
      ,---.|                   o     |                       ,---.
      |    |---.,---.,---.,---..,---.|    ,---.,---.    ,---.|__.
      |    |   ||    |   ||   |||    |    |---'`---.    |   ||
      `---'`   '`    `---'`   '``---'`---'`---'`---'    `---'`

                      ,---.|
                      |    |---.,---.,---.,---.
                      |    |   |,---||   |`---.
                      `---'`   '`---^`---'`---'

       CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, December 9, 1999, Issue #44
               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>
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: Paul Schwarz <mailto:saul@cwcom.net>
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 #44 Contents, 12/9/99
---------------------------
* Editorial
* Loud Letters
* Deadly Dialogues
-- My Dying Bride: The Bride Returns to the Bleak Rainy Moors
-- Satyricon: In a Moment of Clarity, the Rebels Return
-- Mortiis: The Shadow's Soul Between Obscurity and Oblivion
-- Hate Eternal: 'Til Death Do Us Hate -- Eternally
-- The Kovenant: Changing the Face of Metal
-- Vital Remains: A Vital Conversation
-- Overkill: Classic Covers From Overkill
-- The Atomic Bitchwax: Of Electrons and Bikini Lines
* Album Asylum
-- Various - _21st Century Media Blitz Vol. 2_
-- Amon Amarth - _The Avenger_
-- ...And Oceans - _The Symmetry of I, the Circle of O_
-- Angel Corpse - _The Inexorable_
-- Angel Dust - _Bleed_
-- Bal-Sagoth - _The Power Cosmic_
-- Bewitched - _At the Gates of Hell_
-- Brimstone - _Carving a Crimson Career_
-- Brutal Truth - _Goodbye Cruel World!_
-- Cannibal Corpse  - _Bloodthirst_
-- Carcariass - _Sideral Torment_
-- Centurion - _Arise of the Empire_
-- Coalesce - _012: Revolution in Just Listening_
-- Cosmonks - _Out of the Ruins_
-- Damn 13 - _The Dynamite Gospel_
-- Danzig - _6:66 Satan's Child_
-- Deranged - _III_
-- Disarray - _A Lesson in Respect_
-- Engine - _Engine_
-- Entwine - _The Treasure Within Hearts_
-- Fireball Ministry - _Ou Est la Rock?_
-- Fiurach - _Chaospawner_
-- Forest of Impaled - _Demonvoid_
-- Genocide - _Breaking Point_
-- Konkhra - _Come Down Cold_
-- Mammoth Volume - _Mammoth Volume_
-- Mercyful Fate - _9_
-- Various - _Metal From Denmark...
              Reversing the Danish Underground 1999_
-- Metanoia - _Time to Die_
-- My Dying Bride - _The Light at the End of the World_
-- Various - _Never Give In: A Tribute to Bad Brains_
-- Nightstick - _Death to Music_
-- Old Grandad - _The Last Upper_
-- Opeth - _Still Life_
-- Overkill - _Coverkill_
-- Rammstein - _Live Aus Berlin_
-- Requiem Mass - _Shattered Destiny_
-- Sigh - _Scenario IV: Dread Dreams_
-- Stretch Arm Strong - _Rituals of Life_
-- Stuck Mojo - _HWY 1_
-- The Ember Tide - _The Ember Tide_
-- The Fallen - _Sector-7G_
-- The Kuntautcult - _From the Pits..._
-- Thunderhead - _Ugly Side_
-- Tiamat - _Skeleton Skeletron_
-- Type O Negative - _World Coming Down_
-- Vesperian Sorrow - _Beyond the Cursed Eclipse_
-- Warlord - _Rock the Foe Hammer_
-- Waste - _Therapy_
-- White Skull - _Tales From the North_
-- Zao - _Liberate Te Ex Inferis_
* New Noise
-- Capharnaum - _Plague of Spirits_
-- Kraken - _Dreams of a Greater Empire_
-- Masque of Innocence - _Take 0_
-- Merde - _Merde_
-- Opera - _Promo 1998_
-- Torak - _I Cracked the World_
* Chaotic Concerts
-- The Black Metal Opera Arriveth: Mortiis in Toronto
-- Armageddon With la Vierge de Fer: Iron Maiden in France
* What We Have Cranked
* Details

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

                      _____)
                    /       /) ,            ,      /)
                    )__   _(/   _/_ _____     _   //
                  /      (_(__(_(__(_)/ (__(_(_(_(/_
                 (_____)

                          by: Gino Filicetti


Hello loyal readers! I'll make this short and sweet, I wouldn't  want
to deprive you from this "over-overdue" issue.

I just want to apologize for the delay in  getting  this  issue  out.
This was originally supposed to be  a  November  issue,  but  certain
things stood in the way of me getting it out in  November.  The  long
and short of it is  that  first  semester  in  fourth  year  Computer
Engineering isn't the easiest of things to handle. I've been too busy
to even look at this issue until now. I hope you all understand.

Next month, we plan on bringing you what is sure to  be  the  biggest
and best Chronicles of Chaos ever. It will be our first issue of  the
new millenium and I promise it will blow your minds away.

So enjoy this issue and prepare yourselves for an even  bigger  beast
next month.

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

                 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: Tue, 12 Oct 1999
From: "Wayno -- (LINUX/NT/98)" <wayno@pobox.com>
Subject: Mortification

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

[See CoC #43]

As a Christian, I am always interested in what secular mags  have  to
say about Christian bands..

I've talked to a lot of kidz  about  this  particular  album  (  Both
Christian and NON-Christian) and this  seems  to  be  a  pretty  fair
appraisal of this album...Not one of their best...

I think Paul was very fair in his review of this  album,  and  did  a
good job reviewing this - please pass that back to him -  I  did  NOT
see an email addy anywhere..

Thanks

Wayno

[All of our staff's email addresses appear in the header at  the  top
of every issue. Paul's address is: saul@cwcom.net -- Gino]


Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999
From: Michel Buijsman <coc@blub.selwerd.cx>
Subject: Loud Letter: In Extremo, another review.

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

[See CoC #43]

Wow, what a truly objective piece of writing.

Seriously now. Fuck off, Bromley. If you're going to trash a band, at
least give some solid reasons why, instead of really helpful comments
like "pure crap" and "drunken imbeciles" and other cheap  shots  that
don't say anything about the band. What was it? Did the bagpipes  get
to you?

This band is one of those typical LOVE it or HATE  it  bands.  Either
you like the bagpipes and other folk stuff, or you don't.

I like them. Why? Because they're talented musicians who have  better
control of their musical instruments than a lot of other  bands  I've
seen. Another reason? Because a live show with these guys is  fucking
fun! You can say all you want, but it's still one of the better shows
I've seen.

Sure, they're not brilliant. Stuff like this has  been  done  before,
and will be done again. So what? There's hardly any band today  who's
really truly original. There are no deep lyrics, as far  as  I  know,
(My German isn't that great) but hey,  when  has  that  ever  stopped
anyone before?

Short version: Either you like bagpipes/folk stuff, or you don't.  If
you like that, there's a good chance you're going to  like  this.  If
you can't stand bagpipes and such, well, see Adrian's bit.

I like it. It's fun. I give them 8 out of 10.

PS. For those of you who want to make up their own minds  instead  of
    blindly trusting either Adrian or me, In Extremo have a  homepage
    with a realaudio sample. http://www.snafu.de/~tinosowada/ It's in
    German. You're looking for the "Auf die Ohren" link.

--
  Michel Buijsman                "Stop the Earth, I want to get off!"


Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999
From: Batis <bat_geor@mail.hol.gr>
Subject: About your review to Necrodeath

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

[See CoC #43]

I'm afraid that most data about this album in your review  is  wrong.
For the historical truth (and an expectance to correct your error  in
the next issue of Chronicles Of Chaos), I am sending you  info  about
this band and its releases, as it appears that the  reviewer  has  no
information about the band...

Necrodeath don't play retro-thrash. Necrodeath were created  in  '84,
and have been one of the most cult bands of Italy. Their  music  have
influenced many of the  modern  bands  of  extreme  Metal,  including
Cannibal Corpse, Immortal, Dimmu Borgir, At The Gates and many  other
bands that lead the extreme Metal scene of today.  Due  to  the  year
they were created, they belong in the real Thrash Metal scene of  the
'80s and are not a modern Metal band.

Necrodeath are by far original for their time. This album, "Into  The
Macabre" was created in '87 (limited LP of 500  copies)  and  another
one created in '89. Both albums staid in history, and Mayhem were one
of the first bands to recognise  the  talents  of  this  band.  Their
Black/Thrash sound was very original for the year it  was  originally
released. Though an underground band, it managed to become  a  legend
of Italy (and influenced the bands mentioned above).

After their second release, they split up (early '90s  I  think)  and
reunited again early this year. Scarlet decided to  re-release  their
legendary debut (the copy which you reviewed), so as to  promote  the
band, which will release a new album at the end of this year.

I  hope  that  you  either  re-publish  the  review,  with  corrected
information, or at least post my letter, because I always thought  of
Chronicles of Chaos being one of the best e-zines out there and  well
informed.

What Pedro Has to Say
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wrote my review based on a promo CD (nothing else), which I  didn't
even receive directly from Scarlet, who have never sent me  anything.
It had a 1999 release date and no info about being  a  re-release.  I
had no personal duty or interest whatsoever in reviewing  it,  but  I
did it anyway because it might be of interest for any CoC readers who
might want an opinion from one of us about the quality of the album.

In any case, regardless of whether Necrodeath are considered as metal
gods or a second rate band, my review is based on my opinion of  what
the CD is worth -- and not whether  they  are  legends  in  Italy  or
wherever else. Hence, my opinion wouldn't change because of that, and
the fact that the CD was recorded in 1987  doesn't  change  the  fact
that it is being re-released now and right now it sounds outdated and
unoriginal to me -- although competently written and performed --, as
I stated in my review. I wouldn't give it extra marks for having been
recorded a decade ago because it is being  re-released  now  and  I'm
reviewing it for today's potential buyers.

Regardless of all this, thank you for correcting me and  for  showing
interest in CoC.

     Pedro Azevedo


Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999
From: "Cream Of Anarchy Productions" <csarcher@hotmail.com>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters:  Cameron Archer Hates MSN Instant
         Messenger Guy

All right, let's get on with it:

1. 11777@email.msn.com said:

"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."

Okay. I run a website called the ZD PornoWeb,  right?  I've  reviewed
Korn and White Zombie on my site. So, according to  this  guy,  if  I
reviewed for CoC, I would be strung by my intestines  and  hung  like
the major-label dickhead I am. Do I really GIVE A FUCK? If I'm not to
review any major-label crap on my website because of the Evil  Empire
stigma attached to it, you know what? I'd have to weed out bands like
Entombed  (Earache/Columbia),  Godflesh  (again,   Earache/Columbia),
anyone  on  Roadrunner,  _all_  but  pre-1986  Slayer,  Morbid  Angel
(Ear...oh you get the idea), anyone presently on Metal Blade, and, of
course, I'd have to miss out on the Melvins  because  they  had  this
album called _Stoner Witch_ on Atlantic a few years ago. Look, buddy,
I don't care if you haven't sold out, but maybe the guys at  CoC  get
more free albums than you ever will. If _any_  reviewer  likes  Korn,
who fucking cares? As long as they're not paid to write a  review  of
Limp Dick-Shit by Fred Durst and  his  Flip  label,  CoC  can  review
anything they damn well want.

2. Thanks for that wonderful piece of shit  interview  with  Cannibal
Corpse. Here's Alex Webster trying to explain "Bloodthirst":

"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."

Notice how he says he wants to make a brutal death metal  record.  If
you REALLY wanted to make a brutal  death  metal  record,  maybe  you
should  stop  writing  inane  lyrics  and   playing   your   tiresome
riff-riff-riff-harmonic formula  and  try  to  write  something  new.
Akercocke is brutal, more brutal than  you,  and  THEY  dress  up  in
"Reservoir Dogs" gear. To them, Satan, sex, and blast beats are their
business, to  paraphrase  Megadeth.  (Of  course,  not  that  I  like
Megadeth, but...) Nile, Cryptopsy, Nasum...the list goes on.  I  hate
to say it, and fifteen million grind fans will want to  kick  my  ass
for this, but if CC were on a small label  like  Osmose,  instead  of
playing with the big boys of Metal Blade, no one would  give  a  shit
about their music, 'cause they'd be too busy trying to get out of the
underground to care about adhering to formula. Oh yeah, Iron  Maiden,
if you haven't noticed by now, Alex, has been sucking shit ever since
the mid-80s, when their formula got tired.

"I think a lot of death metal bands play it safe  when  it  comes  to
their images, music, lyrics and even band names."

Like Six Feet Under, you  one-track  minded  fuckhead.  (There  I  go
paraphrasing EC8OR.)

3. "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."

Gosh, Adrian! I wish _I_ could get that kind of support from  Century
Media! Why does he have to brag about this? I  solicit  reviews  from
the same people, and the only people who send me anything are  people
not on big labels like Century Media, but still decent enough to give
me some decent music. Oh, and Adrian? Iced Earth blows goat chunks.

4. Neurosis' "Times Of Grace" is a 1998 release, Bromley.

5. Finally, re Matthias Noll's review of Soilent Green's "Sewn  Mouth
Secrets": I respect why you couldn't get into this band, but at least
Soilent Green are listenable. I find almost  all  alt-rock  to  be  a
painful and irritating experience to listen to, but  that's  probably
just me.

Anyway, I leave you with this thought: If snakes evolved, and  became
humanoid creatures who could think and talk and do anything that  any
human could do, would that come into conflict with  God?  Would  that
state that the serpents of the world  are  more  Christian  than  the
people? Or would that mark the turning point in  the  coming  of  the
Apocalypse?

Well, you think about that while I go listen to some Slayer.

CAMERON ARCHER
http://www.nettoilet.com/users/theepisodes/
http://www.nettoilet.com/users/theepisodes/enter.html (no frames)
zdpornmail@coolmail.net

PS: If any band or label is reading this right now and is  interested
in sending me some shit, you know where to reach me.

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

       __ \                 | |
       |   |  _ \  _` |  _` | | |   |
       |   |  __/ (   | (   | | |   |
      ____/ \___|\__,_|\__,_|_|\__, |
                               ____/

                 __ \ _)       |
                 |   | |  _` | |  _ \   _` | |   |  _ \  __|
                 |   | | (   | | (   | (   | |   |  __/\__ \
                ____/ _|\__,_|_|\___/ \__, |\__,_|\___|____/
                                      |___/


               THE BRIDE RETURNS TO THE BLEAK RAINY MOORS
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            CoC chats with Andrew Craighan of My Dying Bride
                          by: Pedro Azevedo

     I assume most of you have seen one (or, most likely, several) of
your favourite bands more or less suddenly choosing a different path,
walking away from the elements and characteristics that made them one
of your favourite bands in the first place. Sometimes you  can  still
relate to the band after those changes and enjoy their music as  much
as you did before; some other times you can't. Most of you must  have
gone through that before. What you probably have never experienced is
seeing one such band starting to tread such a  path  away  from  what
made them special and then coming back, returning to what  they  used
to be and to what made them great in the first place. That's the case
with My Dying Bride these days. They are  returning.  MDB  have  been
plagued by line-up problems ever since  drummer  Rick  Myah  was  the
first to leave the band, and when keyboardist/violinist Martin Powell
departed many thought MDB would break up shortly  after.  Well,  they
didn't. Despite the  personal  disappointment  that  was  _34.788%...
Complete_ [CoC #35], I was encouraged by the rumours that _The  Light
at the End of the World_ [reviewed  in  this  issue]  would  be  very
different. But temporary drummer Bill Law left the  band  before  the
recording of _TLatEotW_, and so did one of the  original  guitarists,
Calvin Robertshaw. Under such circumstances was _The Light at the End
of the World_ written and recorded, and, in my opinion, it  is  MDB's
best album since _The Angel and the Dark River_. The following is  an
in-depth interview with guitarist Andrew Craighan; lengthy as it  is,
I am nevertheless quite sure it will provide a  very  satisfying  and
rewarding read for those of you who  have  albums  such  as  _As  the
Flower Withers_, _Turn Loose the Swans_ and _The Angel and  the  Dark
River_ amongst your favourites -- essentially, for those of  you  who
longed for the return of My Dying Bride.

CoC: So, how has life been going lately?

Andrew Craighan: Strange, to say the least.  It's  been  a  difficult
                 time for MDB, but I think we're coming out  of  that
                 and we're moving on. It's been bleak, to say the
                 least.

CoC: Because of Calvin's departure?

AC: A lot  of  things,  actually.  Calvin's  departure  didn't  help,
    especially coming so soon after -- I mean, it  was  a  couple  of
    years after Rick's [departure],  but  then,  with  Rick  leaving,
    initially, and then Martin leaving, and then Calvin as  well,  it
    was like, can this band suffer any more? To  be  honest,  we  got
    close to sort of calling it a day, but some people around me said
    "No, no; keep going", and I think we've gotten over the worst  of
    it and things are going to be alright again.

CoC: Talking about line-up changes, you have Shaun Steels [who played
     on Anathema's _Alternative 4_ after leaving  Solstice]  as  your
     new drummer now. Will he be staying on a  full-time  basis?  Are
     you happy with his work?

AC: Yes, well, the deal was that he was in a  sort  of  trial  basis,
    because of the upheavals with Bill and  this  kind  of  thing.  I
    wanted to make sure, before putting My Dying Bride back together,
    that the people I was working with were  the  right  people,  and
    Shaun seems like he is going to be the full-time replacement -- I
    have no problems with him whatsoever, his drumming  is  fantastic
    and his spirit and attitude for this kind of music is  second  to
    none; he really understands what we're trying to do. He's perfect
    for it as well, because he drums like a My Dying  Bride  drummer.
    Bill, unfortunately, I thought he was too square on the drums,  I
    would say; brilliant drummer nonetheless,  but  he  wouldn't  let
    things flow as much as I would like. Shaun is more in  line  with
    what My Dying Bride do, so I would have to  say  his  chances  of
    being kicked out are very, very slim indeed.

CoC: Of course Calvin's departure must have made quite  a  difference
     within the band...

AC: Instead of a few people -- normally all six of  us  wrote  music,
    but still, it meant  that  I  was  doing  everything  by  myself,
    because the other main songwriters weren't there  --  which  were
    obviously Martin  and  Calvin.  Adrian  [Jackson,  bassist]  gets
    involved as well, I suppose, but it was  generally  those  three,
    with Martin doing a little bit  less.  So  it  was  difficult  at
    first, because to be perfectly honest  I  was  unsure  whether  I
    could do it on my own, being so  used  to  working  with  another
    guitar player. It was a challenge, a challenging  time  as  well,
    but I think I've improved myself now, so it's not such a problem.

CoC: What can you tell me about the reasons for Calvin's departure?

AC: It became too difficult for him to continue. If you lose faith in
    what you're doing, which I think happened to him, and you see  no
    point in continuing... He got to a stage in his life where he had
    different ideas about his life -- nothing to do with the band, to
    be honest --, about what he should be doing, and the band  didn't
    really make that much sense to him anymore. So he left the  band,
    and we said to him "OK, you take as much time out as you need" --
    we just thought he needed a break, because  on  _34.788%_  [which
    Andrew simply calls "34" --Pedro], he was really put to the  wall
    on that one, and it was hard work for him, because he did most of
    the recording. We wrote the LP together,  but  when  it  came  to
    recording, he really carried the burden there.  And  I  think  it
    took its toll on him, and after that LP he never really  had  the
    fire to do another LP. It was difficult to convince him  that  no
    matter what's happening in your life, the band is an  outlet,  an
    escape; he couldn't see it. I  think  the  fire  just  went  out,
    basically, the passion to do this kind  of  music  left  him  and
    there was nothing we could do. We're still very good friends,  in
    fact I'm seeing him this evening.  We  still  talk,  discuss  the
    band, I still treat him  as  the  other  guitar  player  in  some
    respects. A lot of things I'm not in my place  to  discuss  about
    his life and there's a lot of things I can't talk about, but from
    the band side that was it, really; he lost, not interest as such,
    but he had more pressing things to sort out.

CoC: You mentioned you were unsure whether you could handle  all  the
     work on your own; how has the band been working now? How was the
     writing process for _TLatEotW_, now that for the first time  you
     were the only guitarist?

AC: It was strange, because normally you have an idea, get the  drums
    on it, play around and then the other guitar  player  would  play
    the same thing; we would work on a  harmony  or  something  along
    those lines. I don't like to use the four-track because it  makes
    the sound stale, so I played it live  and  then  worked  out  the
    harmonies without the other sound there. On some other stuff that
    I couldn't do simply on my own, I have a friend who used to be in
    a band called Septic Holocaust, a friend of mine called Phil, and
    I dragged him in here to do metal -- he doesn't like this kind of
    thing, but he did it because he's a good friend of mine. I  asked
    him if he would play the guitar lines that  I  had  written,  and
    then I could write the other guitar line at the side of it. So he
    came down and helped me on  this  kind  of  thing,  just  playing
    things that I had already written so that I could write the other
    side of it. For some of it I waited until the studio; I had rough
    ideas of what I wanted to do, I sort of  had  the  bones  of  the
    songs, and I waited until we got to the studio, and when I  could
    hear it properly and think about  what  I  wanted  to  do  I  put
    harmonies and other guitar lines alongside in the studio. Some of
    it was sort of written live in the studio. It's  good  that  way,
    MDB have always had that element. I remember on  _The  Angel  and
    the Dark River_, "The Cry of Mankind" was not finished until  the
    studio; I didn't write my guitar line until then.

CoC: I suppose you don't mean the [repetitive] background guitar
line?

AC: No, that was the main guitar, the guitar that starts  that  song,
    the arpeggio that Calvin does -- or used to do. That was what  we
    had: we had the vocals, we had that guitar line, we had the drums
    and the bass. The other guitar line, the heavier guitar line, was
    non-existent. I had some ideas, but again we have great faith  in
    Academy Studio, we know that there's a feeling when we get  there
    that it's going to be OK, so there was no problem, we  got  there
    and we just wrote it there.

CoC: Academy must be like home for you by now...

AC: <laughs> It is very much so, yeah... Considering  the  amount  of
    time we spend there, it's more than my home.

CoC: I heard you  already  have  a  new  guitar  player,  who  didn't
     participate in the recording of _The Light at  the  End  of  the
     World_.

AC: It's the same kind of deal as with  Shaun.  His  name  is  Hamish
    Glencross. He's a  very  good  guitar  player,  excellent  guitar
    player; he's been in a few bands in Bradford, I've known him  for
    quite some time. The LP is going to be released soon --  November
    the eighth, I think --, next year we will be touring this  LP  --
    Europe, mainly --, and he's been drafted in to do the  tour.  But
    we've been writing some new material already, to see  how  things
    go, and it sounds very much like My Dying Bride again, it's  like
    a rejuvenated band. So the chances of him joining are  very  high
    indeed, but at the moment I want to go on tour with these  people
    and see how they react on tour before I  make  any  decisions.  I
    can't afford it to go wrong again, if you know what  I  mean,  so
    I'm being extra careful now.

CoC: What kind of contribution, what kind of influence, direction and
     style do you think he will bring into the band?

AC: I don't know; if it's different, it'll be good, because  I'm  not
    bothered about difference.

CoC: But is his musical background  similar  to  yours  or  something
     completely different?

AC: No, no, he's from a doom background, predominantly, but he  wants
    to play more epic-style music. [I didn't know this at  the  time,
    but Hamish was previously a member of Solstice,  another  British
    doom band (of which current MDB drummer  Shaun  Steels  was  once
    also a member). --Pedro] He's been a fan of  the  band  for  some
    time and he snapped at the chance of working with us. Like I said
    earlier, we started sort of playing around  and  it  sounds  very
    much like My Dying Bride straight away, because he is  very  much
    in the same frame of mind as us about how My Dying  Bride  should
    sound, so it should be good.

CoC: Looking at _34.788%_ and _TLatEotW_, as far as music, lyrics and
     artwork are concerned, all three elements seem to have travelled
     in the same direction, back to a doomier style.  Do  you  agree?
     What was it that made this happen?

AC: I agree, absolutely. I personally like  epic  darkness,  if  that
    makes any sense. I like the idea of absolute misery and the  idea
    of despair in music. I'm in a  fortunate  position  where  I  can
    actually attempt to get these feelings  into  music,  so  I  try,
    basically. I don't think I've quite come up with it yet, but  I'm
    getting there. So I try to put this into music. With _34.788%_, I
    wasn't in complete control of  the  writing,  because  there  was
    other people there, another guitar  player,  etc.,  and  we  were
    democratic. With this LP [_TLatEotW_], I  was  doing  just  about
    everything when it came to the music, and I basically said to the
    others "I'm going this way: I want it bleak, I want  it  dark,  I
    want misery." I just asked Aaron [Stainthorpe,  vocalist]  to  go
    back to the old style, go and look for the mystery that My  Dying
    Bride once had, because I missed it, to be honest. I  think  that
    if I wasn't in this band, I would like this band a lot, so I just
    tried to recreate the ideas that made us put this  band  together
    in the beginning -- to create the most doomy,  gloomy,  the  most
    epic misery on record ever, this is what we attempted to do. Now,
    through the course of time, record labels always put pressure  on
    you, any band will tell you this; and we came to the point  where
    they could not possibly put any more pressure on us,  because  we
    had nothing to lose, the band was either  going  to  work  or  it
    wasn't -- so I just did what I wanted to  do,  and  that  was  to
    write miserable music as best I knew how.

CoC: I think it's very good, the new album, I like it  a  lot  better
     than what you were doing, the style and kind of music  you  were
     doing on _34.788%_ -- personally, because I'm really into
     doom...

AC: Yeah, this is just what I'm into, and I'm in a position now where
    I have a chance to do it and see what it could sound like, and  I
    just did. So far, a lot of people are glad,  in  a  way,  because
    people had forgotten about this kind of music,  all  those  bands
    that were doing it have moved on, and I decided that  progression
    is OK, but I'm going to do -this-, fuck it. <laughs>

CoC: Yeah, I mean, you can  still  definitely  progress  within  that
     style, you don't have to become softer or less doomy in order to
     progress.

AC: No... it's definitely heavy, I like heavy also.

CoC: I can actually see elements of every previous album of yours  on
     _TLatEotW_, except basically _34.788%_ -- I mean,  there's  even
     some stuff that reminds me of your earliest music sometimes, and
     of  course  elements  from  your  other   albums   abound,   but
     _TLatEotW_, in my opinion, ends up  reinforcing  the  idea  that
     _34.788%_ was a bit of a one-off, almost non-MDB, kind of album;
     what are your thoughts on that?

AC: In a sense... I can understand what you're saying, but  _34.788%_
    had to be done, and it had to be done in that way, because that's
    how the band was at that time. That's how  the  band  sounded  at
    that time, with Bill,  the  drummer,  who,  as  I  said  earlier,
    squared everything off, and Calvin, the way he was  mentally  and
    physically, this kind of thing. The  band  was  going  through  a
    really tough time as well; we were having trouble with the record
    label -- which all the bands go through, it's just something  you
    have to live with -- and that reflected in the  band,  so  morale
    was very low. You can see the transformation  simply  because  on
    this LP all those people that needed to go went, and  the  people
    that were left were the people who wanted to play  this  kind  of
    music -- basically it was me, Adrian  and  Aaron,  reinforced  by
    Shaun. And Shaun was a great help, simply on an enthusiasm level,
    because  he  understood  what  we  were  trying  to  do,  and  he
    understood that  we  were  looking  for  bleak  and...  it's  not
    something you can put into words, to be honest, it's an image  in
    your mind, almost like the moors,  the  wind  and  the  rain.  [I
    entirely agree. Definitely. --Pedro] This imagery -- when  I  say
    this is what I want the band to look like, this is  what  I  want
    the sounds to feel like, let's fucking do it, why  not?  It  felt
    right again, so we went away and  looked  for  this.  I  honestly
    think we've come  pretty  close;  I  know  it's  not  100%  [It's
    certainly a -lot-  more  than  34.788%  in  my  opinion,  though.
    --Pedro], and I hope I'll never find it, because this way  I  can
    keep looking.

CoC: When I talked to Aaron about a year ago [CoC #35], I  asked  him
     about something which I believe you mentioned a while ago, which
     is the essence of My Dying Bride, My Dying Bride as  an  entity,
     and I felt that with _34.788%_ you left that a bit  behind...  I
     mean, besides the music, even the artwork and lyrics...

AC: Yeah... I know why I did the LP, I can understand why we did  it,
    but I also understand entirely what you're saying, because that's
    what I think now, and we won't do that again, simply because it's
    not really true My Dying Bride. I mean, within  My  Dying  Bride,
    the actual personnel can change, but the  name  and  the  imagery
    will always be the same, and the people who'll  work  under  that
    umbrella should always strive for this. I think we got  a  little
    bit lost there, things became a little bit wayward;  we  couldn't
    really concentrate on what we were doing, to be  honest,  and  it
    was a really difficult time -- I can't  even  go  into  what  was
    happening behind the scenes, but it was  a  difficult  time.  The
    fact that we managed to make an LP at all stands testament to the
    strength of the people at that time, it really does.  The  people
    just see the LP, look at the album,  hear  the  songs  and  think
    that's not fucking My  Dying  Bride,  but  if  they  could  truly
    understand what was happening at the time, they might  still  not
    like the record -- that's fair enough --, but they would at least
    say that considering all that, it's not so bad. But  now  we  can
    concentrate again on what My  Dying  Bride  should  be,  and  the
    result is vastly different, as you can hear.

CoC: As you were saying, many fans frowned at the direction you  were
     taking with _34.788%_. How much  of  an  impact  did  that  have
     within the band?

AC: These are the people that make it worthwhile -- when you play the
    songs, if someone comes up to you and says "I think  this  LP  is
    fucking brilliant", it's made all the hard work worthwhile. So to
    hear people say "I don't like this, I think it's  shit,  I  don't
    like the style, I'm not going to bother with them if this is  how
    they are", it doesn't hurt as much, but it's  sad  to  hear.  But
    again, I'm not stupid enough to think "Ah, fuck 'em", you know, I
    can understand perfectly why they may have disliked this LP,  but
    they don't fully understand how it was made, why it was made.  In
    all honesty, I think if that LP hadn't been done, there would  be
    no My Dying Bride now. So for those who think that  it's  not  so
    good, at least that LP formed the nucleus and gave us enough time
    and strength to carry on, because it was a really tough  time,  I
    can assure you. Well, they don't see everything,  which  is  fair
    enough, because they shouldn't see everything. But the fact  that
    we came through it and are carrying on in a more traditional  and
    more positive way is a testament to this band.

CoC: The lyrics have also changed, pretty much like the music  itself
     did; I was wondering  if  you  noticed  whether  Aaron  had  any
     trouble finding inspiration for the new album's lyrics, since he
     is known to have occasionally had such trouble in past albums.

AC: I think that because we had the same  goals  with  this  LP,  and
    because this is familiar ground for us, this  kind  of  sound  --
    well, not necessarily the sound, I  think  the  sound  is  better
    again, you know, the shape of  the  songs  --,  so  it's  not  so
    difficult for him. I know he has struggled in the past, but  this
    time we all had a set goal, we had an idea, the imagery; I  sowed
    the seed of what My Dying Bride should be like, what we should be
    attempting to do. I said "Just step back, we don't need  to  keep
    pushing forward and trying new things, we've done that for years;
    it's OK, but let's just sit back and do what we know best,  which
    is this kind of music. We don't do anything else as good as this,
    so why bother?" So I thought we should go back to the old  style,
    not  necessarily  back  into  Latin   and   the   straightforward
    Shakespearean sort of style -- as much as I do like it, it can be
    a little bit confusing for the reader, I mean something in  there
    and thereabout. As far as I know, he had no trouble falling  back
    into that mould, and once he got going, things really  did  flow.
    The lyrics, to be perfectly honest, were overwhelming, because he
    had so much that we had to chop most of them out. He was  writing
    and writing... I think we found the vein again and he was  really
    going for it. So it wasn't difficult at all this time,  there  is
    some very good stuff in there. I am, strangely enough, not a very
    big fan of Aaron's lyrics <laughs>, but these do inspire me quite
    a bit.

CoC: I was wondering about the concept of _TLatEotW_; I think  that's
     quite a thought-provoking title. What does it mean to you?

AC: That's a fucking good question. <we both laugh> No, it's  a  love
    song, basically. How a man  would  condemn  himself  to  internal
    loneliness for one more night  with  his  lover.  It's  basically
    around that. It's a sad song, a very sad song about a man who  is
    very much in love and his girl is away, but he's willing to  risk
    everything for her.

CoC: Something that really surprised me when I looked  at  the  album
     cover was that you used  your  old  logo  again,  something  you
     hadn't done ever since _Turn Loose the Swans_. I can  understand
     the decision, considering the way your music  changed,  but  you
     really wanted to make a statement with that, didn't you?

AC: Yeah, definitely. It was one of the first things -- when it  came
    to be that I was going to be writing the music, I thought that  I
    like old MDB, I like the way it looked, and the first  thing  was
    that the old logo would come back. Everybody said  yes.  I  think
    people forgot about the band, to be honest, about this logo,  and
    that logo -is- My Dying Bride to me, it's always been  the  logo,
    even though we've very rarely used it. And it is a  statement  to
    say that we're back, really, that we're back on track.

CoC: Another thing that I found especially remarkable  was  the  fact
     that you decided to do a third  version  of  "Sear  Me"  <Andrew
     chuckles>, which, in my opinion, turned out brilliant, and I had
     already been blown away by  the  second  version  when  I  first
     listened to _Turn Loose the Swans_...

AC: We intend to have a full LP of "Sear Me"s in the future. <we both
    laugh  out  loud>  Well,  if  we  carry  on,  I'm  sure  it's   a
    possibility... <we laugh again>

CoC: Well, but seriously, what made you think of going back  to  such
     an old track and make a third version of it?

AC: Again, it's  a  statement,  because  "Sear  Me"  is  one  of  our
    favourite songs, still now. [The original "Sear Me"  that  Andrew
    is referring to is part of MDB's 1992 debut full-length  _As  the
    Flower Withers_. --Pedro] That song and "Turn Loose  the  Swans",
    that particular song [not _TLtS_, the album], those two,  really,
    for most of this band, epitomise what My Dying Bride can do. When
    we do connect properly with what we're attempting to  do,  that's
    what we get. We've always toyed with the idea -- "Sear Me" is one
    of those songs which we may not do on the next LP, but we'll have
    a thought about it on the one after, etc. -- and I  thought  it's
    time. It's been out a long time... I  basically  just  wanted  to
    bring back My Dying Bride, the old My Dying Bride, because I like
    it. And "Sear Me" was part of that, so to do another  one  was  a
    daunting prospect. We did actually toy  with  the  idea,  at  one
    point, of doing a brand new "Forever People" [also from  _As  the
    Flower Withers_], but the LP was becoming so long that it  wasn't
    working, so we had to leave that out. [_The Light at the  End  of
    the World_ is 71 minutes  long,  with  basically  no  atmospheric
    interludes or anything of that ilk. --Pedro]

CoC: Still, "The Fever Sea" [_TLatEotW_'s fifth track] reminded me of
     "The Forever People"...

AC: It is, it's  a  modern  day  "Forever  People".  This  was  again
    deliberate. The song wrote itself, if that makes  any  sense.  We
    were just jamming one night, Adrian came with this riff and  then
    the guitar came in and we just blasted  through  it  and  thought
    "Well, that's very short and very fast -- we'll keep  that!"  <we
    both laugh> The song came from nowhere and we decided to work  on
    it and make it workable. Again, it's very much like old MDB, when
    we had the epic doom songs and then a quick burst of energy  just
    to break things up, and then back  on.  And  on  "Sear  Me  III",
    incidentally -- this should be mentioned --, the left hand guitar
    is played by Calvin. The right hand side guitar is played by  me,
    but Calvin Robertshaw came in, I asked him especially to come in,
    and played the left hand guitar. It's not been widely publicised,
    not for any real reason, but I'm sure it needs  mentioning,  just
    for the old fans, that Calvin is on this LP.

CoC: Changing the subject now, what bands or musical styles have  you
     been enjoying the most lately?

AC: Opeth. <chuckles> My girlfriend's a big fan of theirs and she got
    me into them, and I think they're great, I have  to  admit.  I've
    been listening to a bit of Paradise Lost as well, recently, which
    is something I thought I'd dig up and have a listen to, and  they
    still sound great. What else? Bal Sagoth, their new one's fucking
    brilliant. I got a promo recently, and that  is  fucking  insane,
    it's brilliant music. And Emperor, I'm  a  big  fan  of  Emperor.
    _Panzer Division Marduk_ is fucking brilliant music as well, it's
    insane... <laughs> It's just fucking mental, and the music is  so
    well played it's got to be taken seriously, it's brilliant.

CoC: What are your thoughts on the current state of  the  doom  metal
     scene and the metal scene in general?

AC: Well, I'm not sure if there is a doom  metal  scene  as  such,  I
    think the only people into it are in bands...

CoC: Not quite, I'm not in a band, so...

AC: <laughs> To be perfectly honest, the scene is  saturated  with  a
    lot of crap bands now. I'm not trying to have a go at anybody  --
    I'm not having a go at anybody, in fact --,  but  it's  difficult
    now, because there's so many  bands,  all  with  names  that  you
    cannot pronounce and you cannot read...  It's  good,  in  a  way,
    because it means there's a lot of people  there,  but  the  scene
    itself is a  little  bit  stagnated,  and  something  new  should
    happen. It's time for change again, I think. Death metal came and
    went, that was a fantastic time. Black metal is still  very  much
    here, but I think it's running its course, as all things do.  The
    skin on our particular sort of metal needs to be shed  again  and
    something new needs to come from it.

CoC: What do you think that might be?

AC: If I could predict that, I'd be doing it now.  <laughs>  I  don't
    know, I'm not really bothered as long as it's  played  by  people
    who are actually playing the music. It's impossible  to  predict,
    but I do feel that something's changing, and that's a good thing,
    because it's time again.

CoC: Going back several months to the departure of Martin Powell,  do
     you think that his violin and  keyboard  work  might  have  been
     useful in this doomier _TLatEotW_?

AC: No, I deliberately did not put any violin on this LP,  and  there
    was obviously none on the last LP, because he'd just left and  we
    thought it was time for change. The violin, honestly, became more
    of a shackle, rather than a tool for expression. It was good that
    we left it, because at the end of the day it's just a sound, it's
    just a tool to create an emotion, and  we  can  do  that  on  the
    keyboards; we're not afraid to do that on the keyboards. I know a
    violin player who's ready to do it, but I  think  it's  time  for
    change; I'm not prepared to take violins on tour, it's  something
    we can do without. Johnny Maudling from Bal Sagoth will be  doing
    keyboards, because he played keyboards on  _TLatEotW_,  and  he's
    more than willing to tour with us, so we don't need  it  anymore.
    It was good when we had it, but it's not something I'm  going  to
    repeat.

CoC: Why have My Dying Bride never used a cello  in  their  music?  I
     think that could sound great.

AC: I think we did use a cello on the first LP, on "The Return of the
    Beautiful".

CoC: So why don't you use one now?

AC: <laughs> Well, while we were  in  the  studio,  Shaun  was  going
    "Cellos, cellos, let's  have  cellos",  because  they  are,  when
    played correctly, -misery-. Don't think we're not trying  to  use
    cellos, because  we  are.  We  did  try,  and  they'd  get  lost,
    literally, because the sound is so thick on the guitars, it  just
    sounds like a very bad cello. We'd take everything else  out  and
    just leave the cello -- which is a full, rich instrument --,  but
    it unfortunately just doesn't work with the guitars that we want,
    because I like heaviness, a big sound, crunchy, and when you  put
    a cello on top... We could do it, but it just didn't sound right,
    and if something's not 100% on  straight  away...  We  tried  it,
    because we wanted them and Shaun was  very  much  into  having  a
    cello on the LP -- as we were, but Shaun in particular --, but it
    just didn't sound right, it wasn't worth risking.

CoC: Changing subject again, and although I know  that  this  doesn't
     directly concern you, I'd like to know what  you  think  of  the
     latest developments in Anathema's career  and  especially  their
     signing for Music For Nations,  leaving  Peaceville  behind,  as
     Anathema and MDB used to be really close to each other from  the
     fans' point of view, even though that might not be the  case  in
     reality <Andrew laughs loudly>, because that's  what  I've  been
     told by both bands, and now you're quite far apart musically and
     not even on the same label anymore.

AC: We are friends, though, I can categorically say  this.  In  fact,
    today I was talking to Vinny  [Cavanagh,  Anathema  vocalist  and
    guitarist] in a place in Bradford, so  it's  not  like  cats  and
    dogs. It's a bit of fun, to be honest, we just like to have a  go
    at each other. But it doesn't really affect me at all, what  they
    have done. It makes no difference whatsoever to us at  all.  They
    obviously have their reasons for doing  this;  I'm  not  entirely
    sure what they are. But it's got to be good for them, and at  the
    end of the day Music For Nations are officially the mother  label
    [of Peaceville], so it's up to them. I wish them well,  but  it's
    not something we'll be doing in the near future.

CoC: Did you like their latest album [_Judgement_]?

AC: I don't listen to Anathema,  they're  not  heavy  enough  for  me
    anymore.

CoC: Emotionally, their music is still pretty heavy...

AC: Yeah, I saw them live in Bradford, and to be honest I  did  think
    they were excellent live, executed brilliantly. And it was  good,
    I have to admit, I was quite surprised at what they  were  doing.
    But for me, I just like a little bit of  punch.  But  the  people
    that were there obviously didn't feel my sentiments, because they
    were well into it.

CoC: Well, you already talked about Opeth, but I was going to ask you
     your opinion about Opeth and Katatonia, since they are  the  two
     newcomers to the Peaceville roster...

AC: It's good; it's good for me on a financial level, because  I  can
    get their LPs for free now. <we both laugh> So that's  fantastic.
    Katatonia, I've always kept in touch with them. I  remember  when
    they were really doomy and they sounded more like  Paradise  Lost
    and MDB than Paradise Lost and MDB did, _Dance of December Souls_
    and this kind of thing. [Andrew must be mistaken here,  I  think,
    since _Dance  of  December  Souls_  really  sounds  nothing  like
    Paradise Lost or  MDB,  in  my  opinion.  --Pedro]  I  was  quite
    surprised to hear _Brave Murder Day_, which was the real changing
    point. It was good, I enjoyed it very much, and  right  up  until
    the latest one. To be honest with you, I've had so much new music
    I haven't listened to _Tonight's  Decision_  [Katatonia's  latest
    album, reviewed in CoC #42] all that much, but I'm sure that I'll
    like it. I have paid a little bit more  attention  to  the  Opeth
    one, though; of the two, they're my favourites.

CoC: Do you think there is any chance you might tour with  either  of
     them, now that you're on the same label?

AC: You never say no, but at the moment the  person  at  the  touring
    company that puts our gigs together is looking for the best deals
    he can get for My Dying Bride at this  time.  He  doesn't  really
    know Opeth any differently, doesn't know  Katatonia,  but  I  did
    mention to him that if he can put something together  with  Opeth
    and My Dying Bride, I  would  personally  like  that  very  much,
    because I like this band a lot.  I  think  it  would  be  a  good
    package, but at the end of the day I would be  thinking  with  my
    heart -- "I like this band, let's go  with  them"  --,  while  he
    thinks from a more financial point of view,  a  little  bit  more
    business-like. Well, no, a -lot- more business-like.

CoC: Well, My Dying Bride with Opeth would be  a  great  concert  for
     me...

AC: You're not the only person who has said that. As  it  happens,  I
    like the band anyway, but everybody seems to think it would be  a
    winner. I've not given up and I'm still putting in a good word in
    there for them. But I don't know, we may even end  up  supporting
    ourselves, depending on  how  things  go.  You  can  never  tell.
    Touring really is the strangest part of being in a band,  because
    one minute everything  is  confirmed  and  the  next  nothing  is
    happening after all. So it's an impossible beast to  predict,  it
    really is -- it's a nightmare. The gigs, as far as I'm concerned,
    aren't official until we finish them.

CoC: I suppose you can't really answer me yet, but I  still  have  to
     ask if there's any chance you'll be playing in Portugal  anytime
     soon.

AC: There is a big chance. In Europe, the metal scene  was  dominated
    by Germany for many years, and that's simply not  the  case  now.
    It's spread out to places like Italy, Spain and Portugal,  where,
    to be honest, bands like  us  a  couple  of  years  ago  wouldn't
    normally go and now are more than happy to go, because  the  gigs
    are going to be worth playing, there's going to be  quite  a  few
    people there and that's why we do it -- to go and play to  people
    who want to see us. We played Portugal with Iron Maiden [back  in
    the _The Angel and the Dark  River_  days],  but  I  don't  think
    anyone was paying attention to us. I remember Portugal very well,
    it was a very good show and we liked the whole feel we  got  from
    it, so if Portugal is mentioned nobody will say "No, let's not go
    there", they'll say "Yes, that was a good show,  let's  get  back
    there as soon as possible."

CoC: And what about touring the USA? There's always  a  lot  of  talk
     about whether European bands will tour the USA or not; will  you
     be doing that this time?

AC: Probably not. The chances are very slim. This LP is not going  to
    be released over there; there's  no  license  out  there  at  the
    moment, so this is part of the problem we're having. There's very
    little  point  and  very  little  chance  of  doing  it,  because
    obviously the money has to come from somewhere  and  it's  highly
    unlikely that the record label will want to pay for six to  eight
    people to fly to America and tour it when the LP is not going  to
    be released there.

CoC: I didn't know that. Still, what can be  expected  of  your  next
     live shows as far as the selection of songs  is  concerned?  Any
     idea yet?

AC: Yes, I've got the vast majority of them decided. It's  a  lot  of
    older stuff, just one song from _34.788%_ --  "Under  Your  Wings 
    and Into Your Arms", the last one, the quick  one,  I  like  that 
    song a lot and it sounds pretty good as well. We're doing a  good 
    selection of _The Light at the End of the World_, because we like 
    this LP  a  lot.  We're going to be doing off that  "She  Is  the 
    Dark", "The Light at the End of  the  World",  "The  Fever  Sea",  
    "Christliar" and "Sear Me  III".  "Christliar"  is  a  particular 
    favourite of mine, I  think  that's  a  fucking  brilliant  song.  
    We're definitely doing "Turn Loose the Swans",  we're  definitely 
    doing "The Cry of Mankind" [from _The Angel and the Dark  River_],
    we're definitely doing "The Forever People" [from _As the  Flower  
    Withers_]... what else...

CoC: Will you be using "The Forever People" as concert finisher?

AC: It's still in the air, that one; it's  near  the  end,  but  "The
    Fever Sea" is in there now, so  we  don't  know  yet.  We've  got
    plenty of time to pick and choose; I'm not entirely sure  of  the
    order just yet. There's a couple  more  that  we're  thinking  of
    bringing back, possibly "The Snow in My Hand" [from  _Turn  Loose
    the Swans_], we haven't done that one in a long time.

CoC: Excellent song.

AC: Yeah, we've been rehearsing that one, and it  sounds  good.  It's
    amazing, I forgot how good these songs were to play.

CoC: I never saw you live, but I have the _For  Darkest  Eyes_  video
     tape with the Polish concert and it was a great concert  --  the
     audience was really involved, I think you played brilliantly and
     the song selection was great for me.

AC: Thanks a lot...

CoC: Finally, I would just like to know some more details about  your
     plans for the future of My Dying Bride. Do  you  think  you  can
     still evolve  within  this  style,  towards  even  darker,  more
     miserable music?

AC: Yes, there is space there to do it. We've been playing with  some
    new ideas just a couple of nights ago and there -is-  room;  it's
    going to be darker, the next one.

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

              IN A MOMENT OF CLARITY, THE REBELS RETURN
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               CoC talks to Satyr of Satyricon (again)
                          by: Paul Schwarz

     Some of you may recall CoC  featuring  Satyricon  back  in  #38.
Then, _Rebel Extravaganza_ was but a speck  on  the  musical  horizon
scheduled for completion and subsequent  release  when  the  heat  of
Summer  would  be  fading  into  memory  and  the  cold   of   Autumn
approaching. It is somehow appropriate that _Rebel Extravaganza_  was
unleashed as one season was at the point of turning into another, for
it marks not only a new direction for the band but, I would certainly
argue, a new era  in  black  metal.  A  bold  statement?  Maybe,  but
certainly if such statements can ever be justified, then they can  be
justified in the case of  Satyricon.  You  can  decide  for  yourself
whether you agree with me about  _Rebel  Extravaganza_,  and  in  the
meantime, if you are interested in the ideas behind it  or  just  the
life that the members of Satyricon  lead,  you  can  check  out  this
interview. I hope it answers your questions, or  at  least  questions
your preconceived answers.

CoC: How are you doing?

Satyr: Well, it could have been better, because there has been a  lot
       of stress. In order to save money, Nuclear Blast has  sent  us
       around Europe with some sort of travel agency, so  we  had  to
       get up at five o'clock this morning to catch  the  plane,  and
       everything was extremely delayed. And on  top  of  that,  they
       didn't manage to get Frost's luggage on the  aircraft,  so  we
       don't know where that's at, and then we came here and it's  an
       extremely nice office they've got. They showed  us  their  new
       band room and that's really cool and  then  they  put  up  the
       phones to do the interviews and just said,  "You  can't  smoke
       here". And I said, "Are you serious  this  is  a  heavy  metal
       label?  And  this  is  the  band  room  and  you  can't  smoke
       cigarettes in here?" And they said no.  And  I  said  I  would
       anyway, but they said they were serious, so, it seems, I
       can't.

CoC:  When  we  talked  before  you   mentioned   that   for   _Rebel
     Extravaganza_ you'd be using a lot  of  other  players  for  the
     album -- different contributors. I was wondering how  well  that
     worked out in the end in terms of the results.

S: I was very happy with it. I mean, what I've always said about  the
   contributions those people made is that none of  them  really  did
   that much because they really just  did  the  odd  riff  here  and
   there, but the small things they did were very important  for  the
   totality of the album. I mean, Fenris only  played  tambourine  on
   one riff, and we had SW from Thorns just doing some  extra  guitar
   in the odd place here and there, but it's  often  like  that;  all
   those small things. So I was really happy with that.

CoC: The hidden "intro" at the beginning of the album, is  that  what
     Grotsky  [Apotygma   Bezerk   (thanks   again,   Josh)   --Paul]
     contributed?

S: No. That's not really a hidden intro; what  it  is,  is  the  song
   "Down South, Up North". The thing is when we did "Down  South,  Up
   North" -- which is like the ninth track on the album  --,  when  I
   started listening to the songs and picking the order and all that,
   I just thought to myself that there was a sort of,  how  should  I
   put it?, destruction.

CoC: You mean by having "Down South, Up North" as the ninth track?

S: Yeah. It was something that broke the continuous  feeling  that  I
   wanted. And at the same time I didn't want to just  put  it  away,
   because I was happy with the way it turned out; it just didn't fit
   in with my idea of the continuous feeling of the album. So what we
   did was just take that little part and make it some sort  of,  how
   do you call it?, interlude, or something like that,  and  we  just
   put the song in front instead of after the songs, because  putting
   it after the songs is so dull.

CoC: So the ninth track is now a different intro?

S: No, track number nine is just an excerpt from "DS,UN". It has just
   been taken out of the song, really, cut out and pasted into a  new
   place. So it is exactly the same.

CoC: Personally, I felt that there's quite  an  interesting  raw  and
     bare  approach  to  _Rebel  Extravaganza_.  It  is   almost   an
     industrial approach, I'd say, in terms of the structure  of  the
     album...

S: Very primal.

CoC: Yeah, but it is played in what I'd call a black metal  style.  I
     was wondering if this was a feel you were -intending- to get?

S: Yeah. I mean, the fans and the press have been saying  that  we're
   becoming an industrial  band.  We  always  felt  like  we  were  a
   progressive black metal band and that part of being progressive is
   adding new elements to the music. This time around I felt that the
   next step should be something a bit more fresh and modern and  one
   of the things we did was  that  we  basically  stopped  using  the
   old-fashioned keyboards and started working on this whole analogue
   sense instead. In the past, we usually, if we felt  something  was
   missing -- something which  we  couldn't  put  our  finger  on  or
   something else --, we would try with a synthesiser, and this  time
   we tried either with adding more guitar -- or with  weird  effects
   on the guitars and stuff like that -- or  we  tried  working  with
   samples  or  sound  effects,  whatever.  Just   another   way   of
   approaching things. So, to me, this is very, very black metal, but
   it's got that fresh and modern spice  to  it.  And  that  was  the
   intention from the start. It is also obviously very  important  to
   us to do something which  is  challenging  for  ourselves.  It  is
   really boring to do the same thing all over again.

CoC: Unfortunately I only have a promo with no lyrics sheet, so could
     you tell me about the kind of  lyrics  you've  written  for  the
     album, the themes you've concentrated on?  Because  one  of  the
     things I've  noticed,  and  a  couple  of  people  I  know  have
     mentioned, is that you actually have swearing on _RE_, which you
     seem to have used pretty  effectively,  but  that  is  a  slight
     difference and I think the lyrical themes are a little bit  more
     modern and maybe even slightly urban, though I'm not sure  about
     that.

S: The English have been saying that,  actually.  It's  only  English
   people who've mentioned both the swearing and  the  urban  themes.
   There might be some truth to that; if you listen to  Cypress  Hill
   there's  really   no   effect,   because   they're   just   saying
   "motherfucker" this and that all the time. So the swearing becomes
   desensitised.  So  the  thing  was  basically  about   just   like
   underlining the statement with swearing as you would do in  normal
   life. That's a bit different from country to country. I  know  the
   Swedes, they just keep on going like, "Hello, Satyr, fucking  good
   seeing you again". That's how they are, but that's not  the  thing
   in Norway: you use your swearing when you're  pissed  off  --  you
   want to underline something, and you swear. That is  what  I  did,
   and it felt natural, really. I've been trying to use quite  direct
   language, as I felt that the music is quite direct  and  the  same
   goes for vocal production. I tried  to  take  off  the  reverb  on
   vocals in order to get the vocals more up-front and closer [to the
   listener]. That's very important. If you have a lot of this chorus
   and reverb, the vocals get really distant, and for me  it  is  not
   about level, having it loud  enough,  it's  just  like  having  it
   up-front, so then you need to go easy  on  the  reverb.  With  the
   lyrics as well, it was all part of the process of being direct and
   the  lyrics  are  very  direct  in  the  sense  that  there's   no
   sophisticated language at all. I guess in a way you could call  it
   some kind of futuristic street language or something. <chuckles>

CoC: I completely agree that it is  not  as  complex,  but  from  the
     actual song titles I imagine the lyrics behind them seem to be a
     lot more metaphorical and a lot  less  literal  on  _RE_.  _Dark
     Medieval Times_, _The Shadowthrone_ and _Nemesis Divina_ were  a
     little more like storytelling, whereas this is more like  you're
     expressing your feelings through some  kind  of  metaphor,  like
     "Havoc Vulture" and "Supersonic Journey".

S: Yeah. Absolutely correct. I mean, the thing is I like working with
   metaphors a lot, you know, and it's always... I like,  in  a  way,
   the middle way -- sometimes a tree is a tree,  you  know,  and  it
   shouldn't be called anything more than  a  tree.  But,  you  know,
   other times you could go a little bit further and... there  is  an
   expression in Norwegian called <goruns greten>, which means adding
   all that unnecessary stuff in order to make it  sound  bigger  and
   more  poetic  and  all  that.  Then  like  working  a  little  bit
   in-between in that grey sound you have  there,  and  that's  maybe
   where those metaphors come in. The new lyrics are  basically  very
   much a reflection of whatever is going on in my mind at the  time.
   I mean, there's a lot of  people  --  you  haven't  read  all  the
   lyrics, have you?

CoC: I haven't been able to read any of them, I haven't got a  lyrics
     sheet.

S: OK. No, because there is a line which is not being  sung,  but  in
   the lyrics of "Tied in Bronze Chains", it says:  "Where  have  all
   the flowers gone in October 1997", and I don't sing "...in October
   1997", but it says that in the booklet. [In fact, what is  written
   in the booklet is actually "(So) where do  all  the  flowers  come
   from (in October 1997)", and that is what he  sings  (without  the
   October part). --Pedro] The reason for that was that I was using a
   metaphor of a certain feeling that I had -in-  October  1997.  So,
   the reason for me saying that is just to make it even  more  clear
   that it's a reflection of whatever is going on in my mind  at  the
   time. As we were using a metaphor in that  lyric  about  something
   very specific right then, you know. It was not a general state  of
   mind. It was a state of mind in October 1997.

CoC: Moving on to the choice of title. I think in  some  ways  you've
     rebelled with this album, against certain trends in black metal,
     or just certain tendencies black metal bands  have  these  days:
     you've gone less symphonic when it is becoming more  popular  to
     be more symphonic. So, does the title reflect that, that  you're
     trying to -rebel- against that?

S: It is, a bit. The title is reflecting a bit of the lyrical and the
   musical content of the album, and also  the  attitude  behind  the
   album. It also reflects a little  bit  what  Satyricon  is  about,
   because Satyricon is a little bit extravagant  and  a  little  bit
   controversial. That's it, really.

CoC:  I  was  going  to  focus  quickly  on  your  use  of  the  word
     "extravaganza". I pedantically looked it up  in  the  dictionary
     and it was listed as being any "lavish or  fanciful  display  in
     composition" [Collins English Dictionary --Paul]. I was curious,
     because I would say  that,  if  anything,  this  album  is  less
     "lavish and fanciful" than any of your previous  albums.  I  was
     wondering if you had a different understanding of  the  word  or
     whether you disagreed that it's not "lavish  and  fanciful",  or
     whether it is used ironically?

S: No. Really, directly translated into Norwegian  it  means  --  I'm
   trying to find the English word for it now -- it's called <'o'ther
   d'o'de> in Norwegian, which means like... I'll ask Frost.  <speaks
   to Frost in Norwegian briefly> He's thinking  now.  <pause>  "With
   great splendor", maybe?

CoC: Ah, yeah, I can see what you're saying there. Okay.

S: That's quite close, at least.

CoC: You're saying it is more "monumental", maybe?

S: Yeah, yeah. It's  like  taking  it  just  one  step  further  than
   anything else. Even though those photos and the -- dammit, there's
   some stupid kids in the warehouse staring at us all the time.

CoC: <I laugh> What, across the street or something?

S: No, there's a window between us so they're sitting there with  the
   new Nuclear Blast catalogue and  they're  pointing  at  the  front
   cover, which has a picture of us. <I laugh again> Stupid. I  think
   they even work here, that's the worst  thing.  But  anyway,  where
   were we?

CoC: You were beginning to talk about the photos...

S: Yeah, I was going to say -- even though the photos are  in  a  way
   filthy and they've got this dirty feeling to them  and  all  that,
   and the music is all very direct, in your face  --  you  have  the
   extravagant feeling to it with this... do you only have a promo
   CD?

CoC: I only have a card promo.

S: Well, the presentation, the  booklet,  is  monumental.  With  this
   extremely thick glossy paper, which is like twenty pages,  and  it
   is just like an orgy in extravagant photos and artwork. Also,  the
   way the album opens, with this  extremely  heavy  theme  --  which
   starts "Tied in Bronze Chains" -- and then  followed  up  by  this
   total rape part which comes afterward  [with  "Filthgrinder"].  It
   reflects a little bit of everything  with  the  use  of  the  word
   extravagant.

CoC: You've always done very good presentation, with _Nemesis Divina_
     and _The Shadowthrone_.

S: That's also just a reflection of what we're interested  in,  let's
   say in private life. You know,  art  and  a  general  interest  in
   aesthetics.

CoC: Do you think the material on _RE_ will work better live  because
     it  relies  less  on  the  keyboards  and  the  subtler  melodic
     elements, because it is a little more "in your face"?

S: Yeah, it could be both things, really. I think that's obviously  a
   point, that it's more direct and that  it's  more  aggressive  and
   down-to-earth. It's more live in that way. Also to me it was  very
   important to make it sound live on the album, in the  way  that  I
   don't want something overproduced and I think it adds some  primal
   raw feeling to it, and that's going to reflect in a good way live.
   The problem with it that  I  see  is  that  there  are  a  lot  of
   extremely fast parts on the album and I  always  find  --  whether
   it's us or it's Emperor or Morbid Angel, whatever --, I just  find
   fast parts not to work live.

CoC: Yeah, especially if the sound system isn't really up to it.

S: Yeah. I have experience at gigs with those parts working as  well,
   but usually it's the opposite, so I always have been wondering how
   Marduk is doing live. <laughs>

Well, that's it. I have every hope that Satyricon make it to  a  town
near you, and especially near me, soon, and that they sound  as  good
as Marduk -- as anyone who has seen them live will testify -- in fact
do in the flesh.

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

          THE SHADOW'S SOUL BETWEEN OBSCURITY AND OBLIVION
          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                       CoC interviews Mortiis
                           by: Aaron McKay

     Even if I live to  be  as  old  as  the  soul  that  Mortiis  is
portraying on stage, I will not understand why  I  am  so  enthralled
with the music this enigmatic individual lavishes  on  his  audience.
Some say that Mortiis has a "cult" following, but this, I believe, is
insufficient to describe Mortiis' fan base. An eclectic following  of
devotees  might  be  closer  to  the  truth.  Mortiis'  work   passes
unmolested through standard musical classifications  and  appeals  to
the most cerebral  denominator  among  the  metal  citizenry.  I  was
extremely taken with Mortiis' personality and demeanor. He shocked me
with some responses and drove insight into the heart of my  questions
with others. I hope you will be pleased with the interview to follow,
as I completely enjoyed capering through the mind of one  of  metal's
most mystically cryptic talents.

CoC: How is the tour progressing? Are you able  to  reach  some  fans
     that you might not be able to reach  otherwise  by  touring  the
     U.S. and Canada?

Mortiis: Yeah, sure, technically -- it's been good, but the promotion
         is shit. I don't quite know who to blame yet. I  think  that
         basically no one is doing the job that they could have  done
         or should have done.

CoC: How many people are attending the shows?

M: Man, like a hundred people. It is not like it is a lot of  people,
   but the ones who do show up really seem to like it.

CoC: Excellent!

M: It's good. The thing is we are not  actually  headlining.  We  are
   actually supporting Christian Death.

CoC: <shocked> You are -supporting- Christian Death?!

M: Yeah, we are. The thing is you pretty much never see  our  posters
   up on the wall and we have done close to twenty five shows so far.
   I think that I have seen a poster up some five times.

CoC: <still shocked> Oh, my God, Mortiis!

M: Yeah -- so the promotion is a joke.

CoC: Well, I can't tell you -- that is kind of a blow. I actually, to
     be honest with you, thought you would be headlining.

M: Well, I'm not.

CoC: How much time are they giving you on stage?

M: Originally, we got forty five minutes, which  was  good,  I  don't
   want more than that, but we decided to cut it down to about thirty
   six and still keep all the show. It  makes  it  more  intense  and
   makes it all set off better. I'm pretty happy with the way that it
   is. That is about the amount of time that I prefer to be on  stage
   right now anyway. It is like it is: short, but intense.

CoC: Absolutely. Is everything working out as  far  as  touring  with
     Christian Death? I mean, do you appreciate being  able  to  tour
     with them?

M: Maybe... I guess. It works out. They are the headlining  band  and
   they make full use of that power they  have.  Some  things  aren't
   good and other things are okay. I'm not going to backstab them  or
   anything.

CoC: Do they [Christian Death] appear to be fans of yours?

M: No. I wouldn't say that. I've got some compliments and I've  given
   them compliments. They are all like,  "I  used  to  be  into  your
   music" and blah, blah, blah, blah,  blah...  It  might  be  a  bit
   superficial, but at least we are smiling at each other. <laughs>

CoC: I know that an intricate theatrical presence is important to you
     to complement your music. How is this tour  living  up  to  your
     standards and expectations?

M: Most of the stages are really small, so we always  compromise.  We
   never have a full show. There  is  also  the  backline.  Christian
   Death is backlined, which, a lot  of  times,  takes  up  half  the
   stage. We don't have a lot of leeway on stage, we basically  can't
   run around and fuck around. But we still manage  to  pull  it  off
   pretty good.

CoC: That's  incredible.  I'll  just  tell  you  straight  off,  _The
     Stargate_ is an  incredible  album  and  absolutely  intense.  I
     wouldn't hesitate to call it a masterpiece.

M: Thanks a lot.

CoC: No, seriously, I mean that. I understand that _The Stargate_ has
     a special meaning, kind of a link between this reality and  your
     world. Would you say that there has been a  lot  of  "gates"  to
     your music as far as  Mortiis  coming  off  another  label,  the
     different song lengths that you  have  [on  _The  Stargate_,  as
     compared to previous material like _Fodt till  a  Herske_],  and
     more of a collaborative effort on this album than what you  have
     done in recent past?

M: You mean like things changed now?

CoC: Yeah, exactly.

M: Yeah, obviously it has. I'm working with more people now. We never
   did that before and I've changed labels -- for good and bad.

CoC: How does it feel to be on Earache?

M: I don't know... it's good. I know that it is good because they are
   bigger than Cold Meat. There are always things you don't like with
   all labels. That is never going to change. Like I feel they  could
   have done more promotion for this tour.

CoC: They [Earache] could have done a lot more for you?

M: I think so. For this tour, they could have. That is not even  "off
   the record". I totally feel they could have done better  promotion
   for this tour. I mean the posters that they made came in about two
   days before we went on the tour. How are they supposed to get them
   out to the promoters on time?

CoC: How are the venues supposed to get  them  [the  posters]  up  in
     time?...

M: But later on the tour I see them up more frequently,  so  I  guess
   they [the venues] have had  time  now.  Some  places  didn't  even
   bother to put them up. You know, that is the business you're in.

CoC: Kind of "the nature of the beast", I suppose.

M: Kind of the nature of the business, actually. <we both laugh>

CoC: Right! I understand Vond and Fata Morgana are no longer. Is this
     true?

M: That's true. I decided to shut them down so  that  I  could  spend
   more time with this.

CoC: So that you could concentrate more on Mortiis?

M: Yeah. It was the best thing to do.

CoC: Is it something that you are comfortable with?

M: Yeah. Feels good.

CoC: Will Dark Dungeon Music still continue?

M: No. I did the same thing with them. I found myself working  on  it
   some  eight  hours  a  day  and  then  some  of  the  music   just
   deteriorated, basically, and with all the shit, I just decided  to
   put an end to that too.

CoC: Sure. I noticed in the CD inlay booklet that some of the  lyrics
     for "Child of Curiosity & the  Old  Man  of  Knowledge",  "World
     Essence" and "Towards the Gate of Stars" are in quotation  marks
     and some of the other lyrics are not. Are there special meanings
     for those [in quotation marks]?

M: Right. Because it is more like dialog things... it  was  something
   that was originally supposed to be spoken by an  old  man  in  the
   song. For some reason that didn't really happen --  it  just  fell
   through, but the lyrics still belong to the song. It was  supposed
   to be spoken words on the song; it didn't  happen,  but  it  still
   belongs to the song. That is why they have the quotation marks.

CoC: Oh, I see. That makes sense.

M: It does, doesn't it? <we both laugh>

CoC: Absolutely. It gives a little bit of insight into what you  were
     actually going for with those songs.

M: I don't expect people to really understand it.  It  is  the  first
   question I get is about the quotation marks and so forth, so...

CoC: _The Stargate_ is truly  wonderful  right  down  to  the  lyrics
     complementing the music and how it comes across to the audience.
     It all just fits together perfectly. It really does.

M: That's good, 'cause I had a really hard  time  putting  the  whole
   thing together. It was a pretty confusing job  for  a  while...  I
   couldn't find the right pieces for a long time.

CoC: I'll tell you, it didn't come across that way to the listener at
     all. It just feels like it flows from  beginning  to  end.  It's
     truly wonderful.

M: Oh, thanks.

CoC: Did you ever consider taking a lead vocal role in  one  of  your
     pieces?

M: I -may- try that out in the next album, but I don't know yet. If I
   try rehearsing and it sounds okay or it sounds like something that
   could be happening, I'll definitely look into  it.  If  it  sounds
   god-awful right away, it's like, okay, let's not do this. <we both
   laugh>

CoC: That makes sense -too-! You have a four album deal with Earache?

M: Yeah, I guess technically it is, but they  are  re-issuing...  The
   first one is _The Stargate_, the second one will be a re-issue  of
   _Crypt of the Wizard_.

CoC: <thrilled> Oh, really?!

M: Then two new ones after that. It's not like I'm going to make four
   brand new albums for them. They get three new ones,  then  an  old
   one. They wanted four in the beginning, but I said  "No,  I  don't
   want to give you that. If I totally love the  deal  that  you  are
   giving me and it is really dandy in a couple of  years  after  the
   last record, we'll do a new deal." And I didn't want to set myself
   up for too much.

CoC: No,  I  certainly  understand.  You  don't  want  to  pigeonhole
     yourself into something you might want out of later.

M: Exactly, then I'm totally stuck for some five years. I don't  want
   that.

CoC: I can't say that I blame you. Is there some place that  you  are
     looking at taking Mortiis with the next  album?  Something  that
     you are striving to achieve with the next couple of releases?

M: As far as possible, musically, sales-wise and everything.  Up  the
   ladder as far as I can take it. This is what I want to do with  my
   life, so why not try and become as appreciated as possible?

CoC: Well, you're off to a great start.  You  have  a  -great-  track
     record and this new album can do nothing but help you.

M: I hope so.

CoC: It is really, like I said before, a masterpiece.

M: I wouldn't say that myself, but it is a good compliment.

CoC: Kind of finishing up here, Mortiis,  is  there  any  interesting
     tour related stories that you have? Anything that  has  happened
     that you want to share, good or bad?

M: Well, in Kansas we got paid in counterfeit money. <laughs>

CoC: <amusingly surprised> Really?!

M: It was an accident. I mean, that whole place is very  dodge-y,  so
   we had to go to someone else just to get the money. Basically  the
   person that -he- got the money from was a drug dealer or something
   like that...

CoC: Oh, no...

M: He gave them counterfeit money and he didn't know it, and he  gave
   it to us. We didn't realize that until  we  pulled  up  at  a  gas
   station a couple of miles down the road and they saw that  it  was
   counterfeit money and we were like, "OOPS". That was in  a  really
   bad area, so we didn't want to call the cops. They didn't want the
   cops around there anyway. If that would have been down the highway
   at a 7-11 or whatever, we would have been in deep shit! So we just
   went back and got the real money at the end of the  day,  but  you
   know... I just know, there is this one drug dealer in Kansas  City
   that I wouldn't want to be right now. That guy was an ex-hitman.

CoC: <still rather stunned> That is some bad stuff  when  stuff  like
     that happens. I have to tell you, it was quite an honor  for  me
     to interview you,  Mortiis.  Could  you  wind-up  the  interview
     anyway you see fit?

M: I don't know, check out the record... <chuckles>

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 ' T I L   D E A T H   D O   U S   H A T E   --   E T E R N A L L Y
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              CoC chats with Eric Rutan of Hate Eternal
                          by: Paul Schwarz

     Most people are content to  make  their  fortune  (or  not)  and
express their creative interests through  one  full-time  band.  Many
take on other "projects", but the tendency is for these "projects" to
remain very much part-time,  and  sometimes  as  an  offshoot  rather
half-hearted, and if they do go on to become  more  prominent  it  is
usually accompanied by a decline in interest,  input  and  effort  in
their original full-time band. Not so for our case in point,  because
though Eric Rutan puts a lot of his time and effort into  playing  as
live guitarist for Morbid Angel and into creating the music  for  his
currently demo-stage Alas endeavour, he also devotes effort, time and
all the other pre-requisites required to make great music when talent
is at your disposal,  to  Hate  Eternal.  For  Hate  Eternal's  first
full-length recording, Eric was assisted not only by the able talents
of Jared Anderson and Tim Yeung (on bass and drums respectively), but
also the gut-wrenching guitar grinding of Doug Cerrito  (formerly  of
Suffocation, as you all should be aware). The result was  _Conquering
the Throne_, a  brutal,  speed  and  adrenaline  driven  death  metal
massacre which  was  released  by  Earache  last  month.  Here's  the
low-down on its creation and the trials and tribulations of being, as
Eric puts it, a maniac.

CoC: How are you?

Eric Rutan: Good, man, just keepin' busy  bein'  a  maniac.  Lots  of
            interviews -- you know, I play with three bands  now  and
            I'm opening a studio, so it's pretty heavy. I  definitely
            have a lot of stuff.

CoC: But it's all going pretty well?

ER: Oh yeah. The Hate Eternal press already has been  incredible.  It
    is so much more than I even envisioned. I got four out of five in
    Kerrang!, Terrorizer loved the record, I just did Hard 'n'  Heavy
    out of France and they gave me five out of five.  Metal  Maniacs,
    they thought it was the most anticipated death  metal  record  of
    the year. So, so far it's just  been  unbelievable,  even  beyond
    what I had expected, but so was the  record.  The  way  that  the
    record came out was so much more than I even  expected,  so  it's
    all been constant and it's been a lot of  work,  believe  me.  It
    took a lot of work to do the record.

CoC: What impact do you think all the bands you've played for had  on
     the writing of this record?

ER: It definitely had a big impact on the writing. Ripping Corpse and
    Morbid Angel -- which are the  two  bands  I've  each  spent  the
    largest amounts of time, about six years each, with  --  made  an
    impact, but at the same time the songs I wrote with Hate  Eternal
    is stuff that I would never have done in Ripping Corpse or Morbid
    Angel. Morbid Angel has a different  approach  sonically,  but  I
    added elements of what I wrote for Morbid Angel and  elements  of
    what I wrote for Ripping Corpse, but made  it  in  a  very,  very
    extreme path, a very aggressive path, very straightforward but at
    the same time very  advanced.  My  influences,  well,  I  started
    playing guitar thirteen years ago and I  heard  [Morbid  Angel's]
    _Thy Kingdom Come_ demo and that made a  big  impact.  That  goes
    without saying, Morbid Angel have  made  a  major  impact  on  my
    playing and that's how I ended up in the  band.  I  loved  Morbid
    Angel, so when I had the opportunity to join it was an honour for
    me.

CoC: That's the best thing, obviously: to be able to join a band  you
     love.

ER: Ah yeah, they were my favourite band. It was  just  unbelievable.
    But the Hate Eternal stuff was stuff that I needed to incorporate
    in my own thing. The  stuff  I  wrote  for  Morbid  Angel  during
    _Domination_ was stuff I wrote specifically to sound like  Morbid
    Angel. Even though it was quite different from what had been done
    before, it was still Morbid Angel. With this stuff [HE], it isn't
    stuff which is Trey's vision [that's Trey Azagthoth, Morbid Angel
    guitarist, songwriter and lyric writer], it's a different  vision
    and that's why I incorporated it into Hate Eternal.

CoC: Also, how much influence was there from the other members,  like
     Doug Cerrito [ex-Suffocation], Jared Anderson and Tim Yeung?

ER: Well, he's an incredible drummer. As  it  says  in  the  bio,  he
    sounds like an eight-armed demon. Just his playing  alone  helped
    me incorporate all the rhythms I wanted to do, and the vision  of
    this record. Jared came in very close to  the  record,  actually,
    him and Doug. Doug came in and I literally dropped  a  couple  of
    songs specifically so Doug could write on the record.  There  are
    eleven songs; I wrote eight songs, music and lyrics, and he wrote
    three, music and lyrics.

CoC: Yeah, because I noticed some elements of his playing style.

ER: Definitely! His style really creeps through. The two of  us  have
    been  friends  since  even  before  they  [Suffocation]  put  out
    _Effigy..._, their first record. When I heard  Suffocation  broke
    up, I had just signed the deal with Earache and I said,  "Listen,
    man, I got a deal, I got a band going, I want you to be  part  of
    it, man. You're my friend." I've always held him in  high  regard
    as a guitarist. I got him in, made some space so  that  he  could
    write some songs and Jared did a lot of the back-up vocals on the
    record, on top of playing bass he does back-ups, and on the  next
    record he's going to write some music also. So, this record,  the
    majority of it was definitely my vision, but  on  future  records
    there's going to be more of a collaboration.

CoC: Would you say then that Hate Eternal is your  full-time  project
     as it goes, in terms of fitting it in with all the  other  stuff
     you're doing?

ER: It's definitely... I don't like that word "project", because it's
    a -band-. Same with Morbid Angel; anything I do is a  band,  it's
    not like a bunch of guys who just get together to do a record and
    don't care. I mean, I take Hate Eternal very personally and  it's
    something I'm going to tour with, and I'm already working on  the
    next record. So it's definitely  something  where  I'm  going  to
    release a record a year, that's my goal and it's  the  same  with
    Alas. I mean, I've been playing with Alas for quite  some  years,
    and it's a band. Even though I'm doing three things, they're  all
    bands to me, they're not projects.

CoC: And of course you're not writing for Morbid Angel at the moment.

ER: No.

CoC: So that's a little less heavy?

ER: Yeah.

CoC: But don't you think it will be hard for  touring,  though,  with
     Morbid Angel's touring schedule?

ER: Well yeah, but the thing is that I'm a maniac, you know.  I  live
    music. So, some how, some way. I don't know how, but like I  just
    did all this  touring  for  _Formulas..._  [Morbid  Angel's  most
    recent 1998 release] and still I was able to do an Alas demo  and
    I also recorded  the  Hate  Eternal  album...  which  I  actually
    engineered on, mixed and produced.

CoC: Where was the record done?

ER: Greenhouse Effects. It's a small studio down here. We did it on a
    one-inch [wide recording] tape. It wasn't  a  pro-studio,  but  I
    knew a friend of mine who worked at the studio,  and  I  went  to
    engineering school  and  I  really  wanted  to  do  most  of  the
    engineering and I wanted to mix it myself. So he allowed me to do
    that. It was a tough record. I had to do it in-between the Morbid
    Angel tours, we were just over there  [in  Europe]  in  April.  I
    started the record in March, so I had to go on tour,  come  back,
    do it, then do another tour, come back, and finish it.  So,  even
    though we spent about two weeks to do the record, it seemed  like
    months, because I was busy touring with Morbid Angel. It was  the
    hardest record of my career. I sang on the Hate Eternal, I played
    guitar, I wrote most of it and I also engineered and produced it.
    I think it shows, the hard work,  in  the  record.  I  mean,  the
    majority of those who've listened to it have realised, holy shit,
    the amount of effort it took -- one, to make it that  tight,  and
    two, just to incorporate it into a good production; it was a  lot
    of work.

CoC: Well, whatever anyone says about it otherwise,  it's  definitely
     one of the tightest records I've heard in a while.

ER: Thanks, man!

CoC: It's on par, for me, with stuff like Angel  Corpse  and  things,
     that amount of total... tightness and cohesion.

ER: Thanks. We didn't do it at Morrisound, either. We  did  it  at  a
    small studio and I specifically wanted to do a  record  that  was
    done in another studio and make it sound... I  wanted  it  to  be
    very underground and I wanted it to be clear, but I  also  wanted
    it to be just very menacing sounding; it definitely  has  a  dark
    overtone to the whole production, and it  was  done  specifically
    that way. The whole record itself is very dark. I'm very proud of
    it and to me it's the best thing I've ever done and I'm so  happy
    with the vocals. The fact that I was able to do vocals and for it
    to come out like that, to me was just amazing in itself.  Because
    it took a lot of hard work for me to sing and, on top of singing,
    just singing and playing guitar. If I couldn't do it  live,  then
    what's the point? So it took me a lot of work to be able to  play
    these rhythms and sing at the same time.

CoC: Do you want to continue doing vocals?

ER: Definitely, that was definitely the vision. When I  started  Hate
    Eternal I knew that I was going to sing, in  the  beginning  that
    was part of the vision. Man, I always wanted to sing and  there's
    not many guitarists who sing and play this kind of music. To play
    these rhythms and sing is a fuckin' challenge, man. It's taken me
    a lot of time and believe me, I practice all the time. It's taken
    a lot of time  but  it  is  definitely  something  I'm  going  to
    continue doing no matter what.

CoC: You were talking a bit about how  you  feel  _Conquering..._  is
     dark and suchlike; what ideas are reflected  lyrically  on  this
     record?

ER: Lyrically, my influences consist of different books that I  read,
    different spiritual backgrounds that I've always been into.  I've
    read a lot on faithism, on the Ancient  Ones.  I've  read  a  lot
    about the Egyptians, the Aztecs and their ritualistic beliefs and
    visions. I read up on a lot of different things and a lot  of  my
    own visions  I've  incorporated  into  Hate  Eternal  as  far  as
    futuristic visions, personal visions of my life. I keep  all  the
    lyrics true to my visions, my thoughts, my feelings, just like  I
    do with the music. It's very diverse, I keep my lyrical ideas  on
    basically what I'm interested in, what I believe in,  stuff  like
    that.

CoC: I noticed that it doesn't really reflect the sort of stuff  that
     Trey would write [for Morbid Angel].

ER: No, no. It certainly doesn't have  that  approach.  I  wanted  to
    expand in a different direction, obviously, because I love Trey's
    lyrics, definitely, but I  didn't  want  to  incorporate  just  a
    Morbid Angel clone. For me the majority  of  the  stuff  on  Hate
    Eternal is stuff I would never  have  written  for  Morbid  Angel
    because it's a different approach, and it's the same lyrically. I
    wanted anyone who liked what I did with Morbid Angel to buy  Hate
    Eternal and say "Holy shit, that's awesome", but at the same time
    I  wanted  to  make  it,  lyrically  and  sonically,   musically,
    different from Morbid Angel. Because there's no point  in  trying
    to clone anything, but obviously the influence shows  --  I  have
    been part of Morbid Angel for half my career. Trey is one  of  my
    biggest inspirations, rhythmically.

CoC: What made you choose Earache for the release of the full-length?
     Do you think you'll stay with them for future releases?

ER: Definitely, yeah, we're going to  stay  with  them  for  all  the
    releases, I'm sure, just because they're like family. I've  known
    them for a good many years, I've known Dig,  Dan  and  all  those
    guys there from Morbid Angel and it just made sense. Those  guys,
    they stepped up to the plate, they heard the demo, they wanted to
    make it happen. Some other labels were  interested,  but  Earache
    went the extra mile to make Hate Eternal special.  We  worked  on
    the packaging together and it looks  great.  They're  doing  half
    page advertisements. I'm  doing  six  interviews  today,  they're
    bustin' their ass for this record and it just made sense to  keep
    with them, because we already have a great  working  relationship
    with them. My  management,  Gunter  Ford,  has  a  great  working
    relationship with them because he manages Morbid Angel.  He  also
    manages Hate Eternal. It just made sense, it was the right  thing
    to do and I'm very happy with everything. The way it's been going
    is just incredible.

CoC: So what would you say, possibly, to bands like, well, definitely
     Napalm Death, Carcass and Entombed, and I  think  possibly  even
     Morbid Angel, who have complained  about  Earache  in  terms  of
     promotion or just general problems? [I recall "getting paid"  to
     be a common one with, I think, Entombed. Anyone back me up here?
     --Paul]

ER: Well, for me, everything with Hate Eternal  has  been  going  the
    best that I could have possibly imagined. Those guys have put  in
    a lot of work into the Hate Eternal. Hate Eternal is actually the
    first death metal band that they've signed in quite a long  time,
    if you think about it.

CoC: It's definitely a step in the right direction.

ER: I think so. And that's how they're looking at it. They're  taking
    out half page advertisements, and they're doing the  right  thing
    for this record. I think that this record is going to help  bring
    back Earache to the new fans. A majority of death metal and black
    metal fans now are people that -- ninety percent of them  weren't
    even there when I was starting, and it's a new crowd. So, I think
    Hate Eternal is going to open  up,  to  the  new  audience,  what
    Earache's about, and I'm glad  to  be  the  record  that  they're
    really focusing on; they're very happy with  the  record,  and  I
    don't have any complaints. I'm  very  proud  of  what  everyone's
    doing at Earache right now. They're doing so  much  more  than  I
    could've possibly imagined for the record, and  I'm  super-happy.
    I'm happiest with everything about this record. It's the happiest
    I've been as far as a record's  concerned.  Everything  from  the
    packaging, to the record itself, to the  label  and  my  manager.
    We're all working very hard to make this record have  an  impact.
    It's coming out over there [England] on October  fourth,  so  I'm
    just anxiously anticipating what people will think. So  far,  all
    the magazines that have reviewed it, all thought it  was  one  of
    the best death metal records that has  ever  been  released,  and
    that goes a real far way with me. I worked so hard on this record
    and I'm glad that people have been able to look into it  and  say
    "Man, you put in a lot of work", and I did. This was a make me or
    break me kind of record. It took a lot of proving to myself to be
    able to sing, and the guitars on  the  record  itself  were  just
    challenging.  I  constantly  challenge  myself  so  that  I   can
    constantly get better. My playing is consistently getting  better
    and it is going to keep continuing to  get  better,  because  I'm
    always constantly challenging myself,  and  challenging  everyone
    involved.

CoC: Does the title indicate that you have quite a  high  achievement
     goal, like the "throne of death metal"?

ER: Definitely. Yeah. The whole purpose of Hate Eternal was to really
    make an all-out death metal record. Just a very  promising,  very
    dominating type of record. I purposely  didn't  put  a  bunch  of
    intros or anything like that: I kept it very straightforward  and
    very direct. I wanted to make something that was fresh and  I  do
    have high prospects for the record: I want to tour, and I  wanted
    to do something that anyone that's into true death metal, the way
    that I see it, will like. I don't know how it's going to do,  but
    I have great faith in it. Already for me it's a  success  because
    I've been able just to record it. The fact that  I'm  looking  at
    the CD right now and that I've listened to it and  I  think,  "My
    God". It's a success for me no matter what it does,  because  the
    fact that I've even accomplished it is  an  amazing  feat  in  my
    life. It's definitely put me, as how I feel about myself  and  my
    musical career, on another level.  The  accomplishment  has  been
    very big for me.

CoC: So you feel it challenges all the other death metal  that's  out
     there on the same level. What's is your opinion on most American
     death metal these days?

ER: Oh, I love Diabolic and  Angel  Corpse.  I'm  actually  recording
    Diabolic. I have  a  studio  called  Dimensional  Sound  and  I'm
    recording their next record October seventh and Steve  Tucker  is
    assisting me; we've both got a studio together. I went to  school
    for audio engineering, so  this'll  be  the  second  record  I've
    engineered and I'm very excited about that. I like Krisiun a lot,
    but they're not American -- but they're awesome! Definitely,  the
    Hate Eternal is different from all those  bands,  but  it's  very
    similar as far as the direction. We're all friends,  I  know  all
    the guys. I'd love to do a tour with all those  bands,  Diabolic,
    Krisiun and Angel Corpse. That would just be the bands of the new
    millennium, pretty much. These are all very new bands and they're
    all very promising. The Angel Corpse record is fucking great,  so
    is the Diabolic and Krisiun. So I'm  glad  to  be  amongst  those
    ranks, you know.

CoC: If there are any last words you have for our readers, go for it
     now.

ER: Well, I just want to say thanks for the interview, first of  all,
    and I want to definitely thank all  the  fans  that  are  reading
    this, that are interested in my playing, that have been following
    me for all these years -- this record is definitely dedicated  to
    them. I hope that they can see the vision and the hard work  that
    I've put into this record. I think the effort shows and  I  can't
    wait to get out on tour. Everybody that's heard it, it's made and
    impact on  them.  Everyone  that's  reviewed  it  has  just  been
    devastated by it. That's what I wanted to do: I  wanted  to  make
    something that was totally devastating and I wanted them to  want
    more, and it's done that. I am just so happy that all the  people
    who've reviewed it so far have given me incredible reviews.  This
    guy for Hard 'n' Heavy, he'd only given one other record  in  his
    whole career a five  out  of  five.  And  that's  a  huge  French
    magazine, it's like the biggest French magazine there is.  I  was
    just happy that people have seen the work I put into it.

[Eric and I talk at length about what I did  and  didn't  like  about
_CtT_, then Eric makes this point about taking journalistic criticism
in your stride, with which I will close this interview. --Paul]

ER: It took years for me to be able  to  take  criticism:  it's  very
    difficult. I started Hate Eternal after  a  -decade-  of  playing
    death metal. So it's very personal to me, because I engineered, I
    mixed it, I sang, I played guitar: it's my  baby.  So  of  course
    it's very important that people like it, but at the same  time  I
    don't want people to tell me it's great and then  not  feel  that
    way. I like to hear people's true opinions. I  hate  when  people
    say something [and don't feel that  way].  I  want  to  hear  the
    truth. If  I  wasn't  ready  to  handle  [someone's  opinion],  I
    wouldn't have asked.

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

         C H A N G I N G   T H E   F A C E   O F   M E T A L
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               CoC interviews Lex Icon of The Kovenant
                          by: Adrian Bromley

     Brace  yourselves,  metal  fans;  the  band  formerly  known  as
Covenant, now called The Kovenant, is going through a little bit of a
transition period. Call it reinvention, if you will. Call it  out  of
this world. Call it just plain -weird-.
     Guitarist Lex Icon  (formerly  known  as  Nagash)  explains  the
transitional mode that the Norwegian  outfit  --  which  once  had  a
prestigious line-up that included individual members of Dimmu Borgir,
Cradle of Filth, Mayhem and Arcturus -- went through to get to  their
third disc, _Animatronic_.
     He begins: "I think getting where we  are  right  now  with  the
band, in terms of what our music sounds like on _Animatronic_, was an
easy change for us. We have always been that way before, we  like  to
do different things within the music of The Kovenant. If 10000 people
say yes to a sound or style, we say no."
     "We also wanted to just make things happen  for  us",  Lex  Icon
continues. "In a way, it is kind of a brand new  start  for  us  with
what  we  have  now.  [The  band  is  now  a  trio,  rounded  out  by
bassist/vocalist Psy Coma  (formerly  Blackheart)  and  Von  Blomberg
(formerly Hellhammer) on drums. --Adrian] We wanted to put back  some
magic into the extreme metal music scene because we feel that  a  lot
of that has been lost within the scene, at least over here in
Europe."
     With _Animatronic_, out goes guitarist Astennu  and  keyboardist
Sverd (both from Dimmu Borgir) and in comes a wide range  of  variety
and song styles, an abrasive slew of musical creations  that  brought
about definite change. _Animatronic_ is  far  from  the  black  metal
roots of its two predecessors (1997's _In Times Before the Light_ and
last year's _Nexus Polaris_), but still rampant in style and emotion.
Be a little skeptical if  you  will  of  these  changes  (which  also
include a name change, as they were forced to change the spelling  of
their name due to the Swedish outfit of the same moniker),  but  take
note: Lex Icon felt that they were necessary to help  strengthen  and
shape The Kovenant's sonic attack.
     "All of these changes through the years are  important  for  us,
but playing what we play now is very important. We  have  molded  our
music. When we started off we were very young; we played black  metal
and we thought it was so cool. It was. The second record  came  along
and we got signed on that particular sound from _In Times Before  the
Light_ and it was very difficult. We felt restrained a  bit  and  not
able to really take the music where we wanted to. We  couldn't  freak
out in any way with the music  because  we  felt  pressure  from  the
listeners and the label. But on this record we felt we  had  to  show
off a bit and that is exactly what we did. We are showing  the  metal
community that we are supplying an edge to their music."
     And how have changes within the band affected things? There  has
been a good and bad point to all of this, right? "Yeah,  things  have
happened. We fired all of the other  members  who  weren't  into  the
band, or who weren't dedicated enough or just didn't submit  material
to the band. With them gone it wasn't really like  we  lost  anything
important to what we were doing. The band has always been myself, Psy
Coma and Von Blomberg. It was interesting to work on the music  as  a
trio. I mean, Psy Coma and I have always written all  the  music,  it
just seemed a little strange this time out that it was just the three
of us working hard to make this record come together."
     Within a listen or two, fans of the band will  no  doubt  notice
how much the music of The Kovenant has shifted. A lot more keyboards,
samples and abstract industrial ideas wedge  themselves  between  the
veteran  black  metal  ideas  of  the  band.  It's  basically  a  new
appearance, with almost the same kind of sound. Sort of.  With  songs
like "New World Order", "Prophecies  of  Fire"  and  "Spaceman",  you
pretty much get the gist of what you're getting yourself into.
     Is Lex Icon proud of how the  record  turned  out?  "The  record
didn't really turn out as experimental as we wanted it to be", points
out Lex Icon. "It turned out to be more metal in the end.  Next  time
out we'll pretty much follow the same style of music, but the  psycho
parts will be more psycho and the metal parts more  metal.  With  the
other albums we felt we had to create a certain music style, but with
the new one and our future work we are going to do what  we  want  to
do, rather than what people want or expect us to do. We have taken  a
lot of ideas from the odd stuff that we listen to,  like  Jamiroquai,
jazz and fusion, except we've just dressed it up in metal music."
     I admit to Lex Icon that after a few  listens  I  was  a  little
uncertain of just what the band wanted to achieve with _Animatronic_,
but within a week or so of it blasting from my stereo, the sounds and
ideas of the new release have come into focus. This is shaping up  to
be one of the surprise albums released in  1999  in  my  books.  It's
brilliant; I've read people writing this and I'll say it too:  you'll
either  get  it  or  you  won't.  There   is   no   in-between   with
_Animatronic_. Lex Icon agrees, too. "We've had a lot of flack from a
lot of bands in Norway, Sweden and Germany because they want to  pull
us into what they are doing and we don't want to go that way.  A  lot
of people are not really understanding us, I think. We may  be  going
off course in terms of the music we used to play  and  what  we  play
now, but we have always known and had a true grasp of what we do as a
band. We don't do anything stupid and add something for the  hell  of
it. Rather, we are very confident about what we do, and when  we  set
out to do something or make a change to something in our music, we go
full speed and don't look back." In more depth about  the  making  of
_Animatronic_, he says: "If you listen very carefully, you'll  notice
that this record isn't about being technical. It's more about  things
with power. The direction of what we do has always been clear."
     And his thoughts on the black metal and metal scene  in  general
over the years? "I'm not  very  much  into  it  right  now.  I'm  not
impressed with what bands are doing. I spit on the whole metal  scene
right now. The whole black  and  death  metal  scene,  and  even  the
extreme metal scene, have mutated  into  this  Frankenstein  monster;
it's totally out of control and I don't think people really know just
what is going on anymore. So we sort of wanted to get  away  from  it
all and start fresh. I think this new album is a whole  new  type  of
metal for a whole new generation. At least that's  what  I'm  hoping.
We're just playing "millennium metal" and having fun doing so."
     In closing, I ask him his thoughts  on  the  recent  suicide  of
Grimm (Borknagar/Immortal). He says: "I think people just saw it as a
suicide, like "Oh, he's dead", and moved  on.  I  really  didn't  get
affected by his death, to tell you the truth. I met him a few  times,
but there are a lot of people who die from  suicides  all  the  time.
People seem to get caught up in what they do, as was  the  case  with
Grimm, I think, and we don't want that to happen to us. We don't want
to have the Frankenstein monster turn on us. That's why  we  ventured
out and tried to do something different this time out."

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               A   V I T A L   C O N V E R S A T I O N
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              CoC chats with Joe Lewis of Vital Remains
                           by: Aaron McKay

     This month provided a bona fide treat for me. Through the course
of e-mail and "snail mail", I was  able  to  converse  with  a  truly
accomplished individual, Joe  Lewis  of  the  mighty  Vital  Remains.
Having met Tony Lazaro, Vital Remains' guitarist, at this last year's
Milwaukee Metalfest, the course of our discussion there  yielded  the
conceptualization for the  following  interview,  laid  out  for  you
below. I welcome you to continue on as I attempt to  pry  inside  the
mind of one of death metal's brutal taskmasters.

CoC: I'm thrilled to have this opportunity  to  interview  you,  Joe,
     especially  surrounding  the  circumstance  of  _Dawn   of   the
     Apocalypse_'s much anticipated release! First off,  most  people
     assume that Vital Remains is a somewhat newer band, but actually
     VR has been around for a long time. Could you  recount  some  of
     the band's beginnings for the CoC readers, please?

Joe Lewis: The band was formed in 1989, with the success of promoting
           two self-financed demos  and  one  7"  vinyl.  We  quickly
           landed a  record  contract  with  Peaceville  Records  and
           released two full length CDs with  them.  We  then  signed
           with Osmose Productions in 1996 for two albums; the  first
           was released in May 1997, _Forever Underground_,  and  the
           second will be released  on  October  25th,  1999,  titled
           _Dawn of the Apocalypse_.

CoC: I understand  that  Cryonics  Records,  from  Holland,  will  be
     releasing Vital Remains' 1989 demo _Reduced to Ashes_  on  disc.
     Is this a fact?

JL: Yes, it's true, and it already has been released. Only 500 copies
    are available, so it will be a collector's item! It has some  old
    photos enclosed in the CD booklet!  Get  it  while  you  can.  We
    thought it would be a cool idea to release it. Not too many Vital
    Remains fans ever heard this demo.

CoC: On the topic of touring, my inaugural exposure to Vital  Remains
     was in the pages of CoC in 1997 when you were  in  Chicago  with
     Vader, Malevolent Creation, and Ember (I believe). In  the  fall
     of that same year VR was given the chance to tour overseas  with
     Infernal Majesty. What was your take on that year  on  the  road
     and your impressions of VR fans outside of the U.S.?

JL: Yeah, we got to tour Europe in  the  fall  of  1997  with  Vader,
    Malevolent Creation and Infernal Majesty. The tour was absolutely
    fantastic! We visited 29 cities through  15  different  countries
    overseas. The fans  in  Europe  are  great!  They  are  for  sure
    die-hard metal fans there! We're looking forward  to  once  again
    touring Europe soon after the release of our new CD, _Dawn of the
    Apocalypse_, on October 25th (Europe) and October 30th (USA).

CoC: In regards to _Forever Underground_ (a -killer- release, I might
     add), would you say that this 1997 release was a catalyst for VR
     -- making the band more or less a household name among the metal
     community?

JL: Thanks. We just write our songs the way we  feel  we  should.  We
    definitely progressed over the years and we only  get  better  as
    time goes on. We hope that everyone  likes  our  music.  If  not,
    everyone is entitled to their own opinion and  that's  okay  with
    me. We want to create the best possible death metal and top  each
    album with the next!

CoC: As far as the song "I Am God" is concerned, what a  masterpiece!
     Coupled with the mighty "Battle Ground",  did  you,  personally,
     find that these two tracks distinguished Vital Remains more from
     the horde of metal musicians, or did they draw more  comparisons
     for VR to bands like Morbid Angel and their ilk?

JL: Thanks again! Those are two great songs.  Uh...  I  really  don't
    hear any comparison between our music and anyone else's. We don't
    try and copy anyone's style. We started back in 1988 as a  brutal
    death metal band with the intention of creating the most  extreme
    music we possibly could, and, as I said, each  release  has  been
    better than the previous. But if these songs are to  be  compared
    to Morbid Angel, I'll take that as a compliment! Morbid Angel  is
    one of my favorite death metal bands.

CoC: I am in awe of track four on _Forever Underground_, "Farewell to
     the Messiah". What was the inspiration for  going  a  completely
     different direction with  this  brief  minute  and  twenty  nine
     second song?

JL: "Farewell to the Messiah" was  something  Tony  made  up  in  the
    studio for extra space on one of the tape reels. I  really  don't
    have a clue what his inspiration was for  including  this  piece,
    but it's there! You either like it or you don't like it!

CoC: How did covering "The Trooper" for the first Iron Maiden tribute
     (and the best one of the two, in my opinion) come about?

JL: At the time, this guy Raul was running Dwell Records and a friend
    of mine informed me that he was doing a tribute to  Iron  Maiden.
    So, immediately I contacted him and made a deal with him. He then
    sent me a contract and a budget to record the song. We had a very
    small budget to record "The Trooper". It  could  have  been  much
    better if we had more money to record  with,  but  overall  we're
    happy with what it came out to be considering how much  money  we
    had to work with.

CoC: Osmose will, I think I remember reading, also be putting  out  a
     disc of Vital Remains covers, called _Horrors  of  Hell_,  about
     the same time _Dawn of  the  Apocalypse_  hits  the  streets  in
     October, featuring some very cool VR  interpretations  of  bands
     like Mercyful Fate and Judas Priest. Is this right, Joe?

JL: We plan on releasing _Horrors of Hell_ as a self-financed release
    after the millennium. Osmose will not release this.  Osmose  will
    help distribute the CD, but we will have all the  rights  to  its
    release. We decided it would be a great idea to compile  all  the
    cover songs we've recorded throughout the years and put  them  on
    one CD. It will be something for our fans  to  enjoy  as  another
    addition to their Vital Remains collection!

CoC: Please give some detail to the CoC readers  concerning  the  new
     album, _Dawn of the Apocalypse_.

JL: _Dawn of the Apocalypse_ is the best Vital Remains work to  date.
    It tops _Forever  Underground_.  It's  fast,  it's  brutal,  it's
    definitely going to separate  us  from  the  trendy  metal  being
    released today. I really can't say too much yet. You'll just have
    to wait until it's released on October 30th in the  USA  and  buy
    it! You won't be disappointed, I promise!

CoC: Anything special  on  the  horizon  for  touring  _Dawn  of  the
     Apocalypse_? What's  the  situation  concerning  the  tour  with
     Krisiun and Usurper?

JL: Tour plans are  now  under  way.  I  can't  really  disclose  any
    information at this time, but I assure you,  we  will  tour  very
    soon. The Krisiun/Usurper tour fell through the  cracks.  It  was
    supposed to happen,  but,  unfortunately,  there  were  too  many
    problems involved and we decided not to go through with the tour.

CoC: Speaking of the touring topic again, if it  were  solely  up  to
     you, who  would  you  pick  to  go  on  the  road  with,  either
     supporting or headlining?

JL: I always wanted to tour as support for Morbid Angel. I think  the
    best tour package would be Morbid Angel, Vital  Remains,  Krisiun
    and Angel Corpse. That would be the best fucking tour!

CoC: Can you give me a couple of new "up-and-comers" in the  industry
     that you are currently impressed by? Any black  metal  that  has
     your ear?

JL: The only band that I'm really impressed by nowadays  is  Krisiun.
    These guys are fucking brutal. I hope that I can tour  with  them
    soon. I really haven't discovered anything interesting lately.  I
    really like the newest Immortal CD, though. There's also  a  band
    called Burning Inside from Florida. Look out for  their  new  CD,
    coming out soon! It kills!

CoC: Once again, I thank you very much for this interview and I would
     invite you to end this Q&A in any fashion you  see  fit.  Thanks
     for your time, Joe.

JL: Thank you very much for your interest and look out for our new CD
    out on October 30th, 1999: _Dawn of the Apocalypse_!

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       C L A S S I C   C O V E R S   F R O M   O V E R K I L L
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
             CoC interviews Bobby Ellsworth of Overkill
                         by: Adrian Bromley

     Few bands have lasted in this crazy business  that  some  of  us
refer to as the music industry. Many bands, over the years, have been
exhausted, beaten to a pulp and left for dead. There are a  few  that
have survived the wicked ways of the business, but  few  ever  really
recover from what they have been through.
     Then there is Overkill.
     Like a diamond in the rough,  Overkill  is  a  gem  of  a  band.
Honest, passionate, and, above all, sincere. They play metal music as
it is meant to be played: hard, fast and  without  consideration  for
anyone. It's their music and no one can dictate otherwise. Fans  love
it. And most importantly, Overkill does too.
     Overkill has played their brand of speed/thrash metal  for  more
than fifteen years. Lots of blood, sweat and  tears  have  gone  into
this. And so  has  inspiration.  With  that  in  mind,  Overkill  has
assembled  an  album  of  metal  classics  covered  by  them.  Titled
_Coverkill_, the twelve-track album contains numerous  classics  from
hard rock  /  metal,  including  songs  from  greats  like  Motorhead
("Overkill"), Black Sabbath ("Cornucopia", "Never Say Die") and Judas
Priest ("Tyrant").
     So why the album? Why these particular  classics?  Singer  Bobby
"Blitz" Ellsworth starts: "A lot of  these  songs  were  just  laying
around already done. Many of them had been done during several  album
recording sessions. We chose these songs because we wanted people  to
have a rounded feel of what we were doing. We  did  a  lot  of  these
songs when we were a cover band, when we started out. As we  recorded
Japanese B-sides and some tribute records, we  started  realising  we
just had these songs laying  around.  When  we  went  into  recording
_Necroshine_ [their 1999 release] we realised that there were just  a
few songs to add to several cover tunes we had already recorded."
     "I think the music on this cover record is a good representation
of where we were at the time of the recording with the band. We could
have chosen the standard metal tunes. We could have done "Symptom  of
the Universe" by Black Sabbath, but we chose "Never Say Die" instead.
I like what we did here and I think it is pretty obvious that  it  is
Overkill playing these songs."
     Seeing that the band has had a long career, it  must  make  them
feel good about being able to  put  something  out  like  _Coverkill_
without any worries. How has CMC (the label)  been  about  the  idea?
"The longevity of the band hasn't jaded us, rather it has allowed  us
to do more and more of what we like to do. It  is  a  great  feeling.
It's great when you can follow your own road  map.  [CMC]  were  very
open to what we wanted to do. That  label  is  built  on  bands  with
longevity or bands that have history. We presented cover  songs  that
are historical from our historical perspective. This is history times
history, which equals Tom Lipsky [Head of CMC]  saying  "Okay,  we'll
release this." He sees value in this and in Overkill. He knows we can
follow our own road map and we never have him saying he wants a  more
radio friendly song like "Stone Cold Jesus".  His  approach  is  very
simple and we both have been happy with the way it has turned out."
     Listening to such classic cuts as Jethro Tull's "Hymn 43" or The
Ramones' "I'm Against It", the magic becomes apparent from the  music
of yesteryear. It shows that there was something  special  about  the
creativity of music back then,  opposed  to  the  commercially-driven
music scene of today. His comments on that? "I think  bands  nowadays
have lost  the  ability  to  write  the  riff.  One  thing  that  was
concentrated on in the old days was the riff. That was  the  hook  to
bring you into the song. It was very important. In today's scene, the
riff has been forgone for movement. In Overkill's situation, I  think
the evolution of the band has shown a sign of movement that  many  of
today's bands seek out, but we have still maintained the  ability  to
write the riff. I think it is very important for us to do this record
because we have not forgotten where we have come  from,  but  at  the
same time we have progressed."  When  bands  that  have  shown  their
longevity in the scene put out a "Best Of..." record, a cover  record
or even a tribute, it is usually a sign that the band is coming to  a
slow halt. This is not the case with Overkill, whose past two records
-- _From the Underground and Below_ and  _Necroshine_  --  have  been
some of their best work this  decade,  maybe  even  in  their  entire
career.
     "Someone told me -- I think it was Johhny Z  from  Megaforce  --
that they were going to put out a "Best Of..." for us. I said,  "Over
my dead fucking body!" Talk about the kiss of death. I said  to  him,
"There is no "Best Of..." with Overkill. It's just one long, ten-hour
song. It just changes as we go along.""
     What keeps them going? "I think the proof  is  in  the  pudding.
Whether you like or you hate this band, we still have value based  on
our own original releases.  We  didn't  put  out  this  cover  record
because our own material doesn't have value anymore. This is recorded
material that is historical itself,  because  not  only  is  Overkill
covering the classics, but these are also different eras of  Overkill
recordings. I think that's kind of cool,  to  be  able  to  hear  the
evolution of the band throughout the various recordings here."
     He  finishes:  "There  are  different  guitar  and  drum  sounds
throughout those records. Even  my  vocals  have  changed.  Hell,  it
sounds like I went through puberty.  <laughs>  This  record  is  very
valuable to us. We're not trying to be the flavour  of  the  day;  we
never have been. If people say we  put  this  out  to  be  trendy  or
whatever, I just have to say that they  are  reading  too  deep  into
this. I think they are taking their opinion  way  too  seriously.  We
have never given a shit to begin with. It's quite obvious that if you
don't give a shit you can't get hurt."
     "Our estimation is that somebody wants it out  there,  including
the record company, so let's throw our hat into  the  ring  one  more
time."

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      O F   E L E C T R O N S   A N D   B I K I N I   L I N E S
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
          CoC interviews Ed Mundell of The Atomic Bitchwax
                           by: Aaron McKay

     Six o'clock central time rolls around on a rather crisp Thursday
evening and the phone rings to present the very  amiable  and  jovial
guitarist Ed Mundell on the other end. "Oh, hey, Aaron?  This  is  Ed
Mundell from The Atomic Bitchwax. I think that I am supposed to  call
you, I think, now..." I knew instantly I liked this guy,  personally,
as much as I had come to appreciate and relish The Atomic  Bitchwax's
music. Fresh off a Monster Magnet (Ed's other band) show at  a  local
New Jersey bar, Mr. Mundell explains that he has  only  been  up  for
about an hour. I hope I sound as involved and competent  as  Ed  does
having been awake for less than sixty minutes! Involve yourself  with
this interview to follow; I severely doubt you will  be  disappointed
for doing so...

CoC: Let's start off by saying that I know that The  Atomic  Bitchwax
     has some huge support among the contributors  of  Chronicles  of
     Chaos. I'll just let you know that I'm a fan, too!

Ed Mundell: Really? Seriously? That's cool! Right on! Yeah, I've been
            playing this kind of stuff for years and years and  years
            and now there is this kind of market for  it,  or  people
            who actually like it. I remember playing these same songs
            in front of like -five- people, you know? Now, all  of  a
            sudden, we have packed houses and stuff. It's pretty
            weird.

CoC: Have you noticed that with bands like  Cathedral,  Mindfunk  and
     Sleep -- do you think that helped you guys at all to break  into
     this style of music? Kind of paved the way, if you will?

EM: You know, I never listen to any of those bands  --  I  listen  to
    Sleep, but I don't know Mindfunk at all and  I  met  Lee  Dorrian
    once, but I never actually heard Cathedral.

CoC: It seems like there is a bit of a niche, even  though  you  guys
     are completely distinctive...

EM: Oh, you mean the "stoner rock" thing.

CoC: Yeah, a  little  bit,  but  Bitchwax  has  a  different  way  of
     approaching it. At least that is the way I look at it.

EM: You can still play heavy  rock  and  not  take  every  move  from
    Sabbath. I listen to fuckin' Deep Purple, I listen to Zeppelin, I
    listen to Sabbath, I listen to Kyuss, I listen to everything, but
    there is no rule where you can't,  say,  throw  a  little  Stones
    groove in there. You can be heavy rock and not  be  exactly  like
    Sabbath. There is a -lot- of great musicians in old bands,  bands
    like Free or Captain Beyond, who were  totally  great.  They  all
    have really great things about them  and  they  are  still  heavy
    rock. Even King Crimson -- you can throw it  all  into  the  same
    kind of category.

CoC: That is completely true, but you guys have  done  an  incredible
     job of staying autonomous and found your own sound.

EM: Thanks! We could have taken the easy way out and started  writing
    songs that sounded like Monster Magnet. If anyone  was  going  to
    make an album that sounded like  Monster  Magnet,  I  could  have
    gotten away with it. I could have just whipped out something, but
    that is not what I play when I am not  with  Monster  Magnet.  We
    [The Atomic Bitchwax] write all the  songs  together.  You  know,
    Keith and Chris started  out  listening  to  Metallica  [The  old
    stuff, of course, not the new -shit-! --Aaron], whereas I started
    out listening to, like, Ted Nugent.  Very  different  approaches.
    Then we might be on a ZZ Top kick, so then someone might bring in
    a ZZ Top kind of part.  Something  like  that.  Depends  on  what
    you're listening to.

CoC: I know that you guys have been around since 1992. Was this  just
     the right year for you to put out the album?

EM: Between touring -- I was touring a lot with Magnet --,  we  would
    always play shows in between tours. Between _Dopes  to  Infinity_
    [-Great- release!  --Aaron]  and  touring  for  that  record  and
    actually making the _Powertrip_ record, there was  about  a  year
    and a few months off for me. So I had to get the painting  houses
    jobs and stuff. We just really had time to develop this band  and
    to play more shows, not just one show here or  there,  two  shows
    here, five shows next month, or something  like  that.  We  could
    play three or four shows a week and we played a lot just to  keep
    busy and to keep playing. I don't want to sit  around.  When  I'm
    not on tour, I get bored and get into trouble <laughs>  --  start
    drinking too much and the whole thing...  I  just  want  to  keep
    playing all the time. Those guys are the same way. We had  a  lot
    of time to develop it. I had made  _Powertrip_,  then  there  was
    another eight months in between making it and leaving  to  go  on
    tour, due to various problems with getting that record out. So we
    had a lot of time, and you know what, this guy at TeePee wants to
    pay for us to go into the studio -we- wanted to  go  into,  which
    was Tracks East. That's where Keith can get his best drum  sound.
    We want to go here and record and if we can do that, we'll do it.
    We did do it and we worked with the people we wanted. We actually
    did the record in about three days...

CoC: You're kidding!

EM: Nope! We played a Nebula show, then I played a Magnet show,  then
    I split for a tour, so they [Bitchwax] mixed the record  while  I
    was gone last Summer. The Bitchwax record was finished during the
    last week of May 1998 and it didn't come out until June of  1999,
    because we couldn't get the album cover together and stupid stuff
    like that.

CoC: Yeah, yeah. Well, the album cover is incredible. It has a unique
     slant to it, providing, artistically, exactly what you guys  are
     trying to convey musically. It comes across really well.

EM: That guy's artwork -- his name is Orion Landau --, for  the  lack
    of a better term he's like a Frank Kozik kind  of  guy,  he  does
    rock posters. Orion does really, really good quality work. I  met
    him in San Francisco and told him some ideas and he  was  up  for
    it. Orion was actually designing  a  Monster  Magnet  shirt  that
    never came out, I  don't  know  why.  He  did  this  really  cool
    "sacred-heart bull-god" shit for us and I said,  "Orion,  I  have
    this other band, we have an album done, but  we  don't  have  any
    artwork." He just said, "Wait a second!" He had the _Meteor City_
    album, a compilation album which we did a song on, and he  had  a
    couple of live tapes of ours in his studio that  he  listened  to
    and he didn't know it was -my- band.  He  would  listen  to  this
    stuff while he was painting. He was like, "Man! I'd love to do an
    album for you!" So he did all the artwork  and  we  had  a  photo
    taken and he touched that up.

CoC: Kind of a small world, isn't it?

EM: Yeah! And it's becoming even smaller, too. It's totally strange.

CoC: The Atomic Bitchwax has a "supergroup" thing going on among  the
     members. How did the three of you meet?

EM: Years ago, I lived with a couple of friends in a  house  in  Long
    Branch, New Jersey, and Keith and Chris lived around the  corner.
    Keith was going out with this  girl  who  was  my  sister's  best
    friend. He would come over to the house with this girl, Erin, and
    I'd be hangin' out, smokin' pot and listening to  music.  He  was
    like, "I smoke pot and listen to music and I play drums!" I had a
    basement and it turned out that he lived around the  corner  from
    me. I asked him, "Why don't you bring your drums and  leave  them
    in the basement?" We all smoked  pot  all  the  time  and  worked
    nights. They did sound at the  local  bars  and  I  worked  at  a
    supermarket at night, so none of us went to work until 10  or  11
    o'clock at night. We had all day to do nothing, so we would  just
    jam all day. This was before I was in Monster Magnet  and  before
    Chris was in Godspeed. Then the music thing began taking off  for
    me, and Chris and Keith got in some bands, but [the three of  us]
    kept playing in between tours and finally threw a name on it.  We
    were starting to write songs, so we might as well have a name  --
    so we came up with a name. We actually played our first  show  as
    Helium Head. Helium Head was my suggestion, because  we  couldn't
    come up with a name. Then I got overthrown, overruled...

CoC: Out-voted!

EM: Yeah. After the first show, they were like, "Helium Head is gay!"
    <we both laugh> "What are you talkin' about? It's -great-!"

CoC: As a three piece unit, how does the Atomic  Bitchwax  accomplish
     that "full" sound? It doesn't sound like there is a  damn  thing
     lacking in the songs. How do you pull that off?

EM: Well, you know, Keith is like a spaz on drums. Other  than  maybe
    "Shitkicker", he never plays just a straight  beat  --  he's  all
    over the place. That really fills it up. If you notice,  whenever
    there is a guitar lead, there is usually a bass  lead  underneath
    as well, so we are pretty much just going for it  all  the  time.
    When we actually started writing songs, everyone in our area  was
    trying to sound like Pearl Jam. Stone Temple Pilots had just come
    out, Pearl Jam were huge and everybody was starting to sound like
    that. Dudes that we used to know for years that used to  play  in
    Sabbath cover bands were all selling their souls  to  sound  like
    Pearl Jam so they could "make it". So, you  know  what,  we  were
    like, "That sucks! Why are you doin' that?"  We  wanted  to  play
    heavy rock, but completely  different,  with  the  rule  that  we
    weren't going to sound like anybody else,  and  if  there  was  a
    guitar lead, there was going to be a bass lead at the same  time.
    Just go for it all the time and don't sound like anyone else.

CoC: Well, you guys pulled it off. Tell me a little  bit  about  your
     relationship with MIA. It seems  extremely  solid  and  mutually
     beneficial, from what I am able to tell.

EM: Actually, we are with TeePee and TeePee is with MIA. With Tony at
    TeePee it is pretty cool. We don't have a manager, so between  me
    and Tony we get it all taken care of. We have this tour coming up
    with Core and Nebula and he is pretty  much  doing  the  role  of
    manager. Tony is just into music and [TeePee] is just really into
    music. A lot of their bands don't sell a lot of records, so it is
    hard to make ends meet sometimes, but it is  kind  of  cool  that
    they just want to have good music out there. Have you  heard  the
    Core record yet?

CoC: No, not yet.

EM: Man! Wait 'till you hear that! It is -awesome-. I can't  describe
    it. It is like equal parts Hendrix, Blue Cheer and Miles Davis.

CoC:  I'm  told  by  TeePee  that  they  are  "an   original   groove
     explosion"...

EM: They range from pretty trippy/psychedelic  to  super  fuzzy  Blue
    Cheer heavy. A really, -really- good band. It is hard to describe
    them, but you can tell their influences when you hear it.  Really
    good.

CoC: On The Atomic Bitchwax's self-titled release, I noticed a  stark
     lack of lyrics. Was that a bold stroke to emphasize the uncommon
     sound you guys possess?

EM: Kind of. We write a lot of instrumentals and live, you  can  tell
    we kind of expand on them and tone things down  things  down  for
    the  record.  We  can  take  the  songs  to  other  places  live.
    Basically, Chris writes all the lyrics and if he  comes  up  with
    some, that's fine; if he doesn't, that's  fine  too.  I  mean,  I
    listen to instrumental music -- that is why I am surprised a  lot
    of times that people like this record. They come  up  to  me  and
    say, "I have that record -- holy shit, man!" I say, "There  is  a
    lot of instrumentals  on  there.  You  like  instrumental  rock?"
    Apparently there are people who do! I  thought  I  was  the  only
    one... I almost feel like I've done  something  wrong  because  I
    wanted to do something that we liked and we  knew  that  everyone
    else didn't like, but we -loved- this stuff  and  everyone  hated
    it. It is almost like we failed, because everyone seems  to  like
    it now. <laughs>

CoC: To Hell with 'em! You guys were on the front end of that  curve.
     That's the way I look at it. I mean, you guys beat  everyone  to
     the punch and came straight off sounding like an original  band.
     Now it can be other bands turning to copy Bitchwax. <laughs>

EM: Oh, wow! Thanks! There was a big move a few years  ago,  everyone
    was copying Fu Manchu -- the whole thing, the  way  Scott  [Hill,
    guitar/vocals] sings and all that. Now there  is  a  whole  Kyuss
    revolution -- two years too late. <we both laugh>

CoC: Took bands -that- long to get the Kyuss sound  copying  off  the
     ground! How does it affect you coming right off a Monster Magnet
     tour and being ushered right on to an Atomic Bitchwax one?

EM: I've had about five weeks off and [Monster  Magnet]  are  playing
    these two shows. I took two weeks off and didn't do  anything  --
    didn't even look at a guitar. Magnet was on tour for  the  better
    part of fifteen months straight and that was long.  We  ended  it
    all with shows in Japan and Australia. Coming home there were  25
    hours worth of airplane flights and  airports.  So  I  didn't  do
    anything for two weeks -- I had to learn to sleep again.  I  work
    it to where I keep [the two  bands]  completely  separate.  If  I
    don't, I'll fry my head. I can't really overlap them.  Right  now
    they are kind of overlapping where I am doing Bitchwax rehearsals
    and Magnet rehearsals. It is a bit tiresome sometimes, so  I  try
    to work it out when I know there is going to be time off;  I  get
    the Bitchwax thing rolling again and practice, because we need  a
    couple of days to get used to playing with each other again.  The
    last three Fridays, we have played warm-up shows  for  this  tour
    and we are going to rehearse all this weekend. We  leave  Tuesday
    for Cleveland, Ohio.

CoC: Almost a complete reversal coming  off  one  tour  right  on  to
     another...

EM: It is a completely different mind set. It is just something where
    I have to rearrange my brain a little bit. In Bitchwax,  live,  I
    can do anything I want. If I want  to  hold  a  note  for  twenty
    minutes, and just let it feedback  for  twenty  minutes,  I  can.
    Those guys know when I am going to come back into the  next  part
    or that I will give them a cue that my lead is done or  whatever.
    Or the next night, I could just, you know, go a different way and
    play four notes really fast. That's it. That's my lead. I can  do
    whatever I want. Those guys can, too!  Within  the  arrangements,
    there is a lot of room for us to move  around  so  we  don't  get
    bored playing the same exact thing, playing the same  exact  way,
    every night. We used to do "Hope You Die" and throw "Hey Joe"  at
    the end or start it with "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" into "Hope You Die"
    ending with "Hey Joe", depending on what we were listening to. If
    we were on a big Zeppelin kick, we'd go into some "When the  Levy
    Breaks" part in the middle of a tune. It is pretty much  open  to
    whatever we want. We just started covering "Dirty Deeds" by AC/DC
    and an Atomic Rooster  song;  we  cover  them,  too.  We've  been
    writing some weird shit.

CoC: How do you think The Atomic Bitchwax fits into this whole  music
     scene now, other than being a real breath of fresh air?

EM: I don't know. We are not played on the radio, which  is  probably
    good. I never really thought about  it.  If  people  like  it  --
    that's cool. I hope they come to the shows. I mean, the record is
    one thing, but the shows are kind of a different animal.  We  are
    still heavy rock, but it is just a different brand of heavy rock.

CoC: Different flavor...

EM: Yeah.

CoC: Anyone that you are listening to these days? Anyone impressing
     you?

EM: I still like Clutch a lot and I like this band Fireball  Ministry
    [www.fireballministry.com --Aaron]. I don't know if you've  heard
    them...

CoC: No...

EM: They are on Bongload. I actually just arranged for them  to  play
    on the five California dates, because I like their  band.  I  saw
    them play at the Continental in  New  York  three  weeks  ago.  I
    thought they were great! It is a different kind of heavy. They do
    weird, almost like Skynard guitar, but in a weird  Black  Sabbath
    kind of context. And live -- the  record  I  like,  but  live,  I
    thought they were -awesome-, so I arranged for them to play  five
    shows on this tour. They are from L.A., so...

CoC: Are you responsible for setting these openers up?

EM: We wanted to tour with Core  and  Nebula,  and  I  got  that  all
    together, and in different places -- I mean, we  have  a  booking
    agent and everything, but I think we are headlining most of these
    places. I really don't want to. I want to  play,  then  go  down,
    have a beer and watch Nebula play. We are pretty much headlining,
    so... In Cleveland we are playing  with  Red  Giant,  who  are  a
    really good band. We just request bands  that  we  want  to  play
    with. Nebula had been  playing  forever,  and  with  the  Monster
    Magnet name recognition we don't really need a local  opener,  so
    we can bring along other bands to open for us  and  that  totally
    rules.

CoC: Wouldn't you say that The Atomic Bitchwax is more of  the  crowd
     draw, though?

EM: We really haven't played other than in  Baltimore,  Philly,  West
    Virginia and Boston -- we really haven't  done  a  tour  yet,  so
    we'll find out. I hope people come and check it out  and  I  hope
    they don't scream out Monster Magnet  songs,  because  we  aren't
    going to play them! This isn't Monster Magnet. It is heavy  rock,
    but like you said, it is a different flavor of heavy rock.

CoC: If it were solely up to  -you-,  and  no  one  else  had  to  be
     consulted, who would you put The Atomic Bitchwax on tour with?

EM: Oh my goodness, I don't know... <laughs> I'd want  to  tour  with
    Aerosmith again because I did that with Magnet and it was so much
    fun... I'd watch them every night. I'd tour with  them  again  so
    that I could watch them every night and watch  the  crowd  as  we
    played a twenty minute Hendrix instrumental  or  something...  <I
    laugh> I can't really answer that -- it's an odd question.  I  do
    think it is all about  the  music  and  not  about  any  type  of
    competition or weirdness. I'd like to be in a  position  where  I
    could bring bands on tour that I like, which is kind of  what  we
    are doing now. Core are awesome and they wouldn't have  a  chance
    to go on the road with anyone  else,  I  think.  They  are  still
    heavy, but they are kind of weird at times. But the people who go
    to these shows will get it, you know.  I  think  that  the  right
    people will be at these shows and go "Wow,  man  --  I  just  got
    turned on to a new band! This is awesome!" Because I love  to  be
    turned on to stuff that I like, so if we can turn others on to  a
    different band... Like having Fireball [Ministry] around at these
    shows, people will be like, "Holy shit,  where  did  -this-  come
    from?" That is a great feeling, to go out and get  a  record  and
    turned on to something new. It opens your mind  up  to  different
    things.

CoC: Pretty much what it is all about, isn't it? I don't want to take
     up any more of your time, but I -do- want to wish you the utmost
     success with The Atomic Bitchwax and the tour; I appreciate  all
     your valuable time, Ed. Thank you!

EM: Are you coming to any shows?

CoC: I'm sure as hell going to try! Due to the market  where  I  live
     [Iowa], most bands don't play here, so Chicago is as close to me
     as you come, I believe.

EM: That's next Friday, I think... My favorite guitar player is  from
    Sioux City: Tommy  Bolin.  We  cover  "Crazed  Fandango"  on  the
    record. His brother actually still lives there and  plays  drums.
    Tommy died in 1976 and Johnny plays drums in Black Oak,  AK,  and
    he is coming to our Minneapolis show  and  maybe,  I  think,  the
    Denver show. So that'll be cool!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                   _____  .__ ___.
                  /  _  \ |  |\_ |__  __ __  _____
                 /  /_\  \|  | | __ \|  |  \/     \
                /    |    \  |_| \_\ \  |  /  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!


Various - _21st Century Media Blitz Vol. 2_
by: Paul Schwarz  (8 out of 10)  (Century Media, September 1999)

As compilations go, in terms of value and overall quality, it doesn't
come much better than _21st Century  Media  Blitz_.  Sure,  it's  not
perfect, but to expect  compilations,  by  their  very  definition  a
collection  of  various  bands,  to  perfectly  represent  your   own
-personal- taste in music, is both unreasonable and misses the point.
Compilations are not made to suit one person, they are made to give a
random listener a variety of bands to check out and  the  opportunity
to find something, or hopefully many things, that they like and  were
never previously exposed to. This two-disc set, which  I  believe  is
being marketed at a very reasonable mid-price, is cleverly split into
two distinct sections. The first disc is a twenty track pick  of  the
prime meat off Century Media's current bone, while the  second  is  a
twenty track pick of some of the finest of new UK talent  from  other
labels and the realms of the unsigned. The first  disc  has  personal
favourites of mine like Arch  Enemy  and  Cryptopsy  along  with  the
talented likes of Samael, Rotting Christ, Acrimony, Stampin'  Ground,
Turmoil and Iced Earth, among many others, of  course.  It  certainly
exemplifies  why  Century  Media  has  respect   amongst   both   the
underground and the more popular oriented metalheads and  provides  a
good range to sample, along with a few tracks which, at the  time  of
release, have not had their respective  long-players  unleashed  into
the wide world. The second disc is a good part of the reason why this
gets a good mark and respect from me, as it  features  the  likes  of
Akercocke, Kill II This, Earthton9, Orange Goblin, Raging  Speedhorn,
Solstice  (who  are   however   represented   by   a   track   rather
unrepresentative of their typical style, so  to  speak)  and  Medulla
Nocte, who are all UK bands deserving the chance to be exposed  to  a
wider audience. Despite a  lack  of  unreleased  material,  and  thus
little incentive to pick this  up  for  any  but  sampling  purposes,
_21stCMBV2_ is still a very worthy and highly listenable  compilation
which should offer the best value for money of  any  compilation  out
there right now.


Amon Amarth - _The Avenger_  (Metal Blade, September 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8 out of 10)

_Once Sent From the Golden Hall_, Amon Amarth's  last  album,  lacked
definition and variation. It failed to  hold  my  attention  for  its
forty five minute duration. As all bands with  potential  and  talent
do, Amon Amarth have not rested on their laurels and the effort  they
have thus put into  their  music  has  paid  off,  resulting  in  the
powerful creation of brutal melodic Swedish death metal that is  _The
Avenger_. Though forged of their trademark style,  _The  Avenger_  is
less riff-cluttered and  is  further  enhanced  by  an  emphatic  and
sharply  defined  production  (from  Peter  Tagtgren  and  his  Abyss
studio). Melody is threaded well into the heavy and percussive guitar
and drum attack and the vocals have a  gripping  roar  to  them.  The
result is  an  album  with  character  and  punch  which  provides  a
rock-solid platform from which Amon Amarth can take  their  craft  to
the next, more difficult level of musical achievement.


...And Oceans - _The Symmetry of I, the Circle of O_
by: Aaron McKay  (8 out of 10)  (Season of Mist, 1999)

I believe I love -everything- about this  band  from  Finland,  right
down to the band's name. Bringing an unique  black  metal  thrust  to
bear upon the listener's senses, ...And Oceans invokes mental imagery
of greats like Summoning and Arcturus -- again, a couple  of  mammoth
pluses in my book! Cerebral song titles emphasize  intelligent  music
and complicated passages throughout the sum of _The  Symmetry  of  I,
the  Circle  of  O_.  I  am,  surprisingly,  able   to   follow   the
transition/progression  from  ...And  Oceans'  first  release,   _The
Dynamic Gallery of Thoughts_ (1997), to this new effort, but now I am
more curious than ever to hear their split with  Norway's  Bloodthorn
entitled _War Volume 1_ (1998). If it is anything remotely  as  grand
as _The Symmetry of I, the Circle of O_, I'm impressed already.


Angel Corpse - _The Inexorable_  (Osmose, September 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

Having recently had the chance of seeing  Angel  Corpse  live  [in  a
concert to be reviewed in CoC  #45]  makes  me  appreciate  something
about _The Inexorable_: it works really well  live.  Either  storming
out of digital media or delivering music  of  similar  calibre  live,
Angel Corpse are one intensely aggressive band who are able to create
a very strong sound and make something good  with  it.  Angel  Corpse
don't sound like your typical American death  metal  band  (even  the
vocals are more snarled than grunted), reminding me only of  some  of
Morbid Angel's peculiar characteristics with a great  deal  of  speed
and brutality on top. During tracks such as "Stormgods  Unbound"  and
"Begotten (Through Blood and  Flame)",  the  band  manages  to  reach
remarkable intensity and fury  while  keeping  the  songs  memorable.
However, my main problem with _The Inexorable_ is that several  other
tracks have trouble standing out and actively adding  something  more
to the record. Still, though not every song is remarkably  memorable,
quality is generally at least quite  good  and  _The  Inexorable_  is
definitely  very  consistent  and   solid   in   its   ruthless   and
well-delivered aggression.


Angel Dust - _Bleed_  (Century Media, October 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (9 out of 10)

With a definite nod to the music of such greats  as  Savatage,  Dream
Theater and Ronnie James Dio, German power metal act  Angel  Dust  go
the extra mile  here  will  a  truly  stunning  masterpiece.  Bright,
powerful wails of metal flow out of _Bleed_ and consume the listener.
I'm just incredibly fascinated by the musicianship  that  Angel  Dust
have mastered on _Bleed_, having not really been a devout follower of
the band since their early days. Listening  to  the  record  numerous
times, it just goes to show that lots of hard time and hard work does
pay off in the end -- and _Bleed_ is proof of that. Most metal  bands
from the '80s have managed to stay pretty dated with  what  they  do,
but Angel Dust have managed to avoid the cliche sounds plaguing other
older acts. The key to their success with _Bleed_?  Intricate  guitar
riffs, truly amazing melodic vocals and great atmosphere. Those three
elements bring Angel Dust above the rest as we close out 1999, though
the new Dream Theater (_Scenes From a Memory_) is excellent as  well.
What can I say? I'm smitten with their metal sound. Fans  wishing  to
hear classic '80s metal rejuvenated for consumption (in the best  way
possible, of course) look no further, as  Angel  Dust  is  your  best
choice. Stunning.


Bal-Sagoth - _The Power Cosmic_  (Nuclear Blast, October 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (6 out of 10)

Hammy lyrics accompanied  by  pompous  musical  themes  can  only  be
tolerated to a certain extent before they become stupid, amusing and,
at the least, mildly irritating. Bal-Sagoth have,  debatably,  always
been either right on the line or merrily dancing on the wrong side of
it -- that is if you, like me, don't listen to extreme metal to laugh
-at- it. Now, if this was the end of the story,  if  Bal-Sagoth  were
merely one more musically unaccomplished  symphonic,  percussive  and
melodic black metal band, then it would be very easy to dismiss  them
as one more unappealing and perfectly ignorable prospect in a sea  of
many. However, Bal-Sagoth are far from talentless. Many of the  riffs
and keyboard segues which are present on _TPC_, though not stretching
into the realms of brilliance or originality,  are  well-written  and
combined into a solid, consistent and cohesive whole. True, the major
key progressions they are prone  to  using  resonate  no  feeling  of
darkness or chilling mystery (their overall effect  being  closer  to
the emotion and atmosphere invoked by the  credits  to  "Star-Trek"),
but this should not to be a failure from the  perspective  that  this
seems not to have been  Bal-Sagoth's  aim.  Ultimately,  though,  the
pomposity present primarily in the lyrics and keyboards  makes  _TPC_
unappealing to my tastes. I find it impossible not to  laugh  at  the
tales of cosmic conquest expounded throughout the album,  which  from
what I can garner  hardly  reach  even  the  most  amateur  level  of
sci-fi/fantasy storytelling, and specific passages where the vocalist
makes proclamatory statements like "From a time beyond time, we come.
We, who once crested the waves, of the great astral sea. And who now,
must strive again,  for  the  domination,  of  the  stars"  are  just
cringeworthy and cheesy to an extent where what  comes  after  it  is
dented by my resulting inability to  take  it  seriously.  Musically,
Bal-Sagoth have created something which is consistent and worthy, but
it neither gives me enjoyment to listen to on the same level as other
black metal -- for its viciousness backed by a cold atmosphere --  or
traditional, macho heavy metal (i.e., Manowar), for its brash lyrical
invigorations and the accompanying listenable but muscular catchiness
of the music behind it. Lyrically I  prefer  Rush,  and  musically  I
prefer Immortal or Emperor: Bal-Sagoth are an in-between point I find
both unnecessary and unenjoyable, though if the style was  my  thing,
I'd choose Bal-Sagoth to play it over certain others.


Bewitched - _At the Gates of Hell_  (Osmose, September 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (6 out of 10)

Bewitched are mildly difficult to judge. They -are-  almost  entirely
unoriginal in their retro-melodic-thrash tirades and possess no godly
songwriting talents. However, were  one  deprived  of  the  likes  of
Venom, Slayer, Possessed, Manowar, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and "the
rest", Bewitched -would- be a listenable and enjoyable reflection  of
these bands' talents, and they also do an  amusing  cover  of  Thor's
"Let the Blood Run Red", with Thor himself on vocals.  However,  when
all is said and done, Bewitched do their thing quite well, but plenty
of other, better artists did  it  all  long  before,  and  many  with
considerably more style. Personally, I'd recommend listening  to,  or
buying, if you haven't yet  purchased  them,  "the  classics"  before
giving up your cash for unoriginal contemporary attempts  at  playing
long-existent styles of music.


Brimstone - _Carving a Crimson Career_  (Nuclear Blast, October 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (6.5 out of 10)

With their strongly melodic musical core which  leans  towards  death
and black metal (especially by virtue  of  its  rasping  vocals)  but
utilises  heavily  the  conventions  of  traditional   heavy   metal,
Brimstone have created a reasonably  varied  and  nicely  constructed
debut in _Carving a Crimson Career_. Comparisons to Children of Bodom
are easy to make and reasonably justifiable, although Brimstone don't
concentrate on being quite so over the top  with  solos  and  melodic
manipulation, and thus tap a different vein of enjoyment to  that  of
CoB. Brimstone begin with the continually flowing attack of "Breaking
the Waves" and mirror this approach on such songs  as  "Autumn",  but
thankfully alter tempo and structure to give us the likes  of  "Pagan
Sons", which riff with the much more pronounced on/off  character  of
vintage Celtic Frost. Brimstone do not sell themselves short by using
melody only to place a simple,  catchy  and  easily  graspable  theme
throughout each song. They layer fills and keyboard parts effectively
over each other to achieve a deeper musical scope and thus  not  fall
into the trap of tedium that  many  of  their  retro  generation  do.
_CaCC_ is a good crack at making melodic, catchy and enjoyable  heavy
metal which also combines the more  harshly  aggressive  elements  of
recent death  and  black  metal  genres  (the  vocals  are  the  most
significant  facet  of  this)  and  though  Brimstone  do   embarrass
themselves with the chunky but  messy  riff-o-rama  of  "Heavy  Metal
Kid", overall they do more on their debut than many, and as  much  as
some of the better of the new crop.


Brutal Truth - _Goodbye Cruel World!_  (Relapse, October 1999)
by: Adam Wasylyk  (8 out of 10)

Death/grindcore legends Brutal Truth  have  called  it  a  day.  It's
indeed a sad time for fans of the band and the genre alike. One of my
first metal albums was _Extreme Conditions..._ so I especially  found
these news disheartening, as I had always associated the band with my
first couple of years as a metal fan. At that time, blasting "Walking
Corpse" or "Ill Neglect" was the perfect solution to  any  problem  I
had.  Fortunately,   Brutal   Truth   don't   believe   in   anything
half-hearted, including breaking up. What we have  here  is  _Goodbye
Cruel World!_, a double album containing a BT  fan's  dream  of  live
recordings, rare/unreleased stuff and covers  the  band  have  played
over the years. Each album being reflected on, amongst the 56  tracks
one can find a huge variety of Brutal Truth favourites ("Choice of  a
New  Generation",  "Walking  Corpse",  "Ill  Neglect",   "Godplayer",
"Denial of Existence", "Black Door Mine"), quite a few  newer  tracks
(all but five tracks off _Sounds of the Animal Kingdom_)  and  plenty
of  covers  as  well  (Celtic  Frost's  "Dethroned  Emperor",   Black
Sabbath's "Cornucopia", The Melvins' "Zodiac"). A  lot  of  time  and
care was put into the selection of tracks and  the  overall  flow  of
each CD, and this shines through in spades. Brutal Truth  will  never
be forgotten, and _Goodbye Cruel World!_ will serve as a testimony to
the viciousness and savagery this band's music held  and  stood  for.
Woe is me.

Check out the bonus track "Let's Go to War" only available at:
http://www.brutaltruth.com/brutal_truth/letsgotowar.wav


Cannibal Corpse - _Bloodthirst_  (Metal Blade, October 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7.5 out of 10)

I have come to the conclusion that this is one  of  the  few  veteran
metal acts out there who get a very odd  reaction  from  metal  fans.
Sure, in their beginning they were the  shit,  but  now,  almost  ten
years  later  and  three  records  down  with   new   singer   George
"Corpsegrinder" Fisher leading the bloodthirsty  drive,  fans  either
love 'em or hate 'em. No real in-between. I don't know; I liked their
last record, _Gallery of Suicide_, and I'm pretty impressed with what
we've got here on _Bloodthirst_, especially  songs  like  "The  Spine
Splitter" and "Coffin Feeder". Sans the cheesy  artwork  (what  gives
guys?), the music on _Bloodthirst_ is a lot  grittier  and  the  most
violently-charged material the band has  done  since  "Corpsegrinder"
took over vocal duties. Things seem  to  be  pretty  solid  for  this
veteran death metal outfit and _Bloodthirst_ is a  worthy  trophy  to
showcase. Sure it's easy to say that this isn't classic material like
what you'd find on _Tomb of the Mutilated_ or _Butchered  at  Birth_,
but it's still solid and in fine form for the most  part  and  that's
good enough for me.


Carcariass - _Sideral Torment_  (Impacts Records, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (6 out of 10)

With enough speed and death metal anger to  keep  things  interesting
for the most part, French act Carcariass aim  to  please  with  their
technical angle on metal music. Slick guitar work helps muster  their
generic, yet brutal death metal sound. Along  the  lines  of  a  more
rhythmic Cannibal Corpse or Internal Bleeding, Carcariass need a  bit
more work before their metal approach is well rewarded. Points go out
to  the  truly  sincere  technical  approach  of   guitarist   Pascal
Lanquetin. We're talking John Petrucci (Dream Theater) playing  death
metal here. Certain songs work, allowing for  a  pleasurable  listen,
but in the end a bit more consistency is needed  to  make  this  band
stand out above the rest  of  today's  growing  metal  scene.  Salut,
Carcariass! Welcome to the metal ranks.

Contact: 41 E Chemin De Valentin, 25000 Bescancon, France
         http://www.loria.fr/~couturie/carcariass


Centurion - _Arise of the Empire_  (Scarlet, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay  (2 out of 10)

The Italian metal crusaders  Centurion  thrust  themselves  upon  the
scene with this _Arise of the Empire_, their debut  release.  I  say,
some things are better left undone, kind of like this album. Have you
listened to Judas Priest? Helloween, maybe?  Well,  now  imagine  Rob
Halford or Michael Kiske crooning, in the  finest  testosterone-laden
fashion, about the atmosphere  surrounding  the  rise  of  the  Roman
Empire. Well, imagine that!  You  now  have  an  -excellent-  working
knowledge of what Centurion is all about  without  having  to  endure
this nine track, almost fifty-one minute, rehashing  of  Flotsam  and
Jetsam's _Doomsday for the Deceiver_ or Metal  Church's  _The  Dark_.
Look to  the  past  for  the  originals,  people,  not  this,  albeit
well-done, knock-off of much more enthralling groups of yesteryear!


Coalesce - _012: Revolution in Just Listening_
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)  (Relapse, October 1999)

There seems to be a growing need for intense music to develop  a  new
persona as it progresses. I'm talking about shape shifting sounds and
ideas, adding a solid one-two punch of creativity  and  really  going
out on a limb with what you're going to give to the listeners.  Seems
as though hardcore/noisecore heavies Coalesce have been dabbling  too
much into the creative cookie-jar this time out as their new disc  is
a whopping smack to the head. It's like a demolition crew  of  sorts;
who with solid grooves, heavy-as-fuck vocals  and  a  chaotic  frenzy
fuelling the fire, might  just  bring  your  house  down.  One  might
wonder, "Who can handle all of this in one sitting?" I'm a  survivor,
folks, and let me tell you, the interesting trip  through  Coalesce's
emotional roller coaster is an experience.  A  little  out  there  at
times, but on a  whole,  Coalesce's  ambient-like  hardcore/noisecore
offering still does  the  damage.  You'll  leave  this  battered  and
bruised. Old metal fans with pacemakers and bad backs, stay at home.


Cosmonks - _Out of the Ruins_ (Lucky Seven / Diehard, September 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (5 out of 10)

Blending a vaguely punk (the term used here rather broadly) direction
with catchy melodic hook lines and horn parts hardly  makes  Cosmonks
original: this catchy, bounce laden style has been done far better by
NOFX over their numerous albums. In comparison, _Out of the Ruins_ is
more than a bit too sugar coated and contrived.  Nonetheless,  catchy
it is and you will probably find yourself foot-tapping through it the
first or second time through. However, upon repeated listens, it  not
only seems to become more and more annoyingly  adolescent,  but  also
starts to grate for the simple fact that its structures are gnawingly
repetitive and that it's so long. The more ballady "Cradle Bomb" is a
short respite, but there are few such blessings on this  forty  eight
minute, twelve track, stagnant, though very professionally  executed,
catchy melodic "punk" album.


Damn 13 - _The Dynamite Gospel_ (Sweettooth Recordings, October 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8.5 out of 10)

With ex-Monster Voodoo Machine frontman  Adam  Sewell  at  the  helm,
there was no need to worry about what was in store with the first few
listens. No doubt it was going to be good. Having been an avid fan of
MVM in the mid-'90s, I was stoked to hear new material. Their  demise
a few years back led to several spin-off bands and side projects. The
music and ideas were there, but something was lacking. With Damn  13,
all the right buttons are pushed. Damn 13 are set from the get go  to
make sure they come out on top no matter  what,  and  if  that  means
bashing our heads in with infectious grooves, then so be it. With the
vibrant opener "Destroy a-Go-Go"  and  on  through  powerhouse  track
"Righteous Dynamite", Damn 13 showcase a solid hard rock vibe that'll
rattle your head and leave you thirsty for more. Too bad it's only  a
four-song EP (13 minutes), because Damn 13 are great. Watch  out  for
these guys.


Danzig - _6:66 Satan's Child_  (E-Magine Records, November 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8.5 out of 10)

After a rather lacklustre dabble into industrial music the last  time
out with _blackacidevil_ (maybe he was brainwashed? Whatever...), the
Prince of Darkness once again gathers up a slew of  cronies  to  help
him do his dirty work. And the work at hand? Not bad, not bad at all.
With a definite experimental feel filling Danzig's darkened  assault,
it's still apparent that he still has enough know-how and  aggression
in him to fuel such strong numbers like "Unspeakable" and "Cult W/Out
a Name". I was beginning to worry? Had the man behind such  bands  as
Samhain and The Misfits, not to mention the legendary work  of  early
Danzig, gone stale? What would his fans do had this been crap?  Let's
not think about that and just breathe a sigh of relief that this disc
is rockin'. A much needed return when it seemed everyone was ready to
pounce on him -- myself included -- and rip his new disc to shreds.


Deranged - _III_  (Listenable Records, November 1999)
by: David Rocher  (8 out of 10)

Powerful, murderously groovy, of mangling intensity  and  devastating
violence: within a few seconds into "Ripped  Raped  Randomized",  the
Swedish  goremasters'  third  killing  spree  will  have  overwhelmed
listeners falling vanquished to their knees before its  gut-churning,
grinding   riffing,   blasting,   unrelenting    skin-pounding    and
throat-mangling grunts. With nearly 45  minutes  of  ruthlessly  fast
musical extremity mercilessly welding itself  into  your  flesh  with
insane breakneck velocity and a hefty dose of distressing aggression,
the most striking feature of _III_ is  the  literally  beastly,  mean
death metal deity it embodies. However, far from the rather  confused
chaotic dirges of _Rated X_, this grating bastard doesn't even suffer
from the lack of pinpoint precision that  so  many  high-speed  death
metal releases display -- Deranged's musicianship is razor-sharp, and
the thirteen furious metal blast sessions composing _III_ (minus  the
wittingly tasteless sample-ridden industrial interlude  title  track)
click into place with, I assume, the same apparent neat cracking feel
produced by snapping cervical vertebrae. The massive production  fits
this brute better than a pair of tailored baby-skin slippers would --
from   the   roaring   rhythmic   department   to    the    hideously
organic-sounding  vocal  grunts,  right  across   to   the   amazing,
bludgeoning metronome drum work and guttural guitars, all instruments
are clearly audible, yet merge together to create a  circumstantially
suitably malformed monstrosity of sound that is guaranteed  to  leave
your ears bleeding by the time the closing  track  "Razor  (rection)"
fades back into nothingness. Call  yourself  hard?  _III_  will  take
sadistic pleasure in proving you just how wrong you are!


Disarray - _A Lesson in Respect_  (Eclipse, July 1999)
by: Brian Meloon  (5 out of 10)

Disarray's promo material boasts "On July 27, 1999,  the  underground
will rear its ugly head... and the  music  industry  will  fall  into
complete Disarray". Aside from the fact that July 27th has  come  and
gone with no ill effects on the music  industry  (except  maybe  that
Hall & Oates re-release), this album never really  had  a  chance  of
affecting even the underground music industry.  Quite  frankly,  this
record is just another "death metal meets  hardcore"  album;  nothing
more, nothing less. Its most unique feature is the band's interesting
take on Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird". Aside from that,  this  is  your
standard, sludgy mix of death metal and hardcore.  The  guitar  work,
guitar solos and drumming are  competent  but  not  challenging,  the
vocals are standard hardcore-style shouting, the production is decent
(though the drums sound a little  bit  hollow),  and  the  songs  are
boring. It's not that they're bad, but they're  nothing  you  haven't
heard before.  They  usually  plow  along  at  a  slow-to-mid  tempo,
pummelling the listener  into  aural  submission  but  providing  few
surprises. To Disarray's credit, I get the impression from  their  CD
that they'd be a better live band than this album  reflects.  Perhaps
they can build a following by playing live,  but  otherwise,  they're
going to have to do something to make their original music stand  out
from the myriad of bands out there doing the same style.


Engine - _Engine_  (Metal Blade, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay  (4 out of 10)

Here's a piece that I could have done without hearing. Ray Alder,  of
Fates Warning fame, along with Joey Vera  (Armored  Saint)  on  bass,
combined their abilities with hardcore punk drummer Pete  Parada  and
Bernie Versailles (ex-Agent Steel) to issue forth  a  self-titled  CD
that, quite frankly, is a watered-down version of the  aforementioned
bands. Yes, even less edgy than Fates Warning. Nothing against FW,  I
happen to be absolutely taken with _Spectre Within_  (1985),  _Awaken
the Guardian_ (1986) and  even  _Parallels_  (1998)  had  some  great
points, but I am suffering under the impression that Adler  and  Vera
missed what they were toiling to  achieve  with  Engine.  Semi-chunky
cuts with a near perfect riff here and there, this direct and pointed
"heavy rock" approach has little hope of gathering much acclaim.  The
opening track, "Monster", comes at you with the type of force that  I
would be proud to see the rest of the disc maintain and improve upon,
but instead "I Don't Need" and "You're  Awake"  are  singular  saving
graces on this nine tack, forty-three minute  let  down.  As  a  side
note, Joey Vera produced this album and did an impressive job. Now if
we could get him to offer up another song like "Havin' a Bad Day",  I
could be a bit more of a happy camper. Why are Engine on Metal Blade,
anyway? They might be better  off  represented  by  Roadrunner.  Poor
expenditure of funds here, people.


Entwine - _The Treasure Within Hearts_  (Spinefarm Records, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (6.5 out of 10)

With all too familiar sounds of passion,  the  gentle  sprinkling  of
ivory keys and emotional vocal stylings flowing throughout the  disc,
I felt as if I was being subjected  to  a  pretty  bland  attempt  at
trying to make music come across as special  and  unique.  It  fails.
Instead, I was subjected to a  pretty  generic  clone  copy  of  such
greats as My Dying Bride, Opeth and The Gathering. While not all that
bad,  the  use  of  keyboards  and  female  vocals  does  get  a  bit
obnoxiously overdone and that paints a black  spot  on  the  rest  of
Entwine's material, although a good portion of the record is actually
worth listening. Sparks of brilliance arise on tracks  like  "In  the
Frame of Wilderness" and "Enjoy the Silence", but it's not enough  to
save the record, I'm afraid. Be cautious of this release.


Fireball Ministry - _Ou Est la Rock?_  (Bong Load, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay  (7.5 out of 10)

Straightforward rock is exactly what Fireball Ministry serves  up  as
their main entree to you, the CoC discriminating diner. As  a  matter
of fact, readers, add a full point to my score if you  find  yourself
massively beguiled with bands of this nature, keeping  in  mind  this
release is one of the delectable morsels on Ed Mundell's (of  Monster
Magnet / The Atomic Bitchwax  [see  the  interview  in  this  issue])
plate. Fireball Ministry combines a pure balls-to-the-wall rock segue
into near-stoner indulgence. Clean vocals, pure guitar rhythms and  a
sweet pounding beat cook up easy groove  material  for  audiences  of
this genre. Tom Rothrock and Rob Schinapf of Foo Fighters / Toadies /
Fu Manchu fame lend their acumen to _Ou Est la Rock?_ along with Nick
Menza (Megadeth) and Guy Pinhas  (Obsessed).  Eight  songs  totalling
just over a half hour of pure  groovin'  satisfaction  await  you  in
Fireball Ministry's serving line. Grab a tray, scoop on the rock  'n'
roll, and enjoy.  Fireball  Ministry  certainly  cooks  up  a  wicked
portion for your consumption!


Fiurach - _Chaospawner_  (Scarlet, 1999)
by: Brian Meloon  (9 out of 10)

Fiurach are an Italian band formerly known as Agarthi. While their EP
_At the Burning Horizon_ (Red Stream, 1997) wasn't great, it had some
interesting ideas. This album is a great improvement  in  just  about
all areas. The closest comparison I can make would be to  an  updated
and expanded version of Sadist's _Into the Light_. They use keyboards
and  arrangements  in  the  same  general  style,  though   Fiurach's
compositions are much more advanced and  varied.  They  also  include
elements  of  symphonic,  power  and  progressive  metal,  with  some
sections reminding me of Helstar, Nocturnus, and even Malmsteen. They
meld a variety of styles into a cohesive and natural  sounding  whole
(somewhat like Extol do), and do so with a high degree  of  technical
precision. The parts aren't overly technical,  but  the  performances
are solid and occasionally flashy. Generally, the keyboards are  used
for  accompaniment  and  stay  in  the  background.   However,   they
occasionally take a more prominent role, taking the lead,  and  often
have the sci-fi feel of Nocturnus.  The  vocals  are  rasped/shouted,
similar to Sadist, but there are some "Viking metal" vocal  parts  as
well. The production is a little faded, but acceptable. Overall, this
is an excellent and unique  album.  It  should  appeal  to  all  fans
looking for new and original metal.


Forest of Impaled - _Demonvoid_  (Red Stream, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay  (10 out of 10)

I wish that I could simply state "OWN THIS" and all of you would know
what exactly I meant and why I said it about this band. This  method,
however, would not allow me to communicate any of Forest of Impaled's
brilliance to you, the CoC reader! Not a new band by any  stretch  of
the imagination -- this Chicago band was established in the  fall  of
1992 in the essence of European  metal.  After  three  well  received
underground demos, Forest  of  Impaled  released  _Demonvoid_,  which
masterfully reticulated past musical growth from their demo  material
and expressed a commanding  knowledge  of  dark  times  where  mortal
virtues were governed by the sword-blade.  Fantastically  articulated
in carnal black metal fashion, FoI never, not for a minute, failed to
impress me. I found them to incorporate only  the  vital  essence  of
black metal into their, guess what?, -unique- sound. Yes! I said  it,
-unique-! Listen to _Demonvoid_, in particular "Metamorphosis  (Birth
of the Seventh)" about the fifty second mark -- riffing like  I  have
longed to hear on an album such as this  for  quite  some  time.  FoI
bombards the listener with brutish metal onslaughts and then, all  of
a sudden, the band breaks into a slicing riff, as to make  your  skin
crawl, while the rest of the band, it  seems,  -regroups-  to  attack
from yet a third direction. Astounding! At just over half an hour  in
length, this nine-track work of art will spend a great deal  of  time
spinning in my JVC player. Did you ever  have  one  of  those  months
where there was -too much- enticing metal to choose from? I'm  having
one, but for -you-, complicate your future personal  CD  choice  with
the addition of Forest of Impaled to your  collection.  I  think  you
will thank me...


Genocide - _Breaking Point_  (Musica Alternativa, 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)

Intensive touring within Portugal, two demo  tape  releases  (that  I
know of) and a 1994 self-titled debut album explain why Genocide  are
so well known in the Portuguese metal scene. Now,  nine  years  after
being formed, Genocide strike back with _Breaking Point_ -- and  they
haven't given up on their  death/grind.  Well  played  and  produced,
_Breaking Point_ is certainly quite a  landmark  in  Genocide's  long
career, and the music it contains comes from  a  band  who  certainly
seem to know  what  they're  doing.  On  _Breaking  Point_,  Genocide
actively seek to add elements that may  be  able  to  increase  their
music's variety, and they  do  achieve  that  to  a  certain  degree,
despite the relatively frequent Brutal Truth-isms. The fact  is  that
at least most of the music here must have been waiting to be  put  on
CD for a long time and Genocide's delivery is intense and ready to be
unleashed live, something they do quite well. _Breaking Point_, while
not exactly innovative, isn't a redundant  album,  either,  featuring
some rather interesting material and certainly sounding like  it  was
carefully planned and executed.

Contact: Musica Alternativa, Rua da Republica da Bolivia 75-B,
         1500 Lisboa, Portugal
         mailto:malternativa@ip.pt
         http://www.malternativa.pt


Konkhra - _Come Down Cold_  (Diehard, August 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (5 out of 10)

Konkhra have become a toned down rock structured groove  metal  band.
In simple terms, that's exactly what _Come Down Cold_ signifies and I
will be the first to say that it is a sad loss for  the  death/thrash
community to lose the band who brought us the storming powerhouse  of
_Spit or Swallow_ not five years ago  to  what  one  might  call  the
"Metallica" bandwagon. Konkhra have gone in a direction which is hard
to defend as natural. The meshing of groovy, horrifically  unpunchily
produced guitars and bass, with stifled  vocals  and  flat  drums  is
almost as disappointing as the  lacklustre  solos  James  Murphy  has
turned in. _Come Down Cold_ sounds uneasy, lacking in  cohesion,  and
ultimately  unconvincing.  However,  much  as  knowing   and   liking
Konkhra's past I find _Come Down Cold_ unappealing and  unconvincing,
it must be said that for what it is -- a groove oriented metal  album
lodged somewhere between the fuzz  of  Corrosion  of  Conformity  and
Kyuss and the commercially oriented dirge Metallica currently  brings
us by the plateful --, _Come Down Cold_ is far from awful.


Mammoth Volume - _Mammoth Volume_  (The Music Cartel, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay  (2 out of 10)

Sleep. Electric Wizard. Orange Goblin. Have you heard of them?  Well,
so has Mammoth Volume, obviously. Unlike Engine, who  -don't-  really
appear to be  associated  with  the  "right"  label,  Mammoth  Volume
-does-. All stoner, all the time! A lot can be said  for  maintaining
some consistency, but more could be  said  for  being  divergent  and
unique. The latter, this Swedish '70s retro experimental group isn't.
If you are going to share a common sound with  a  relatively  crowded
genre, change it up a little bit. I was even -that- smart in  college
when I "referenced" other people's work. Dirty, murky and sludgy best
represent MV's sound. Can you hear a Kyuss influence on this release?
Yes, but why would you want to demean John, Josh, Scott, and Alfredo?
Anyway,  with  The  Atomic  Bitchwax  available  for  your  listening
pleasure, why go with Mammoth Volume?


Mercyful Fate - _9_  (Metal Blade, June 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (7.5 out of 10)

There has been a lot said about  _9_  and  views  of  it  have  to  a
reasonable extent been quite highly polarised,  with  long-time  fans
both liking and hating it in varying quantities. I myself don't  feel
overwhelmingly positive or negative about Mercyful Fate's most recent
full-length. Admittedly, it is far more in their  classic  vein,  and
thus for me more enjoyable, than the recent likes of _Dead Again_ and
_Into the Unknown_, but it is still nothing to  match  the  likes  of
_Don't Break the Oath_ or _Melissa_, as some seem to have  suggested.
The speed-driven guitar wreckage of "Last Rites", "House on the Hill"
or "Insane" prove that Sherman  and  Diamond  still  have  more  than
enough left in them to write  powerful  thrash  songs  with  Mercyful
Fate's  distinctive  signature,  and  when   Diamond's   vocals   are
dynamically highlighted by soft acoustic or melodic  guitar  on  such
tracks as "Church of Saint  Anne"  or  "Buried  Alive",  it  is  also
evident that this aspect of Mercyful Fate's distinctive style,  which
infused the likes of "Come to  the  Sabbath"  with  such  power,  has
neither lost its importance nor effect. However, tracks like "Sold My
Soul" or "The Grave" are nothing above lacklustre  when  compared  to
classic Mercyful Fate and, as with  the  closing  title  track,  show
their weakness through their repetitive and  predictable  structures.
What it comes down to is that _9_ is but a pale reflection of classic
Mercyful Fate, but a pale reflection of classic Mercyful  Fate  still
makes for a listenable and varied album. For Mercyful Fate  fans  who
crave more quantity, even if  the  quality  is  not  up  to  previous
standards.


Various - _Metal From Denmark...
           Reversing the Danish Underground 1999_
by: Paul Schwarz  (5 out of 10)  (Sono Press / Diehard, 1999)

Made to expose more of the talent Denmark has  to  offer  metal-wise,
this  compilation  is  a  good  attempt  at  doing  just  that,   but
unfortunately it is considerably far from perfect. Firstly, it misses
some of the best bands (such as the  rockingly  catchy  Dominus)  and
includes a number of rather unexciting artists. Secondly,  there  are
no unreleased tracks here and thus no reason for purchase other  than
for sampling purposes. However, there is a lot  on  offer  to  sample
(nineteen bands is good for one CD in my books), and a decent  number
of quality artists, some known to me (Konkhra, Daemon) and  some  not
(Saturnus, Withering Surface, Aurora), which means that _MFD_ is  far
from a waste of time, if also far from a brilliant example of how  to
make a compilation.


Metanoia - _Time to Die_  (Diamante, 1999)
by: Alex Cantwell  (6.5 out of 10)

_Time to Die_ is Metanoia's third full length, and let me state right
away that it is a vast improvement over their previous effort, _Don't
Walk Dead_. Vocalist Yowie is a supremely powerful growler,  but  the
addition of black metal vocals to his repertoire, while trendy, makes
Metanoia a better band with better songs.  I  felt  that  with  their
previous effort _DWD_ this band was just going too far  to  be  heavy
solely for the sake of being heavy, but with this new batch of  songs
I don't believe that to be the case, as there is a healthy amount  of
variety here. It seems that the songs on _TtD_ had more  thought  put
into them, and after four listens I have begun to catch what Metanoia
are doing, to understand them, and yes, to like them -- but  it  took
repeated listens to reach that point, because on the surface this  is
just basic death metal. Lisa's bass lines are much more prominent and
important to the songs than in past recordings, and her  and  drummer
Ian work well together throughout the fourteen songs, but as was true
with all past Metanoia music, these songs are  built  upon  guitarist
Steve's crushingly heavy riffs, and  rightfully  so.  Hopefully  this
band will someday venture out of Australia and tour so that they  may
pound the willing masses into dust with their 10000 pounds of fury.


My Dying Bride - _The Light at the End of the World_
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)  (Peaceville, November 1999)

Although I had already heard rumours concerning what  _The  Light  at
the End of the World_ might be all about, I only  started  to  really
believe them when I saw _TLatEotW_'s suitably gloomy front  cover  --
more specifically, when  I  saw  that  the  old  MDB  logo  had  been
reinstated. I hadn't slept for about 36  hours  or  so  when  the  CD
arrived and I looked at its front cover, and I almost thought  I  was
dreaming... but I wasn't. The heavy and slow  guitar  sound,  Aaron's
lyrics, the 71 minutes running time with practically  no  atmospheric
interludes, the death grunts and _The Angel and the Dark  River_-like
anguished vocals, even the presence of a  "The  Forever  People"-type
track  and  "Sear  Me  III"  --  I  seemed  to  have   already   been
subconsciously warned of all that by that little  logo.  You  may  be
wondering what the hell is it that I find so special about that  logo
-- well, there's nothing special about the logo itself, visually, but
any real fan of MDB will know what I mean when I say that  it  brings
back a lot of feelings.  Original  guitarist  Calvin  Robertshaw  and
temporary drummer Bill Law have been  replaced  by  Hamish  Glencross
(ex-Solstice, who didn't play on _TLatEotW_) and  Shaun  Steels  (who
had a brief stay with Anathema after leaving Solstice), respectively.
So the three founding members that remained in MDB (guitarist Andrew,
vocalist Aaron and bassist Adrian) decided it was time to go back  to
MDB's roots and try to perfect the style  they're  so  good  at,  the
style they helped to develop so much. Some may criticize them and say
they chose the easy path; I disagree.  I  feel  it  takes  a  lot  of
courage to abandon the path they were treading  with  their  previous
album, in a way admitting it was not taking them where they wanted to
go, return to what they -like- and try to perfect  that  style.  They
basically went back to playing doom  metal,  with  death  grunts  and
everything, while most other bands keep getting softer. How well  are
MDB doing it? Very well. _TLatEotW_ may not surpass _Turn  Loose  the
Swans_, but it's a great album, sombre, bleak and very much My  Dying
Bride, with plenty to  remind  you  of  each  of  MDB's  first  three
full-length  albums.  Practically  every  track  is  at  least  quite
noteworthy (so it's hardly of any interest to highlight any of them),
except perhaps the somewhat less inspired "The  Night  He  Died"  and
some of "Edenbeast". Closing the album, "Sear  Me  III".  As  if  the
superb "Sear Me MCMXCIII" from _Turn Loose  the  Swans_  hadn't  been
enough, MDB have gone back to the  original  "Sear  Me"  (from  their
debut full-length _As the Flower  Withers_)  after  all  these  years
again, took a little bit of it and used it to make one of their  best
songs to date. MDB have recovered their ability to create  both  slow
melancholic   passages   and   harsher   outbursts    with    Aaron's
characteristic death vox, and use the contrast provided by  the  two.
It may be that this still lacks a violin to really be MDB like it was
before, but I don't find myself thinking about that very  often  when
listening to the album, which  is  a  good  sign.  Rather,  my  basic
complaint about _TLatEotW_ concerns the fact that I feel that  a  few
songs are actually longer than they should  have  been  and  tend  to
sound slightly more formulaic overall than, for example, _Turn  Loose
the Swans_ (which, in my opinion,  remains  as  their  finest  hour).
Nevertheless, if MDB continue to -progress- within this style that is
truly their own for the next album -- as I hope they will --,  I  can
only expect it to be an absolute classic, if the band is  given  more
time and stability than they had for _TLatEotW_.  Rejoice,  sorrowful
hearts. My Dying Bride is returning.


Various - _Never Give In: A Tribute to Bad Brains_
by: Adrian Bromley  (8.5 out of 10)  (Century Media, October 1999)

Finally a worthwhile tribute, with a kickass roster of  bands  paying
tribute to the artist. A much needed tribute to Bad  Brains,  a  band
that no doubt influenced a slew of artists over the past two  decades
(many of them surfacing here). From the detonating ways of Vision  of
Disorder doing "Soulcraft" to the stompin' grooves bestowed on "Right
Brigade" (done by 16) onto the stunning cover of "I  Luv  I  Jah"  by
hardcore heavies Cave-In, this tribute reads like  a  fabulous  book.
Even Moby's dream-like state tribute opener  of  "Sailin'  On"  shows
true respect for one of the most creative bands  ever.  Show  respect
and get this tribute, folks.


Nightstick - _Death to Music_  (Relapse, October 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

What is it about this band? Nothing seems to work, yet it does?  Does
that make sense? Am I coocoo for Cocoa  Puffs?  I  don't  know,  man,
there is just something so vivid and mind-bending about the music  of
offbeat, noise junkies Nightstick...  With  enough  sadistic  vocals,
uneven drums and guitar riffs that fade in an out more than  a  coked
up air traffic controller, _Death to Music_ is the perfect symbol  of
an all night bender gone way out of control. Think "rockbottom, lying
in an alley way" kind of feeling and you get the feelings you end  up
with after a  few  listens.  Rocking  enough  to  draw  you  in,  yet
unpleasant enough to make you want to turn away,  Nightstick  somehow
keep it busy -- and that is a good thing. Music  intended  for  those
who walk the earth fucked up 24 hours a day.


Old Grandad - _The Last Upper_  (MIA Records, October 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

The last I had heard of these Black  Sabbath-esque,  drug  influenced
madmen was on their wild indie disc titled _Vol.  666_  [back  a  few
years in CoC, issue #28]. It was odd, abrasive, but it  rocked.  Same
goes  for  their  debut  for   MIA   Records,   a   solid   slab   of
death/thrash/stoner rockin' that'll leave you  smiling  more  as  you
inhale the green goods. And while not much has  changed  since  their
indie days, you'll be hard to press any  kind  of  negative  reaction
from me over that decision from the band to still be playing the same
style. It just seems to have suited them. With a definitely  stronger
production, the oddball ideas and song structures seem to  have  more
substance, as if they're spawning these wicked tentacles to grab hold
of you until you turn blue. Weird is as weird does and Old Grandad do
it oh so well. Choice cut, and a classic title if  I  might  say  so:
"Your Guts on Rye". Why couldn't Cannibal Corpse think of that one?


Opeth - _Still Life_  (Peaceville, November 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

Despite giving it a 9 out of 10, I have no qualms about  saying  that
_Still Life_ isn't every bit as great as I hoped  it  would  be.  The
fact is that its predecessor _My Arms, Your  Hearse_  [CoC  #32]  set
such high standards that it would be  extremely  difficult  to  reach
such heights again -- difficult, yet  not  impossible,  and  I  hoped
Opeth would be able to do so with _Still Life_. Having said  this,  I
nevertheless do consider _Still Life_ an excellent album -- hence  my
rating. The best way to explain my feelings about this album  appears
to be the following: I could replace any average  song  from  _MA,YH_
with any song from _Still Life_ and I'd still give _MA,YH_ a  10  out
of 10; but on the other hand, those same  individual  songs  all  put
together, thus forming _Still Life_, just don't make it past a 9  out
of 10. It is hard, however, to pinpoint exactly why this happens,  as
there is basically nothing wrong  with  _Still  Life_  --  it  is  an
excellent album, as I mentioned before. It may  be  overall  somewhat
less aggressive and more melancholic than  _MA,YH_,  but  that's  not
necessarily the problem, since the more  mellow  sections  and  clean
vocals that show up more often than before are as good  as  ever  and
the quality level is kept high. Perhaps  the  only  problem  here  is
simply that this is _MA,YH_'s  successor.  Regardless  of  that,  the
music is still  great  (especially  opener  "The  Moor")  and  Mikael
Akerfeldt's vocals and guitar playing are as superb as  ever  before.
There are some differences in the musical style besides the fact that
overall _Still Life_ isn't as aggressive as its predecessor,  though:
for example, while the songs on this hour-long album are still  quite
long and structurally challenging, Opeth  have  for  the  first  time
began to repeat certain passages within songs, although  this  seldom
happens. The riffing style is often a  bit  different  as  well,  but
there haven't been any -major- changes in Opeth's sound. In fact, one
of the  great  Opeth  trademarks  still  remains:  the  album  starts
triumphantly, with Mikael's  powerful  vocals  erupting  from  amidst
another very well built crescendo. _Still Life_, great album that  it
is, just isn't as -special- as _MA,YH_. Nevertheless,  I  would  rate
every album Opeth released so far either 9  or  10  out  of  10,  and
_Still Life_, their fourth album and  first  for  Peaceville,  is  no
exception. Despite  the  great  difficulty  of  topping  albums  like
_Orchid_, _Morningrise_ or _MA,YH_, the fact that _Still Life_ is  no
exception to the rule  I  just  mentioned  confirms  once  again  the
absolutely remarkable band that Opeth,  in  my  opinion,  has  always
been, thanks to Akerfeldt.


Overkill - _Coverkill_  (CMC, October 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (6 out of 10)

Most bands choose their covers wisely -- not to  say  Blitz  and  the
boys didn't, but it just seems like a fair amount of "tough" songs to
handle, especially with  Overkill's  very  straightforward  style  of
speed/thrash metal. While  this  disc  has  some  good  songs  (Kiss'
"Deuce", Black Sabbath's "Cornucopia" and Jethro  Tull's  "Hymn  43")
and some bad songs (Manowar's "Death Tone" and a  mediocre  Motorhead
number, "Overkill"), the overall feel of  the  record  seems  bloated
with the band trying to show another side to their  music  abilities,
when we, Overkill fans, know all along just what type of  music  they
were meant to play. I'm disappointed.


Rammstein - _Live Aus Berlin_  (Motor/Mercury, September 1999)
by: Adam Wasylyk  (10 out of 10)

Having picked up their  last  album  _Sehnsucht_  and  seen  them  in
concert on their Toronto stop last June, I've  been  on  a  Rammstein
high these last few  months.  These  industrial  metallers  can't  do
wrong; their wondrous live set combined with a lethal array of tracks
make this band a must see. Capitalizing on their new-found popularity
after supporting Korn and afterwards doing their own headlining tour,
the band have released  a  live  album  that  nearly  solidifies  the
kinetic energy and passion they have on stage. Performing their  best
tracks ("Spiel Mit  Mir",  "Bestrafe  Mich",  "Sehnsuct,"  "Asche  Zu
Asche", "Du Hast", "Engel", "Bueck Dich"... there's so  many!),  only
the visuals of a Rammstein  set  (bright  lights,  lasers,  water-jet
penises, etc.) prevent this album from being the perfect example of a
Rammstein live show. Hearing the crowd sing with the band  and  cheer
them on sends chills through the spine, you feel like you're right in
the centre of it all. The sound  is  amazing  (besides  a  couple  of
moments here  and  there),  the  selection  of  tunes  is  absolutely
perfect... there's nothing of real substance  to  criticize.  I'm  in
awe, which is a rarity these days. It's the best live album I've ever
heard.


Requiem Mass - _Shattered Destiny_  (<Independent>, 1999)
by: Alex Cantwell  (8 out of 10)

Well honk my hooter if this doesn't  sound  a  lot  like  Sacrifice's
_Soldier of Misfortune_, which, if you don't remember, was  an  early
'90s thrash masterpiece. This debut full  length  from  Requiem  Mass
brings back those same feelings I got when I first heard  _SoM_,  and
it is really a treat to the ears. _Shattered Destiny_ is comprised of
aggressive and somewhat technical thrash that  is  catchy  and  flows
very well. These guys have even succeeded in making their album  flow
together well, as far as song sequence goes, which is something  that
Metallica, Anthrax and Overkill used to be good  at,  but  has  since
become a forgotten art -- extra points for that  alone.  Intertwining
mosh parts with sleek guitar lines and excellent lead work,  and  all
held together by precise drumming, Requiem  Mass  have  impressed  me
very much. What a surprise to discover a kick-butt  thrash  CD  by  a
young band in 1999! They seem to be playing from the heart, and  with
conviction for their craft, but assuredly they  will  never  get  the
credit they deserve because they are playing metal  that  is  out  of
fashion.

Contact: Requiem Mass, 14400 Oakwood PL, Albuquerque, NM 87123, USA


Sigh - _Scenario IV: Dread Dreams_  (Cacophonous, September 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (9 out of 10)

Cacophonous' past history of signing the likes of Cradle of Filth and
Dimmu Borgir before promptly losing them, and  watching  them  become
black metal superstars soon afterwards,  would  suggest  that  Sigh's
best move, commercially  speaking,  would  be  to  leave  the  label.
However, Sigh are not only the exception  by  virtue  of  their  long
tenure with Cacophonous; they  are  also  far  more  innovative  than
either of the more successful aforementioned bands --  and  the  vast
majority of black  metal  bands,  for  that  matter.  Sigh  take  big
helpings of Celtic Frost and stir in first the  melodic  leanings  of
traditional  heavy  metal,  then  the   sweeping   orchestration   of
soundtrack-styled  classical  compositions,  and   finally   fleeting
borrowings from unexpected genres like funk-styled  jazz  and  twangy
country and western. Sigh create a truly  confusing  mix  which  they
somehow mould into a solid and convincing musical whole.  The  amount
of courage, conviction and success Sigh have with  innovation  pushes
them to the forefront of the black metal scene alongside the likes of
Emperor and Satyricon. Let's hope that more people start taking  note
of the brave steps this band is taking.


Stretch Arm Strong - _Rituals of Life_  (Independent, 1999)
by: Alex Cantwell  (8.5 out of 10)

Despite their name (remember that toy?), Stretch  Arm  Strong  are  a
"serious" hardcore band who have not  abandoned  the  influence  that
punk had on hardcore, because the songs  on  _Rituals  of  Life_  are
lively and bouncy, not dark like most modern hardcore bands.  Due  to
this fact, the listener cannot help but to be drawn into these songs,
and I am willing to bet that these guys  are  a  very  exciting  live
band. As I stated above, these songs are not dark  or  menacing,  but
that is not to say that  they  are  lacking  in  rage,  as  heard  in
vocalist Chris McLane's ranting and  yelling.  The  use  of  acoustic
guitar, piano and clean vocals adds something special to  _RoL_,  and
also showcases the talent of this band. This  is  the  best  hardcore
band that I have ever heard of, and I will  actively  pursue  all  of
their previous releases.


Stuck Mojo - _HWY 1_  (Century Media, October 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

First off, get some props out to singer  Bonz  and  light  up  a  fat
joint. Get it? Got it? Good! Okay, now onto  the  recording.  With  a
slew of other great bands putting out  live  records  nowadays  (Iced
Earth, Brutal Truth, etc.), I was  excited  to  hear  that  Atlanta's
finest rap/metal act Stuck Mojo were putting one out too. I have seen
this band live before and let  me  tell  you  something,  metalheads:
there is -nothing- like it. Intense with a capital "I". The band just
takes the crowd on a roaring wave of sound and excitement,  thrusting
fast 'n' heavy riffs meshed with some of the most violent rap  chants
into our faces. Ouch! These guys don't fuck  around.  With  seventeen
tracks, an accumulation of tracks over three  releases  and  two  new
studio tracks (the mediocre "Reborn" and supa-dupa, groove-heavy  "My
Will"), Stuck Mojo hit us hard 'n' heavy with some blistering  guitar
solos and total, out of control "Mojo groove". If you like the  band,
then this may be a welcome addition to your collection.


The Ember Tide - _The Ember Tide_  (Warhead Records, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (9 out of 10)

With four songs, all under ten minutes, one might  wonder  just  what
the fuss is all about.  Don't  fret,  metalheads,  as  all  of  these
numbers fucking crush. With a real  knack  for  writing  short,  well
structured blasts of intensity, The Ember Tide are a dazzling work of
art to just listen to. And even while the production isn't top notch,
their wonderful styling of harsh speed metal (pumped up with a  solid
set of blackened, aggressive vocals and some groove) hits home  in  a
big way. This all goes by too fast and that is a shame. I don't  know
what else to say, except check these sick metal fuckers out.  They'll
knock you to the ground. The intro film snippet from Rambo is
awesome.

Contact: 1B Smith St. Parammatta NSW 2150
         mailto:warhead@ausmetal.net
         http://www.ausmetal.net/warhead


The Fallen - _Sector-7G_  (<Independent>, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (4 out of 10)

The Fallen's three-song disc is  pretty  much  straightforward  death
metal, with a little twist here and  there  thrown  in  for  variety.
While rarely breaking away  from  their  death  metal  meets  Machine
Head-like vocals, The Fallen seem content at just  ripping  deep  and
hard into us with their choppy riffs  and  brutal  rhythmic  assault.
I'll admit I liked what I heard, but I was far  from  blown  away.  I
don't know, the three songs here have power, just not enough  variety
to get them signed (or, in this case, noticed). And  the  production?
Blah! Don't get me started. The best advice for this  quartet  is  to
take some time, focus on where they want to take their sound  and  go
for it. Have some balls, boys! Maybe  then  the  reaction  next  time
might be a bit more positive.

Contact: 26701 Quail Creek #190 Laguna Hills, CA 92656, USA
         http://thefallen.iuma.com


The Kuntautcult - _From the Pits..._  (Displeased, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay  (8.5 out of 10)

Originally operating under the epithet Bodybag, the membership of the
Kuntautcult is still unchanged to this day.  With  the  addition  and
subtraction of the very same member, bassist Vincent  Schutter,  this
three-piece band  from  Holland  are  honestly  intense  and  brutal,
creating  a  mid  to  fast-paced  death  metal  oasis  in  a  sea  of
mediocrity. Initially, Kuntautcult was to put  forth  an  MCD  to  be
released by Displeased. Instead, two songs,  "Use  Your  Dagger"  and
"Venus", were added and so _From the Pits..._  came  into  being.  On
this release, track four, "Use Your Dagger", although  semi-trite  in
name, provides as heavy a musical creation  as  I  have  heard  since
Mortician's  somewhat  downsized  song  efforts  on  _Hacked  Up  for
Barbecue_. Powerful and crushing, "From the Pits  of  Hell"  is  damn
near guaranteed to please fans from a cross-section of metal  genres,
this fact harboring little doubt in my  mind.  Mixed  in  the  melee,
"Galaxy Legends" drives home the point of the next track, "120 Bar of
Pressure Up Your Appendix". Metal acoustic parts run rampant and wild
amongst both songs, creating a strange, but -highly- palatable,  work
of metal inventiveness. A very  interesting  work  of  sharpened  and
delineated death metal is in store for you  if  you  are  up  to  the
challenge The Kuntautcult is issuing forth triumphantly  with  -your-
name on it.


Thunderhead - _Ugly Side_  (SPV/Steamhammer, November 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (5.5 out of 10)

Thunderhead have definitely got a handle  on  the  task  of  creating
listenable, foot-tapping hard-rock/metal. There are  distinct  echoes
of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, but the  thrashier  feel,  with  the
aggression more squarely originating from the crotch, which  pervades
_Ugly Side_ makes comparisons to these classic purveyors  of  melodic
metal seem a little inaccurate. If Thunderhead were aiming to  create
a solid, unoriginal commercial hard-rock/metal record in an age  when
most bands shouldn't still be trying to repeat the past  in  such  an
unnecessary manner, then they have succeeded, and have done  so  more
successfully than many of the new "reborn in true, heavy, metal" crop
have. However, if Thunderhead were trying to give the metal/hard-rock
listener of 1999 something he/she hadn't heard before  and  something
he/she couldn't get with more quality from another  band,  then  they
have failed. Add the  fact  that  the  cover  artwork  is  distinctly
unimpressive and that some of the lyrics are rather bad and macho  in
the most ridiculous way (from the title track, "Yeah, so I'm  walkin'
down the street / Without a fuckin' care in the world / When this cop
pulls up and says "Yoo boy, / What's that blood doin' on your hands?"
/ Yeah, Mr. Big Balls gotta question me / On a  beautiful  day  about
some blood on my hands / So of course my mouth  says  "Bring  on  the
shit!"") and you're left with a rather unnecessary, though not awful,
final product.


Tiamat - _Skeleton Skeletron_  (Century Media, September 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8.5 out of 10)

I was a  little  skeptical  as  to  where  Tiamat  would  take  their
ethereal-like metal attack after the bizarre, yet  somewhat  stunning
_A Deeper Kind of Slumber_ (1997), but after just a few  listens,  my
concerns were put to rest. This is the strongest Tiamat  to  date,  I
believe, a beehive of activity as the band paints brilliant  canvases
of dream-like sequences that shine like a rising sun. With a mediocre
cover of the Stones' classic "Sympathy For the Devil" planted in  for
simplicity, it's the drive of numbers like "Dust in  Our  Fare",  "As
Long as You Are Mine" and  the  cool  Sisters  of  Mercy-like  strike
"Brighter Than the Sun" that truly make this album.  I'm  shocked  at
the depth and passion that riddles this latest release.  Tiamat  have
sharpened their attack and opened a lot  more  doors  with  _Skeleton
Skeletron_. Worth investigating, metal fans.


Type O Negative - _World Coming Down_  (Roadrunner, October 1999)
by: Adam Wasylyk  (10 out of 10)

Where _October Rust_ was overly commercial and left a sour  taste  in
my mouth, _World Coming Down_ is nearly the bipolar opposite  of  its
predecessor. It's vastly uncommercial, crushingly heavy  and  totally
negative. It's almost as if the  band  have  taken  on  a  whole  new
meaning -- less  woman/sex-oriented,  more  mournful  and  depression
saturated. Tracks like "Everyone I Love Is Dead", "Who Will Save  the
Sane", "World Coming Down" and  "Everything  Dies"  demonstrate  that
Type O haven't gone soft on us, providing us with plenty of  brooding
atmospheres and agonizingly painful moments to behold. Pete  Steele's
vocals are still among the best I've ever heard -- painful,  soulful,
depressive. Josh Silver's keyboards give the album nearly all of  its
emotional impact, whose multi-layered  characteristic  allows  for  a
listener to take away different sounds from a song with each  passing
listen. _World Coming Down_ flows effortlessly, moving from track  to
track like a story that must be told, no matter what the outcome  may
be. Also included is "Day Tripper", a Beatles medley done in the  ol'
Type O tradition -- giving it a heavier edge and making it their own.
An album that won't be ignored, it's  my  favourite  album  of  1999.
Hands down.


Vesperian Sorrow - _Beyond the Cursed Eclipse_  (Displeased, 1999)
By: Aaron McKay  (9 out of 10)

Somewhat lead down the garden path by  Vesperian  Sorrow's  track  on
_Smells Like Team Spirit III_ [CoC #40], _Beyond the Cursed  Eclipse_
is still completely worthy of notable aggrandizement.  Irreproachable
black metal supervenes from VS's unblemished  sound.  Emanating  from
Absu's mastery of the dark art, Vesperian Sorrow materialized on  the
scene in 1998 with supremely orchestrated,  bloodlusting  atmosphere.
Working through the secret, unobserved power witnessed unto VP alone,
_BtCE_ penetrates deep within the listener's psyche to fan the  black
metal hunger inside, I believe, every one of us. This five-piece unit
unleashes tight devilish intricacies from Texas that harbor a passion
to succeed like -very- few bands before  them.  For  each  moment  of
_BtCE_'s fifty seven minutes, I found myself tied inexorably  to  the
music  brought  forth  on  this  magnificent  release.  Tracks   like
"Twilight of Azrael" and "Calgdon" shout  the  praises  of  Vesperian
Sorrow from every level of subterranean Hell! My  personal  treasured
pick manifests itself in the form of "Saga of the Second Sign", track
eight. Pure ferocity! With open  arms,  Vesperian  Sorrow  pulls  you
tight to its ever blackened heart of depravity. Let yourself be taken
in!


Warlord - _Rock the Foe Hammer_  (SolidState, 1999)
by: Alex Cantwell  (7.5 out of 10)

Warlord, a Canadian trio, went public with their debut self-titled EP
two  years  back,  and  finally  they  have  released   their   first
full-length effort, strangely titled _Rock  the  Foe  Hammer_.  After
digesting the EP, which in a nutshell was doom-influenced hardcore, I
expected the same musical direction on  any  future  albums,  but  my
expectations were not proven to be correct. Warlord are still  rooted
in somewhat of a hardcore vein, but seem to have taken on a  sort  of
freeform avantgardeness akin to their  labelmates  Roadside  Monument
and, to an extent, Frodus -- and while that -is- interesting,  I  was
disappointed that they did not  run  with  the  doom  meets  hardcore
thing, because I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it to be original.
_RtFH_ was produced by the increasingly popular Steve  Austin  (Today
Is the Day), and he did a great job of bringing all of the nuances of
Warlord's twiddling and "jamming" into the forefront of the mix. Yes,
I said it -- they are "jamming" on many songs on the album, but  they
are a tight enough unit  to  hold  it  together  and  make  it  work.
Although this band bears the heavy moniker of  Warlord,  they  should
appeal to not only fans of metal, but to those who  appreciate  indie
rock and heavy alternative bar band music as well.


Waste - _Therapy_  (<Independent>, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

This Italian three-piece play solid Sacred Reich meets  Prong  metal.
Very straightforward, fast at times, and definitely technical. As the
six songs on the release play out, I can't help but wonder  just  how
much work and effort the band has invested into their sound. Tight as
a newly made bed at Motel 6, I tell you. While a  tad  repetitive  at
times, the grooves emitted from the music help  spice  things  up.  I
also wish that with such tight musicianship the band would have aimed
for a much better recording. That said, what you  get  here  is  some
really cool music that'll easily entrance you  and  keep  you  coming
back for more. Choice cuts: "Last Day of  Pain"  and  "Waiting".  The
band's sincere metal approach is worthy of a listen.

Contact: Waste, c/o Patrizio Pappalardo, C.P. 71,
         95021 Acicastello (CT), Italy


White Skull - _Tales From the North_  (Nuclear Blast, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay  (3 out of 10)

I like Helloween. This is  the  reason  for  the  majority  of  White
Skull's three points given on this review. I  suppose  the  remainder
could be attributed to the cover art for _Tales From the North_  and,
to a much lesser degree, for Nuclear Blast being  their  label.  Very
guitar-oriented and  "true"  metal  muscle  plowing  WS's  enterprise
forward. Twelve tracks in all on _TFtN_, totalling about  fifty-eight
minutes of power in, as I  mentioned,  good  ol'  Helloween  fashion.
Minus WS's vocals, one can  almost  hear  influences  from  old  Iron
Maiden, a la _Piece of Mind_, maybe. War, oceanic conquest and battle
consume  nearly  all  of  White  Skull's  topical   escapades.   Nice
transitions within certain songs are  well  utilized.  For  instance,
"Gods of the  Sea",  track  four,  maintains  a  complicated  musical
progression while it seems to "pull back" and center around beautiful
guitar work toward the conclusion of the song.  The  same  is  almost
true with the very next piece, "Viking Tomb", at its  beginning.  The
mighty, addictive and riffy "Kriemhild Story" and "The Killing Queen"
provide  this  release's  high-points  for  me.  I  can  visualize  a
respected future for White Skull, but until that point, I'd hold  off
on _Tales From the North_.


Zao - _Liberate Te Ex Inferis_  (SolidState, 1999)
by: Alex Cantwell  (9 out of 10)

Drummer Jesse Smith and an  everchanging  line-up  have  concocted  a
swirling, chaotic bludgeoning of the  senses  with  _Liberate  Te  Ex
Inferis_, the fifth release from the  entity  called  Zao.  There  is
quite a bit going on, musically and lyrically, on this release, and I
will attempt to elaborate upon it. Firstly, _LTEI_ is seemingly built
upon a Dante's "Inferno" theme, at least according to the back  cover
and the layout inside the booklet. However, neither the  song  titles
nor the lyrics reflect that theme, unless  I  am  just  too  dumb  to
realize the correlation of the lyrics to that theme. In fact, I am at
a total loss regarding the meaning of the lyrics, because they are of
the poetic/abstract/artsy variety. The only song that even makes  any
sense at all is "Desire the End", which reads: "I desire the end, the
touch of armageddon, this world encased in flames, bodies lie beneath
fallen kingdoms... I desire the new beginning." It also happens to be
one of the album's best tracks. On  to  the  music...  Zao  seems  to
evolve greatly with each new release. Their  debut  album  _All  Else
Failed_ was very militant and rigid  hardcore.  The  follow-up,  _The
Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation_, saw them venture  into  the
death  metal  realm  a  bit,  while  retaining  traditional  hardcore
shouting for vocals. With their third release, _When Blood  and  Fire
Bring Rest_ [CoC #34], they abandoned the hardcore vocals  for  those
of the black metal variety, being the first hardcore band to do  this
(to the best extent of my knowledge), and the music went  up  several
notches in  creativity  and  intensity.  Zao  have  achieved  similar
results with their latest release, and the listening experience makes
me manic and jubilant at the same time. In the January 1999 issue  of
Metal  Maniacs,  Candiria  bassist  Micheal  Macivor  was  quoted  as
stating: "I think nowadays the fusion between metal and hardcore  has
become so intertwined that there's really not  that  much  definition
anymore between the two, from a musical perspective", and I  couldn't
agree more, with bands like Zao, Training for  Utopia,  Coalesce  and
many more laying waste to any barriers that other hardcore bands  had
pressed up against. _LTEI_ is a piece of the present and  the  future
at once -- a glorious achievement of modern  metal  extremity  and  a
look into the future of what many young bands with a  hardcore  ethic
and a thirst for brutality may try to attain.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                 __                    __      _
              /\ \ \_____      __   /\ \ \___ (_)___  ___
             /  \/ / _ \ \ /\ / /  /  \/ / _ \| / __|/ _ \
            / /\  /  __/\ 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


Capharnaum - _Plague of Spirits_  (4-track demo)
by: Brian Meloon  (****-)

Capharnaum return with a new demo, a more potent sound and  some  new
ideas. There are four tracks, two new songs:  "Icon  of  Malice"  (my
personal favorite) and "Become the Enemy", a reworking of "Sightless"
from their previous album, and a rough, unvocalized mix of "Plague of
Spirits". My main complaint with _Reality Only Fantasized_ [CoC  #31]
was the organization of the riffs. I felt that the songs  could  have
been arranged better, as there were a number of development  sections
which abruptly changed into seemingly unrelated riffs.  This  release
fixes that problem for the most part. These songs flow a lot  better,
with the segues between parts sounding  a  lot  more  natural.  Their
sound has changed a little bit, moving more in the direction  of  the
ultra-brutality of  Suffocation  (especially  the  guitar  tone)  and
moving away from the sharper distorted guitar lines  of  their  past.
While most of the music is very brutal, the band does  mix  it  up  a
little bit with some melodic and/or slower passages. The guitar solos
also feature a good dose of melody and  show  a  good  sense  of  how
melody can enhance an otherwise brutal song. There isn't much  that's
wrong with this demo. Capharnaum have nailed  all  of  the  technical
elements of the music. Now the problem that faces  them  is  standing
out above the crowd of death metal bands that sound like them.  Given
time -- especially considering their ages -- they should  find  their
own voice, and appear to have a bright future ahead of them.

Contact: Capharnaum, c/o Tony Espinoza, 1204 Trout Brook Dr.,
         West Hartford, CT 06119, USA
         mailto:Malice667@aol.com
         http://www.mp3.com/capharnaum/


Kraken - _Dreams of a Greater Empire_  (3-track promo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (****-)

It is a pity when one hears very accomplished musical composition  be
stifled by a production which doesn't fully do it justice  and  which
stems, in all likelihood, from a lack of resources on the part of the
artist. That said,  _Dreams  of  a  Greater  Empire_  is  still  very
impressive for a demo-stage recording. Kraken, for at present the man
-is- the band,  has  created  an  intoxicating  mix  of  full-bodied,
pounding black metal riffage (infused at points with  the  calculated
beat of  doom),  classical  stylings  and  melodic  involvement.  The
mixture is as close to seamless as most artists ever  get,  sometimes
building and sweeping to tug at the emotions while at others  playing
the dynamics of keyboards, guitars, vocals and drums off  each  other
with gripping effect. The professionalism of composition  on  display
is as admirable to contemplate as it is a joy to listen to, and  with
better production I think there is no doubt that Kraken  could  outdo
many of the signed black/death/doom bands  out  there  in  the  world
today. I await his next move, whether accompanied by others or not.

Contact: 115 Richmond Rd, Kingston, Surrey, KT2 5BX, UK
         mailto:Kraken@ukgateway.net


Masque of Innocence - _Take 0_  (5-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (***--)

Listening to this demo tape took me back a few  years,  back  to  the
time when I listened to demo tapes from bands such as Heavenwood  and
Lacrima -- both of which Masque of Innocence tend to remind me of  in
some ways. Their slightly doomy music is made of  competent  slow  to
mid-paced guitar work, atmospheric keyboards and an average  rhythmic
section -- all generally laid back and not very complicated,  with  a
few nice melodies here and there. The death vox are  quite  good  and
the occasional female vocals are also competent, but the  _Shades  of
God_ era Paradise Lost kind of vocals that show up a couple of  times
are rather poor. Still, even though Masque of Innocence  tend  to  be
unable  to  really  captivate  the  listener  for  now,  quality   is
nevertheless quite acceptable throughout this decently produced demo,
which flows rather well and does provide a pleasant listen.

Contact: Apartado 6004, 2701-801 Amadora, Portugal
         mailto:a15862@iscte.pt


Merde - _Merde_  (6-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (*****)

It is strangely ironic that much of the best death metal lives in the
same  place  that  much  death  does:  underground.  Our   positively
glistening example for this month is Merde, one of  the  best  rising
prospects from the death metal scene that I have heard this year.  It
is,  however,  perhaps  unfair  of  me  to  give  Merde  the  blanket
classification of "death metal", since one of Merde's great merits is
that they embrace no  one  style  of  metal  so  fixedly  that  their
identity is instantly and correctly identifiable. Much  as  "Orgy  at
the Goatroast" comes thundering in  from  the  hilariously  effective
sampled intro reeking of the involved fretboard  antics  of  Gorgut's
most recent and confusing  outpouring,  _Obscura_,  the  death  metal
leanings  of  this  initial  outburst  are  not  followed   by   mere
repetitions on one theme. The vocals -- though generally strangled in
a similar way to Luke Lemay's (Gorguts) --  push  themselves  through
differing  expressions  of  aggression  and  levels  of  melody  with
precision. Guitar and bass  work  likewise  move  constantly  through
near-unfollowable patterns, playing off each other at  random,  while
the drums  provide  a  titanium  skeleton  of  pulsing  double  bass,
smashing cymbals and snares of constantly changing,  often  strangely
synched, rhythms for the aforementioned flesh  to  mould  itself  to.
Fourth song, "Shadow Under the Web",  entangles  its  listener  in  a
complex web of intertwining  guitars  which  are  at  central  points
brought together into a  single,  memorable,  creepy  and  dream-like
acoustic theme, strongly reminiscent of Usurper's  "Dead  of  Winter"
and certain examples of the work of Autopsy. As this  demo  regularly
indicates, Merde also combine elements of angst and groove originated
by the apocalyptic likes of  Neurosis  and  Today  Is  the  Day.  The
catalogue of abilities is considerable, but it is the whole demo that
Merde have created which impresses most,  and  bodes  very  well  for
their future. Pick up this twenty-eight minute demo  and  sample  the
work of this fine band, who, if there is any  justice  in  the  music
business, will have a full-length out very soon, and be in the  pages
of many a 'zine soon.

Contact: Avitchi Records, PO Box 8734, Portland OR 97207-8734, USA
         phone: 503 331 1879


Opera - _Promo 1998_
by: Brian Meloon  (***--)

Opera  are  an  Italian  progressive  metal  band,  playing  a  style
comparable to Dream Theater's _Images and Words_ sound, but a  little
heavier and not as cheesy. The music is generally good: it's  usually
pretty straightforward fare, but there are  flashes  of  instrumental
prowess and some nice changes here and there.  All  of  the  standard
progmetal elements are right where you'd expect them to be.  However,
I find the songs a little too focused  on  standard-type  structures,
relying too much on repetition  and  catchiness  and  not  enough  on
thematic development. In short, they're playing a predictable  style,
but doing a good job of it. The playing  is  generally  good  on  all
counts. The guitars are competent and  do  a  very  tasteful  job  of
solos. I especially like the harmonized guitar-keyboard solo in "Life
of Agony". The keyboards don't dominate the music, but are  certainly
not in the background. The drumming and bass work  are  unspectacular
but solid. The production is okay: it certainly could be better,  but
all of the instruments are clearly audible. Unfortunately, the band's
vocalist is their weak link. His vocals  are  consistently  flat  and
weak. He reminds me  of  the  vocalist  from  Black  Jester  in  that
respect, and he single-handedly ruins some sections of the music.  As
a demo, this offering performs its function. It's not a  great  piece
of work, but the band has potential and will hopefully  improve  with
their next offering.

Contact: Opera Management, P.O. Box 33, 61015 Novafeltria, Italy
         mailto:ciccio@nf.infotel.it or mailto:ciccio33@hotmail.com
         http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Wing/4006/


Torak - _I Cracked the World_  (3-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (***--)

Torak centrally make it their aim to produce pummelling  death  laden
thrash metal with  incomprehensible  vocalisations,  but  ones  which
nonetheless have character and definition. Though basic  black  metal
guitar work occasionally plays a part, as do minor key melodic vocals
and melancholic guitar atmospheres, _ICtW_ is for  the  most  part  a
product of the death metal scene. There  are  considerable  stylistic
comparisons between the work of Konkhra, up 'till recently, and  what
Torak  create,  while  sound-wise  Entombed  and  Dismember's   early
outpourings play their part, though it is not  an  overwhelming  one.
Overall, _ICtW_ is  a  good  slab  of  metallic  devastation  with  a
convincing interplay of guitars and drums which avoids both stagnancy
and originality by relatively wide margins.  With  better  production
and time there is no reason why Torak couldn't produce  something  of
note.

Contact: Black Crusade, 115 Richmond Rd,
         Kingston, Surrey, KT2 5BX, UK
         mailto:blackcrusade@lycosmail.com

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



     T H E   B L A C K   M E T A L   O P E R A   A R R I V E T H
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       Mortiis with Christian Death, Godhead and Diet of Worms
            at the Reverb in Toronto on October 19, 1999
                         by: Gino Filicetii

     I can't express how excited I was when I first got wind  of  the
news. Could it be that Mortiis had actually secured a North  American
tour and would be playing in Toronto? Well, that  seemed  to  be  the
case, but I didn't hold my breath.  I  fully  expected  something  to
prevent the master from gracing our little village  of  two  million.
Needless to say, the show was a go, or be here I would not. So, come,
my little droogs, and let me tell you the tale of Mortiis' visit.
     The line up this night was strange, to  say  the  least.  Anyone
would've thought that Mortiis would have teamed up with some  of  his
fellow countrymen playing the blackest of metal.  However,  that  was
not the case. Mortiis was instead playing  in  support  of  Christian
Death, an industrial band with somewhat of  a  cult  following,  even
here in Toronto. A major consequence of this fact  was  that  Mortiis
barely got a quarter of the already tiny stage.  But  as  we'll  see,
this wouldn't deter him from serving up quite a show.
     The first band to perform were Diet of Worms. This band reminded
me  a  lot  of  Marilyn  Manson  in  the  early  days.   Four   guys,
unforgettably dressed and made up, playing a brand of industrial rock
that could get you snapping your fingers if you didn't watch out. The
venue was almost empty for their entire set and I thought to  myself,
hmmm... I've never  seen  the  floor  of  the  Reverb  before...  how
interesting.
     Next was Godhead, an industrial band from The Windy  City.  I'll
admit, I thought it was  a  bonus  when  I  heard  Godhead  would  be
performing with Mortiis. I had heard two  of  their  albums  and  was
quite impressed with their music. The singer was tall and  bulky  and
without a stitch of hair on his head. He  looked  a  lot  like  Billy
Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins, or, more  accurately,  like  Billy
Corgan in his coffin after having snuffed it. Godhead  played  a  few
tunes I recognized, and managed to get a  few  people  out  of  their
seats and onto the floor. Their sound was tight and  the  light  show
left me epileptic, so I can't really complain. They closed the  night
off with their cover of The  Beatles'  "Eleanor  Rigby",  one  of  my
favorite Beatles songs, and an excellent cover to  boot.  Although  I
enjoyed Godhead, I couldn't wait for Mortiis to  make  his  entrance.
After all this time, the moment was at hand.
     I had brought a friend to this show, although he was a  complete
stranger to the black metal scene and  had  never  heard  of  Mortiis
before. But the hype and expectation was so high that  even  he  felt
the anticipation waiting for Mortiis'  set  to  start.  Watching  the
roadies set up the stage for Mortiis was  a  show  unto  itself.  The
props on stage were psychotic concoctions of  art  and  the  macabre.
There was a cross made out of bones and vertebrae with a skull to top
it off. The bones even had a yellowish brown tinge, perhaps they were
-real- human bones? There was a sadist's rack of torturing weapons: a
battle axe, a leather submission strap and a baby doll hung up  by  a
chain on one leg and covered in blood. There was also  a  wooden  "X"
set up which had leather straps attached to it. It was some  kind  of
crucifix; I was  very  interested  to  see  how  it'd  be  used.  The
instruments set up were  only  three  percussion  stations  having  a
mixture of real and  electronic  drums.  I  was  shocked  to  see  no
synthesizer in sight. What came next was  more  of  a  shock  to  me.
Mortiis' "band" appeared: two  guys  took  up  their  places  at  the
percussion stations, and an extremely fat blonde chick,  showing  way
too much cleavage, took her spot at a microphone. But  what  was  all
this about a band?? I guess my information was a  little  out  dated,
but last I'd heard, Mortiis' shows in Europe involved  only  him  and
his props, none of this conventional,  rock  show  stuff.  But  these
thoughts quickly left my mind  as  the  music  started  and  everyone
turned their heads towards the back of the venue....
     And there he was, Mortiis -- in  all  his  glory  --  leading  a
small, subdued, female "gimp" by a chain shackled around her neck. As
he walked through the crowd and passed me I couldn't help  wondering,
wow, Mortiis isn't very tall! As they took the  stage,  Mortiis  tied
the gimp's chain to his "rack o' sadism"  and  took  his  spot  front
stage center. The songs they played were very heavily  influenced  by
percussive sounds. There was  some  recorded  synthesizer  played  as
well, but a lot of it was drowned out by the incessant  drumming.  It
sounded very gloomy and dungeon-like, but the Mortiis I remember  had
a lot more synth, and sadly, it was missing from this  night's  show.
The second song they played  had  the  opera  singer  providing  some
vocals. They were quite impressive, I must admit, but then again, she
definitely had the lungs for it.
     After the  first  two  songs,  the  band  paused  while  Mortiis
performed the preparation of his "virgin". He squeezed the baby doll,
which spat blood all over  the  frightened  girl,  anointing  her  in
blood, as it were. Next was one of Mortiis' epic songs  which  always
seem to last an eternity whilst keeping you enthralled with fear  and
delight. After this, there was another pause while Mortiis untied the
virgin and lead her to the crucifix. Here, he tied her up and held  a
huge bucket up to her. Into this bucket he  dipped  his  fingers  and
smeared the blood contained within onto the virgin's neck  and  face.
Then, holding the bucket up  to  the  heavens,  Mortiis  emptied  its
contents -- about five gallons of blood -- onto his head!!
     Believe  me  people,  to  behold  Mortiis  in  his  make  up  is
definitely a sight to see; but to see him drenched from head  to  toe
in red gore was completely  unreal.  After  this  spectacle,  another
couple of songs were played. This time, Mortiis joined his vocals  to
those of his hefty friend. Then came another pause in the music, time
for more hyjinx I thought. This time, Mortiis went off to the side of
the stage and grabbed a bottle made out of horse's hoof.  From  this,
he took a swig of the contents and was handed  a  flaming  torch.  He
brought this torch to the center of the stage and start  twirling  it
around, bringing it close to his virgin; this time anointing  her  in
fire. After that he blew fire out into the crowd, it  being  kerosene
that he drank from the horse's foot. And with the flame  started  the
next song. It was full of intense drumming and high pitched  singing,
truly one of the best songs played  that  night.  Then,  my  friends,
after one more song came the grand finale.  From  his  rack,  Mortiis
retrieved a pair of what can only be described  as  "medieval  garden
shears". He brought these over to the virgin affixed to the  crucifix
and began the final anointment: the anointment of the blade. Starting
at her midsection, Mortiis cut into his sacrifice  with  the  shears.
Blood poured out of her torso in great gushes and  dripped  from  her
mouth as first she wreathed  and  then  fell  limp.  At  this  point,
Mortiis unties  her  from  the  crucifix  and  slings  her  over  his
shoulder. He jumps into the shocked crowd and carries his  victim  to
the back of the venue from whence he came. As he  leaves  sight,  the
band starts another song without Mortiis.  This  song  continues  for
awhile, but the entire crowd is staring at the back of the venue away
from the stage, just waiting for Mortiis to  return.  And  return  he
does after the song was over. He calmly resumes his spot and the band
performs its last song of the night.
     Needless to say, I was impressed by the show put on by  Mortiis.
I've always been a fan of bands who can put on a good stage show,  so
I thought the night's festivities were great.  There  were  some  who
thought it was all a load of cheese, and there were others  still  --
the uninitiated masses of industrial fans -- who were shocked by  the
proceedings.
     And that was all she wrote for me, my  friends.  Realizing  that
anything that came  after  Mortiis  would  be  anticlimatic,  I  left
without seeing Christian Death, knowing that I would have to come out
of retirement to tell my readers about this one.


A R M A G E D D O N    W I T H    L A    V I E R G E    D E    F E R
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                CoC attends Megadeth and Iron Maiden
          at the Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy, France,
                    Thursday 9th September, 1999
                          by: David Rocher

     This major event, in the guise of a  heavy  metal  concert,  did
seem like a nice way to spend my last evening on earth --  I  was  at
last going to witness what I  beheld  as  the  ultimate  Iron  Maiden
line-up live, and on the very day of  the  Apocalypse  (9-9-99)  too.
After having twice faced the vocal (terrible)  uncertainty  of  Blaze
Bailey live, the prospect of this reformation  with  Bruce  Dickinson
and riffmaster supreme Adrian Smith was more than  mouth-watering  --
as hairy pilgrims gathered in their thousands on the steps leading to
the temple of Paris Bercy, this outing  literally  had  the  somewhat
ethereal taste of a religious celebration to honour the gods of
Metal.
     Before the much-anticipated event of Iron  Maiden  appearing  on
stage, though, I gritted my teeth as I psychologically readied myself
for an onslaught of some of the most  tedious  "musical"  lameness  I
could  possibly  be  served  that   night,   and   namely   Megadeth.
Justifiably, I was this anxious, as the four-hour drive to Paris  had
provided me with the opportunity to hear their infamous  last  output
-- very fittingly named _Risk_ --, which rang to my ears like nothing
more than sub-standard, laughably sell-out AOR rock. And this  bitter
foretaste indeed proved to be more than premonitory...
     The lights went out, the 17000 people or so gathered in the POPB
roared, and Minideth straight away caught their feet in  the  rug  by
dishing out rather unappetising  starters  in  the  form  of  a  grey
tedious mass  of  ruminant-friendly  sonic  sludge,  pompously  named
"Prince of Darkness". With my coldest fears of having to put up  with
_Risk_ material twice in the same day all coming true, I nevertheless
stood my ground, and was soon to be comforted, as the last  notes  of
"Prince of Darkness" faded into nothingness, to be  replaced  by  the
biting riffage of Megadeth's high-speed classic  "Holy  Wars",  which
they interpreted flawlessly. Mustaine's gang even actually  succeeded
in having me on my  toes  as  they  then  carried  on  with  a  great
rendition of "In My Darkest  Hour"  --  damn,  that  felt  -good-  if
anything ever did. And it also quite simply  proved  that  if  people
remember this great song some thirteen years after  it  was  written,
the chances that mere mortals will have fond memories of tracks  from
_Youthanasia_, _Cryptic Writings_ or _Risk_ in the year  2014  or  so
are far slighter.
     Sadly enough, though, I don't quite recall what happened for the
twenty or so minutes after "In  My  Darkest  Hour",  as  Dave  &  co.
mercilessly and methodically proceeded to bore me out of  my  failing
mind with various "hits" from their last  three  full-length  albums,
with a peak of absolute feebleness being reached on  a  track  called
"Crush 'Em" -- wow, I  hadn't  heard  anything  this  gay  since  The
Village People's "San Francisco". To make matters worse, anyway, just
as I finally sleepwalked through the  thick  crowd  out  towards  the
merchandising  stand,  Megaydeth  were  suddenly  submerged  by   the
recollection that they indeed -had- released albums before 1994,  and
launched themselves into the killer hymn "Peace  Sells",  which  they
followed up with the closing  "Symphony  of  Destruction".  This  all
seemed like a lukewarm attempt to get older fans to forgive them, and
after this, they saluted and finally cleared off... aaaah, relief.
     Well, at least sort of. The tension that was rapidly building up
in the air as the numerous roadies prepared the stage for Iron Maiden
was incredible, pretty much like a massive thunderstorm builds up  on
a hot night -- the air was  -literally-  electric,  something  I  had
never witnessed before at any concert, and  which  definitely  didn't
occur when "la vierge de fer" were to  appear  on  scene  fronted  by
Blaze Bailey. As a matter of a fact, the  atmosphere  just  got  that
little bit too electric.  I  hadn't  either  ever  witnessed  such  a
violent, brainless audience as I beheld at that  gig  --  the  people
gathered in the pit started (and for no reason I can possibly fathom)
shoving into each other in ways typical  of  a  horde  of  distressed
spongiform bovines a whole fifteen minutes  before  the  lights  even
went out -- great fun, lads. Anyway, Bercy was suddenly plunged  into
blackness as a video was played on three large screens, with the  aim
successfully demonstrating  just  how  (totally  un-)interesting  the
official Iron Maiden game "Ed Hunter" looked and played;  it  rapidly
mutated into a cover version of "Churchill's Speech" spoken by mascot
Eddie, as images of Spitfires  and  Messerschmidts  in  tight  aerial
battle on a background of blackened clouds filled the  screen.  Bang!
-- the stage lights went on as the mighty  Britons  instantly  kicked
into a very fast interpretation of their 1983 vintage  classic  "Aces
High".
     The  whole  of  Iron  Maiden's  set  then  unfolded,  as  I  had
anticipated, in  totally  elating  ways,  although  Steve  and  Bruce
definitely  fooled  no-one  about   their   obviously   antagonistic,
rancour-ridden relationship. They  nevertheless  ensured  a  flawless
show that night, as they soared through a  selection  of  fine  hymns
such as "Wrathchild", "The Trooper"  and  "2  Minutes  to  Midnight".
Dickinson's incredible vocal exactness rapidly became  as  incredibly
apparent as Bailey's lack of precision was, as he faithfully rendered
the decent _X Factor_ opener "Man on the Edge", or  as  he  literally
transcended the tribute paid to the legendary figure William Wallace,
namely "The Clansman"; graced with Bruce's incredible  singing,  this
was altogether a different track than the one  featured  on  _Virtual
XI_, and as Monsieur Dickinson solemnly announced  (in  French)  that
Iron Maiden were preparing to record an album next  year  with  their
current line-up, I couldn't help  but  spontaneously  salivating  all
over myself -- definitely a highlight of the forthcoming millennium!
     The sextet then pursued their set with "Wasted Years"  --  which
was sadly the only track off  _Somewhere  in  Time_  that  night  --,
"Powerslave", "Killers", "Fear  of  the  Dark"  --  whose  intro  was
chorused  by  17000   people,   creating   one   of   these   awesome
spine-tingling moments of atmosphere that metal can craft so well --,
before treating the marvelled crowds to the legendary "Phantom of the
Opera",  followed  by   "Iron   Maiden".   All   this   time,   Bruce
mathematically proved that, regardless of what  talented  replacement
Iron Maiden could have produced after his solo escapade,  walking  in
his footsteps as  a  singer  and  frontman  is  a  task  as  near  to
impossible  as  it  gets.  In  addition  to  his   incredible   vocal
performance, he continually ran  back  and  forth  across  the  large
stage, demonstrating the impressive control  he  exerted  over  17000
fans at the same time -- he merely needed to raise his arms  and  say
the mythical words "Scream for me, Paris!"  for  the  whole  room  to
raise their arms in  return  and  indeed  scream  for  him  all  they
could... this, people, is -power-. Iron Maiden then saluted  briefly,
and left the stage as the now rather worn-out  "encore"  gimmick  was
faithfully played by the attendance... Very unsurprisingly,  the  six
lads reappeared after the crowd  had  duly  chanted  their  name  for
two-three minutes or so,  and  played  the  inevitable  classic  "The
Number of the Beast",  followed  by  the  awesome  seven-minute  hymn
"Hallowed Be thy Name"; they then definitely concluded the show  with
"Run to the Hills" before leaving the stage. All  in  all,  with  the
great musicianship (-very- professionally practised by some legendary
figures I had long hoped to see), capped off  by  the  supreme  sound
quality and cool visual paraphernalia articulated around the  various
songs, Iron Maiden's very mercantile "no,  we're  not  reforming,  no
way" appearance in Paris was more than simply good.
     And in passing, I  really  had  a  thought  that  night  for  US
death-metallers Immolation (despite the  fact  that  I  am  a  proven
non-fan of theirs, as Paul Schwarz will willingly testify  to!),  who
were  also  scheduled  to  play  in  Paris  that  night,  and   whose
attendance, from what I heard, was so low that  the  gig  was  called
off. Mortals are no competition for gods, I'm afraid...

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

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

Gino's Top 5

1. Doors - _The Best of the Doors_
2. Mortiis - _Crypt of the Wizard_
3. Bob Marley - _Legend_
4. Absu - _The Third Storm of Cythraul_
5. Metallica - _Master of Puppets_

Adrian's Top 5

1. The Kovenant - _Animatronic_
2. Angel Dust - _Bleed_
3. Dillinger Escape Plan - _Calculating Infinity_
4. Will Haven - _WHVN_
5. Vision of Disorder - _For the Bleeders_

Brian's Top 5

1. Ron Jarzombek - _Phhhp!_
2. ...And Oceans - _The Dynamic Gallery of Thoughts_
3. Monstrosity - _Millennium_
4. Thorns Vs. Emperor
5. Zero Hour - _Zero Hour_

Adam's Top 5

1. Type O Negative - _World Coming Down_
2. Darkthrone - _Ravishing Grimness_
3. Satyricon - _Rebel Extravaganza_
4. Setherial - _Hell Eternal_
5. Sigh - _Scenario IV: Dread Dreams_

Pedro's Top 5

1. My Dying Bride - _The Light at the End of the World_
2. Opeth - _Still Life_
3. Opeth - _Morningrise_
4. Malevolent Creation - _The Fine Art of Murder_
5. Angel Corpse - _The Inexorable_

Paul's Top 5

1. Vital Remains - _Dawn of the Apocalypse_
2. Today Is the Day - _In the Eyes of God_
3. Celtic Frost - _Vanity/Nemesis_
4. Death - _Leprosy_
5. Merde - _Merde_ (demo)

Aaron's Top 5

1. Mortiis - _The Stargate_
2. Forest of Impaled - _Demonvoid_
3. Nocturnus - _Ethereal Tomb_ (THANKS, Paul!)
4. Testament - _Demonic_
5. Dawn - _Slaughtersun (Crown of the Triarchy)_ (THANKS again,
Paul!)

David's Top 5

1. Darkane - _Rusted Angel_
2. Theory in Practice - _The Armageddon Theories_
3. Morbid Angel - _Covenant_
4. Amorbital - _Invidia_
5. Soilwork - _The Chainheart Machine_

Alex's Top 5

1. Zao - _Liberate Te Ex Inferis_
2. Amorphis - _Tuonela_
3. Warlord - _Rock the Foe Hammer_
4. Stretch Arm Strong - _Rituals of Life_
5. Type O Negative - _October Rust_

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               |     \.-----.|  |_.---.-.|__|  |.-----.
               |  --  |  -__||   _|  _  ||  |  ||__ --|
               |_____/|_____||____|___._||__|__||_____|


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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
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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #44

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.

