| MUSIC REVIEWS (September 2005) |
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| ASGUARD - DREAMSLAVE (16 track CD) DARK REIGN RECORDINGS / DEVIL DOLL RECORDS ASGUARD has been in the scene for a little while now & are known for their great Black Metal sound. You haven't heard anything yet. This new disc is so much better than anything they have done in the past. Easily, "DREAMSLAVE" is their best release to date. They play extremely good Black Metal music with a fusion of Death Metal & British Heavy Metal music. These guys are amazing. There is a strong depth to each of their songs, with tons of atmosphere, melody & all out brutality. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Black/Death Metal growl & scream. If you call yourself a Black Metal fan then you have toi have this in your collection!!! |
| BAYSIDE - SELF TITLED (11 track CD) VICTORY RECORDS This is the second album from this NYC based band on VICTORY RECORDS. BAYSIDE play a different sounding blend of Emo/Punk/Hardcore music with a little bit of Pop tossed in the mix. The music is emotional sounding but there is some intensity flavored all through out. My favorite parts were the heavier Hardcore areas. The vocals are done in an Emo/Pop/Punk style. This is a style I see a lot of people getting into Now a days & I'm sure BAYSIDE will head straight to the top of these bands very quickly!!! www.BAYSIDEisacult.com |
| BEAUTIFUL CREATURES - DEUCE (13 track CD) SPITFIRE RECORDS This is the follow up release to the bands debut four years ago. These guys play Hard Rock inter mixed with Heavy Metal music. Thes eguys remind me of some of the better Metal bands from the 80's, just with a harder & heavier edge. They have a really good driving & rocking sound. The vocals ahev a good mid ranged Rock/Metal sound to them. I really dig the grooviness they blend into the heavier sounding stuff. The band features ex-members of BANG TANGO & FLOTSAM & JETSAM. All fans of hard hitting Rock will want to pick this one up!!! www.BEAUTIFULCREATURES.net |
| BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME - ALASKA (11 track CD) VICTORY RECORDS "ALASKA" is the second VICTORY release for BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME. I was blown away as soon as the CD started! I loved their last album & this one is much better & more impressive than that one. These guys take many elements of Death Metal / Power Metal / Grindcore & Hardcore & blend them together like nothing I have ever heard before. The music is hypnotic with lighting fast tempo changes, breakdowns, fast, chaotic drumming & great rhythmic grooves. The vocals crossover into Hardcore screams / Death Metal growls & melodic Metal styles. If you want to hear one of the best releases of 2005 then you must pick up this amazing album!!! www.BETWEENTHEBURIEDANDME.com |
| CARRION CRAWLER - ROT CRUMBLE COLLAPSE (12 track CD) RAWKER RECORDS This is the new & improved CARRION CRAWLER, back on the scene. These guys have been demolishing the scene since the mid 90's with their blend of Grindcore, Noize & Death metal music. These guys are crazy. Their music is very spastic sounding which you find in Grindcore & Noize blended with heavy brutality that you would get from Death Metal. I loved this band then & I love them now. The vocals are very harsh Grindcore screams & low end Death gurggles. These guys remind me of a Death/Grind version of the band DEATH CORE. This is a must for fans of this style!!! - P.O. BOX 1053 / WHEAT RIDGE, CO. 80034 / CARRIONCRAWLER@hotmail.com / www.CARRIONCRAWLER.com (Available through BEOWOLF PRODUCTIONS) |
| CHARNEL VALLEY - THE DARK ARCHIVES (5 track CD) PARAGON RECORDS CHARNEL VALLEY consists of Marty of WORM GEAR ZINE & Craig of METAL MANIACS MAGAZINE. Thes eguys have created some very raw & epic Black Metal music. The music has an old school Black Metal war like feel to it. There are a few new school Black Metal elements present as well. There is a cold vibe all through out the music as well. The vocals are done in a harsh & groggy Black Metal type growl. All old school Black Metal fans will surely love this release!!! P.O. BOX 354 / COMMACK, NY. 11725 |
| DECEIVER - RIDING WITH THE REAPER (10 track CD) IRON FIST PRODUCTIONS This is the second CD release from this band and an amazing one it is. These guys play thrasing Heavy Metal music. They combine all the great elements of Thrash, Speed, Heavy metal & Traditional Metal together to create their sound. They have some really cool thrashing grooves & heavy fast Speed Metal riffs all through out. These guys are an amazing band that reminds me of some greats like MOTORHEAD, VENOM, BLACK SABBATH & MERCYFUL FATE. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Thrash/Speed Metal vocal style. This is a must!!! DECEIVERwarrior@hotmail.com / www.DECEIVER.tk |
| DESTRUKTOR - NUCLEAR STORM (5 track CD) HELLS HEADBANGERS RECORDS The Australlian Metal maniacs are back with a new MCD. These guys have been destroying the underground scene for many years now. They play a mixture of old school Black metal & old school Thrash Metal. they have a unique blend of speed, violence & extreme brutality flowing all through out their music. There are strong raw war like vibes in the music as well. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Harsh Thrash type growl/scream. This is the best offering from these guys yet!!! Fans of POSSESSED & NUN SLAUGHTER should give this one a listen!!! P.O. BOX 1024 / KANGAROO FLAT / VIC, 3555 / AUSTRALIA glennDESTRUKTOR@yahoo.com.au / www.DESTRUKTOR.cjb.net |
| DEVIL LEE ROT - AT HELLS DEEP (10 track CD) IRON FIST PRODUCTIONS DEVIL LEE ROT plays a great style of Heavy metal music, which they like to call The New Age Of Swedish Heavy Metal. The music is fast, grooving, crunchy Heavy Metal with some touches of other styles. I hear some elements of Death, Thrash, Speed & even a little Black Metal all present. These guys remind me of the bands from the 80's that made me love Metal music so much. I dig these guys a lot. There is a lot of great stuff in this band. If you were to mutate bands like MOTORHEAD, IRON MIADEN, DESTRUCTION, TESTAMENT, CARCASS & EXHORDER all into one band you'd get what I consider DEVIL LEE ROT to be, one very good band!!! paganLEEROT@hotmail.com / www.DEVILLEEROT.tk |
| DIGITUS IN RECTO - SWITCH!!! (11 track CD) CRYSTAL PRODUCTIONS Coming out of Slovakia is the great Techno Metal Industrial band named DIGITUS IN RECTO. These guys are very heavy sounding Metal music, but they toss in lots of elements of Techno & Industrial music into the mix. I loved the very thunderous & pounding of the Metal a lot. The Industrial is very harsh & crunchy sounding. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Metal/Industrial crossover style. This is a great release & a nice change from the other Metal releases I get. If you mixed CLUTCH, old HELMET, FEAR FACTORY, MINISTRY, RAMSTEIN, SKUNK ANANSHIE & HANZEL UND GRETYL you'd get a good idea of this amazing band!!! LUBO SIMO / RAKOUD 71 / POSTA PRIBOUCE / 03842 / SLOVAKIA DIGITUSINRECTO@pobox.sk |
| DISFIGURED CORPSE - MANKIND COLLAPSE (16 track CD) CRYSTAL PRODUCTIONS DISFIGURED CORPSE play a very mean pissed off sounding style of Death Metal music. The music is mostly dominated of Death Metal music, but there are lots of elements of Grindcore all within the music too. Their music is very, very aggressive & angry sounding & is played very fast. There are lots of Grindcore blasts & grooves all mixed within. These guys are extremely heavy & very good. The vocals follow right along with the music. The vocals are done in a very harsh Death growl style that are spewed out & filled with hate. This band is a must for old school & new school Death/Grind fans alike!!! - www.DISFIGUREDCORPSE.cz |
| DISSOLVING OF PRODIGY - LOUCENI SE SVETEM POZEMSKYM (11 track CD) CRYSTAL PRODUCTIONS These guys play a different sounding style of Metal music. They combine elements of Doom, Goth & Black Metal music together to create their sound. The music is very dark & doomy sounding, but has a Black metal atmospheric sound to it. The slow sludgy sound is very dominate in their music. The cold darkness that blankets their music is where I hear the Goth stuff coming in. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Black/Death crossover styled growl. This band reminded me of old BLACK SABBATH if they were a Death/Black Metal band!!! |
| EUTHANASIA - REQUIEM: SONGS FOR... (10 track CD) CRYSTAL PRODUCTIONS EUTHANASIA hail from the Czech Republic& play a many combined styles of Metal music. They combine many elements of Thrash, Power, Progressive, Speed, Traditional & even a bit of Death Metal all together. The dominate styles of music is the Thrash, Progressive Metal music. They have avery strong & powerful sound with a lot of depth. There are a lot of cool Speed Metal riffs with very melodic & atmospheric Progressive Metal parts. I really liked all the different styles inter mixed together. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Thrash or Speed style with some low end Death growls along with some melodic Power Metal vocals. This is a band that any Metal fan could find something to enjoy about them This is another must!!! - CSA 2/176 / 736 01 HAVIROV / CZECH REPUBLIC / EUTHANASIA@tiscali.cz / www.crystalprod.cz/EUTHANASIA |
| EVIL INCARNATE - WAITING FOR HIS RETURN (8 track CD) HELLS HEADBANGERS RECORDS It has been four years & now the silence has been broken as EVIL INCARNATE unleash their newest CD. These guys have been spreading their unholy sounds through out the scene for many years now. They play old school Christ hating Death metal music. There is a great old school brutalness that pushes their blasphemous sounds right in your face. There is tons of heavy pounding drums with all out blasts & grooves. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death growl style. If you like your Death metal filled with tons of hatred & anti-christianity views, your in for a treats with this band, because they deliver their best effort on this disc!!! endless_persecution@yahoo.com / http://EVILINCARNATE.cjb.net |
| JUNGLANS REGIA - CONTROLUCE (6 track CD) PIANETA MUSICA JUGLANS REGIA is a Metal act out of Italy that has been creating music since 1992. These guys play Power/Progressive Metal with a bit of a harder edge. The music is firmly based in the above styles, but there are some Thrash or Speed Metal elements present at times. There is a really cool sludgy sound to their music that I liked a lot. The vocals are done in a melodic Power Metal style, with some Thrash like ones tossed in. These guys possess a lot talent & should really be given a listen. The vocals are all sung in Italian. - VIA A. PACINOTTI 4 / 50019 SESTO FIORENTINO (FI) / ITALY / max@JUGLANSREGIA.com / www.JUNGLANSREGIA.com |
| JUNE - IF YOU SPEAK ANY FASTER (11 track CD) VICTORY RECORDS This is the first album from this Chicago based band JUNE blends influences from Pop/Punk/Rock music to create their style. The music has a pretty decent up beat & grooving sound to it. There are some heavier Rock areas, some more aggressive Punk areas & some straight forward Pop areas. These guys have a sound almost similar to thier label mates BAYSIDE with out the Emo elements. The vocals arre done in a crossover style of Pop/Rock music. Their sound is what I hear a lot of people getting into today, so I'm sure they will do good for themselves & VICTORY RECORDS! www.JUNErocks.com |
| NUNSLAUGHTER - GOAT (16 track CD) HELLS HEADBANGERS RECORDS I was very happy to get this disc in my review pile. I have been a big fan of these guys since the early 90's I even helped distro some of their stuff at one time on my label. NUNSLAUGHTER plays raw satanic devil Metal. The music is done in an old school Death Metal style with some Thrash Metal music mixed in. There is a strong raw & violent vibe all through out the music. The vocals are done in a rough & groggy sounding Death growl style. One of the songs lyrics were written by Jeff Becerra of POSSESSED & there is a RUNNING WILD cover song as well. This is a must for fans of POSSESSED, HELLHAMMER & VENOM!!! NUN666SLAUGHTER@hotmail.com / www.NUNSLAUGHTER.com |
| PAINFUL DEATH - HOMICIDE CHAOS (4 track CD) SELF RELEASED PAINFUL DEATH play a strong mixture of Death Metal & Hardcore music. They are more on the Metal side, but have a big Hardcore influence to their sound. The music has a really thick bass & drum sound all through out. I liked this a lot. They toss in some good grooves & breakdowns in between all the brutal chaos. The vocals are done in a mid ranged Death/Hardcore crossover style. These guys are very good & I liked to hear more from them in the future. If you were to combine underground greats like DISGRACE, LUNATIC, MALAMOR & ORCUS you'd come up with PAINFUL DEATH!!! kerryfretag@web.de / www.PAINFULDEATH.de |
| REACTION EXTASY TRANCE (R.E.T.) - THE DARK AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL (9 track CD) CRYSTAL PRODUCTIONS I wasn't sure what to expect when I popped this disc in, but I liked what I heard. R.E.T. play some very orchestrated & atmospheric Metal music. They combine elements of Black Metal, Death, Goth, Traditional & even a bit of Doom Metal. The music has a really dark melodic & mystical feel to it all through out. There are some cool change ups & trance like sounds mixed in as well. The vocals are done in a Goth Metal type style with some Black metal vocals blended in. These guys are great & highly recommended for fans of Goth & Black metal music!!! RET.3nec.cz |
| RIGOR SARDONICOUS - APOCALYPSIS DAMNARE (8 track CD) PARAGON RECORDS I remember this band back in the end of the 90's. I used to distro some of their CDs for them on my label. This disc is a re-issue of their release of the same name from 1999. These guys hail from New York & play apocalyptic Doom Metal music. The music is very slow, cold & torturous Doom Metal all the way. There is a heavy darkness that covers all the music too. The music at times sounds like a Death march. The vocals are very low end & throaty gutteral Death gurggles. This is like not other Doom Metal out there. Prepare for the apocalypse with this music!!! P.O. BOX 77 / SELDEN, NY. 11784 / www.smilingdeath.com |
| SECRETS SHE KEPT - REQUIEMS TO MIDNIGHT WOE (10 track CD) MORBID SOULS MUSIC SECRETS SHE KEPT is a one man project & soul creation of Necrol. He has done all writing, recording, producing, & performing on this album. The music played here is very good, heavy & brutal sounding Death Metal music. there are lots of elements of Black Metal present all through out. there is a lot of really dark atmospheric parts, but they are fast & slow atmospheric parts. There is a really errie dark vibe to the whole CD. The vocals are done in a harsh & powerful Black/Death metal growl/scream style. This is one of the best Black/Death Metal albums of 2005. You got to have this in your collection if your a fan of this style!!! - www.geocities.com/SECRETSSHEKEPT (Available through BEOWOLF PRODUCTIONS) |
| SILVERSTEIN - DISCOVERING THE WATERFRONT (11 track CD) VICTORY RECORDS This CD is the follow up to their debut album which came out two years ago. These guys play a great blend of Hardcore/Punk & Emo all rolled into one. They have a great driving sound that just keeps pushing forward. I love hoe they go from a melodic Emo/Punk sound into a heavy thumping Hardcore sound. The music has lots of grooves, breakdowns, & lots of change ups. the vocals also follow the same style as the music. You'll be flowing through a melodic Emo/Punk vocal style & then be hit with a harsh Hardcore scream style. These guys have improved a lot since their amazing debut. These guys will become one of VICTORY RECORDS best bands very quickly!!! Get this!!! www.SILVERSTEINmusic.com |
| SKITZO - HEAVY SHIT (12 track CD) SELF RELEASED. Lance & the rest of the sickos in SKITZO are back with a new disc & looking for a new label. These guys ahve stuck to their roots & are still playing great 80's style Thrash Metal music. On this new disc these guys have highly improved & perfected their sound. The music has gotten a lot heavier & a lot faster, plus it's much more aggressive sounding too. The vocals are done in a few styles. They blend together some high pitched Power/Thrash ones with some lower Thrash & almost Death like vocals! SKITZO just gets better with each new release. Fans of bands like KREATOR, ANTHRAX, TESTAMENT, GWAR, POSSESSED, CARCASS & old METALLICA will love these guys!!! P.O. BOX 1721 / HEALDSBURG, CA. 95448 / SKITZO@sonic.net |
| TWILIGHT - SUNN47 (9 track CD) SOUTHERN LORD RECORDINGS TWILIGHT plays all out intense & noisy Black Metal music. This band is made up of solo Black Metal artists from LEVIATHAN, LURKER OF CHALICE, KRIEG, XASTHUR, DRAGUAR & NACHTMYSTIUM. These guys combine their forces to create some hellish & blasphemous Black Metal mayhem. The music is very cold, dark, fast & noisy sounding Black Metal. There is a head on collision of old school & new school influences present all through out. The vocals are done in a mid to low ranged harsh Black Metal growl/scream style. If you like your Black metal raw, harsh & a bit noisy than this is the band for you!!!. |
| UNITED HELLAND - SELF TITLED (? track CD) CRYSTAL PRODUCTIONS I don't have any information on this band, but the one thing I do know is that they are very good. These guys play highly intense Death Metal with tons of other styles mixed with in their music. I hear a lot of Grindcore, Hardcore, Thrash, Death & a little Noisecore. The music is very fast, loud & hyper sounding all through out. I liked the Grindcore blasts & Hardcore grooves the most. The vocals are done in a spastic, harsh Death/Grind type scream. If your a fan of the above combines styles then your gonna wanna pick this disc up!!! |
| WARCHILD - PREACHING TO THE CONVERTED (7 track CD) SELF RELEASED WARCHILD emerges out of Italy with one great Power/Thrash Metal release. These guys take me back to the 80's when I first really got into Metal music. These guys have a classic Power metal sound with lots of Thrash metal elements tossed in. There are some Speed Metal & Traditional Metal influences present as well. They have some really cool guitar shredding parts too. The vocals take on mostly Power & Traditional Metal styles, but they toss in some harsher Thrash vocals & an occassional almost Death Metal sounding vocal. If you were to combine FORBIDDEN, MANOWAR, HAMMERFALL & PRIMAL FEAR together you'd get WARCHILD!!! VIA BELFANTE 24 / 70019 TRIGGIANO (BA) / ITALY info@WARCHILD.it / www.WARCHILD.it |
| WORLD OF SHIT - SELF TITLED (5 track CD) SELF RELEASED WORLD OF SHIT is a two man project consisting of Eric Bauer (guitar, bass, drums) & Mathias Bunte (vocals, drums). Eric lives in Chicago & Mathias lives in Germany. How these guys do it I don't know, but I like the results. The music is fast paced Death Grind music. The music is hyper fast & highly intense sounding. You can feel the anger just pouring out of this band. There is a lot of fast & crunchy Grind beats mixed with heavy brutal Death metal music. The vocals are done in a harsh Death scream/growl crossover style. These are two very talented guys who want you to join their world & listen to it's soundtrack!!! - WORLDOFSH_T@hotmail.com / www.WORLDOFSHIT.org |