| MUSIC REVIEWS (Novemeber 2003) |
| ANOMY - DISQUIETUDE (10 song CD) This is a three piece Metal band out of Colorado. With one listen it's hard to believe this is only a three piece band. These guys play some extremely well Metal music with lots of texture. They do add in lots of elements from Heavy Metal, Black Metal, Progressive Metal, Doom, Goth & even some Death Metal. These guys are very impressive with their style & sound. It's hard to blend this many styl;es & do it right. Anomy does it quite well & better than the majority of the bands out there now. There is a dark cold & beautiful atmosphere through out their sound. The vocals are done in a mixture of Goth, Black Metal, Doom & Progressive Metal styles. If your a fan of Progressive Dark Metal music, your gonna love this band!!! - brent@ANOMY.org / www.ANOMY.org / www.mp3.com/ANOMY ARVINGER - HELGARDS FALL (9 song CD) This is only a promo copy of the bands full legnth album. These guys hail from Norway & play some very cold Black Metal music. I liked the way these guys mixed up old school Black Metal with some new school Black Metal sounds. The music is very dark raw & aggressive, while at the same time very atmospheric in a cold damp & eerie way! i really like the way they mixed the styles up through out the songs. At times the music has a really strong epic type feel to it. The vocals are done in a mid ranged & groogy Black Metal type growl. there are some female vocals tossed in the mix at times as well. I think any fan of true Black Metal music will be pleased with this band!!! - VALLEVEIEN 178 / 3960 STATHELLE / NORWAY / hauk@ARVINGER.com / www.ARVINGER.com BIG BABY SATAN - SELF TITLED (9 song CD) BBS MUSIC INC. This New York based Metal act kicks some serious ass! These guys play a very sludgy Metal style that blends in some elements of Doom Metal, Thrash & even some New York hardcore sounds. these guys remind me of THE MELVINS mixed with KYUSS. If you tossed in some CROWBAR, ROLLINS BAND & maybe some DOWN, you'd have a good idea of what these guys sound like. There are some very thick chunky grooves in their sound, which was my favorite part of this bands sound. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Doom Metal style that sometimes sways up & down a bit. This is a good Sludge band that I look forward to hearing more from!!! - 109 38TH ST. / LINDENHURST, NY. 11757 / ween04@optonline.net / BIGBABYSATAN@aol.com / www.BIGBABYSATAN.com BLACK ON BLACK - A TRIBUTE TO BLACK FLAG (9 song CD) INITIAL RECORDS This is one disc I was very anxious to check out. I'm a huge BLACK FLAG fan & love it when people cover their tunes. On this tribute there are nine bands playing nine different BLACK FLAG tunes. Some of the bands & songs include BURNT BY THE SUN doing "Drinking And Driving", COALESCE doing "Jealous Again", THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN doing "Damaged", CONVERGE doing "Annihilate This Week" & five others. This is a must for any fan of BLACK FLAG. This is one tribute that really does justice to the band it's paying tribute too!!! - P.O. BOX 17131 / LOUISVILLE, KY. 40217 BLASTFLAME - ABSTRACT EVOLUTION (9 song CD) NEOBLAST RECORDS These guys are great! They play ultra sick Grindcore music intertwind with Death Metal music. The music is super tight & super sick. I loved it all the way through. There are lots of change ups, break downs, blasts galore & heavy grinding. This is the perfect blend of these two styles. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death/Grind growl/scream styles. This band is amazing! Fans of NAPALM DEATH, NAZUM, MESHUGGAH, VULGAR PIGEONS & CRYPTOPSY are gonna want to snag this one up!!! - www.BLASTFLAME.com BLOODTHRONE - SHIELD OF HATE promo (2 song CD) This band hails from New Jersey & play some fierce Black Metal music. These guys are very tight, technical & ultra fast. They have a strong aggressive Black Metal sound with some Death Metal elements in the mix. The guitar sound is very fast aggressive shredding as the drums are very powerful & also fast. The vocal style is done in a mid ranged throaty Black Metal style which at times would go into a low Death growl. This is a must for fans of technically aggressive Black Metal music!!! - 21 EAST MIDLAND AVENUE #1D / KEARNY, NJ. 07032 / BLOODTHRONE@hotmail.com / www.geocities.com/BLOODTHRONE666 BRAVE SAINT SATURN - THE LIGHT OF THINGS HOPED FOR (15 song CD) TOOTH & NAIL RECORDS This band is a new project from members of FIVE IRON FRENZY. These guys have created a new style they like to call "Astro-RocK" & "Space Pop". At first I thought this wasn't going to be for me. About half way through the first song I really started getting into it. They have a kind of Pop Rock vibe & sound that tosses in some Metal & hardcore/Punk sounds as well. Sometimes you can hear some Electronica & Industrial like influences as well as some Rap. I was surprised as to how much I liked these guys. Most of their songs are very melodic & Emo like. The best part of their sound was all the weird space & sci-fi like sounds they used in their music. The vocals were done in a very Emo-Metal style, for the majority of the songs. I couldn't really find anyone to compare these guys, which is a good thing to me, cause it means that they have an original sound!!! - P.O. BOX 2771 / DENVER, CO. 80203 / www.BRAVESAINTSATURN.com BURIAL HORDES - MORS LUMINIS (4 song CD) BURIAL HORDES hails from Athens, Greece & play strictly old school Black Metal music. These guys play traditional Black Metal with no keyboards or female vocals. They have a very solid sound which is very harsh, raw & highly aggressive. There is tons of heavy shredding & fast blasts through out. I laso liked the good groove & flow their music had. The vocals are done as a mix of mid ranged Death/Black growls & some higher Black metal growls/scream. All old school Black Metal fans hail BURIAL HORDES!!! - PLATEIA DEMOCRATIAS 4 / GR-155 61 CHOLARGOS ATHENS / GREECE / BURIALHORDES@hotmail.com / www.geocities.com/BURIALHORDES BURIAL HORDES - ENTERING THE UNTRODDEN FOREST (4 song CD) This is the first CD release from the same band as above. These guys have once again spewed forth some anti-christian Black metal music. On this first CD release, these guys sound a bit rawer & noisier than the new one above. They still stick to that old school Black Metal sound & toss in lots of aggression & hatred! There is a real hard & heavy groove on this disc as well. The vocals are done in a groggy mid ranged Black Metal style with the occassional scream tossed in. Raise the horns for yet another good release from this band!!! - PLATEIA DEMOCRATIAS 4 / GR-155 61 / CHOLARGOS ATHENS / GREECE / BURIALHORDES@hotmail.com / www.geocities.com/BURIALHORDES DARKEST HOUR - HIDDEN HANDS OF A SADIST NATION (9 song CD) VICTORY RECORDS I already knew I was going to love this disc. I have their other CD & they totally rip. These guys have improved a lot since the last disc & have also changed their sound a little bit. They play a very good mixture of Death Metal & hardcore. I love the heavy groove & rhythm they take from hardcore & blend it with the raw & aggressiveness of Death Metal. Here is another band that is super fast & very tight sounding. The vocals are done in a combination of Death Metal & hardcore as well. It's almost like a slurred Hardcore scream that's very close to a Death growl. This band could fit perfectly in both the Hardcore & Death Metal scene!!! - DHbooking@DARKESTHOUR.cc / www.DARKESTHOUR.cc DEAD CHRETIENS - WEATAX (5 song Cassette) The DEAD CHRETIENS hail from Canada & play some really noisy Punk Rock music. The music is quit chaotic & has lots of crazy noises running through out it. There is a real raw & D.I.Y. style to their music. It also has a strong Crust element to it as well. The vocals are done in a harsh screaming type Punk style. This is one for all old school Punk fans to check out!!! - P.O. BOX 102 / COBALT, ON. / POJ 1CO CANADA |