| MUSIC REVIEWS (October 2001) |
| ABHORE - SELF-TITLED (3 song CD) ONE FLESH PRODUCTIONS These guys were exactly what I expected them to be, very good & very dark extreme Metal. There are blends of a few styles of Metal in their sound. They mix elements of Thrash in the guitars, Death Metal in the drums & bass & Black Metal in the vocals. A lot of bands try this blend & ABHORE is one of the few to pull it off. There is a lot of high speed rythmns mixed with mid to slow paced ones. I like the variety they have & how they keep it all in the same range of music at the same time!!! -P.O. BOX 626 / MARIETTA, GA. 30061 USA A.F.I. - THE ART OF DROWNING (14 song CD) NITRO RECORDS A.F.I. is back & bringing their version of east bay Hardcore. This is the bands sixth release of Hardcore merged with Punk Rock all done in the California style. The music itself has a really good up beat Cali. style Punk Rock sound incorporated with some almost NY Hardcore style sounds. The vocals are also a good mixture of both these styles. The more Punk Rock sounds remind me of BLACK TRAIN JACK while the Hardcore sounds remind me of MADBALL mixed with H2O. I've gotten each of A.F.I.'s back releases & this is without a doubt their most well structured, mature & all around best release to date!!! A FISTFUL OF ROCK N ROLL - VOLUME #3 (15 song CD) TEE PEE RECORDS Here is the thrid installment in this great compilation series. This is a collection of some of the best Punk Rock underground bands in the scene today. This collection is much better than the last 2 in my opinion. This volume features 15 bands & 15 songs. Some of the bands include THE TOILET BOYS, ADZ, STUNT MEN, LAZY COWGIRLS, HOOKERS & more. The compilation comes with great Rock artwork, info. on all the bands & contact addresses. Get this through the label. -P.O. BOX 20307 / NEW YORK, NY. 10009-9991 USA A FISTFUL OF ROCK N ROLL - VOLUME #4 (15 song CD) TEE PEE RECORDS Volume 4 is yet another collection of some of the best Punk Rock bands the scene has to offer today. This volume follows the tradition of the 3 previous ones. There are 15 bands & 15 songs gathered for this volume. The bands here are BLACK HALO, D-GENERATION, SPITFIRE, GRAVEYARD SCHOOL, QUADRA JETS & more. More great Rock & Roll artwork, info. & addresses to complete this compilation. AGONY LORDS - NIHILIST PASSION (14 song CD) X-RATED RECORDS This band was formed from the ashes of RIPPING FLESH back in 1993. This latest album contains 5 new songs & 9 live songs recorded live during their "Tour Of The Cursed" tour. There is a great mixture of styles in their sound but all revolving around the Traditional Heavy Metal sound. They add some more brutal influences of present day bands as well. The vocals & music have a really dramatic & melodic sound to them then blast into a heavier more Death Metal like sound. There is no reason why you couldn't hear why these guys are one of the better bands out of Mexico today!!! Just listen!!! - MBARAMI@YAHOO.COM AKHKHARU - NOCTURNAL IMPIETY (8 song CD) ETERNAL NIGHT PRODUCTIONS (Available through BEOWOLF PRODUCTIONS!) Here it is finally! The long awaited side project release from members of FINAL PRAYER, MORBID ENTREE & INSATANITY! If your expecting it to sound like any of the above bands, don't! This is deep dark & melodic Black Metal with touches of Gothic & Doom Metal influences. There is a lot of atmospheric melodic parts with haunting sounds merged with fast & furious Death Metal parts! There is a nice balanced mixture of raw male Death growls & beautiful enchanting female vocals! These guys & gal remind me of most of the stuff that comes out of Sweden of this style. It's amazing how talented these musicians are. I hope this is the 1st of many AKHKHARU releases!!! - 3302 ELAND DOWNE / PHOENIXVILLE, PA. 19460 USA ANHEAD - PHASES (6 song CD) IN DEED HELL PRODUCTIONS I believe this band is based out of Czech republic, but I'm not quite sure. They play a weird mixture of music that is centered around Metal. The music has a Metal sound, but is kind of a Classic Rock sound combined with a bit of Goth & Death Metal. There is a bit of atmospheric & ambient sounds in there as well. Those sounds kind of set a fantasy almost dream like feel for the music. The male vocals almost remind me of some old viking like Metal while the female vocals remind me of a more Metal version of Debbie Harry of BLONDIE. This band is very unique & hard to catagorize, this is a very good thing in my eyes! Check 'em out! ANOMALOUS SILENCER 4 - COMPILATION (29 song CD) NAPAL-MED This is the 4th insatllment of this CD compilation series. The music covered here is all Noise, Industrial, Experimental bands. The packaging is really cool, it has a cover booklet & a little card/sleeve for each band with info on the bands. There are 29 bands & 29 songs included here. Some bands include PRAYING FOR OBLIVION, GREGGREG, SHARE THE DECAY, CLUTTER, MOZ, EXIT & more. Any fan of these styles of music will want to pick this up!!! - LIPOVA 1123 / 43401 MOST / CZECH REPUBLIC APOPLEXY - LIFE, THOUGHTS & DESTINY (10 song CD) HVS This is the 1st time I have heard this band out of France, but I think they have been in the underground scene for a while. They play a great mixture of Death & Grind that I love so much. This must be a popular style in France, cause most of the bands I heard from there play this style. I really liked these guys a lot. The music was really heavy, fast & played extremely well. The vocals go from straight forward gutteral Death growls into high pitched Grind vocals. The music does the same thing, from a deep powerful Death sound right into a high speed all out Grind session. The music was very aggressive & in your face. Fans of INHUMATE will love these guys, I know I did. This is a must for your collection!!! - 14 RUE DE L ELMERFORST / 67200 STARSBOURG / FRANCE ATOMIC OPERA - GOSPEL COLA (12 song CD) METAL BLADE RECORDS "Gospel Cola" is a mix of a few different styles of Metal with elements of other music as well. The music is definately Metal with heavy pounding grooves like Doom Metal. There is also grinding guitars like in heavier Rock Metal music. I guess it would be considered Hard Rock/Heavy Metal music. They remind me a lot of Progressive Acid Rock type bands out there now. They mix it up by adding some cello, acoustic guitars, mandolin, dulcimer organs & other musical instrument sounds. Fans of KING'S X, MONSTER MAGNET, ROADSAW & CORE will get into these guys!!! - P.O. BOX 91602 / HOUSTON, TX. 77291 BEHEMOTH - SATANICA (8 Song CD) DWELL RECORDS This is the newest offerinf from Poland's BEHEMOTH, that's been shredding out music since 1991. The band takes the best of MORBID ANGEL's old material & twists it with the coldness of MAYHEM's older material. These guys are trying to push themselves through the Black Metal scene & try & land towards the top. They add lots of Polish Death Metal into their sound, while still incorporating brutality, atmosphere & lots of dark aggression to achieve their goal! if this fourth release is any indication of what's to come from this band, they will be at the top in no time!!! Look out Black metal hordes & make room!!! BESEECH - BLACK EMOTIONS (10 song CD) PAVEMENT MUSIC, INC. I was very pleased to find this album in my hands. I loved their last release "From A Bleeding Heart" & even interviewed them in one of my print issues. This album has taken the band through some changes, members, label & even sound. The band still shows a lot of the same elements as before, but they present it in a different light!!! The music is more Gothic & atmospheric sounding & uses a lot of electric sound effects. The music has lots of depth on many levels of emotions. The vocla style has also changed a bit & is also more Gothic & Death Metal sounding. This is yet another great release from this Swedish Metal act! - BOX 963 / 501 10 BORAS / SWEDEN BIG GREEN LIMOUSINE - 40'S, BEEF JERKY & PORN (10 song CD) This CD was given to me by my new buddy Tom who works at the post office, who is also the bass player. These guys play a very melodic, rambunctious Punk style of music. The music is very energetic, up beat & driving Pop Punk with touches of Hardcore. The vocals are done in a more melodic & some what darker Punk singing style. They remind me of some of the older Skate Rock bands like T.S.O.L. & J.F.A. & a little of BLACK FLAG too. If your into stuff off of NITRO, KUNG FU or SECOND NATURE RECORDS, you'd more than likely get into these guys, as they would fit in nicely with any of the bands on these labels. Check them out if you get a chance!!! - www. BIGGREENLIMO.com |