| MUSIC REVIEWS (January 2002) |
| AETERNUS - BURNING THE SHROUND (10 song CD) HAMMER HEART MUSIC This album is a collection of AETERNUS songs compiled from various other releases. The only song that is new & will be featured on their next release is the title track. Some songs were previously unreleased & some are from previous 7" releases. There are also a few live tracks as well. This is some really good Black Metal music that mixes raw basic Black Metal elements with some more technical & atmospheric elements. This is a good album to get so you can hear AETERNUS' journey from past to present in the Black Metal realm! A good release all around!!! ANNIHILATOR - CARNIVAL DIABLOS (11 song CD) METAL-IS/SANCTUARY RECORDS Well, these Canadian Thrash Metal masters are back again with another great album. This is a cleaner & clearer Metal release, but as heavy if not, heavier than past efforts. There are lots of chugging Thrash guitar riffs that keep pushing the music in your face. There are some almost mechanical & technical sounds in the music as well. The vocals range from mid-ranged clean Thrash vocals to higher pitched more melodic one's This is a great album to please old fans & to help grab hold of some new ones as well! - www.ANNHILATORMETAL.com AURA NOIR - INCREASED DAMNATION (15 song CD) HAMMER HEART MUSIC These guys play some raw unholy Thrash Metal in a very good way!!! The band features members of both MAYHEM & DODHEIMSARD. This album consists of the reissue of the bands 1st MCD "DREAMS LIKE DESERTS", plus 9 additional tracks previously unreleased. The music is very raw & fast paced sounding Thrash Metal with lots of touches of Death Metal. The vocals are raw groggy like Death Metal growls. These guys remind me of old VENOM releases!!! BUTCHERY - THE COMING... (3 song Demo) Here we have a fast paced & brutal Death Metal act coming out of Sweden. This is a 3 song demo cassette show casing the bands Death Metal talents. The vocals are a very low Death growl with an occassional higher pitched one tossed in. The music on the other hand is pure Death Metal with some Sludge like sounds in the mix as well. The music is very low end with lots of fast rythms & blast beats. They have an almost old school Death Metal style to their sound! - GUSTAVSGATAN 12 A / S-691 34 KARLSKOGA / SWEDEN / BUTCHERY666@HOTMAIL.COM / how.to/BUTCHER CHAMBER METAL-NEO CLASSICAL METAL GUITAR - COMPILATION (14 song CD) DWELL RECORDS This is an instrumental album comprised of beautiful guitar work that goes from soothing acoustic passages to furious demonic electric-guitar wizardry. Lots of the work featured here has a medieval & fantasy type feel to it. There are 14 tracks & 7 musicians each with 2 songs. The music is very much Metal music, but has a strong classical touch to it as well. This is a must for all guitarist & for fans of good music! There is photos & contact addresses for each guitarist featured. - P.O. BOX 39439 / LOS ANGELES, CA. 90039 / www.DWELLRECORDS.com CHAOS THEORY - SELF-TITLED (6 song CD) This is the new release from this 4 piece out of NJ. It's nice to see these guys still going strong. This is the bands 3rd release to date. Their sound has changed a bit since past efforts in all aspects. The music is a bit more involved, heavier, technical & much better constructed. The song writing has improved a lot as well. Their music is more of a SLAYER meets POWERMAN 5000. It's very heavy Thrash oriented, but with lots of bass & drum grooves & breakdowns. Being a fan of past albums, it's easy to say this is their best release!!! - P.O. BOX 9796 / TRENTON, NJ. 08650 / http://members.aol.com/CHAOSTHORY/index.html / CHAOSTHORY@AOL.COM CHROMA KEY - YOU GO NOW (9 song CD) FIGHT EVIL RECORDS CHROMA KEY is the dreamy soundscape brought to life by Kevin Moore. Some of you might recognize this keyboardist from the Proggressive Rock band DREAM THEATER. This album is a world away from that band. The music is very out there flighty fantasy like music. It has a strong Techno feel with some 80's synth type music that uses lots of sampling & effects. This is good music to listen to if you want to escape reality for awhile & just kick back!!! - www.CHROMAKEY.com CONTAMINATED 3.0-TEN YEARS OF TOTAL DEATH - COMPILATION (51 song 2 CD set) RELAPSE RECORDS Her we have the 3rd installment into RELAPSE RECORDS Contaminated CD compilations. This one is better than past ones, cause it's a 2 disc set. Disc one contains 30 songs & features NILE, ORIGIN, DYING FETUS, EXHUMED, NASUM, CEPHALIC CARNAGE & more. Disc 2 contains 21 songs & features BRUTAL TRUTH, AMORPHIS, MINDROT, EXIT-13, MORGION & more. Some songs on these discs are previously unreleased. The CD also celebrates the 10th anniversary of RELAPSE RECORDS!!! This is a great compilation that all Death Metal fans should pick up! I hope there is another 10 great years of RELAPSE RECORDS! -P.O. BOX 2060 / UPPER DARBY, PA. 19082 / www.RELAPSE.com CRAWLING FROM THE WRECKAGE - COMPILATION (16 song CD) HOWLING BULL AMERICA Here is yet another excellent CD compilation, this one coming from HOWLING BULL AMERICA RECORDS. This CD contains 16 shards of carnage coming from bands on their label. Most of the music here is Death Metal & is extremely havy. Some of the bands include VULGAR PIGEONS, HELLCHILD, SPACEBOY, YELLOW MACHINEGUN, FORCE, BALANCE & more. This is another great CD to pick up for fans of extreme music! - P.O. BOX 40129 / SAN FRANCISCO, CA. 94140-0129 / TORO@HOWLINGBULL.COM / www.HOWLINGBULL.com DEADFOOD - WEIRD FEELINGS (13 song CD) This is some very strange & bizarre music, but it sucks you in & makes you want more. There is no one way you could describe this band. This is the bands 2nd CD & it picks up where that one left off. The music contains lots of elements & influences of different styles like Japanese Hardcore, Surf, Jazz, some video game elements & some Experimental Noise & Grindcore. At times they did remind me of MR. BUNGLE a bit!!! Their bio is right, "Their music is a drug!", cause it was so fucked up sounding, but I totally enjoyed it & wanted more!!! Try to ingest this if you can, it may hurt at 1st, but easier to take as you go along!!! - P.O. BOX 6488 / BURBANK, CA. 91510-6488 / www.DEADFOOD.com DOOMSTONE - SATANAVOID (11 song CD) TIRADE RECORDS This is the 1st release put out by TIRADE RECORDS. This is the side project of King farley of DECEASED & OCTOBER 31. The music is done in a Black Metal & Heavy Metal style. I'm not really too into the vocals that much. They sound like a mixture of VENOM & MERCYFUL FATE. This is good music, but just not my thing! - 1636 DIAMOND SPRINGS ROAD #102 / VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. 23455 (JENN) DRUMS & TUBA - VINYL KILLER (13 song CD) RIGHTEOUS BABE RECORDS This is a lot different from most of the stuff I get for review & that's one of the reasons I loved it. The music is instrumental music, but with a very different & extremely good sound. There is a tuba player, guitarist & drummer in this band! The sound is very original & creative mixing styles like Funk, Avantgarde, Punk, Jazz, Surf, Rock all covered with New Orleans style grooves. This band definately stands out in my mind & deserves lots of attention!!! Keep an ear out for them!!! - www.DRUMANDTUBA.com EVOKEN - QUIETUS (7 song CD) DWELL RECORDS This is the bands 2nd full length CD of extremely good Doom Metal music. The music has lots of dark gloomy over tones & haunting atmospheric sounds. The music is real sludgy & chugging sounding as well! The vocals are mid ranged Death growls with a strange & eerie echo effect. Really dark & enchanting music that captures you & drags you into a dark & dreary underworld!!! |