     ______ __                      __        __
    |      |  |--.----.-----.-----.|__|.----.|  |.-----.-----.
    |   ---|     |   _|  _  |     ||  ||  __||  ||  -__|__ --|
    |______|__|__|__| |_____|__|__||__||____||__||_____|_____|

                                     ___
                             .-----.'  _|
                             |  _  |   _|
                             |_____|__|

                    ______ __
                   |      |  |--.---.-.-----.-----.
                   |   ---|     |  _  |  _  |__ --|
                   |______|__|__|___._|_____|_____|


       CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, October 12, 1999, Issue #43
               http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html

Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley <mailto:energizr@interlog.com>
Contributor/Copy Editor: Pedro Azevedo <mailto:ei94048@fe.up.pt>
Contributor/Asst. Copy Editor: Paul Schwarz <mailto:saul@cwcom.net>
Assistant Copy Editor: John Weathers <mailto:anguish@mindspring.com>
Contributor: Alain M. Gaudrault <mailto:alain@gaudrault.net>
Contributor: Brian Meloon <mailto:bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk <mailto:macabre@interlog.com>
Contributor: Aaron McKay <mailto:aaronm@trxinc.com>
Contributor: David Rocher <mailto:el_rojo@dial.oleane.com>
Contributor: Gabriel Sanchez <mailto:sanch1g@mail.cmich.edu>
Contributor: Alex Cantwell <mailto:alex@netmdc.com>
Contributor: Matthias Noll <mailto:matthias.noll@updatemarketing.de>

NOTE: For  more  Chronicles  of  Chaos  information,  check  out  the
      'Details' section at the end of this issue.

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

Issue #43 Contents, 10/12/99
----------------------------
* Loud Letters
* Deadly Dialogues
-- Cannibal Corpse: Bloodthirsty Veterans
-- Vader: Cutline
-- Nile: Preparing to Again Burst Their Banks
-- Angel Corpse: Relentless Angelic Cadavers
-- Turmoil: Upholding the Process
-- The Chasm: Diabolical Deathcultic Devastation
-- Depresy: Cheering Up The Lepers
* Album Asylum
-- Anorexia Nervosa - _Sodomizing the Archedangel_
-- Autumn Tears - _Absolution_
-- Behemoth - _Satanica_
-- Beyond Dawn - _Electric Sulking Machine_
-- Centinex - _Bloodhunt_
-- codeseven - _Division of Labor_
-- Control Denied - _The Fragile Art of Existence_
-- Deathwitch - _Monumental Mutilations_
-- Demoniac - _The Fire and the Wind_
-- Dillinger Escape Plan - _Calculating Infinity_
-- Dog Fashion Disco - _The Embryo's in Bloom_
-- Doxomedon - _Evanesce_
-- Drakkar - _Quest For Glory_
-- Ember - _Chapter III: Concession (& Anthology)_
-- Fallen Empire - _Shadows_
-- Feast Eternal - _Prisons of Flesh_
-- Gardenian - _Soulburner_
-- Hate Eternal - _Conquering the Throne_
-- Iced Earth - _Alive in Athens_
-- Impiety - _Skullfucking Armageddon_
-- In Extremo - _Weckt Die Toten_
-- Jane Doe - _Scars_
-- Kaos Rain - _Killogram_
-- Lacrimas Profundere - _Memorandum_
-- Melissa - _In Peace...?_
-- Miscreation - _Miscreation_
-- Mortification - _Hammer of God_
-- Necrodeath - _Into the Macabre_
-- Night to Die - _All Evil Crying_
-- Neurosis - _Times of Grace_
-- Obscurity - _Damnations Pride_
-- Of the Fallen - _Of the Fallen_
-- Prophecy - _Contagion_
-- Samael - _Eternal_
-- Satyricon - _Rebel Extravaganza_
-- Soilent Green - _Sewn Mouth Secrets_
-- Solefald - _Neonism_
-- Suicidal Winds - _Winds of Death_
-- Theory in Practice - _The Armageddon Theories_
-- Tulus - _Evil 1999_
-- Tumulus - _Wodureid_
-- Withered Earth - _Something So Pure_
* New Noise
-- 420 - _Reality_
-- Anaal-Nathrakh - _Anaal-Nathrakh_
-- Core Device - _God & Man_
-- Lupus - _After the Geniirising_
-- Pagan - _Heathen Upheaval_
-- The Chasm - _Promo 1999_
* Chaotic Concerts
-- Taming the Beast of Milwaukee
* What We Have Cranked
* Details

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

                 M""MMMMMMMM                         dP
                 M  MMMMMMMM                         88
                 M  MMMMMMMM .d8888b. dP    dP .d888b88
                 M  MMMMMMMM 88'  `88 88    88 88'  `88
                 M  MMMMMMMM 88.  .88 88.  .88 88.  .88
                 M         M `88888P' `88888P' `88888P8
                 MMMMMMMMMMM

     M""MMMMMMMM            dP     dP
     M  MMMMMMMM            88     88
     M  MMMMMMMM .d8888b. d8888P d8888P .d8888b. 88d888b. .d8888b.
     M  MMMMMMMM 88ooood8   88     88   88ooood8 88'  `88 Y8ooooo.
     M  MMMMMMMM 88.  ...   88     88   88.  ... 88             88
     M         M `88888P'   dP     dP   `88888P' dP       `88888P'
     MMMMMMMMMMM

This is the column where we print those lovely  letters  our  readers
decide so graciously to write us. Whether they be positive, negative,
ignorant or just plain spelled  wrong,  you  can  rest  assured  that
they'll be here in their original form. If you'd like to see your own
letter here,  e-mail  it  to  <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>  and  enter
'Attention Loud Letters' in the subject field. Hopefully all  letters
received will be featured in upcoming issues of Chronicles of Chaos.


Date: Thu, 12 Aug 1999
From: sasanborn <sasanborn@micron.com>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters

Just gotta show my support and give a mighty "Hail!" to all of you at
CoC for putting out an excellent ezine that covers all areas  of  the
scene. Keep it up. I'm also interested in finding  some  cool  people
that would be interested in trading tapes with me. I like all  styles
of extreme musick, but lean  more  towards  Grind,  Black  and  Doomy
stuff. I have a pretty big list I can email if anyone wants to  check
it out. Thanx and Stay Brutal! Steve


Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999
From: Brad <metalurgy@home.com>
Subject: coc

Your Metalfest articles almost made me cry - it  was  the  first  one
I've missed since 90... hey - an 11  hour  drive  is  nothing  -  try
driving 26. But thanks for the articles. I had to laugh because  this
is the first COC I've disagreed  with  so  many  of  your  reviews...
hehe... but I respect the balls to give an established  band  0/10  -
ya, ya... Mortician isnt  that  original,  but  check  'em  out  live
sometime... it might change your mind. Keep up the  good  work.  Best
quote I ever heard at Metalfest - "Rock out, with your Cock out!" (El
Duce'92)

See ya at Dynamo next May !!!
BRAD
Metalurgy CFCR90.5FM
Saskatoon


Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999
From: Norman Doll <Sorg@webtv.net>
Subject: Fwd: Christian Metal "letter in CoC" ezine

Greetings CoC... love the zine! this is a letter I originally sent to
"S.R.Prozak" regarding his statements about Christian  metal  in  the
newest issue... Thanks for your time, Norm

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999
From: Norman Doll <Sorg@webtv.net>
To: prozak@anus.com
Subject: Christian Metal "letter in CoC" ezine

Hi, I listen to and play Christian metal. It is art my friend. If you
want it to be. Yes, I agree that there is a segment of the  Christian
music industry that churns out "clones" for the masses, but  where  I
dwell in the true underground of Christian metal we create art. Metal
has always been about feelings, beliefs,  aggression...  Well,  as  a
Christian i have Strong feelings, beliefs, aggression, and  sorrow...
Sorrow a feeling that we all must experience.. I suffer from clinical
depression.... In my lyrics I cry out to God for answers.. At times I
question Him... Or even (gasp) get angry with  God...  These  are  my
true feelings and I express  them  along  with  my  reverence  to  my
creator... I sometimes may question Him but I also have  respect  for
Him. Do bands like ICED EARTH not express  their  views  on  God  and
Evil? Am I not doing the same?  It  is  not  all  about  cloning  and
"happy" Christians. It s about art, feelings... etc.. Does  the  fact
that I am a Christian make me any less of a  guitarist  than  another
person who is atheist, Buddhist, agnostic, Satanic,  or  whatever?  I
think not.... I play the blues with feeling... probably some  of  the
exact same feelings are in my music that Stevie Ray had in his....  I
play metal like I own it (even though all things rightfully belong to
God), I have the same anger and hatred flowing in my veins that  FEAR
FACTORY has... The only difference  is  that  my  "hate"  is  usually
directed at something worth hating... like the  decay  of  this  once
great nation...or my personal fears. I have gut feelings, fears,  ...
I could tell you some more personal things but they are so screwed up
they might tend to scare someone.. I  have  felt  as  if  I  have  no
soul... traveled  outside  my  body  (without  trying,  no  drugs  or
witchcraft involved man)... some seriously scary stuff...  You  don't
think that is worth writing about?? How about the  majesty  contained
in the lyrics of bands like HAMMERFALL? Is Gods majesty not  worthy??
I ask you to examine a few of these facts and let me  know  what  you
conclude...PS-  I  can  hook  you  up  with  some  "true"  Christian"
metal.....PSS- By the way .. Christianity is not about religion (only
those who have  perverted  it  make  it  that  way)  it  is  about  a
relationship. Thanks for your time, Norm aka SORG


Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999
From: "Jonny Bergstrom" <silke@mindless.com>
Subject: Coc #2: Reply to one of your mails

In reply to Todd Crawford in "Loud Letters" about "music is dying".

You could try Dan Swano and his CD "Moontower".  It's  progressive...
Of course, if it rocks, is for you to decide.


Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999
From: Conformity@aol.com
Subject: ATTENTION: Loud Letters

This is my  response  to  Spinoza  Ray  Prozac's  letter  to  a  one,
"Gutterboy".

Personally, I think Christian Metal is a horrid pile of gay  shit.  I
honestly don't give a fuck what the lyrical content  really  is,  but
more of the musicianship of the band. Sure, good  lyrics  can  add  a
hell of a lot to a release, but I wouldn't make  it  the  determining
factor in whether or not I like  the  album.  I'm  not  too  fond  of
"Gutterboy", just by reading his letter, but at least he presents his
ideas and concerns in a respectable form. I'm even less fond of S. R.
Prozac. This guy seems like he's stuck in his own egomaniacal fantasy
metal world, where everything must  be  protrayed  by  some  sort  of
emmaculate wording. As for his webpage, Anus.com, I respect  it  even
less than I respect the band STRYPER. That's pretty  low,  folks.  In
addition to the  page  looking  like  chicken  scratch,  it's  rarely
updated, and Prozac spends countless hours peddling his useless metal
sociology that no one honestly gives a shit about. The man strikes me
as some sort of heroin-addict poet, wearing a frilly shirt,  possibly
living in a shack, writing manifestos on technology.  I  don't  doubt
that he's most likely above average as far as intelligence,  however,
his own mind will be his undoing.  As  for  Prozac's  "points",  I'll
address those.

1) Yes, Earth turned to Black Sabbath. Neat.

"its nihilistic power chord riffs were to many an indicator of  total
breakdown of social order"

Okay, that's some of the gayest shit  I've  ever  heard  spewed  from
someone's hole. Ozzy, Geezer, Tony, and Bill were a bunch of doped up
hippies. I doubt any of them  were  familiar  with  the  concepts  of
nihilism,  nor  were  they  familiar  with  any  music  theory.  Stop
over-analyzing things, you gay prick.

2) "metal bands from  the  heavy  metal  to  current  day  have  been
fascinated by any combination of the  following:  ancient  mythology,
battle, technology, magic, drugs, hate, war, death."

Are these the exclusive concepts that metal  bands  are  confined  to
writing about? Do you even pay attention to  the  things  you  write?
Aren't  you  forgetting  one  crucial  focus  of  a  lot   of   metal
bands.......religion? I still don't understand how this "point"  ties
in with Gutterboy's letter, but I just don't agree with it.

3) Yes, some  bands  are  satanic.  You're  pretty  perceptive.  Once
again....how does this tie in with anything?

4) Once again, stop over-analyzing things, you self-righteous prick.

5) Uh huh,  the  world  sucks,  Prozac.  We're  all  gradually  being
poisoned. Too bad that doesn't have anything to do with  the  subject
matter at hand. Also, it's too bad that you can't do  anything  about
it. Jerk. Have fun in your shack in Montana, you fuck.

Where do you gather that metal  was  "founded"  in  1969?  Yeah,  the
United States was turned into a somewhat frenzy state of morality cuz
of  all  the  communism  shit.....but  different   ideas   can't   be
contributed directly to that. If I have to explain anymore than  that
last sentence, go ahead and die. Regardless of what things we felt we
were doing "right", as according to a religion, there are bound to be
those that eventually say, "Fuck it, this shit doesn't work." I don't
see  how  this  is  so  monumental  towards  your  arguement.   Yeah,
Christianity doesn't work for a lot of  metalheads.  You  know  what,
Ray? Christianity doesn't work for a  good  majority  of  the  world,
either. Nothing works for everyone, you disillusioned bitch. Are  you
saying that all Christian-Metal is somehow funded and provided by the
Vatican, or something? They can peddle their "propaganda" as long  as
they want. If it's good music, I'll listen to it. If it's  bad,  I'll
toss it in the sewer. If it brainwashes people, I don't give a  fuck.
If satanic music brainwashes people, guess what? I still don't give a
fuck. People who become brainwashed  by  such  a  petty  non-imposing
force are obviously weak-minded  idiots  who  deserve  to  be  guided
towards their own demise. If you go out and kill someone because Varg
Vikernes told you to in a Burzum album,  that's  just  great.  You're
obviously a fucking moron, and we  don't  need  you  in  our  society
anyhow.

Disrespectfully,
Bite my cock,
Give your mom oral pleasure,
Contract genital herpes,

Da Big Drew

Oh yeah, CoC, you guys are the only consistently GOOD metal zine.


Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999
From: Ryuto Ishiwa <coalesce@jet.es>
Subject: Re: Chronicles of Chaos #41 (1/3)

In response to Prozak's letter against "christian  metal".  First  of
all, I'm not christian nor religious in any other way.  Now,  I  find
Prozak's arguments unconvincing:

1) Yes, metal is in a way an expression of the  breakdown  of  social
order but so was christianism in it's origins. Jesus, as a historical
figure, was part of a movement  against  the  order  imposed  by  the
romans on the one hand and against the established  jewish  hierarchy
on the other.

2)  Mythology,  magic,  blood,  death,  and  the  occult  abound   in
christianism.

3) Satanism as a "post-chirstian existence", ok. Why not also have  a
"post-satanic christianism"?

4) Again, christianism can be rendered as a disident stance. In fact,
there are christians against (established) christianism. For example,
"liberation theologists" who fight in latin american guerrillas.

5) Our world is deep in shit. So? That's the same for christians  and
non-christians and in many  levels  it's  been  worse  in  the  past.
Anyway, the question is what to do: sink in shit and  stay  there  or
use shit as fuel to empower us? To me  both  metal  and,  in  a  more
explicit way, hardcore do the second and  any  sincere  christian  is
compelled to do the same.

On the issue of propaganda, there is  christian  propagandistic  crap
and satanic propangandistic crap.

Anti-christianism   is    most    often    better    translated    as
anti-establishment. Metal is a way  of  unleashing  rebelious  power.
There are many enemies to rebel against, so I  have  nothing  against
christian bands fighting theirs (including those they have  in  their
own ranks).

PS:  for  non-embarrassing  intelligent  anti-christian  lyrics   see
Immolation,  for  a  masterpiece  of  satanic  "nihilism"  check  out
Mayhem's Wolf's Lair Abyss.
+ an opinion: noise and extreme black metal seem to mesh well
+ I dig Gabriel Sanchez' reviews.

-- "If you want words of wisdom read  a  book"  (and  Brutal  Truth's
lyrics) --

regards


Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999
From: Shaun McCarthy <smccarthy@effect.net.au>
Subject: Re: Chronicles of Chaos #42 (3/5)

> Skepticism - _aes_  (Red Stream, 1999)
> by: Aaron McKay  (8 out of 10)
>
> ... I was first exposed to Skepticism on Red Stream's
> _To Live Is to Ever Be in Danger_ compilation. The chosen
> track for that release was "Pouring" from the _Aeothe Kaear_ 1995

"Aeothe Kaear" was actually released  in  1993.  "Stormcrowfleet"  in
1995.


Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999
From: NICK LORD <nlrd2@ozemail.com.au>
Subject: Where's the thrash

Hi my name is Peter Hunt I live  in  Sydney  Australia  and  I  am  a
drummer, trying to form a Heavy\Thrash Metal  Band.  Unfortunately  I
have had no luck, so therefore I am going to try my luck overseas.  I
have obtained a passport but berfore I  get  a  Visa  and  travel  to
certain country I first of all have to find out if the  thrash  scene
is alive and well.And my opinion of the best way to find  out,  would
have to be a metal magazine based overseas. If  you  know  where  the
thrash scene (80's stuff, Metallica, Megadeth, Priest, Maiden etc) is
alive and well.I'd appreciate it if you could E-mail me back and  let
me know which country and which city within that  country  where  the
thrash scene is happeining the most. I'm willing to  go  wherever  my
best chances are of finding the  appropriate  band  members,  whether
that be Britian, Europe, United  States,  South  America  etc........
Hope to hear from you soon, much appreciated! Peter Hunt


Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999
From: 12777 <12777@email.msn.com>
Subject: Achtung Loud Letters: Hirsute Blue-garbed Loser Says "I Hate
         Metal"

Greetings -

1) I'm SURE I didn't hear Mike Muir saying that every band on Nuclear
Blast "is garbage and people get beat up if they listen to that stuff
where we're from" and "I would never be on a label like that, there's
not one record on that label I would listen to, I fuckin' hate  heavy
metal." Hey Mike, let me  let  you  in  on  a  little  secret.  Yeah,
psssttt, come here, lean a little closer: YOU HAVEN'T  MADE  ANYTHING
*BUT* GARBAGE SINCE "How Will I Laugh Tomorrow..."! I've seen you  in
concert, and I don't care how "Cyco" you are, a bunch of 11 year  old
brats with bandannas on  their  heads  doing  the  pogo  to  whatever
belabored amalgam of boring funk and hackneyed So-Cal punk angst  you
happen to be playing just doesn't make up a group I'd  be  scared  of
getting "beat up" by. I'd be really surprised if  mine  is  the  only
response in this issue to the mutterings of the washed-up ingrate you
interviewed in issue #42.

2) You guys need to be more critical  with  your  reviews.  In  other
words, when you look at the ratings you give the albums  you  review,
there should be just as many ones,  twos  and  threes  as  there  are
sevens, eights and nines. There's so much effluvium  floating  around
out there, we need your  help  in  discerning  it  from  the  genuine
article. Kiss up ratings don't help. I don't know how you select  who
reviews what albums, but  I  believe  it  should  be  done  randomly,
provided you weed out ANY reviewers who  admire  the  work  of  Korn,
Marylin Manson, Rob Zombie and their ilk.

3) And while we're on the subject of bad reviews, I just have to  say
"No, no, no" to the positive review of the band Fantomas. I made  the
mistake of going to see them  live  before  I  heard  their  "music,"
simply because I heard that Lombardo was their drummer, and "hell", I
thought "if he carried Grip Inc. (er,  sort  of....),  he  can  carry
these guys." Well, I should have been  a  little  more  wary  of  the
presence of a member of the Melvins. Just as  the  roaring  drumstick
heroics - sweetly reminiscent of the glorious days when  Dave  was  a
member the allmighty Slayer - got going, the sound  of  a  transexual
baboon getting it's goolies crushed by a red-hot  blacksmith's  anvil
assaulted my ears. Trust me people, do NOT go anywhere near this heap
of crap.

4) Concerning S.O.D.'s latest offering,  your  reviewer  should  have
torn into those guys for selling out (if there  is  a  band  I  never
thought I'd hurl *that* eipithet at, it's them)  on  their  political
incorrectness. I refer specifically to the new, "cleaner" version  of
the song "Aren't You Hungry." I should also  mention  that  the  word
Celtic is pronounced with a "K" sound.  And  one  more  thing:  Billy
Milano, though I admire the guy  for  his  early-to-mid-eighties  "in
your face" attitude, just CANNOT do a King Diamond impression to save
his life.....

-TJ


Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999
From: Jackie/The Great One <snymancj@wwg3.uovs.ac.za>
Subject: ATTENTION:  LOUD LETTERS

Greetings CoC!

First of all, let me begin (as most writers to  this  column  do)  by
congratulating you on a tremendous  e-zine.  It  seems  to  just  get
better and better with each issue, and since I live in South  Africa,
your e-zine is my main buying guide when going on my CD excursions.

One thing that did bother me in Issue #42 was a certain person  named
Mike Muir. First of all, I'd like to say that Suicidal Tendencies  is
not that brilliant. In fact, they're  quite  lame  in  comparison  to
Agnostic Front. However, what pissed me off more than anything was Mr
Muir's bullshit comments about the bands  on  Nuclear  Blast.  If  he
didn't want the fucking CDs he  could  have  sent  them  to  me,  but
dissing your distributor like that - I'm  fucking  surprised  they're
still doing any business with him. There's a huge difference  between
being outspoken and being an opinionated loudmouth. And what's  more,
although I don't  care  much  for  some  of  Nuclear  Blast's  latest
signings (Hammerfall and Narnia immediately spring to mind), I  would
take Covenant and Dimmu Borgir over that cocksucker's music  any  day
of the fucking week.

OK, there, I've blown off some steam.

I can not wait to hear the new Samael.

Cheers

Jackie Smit, South Africa


Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999
From: Stanislav Derev'anko <stanislv@ire.kharkov.ua>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters

I would like to thank you guys for the great e-zine.  These  are  not
just usual words like "Coc rules!" or "your mag kicks ass!'' which  I
read in a Loud letters section in every Coc  issue,  no,  I  want  to
thank personaly Gino Filicetti for carrying such a heavy burden  with
putting together all this reviews, articles,  interviews,  and  other
stuff while keeping the ball rolling. I also  wish  to  thank  Adrian
Bromley, Paul Schwarz, Pedro Azevedo and other numerous  contributors
of your zine for doing great professional reviews of the metal  scene
(though my opinion sometimes differs from theirs). As I can see  most
of you attend various university courses and, damn, I know  how  much
time does it take day and night! So I think you guys are some kind of
maniacs if you still can find time to work on your mag! Just keep  it
going! Great job! (In paticular, I would like to thank Adrian Bromley
for his reviews of In Flames and Hypocrisy in Coc 40 )

Stanislav
Kharkov, Ukraine


Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999
From: Martinelli Roberto <giorgio75@hotmail.com>
Subject: attention loud letters

Dear CoC,

An exuberant thank you for putting out such a fine forum for  finding
information about the metal scene. I discovered your  zine  4  months
ago and have since gone back and read all of your  back  issues,  and
loved all of them.

I regret that the first letter I write you must be centered around  a
minor complaint. Around Issue #10 or so, a lot  of  people  wrote  in
requesting a section in CoC devoted to great albums of years past. It
took a bit of nagging from readers, but you finally gave in and  gave
us....ONE (!) issue with some of  the  staff's  faves,  and  promised
periodical installments from then on. So, why  have  you  never  done
this again? I don't mean to sound overly harsh, but I think that  you
guys have no excuse to why you can't stick a  measly  section  before
the concert reports devoted to older albums that you like.  It's  not
like you have to write a whole in-depth analysis like you do for your
reviews. We all know that the albums in the "picks of yesteryear" are
in the section precisely because they rule. It would take each of you
all of five minutes every month to jot down your name, and  then  one
pre-CoC album that you like. I look to your zine  a  great  deal  for
weeding through all the crap metal stuff out  there  so  I  can  find
great albums, and you've come through for me a lot. I'd  like  to  be
able to also find great pre-1995 albums, too. C'mon guys,  let's  not
forget the classics!

Another request that I have involves  the  grading  system  for  your
reviews. I noticed that when you first started CoC, an album that got
a 6 was deemed a decent album. In the past year or  so,  however,  it
seems that anything under an 8 gets no praise. What's  the  point  of
having a scale of 1-10 when the way your staff grades is  practically
on a scale of 1-4, where 0-4 is a 1, 4-7 is a 2, 8-9 is a 3,  and  10
is a 4. Take a lesson from your  old  issues  and  please  make  some
distinction between a 2 and a 4, and a 4 and a  6,  for  example,  or
your 1-10 scale has little meaning.

Enough math. The subject I'd like to bring  up  this  letter  is  how
disappointed I've been to discover how  generally  crappy  the  metal
scene is in the US. I'm from San Francisco, but mostly got into metal
while I've been at university here in Tokyo, Japan.  I  took  it  for
granted that it seemed that every month a major metal band would come
to the area (although the ticket prices are  exorbitant-  but  that's
the norm for everything in Tokyo), CDs, new and used,  are  in  great
abundance (no need to order off the web!), and almost always  include
extra tracks. The underground scene here is  doing  quite  well,  and
there are quite a few good Japanese bands,  Intestine  Baalism  being
the latest one I've discovered. So why is it that the scene in one of
the most important death metal and metal countries in the world,  the
US, is so poor? Or is  it  just  San  Francisco?  People  here  think
nothing of spending 60 bucks to go see one major band and  one  or  2
lesser known or local ones, yet  in  the  US  people  complain  about
spending 12 dollars to see Vader AND  Cryptopsy  and  Gorguts  and  2
other more minor bands.

One last thing. Iron Maiden should be lashed. I postponed my trip  to
Thailand just so I could go to their shitty concert in  San  Jose  on
the 28th of June. For all of you who don't know, the entire show  was
cancelled because Adrian Smith  reportedly  broke  a  finger  on  his
playing hand dicking around on  the  stage  in  LA  or  something.  i
normally love A.S.'s work, but in this instance I have to say "what a
moron". Why couldn't they have carried on with J. Gers and D.  Murray
playing the guitar tandem that they've always needed and foregone the
superfluous 3rd guitar? It's not like they were going to play any new
material that necessitated  a  third  guitar.  I'm  only  this  upset
because I love Iron Maiden; well, up until Seventh Son, anyway.

Thanks

Roberto Martinelli

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              B L O O D T H I R S T Y   V E T E R A N S
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                    CoC interviews Cannibal Corpse
                          by: Adrian Bromley

     It takes a lot of things to keep music fresh for a band. Imagine
how hard it must be for a band with more than ten years, two  singers
and seven albums under their belt? Needless  to  say,  veteran  death
metallers Cannibal Corpse are still bloodthirsty and going for broke.
     The band's latest assault on our ears, the gritty  and  powerful
_Bloodthirst_, is a solid concoction of veteran know-how and producer
Colin Richardson's (Machine Head / Fear Factory) ingenuity. When band
and producer see eye to eye, the results can be worthy of  attention.
This album shines for all to take hold of.
     With cut-throat agility, Cannibal Corpse  pace  themselves  this
time with _Bloodthirst_, reaching out to take in an  experience,  yet
still showcase that they've got it. Working crushing guitar riffs  to
the max and vocal stylings that would  please  any  metaller's  ears,
_Bloodthirst_ helps Cannibal  Corpse  paint  a  picture  of  wretched
doings and violent images. Those with weak hearts, please step aside.
Songs like "Ecstasy  in  Decay",  "Unleashing  the  Bloodthirsty"  or
"Condemned to Agony" are Cannibal Corpse at their finest.
     Could this be their best LP to date? Some might agree, but  some
might disagree, calling out albums like _Tomb of  the  Mutilated_  or
_Butchered at Birth_ as classics and their best work. Some might even
say _Vile_. Whatever comes about one's perception of this album,  the
bottom line is that Cannibal Corpse have slightly altered their sound
over the past decade and it is still good. Fans are still around  and
things seem to be  going  all  right.  Bassist/founder/lyricist  Alex
Webster is happy with the way things are going at the moment.
     "I think with what we got here, it just  seems  to  be  a  solid
piece of work", he begins on the topic of the new  record.  "It  just
all fell into place. It just seems as though our way of  writing  has
changed over  the  years,  especially  with  George  ["Corpsegrinder"
Fisher] replacing Chris [Barnes, now in Six Feet Under]. I think when
Chris was in the band, with a lot of the lyrics and music  he  wrote,
it had to be a certain way. The way he wanted it. With George now in,
we've all become a little tighter at writing  things,  working  as  a
team, rather than following what was being dictated to us."
     "I am just feeling a bit stronger about what  I  am  doing  now,
too. My songs that I write and do the lyrics for are  sounding  as  I
had planned them to. With Chris in the band I knew that when  I  took
ideas to him they would come back sounding just a bit  different.  It
was never a problem, just an altered idea that did  come  noticed  to
me."
     So what's the catch? Why do people keep coming back to the band?
"I think what people like  about  Cannibal  Corpse  [rounded  out  by
guitarists Jack Owen and Pat O'Brien and drummer  Paul  Mazurkiewicz]
is that no matter what has happened over the years,  not  a  lot  has
changed with us. We really like playing death metal  and  we  try  to
keep working ideas around the basis of what we started the  band  on.
We want to make a brutal death metal record all the time and we  have
done that. It all goes back to a band like Iron Maiden who  knew  how
to keep a formula going, but change a little bit each time  out,  yet
still keep the fans interested. I think that runs true with  Cannibal
Corpse. Bands like Morbid Angel and Deicide  have  changed  over  the
years, but  have  kept  true  to  the  original  formula  instead  of
drastically changing. If someone liked your first record, they  liked
it for a reason, and every time you put out a  new  record  they  are
going to keep coming back to get what you provided them with before."
     About the new record, which was recorded in Tornillo, Texas  (at
Village Productions) instead of Morrisound Studios in  Florida  where
the band has done most  of  their  recordings,  he  says,  "Hopefully
people will see just what a difference there is in  what  we  did.  I
think it has added to the sound of the record, a step ahead  of  what
we have done in the past, I think, and that does seem  to  come  from
where we did the record. It's an experience. I think with this  being
our seventh album, this may have  our  hardest  songs  ever  and  the
hardest songs to play", he quips. "It's just good to be  able  to  go
out and offer the fans something new with Cannibal Corpse."
     "We tried a lot of different things on the last record [_Gallery
of Suicide_]; some songs were a bit slower -- and I hope it was still
heavy for all the fans -- and this time we just  went  in  and  wrote
faster material. We figured, why use talent  to  write  slower  music
when you can use talent to write heavier and faster music? We're  all
improving over the years and I think we should go out and  use  those
improvements to make the best brutal death metal each time out."
     "We had a lot of fun with this record. It was great to get  away
and work at the new studio in Texas,  'cause  it  seemed  that  every
album that we were recording at Morrisound over the last  few  years,
we were experiencing deja vu with our music. We needed to  just  find
something new with our music and we found it."
     And seeing that they found luck with the new studios, luck  must
have  been  dished  out  twice  with  the  band  working  with  Colin
Richardson for the first time. Right? "Yeah... we had  such  a  blast
working with Colin. He knew what we wanted. We felt that  we  got  as
brutal as we could from Morrisound, which was pretty brutal,  but  we
wanted to try something different and see how far we  could  go  with
our music. We'll have to see how it goes. It's  hard  for  me  to  be
objective about this record right now. Come back to me after  a  year
and I'll tell you how I feel about the record's sound then."
     The band have paid their dues  over  the  years.  Band  turmoil,
controversy over album artwork and lyrics, criticisms -- you name it,
they've experienced it. Says Webster, "It all gets  old  to  us  real
fast when people take shots at the band. People who  think  we  don't
know how to play haven't really given the music much of a listen.  As
for the name and what has come from it? We knew what we were  getting
into when we named the band Cannibal Corpse. We wanted a  horror-type
name to go along with the brutal music we were playing. We had such a
great cause for wanting to do  this  band.  Our  music  inspired  and
excited us and you have to understand that when you get  all  excited
over something, you know there is always going to be that one  person
(or persons) who won't like the situation. I look at all these  bands
who play it safe. I think a lot of death metal  bands  play  it  safe
when it comes to their images, music, lyrics  and  even  band  names.
You'd be surprised who I thought played it safe. I won't name any  of
them, but you can see the ones who won't go out of their  way  to  do
crazy shit."
     He continues: "Not many bands  would  do  a  song  like  "Hammer
Smashed Face", but we did. We were like fuck it. We didn't care  what
other people thought. If you start to care about  what  other  people
think when it comes to writing music or lyrics, or anything for  that
matter, then you become their prisoner.  Fuck  it!  Some  people  are
going to hate you, but fuck them too. I'd rather do  something  great
that only a few people like than something mediocre  that  a  lot  of
people like."
     Let the sickened, bloodthirsty ways of Cannibal Corpse spread to
the metal community once again. Indulge, metalheads,  as  this  is  a
worthy slab of metal to chew on as we head into the year  2000.  Once
again, Cannibal Corpse deliver.

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

                            C U T L I N E
                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               CoC chats with Piotr Wiwczarek of Vader
             by: Paul Schwarz (David Rocher also present)

     Though their last full-length album (1997's _Black to the Blind_
[CoC #27]) was released nearly two years ago,  Vader  have  not  been
soundless in terms of output, as has been their  tendency  since  the
release  of  _De  Profundis_  (1995/6  [CoC  #17]).  An  extended  EP
(_Kingdom_ [CoC #32]) and live album (_Live in Japan_ [CoC #36]) have
satiated hungry fans along with the  band's  rigorous  and  extensive
touring schedule. However, it is finally coming  again  to  the  time
when a new, full-length Vader creation will be gracing humanity. This
coming January is the appointed time, so if the prophets of doom  are
wrong about the  apocalypse,  we  won't  be  waiting  too  long;  the
alternative is literally waiting an eternity.
     This interview takes place on the last show of the  band's  most
recent European tour with Six Feet Under, Enslaved,  Cryptopsy,  Nile
and Thyrfing [see  CoC  #42  for  double  review]  and  includes  the
contributions of fellow CoCer David Rocher, who here  represents  his
own Descension 'zine (and is noted as "D" in the transcript). I  hope
this satiates the hunger of all you  Vader  maniacs  out  there,  and
encourages the truly unfortunate out there who have never checked out
this godly band to do so with all haste.

CoC: How has the touring been going?  Are  you  happy  with  how  the
     line-up of bands turned out, and that people turned  up  to  the
     gigs?

Piotr Wiwczarek: In general it was a  good  tour.  Good  bands,  good
                 response, good crowd. Not bad conditions.

CoC: Have Pavement / System Shock given you any tour support for this
     one or are you still doing it on your own?

PW: No. I think this chapter is finished, with System Shock. _Live in
    Japan_ was the last release [with them]. So, now we have  already
    signed with Metal Blade for the next release.

Descension: That's good news.

PW: It's good news? I hope so. It's what we  need.  Vader  never  got
    enough promotion; that's what we really need, as a band.

D: That's something that's  really  striking  about  Vader's  career,
   actually. You always got massive recognition  from  the  fans  and
   from audiences and other musicians...

PW: That's the best! <laughs>

D: ... but labels always studiously ignored you.

PW: Yeah. To be honest, though, we don't need  somebody  who  ignores
    us, we need somebody who is really  loyal  with  us.  That's  why
    System Shock did a good job for us in the past, so we started  to
    co-operate. That was real co-operation there  between  us,  as  a
    band, and them, as a record company. But the story was,  they  do
    not  have  enough  potential  for  us.  We've  still  got  to  do
    something... better. That's why we need promotion. That's why  we
    decided to sign with Metal Blade. It's not like new news  because
    Metal Blade was asking us for some deal, seems like a year and  a
    half ago or something. It took a long time to decide.

D: What do you think of the bands that are  signed  to  Metal  Blade,
   generally? They have some pretty good acts, like Amon Amarth
   and...

CoC: Immolation, which he [David] doesn't like.

PW: To be honest, I don't really care about the death metal bands who
    are signed to Metal Blade. As I said, we need a guy who will  try
    to be loyal with us and promote the band. The  regular  work.  We
    don't expect something special, we just expect regular promotion.

CoC: What is the plan with the new album? Are you recording  anything
     or planning to record?

PW: We already booked the studio for the middle  of  October,  so  we
    should be done with the  next  album  by  the  end  of  November,
    probably. The problem is  that  Metal  Blade  don't  release  any
    albums in December, which I was sad about. So they  will  release
    our next album in January or February next millennium.

CoC: Where are you recording this time out?

PW: In Poland. Red studio. It's  almost  the  same  studio  but  much
    better equipped. The same studio we had recorded  _De  Profundis_
    in [then called Modern Sound --Paul]. So,  the  sound  should  be
    better; I hope so.

CoC: Who's the producer this time, is Andy Bomba doing  it  again  or
     are you producing  yourselves,  'cause  you  produced  _Live  in
     Japan_?

PW: We're going to work with the guy who  helped  us  to  record  _De
    Profundis_ [Adam Toczko  --Paul],  the  same  guy.  We'll  do  it
    together.

CoC: Are the lyrics in a similar vein?

PW: I think it's going to be the way it was on _Black to the  Blind_.
    We will also be working with the persons  responsible  for  that,
    also a friend of mine, and... we'll see, you know.  I  need  more
    time, 'cause I'm still waiting for a couple of lyrics. Maybe I'll
    write like two or three of them, maybe. It depends,  if  we  have
    enough time and there's still lots to do... We're still busy,  we
    don't have so much time left, but we still need to put ideas into
    notes and everything, for myself and the band for the studio.

D: Concerning the lyrics, you  often  include  notes  to  the  lyrics
   within the booklets...

PW: Yeah, it's kind of -- not even an explanation,  just  kind  of  a
    note about the source of the lyrics,  you  know?  There's  a  few
    persons responsible, so I just ask them to write  something  from
    themselves. 'Cause lyrics are mostly like a personal  expression,
    so it's easier to understand for somebody who doesn't always know
    what's  going  on.  It's  just  a  close-up,  it's  nothing  like
    explanation, because that's impossible. Lyrics are personal. They
    should stay personal, but you know, many people  just  wanted  to
    know, "What the fuck is up, man? The source." So  that's  why  we
    try to write down the notes  about  that.  Sometimes  it's  about
    influence, sometimes it's a few words taken  from  a  source.  It
    depends on the author. I think that it's best if the  author  can
    decide how to explain it.

CoC: Musically, are you going in the same sort of direction as
     _Kingdom_ [CoC #32] was? Are you heading for a sort of mid-paced
     direction or is it going faster again?

[Note: I meant the direction of "Kingdom" and "Creatures of Light and
Darkness", the two original new tracks, not any of the other material
on this extended EP. --Paul]

PW: _Kingdom_ is not the "new way" of Vader creations, it is  nothing
    like that. _Kingdom_ was specially recorded  for  guys  who  were
    looking for the extra song, the bonus tracks for  _Black  to  the
    Blind_. I know what the problem is, you're thinking  about  those
    remixes, right?

CoC: No, no, I was actually thinking about  --  not  the  remixes,  I
     didn't think you'd be going in that direction --, I  meant  with
     "Kingdom" and with "Creatures of Light and Darkness"  it  had  a
     more mid-paced feel.

PW: The remixes are something different. It's not  even  Vader;  it's
    made from Vader, but it's not even Vader. Vader is Vader, we stay
    Vader. The next album also is going  to  be  Vader,  which  means
    having speed. So, take it easy.

CoC: I'm okay.

D: What was basically the idea behind the techno remixes, as a matter
   of fact?

PW: To be honest, we had to do it because nobody  wanted  to  release
    the album with like fifteen minutes total time [Pavement / System
    Shock do not release EPs as a matter of procedure,  thus  EP-type
    products like  Malevolent  Creation's  _Joe  Black_  and  Vader's
    _Kingdom_ are made  longer  and  priced  and  sold  as  "rarities
    compilations" --Paul]. So, we had a couple of remixes  made  with
    different friends and there was even an idea to make a full album
    just with remixes, but we found out it's  not  a  good  idea,  we
    don't need it. We're Vader and... it's not good. It's not bad  to
    put two songs as bonus tracks, to kind of  experience  something,
    but nothing more, I guess.

CoC: I was  going  to  mention  you're  wearing  a  Marduk  shirt  [a
     particularly unusual brown/orange camo one, too --Paul].  I  was
     wondering whether you'd talked to them about  tanks,  because  I
     recall you liked tanks, and they're big into tanks?

PW: I'm a freak of that, I'm a freak of that since like two or  three
    years ago. I started that with making plastic model kits,  and  I
    also get books, uniforms, weapons,  replicas  and  that  sort  of
    things. I'm crazy about that.

D: I think it is particularly Morgan  [Hakannson,  Marduk  guitarist]
   who's into this.

PW: I never got the chance to talk to him, but we are probably  going
    to play with them soon, so it would be nice to talk about that.

D: What do you think of their music?

PW: Heavy. Heavy. It's a little bit different, but it's  still  heavy
    and brutal: that's the way it should be.

D: Were you never approached by  Osmose  at  some  point,  concerning
   signing to them?

PW: Osmose? I don't think -- they  -were-  interested  in  signing  a
    deal, but for the demos, and it was too late: Hammerheart already
    had it  [and  re-released  Vader's  two  demos,  _Necrolust_  and
    _Morbid Reich_, as  _Reborn  in  Chaos_  --Paul].  I  think  they
    [Osmose] have a different way. I wish them good luck, but  it  is
    something different, I guess. They have too many  bands  to  care
    about.

CoC: To what extent do you think  that  being  the  biggest  band  in
     Poland, pretty much ever, has changed your perspective on music?
     Has it changed your perspective on music?

PW: I told you, we see the same, I guess. Not the same as we used  to
    be like ten years ago, or more, but  we've  still  got  the  same
    passion, the  same  feeling,  and  I  think  that's  what's  most
    important. Because you know, the feeling is  the  most  important
    thing if you are creating music.  And  of  course  we  have  more
    experience, we have spent more time on this Earth, so we're  more
    grown-up, but it doesn't mean we think of something different. We
    still play the same music and we're going to keep playing  it  in
    the future. Vader is Vader.

D: Talking about the  Eastern  death  metal  scene,  seems  that  the
   Eastern countries have a pretty strong scene rising.

PW: Yeah, it is.

D: Have you noticed any bands in this?

PW: Well, you know,  maybe  I  am  too  busy  now  to  follow  what's
    happening in the underground at all.  But  I  could  recommend  a
    couple of names from Poland, like Devilyn, like Decapitated. This
    [Decapitated] is a new band and  some  pretty  young  guys,  like
    seventeen, eighteen years  old.  Fucking  heavy  and  fast,  man:
    unbelievable. I was like, that was the first time in  my  life  I
    was the producer of a band and  that's  why  I  can  recommend...
    <laughs> I'm kidding, man, it's a really good band.  And  there's
    more bands, not just death metal or heavy metal or  black  metal,
    but I just don't remember all the names now.

CoC: A couple I know, Yattering...

PW: Yattering! The  guy  who  is  drumming  for  Vader  now  is  from
    Yattering. He joined about two weeks before we started the tour.

D: Is Doc no longer...

PW: No, no, no. He got like a break. For a couple of months,  because
    of some problems, I think like the drugs,  and  he  needs  to  do
    something with himself and with that. We've got time, we can help
    him to do that. But if nothing changes, Doc probably  will  never
    come back. But  I  hope  he  will  do  something  with  that  and
    everything is going to be alright. For now, this guy  like  saved
    the tour for us, 'cause we were close  to  cancelling  the  tour,
    'cause we didn't have enough time  to  prepare  the  songs  [with
    another drummer]. This guy prepared ten songs in two weeks,  from
    the beginnings, which is a good job.  And  you're  going  to  see
    tonight, he's also good. He's a little different,  but  the  same
    speed, the same craziness.

CoC: Well, the Yattering album [_Human's Pain_, CoC  #36]  is  pretty
     insane. <laughs>

PW: Those guys are friends of  mine.  _Human's  Pain_  was  the  last
    album? [I acknowledge this --Paul]. Those guys, they work  pretty
    hard with what  they're  doing.  So  I  think  they  should  have
    something more just for music.  In  this  fucking  business,  you
    know, sometimes you need just the record company with the  money,
    to feel the success. We work in a different kind of way, we  work
    hard, and we have, and I think just to have money is not  enough,
    it shouldn't be enough, to do something.

D: What do you think of the bands  with  whom  you're  on  tour  this
   evening?

PW: Great bands, especially Nile; they've just started. Cryptopsy, we
    used to tour with them in the States, you know, March, that was a
    great tour also. Enslaved, we met those  guys  in  Oslo  for  the
    first time when we were on tour with Morbid  Angel,  also  pretty
    much surprised with them, 'cause I  hear  lots  of  shitty  words
    about Norwegian bands. So, that was the first band I was in touch
    with and they're a good band and good guys,  you  know,  friends.
    Thyrfing, they're a new band, the  guys  are  alright.  Six  Feet
    Under also, there were no problems with them on  the  tour,  they
    were the headliners. Not tonight [where Mayhem took  their  place
    --Paul], though.

CoC: Okay, I think we should all go watch Nile.

PW: Yeah, you should.

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

                 PREPARING TO AGAIN BURST THEIR BANKS
                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                 CoC chats with Karl Sanders of Nile
             by: Paul Schwarz (David Rocher also present)

     Those of you out there who have not  yet  been  exposed  to  the
power and inventive musical  brilliance  of  Nile  have  been  sorely
deprived of one of the greatest creations the death metal or  extreme
music scene has brought forth in the last five  years.  _Amongst  the
Catacombs of Nephren Ka_ [CoC #32] was, on average, the most favoured
record by CoC writers in last year's round-up, and quite rightly  so.
Nile came from nowhere as far as all but the  most  ear-to-the-ground
undergrounders were concerned, and proceeded  to  effortlessly  shame
established acts and upcoming bands alike with the inventiveness  and
brutality delivered by _AtCoNK_.
     Nile recently made their first trip across Europe, beginning  at
the long-running and exalted Dynamo Festival [CoC #40] and continuing
their rampage (on a package  resplendent  with  talents  like  Vader,
Cryptopsy and Enslaved  [double  live  review  in  CoC  #42])  across
Europe, finishing up in the medium-sized city of Rennes in  Brittany,
France. It was here that  myself  and  David  Rocher  (who  was  also
interviewing  on  behalf  of   his   Descension   'zine   and   whose
contributions are noted as "D" in  this  interview)  talked  to  Karl
Sanders about  Nile's  current  position,  possible  progression  and
pre-emptory past.

CoC: You guys are set to record a new album, I believe. It's planned,
     at least?

Karl Sanders: It's planned. We have songs written, but we still  have
              more to write.

CoC: So what is the schedule for the album coming out now?

KS: When we get back home from this tour we'll take a few weeks  off.
    Then we'll start working on the material and hopefully record and
    have it out by January.

CoC: That's cool. Any working title for that at all?

KS: Well, we tossed one  about,  and  I'm  hesitant  to  mention  it.
    Everybody asks me this and I usually don't tell them but...

CoC: ... You're cracking under pressure.

KS: Yes. <we all laugh> We've  thought  about  _The  Black  Seeds  of
    Vengeance_. Don't quote me on that, it might get changed  at  the
    last minute, you know how these things are.

CoC: Don't worry, I won't get anyone too hyped up for  that.  How  do
     you think the material that you have been writing  differs  from
     the material on _...Catacombs..._?

KS: It's faster, more brutal, more epic. It's on a more  grand  scale
    in the sense that the "Ramses Bringer of War" track is very...

CoC: Big, and all that sort of thing?

KS: Yes. I would say a lot of it is in that vein.

CoC: Would you  say  it's  as  big  a  step  as  from  _Festivals  of
     Atonement_ to _...Catacombs..._?

KS: That was a big leap.

CoC: That's a big -speed- leap.

KS: There will be another speed leap. We've been playing these  songs
    now for a year and a half on tour, so, to play  the  material  on
    _...Catacombs..._ is like...

CoC: Pretty easy?

KS: ... fucking drinking tea. <I laugh> So, the next album  we'll  go
    faster just... because we can.

Descension: Is it going to be just on a really death metal  vein,  or
            are you going to sort of borrow speed elements from black
            metal bands, or the black metal style anyway?

KS: I would say that we are continuing on our same  path,  only  more
    highly progressed. Simply because there  has  been  a  couple  of
    years between the writing  of  _...Catacombs..._  and  the  stuff
    we're writing now, but it is on the same path. Are  we  borrowing
    from  black  metal?  I  would  say  "no,  we're  borrowing   from
    ourselves".

CoC: I was going to ask about your  trip  across  Europe.  It's  your
     first time over here?

KS: Yeah, it's our first trip across the pond.

CoC: How has it been and how  do  you  feel  the  response  has  been
     considering [_...Catacombs..._] has been out  for  a  year,  and
     it's on a US label and what have you?

KS: I would say it's been a great trip. I'd always wanted to come  to
    Europe. I'd always wanted to see it for myself. You know, you see
    it on TV and magazines: whatever, you know. I wanted  to  see  it
    for myself and I had heard that metal was alive and well  on  the
    continent.

CoC: You think that's true?

KS: It's true. People here genuinely love metal. In the  States  it's
    trendism, it's fads and when  that  fad  dies  it's  replaced  by
    something else. Right now it's hardcore. Hardcore is big; if  you
    don't play hardcore you're not "the shit".  So  we  don't  really
    feel appreciated in  the  States.  Everywhere  we've  done  here,
    except for a show or two in Germany where people just stood there
    like this <folds arms> waiting to drink beer, people have treated
    us like we're human beings, and that feels fucking good.

CoC: And that would include Dynamo, I assume?

KS: Oh, Dynamo <makes explosion noise>,  wow!  There's  nothing  like
    Dynamo.

D: What do you think of the package of bands that has been offered on
   this tour?

KS: I think it's a good mix. There's something for everyone. Six Feet
    Under are a more popular kind of death  metal,  accessible  to  a
    wide range of people. Vader, they're a classic death metal  band.
    Enslaved, they're a classic Viking band,  with  a  lot  of  black
    metal elements. Cryptopsy: total brutal technicality. There's us,
    we do our  thing.  Thyrfing  is  melodic  Viking  metal.  There's
    something in there for everybody, and I've seen that there  is  a
    lot of people coming to these shows, every show has  been  jammed
    with people. So many people you  can't  breathe  at  the  fucking
    gigs. Some of them, literally, we were worried about running  out
    of oxygen on stage. It was that fucking hot, that many people.

D: That's amazing.

KS: Yeah. When we finished our clothes were  as  wet  as  if  we  had
    jumped in a swimming pool. It's that fucking hot on stage on this
    tour.

CoC: What is your inspiration for creating the very warlike  kind  of
     music of Nile? Where does it  come  from,  either  musically  or
     literally?

KS: Well, that's a pretty fucking deep question.

CoC: Is it something to do with where you live?

KS: We live in a very religiously oppressive part of the country. In,
    say, Berlin, there's a -bar-, a  pub,  on  every  single  corner,
    alright? Where we live there's a fucking church on every  corner.
    There's a church across the street from where  we  practice.  You
    can walk out the door of our rehearsal room, pick up a rock,  and
    hit the church with it. So, that's  what  we  do,  literally  and
    figuratively.

D: And where did the interest for Egyptian mythology arise from?

KS: Well, that's one of our hobbies. As a child I'd always  seen  the
    great  classic  films:   "Ben   Hur",   "Sodom   and   Gomorrah",
    "Cleopatra", "Land of the Pharaohs", on  and  on.  And  that  was
    always fascinating to me. When I met our drummer,  Pete,  who  is
    from the Lebanon, his  family  always  had  Middle-Eastern  music
    around the house. So it was something I  was  introduced  to  and
    grew to love. And since Pete and I have played in bands  together
    for like thirteen, fourteen  years  --  playing  metal  --,  we'd
    always wanted to figure out a way to combine the two things  that
    we love. So, that's what we have with Nile.

CoC: Did you choose  that  because  it  is  a  particularly  original
     approach to death metal? A lot of people have combined Satanism,
     gore lyrics, this and that, but  no-one  had  combined  Egyptian
     mythology. Was that part of your inspiration?

KS: Well, that's kind of like after the fact. We knew what we  wanted
    to do and at that point, time wise, Nile -- we  did  not  foresee
    any fucking success anywhere down the road anyway, because  death
    metal is pretty much... you know, there's nothing in the  States,
    metal is dead in the States, almost, except for a few people  who
    keep it alive. So, at that point we were like,  "Fuck  it,  we're
    never going to  become  successful  anyway,  why  don't  we  just
    fucking do the shit we like?". So that's what we did.  And  then,
    later on, we kind of went "Hang on, wait a minute, this  kind  of
    kills two birds with one stone, because every other band is doing
    the same fucking boring shit that everyone  else  is  doing,  and
    we're tired of it, let's do our own thing."

D: We were talking about spiritualities earlier on with the guys from
   Enslaved. What I noticed was the lyrics  were  extremely  warlike,
   like Paul was saying, and very dark, too. Do  you  actually  stick
   with the Egyptian religious beliefs, or...?

KS: Well, everything you're going to find on a Nile piece of work  is
    going to be -- fuck, I haven't used English words in so long,  of
    more than two syllables... -- able to co-exist  side-by-side  and
    in harmony with all  the  religious  and  historical/mythological
    themes of ancient Egypt. No matter what we're talking about, it's
    always going to have that base. It's going to be congruent --  is
    the word I was looking for. I think Enslaved are doing  something
    different from what we do in that they are  singing  about  their
    heritage. To them it's very  real  and  they  actually  live  and
    breathe their beliefs; the beliefs of  their  parents,  ancestors
    and forefathers. It's something very real to them. We're one step
    removed. Since we have no fucking culture of our own, in America,
    South  Carolina,  we're  pretty  fuckin'  bored  and  -somewhere-
    looking for other things to fascinate us.

D: That's something striking about America in particular, because  it
   is such a young culture. It's a culture which is maybe two hundred
   years old. So I don't know if there's actually an American
   history.

KS: That's very profound. The thing that I love about Europe is there
    are so many old things. You can go to any town and see  something
    five hundred years old. If you're lucky, here in  France  there's
    stuff a thousand years old.

D: Quite easily.

KS: To me that means something. In America  everything  is  new,  you
    know, nothing has any inherent worth. The Africans have  a  word,
    "ken". It means "the soul of an inanimate object". And a  lot  of
    the places I have been to here, walking  around  during  the  day
    visiting, you walk in them and  you  feel  something,  you  know.
    There has perhaps been bloodshed, people lived  and  died  there,
    hundreds of years ago, hundreds of lives crossed it. You can feel
    it, it's old. That's so cool [for me], 'cause everything we  have
    is Coca Cola. <we all laugh>

CoC: -That's- pretty profound.

D: Well, obviously you were saying you were going to go ahead and  do
   your shit regardless of whether you got success or not, but as  it
   seems Nile is getting  success  with  _Amongst  the  Catacombs  of
   Nephren Ka_. So, I'd like to know how things are going and how you
   feel about this, the way things are turning out?

KS: Well, I  guess  things  are  going  okay.  We're  able  to  tour.
    Everywhere we go kids know the music. It was quite  mind-boggling
    to go to Slovenia and have kids singing the lyrics to me  when  I
    know they only speak English as a second language, and here  they
    are fuckin' singin' the lyrics back. Woah!  That's  a  dedication
    you don't see where we live. So I've been quite pleased. I  would
    have been happy if we'd sold five thousand  copies  and  just  be
    able to pay for the record, whatever.

CoC: What are the sales figures for _...Nephren Ka_ now?

KS: Well, that's a tricky one, because I  don't  believe  any  record
    company ever tells you the absolute truth  <I  laugh>,  and  from
    what I've seen out here all the kids have it already. So we  must
    be selling some records. Before we left for this tour  they  were
    telling us seventeen thousand or so. I don't know.

D: That's pretty good, seventeen thousand is a good start.

KS: It's a break even point. We'll be able to  make  another  record,
    we'll do another one and then maybe  the  one  after  that  we'll
    actually see some money. In earnest, I doubt it.

CoC: So how are Relapse going with budgets, 'cause  obviously  you've
     been doing quite a bit  in  Europe  just  recently,  so  they've
     obviously got some kind of tour support of some description?

KS: The tour support is minimal, it's just enough to get you here and
    then you're on your own.

CoC: So petrol, food, all that kind of upkeep stuff...

KS: They're not a large company, they're not like a major  label  who
    can bankroll everything, no. If you're on a  metal  label  you're
    still doing the hard work yourself.

CoC: Sure.

KS: The benefit is the bigger distribution,  the  advertising,  those
    things are worth a lot. 'Cause if you're working a  day  job  and
    you're trying to play your music at night, and you're  trying  to
    send out your demos, your CDs and  do  your...  You  know,  fuck,
    dude, there's only so many hours in the fuckin' day. It  is  just
    not possible to blanket the world  with  your  music,  if  you're
    doing it  all  yourself.  It's  really  important  to  have  that
    distribution, the promotion, the power, to get your album in  all
    corners of the globe.

D: How are things going in general with Relapse?

KS: Well, it goes pretty well. I can pick up the phone, talk to  them
    and work things out, and it's pretty good. The boys in the  front
    office who actually do the hard work, Carl, Pellet,  Coz,  Gordon
    who used to work there. He's now with  MIA.  Gordon  was  like  a
    brother to me, I could call Gordon any time or hour  of  the  day
    and say, "Gordon, help me understand this, help  me  figure  this
    out, what's going on, what's the best thing for  me."  And  those
    guys fucking kick ass, I love them and I would  do  anything  for
    them. They bust their ass on a daily basis for every band on that
    label.

D: What do you think of their band roster, bands like Morgion?

KS: I happen to love Morgion.

D: _Solinari_ is a killer.

KS: They sent me a copy of it, when they  first  finished  it.  Quite
    impressive. Incantation -- they're metal touring brothers.  Trial
    of the Bow is another one of my favourites. Disembowelment.

D: And what do you think of a band like Mortician?

KS: <long-ish pause> I think Incantation are my  -touring  brothers-.
    <we all laugh loudly>

CoC: Good answer.

D: Good answer.

CoC: I was just going to ask one thing: _...Nephren Ka_ has  got  you
     to a point, much further  than  _Festivals  of  Atonement_  did;
     you're on a bigger label. I was wondering what you're hoping the
     new album will do for you [as a band]?

KS: Well, I don't care what it does. The important thing is  we  have
    music that is important to us, that we  love,  that  we  want  to
    bring to the people. And what it does is irrelevant  as  long  as
    people have the chance to hear it, to come to the  shows:  that's
    the important thing.

CoC: And obviously the more sales you have the bigger budget for  the
     next one and the better you can make that.

KS: Oh, obviously. I would like to be able to make a record and  have
    everything be right, you know? _...Nephren Ka_, the budget was so
    small, if I  told  you,  you'd  just  fall  on  the  floor  dying
    laughing. And there was a lot of fucking work put in, in order to
    make the album come in on budget and on time.

D: And it did. I mean, the sound of it is really good.

CoC: Yeah.

D: The packaging is nice, too.

KS: Yeah. We made it happen.

D: I'd like to know, I believe you had a power metal  outfit  before,
   something like that, no?

KS: Well, that was back in the  eighties.  Sure,  I've  been  playing
    metal for nearly twenty years and [playing in] shitty local bands
    my entire life. I've done a lot of things. I've been in a  thrash
    band, I've played in a Metallica cover band. I've done all  sorts
    of metal things. I love metal.

CoC: How long then have you been playing guitar?

KS: Twenty, twenty one years.

D/CoC: Last words, then?

KS: Well, I'd just like to say thanks for  the  opportunity  to  talk
    with your readers, and that I've had a really good time  in  this
    interview.

D/CoC: Same here.

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

        R E L E N T L E S S   A N G E L I C   C A D A V E R S
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            CoC chats with Gene Palubicki of Angel Corpse
                           by: Paul Schwarz

     As far as I can see, one of the most  intense,  violent,  brutal
and just plain unrelenting acts to emerge from the death metal  scene
in the last five years is Angel Corpse. Their focus on creating death
metal which is as pure in its violent  force  as  _Covenant_  (Morbid
Angel) or _Legion_ (Deicide) but also not a meaningless,  bludgeoning
blur of low-tuned guitars and uncharacteristic vocals, makes them one
of the few death metal bands around today who are truly a force to be
reckoned with. They have just released their third album,  the  aptly
titled  _The  Inexorable_,  and  it  continues  where   last   year's
_Exterminate_ left off,  shifting  topics  and  adding  dynamics  but
essentially preserving Angel Corpse as the musical equivalent to  "60
tonnes of steel rolling across the  battlefield",  in  the  words  of
another Osmose artist. So, grab _The Inexorable_, start  the  warpath
with "Stormgods Unbound", and find out the ideas  which  conflagrated
to create such a testament to unrelenting extremity.

CoC: What led you to choose _The Inexorable_ as the title for the new
     album?

Gene Palubicki: Well, we wanted that for the title because  --  since
                it is the third album and we're -continuing- what  we
                started  with  [previous  albums]  but   adding   new
                elements with each album -- we've done the same thing
                with this album. We've  kept  everything  that  we've
                always done and we've just added more dynamics to it,
                you know, and I thought the title of _The Inexorable_
                had a really  ominous  sound.  Plus,  it  means  like
                relentless, merciless, unforgiving, unyielding. So  I
                thought that worked really good. Plus,  it  a  little
                more vaguely fits in with the cover concept as  well.
                The expansion of the demonic forces into  more  of  a
                universal thing instead of a very worldly type visual
                that was on our last album.

CoC: You have changed the cover artwork and in general on  the  album
     in terms of song titles it's moving away from the modern, battle
     sort  of  lyrics  and   into   some   slightly   more   demonic,
     supernatural, spiritual things?

GP: Right, so that way it's more universally encompassing. Instead of
    just being, you know, your next door neighbour; it is more  of  a
    universal approach. That [way] it is not just so singular.

CoC: So that was an intention, to sort of expand...?

GP: Well yeah, I mean, for the  purpose  of  lyrics  and  topics  why
    should we repeat ourselves? Surely  ideas  should  push  forward,
    move on to bigger things. For ourselves personally, we've already
    conquered all the ground that we needed to with  the  topics  and
    everything that we did on our previous albums. Now, we  have  new
    ground to cover, and in the future it'll be the same  way,  we'll
    have something, we'll try to come up  with  something  that  goes
    beyond, or at least along a somewhat expanded variation  of  what
    we've already done. So, I mean,  lyrically  and  musically  we've
    tried to evolve it together.

CoC: Musically-wise, what do you think you, Angel Corpse,  contribute
     specifically to the death metal scene, what  do  you  think  you
     have which is either new or which is needed in the  present  day
     scene?

GP: I think [the music of Angel Corpse] has a stronger mix  of  ideas
    within  songs,  because  a  lot  of  death  metal,  black  metal,
    everything nowadays  is  very  genre-oriented,  and  it  kind  of
    focuses on one point and beats it into the ground. You know, some
    bands will  just  have  an  entire  album  where  every  song  is
    basically a reiteration of every  other  song.  And  some  people
    really enjoy that, you  know,  that  non-stop  -drone-  of  sound
    throughout an album which -- I mean I can -appreciate- that,  but
    for my own writing of music I want to  have  something  that  has
    powerful ideas, but ideas that vary, like variations on a  theme.
    The theme is to create overpowering death metal,  but  you  don't
    have to just make it a blur all the  time.  You  can  still  have
    gigantic, powerful riffs, but it doesn't have to be  a  blur  all
    the time, and that's how we experimented on this album.  I  think
    that the new dynamic that we have on the new album  is  the  fact
    that we don't have riffs that are just a constant  blur,  there's
    more articulated rhythms on this one which are somewhat different
    and in some cases non-existent on some of  our  previous  albums.
    But the point still comes across just as strong.

CoC: I see what you're saying,  I  mean  with  stuff  like  "Begotten
     (Through  Blood  &  Flame)"  and  "Wolflust"  things  are   more
     pronounced, they're less whirlwind than some  of  the  songs  on
     _Exterminate_ were. So that has added some definition, I  think,
     and makes the structure as an  album  slightly  better.  Talking
     again about lyrics, do you think spiritual or political  beliefs
     of yours or any other member's, in  your  actual  lives,  affect
     what you write for Angel Corpse, or are  you  kind  of  detached
     from your own personal feelings when you're writing lyrics?

GP: Well, I don't write the lyrics, I mean I haven't  written  lyrics
    for any of the stuff. As far  as  that  goes,  it's  pretty  much
    between me and Pete [Helmkamp,  vocalist].  We'll  come  up  with
    maybe a topic, then he'll come up with some  lyrics  to  go  -to-
    that topic. You know, but in most cases with lyrics,  he'll  just
    come up with his own stuff. That's pretty much how it  goes.  But
    no, I wouldn't say we're detached at all, you know, it's not just
    -- I mean, there's definitely a lot of personal emotion involved,
    with what the lyrics are about. You know, it's not just a fantasy
    excursion into lyric writing just for the sake of having words to
    go over the music.

CoC: In terms of label, are you happy with Osmose Productions, do you
     feel they have done well for you so far and  do  you  intend  to
     stay with them for the next album, and  the  album  after  that,
     etceteras?

GP: Well, up to this point, the relationship  with  Osmose  has  been
    really good. We've had problems with  American  distribution,  so
    for the American and Canadian release [of _The Inexorable_] we've
    moved to the Chicago-based Olympic  Records.  So,  we  hope  that
    works better for us over here, especially for  facilitating,  you
    know,  better  promotion  for  a  tour  if  we  do  one,  whereas
    previously that did not exist.

CoC: You didn't get tour support?

GP: Well, we got tour support, but it was  more  of  the  promotional
    thing for America [that was the problem]. The  Osmose  office  in
    America wasn't really capable of  the  type  of  things  that  we
    needed to have. So there was no bad blood there, but we have made
    the move, for the licensing, to Olympic Records for  the  US  and
    Canada. So now we have a good relationship with both labels.

CoC: Cool. Neither of them are worried about the fact that you're  on
     different labels in different territories, then?

GP: No.

CoC: For you personally, then, what inspired you, or  drives  you  to
     create music for Angel Corpse, because in all likelihood  it  is
     not a band you're going to be able to live off, like a pop  band
     could. So, what in particular drives you to spend your free time
     doing this kind of music and what you do specifically  in  Angel
     Corpse?

GP: Well, I've always been into this kind of stuff, ever since  about
    '85 or '86 when I picked up a guitar  and  started  listening  to
    metal records. I was always really wrapped up in the sound  of...
    you know, right off the top it was Judas Priest. That was one  of
    the  very  first  metal  bands  that  I  listened  to  and   also
    hand-in-hand with that was Iron Maiden. But then beyond  that  it
    was around the time of _Hell Awaits_ and _Reign in  Blood_  [both
    Slayer]...

CoC: _Seven Churches_ [Possessed]?

GP: Of course _Seven Churches_ and what not. Those  came  out  and  I
    really liked the sound of the guitar played with just that really
    fast picking, making that kind of  really  ominous  <mimics  fast
    palm muted picking sound>. That speed picking type sound.

CoC: Yeah, thrash picking.

GP: Yeah, -thrash picking- or whatever.  I  don't  know,  I  mean,  I
    suppose you could say <laughs> it -possessed- me or whatever, but
    then again at the same time I  was  always  into  --  I  mean,  I
    suppose if you could call Judas Priest and Iron Maiden "the  more
    melodic bands".

CoC: Of metal.

GP: And I like that stuff equally as much as  I  like  the  thrashing
    stuff. That's why with a lot of the stuff I write I try  to  have
    it as speed oriented and blazing as possible, but yet in its  own
    way, in its own unique Angel Corpse way, I try to make it melodic
    in its own sense.

CoC: You have a little melodic definition behind there.

GP: Yeah.

CoC: Which is something that Deicide or  Suffocation  don't  actually
     aim to do.

GP: Right, that's exactly it. Which would be how we would differ from
    about the majority of American death metal, which -- history  has
    shown that American death metal is very anti-melodic.

CoC: Why have you chosen, more  or  less  constantly,  to  record  at
     Morrisound? Not that I think it's  a  bad  studio,  but  out  of
     curiosity: is it the history of the place, the albums that  have
     been recorded there, or is it just a good studio?

GP: Well, like in the case of the guy that we worked with, Jim Morris
    -- I mean for the second album, _Exterminate_. After we  recorded
    the first album -- we recorded it in Kansas  City,  which  was  a
    -fucking- inferior studio, and  the  engineer  was  atrocious  as
    well, but we didn't have a choice then. But for the second  album
    we had a better budget, so we're like, "Well, what  can  we  do?"
    But, then again, we were from Kansas City, I mean, where  did  we
    know to find anywhere? But I knew people, I had friends down here
    [in Tampa], and of course people are going to say, "Yeah, there's
    Morrisound, you can do good  stuff  there",  and  of  course  I'm
    familiar with the place. This time around we did it again because
    here, in the city, for doing this kind of record with people  who
    have any kind of experience at all doing  this  kind  of  record,
    Morrisound really is the only place because  they  have  the  two
    inch tape machine, which is -crucially- important in my  opinion;
    to be able to record on two inch tape.  And  none  of  the  other
    studios around really have that same kind of capability.

CoC: I know very little about studios; what is the difference between
     two inch tape and other tape?

GP: Well, physically you can look at it as a one inch tape to  a  two
    inch tape: the one inch tape doesn't have as much space on it  as
    the two inch tape. So each individual strip of a track  has  more
    room to breathe on a two inch tape.  So  therefore  you  can  get
    -bigger- sounds on a two inch tape, whereas on smaller stuff  and
    even smaller yet on an A-Dat tape, basically your sound begins to
    shrink a little bit, you know what I'm saying?

CoC: Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. Can you  ever  see  Angel  Corpse
     changing  your  sound  to  include  distinctly  less  aggressive
     elements like keyboards or female vocals or particularly melodic
     or harmonic guitar  solos,  or  is  Angel  Corpse  any  kind  of
     deliberate attempt to avoid these kind of things?

GP: It's always been a deliberate attempt to  avoid  those  kinds  of
    things. I mean, if we've done three albums and we've been  around
    for almost five years, you know there's never even been a hint of
    that kind of element in our music at all. I mean,  someone  would
    have to almost be a fool to consider that we ever  would.  Either
    that or they have wishful thinking that we'd be a different  type
    of band. Maybe some people don't like us  'cause  we  don't  have
    those elements, you know, which [means] they're not fans  for  us
    then.

CoC: [They'd be] missing the point?

GP: No, I mean, if they want that stuff, if they enjoy that, they can
    find that from another band.  That's  not  our  prerogative.  The
    sound that we make is the sound that we want people to hear,  and
    if people don't want to hear it then they just  won't  listen  to
    us. But we're not interested in what opinions people have of what
    we're doing and what we're not doing. We're only going to do what
    we think are the best songs, and that's where it stops.

CoC: So the kind of music that you're doing is what you  consider  to
     be the best kind of music that you could do?

GP: The best kind of music that I'd want to write.

CoC: Do you believe there is any kind of ideology in metal, like when
     people have to dress, act and think in a certain way  to  listen
     to  metal,  do  you  think  that  has  any  sort  of   relevance
     particularly?

GP: Well, I think there is definitely  a  type  of  personality  that
    somebody needs to really be attracted to this kind  of  music  at
    all. I mean, if you come from a very  sheltered  lifestyle  or  a
    -self-imposed- sheltered lifestyle, you may  not  have  the  same
    kind of fire to want to do something  that's  really  aggressive.
    You know, whereas if, I don't know, you choose a lifestyle that's
    not so tamed and housebroken, it adds to your personality to give
    you an understanding of the kind of music you want  to  write.  I
    mean, when you try to put together the kind of ideas of what  you
    have for a lifestyle and what you'd write as music --  which  are
    pretty unrelated, but they do relate in  that  one  is  going  to
    affect the personality for anything you're going  to  create.  So
    when it comes to music it's going to  come  out  in  what  you're
    doing.

CoC: To an extent, if you're not angry, then there's  no  reason  for
     you to write aggressive music or aggressive lyrics?

GP: Well, in some cases I don't even think it's really like  that  so
    much -- you know, there can definitely be an anger element but it
    doesn't even really have to come from that.  I  mean,  aggression
    doesn't absolutely have to mean anger. It's just... it's  a  fire
    thing, you know, if you got the fire, if you're  fired  up  about
    doing something that's really over the  top  and  powerful,  then
    that's what you're going to do and you're going to be able to  do
    it,  'cause  you're  going  to  write   something   that   you're
    understanding. If you're trying to write something  that  doesn't
    suit your personality, you're not going  to  be  able  to  do  it
    right, because through the process of writing  something,  you're
    going to become confused 'cause you're stepping  into  unfamiliar
    waters.

CoC: To conclude, if there's anything in particular you'd like to say
     about the album or about your touring or your band, then  you're
     welcome to do that now.

GP: Well, we definitely hope to get some kind of a  US  and  Canadian
    tour definitely by the beginning of  next  year.  We  don't  have
    anything concrete yet, but we definitely hope  to  play  all  the
    places in Canada we played before, and at least  as  many  as  we
    can. On the last tour with Cannibal  Corpse,  we  did,  I  think,
    about eight or nine dates in Canada. It  was  central,  west  and
    east: we even did Saskatoon and Winnipeg, and all  of  them  were
    really great shows, so we hope we can get to all of those  places
    again.

CoC: Any last words for fans of the band who may not have  picked  up
     _The Inexorable_ yet?

GP: ... Because it's not even released yet, it doesn't even come  out
    for a couple of days <laughs>, nobody would have picked it up
    yet.

CoC: That's a point, but for the purpose of this interview which will
     come out a few weeks after the record does...

GP: Everything we've done musically, and  what  we've  always  talked
    about that we do, the new album is exactly all of it.  Everything
    that our music has promised and anything that we  have  said  and
    done, this new album is basically it. It's the  next  step,  it's
    the new record. Everything they could've expected is there.

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

              U P H O L D I N G   T H E   P R O C E S S
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                        CoC interviews Turmoil
                          by: Adrian Bromley

     Philadelphia hardcore/noisecore outfit Turmoil  have  definitely
evolved over the years. Not only has the band  managed  to  intensify
their sound, but they've also managed to win critics over with  their
unapologetic rampaging of noise. Their latest  burden  to  the  music
world's ears? _The Process of_. Say "sayonara" to your ears, suckers.
     "It's definitely cool to see where we have taken our music. This
is quite an  accomplishment,  I'd  say",  starts  guitarist  Jonathan
Hodges about the band's obvious evolution through the years. "When we
started out we  just  wanted  to  play  loud  and  aggressive  music.
Throughout our past few releases [early European EP  _Who  Says  Time
Heals All Wounds_ and 1997's _Anchor_] we have focused on being heavy
and all that shit and I think people have come to  expect  that  from
us. Now with this record we wanted some catchier stuff. We  wanted  a
mood as well."
     "_From Bleeding Hands_ [their US debut] was a great  record  for
us because it really helped introduce us to the music fans out there.
But it was all just grouped together  as  hard  songs  and  all  that
aggression. We took our time with this record,  and  took  the  songs
into consideration when we were in  the  studio.  We  wanted  to  get
something out of these songs rather than just blasting them  out  one
at a time."
     He continues: "It's  a  lot  harder  nowadays  to  put  together
material. I mean, each time out you want to outdo  yourself  on  each
record and make it exciting to listen to. The last record we  started
to see it becoming a bit  more  difficult,  but  we  managed  to  get
through it and on this record as well. We have a lot of ideas  as  to
where we want to go right now."
     Unlike a lot of other  bands  out  there  who  tour  frequently,
Turmoil (rounded out by other guitarist  Jim  Winters,  vocalist  Jon
Gula and bassist Jamie Getz) is -always- on tour, playing every  nook
and crannie that they can. It's about exposure and showing  that  you
are dedicated to your profession and music. Hodges explains: "We have
been going strong for the last little while, but to  be  honest,  you
don't make a lot of money doing hardcore and it's  hard  to  pay  the
bills when you're not home. That is the unfortunate thing about doing
this. But we have had a great time touring and a great response  from
the crowds. We can't wait to tour more and go back  to  places  where
people know us now."
     I ask Hodges to explain the significance of the album title.  He
responds: "It's actually pretty simple. It just describes the  amount
of work we have put into the songwriting and  how  difficult  it  has
become to carry on with what we do, to have to reinvent or carry  out
our particular sound. Songwriting sounds easy, I guess, but it is far
from it. It also signifies hard  work,  how  many  say  that  artists
suffer for their work."
     And suffer they have. With numerous tours  and  a  lot  of  work
going into the band, it took a long time for things to actively start
rolling for Turmoil. They eventually  conquered  the  scene,  gaining
solid support from bands and fans alike. "I think we have  a  lot  of
support now and that is a good thing", quips Hodge. "It was tough for
us to get things going because we were out so long and bands out less
time than you have a better response. [Turmoil's label] Century Media
isn't really a hardcore label. I think it would be a lot easier if we
were on Victory Records or something like that, but we're happy  with
Century Media. We get a lot of exposure, so we can't  complain.  They
certainly did help us out in that aspect. They opened us  up  to  the
European market, something a smaller hardcore label  would  not  have
been able to do. I just wish  they  would  push  the  records  harder
sometimes. It seems as though with a roster as big  as  theirs,  they
only seem to spend a few months pushing a  record  before  they  move
onto another current release."
     "I'm still enjoying what I do", he says. "The thing  that  keeps
me going right now is that I have the ability  to  create  some  cool
music. I am constantly working hard making music.  I  like  the  fact
that I can try to bring the music I like into the music  we  play.  I
mean, we play hardcore and are around hardcore all the time. It  gets
boring sometimes. We all listen to a variety  of  music  styles  that
goes from oldies to  old  school  thrash  metal.  It  just  keeps  it
interesting to try and work our influences into what we do and  still
make it sound like ourselves."
     "It's hard to play music and be happy with it", finishes Hodges.
"I mean, we have really worked hard to get where we are doing  things
our way. Sure we have tried different things and so have  many  other
bands. Some bands add a pop element to hardcore, others death  metal.
You have to do what you want to do with your  music  or  you'll  just
fade away. If you have the dedication and commitment to a  band  then
your music should be able to stand the test of time and be  something
that someone can look back on and still get excited about."

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

 D I A B O L I C A L   D E A T H C U L T I C   D E V A S T A T I O N
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              CoC talks to Daniel Corchado of The Chasm
                           by: Paul Schwarz

     Mexico is not one the countries people  usually  associate  with
the world of quality extreme music.  However,  two  bands  from  this
country have come to my attention in the  last  two  years  and  have
grown to become some  of  the  most  favoured  bands  in  my  musical
collection. The first I came across was the now defunct Cenotaph, who
produced three albums, their final being  1996's  _Epic  Rites_  [CoC
#26], before splitting up in late 1998. The second is the  very  much
alive and flourishing The Chasm. Interestingly  enough,  The  Chasm's
mastermind, Daniel Corchado, was originally the singer and  guitarist
for Cenotaph,  whom  he  left  after  their  first  album  _A  Gloomy
Reflection  of  Our  Hidden  Sorrows_  (recently  re-released  by  Oz
Productions). With The Chasm, Daniel helped create  the  complex  and
unusual _Procreation of the Inner Temple_ and _From the  Lost  Years_
[CoC  #13],  but  was  next  heard  singing  and  playing  guitar  on
Incantation's last masterpiece, _Diabolical Conquest_ [CoC #33]. When
things failed to work out with Incantation,  and  also  for  his  own
reasons, Daniel went back to full-time work in The  Chasm,  releasing
_Deathcult For Eternity: The Triumph_ [CoC #40], which  was  recorded
before Daniel joined  Incantation,  soon  after  leaving  The  Chasm.
_Deathcult For Eternity: The Triumph_ was just  that:  a  triumph,  a
record which proved The Chasm could match most more well-known  death
metal bands on their turf, and beat them hands down in terms of sheer
creativity.
     Finally, The Chasm now seems to have a stable line-up  (allowing
them to crush audiences in the  live  arena)  and  future,  with  the
planned recording  and  release  of  the  fully  written  new  album,
_Procession to the Infraworld_, slated for this fall.
     This update interview is to introduce The Chasm to those of  you
who may not know them, and give recent or  long-time  followers  some
insight into where the band are on at  present  and  where  they  are
headed.

CoC: Could you give a brief history of  how  The  Chasm  came  to  be
     formed?

Daniel Corchado: The darkened force known as The Chasm was procreated
                 in January of 1993. After I  split  from  my  former
                 band Cenotaph (RIP), I decided to keep  raising  the
                 flag of metal and death. My  inner  self  wanted  to
                 progress to an extreme and darker level  of  musical
                 experimentation. So, I asked a few people to help me
                 in  this  new  concept.  After  several   years   of
                 existence the only original members that  remain  in
                 this Deathcult are Antonio [Leon] on Drums  of  Doom
                 and myself on guitar and vocals. Almost a year  ago,
                 two extremely talented and dedicated warriors joined
                 forces with us,  they  are  Julio  Viterbo  on  lead
                 guitar [of Cenotaph and  Shub  Niggurath  fame]  and
                 Roberto Valle on bass. I definitely think  and  feel
                 that  this  is  the  most  devastating  and  coldest
                 line-up ever for The Chasm.

CoC: You've  previously  played  in  both  Incantation  and  Mexico's
     Cenotaph. How are your experiences from these bands reflected in
     the music you create now, in The Chasm?

DC: Well, I have been creating music for The Chasm since long  before
    I joined Incantation; my stay with them didn't really  affect  or
    influence the way I compose music at all, I think. The  style  of
    death metal that I was conceiving with Cenotaph  was  of  a  very
    high calibre of heaviness and extremity. We were  really  getting
    to the limits in those days, but I wanted to taste the darker and
    more bizarre side of  death  metal,  to  have  more  freedom  and
    experimentation in my own personal way. That's why The Chasm  was
    born. This is the ultimate way of expression for me and  for  the
    other Sons of the Mictlan. We play music from and for our spirits
    and will continue to... loud and proud.

CoC: How did you feel about how _Deathcult For Eternity: The Triumph_
     turned out and the reception to it? Were you satisfied with that
     last album?

DC: _Deathcult For Eternity_ is a total triumph for  The  Chasm.  The
    aura and feeling that we procreated in this  album  is  sometimes
    beyond words for me. I'm very proud of what we have done  in  the
    past and _Deathcult..._ is like the end  of  an  era  (since  our
    change of members and move from Mexico, etc.) and  the  beginning
    of a fresh, more destructive and obscure one for  the  band.  The
    critics for the album have been really good. If  I  could  change
    one thing, it would be the production. The sound is  really  weak
    and it doesn't capture the real essence of The Chasm. The  people
    that have seen us in a live attack will  know  what  I'm  talking
    about.

CoC: What have The Chasm been doing in the year and a bit  since  the
     release of _Deathcult..._?

DC: Basically, we were really concentrated and working  hard  on  new
    music. We have nine new songs and we recorded six of them  for  a
    promo CD which we gave to several labels at the latest  Metalfest
    [my promo had four tracks --Paul]. We have played  a  few  shows,
    too. Since we moved here to the USA we have shared the stage with
    Cianide, Scepter, Morbid  Angel,  Skullview,  Corpsevomit,  Nile,
    Exciter, Sorrow Bequest, Macabre and a few more. We  are  working
    on a tour for the last part of the fall. We'll see what happens.

CoC: Do you have a new label yet, have any labels  you  can  tell  us
     about shown interest in signing you?

DC: It seems that being a band from Mexico and really underground  is
    like a curse for us. We have been in the  underground  since  '93
    (personally I have been  playing  since  '88)  and  never  got  a
    serious offer from an American or European label, and that hasn't
    changed yet. It's kinda depressing and disappointing for me,  but
    it doesn't surprise me anymore. I'm  used  to  it,  and  my  main
    priority is to keep creating metal of death for myself.  We  have
    just had like two or three propositions, but of course  we  still
    have a lot of talking to do. If nothing happens  with  any  label
    we'll release the next CD by ourselves, fuck it!!

CoC: When do you hope to put together and record a new album?  Has  a
     title been decided upon?

DC: We have all the stuff ready. The songs we recorded for the  promo
    plus one more will be a part of this new opus macabre.  Our  goal
    is to release it somewhere  between  October  and  November;  the
    title is _Procession to the Infraworld_.

CoC: Could  you  explain  how  the  title  _Deathcult  For  Eternity_
     reflects your ideas about the music you create?

DC: Since I can remember, my personality and inner temple  have  been
    really strange and  complicated.  The  way  I  feel  and  see  my
    existence is full of questions without answers. I feel trapped in
    this cage made of flesh and bones. I want to reach the Portal and
    find all the answers and visions that I  have  been  looking  for
    since a long time ago. I really pray for death. I think that  the
    extinction of my human being will bring me eternal peace of soul.
    That's why I decided to create this cult to the  Death,  the  old
    rider, the master reaper. My cult and my devotion  to  metal  and
    Death are my ultimate motivation to keep me alive on this rotting
    earth. Until I complete my preparation  to  start  my  long  cold
    journey I will be keepin'  alive  and  well  The  Chasm.  We  are
    overlords of the Infraworld...

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

             C H E E R I N G   U P   T H E   L E P E R S
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               CoC interrogates Roman Spatny of Depresy
                            by: Alvin Wee

     It's  hard  to  imagine  any  metal   band   from   the   former
Czechoslovakia not sounding like Root, Torr, Amon Goeth  or  Master's
Hammer.  But  as  Roman,  axe-wielder  and  frontman  of   Slovakia's
brightest jewel, flatly denies, "None  of  the  bands  you  mentioned
influenced us in any way. We are walking the way we  chose  from  the
very beginning of our establishment, and it is true that in  Slovakia
there is no other band producing a similar style to that of ours."
     While  that  may  sound  presumptuous,  it's   undeniable   that
Depresy's virtuostic blend of highly melodic Gothenburg harmonies and
traditional death-stylings on _A Grand Magnificence_ [CoC #32], their
latest opus, appears unique among other bands from the  region,  like
Krabathor  and  Azathoth.  It's  also  disappointing  that,   despite
boasting  blazing  leads,  razor-sharp   hooks   and   irreproachable
tightness, the album  doesn't  seem  to  be  receiving  the  exposure
outside the  underground  it  deserves.  While  other  neo-Gothenburg
clones eclipse legends like Eucharist,  and  seasoned  vets  like  In
Flames are steadily declining into radio-heaven, Depresy's  boldness,
aggression and  pure  emotion  bring  to  mind  the  days  when  Dark
Tranquillity  still  had  the  raw  passion  and  feeling  of   truly
underground genius. The bonus MC tracks (which, incidentally, make up
most of the CD) hint at a much heavier, more aggressive past, though,
but at the slightest suggestion  of  Depresy  wimping  out  into  yet
another sweet, radio-friendly "Goth-metal" band the way  many  others
are, Roman stoutly retorts, "First, I don't think our  production  is
somehow soft. We are  children  of  darkness,  walking  the  infinite
kingdom of sadness where death gives  immortality.  That's  what  our
music is about. But there is something I agree with  you.  It's  true
that the Swedish scene finds expression not typical for  death  bands
from these regions, but it doesn't mean  that  they  are  bad.  There
cannot exist gentle and unexpressive metal, just because it's  metal,
and I think you shouldn't be forgetting other bands  besides  Swedish
ones. There is also Cryptopsy, Kataklysm, Pyrexia, Mortician,  Morbid
Angel, Deicide and so on."
     Despite the  remarkable  success  of  their  1996  cassette-only
release, _...And There Came the Tears With Christ_, selling well over
a  thousand  copies,  the  band  developed,  gaining  in  melody  and
maturity, even as their bassist left the band for good. But  why  the
progression from an  already  rewarding  formula?  "It  is  natural",
explains Roman patiently.  "The  more  interested  you  are  in  some
activity, the more experienced you become. All former skills help  us
to progress. After we realize we have  nothing  more  to  say,  we'll
quit. With the increasing number of years [playing], however, we  are
getting stronger and so that time is still far away."
     With the  reception  they  had  in  the  underground,  it  isn't
surprising to find the band still immensely proud of  their  previous
material. "There were a lot of people who were interested in  the  CD
version and when this  possibility  appeared,  we  agreed  with  it",
elaborates Roman on the reason for including the bonus MC  tracks  on
the otherwise too short  CD.  "It  is  definitely  the  best  way  of
presenting the material to people abroad as well, because there is  a
rising number of those who are not respecting bands that only present
on MC", he adds intently.
     My sentiments exactly. Many cassette-only bands,  regardless  of
quality, stay that way in the underground, because try as  we  might,
we just can't resist the look of a gleaming silver disc. Add to  that
the relatively isolated status of a scene like Slovakia's and it's  a
wonder how Depresy have managed to come so far since their  inception
in 1991.  "In  the  beginning,  we  did  not  think  about  asserting
[ourselves]. We got together mainly because of our need  for  musical
expression. We did everything for music. The fact that our  work  has
interested people is a secondary  product.  A  small  amount  of  our
releases spread over and people started to know the name Depresy.  We
know many bands have succeeded because they had good  promotion,  but
we never looked at promotion from that point  of  view  and  that  is
maybe why we don't feel any problems regarding asserting [ourselves].
We are a band that has its origin in underground music  and  in  this
style we will stay forever. I like the way things work in underground
music and I am happy with the pretty strong base we have  established
in our country."
     A large contributing factor to  their  reasonable  success  must
have been the numerous tours they've done so far. "We have been going
on tours since the start. We did  about  100  to  120  tours  in  our
countries so far. We haven't played a bad tour yet." At my suggestion
of playing  with  bigger  names  like  In  Flames  or  Sentenced  for
exposure, Roman retorts: "We don't plan any bigger tours in the  near
future, for it demands a lot of money and nowadays  people  are  lazy
anyway;  they'd  rather  stay  at  home  and  listen  to  their   CDs
comfortably. We never differentiated the importance  of  tours.  From
this point of view every tour is important to us and  we  don't  care
where we play and with whom we play. We always try to play our best."
     Readers interested in obtaining  all  51  minutes  of  _A  Grand
Magnificence_ on CD (it's highly recommended, by the way) can drop  a
line (and $1O) to: Shindy Productions,  Sadova  17,  679  04  Adamov,
Czech Republic.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                   _____  .__ ___.
                  /  _  \ |  |\_ |__  __ __  _____
                 /  /_\  \|  | | __ \|  |  \/     \
                /    |    \  |_| \_\ \  |  /  Y Y  \
                \____|__  /____/___  /____/|__|_|  /
                        \/         \/            \/
              _____                 .__
             /  _  \   _________.__.|  |  __ __  _____
            /  /_\  \ /  ___<   |  ||  | |  |  \/     \
           /    |    \\___ \ \___  ||  |_|  |  /  Y Y  \
           \____|__  /____  >/ ____||____/____/|__|_|  /
                   \/     \/ \/                      \/

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!


Anorexia Nervosa - _Sodomizing the Archedangel_
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)  (Osmose, September 1999)

Quite a change in direction for a band that  used  to  combine  death
metal, industrial and dark ambient elements. This MCD,  follow-up  to
_Exile_ [CoC #26], consists of keyboard-based symphonic  black  metal
that tends to remind me somewhat of Hecate Enthroned; and  regardless
of whether Anorexia Nervosa are jumping on a bandwagon or  not,  they
are quite good at  this  style  (better  than  most  of  what  Hecate
Enthroned have done). They were able to add their own unique touch to
the music, giving it a sharp and bombastic sound and keeping it  very
dynamic and  effective.  I  have  no  idea  whether  this  MCD  is  a
reasonably accurate indication of what Anorexia Nervosa will be doing
in the near future, since  they  have  already  proven  to  be  quite
unpredictable, but _Sodomizing the Archedangel_  regardlessly  stands
as an interesting  collection  of  material  which,  despite  certain
similarities to very well-known bands, contains enough good  elements
of its own to avoid becoming a more or less irrelevant  release  like
it could otherwise have been.


Autumn Tears - _Absolution_  (Dark Symphonies, July 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)

_Absolution_ is, on one hand, a product from talented  musicians  who
have already proved their qualities with the first two  Autumn  Tears
full-length releases [CoC #23 and #37]. On the other  hand,  however,
it's very short (just over 12 minutes) and perhaps there isn't enough
material here  to  fully  justify  the  release.  Having  said  that,
_Absolution_ does feature one of Autumn Tears'  finest  moments:  the
first minute or so of "The Never", which is a new track featuring the
excellent new lead vocalist, Jennifer  LeeAnna.  "The  Absolution  of
What Once Was", originally recorded for a compilation,  is  a  normal
Autumn Tears song, as is, for the most part, "The  Never",  which  is
the highlight of the MCD. There is, however, one new element in  both
"The Never" and the MCD's other track, "The Dance": some  percussion.
Though I don't find the relatively small percussion section  of  "The
Never" an actual improvement, it doesn't ruin the  song,  either.  On
"The Dance", however, the whole style is quite different -- the track
is described as "an experiment" by the  band  --  and  percussion  is
present during most of the song, which only retains some of the basic
characteristics of Autumn  Tears'  previous  material.  An  enjoyable
song, though excessively chorus-based and certainly not the direction
I hope Autumn Tears will follow in the  future.  "The  Absolution  of
What Once Was" and especially "The Dance"  --  both  more  the  usual
Autumn Tears style -- are quite good and may justify the purchase for
followers of the "Love Poems For Dying Children" series, even  though
this MCD doesn't seem to be directly related to the series. It  does,
however, judging mainly by some of  "The  Never",  promise  a  highly
interesting third chapter for the series.

Contact: mailto:darksympho@aol.com
         http://www.borg.com/~lordxul/tears.htm


Behemoth - _Satanica_  (Avantgarde, August 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

Few, very few opening tracks have ever managed to blow me  away  like
"Decade  of  Oepion"  did.  Would  all  the  album   have   been   as
devastatingly excellent and it would have  definitely  received  full
marks from me. However, the previous sentence should not be  seen  as
indication that _Satanica_ contains one superb track  and  then  just
some more or less average material;  in  fact,  the  following  seven
tracks are all very  impressive  as  well  and  there  is  plenty  of
material on _Satanica_ well worth a 10 out of  10,  even  though  the
amazing power of "Decade of Oepion" is the definite highlight of  the
album. _Satanica_ is a hugely intense and powerful album  throughout,
thanks to a superb rhythmic backbone,  devastating  guitar  work  and
tremendous  vocals,  all  this  delivered  through  equally  talented
production. For some reason, I had never really noticed  this  Polish
band before, but the nearly 25 minute long live CD  that  comes  with
the limited edition version of _Satanica_ for a  slight  increase  in
price got me in touch with some of their more than likely  impressive
back catalogue. The live CD features decent  sound  and  a  competent
performance from the band. Though as far as I know Behemoth have been
known to this date as a black metal band, _Satanica_ has a  venomous,
sharp and brutal sound that contains plenty of high-speed death metal
elements which the band really takes to  very  unusual  heights.  And
since Behemoth are from Poland, there's one more thing  that  may  be
relevant for this  review:  I  found  _Satanica_  quite  superior  to
anything I've heard from Vader so far.


Beyond Dawn - _Electric Sulking Machine_  (Peaceville, August 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (5 out of 10)

Though Beyond Dawn have released some more  material  since  then,  I
hadn't heard anything from them since their 1995 release _Pity Love_,
an album which contained some material  I  found  quite  interesting,
mainly  for  its  atmosphere.  Sometimes  during  _Electric   Sulking
Machine_, in tracks such as "Violence Heals" and "On the  Subject  of
Turning Insane", I can still find some of  that  atmosphere  which  I
liked in _Pity Love_, and I can still  enjoy  what  Beyond  Dawn  are
doing these days in this Peaceville debut of theirs. However,  though
sometimes capable of creating a  relatively  sombre  and  melancholic
atmosphere like  they  did  before  (which  is  occasionally  vaguely
similar to what In the Woods... have done with some of their _Strange
in Stereo_), Beyond Dawn are also capable  of  excessively  repeating
themselves and of  inserting  too  much  material  which  is  neither
musically  remarkable  nor  suitable  to  what  the   overall   album
atmosphere could have been --  this  concerns  the  happy-ish  beats,
sounds or choruses of "Addictions Are Private", "Fairly  Liquid"  and
"Aage", for example. Overall, an album with some good moments  but  a
major lack of consistency and direction,  which  Beyond  Dawn  really
need to find one of these days if they are ever to be remembered  for
more than some interesting passages.


Centinex - _Bloodhunt_  (Repulse Records, May 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (4 out of 10)

Centinex have certainly been prolific over the last two  years,  this
being their third release since _Reflections_ [CoC #26] saw the light
of day in the Spring  of  1997.  Unfortunately,  Centinex  have  done
exceptionally little in  terms  of  improving  their  songwriting  or
adapting their style since last year's _Reborn Through  Flames_  [CoC
#35]. _Bloodhunt_ is  unfortunately  just  what  I  expected  out  of
Centinex: more of the same. _Bloodhunt_ is  better  value  for  money
because it is a six track EP instead of a  seven  track  (with  cover
deducted) album. It is also more succinctly written on the whole  and
thus possibly more listenable. However, Centinex are doing  the  same
thing as on _Reflections_ and _Reborn Through  Flames_  (again,  with
the  help  of  a  well-programmed,  but  ultimately  crippling,  drum
machine) and seem to have jumped on the "war  metal"  band  wagon  to
drum up support, since the cover of this EP features tanks, but  none
of the songs seem to fixate on the subject of war. The reason I  have
reduced Centinex to a four this time is firstly because the band  are
really pushing it with how much they are  repeating  themselves,  and
secondly because I recently checked out their  _Malleus  Malificarum_
CD from 1995, and it's better than any of their last three  releases,
so I now know that the band have potential they are not living up to.


codeseven - _Division of Labor_  (TMC, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

It's hard  to  pinpoint  just  where  on  the  new  codeseven  record
_Division of Labor_ the band makes a definite statement within  their
music. For the most part, the  new  record  is  a  solid  showing  of
potent, aggressively fuelled  numbers  that  lash  out  with  intense
clubbings of dexterity and uncertainty. There is a lot going  on  and
to actively try and sort through the selection of  numbers  is  quite
hard. With a solid set of musicians  crafting  their  sound  and  two
singers belting out raging lyrics, it's quite impressive to note that
codeseven bring a sound to their music (as they did with their  debut
_A Sense of Coalition_) that few bands can do in this genre and  that
is most definitely a compliment. The winning points  most  definitely
on the new disc are numbers like "How Many Miles to Babylon", "Steady
State" and "Leaches of Karma".


Control Denied - _The Fragile Art of Existence_
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)  (Nuclear Blast / PHD, 1999)

I know there is a high contingency of metal critics out there who are
not at all impressed with Chuck Schuldiner's new band Control Denied.
Well,  I  am.  For  years  Schuldiner  has  fronted  Death,  a  truly
inspirational and highly influential band for death metal music,  but
it's been very noted that in the past few years he has somehow  grown
tired of what he has done  with  Death.  For  years  word  spread  of
Control Denied, a new, much more technical project he was working on.
It was something new and fresh, far from what he had ever  done  with
Death. Finally the band is seeing the light of day in  a  time  where
Schuldiner needs all the  good  news  he  can  get,  having  recently
(within the last few  days  of  finishing  up  Control  Denied)  been
diagnosed with a brain stem tumour. The music of Control Denied is  a
skilful and technical set of material, superbly played  and  wilfully
guided by the hearty vocals of singer Tim Arymer. Whether Death  fans
may or may not be into what they hear here, Schuldiner's guitar style
is all over the place, helping shape solid guitar passages that bring
out emotional sides to many of the tracks here. With a  very  classic
heavy metal style running throughout the  music  of  Control  Denied,
Schuldiner and co. play their hearts out here and the end  result  is
nothing more than magical.  With  a  few  misguided  moments  on  the
record, it just goes to show that much like life (as  Schuldiner  has
recently discovered), it's not always a smooth  ride  to  your  final
destination. If Death has actually been put to rest by Schuldiner, so
that Control Denied becomes a full-time gig, then Schuldiner may have
some hard work ahead of him to move past  the  stunning  grouping  of
accomplishments he did with Death. In due time we shall see how  this
all pans out.


Deathwitch - _Monumental Mutilations_  (Necropolis, July 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (3 out of 10)

The description, in one review I read, of Deathwitch's music as being
"shitty Brazilian death metal" certainly seems apt when attempting to
describe _Monumental Mutilations_. It also provides some  explanation
as to the material presented here is both raw and  simplistic.  If  I
look at _MM_ from the perspective that it is trying to  recreate  the
"shitty" feel of _Morbid Visions_-era Sepultura, it doesn't  surprise
me that  creativity  or  variation  aren't  on  Deathwitch's  agenda.
However, that the aim of this was not ambitious does not  excuse  its
mediocrity. The material here is structurally simplistic, repetitive,
tedious and unoriginal, and though the Andy LaRocque production gives
the guitars a somewhat fierce roar and the drums a decent  bite,  the
style in which this potential beast conducts  itself  results  in  it
being  a  rather  tedious  and  tiresome  creature  to   witness   in
performance. Further, _MM_ is not really great value for money, being
more of a thirty-six minute compilation than  an  album.  Songs  left
over from the sessions of their  last  album  (1998's  _The  Ultimate
Death_) along with two covers (of  Bathory  and  Sepultura)  and  two
re-recordings accompany the four original songs.  When  you  add  the
excessively uninspired lyrical  content  ("Possessed  by  fire  /  My
morbid desire / The flames reaching higher / I'm lost  in  fire"  are
the opening proclamations of the "interestingly" titled "Fire  Fuck")
you're left with virtually nothing to encourage you to pick  up  this
release.


Demoniac - _The Fire and the Wind_  (Osmose, May 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8.5 out of 10)

This is my first real taste of Demoniac. I saw them perform  live  in
London nearly two years ago, and they sucked [CoC #28]. Thus,  though
I heard a number of tracks on samplers, I didn't check out their last
record, _Stormblade_ [CoC #23]. Not that it would  have  helped  much
for serious comparison in  this  case,  since  Demoniac  have  almost
entirely changed their line-up  and  have  totally  re-thought  their
sound. Where previously the band  retro-thrashed  their  way  through
rather uninspiring cracks at black/thrash metal, they have now forged
a way with very few to keep them company  by  opting  to  play  speed
metal with some thrashing involved, and about six tonnes  of  melodic
riffs, fills, and insanely lengthy solos. What is  weirder  than  the
transition is that somehow it works. Even the fact that Lindsay still
expresses himself vocally in  all  his  hoarse  black  metal  anguish
succeeds in elevating  rather  than  reducing  the  record's  overall
quality.  The  blazing  solos   come   thick   and   fast   and   the
muscular-though-simple drum backing gives guitar widdling Sam all the
space he needs to weave his indulgent  magic.  The  chorus  and  lead
melodies will be stuck in your head for weeks on end and Lindsay will
even have you tuning in to his intense delivery as a way to play  the
two opposing considerations of heaviness and melody off against  each
other. Unfortunately, however, Demoniac have a rather rash  sense  of
humour and rather low-brow view of people's feelings, a quality which
has got them into trouble with people via the lyrics of certain songs
on _The Fire and the Wind_.  The  particular  culprit  is  "Myths  of
Metal", which originally laid claim to the  moniker  "Hitler  Metal".
The chorus of this song ends in  the  words  "...Hitler  metal,  zeig
heil!" Though this is sure to be mistaken by countless people in  the
future as a truly racist proclamation, close to the issue as  we  are
at present, we can find an explanation. Demoniac have stated that the
reason they chose the song title was because the music  in  the  song
sounded like old German speed thrash. Thus, the lines in  the  chorus
translate to "German metal, hail!". It requires  idiocy  to  be  that
unthinking, but considering the alcohol quantities  Demoniac  consume
and the laid back syndrome of pure enjoyment which _The Fire and  the
Wind_ represents,  I  think  it  is  possible  not  only  to  forgive
Demoniac, but also to lie back and enjoy _The Fire and the  Wind_  in
all its undiluted metal glory.


Dillinger Escape Plan - _Calculating Infinity_  (Relapse, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (9.5 out of 10)

Few bands out there have ever really blown  me  away  on  record  and
live: Dillinger Escape Plan is one of the  few.  Hell,  ask  any  CoC
member who has seen them live. They slay all. Like  a  knife-wielding
mugger in an alleyway, pummelling you black 'n' blue till  you  cough
up your money, DEP never let you go till the satisfaction of  knowing
you'll be scarred for life is running through their brains. Heartless
and showing no remorse, the band's  latest  full-length  _Calculating
Infinity_ (a follow-up to _Under the Running Board_) is a  detonating
time bomb of hardcore/noisecore/metal numbers ready to  go  off.  Run
for cover, 'cause with these guys on the loose there  is  no  telling
when you'll get your beating. Brutally powerful,  this  comes  HIGHLY
recommended. This is an experience.


Dog Fashion Disco - _The Embryo's in Bloom_
by: Adrian Bromley  (7.5 out of 10)  (Outer Loop Records, 1999)

Strange band name. Strange album title as well. And  the  music?  You
guessed it... strange. With some of the most bizarre song ideas since
the early days of Strapping  Young  Lad,  DFD  is  a  unique  set  of
individuals setting out to make not only heavy music, but music  with
enough diversity to not allow a genre  tag  to  be  placed  upon  it.
Bingo! They succeeded. The closest band I can pinpoint them as  being
similar to is the ultra heavy 'n' cool outfit System of  a  Down,  as
well as maybe a touch of Faith No More. Will the hard  rock  /  metal
world be open to the music of DFD? Probably not. I mean, can you  see
denim 'n' leather metal heads welcoming the baggy shorts and Hawaiian
shirt wearing freak into their fold? I don't think so -- but anything
can happen. Best of luck to DFD, 'cause they seem to have a blast  at
what they do and they sure let me onto  some  weird  musical  numbers
such as "Leper Friend", "Toothless Dream"  and  "Pervert".  Who  said
heavy music couldn't be weird?


Doxomedon - _Evanesce_  (Dark Artz, 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)

This Singaporean band certainly looks ready to impress  if  they  can
release a full-length album that shows enough progression  from  this
MCD. _Evanesce_ is  a  well-produced  MCD  which,  although  only  16
minutes long, already makes it clear that Doxomedon  have  plenty  of
potential and enough present ability to put together  consistent  and
interesting material. Their style has  elements  of  both  death  and
mostly mid-paced black metal without  sounding  remarkably  like  any
particular band and the songs are dynamic enough  to  avoid  becoming
repetitive, which is something not every young band  achieves.  There
is still room for improvement, of course, but the  band  can  already
get some very interesting sequences together and I shall certainly be
looking forward to hearing a full-length sequel from Doxomedon.

Contact: Azli, Apt Blk 130, Pasir Ris,
         Street 11 #01-291, Singapore 510130
         mailto:doxomedon@operamail.com
         http://www.bigfoot.com/~doxomedon
         Dark Artz, Blk 95, #10-521, Aljunied Crescent,
         Singapore 380095


Drakkar - _Quest For Glory_  (Dragonheart, 1999)
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)

It's always pitiful to see  a  highly  talented  group  of  musicians
failing to overcome an obstacle which greatly mars their  creativity;
similarly, it's sad to  observe  this  excellent  Italian  four-piece
joining the multitude of new, vocally sub-standard power metal bands.
Good throats aren't exactly disposable  assets  anyway;  I  can  name
offhand musically stellar combos: Heimdall,  Gorgon,  Days  of  Yore,
etc., all of which have failed to find a singer of similar standards.
As with most other developing  Italian  power/prog  bands,  Drakkar's
music  is  virtually  a  collage  of   their   more   firmly   rooted
predecessors' work; more than a hint of Running Wild comes into  play
alongside the ubiquitous metal  crunchiness  and  suspiciously  Blind
Guardian-esque group choruses. While little on the  album  may  sound
even vaguely original, the group's impeccable ear  for  pure,  honest
heavy metal pays ample dividends; "Wings of Fire" almost  rivals  the
finest power-ballads, and few, if any,  complaints  could  be  fairly
made on the remaining songwriting. Still, the incurably  anal  vocals
never rise above being  barely  tolerable,  and  if  there  isn't  an
improvement on future releases, this otherwise  brilliantly  talented
quartet will never attain the elevated status they deserve. Lovers of
traditional metal and epic Manowar cliches ("blood was spilled,  many
were  killed")  shouldn't  pass  up  an  opportunity  to  lay   their
sword-arms on one of the better releases in the genre this season.


Ember - _Chapter III: Concession (& Anthology)_
by: Paul Schwarz  (8.5 out of 10)  (Shadow Play, July 1999)

Well, Ember have changed, that is  for  sure.  Their  cover  art  and
personal appearances (as many of us CoCers witnessed at the Milwaukee
Metalfest) have all changed quite  considerably,  and  their  musical
approach has followed suit, as this EP shows. _Concession_'s  opening
song,  "A  Grave  Misinterpretation  of  Life",  kicks  off  with   a
pummelling double bass run which is then  accompanied  by  vitriolic,
thrashy riffing with a distinctly hardcore punk delivery. Any of  you
who know Ember's previous demo outputs (all of which are included  on
this MCD) will probably be scratching your head  by  this  point  and
wondering whether you're reading about the same band  who  made  _The
Gate_ and _Within the Realm of the Snowqueen_. Well, you are, so read
on.  Ember  have  essentially  abandoned  the   mid-paced,   build-up
atmospherics of _The Gate_ and have instead chosen to  embrace  black
metal's thrash roots in Destruction and Celtic  Frost  more  closely,
adding a big dose of Slayer and  a  considerable  dose  of  the  punk
attack The Misfits and their contemporaries specialised in  for  good
measure. One thing Ember have cleverly  retained  and  combined  into
their drastically sped up new approach is their use of black  metal's
repetitive, slowly changing melodic guitar passages, which the  likes
of Immortal and Emperor helped pioneer the  use  of,  and  thus  keep
their credibility and dark feeling, avoiding becoming an entity which
merely deals out aggression. With Jeff Islinger's help, the band have
capped things off with a great production. The verdict: Ember's third
chapter, and first step into the world of CD recordings,  has  pretty
resounding success.

Contact: PO Box 2177, Darien, IL 60561, USA (send stamp/IRC)
         mailto:ember@heavymetal.com
         mailto:emberr@gateway.net
         http://www.impaled.net/ember


Fallen Empire - _Shadows_  (Fallen Empire / Dark Embrace, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

Few bands out there nowadays are sure to hit a  solid  stride  within
their music with ease. It takes time for a band to gel into a certain
mould or style, something that gets enhanced as the experience  seeps
into their craft. Fallen Empire is a true, sturdy example of that.  A
good band from all corners, it's just  the  band  really  lacks  fire
where it's needed most. With a certainly good black/speed/atmospheric
sound coating the six songs found on this release, I  found  some  of
the material lacking some substance, something to push them into  the
spotlight rather than sounding derivative like many bands coming into
the scene. I like their gritty, banshee-like vocals a  lot  and  feel
that with enough hard work, and maybe a bit more money to invest into
production, the darkened ways of Fallen Empire will no doubt send out
a fierce wail of metal into our paths. As for now,  take  it  with  a
cautious listen, as they do have certain good ideas  inserted  within
what they do.

Contact: B.J. Cook, P.O. Box 409, Ward, AR 72176-0409, USA
         http://www.fallenempire.com


Feast Eternal - _Prisons of Flesh_  (<Independent>, 1999)
by: Alex Cantwell  (8 out of 10)

This band is definitely not for the elitist, art/prog  metal  people,
and although I too embrace the flood of creative and different  metal
that the scene is currently experiencing, sometimes I just need  some
full-on death metal and Michigan's Feast Eternal have totally  kicked
my rump with their debut CD. Most assuredly, _Prisons of Flesh_  will
fit right in with one's  Bolt  Thrower  collection,  and  is  a  huge
progression from their lacklustre demo of several years  back.  Feast
Eternal use the simple formula  of  downtuned,  chugging  riffs,  low
register growling and double bass to get their point across, and they
use it to their advantage because they do it so well.  A  blast  beat
surfaces in "Of Service and Suffering" a few times and sounds  killer
with the tremolo guitar picking, setting this  song  apart  from  the
others, which move along at a steady pace for the most part. They are
also not afraid to pick  through  real  chords,  instead  of  relying
solely on power chord riffage, but that same intense  riffing  almost
ruptured my bowels several times  while  listening.  An  added  note:
these three guys look like they have  been  through  the  line  at  a
"feast eternal"; not to rip on the lads, though,  because  who  would
want to see some 90 pound mamby pambies playing crushing death  metal
in a band called Feast Eternal?

Contact: Feast Eternal, P.O. Box 88, Grawn, Michigan, 49637, USA


Gardenian - _Soulburner_  (Nuclear Blast, 1999)
by: Matthias Noll  (9 out of 10)

You think you already had a sufficient share of great  melodic  death
metal with In Flames' _Colony_ and Arch  Enemy's  _Burning  Bridges_?
Wrong! Out of nowhere (not really, but I've never heard or even  seen
their debut album) comes Gardenian with the  excellent  _Soulburner_.
The surprising thing with this record is  the  range  of  styles  and
elements Gardenian have incorporated into  their  music  while  still
remaining focused and consistent -- from faster death metal tracks in
the _Death Metal_-era Dismember vein, to In Flames  style  mid  tempo
crunchers with bits of melodic female vocals, to the incorporation of
a classic heavy metal voice. The latter vocals are provided  by  Eric
Hawk, singer of the long disbanded Swedish power  metal  group  Artch
(if you're into power metal, check out their record  _Another  Return
to Church Hill_), whose vocal range and phrasing is similar to  Bruce
Dickinson's. While one track is completely sung by Hawk, death  metal
grunts dominate this record and the other styles are mostly used  for
the  choruses.  Admittedly,  neither  clean  nor  female  vocals   in
combination with death metal grunts are revolutionary  and  countless
other bands have  used  these  elements  with  varying  success,  but
Gardenian manage to take the bits and pieces and combine them  beyond
the  point  of  simply  offering  more  variety,  thanks   to   their
songwriting skills and their ability to write catchy material.  Death
metal purists might shy away from the word "catchy"  like  the  devil
from the holy cross (attention, Marduk and Deicide  fans:  of  course
I'm aware that the devil can simply pulverize all christian symbols),
but don't get me wrong: I'm talking about  songs  in  the  league  of
Paradise Lost's "As I Die", not Britney Spears  material.  The  final
strong point of _Soulburner_ is the phenomenal production done by  In
Flames  producer  Fredrik  Nordstrom,  who  managed  to  combine  the
professionalism of his work on _Colony_  with  a  rawer  and  heavier
guitar sound. In summary: this record does not innovate the genre but
offers a surprisingly big chunk of great, heavy music.


Hate Eternal - _Conquering the Throne_
by: Paul Schwarz  (8.5 out of 10)  (Wicked World, September 1999)

I figure any self-respecting  death  metaller,  with  ears,  must  be
between  mildly  upset  and  utterly  devastated  at  the  fact  that
Suffocation have passed away and seem unlikely to return; I certainly
know it is a sore point among many of us CoCers. With this  in  mind,
Hate Eternal, on paper  certainly,  looks  like  an  answer  to  your
prayers  of  sorts,  for  near  the  core  of  this  project  is  old
Suffocation guitarist Doug  Cerrito.  Here,  he  has  joined  another
familiar face, Morbid Angel live  guitarist,  and  a  member  of  the
crushing Ripping Corpse back in the day, Eric Rutan. Add the  talents
of Jared Anderson and Tim Yeung on bass and  drums  respectively  and
you complete a fearsome package. _Conquering the Throne_ is the first
full-length offering this motley crew have produced, and the  overall
verdict is definitely positive. There are  strong  echoes  throughout
the record of both Morbid Angel and Suffocation,  with  the  complex,
spiralling  style  of  the  first  combining  with  the  to-the-point
brutality of the second and creating a straightforward though  lively
blend of the two, but Hate Eternal is  not  merely  a  blend  of  the
members' other musical engagements, previous or otherwise.  When  the
boys get the right mix of crushing brutality, a variety of riffs, and
some spirited solos, we get tracks of the likes of "Dogma  Condemned"
and "Spiritual Holocaust", which are among some  of  the  best  death
metal songs you'll hear this year.  Unfortunately,  a  few  too  many
tracks   here   get   a   little   mired   in   their   death   metal
straightforwardness and there are thus patches of the album which are
a little unengaging. Overall, a worthy purchase if your  tastes  seem
to run with the style, but not a release  which  breaks  through  all
boundaries of individual taste. If you like death metal, this is sure
to put a smile on your face; how big that smile is and  how  long  it
stays there depends on your personal preference.


Iced Earth - _Alive in Athens_  (Century Media / St. Clair, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

This is too cool. With the actual domestic release of this Iced Earth
live release being two CDs worth of live material, I was  blown  away
by what you got, but what  got  me  really  going  was  the  European
import, which was three CDs (!!!) of live material. Wow! So even with
a copy of the new double-disc sent to me, I still opted  to  buy  the
three-CD  release.  Good  call,  I  might  say.  With   the   initial
double-disc being a solid sounding array of Iced Earth material  both
past and present, it's the added bonus of the heavier  tunes  on  the
third disc (i.e., "Disciples of the Lie", "Violate") that make this a
hearty  investment.  With  a  grandiose   production   and   abundant
ultra-tight musicianship (something guitarist/mastermind Jon Schaffer
points out was always the key to this release), Iced  Earth  rock  as
hard as anyone could have over  the  two  nights  this  material  was
recorded in Athens, Greece. Fans of the band and even  fans  of  live
material will be thoroughly impressed by the way Iced Earth weaves an
energetic live show and passion into one blinding fury.  This  is  so
good, you actually feel as if you are there. Iced Earth  have  had  a
pretty good track record over the past few years and this big release
is testimony of that. Hail Iced Earth!


Impiety - _Skullfucking Armageddon_  (Dies Irae, 1999)
by: Alvin Wee  (9 out of 10)

The Singaporean scene has been growing exponentially, and Impiety may
have been a bastion of the scene since their inception  in  the  late
'80s, but nothing prepared me for the sheer power of this second full
length  of  theirs.  Judging  from   their   past   catalogue,   it's
unsurprising that _SA_ harks back to the days of Sodom and Sarcofago,
their present incarnation far exceeding  their  previous  efforts  in
ferocity and tightness.  Transcending  most  of  their  countrymates,
Impiety more than  adequately  display  their  years  of  experience;
dropping much of the moderate death metal influence  on  their  early
works, they unleash a scorching torrent  of  old-school  black  metal
speed and bone-crunching thrash riffs. As tracks like "Ironflames  of
Hate" amply demonstrate, Impiety show no lack of talent for combining
pure aggression with aptly blazing solos;  the  blistering  leads  on
this killer record must rank among the best I've heard in the  genre.
Lyrically, the band  has  traditionally  been  the  butt  of  many  a
reviewer's joke, and this album is no different. While  not  offering
much in the department of originality, Impiety's  flowing  stream  of
fury more than makes up for their shortcomings, and like retro-greats
Aura Noir, they manage to get away  with  not-too-blatant  plagiarism
without sounding like Bewitched. "Torment in Fire" is undoubtedly the
winning track, with the headbang-inducing "Ironflames of Hate" coming
a close second. If _Black Thrash Attack_ is a modern classic for you,
then _SA_ will definitely hold its ground in your collection.

Contact: Dies Irae, PO Box 337, Yishun Central, S(917612), Singapore
         mailto:dayofwrath@mailcity.com


In Extremo - _Weckt Die Toten_  (Metal Blade, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (0 out of 10)

Let me get this straight. <shaking head> These  guys  are  minstrels,
vagabonds and outlaws interpreting  old  minstrel  tunes,  some  1000
years old. <shaking head again> What the fuck? What are these  German
metalheads trying to be? Is this show and tell?  Possibly  a  theatre
workshop production in its working stages? Who  knows?  Stand  clear,
metal heads, as there is nothing metal or "extreme" about what  these
drunken imbeciles do -- they just make  bad,  annoying  music.  Cover
your ears and save your sanity. Pure crap.


Jane Doe - _Scars_  (<Independent>, 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (5 out of 10)

The start of opener "Unbroken" sounded interesting and made me expect
something different from what _Scars_ turned out to be  --  soon  the
excessively clear Sepultura influences and vocal Korn-isms started to
appear. Despite being an independent release, this nearly  17  minute
long MCD is competently produced and the band  certainly  shows  very
reasonable skill and potential throughout its duration. In fact,  for
its musical qualities only, I could have given _Scars_ one more mark,
but the influences I mentioned above are just too  blatantly  exposed
throughout most of the music. The fact that a band's  influences  are
somewhat visible isn't necessarily terrible, but I feel there has  to
be more creativity and a stronger personal touch from Jane Doe in the
future. That way, the potential that they do show on _Scars_ may well
evolve into something more interesting.

Contact: Jane Doe, Ohrapolku 6, 14200 Turenki, Finland
         mailto:janedoe_69@hotmail.com
         http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/cabaret/7382


Kaos Rain - _Killogram_  (<Independent>, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

I was  pleasantly  surprised  and  intrigued  by  the  work  of  this
relatively unknown solo act (Joseph Lucifer) called Kaos  Rain.  From
the opening number of "The Sickness Unto Death", I knew I was in  for
an uneasy ride of crafty music that meshed together death metal  with
electronics.  Not  in  the  vein  of  Fear  Factory,  but  much  more
explorative as what Godflesh or, to  a  certain  degree,  Skrew  have
tampered with. Even with a somewhat  simplistic  take  on  things  at
times, Kaos Rain still manages to keep the listener interested in  to
the direction each song travels. With enough  ingenuity  and  bizarre
ideas rumbling within this project, there is  no  telling  just  what
Kaos Rain will conjure up next time out. And that's the fun of it  --
not knowing. Interesting release for sure.

Contact: mailto:kaosrain@hotmail.com


Lacrimas Profundere - _Memorandum_  (Napalm Records, September 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

As Autumn arrives and  rain  starts  to  pour  from  the  grey  skies
outside, Lacrimas Profundere have released the right  album  for  the
season, both for those who are struck by melancholy at the coming  of
Autumn and those who feel Autumn inside all year  long.  _Memorandum_
was easily one of the best surprises I have had in a long time as far
as the fulfilling of musical potential goes. _La Naissance d'un Reve_
was  one  of  those  albums  that  have  several  really  interesting
passages, but overall the band was still too inexperienced to make  a
consistently  good  album.  _Memorandum_  turns  out  to   have   the
consistency that _La Naissance d'un Reve_ lacked, while retaining and
improving all the qualities of its  predecessor.  This  is  something
that could be described as lovelorn doom. Both clean  and  death  vox
are very well used, as are  some  female  vocals,  acoustic  guitars,
violin, harp(!) and, of course, keyboard  --  all  this  while  still
being very clearly metal-based. Anathema's  masterpiece  _The  Silent
Enigma_ occasionally comes to mind, as well as Sculpture's MCD  _Like
a Dead Flower_ [CoC #30], both essentially because of the guitar work
and emotion, and _Memorandum_ manages to get very unusually close  to
the best. Beautiful, highly emotional, very well crafted;  definitely
one of the very best doom releases of 1999.

Contact: Oliver Schmid, Rosenstrasse 23, D-83329,
         Waging am See, Germany
         mailto:lacrimas.profundere@t-online.de
         http://home.t-online.de/home/lacrimas.profundere


Melissa - _In Peace...?_  (Matek Records, 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (5 out of 10)

Before writing this review, I visited Melissa's homepage, where  they
are described as  a  "Russian  doom/death/heavy  metal  band".  After
listening to _In  Peace...?_,  however,  I  am  left  wondering  what
motivated such a description. They may be Russian,  but  there's  not
much doom besides a My Dying Bride longsleeve  on  one  of  the  band
members, not much death besides the usually semi-growled  vocals  and
not that much traditional heavy metal, either.  This  isn't  an  easy
album to describe, though. All the  band  members  show  considerable
skill throughout the album, except for the generally rather  mediocre
vocals,  and  display  a  wide  array  of  progressive   and   mostly
non-metallic influences. At their best, during tracks like  "Innocent
Peace" and especially "Doncha Feel the Sky?", the  consistently  good
playing is joined by a sense of musical direction that does make some
very enjoyable material, but the rest  of  the  album  has  a  strong
tendency to lack the second half of  that  combination.  Besides  the
rather pathetic "Pizza Song" (during which Melissa get quite close to
being the complete opposite of a doom/death band like their  homepage
described them) and the commercial-ish "Down and Fall", the  rest  of
the album is equally well played and produced but generally not  very
remarkable. Melissa have enough skill, but their music still needs to
become a lot more interesting.

Contact: http://listen.to/melissa


Miscreation - _Miscreation_  (<Independent>, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (5 out of 10)

With enough gritty guitar riffs and tuned down vocals to satisfy  any
death metal fan's fancy,  Aussie  outfit  Miscreation  spew  venomous
concoctions of violence and anger to the masses.  Too  bad  it's  all
sounding way too similar to these ears. Think Cannibal Corpse  meshed
with Malevolent Creation  and  you've  got  a  solid  take  on  where
Miscreation is guiding their music and sound. While  the  four  songs
here do pack a wallop, it's a shame that the intensity put into their
aggressive sound couldn't have been spread around to  find  some  new
ways of playing death metal. It's adequate, but  nothing  a  die-hard
fan of the genre would search out and buy with  all  the  other  good
treats out there.

Contact: Miscreation, c/o Scab 63 Production, P.O. Box 830,
         St. Marys 1790 NSW, Australia
         mailto:odo@mpx.com.au


Mortification - _Hammer of God_  (Metal Blade, August 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (2 out of 10)

I'm sure there are people who will say that my marks  and  judgements
on records such as this one and Narnia's _Long Live  the  King_  [CoC
#39] are based not on my honest musical judgements of  what  I  hear,
but on my personal opinions about their religious stance -- which, in
both the cases in point, is Christian. I have wondered myself whether
this might be the case. I have come to the conclusion that it is not.
It's a strange thing, but as far as I have heard, the Devil does,  in
the great majority of cases, have the best tunes. I am  not  implying
by  this  that  my  favourite   bands   correlate   with   the   most
anti-Christian or Satanic bands in my collection, or  that  there  is
any shortage of music that I love which has no  Satanic  or  directly
anti-Christian agenda. What I am indicating,  however,  is  that  the
vast majority of  the  music  I  enjoy  does  not  lyrically  support
Christianity  specifically  or  religious  belief  in  general  (yes,
Satanism is religious belief, but not much of the music  I  enjoy  is
religiously Satanic) and is, more often than not,  music  which  many
Christians, especially those belonging to groups similar to the PMRC,
would have objection to on some level. Immolation, Autopsy,  Kreator,
Manowar, even Black Sabbath are not bands whose shirts you could walk
into  a  church  wearing,  and  not  draw  some,  at  least   slight,
disapproval from most people. Coming back to the point  of  reviewing
this record, Mortification seem to have  two  main  fall-downs  which
make enjoying the  albums  of  theirs  I  have  heard  an  impossible
undertaking. The first and less important of these is  their  lyrics,
which are rather dumbly written, comparing in writing quality to  the
childish, proclamatory bluntness of early Possessed or Slayer  lyrics
(though Mortification's advanced years and obviously  serious  agenda
means that this makes them look  unintelligent,  rather  than  simply
young and thoughtless) and, as we covered earlier,  voice  sentiments
which I do not agree with, thus attempting to back up  a  system  and
even history which I have a number of serious issues with. The second
and very central fall-down of Mortification  is,  quite  simply,  the
quality of  the  music  they  create.  _Hammer  of  God_  churns  out
countless -- no, scratch that -- very few boring riffs  over  its  50
odd minute duration, but this is  because  the  song  structures  are
tediously and gratuitously repetitive,  not  because  there  are  any
seriously good riffs in residence. The  vocal  performance  of  Steve
Rowe is similarly unspectacular and lacks both character  and  punch.
The rhythm section which implants itself behind this pitiful  musical
tapestry  is  similarly  repetitive,  boring  and   uninventive.   In
summation, Mortification are a bit Sinister (definitely capitalised),
certainly seem to have found Benediction, and are ultimately  nothing
more than a weak, behind the times death metal band, running  out  of
ideas faster than many frustrated teenagers lose their faith in God.


Necrodeath - _Into the Macabre_  (Scarlet, 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (6 out of 10)

The retro-thrash that Necrodeath play throughout _Into  the  Macabre_
may sound rather dated, but they certainly can play it well enough to
keep things enjoyable. On one hand,  decent  production  and  playing
skills together with reasonable songwriting and consistency;  on  the
other hand, the feeling that you could pick up one  of  many  classic
thrash albums and find that time hasn't brought any new  elements  to
what Necrodeath do. Listenable? Sure, displaying enough skill to make
a solid thrash album, but unable to add anything new to  the  mix  --
one would think that all these years since the most productive  times
of the thrash genre would have brought some musical or  technological
innovations of some kind, but that's not the case here. Although  far
from the quality of something like Aura Noir's _Deep Tracts of Hell_,
_Into the Macabre_ is still a very competent album, better than  what
such a remarkably poor band name might suggest,  and  therefore  this
may still please some dedicated fans of the genre who aren't  worried
about originality or innovation at all.


Night to Die - _All Evil Crying_  (Repulse Records, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

With a definite Spanish feel to  their  melodic  death  metal  style,
Spanish metal quartet Night to Die are not  afraid  to  lash  out  in
anger, while at the same time drawing back into a softened  state  of
affairs as they go about their business. In other words, they play as
they see fit. With just three songs to really get into their work  --
an EP sometimes provides little idea of what a band is about --,  the
listener gets a varied sound emanating from the rather  abrasive  yet
melodic outfit, with the band on one  end  coming  out  like  vibrant
heavy hitters on "A Piece of Soul" and softening  their  attack  with
the truly mesmerizing ways of "A Storm Is  Coming".  A  bit  of  both
worlds from Night to Die and quite superbly leaving the gate open  as
to where they can go for future releases. I await their new effort.

Contact: Night to Die, c/o Francisco Rey Manzarro Ceballos,
         14 1 Dicha, 11003 Cadiz, Spain
         mailto:souldevourer@ctv.es
         http://www.repulserecords.com/nighttodie


Neurosis - _Times of Grace_  (Relapse, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (9 out of 10)

While this record has been out for a few months  now,  I  am  finally
giving it a shot and reviewing it. This hasn't been and easy  one  to
take upon as a  reviewer.  Since  this  record  first  came  into  my
possession, I have been perplexed, disturbed and equally  blown  away
by the band's continuing evolution as a truly harmful nightmare. With
brutality served on a grandiose scale, Neurosis dig deep  into  their
emotional bag of goodies  and  let  loose  a  rollercoaster  ride  of
feedback, distortion and widespread anger. It's not a pretty picture,
but when has the music of Neurosis ever been  heartfelt  and  shining
with passion? Never. And that's the  way  it  stands  for  _Times  of
Grace_, probably the most punishing release the band has ever  served
up. With numbers like "The Doorway", "Exist"  and  "Descent"  keeping
this runaway train plowing  down  the  tracks,  it's  no  wonder  why
Neurosis have garnered such  press  for  the  follow-up  to  _Through
Silver in Blood_. It pushes the boundaries and musical styles  a  bit
more, managing to ravage  our  psyche  and  bring  down  cascades  of
intensity upon our souls. This is powerful stuff and a  truly  gifted
offering from one of the best bands out there today.


Obscurity - _Damnations Pride_  (Scarlet, 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (3 out of 10)

Coming from the same label as  Dominance  (whose  rather  interesting
_Anthems of Ancient Splendour_ I reviewed in CoC #42), I  expected  a
lot better  from  Obscurity.  Similarly  to  their  other  labelmates
Necrodeath  [reviewed  in  this  issue],  Obscurity   play   in   the
retro-thrash league, but they're bound  for  relegation  unless  they
dramatically   improve   after   _Damnations   Pride_.   They   share
Necrodeath's lack of new ideas, but not their skill and  consistency.
Even if the  vocals  weren't  so  damn  terrible  (which  they  are),
_Damnations Pride_ still  consists  solely  of  unremarkable,  poorly
written and performed thrash, the sound of which  often  varies  from
track to track without ever actually being good. Low quality stuff.


Of the Fallen - _Of the Fallen_  (<Independent>, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7.5 out of 10)

With  a  blistering  opening  number  in  "From  the  Depths",  Texas
blackened metal warriors Of  the  Fallen  show  off  some  impressive
guitar work and heavy vocals, blistering the  song's  structure  with
some ungodly pressure and ramming a fist of metal into our  craniums.
With just six songs on this self-titled effort, these guys don't hold
back any punches as they crush all in sight with  their  strengthened
charge. This is the kind of incinerating guitar riffs and vocals that
seem to make this scene seem so alive and vibrant. With  a  touch  of
style all their own, OtF manage to break away  from  standard  guitar
work and black metal tendencies and add their own take on crafty song
writing, relying somewhat on  melody  and  complex  song  ideas  (ie:
"Shores of the Damned" and "Spirits of the  Black  Waters").  In  the
end, after nearly being run down with their 28-minute opus, OtF  move
onward, leaving us cold, battered and confused as to what  juggernaut
just mowed us down. One of the stronger indie acts to submit stuff to
CoC in some time, especially from Texas, since  the  last  band  from
there to kick our ass was Death of Millions. Check out Of the Fallen.

Contact: P.O. Box 203213, Austin, Texas, USA 78210-3213
         mailto:ofthefallen@hotmail.com


Prophecy - _Contagion_  (Pavement, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

While starting out like a complete clone of many  CoC  writers'  fave
band Fear Factory (think _Soul of a New  Machine_-era  FF),  Prophecy
redeems itself early on with a solid and well-executed  record.  This
is a very promising act. With enough industrial/death  metal  mixings
to add diversity to the record's material, it's the keyboard work and
atmospheric  ways  of  the  band's  song  ideas  that   really   give
_Contagion_ its highlights.  While  machine-gun  styled  drums  blast
away, the guitar riffs stay heavy. A masterful array of keyboard work
adds haunting qualities to each and every song. With each  listen,  I
can see how many metal fans might see this as a Fear  Factory  clone,
but it must be pointed out, this band lacks the brutality of FF,  and
that is their saving grace. Any band could have gone out,  mixed  the
two styles and played heavy till the cows  come  home,  but  Prophecy
plays it smart and brings a definite  likeable  feature,  that  being
their crafty ability to add atmosphere  to  each  number.  Highlights
include: "Sexual", "Digit Contagion" and "God Wrath".


Samael - _Eternal_  (Century Media, August 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8 out of 10)

_Eternal_ proved to be one of those albums which initially (as in  up
to about the sixth listen) left me with a very  bitter,  unsatisfying
taste in my mouth. To be honest, if  I'd  written  this  review  only
having absorbed _Eternal_ a few times, it would  probably  have  been
negative not only from the point of view of my  personal  taste,  but
also in assessing the progression of Samael since their  last  album,
1996's _Passage_ [CoC #14].  Why  am  I  bothering  to  tell  you  my
defunct, discarded opinions on _Eternal_, you may ask?  So  that  you
yourself don't make the mistake of discarding this record after  only
a few listens. _Eternal_ doesn't grab you on the first  few  listens;
it may never grab some of you: Samael's chosen progression is certain
not to be unequivocally pleasing either amongst  long-time  followers
or those to whom _Eternal_ will  act  as  an  introduction.  What  is
certain, however, is that _Eternal_ has had hard work and thought put
into it, and deserves a fair hearing before judgement on  it  can  be
accurately passed. There is a sense in which _Eternal_ is  a  natural
progression from _Passage_. Samael continue  to  use  and  experiment
with programmed drums and the constant, somewhat avantgarde and  near
over-the-top symphonic  and  choral  augmentation  is,  if  anything,
heightened rather than reduced on  _Eternal_.  The  central  and  key
difference between the Samael of  _Passage_  and  that  of  _Eternal_
seems to be that now the music is, for the most part, led by piano or
keyboard  and  not  guitar  riffing.  However,  two  other  important
differences are that the vocals are less harsh, though still avoiding
the melodic, and the percussive backbone has a  bouncy,  technotronic
feel which infuses the record with a distinctly non-metal  air.  With
these key alterations to Samael's song structures comes a slew of new
or more fully utilised sounds and techniques which give _Eternal_ its
complex and absorbing texture.  Vinyl  scratching,  electronic  sound
loops and an  increase  in  leading  keyboard  melodies,  as  already
mentioned, mean that _Eternal_ breaks away from not only the sound of
past Samael records, but also their feel. This new opus is distinctly
more catchy, and though avoiding poppiness,  is  certainly  far  from
being something the death or black metal scene could take sole credit
for creating. There is, all the same,  a  serious  downside  to  this
expansion. _Eternal_ lacks the dark atmosphere which imbued _Passage_
and its  predecessor  _Ceremony  of  Opposites_  with  the  power  to
emotionally affect and infect listeners  with  a  slight  feeling  of
uneasiness. _Eternal_  exudes  a  vague  malevolence  well  concealed
behind the catchy symphonics and sombre, proclamatory vocals, but  it
doesn't compare in impact to  the  dark  atmospheres  the  band  have
previously created, particularly on _CoO_. This  seeming  shortcoming
accepted, however, _Eternal_ does possess its own  character  and  is
convincing and consistent thematically,  without  lacking  variation.
Samael's new direction is a considerable amount to take in.  You  may
not like all the changes and progressions, I know  I  don't,  but  it
certainly is complex and inventive, and I  think  you  have  to  give
Samael credit for that in a period for music  where  tribute  records
are a dime a dozen, and rip-offs and rehashes pass quite unnoticed as
"new" albums.


Satyricon - _Rebel Extravaganza_  (Nuclear Blast, September 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

In a time when many claim that black metal is dying  and  progression
only seems to continue in its more symphonic side, Satyr has  decided
to show a different path that is likely to be followed by  plenty  of
bands in the coming months. With very few exceptions,  the  music  on
_Rebel Extravaganza_ has been stripped of all the keyboard components
that were usually part of Satyricon's  music  and  of  classics  like
"Mother North". This is all guitar, rhythm  and  voice.  Though  many
bands these days might collapse without the aid of a crutch  like  an
easy background keyboard melody can be, Satyricon  have  produced  an
outstanding album thanks to the remarkable performances of all  three
components  I  mentioned  before.  Innovative  guitar  work  is   the
highlight, very aptly produced and combined with vicious  vocals  and
highly effective and varied rhythmic  structures.  While  "The  Scorn
Torrent" features one of the most intense album  finishes  I've  ever
heard, tracks  like  "Tied  in  Bronze  Chains",  "Filthgrinder"  and
"Supersonic  Journey"  consecutively   introduce   new,   and   often
surprising, elements through complex song structures, while remaining
able  to  keep  very  high  interest  levels.  Complexity,  subtlety,
innovation and quality are very seldom combined as well as on  _Rebel
Extravaganza_, an album which is equally  able  to  be  very  brutal,
melancholic and catchy. Satyricon show that they are  treading  their
own path, and with remarkable results.


Soilent Green - _Sewn Mouth Secrets_  (Relapse, 1998)
by: Matthias Noll  (8 out of 10)

We are very, very late with reviewing this record. Frankly, that's my
fault, because initially I offered Gino to review it when it came out
and then did not deliver. The reason for this is not laziness  on  my
behalf but the fact that _Sewn Mouth Secrets_ is one of  the  ugliest
bastards of a record which ever managed to creep inside my CD player.
And as it is painful and irritating to listen to it, it's also no fun
at all to review this beast. The impact of  this  record  is  like  a
blunt weapon repeatedly hitting your skull while in between the blows
a rabid dog mangles your ankles. Musically, this  approach  manifests
in  the  various  styles  incorporated   by   the   band.   Crowbar's
sluggishness and fusion of Black Sabbath  with  southern  rock  meets
grindcore meets over-the-top Pantera. On top of that rages singer Ben
Falgoust,  who  alternates  between  grunts,  a  95%   Phil   Anselmo
impersonation, black metal rasping and delirious spoken parts.  While
a singer with four different styles seems to guarantee  the  ultimate
degree of variety, this turns out to be a two edged blade and one  of
the reasons why I can't get totally into this record. Far  too  often
does the vocal style follow the music too closely: fast part, rasping
vocals; slow part, growls;  chaotic  part,  spoken  words.  With  the
variety becoming predictable, this starts to get annoying soon.  What
turns me off most is the  delivery  of  the  spoken  sections,  which
sounds  weak,  like  a  drunkard  babbling  some  nonsense  above   a
background of equally senseless noise. These parts can ruin  a  whole
otherwise great song for me. Lyrically, _Sewn  Mouth  Secrets_  comes
across quite disturbing, dealing with rape, torture,  depression  and
other related topics in a frighteningly personal way.  The  sound  is
good, heavy and crisp, but there's enough room for  improvements  the
next time around (like Crowbar's _Time Heals Nothing_  in  comparison
to _Odd Fellows Rest_). I haven't been able to identify any  standout
tracks on _Sewn  Mouth  Secrets_  and  the  heaviness,  insanity  and
intensity is kept on one level through all the tracks, which  can  be
quite exhausting and makes listening  to  the  whole  record  in  one
session a challenge. So, if you think that is exactly  how  you  like
your metal, this is the record you should buy immediately.  With  the
review being done now, I'll immediately put on _Whisper Supremacy_ to
finally relax a bit.


Solefald - _Neonism_  (Avantgarde, September 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (6 out of 10)

"The hard will be harder, the passion will be  more  passionate,  the
ecstatic more ecstatic." Thus wrote Cornelius about what he  expected
the successor of _The Linear Scaffold_ [CoC #29] to be  like  when  I
interviewed him for CoC #30. I wonder what happened in the mean time,
because _Neonism_ isn't any harder, more passionate or more  ecstatic
than _The Linear Scaffold_; quite the contrary  throughout  the  vast
majority of the album, actually -- and that's not just because of the
disappointingly inferior production. What's worse is that I often get
the impression that Solefald didn't even especially strive to achieve
those objectives I  quoted  before  with  most  of  the  material  on
_Neonism_, which often just completely  lacks  direction.  They  have
excellent moments during  "Fluorescent  (The  Total  Orchestra)"  and
"Proprietors of Red", reminders of the music they used to  make,  but
then they have atrocious tracks like "CK II Chanel N.6",  "Omnipolis"
and some of "Third Person Plural", and some  things  can  even  sound
rather silly at times. "Speed Increased to Scaffold"  and  "Backpacka
Baba" are two good examples of the sort of weirdness one  can  expect
from Solefald producing reasonable  results,  but  almost  everything
seems to lack the intense emotion that was  present  on  _The  Linear
Scaffold_ and never get  anywhere  as  good.  There,  the  unexpected
weirdness was present, yet the results almost always seemed great  or
at least something great would follow soon. That doesn't happen  with
_Neonism_; often emotion-lacking misguided weirdness  dominates  most
of the tracks, producing poor results. Solefald should have been able
to focus their hugely  varied  musical  influences  and  talent  into
interesting music far more consistently than  they  have  done  here,
especially taking _The Linear Scaffold_ into consideration. It really
is a grief to listen to that debut of theirs and compare it  to  most
of _Neonism_, which overall isn't in itself a bad album at  all,  but
really, -really- pales in comparison to its predecessor.


Suicidal Winds - _Winds of Death_  (No Colours Records, August 1999)
by: Alvin Wee  (6 out of 10)

There's a limit to how much retro-thrash even a hardcore  Destruction
fan can take, and this one's  pushing  the  limit  already.  Breaking
lotsa heads and little new  ground  are  Swedish  thrashers  Suicidal
Winds with their debut slab of  Sodom-esque  ragings.  Spewing  forth
mandatory Destruction and Sodom riffs at hyperspeed just doesn't  cut
it in today's saturated "retro" scene, and the pedestrian delivery on
_WoD_ doesn't do much to alleviate the monotony of the  album.  While
boasting some remarkable leads (on "Destroy") and killer hooks on the
slower sections, much of the music fades into the background once the
speed picks up. To be fair, their demo _Definitely War_ received  few
unfavourable  comments  in  the  underground,  and  this  very  album
impressed a few who heard the pre-release promo. Still, I'd stay with
labelmates Urgehal, and, just  to  prove  that  retro-thrash  can  be
interesting, Swordmaster's _Deathrider 2000_. Either  it  takes  more
than these boys have to attain an Aura Noir ferocity, or they're  not
prepared to unleash it with their sophomore effort. Either way,  only
time will tell... (The vinyl version contains two extra  tracks,  and
might be more worth your gold: CD 25DM, LP 22DM + postage.)


Theory in Practice - _The Armageddon Theories_
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)  (Pulverised, Autumn 1999)

I'm usually put off by excessive "progression" or technical  elements
in music: I see it as a poor  excuse  for  poorly  written  melodies.
There are  instances,  however,  when  such  can  be  forgiven,  even
welcomed, as in the case of TiP's brand of highly  technical  thrash.
Twisted, disharmonic bludgeoning  segue  seamlessly  into  incendiary
solos,  painting  upon  a   mystical   canvas   a   trans-dimensional
soundscape,  complex  and  entrancing.  I  must  admit,   I'd   first
approached this band  with  a  distinct  distaste  brought  about  by
reviews of their earlier work on the label. It would be unfair to say
my first listen wasn't without unpleasantness, but subsequent efforts
did the job of exposing  my  rash  judgement.  Only  a  short-sighted
reviewer  would  brand  the  music  pure  progressive  thrash  a   la
Meshuggah; a distinct  black  metal  influence  pervades  the  entire
album, not so much a concrete sequence of riffs or melodies, but more
a subliminal  suggestion  latent  in  the  structure  midway  through
"Departure" or the opening of "Dehumanised". To pull off the  barrage
of convoluted riffage and the numerous blazing leads as  smoothly  as
these boys do is no mean feat, and TiP display no lack of the  innate
ability and honed virtuosity needed to produce and  perform  such.  I
may be no expert in the genre, and no doubt some others will probably
find more in this than I can, but suffice it to  say  that  _TAT_  is
good enough to tear this purist from his old-school  cravings  for  a
time, at least.


Tulus - _Evil 1999_  (Hammerheart Records, June 1999)
by: Aaron McKay  (9.5 out of 10)

I am inspired by this  supreme  black  metal  manifesting  itself  as
Tulus! The Norwegian  band  known  for  transforming  into  the  live
line-up for Old Man's Child has struck the mother lode  of  elemental
iniquitousness.  Coming  off  an  apparently   less   than   adequate
relationship with Hot Records due to budget and promotional concerns,
I understand, Tulus inked a deal with Hammerheart to kick  out  _Evil
1999_. First, the core of this  spectacular  effort  is  the  musical
craftsmanship. The instruments, all powerful and all bludgeoning, are
also separate and imaginatively distinctive. Second, the bass work is
absolutely incredible. Black metal, in my opinion, does not have  the
world's best track record for astounding low-end  bass  manipulation,
but Tulus changes that  completely.  As  evidence,  listen  to  track
three, "Draug". Without a doubt, one of the most  inspired  couplings
of bass and guitar riffing I've heard in recent  years.  My  personal
favourite is "Salme", song six on this masterful release.  A  perfect
blend tilting towards the harmonious in the track's aggressive  black
metal approach. I assure you, with each listen, I  am  sucked  deeper
and infinitely deeper into the furious and  pandemoniac  world  Tulus
creates with _Evil 1999_.


Tumulus - _Wodureid_  (No Colours Records, August 1999)
by: Alvin Wee  (7 out of 10)

A full four years since  their  unintentionally  obscure  debut  with
_Mock_ on Dutch Hammerheart Records (who apparently ripped  them  off
big time), German trio Tumulus ride forth with  a  new  mini-opus  of
medieval  Germanic  folk  and   metal.   Unsurprisingly   Odinnistic,
_Wodureid_ could prove to be yet another vehicle for  No  Colours  to
launch forth their infamous nationalistic/Pagan spiel.  Dogma  aside,
though, this four-tracker is far from something to set your drink on;
despite  being  chronically  undecided  in  the  realm   of   musical
direction,  the  three  medieval  tracks  evoke   the   Pagan/Heathen
atmosphere  as  effectively  as  any  Ulver  instrumental.  Strangely
enough, the  album  begins  with  the  raw  heavy/black  metal  track
"Wodan's Jagd" ("Odin's Hunt"), musically  reminiscent  of  old  epic
Bathory circa _Blood on Ice_. Quite good, really,  if  a  tad  passe.
What follows is  a  truly  medieval  heathen  war-hymn  replete  with
droning flutes, martial drums and  clear  singing.  Things  take  yet
another turn with  "Sunnwend",  an  epic  chorus  more  evocative  of
Middle-Age cathedral chanting than the previously hinted-at pagandom.
Suitably lush with nicely  penned  keyboards  and  choirs,  this  one
should prove a hit with fans of Raison d'Etre  et  al.  Rounding  off
festivities is the instrumental outro which smacks roundly of Ulver's
early acoustic work, less ritualistic, more folk  now,  leaving  this
listener thoroughly confused as to these bards' musical  intent.  All
said, this somewhat incomplete release should see Tumulus making  the
rounds in the tape-trading scene (if one still exists),  but  as  for
long-term  enjoyment,  more  discerning  listeners  will  find   more
pleasure in _Kveldssanger_. Don't give up on these boys yet,  though,
word's out they're working on new stuff; in the meantime,  17DM  plus
postage should see this one winging its way to you.

Contact: No Colours, Postfach 32, 04541 Borna, Germany


Withered Earth - _Something So Pure_  (White Noise, May 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8.5 out of 10)

Withered Earth's debut, _Forgotten Sunrise_ [CoC #36],  impressed  me
quite considerably  after  I  received  it  from  their  then  record
company, Italy's Cryptic Soul. The band's inventive craft  of  mixing
the types of breakdowns,  repeated  circular  structures  and  catchy
grooves which are more commonly associated with the hardcore style of
bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan or Vision  of  Disorder  with  a
dark and guttural death  metal  core  which  owes  its  debt  to  the
sludgily atmospheric likes of Incantation and Immolation  provided  a
sufficiently fresh perspective on death metal to make me stand up and
pay close attention. _Something So Pure_ is an EP which follows  much
the same vein musically but adds  an  improved  production,  by  Bill
Koreckie (Incantation), and somewhat tighter songwriting to  Withered
Earth's list of pros. Withered Earth are steadily honing their craft,
and I think it wouldn't be a considerable  stretch  to  expect  their
upcoming second full length to be something  worthy  of  considerable
attention.

Contact: 5 Beechwood Drive, Rochester, NY 14606, USA
         mailto:witheredearth@hotmail.com
         http://www.witheredearth.com

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            / /\  /  __/\ V  V /  / /\  / (_) | \__ \  __/
            \_\ \/ \___| \_/\_/   \_\ \/ \___/|_|___/\___|

If you have a band, don't forget to send us your demo with a  bio  if
you want to be reviewed;  our  address  is  included  in  the  zine's
header.

Scoring:   ***** -- A flawless demo
            **** -- Great piece of work
             *** -- Good effort
              ** -- A major overhaul is in order
               * -- A career change is advisable


420 - _Reality_  (2-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (**---)

I am getting pretty sick of receiving demos which I  can  so  easily,
and  justifiably,  file  under  the  heading  "typical  uninteresting
American death metal". The music here embraces  the  Cannibal  Corpse
school of death metal most thoroughly. 420 stray  from  the  CC  path
somewhat, but never attain any of the recent and  worthwhile  heights
of Dying Fetus, Angel Corpse or Pessimist (to name  but  a  few)  and
essentially seem content to  repeat  the  tried  and  tested  musical
formulas of the past, which, let's be honest, most of us  don't  need
to hear any more of. It's not that 420 are  the  only  ones,  or  the
worst ones, but someone has to get it in the neck for not trying hard
enough, and  today  it's  them.  If  you  can  tolerate  unnecessary,
sub-standard rehash, you might enjoy this. I would rather  listen  to
my old records.

Contact: Matt, 62 Sprucewood Dr. Levittown, NY 11756-3814, USA
         mailto:chaos1417@aol.com


Anaal-Nathrakh - _Anaal-Nathrakh_  (4-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (****-)

Brutal, harsh and furious -- and the  same  can  be  said  about  the
insane vocals. Anaal-Nathrakh's first demo reaches  excellent  levels
of  intensity  during  the  first  couple  of  tracks  as  the   band
mercilessly attacks with their own sort of harsh black  metal  (which
they  call  "necro  metal").  What  Anaal-Nathrakh  managed   to   do
remarkably well for a band who has so little experience was focus all
the fury and aggression  with  which  the  music  is  delivered  into
enjoyable songs through smart guitar  work  that  occasionally  rises
from amidst their wall of sound to keep things really interesting  --
all this backed by an intense rhythmic section  and  complemented  by
the vocals I mentioned above. The music therefore manages  to  remain
catchy in its very  own  way  and  the  production  achieves  a  very
interesting balance between harshness and power. A cover of  Mayhem's
"Carnage"  very  appropriately  ends  the  tape.  Simple,  but   very
effective and highly devastating. A new tape from  Anaal-Nathrakh  is
supposed to be nearly ready, and I can't wait to hear it.

Contact: Necrodeath Studios, 15 Standlake Avenue, Hodge Hill,
         Birmingham, B36 8JR, England
         mailto:dbanger@globalnet.co.uk
         http://www.mp3.com/necrodeath


Core Device - _God & Man_  (5-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (***--)

With an  unusual  combination  of  melancholic  doom-esque  melodies,
elements of groove-core (a la Machine Head), and a  more  traditional
metal side comprising their chosen musical style, Core  Device  bring
us this very well produced five track demo. I am not the greatest fan
of their style -- the more shouty vocals they use particularly put me
off at times -- and my enjoyment  of  _God  &  Man_  as  a  whole  is
certainly patchy, but I must admit that the band do seem to be trying
to do something original instead of just ripping off others. There is
also some accomplished musicianship on display and a well-managed set
of dynamics (from heavy, chugging riffs and angry vocals, to  melodic
guitar runs and well-written  acoustic  passages  with  appropriately
mellow   vocal   lines   for   accompaniment)   in   action.   In   a
non-condescending way, I would say that fans of the style of  heavier
Iced Earth material like "Disciples of the  Lies"  will  probably  be
quite enamoured with this.  I  myself  respect  the  band's  talents,
though I don't take much pleasure in consuming their art.

Contact: 14 Field Avenue, Red Bank, NJ 07701, USA
         Phone: (732) 487-6138
         mailto:CoreDevice@aol.com


Lupus - _After the Geniirising_  (5-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (**---)

This  tape  of  forest-bred  "Slovenian  misanthropic  black   metal"
certainly has a promising start, with opener "A Walk Into  Unfriendly
Summits" easily being its best track. The production is very raw; the
vocals  are  mixed  too  loud,  to  the  point  where  the  remaining
instruments tend to lose some strength (not that they had much in the
first place) whenever the vocalist enters the scene. But although the
production could have been much better while still retaining a  cold,
raw feel, it doesn't ruin "A Walk Into Unfriendly Summits", which has
enough quality to overcome that. It does, however,  start  to  become
annoying as the tape goes on and only occasionally does anything  get
anywhere nearly as good as the opening track. The fast  sections  are
especially harmed by the poor production, while the  slower  or  more
atmospheric passages are nothing really special anyway. Nevertheless,
if Lupus ever manage to create a whole tape with the kind of  musical
and atmospheric quality of the opening track  and  achieve  a  better
kind of raw production, they may well double the rating above.

Contact: www2.arnes.si/~sopagost/lupus/Index.html
         mailto:tormenthor@hotmail.com


Pagan - _Heathen Upheaval_  (7-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (***--)

What this Turkish band really lacks for now is power and  aggression.
Their mostly mid-paced melodic black metal is well played, the  songs
are reasonably  well  written,  the  production  is  decent  and  the
packaging was well taken care of. The problem is that  they  tend  to
lack the ability  to  create  really  powerful  riffs,  some  intense
drumming, faster passages that actually work or anything  with  which
they can build a -really- powerful sequence. The music  tends  to  be
somewhat tame, though far from ridiculously so and always  reasonably
good in its own way (especially during "Marching of the  Hordes"  and
"The Ascending"), but the overall lack  of  power  isn't  compensated
enough by remarkably great  melodies  or  darker  atmospheres.  As  a
result, _Heathen Upheaval_ is still a decent effort and features some
interesting passages, but overall it remains  unable  to  impress  as
much as it could have.

Contact: Pagan, PK. 2 Baglarbasi, 81150 Usk Udar, Istanbul, Turkiye
         mailto:heathen_dominion@usa.net


The Chasm - _Promo 1999_  (4-track promo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (*****)

Of course it's a little unfair to review this as a demo,  since  it's
really a sampler by a band with two full-length  albums  under  their
belt, but I feel that giving exposure  to  this  unusually  excellent
band is more  important  than  pedantically  enforcing  "the  rules".
Daniel Corchado (ex-Incantation/Cenotaph) and his bandmates  seem  to
have lost none of their talent or  drive  for  creating  intoxicating
atmosphere with a traditional death metal band  setup  (two  guitars,
bass,  drums  and  vocals).  On  the  three  songs,  fronted  by   an
instrumental intro, of this promotional EP, they  showcase  the  same
style as was in  evidence  on  their  _Deathcult  For  Eternity:  The
Triumph_ [CoC #40] record, and while the rage and depth is still very
much present in their material, this new stuff is not a big  step  on
from the sound of _DFE:TT_. To be honest, though, a big step on  from
_DFE:TT_ is not necessary at this point, as the various avenues  that
record wandered around have yet to be exploited to their full. In any
case, the indication is that once the band find  a  new  label  (they
have left Oz productions and are currently in search of a  new  deal)
and record a new full-length, hopefully with more money and  time  at
their disposal, the  results  could  be  pretty  spectacular.  Here's
hoping the right label pick up The Chasm and the band  thus  get  the
help they need to take their art to the next level. I wish  them  all
the luck in the world and urge all of you to keep a close eye out for
this gem of a band.

Contact: Daniel Corchado, 6240 S. Kedzic Ave. Apt. 204,
         Chicago, IL 60629, USA
         mailto:chasmcult@juno.com

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        \ \ \/_/_\ \  _ `\  /'__`\   / __`\ \ \/\/\ \  /'___\
         \ \ \L\ \\ \ \ \ \/\ \L\.\_/\ \L\ \ \ \_\ \ \/\ \__/
          \ \____/ \ \_\ \_\ \__/.\_\ \____/\ \__\\ \_\ \____\
           \/___/   \/_/\/_/\/__/\/_/\/___/  \/__/ \/_/\/____/
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    /\  _`\                                       /\ \__
    \ \ \/\_\    ___     ___     ___     __   _ __\ \ ,_\   ____
     \ \ \/_/_  / __`\ /' _ `\  /'___\ /'__`\/\`'__\ \ \/  /',__\
      \ \ \L\ \/\ \L\ \/\ \/\ \/\ \__//\  __/\ \ \/ \ \ \_/\__, `\
       \ \____/\ \____/\ \_\ \_\ \____\ \____\\ \_\  \ \__\/\____/
        \/___/  \/___/  \/_/\/_/\/____/\/____/ \/_/   \/__/\/___/


      T A M I N G   T H E   B E A S T   O F   M I L W A U K E E
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               CoC covers the Milwaukee Metalfest XIII
         at the Milwaukee Auditorium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
              Friday and Saturday July 30th & 31st, 1999
            by: Aaron McKay (supplemented by Jerry Hrdina)

     Whew! Quite a motherfucker Jack Koshick puts on  every  year  in
the not-so-quiet city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Plagued too close  for
comfort toward the show's concert date of July 30 by location changes
-- the venue moved from last  year's  Eagle  Ballroom  to  the  state
fairgrounds  (thank   god   it   wasn't   held   there),   ultimately
materializing at the  Milwaukee  Auditorium.  For  all  the  location
questions prior to the event, I might say the strife was worth it due
to the fact that I think that the Milwaukee Auditorium was  as  close
to perfect as one could hope. I say this due to the  fact  that,  for
the most part, my fellow metal advocates tend  to  be  a  touch  more
rowdy than we are tidy! At any rate, here is  what  unearthed  itself
over the two-day sheer blur of metal sequence...
     Upon  a  natural  path  of  familiarizing  ourselves  with   the
Milwaukee Auditorium, my  ol'  college  chum,  Jerry  Hrdina,  and  I
navigated a course to absorb The End Records' Epoch of  Unlight.  EoU
was, without a doubt, one of the biggest  reasons  for  me  attending
this year's  fest.  I  was  -not-  disappointed!  The  group  sounded
flawless performing as a three piece unit. Vocals  were  clear  (both
the gruff and serpentine voices handled by EoU's guitarist) and  Tino
LoSicco's incredible drumming  through  the  twenty  minute  set  was
honestly stunning. As a worthy side-note, look for EoU on  tour  with
Dimmu Borgir and Samael later this year. Right after Epoch of Unlight
came the masters of crunch. "You know what time  it  is!  Jungle  Rot
time", articulated Dave Matese, guitarist  /  lead  growler  for  the
band. Damn fine riffing, crushing and pulverizing,  going  down  here
from JR in the concert room, Kilbourn Hall, that will soon  prove  to
house the -vast- majority of acts worthy of  Metalfest  attendees.  I
was blessed to hear a track or two from the impeccable _Slaughter the
Weak_ as Jungle Rot thrusted their way through another  all-too-short
time allotment.
     I slipped into Juneau Hall  to  stare  at  the  laughable  stage
antics of St. Madness for a few  moments.  Unknowingly,  this  little
manoeuvre cost me valuable time in which I  could  have  been  seeing
Candiria in the main hall. This, in retrospect, steams me to no  end.
Live and learn. Another little faux pas I made was standing around  a
touch too long (out of earshot, I might add) of The Gathering. I did,
however, manage to wrap myself in the  last  song  performed  by  the
band. Musically and vocally spectacular -- so much so that my  friend
accompanying me to the Metalfest, Jerry, spent a large portion of the
ensuing hours attempting to track down a copy of  -anything-  by  The
Gathering. Jer's exercise in futility fuelled solely by the power  of
-one-  song  should  tell  you  something  about  this   performance.
"Unfortunately I only caught the last song of  The  Gathering's  set,
but what I  did  hear  was  very  impressive.  Solid  performing  and
songwriting plus the  bonus  of  Anneke  van  Giersbergen's  soaring,
soulful vocals makes this band stand out of the  crowd",  Mr.  Hrdina
articulated.
     Before I get to the dregs of Friday, I want to regale  the  yarn
of the most impressive band of the Metalfest --  Neurosis.  As  Jerry
said, "Neurosis brought psychedelic influences into their style  both
musically and by visual stimulus. The movies  they  projected  behind
the stage captured the eye and the music's hypnotic passages drew the
listener into the performance. It was a good contrast  to  the  speed
driven bands that populated the festival." Personally, I am forced to
admit I was -never- a fan of Neurosis' style, that  is  until  I  saw
them perform live. I did a complete 180 degree turn with  regards  to
my opinion of them. The set  was  magnificent!  Excellent  film/movie
footage showing behind the band in  the  main  hall.  The  crowd  was
appreciative of the more than striking  musical  spectacle  going  on
before their eyes, as was this writer, honestly. A wonderful set that
was -almost- worth me missing out on In Flames'  first  show  in  the
United States. Keep in  mind,  I  said  -almost-.  I  am  still  very
hacked-off that I was not able to see both groups.
     Now, to wind-up Friday night's fulminating experience was a band
that I have seen previously on tour with Cannibal Corpse, Anthrax and
Life of Agony. This band, of course, is The  Misfits.  Let  me  state
first and foremost, what a bunch of glorified,  pompous,  pretentious
prima donnas! Their fuckin' sound check took  longer  than  the  set.
Let's face it, folks, The Misfits' music is  pretty  same-y,  so  why
spend an hour hammering out a sound for a  guitar,  drum,  bass,  and
vocal mic when some of their best material sounds  infinitely  better
when it drips with an unpolished, rough rancor-laced edge anyway?  Oh
well, The Misfits' attitude at the 'fest surfaced a taste in my mouth
last experienced upon  hearing  Metallica's  last  three  humiliating
releases -- _Load_ (of shit), "Refund" and "Garbage Inc.".
     Saturday  brought  both  Jerry  and  myself  to  the   Milwaukee
Auditorium at about 11am to see Gang Green. Unknown to either of  us,
the band cancelled. Nice fuckin' luck, huh? I saw Gang Green twice in
the days of my youth opening for Social Distortion. I was  hoping  to
recapture some of that vibe to kick-start my energy for the day  like
a double cappuccino a la Gang Green-style. Sucks to be me, I  s'pose!
The first band that I was able to witness Saturday  was  the  British
group Chelsea. Hoping for Gang Green and seeing  Chelsea  instead  is
the musical equivalent to a groin pull! Damn, I lasted  five  minutes
in Juneau Hall before running out the door struggling to remember the
theme to Barney as to block the sound emanating from Chelsea. Even  a
singing purple dinosaur is preferable to Chelsea's shit.  Jer  and  I
killed a bit of time by watching Step Kings, for a  brief  second  or
two, in the main hall, while talking  things  over  with  the  mighty
Andreas from The End Records at the  label's  booth...  Next  we  saw
October Thorns in Kilbourn Hall at 2:00 in the afternoon.  OT  had  a
clear, crisp and professional sound, but I could list off  a  hundred
bands that these guys sound like and none of those one hundred groups
would be an awe-inspiring comparison.
     Here's where things got moving... D.O.A. ripped up  Juneau  Hall
at 3pm. To articulate how stunned I was by D.O.A.'s edgy  and  gritty
sound  is  almost  unimaginable.   So   energetic,   pummelling   and
masterfully  executed  was  D.O.A.'s  set  that  I  was  monumentally
overwhelmed. What a killer band.
     Immediately following came the long-time hardcore outfit D.R.I..
A stroke of genius putting these two back to back on the same  stage.
I did see the D.O.A. bassist  catching  some  flack  from  the  stage
manager for the Milwaukee Auditorium due to D.O.A.'s set running five
minutes longer than scheduled. Apparently, five  minutes  means  life
and death when trying to keep  150-plus  bands  on  time...  D.R.I.'s
sound was not quite as  undiluted  as  D.O.A's,  but  still  next  to
effulgent as I've seen punk/hardcore metal come. The band managed  to
work in a  song  slamming  Jerry  Garcia  of  The  Grateful  Dead  --
something  about  "...you're  shit,  shit,  shit,  shit,  shit"   and
"...dead, dead,  dead,  dead,  dead!"  Very  precise  and  humorously
fitting. Judging from the crowd reaction, I don't think many of  them
displayed a "Deadhead sticker" on their vehicle.
     After almost the entire weekend, about this time, I met up  with
my CoC brethren. Some of us retreated upstairs to the  Relapse  stage
for Benumb. This room was very agreeable for concerts, although maybe
not -metal- shows. Red carpet covered the floor here and  red  padded
seats fanned-out across the room. It still made a nice space  to  see
the masterful Benumb. I have always been  reminded  of  Brutal  Truth
when listening to Benumb's recorded material, but, naturally, this is
a good thing. In concert, Benumb comes across  a  lot  more  chaotic,
disjointed, and free-form than Brutal Truth.  Both  groups,  however,
focusing on concentrated blasts of power. Benumb  did  an  incredible
job.
     After some much needed rest and food, we all  prepared  for  the
massive onslaught of bands in the eminent future. Being gluttons,  we
started this evening of punishment off early, dancing  off  presently
to hear the Japanese band Defiled. Jerry had this  to  say:  "Defiled
attracted my attention  by  being  the  only  Japanese  band  at  the
Metalfest that I am aware  of.  However,  they  held  their  own  and
delivered a bitchin' set instead of just being a novelty from  Japan.
They received a good response from the crowd despite  their  apparent
technical difficulties."
     Now for a group that had -as much- to do with me  attending  the
Metalfest as any reason that I  can  think  of:  Dying  Fetus.  These
gentlemen are ace connoisseurs of  thrash  tempo  changes!  Fantastic
effort  on  DF's  part  and  they  honestly  worked  magic   in   the
twenty-minute time allotment they where restricted to. A killer blend
of material from _Purification  Through  Violence_  and  _Killing  on
Adrenaline_. These guys were currently on tour, making the  MMF  part
of the band's schedule. The following night, Dying Fetus took part in
a show in Chicago at the House  of  Blues  with  Immolation,  Rotting
Christ and Sinister. If given the chance, do yourself  a  favour  and
-see- DF live. They -won't- disappoint!
     Lorde of All Desire was on  the  docket  next  in  Juneau  Hall,
across the way. They were given a half an hour and I took in most  of
their show  on  the  suggestion  of  Adrian  (good  call,  brother!).
Keyboards dove-tailed beautifully with placid guitar and  bass  work.
Jerry comments that at first Lorde of All  Desire  seemed  like  they
might be  another  generic  medieval  warrior  type  band,  but  they
actually delivered some noteworthy songs.
     Dashing back and forth between  Juneau  Hall  for  Mexico's  The
Chasm and Kilbourn Hall for Monstrosity proved to be  worthy  of  the
energy I expended to do  this.  I  found  both  groups  to  have  the
potently crunchy and powerful sound that I have  come  to  expect  at
this festival, but about  this  point  in  the  evening  I  began  to
anticipate Nile's performance, so  it  was  difficult,  at  best,  to
concentrate on any group  other  than  Nile.  Due  to  Kilbourn  Hall
getting off their agenda by almost a half hour, I was forced to  wait
for the mighty South Carolinians to arrive. Not using their technical
effects live, by choice or otherwise, I am unsure, Nile executed song
after song from _Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren  Ka_.  Musicianship
like this could only have been perfected through the next to non-stop
touring Nile has done. Jerry thought they delivered an aggressive and
very potent set.
     Due to the schedule getting all fucked-up, I busted  a  move  to
the main hall for Immolation. These venerable masters of their domain
tore up the awaiting fans. The band was appreciative of  the  support
for _Failures For Gods_, the group's second Metal Blade release. Ross
Dolan's incredible low, intense vocals came across flawlessly as  the
band whipped through an awe-inspiring, but all-too-short,  half  hour
set.
     The next two hours  of  the  Metalfest  substantiated  the  most
hectic of the two days.  I  greeted  myself  both  coming  and  going
between Sinister, Cradle of Filth, Mortician, Gorguts, Pissing Razors
and Rotting Christ. Appreciating Cradle of Filth's  music  and  stage
presence like I do, I watched with Jerry transfixed as Dani  and  the
band took to the main hall. Jerry commented  to  me  that  Saturday's
headliners, Cradle of Filth, did not disappoint at his first exposure
to them. Swirling lights, gothic chicks, massive black metal, it  was
all there. CoF often come across as grandiose, but  that  night  they
were merely -grand-! Once again,  due  to  the  Kilbourn  Hall  being
behind, I ran upstairs to  admire  Gorguts.  Luc  Lemay  and  Gorguts
demonstrated a skill and vehemence almost unattainable to most  other
groups of like experience, playing to a  crowd  not  even  worthy  of
their time. Once again, we have scheduling to thank for this.
     Pissing Razors graced the Relapse stage next, sounding  in  fine
form for the two songs I could stay for.  Having  seen  PR  open  for
Pro-Pain in  the  past,  I  felt  Mortician  calling  me  downstairs.
Mortician supporting the new release, _Chainsaw  Dismemberment_,  was
something I needed to see. Even though Mortician are old hat  at  the
MMF, they -never- fail  to  communicate  their  brutally  exceptional
style to the audience in a fashion belonging to  Mortician  alone.  I
was floored by the performance and have to say, if Dying Fetus got me
to Milwaukee, then Mortician was the reason for staying!
     To end this  event  that  eludes  proper  description,  Greece's
Rotting Christ hit at about 12:30 or 12:40.  Killer  tracks  from  _A
Dead Poem_ rang across Kilbourn Hall. This sublime musical  menagerie
was cut short due to the police calling it quits to RC's set at  1:00
due to, I believe, a sound ordinance for the city. Knowing  what  was
to transpire, I watched with interest as the stage  manager  informed
the band that the last song they just played would  indeed  be  their
final one. After a bit of bickering, Rotting Christ forced the  stage
manager  to  be  the  bearer  of  bad  news,  as  to  save  them  the
responsibility of such a duty. Some commotion ensued, but  soon  died
away. I retired to my hotel room that night  exhausted,  but  pleased
with  myself  for  not  only  surviving  the  13th  annual  Milwaukee
Metalfest, but also comfortable in the notion that Dani of Cradle  of
Filth could not have been accurate in stating this was the last  MMF.
With support like I saw at this 'fest, Jack Koshick would  be  insane
to let something this good simply come to pass forever.

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

            W H A T   W E   H A V E   C R A N K E D ! ! !
            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gino's Top 5

1. Various - _The Swamp Kult Kompilation_
2. Future Sound of London - _Lifeforms_
3. Brutal Truth - _Goodbye Cruel World!_
4. Chemical Brothers - _Surrender_
5. The Who - _Who's Better, Who's Best_

Adrian's Top 5

1. Dillinger Escape Plan - _Calculating Infinity_
2. L7 - _Slap Happy_
3. Iced Earth - _Alive in Athens_
4. Turmoil - _The Process of_
5. Control Denied - _The Fragile Art of Existence_

Alain's Top 5

1. Monstrosity - _In Dark Purity_
2. God Dethroned - _Bloody Blasphemy_
3. Marduk - _Panzer Division Marduk_
4. Angel Corpse - _Exterminate_
5. Dimmu Borgir - _Spiritual Black Dimensions_

Adam's Top 5

1. Type O Negative - _World Coming Down_
2. Rammstein - _Live Aus Berlin_
3. Satyricon - _Rebel Extravaganza_
4. Samael - _Eternal_
5. Darkthrone - _Ravishing Grimness_

Pedro's Top 5

1. Summoning - _Stronghold_
2. Satyricon - _Rebel Extravaganza_
3. Lacrimas Profundere - _Memorandum_
4. Behemoth - _Satanica_
5. Nile - _Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren Ka_

Paul's Top 5

1. Thin Lizzy - _Jailbreak_
2. Judas Priest - _Unleashed in the East_
3. Nevermore - _Dreaming Neon Black_
4. Testament - _The Legacy_
5. The Dillinger Escape Plan - _Calculating Infinity_

Aaron's Top 5

1. Gordian Knot - _Gordian Knot_ (Thanks, Paul!)
2. Atomic Bitchwax - _Atomic Bitchwax_
3. Alas - _Engulfed in Grief_ (demo)
4. Summoning - _Stronghold_
5. Therion - _Crowning of Atlantis_

David's Top 5

1. The Kovenant - _Animatronic_
2. Amorbital - _Invidia_
3. Iced Earth - _Alive in Athens_
4. Godless Truth - _Burning Existence_
5. Wallachia - _Wallachia_

Alex's Top 5

1. Mortification - _Hammer of God_
2. Gorguts - _Obscura_
3. Stretch Arm Strong - _Compassion Fills the Void_
4. Extol - _Mesmerized_
5. Persevere/Phanatik - _Split Demo_

Matthias' Top 5

1. Gardenian - _Soulburner_
2. Social Distortion - _White Heat, White Light, White Trash_
3. Black Sabbath - _Vol. IV_
4. Megadeth - _Killing Is My business_
5. Satyricon - _Rebel Extravaganza_

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DESCRIPTION
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chronicles of Chaos is a monthly magazine electronically  distributed
worldwide via the Internet. Chronicles of Chaos focuses on all  forms
of chaotic music including black, death and doom metal, dark/ambient,
industrial and electronic/noise as well as  classic  and  progressive
metal. Each issue will feature a plethora of  album  reviews  from  a
wide range  of  bands,  as  well  as  interviews  with  some  of  the
underground's best acts. Also included in each issue are demo reviews
and indie band interviews.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may subscribe to Chronicles of Chaos at any  time  by  sending  a
message with "coc subscribe <your_name_here>" in the SUBJECT of  your
message to <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>. Please note that this command
must NOT be sent to the list address <coc-ezine@lists.colorado.edu>.

AUTOMATIC FILESERVER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All back issues and various other CoC related files are available for
automatic retrieval through our e-mail fileserver. All you have to do
is  send  a  message  to  us  at   <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>.   The
'Subject:' field of your message must read: "send file X"  where  'X'
is the name of the requested file (do not include the  quotes).  Back
issues are named 'coc-n', where  'n'  is  the  issue  number.  For  a
description of all files available through this  fileserver,  request
'list'. Remember to use lowercase letters for all file names.

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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #43

All contents copyright 1999 by individual creators of included work.
All opinions expressed herein are those of the individuals expressing
them, and do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone else.

