| MUSIC REVIEWS (February 2003) |
| 7TH NEMESIS / PUNISHMENT - SPLIT (10 song CD) SKULL FUCKED PRODUCTIONS 7TH NEMESIS has been in the scene since 2000 & have unearthed some very heavy & powerful Death Metal unto the underground masses. These guys have a good blend of old school & new school Death Metal elements. They do toss in some Grindcore influences at times too. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death growl style! The last five songs are from the band PUNISHMENT. These guys have also been in the scene for awhile now too. They play a mixture of Grindcore & Death Metal music. They have a more raw & aggressive style to their sound. There are tons of blasts & heavy guitar crunching. The vocals are a mix of Grindcore & Death Metal growls. This is a great split by two good bands in the underground scene today. - 150 AVENUE PIERRE BROSSOLETTE / 94 170 LE PERREUX SUR MARNE / FRANCE / 7THNEMESIS@wanadoo.fr / www.7THNEMESIS.fr.st // BAUMERGASSE 14/14 / A-1210 WIEN / AUSTRIA / info@PUNISHMENT.at / www.PUNISHMENT.at 13 WINTERS - DARK EMBRACE DEMO 2002 (5 song CD) DARK VALLEY RECORDS 13 WINTERS hails from Maine & play some dark Death Metal music. They toss in some elements of Black Metal & Doom Metal as well. They have a weird Gothic type vibe that coats all their music too. Their keyboards sound is very Gothic like along with some haunting violins. The vocals are a blend of extreme female vocals, melodic female vocals & some very fierce male Black/Death Metal vocals. This band has quite a unique sound & I'd like to hear more from them in the future!!! - P.O. BOX 384 / HOLLIS CENTER, MAINE 04042 / 13WINTERS@dark-valley-records.com / www.13WINTERS.com ACARDIACUS - TENDENZ HARTE (6 song CD) EIGENPRODUKTION ACARDIACUS emerges from Germany & play some very different sounding music. They combine elements from a lot of styles to create their sound. There are some very strong Techno sounds blended with some Gothic, Metal & Industrial sounds as well. They have an 80's Techno vibe mixed with todays harder edged Industrial & Metal sounds. The Gothic mostly comes into play with the vocals. The vocals are all done in German & have a melodic Goth/Metal feel to them. These guys remind me of a more club/dance/rave sounding RAMMSTEIN!!! - EMIL-KRAEPELIN-STR. 1 / 17235 NEUSTRELITZ / GERMANY / andreasvonwave@addcom.de / www.ACARDIACUS.de.vu BAYSIDE - SIRENS AND CONDOLENCES (11 song CD) VICTORY RECORDS BAYSIDE is one of the newer bands to join the VICTORY RECORDS family. These guys formed in long Island, New York & play some Emo induced Hardcore music. The music has some really riffing Hardcore sounds, but is laced with tons of Emo influences through out. They have a bit of a dark & melancholy feel to their music. I'm not a big Emo fan, so I kind of swayed back & forth with these guys. After a fews listens they won me over. The vocals are done all in a few different melodic Emo styles, but the Hardcore sounds are what really pulled me in!!! - info@BAYSIDErocks.com / www.BAYSIDErocks.com BLACK CANDLE - THE FACELESS ANGELS (11 song CD) BURHUC (Available Through BEOWOLF PRODUCTIONS) BLACK CANDLE play a very cold & dark style of Black Metal music. They have a very eerie sound to their music as well. The music is some what done in an old school war like Metal style. They have a really raw vibe to their sound too. The vocals are done in a harsh mid ranged Death/Black Metal type growl. This is one for all old school Black Metal fans!!! - 10 RUE HIERZIGSBERG / L-5536 / REMICH / LUXEMBOURG / evs666@msn.com / facelessangel666@msn.com / http://listen.to/BLACKCANDLE BLEACH - ASTRONOMY (11 song CD) TOOTH & NAIL RECORDS BLEACH has released a new & darker album this time around. These guys play some very deep sounding Emo/Hardcore styled music. The music is more on the Hardcore side with some crunchy & noisy sounding guitars & really driving drum sounds. The vocals are more in the vein of Emo music. I'm not a big fan of Emo, but these guys are really good. I never heard their older material, but I'm gonna seek it out now. BLEACH is a blend of the bands AT THE DRIVE IN, FOO FIGHTERS & H20. That's a good combo to me!!! - www.BLEACHed.com BYATIS - IN THE DARK ABYSSES OF MEMORY (7 song CD) SKULL FUCKED PRODUCTIONS BYATIS hails from France & is shoving themselves in the face of everyone in the underground scene. These guys play some extremely tight & intense Death Metal music. These guys also add in lots of Grindcore type elements to their sound. The vocals are done in a very low deep guttural Death growl with some higher pitched Grindcore screams mixed in. All fans of older Death Metal greats like DYING FETUS, DROGHEDA, INHUMATE, SKINLESS & INCANTATION are gonna love these guys!!! - 6 AVENUE DES ROSSIGNOLS / 62360 HESDIN L'ABBE / FRANCE / BYATIS@chez.com / www.BYATIS.fr.st CEREBRAL EFFUSION - VIOLENCE IN MOTION (9 song CD) UNMATCHED BRUTALITY RECORDS This is what I like to see! More & more bands are going back to the old school Death Metal style. These guys play some very aggressive & brutal sounding Death Metal music. They are very low end, dark & heavy as hell. It's bands like these guys who got me into Death Metal in the first place. Fans of old school greats like old CANNIBAL CORPSE, SUFFOCATION, IMMOLATION, MORTAL DECAY, DISINCARNATE & NAPALM DEATH are gonna love these guys. This band should become very big, very quickly in the underground scene. They are an awesome band! Get this one!!! - CEREBRAL@euskalnet.net / http://CEREBRALEFFUSION.xrs.net CRUCIFIRE - UNBLESSED UNTO HATRED (3 song Cassette) Here we have a highly intense & aggressive Death Metal band out of Australia. These guys have a very raw old school sound to their Death Metal music. They also have some elements of Black Metal in their sound as well. There is a strong Satanic war like vibe within their sound too. The vocals are done in a low end dark Death/Black Metal type growling style. This is another one for all old school Death fans!!! - P.O. BOX 1648 / GEELONG VIC 3220 / AUSTRALIA / CRUCIFIRE@hotmail.com / thedark.1@lycos.com DARK EMBRACE - BITTER END (4 song CD) DARK EMBRACE comes to us from Spain & play some very Gothic influenced Death Metal music. They toss in lots of elements of both of these styles through out the whole CD. They even throw in some elements of Black Metal here & there as well. This band has even captured some Doom Metal sounds in their songs too. They have a dark atmospheric vibe through out the songs also. I love this style of music so I really got into this band. The vocals are a blend of higher pitched Black Metal growls, low Death Metal growls & some melodic Goth & Doom vocals. This band is well worth checking out!!! - P.O. BOX 1348 / C.P. 15080 / A CORUNA / SPAIN / DARKEMBRACE@bach.zzn.com / www.DARKEMBRACE.tk DEBODIFIED - UTOPIA IN THE EYES OF A BEAST (8 song CD) COMATOSE MUSIC Yes! Here is another band that plays old school brutal as hell Death Metal music. These guys are great, unfortunatelly they split up two months after the CD's release do to turmoil in the band. They have some heavy ass riffing & hard as hell drum beats, blasts & rythms. These guys have everything that is great about old school Death Metal music. This is a must for any fan of brutal old school Death Metal!!! - www.DEBODIFIED.com DEFENDERS OF METAL COMPILATION - VOLUME 1: THE SEDUCTION (18 song CD) MIB MUSIC This is a great compilation CD of some very good & very talented Metal acts. Most of the music played here is done in an epic style of Power Metal, Progressive Metal & Thrash Metal music styles. There are eighteen songs & eighteen bands on this volume. Some of the bands include: JESTERS MOON, ELEMENT, MADOG, VICTIM, ART OF FEAR, BABYLON, STILL LIFE, RAPID FIRE & ten others. This is a must for any fan of the above bands or styles! I loved this disc!!! - www.MANINBLACKMUSIC.com |