| MUSIC REVIEWS (February 2003) |
| 8 TRAK MIND - PLUS ONE (8 song CD) BASEMENTAL MUSICK These guys are great! They combine a lot of different forms of Metal together to create their sound! They add lots of variety & depth to keep their sound original. They blend in some very melodic Nu-Metal sounds & grooves with some old school Death Metal & Thrash Metal as well. the grooving parts almost reminded me of MUDVAYNE & SLIPKNOT mixed together. The Death Metal reminds me of SEPULTURA's first two albums. The vocals also mix the above styles together. The Death growl vocals remind me of old MORBID ANGEL from the "COVENANT" album at times, some grooves & rhythm changes have a bit of a Hardcore feel like BIOHAZARD. As you can tell from all the great bands I've compared 8 TRAK MIND to, that these guys are very good & very talented! This album is a must!!! - 252 SUMMERFIELD GARDENS / SHELTON, CT. 06484 / www.8TRAKMIND.com ALEISTER C. - STRUGGLE FOR LIFE (5 song CD) I was expecting these guys to be a straight forward Death Metal band, but they're not! These guys play an extremely intense Metal/ Hardcore crossover style of music. I love this style cause it combines my two favorite styles of music together. The music has tons of heavy grooving, with lots of stop & start parts in the rhythm section. I loved the chugging guitar sound that churns through out their music. These guys are extremely good & would fit perfectly on the ROADRUNNER RECORDS roster. The first band that came to mind was new SEPULTURA, which is wierd cause these guys are from Brasil as well! Any fan of ROADRUNNER's heavier bands will love these guys! I know I did!!! - R. JOSE ALUES DOS ANJOS, 20 / CENTRO CEP 08773-170 / MOGI DAS CRUZES - SP / BRASIL / ALEISTER_C@BOL.COM.BR ASTRAL - FILICETUM LUNARE (10 song CD) MERCENARY MUSIK/WORLD WAR III RECORDS This band was formed back in 1996 & is based out of Czech Republic. They play a different style of music than what I normally hear coming out of Czech Republic. These guys play a very well structured mix of Black Metal & Gothic Metal. The music is quite dark in sound & has a very chilling feel to it! The music is very mystical sounding & takes you to a whole other realm. There are lots of eerrie chants & almost demon like vocals as well. Sometimes the vocals get more melodic & lean towards the Goth Metal side more. There are male & female vocals mixed, which just adds to the bands wide variety of musical talent. At times the music tends to have a dark world music sound to it. This band is all over the place in rhythm, style & sound, but in a very good way! This is a band that deserves much attention!!! BESTEMMIA AETERNALIS - VEIL OF SINS (6 song CD) BESTEMMIA... play some very aggressive & intense Death Metal music. There are some influences of Black Metal in their music as well. The Death Metal has an old school feel to it. It's very fast, hard & kind of raw in sound. The Black Metal influences come into play mostly in the vocals, but I do hear some in the music itself! There are some atmospheric haunts in the background of the Death Metal music too. The vocals are done in two different styles. there are some mid ranged guttural Death growls mixed with some harsh Black Metal screams. This CD would be for any fan of old school Black or Death Metal music! - BESTEMMIAAETERNALIS@angelfire.com / www.angelfire.com/band/BESTEMMIA BELPHEGOR - THE LAST SUPPER (15 song CD) MERCENARY MUSIK/WORLD WAR III RECORDS This is the re-release of this Austria based Death/Black Metal band's debut release! This American re-release contains 3 bonus tracks & 3 original tracks from the EP "OBSCURE AND DEEP". The band mixes many elements of both the Death & Black Metal styles. They unite the raw aggressiveness of Black Metal with some intense archaic Death Metal. The vocals are done in a very raw harsh sounding Death growl & a Black Metal scream! This is not for any fan of weak boring music! They do a cool cover of BLACK SABBATH's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" too! BELPHEGOR - BLUTSABBATH (9 song CD) MERCENARY MUSIK/WORLD WAR III RECORDS This is the re-release of BELPHEGOR's second full length album. On this album the guys have changed their sound slightly. they still stick to the Black/Death metal style as on the first release, but they have added in some Thrash Metal elements as well! These influences come out mostly in the guitar sound. The rest of the band pretty much sticks to the formula that worked for them on the last album. The vocals have another mixture of low Death growls & high Black metal screams. get ready to open the doors to hell, cause this band will be guiding you there!!! BETHLEHEM - SCHATTEN AUS DER ALEXANDER WELT (9 song CD) RED STREAM RECORDS This is a very bizarre sounding, but very cool album. The album is some very dark & mysterious sounding Metal with lots of mechanical & industrial atmospheres. The music is played over some weird monologues & dialogues of the Alexander World characters. There are strong German concepts, so the band has released an American version of the album. On this version a long player that was done by additional BETHLEHEM member & core character of the Alexander World, marcus Johannsen. This is some really bizzare, spacey & hypnotic stuff. It reminds me of music that would be in the movie ALTERED STATES. This is a very cool concept. They describe the music as dark Metal/ Suicide Rock!!! - www.alexanderwelt.org BONEDUST - SELF TITLED (6 song CD) This Columbus, Ohio band really likes to mix things up with in their music. they don't fit too comfortably into one style of music. They take elements of Black Metal, Death Metal, Grindcore & hardcore & blend them together to create their sound. One style may dominate in one song, but then just shines through a little bit in another song. These guys really make sure that each song is freash & different from the next. I liked a lot of the rhythmic changes & tempo changes they toss into their music. They have a really cool bass sound that I also liked a lot. The vocals are done in a mixture of the above styles. There's fast paced Grindcore vocals, harsh Death growls, melodic Metal styled vocals along with some rhythmic Hardcore vocals. These guys are a nice change from a lot of the bands I hear coming out of Ohio!!! - cain620@aol.com / marconi7@mac.com / www.geocities.com/BONEDUSTband BROUGHT LOW, THE - SELF TITLED (8 song CD) TEE PEE RECORDS This is this bands debut album release & they play some really heavy rocking Southern Rock, but they are from New York. The guys do have some Metal & slight hardcore elements popping out of their music at times though. They do have a strong Southern Rock sound that comes out mostly in the guitars with a more modern feel. The vocals are also done in a Southern Rock sound, but with lots of Punk attitude & influences. If you took bands like ZZ TOP, THE STONES & THE WHO & turned them into Punk bands, you'd have these guys!!! - THEBROUGHTLOW@hotmail.com / www.THEBROUGHTLOW.com CENTINEX - DIABOLICAL DESOLATION (10 song CD) CANDLELIGHT RECORDS Anyone within the Death Metal scene should know of this band by now. These guys have been spreading their blasphemous Death Metal since 1990. These guys play unrelenting & chaotic sounding Death Metal music. The music is hyper fast Death Metal that has a solid technical sound. These guys are much better than the majority of the bands playing this same style. This is probably why they have lasted so long. If your into such great bands like NAPALM DEATH, BOLT THROWER, CARCASS & DEICIDE then your gonna love CENTINEX!!! CENTURIAN - LIBER ZAR ZAX (11 song CD) OLYMPIC RECORDINGS/CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS Here is yet another band that anyone in the Death Metal scene should know of. These guys ahve been unleashing their brutal Death unto us for many years now. This band from The netherlands plays some extremely tight & aggressive Death Metal music. There are tons of blasts, breakdowns, stop & starts, tempo changes & more... These guys are just extremely good & very talented! They blend elements from old school & new school Death Metal to create their sound. This is most likely the best band to ever emerge out of The netherlands. If your a Death metal fan & this CD isn't in your collection then your collection isn't complete!!! - WALLEN-BERGSTRAAT 27 / 3882 HA PUTTEN / THE NETHERLANDS / CENTURIAN@chello.nl / www.CENTURIANchaos.com |