| MUSIC REVIEWS (March 2004) |
| ANI DIFRANCO - EDUCATED GUESS (14 song CD) RIGHTEOUS BABE RECORDS I'm always happy when I find one of ANI's CD's in my review pile. ANI is one truely talented & amazing musician & artist. On this new disc, ANI offers us 14 new tracks of Folk, Pop, Indie Rock, Grunge & Punk styled music. On this new album she has a slightly different sound to her music. This maybe cause she has written all the music, plays all the instruments & provides the lead & backing vocals as well. She also did all the recording & mixing herself too. She is definately one of the best female (& musicians in general) out there & deserves much more attention then she gets. - P.O. BOX 95 / ELLICOTT STATION / BUFFALO, NY. 14205 / info@righteousbabe.com / www.righteousbabe.com BEIJING TANK - SELF TITLED (4 song CD) Comming out of Australia is this three piece Death Metal act. These guys mix in lots of Hardcore to their Death Metal sound. I really dug the breakdowns & change ups they toss in through out their sound. There is an even balance of Hardcore & Death Metal styles with in their music itself, while the vocals have a more low end Death Metal growl. These guys definately have a different sound to their music. This new band in the scene are going to quickly make a name for themselves! - P.O. BOX 3299 / VICTORIA POINT WEST. QLD / AUSTRALIA 4165 / www.BEIJINGTANK.com BENIGHTED - (ICP): INSANE CEPHALIC PRODUCTION (10 song CD) BENIGHTED emerges from the depths of France with this new highly intense Death Metal release. These guys have a very brutal & sick Death Metal sound. The music is super tight & technical sounding with lots of of good change ups. I liked the slow to fast change ups the best. They also toss in some grooves as well. The vocals are done ina low Death Metal growl mixed with some mid to high Death growls/screams. This is one of the best Death bands I've heard in a long time to come out of France! - TRUCHAN JULIEN MARIGNY / 42510 BALBIGNY / FRANCE / stay.brutal@wanadoo.fr / gab666BENIGHTED@aol.com / www.staybrutal.com CHAINSNAP - HOLLOW (9 song CD) This five piece band out of Central Wisconsin play some really good Metal-core type music. They have a really cool dark sound with tons of grooves tossed in the mix. They pull an even amount of elements from both Metal & hardcore to create their style. They rythm section is where most of the Hardcore influences come in. The guitars sound is where I hear the most Metal influences. The vocals are done in a crossover style of Metal & Hardcore, almost like CROWBAR, with more melodic parts though. These guys are well worth checking out!!! - CHAINSNAP2003@yahoo.com / www.CHAINSNAP.com DAWN OF AZAZEL - THE LAW OF THE STRONG (8 song CD) AGONIA RECORDS Holy crap! These guys are highly intense & very, very good. These guys hail from New Zealand & play ultra sick War metal. They blend lots of elements from Death Metal, Grindcore & Black Metal to create their sound. They fill their sound with tons of speed, raw brutality, heavy grinding, aggression & lots of darkness. This band is plowing their way through the underground very fiercly & this album will surely take them to the front of the Death Metal scene. This is a must for any fan of intensely great Death Metal!!! - P.O. BOX 34-939 / AUCKLAND / NEW ZEALAND / DAWNOFAZAZEL@hotmail.com / www.DAWNOFAZAZEL.orcon.net.nz DELUSION - THE TRAGEDY OF REGRETS (11 song CD) RAVENHURST RECORDS DELUSION have released their debut CD filled with lots of Rock/Metal music. They do have a strong bases in the Metal area, but they toss in lots of elements of Rock, Power Metal & Progressive Metal as well. There is lots of mood, melody, emotion, depth & stregnth in their songs. They have a driving Rock sound with lots of Power & Progressive Metal all intwertwind within. The vocals are done in an epic Metal type style. All fans of DIO, SANCTUARY, DREAM THEATER, QUEENSRYCHE & FATES WARNING will dig these guys!!! - info@alchemy.md-internet.net / www.DELUSION.us FRET-ESSENTIAL COMPILATION CD - VOLUME 1 (15 song CD) WRETCHED PRODUCTIONS / HAPI-SKRATCH RECORDS This is the first CD release from Wayne Klinger who runs WRETCHED PRODUCTIONS & QUINTESSENCE WEBZINE. This CD is a compilation of all instrumentals featuring some of today's hottest underground guitarist. The musical styles played here range from Metal, Fusion, Blues, Rock, Progressive, Neo-Classical 7 more. Some of the artist include: MICHAEL KNIGHT, DAVID NEIL CLINE BAND, JIM MORRIS, SEAN MERCER, RARE BLEND, GASHEAD, ART FACCIO & 8 others. This is a must for all guitar lovers & fans of excellent music!!! - P.O. BOX 134 / MT. CARMEL, PA. 17851 / http://community.webtv.net/metal-essence/QUINTESSENCE2000 FUNERUS - FESTERING EARTH (9 song CD) IBEX MOON RECORDS FUNERUS is an amazingly good Death metal band from my home state of Pennsylvania. These guys (& girl) play an old school style of Death metal music. They toss in tons of raw brutality & some new school technical Death metal sounds as well. These guys have a solid driving sound as well. The vocals are done in a low end Death growl style. The band also features Kyle Severn from INCANTATION on drums! This is a must for all old school Death heads!!! - P.O. BOX 5321 / JOHNSTOWN, PA. 15904 / jill@FUNERUS.com / brad@FUNERUS.com / www.FUNERUS.com KAOS - KAOS AMONG US (12 song CD) OBLIVION ENTERTAINMENT KAOS is fucking great!!! I loved these guys from the first song to the last. These guys play Death Metal styled music that is slammed face first into Hardcore music. There is such intensity & powerful aggression pouring out of this band. I love all the very addictive Hardcore influenced grooves they have through out their songs. The guitars sound has heavy Thrash influences in them as well. The vocals are done in Hardcore/Death Metal crossover screams These guys are definately one of my new favorite bands in the underground scene today!!! get this disc!!! - P.O. BOX 122 / 1090 "B" ST. / HAYWARD, CA. 94541 / KAOS@KAOSamongus.com / jason@KAOSamongus.com / stacey@KAOSamongus.com / joe@KAOSamongus.com / jay@KAOSamongus.com / burton@KAOSamongus.com / www.KAOSamongus.com HELLVETO - IN ARMS OF KURPIAN PHANTOM (8 song CD) HELLVETO hail from Poland & play true Pagan Black Metal. They have a really good mixture of raw heavy brutality & cold atmospheric parts. The music is very solid, tight & has lots of depth. There is a good blend of originality & in no way is your typical stale Black Metal. These guys have tons of talent & are well worth a lot of attention. The vocals are done in a melodic Black Metal style mixed with harsh Black metal screams!!! - UL. PILSUDSKIEGO 14 B / 07-410 OSTROLEKA 5 / POLSKA / POLAND / HELLVETO@oz.pl MUMMIFICATION - SELF TITLED (3 song CD) Hailing from California comes another new extreme Death Metal band. These guys have a very raw intense old school style of Death Metal. The band consists of x-members of CIRIBUS & OCCISION. There is lots of heavy brutality in their sound with lots of Grindcore influences tossed in the mix. The vocals are done in a low end dark gutteral Death growl. These guys will surely start making a name for themselves in the Death metal scene. Look out!!! - P.O. BOX 1112 / LAYTONVILLE, CA. 95454 / MUMMIFICATION_band@yahoo.com / www.MUMMIFICATION.tk NOISE CORE FREAK - CORNER ITCH THEORY (17 song CD) DEADSIX COMMUNICATIONS NOISE CORE FREAK is a one man project that is Chris Stepniewski out of Canada. He has done all musical tools, vocals, lyrics, photography & graphic design. This is one sickly intense, noise indused, crazy ass, Industrial - Grindcore release. I loved it! This is the bands second full length release. I liked all the samples used through out the disc too. There is a huge fusion of chaotic Grind, emotional Noise, sadistic vocals, terrifying samples & harsh Industrial madnesss. This is a great release. Fans of bands like NASUM, HELL ON EARTH, BILE & old MINISTRY with tons of esperimental noise tossed will love this band!!! - NOISECOREFREAK@hotmail.com / www.NOISECOREFREAK.com |