDEN, EXODUS, NUCLEAR ASSAULT & KREATOR will love these guys!!! - P.O. BOX 1474 / CYPRESS, CA. 90630 / www.HIRAX.org |
| KEYDRAGON - FIRE RED PERCEPTION (13 song CD) This is the new CD release from California based KEYDRAGON! These guys play a very original sounding form of Power, Doom Metal music. They toss in lots of influences from Thrash, Heavy Metal as well as Traditional Metal. They even have some Death Metal type moments in some songs too. They do have a lot of keys, sax & synthesis parts in thier songs, which helps give them their unique style & sound. The vocals cross over a lot of styles as well, including Death, Doom, Goth, Power & Traditional Metal. This is a very different sounding Metal band. This is their best effort so far!!! - www.KEYDRAGON.com |
| MADSIDE - ENEMY CD SINGLE (2 song CD) EVO RECORDINGS This is a CD single of the song "Enemy" from the bands full length album. There is actually the album version & an acoustic version of the same song. The band plays Hard Rock styled music that is very popular on most Rock radio stations now a days. The music is pretty fast paced & does have a very cool groove all through out it. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Metal style. Fans of bands like GODSMACK & DISTURBED will like these guys!!! - www.MADSIDE.com |
| NECRO - THE PRE-FIX FOR DEATH (25 song CD) PSYCHO LOGICAL RECORDS T was very happy to see this CD in my review pile. I've heard a lot about NECRO before, but never got a chance to experience him. Coming straight out of Brooklyn, Ny, NECRO plays a very cool style of music called Death-Rap! Yep, it's exactly what you think it is, it's Death Metal mixed with Rap music. The music is very hard hitting & grooving Death Metal with Rap beats. He sings about lots of death, gore, blood, guts, satan & women. Sometimes the music is more Hip-Hop sounding & others it's pure Death Metal. This is a great concept & album! There are guest appearances from members of SLIPKNOT, VOIVOD, OBITUARY, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, HATEBREED, SKARHEAD & more. If this doesn't tell you that this is an amazing album, just fuckin' get it & see for yourself!!! Death rap Rules!!! - NECROproduct@yahoo.com / www.NECROhiphop.com |
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| OF INFINITY - THE ESSENCE OF INFINITY (3 song CD) This is a female fronted Metal band out of Texas. The music covers a few forms of Metal music. There are strong elements of Power Metal, Doom, Black Metal & Goth all present with in their songs. There is a strong dark atmospheric sound in their music as well. The female vocals add more depth to the darkness atmosphere. The vocals are done really melodic & Goth like. This band reminds me of a lot of the bands from Europe! This talented band would be great for fans of LACUNA COIL, THEATRE OF TRAGEDY & THE GATHERING to check out!!! - P.O. BOX 780224 / SAN ANTONIO, TX. 78278 / OFINFINITYemail@aol.com / www.OFINFINITY.com |
| SAMMOHAN - DEMO 2004 (3 song CD) SAMMOHAN is a two man project (with session drummer) & play some old school Thrash & Black Metal type music. The music is very fast paced shredding with some chugging beats tossed in. It has a dark & cold feel to the sound, which is where the Black Metal elements come into play. The vocals have an almost weird distortion to them & cross over into Thrash & Black Metal styles. These guys remind me of an early version of VENOM!!! For all old school Metal heads!!! - SAMMOHAN@jippii.fi / jutaiv@hotmail.com / charlesdecapo208@hotmail.com / www.geocties.com/charlesdecapo/SAMMOHAN.html |
| SLITHERYN - PROMO '04 (6 song CD) This CD contains 6 songs that are demo mixes from the bands forth coming release intitled "FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE". I've gotten a few other things from this band in the past & always loved it. This new disc is no exception. These guys play a very good blend of Death Metal & Hardcore mixed. The music is very intense & aggressive all the way through. The brutality of Death Metal is present as well as the grooves & hooks of Hardcore. The vocals are on that fine line between Death & Hardcore as well. These guys are very cool & highly recommended for fans of ENTOMBED, BURY YOUR DEAD, ATREYU & even old CARCASS!!! - L1789 CONDOR LANE / HUNTLEY, IL. 60142 / www.SLITHERYN.com |