| MUSIC REVIEWS June 2005 |
| AVENGER OF BLOOD - COMPLETE ANNHILATION (10 song CD) Self Released AVENGER OF BLOOD is a four piece German influenced Thrash Metal band out of Las Vegas. These guys play old school Thrash metal with many elements of new school Thrash tossed in. They do toss in some touches of Black Metal, Death Metal & even some Doom Metal as well. The music is very crunchy & fast as shit. I could see people going insane to these guys live. I am ahuge Thrash Metal fan & these guys are definately one of the best. The vocals are done in a harsh Thrash vocal style that reminded me of EXODUS a lot. If you merged all the best parts of the bands EXODUS, FORBIDDEN, EXHORDER, DESTRUCTION, CARCASS & VENOM You'd get this great band!!! www.AVENGEROFBLOOD.com |
| BANE - THE NOTE (10 song CD) EQUAL VISION RECORDS Three years after their last release Massachussett's own BANE bring fourth one great Hardcore release. BANE sticks to a straight forward classic Hardcore style which they are known for. They have a very good driving & aggressive sound. These guys keep pumping forward & pushing their music in your face. There are some breakdowns, change ups & stop & start grooves all through out their music. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Hardcore type scream. I really like these guys a lot & feel they don't get as much attention as they deserve. If your a fan of H2O, AGNOSTIC FRONT, MURPHY'S LAW, D.R.I., DOWNSET & SHEER TERROR, then you'll enjoy this great band!!! 139 MONTAGUE CITY ROAD / GREENFIELD, MA. 01303 / www.BANEcentral.com |
| BEYOND MORTAL DREAMS - PROMO CD (11 song CD) Self Release This is just a promotional CD for the band to re-introduce themselves to the Metal scene. These Australian maniacs play some highly intense Death Metal music. They do toss in tinges of Thrash Metal as well as Black Metal. The music is kind of raw & very brutal sounding. There is a cold aggressiveness to their music too. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death growl. The CD consists of a demo 2004, studio practice demo 2004 & a rehearsal from 2005. These guys are pretty decent & I'd really like to hear a studio Professionally done CD from them!!! BEYONDMORTALDREAMS@hotmail.com / http://on.to.BEYONDMORTALDREAMS |
| BLOODAXE - RAPING THE ANCIENT (11 song CD) WHITE LEGENDS This is a two man project, lead by Nordavinden Lien who does all the guitars. bass, vokills, piano & Rati who does all the drums. The music these guys create is a Death Metal mixed with Black Metal force. These guys have a strong raw aggressive sound to their music. It's very diverse in sound from most bands of this style. They have a thunderous hard pounding drive in their music too. They toss in some change ups & breakdowns to give variety. The vocals are a low end harsh Death growl, that are a bit haunting too. A very cool release & highly recommended. SUITE #15 / 936 TUNGSTEN STREET / THUNDER BAY / ONTARIO / CANADA / P7B 5Z6 viking_squad@hotmail.com / www.BLOODAXE.net |
| CHAINSAW DISSECTION - ZOMBIE DECIMATION (15 song CD) Self Released CHAINSAW DISSECTION is a one man obliterating machine playing insanely done Grind Gore. Bob "The Butcher" Macabre is the crazy behind this project. He does the vocals, guitar, bass, lyrics & drum programming. The music is super fast & extremely heavy. The music just smashes you in the face repeatedly & doesn't ever let up! The drums sound like a machine gun going off. The vocals are done in a low end deep vomitous growl that haunts you. This is some ultra sick shit!!! If this is your thing, then your gonna love this CD! CHAINSAWDISSECTION@yahoo.com / www.CHAINSAWDISSECTION.com |
| CIRCUS MAXIMUS - THE FIRST CHAPTER (9 song CD) THE LASERS EDGE CIRCUS MAXIMUS is a Norwegian Progressive Metal band & more. They are highly dominated by Progressive Metal all the way, but they add in lots of other influences along the way like Rock, 70's Prog-Rock, Heavy Metal, Traditional Metal & even Death Metal. The music melts all these styles together very well. There are lots of grooving melodies, brutal aggressive parts & some all out crunchy shredding parts too. The vocals are done in a clean melodic Power Metal vocal style. I could see fans of SYMPHONY X, QUEENSRYCHE, DREAM THEATRE & IRON MAIDEN really enjoying this disc!!! CIRCUSMAXIMUS@intromental.com / www.CIRCUSMAXIMUSsite.com |
| DARKLORD - SELF TITLED (4 song CD) Self Released DARKLORD emerges out of the darkness of Australia & brings forth their brand of Black Metal. These guys are heavy as hell all the way. The music is harsh, cold & brutal Black metal mayhem. They attack you right from the beginning & the assault continues right to the end. There are some Thrash Metal elements present in some places. The vocals are very low end brutal Death/Black Metal growls. These guys are extremely heavy all the way. Watch out for these guys!!! BEYONDMORTALDREAMS@hotmail.com / http://DARKLORDfff.tripod.com |
| DONNYBROOK! - LIONS IN THIS GAME (12 song CD) HAND OF HOPE RECORDS This was a great relief to have in my review pile this month. These guys hail from the streets of Los Angeles & play balls out Hardcore. I loved every song on this disc. The music is Hardcore in every way. There's pounding drums, great slamming grooves, breakdowns, change ups & more. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Hardcore type scream style & are full of aggression. These guys reminded me of a lot of the great Hardcore I grew up listening to. If you like Hardcore greats like SICK OF IT ALL, MADBALL, AGNOSTIC FRONT & 25 TA LIFE, then your gonna love these guys! DONNYBROOK is the band to watch out for this year! Their gonna tear up the Hardcore scene!!! |
| HELLZ KITCHEN SHOW, THE - 4 SONG DEMO (4 song CD) METAL QUEEN MANAGEMENT These guys come to us from Canada & play some extremely good Metal music. They are in no way a typical sounding Metal band though. These guys toss in many elements of other styles like Electronica, Industrial, Gothic, Hardcore & even some Death metal. There is a heavy thunderous drum & bass sound all through out their music. This I dug a lot. The vocals cross over into Gothic, Industrial, Hardcore & Metal styles. These guys are really good & I enjoyed them a lot. These 4 songs are off their fourth coming CD entitled "Dark Of Oz". This band is a must hear!!! 998 BLOOR STREET WEST / P.O. BOX 10641 / TORONTO, ONTARIO / CANADA M6H 1L8 THKS@sympatico.ca / www.THEHELLZKITCHENSHOW.com |
| HELLZ KITCHEN SHOW, THE - VOX POPULI VOX DEI (3 song CD) METAL QUEEN MANAGEMENT This is the bands first demo CD release, which came out in 2003, but was sent for review now, so here it is! These canadian weirdos play an awesome mix of some of the best styles out there. They blend lots of elements of Death, Metalcore, Hardcore & Industrial together to create their style. The most dominate style is Industrial. I loved the cool heavy grinding & grooving they have in their sound. There are lots of cool change ups as well. The vocals are done in a crossover style of Death, Hardcore & Industrial. If you mutated MARILYN MANSON, SLIPKNOT, BIOHAZARD, RAMSTEIN & WHITE ZOMBIE into one group the result would be THE HELLZ KITCHEN SHOW! 998 BLOOR STREET WEST / P.O. BOX 10641 / TORONTO, ONTARIO / CANADA M6H 1L8 THKS@sympatico.ca / www.THEHELLZKITCHENSHOW.com |
| HERUKA - LEGGENDA (6 song CD) Self Released This is a one person Black Metal project out of Italy. The mind child of this project is Adranor who does the vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards & drum programming. The music has an old medieval feel to the music & is very cold & gloomy sounding. There is a blanket of darkness that covers the sound of the music. There are lots of all out aggressive Black metal parts as well as some slower more melodic & atmospheric parts. The vocals are done in two styles, one being a harsh & screaming Black Metal style, while the other is a low Black Death Metal type growl. This is one very talented musician & all Black Metal freaks should pick this excellent album up!!! VIA VENETO 34 / CAP 91016 / ERICE (TP) ITALY HERUKA@email.it / www.HERUKA.it |
| LINCOLN LOVE LOG - 4 HITS FROM THE BONG (4 song CD) Self Released This is just a promo copy of L.L.L. upcoming CD release on DOOMPHONIC RECORDINGS. These sickos are at it once again. They play highly intense & ultra aggressive Death Grind music. The music is quite chaotic at times, but that's the way they like it. They do have some brutal grooves in places of their songs that are pretty cool. The vocals are done in a high pitched Death scream with some low end Grind growls mixed in. There is a cool live track for all you unlikely bastards, like myself who never got to see this great band live!!! P.O. BOX 1247 / FREEPORT, IL. 61032 http://LINCOLNLOVELOG.home.insightbb.com |
| NACHTMYSTIUM - EULOGY IV (9 song CD) SOUTHERN LORD / BATTLE KOMMAND RECORDS NACHTMYSTIUM is a one man Black Metal band done by Azentrius. There are session members, but the driven force behind the band was & always will be Azentrius. This band plays some really dark brooding Black Metal which is very cold & harsh sounding at times. The music does get a little atmospheric here & there, but it's mostly a dark blanket of coldness. The vocals are done in a mid ranged & throaty Black metal growl. There are 3 cover songs of VON, EARTH & BURZUM songs as well as a live track. After one listen you'll know why this is considered one of the best U.S. Black metal bands in the scene today!!! |
| ON BROKEN WINGS - IT'S ALL A LONG GOODBYE! (11 song CD) EULOGY RECORDS I was quite surprised & pleased when I popped this disc in. These guys play a very heavy style of Metal music that is almost Death Metal, but not quite. They like to refer to it as Mosh-Metal. This isn't what your thinking though. ON BROKEN WINGS has a very dark & haunting vibe that has engulfed their sound. The music has a ton of chunky grooves & tight thick beats all the way through. There are some really cool change ups in the music too. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death scream style mixed with some really melodic clean vocals. If you haven't experienced this band yet, you must do so. This is a great band & an amazing CD!!! www.ONBROKENWINGS.com |
| ORDAINED - SINSPIRATIONAL MUSICK GREATEST CUTS (13 song CD) DIE MUSIC GROUP This new disc from ORDAINED is a best of collection that covers a 9 year span of the bands existence. These 13 tracks are done in a Traditional Metal style with lots of elements from Power, Thrash & Heavy metal all rolled into one. The music is very well thought out & has a bunch of good rhythms & grooves all through the songs. There are some really cool change ups & all out shredding parts too. The vocals are done in a mid to high ranged Power Metal & Traditional Metal style. These guys remind me a lot of FORBIDDEN - "Twist Into Form" days & my old guitarists other band DROSS. ORDAINEDnews@webtv.net / www.ORDAINED.net |
| RICKY WARWICK - LOVE MANY TRUST FEW (14 song CD) SANCTUARY RECORDS This is the 2nd solo release from Ricky Warwick. This disc was produced by his long time friend, DEF LEPPARD's Joe Elliot. Even though he comes from a Punk background he plays all American Rock music. The music is soulful & pure. There are some pretty decent Rock beats & grooves in his songs. The vocals are also soulful & melodic sounding. This really isn't what I like to listen to a lot, but if your into stuff like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Cheap Trick & Eddie And The Cruisers, then you'll probably dig this release!!! www.RICKYWARWICK.com |
| THE FUROR - INVERT ABSOLUTE (9 song CD) PRIME CUTS MUSIC This is the first full length album from this Australian based band. These guys play some very good Black Metal music. The music is quite intense & very hyper sounding. They toss in lots of elements of Death Metal along with Thrash metal. There is a strong hatred pouring from their cold war Metal style. The music is very harsh, raw & aggressive, but is at the same time quite technical sounding. The vocals are done in a harsh throaty Black Metal growl & scream. All Black Metal fans would be proud to have this disc in their collection! Check these dark hordes out!!! |
| THE HURT PROCESS - SELF TITLED (10 song CD) VICTORY RECORDS VICTORY RECORDS is set to unleash another great Hardcore band onto the music scene. This time it comes in the form of THE HURT PROCESS. These guys plant themselves firmly into Hardcore music, but toss in some elements of Emo & Pop music to give some variety. There are some all out rage induced parts, then they break it down to some more melodic Emo type parts mixed with some grooving sing along Pop parts. The music is very tight & has lots of change ups all through out. The vocals go along the same line as the music. I can see these guys being another successful band for VICTORY RECORDS. Check this band out cause their going to be big soon!!! www.THEHURTPROCESS.com |
| TRANSFIX - SELF TITLED (5 song CD) Self Released TRANSFIX is an amazing Death Grind band out of Massachusetts. These guys are very heavy, aggressive & plow the shit out of you with their wall of chaotic music. The music is a well blended mix of Death Metal & Grindcore with lots of Hardcore influences tossed into the mix. They are full on hyper blasting at times & then they toss in some cool grooves & breakdowns. The vocals are also a crossover style of Death Metal & Grindcore. There is a low end Death growl with some higher pitched Grindcore screams. This band is fucking great. I loved this disc. I wouldn't be surprised if these guys get signed soon, because they surely deserve to be! Buy this disc!!! 11 HAWTHORNE ST. / FAIRHAVEN, MA. 02719-4343 TRANSFIXdeath@yahoo.com / www.TRANSFIX.cjb.net |
