  _______ __                     __      __                      ___ 
 |   _   |  |--.----.-----.-----|__.----|  .-----.-----. .-----.'  _|
 |.  1___|     |   _|  _  |     |  |  __|  |  -__|__ --| |  _  |   _|
 |.  |___|__|__|__| |_____|__|__|__|____|__|_____|_____| |_____|__|  
 |:  1   |                                                          
 |::.. . |                                                          
 `-------'                                                          
                   _______ __                      
                  |   _   |  |--.---.-.-----.-----.
                  |.  1___|     |  _  |  _  |__ --|
                  |.  |___|__|__|___._|_____|_____|
                  |:  1   |                        
                  |::.. . |                        
                  `-------'                        


       CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, February 6, 2004, Issue #70
                  http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com


Co-Editor / Founder: Gino Filicetti
Co-Editor / Contributor: Pedro Azevedo
Contributor: Adrian Bromley
Contributor: Brian Meloon
Contributor: Paul Schwarz
Contributor: Aaron McKay
Contributor: David Rocher
Contributor: Matthias Noll
Contributor: Alvin Wee
Contributor: Chris Flaaten
Contributor: Quentin Kalis
Contributor: Xander Hoose
Contributor: Adam Lineker
Contributor: Adrian Magers
Contributor: James Montague
Contributor: Jackie Smit
Spiritual Guidance: Alain M. Gaudrault

The   individual   writers   can   be   reached    by    e-mail    at 
firstname.lastname@ChroniclesOfChaos.com.                            
     (e.g. Gino.Filicetti@ChroniclesOfChaos.com).


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


Issue #70 Contents, 2/6/2004
----------------------------
* Chats
-- Moonspell: Under the Spell of the Antidote
-- Darkane: The Will to Overcome
* Albums
-- All Out War - _Condemned to Suffer_
-- Anathema - _A Natural Disaster_
-- Dark Tranquillity - _Live Damage_ DVD
-- Decapitated - _The Negation_
-- Demoncy - _Empire of the Fallen Angel_
-- Divine Empire - _Nostradamus_
-- Exodus - _Tempo of the Damned_
-- Faustcoven - _The Halo of Burning Wings_
-- Hell-Born - _Legacy of the Nephilim_
-- Hypocrisy  - _The Arrival_
-- In the Woods... - _Live at the Caledonien Hall_
-- Kataklysm - _Serenity in Fire_
-- Klimt 1918 - _Undressed Momento_
-- Mayhem / The Meads of Asphodel - _Freezing Moon, Carnage / Jihad_
-- Opeth - _Lamentations - Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire_ DVD
-- Penumbra - _Seclusion_
-- Samael - _Black Trip_ DVD
-- Sønderfall - _Ödeläggelse_
-- The Meads of Asphodel - _Exhuming the Grave of Yeshua_
-- Various - _Defenders of Metal Volume 1 - The Seduction_
-- Watain - _Casus Luciferi_
-- Xasthur - _The Funeral of Being_
-- Zaraza - _No Paradise to Lose_
* Demos
-- Athela - _Reliance_
-- SIG:AR:TYR - _The Stranger_
* Gigs
-- Why, Mr Sound Engineer, Why?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

                          _, _,_  _, ___  _,
                         / ` |_| /_\  |  (_ 
                         \ , | | | |  |  , )
                          ~  ~ ~ ~ ~  ~   ~ 

 U N D E R    T H E    S P E L L    O F    T H E    A N T I D O T E
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            CoC chats with Fernando Ribeiro of Moonspell
                           by: Jackie Smit


There are those -- mostly band members embittered at poor reviews, it 
would seem -- that would try to convince you otherwise, but there  is 
a basic motivation that binds together virtually  every  single  soul 
who ever chose to put pen to paper to air an opinion about an  album, 
or write an article on a band: we're all fans of the music  we  write 
about. I have been a fan of extreme music for  nearly  fifteen  years 
and remember fondly my  first  encounters  with  bands  like  Slayer, 
Morbid Angel and Samael. Another standout in  this  prestigious  list 
are Portugal's  darkest  sons,  Moonspell  --  a  band  who  need  no 
introduction, and who first came to my attention via  their  infamous 
_Under the Moonspell_ EP. Of course, the band has since metamorphosed 
into an almost entirely  different  entity  from  their  black  metal 
roots -- a  fact  that  has  garnered  them  a  generous  serving  of 
well-documented criticism. Speaking purely as a fan however, this has 
never bothered me. To these ears, the essence of Moonspell has always 
remained intact for better or for worse. Central to this has been the 
influence and undeniable presence of frontman Fernando Ribeiro, a man 
who I recently had the privilege of sharing a conversation with  when 
Moonspell rolled into town on Lacuna Coil's European tour.            

CoC: Starting with _The Antidote_, how did it  come  about  that  you 
     started working with José Luis Peixoto?                               

Fernando Ribeiro: Well, I  think  that  there  was  always  something 
                  in the lines of  Moonspell  --  something  probably 
                  written somewhere that we  would  sooner  or  later 
                  work with a writer, and incorporate this  into  our 
                  music to a greater degree. Throughout  our  history 
                  we have always had a strong literary influence, and 
                  there's always been some kind of literary intention 
                  running through the sound  of  Moonspell.  So  this 
                  time, José -- who's a very good friend of  ours  -- 
                  came up with the idea of absorbing all the energies 
                  of _The Antidote_ and creating a  narrative  around 
                  it. We accepted  it  openheartedly,  because  we've 
                  always had a fascination with reading  and,  in  my 
                  case, writing, so we collaborated and came up  with 
                  an album that shouldn't only be  listened  to,  but 
                  would draw the listener in to  the  concept  behind 
                  the  album  through  the  writing  and  through  my 
                  lyrics. The album is like the central  point  of  a 
                  crossroads for us and the hope is  that  a  lot  of 
                  other people -- fans  of  the  band  --  will  work 
                  around the concept  and  come  up  with  their  own 
                  writing and their own art,  because  that  is  very 
                  important to Moonspell. We wanted to start  a  kind 
                  of a chain. It was also quite strange that a writer 
                  would want to become  involved  in  something  like 
                  this, as most writers are very uptight about  their 
                  work and  they  mostly  quote  classical  music  -- 
                  Vivaldi and Wagner  --  but  this  guy  listens  to 
                  Obituary and he listens to Graveworm and he listens 
                  to Moonspell. This I think is  very  good  for  the 
                  genre -- I think it's very good for the credibility 
                  of metal. Metal has always  been  a  very  literary 
                  genre, starting off with Iron Maiden and  "Rime  of 
                  the Ancient Mariner", which was based on Coleridge. 

CoC: Could you outline the concept behind  _The  Antidote_  a  little 
     more?                                                                 

FR: I just write without any kind of limitation of a concept  in  the 
    beginning. I write a lot of poetry, a lot of other  stuff  and  I 
    also read a lot -- even about the writing process.  And  for  me, 
    that's always been the best  way  to  do  things:  to  work  with 
    freedom in the beginning, after which  you  can  start  with  the 
    difficult part of  making  sense  of  everything,  which  usually 
    doesn't show up in the initial  stages  of  developing  something 
    like this. So,  basically,  with  _The  Antidote_  I  had  almost 
    finished all the lyrics, we had the name of the album, and in the 
    end, when we had finished the recording and mixed  the  music,  I 
    realized that if you take all the poetic charge and the metaphors 
    from the lyrics and from José's book,  then  the  common  element 
    would be fear. I think that that music also  sounds  a  lot  like 
    fear -- it's  intimidating  at  times,  it's  powerful  and  it's 
    spiritual. So fear is what I think we're talking  about  in  _The 
    Antidote_; especially fear of  losing  and  fear  of  dying.  The 
    bottom line is that Moonspell is a very classical  band  when  it 
    comes to lyrical themes actually, and even though a lot of people 
    find it very tired to write about love or whatever other emotion, 
    I don't think that you can  write  about  anything  else  --  the 
    inspiration for everything comes from these emotions and I  think 
    that we as a band also have the ability to portray these emotions 
    musically.                                                        

CoC: So with all your own personal writing taken into account, do you 
     see a similar project for Moonspell based around  your  work  in 
     the future?                                                      

FR: I don't know. I  mean,  we  are  very  open  and  the  Portuguese 
    artistic community is generally very open when it comes to things 
    like this. But I don't know whether we'll do another project with 
    a book, because it's already been done with _The Antidote_.  With 
    _Darkness & Hope_ it was covering a song by  a  Portuguese  band, 
    with _Butterfly FX_ it was the idea to record  in  all  sorts  of 
    different places -- we always try and think of  something  unique 
    to add to each album.                                             

CoC: Moonspell seems to have made an effort throughout  their  career 
     do be different on every album. Has this effort  always  been  a 
     conscious one, or is it a product of natural progression?        

FR: Well, with _The Antidote_ -- I  see  it  as  a  very  intentional 
    album, but the way that it was written and  delivered,  that  was 
    very natural. _The Antidote_ was an album that was growing inside 
    of us for a long time, because it's not like  people  think;  art 
    takes time -- time to choose the right lyric,  the  right  notes, 
    the right way to express what  you're  trying  to  say.  We  have 
    always wanted a style that people can identify with and  to  have 
    certain features in our music that people can relate to, but  the 
    way that we approach this style is definitely  progressive.  It's 
    done with a progressive spirit attached it, so as with life, it's 
    natural, but it's also intentional.                               

CoC: So,  looking  at  Moonspell  circa  _Under  the  Moonspell_  and 
     Moonspell of present day -- would you say that  it's  still  the 
     same band essentially?                                           

FR: Not really. I mean, if  you  listen  to  _Under  the  Moonspell_, 
    it's very ambitious, very  experimental  and  maybe  even  a  bit 
    pretentious. And this creative spark, I think, has always been  a 
    part of Moonspell, and with our experience and growing as people, 
    we can express ourselves  much  better  and  I  think  that  _The 
    Antidote_ is definitely a good example of it.  I  think  that  it 
    would be wrong to say that we are still the  same  band,  but  as 
    Crowley says, "what's eternal, remains", and I think that we have 
    changed a lot in our style; put those things aside that we  think 
    are superfluous and unnecessary after experimenting. But I  think 
    that there are some features about  our  music  that  will  never 
    change.                                                           

CoC: Now, you've also been ostracized a lot about  the  changes  that 
     you've brought into every album. How do you feel about that?          

FR: We've  been  around  a  long  time  and  we've  gone  from  being 
    absolutely worshipped, to being despised. The way I see it,  _The 
    Antidote_, for instance, is an album with very good reviews  from 
    all over -- it's been very hard finding a bad or even a  cautious 
    review for it  --  but  ultimately  Moonspell  for  us  is  about 
    communication and expression, and luckily for us we  find  people 
    along the way that need the same kind of 'soothing' through music 
    that we need. Those are the people that like Moonspell,  and  all 
    the rest are just words. They are comments  that  won't  take  us 
    anywhere and have no true bearing on what  we  do.  Listening  to 
    Moonspell is not a question of life or death, but  for  us  being 
    Moonspell is a question of life or death. Those who complain  can 
    go to the record store and buy the band  that  they  are  looking 
    for.                                                              

CoC: In short, if you had to summarize your  approach  to  day-to-day 
     life, how would you do it?                                            

FR: It's about surviving for me, really. Our lives are split  between 
    moments of glory and moments of absolute anonymous behavior. It's 
    our task to handle both of these elements, but when it  comes  to 
    art  and  when  it  comes  to  Moonspell  my  life  is  basically 
    determined by what I write; to talk to the paper and to share  my 
    thoughts with it. I don't have a set philosophy -- it may  change 
    from one day to the next -- and I don't take one day at  a  time, 
    or make big plans for the future. My thought is that there  is  a 
    big distinction between living and surviving. I like to be on the 
    side of the 'living' so to speak and to get there you have to  be 
    out of the side of just 'surviving'.                              

CoC: Now you obviously pour a lot of yourself into Moonspell's lyrics 
     -- do you ever feel like you're opening yourself up too much and 
     that you're almost leaving yourself vulnerable in a way?         

FR: No, because Moonspell is a dark, yet transparent band. A  record, 
    or a book, or  a  piece  of  art  completes  itself  when  it  is 
    communicated. In the beginning we  were  more  elusive  and  more 
    controlled and more  afraid  of  people,  but  nowadays  we  have 
    learned the value of communication,  which  I  think  is  a  very 
    important part of the artistic process as well. So, basically  we 
    want to keep a straight line between what the band is and who  we 
    are as people -- even the fictional stuff that we do;  they  have 
    to come from a source, and we have  never  felt  exposed  in  our 
    music. It's not like an interview or something like  that,  where 
    you leave yourself open to more potentially dangerous exposure.   

CoC: With  darker  and  more  goth-orientated  music  like  HIM   and 
     Evanescence becoming more popular, do you think  that  Moonspell 
     could potentially be taken to the  next  level  commercially  as 
     well?                                                            

FR: I don't really know. I mean, if you  listen  to  _The  Antidote_, 
    it's not something we ever really had a  concern  with.  I  think 
    that Moonspell is more deeply rooted in the underground. We  were 
    born in the underground and  we  will  probably  stay  there.  We 
    probably lack the entertainment factor that  more  popular  bands 
    have, but we are not here to  entertain.  We  are  here  to  mark 
    people and we are here to  engrave  a  memory  of  some  sort  on 
    people's minds. We'd like to be remembered more along  the  lines 
    of bands like Fields of the Nephilim; as  a  cult  band.  I  also 
    don't want limitations in this band -- if I want to write a  song 
    about a German philosopher, then that song is  not  going  to  go 
    into the charts, but I don't care.                                

CoC: As far as your written works are concerned, will  we  be  seeing 
     any of this in the future?                                            

FR: I already have a book published in Portugal  --  a  small  poetry 
    book -- and I am in the process of completing a new one.  I  have 
    moved to a bigger publisher now, so I hope  that  it's  something 
    I'll be able to spend some more time with it in the future.  What 
    I also want to do in the future is to combine both  poetry  books 
    that I wrote and to translate them into English and release  them 
    worldwide. But it's not easy at all -- it's even  harder  than  a 
    record deal! I have too much of a problem with it though, I  will 
    finance and finish it myself.                                     

CoC: And finally, do you have any last words, Fernando?

FR: Thanks to everyone who has supported us on tour  so  far  and  to 
    everyone else, have a taste of _The Antidote_.                        

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

             T H E    W I L L    T O    O V E R C O M E
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               CoC chats with Klaas Ideberg of Darkane
                           by: Jackie Smit


Music as a singular entity has within its vast realm essentially  two 
types of person. On the one hand are those who involve themselves  in 
the making of music purely because they live for the thrill  of  fame 
and, as the current state of the mainstream proves, are probably  not 
talented enough to do anything else. Then there are  those  who  live 
for their work. They imbibe whatever they do with a sense of  passion 
and honesty that could ever only have been spawned from the mind of a 
person who truly loves their art. As the commercial  exploitation  of 
music gains more and more momentum, these  individuals  are  becoming 
increasingly scarce, but -- and perhaps more so in extreme music than 
any other -- such luminaries still exist if  you  look  hard  enough. 
People like Devin Townsend. People like Trey Azagthoth. And, in  this 
case, people like Klaas Ideberg -- guitarist and  primary  songwriter 
for cyber-thrash masters Darkane. A few short months ago,  Klaas  was 
at a crossroads: confined to a wheelchair and told by doctors that it 
was inadvisable to perform again. Ask  him  about  it  now  and  he's 
almost alarmingly nonchalant about it, but the fact of the matter  is 
that most so-called musicians these days would call  it  a  day  when 
faced with such adversity.                                            

And that, my friends, is precisely why after my talk  with  Klaas,  I 
have the pleasure of seeing him rip it up on stage alongside the band 
he formed in 1998.                                                    

CoC: First up, Klaas: what's new in the Darkane camp at the moment?

Klaas Ideberg: The main news is that we're going to  start  recording 
               practically as soon as  we  get  off  this  tour  [the 
               interview is being conducted in October  2003].  We've 
               set up  our  own  studio,  and  we'll  probably  start 
               recording in early December, finish  in  February  and 
               hopefully release toward the end of  April,  beginning 
               of May.                                                

CoC: Care to give us an idea of what the new material sounds like?

KI: It sounds a lot like our last  three  albums:  it  has  the  very 
    complicated things we did in _Insanity_ and it has a lot  of  the 
    elements of _Rusted Angel_ and _Expanding Senses_ as well.  It'll 
    probably be a bit more extreme, but we'll see  how  it  develops. 
    With the pre-production material at least, it is  sounding  quite 
    extreme.                                                          

CoC: Is Daniel Bergstrand going to working with you as producer again?

KI: No, we were going to record the album with him, but he got  stuck 
    doing the new In Flames  records.  So,  we  thought  we'd  do  it 
    ourselves and then I had a problem with my  back  and  Peter  had 
    problems with his wrists, which caused the recording thing to  be 
    slightly postponed.                                               

CoC: You'll be doing the recording in your own studio then, I take it 
     -- did you guys build the studio with  the  primary  purpose  of 
     recording Darkane?                                               

KI: Yeah, the studio was already used for _Expanding Senses_: we  did 
    the bass, guitars and choirs there and then we did the drums  and 
    the vocals in the Dug Out Studios.  Now  we've  bought  some  new 
    equipment with the money that we got from the  record  label,  so 
    this should suit all our purposes quite well, I think.            

CoC: Will you be recording other bands in your studio?

KI: Probably, but we'll see what happens with this recording. I mean, 
    if it turns out good, then definitely. We have already had offers 
    from other bands who  want  to  record  with  us,  after  we  did 
    _Expanding Senses_.                                               

CoC: You said that the new album will be more extreme;  will  you  be 
     bringing any more of the electronic influences  into  play  that 
     you did in previous records?                                     

KI: Not more, but I think on  this  album  we'll  have  more  of  the 
    classical stuff -- the violins and all that shit. On this  album, 
    we'll have a proper intro the way we did on _Insanity_ and  we're 
    going to use big fucking choirs, hopefully a symphony  orchestra. 
    We'll use this in the songs as well, if possible.                 

CoC: So, let's move on to the back injury you suffered recently:  how 
     did it happen?                                                        

KI: It actually started already in mid-June, after we did the  Sweden 
    Rock Festival and the Hard Rock Festival. A couple of days  after 
    that, when I sat down, my legs hurt like hell -- actually, when I 
    stood up after sitting down, my legs hurt like shit. Then after a 
    few minutes of walking it would go away,  but  it  gradually  got 
    worse and worse all through the summer. Then, the last time I was 
    able to walk properly was the day we played in Wacken -- that was 
    the last time. In mid- August I had to use crutches to  walk  and 
    then when we played in Israel six weeks ago  it  was  acute.  So, 
    when we got home off that tour  I  was  hospitalized,  because  I 
    couldn't do shit. I was fucked.                                   

CoC: Do you know what the cause was?

KI: Well, I have a history of having a bad back.

CoC: And you think that being on stage might have aggravated that?

KI: Possibly. The doctors had some thoughts about that. They told  me 
    that I  shouldn't  be  on  stage  anymore  and  that  even  after 
    rehabilitation it wouldn't be good for me to go  back  on  stage. 
    But in my mind, it's mainly a case of me having to exercise  more 
    and I haven't had the time to do that for  the  past  few  years, 
    because I have been too busy with the band and work and all  that 
    shit. So I have to do something to build  strength  in  my  back, 
    basically.                                                        

CoC: How are you feeling now?

KI: I'm okay now; I can walk and when I've played on this tour so far 
    I've thrashed around and it's been fine.                              

CoC: Let's talk about your show in Israel. It's  obviously  not  your 
     standard tour stop; that must have been quite an experience?          

KI: It was fucking great -- the audience were wild!

CoC: Does Darkane have a large following there?

KI: Yeah well, we do now! There was about five to six hundred  people 
    at every show and probably about a hundred people had the  album, 
    but straight after the shows the sales went fucking sky-high,  so 
    now we have a big following. We  sell  more  than  HammerFall  in 
    Israel anyway! <laughs>                                           

CoC: How did the tour in Israel come about?

KI: We were invited to go by the distribution company,  Raven  Music; 
    they're really nice guys and they asked us to come and play. They 
    have a couple of shows there every year: they had Rotting  Christ 
    and a couple of other death metal bands there a little while ago. 
    But it's not a regular thing and the people are still hungry  for 
    music there.                                                      

CoC: So how did you experience the country, considering  the  current 
     political climate, the ongoing terrorist actions and so on?           

KI: Well, especially before we went there, my mother was telling  me: 
    "Don't go there, you'll get blown up." And I said "fuck it".  But 
    apparently the last terrorist action took place  about  three  or 
    four minutes walking distance from where we lived.  And  Juergen, 
    our bass- player, he works in Tel Aviv and his home is  close  to 
    the American Embassy, and that's where the last bomb went off. He 
    even heard the blast and woke up in the middle of the night,  saw 
    the bodies being dragged away and all that shit.                  

CoC: Considering that the people there live their lives in that  sort 
     of environment every day, would you say  that  this  makes  them 
     perhaps more appreciative of a band like  yourselves  performing 
     there?                                                           

KI: Could be -- definitely.

CoC: Are you considering any more obscure destinations anytime soon?

KI: Well, we won't do it for this album,  but  we've  had  a  lot  of 
    interest from South America --  we  get  mail  from  there  every 
    fucking day, so we definitely want to  go  there  with  the  next 
    album.                                                            

CoC: What's the last good album that you bought?

KI: That I bought? Actually the new Machine Head album is pretty good.

CoC: You obviously think it's a step up from _Supercharger_ then?

KI: _Supercharger_ is shit! So many times I tried to like it,  but  I 
    can't -- it's  fucking  boring.  But  I  actually  met  the  guys 
    yesterday in Paris and they know about us and they like us. So, I 
    was proud.                                                        

CoC: Looking toward the future, where do you plan on taking Darkane?

KI: As far as possible. If we can afford to do things  like  increase 
    the visual element of our shows, we will. If the next album  does 
    well, we'd like to do a co-headline tour in  the  States  and  in 
    Europe and then we'll be able to incorporate a lot of  new  stuff 
    into our shows and possibly into our music as well.               

CoC: What's your profile like in the States at the moment?

KI: We sell quite well -- we're still on an underground label, but we 
    have a good following and the fans that we have  in  America  are 
    really, really dedicated and really amazing.  And  definitely  on 
    the next album we'll be touring America. We have  to.  We've  had 
    offers, but with the last one especially we got the news too late 
    and because we work we weren't able to go. It was  two  or  three 
    weeks before, so it was just impossible.                          

CoC: What's a typical day on tour with Darkane?

KI: Well, today we woke up very late, because we had a very late show 
    last night. We set up the basic gear and we're just  silly  guys. 
    We're very childish. We play pranks on each other all  the  time. 
    We're really into being  'fake-gays'  and  we  play  Heavy  Metal 
    Trivial Pursuit all the time.                                     

CoC: What would you say are must-have items when you are on tour?

KI: Beer. I can't live without beer. And that's about it. <laughs>

CoC: Thanks a lot for your time, Klaas. Do you have anything else  to 
     add?                                                                  

KI: To everybody who reads Chronicles of Chaos: check us out, buy our 
    albums and come see us live. You won't regret it.                     

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

                       _, _,  __, _,_ _, _  _,
                      / \ |   |_) | | |\/| (_ 
                      |~| | , |_) | | |  | , )
                      ~ ~ ~~~ ~   `~' ~  ~  ~ 

Scoring:  10 out of 10 -- A masterpiece indeed
           9 out of 10 -- Highly recommended
           7 out of 10 -- Has some redeeming qualities
           5 out of 10 -- You are treading in dangerous waters
           3 out of 10 -- Nothing here worth looking into
           0 out of 10 -- An atrocious album, avoid at all costs!


All Out War - _Condemned to Suffer_  (Victory Records, 2003)
by: Jackie Smit  (8.5 out of 10)

It's hard to believe that just a few short years ago, New York's  All 
Out War were mentioned in similar hushed tones to Hatebreed,  a  band 
who by all accounts have mounted a continual ascent what  with  Jamie 
Jasta now presenting Headbanger's Ball on MTV. In the  meantime,  All 
Out War  have  remained  stationary  in  the  relative  obscurity  of 
underground hardcore. The ultimate measure of any band is  inevitably 
the music though, and on this level the playing  field  is  decidedly 
more even, as _Condemned to Suffer_ is a seething lesson  in  musical 
violence that matches Hatebreed's last effort in every category.  For 
their third release, All Out  War  have  stepped  up  the  cross-over 
element of their music by several notches, and  more  prevalent  than 
ever is the tangible influence of  albums  like  _South  of  Heaven_, 
_Game Over_ and _Among the  Living_.  This  proves  to  be  to  their 
benefit,  as  they  successfully  avoid  the  pitfalls  of  combining 
old-school thrash  with  hardcore  and  end  up  sounding  even  more 
ferocious than they did  on  1998's  sterling  _For  Those  Who  Were 
Crucified_. This without a single shadow of a doubt one of  the  most 
barbarically angry records you'll hear for the next ten years.        

Contact: http://www.victoryrecords.com


Anathema - _A Natural Disaster_  (Music for Nations, 2003)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

Hardly a surprise anymore: with this new album, Anathema  have  again 
gone softer and more mainstream than before. _A Natural Disaster_  is 
a very pleasant album to chill out after a hard day's  work,  but  it 
does little to capture your attention. It features some  really  good 
tracks, flows quite well, but falls short of the mark when  it  comes 
to something written by such a talented band. In other words, overall 
it is a more acceptable album than its predecessor, but no more  than 
half the return to form I had hoped for after  the  disappointing  _A 
Fine Day to Exit_. Some tracks on _A Natural Disaster_ are quite good 
("Harmonium", "Balance", "Flying"); there's one track where they seem 
to rekindle their old urgency but ends up sounding somewhat contrived 
("Pulled Under at 2000  Metres  a  Second");  and  others  sound  too 
close to certain mainstream acts for comfort  ("Closer",  "A  Natural 
Disaster"). Anathema seem to be going through a lot of inner  turmoil 
as to their musical direction, resulting  in  relatively  indifferent 
albums comprised of some  good  material  and  a  bunch  of  passable 
tracks. This guess may be totally off the mark, but either  way  they 
need to do better in the future if they  are  ever  to  fully  regain 
their huge musical relevance.                                         

Contact: http://www.anathema.ws


Dark Tranquillity - _Live Damage_ DVD  (Century Media, 2003)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

Dark Tranquillity being one of my favourite bands, I expected nothing 
short of sheer brilliance from this, their first DVD. However,  never 
having seen the band live before, I had  to  wonder  to  what  extent 
the Swedes  would  be  able  to  reproduce  their  music's  intrinsic 
technicality in the live arena. Contrarily  to  what  I  expected,  I 
still have some doubts after watching  the  DVD:  the  camera  angles 
change so quickly you barely have time to figure out what  each  band 
member is doing -- you won't see much detail of the drumming,  guitar 
playing, or even Mikael Stanne's singing (the latter is  also  partly 
due to his tendency to keep the microphone in front of his  face).  I 
am left wondering whether this was done  intentionally  in  order  to 
disguise the fact  that  (at  least  in  my  DVD  player)  the  sound 
sometimes appears slightly out of synch with the  pictures.  This  in 
turn might suggest there was  some  studio  tweaking  of  the  band's 
performance, but of course that could also be completely off the mark 
and unfair for the band. Either  way,  the  music  on  the  main  gig 
(played in Krakow, Poland in 2003  during  the  _Damage  Done_  tour) 
comes out brilliantly in terms of sound quality and performance,  the 
latter striking a good balance  between  competent  technicality  and 
live feeling.                                                         

I consider Dark Tranquillity one of the  most  gifted  and  enjoyable 
bands in metal, and the extensive setlist  on  this  show  is  simply 
superb -- it even includes numerous classics that I assume remain the 
copyright of Osmose though  nothing  from  Spinefarm  Records'  debut 
_Skydancer_ or the superb _Of Chaos and Eternal Night_  EP.  For  the 
music, I award this DVD an outstanding 9.5 out of  10,  with  half  a 
mark deducted just because a few of the  songs  don't  work  so  well 
live. Due to the garish lighting, less than  inspiring  surroundings, 
excessively frequent changes of camera angle, and below  par  digital 
processing (pixelization occurs every once  in  a  while  in  my  DVD 
player and the image quality is less than brilliant),  my  rating  of 
the gig recording is a very disappointing 4 out of  10  --  a  golden 
opportunity laid to waste for the most part.                          

Two raw bootleg gigs are included as extras. Their sound and  picture 
quality is of course much lower, but it is still acceptable,  turning 
them into welcome additions to the DVD -- also thanks to better crowd 
reactions than on the main gig. Also included are two  average  video 
clips ("Therein" and "Monochromatic  Stains")  and  an  unpretentious 
interview with Mikael Stanne, as well as various other goodies in the 
shape of band profile, desktop images and more. For the extras, _Live 
Damage_ gets a well  deserved  8  out  of  10.  The  DVD  is  sleekly 
presented, in spite of an unambitious booklet, while  the  menus  are 
excellently decorated, easy to  navigate,  and  accompanied  by  some 
nicely tweaked bits of music. Therefore, the  presentation  of  _Live 
Damage_ earns another strong 8 out of 10.                             

Overall, it's a shame the main gig recording doesn't come across less 
convoluted and artificial looking  so  that  one  could  derive  more 
enjoyment from the video footage. Apart from that major flaw, this is 
a great DVD that should definitely find a place in any extreme  metal 
collection.                                                           

Contact: http://www.darktranquillity.com


Decapitated - _The Negation_  (Earache / Wicked World, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (9 out of 10)

Let's  be  honest:  anything  less   than   sheer   brilliance   from 
Decapitated's third effort would have been unacceptable. After 2002's 
groundbreaking _Nihility_ paved the way for  these  Polish  prodigies 
and etched their grim racket into the hearts and minds of anyone  and 
everyone with an ear  for  the  extreme,  underachievement  with  its 
successor was not an  option.  Thankfully,  Decapitated  have  indeed 
delivered the goods tenfold on _The Negation_ -- an album that in its 
thirty minute runtime repeatedly defines just  why  we  love  extreme 
music in the first place. "The Fury" heralds the start of  the  album 
and sets the tone for the record perfectly. Rather than  continue  to 
blast their way through the album's remaining seven  tracks  however, 
Decapitated wisely mix things up: tempo changes, groove,  progressive 
leads and  even  the  odd  spot  of  experimentation.  While  clearly 
schooled in the ways and traditions  of  Deicide,  Vader  and  Morbid 
Angel, Decapitated have cleverly distilled these  influences  into  a 
sound that is completely their own -- barbaric, dynamic  and  utterly 
crushing. The year may still be early, but ladies and gentlemen,  the 
battle for death metal highlight of 2004 has already begun.           

Contact: http://decapitated.cjb.net


Demoncy - _Empire of the Fallen Angel_  (Blood, Fire, Death, 2003)
by: Matthias Noll  (8 out of 10)

The fact that _Empire of the Fallen Angel_ features some of the  most 
drastic changes in  style  I've  ever  witnessed  initially  made  it 
somewhat difficult to objectively review Demoncy's new  album.  Their 
previous release, _Joined  in  Darkness_,  found  them  delivering  a 
totally unique blend of old-school  death  metal  (think  Incantation 
meets Bolt Thrower) mixed with  black  metal  vocals  and  a  totally 
bleak, trance-inducing Burzum-esque approach. Its ritualistic  nature 
and dense unholy atmosphere provided the ultimate soundtrack for some 
proper sacrificing or having the time of  your  life  at  the  weekly 
black mass while  wearing  a  goat  mask.  _EotFA_  is  a  total  and 
unexpected departure from the primitivism of _JiD_ and  a  trip  into 
the realms of norse black metal. Comparisons could be made  to  early 
Immortal, although _EotFA_ is more melodic and  less  frantic,  there 
are traces of the Swedish style, and with the focus on  icy  melodies 
_Within the Sylvan Realms of Frost_ is the closest  but  nevertheless 
stylistically remote comparison in Demoncy's  own  discography.  With 
the goal of  giving  ever  popular  topics  like  winter  landscapes, 
eternal frost and inhumanly cold ice  storms  a  musical  equivalent, 
Demoncy venture into dangerous areas and  an  already  over-satisfied 
stylistic niche where  the  norsecore  tag  is  threateningly  close. 
However, after the initial shock has worn off, I have to testify that 
Demoncy have managed the difficult task  of  re-inventing  themselves 
and setting foot into such territory with skill and class. Nothing on 
_EotFA_ deserves to get labelled as groundbreaking or  innovative  -- 
the  whole  musical  concept,  the  ideas  and  ingredients  are  all 
familiar -- but Demoncy have simply managed to write  an  album  full 
of good and memorable  songs  which  balance  brutality,  melody  and 
atmosphere exceptionally well and succeed in appropriately  depicting 
the grandeur and  intensity  of  their  lyrical  themes.  The  sound, 
although not perfect, remains  good  while  pleasantly  avoiding  the 
sameness and slickness of European productions. Based on the strength 
of tracks like "The Obsidian Age of Ice", these Americans can  easily 
hold their ground against the top tier of the European competition.   


Divine Empire - _Nostradamus_  (Century Media, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (7 out of 10)

There's something from Divine Empire's third full-length effort  that 
I can't quite place my finger on. It's  technically  superb  --  well 
produced and brilliantly performed. It's fast,  aggressive  and  very 
heavy. At times it even showcases moments  of  such  menacing  genius 
that one could conceivably imagine people  like  Eric  Rutan  turning 
green with envy. Yet for all its merits, there's something that  just 
doesn't quite gel. One could point the finger and claim to have heard 
everything that Divine Empire offer before,  but  the  crux  of  what 
plagues _Nostradamus_ is a distinct lack of  personality;  an  almost 
bizarre accusation considering the pedigree  of  the  band's  members 
(Malevolent Creation, Paingod et al). But  this,  combined  with  the 
fact that particularly toward the close of the  album  Divine  Empire 
just seem to have grown lazy as  far  as  songwriting  is  concerned, 
makes for an album that falls ever so slightly  short  of  the  mark. 
_Nostradamus_ is by no means the worst death metal album you'll  hear 
in your life, but it certainly won't dethrone bands like Morbid Angel 
or Nile anytime soon.                                                 

Contact: http://www.metalasylum.com/divine/


Exodus - _Tempo of the Damned_  (Nuclear Blast, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (7 out of 10)

Drug addiction and the harsh reality of sobering up, and  the  tragic 
and untimely loss of a former band member are all just  some  of  the 
harrowing experiences that the Bay Area collective  known  as  Exodus 
have had to endure along the  road  to  bringing  us  _Tempo  of  the 
Damned_, the first proper studio output the band have offered  up  in 
nearly eight years. Not surprisingly, the level of  expectation  that 
has been generated around this album is staggering, and in many  ways 
almost unfairly optimistic, given that these guys have  been  out  of 
the game for so long. And so it is  that  _TotD_  is  no  _Bonded  by 
Blood_, nor indeed is it _Fabulous Disaster_.  However  at  the  same 
time, it is also a step or two above  the  one-legged  dud  that  was 
_Impact Is Immanent_. Under the  guidance  of  producer  Andy  Sneap, 
Exodus have opted  to  play  it  safe  --  relying  on  those  traits 
that once upon a  time  saw  them  bask  in  the  same  adulation  as 
Slayer  and  Anthrax.  _TotD_  therefore  is  chock  full  of  catchy 
hooks, splendidly nasty riffs and neck-snapping  mid-tempo  chugging. 
Occasionally  though,  the  band  seems  almost  nervous;  trying  to 
recapture past glories by rehashing ideas from  their  earlier  work. 
"Blacklist", for instance, bears more than  a  mild  waft  of  "Toxic 
Waltz". Equally unfortunate is  the  band's  lingering  penchant  for 
coming up with almost cringingly puerile lyrics -- "Shroud of  Urine" 
being an excellent example. Yet at the end of the album's  fifty  odd 
minute running time, one is still left satisfied,  if  only  for  the 
unabashed and unrepentant way in which Exodus have always,  and  will 
hopefully continue to present their brand of old- school thrash.      

[Matthias: "A new Exodus comes out and all of a  sudden  50%  of  the 
 individuals that  populate  the  metal-related  message  boards  are 
 freaking out and claiming that this is a thrash  metal  masterpiece. 
 Yeah, Metallica have gone down the drain long ago,  Overkill  should 
 bore even those who have stood in union  for  over  a  decade  these 
 days, and Charlene Bitchante and the other clowns in Anthrax are  in 
 tears because their latest "product" doesn't sell --  of  course  it 
 doesn't: because it's crap, it's the lack of  promotion.  Especially 
 in a situation where mallcore is finally on the decline, many people 
 into real metal are waiting for the resurrection of a  thrash  metal 
 messiah -- but Holt/Hunolt's  last  attempt  to  postpone  a  second 
 career at Burger King surely can't fill those shoes. _Tempo  of  the 
 Damned_ (clever choice of an album title  --  for  a  moment  I  was 
 foolish enough to believe this was going to be fast) has a few  good 
 tracks and the rest is unfortunately nothing but a bunch of fillers. 
 The two godawful side-project songs are certainly the low  point  of 
 the album, and if someone needs an example of truly  atrocious  late 
 '90s  sub  Machine  Head  /  Pantera  crap  metal,  then  just  give 
 "Throwing Down" a spin. Zetro sounds much more aggressive and better 
 than ever, and it's  certainly  not  his  fault  that  _TotD_  is  a 
 disappointment, but I  can  vividly  imagine  Baloff  smashing  Gary 
 Holt's skull when asked to sing  over  such  crap.  The  Andy  Sneap 
 production is almost  as  annoying:  squeaky  clean,  without  bass, 
 without anything that'd rip and shred  like  a  thrash  metal  album 
 should. "Scar Spangled Banner" is good, "Tempo  of  the  Damned"  is 
 also good and reminds me of "The Last Act of Defiance"; the rest  is 
 mediocre to plain boring, and the metal kiddies who  claim  this  is 
 good thrash metal should get shut down hard, fast and  with  maximum 
 violence like a bunch of fucking posers at an Exodus gig in '84/'85. 
 This band as an entity that is  able  to  create  new  and  exciting 
 thrash metal  ceased  to  exist  after  _Impact  Is  Imminent_,  and 
 nostalgia and wishful thinking can't turn a turd into gold."]        

Contact: http://www.exodusattack.com


Faustcoven - _The Halo of Burning Wings_  (Barbarian Wrath, 2003)
by: Matthias Noll  (8 out of 10)

Often  doomy,  meandering  and  worming  onwards  like  an  army   of 
maggots, Faustcoven conjure the malicious spirit of early Samael  and 
occasionally the sinister groove of Tom G. Warrior without  recycling 
his riffs. Although  this  one-man  band  (strengthened  by  a  human 
session drummer) is from Norway, Faustcoven celebrate  a  ritualistic 
and evil- to-the-bone, pre-second wave  version  of  black  metal  -- 
which is not really surprising  considering  that  they  are  on  the 
Barbarian Wrath label. While their take on black  metal  consists  of 
simply ignoring the existence of albums like  _Transylvanian  Hunger_ 
and _De Mysteriis dom Sathanas_, _The Halo of Burning Wings_ is by no 
means just an enthusiastic but amateurish homage to  the  Neanderthal 
days of this style. The thick, suffocating guitar sound is  certainly 
no product of the '80s; the production is unpolished and ripping with 
loads of low end, but not of the "recorded in a garbage can  with  my 
cousin's answering machine"  variety;  and  even  if  Faustcoven  are 
wearing some of their influences proudly on their  sleeves,  I'm  not 
aware of any band in  particular  that  is  directly  and  completely 
comparable to. The 40+ minutes of  _THoBW_  offer  a  nice  selection 
of tracks, some of  which  are  more  straightforward  and  grab  you 
instantly, whereas others need a few spins to  click  and  contribute 
nicely to the longevity of this album. Faustcoven might not appeal to 
all the fools who believe that Hank Amarillo  invented  black  metal, 
but what I hear is a surprisingly cool, very sinister,  very  intense 
and atmospheric debut record. With a few very minor flaws  eliminated 
next time (the mastering could be louder, the drum sound a  bit  more 
up-front and punishing) and a similar leap  in  quality  to  that  of 
_THoBW_ compared to the demos, my expectations aren't exactly low for 
the next album. Two full songs are available at the  Barbarian  Wrath 
website.                                                              

Contact: http://www.barbarianwrath.org


Hell-Born - _Legacy of the Nephilim_  (Conquer Records, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (6.5 out of 10)

It will surprise very few to learn that Hell-Born features ex-members 
of Behemoth. Not only do the two bands share an obvious bond in their 
Polish heritage, but both draw an equal amount  of  inspiration  from 
the deep-rooted harshness  of  Vader,  Morbid  Angel  and  old-school 
thrash. However, where Behemoth have consistently honed  their  craft 
and developed into an increasingly distinct  entity,  Hell-Born  more 
often than not remain faceless in a  genre  that  has  seen  the  bar 
raised virtually insurmountably in  the  last  two  to  three  years. 
Paramount to their shortcomings  are  their  penchant  for  repeating 
themselves, and for the most part almost every  song  on  _Legacy  of 
the  Nephilim_  could  have  benefited  from  trimming  of  at  least 
ninety seconds off its duration. "Supreme Race"  and  "Blacklight  of 
Leviathan" are definitely superb efforts, and there's no arguing that 
Hell-Born can play their instruments well, but ultimately this  is  a 
record that will appeal to only the most ardent death metal fan.      

Contact: http://www.hell-born.com


Hypocrisy  - _The Arrival_  (Nuclear Blast, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (7 out of 10)

Don't be surprised if 2004 goes down in the annals of  history  as  a 
year of sugar-coated, empty promises. With a slew of releases waiting 
in the wings all promising returns to form for the bands in question, 
one can almost taste the disappointment  that  is  bound  to  follow. 
Alas, such is the case with Hypocrisy's ninth  studio  release  --  a 
record which sells itself as a throwback to the promising  sounds  of 
_The Final Chapter_ and _Abducted_, yet subsequently falls  short  of 
the mark. Not that it's a bad effort, by the way; it  just  seems  as 
though Peter Tagtren and Co  have  carved  out  a  comfort  zone  for 
themselves from whence it's all too easy to  churn  out  nine  songs, 
slap a familiar logo on the box and call it an album. Of course, even 
at 50%, Hypocrisy can still come up with a decent tune, as "Slave  to 
the Parasites" and "War Within" prove with great aplomb. The  problem 
is that death  metal  has  evolved  exponentially  since  Hypocrisy's 
inception in the early nineties, and  specifically  at  this  crucial 
point in their career, a further exploration of the inventiveness and 
experimental spirit  of  1999's  _Hypocrisy_  would  have  been  very 
welcome.                                                              

Contact: http://www.hypocrisy.tv


In the Woods... - _Live at the Caledonien Hall_
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)  (Karmakosmetix / Prophecy, 2003)

I shall skip the eulogy this time around: suffice it to say  that  if 
you like atmospheric metal and haven't heard In  the  Woods...,  then 
you seriously need to remedy that situation (and buying _Omnio_ would 
be a great first step). About three years after the band broke up, we 
finally get the chance to hear  _Live  at  the  Caledonien  Hall_,  a 
double disc that contains ItW's final  live  performance.  This  gig, 
booked after the band had already split up,  featured  virtually  all 
band members since the band's inception (only the two  vocalists  and 
the drummer remain the same throughout), as well as most of the songs 
they ever wrote.  More  specifically,  it  features  _Omnio_  in  its 
entirety, which is a massive bonus.                                   

My anticipation of this album was huge, which brings us to what  some 
will call nitpicking, and others will call relevant details. First of 
all, either due to the guitarists not remaining the  same  throughout 
or the sheer length of the gig, the  quality  and  tightness  of  the 
guitar playing is not as consistent as I would have liked it  to  be. 
This is far from stating that the gig was mediocre  --  it's  a  fine 
gig, but in spite of the good sound quality, it's not as near perfect 
technically as I  hoped.  Second,  _Heart  of  the  Ages_  is  poorly 
represented. (The fact that no black metal  shrieking  can  be  heard 
should  be  a  pretty  good  example  --  no,  not  even  that  first 
piercing scream in the album.) And finally, there's a  bit  too  much 
psychedelic, meandering tracks on the second disc  (mostly  from  the 
vinyl EPs), which renders the full  live  experience  a  bit  stodgy. 
Apart from this, it's brilliant. The live _Omnio_ is worth the  price 
tag on its own, and there's several other good tracks as well  --  in 
addition to the fact that this should be regarded as a valuable  live 
document of an excellent band.                                        

If you find the limited edition, you will also get a glimpse  of  the 
work being developed in the fledgling Karmakosmetix record label,  to 
which some former members of ItW are connected, thanks to a promo  CD 
that they've thrown in. All in all, _Live at the Caledonien Hall_  is 
not quite as rapturous as I hoped, but it is  nonetheless  very  much 
worth owning.                                                         

Contact: http://www.karmakosmetix.com


Kataklysm - _Serenity in Fire_  (Nuclear Blast, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (5 out of 10)

There  are  very  few  individuals  who  could  have  predicted   the 
evolutionary path that Canada's self-styled  purveyors  of  "northern 
hyper-blast" would eventually follow when their now classic _Mystical 
Gates of Reincarnation_ EP was released in 1992. You see, aside  from 
the almost OTT brutality of the music, what made _MGoR_ and  its  two 
immediate successors so special was the fact that in an  increasingly 
overpopulated genre, Kataklysm had a unique identity -- a sound  that 
was wholly their own and which made them stand out from  among  their 
peers. These aforementioned records  have  since  and  will  probably 
continue to stand the test of time, and are most certainly a far  cry 
from the tepid, generic attempt that they now offer as their  seventh 
studio outing.  While  Kataklysm's  decline  has  been  anything  but 
sudden, it is a sad thing to see a band strip  away  virtually  every 
discernable quality that once defined their music. Piling  on  cliché 
after cliché over the course of the album's 38 minutes, _Serenity  in 
Fire_ is a tired and confused  record  that  at  times  finds  itself 
uncertain of the genre it wants to belong to. Where  progression  and 
diversification have  always  been  something  I  have  praised,  the 
elements of black and Swedish melodic metal on tracks like  "For  All 
Our Sins" only serve to drag down the effort even  further  into  the 
mire of mediocrity. And sure, the record cannot  be  faulted  from  a 
technical point of view, but this makes Kataklysm's decline seem  all 
the more tragic.                                                      

Contact: http://www.kataklysm.net


Klimt 1918 - _Undressed Momento_  (My Kingdom Music, 2003)
by: Jackie Smit  (8 out of 10)

One  listen  to  _Undressed  Momento_  should  be  all  it  takes  to 
convince one that had this Italian outfit's moniker  rolled  off  the 
tongue with greater ease, they would surely  by  now  have  been  the 
black-clad darlings of the mainstream. With nine  songs  smacking  of 
the increasingly popular Lacuna Coil's mid-tempo  gothic  rock  chic, 
combined with a generous smattering of Katatonia's most  pensive  and 
thoughtful moments, Klimt 1918 have produced a record that, while not 
wholly inventive, manages to impress on several levels --  not  least 
the beautiful warmth and clarity  of  the  production,  which  almost 
sounds too good for a release as low-key as this.  There's  also  the 
band's keen sense of song structure and melody  --  a  quality  which 
binds together the impeccable performance of such gems as "Parade  of 
Adolescence", "We Don't Need No Music" and  "Stalingrad  Theme".  But 
what ultimately wins one over on _Undressed Momento_ -- and is indeed 
primarily responsible for the record's generous score -- is the depth 
of emotion explored throughout the opus, proving  that  on  the  rare 
occasions that it is done properly, music can be both accessible  and 
genuinely soulful.                                                    

Contact: http://www.klimt1918.com


Mayhem / The Meads of Asphodel - _Freezing Moon, Carnage / Jihad_
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)  (Supernal Music, 2003)

Originally released in 10" picture  vinyl  only,  this  collaboration 
between Mayhem and The Meads of Asphodel  now  receives  the  compact 
disc treatment -- to the delight of those who were so far  unable  to 
find it. This CD version comes with two extra tracks by The Meads  of 
Asphodel (one of which a Hawkwind cover), meaning their eclectic work 
now spans the split's first six cuts, while  Mayhem  contribute  with 
just "Freezing Moon" and "Carnage" (advertised  as  the  only  studio 
recordings by their 'classic' line-up in existence). Considering  the 
already vastly different musical styles on offer here,  this  further 
imbalance in terms of quantity means the  two  Mayhem  tracks  tacked 
onto the end of _Jihad_ and  its  respective  bonuses  fit  about  as 
comfortably as a dislocated shoulder -- but who said splits ought  to 
be evenly styled  and  balanced  throughout?  Indeed,  this  contrast 
enhances  the  musty,  underground  feeling  of  the  Mayhem  tracks, 
complementing the sophisticated and inventive work by  The  Meads  of 
Asphodel. This split effect always works best  on  vinyl,  where  you 
have two physically separate sides, but not all is lost in converting 
it into CD. If you are a Mayhem or The  Meads  of  Asphodel  nut  and 
haven't got this yet, then buy now; otherwise, this is not  the  best 
place to start looking into either band.                              

Contact: http://www.supernalmusic.com


Opeth - _Lamentations - Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire_ DVD
by: Pedro Azevedo  (10 out of 10)  (Music for Nations, 2003)

The premise: a one-off show where Opeth would play  the  entirety  of 
their tranquil _Damnation_ followed by a selection of  heavier  songs 
from other albums, held at  the  more  than  appropriate  setting  of 
Shepherd's Bush Empire. Considering the masterful quality of  Opeth's 
back catalogue and their  proven  ability  to  perform  amazing  live 
renditions of such complex material, I could  only  expect  the  very 
best from this DVD. Indeed,  nearly  everything  that  really  counts 
seemed to be going in the right direction: crystalline  but  powerful 
sound, outstanding  musicianship,  fine  surroundings  and  lighting, 
highly  competent  camera  work  and  consistently  integrated  angle 
changes.                                                              

However, one thing was not quite ideal in this  DVD:  the  set  list. 
Perhaps they should have played more of  the  heavy  material  rather 
than the entirety of _Damnation_, but that's debatable.  Instead,  my 
gripe with the set list  is  that  it  seems  to  have  followed  one 
overwhelming non-musical criteria, surely  imposed  by  their  label: 
Opeth were only allowed to play tracks from their Music  for  Nations 
albums. This means their Candlelight albums (_Orchid_,  _Morningrise_ 
and _My Arms, Your Hearse_) as  well  as  Peaceville's  _Still  Life_ 
were forbidden territory, and therefore several  older  classics  are 
conspicuous for their absence. I might be wrong in assuming this, but 
it seems too much of a coincidence that they would  leave  out  songs 
like "Demon of the Fall" for any reason other than copyright --  even 
worse, they had to ignore the audience's enthusiastic  chants  asking 
for that particular song, one that they always play.                  

Nevertheless, it would be unfair to deduct anything from my rating of 
this DVD just because they didn't play every song I  wanted  to  hear 
from their discography: that would have been impossible to pack  into 
a single DVD. The heavy tracks selected for the second  half  of  the 
two hour set are all between very good and  excellent  (the  grin  on 
Akerfeldt's face as he tears into the rapturous final  lead  of  "The 
Drapery Falls" is priceless), and the mellow  ones  from  _Damnation_ 
seemed to shine even more in that particular live setting. Sure, they 
could have probably recorded another DVD full of music worth a 10 out 
of 10 and  not  repeat  a  single  track,  but  that  shouldn't  make 
_Lamentations_ any worse. I award _Lamentations_ an amazing 10 out of 
10 for the music, while the  gig  recording  is  also  a  just  about 
flawless 10 out of 10.                                                

Looking  at  the  extras,  all  there  is  to  be  found  is  a  very 
interesting,  one  hour  long  documentary  about   the   making   of 
_Deliverance_ and _Damnation_ -- an 8 out of 10 in  this  department. 
Packaging and presentation remain simple and competent throughout; no 
real luxury or great detail, but certainly sober and effective: 7 out 
of 10.                                                                

Scoring full marks in the most important areas, _Lamentations_ is  an 
incredibly solid DVD that every other band  will  be  extremely  hard 
pressed to match.  Great  atmosphere  and  superb  musicianship,  all 
impeccably captured on DVD -- a mandatory purchase.                   

Contact: http://www.opeth.com


Penumbra - _Seclusion_  (Season of Mist, 2003)
by: Aaron McKay  (7 out of 10)

From A to Z, this French outfit leaves no  stone  unturned  in  their 
search to capture the elusive  goth  metal  style.  Stemming  from  a 
history stretching back to 1996, then calling themselves Imperatoria, 
Penumbra has  created  an  avantgarde  blend  of  metal  and  musical 
landscapes,  pushing  the  reaches  of  metal  in  mostly  new  ways. 
Lyrically, this band of seven inconsolable soul-seekers creates vivid 
scenes of developed despondency struggling to survive the  complexity 
of the sacrifice they seem to  be  developing  with  the  new  effort 
_Seclusion_. With  this,  their  third  full  release,  Penumbra  has 
seamlessly refined a sound rich with a mixture of elements not always 
evident in the scene today. The scene itself is nearly unclassifiable 
when it comes to the material  this  outfit  generates.  Lush  female 
vocals play a  pivotal  role  in  Penumbra's  goth  technique  toward 
developing the concept of the album -- that being a  discordant  love 
between an angel and a mortal. Enhancing that point further, the deep 
male vocals, clean and growlingly edgy  both,  have  a  complementary 
impression on _Seclusion_'s haunting style. Eight tracks of not  less 
than nearly four and a half minutes give this recorded experience all 
the time it needs to mature its  deluxe  grandeur.  The  passive  and 
aggressive approach found within _Seclusion_ ebb  and  flow  like  so 
many  emotions  contained  in  a  schizophrenic  mind.  For  all  the 
complexity of Penumbra's newest offering, the poignant  fact  remains 
that their opulence of theatrics and choir can only  be  absorbed  in 
small doses; think of it as eating raw, white fudge -- no matter  the 
rich texture, the law of diminishing returns always kicks in.         

Contact: http://www.penumbra-band.com


Samael - _Black Trip_ DVD  (Century Media, 2003)
by: Quentin Kalis  (8 out of 10)

Samael are one of those bands with a  patchy  career,  with  material 
ranging from derivative and repetitive droning through to  fresh  and 
exciting innovation. Fortunately, this double  DVD  set  concentrates 
predominantly on the latter category. The main focus of this DVD  are 
two full concerts, dating from 1996 and 2002, plus a  bootleg  of  an 
early show  from  1994.  Also  included  are  several  promo  videos, 
interviews and footage from the _Passage_ and _Exodus_ sessions.      

The first full concert is that recorded at the Summer Breeze festival 
in 2002 in support of the _Eternal_ CD. The  sound,  although  pretty 
good, is marred by the  thinness  of  the  pre-programmed  drums  and 
keyboards. In comparison, the concert recorded at Krakow,  Poland  in 
1996 sounds much better, as the keyboards  and  synths  have  a  much 
fuller sound -- the quality is comparable to the recent  Emperor  and 
Dimmu Borgir DVDs. Consisting largely of material from the  excellent 
_Passage_ CD, with a  few  songs  from  the  only  slightly  inferior 
_Ceremony of Opposites_, this concert is the undisputed highlight  of 
_Black Trip_ and is  in  itself  nearly  sufficient  to  justify  the 
purchase of this DVD.                                                 

The 1994 show was recorded in the US and was originally a bootleg  -- 
presumably both audio and  visual  were  cleaned  up  a  bit  for  an 
official DVD release, but to be brutally honest, it still  looks  and 
sounds shit. The drums dominate the mix, overriding everything  else. 
Vorph's vocals are totally indecipherable and the  guitar  is  little 
more then a wall of noise. The songs  are  almost  exclusively  drawn 
from _CoO_, and unless you are very familiar  with  the  material  on 
that album, it will be impossible to enjoy. On the other hand,  there 
are  many  who  will  appreciate  the  inclusion  of  older  material 
regardless of quality, and I cannot fault its inclusion -- especially 
since this DVD is the same price as a single DVD. I was surprised  to 
notice hardly any material from _Worship Him_ and _Blood Ritual_  was 
included in this concert -- no big loss, as these  two  CDs  pale  in 
comparison to just about anything they have released since then,  but 
surprising  nonetheless.  In  conclusion,  this  DVD  set  is  highly 
recommended to any who have more then a passing interest  in  Samael; 
but if your favourite  Samael  album  is  _Worship  Him_,  you'll  be 
wasting your time and money here.                                     


Sønderfall - _Ödeläggelse_  (Bleak Cold Productions, 2003)
by: James Montague  (7 out of 10)

As a small-time chimp in the reviewing jungle, my mailbox  is  hardly 
overburdened with demos and promos from around the world; thus  there 
is still excitement to be had at the receipt of said goods. But  it's 
also fair to say I rarely receive a freebie that goes on  to  feature 
in my regular playlist. Enter Sønderfall, an  unsigned  Swedish  pair 
that have thrown themselves into the global black metal orgy  with  a 
unique perspective: the perspective of men who know how  to  write  a 
catchy tune. I can't remember the last  time  I  saw  a  black  metal 
recording  with  so  many  two  to  three  minute  tracks.  Not  that 
Sønderfall can't write an  epic,  atmospheric  song:  those  are  the 
four-minute marathons  that  pop  up  from  time  to  time.  The  duo 
uses simple  but  effective  techniques  to  great  effect,  such  as 
the accelerating drum beat that  brings  the  music  to  an  almighty 
crescendo. Most songs feature a handful  of  traditional  second-wave 
tremolo riffs and the occasional thrash  chord,  tastefully  arranged 
and set against a frantic drumbeat that gets the  pulse  racing.  And 
that's all you need, really.                                          

Much as Carpathian Forest did in their prime, Sønderfall have created 
an album that is serious, a little grim, yet still fun to listen  to. 
It's a pity more bands don't realise that you can  enjoy  your  music 
without compromising the oh-so-important black metal ethos.           

Contact: http://www.sonderfall.nu


The Meads of Asphodel - _Exhuming the Grave of Yeshua_
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7.5 out of 10)  (Supernal Music, 2003)

I would never have guessed these nutters were British, but there  you 
go: Britain is  where  this  Far  East-tinged  metallic  extravaganza 
titled _Exhuming the Grave of Yeshua_  was  conjured.  _Exhuming  the 
Grave of Yeshua_ is one twisted album that fits no predefined  genre; 
I can't recommend it to any particular type of  metal  listener,  but 
somehow I find it likely to be enjoyed by all  sorts  of  people.  It 
doesn't exactly travel the beaten path of  mixing  black,  death  and 
doom and coming out with something everyone's  supposed  to  like  at 
least a little bit. Instead, it starts from a  blackened  metal  base 
and goes off in all kinds of musical directions. Before the album  is 
finished, you are guaranteed to be thrown off a remarkable number  of 
times, yet likely to crave going back for more. I cannot say  I  like 
everything The Meads of Asphodel have done on _Exhuming the Grave  of 
Yeshua_, but amidst all the chaos the overall result  is  impressive. 
_Exhuming the Grave of  Yeshua_  is  a  bit  like  garlic  to  me:  I 
have trouble digesting it and my  thoughts  keep  going  back  to  it 
afterwards, but it doesn't taste anywhere as bad as even a  clove  of 
that nasty thing. It's a strange disc  (as  if  that  wasn't  obvious 
yet): the sort where it would be pointless to describe  some  of  its 
eccentricities just because it would only scratch  the  surface;  the 
sort that as you listen you feel successively  tempted  to  dish  out 
negative and near brilliant ratings. I wish it could  all  have  been 
more consistent, but then it would have lost some of  its  character. 
My advice: well worth checking it out for yourself.                   

Contact: http://www.supernalmusic.com


Various - _Defenders of Metal Volume 1 - The Seduction_
by: Aaron McKay  (3.5 out of 10)  (Man in Black Music, 2003)

An eighteen track compilation from the relatively new  label  Man  in 
Black Music bears more than just  a  passing  resemblance  to  a  "B" 
variety sci-fi flick. There is plenty of  power  metal  (or  "triumph 
metal", as I like to call it) plastered throughout  this  collection. 
Bands participating on this release hail from far and  wide:  Sweden, 
Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Austria, as  well  as  the  States. 
Melodic hymns, classic metal and fantasy/victory riffs line up end to 
end for the nearly seventy-eight  minutes  this  disc  spins.  Fairly 
under-produced, the sound is palatable and the bands offered here are 
audibly dedicated to  their  cause,  but  wind  up  absent  any  real 
consistent strain of novelty. A notable change-up on the  CD  is  the 
Italian outfit Metharia: this band genuinely communicates feelings on 
their track "Riflesso" in their  native  tongue  and  the  result  is 
alluring. Other than Metharia, some bright spots on  the  compilation 
beam from the cutting guitar work compliments of the  female  fronted 
band from the UK Mercury Rain, performing "Bride of  the  Dark",  and 
the MiB Music flagship outfit, Jesters Moon. Over this last summer, I 
reviewed Jesters Moon's  self-titled  disc  for  CoC  and  thoroughly 
enjoyed the task. In that write-up, I  commented  that  Jesters  Moon 
"brewed nostalgia". Their cut on _Defenders of  Metal_,  "Forbidden", 
is every bit the liquid trip down memory lane  as  their  full-length 
CD. Other than the always admirable quality of broadening your  metal 
horizons, _Defenders of Metal_ offers few vehicles in  which  to  get 
you near that goal.                                                   

Contact: http://www.maninblackmusic.com


Watain - _Casus Luciferi_  (Drakkar Productions, 2004)
by: Matthias Noll  (9 out of 10)

Bands of this calibre and within this particular style usually end up 
on Nuclear Blast with a watered-down musical concept, a slicker  than 
slick Abyss production, full-page ads  in  all  major  magazines  and 
artwork done by the guy from Dark Tranquillity. In fact,  Watain  are 
far less necro and primitive than their status, artwork and deal with 
Drakkar suggests. Although these Swedes usually get mentioned in  the 
same breath  as  the  most  obscure  and  usually  mainly  Darkthrone 
inspired bands, Watain are a heavily  Dissection  influenced  outfit. 
Without further examination, one  might  even  call  them  Dissection 
clones; but from my point of view (and probably helped  by  the  fact 
that I never fully  comprehended  the  incredible  amount  of  praise 
bestowed upon _Storm of the Light's Bane_), Watain have surpassed the 
band that may have been  their  main  inspiration.  _Casus  Luciferi_ 
features eight long, mainly hell-paced and always  break-laden  songs 
with a multitude of layered guitar melodies and harmonic textures  -- 
more so than on their debut album _Rabid Death's Curse_ -- but Watain 
still keep an impeccable balance between being  melodic,  raw,  black 
and heavy for the full length of this album. Although the truer  than 
true crowd might not like to hear this, _ Casus Luciferi_ -- not as a 
whole, just in a couple of places -- is not all  too  far  away  from 
some of the heavier and better moments on  the  latest  Dimmu  Borgir 
records as far as some melodies, bridge sections  and  build-ups  go. 
However, the final result is far more convincing, because  this  band 
manages to sound fresh and preserve an underground feeling. They  are 
able to write more interesting riffs, better and  at  the  same  time 
neither cheesy nor happy  sounding  melodic  hooks,  and  songs  that 
despite being no verse/chorus/verse affairs flow incredibly well  and 
capture the listener's attention from start to finish.  All  of  this 
without ever having to mask a lack of substance by being more pompous 
than  the  Sun  King's  court  --  no  keyboards,  female  vocals  or 
fad-of-the-day gimmicks like an orchestra, cross  dressing  or  other 
assorted faggottry. The enjoyment of the excellent musical content of 
_CL_ is enhanced by  a  natural  sounding  and  nowhere  overproduced 
production job and -- surprise, surprise--  there's  even  a  clearly 
audible bass which takes an active role in some of the  compositions. 
For Ildjarn fanatics this might be way too commercial, for those with 
even the slightest interest in more melodic manifestations  of  black 
metal this is a must have -- and I bet  my  left  testicle  that  Jon 
Noedtveidt is not going to be able to  create  anything  remotely  as 
good with the reformed Dissection.                                    


Xasthur - _The Funeral of Being_  (Blood, Fire, Death, 2003)
by: Matthias Noll  (6.5 out of 10)

For  those  into  ultra-depressive,  slow  black   metal,   Xasthur's 
_Nocturnal Poisoning_ must certainly have been one the highlights  of 
recent years. Unfortunately, _The Funeral of Being_ is just  more  of 
the same without ever  coming  close  to  the  quality  of  Xasthur's 
previous full-length album. This new record is grimmer as far as  the 
production is concerned, it has an instantly recognizable sound  that 
is even harsher and colder than before, but it lacks memorable  songs 
and the same kind of hooks that lurked in the  dirges  of  _Nocturnal 
Poisoning_.  The  tunes  obviously  come  from  different   recording 
sessions and  this  has  the  irritating  effect  of  distinct  sound 
differences between individual tracks. Not only does this disturb the 
flow of the album, it also blunts the effect of getting sucked in  by 
the bleakness and desolation that Xasthur's music emits  on  a  grand 
scale. This one- man band deserves praise for its  unique  sound  and 
style, but as much as I wanted to like _TFoB_, to my ears  it  sounds 
like a compilation of leftover tracks with  inferior  quality  thrown 
together to make a full album's worth of material. In  comparison  to 
_NP_ this is sadly redundant and probably  superfluous  for  everyone 
but the most rabid Xasthur lunatics.                                  


Zaraza - _No Paradise to Lose_  (Total Zero Revords, 2003)
by: Adrian Magers  (8 out of 10)

When I first popped the press copy I  was  sent  of  Zaraza's  latest 
musical offering, I have to admit I was extremely  disappointed.  The 
music seemed to drag, and was devoid of  any  driving  continuity  or 
memorable spots (though I'll admit I kind of scanned through the  CD, 
previewing the first few seconds of a song and/or pressing  down  the 
search button on my quest to find something redeeming). This  is  the 
absolute worst way to experience this band, which after a few listens 
I've realized are quite brilliant in their  extraordinarily  abstract 
approach. Calling  this  ambient  music  is  unfair  (they  refer  to 
themselves as "brutal experimental industrial doom  death  metal"  -- 
better than any description  I  could  muster  from  my  vocabulary). 
Although _No Paradise to Lose_ works as good  background  music,  I'd 
sooner imagine their eight song album as a mood-setter  to  a  demon- 
worshipping ritual involving human sacrifice -- in outer space. In  a 
word, these guys are bizarre. In two words, wonderfully bizarre. Like 
some sort of patchwork  creature  that's  feasted  upon  the  musical 
collective of bands as varied as Godflesh,  My  Dying  Bride,  Skinny 
Puppy, early Mortiis, and Morbid Angel, and chased said bands with an 
army of marching soldiers, B-horror movies,  and  some  bad  downers. 
Zaraza's got plenty of space to move around and experiment within the 
sub-sub-subgenre they've implanted into the musical world, and a hell 
of a lot of potential. No wonder  Gino  declared  _Slavic  Blasphemy_ 
(the band's debut full length) one of the Top 10 Albums of 1998.      

Contact: http://zaraza.doom-metal.com


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Scoring: 5 out of 5 -- A flawless demo
         4 out of 5 -- Great piece of work
         3 out of 5 -- Good effort
         2 out of 5 -- A major overhaul is in order
         1 out of 5 -- A career change is advisable


Athela - _Reliance_
by: Jackie Smit  (3.5 out of 5)

Athela is an incredibly difficult  act  to  review.  On  one  hand  I 
want to praise at  length  the  maturity  of  the  Swedish  quartet's 
songwriting, their jaw-dropping virtuosity and their  lush  and  warm 
production. But close your eyes at any point  during  _Reliance_  and 
you would be hard pressed  to  spot  even  the  slightest  difference 
between Athela and a certain other  Swedish  act  known  to  some  as 
Opeth. Admittedly the band do attest to their  desire  to  follow  in 
Opeth's already heavily trodden footsteps, but there are  limits  and 
Athela are unfortunately  several  steps  beyond  the  boundaries  of 
acceptable emulation. The effort  is  certainly  commendable,  but  a 
marked increase in originality is sorely required for this band to be 
anything but an afterthought.                                         

Contact: http://www.athela.com


SIG:AR:TYR - _The Stranger_
by: Adrian Magers  (4.5 out of 5)

An absolutely entrancing piece comprised of  acoustic  guitar  driven 
atmospheric music, this six song CD is accompanied by a  short  story 
of the same name.  The  vocals  are  comprised  of  spoken  word  and 
narrative bits, but the music is mainly  instrumental.  The  acoustic 
guitar is well-played in many different manners (which  prevents  the 
songs from dragging or boring metal listeners). The  thought,  effort 
and emotion put into the whole idea is something more bands should do 
(although SIG:AR:TYR is not a band per say, rather a solo project  by 
a metal musician under the moniker of Daemonskald). I was very  happy 
that I had the privilege to hear the music sent to me, and go through 
the experience of reading the story, the unspoken lyrics in the  CD's 
booklet, and absorbing the vibe of  it  all.  The  closest  technical 
description of the style employed I can think of is somewhat like Old 
Man's Child's occasional acoustic instrumental tracks (except with  a 
little less obviously Spanish guitar influences) that invokes a  mood 
in me similar to that that classic Bathory  does.  Very  interesting, 
very solid, and extremely well thought out.                           

The next project for Daemonskald  will  be  "a  Viking-metal  concept 
work, set in the years of the Viking Age, which deals with a quest to 
the far northern regions of the world to retrieve an object that will 
turn back the advances of Christiandom." The next release  will  also 
offer some electric guitar.                                           

Contact: http://www.sigartyr.com

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     W H Y ,    M R    S O U N D    E N G I N E E R ,    W H Y ?
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       Hate Eternal, Dying Fetus, Deeds of Flesh and Prejudice
           @ The Camden Underworld, London, 7 January 2004
                           by: Jackie Smit


The first in what turns out to  be  a  catalogue  of  disappointments 
comes early in this evening's proceedings, when an  unannounced  bill 
change sees Belgian death metal newcomers Prejudice standing  in  for 
Severe Torture (who incidentally turned in a very favorable set  when 
they hit the London Mean Fiddler with  Cannibal  Corpse  last  year). 
From the off, it is painfully clear that Prejudice wouldn't  know  an 
original idea if it dressed up  as  a  hyena  and  bit  them  in  the 
face, and despite some of their chugging  grooves  hitting  the  mark 
occasionally, their time on  stage  ultimately  ends  up  being  just 
another 25 minutes of my life I won't get back.                       

Deeds of Flesh are a band who, in  the  recent  resurgence  of  death 
metal, have been left criminally  by  the  wayside,  in  my  opinion. 
Having plyed their ultra-brutal trade since 1993, they  have  quietly 
and consistently turned in some underground classics,  in  particular 
with their _Trading Pieces_ and _Mark of the Legion_ albums. With the 
sound as atrociously poor  as  it  is  tonight  however,  I'm  almost 
expecting them to fall on their faces, but such is not the  case,  as 
they turn in a short blistering set that includes "Reduced to  Ashes" 
and the eponymous "Deeds of Flesh".                                   

Dying Fetus take to the stage shortly after Deeds of Flesh  wish  the 
crowd a  good  night,  and  the  response  is  almost  overwhelmingly 
rapturous, with many punters seemingly here purely to support the New 
York bruisers. Instantly noticeable in their sojourn this time  round 
is the increased confidence possessed by new vocalist Vince Matthews. 
Where the last time I saw these guys he was slightly  demure  and  at 
times almost  unsure  of  himself,  tonight  he  is  the  picture  of 
showmanship and supreme confidence. And with  good  reason  too,  for 
tonight is truly Dying Fetus' night. With an energetic and aggressive 
performance they overcome the increasingly bad sound, and songs  like 
"Skullfucked" and "Killing on Adrenaline" have never  sounded  better 
or more convincing.                                                   

Hate Eternal are a different keg of beer,  however.  As  death  metal 
continues to evolve and mine even greater depths of technicality  and 
intricate song structures, so  too  does  the  danger  increase  that 
unless a venue provides crystalline sound, the music ends  up  coming 
off as nothing more than a garbled  mess.  By  the  time  Eric  Rutan 
and his cohorts  take  to  the  stage,  the  sound  has  inexplicably 
deteriorated to such an extent that if you had to  imagine  listening 
to Hate Eternal on cheap earphones, whilst sitting beside  the  track 
at a drag race, you might have a slight idea of what the band are  up 
against from the get- go. And no matter how diligent  their  efforts, 
their music is sadly of such a fast and  complex  nature  that  songs 
like "By His Own Decree", "Servants  of  the  Gods"  and  "Chants  in 
Declaration" are almost entirely unrecognizable -- and this is coming 
from a man who can rattle off the vast  majority  of  Hate  Eternal's 
lyrics at a moment's notice. In their favor, Hate Eternal do  command 
an amazing stage presence, and drummer Derrick Roddy is  particularly 
impressive as he pulls off some of  the  most  dizzying  and  precise 
beats imaginable. But for the most part, their set  is  nothing  more 
than evidence to support the issuing of the  death  penalty  for  the 
person(s) responsible for tonight's audio atrocity.                   

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Web Site: http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com
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Chronicles  of  Chaos  is  a  FREE  monthly  magazine  electronically
distributed worldwide via the Internet. Seemingly endless interviews,
album reviews and concert reviews encompass the pages  of  Chronicles
of Chaos. Chronicles of Chaos stringently emphasizes all varieties of
chaotic music ranging from black and death metal to  electronic/noise
to dark, doom and ambient forms. Chronicles  of  Chaos  is  dedicated
to the underground and as such we feature demo reviews from all indie
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number of independent acts.


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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #70

All contents copyright  (c)  1995-2003  by  individual  creators  of 
included work. All rights reserved.
All  opinions  expressed  herein  are  those  of   the   individuals 
expressing them, and do not necessarily reflect the views of  anyone 
else.                                                                

