| MUSIC REVIEWS MAY 2006 |
| 13 WINTERS - DOWN BELOW ZERO (8 track CD) DARK VALLEY RECORDS This is the newest release from this dark Metal band from Maine. This is a live album that was a bootleg of the bands show in July 2005 at Jarrod's Place in Attleboro Mass. The band plays some really dark Gothic influenced Metal music. There is a lot of atmospheric & almost Celtic type parts all through out their music. They take you from melodic sounds into hard hitting Death Metal mayhem. The vocals are done in a angelic female style with both male & female Death growls & screams mixed together. This is a pretty decent release for a bootleg. Check this band out, they are very good & deserve much attention!!! P.O. BOX 384 / HOLLIS CENTER, MAINE 04042 (Available through BEOWOLF PRODUCTIONS) |
| ALEV - WE LIVE IN PARADISE (12 track CD) ECLIPSE RECORDS This is the debut CD release from this German based band. Thier music is a strong mix of Metal, Alternative & Modern Rock. The band is fronted by a female vocalist & a strong powerful one at that. There is no wonder why this band has topped the charts in Germany. The music is very fast hitting & melodic all at the same time. There are some really cool hooks, grooves & breakdowns all mixed within . The vocals also follow the path of the music. Sometimes they are high pitched & melodic sounding & then others it's straight forward harsh & aggressive sounding. If you were to combine EVANESCENCE, GARBAGE & ALANIS MORSETTE together you would get this band, which is a very good thing in my opinion!!! www.ALEVmusic.com |
| BLACK CHURCH PSALMBOOK, THE - OUR LIFE IN WORMWOOD CHRIST (9 track CD) Self Released This is some really really good Death/Black Metal music. These guys play extremely well & are aggressive as hell. The music is super tight, loud & in your face all the way. There are some stop & start parts, but that isn't for long. The music has a cold harsh feel to it too. There are some more atmospheric parts at times, but not really gothic or anything. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death Metal growl style with some harsh Black Metal screams as well as some more melodic Black Metal vocals mixed in too. The vocals sometimes reminds me of MORTIIS mixed with CRADLE OF FILTH. This band is very good & would fit nicely in any Death or Black Metal music collection. Check them out!!! |
| COLOSTOMY TROUGH - SELF TITLED (3 track CD) Self Released This band hails from my home state of Pennsylvania & play some really intense Death Metal music. The music has an old school Death Metal feel to it like an early 90's Death Metal vibe. The music is quit aggressive, brutal & harsh sounding. I liked the groove the guitars had that pushed the music forward. There are lots of blasts, shredding & all out aggression. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death growl with some almost Grindcore type screams & growls mixed in. This is a cool 3 somg sampler, but I want to hear more, because this is not enough!!! COLOSTOMY_TROUGH@yahoo.com / www.COLOSTOMYTROUGH.com |
| COUNTIME - BROKEN BLINDED BETRAYED (7 track CD) NO JOKE RECORDS This is the debut CD release from this Los Angeles California Hardcore band. These guys are going to help bring the L.A. Hardcore scene back to the for front of music. This album reminds me of a lot of the great Hardcore bands from the late 80's & early 90's coming out of L.A. They also have a slight New York Hardcore sound to their music as well. I liked the really hard hitting & aggressive drum beats & bass grooves all through out. The vocals are done in mid ranged Hardcore style with much power & anger pushing it in your face. If you were to mix DOWNSET, old SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, SICK OF IT ALL, SHEER TERROR & HATEBREED together you'd get this amazing band. I loved this disc a lot & highly recommend this to anyone!!! |
| DARKNESS ETERNAL - MISANTHROPIC ANNIHILATION (9 track CD) AUTOPSY KITCHEN RECORDS This is the bands 3rd full length album & first for AUTOPSY KITCHEN. These guys play some really good agonizing & heavy Death Metal music. The music has an old school brutal rawness mixed with some new school technial styles. There are some grooves & breaks in the music which I dug a lot. they have a really cool almost Grindcore sound to their Death Metal music it's just not as fast or noisy as Grindcore. I liked the solid sound the drums had also. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death growl with some slightly harsher ones at times. Fans of old school & new school Death Metal will really enjoy these guys!!! DARKNESSETERNAL666@hotmail.com / www.DARKNESSETERNAL.com |
| DEMONIC RESURRECTION - A DARKNESS DECENDS (12 track CD) DEMONSTEALER RECORDS Damn! I was highly impressed by this disc when I put it in. The music is mostly Death Metal, but there are some more melodic & atmospheric almost Black Metal like parts as well. These guys are fast as hell & plow you over repeatedly with their wall of music. The music is so well crafted & extremely good. There are a lot of stop & starts with all out aggressive brutality smashing it's way through the songs. The vocals are done ina mid ranged harsh Death/Black Metal growling style. I loved this band & highly suggest this because these guys are going to be huge soon!!! DRonline@thevortex.com / www.DEMONICRESURRECTION.com (Available through BEOWOLF PRODUCTIONS) |
| DRAGONFORCE - INHUMAN RAMPAGE (8 track CD) SANCTUARY RECORDS I was very pleased to find this disc in my review pile. I interviewed this band when their last album came out. This new release is evrything their past ones were & more. The music is hyper fast, multi layered & well constructed Power/Progressive Heavy Metal music. There is much depth to their music. There are amazing arrangements, change ups & stop & starts all through out. I loved the hyper active & aggressivness in their music. The vocals are done in a mid ranged melodic clean Power/ Heavy Metal style with some higher pitched ones mixed in. This band is starting to get really big now & I suggest getting this now, before they are huge. You won't be disappointed with release at all! I loved everything about it & it's bands like this that make me love music all together!!! www.DRAGONFORCE.com |
| EVENT HORIZON - NAKED ON THE BLACK FLOOR (9 track CD) CRUZ DEL SUR MUSIC This is the debut Cd release on CRUZ DEL SUR for these guys, but their 2nd CD release all together. These guys play some really full sounding Metal music that takes influences from Traditional, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Thrash Metal & Death Metal music. They blend all these elements together to create areally strong & different sound. The music is heavy & aggressive, but has lots of layers to it with mixes of the other styles. the vocals are mostly done in a melodic Power Metal style with lots of force, but there are some Thrash like vocals & even some almost Death Metal like ones too. These guys are extremely good & shouldn't be over looked!!! abaffondi@tiscali.it / www.EVENTHORIZONband.com |
| GUILD OF DESTRUCTION - INTO OBLIVION (8 track CD) Self Released This is the debut CD from this Australian Death Metal band. These guys are only a three piece, but sound like they have 10 people in the band. The sound is so full, aggressive & brutal as hell. The music is blasting away so intensely & in your face. There are some Thrash Metal influences present in the guitars, but for the most part these guys are a Death Metal band straight forward. The music is really tight, loud, fast & hard, just like Death Metal should be. They remind me of a lot of the great Death Metal bands of the early 90's. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death growl style with some harsher Death growls mixed in. Just about every Death metal fan will enjoy this disc!!! |
| INFECTED MALIGNITY - THE MALIGNITY BORN FROM DISPAIR (8 track CD) UNMATCHED BRUTALITY RECORDS This is the debut CD release from the Japanese powerhouse known as INFECTED MALIGNITY. These guys blend together many elements of Death Metal & Grindcore music to create their sound. The music has a very brutal Death Metal sound to it with lots of raw & aggtressive Grindcore influences all through out. I liked the fast paced blasts of the drums with the machine gun like riffing in the guitars. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death Metal / Grindcore crossover style. These guys are extremely sick & would please any fan of both of these styles!!! INFECTEDMALIGNITY@hotmail.com / http://sound.jp/INFECTEDMALIGNITY |
| INTERROGATE - UNBROKEN (5 track CD) Self Released This is the debut CD release from this Hardcore / Metal band out of Northern Ireland. These guys take many aggressive elements of both Hardcore & Metal & mix them together to create their style & sound. The music has a lot of great grooves, beats, breackdowns & tempo changes all through out. I liked the crunchy guitars sounds a lot. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Hardcore & Metal crossover style with some more mellow & melodic vocals mixed in at times. They remind me of SLIPKNOT, MACHINE HEAD, COAL CHAMBER & BIHAZARD all mixed together. These guys are really good & should be signed very soon. Keep a look out for them!!! INTERROGATEer@hotmail.com / www.INTERROGATE13.com |
| MALIGNANT MONSTER - FOUL PLAY (7 track CD) PRIME CUTS MUSIC This is the debut full length CD release from this Western Australian based band. Thes guys melt together many elements in Death Metal music to create their style & sound. They have a really cool crunchy guitar sound with tons of driving grooves that pull the listener in. There are some Thrash metal type elements present at times through the music too. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death / Thrash Metal type growl with some lower Death growls blended in as well. These guys are really good & will be making abig name for themselves in the underground scene!!! |
| OCTAGON - ARTISANS OF CRUELTY (10 track CD) AUTOPSY KITCHEN RECORDS OCTAGON plays some really harsh & raw sounding Death Metal music. They do mix in some elements of Black Metal here & there. The influences are mostly old school Black Metal with a war like rawness. The music has a cold, harsh vibe to it all through out. There are some slight touches of Thrash Metal present at times in the guitars sound. The vocals are done in a very cold & throaty Death / Black Metal type growl/scream style. There is a lot of old school influences all through out this disc that took me back to the days of when I was really getting into this style of Metal music. This is one for all old school Metal fans, but new schoolers will enjoy it as well. Check it out!!! |
| PATH OF RESISTANCE - CAN'T STOP THE TRUTH (12 track CD) VICTORY RECORDS P.O.R. was originally a side project from members of EARTH CRISIS back in the late 90's. They released one album & the project was done. Now they are back fro a second offering with this new disc. These guys play old school styled & themed Hardcore music. They are a straight edge vegan Hardcore band & proud of it. The music is very good old school Hardcore that is hard hitting, grooving & staright out good. The vocals are done in a harsh mid arnged Hardcore scream with some clean Hardcore vocals mixed in. If you took bands like MADBALL, AGNOSTIC FRONT, H20, BIOHAZARD, SICK OF IT ALL & EARTH CRISIS & made one supper group you'd get PATH OF RESISTANCE! This is a great thing in my eyes & ears!!! www.myspace.com/PATHOFRESISTANCE |
| (13 track CD) PRIME CUTS MUSIC PATHOGEN hail from Australia & play some very intellegent sounding Death Metal music. The music is multi layered & has a lot of depth. There are lots of melodic & groove oriented sounds coming from this band all while adding in lots of hard hitting brutal & aggressive stuff too. These guys cover the whole spectrum of the Death Metal genre. I really enjoyed the guitar work a lot in this band. The vocals are a blend of harsh Death Metal growls & screams along with some more melodic Death Metal vocals. If you are a Death Metal fan or just a Metal fan in general then these guys have something you will enjoy. This band is quickly driving themselves to the top of the underground Death Metal scene & placing themselves among the best!!! PATHOGEN@PATHOGEN.com.au / www.PATHOGEN.com.au |
| PSYCHONAUT - MASTERS OF PROCRASTINATION (9 track CD) PRIME CUTS MUSIC Here we have another band emerging from Australia playing a blend of styles. These guys have elements of Classic Metal, Speed Metal, Heavy Metal, Punk & Thrash Metal. The music is really cool sounding & takes you on many different paths. I liked the old school Punk Rock feel that covers all the Metal sounds the band has. There are lots of fast paced adrenaline fueled grooves, shredding & drum beats. They have lots of change ups & tempo changes all through out too. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Metal/Punk crossover style. They reminded me of a lot of the bands from the early 90's playing this style. If you like old school Metal with touches of Punk, this is your band!!! PSYCHONAUT@iprimus.com.au / www.PSYCHONAUT.org.au |
| (10 track CD) THE AMBIENT MIND This is the fourth Cd release from Scott Mosher who plays some really technical & intrecate sounding Progressive Rock music. There are some influences from Heavy Metal, Hard Rock & Power Metal all present in his sound. The music has an almost space like ambiance to it. The music is quite involved & has a lot of different ranges & vibes happening all through out. The vocals are done in a mid ranged clean Power / Heavy Metal style. I liked the really cool guitar work the most. This reminded me of DREAM THEATER & QUEENSRYCHE a lot. 2 MILLER CT / MILLER PLACE, NY 11764 / ninja@mindspring.com |
| STALAGGH - NIHILISTIK TERRROR (3 track CD) PRIME CUTS MUSIC This is a really strange band. These guys play some really bizarre & experimantal Noise type music. The music is really chaotic, static & crazy sounding all through out. This album is re-mixes of "PROJEKT NIHIL" & PROJEKT TERRROR" & includes an unreleased track from 2003. There is some really insane noises, sounds or screams that are the vocals. I'm not a fan of this style of music, so I didn't really get into it much. If your into experiemntal Noise projects then you might enjoy this release, it's quite out there!!! |
| VESPERS DESCENT - VISIONS IN VERSE (12 track CD) PRIME CUTS MUSIC Another Australian Death Metal band has unleashed their newest offering to us. VESPERS DESCENT play some extremely good Death Metal music with lots of Thrash elements mixed within. The Thrash Metal sounds mostly come through in the guitar work, while the rest of the band has an old school Death Metal vibe to it. I liked the cool grooving & shredding all through out the most. There are some hooks & change ups in their music as well. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death growl style with an old school feel to it. I really liked these guys a lot & could see old school & new school fans getting into them a lot!!! www.VESPERSDESCENT.com.au |
| A SICKNESS CALLED CONSCIOUS - SELF TITLED (7 track CD) Self Released These guys hail from Maryland & play some really good aggressive sounding Death Metal music. The music has a brutal old school Death Metal vibe to it all through out. It has an almost 90's Florida styled Death metal feel. The music also has some cool grooves, breakdowns & change ups as well. I liked how they really mixed things up, but still stayed within their style. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death growl style, with some higher almost Death screams tossed in the mix at times. I could really see a lot of fans of old school Death Metal getting into these guys a lot. Check them out, because it's well worth it!!! 6105 PORT TABACCO ROAD / LAPLATA, MD. 20646 ASICKNESSCALLEDCONSCIOUS@yahoo.com |
| BEYOND SERENITY - PROMO 2005 (3 track CD) Self Released BEYOND SERENITY emerges from Germany with this 3 song Promo release. These guys play old school Death Metal brutality with new school Death Metal technicality. There is a lot of hyper active adrenaline pulsing through this bands music. They add in lots of crunchy guitar riffs & heavy drum pounding & splashes. These guys are extremely good & energetic. The vocals are done in a few different styles. There are some low end Death growls mixed with some mid ranged ones. Then there are some mid to high pitched Death/Black metal growls/screams. I really dug these guys a lot & would love to hear more than these 3 songs in the future!!! BUDLINGERSTRABE 15 / 66663 MERZIG / GERMANY contact@BEYOND-SERENITY.de / www.BEYOND-SERENITY.de |
| BLOOD - DYSANGELIUM (21 track 12" Picture Disc Record) FUDGEWORTHY RECORDS Man, I was excited when this LP arrived for me to review. Thanks to Burt Wolf of BEOWOLF PRODUCTIONS for sending this to me. BLOOD's been playing simple but vicious Death/Grind for over 20 years now. These Germans are legends in many peoples eyes & they sure as hell didn't reach this status by selling out or playing commercial Grindcore like lots of bands did from this era. 21 tracks of raw music clocking in at 39 minutes on this beautiful picture disc for fans of old school Grindcore. A lot of the riffs reminded me a lot of DEICIDE fro some reason. These riffs kick some serious ass thou & not much has changed since their debut full length "IMPUSLE TO DESTROY" back in 1989. It's nice to see a band stick to what originated the scene in the first place when Grindcore was very raw & simple. Satan approves! - review by Keegan of WORSHIP SATAN ZINE |
| EDENPARK - THE _____ALBUM (16 track CD) POOR BOY RECORDS EDENPARK comes from York, Pa & play a mixture of Punk, Rock & Pop music. These guys have a really cool vibe going through out their whole album. I like the sing a long type grooving chorus' in their songs a lot. The music is more along the lines of Punk & Rock music mixed with some slight Pop influences, which are mostly in the vocals. I liked the grooves, rythms & funky beats in the songs a lot too. The vocals are a blend of Punk & Pop styled that sound like a mix between BLACK TRAIN JACK, GWAR & PEARL JAM? I know it's a weird combination, but some how it works. Check out this cool band from my home state. P.O. BOX 3312 / YORK, PA. 17402 stack@EDENPARK-pa.com / www.EDENPARK-pa.com |
| GAURITHOTH - HOVRAIASARA (4 track 7" Record) FUDGEWORTHY RECORDS GAURITHOTH is a self described "perverse black latex Metal" band, whatever the hell that means, I don't know. Anyways, these guys hail from Finland & deliver the goods with some nasty old styled raw Black fuckin Metal! 4 tracks of blasphemous soul crushing anthems that fans of IMPALED NAZARENE/SATANIC WARMASTER would enjoy. Highly recommended & very limited as only 500 copies were made! - review by Keegan of WORSHIP SATAN ZINE |
| PAGAN WINTER - CULT OF THE FLESH (6 track 10' Picture Disc Record) FUDGEWORTHY RECORDS Here's a German Black Metal band that has been around for quite some time now (1993) & finally their name is starting to spread around due to this flawless release. Maybe this is too short to be considered a full length effort as it is only 21 minutes. There is no seperation between tracks which provides a non stop raw Black Metal assault. Blasting drums & fast as fuck riffs that reminded me of MARDUK. The vokills are raw, grim & packed full of blasphemous lyrical content. There is a slight Thrash Metal feel but minimal enough for this not to be considered Blackened Thrash Metal. They end this vinyl off with a cover of DARKTHRONE's "Under A Funeral Moon". It sounds faster than the original & maybe even better? This is a true piece of Black Metal that is well worth your attention. Pick up a copy soon as there was only 666 made. Satan approves!!! - review done by Keegan of WORSHIP SATAN ZINE |
| UNHOLY ARCHANGEL - THE WRATH OF KOSMOSISTIS (7 track 10" Record) FUDGEWORTHY RECORDS UNHOLY ARCHANGEL is a barbaric raw as fuck Black Metal band in the vein of BLASPHEMY, SARCOFAGO, BEHERIT. 7 tracks of hate filled primitive Black Metal that's poorly recorded. It's safe to say that only fans of this kind of Black Metal would enjoy these Greek maniacs. The back of the LP has the band with axes, spikes & you get the point. They mean unholy buisness! Limited pressing of 666 copies on orange wax. - review done by Keegan of WORSHIP SATAN ZINE |