| MUSIC REVIEWS (November 2002) |
| ANTAEUS - CUT YOUR FLESH & WORSHIP SATAN (8 song CD) NECROPOLIS RECORDS From the dark depths of France comes this evil Black Metal outfit known as ANTAEUS. These guys spew forth some of the most violent sounding Black Metal ever to emerge from France. The music is played ultra fast, cold & merciless. They have a strong Black Metal foundation with touches of Thrash & Death Metal built around it. The guitars is where some of the Thrash Metal comes into play. The vocals are done both in Black Metal & Death Metal styles. This is definately one horrific & violent journey you would be pleased to take over & over again! Hail Satan!!! - 6 BIS, AV DE ST GERMAIN / 78600 MAISONS LAFFITTE / FRANCE / spikekut@aol.com / www.multimania.com/ANTAEUS BALANCE OF POWER - PERFECT BALANCE (9 song CD) NIGHTMARE RECORDS BALANCE OF POWER play some very good Power/Progressive Metal music. These guys have a very well structured sound that reminds me of a lot of the British Power Metal acts. There is a really cool driving drum sound that really pushes the band forward. I'd have to say the drums are what really is the best part of this band. There are influences taken from old school & new school Power Metal & Progressive Metal styles. They do have a very cool classical wordly feel to their music which I dug a lot as well. This is only one of the bands four releases to date & this is definately the best of all. This is one band that deserves much attention!!! BANE OF EXISTENCE - SELF TITLED (5 song CD) This is a four piece Death Metal act out of Rockland, Mass. area. These guys are great! They play extremely brutal Death Metal with some slight touches of Grindcore. The music will go from a mid ranged Death Metal onslaught straight into a Grindcore devastation & right back again. This was very cool! They have a Death Metal base, but with lots of Grindcore covering it. There are lots of blasts & fast paced Grinds through out. They even have some cool breakdowns here & there. The vocals are done in a mid to low guttural Death growl with some higher Grindcore screams in the mix. BANE OF EXISTENCE is an extremely talented Death Metal act & hopefully will stick around the scene for awhile! - 21 ZANA PARK DR. / BRAINTREE, MA. 02184 / http://denounced.tripod.com / dismalbio@yahoo.com / infestdeadx@aol.com / BANEOFEXISTENCE@aol.com BLACK DAWN - BLOOD FOR SATAN (10 song CD) NECROPOLIS RECORDS Well, most of you Satanic Black Metal freaks should know of this amazing band already! BLACK DAWN play extreme Satanic Black Metal filled with bleak hatred & merciless aggression. You can just feel the pure evilness pouring out from the start of "Pitbound" to the end of "Within Ye Woods, Before Ye Throne". They cross back & forth & mix it up with atmospheric & gloom elements along with the ferosious dark & pure Satanic evilness that makes up all styles of Black Metal. From the first moment you hear "BLOOD FOR SATAN" you'll either love or hate this album. Either way you should only listen to this album during the practices of self mutilation! This is a Satanic masterpiece! - hoath.wrath@netikka.fi BLOOD AXE - BLOOD THRONE (10 song CD) WHITE LEGENDS (Available through BEOWOLF PRODUCTIONS) BLOOD AXE play some very fast paced & raw Black Metal out of Canada. The music has a very strong hatred like style in the sound. The music is done in a very raw old school meets new school Black Metal style. The vocals are a harsh mid to higher pitched Death growl. There are some breakdowns & slower parts as well as some more atmospheric parts. An all around well diverse Black Metal band!!! - SUITE #15 / 936 TUNGSTEN ST / THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO / CANADA P7B 5Z6 / www.BLOODAXE.net / BLOODAXE@odin.zzn.com BLOOD THRONE - STORMS OF APOCALYPSE (8 song CD) FOREVER UNDERGROUND RECORDS Here we have an amazingly good Thrash/Black Metal act out of the pits of New Jersey. These guys play some powerfully aggressive & raw Black Metal. The music has some strong influences of Thrash & Death Metal music. There is a strong rawness that dominates in their sound to giive them a battle like feel to the music. There are fast blasts & Thrash induced guitars that just knock the shit out of you repeatedly. At times you can hear some majestic & atmospheric parts seeping through the wall of hatred poured out in the rest of their sound. The vocals are done in a groggy styled Black Metal sound with the occassional Death Metal growl backing it up! fans into bands like WAR, GORGOROTH & USURPER should check these guys out! - 21 EAST MIDLAND AVE #1D / KEARNY, NJ. 07032 / captorvision@aol.com / BLOODTHRONE@hotmail.com / www.geocities.com/BLOODTHRONE666 BYFIST - ADRENALIN (4 song CD) SABA RECORDS BYFIST plays some really rocking Power Metal induced Heavy Metal music. These guys have a strong sound in the 80's Heavy metal range. There are some areas that pull from Thrash or Speed Metal, but for the most part these guys are Power Metal. The music is really driving like in the 80's Thrash Metal bands. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Heavy Metal/Power Metal style with some higher more melodic Power Metal sounds. The vocalist reminded me a little of old DESTRUCTION mixed with the first ANTHRAX singer from their "ARMED & DANGEROUS" album. All 80's Metal heads will love these guys!!! - P.O. BOX 1098 / HELOTES, TX. 78023 / www.BYFIST.com CEREBRAL HEMORRHAGE - EXEMPTING REALITY (7 song CD) MUTILATED RECORDS CEREBRAL... is a very cool Death Metal band out of New York. These guys have an old school Death Metal sound to their music that reminds me of a lot of bands in the early 90's. They have a real rawness to their sound as well, which I dug a lot. At times they will toss in some really cool grooves & breakdowns between all the other brutal chaos. The vocals are also done in an old school styled mid ranged hallowed Death growl. If your a fan of old SUFFOCATION, INTERNAL BLEEDING & INSATANITY your gonna love these guys. - 275 BELMONT AVE / ELMONT, NY. 11003 / theybreed@aol.com / HEMORRHAGE3d@aol.com / http://members.aol.com/theybreed/CEREBRALHEMORRHAGE.html/ / http://home.earthlink.net/~HEMORRHAGE3d/ COCKROACH - STAY ANGRY (8 song 7" Record) ACME RECORDS This is some very fast pissed off Thrash/Power Violence with a strong anarchist message. Lyrically these Punks are a serious threat to cloned minds. This is definately worth your attention!!! - STOX 1 / 5981 ND PANNINGEN / THE NETHERLANDS / COCKROACH9@hotmail.com (review by Keegan of SKULL FUCKING METAL RECORDS & DISTRIBUTION) DECEMBER PEOPLE, THE - SOUNDS LIKE CHRISTMAS (13 song CD) MAGNA CARTA RECORDS This group was formed back in 1970 & have operated under a shroud of mystery & only reveal themselves through festive pseudonyms. On this their 9th release, they give us festive holiday favorites old & new reshaped in the styles of THE BEATLES, YES, PINK FLOYD, QUEEN, GENESIS, KANSAS, STING, KING CRIMSON & more. This is a Rock & Roll album done in the Christmas spirit covering songs like "The First Noel", "Silent Night", "The Little Drummer Boy" & many more. There are guest vocals done by members of KANSAS, KING CRIMSON, ASIA, MAGELLAN, SHADOW GALLERY & some others. This isn't really my style of music & since I really can't stand the holiday season I really didn't get into this disc. It was kind of cool to hear how they took some of these songs & shaped them into Rock songs though! DIABOLIC - VENGEANCE ASCENDING (10 song CD) OLYMPIC RECORDINGS DIABOLIC is an extreme Death Metal act coming full on out of Florida. These guys play some Death Metal that is a fully intense fury of blasting mayhem. The band plays hyper blasting Death with some contrast of slower intensity blaketed with pure anger. The music has such a fast & tight sound that it is very hard to keep up. As the music forges on it just keeps getting more & more intense. They do cross into some almost Thrash sounding areas in the guitars, but for the most part they are a Death Metal destructive force that never lets up! If you heard their earlier releases your gonna be blown away with this one!!! - P.O. BOX 9689 / TAMPA, FL. 33674-9689 / www.DIABOLICblastmasters.com |