| MUSIC REVIEWS (March 2003) |
| 36 CRAZYFISTS - BITTERNESS THE STAR (13 song CD) ROADRUNNER RECORDS These guys are one of the newer bands to be added to the ROADRUNNER RECORDS family. They play a some what melodic sounding Nu-Metal style of music. They do have lots of aggression & heaviness mixed in as well. There is lots of bass, which makes for lots of good grooving sounds. The music has a good rhythm to it to make any fan of Nu-Metal go ape shit in a mosh pit. The vocals switch back & forth between harsh gritty screaming & a more melodic clean sounding vocals. If you took a lot of Nu-Metal bands of today like THE DEFTONES, KORN, DISTURBED, LIMP BIZKIT & LINKIN PARK, rolled them all together you'd come up with these guys! that's why it surprises me that these guys aren't bigger that they are!!! - www.36CRAZYFISTS.com 200 NORTH - WATCHING THE WORLD DIE (10 song CD) DA'CORE RECORDS This five piece orginally from Maryland play some very good Hardcore music. These guys do add in other influences, but build around their Hardcore sound. They toss in some sounds of Metal, Emo, Grind & maybe a little Death Metal too. The music has a solid Hardcore heaviness that sways across into Metal & Grindcore a lot. The vocals are done in two styles, a higher Hardcore almost Death Metal, at times, screams & a slower more melodic Emo-core sound! I liked how the music & vocals go from a mid ranged pace into a faster or slower one. These guys mix it up very well & don't loose the listener along the way! We all should be hearing more from this band!!! - 200 SEYMORE ST. / CUMBERLAND, MD. 21502 / hardcoremarmalade@yahoo.com ABRASION - ANTIPOPULATION (3 song CD) This is the Australian Death Metal bands 2nd CD release to date. These guys play a really nice mixture of old school & new school styled Death Metal. The music is so full sounding for only a three piece band. The music reminds me of old school DEICIDE mixed with some new school INTERNAL BLEEDING or INCANTATION. This I loved a lot, as I'm a big fan of all these bands. I liked the way the music went from brutal rhythmic groove into an all out crushing blasting sound. The vocals are done in a mid ranged harsh vocal style that does go up a little bit at times! these guys are great & I can't wait to hear a full legnth from them soon!!! - dickcrunchingmetal@hotmail.com / www.ABRASION.org AMISH ARMADA - SELF TITLED (22 song CD) MOTHER OF ALL MUSIC This is probably one of my favorite newer bands I've come across. These guys are great! they are an Amish Punk band! they dress up like different Amish looking serial killer types! The AMISH ARMADA play old school seventies styled Punk Rock music! Their sound is Punk, but spiced up with some Psychobilly influences. I liked how their songs are mixed up with fast, slow, straight Punk, straight Rock, short songs, long songs & everyting else in between! The vocals go from an almost spoken word type, to a Punk Rock styled scream. If your a fan of bands like THE MISFITS, BLACK FLAG, DEAD KENNEDYS & THE EXPLOITED then your gonna want to join the AMISH ARMADA!!! - P.O. BOX 852 / HUDSON, WI. 54016 / booking@AMISHARMADA.com / www.AMISHARMADA.com ANATHEMA - RESONANCE II UNVEILED (12 song CD) PEACEVILLE RECORDS This album is the second volume in the ANATHEMA anthology & focuses more on the band's darker material. This band is out of England & has been together for over a decade creating such great works in the shades of light & dark. The band has a strong Gothic Metal sound to their music mixed with Death Metal influences. there is a Doom/Sludge sound in their music as well. They do have a good mixture of Dark styled music in their style. The music has an ethereal sound in it too, quite mystical in feel. The vocals are done in a dark Gothic Metal style mixed with low end Death growls. Any fan of their older material is going to love this album!!! ARMAGEDDON - THE TRIBUTE TO DESTRUCTION (10 song CD) DWELL RECORDS Here is a great tribute release to one of the best & most influencial Thrash/Death Metal bands ever & that's DESTRUCTION! These bands here have really paid a good & well deserving tribute to these guys! There are 10 DESTRUCTION classics covered by 10 brutal & heavy bands. The bands featured hear include: KAULDRON, DRACONIS, EVIL INCARNATE, NOKTURNE, ABOMINANT, THE CHASM, SANCTORUM, SOULLESS, INFAMY & DIABOLIC. All fans of DESTRUCTION should have this release in their collection!!! - P.O. BOX 39439 / LOS ANGELES, CA. 90039 / www.DWELLRECORDS.com ARSON - LACERATE THE SKY (10 song CD) RESURRECTTION A.D. RECORDS Damn! Everything I've gotten from RESURRECTION A.D. RECORDS lately has been extremely good. This label is great. ARSON hails from N.J. & play a mixture of styles that is hard to catagorize. They blend elements of old school Metal, new school Death Metal & every school of Hardcore. I think these guys would fit best with in the Hardcore scene, but can easily fir within any of the above scenes. The guitar sound is where I hear most of the old school Metal sounds, but they have lots of Hardcore elements. They actually remind me of HELMET a lot! The rest of the music has a Death Metal & Hardcore sound mixed together. the vocals are done in a very harsh raw hardcore type scream. This is my favorite blend os styles & i really loved this bands sound! These guys are amazing & everyone should get this disc! NOW!!! - P.O. BOX 832 / SOUTH AMBOY, NJ. 08879 / bookings@arsonism.com / www.ARSONism.com BASTARD SAINTS / NEFAS - SPLIT (4 song CD) THE FLOOD RECORDS Here we have a split CD release from two of Italy's better Death Metal bands! The first two tracks are from BASTARD SAINTS. Their music is very raw aggressive Death Metal with touches of Grindcore at times. They mix it up within these two styles a lot. The vocals are low Death growls & higher screaming Grind growls. The last two songs are from NEFAS. These guys also play some intense hyperfast & brutal Death Metal music. The vocals are done in a low & muffled Death growl style. these are two of Italy's finest Death acts!!! - C.P. 14 / 21045 GAZZADA (VARESE) ITALY / BASTARDSAINTS@infinito.it // VIA ILLIRICO, 10 / 20133 MILANO / ITALY / azagga@yahoo.com / NEFAS1@infinito.it BRAND NEW SIN - SELF TITLED (12 song CD) NOW OR NEVER RECORDS I was a little surprised when I popped this disc in. I was expecting a Hardcore band for some reason. Well, these guys play some old mixed with new school Metal music. They have a strong Hard Rocking sound with some dirty Blues influenced sounds. they do have a good groove to their music with heavy Doom elements intertwined within. I think this is what I liked the best about the band. The vocals reminded me of MONSTER MAGNET with a little bit of THE MELVINS tossed in. Add these type vocals to IRON MAIDEN crossed with BLACK SABBATH & a little bit of CROWBAR & you'd have the perfect example of these guys!!! - www.BRANDNEWSIN.com BRICK BATH - I WON'T LIVE THE LIE (14 song CD) CRASH MUSIC / PAVEMENT MUSIC BRICK BATH takes me back to when heavy music was really starting to dominate the airwaves. They have an old school Metal sound mixed with today's very anger fueled Metal aggression. If you take PANTERA's "VULGAR DISPLAY OF POWER" & combined it with TESTAMENT's "SOULS OF BLACK" album you'd have a great idea of what BRICK BATH sounds like. This was a great sound for me cause it was bands like those above that really made me love Metal in the first place. After one listen to this labum, everyone will want to take a BRICK BATH over & over again!!! - www.BRICKBATH.com BURNING POINT - SALVATION BY FIRE (10 song CD) LIMB MUSIC PRODUCTS / SPV This is the debut album release by this Finnish Metal band. These guys play a very tight clean style of Power Metal music. There are elements of Progressive Metal & Speed Metal present as well as straight forward Heavy Metal. They have a strong technical style to their Metal that is very powerful sounding! The guitars have the most influences on the Speed metal area. The drums have a nice mid tempo groove to them! The vocals are done in a mid to high ranged melodic clean Metal vocal style. Fans of classic acts like ACCEPT, JUDAS PRIEST & QUEENSRYCHE are sure to get into these guys!!! |