| MUSIC REVIEWS (June 2004) |
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| 13 WINTERS - WHERE THE SOULS WANDER (13 song CD) DARK VALLEY RECORDS This is the second releases I've recieved from this amazing Metal band that emerges from the darkness of Maine. This band combines many elements from Death Metal, Doom, Thrash & Black Metal to create their sound. The music is extremely tight, dark & has a haunting feeling all through out! The music goes from slow atmospheric Black Metal & Doom to fast paced Death & Thrash Metal sounds. The vocals are a mix of fast paced harsh Death growls, some slower Doom ones, Black Metal screams & female angelic vocals. This band has highly improved upon their last album which I loved. This is a great band for any fan of Metal to check out!!! - P.O. BOX 384 / HOLLOS CENTER, MAINE 04042 |
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| AMERICAN SUGAR BITCH - WORK SUCKS (8 song CD) I've heard of these guys before, but the weird thing is they are from the same town I live in!!! The band features Weakley of the 80's Metal bands TEEZE & ROUGHOUSE. These guys are great & they have a very energetic & up beat driving Metal sound. There are touches of 80's Metal, Thrash & even some Punk overtones. I loved the Punk stuff a lot. They have some really good grooves & beats all through out. The vocals have a crossover sound of Punk & Metal. These guys are highly talented & deserve much attention & praise. They remind me a bit of old BRITNEY FOX, PARADE OF LOSERS (P.O.L.), UGLY KID JOE & a bit of SKID ROW. If your a fan of 80's Metal with more, this is the band for you! Check these guys out!!! - P.O. BOX 615 / PHOENIXVILLE, PA. 19460 / AMERICANSUGARBITCH@yahoo.com / www.AMERICANSUGARBITCH.com |
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| ASH & ELM - VISIONS FROM THE PAST (5 song CD) Wow! This New Jersey based band blew me away! These guys blend together tons of elements of Power, Thrash & Death Metal together to create their sound. The music had such a strong & powerful vibe all through out! There is a lot of all out Thrash Metal aggression in their songs with some heavy & tight as hell drums. The vocals crossover between melodic Power Metal, Thrash Metal, Traditional Metal & some Death Metal at times. These guys are fuckin' awesome! They named themselves after Ash from the EVIL DEAD TRILOGY & from the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET movies. These guys can stand in a league with ICED EARTH, CHILDREN OF BODOM & TESTAMENT. - 207 CRANBURY NECK RD. / CRANBURY, NJ. 08512 / theband@ASHANDELM.com / www.ASHANDELM.com |
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| ATREYU - THE CURSE (13 song CD) VICTORY RECORDS I have this bands previous release & I heard a few songs off this disc on the radio, so I was quite happy to find this disc in my hands for review. Hailing out of Orange County, these guys are back with a more explosive disc than before. ATREYU has knocked down all barriers by combining elements of Rock, Hardcore, Metal & even some touches of Emo. I love all the extreme energy pouring out of this band. They have a heavy driving beat with grooves, breakdowns, change ups, blasts & more. I loved their last disc & this new one blows that one away by far. Metal has a new face & that face is ATREYU!!! Get this disc, you won't be disappointed at all! This is most likely one of the best releases of 2004!!! - www.ATREYUrock.com |
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| CHRIS ALLEN - ROCK MACHINE (4 song CD) I'm always impressed when I find a CD like this in my stack for review. CHRIS ALLEN is one highly talented & extremely good musician. Chris plays some instrumental Power & Hard Rock styled music. He does toss in some elements of Blues, Funk & Jazz Fusion at times as well. The music is very tight, clean, stylish & very good. All the music, instruments, percussion programming was written, arranged, performed & produced all by CHRIS ALLEN. Chris is a major talent in the music scene that can side by side with the likes of RANDY RHOADS, ZAKK WYLDE, STEVE VAI & EDDIE VAN HALEN. This guy should not be over looked & deserves much, much attention!!! - 350 MASS. AVE. / STUDIO 217 / ARLINGTON, MA. 02476 / imback@comcast.net / www.theCHRISALLENpowertrip.com |
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| CIRCUS OF DEAD SQUIRRELS - INDOOR RECESS (10 song CD) FORANATION Damn! These guys are fuckin' amazing! They remind me of one of my favorite bands from New York & that's BILE! This is the debut CD release of this Industrial Metal act out of Ct. The music has a ton of energy pouring out everywhere. I was hooked right from the start. They have a Metal sound, but it is covered with tons of Industrial music. I loved the adrenaline that drives through all their songs. The music is extremely tight & fast, with tons of Industrial grooves, beats & breakdowns. These guys are just down right amazing! The vocals are done in a mid ranged Industrial style & a low end Death growl. This is one of the best new bands I've heard in a long time. Fans of BILE & HELL ON EARTH will love this band!!! I know I did!!! - panchee@aol.com / www.CIRCUSOFDEADSQUIRRELS.com |
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| DEAD CHRETIENS - SELF TITLED (3 song CD) DEAD CHRETIENS hail from Canada & play some very chaotic Punk music. They have an old school Punk Rock sound. The music is very hyper & aggressive sounding. I think this is a live recording, or at least it sounds that way. These guys remind me of a lot of the Punk bands from my area in the early 90's like DEATH CORE, SPACE CHRIST & VIOLENT SOCIETY. The vocals are mid ranged & loud Punk Rock vocals. All old school Punk fans would appreciate these guys a lot. New schollers won't have a clue!!! - SPUNK P. / P.O. BOX 102 / COBALT, ON. P0J 1C0 CANADA / spunkzine@yahoo.com / www.DEADCHRETIENS.com |
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| DOG MULCH - GROUND HOUND (25 song CD) DOG MULCH is a one man project by Bob Macabre. He has done all the vocals, guitar, bass & drum programming himself. The music is done in a Death Metal style with lots of Grindcore influences tossed in. The music is a mid to low end style with some really crunchy guitars. The faster parts is where I here a lot of the Grindcore parts coming into play. The vocals are a mid to low ranged Death growl. This is yet another talented musician in the underground scene!!! Fans of Death & Grindcore will be pleased with this release!!! - goatbleeder666@yahoo.com |