     ____ _  _ ____ ____ _  _ _ ____ _    ____ ____    ____ ____
     |    |__| |__/ |  | |\ | | |    |    |___ [__     |  | |___
     |___ |  | |  \ |__| | \| | |___ |___ |___ ___]    |__| |

                       ____ _  _ ____ ____ ____
                       |    |__| |__| |  | [__
                       |___ |  | |  | |__| ___]


                    The New Year's Evil Edition II

       CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, January 1, 1998, Issue #27
               http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html

Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley <mailto:energizr@interlog.com>
Contrib/Editor: Steve Hoeltzel <mailto:hoeltzel@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Contrib/Editor: Andrew Lewandowski <mailto:kmvb73c@prodigy.com>
Contrib/Editor: Pedro Azevedo <mailto:ei94048@tom.fe.up.pt>
Contributor: Alain M. Gaudrault <mailto:alain@mks.com>
Contributor: Brian Meloon <mailto:bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk <mailto:macabre@interlog.com>
Contributor: Drew Schinzel <mailto:drew@magpage.com>
Contributor: Paul Schwarz <mailto:tom.s@mcmail.com>
Mailing List provided by: The University of Colorado at Boulder

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

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

Issue #27 Contents, 1/1/98
--------------------------
* Editorial
* Loud Letters
* Deadly Dialogues
-- Brutal Truth: Still Not Loud Enough, Still Not Fast Enough
-- Hypocrisy: It Ain't Over 'til The Fat Lady Sings
-- Rotting Christ: Seen One Season, Felt Only Cold
-- Edge Of Sanity: On With The Saga
-- Katatonia: Words From The Discouraged
-- Godgory: Sea Of Shadows
* Album Asylum
-- 16 - _Blaze of Incompetence_
-- Abyssos - _Together We Summon the Dark_
-- Acumen Nation - _More Human Heart_
-- Amon - _El Khela_
-- Angizia - _Das Tagebuch der Hanna Anikin_
-- Atrax Morgue - _Slush of a Maniac_
-- Caustic Infibulation - _Caustic Infibulation_
-- Coercion - _Forever Dead_
-- Day In the Life - _Day In The Life_
-- De Infernali - _Symphonia De Infernali_
-- Deathkids - _Born in Hell_
-- Deicide - _Serpents of the Light_
-- Dismal Euphony - _Soria Moria Slott_ (ltd. edition re-release)
-- Dominion - _Blackout_
-- Entombed - _To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth!_
-- Face Down - _The Twisted Rule The Wicked_
-- For the Love of Suffering - _Not Affected by Pain_
-- Fu Manchu - _The Action Is Go!_
-- Grabesmond - _Mordenheim_
-- Grave - _Extremely Rotten Live_
-- M. J. Harris & Martyn Bates - _Murder Ballads (Passages)_
-- Heidenreich - _A Death Gate Cycle_
-- Hidden Pride - _Brutal Advice_
-- Infernal Torment - _Birthrate Zero_
-- In Flames - _Whoracle_
-- Internal Bleeding - _The Extinction of Benevolence_
-- Iron Monkey - _Iron Monkey_
-- Kreator - _Outcast_
-- Laibach - _M. B._
-- Manifest Destiny - _What You Fear_
-- Various - _Masters of Misery - Black Sabbath: The Earache Tribute_
-- Meshuggah - _The True Human Design_
-- Moonspell - _Second Skin_
-- Mortiis - _Crypt of the Wizard_
-- Night In Gales - _Towards The Twilight_
-- Old Grandad - _Old Grandad_ EP + San Francisco Bootleg
-- Old Man's Child - _The Pagan Prosperity_
-- Paolo di Cioccio - _Images_
-- P.O.V. Secondhand - _Fraction Of Faith_
-- Pyrexia - _System Of The Animal_
-- Ragnarok - _Arising Realm_
-- Raison D'Etre - _In Sadness, Silence and Solitude_
-- Sacred Reich - _Still Ignorant: Live 1987-1997_
-- Sadus - _Chronicles Of Chaos_
-- Scrub - _Wake Up!_
-- Sea of Tranquility/Pax Mortis - _Dead of Winter_ / _Defiant_ Split
-- Sigh - _Hail Horror Hail_
-- Testament - _Signs of Chaos: The Best of Testament_
-- Thelema - _Night of Pan_
-- Various Artists - _Trial By Dawn_
    -- Agon - _Silent Cries_
    -- Celestial Dark - _Perpetual Tears (The End)_
    -- Sarcastic - _The Tale Begins..._
-- Tristania - _Tristania_
-- Various - _Untitled (ten)_
-- Vader - _Black To The Blind_
-- Various - _A Declaration of Independence_
-- Various Artists - _Watchmen Recording Studios: The Compilation_
* New Noise
-- Association Area - _Tundra_ 7"
-- Ephemeron - _Ephemeron_
-- From the Depths - Promo demo 97
-- Malamor - _Condemn the Rising_
-- Millennium - _Wilderness In White_
-- Nocturnal Symphony - _Monsoon Winds_
-- Obscenus - _Nocturnus Exordio_
-- Pain Lab - _Magenetic Chaos of Parallel Psychosis_
* Chaotic Concerts
-- The Lost Paradise? Paradise Lost play Lisbon, Portugal
-- Portuguese Potential Part 3: Genocide and Withering
-- A Night Of Conquering: Abstract and Night Conquers Day
* What We Have Cranked

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

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

                           by: Adam Wasylyk

To whom it may concern,

Occasionally, someone who runs a web page (particularly those who run
web pages for bands) ask the CoC  staff  for  permission  to  reprint
copies of our written material. However, some individuals have  taken
advantage of our goodwill. Some of our material has  been  taken  and
added to web pages without our consent and/or knowledge.  On  top  of
this,  the  individual   writer(s)   weren't   credited   for   their
work/material. It isn't too much to ask for those who want to use CoC
material to ask first and then inform the writer when  it's  actually
posted. I think it's safe to assume that most, if not all, writers at
CoC will lend material to those who have web pages,  but  please  ask
before borrowing and have the courtesy to e-mail the writer after the
material has been posted.

                                             Thank you,
                                                  Adam Wasylyk

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

                 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: Wed, 19 Nov 1997
From: Damodred <manek@ece.utexas.edu>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters

Greetings,
I have just subscribed to CoC, just received #26,  and  just  started
jumping up and down in joy.  *This*  is  what  I  have  been  looking
for...a thorough zine deidcated to black and death metal...I'll start
looking for the new Edge  of  Sanity  album  right  away..thanks.  In
reponse   to   Silent   Scribe,   I'd   recommend    telnetting    to
cdconnection.com or musicexpress.com in  search  of  albums.  They're
both quite well stocked, and don't charge very much...in response  to
Travis'  question,  the  new  Vader  album  *does*  have  a  lot   of
blasting...except the last two pieces...the last piece is a remake of
Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath" (ripped off Type O Negative's remake,
in my opinion), and the next to last is a strange song which sounds a
bit like Depeche Mode on DOOM, or Vader on crack...I dunno...but  the
rest is pretty standard. Happy listening!

Draconion


Date: Tue, 2 Dec 97 17:44:59 CST
From: ky@cyrix.com
Subject: attn loud letters

Hi, I enjoyed reading the last COC issue,  as  usual.  Regarding  the
Trey Azagthoth interview,  where  he  talks  about  his  recent  side
project 'Chewing Inc' perhaps the name of his collaborator  was  Mike
Davis? I sure hope so because I thought his  playing  was  phenomenal
with Nocturnus. But I was hoping you could answer something else  for
me. I heard somewhere that Chris Barnes, whom you also interviewed in
this issue, played one of the main characters in the 'Bad News Bears'
movies from the 1970s. You  probably  think  I'm  joking,  but  I  am
serious; was that the same Chris Barnes, or someone else who  happens
to have the same name? Thanks & keep up the good work.

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

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

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


             STILL NOT LOUD ENOUGH, STILL NOT FAST ENOUGH
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               CoC chats with Rich Hoak of Brutal Truth
                           by: Paul Schwarz

Brutal Truth began in Dan Lilker's home studio.  He  wanted  to  make
music similar to the likes of English bands  like  Napalm  Death  and
Carcass and American bands like Terrorizer: grindcore. BT was  formed
to some degree as a side project but,  for  various  reasons,  became
Lilker's primary concern. After the release of their  debut  _Extreme
Conditions Demand Extreme Responses_ in 1992, BT were placed  at  the
forefront of this genre when it was in its days of  popularity.  This
year BT unleashed their new record _Sounds of  the  Animal  Kingdom_,
their first full-length in 3 years, in  quite  different  conditions.
Most of the bands that were part of the original grindcore wave  have
now split up or,  in  the  case  of  Napalm  Death,  no  longer  play
grindcore as such. In these (extreme) conditions,  _SotAK_  was  BT's
(extreme)  response,  and  through  this  record  they  have   pushed
grindcore to a new level in much  the  same  way  that  the  original
grindcore bands pushed metal/hardcore/punk to a new level: everything
appears to have come full circle. I got the chance to talk to drummer
Rich Hoak (with the band since 1994's _Need  To  Control_),  and  the
results now lie before you.

CoC: Is the cover of _SotAK_ a drawing or a photo merge?

RH: I got the idea, but the graphic designer made it look  even  more
    than I thought it would look like. The gorilla  half  is  from  a
    stock photo, and the guy is the UPS driver to the Relapse office.
    They used Photo Shop to morph them together.

CoC: What do you think sets _SotAK_ apart from previous releases?

RH: _SotAK_ is where everything has come together for us. We had  the
    tunes, Kevin had the lyrics, we had the ideas that  gave  us  the
    ideas for the cover [and] for the songs, we have the record label
    behind us, we have a new  van,  we  have  a  booking  agent,  the
    production is there -- we have everything at this time. _KTS_ had
    almost all those things, but it had to be recorded in six days on
    a $5,000 budget, so essentially [it was] set  up,  play,  record,
    mix.

CoC: What was the budget for _SotAK_?

RH: I don't know the numbers, but  _KTS_  was  22  minutes  of  music
    recorded in six 12-hour days, [while for] _SotAK_ we had 12 or 14
    hours a day, or more if we wanted it, and eight to  ten  days  to
    record, another six or eight to mix. Plus we  had  just  finished
    doing _KTS_ with Billy Anderson, and both  albums  were  recorded
    with the same procedure. With  _SotAK_,  for  the  first  day  we
    didn't do anything but just work with the drums to get  the  kick
    drum sound, the snare sound, the tom sound. We  changed  the  tom
    sound for certain songs; we spent a day getting the guitar sound,
    a half day getting the bass sound.  With  _KTS_  I  had  my  drum
    tracks recorded before the second day was  through,  whereas  [on
    _SotAK_] I spent four or five days and I could do all the takes I
    wanted.

CoC: What about "Prey"? What was the idea behind that?

RH: When we did the sequencing for the record,  we  did  it  for  the
    vinyl double LP, and we wanted to have a  locked  groove  at  the
    end, so we sampled a blast  beat  from  the  middle  of  "Average
    People" and we digitised and looped it so at the end of side four
    it goes to a locked groove. Then after we got into it, we decided
    to add the other noise and make it get a little  louder  [on  the
    CD]. It's the grand finale of the record for the BT fan  who  has
    been able to have his head pummelled for  the  last  50  minutes.
    When we do our tour of Japan in February I want  to  do  a  show,
    before or after the real show, where we do a noise or improv show
    and perform "Prey" live. When I go get a CD and  it  has  a  cool
    cover on it or it has a hidden track at  the  end  --  _KTS_  had
    tracks hidden after it -- or it has covers on it or weird  things
    on it, that's always cool, you know. I like  getting  that  kinda
    stuff, and I think it is really cool to put  it  on  CDs  that  I
    make. We all do.

CoC: Is there a concept running through _SotAK_? There's the  Desmond
     Morris quote...

RH: Some people get the wrong idea. They're like,  "Wow,  this  is  a
    concept record. They based their whole album around this
    concept."

CoC: Some are calling it a concept record.

RH: Nothing would have fit together this well if we  had  planned  it
    this way. Everything on _SotAK_ has come from  the  base  of  our
    brain. It all started out with us in the rehearsal room, New York
    city, drinking beer, smoking pot,  writing  riffs.  What  sounded
    good, stuff we jam, what pops out of the bottom of our heads goes
    on to the guitar, goes on to the drums. We keep what we like, and
    once we've got rough tracks we give that to Kevin. Kevin  listens
    to the music, gets into it, fits words he has with it,  or  makes
    up words to go with it. We'd finally got it all recorded [and] we
    didn't have a title or cover, so me and Kevin went back over  the
    songs and talked. I asked him what each song was about, and  from
    that Danny or Gurn got _SotAK_ [as a title]  and  we  kept  that.
    Taking all that information, I went to the library for two  weeks
    just brainstorming for ideas. I had one full cover done,  and  on
    the second to last day  I  found  _The  Naked  Ape_  [by  Desmond
    Morris]. I had read it in school, and I  thought  "This  dude  is
    saying exactly what we're saying with a lot of these songs." When
    Kevin and I went through it, we  figured  that  70-80%  of  these
    songs have something to do  with  the  animal  within  man  being
    confronted with problems caused in society  which  are  based  on
    technology. In other words, the  intellect  coming  out  of  that
    animal -- it's kinda like the Yin  and  Yang,  the  separate  but
    whole. It was after -that- we talked about the  concept  and  the
    Desmond Morris quote. I had the idea for the cover  and  went  to
    the guy at Relapse with it. It all sort of  goes  backward;  it's
    all based on smokin' pot, hangin' out, and letting your mind
    flow.

CoC: Do you strive to change with each new release?

RH: No, it comes out of us the way it comes.

CoC: You weren't present on _ECDER_...

RH: Scott wasn't there too much either. <laughs>

CoC: From _ECDER_ to _NtC_ there is a big gap.

RH: Yeah, there is.

CoC: At the time, _ECDER_ was very extreme and quite  different,  but
     it was still "grindcore death metal",  whereas  _NtC_  is  like,
     "What is it?" I asked a friend  to  describe  it,  and  he  said
     "Uh... weird... uh... punk."

RH: Yeah, a lot of people didn't get it, man.

CoC: I like it, but I couldn't classify it easily.

RH: There are always people who come up to us...like last week  after
    the show, and they're like "Dude, man, BT rule, and  I  like  all
    you guys' shit man, but uh...  _Extreme  Conditions_,  you  know,
    can't you guys make the next record like  _Extreme  Conditions_?"
    <I laugh>, and we couldn't if we wanted  to:  that  record  is  a
    snapshot of BT at that time. One reason Scott left the band was a
    musical difference; it wasn't just a personal  difference.  Scott
    would say, "I'm not going to play that drumbeat -- that's  not  a
    death metal / grindcore drumbeat," whereas when I came  into  the
    band I was like "I'm in a band, I'll play whatever."

CoC: If you tried to re-make _ECDER_, it might not work out,  because
     it's not what you want to do with BT?

RH: We don't know what we want to do now. We've  been  writing  songs
    for the past two years. _NtC_ came out, we toured for a year,  we
    came back and found that Earache wasn't working out and  we'd  be
    able to get out of our deal. In those two  years  [after  leaving
    Earache] we were sitting in the rehearsal room  waiting,  and  we
    wrote songs. There are a couple of songs  on  _SotAK_  that  were
    written two months before we went into the studio, [but] when  we
    got to _KTS_ we took ten and recorded those. "Machine Parts"  was
    released on the 7-inch demo way before _KTS_. When I joined BT, a
    third or half of _NtC_ was written. Dan had most  of  it  on  his
    drum machine. He was like "Here, listen to  this  beat:  this  is
    what I call the Discharge beat. Scott won't play that because  he
    says it's punk." I'd never really played metal, death  metal,  or
    grindcore before. I'd always played  punk  or  hardcore.  When  I
    [used to] listen to metal, I'd listen to Motorhead  or  Venom  or
    Black Sabbath. The next half of [_NtC_] was  written  in  a  more
    collaborative way with a free flow of ideas, where Dan would  say
    play like -this- and I would say play like -this- and Gurn  would
    say play like -this- and it wouldn't be any problem. I think that
    has a big influence on the songwriting.  Some  of  the  songs  on
    _ECDER_ go back to when Dan was in Nuclear Assault and sitting at
    home in his bedroom studio going  "Wow,  listen  to  this  Napalm
    Death/Carcass stuff -- I wanna make a side project like that."

CoC: And in the end Dan just preferred BT.

RH: Nuclear Assault had a lot of problems. I could tell  you  Nuclear
    Assault stories and BT stories from before I was in the band just
    from hearing them over and over.

CoC: A lot of people think you've gotten -more- extreme. Do you think
     BT will ever turn into stuff that you  just  can't  hear  [i.e.,
     noise]?

RH: We don't -plan- what we write, and we  don't  -plan-  to  make  a
    change like that, [but] the one thought at the back of our  heads
    when writing songs  is  "Let's  make  this  tune  as  extreme  as
    possible -- as crazy, fucked up as we can make it." I've  learned
    to play drums better since I've done like 800 shows over the past
    four years, and we've learned new ways to play  extremely.  Where
    _ECDER_ was just extremely  fast  and  extremely  heavy,  now  we
    [sometimes] play extremely slow or with an extremely quick  tempo
    change or extreme chord structure.  We  find  different  ways  to
    reach for the crazyfuckedupedness of our music. We recorded  this
    record, we took three months vacation -- our first one that  long
    since I joined the band -- and only in the last couple  of  weeks
    we've started practicing to start touring _SotAK_. I  don't  know
    what the next songs are going to be like.

CoC: Are the lyrics unplanned as well? They're not  so  political  on
     _SotAK_ as on _ECDER_.

RH: It's more politically conscious than outright political. I  don't
    wanna speak for Kevin, but it is hard to keep shouting  the  same
    things over and over, because no matter how positive a message  a
    band presents it's really hard to change the world. It's like  do
    right by yourself, be a responsible person, and try to leave  the
    world in a little better shape or at least  not  make  it  worse.
    That's what we're trying to do, through our music and through our
    lives. Our lives don't fit the status quo, and that's  the  whole
    thing -- even the human animal versus  technology  thing,  that's
    about people coming to terms with themselves, and  there's  going
    to be a problem with someone who watches 12 hours of television a
    day, and there's a problem where people let  a  member  of  their
    tribe be taken and attached to machines and kept alive for  years
    after they're supposed to be. Technology causes  those  problems,
    but the main concept of the BT lyrics from day  one  [is]:  think
    for yourself, be responsible, take care of  the  people  in  your
    family, shit like that.  I  say  "family"  loosely  --  like  the
    "tribe", the other people that you should take care  of.  Desmond
    Morris [also] wrote a book called _The Human Zoo_,  and  he  uses
    the analogy where a city is like a  zoo.  If  you  put  too  many
    monkeys in a cage too small for them,  they  exhibit  anti-social
    behaviour. Instead of living in  a  regular  family  group,  they
    commit violent acts against each other  or  don't  take  care  of
    their children or eat their children. Monkeys do that  in  a  zoo
    where they're too crowded. Humans are animals too -- you put them
    in too crowded of a cage and  you  have  them  feeding  on  their
    children. It's the same thing.

CoC: I heard BT were into black metal and Dan went down to Norway and
     met the guys from the bands.

RH: Right on, man. Yeah, he went to Norway. I [had]  never  heard  of
    black metal until I joined BT and  Danny  turned  me  onto  _Ugra
    Karma_, the first Impaled Nazarene record, and some of the  other
    bands.

CoC: I just recently got the new Emperor.

RH: I haven't got too much of the new black  metal  except  for  this
    band called Usurper. You've got to get a Usurper CD or  vinyl  --
    it's killer, man.

CoC: Do you think black metal influences the band?

RH: Sure it influences us. Whatever we listen  to  does.  When  we're
    rehearsing, I'll be like "Dan, weren't  you  playing  sort  of  a
    black metal sort of riff, and I was going  to  put  the  hardcore
    drumbeat to that." There are certain bands  in  the  black  metal
    thing which are really good with killer music. Certain bands... I
    don't agree with their  politics,  but  I  won't  get  into  that
    because that's been done to death. I first looked at black  metal
    like Kiss, because Dan goes "These guys wear corpse paint," and I
    go "What's corpse paint?" "They paint their faces  white."  "Like
    Kiss?" "Yeah, look  at  this!"  Mayhem  and  Burzum  and  Impaled
    Nazarene [are] the originals  of  that  wave,  and  there  are  a
    million bands which sound like each one. There's  even  a  fourth
    wave of really good black metal bands coming out  of  the  states
    like Usurper, Absu and Demonic Christ. Danny sometimes plays bass
    under the name of Balse [not sure of the  spelling  here  --P.S.]
    for this band called Hemlock. It's not really a side  project  of
    Dan's, but he jams with them, so that's where  he  gets  out  his
    black metal frustrations.

CoC: Who in the band has side projects?

RH: Danny is playing in Hemlock, and I played in this band before  BT
    called Ninefinger, [which] was sort of  Black  Flag  meets  Black
    Sabbath. I've got a solo noise  project  called  Caveman.  I  got
    drunk one night and made this 8-track tape of cavemen music,  and
    it's just people beating on drums and grunting,  man.  There's  a
    song called "Mating" and "Stone-Age Warrior" and "Worship of  the
    Sun".

CoC: Is this private, or are you going to release it?

RH: I've been sending it out on cassette to whoever  will  take  one.
    I'd like to do it over at CD  quality  and  put  it  out  or  get
    somebody to put it out. We'll see.

CoC: What do you listen to yourself?

RH: I listen to whatever. I'm still a vinyl collector, so  I've  been
    listening to tons of underground grindcore and  punk  singles.  I
    mean punk rock, not Green Day. When I first  got  into  music,  I
    decided to become a punk. I saw Black Flag, The  Bad  Brains  and
    The Dead Kennedys; I had a mohawk or I shaved my head, and I  was
    punk. Then I found out about straightedge bands and UK  Discharge
    bands.

CoC: What do you think of the  current  state  of  metal,  what  with
     decreased play on MTV etc.?

RH: Underground music is never going to  be  mainstream.  That's  why
    it's underground; we realise that. I've  thought  over  the  past
    while I've heard  metal  coming  back:  Jag  Panzer's  reforming,
    there's a new Overkill record, Testament's on tour,  Flotsam  and
    Jetsam's on tour. None of those bands are death  metal  bands  or
    underground. They were popular the way Metallica were before they
    became a rock group. The music that BT  and  bands  like  us  are
    playing I don't think is going to be  mainstream.  We  got  close
    with the "Godplayer" video: they played that on  MTV  Europe  and
    MTV South America, but that wouldn't  even  get  on  Headbangers'
    Ball in the States at that time. Headbangers'  Ball  was  playing
    Nirvana, Tool, Soundgarden.

CoC: You've shown you're a band with  longevity.  Do  you  feel  more
     alone, now  that  death  metal  and  grindcore  bands  are  less
     popular? Or is the underground still full of bands?

RH: The underground is still full of bands. I could think of 20 bands
    off the top of my head: Rupture, Burn the Priest, Spazz,  Man  is
    the Bastard, Capitalist  Casualties,  Unholy  Grave,  Agathocles,
    Groinchurn... None of those bands are metal -- they're all coming
    from the grindcore/punk thing. They're not coming from the  death
    metal thing, and there are tons of death metal bands around
    still.

CoC: It seems like the bands have gone underground again.

RH: I don't know what I can say about that, but we  have  noticed  at
    our shows we don't get just a death metal crowd. You can see  all
    sorts of people at a BT show:  punkers,  skaters,  noise  freaks,
    crusty punks, there's [also] plenty of death metal  people.  When
    we went on that Cannibal Corpse tour,  you  could  tell  that  if
    there were a thousand people there, there were  like  150  people
    'round the edges who were BT fans.

CoC: Sounds good to have all those people at Cannibal Corpse.

RH: It was cool. Now, I don't wanna  say  "the  state  of  the  metal
    scene", 'cause there is like an 'extreme music' scene that's come
    around. There are people who are  into  death  metal,  grindcore,
    extreme hardcore or punk and like crazy noise  like  Merzbow  and
    who are into crazy black metal. If you were to go out on tour and
    take  BT,  a  death  metal  band,  a  black  metal  band,  and  a
    punk/grindcore band, you're going to have an awesome show  'cause
    you'll have tons of people coming going "This is  -my-  favourite
    band -- I've got to see them," and tons of people going "Look  at
    all these -four- bands! It's like each  different  thing  at  the
    same time man, awesome!!!!!" Not like where you're watching  four
    bands playing the same kind of music in a row. That did  a  world
    of good for us on that Cannibal Corpse  tour,  'cause  [you  had]
    Oppressor,  Immolation,  BT,  and  then  Cannibal   Corpse.   And
    Oppressor, Immolation and Cannibal Corpse are all awesome  bands,
    but you gotta say they're death metal bands, and they  look  like
    death metal bands: they all have long hair and huge drumsets  and
    full stacks. When we went on that tour I  had  a  little  drumset
    with only one kickdrum and one  rackpalm  and  I  used  a  double
    pedal, and Kevin had his hair short and was wearing a cowboy hat,
    and we had half stacks because were travelling in a van, just  us
    and our soundman. We would come out, be settin' up our stuff, and
    people would be standin' there looking at  us  [going]  "Look  at
    that drumset. What are these people going to do?" Then  you  come
    out, and then <explosion noise>! It gave us a  chance  to  wallop
    people who weren't expecting it.

CoC: How important is the live setting to BT?

RH: Well, that's what it's all about. For us, it's not just the  live
    thing. We like to  travel  and  meet  new  people  and  go  to  a
    different party every night.

CoC: A friend of mine who is not into metal but mostly  into  drum'n'
     bass really got into _SotAK_. Why do you think that is?

RH: I think BT has become a lot more musical; our songs are more like
    songs. Even though we'll have a song that has a super-fast  blast
    beat, when you're thinking about it later, taking a  shower,  you
    can sing it in your head.

CoC: So what's your favourite album this year?

RH: It's hard to say. I am into a lot of weird stuff. I  go  with  my
    mom on weekends to flea markets. You know the song "Blue  World"?
    I put that together from junk sale records: the ocean's  from  an
    environmental sounds record, there's a Molly  Hatchet  sample,  a
    Telly Savalas sample, there's the musical Oliver! and that's  the
    bit on the song where it goes "I'm so high, I'm so high,  I'm  so
    high." It's hard to say  what  I  listen  to.  I've  been  really
    diggin' this Usurper record, the Groinchurn  is  fuckin'  killer,
    the Candiria is fuckin' killer, the Black Army Jacket  /  Hemlock
    split is killer. Disassociate rules.  There's  this  band  called
    Burn The Priest, and I wandered into one of their shows drunk and
    I was just blown away. I'm releasing  a  single  by  them  on  my
    label; it's the Agents of Satan  /  Burn  the  Priest  split  7".
    They're a fuckin' amazing band.

CoC: So you've got your own label?

RH: Well, it's a hobby. Def American Wreck recordings is a hobby.  In
    five years I've put out 3 records. I only  put  out  bands  I  am
    friends with or bands I really, really like.

CoC: So, how much does smokin' pot influence your music? You have the
     "Smoke, Grind, Sleep" studio.

RH: Well, because that's all we do there. Kevin doesn't come to a lot
    of practices when we're just working on music. Me and Gurn travel
    into New York city. We meet in New York City, we  smoke  out,  we
    grind, and then I pass out on the floor for two  hours.  Then  we
    wake up, practice again, smoke, practice, then Gurn and  I  crash
    out there on the floor at night. We wake up next  morning,  smoke
    out, have some breakfast, and practice again. In three days  we'd
    try to fit  the  maximum  number  of  rehearsals...  that's  five
    rehearsals, four or five hours long each, in two and a half days.
    So we'd go there, we'd smoke, grind, and sleep,  and  that's  how
    the studio got the name. We write songs about smokin' pot  'cause
    we do it and have to drive around in a truck being hassled.  It's
    this ridiculous hypocrisy of laws in the states: you can go buy a
    six pack of beer, but you can't buy a joint. A lot of  that  goes
    back to the day  when  William  Randolph  Hearst  owned  all  the
    forests and wanted hemp to be illegal  so  he  could  make  money
    selling paper. "Postulate Then Liberate" and "Promise"  are  both
    songs about the hypocrisy of hemp laws, and the tune "4:20" is  a
    slang word -- at 4:20 everybody meet  up  to  get  high,  and  at
    4:20am true stoners wake up and get high. We thought it would  be
    a good spot on the CD to leave a blank space for people to  light
    up and smoke a little bit before the final assault of the record.

CoC: Do you want to talk about any of the other songs on _SotAK_?

RH: "It's After the End of the World" is a cover of Sun Ra. Sun Ra is
    a man; it's Sun Ra and his orchestra, and he started out  in  the
    50s and 60s playin' bebop jazz. Then in the mid 60s he  got  into
    psychedelic drugs and music and African  and  ethnic  instruments
    and instrumentation  and  also  the  first  noise,  Merzbow  type
    oscillators, in the late 60s.

CoC: Is there anything particular you want to say to the readers of
     CoC?

RH: Thanks to all  the  people  in  the  underground  who  have  been
    supporting us in the past,  buyin'  our  stuff.  We  are  totally
    psyched about _SotAK_ and hope to  be  playing  it  live  fuckin'
    everywhere.

CoC: Are you gonna be in the UK anytime soon?

RH: We have a couple of weeks in December where  we  are  doing  four
    shows in Canada and a bunch on the east coast and up to  Chicago.
    January we might do some shows in the south  and  towards  Texas;
    February is Japan, and after that it is unknown. We are trying to
    hook up another gig like the Cannibal Corpse  thing  where  we're
    opening up for somebody bigger than us, and  we  want  to  do  an
    extensive tour of the US and Europe. Definitely within  the  next
    four or five months you're gonna see us everywhere, man.

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

                IT AIN'T OVER 'TIL THE FAT LADY SINGS
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              CoC Interviews Peter Tagtgren of Hypocrisy
                          by: Adrian Bromley

     Is it actually over? Many people had been  calling  the  Swedish
metaller's latest LP _The Final Chapter_ the  final  chapter  in  the
band's successful career. Was this true? Was  there  to  be  no  more
Hypocrisy? Fear spread amongst the metal masses.  In  search  of  the
truth behind the band's supposed end and the latest LP, Chronicles of
Chaos tracked down Hypocrisy front  man,  guitarist,  and  mastermind
Peter Tagtgren to find out the real truth about where  Hypocrisy  was
headed.
     So Peter, is this the final chapter? "Well, sort of. This  right
now is the last full-length Hypocrisy effort. Who knows?  That  might
change  [note:  Tagtgren  plans  to  continue  on   with   his   solo
industrial-driven outfit Pain]. But what we  are  planning  on  doing
this summer is releasing a leftover album  of  songs  from  different
albums that never made them onto record. Demos and older  stuff  from
like 1985 [Peter's earliest material] will be there. Lots of  goodies
for our fans."
     When asked about the new Hypocrisy  material,  Tagtgren  replies
that "I have already started to write some new material for the band.
We'll see if it makes the light of day."
     He continues to shed more light on the possible continuation  of
the band: "After the success of playing  Milwaukee  Metal  Fest  this
year and doing some shows in the U.S. and Mexico, I think we  started
to feel a turning point for us and  our  music.  Before  doing  those
shows, we hadn't played together for like a year and a  half.  I  was
mad at that point a few years back 'cause I was the only one  writing
songs and it was pissing me off. I was angry 'cause I was  doing  all
the work for Hypocrisy and playing all the  instruments.  The  others
[bassist Mikael Hedlund and Lars Szoke on  drums]  had  a  hard  time
keeping up with their instruments because they don't practice enough.
So the whole thing came about this being the last album 'cause I  was
like, 'Fuck you guys! Fine...this is the last album  for  Hypocrisy.'
But things changed for us, and we had a blast at it  and  decided  to
continue on... well maybe?"
     Maybe? "Yeah... it's funny. I am still into doing this Hypocrisy
stuff but I don't want to do it solo. Every time I talk to the  other
guys I say, 'How is the writing going? I hope you got some ideas that
we can work on. I can't do this alone.' We'll see if it works out.  I
am into doing this by myself if I have to."
     On the music of _TFC_,  Tagtgren  explains  that  Hypocrisy  has
tried to never give into following predictable styles and sounds with
each of its releases. "It's funny  about  this  album  'cause  people
thought we would have more softer songs, much like the last  song  on
_Abducted_ ("Drained") and we didn't do that. We came out flying from
the gates; fists pumping and an all-out metal rage.  If  we  do  ever
follow with what people are expecting us to do, where would  the  fun
be? You gotta be unpredictable in this profession or  you  don't  get
far."
     "I think this record captures the best performance we have  ever
been able to capture from  the  band.  It's  so  rough  and  raw  and
in-your-face. But we also mixed in the clean vocals and the harmonies
as well. We kept it diverse and I like that. I like the variety."
     I mentioned that people have compared _TFC_ to their last effort
(1996's _Abducted_), and he also sees the similarities. "I would  say
that this record is a development from that last record. This is  the
next step. We didn't want to have too big of a leap from what we  had
done with _Abducted_, but we still wanted to keep it a step ahead  of
what we had done before. I think honestly with the other  works  that
we have done -- _Penetralia_ (1992), _Osculum Obscenum_  (1993),  the
Ep _Inferior Devoties_ (1994), and 1994's _The Fourth  Dimension_  --
there is a big gap between records and people  get  confused.  People
start wondering what we are thinking. I really didn't sculpt my music
for this LP around what people wanted to hear. I wrote  and  recorded
material that I wanted for this LP and music that I would like  if  I
were to put this record on to listen to it. This record rules  in  my
book. The rawness of it alone gets me going."
     On the direction and  multiple  styles  of  Hypocrisy  over  the
years, Tagtgren accounts,  "I  am  always  trying  to  do  a  lot  of
different things as we went on as a band. We were getting  better  as
musicians and I was trying to bring that out in  the  music  we  were
creating. I was twenty-two when we did the first  LP  and  now  I  am
twenty-seven. The thought that goes into music at that young  age  is
far different from where you are when you get older. That maturity in
song writing and thought of what I am doing  obviously  carries  over
into the music. It's interesting to see where we go as the years come
along."
     Did Tagtgren  ever  previously  imagine  he  would  be  in  this
situation when he was twenty-seven? "Not  really...  I  never  really
knew where I was headed but it was always a dream for me as a kid  to
be here. I always manage to do the things I want to  do,  the  way  I
want, and that brings out results. It's in my life and in my music. A
lot of the things I have dreamt about have come true and  that  is  a
good thing. I feel good about that."
     "All I am looking for in this industry is  respect.  Respect  is
success for me," he  notes,  "Respect  can  be  measured  by  several
things, most notably album sales and positive reviews too. Those give
you respect in this industry and you can continue  to  work  on  that
success if you are true to what you do. We believe in  the  band  and
where we are headed. I don't really care much about  album  sales.  I
like to read the reviews and see how people interpret our music."
     How do the bad reviews affect  Tagtgren?  "Um...  I  think  they
don't really affect me much. I am proud of what I do and that is  all
that matters. If some journalist rags on the record saying that it is
shit I can only feel sorry for them. I am a firm believer in  what  I
do and that stands above all good or bad reviews. I made  the  music,
and I live with my decisions. I put all the sweat and hard work  into
it, and that's all that matters. To put it simply: it's not what  the
album is made up of or how it  carries  itself  to  me,  it  is  more
important on what went into the recording of the  album  to  make  it
what it is."
     When asked about the state of music nowadays,  Tagtgren  answers
with a pause. This seems quite funny because, for a guy who  does  so
much with so many bands, whether it be in  the  studio  or  on  tour,
Tagtgren is pretty much out of touch with  the  music  industry.  And
he's the first to admit it. "To be honest with you, I really have  no
idea what is in or out with metal music nowadays. I only  hear  music
nowadays from the music that I work on in the studio -- be it my  own
or bands I am producing in the studio." He adds, "In terms of the way
music should affect people, I think people should  just  go  out  and
create music, and if it makes the creator of the  music  happy,  then
keep it that way. Keep it simple folks and don't follow trends."
     Since Tagtgren has no real interest  or  contact  with  what  is
transpiring outside of his studio,  is  his  music  affected  by  the
material of bands he works with? "Yes,"  says  Tagtgren  confidently,
"Of course I am. I think it just grows on you. For doing all of  that
work on specific songs or arrangements, there is no way it can't have
an effect on you. Sometimes I'll be working on material and  it  will
work it's way into my music and I will have to figure  out  where  it
came from. I like working with bands 'cause they not  only  create  a
situation to deal with, but also nurture your intellect of music  and
how people go about morphing it."

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

    S E E N   O N E   S E A S O N ,   F E L T   O N L Y   C O L D
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                CoC interviews Sakis of Rotting Christ
                          by: Pedro Azevedo

Ever since their 1991 debut, _Passage to Arcturo_, Rotting Christ has
established themselves as one of the best metal bands from Greece  --
in the opinion of many, -the- best. After _Thy Mighty  Contract_  and
_Non-Serviam_, Rotting Christ  has  been  seeing  much  more  of  the
spotlight following the release of _Triarchy of the Lost Lovers_  and
the concerts they played with bands such as Samael and Moonspell, all
on Century Media (See my review of _Out of the Dark_ in CoC #20). Now
that they have completed their latest work, _A  Dead  Poem_,  Rotting
Christ has managed to release three albums in the last  three  years.
While some will say this is their best album  to  date,  some  others
will argue that the band's underground feel  is  gone.  I  talked  to
vocalist/guitarist Sakis over the  phone  to  know  more  of  Rotting
Christ's current situation; here's the result.

CoC: What improvements would you say _A Dead Poem_  shows  relatively
     to your past albums?

Sakis: In my opinion, _A Dead Poem_ is the best album we have done so
       far. The reason is that we have worked a lot on  this,  so  we
       are more mature as a band. We have a new inspiration and  have
       made an evolution. Also, it was recorded in Woodhouse Studios,
       which are very good. So I think it's by far our best album.

CoC: You mentioned that _A  Dead  Poem_  was  recorded  in  Woodhouse
     Studios; why was Xy [from Samael] chosen to produce it?

S: Yes, it was really nice. He's a friend of  mine,  a  nice  person,
   nice musician, and it's better to work with people like that -- we
   used to work with people that are strangers. We had a really  nice
   collaboration with him, and I  think  the  result  is  much,  much
   better.

CoC: What's the story behind Fernando Ribeiro's [Moonspell  vocalist]
     appearance in one of your new songs?

S: I consider Moonspell as our brother band;  they  are  really  cool
   guys, nice persons, so we asked him. It was not something  we  had
   planned before, it happened really suddenly. We were in  Dortmund,
   they were in Dortmund as well, I asked Fernando  to  sing  in  one
   song, and he accepted very pleasantly. So he made it, and I  think
   it was really good.

CoC: Are you completely happy with _A Dead Poem_, or do you think  it
     could still have been better?

S: I think that, for now, we are happy, but within a year we won't be
   happy [anymore]. It's this thing that musicians  have,  you  know;
   when they have the album out, they're  satisfied,  but  after  one
   year they  find  something  bad.  But  until  now  we  are  really
   satisfied, because it was our goal as a band  to  record  such  an
   album.

CoC: How do you feel about  having  the  _Darkness  We  Feel_  [bonus
     Century Media compilation] CD together with your new album?

S: In the beginning, we were a bit scared, you know? We  didn't  know
   if the people would buy the album just for  us  or  just  for  the
   compilation. But right now, I think  the  people  are  buying  the
   album because it's Rotting Christ. But it's a good opportunity for
   us, and for the other bands too.

CoC: What's your personal favorite track in that bonus CD?

S: Well, of course I like the Moonspell song very much, I think  that
   everything Moonspell have recorded is  really  perfect.  I  really
   like Samael, of course, and Alastis, Tiamat... I  like  a  lot  of
   bands, but these are the best, in my opinion.

CoC: Many bands have recently quit using distorted vocals, but,  even
     though your music has become more melodic, you have  kept  using
     distorted vocals. What are your feelings on this issue?

S: We don't want to betray our old fans, and I'm  really  into  doing
   this kind of vocals, because it's really extreme and I always like
   extreme things.

CoC: About touring, how well has it been going?

S: We have played about 48 shows in 60 days all over Europe... and  I
   think that's our goal as a band, to play live, because that's  the
   only way to get in touch with the people, with our fans, and we're
   always looking to play more and more, and we also hope to play  in
   Portugal someday.

CoC: Yes, I hope so. Well, about Greece, how's the metal  scene  over
     there right now?

S: There are a lot of bands, really cool musicians, and I  think  the
   people in Europe should pay more attention to Greek bands, because
   they are really cool, in my opinion.  But,  of  course,  the  only
   problem is that we're so far away; it's really difficult,  it's  a
   pain in the ass to play in Europe.

CoC: You have are frequently regarded  by  the  press  as  being,  or
     having been, a black metal band. Would you say you  have  always
     been a black metal band, ever since the start, and still are?

S: I can call our music metal; people can call it what they want.  In
   the beginning, when we were playing _Thy Mighty Contract_, we were
   playing black metal, but I don't think our latest album  is  black
   metal. On the other hand, I don't like to put those labels on  our
   music, so I can call our music metal.

CoC: I was curious about that, because it's usually taken as  a  fact
     that black metal's roots  lie  upon  Northern  landscapes,  cold
     weather and all that, something you don't have in Greece...

S: Yes, and a lot of people make me nervous, saying that black  metal
   should be played only in  Norway,  in  Scandinavia,  and  that  in
   Southern Europe people don't deserve to play black metal.  I  have
   heard some shitty things like this, and I think that music has  no
   borders. I'm really into Southern Europe black metal; -metal-,  at
   least, because it's more  melodic  and  more  emotional,  and  I'm
   really into it.

CoC: What black metal bands have you been listening to lately, then?

S: Black metal bands? I like the Dimmu Borgir album... and Emperor...
   also Moonspell, of course, I think  their  first  album  is  black
   metal.

CoC: This might be a strange  question,  but  considering  the  music
     you're playing now, do you still think that Rotting Christ is  a
     good name for your band?

S: <sighs> It's not a strange question... it's a pain in the ass  for
   us, you know? <laughs on both sides> Maybe this name doesn't  suit
   our music very well now, but we keep it to avoid disappointing our
   old fans, the ones who have  followed  Rotting  Christ  all  these
   years, and on the other hand, I think metal  music  needs  extreme
   names, and this way we show our indifference towards any  religion
   [I can't quite catch every word here, but I think this is what  he
   said --Pedro]. So we keep this name, and if someone  won't  listen
   to the band [because of the name], we won't give a shit about him.
   <laughs>

CoC: You seem to be quite worried about your old fans, I like that...

S: Of course, you have to worry about your old fans.

CoC: I mean, there's been a lot of bands lately saying "so we've lost
     a lot of our old fans, but there's new ones in their  place  now
     so it doesn't matter, and we'll probably sell more..."

S: I know, that means that people don't have feelings. First of  all,
   we are humans.

CoC: What are your hopes and wishes for the future of your band?

S: Touring... and touring. <laughs> Nothing  else.  That's  the  most
   important thing for us; playing live is what's most important.  By
   the way, our first album, _Thy Mighty Contract_, is being released
   again, because a lot of people were looking for it. And that's
   all.

CoC: How concerned are you about sales?

S: Everyone that plays in a  band  is  concerned  about  that...  not
   because of money, because we don't get money from our  sales.  Can
   you believe it? Believe me. It's so that we  can  feel  proud.  We
   don't play music to be rich or something like that, believe me. We
   like to check our sales once in a while just to see what our power
   as a band is, to see if the people like it. That's the only  thing
   that's important about sales, we don't give a shit about money and
   stuff like that. We have a really poor living,  because  we  don't
   get enough money from the band, and we have to find a  proper  job
   now. We can't work right now and then take a month off because  we
   have to play in a band... We have to quit  everything  so  we  can
   play in our band.

CoC: Doesn't that pressure you to make music that's more  commercial,
     that'll sell more...?

S: No pressure. I'm not pressured. I just want to play my music,  the
   music I want, and if the people like it, they like it...  if  they
   don't like it, I don't give a shit.

CoC: OK, that's it. Any final messages?

S: I want to say hello  to  Portuguese  people,  I'm  really  looking
   forward to playing there someday, in front of Lusitanian people...
   and I just want to say hello, and keep the flame  burning,  that's
   very important for me.

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

                   O N   W I T H   T H E   S A G A
                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                    CoC Chats with Edge Of Sanity
                          by: Adrian Bromley

     What a dilemma. Your main songwriter/lyricist/singer leaves  the
band. Suggestions, anyone?
     Well, that was the case for Swedish  metallers  Edge  Of  Sanity
when singer Dan Swano fled the coup to continue on with his solo band
(Nightingale) and/or other future music endeavors away  from  working
with EoS. Was this the end of EoS? I am pretty sure that was what was
running through thousands of fans' heads who have  latched  onto  the
numerous LPs of the band over the  years.  The  band's  momentum  and
creativity (much to do with Swano's  direction)  paved  the  way  for
metal music today, as it opened up what could be done with music  and
laced it with Swano's delicacy  and  ingenuity.  EoS  were  not  only
trendsetters to some degree, but an important element  in  the  metal
scene. How could they go away after hitting such landmark goals  with
many of their six LPs? There had to be a way to avoid dissolving  the
band. There was. His name: Robert "Robban" Karlsson.
     Following Swano and his many accomplishments with EoS (1993's _A
Spectral Sorrows_, 1994's  _Purgatory  Afterglow_  or  the  brilliant
40-minute opus of 1996 _Crimson_) is Karlsson and  his  pipes  as  he
guides his new bandmates (past EoS crew  rounded  out  by  guitarists
Sami Nerberg and Andreas Axelsson, bassist Anders Linberg and drummer
Benny Larsson) through a gut-wrenching and powerful EoS effort titled
_Cryptic_. Falling back to the older era of EoS with the  growls  and
vocals, _Cryptic_ loses its taste of melody to some degree and  leaps
and hurls its weight with such force to  make  a  bold  statement  of
where EoS are headed back to. Back to brutal music.
     On the phone from Sweden calls guitar  player  Sami  Nerberg  to
talk about _Cryptic_, the 'new guy' and Swano's departure. Read on:

CoC: Talk to me  about  the  new  record  _Cryptic_.  What  are  your
     feelings about the new LP with the new vocalist?

Sami Nerberg: To start, for  people  to  know,  the  record  is  only
              35-minutes (eight tracks) and that is  because  we  had
              such a small amount of time in the studio to  work  and
              record the material. I wish it could have been  longer,
              but at least we got the record  recorded  and  out.  We
              seemed rushed at  first,  but  we  then  realized  that
              things were clicking for us quite  quickly.  It  was  a
              weird situation. But nonetheless, we did  get  down  to
              business and put a lot of  energy  and  soul  into  the
              material. This is a brutal record from start to finish.
              This is like _Purgatory Afterglow_  in  some  ways,  at
              least in the sound department,  I  think.  This  record
              works off the ability to combine brutal and  heaviness.
              It's more of an intense record than EoS have delivered
              in                      the                       past.

CoC: And what about not working with Swano this time  out?  Did  that
     feel strange?

SN: When Dan was in the band he did  everything.  He  was  always  in
    control of doing everything and with him out of the lineup it has
    allowed us to be able to work as a team and be able to  feed  off
    each other. The music has gone away from what he brought  to  the
    band and made it more brutal and not symphonic. I am  very  happy
    with the way the band and its music has progressed  and  gone  to
    with _Cryptic_. The band is quite happy too.

CoC: Did Robban just fit right in as new singer? How was that  worked
     out that he would sing for EoS?

SN: He used to be the singer for Pan-Thy-Monium and lives in the same
    city as us, so we have known him for quite some time. We knew  he
    was a fan of EoS and asked him if he wanted to try out.  He  came
    down to the studio, tried out some songs and we were  happy  with
    what he was able to do with the new material and its sound.

CoC: What is it about Robban's voice that you like?

SN: First off, he is a good singer. He can  sing  in  many  different
    voices. Another reason for us to bring him into the fold was that
    we knew him as a friend and knew that he was a hard  worker.  For
    him to come into the band and make it work we all needed  to  get
    things going in the same direction.

CoC: When Dan Swano did finally decide to leave, did that come  as  a
     shock to you? Did you not know what was going to happen to  you?
     Were you concerned about continuing on with EoS?

SN: It was weird. We didn't know how to react. We thought that was it
    -- the band was over. But then we realized  we  had  booked  some
    studio time to record already and were indeed going  to  have  to
    continue on. We searched out  for  a  singer,  found  Robban  and
    finished up the recording. We are now more than  ever  determined
    to keep EoS alive and well.

CoC: You said earlier, and  I  agree,  that  _Cryptic_  is  a  brutal
     record. Was being brutal almost throughout  intentional  on  the
     band's part to get away from the melodic death metal that  Swano
     had been known to work with?

SN: It was quite natural and premeditated that we wanted to  go  back
    to the more brutal death metal stuff. Dan was really getting into
    the symphonic stuff, with melodies  and  all,  and  we  all  were
    really  digging  the  heavy  brutal  stuff.  When  he  left,   we
    eliminated a lot of the melody and keyed in on brutality.

CoC: How was the recording process for the record?

SN: It was pretty simple for us to gather material and ideas for  the
    record. The stuff just flowed  right  out  of  us  and  into  the
    studio. We really had a lot of fun making this record. The  ideas
    kept mounting up for us and that was making it easier for  us  to
    sift through ideas that would work best for us on _Cryptic_.

CoC: Having been in a band that helped forge the way  for  a  lot  of
     bands to follow, what is your take on today's music  scene?  Any
     bands you are into?

SN: I think the music scene has changed quite a bit. I am into  metal
    still, but I prefer to buy older metal than any new stuff that is
    coming out. I think that older, earlier metal  is  better.  Right
    now there are so many bands that are not doing anything original.
    Nothing out there grabs me.

CoC: So why should people listen to EoS? Are you  original  in  sound
     and style?

SN: I think people will listen to us if they like us and what EoS has
    done in the past. I think what we do now and will continue to  do
    is create brutal music. Sure it may have been done before, but we
    add our own EoS sound to the material. Basically, we think we are
    moving forward in creativity, with  brutalness  being  the  major
    attribute to focus on for future EoS material.

CoC: So will new material be like the music found here on _Cryptic_?

SN: I would assume so. As I said before, we are aiming to making  EoS
    brutal once again, but who knows? We may incorporate a  bunch  of
    new ideas into what we do next time we go into the studio.  We'll
    see. I'm just glad to see EoS back into a brutal groove again and
    I am sure fans of EoS are too.

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

         W O R D S   F R O M   T H E   D I S C O U R A G E D
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                CoC interviews Blackheim of Katatonia
           by: Forlorn Soul <mailto:forlorn@mindspring.com>
     Gateways of Bereavement: http://www.mindspring.com/~forlorn/

[Katatonia. Undoubtedly one of the most unique bands  ever,  and  one
that has managed to transform feelings of doom and utter sadness into
music in such a way that sound and sorrow cannot  be  severed  apart.
"Words  From  the  Discouraged"  -  the  Katatonia  interview  -   in
Chronicles of Chaos, courtesy of  Forlorn  Soul,  whose  words  about
Katatonia now follow... -- Pedro Azevedo]

It is said that fans of death metal are the most  dedicated  fans  in
the world. At the same time, the majority of  the  world  looks  down
upon death metal, for it is something they just don't understand. The
exact same can be said of the  godly  band  from  Stockholm,  Sweden,
Katatonia. Since I have been running  my  Katatonia  web  page,  I've
talked with many fans of this  band  and  I've  discovered  something
about them which is truly incredible. There  is  some  instant  inner
connection that is  made  between  the  fans.  It's  as  if  we  have
discovered some wonder of the world, some  sacred  element  that  has
never been found before. Katatonia is able to describe our  feelings,
bring them out, examine them and then fade away into  the  next.  Not
one component is  weak.  Even  the  album  covers;  the  lyrics;  the
atmosphere that is setup... and then in  the  center  is  this  music
which tears out pure sadness, your dark desires, and then your  soul.
The dark gothic influence in Katatonia stands strong  and  gives  the
music the power to truly reach your  raw  emotions.  The  melancholic
chords which slowly stream over  flowing  melodies  are  perfect,  in
every way. Katatonia is amazing with dynamics  as  well,  one  minute
forceful chords of sadness are in your face, the  next  clean  chords
loaded with effects calm you instantly. One thing I have  found  that
is stunning, is that Katatonia is not widely hailed and worshiped  in
the metal community. In fact, to see negative comments of them on the
web or elsewhere is common. Upon talking to  people  who  make  these
statements, I've come to a conclusion. That  is  either  people  feel
violated by a music that is able to tap  deep  into  one's  soul  and
emotion. It brings out things which they wish to keep buried. Or  the
people who make these statements are shallow. They laugh at the  idea
of music being able to bring out raw emotion. They believe  metal  is
for aggression only - to get up and fucking mosh!  I  can't  say  I'm
upset these types of people don't  understand  Katatonia.  I'm  happy
with the way things are... it's as  if  I've  discovered  the  eighth
wonder of the world. This band is very sacred to me  and  I  think  I
would be a very different person if I hadn't heard them. To  be  able
to interview the main man  of  Katatonia,  Blackheim,  was  something
unreal for me. Prepare yourself for an interview of a man, whose band
Katatonia has truly changed my life.

CoC: Thank you, Blackheim, for taking some time and  allowing  me  to
     interview you. To begin, can you tell me your  age?  I  have  no
     idea...

Blackheim: I'm soon to be 23 years old, just as most of the others in
           the band as well. Still young and far away from the decays
           of age.

CoC: In my eyes - and I know many others'  -  Katatonia  is  able  to
     create the *perfect* atmosphere for melancholic  and  depressive
     feelings.  The  very   name   Katatonia   (from   English   word
     "catatonic") is the perfect name for the music which you create.
     Even the album covers and layout  are  extremely  fitting.  What
     inspires you to think of such masterful creations?

B: We simply know exactly HOW we  want  things  to  turn  out!  We've
   always followed a certain link from the very beginning. Creativity
   isn't something unfamiliar to us 'cause you see, we've inspiration
   coming to us throughout the whole  year.  I'm  talking  about  the
   nights, of course! And especially right now, in the Autumn months,
   when even the days are darker and colder, our minds descend into a
   constructive  state.  No  matter   if   it's   by   intention   or
   subconsciousness. We make our sound Dark and Melancholic! We  like
   wrapping up things in a deep atmosphere! What  we  create  is  the
   tunes we want to hear, the tunes that nobody else creates for  us!
   THAT'S what Katatonia is all about... Obviously this also goes for
   the visual side of the band. The artwork should display the  vibes
   of the music. If you see one of our album covers and you think  it
   looks obscure, you can be damned sure the music is too!

CoC: Many of the bands from Sweden and Norway now seem to be stealing
     ideas from one another.  Katatonia  has  always  been  immensely
     different from any other band. Comparing you to other  bands  is
     almost impossible. This originality is looked very highly on  by
     thousands of bands and fans. With such an original  style,  what
     was the initial reaction to  Katatonia  through  the  first  few
     albums?

B: What can I say... The response on _Jhva Elohim Meth_ and _Dance of
   December Souls_ was enormously strong! With these two releases  we
   created ourselves our following and a high position in the  scene.
   We were early with our musical style. There was only one or  maybe
   two bands before us comparable to our style, but far not as  Dark!
   We knew what we were up to. We'd instincts to be the most Dark and
   Melancholic band ever! The originality spawned from our  sincerity
   in our work. We focused on the essence!

CoC: Katatonia has always had a strong  gothic  influence.  The  most
     obvious sign of this would be the song "Scarlet  Heavens",  from
     the Katatonia / Primordial 10".  Katatonia  has  gotten  heavier
     almost every album but  still  retaining  a  very  gothic  feel.
     However, I have heard that Katatonia is going  to  change  music
     styles drastically in the future, similar to the  style  of  the
     song "Day" [from _Brave Murder Day_]. Is this  true?  When  will
     this happen?

B: When we did "Scarlet Heavens" we were determined to do a 100% goth
   based album, but we never got the chance to  realize  it.  Now,  I
   don't think we'll ever do it.  At  this  point  we've  some  other
   plans. We're out to challenge ourselves in another way.

CoC: From my eyes, Opeth and Katatonia have  always  seemed  to  have
     some kind of bind with each other. How did you two meet? I heard
     Mike [Akerfeldt, singer/guitarist of Opeth] played some  guitars
     for Katatonia live, is this true? Why did  you  decide  to  have
     Mike sing on _Brave Murder Day_? Will he be involved  in  future
     Katatonia projects?

B: I think we first met Mike through all the  underground  gigs  that
   took place in the early 90's and we got  introduced  to  Opeth.  I
   instantly realized that this unknown band was  absolutely  killer,
   so I helped  them  out  by  spreading  their  name  and  rehearsal
   recordings in order to get them signed... and  they  ended  up  on
   Candlelight. At that time Katatonia searched for a  second  guitar
   player. We needed to complete the line-up to be  able  to  perform
   some gigs that awaited us, but  since  we  weren't  able  to  find
   anyone, as I would say is our usual way of luck, we asked Mike  to
   join us on second guitar  for  a  couple  of  gigs  as  a  session
   musician. Later on, during the _Brave Murder Day_ studio  session,
   it appeared  that  Renkse  [the  Katatonia  vocalist/drummer]  had
   totally lost all the ability to scream/growl and it even  went  so
   far that he lost his own natural voice when still  trying.  I  had
   given a holy promise that I would not be involved with the vocals,
   so we considered Mike due to his monstrous vocal style  and  asked
   him to fill in for Renkse and do the  job.  The  result  was  just
   perfect! Even though I missed the vocal  style  from  our  earlier
   works I think the new songs with the touch of Mike's voice  really
   set a new sound, so we figured that  Mike  should  do  the  vocals
   again for _Sounds of Decay_. There the story  ends.  Mike  is  now
   fully occupied with Opeth and we've our original  singer  back  in
   front, yes the guy who fucked-up with the growls,  but  the  whole
   thing is much different now,  as  we  don't  use  growling  vocals
   anymore...

CoC: Please give us any details you can on the  upcoming  full-length
     _Discouraged Ones_.

B: The new album was recorded at Sunlight studios this Summer.  There
   are 11 songs on it (about 46 minutes) which is a  couple  of  more
   songs than before, but on the other hand, they're a  lot  shorter.
   They  have  a  very  logical  arrangement  and  a   really   heavy
   sound/production. There are some major surprises on the vocal part
   which displays the very natural evolution of the band. Other  than
   that, it's easy to identify the typical  Katatonia  feeling  which
   lurks within all the songs. The one who  decides  to  ignore  this
   album, denies himself...

CoC: I heard a rumor that none other than Glenn Danzig said some very
     kind things of Katatonia. I've heard many  conflicting  stories,
     can you clear this up?

B: Hey, this is absolute news to  my  ears.  Haven't  heard  anything
   about it before. Perhaps Mr. Danzig should clear this up for us...
   Couldn't imagine him saying this. I don't even think he could tell
   whether Katatonia is a band or a fucking candybar!

CoC: Do you view Katatonia as your main  band?  Or  do  you  view  it
     equally with other projects such as Diabolical Masquerade?

B: Katatonia is my main band. Always has been and always will  be  as
   long as we exist. Katatonia is number one priority  and  no  other
   band can  interfere  with  that.  This  is  exactly  the  case  of
   Bewitched, one of my other  bands.  Bewitched  is  really  up  and
   coming now with tours and stuff  interfering  with  the  Katatonia
   linked activities and that's why I just left that band. Diabolical
   Masquerade is equally important to  Katatonia  in  musical  terms.
   It's very sincere and I put a lot of work  into  this  project  as
   well, but I can keep Diabolical Masquerade on  a  comfortably  low
   level. Only studio visits, no gigs, no tours... Yet!

CoC: Katatonia was recently signed to Century  Media.  How  did  this
     come about? Why did you choose  Century  Media  over  other  big
     labels that undoubtedly approached  you?  (Good  choice  I  must
     say...)

B: Well, we're still signed to Avantgarde Music in Europe and Century
   Media only in the States. Century Media has a good reputation  and
   seems to be handling their work very well. We decided  to  go  for
   the deal. Eventually things for the band can be moving on now.

CoC: The last track on _For Funerals to Come..._,  "Epistel",  sounds
     like a bunch of noise... at times sounding like it's in reverse.
     What exactly is this? It is a shock after  coming  from  such  a
     mournful instrumental as "For Funerals to Come...".  (Yes,  I've
     tried to digitize it and play it backwards... heh).

B: A shock yes! It's nothing but a  shock  of  reversed  noise!  Well
   actually it's the end of the world... Listen to it  backwards  and
   figure it out...

CoC: What happened to the lyrics of "Tomb  of  Insomnia"  inside  the
     inlay of _Dance of December Souls_?

B: The lyrics to "Tomb of Insomnia" were never  completed  and  would
   therefore not justify the dignity of the remaining lyrics  on  the
   album with a full print on the inlay, so we dropped it.

CoC: Why did you decide  to  change  the  name  of  the  song  "Black
     Erotica" (from the _W.A.R. Compilation Vol. 1_) to "12"?

B: Actually, this was all  Renkse's  decision.  When  we  decided  to
   re-record that track for _Brave Murder Day_ he didn't  approve  in
   keeping the title as he wasn't very fond of it.  To  make  it  fit
   with both the concept of the song and the  new  album  we  got  it
   changed to "12".

CoC: What does "elohim meth" mean? I've  been  asked  this  countless
     times and I have no idea myself...

B: Well, as you know, we entitled our demotape  _Jhva  Elohim  Meth_.
   These three words were supposed to be  the  ultimate  profanity(!)
   since it's message is best described as  something  like  "God  is
   Dead"! Then, on the debut  album  we  chose  to  entitle  a  short
   instrumental track "Elohim Meth", focusing  more  on  the  subject
   death than God, however our obvious silly "wordplay"  didn't  make
   any sense 'cause these  two  words  can  not  be  translated  into
   something else on their own, but who cares? It was 4 years ago...

CoC: Throughout the history of  Katatonia,  there  have  always  been
     numerous line-up changes. At one point,  it  only  consisted  of
     YOU! Many rumors of  Katatonia's  breakup  floated  around.  Was
     there any point at which it looked as if Katatonia was no more?

B: Not really, no, because back then I'd made up my mind to  continue
   even if only by myself. Katatonia was on ice for a  while  though,
   but never terminated. Wonder what the situation would be like if I
   hadn't continued the band and  instead  officially  declared  that
   Katatonia was put down the grave...? However, the current  line-up
   is ok. It's Me on guitars and stuff, Renkse on drums/vocals  along
   with Fred Norrman on second guitar and a guy called  Mike  Oretoft
   on bass. Don't know how long it'll last though.

CoC: Looking towards the future, where do you see Katatonia  in  five
     years? Any guesses?

B: As discouraged, underrated and misunderstood as this band  is,  we
   might just be dead in a year or two....

CoC: Thank you so much for this interview, Blackheim. I can't wait to
     hear the new material,  hope  you  keep  me  updated.  Hail  and
     farewell.

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

                     S E A   O F   S H A D O W S
                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              CoC interviews Matte Andersson of Godgory
                          by: Pedro Azevedo

The full-length debut of this death metal band from  Sweden  happened
in 1995 with the release of _Sea  of  Dreams_  on  Invasion  Records.
Playing mid-paced death and including a well above average amount  of
acoustic guitars, Godgory produced an interesting mix  of  death  and
some doom. Toward the end of last year, a new full-length  album  was
released: _Shadow's Dance_, again on  Invasion.  It  showed  a  clear
change in Godgory's sound as it departed from the  more  conventional
death metal of _Sea of Dreams_ into more experimental  fields.  Still
mostly death metal,  _Shadow's  Dance_  had  a  frequently  different
rhythmic approach and also a different kind of guitar work --  mostly
due to the rhythmic changes. The very frequent  acoustic  guitars  of
_Sea of Dreams_ were replaced by keyboards and,  occasionally,  clean
vocals in _Shadow's Dance_. Although it is a reasonable album, I  did
find an annoying problem in _Shadow's Dance_: most of the  songs  are
just too repetitive and tend to move around  in  circles  instead  of
actually going somewhere. Nevertheless, after releasing two competent
albums, Godgory have signed a deal with a major label, Nuclear  Blast
and are currently going through major line-up  changes.  I  discussed
some of Godgory's past,  present,  and  future  with  vocalist  Matte
Andersson.

CoC: In your opinion, what are the main differences between  _Sea  of
     Dreams_ and _Shadow's Dance_?

Matte Andersson: The main difference is the  recording  [method].  On
                 _Sea of Dreams_ we recorded almost  everything  live
                 and we only  had  a  weekend  to  do  it  with  much
                 overtime,  but  anyway...  On  _Shadow's  Dance_  we
                 recorded every instrument separately. Stefan  played
                 all rhythm and acoustic guitars and made one solo in
                 the  song  "God's  Punishment".  Micke  could   then
                 concentrate on the other solos and this time we  had
                 a keyboard player - and the  most  important  thing,
                 three weeks in the studio. Then of course there's  a
                 difference: the songs on _Shadow's Dance_  are  much
                 better arranged and heavier.

CoC: There was extensive use of acoustic guitars in _Sea of  Dreams_,
     something which doesn't happen so much in _Shadow's Dance_; why?

MA: There's lots of acoustic guitars on  _Shadow's  Dance_  too,  but
    there's much more keyboard behind, so it isn't as obvious  as  it
    was before, I think.

CoC: How well has _Shadow's Dance_ been received?

MA: _SD_ has been very well received in mags  and  zines  around  the
    world. I think we got 10 out of 10 in Rockhard and we also  ended
    up on the 7th place in Rockhard's Dynamite  list.  We  have  sold
    around 8000 copies.

CoC: Did you achieve the sound you wanted with it?

MA: We're pretty satisfied with the sound, but the guitar sound could
    have been a little better. We were pleased with the sound when we
    left the studio, but now we have noticed that it could have  been
    better. Next time we will have a sound that will make you shiver.

CoC: Looking back now, what would you change in _Sea of Dreams_?

MA: If we could re-record _SoD_ we would do like we did on  _Shadow's
    Dance_: record the instruments separately, maybe  re-arrange  the
    songs a bit. It's difficult to say what we would  change,  but  I
    can guarantee you it wouldn't be worse.

CoC: Some of the songs in  that  album  were  nearly  what  I'd  call
     doom/death. Was that blending of death with some  doom  metal  a
     conscious decision? If so, which doom metal bands influenced
     you?

MA: I don't think it  was  a  conscious  decision  'cause  Erik,  the
    drummer who writes all the material, is not a big doom fan, but I
    love doom metal. The only doom I can think of that inspired  Erik
    is Memento Mori, but I don't think of them as pure Doom.

CoC: It seems to me that most of the songs in  _Shadow's  Dance_  are
     quite repetitive, as  they  follow  a  very  tight  chorus-based
     structure; why did you choose to make them that way?

MA: It's hard for me to answer that question, 'cause it's  Erik,  the
    drummer, who writes all the songs, and it's pretty hard  to  know
    what's going on in his weird head. <laughs>

CoC: What's your opinion about the current Swedish metal scene?

MA: I think we have many great bands here in Sweden, such as Therion,
    In Flames, Dismember, Entombed, Edge of Sanity, Katatonia,  Count
    Raven, Terra Firma.

CoC: What are your plans for touring in the near future?

MA: I don't really know at the moment, 'cause there's only  Erik  and
    me left in the  band,  so  we  are  searching  for  members,  but
    otherwise we are now signed to Nuclear Blast, so I think we  have
    a bigger chance to go on tours now -- if we  get  members.  Let's
    wait and see what happens.

CoC: About your next album: any dates yet?

MA: Yes, as a matter of fact we will be entering the Abyss studio the
    1st of October 1998 to record our third CD,  and  this  time  for
    Nuclear Blast. We don't know when it will be released, but we are
    looking forward to work with Peter Tagtgren -- he seems to  be  a
    very good producer.

CoC: Will you keep moving away from death  metal  in  the  future  or
     would you say anything is possible?

MA: No, we won't be moving away from death  metal.  As  a  matter  of
    fact, I think we will move in again on the rawer  territory,  not
    the most brutal, but a little more to the roots.  I'm  not  quite
    sure about this but it sounds so on Erik['s part] when I speak to
    him, that's the way he feels and it suits me too.

CoC: What does Godgory, as a band, mean to you?

MA: Godgory means very much to me. I'm very glad to be part of it and
    we have had so much fun in the studio -- and outside too, by  the
    way. It's a reason to live.

CoC: And what does "Godgory", as a word, mean to you?

MA: Godgory is two words put together: "God" and "gory".  I  came  up
    with this name when I  was  sitting  with  a  dictionary,  and  I
    thought that if I put these two words  together,  the  chance  is
    smaller that another band had thought of the same thing. I  think
    it's a good name, even if it's not exactly representative of  our
    music.

CoC: That's it... any final messages?

MA: Thanks to you Pedro for this interview, and good luck  with  your
    zine. Look out for our third CD. I don't know  when  it's  coming
    out yet, but remember, if you're waiting for something you always
    have something to look forward to. If you want info about Godgory
    or my one man project Grave Flowers, just write to me, but please
    include IRCs 'cause the postage is  so  fuckin'  expensive.  Take
    care.

Contact: GODGORY, c/o Matte Andersson
         Hagagatan 14 B, 652 20 Karlstad, SWEDEN
         mailto:matteandersson@swipnet.se

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


16 - _Blaze of Incompetence_  (Theologian Records, November 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

Having only heard a bit of 16's debut disc _Drop  Out_  from  a  year
back, I had not really gotten into the band  or  remembered  much  of
their sound. Was I on crack then? I dunno, but the fact of the matter
is that this record (and band) rocks out big time! Kind  of  a  match
between  the  throat-wretching  assault  of  Machine  Head  and   the
distorted Fudge Tunnel sound (Alex Newport produces), but add in  the
grooves and riff-heavy power and diversity of any SoCal band. I  even
hear shades of Only Living Witness (whom I cherish). Nonetheless, the
music hits you right between the eyes. Sounds cliche but this  fucker
flies off the handle from the get-go. Not many bands can keep a heavy
thing like this under control, but 16 manages to keep the music  very
rounded and versatile - still keeping the listener interested. Sounds
like a full-scale riot if ya ask me. Heaviness  prevails  once  again
and I'm praying that 16 hopefully does see some more exposure in  the
future as they do deserve it. Good record and a good thing  the  band
has the right feel to creating music.

Contact: 16, P.O. Box 1070 Hermosa Beach, CA USA 90254
         WWW: http://theologianrecords.com


Abyssos - _Together We Summon the Dark_
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (7 out of 10) (Cacophonous Records, October 1997)

Egad, it's the love children of Dissection and  Anne  Rice...  I  had
been thinking of poking fun at the cover of  this  CD  (or  my  promo
copy, at any rate), which, according  to  the  band's  bio,  features
"some of the most spectacular Vampyric artwork ever  to  be  seen  in
this genre." But then, alas, I saw the cover of the new, pathetically
titled album from Ancient: a photograph so  unbelievably  trendy,  it
leaves the Abyssos cover, which is merely kinda silly, in  the  dust.
Anyway, enough about packaging. Musically, Abyssos  sounds  uncannily
like Dissection -- uncannily like an uncannily large number of  other
bands from Sweden, I must say. Regardless,  this  trio  does  have  a
great talent for mixing together dark, infectious,  wintry  melodies;
catchy vocal phrasings; and nimble, fluid speed. The best  songs  (in
particular, the  first  three  plus  the  fifth)  contain  plenty  of
excellent  riffs  and  crafty  time  changes.  But,  crafty  or  not,
everything on this record follows a musical path that's already  been
beaten right into the ground; thus, only the best songs stand out  as
anything special. The rest is too derivative in  feel  and  sound  to
have  lasting  impact  (on  me,  anyway),  though  the   quality   of
performance and production is  high.  And  then  there's  this  whole
frilly-shirted, perfectly-manicured vampire routine, which has become
quite the trend... Don't even get me started on that.


Acumen Nation - _More Human Heart_
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10) (Conscience Records, November 1997)

I was really surprised how much  I  got  into  this  record.  Not  an
overall great record, but the techno/electronic sound over the  sharp
stop n' start riffs are a nice coupling and make it more than just an
average listen. Matching the nice electronic blend are some  sinister
snarls and melodic vocal styles (very similar to the style  of,  say,
Marilyn Manson or My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult)  that  rise  and
fall with the music's momentum. A dark eerieness  engulfs  the  music
for the most part, as we are taken through a rough ride  of  blending
rock/metal sounds. Think Bowie, though heavier but equally as  trippy
as the 'Thin White Duke' displays in his music. Obvious influences of
the industrial and metal genre fall into place  here  and  AN  really
seem to have the heart and soul in trying to  make  their  music  not
only come off appealing but also original in its own right.  Fans  of
techno-driven metal may want to search this  out.  Standouts  include
"Cancerine" and "Fuck Yer Brains Out".

Contact: ACUMEN NATION, 7 W. 22nd St. New York, New York USA 100010
         mailto:info@conscience.com
         WWW: http://www.conscience.com/


Amon - _El Khela_  (Eibon Records, 1997)
by: Andrew Lewandowski  (8 out of 10)

First of all, this Amon is not the Swedish black metal  band,  rather
an Italian dark ambient  band.  Amon's  version  of  ambient  is  not
"dark", which  implies  the  existence  of  a  substance  capable  of
producing darkness, as much as desolate. The only palpable sounds are
an occasional susurration, carnal growl, obscure bang,  or  prolonged
drown -- a description  which,  if  nothing  else,  proves  that  the
ambient  genre  eschews  verbal  delineation.  While  not  the   most
revolutionary of ambient works, the barren, subterranean  soundscapes
invoked by Amon are consistently beguiling, and  the  infrequency  of
sound  only  imbues  the  more  active  moments  with  a  monolithic,
horrifying quality.


Angizia - _Das Tagebuch der Hanna Anikin_
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (5.5 out of 10)  (Napalm Records, September 1997)

Ah,  another  Angizia  release:  another  eccentric,   verbose,   and
occasionally silly sounding fusion  of  elements  of  chamber  music,
theater, and metal. Not that there's much of the  latter,  mind  you:
hollow rhythm guitar,  very  restrained  drumming,  and  intermittent
black metal shrieking are all the (so-called) metal we  get.  Rather,
placid piano melodies,  melodramatic  male  singing,  and  well  done
female soprano  vocals  dominate  the  sound,  so  that  the  overall
impression is that of  a  chamber  music  ensemble  who've  cordially
invited Glenn Tipton and Count Grishnackh over for  a  little  Sunday
afternoon melody making. There's a great deal of  wordiness  to  this
band, for whom the melody lines serve  not  as  the  music's  primary
focus, but rather as mere backdrops for nearly  incessant  vocalizing
-- in this case, three vocalists using Russian, German,  and  English
to fill us in on the fictitious biography of a  19th-century  Russian
pauper. Anyway, at least they've done  away  with  the  horrid  tenor
vocalist from their last album; as well, the  melodies  offered  here
are much less  cloying  and  sing-songy  than  those  on  the  band's
previous releases. As a result, this album sounds  much  more  mature
and much less foolish than those earlier efforts. Still,  this  stuff
is nowhere near as artistically advanced or innovative  as  the  band
seems to think, and as classical/metal fusions go, it's pretty  heavy
on fairly tepid classical and very light  on  the  metal,  especially
when compared to superior albums like Dismal Euphony's  _Soria  Moria
Slott_ or Master's Hammer's _The Filemnice Occultist_. In  any  case,
this is a noticeable improvement over Angizia's earlier material.


Atrax Morgue - _Slush of a Maniac_  (Crowd Control, October 1997)
by: Andrew Lewandowski  (4.5 out of 10)

Although this may be Atrax Morgue's best CD  to  date,  the  work  of
Marco Corbelli, who composes under  the  pseudonym  of  Atrax  Morgue
(and, by  the  way,  also  owns  Slaughter  Productions),  has  never
impressed me, and _Slush of a Maniac_ fails to  evince  his  supposed
talent. Just as with all  of  his  other  digitized  (a  few  of  his
numerous  cassette  releases  are  comparatively  memorable)  output,
_SoaM_ never evokes the homicidal ambiance implied on his CD  covers.
Corbelli structures his music  (quasi  noise,  perhaps?)  around  the
juxtaposition of silence - a singular sonic pattern if not a complete
absence  of  sound  -  with  vociferous  punctures,  but  instead  of
catapulting  the  listener  from  the  somnolence  of  an  evanescent
respite, his feeble attempts at layering sounds are rarely  any  less
vaporous than the silence. Stolid drones and inconsequential waves of
static proliferate throughout the album, yet  even  during  the  rare
moments when the textured sounds possess any substance, Corbelli  has
not shed his affinity for the puerile drones, bloops, or bleeps which
tarnished _Cut My Throat_ (reviewed  in  _CoC_  #15).  Unfortunately,
incompetence alone can not satiate Corbelli; he also submits  to  the
most nettlesome of industrial trends: the insertion of vocal samples.
Over a decade after Lille Roger, of whom  AM  is  a  mere  simulacra,
augmented his moribund ambiance with samples, Corbelli  attempts  the
same prosaic act, yet this creates one of the album's few highlights:
the savage screams of "After  Murder,"  the  album's  sole  track  to
sufficiently invoke the self-effacing indignation and  psychotic  vim
suggested by "slush of a maniac" (although the association of "slush"
with "maniac" leaves my mind as bereft of any  transgressive  impetus
as the music does).


Caustic Infibulation - _Caustic Infibulation_
by: Adrian Bromley  (6 out of 10)  (Independent, November 1997)

Warned early on by creator Bill Norris of  the  infancy  of  material
found on this LP, I took all that into account when playing this  for
the first time. I was quite pleased to  hear  such  a  complex  sound
flowing from the music. Bill... this isn't  infant-staged  music,  to
say the least. Complex and eerie in the sense of many  ambient-styled
outfits (Soma, Trail Of The Bow, Juno Reactor), Caustic  Infibulation
seems to radiate an aura of dark emotions and explores many of life's
experiences. The problems I had with the music found on this debut CD
is the certain degree of holding back in the music. It  seems  staged
at times, staged to a point where  barriers  have  been  set  up  and
abided by. I think what CI needs to do is break down  those  barriers
and explore. Maybe this is just an infant state and the  band  really
does have bigger and better plans. I dunno. I'm interested  and  want
to hear more, guys.  Show  me  you  can  progress  rather  than  stay
stagnant and unmotivated.  Good  ideas,  just  lacking  something  --
though the track "Harsh Acid Injection" rules supreme.

Contact: Bill Norris, c/o National Toxicology Group
         P.O.Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand
         For a copy of this CD send: $10 + IRC


Coercion - _Forever Dead_  (Perverted Taste, September 1997)
by: Adam Wasylyk  (7 out of 10)

Embodying the Swedish death metal sound made  famous  by  bands  like
Entombed and Dismember, Coercion execute some stylish metal  here  by
mixing faster and slower tempos  while  injecting  more  than  a  few
interesting riffs. Signing to Perverted Taste after a  failed  record
deal with House of Kicks, _Forever Dead_ is the debut for  their  new
label, and a rather impressive one, I must say. Combining elements of
early  Entombed,  Fleshcrawl  and  even  some  latter-day   Gorefest,
Coercion are able to avoid the  tag  of  ripping  off  a  sound  made
popular years ago. Production by Dan Swano  at  his  Unisound  Studio
(presumably one of his last productions) accounts for the good  sound
on this disc. My only problem with _Forever Dead_ was with  the  last
track, "Grief (Beyond Grief)", a 23-minute track  which  contains  10
minutes of clock chiming (???). Anyhow, in the end  that  leaves  you
with 40 minutes of Swedish death metal worth listening to.


Day In the Life - _Day In The Life_ (TVT/Building, November 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley  (5 out of 10)

More hard-core from the fine people at TVT  Records  and  unlike  the
pop/rock feel of hard core outfit Stillsuit (who, by the way,  had  a
great debut LP this year: _At The Speed  Of  Light_),  DItL  seem  to
steamroll through the hard grooves with very little effort. The music
is heavy and durable but is it worth multiple listens?  Yes  and  no.
Much like a lot of hard core out there nowadays, DItL really seem  to
be more centered on the  notion  of  hitting  us  fast  and  furious,
without ever really focusing on  the  control  or  direction  of  the
music. It seems the faster and more intensely the hard  core  grooves
are delivered, the better. Not the case. Groove and momentum must  be
controlled and set aside from any trendy sounds or one-notion  ideals
to make it good and memorable.  Think  loud  n'  proud  but  keep  it
strong. This record is good, but there  are  better  albums  of  this
genre worth slapping in the boombox. Groove is apparent,  but  that's
as good as it gets here, people.


De Infernali - _Symphonia De Infernali_
by: Adam Wasylyk  (4 out of 10)  (Nuclear Blast, November 1997)

With this being the side project of Dissection's Jon Nodtveidt, I was
expecting something much better than what came out of my speakers. It
could be said that there are two halves to this release; half  of  it
being instrumental/keyboard tracks, the other half  being  industrial
techno. On _Symphonia De Infernali_, a pattern arises: musically,  it
shifts from keyboard track to techno track to keyboard track  and  so
on. This meant with every track it went from good to bad to good  and
so on. The keyboard pieces (like "Into the Labyrinths of Desolation",
"Orcus Cursus", and "Rivival/...") are well composed and thought out,
but what was Jon thinking with techno dribble like "Ave Satan", "Sign
of the Dark" and "Atomic Age", which sounded so contrived  it  wasn't
funny? I'm not even going to talk about the last track, entitled "X".
This is so bad, maybe this  explains  why  Jon  Nodtveidt's  name  is
nowhere to be found in the CD sleeve????


Deathkids - _Born in Hell_  (Independent, 1997)
by: Adam Wasylyk  (2 out of 10)

Yeahman #1: Look at this, it's the Deathkids!
Yeahman #2: Who?
Yeahman #1: The Deathkids!
Yeahman #2: What's so special about them?
Yeahman #1: It has a 10 and a 12 year old in the band.
Yeahman #2: That's really cool!
Yeahman #1: Yeah, and the father of one of the kids is in the band
            too!
Yeahman #2: Really?
Yeahman #1: Yeah, and he looks just like Glen Benton!
Yeahman #2: Wow! What kind of music do the Deathkids play?
Yeahman #1: They play shitty, boring, sub-standard death metal that
            only yeahmen like us are stupid enough to appreciate and
            pay good money for.
Yeahman #2: You sold me!  How do I get my copy!!!???!!!

Contact: Aardvark Records, P.O. Box 139, Lindenhurst, NY 11757, USA


Deicide - _Serpents of the Light_  (Roadrunner, October 1997)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8 out of 10)

I have been very divided in my opinion of Deicide since they produced
_Legion_. At the time _L_  was  undoubtedly  their  best  album,  and
_SotL_, their fourth album, does nothing to change this  fact.  _Once
Upon the Cross_ was a definite disappointment to fans  of  _Legion_'s
hyperspeed and extreme technicality. _SotL_  will  not  really  bring
back any of the fans who abandoned Deicide then, but for those of  us
who, if sometimes tentatively, stuck with them, _SotL_ is our reward.
_SotL_ retains the simpler guitar  lines  and  prominence  of  vocals
which _OUtC_ and the band's self-titled  debut  also  displayed.  The
differences on _SotL_ come in the guitar sound, which  has  a  buzzy,
almost Swedish death metal feel to it, and  the  overall  production,
which is far less  dense  than  on  previous  albums.  _SotL_  has  a
thrashy, almost hardcore feel to it and is the band's most accessible
album to date. Songs like "Slave To The Cross" and "Blame It On  God"
have very distinct, simple choruses and  sections  which  I  have  at
times caught myself humming along to. But don't let all this talk  of
catchiness fool you, though. This is Deicide -- the  music  is  still
brutal, and Glen Benton is still -very-  angry.  Deicide  have  stuck
with the theory that simple is best, and although  I  wouldn't  agree
that this is true in their case, _SotL_ has shown me that  simple  is
pretty damn good, and I think we can blame that on God.


Dismal Euphony - _Soria Moria Slott_ (ltd. edition re-release)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)  (Napalm Records, October 1997)

What can I write about _Soria Moria Slott_ that Steve hasn't  already
written in his review in CoC #15? He accurately described the quality
of Dismal Euphony's music (by the way, Steve would  like  to  mention
that he'd rate _SMS_ 9 out of 10 now), but I'll add a few words of my
own and proceed to describe what's new in this re-release. One of the
best symphonic black metal bands I've heard so  far,  Dismal  Euphony
stand out from the black masses through their  extraordinary  use  of
keyboards, acoustics, and female vocals. Some may say  keyboards  and
femme vox are vulgar by now; who cares,  if  they  can  (when  wisely
used) mean such  a  great  enhancement  of  an  album's  melodic  and
atmospheric qualities? In this re-release of _SMS_,  you  get  a  new
cover, an extra track, and a  new  mix.  The  new  cover  is  a  (not
entirely revealing) nude picture of DE's female vocalist, Keltziva (I
think), plus another picture on the  other  side.  Keltziva  and  the
other female band member, Elin (keyboardist), adorn some of the inner
booklet pages as well. The original booklet remains unchanged beneath
this new cover, which consists of a single sheet  detached  from  the
booklet. The extra track, "Fortidssjeledrepte?", fits in  nicely.  It
starts powerfully before  eventually  evolving  into  DE's  typically
great melodies and some acoustics  as  well.  Finally,  the  new  mix
essentially brings up the guitar sound, which was little more than  a
background buzz in the original  version.  This  gives  the  album  a
stronger feel, and, fortunately, the melody remains intact  and  does
not disappear beneath the  increased  guitar  sound.  However,  three
needless faults are to be found in the  second  track:  there's  a  5
second gap after the intro which decreases the storming start of  "Et
Vintereventyr" (which suddenly erupted from "Prolog" in the  original
version) and, 4:36 and 4:45  into  the  track,  there  are  two  very
strange sudden sound problems that are hard to  describe.  Both  last
for less than a second, but it's still annoying, even  though  barely
noticeable without headphones. If you already have _SMS_, whether  or
not you buy this new version will depend upon how much you  liked  it
and if the poor guitar sound bothered you;  if  you  don't  have  the
original version, I strongly recommended this album.


Dominion - _Blackout_  (Peaceville, November 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

After  their  successful  debut,  _Interface_,  Dominion   take   the
dangerous step of  releasing  a  second  album.  Higher  expectations
always follow a successful debut; _Blackout_ turns out to be  a  very
good album, but not a breakthrough. Their unique use of female vocals
still makes Dominion stand out from the  rest  --  the  vocals  don't
feature the usual  chanting,  soprano-like  style  usually  heard  in
melodic doom and symphonic black metal (a vocal style which I usually
like). Rather, and while they also use male vocals, the female voices
attempt to fit the music and not just provide  strong  contrast  with
the background sound, even though  some  of  the  contrast  is  still
there, of course, as the vocals are mostly very melodic. That's  well
achieved by Dominion's female singer (and model  in  the  nice  album
cover), Michelle -- who has also done some  vocals  for  Anathema  in
their _Eternity_ (which I'd now rate 9 out of 10). The  album  has  a
great production and the sound is as heavy as before, if not heavier;
furthermore, _Blackout_ has fewer melodic parts than _Interface_. The
band relies more on rhythmic sequences to captivate the listener than
on melodies. Notice  the  highly  talented  drumming,  especially  on
"Down", "Prism", and "Threshold", and the quality bass work.  By  the
way, Dominion's drummer, Bill Law, is expected to be responsible  for
the drumming on the next My Dying Bride album. A final  note  on  the
rating: having rated _Blackout_ 8 out  of  10,  it'd  be  unfair  for
_Interface_ to remain rated 7; in fact, I should have given the debut
an 8 out of 10 as well [see CoC #18], as I  still  like  it  slightly
better than _Blackout_. This way both  albums  get  the  rating  they
deserve.


Entombed - _To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth!_
by: Adam Wasylyk  (9 out of 10)  (Music for Nations, November 1997)

This review  may  seem  somewhat  dated  as  this  release  has  been
available on import since March, but with  the  good  people  at  BMG
giving _To Ride..._ the domestic treatment here in Canada  I  thought
I'd review it. Not to mention that this was one of the  best  records
of 1997; those who haven't heard this gem of  a  record  should  keep
reading. _To Ride..._ truly embodies the phrase "death n' roll" as it
has been accurately described. Simply put: this  rocks!  The  guitars
are still heavy (check out the opening title track) and L-G's  vocals
are as powerful as they've always been. Tracks  such  as  "Like  this
with the Devil", "Damn Deal Done" and the rampaging closer "Wreckage"
(the name of Entombed's new EP) show how Entombed have grown and  can
still belt out some heavy  ditties.  Production-wise  this  sounds  a
little rougher than the band's last  outing  _Wolverine  Blues_,  but
then again, who says rock and roll was pretty? Entombed are  a  force
to be reckoned with, so those who haven't  picked  this  up  yet  are
urged to do so immediately. As for what's  happening  with  the  band
now? The latest news is that drummer Nicke  Andersson  has  left  the
band to devote his time to his other project The Hellacopters.  Plans
for Entombed to play North America haven't as yet been cancelled,  so
early next year you may be able to see this band crush at a club near
you. In the meantime, check out their last release and  bask  in  the
heaviness that is Entombed.


Face Down - _The Twisted Rule The Wicked_
by: Paul Schwarz  (9 out of 10)  (Nuclear Blast, November 1997)

_TTRtW_ seems to be where everything has come together for Face Down.
Their debut didn't make the kind of dent that an album  like  Machine
Head's _Burn My Eyes_ did, and so Face Down was left with solid,  but
not phenomenal, sales and a  good  live  reputation.  _TTRtW_  has  a
production which better represents the band and  lives  up  to  their
live power. Songs like "Waste", "Dread Bleed" and  "Cleansweep"  have
an energy bursting from them which should elevate Face  Down  to  the
next level of both popularity and critical acclaim.  Face  Down  have
not only written a selection of excellent songs, but they  have  also
constructed an excellent album. They use samples brilliantly to  glue
the  songs  together  and  also   choose   to   have   an   acoustic,
keyboard-assisted  track,  "Autumn  Scars",  before  another  vicious
storming number; this gives the album shape and keeps the listener on
your toes. Face Down move beyond the power groove metal norm  through
lyrics that are far deeper and more personal than their  peers.  They
speak of sorrow and anger as opposed to how hard they became in order
to survive the streets. Marco Aro's delivery is also far more  pained
and less macho than the average power groove  vocalist.  Performances
by all members, including  the  now  sadly  departed  drummer,  Peter
Stjarnvind, are sterling. Face Down have not only produced a brutally
heavy album in traditional metal terms but they have  also  added  an
extra dimension to the tried and tested sub-genre of  "power  groove"
by making an album that is truly dark in  a  way  that  Biohazard  or
Machine Head can only dream of.


For the Love of Suffering - _Not Affected by Pain_
by: Adrian Bromley  (9 out of 10)  (Independent, 1997)

Man oh man! I think this is probably one of the few independent bands
I have really been into in a long while. This band rules. Fans of old
school metal (old Sepultura, Sacred Reich and Annihilator) take note.
The riffs, the vocals, the attitude. Everything rules on this CD  and
what good hard work went into this. With some really good  production
work, FtLoS manage to take their speed/thrash  metal  into  a  higher
realm of true grit and bone-crushing speed. Slick riffs and  growling
vocals sneer at us with such force that all we can do is  stand  back
and take the blows as they come. Nothing prepared me for this  and  I
think that is why I am so into it. Old school  metal  with  a  modern
kick. Just what the doctor ordered, eh? While some  of  the  material
(music and lyrics)  may  seem  dated  --  this  just  being  a  small
percentage of the music found on the record --  everything  seems  to
fall in place here. Not once are we  left  hanging  with  the  band's
sound. Crank up the momentum with "In the Face", the title  track  or
"The Itching and the Burning".  And  if  this  band  doesn't  radiate
metal, I don't know who does. Powerful and hard-hitting  --  this  is
what I like. Metal fans converge on this and feel the aura  of  metal
it radiates. Good indie metal, but, most importantly, it's metal.

Contact: FOR THE LOVE OF SUFFERING, P.O. Box 47071
         Seattle, WA, USA, 98146-7071
         mailto:jimmeftols@juno.com
         WWW: http://seattlemusicweb.com/ftlos.html/


Fu Manchu - _The Action Is Go!_  (Mammoth/Attic, November 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley  (4 out of 10)

Disappointment with a capital 'D'! Left with my jaw on the floor from
the band's past two releases (1994's _Daredevil_ and 1995's brilliant
_In Search of..._), I was almost in tears and in  a  state  of  shock
with what I was given here with the SoCal stoner rock outfit's latest
effort, _The Action Is Go!_. Um... no it's not, guys. No action here.
The music found on _TAIG!_ is  wrappped  around  mundane  sounds  and
lackluster melodies. Sure thick riffs are present, but where  is  the
groove, guys? Everything seems so flat and uninspired. I dunno, maybe
I was expecting a lot from this band or I just don't get it (probably
the latter), but I want my old Fu Manchu back. Something is not right
here. Producer J. Yuenger (guitarist for White Zombie)  did  a  great
job producing it, so I ain't blaming him. Maybe this is  just  a  bad
dream  'cause  something  as  good   as   Fu   Manchu   can't   reach
mediocre/below average standards. Or can they?


Grabesmond - _Mordenheim_  (Draenor Productions, 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (4 out of 10)

Here we have 13 synthesizer pieces which are  supposed  to  represent
"all which can be linked with the realms of darkness, the hidden  and
unknown beings, and forces of night" -- and  which  end  up  sounding
more like a CD full of song introductions than an  album's  worth  of
self-standing compositions. This isn't garbage  or  anything,  but  I
can't see why anyone would  choose  Grabesmond  over  the  much  more
distinctive and developed efforts of  similarly-styled  artists  like
Mortiis, The Soil Bleeds Black, Proscriptor, and so on. Some  of  the
individual pieces have a nice nocturnal charm, but  most  are  simply
too short to harbor  any  musical  development  or  create  any  real
atmosphere. More to the point, these works all  come  across,  to  me
anyway,   as   rudimentary   and   fairly   generic   exercises    in
keyboard-craft, with nothing original or individual  that  might  set
them apart from the thousands  of  other  unremarkable  synth  pieces
which have appeared on many a metal album of late. Neither especially
dark nor especially ambient -- nor especially recommended.


Grave - _Extremely Rotten Live_  (Century Media, September 1997)
by: Adam Wasylyk  (5 out of 10)

Grave. A band synonymous of Swedish death metal.  Although  not  even
close to being one of Sweden's best exports, Grave,  however,  do  an
average job on their new album (live of course), entitled  _Extremely
Rotten Live_. I'll be the first to admit I'd rather hear  the  latest
albums from Edge of Sanity, Entombed or  even  Dismember  before  I'd
ever put this on. Grave are a band that just never held well with me.
To me they seem like a third-rate death metal band,  well  past  it's
prime and 3 years past the time when they should have broken up.  Why
this band keeps trudging on I'll never know. I can't fault  the  band
for it's energy and enthusiasm in a live situation, but I  can  fault
them for boring the shit out of me.  Tracks  like  "Extremely  Rotten
Flesh", "Hating Life", "You'll Never See" and  "And  Here  I  Die..."
aren't terrible, but they don't prompt me into  hearing  them  again,
either. Horribly bland.


M. J. Harris & Martyn Bates - _Murder Ballads (Passages)_
by: Andrew Lewandowski  (8 out of 10) (Musica Maxima Magnetica, 1997)

Although it  may  not  seem  like  the  most  novel  of  ideas,  this
collaboration between Mick Harris and Martyn  Bates  is  one  of  the
first isolationist ambient projects to feature lyrical vocals.  While
Harris wafts ethereal drones and distant, yet  disturbing,  rumblings
through the air, Bates softly whispers folk  tales  of  murder  in  a
silken English  accent  which  augments  Harris'  ambiance.  The  two
seemingly incompatible elements of folk  singing  and  dark  ambiance
coalesce congruously as both provide an archaic, nebulous delineation
of a human incarcerated in the repetitive, despondent  world  of  the
dark ages. Bates' haunting vocals arise from the background  ambiance
as the music's definite focal point. The addition of vocals injects a
human presence in a genre which, by definition, eschews such an overt
inclusion of man in the music, for the artist translates  his  psyche
into the ambiance and allows the listener to imbue the music with its
emotional content through subjective  interpretation.  Every  emotive
aspect becomes explicit due to the vocals and lyrics,  which  overtly
(two examples: the chorus of "all alone and so lonely" in "The  Cruel
Mother" or "her bleeding, mangled  body  lay  beneath  the  red  barn
floor" from "The Murder of Maria Marten") deal with topics  generally
evinced within the music itself. The inclusion of vocals is  a  novel
idea, but you can call me conservative, for Bates' vocals  sever  the
album's connection to  the  ambient  genre,  and  the  music  is  too
distinctly ambient to succeed at any other level. As an ambient work,
this is one of Harris' best works to date.


Heidenreich - _A Death Gate Cycle_  (Napalm Records, November 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (7.5 out of 10)

I once had a bunch of teeth pulled by a  dentist  named  Heidenreich.
Clearly this is some kind of sign...  Heidenreich,  the  band,  is  a
two-man project: Peter K. from Abigor  and  Thurisaz  from  Amestigon
team up to create a somewhat experimental  variant  of  black  metal,
featuring creepy samples, fuzzed-out guitars, some brutal  programmed
beats, occasional clean vocals, odd vocal layering,  and  so  on.  In
some ways, this reminds me of the latest CD from Nastrond,  but  with
the fiercer and more emotive tone of Abigor's mighty _Orkblut --  The
Retaliation_. If you ask me, though, _A Death Gate Cycle_ is  not  as
good as the best Abigor  stuff.  It's  a  27-minute  MCD  which  gets
stronger and stranger as it progresses, although it's weighed down  a
bit by a  pair  of  keyboard  instrumentals  which  don't  really  go
anywhere.  Also,  the  clean  vocals  occasionally  misfire.  They're
well-conceived, but as with so many other metal-affiliated  projects,
their delivery is a bit on the shaky side. (I've  heard  much  worse,
though.) The sampling is very  effective:  selective  and  skillfully
employed, with zero repetition and none of the overdone triteness  of
the sci-fi-thriller and "true crime" samples so prevalent  elsewhere.
There's some good, odd use of guitars, too, as in  my  favorite  "The
Goat Shrine" and the final track "Memories of a Descending Moon". All
in all, I think this is pretty cool -- nothing truly  groundbreaking,
but harsh and interesting enough to stand out a bit. Still,  I  can't
quite bring myself to give this an eight... One  more  thing:  I  now
think that  Thurisaz's  band  Amestigon  (RIP?)  is  cooler  than  my
original review (CoC #13)  gave  them  credit  for.  They're  nothing
original,  but  for  some  reason  I've  been  finding   their   icy,
unpretentious approach to black metal especially enjoyable of late.


Hidden Pride - _Brutal Advice_  (Independent, 1997)
by: Alain M. Gaudrault  (6 out of 10)

In my review of their demo, _The Encounter  of  the  First  Kind_,  I
noted that the band could deliver the  goods  technically,  but  that
songwriting  efforts,  both  musically  and  lyrically,   needed   an
overhaul.  Sad  to  say,  but  I  see  no  evidence  of  improvement.
Admittedly, this is expertly played death/grind, tight and clear, but
in the end, directionless. Then again, Cryptopsy's _None So Vile_ has
raised the bar so damn high with respect to lyrics, songwriting,  and
musicianship, that most material in  this  genre  tends  to  pale  in
comparison. My advice to grinding bands  today:  1)  write  memorable
songs, 2) write lucid lyrics. And if you're  only  going  to  put  28
minutes of music on your CD, for  crying  out  loud,  don't  pad  the
release with 45  minutes  of  silence  (okay,  so  there's  an  inane
three-minute French xmas song hidden amongst the  silence)...  Making
your release inconvenient to listen to is not  conducive  to  further
listens.

Contact: E.S.T. Management c/o Michel Monette
         755 Muir, Suite 205, St-Laurent, Quebec, Canada  H4L 5G9
         Voice: 514-747-5247
         mailto:hiddenpride@viamtl.com


Infernal Torment - _Birthrate Zero_  (Diehard, November 1997)
by: Paul Schwarz  (6 out of 10)

When I slapped _Birthrate Zero_ into my stereo I was a bit miffed  as
to where this band got the idea, expounded in  their  press  release,
that they were -so- death metal and -so- brutal. The album isn't easy
listening, but it follows the ideas presented on  Death's  _Symbolic_
album. I don't dislike _Symbolic_, but it is not "pure death  metal",
and neither is _BZ_. _BZ_ is not a bad album; it has some cool  riffs
(the opening chords to "Product of Society"  being  a  definite  high
point), and the vocals, although rather lacking in variation, are not
all that bad. The thing which brings the whole album down, though, is
the drumming, which is slow, simple, repetitive and boring. There are
cool riffs, this is true, but the songs are  definitely  longer  than
can be justified, and you find yourself wondering why the band  don't
end at the three minute mark and instead often carry on  to  the  six
minute mark. Nothing wrong with this in  theory  (Carcass'  "Forensic
Clinicism" is 7:09, and I don't get bored of this), but none  of  the
songs here add anything more after about three  minutes  --  or  they
just spend the first three playing samey riffs and -then-  change  to
some other for the next three minutes.  Maybe  their  love  for  Iron
Maiden, whose "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son"  they  cover  after  the
final, ridiculously titled track "Fuck The Whales",  drives  them  to
write songs like this -- who knows? But, then again, who really
cares?


In Flames - _Whoracle_  (Nuclear Blast, October 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

If you're a fan of the brilliant Gothenburg sound,  you  surely  must
know In Flames by now. _Whoracle_ is In Flames' new gift to all those
who have been captured by this melodic,  aggressive,  technical,  and
dynamic style of metal. As any In Flames fan  will  immediately  know
(as if he didn't already expect it)  after  listening  to  the  first
minute or so of the brilliant opener "Jotun", _Whoracle_  is  another
great work. Just like before,  In  Flames  deliver  a  large  set  of
extremely catchy melodies and riffs that just won't let go of you and
team up  with  very  competent  rhythmic  work  and  Anders  Friden's
'desperate ma non troppo' voice (although it sometimes does get quite
desperate, but not as much as some others) -- rated  in  the  Swedish
metal vocals range, that is. In relation to  their  promising  debut,
_Lunar Strain_, and the great _Subterranean_ EP,  _The  Jester  Race_
(which I like even better than those two) featured many changes,  but
no radical changes were made this time. The sound and  musical  style
are nearly the same in _TJR_  and  _Whoracle_.  No  complaints  here,
since, similarly to the newest albums from their country  mates  Dark
Tranquillity and Hypocrisy, there's no need to change  greatness,  as
only small adjustments should  be  made.  Despite  both  having  been
recorded and produced at Studio Fredman, _Whoracle_ seems to  have  a
somewhat stronger sound than the excellent _The  Jester  Race_.  Just
like what happened in the  latest  Hypocrisy,  _The  Final  Chapter_,
there's one cover song, and, again, it's the weakest  track.  It's  a
cover of a Depeche Mode song (no, I'm not confused here; I know  this
is not my Moonspell _Second Skin_ review), and  while  the  re-worked
song itself is reasonably good, the chorus is very poor. A final note
about the departure of Johan  Larsson  (bass)  and  Glenn  Ljungstrom
(rhythm guitar): after the recording of  _Whoracle_,  Niklas  Engelin
and Peter Iwers will replace them.


Internal Bleeding - _The Extinction of Benevolence_
By: Adam Wasylyk  (5 out of 10)  (November 1997, Pavement)

Geez, this record took a long time to release.  I  remember  vocalist
Frank Rini talking about their upcoming  record  _The  Extinction  of
Benevolence_ in between songs during Internal Bleeding's set  at  the
1996 Milwaukee Metal Fest. Somehow I don't  think  he  saw  it  being
released over a year later, but hey, it's finally  out.  But  was  it
worth the wait? Their debut was just plain horrible, not  even  famed
producer Scott Burns could stop the "bleeding" (pun not intended).  I
must say _TEoB_ is an  improved  effort,  although  they  could  have
released almost anything and it would be  better  then  their  debut.
What you can find on _Extinction..._  are  a  lot  of  moshy,  heavy,
sludgy riffs with Frank's unintelligible growls  and  some  speed  to
boot. For what it has, what it  doesn't  have  are  enough  hooks  or
highlights, rather Internal Bleeding trudge through each track in the
same manner, each song having the  same  result:  which  isn't  much.
Frank Rini's recent  departure  from  the  band  won't  help  matters
either. Internal Bleeding fans will eat  this  up;  unfortunately,  I
can't count myself among them.


Iron Monkey - _Iron Monkey_  (Earache, November 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley  (9 out of 10)

If I had to pick one band that really kicked me hard and to the floor
in no time flat this year, it would be Iron Monkey.  Heavy  as  fuck,
this British sludge-core quintet lash out with furious might on  this
6-song debut EP of theirs. Thank God it  was  an  EP  or  I'd  be  in
intensive care for a  week.  Shades  of  Korn  (not  a  lot  but  the
aggro-rock feel is there), though most predominantly the stylings  of
Black Sabbath and Eyehategod, are what run rampant and abuse our ears
on this release. Heavier and louder than a  lot  of  shit  out  there
nowadays. Short review, two words: violently potent. Get this and get
this now, kids. I'm *eagerly* awaiting a full-length  follow-up  (out
early/spring 1998). Damn! It's gonna be a long winter.


Kreator - _Outcast_  (F.A.D./St. Clair, October 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

Still slugging away is Germany thrash outfit Kreator. Another LP, you
say? Isn't this like the 10th LP in ten years? Yes, kids, it's  true,
they are hard workers. Let the metal begin! The band that helped  put
the momentum in thrash metal music has returned  once  again  with  a
powerful onslaught of  thrash  metal  that'll  surely  stir  up  some
interest  amongst  the  metal  community.  The  music  blaring   from
_Outcast_ is very violent, yet  eerie.  A  sense  of  wrongdoing  and
negativity flows from the music/lyrics  as  we,  the  listeners,  are
thrown into a world where negativity seems to be the main contributor
to our existence. Fuck... I mean, look at the song titles:  "Phobia",
"Nonconformist", "Ruin of Life" and "Leave the World Behind" --  does
that not say what we are getting ourselves into with each listen?  We
feel this sense of vileness and being depraved with _Outcast_, and we
live it quite vividly through the thirteen tracks here. While  I  was
never a real fan of Kreator, having heard a few of their  records  in
the past, I'm into what the band has provided us with in 1997. Modern
sounding thrash metal (much like Overkill's _From the Underground and
Below_) that lends itself to its own characteristics and sound. Worth
a listen.


Laibach - _M. B._  (Mute Records, 1997)
by: Andrew Lewandowski  (6 out of 10)

Long before Laibach dabbled in  techno,  covered  an  entire  Beatles
album (_Let It Be_), remixed two Morbid Angel  songs  ("Rapture"  and
"God of Emptiness"),  and  released  a  metal  album  (_Jesus  Christ
Superstar_), they created extreme  -  from  an  early  '80's  vantage
point, at least - industrial noise. _M. B._,  a  collection  of  nine
live pieces originally performed in 1984 and 1985, documents  Laibach
during one of their most lugubrious  and  aggressive  moments;  harsh
anarchic percussion is layered upon a desolate ambiance generated  by
monolithic waves of dissonance. Blasts from a  clarinet  and  screams
poisoned with vitriol occasionally augment an aesthetic akin to  that
of not only early industrial demiurges such as SPK or Z'ev, but, more
importantly,    improvisational    free    jazz    performers.    Yet
"Sila/Dokumenti" - an archetypal example of industrial  percussion  -
is the only piece which conveys the impetuous chaos  generated  by  a
live performance of improvisational noise; all  of  the  other  eight
tracks are surprisingly refined as Laibach apparently focused on  the
vicarious thrust of an exorbitant amount of low end dissonance, which
is impossible to authentically translate to  a  home  stereo,  and  a
visual presentation instead of musical quality.


Manifest Destiny - _What You Fear_  (Crazy Life, November 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

This is good shit. Look in the vein  of  Pantera  and  Machine  Head,
augment the sound with Nevermore's vocalist, shake some  Iron  Maiden
riffage into the mix, and  you  pretty  much  have  the  formula  for
Manifest Destiny and their music. Heart pounding  numbers  echo  from
the band's sophomore effort as the Oklahoman quintet pulls no punches
when hitting us with well-planned numbers, hearty  dosages  of  metal
riffs, and memorable choruses. Having also attained  a  copy  of  the
band's debut LP, _All Life All Minds_, with this LP, I  was  able  to
hear how much the band has improved their music over the course of  a
year. Quite a bit I would say as this second effort  shows  that  the
band isn't afraid to hold back and clobber us with tremendous  blows.
But the repetitiveness of the material harms the album. More  variety
in certain places, such as in the choruses and  guitar  riffs,  might
shine some light on the  creative  forces  that  are  apparent  here.
Nonetheless, this is good material and, most importantly, it's heavy.

Contact: MANIFEST DESTINY c/o Makk Short
         2123 W. Sherwood Stillwater, OK USA 74074
         mailto:shortdog@ionet.net
         WWW: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/7527


Various - _Masters of Misery - Black Sabbath: The Earache Tribute_
by: Alain M. Gaudrault  (7 out of 10)  (Earache Records, 1997)

It's about fucking time Earache released this puppy outside of Japan.
For those of you who are into  tribute  albums,  Black  Sabbath,  and
Earache's roster,  this  slab  was  custom-made  just  for  you.  Not
surprisingly, I fit that mold reasonably well myself, so I once again
had the opportunity to get into these tracks, and  fine  tracks  they
are, for the most  part.  A  few  of  the  renditions  tend  to  drag
slightly, but all in all, I applaud most of the bands  for  giving  a
personal touch to  these  Sab-classics.  Not  everything  works  here
(Confessor's vocalist has -got- to go), but when it  does,  you  just
can't prevent a huge pot-smokin' grin from creasing your  mug.  Those
who own the original Japanese release  should  note  that  there  are
differences in track listings: namely, the loss of  "Shock  Wave"  by
Cathedral (too bad, I rather liked that rendition) and  "Sweet  Leaf"
by Cadaver (no big loss).  Four  tracks,  "Wheels  of  Confusion"  by
Cathedral  (passable),  "Killing  Yourself  to  Live"  by  Anal  Cunt
(despite my hatred of this band, this track works, in part because of
the  vocals),  "Paranoid"  by  Ultraviolence  (pure  heresy,   albeit
original, I guess), and "Cornucopia" by Iron Monkey, replace the  two
losses. Completists, open your wallets.


Meshuggah - _The True Human Design_  (Nuclear Blast, 1997)
by: Alain M. Gaudrault  (6 out of 10)

This is the customary interim EP to tide fans  over  until  the  next
full-length release, which apparently isn't  going  to  happen  until
well into 1998. All you get is one new track  and  five,  count  'em,
five versions of the same  damn  single  off  their  previous  studio
release, _Destroy Erase Improve_.  "Sane",  the  new  track,  doesn't
break any new ground at all, and could be considered good, but  isn't
really very engaging: strictly B-side material if you ask me  (which,
of course, you are in  a  way  since  you're  reading  this  review).
"Future Breed Machine" then takes over the  remainder  of  the  disc,
beginning with a live version which is well-executed and not much far
off the studio recording. Then  comes  the  "Mayhem  Version"  which,
ironically, seems to be a drawn-out, slowed-down rendition with added
aural effects. The outcome isn't too bad, but not  spectacular.  Then
comes the far more interesting "Campfire Version", which is  actually
titled "Futile Bread Machine";  completely  acoustic  in  nature,  it
features simply hilarious schmaltzy background vocals and whacked out
squeaky lead vox, but will likely tire the ears of  most  fans  after
only a few listens. That's it for the listed tracks, yet the band has
tacked on two way-way-techno re-mixes  of  "FBM",  which  are  mostly
forgettable, unless, I suppose, you're a techno fan. Only recommended
for the die-hards.

Moonspell - _Second Skin_  (Century Media, November 1997)
  (EP: 4 out of 10; Live CD: 8 out of 10)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)

-- EP: The new song, "Second Skin", opens the first CD  of  this  two
       disc digi-pak. So what does it sound like? Well, consider  the
       changes from _Wolfheart_ to _Irreligious_, and then apply them
       to _Irreligious_. Get the picture?  An  average  song  with  a
       boring, repetitive chorus, a very  fake-sounding  heavy  part,
       and one interesting drumming sequence. The song has some other
       reasonably good touches here and there, but that's  about  it.
       While _Irreligious_ was a disappointing style change, it still
       did have a few high  quality  tracks;  however,  the  upcoming
       _Pecado_ will be very disappointing if things don't get better
       than this. Besides, the rest of the EP is a total  waste,  and
       that's the main reason for the  its  very  low  rating.  After
       "Second Skin" (the song), there's a pointless "per-version" of
       "An Erotic Alchemy" (what's the point in  picking  up  a  good
       song and dressing it in a clown suit?), pointless Depeche Mode
       cover (rather weak), and pointless  "video  edit"  version  of
       "Second Skin" (same  song  with  one  minute  cut  off).  Sure
       "Second Skin", the song, deserves more than a 4 and  even  the
       DM cover does, but the rest is  truly  superfluous.  At  least
       Century Media was smart enough to  include  a  live  recording
       together with this EP and sell this as a double digi-pak at  a
       normal full-length CD price.

-- Live CD: This disc is quite good, although I found the  choice  of
            tracks rather disappointing. The fact that "Of Dream  and
            Drama (Midnight Ride)" and the outstanding classic  "Alma
            Mater" (Moonspell's best song ever) were the  only  songs
            taken from _Wolfheart_ doesn't please me at all. Nor does
            it please me to find the inclusion of a track as poor  as
            "Herr Spiegelmann" instead  of  others  like  "Vampiria",
            "Wolfshade", "Love Crimes" or "An  Erotic  Alchemy"  from
            _Wolfheart_ and "Full Moon Madness"  from  _Irreligious_.
            Still,  the  remaining  songs  taken  from  _Irreligious_
            ("Opium",  "Awake",   "Ruin   and   Misery",   and   even
            "Mephisto") have enough quality to deserve their place in
            the CD, but much of Moonspell's best  was  left  out;  32
            minutes is just not enough. The sound quality is  similar
            to what they achieved in their concert that I reviewed in
            CoC  #23,  even  though  the  guitar  sound  is  somewhat
            stronger here.

-- Overall, if this was a stand-alone EP, buying it would  have  been
   an outstanding way to  waste  money;  financially  speaking,  this
   isn't a terrible deal, since the package is priced  as  a  regular
   CD. The live CD is much longer than the EP, so it has more  weight
   in the overall rating, by  the  way.  But  I'd  rather  listen  to
   _Wolfheart_ any time.


Mortiis - _Crypt of the Wizard_  (Dark Dungeon Music, 1996)
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (7.5 out of 10)

More good stuff here from one of our favorite trolls. (Or is he  some
kind of bat creature now? I'm not sure...) This time  around,  he  of
the pronounced proboscis prances through ten songs adding up to about
sixty minutes of music -- quite a departure from  the  usual  Mortiis
operandi of two twenty-minute tracks per CD. But while _Crypt of  the
Wizard_ certainly contains more musical variety  than  do  the  older
recordings by the snaggle-toothed one, it  also  (and  as  a  result)
lacks the sense of vast scope,  constantly-thickening  ambience,  and
epic climax which makes earlier albums like the excellent _Keiser  Av
En Dimension Utjent_ so enjoyable. Thus,  personally,  I  find  those
earlier, more momentous  endeavors  more  satisfying  than  this  new
collection of much shorter dark dungeon ditties.  But  on  the  other
pointy-nailed hand, _Crypt of the Wizard_  does  showcase  a  broader
range of tones and moods -- all the  way  from  the  grim,  grandiose
majesty typical of those older recordings (see the first three songs)
to downright melodic playfulness (see "Fanget I Krystal" for  one  of
several examples). A  few  tracks  are  yawners,  and  there  is  the
occasional overly hokey melody, but on the whole  this  is  a  pretty
cool release, one which I found myself  liking  more  and  more  with
repeated listens. And in keeping with  Mortiis  tradition,  wonderful
packaging provides an excellent visual complement to the music.


Night In Gales - _Towards The Twilight_  (NBA/PHD, November 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

During an interview with bassist Tobias Bruchmann, he told me that he
felt his band Night In Gales is the new breed of melodic death metal.
He may be onto something. Similar to a hybrid  At  The  Gates  or  In
Flames with the old school style of Helloween, Night In Gales  relies
heavily on music drenched with aggression and true grit  to  get  the
message across. The band's nine-song debut for  Nuclear  Blast  is  a
good one that lashes out with sharp riffs that cater not only to fans
of melodic metal but also to us metallers who like our music hard and
uncompromising. From the opener "Towards A Twilight Kiss",  Night  In
Gales lets loose some memorable songs  that  not  only  showcase  the
young band's musicianship, but also a band geared at working hard  at
keeping the music crisp and in full form. Night In Gales has released
a good debut effort.


Old Grandad - _Old Grandad_ EP + San Francisco Bootleg
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)  (Hectic Records, November 1997)

I always love fucked up chaotic doses of rage, and San Fran trio  Old
Grandad deliver just that. Fits of rage urged  on  by  thick  Sabbath
riffs and menacing howls and screams just beckon  for  you  to  crank
this shit and headbang all day. Mix psychedelic rock with death metal
growls and you pretty much go the gist of  what  this  band  creates.
Shades of Fu Manchu or Kyuss dipped  into  satanic  images  and  pure
death metal rampages flow from this release's the  five  tracks  and,
afterwards, leave the listener in dismay. But you'll  come  back  for
more, or, at least, I reckon you will. Also included in this  release
(a follow-up to their first effort _Vol. 666_) is a cool 6-song  live
bootleg from one of their shows. The production and sound  is  pretty
good and  the  band  captured  their  sound  very  well.  This  is  a
recommended purchase for those  that  dig  thick  heavy  grooves  and
psychedelic rock or just want to sell their soul to the devil. Dig in
kids!

Contact: OLD GRANDAD, P.O. Box 401122 San Francisco, CA USA 4140-1122
         mailto: hehtic@hectic.com
         WWW: http://www.inreach.com/grandad


Old Man's Child - _The Pagan Prosperity_
by: Paul Schwarz  (6 out of 10)  (Century Media, September 1997)

Many  people,  not  just  Century  Media,  think  OMC  are  the  next
revolution in black metal. Now, although I must admit  they  are  not
generic, I think this implies that OMC are also brilliant, and it  is
this second, albeit implied, factor which I have to disagree with. If
you happen to pick up the _Darkness We Feel_  compilation,  then  you
might be tempted  to  disagree  with  me  on  the  strength  of  "The
Millenium King". This is the best track on _TPP_, and  if  the  whole
album was of this quality, then... But it isn't.  The  aforementioned
song has a lot of different elements (heaviness, pace,  atmospherics,
nice leads), which is what most of the other tracks  lack.  As  _TPP_
progresses, one song begins to blend more or less into  another.  OMC
play a few more of their trump cards on tracks like  "Return  of  the
Night Creatures" and "Doommaker", but the overall impression is of  a
solid but not outstanding album. With Emperor back, Mayhem  reformed,
and  Dimmu  Borgir   producing   albums   like   _Enthrone   Darkness
Triumphant_, OMC are going to have to do a lot better  than  this  to
get ahead of the pack, although they are at  present  worthy  to  run
with it.


Paolo di Cioccio - _Images_  (Musica Maxima Magnetica, 1997)
by: Andrew Lewandowski  (7 out of 10)

If only music possessed enough power to  invert  a  mood  exenterated
from the innards of a tortured soul languishing in the pits of  hell,
I would be drifting through the air with each listen of this  CD.  As
each  stirring  synth  passage  (think  early  Tangerine  Dream)  and
repetitive pulsation (think Steve Reich) floated  through  the  aural
labyrinths, beyond the obtrusive waves of commercial radio  stations,
and into my ear canals, my body, freed of its cumbersome emotions and
intellect,  would,  with  each  passing  nanosecond,  explode  in  an
undulating menagerie of iridescent - hold your  horsey-worsey!  These
goddamned beats! Argh, such linear patterns resemble  the  monotonous
pounding of the minuscule feet of the enslaved  blue  guys  of  Willy
Wonka's chocolate factory! My body immured in a cocoon of chains  and
brain expunged of its very brain (neurons leading to a yellow  sponge
shaped like a feeble  brontosaurus  waiting,  nay,  hoping,  for  the
eradication of its servility at the teeth of a merciless carnivore) -
only at this point can I feel joy? Does this not  appear  to  be  yet
another communist plot - or at least a McDonalds' billboard heralding
the arrival of a new  99  cent  cheeseburger  replete  with  pickles,
lettuce,  and  a  godforsaken  tomato  -  designed  to  promote   the
infestation  of  a  tyrannical  volition  into  my   skull?   Without
introspection I may enjoy life without reserve  as  I  exude  levity,
but, since this is a music magazine and all, do I want to listen to a
CD  devoid  of  depth?  Nope,  but  the  chaotic   movements   of   a
schizophrenic guide di Cioccio's  pieces  which,  although  repulsive
amidst an otherwise tranquil whole, add substance to  stop  the  free
fall, and, more importantly, he occasionally pulls an enthralling and
even intricate track such as "Trance Lovers" out of his belt to  make
it all worthwhile... Although you will always get  a  point  deducted
for any track which promotes booty-shaking as overtly as the techno-y
(why, Paolo, why?) "Surya Dwara" does...


P.O.V. Secondhand - _Fraction Of Faith_  (Diehard, November 1997)
by: Paul Schwarz  (7 out of 10)

This is quite a talented band who write catchy goth-rock  songs.  The
only band I can think of who also play goth music and don't  make  me
sick to my stomach is Type O Negative, and although not as good,  POV
Secondhand possess talent and stand out from the  'crowd'.  What  POV
Secondhand lack is a good enough mix between  heaviness  and  melody,
something TON have down to a 'T'. The drum and keyboard parts display
POVS' 80s goth influences at times, but I found some odder points  of
reference. In "Today" the band almost  play  -the-  riff  to  G'N'R's
"Civil War", and they close the song with the theme tune  to  Quantum
Leap. The singer sounds identical to Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) on some
tracks, while other tracks sound disturbingly like Irish folk,  which
really doesn't work in my view. Although not really my taste, I don't
feel compelled to hate this  record.  I  won't  listen  to  it  again
myself, but if you want something to accompany your  old  Sisters  of
Mercy records (if you have any), then I'd say _FoF_ wouldn't be a bad
addition to your collection.


Pyrexia - _System Of The Animal_
by: Paul Schwarz  (9 out of 10) (Serious Entertainment, October 1997)

"Oh my fucking God" -- not  the  Strapping  Young  Lad  song,  but  a
reaction which I had upon hearing this record. Pyrexia are  seriously
-heavy-, a  fact  illustrated  by  the  downtuned  guitars,  massive,
pounding kickdrums and powerful vocals  which  pulsate  from  _SotA_.
Pyrexia belong to the school of simple  but  crushingly  heavy  death
metal, and they certainly play their chosen  style  well.  Some  will
probably think that Pyrexia are trying to sound like Korn,  but  this
would be like believing Testament are trying to  sound  like  Machine
Head: death metal played simple detuned riffs first. Obituary made  a
living out of  it.  _SotA_  does  not  conform  to  the  misconcieved
stereotype about death  metal  lyrics  (namely,  that  they  are  all
"stupid"). This record is intelligently anti-racist, and some  tracks
are directed specifically against Reverend Louis Farrakahn, a  racist
in Pyrexia's, and my, opinion. A drawback of _SotA_  is  that  it  is
dangerously short even for a death metal album. At a running time  of
23:44, this is more like an EP than a  full  length  abum,  but  it's
definitely worth your time and money if great music, and not  length,
is your main concern.


Ragnarok - _Arising Realm_  (Head Not Found, 1997)
by: Andrew Lewandowski  (7 out of 10)

Once you slash through the dense forest of static which  immures  the
melodies emitted from Ragnarok's second album on Head  Not  Found,  a
sense of sanguinity is exposed. While Ragnarok is certainly no  group
of Christians or ebullient pseudo-decadents [see Thelema review], the
decrepit production and vocalist's virulent virtuosity only  belie  a
surprisingly peaceful, almost transcendental (in a new age  -  almost
Enigma-tic - manner), vim. While  this  frivolous  adoration  of  all
creatures big and small is admittedly the product of slight hyperbole
on my part, I can't help but feeling  that  Ragnarok  have  installed
morose superfluities in order to veil an insinuated nature  which  is
diametrically opposed to all that black metal stands  for...  As  for
the music's quality, the  first  three  tracks  (once  you  skip  the
mandatory  intro,  of  course)  are  all  decent,  yet  the   searing
repetition of tracks such as "My Refuge In Darkness" will  inevitably
fail whenever the melodies lack the necessary amount of execration of
all humanity. Even so,  _Arising  Realm_  should  entertain  fans  of
Darkthrone, circa _A Blaze In the Northern Sky_, who  have  "matured"
into pacified human beings yet still crave a semblance  of  perdition
and raw violence in their music and are frightened by music of  great
originality.


Raison D'Etre - _In Sadness, Silence and Solitude_
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)  (Cold Meat Industries, 1997)

I never really know how to review releases from Cold  Meat  Industry.
Almost all the music I have ever  heard  from  this  label  has  been
brilliant (i.e. Arcana or Puissance) yet very similar ambient  music.
The label's latest release by Raison D'Etre is a wonderful trip  into
the wonderfully surreal and haunting world of dark ambient music. Six
songs structured around a truly eerie  backdrop  of  odd  dreamscapes
painted black and overflowing with emotional discharge. As with  many
other CMI releases, this release has a cathartic effect, which  seems
to be the winning factor for most CMI releases. Raison  D'Etre  is  a
wonderful kaleidoscope of emotion, darkness, and understanding.  This
is one release you should scope out to find, for the experience  will
affect you in many ways.


Sacred Reich - _Still Ignorant: Live 1987-1997_
By: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)  (Metal Blade/Attic, December 1997)

Although I have mixed feelings about Sacred Reich's early material, I
did start to appreciate the band and  what  they  brought  to  thrash
metal. Their material was  exemplary  of  metal's  origins  and  more
important than the hundreds of clone acts  that  had  fallen  by  the
roadside over the last decade or so. Phil Rind was a man of metal  on
a mission to keep metal alive and intact. This release proves that he
has accomplished mission. Compiling  such  metal  classics  as  "Surf
Nicaragua", "Independent", and new material off of their last  effort
(1996's _Heal_), this 13-song live LP jams  out  the  tunes  in  true
metal fashion. Slick riffs and rough vocals flow ever so violently. I
like live records, and this effort is pretty well done. Both Rind and
the music sound clear. Fans of Sacred Reich will scoop  this  up,  as
should any metal fan who wants to jump back into the past with a true
metal workhorse.


Sadus - _Chronicles Of Chaos_ (Mascot, October 1997)
by: Paul Schwarz (5 out of 10)

Some choose to use words like  "legendary"  and  "groundbreaking"  to
describe Sadus' work to date. These words do not describe my feelings
about Sadus after hearing _CoC_:  "average"  and  "painfully  out  of
date" are the words that I find spring to mind. _CoC_  is  17  tracks
culled from Sadus' deleted  three  album  back-catalogue.  Apparently
this is Sadus at their best, and I am not suitably impressed.  Tracks
like "Certain Death" and "Undead", from their 1988  debut,  may  have
sounded fresh  at  the  time,  and  Sadus'  speed  and  technicality,
especially with Steve DiGiorgio on  bass,  probably  compensated  for
their lack of variety and their vocalist's lack of  talent.  Then  we
arrive at track 12. It is 1992. Death metal has begun  its  reign  of
terror, and more is expected of Sadus, who  are  on  to  their  third
album. Sadus do not deliver the  goods,  though:  lack  of  variation
still plagues them, and despite adding touches of _Human_ era  Death,
these tracks could be from the same album. Unless you like your metal
unvaried and really fast (and you want 70  minutes  of  really  fast,
unvaried metal), I would not recommend _CoC_.

["No" is the answer to the $50,000 question that you all  are  asking
yourselves right now. Sadus  and  their  new  album  have  ABSOLUTELY
nothing to do with us here at the TRUE Chronicles of Chaos.  I  guess
no one can pass up a brilliant alliteration... -- Gino]


Scrub - _Wake Up!_  (Sol 3 Records, November 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

With the surfacing of numerous acts fronted by  female  singers  (for
example, Manhole, NY Loose, and Crisis), it is  no  wonder  that  the
floodgates are now open and bands are just  popping  up  with  female
singers. Meet Scrub, an aggressive, diverse hard rock band that seems
to possess  the  attributes  that  these  female  fronted  bands  are
supposed to have: heavy grooves and echoing female vocals which  work
off a strong groove. Such is the  case  of  Scrub,  except  the  band
pushes their music away from the standard sound a bit more since  the
band not only keeps the  screams  and  groove  consistent,  but  also
remembers to add some diversity to their sound. They mix it up with a
bit more melody. They don't exactly stay away from  following  trends
and styles, but they still provide us with something a bit  different
to chew on.

Contact: SCRUB, 532 East 6th St. Suite GFW New York, New York 10009


Sea of Tranquility/Pax Mortis - _Dead of Winter / Defiant_ Split CD
by: Brian Meloon  (7 out of 10)  (Cursed Productions, 1997)

Sea of Tranquility start this CD off with  six  tracks:  their  demo,
plus the song from their split 7" with Num Skull. I  wasn't  familiar
with these guys before this,  but  they  play  straightforward  death
metal. I'd rate them a little bit above average, since the songs  are
well executed, but  not  entirely  original.  The  songs  are  pretty
consistent in style, with the exception of the fourth track, which is
bluesy death rock. The playing is good and the  production  is  fine,
with a full, powerful sound, and the bass turned up pretty loud. This
is a solid offering, but nothing that you haven't heard before.

Pax Mortis finish the CD with 8 songs. I was familiar with their 1992
demo,  _Fear_,  and  thought  it  showed  potential,  despite  shoddy
production. Unfortunately, the four songs from that  demo  appear  on
this CD. They've been re-recorded,  but  the  only  major  difference
besides the production is the inclusion of some patched-in keyboards,
which don't really improve anything. I think  they  could  have  been
effective if they had been more fully integrated into the rest of the
music, but as it is, they just sound like an afterthought. The  music
is mostly speed/thrash, along the lines  of  Thanatopsis  or  Cynic's
1991  demo,  but  not  as  technical.  The  playing  is   good,   and
occasionally pretty interesting. The production could be  better:  it
seems to change from song to song, and the drum sound on the  closing
cut, "Lilith", really sounds hollow.  A  better  production  would've
given them the extra aggression that I think they're missing. I still
think these guys have potential,  but  they  need  to  improve  their
lyrics ("Against her will... the crime is violence, not sex!"  stands
out as an especially atrocious line), and update  their  sound  to  a
more modern, complete one.


Sigh - _Hail Horror Hail_  (Cacophonous, November 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (7.5 out of 10)

Listening to this CD is oddly like hearing someone  else  impatiently
switching between channels on a TV set that gets only four  stations:
one featuring darkened, sleaze-ified metalia with screechy  vox;  one
featuring lush  "easy  listening"  material  performed  by  a  really
swinging organist; one showing a film with  a  bombastic  soundtrack;
and one doing a broadcast from some  fevered,  decadent  city  center
where all sorts of weirdness is being perpetrated. Indeed,  it  often
sounds as if there are two TV sets in  the  room,  each  tuned  to  a
different one of these channels... I use the TV analogy because _Hail
Horror Hail_ is a very visual listening experience, a seriously  odd,
often chaotic collision of weird metal  with  just  about  everything
else on the musical map. The bizarre audio alchemy  of  this  release
originally had me pegging it as at least an eight out of ten, perhaps
even higher than that, but repeated spins have tempered my enthusiasm
somewhat. For one, there's a bit too much of that  swinging  organist
for my taste. Check out the end of "The Dead Sing" or "Invitation  to
Die" and you'll see what I mean: Sigh Plays True Unholy Fox Trot  and
Samba Metal Exclusively... In addition -- and with the  exception  of
the excellent "12 Souls" and the enjoyable "Curse of Izanagi" --  the
metallic backbone of these compositions tends to be rather weak.  All
the experimental oddity is a real plus, in that Sigh's metallic chops
are nothing remarkable (at least not on this CD). In any  case,  this
has a few really cool tracks, and it's certainly the  weirdest  thing
I've heard come out of the metal scene in quite a while, so if you're
looking for something different, you can't go wrong with this record.
The bio calls it "a soundtrack to a film that will never be made." If
this film ever -does- get made, I suppose I'll stand in line and  pay
to get in, if that tells you anything.


Testament - _Signs of Chaos: The Best of Testament_  (Mayhem, 1997)
by: Drew Schinzel  (6.5 out of 10)

It was bound to happen. With so many tribute  albums  and  "best  of"
compilations flooding the metal market in the past couple  of  years,
sooner or later someone had to release a  Testament  collection,  and
now  here  it  is.  Even  though  _Demonic_  was  disappointing,  the
announcement of _SoC_ certainly piqued my interest; for  now  instead
of picking what Testament albums I want to play and what songs I wish
to hear, I  can  have  someone  else's  views  of  the  fifteen  best
Testament songs placed on one CD for my enjoyment! Of course,  as  is
the problem with nearly all albums of its ilk, _SoC_ suffers from one
inescapable flaw: poor song selection. The most glaring omission, and
without a doubt  the  most  disappointing  to  me,  is  the  timeless
"Disciples of the  Watch."  How  the  hell  can  such  a  classic  be
overlooked? Especially when its replacement is  the  meager  at  best
"Trial By Fire," a choice which I really  don't  understand  at  all.
Moving onwards, the mediocre yet aptly  titled  "The  Ballad"  really
deserves no place in such a compilation; its  spot  would  have  been
much better reserved for tracks like the aforementioned,  or  perhaps
"Burnt Offerings," off _The Legacy_. But alas, what we get instead is
a compilation of the band's singles and other more well known  songs,
ignoring the lesser known but often better crafted  efforts  such  as
"Trail Of Tears" and "Seven Days in May." I suppose what it all comes
down to is that a band with seven  excellent  albums  (I'm  excluding
_The Ritual_ and _Demonic_, my least favorite) and a countless number
of brilliant songs deserves, and should  demand,  much  more  than  a
fifteen track (well, seventeen,  the  final  two  songs  are  average
covers) "best of" compilation disc; a  double-disc  would  have  been
much preferred. Or, if the label was simply too stingy, a much better
solution would have been to just glance at _Live  at  the  Fillmore_;
the seventeen songs presented there -truly-  represent  the  best  of
Testament. So if you're an old time Testament fan and absolutely need
a new album, take a look, but make sure you know  what  songs  you're
getting for your cash . If you're someone just getting into the band,
I'd say a better place to start is _LatF_, for sure.


Thelema - _Night of Pan_  (Musica Maxima Magnetica, 1997)
by: Andrew Lewandowski  (3 out of 10)

Just as I always feel inclined to either bludgeon little children who
vilify fat boys with glasses  or  direct  ignorant  female  Hungarian
imports to the local prostitution ring, I wish that I could  bequeath
a rating of "10" upon the libido of this Italian band of  epicureans.
Although Thelema's version  of  gothic  metal,  an  idolatry  of  the
Sisters of  Mercy,  is  a  bland  amalgamation  of  the  monotony  of
desiccated riffs and  hilarity  of  excessively  jovial  vocals  (the
Italian accent is no less ill-suited for singing goth rock than it is
for singing death metal), _Night of Pan_  exemplifies  the  essential
levity  of  Pan.  Maybe   I   have   inadvertently   correlated   the
impetuousness which is stereotypically perceived as indicative of the
Italian persona with Thelema's romanticism, but this album exudes  an
enigmatic, yet ubiquitous "it" seeping with sensuality and the fetid,
yet alluring stench of genitalia and their corresponding fluids. This
"it" transcends the lyrical content, which embodies the buoyancy  and
naive righteousness  of  idealistic  teenage  pagans  jamming  in  an
abandoned garage... Unfortunately, this  palpable  integrity  doesn't
negate the fact that this is still a pathetic  album.  By  the  third
track, Thelema had already annihilated any chance of inducing me into
enjoying this album. The song "Hidden on Holy Hills" features one  of
the worst mastering jobs that I have ever heard  (distortion  is  the
major culprit), while "Unknown" opens with a verbal list of Thelema's
influences (every seminal hard rock band from the  Beatles  to  Black
Flag), which reminds me of the dedication shown by middle school boys
who glue  patches  of  their  favorite  alternative  bands  on  their
backpacks.


Various Artists - _Trial By Dawn_  (Musica Alternativa, October 1997)
  3-CD box consisting of the following EPs:
    Agon - _Silent Cries_  (7 out of 10)
    Celestial Dark - _Perpetual Tears (The End)_  (8 out of 10)
    Sarcastic - _The Tale Begins..._  (7 out of 10)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

-- Agon: Perhaps I can call this dark metal, as some have called this
style of music before: it's doomy, but not exactly doom,  has  shades
of black but is by no means black metal, and has a considerably  dark
atmospheric side.  Alternating  distorted  and  spoken  vocals,  Agon
create a very effective melancholic atmosphere mostly  through  their
good use of keyboards, which build momentum  for  interesting  faster
guitar/drumming sequences. They achieve some really good moments  and
always keep an interesting atmosphere around each song.

-- Celestial Dark: They play mid-paced atmospheric doom/death and  do
it very well. The music has highly effective  and  creative  keyboard
work,  very  talented  and  powerful  drumming,  well  done   grunts,
competent female vocals, very good melodies and arrangements,  and  a
fine balance of atmosphere and powerful sequences, which adds variety
to the music. Except for some poor vocals at the  end  of  the  first
track, high quality  sequences  just  keep  flowing  with  a  careful
production helping them. This is a highly impressive  debut,  clearly
the best of these three EPs.

-- Sarcastic: Melodic metal with very  good  keyboards  that  provide
frequent memorable melodies. The  result  is  a  very  enjoyable  and
competently produced EP. However, several weaker sequences prevent  a
higher rating. Nevertheless, if all the album had a  similar  quality
to the keyboard/drumming sequence towards the end of the first  track
or the main chorus in the first three songs, they would  surely  have
gotten a higher rating; it's just that, unfortunately, they have high
quality moments, but aren't constant enough to get  a  higher  score.
Besides, the first three tracks are rather long, taking up almost all
the EP; that in itself isn't bad, but they spend quite a lot of  time
repeating some sequences (not just the choruses).

-- All EPs are just above 20 minutes long, and you get 3 quality  EPs
for the price of one full-length album. Therefore, _Trial By Dawn_ is
a good deal.


Tristania - _Tristania_  (Napalm Records, November 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (7 out of 10)

This Norwegian sextet plays a mellow,  doomy  style  of  metal  which
often rings with  very  gothic  tones,  owing  to  the  inclusion  of
glimmering guitar  lines,  sprightly  keyboard  phrases,  and  female
vocals. In fact, the band often sounds more goth than metal -- but  a
metallic foundation  is  present  in  the  form  of  crunchy  (albeit
slightly muted) rhythm guitar, doomy  tempos,  and  gruff/raspy  male
vocals, which thankfully avoid the pompous tones crooned  by  many  a
gothically garbed lothario. Vibeke, the bands female  vocalist,  also
adds a touch of distinction by singing in  an  unusually  full,  warm
voice: definitely more  earthy  than  ethereal,  never  ghostly,  but
occasionally haunting nonetheless. Evocative  keyboard  melodies  are
central to some songs, in a way which reminds me a  bit  of  Limbonic
Art, though Tristania has a much  more  mellow  and  organic  overall
sound. Whereas your friendly neighborhood  black,  death,  and  grind
bands all hammer out a raging  cacophony  of  distortion  and  speed,
Tristania  favor  a   very   open,   laid-back,   minimally   crowded
presentation. This well-produced MCD contains  three  songs  (plus  a
well-done intro) and lasts for just under 28 minutes.  Seems  like  a
promising debut to me, and I imagine that some people who  especially
like gothic music (or related styles) will really like  this  a  lot.
It's a bit  soft  and  (a  bigger  problem)  a  bit  conventional  in
composition for my tastes, but the  band's  upcoming  full-length  is
supposed to be "symphonic goth  metal"  with  black  metal  elements,
which could be interesting... we'll see.


Various - _Untitled (ten)_  (Extreme Records, November 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

The 2-CD extravaganza _Untitled (ten)_ comes from  one  of  the  more
diverse labels, which is also one of my favorites. Ten years of music
has poured from the foundation of Extreme  Records,  which  showcases
ambient, noise, and various multi-cultural styles from all  over  the
world. Bands like Soma, Merzbow, Fetisch Park, and  Social  Interiors
have all inflicted the music public  with  their  addictive  take  on
music. Sounds  and  visions  have  been  delivered  with  the  utmost
professionalism and the label and band intend to let the music do the
talking. No trends can be found here.  This  stuff  is  original  and
quite powerful. The _Untitled (ten)_ CD features ten songs by Extreme
artists and  offers  new  songs  for  this  anniversary  compilation.
Highlights include Soma's  brilliant  "Somnabulist's  Hand",  Merzbow
with "Decomposition 002.1.1",  and  "Binary"  by  Groovy.  Also,  the
limited addition bonus CD features some cool  samples,  cut-ups,  and
remixes by Social Interiors. It's quite  the  trip.  Fans  of  world,
ambient, and techno music take  note,  because  Extreme  Records  has
released some quality stuff. Happy Birthday Extreme!  To  quote  Star
Trek's Spock, "Live long and prosper."


Vader - _Black To The Blind_  (Impact, November 1997)
by: Paul Schwarz  (9 out of 10)

This is a great death  metal  album  with  brutality  and  brilliance
oozing from every pore. In general the songs are shorter  and  faster
(10 songs/29 minutes approx.) than on previous  efforts.  Vader  have
not, however, neglected to use  dynamics:  songs  like  "Carnal"  and
"True Names" slow down the pace and successfully punctuate  an  album
which -could- have become boring and samey. Vader have a  very  clear
and extremely powerful production, Peter's vocals and Doc's  drumming
being gifted with particular  menace  this  time  around.  _BttB_  is
essential if you loved _De Profundis_ and is also worth checking  out
(along with _DP_) if you like Slayer. Vader combine  Slayer's  energy
with the late 80s grindcore  sounds  of  bands  like  Terrorizer  and
emerge with one of the finest death metal sounds in the scene  today.
_DP_ still remains a better album, but this is really the only  thing
which brings _BttB_ down a point; it can't be perfect if you've heard
better, especially out of the same band. _DP_  proved  to  the  world
that Vader were one of the most important bands in  the  death  metal
scene today. _Black To The Blind_ backs this up and also  shows  that
they have the staying power to be around for quite a while yet.


Various - _A Declaration of Independence_
by: Adam Wasylyk  (5 out of 10)  (Century Media, November 1997)

It appears that someone at Century  Media  thought  CoC  was  "elite"
enough to receive a video which contains video clips of several bands
on CM's roster. It's about damn time! How many CM bands have you seen
interviewed in the last few issues?? Exactly. Getting back on  topic,
I thought I'd review every video on this tape  (19  in  all).  Why  I
don't know, but read on.

VIDEO #1: Tiamat - "Cold Seed". It was good to see that Tiamat picked
a good song to do a video around. Unfortunately the video in question
sucked shit. The members of Tiamat play their assigned instruments in
a cage all covered in body paint,  no  problems  yet.  But  what  the
fuck's with the elephant? And what are  cheerleaders  doing  in  this
video? I thought I was going to puke when I noticed that  the  Tiamat
logo was on the cheerleader uniforms. Man oh man, the director should
be strung up for doing this. Great song, fucking lame video.

VIDEO #2: Samael - "Jupiterian Vibe". Now  we're  getting  somewhere.
Samael chose the best song off _Passage_ and  have  created  a  dark,
haunting video to enhance this mighty track. Close-ups of  Vorph  and
quick shots of "pain, torture, war and destruction" as the song goes.
A dark video  to  accompany  a  dark  song.  Top  marks  go  out  for
production and video direction.

VIDEO #3: Emperor - "The Loss and Curse of Reverence".  Exactly  like
the CD-ROM video off the band's EP _Reverence_. I was surprised  when
Ihsahn told me in an interview that he was unhappy with the video, as
it's pretty damn good. The band plays in  front  of  a  castle,  with
shots of forests, fire-breathing and horse-riding (what  you've  come
to expect from your friendly neighborhood bm band).  Good  production
also enhanced the pleasure I received out of this video. What  bugged
me about this, however, was that it wasn't a full-screen video;  it's
contained in a scroll-like shape in the  middle  of  the  TV  screen.
Still, the video wins out as it appears that some money was  invested
in its production, and it pays off.

VIDEO #4:  The  Gathering  -  "Leaves".  The  band's  latest  release
_Nighttime Birds_ grew on  me  and  it  became  one  of  my  favorite
releases of the year. This track (from  the  band's  previous  record
_Mandylion_) is actually pretty good. Slow,  ethereal  and  soothing.
The singer, to say the least,  is  easy  on  the  eyes  so  it  won't
surprise you to hear that about 75% of the video contains  close-up's
of her face. No complaints here.

VIDEO #5: Stuck Mojo - "Pigwalk". I could have bet the farm that this
would suck. With this being my first  taste  of  Stuck  Mojo,  I  was
actually  surprised  at  how  aggressive  it   was.   Mid-paced   and
in-yo-face, musically it was quite entertaining.  It's  too  bad  the
video was so horrible. I've seen Pauly  Shore  act  better  than  the
people in this video. A scene which depicts a store  robbery  had  my
finger twitching over the fast forward button. Like the Tiamat video,
good song but bad video.

VIDEO #6: Exodus - "Bonded by Blood (live)".  A  musical  description
isn't necessary, as Exodus have been around for so  long  you  should
know what they sound like. The video is live (duh!),  so  you  should
have a good idea of what to expect. Like it  or  not,  I'll  be  fast
forwarding the moment I see Baloff's afro start banging.

VIDEO #7: Nevermore - "Next in Line". Another  neat  surprise,  as  I
wasn't familiar with this band but was pleasantly surprised by what I
heard. The opening riff has this  eerie,  almost  death  metal  feel,
while the vocals are power metal-ish and quite bearable (which says a
lot when it comes to my musical tastes). The  video  compliments  the
music very well. Good job.

VIDEO #8: Strapping Young Lad - "Detox". Featuring Gene  from  Death,
his drumming completes this most chaotic band, led by Devin Townsend.
Industrial/thrash that is meant to be  heard  at  loud  volumes.  The
video goes along with the chaotic nature of the song,  with  lots  of
close-up's of Devin screaming  and  the  other  band  members.  Worth
seeing.

VIDEO #9: Subzero - "Higher Power". It's hardcore. No comment.

VIDEO #10: Merauder - "Master Killer". Please see above.

VIDEO #11: Morgoth - "Last  Laugh".  Where  some  see  this  band  as
turning to shit, I can't get enough of  their  _Feel  Sorry  for  the
Fanatic_ release. Much more rock-oriented than their past death metal
releases, "Last Laugh" is a good track  to  exemplify  Morgoth's  new
sound. A catch ditty, the video ain't  so  bad  either.  Pretty  good
stuff.

VIDEO #12: Moonspell - "Opium". I dunno, those baritone  vocals  just
kill any potential enjoyment I could have got out of this. Blaugh.

VIDEO #13: Sentenced - "Noose". Yikes! This  is  the  kind  of  power
metal I can't stand. Here's a tip: break up.

VIDEO #14: Satyricon  -  "Mother  Earth".  Can  we  say  cliche?  The
backdrop images to this  track  (one  of  the  better  ones  off  the
disappointing _Nemesis Divina_) is just so cheesy. One of the members
lights an upside-down cross on fire by spitting fire on it. The  band
hold hands as fire circles around them. As the band walk through  the
forest, a trail of fire follows them. Do we see a pattern developing?
It also seems that the temptation to use  a  scantily-clad  Norwegian
black metal slut was too powerful to overcome. The Emperor video wins
out over this one, even though  both  use  stereotypical  and  cliche
images.

VIDEO #15: Sundown - "19". I can't believe Mathias left  Cemetary  to
create a band like this. I've been listening to Cemetary's  _Sundown_
a lot lately and to think that the brilliance of that record inspired
the name of this band boggles the mind. The track "19"  isn't  a  bad
one, but when I recall  prior  moments  of  brilliance,  this  effort
simply falls flat on its face.  The  video  did  nothing  to  aid  or
enhance the song. Bland.

VIDEO #16: Chum - "Kindling Kind". Off the band's _Dead to the World_
release, Chum admittedly don't do much for me.  I  dug  a  couple  of
songs off the aforementioned release, but I haven't heard them since.
And I don't know why the band/label accepted this as a video, as it's
just terrible (am I starting to sound like a broken record?).

VIDEO #17: Turmoil: "Burning (bootleg)".  Basically  this  video  was
filmed from a cheap camcorder at the side of the stage.  You'd  think
that putting "bootleg" in the title of this video  would  excuse  the
fact of it's lame quality. Geez.

VIDEO #18: Trouble - "Plastic Green  Head".  I've  never  liked  this
band, this video hasn't changed anything.

VIDEO #19:  Lions  Share  -  "Shadows".  I  have  yet  to  receive  a
full-length release from this band, perhaps they're an  up-and-coming
band. To talk about this band would result in wasted seconds of  both
my and your time.

To sum things up, I disliked a whole lot on this (the hardcore bands,
Trouble, Exodus, Sentenced, etc.) but there was some on this  that  I
did enjoy. I think it could be said that a whole lot of  people  like
Century Media bands, but very few people like all of them. You  could
use that statement for _Declaration of  Independence_;  some  of  the
videos you'll like and some you won't. I guess the  only  thing  that
matters is will you plunk your money down for it? That's up  for  you
to decide.


Various Artists - _Watchmen Recording Studios: The Compilation_
by: Brian Meloon  (7 out of 10)  (Watchmen, 1997)

This lengthy compilation is a three CD set which clocks in at  almost
two  hundred  minutes.  Forty-six  bands  are  represented  from  the
Rochester, NY area, all of whom have recorded  at  Watchmen  studios.
Standouts include Lethargy  (see  CoC  #4  and  #14),  Abstract  (see
concert review this issue), Windbreed, ...And Here I Lie,  Big  Hair,
Shroud, Blasphemer and Madison.

The bands are:
Lethargy: like _IHtWwaLH_, but maybe not as catchy or quirky.
Lifebleed: Pantera plays Lethargy: slower and less chaotic.
Chris Dalcin: Heavy thrash with alternative-like clean sections.
Bughouse: Thrash with shouted vox and alternative tendencies.
Abstract: Lethargy with Candiria-like jazz breaks; even a sax solo.
Avulsion: Death/grind with Dueling vox (low/high/hardcore) & Bells?
Mungbeandemon: Fast punk/grindcore. Moderate tempos are rockish/alt.
...And Here I Lie: Long song. Sounds European: slow, doomy & melodic.
Big Hair: Primus-like; goofy, w/violin.  Strange, but interesting.
Shaithus: Switches between slow and plodding and grindy and fast.
Snaggletooth: Crowbar-like.  "Return to Blood Bayou".  Please do.
Inertia: Death with  a  hardcore  influence  (a  la  Mourning  Sign).
         Competent.
Blasphemer: Death, changing to almost Swedish death/black.  Good.
Malice: Metallic/alternative hard rock. Slow.
Symptom Haywire: Generic thrash, 90's style. Mostly mid paced.
Pipe: Short song.  Entombed-like (circa _WB_) death rock.
Motherbirth: Low, slow, hc/death metal. Clean out-of-tune/alt vox.
Reconsiled: Slow thrash.  Boring, but competent. Repetitive.
Fuel: A heavier Korn...  Growled & semi-melodic vox.
Policy 187: Standard but competent death metal.
Girdle: Simplistic Biohazard-like stuff sounds like it's supposed  to
        be humorous.
Manic: Pantera-like, but more guitar-spankoffish. Decent.
Somethin Wicked: Std. hardcore-inf. death metal.  Good hi-hat work.
Innerface: Sloppy, weak-sounding death.  Raspy vox.  Boring.
No Concept: Hardcore/death metal.  Very loud bass guitar.
Shroud: Industrial death.  Gloomy, semi-melodic & repetitive.
Three Man: Melodic, upbeat, alternative hard rock.
Clawboard: Hard rocky intro, otherwise very alternative sounding.
Crude Existence: Slow thrash.  Moderate tempo, heaviness and vocals.
Desolate Anger: Slow thrash.  Not very aggressive.  Boring.
Fledgling Death: Slow, tortured grindcore. Distorted vox.
Windbreed: Late 80's thrash mixed with Lethargy.  Bad clean vox.
Pigmaster: "Carl Sagan"...  Way too long.   Silly, alt. hard rock.
Backwards Animation: 90's glam/hard rock.  Wannabe Reznor vox.
Kendall: All distorted bass: no guitar.  Alternative?  Not metal.
Ookla the Mok: College rock w/ cheesy harmonized vox & keys.
Madison: Lethargy-like, but straightforward structures: repetitive.
Ultraviolets: College rock w/ female vox.  Typical.
Section 8: Fast, punk-like.  Boring.
Mike Best: Talked vocals.  Repetitive & syncopative, but interesting.
Quiver: REM-like college rock...
Because: Slow & gloomy... mostly acoustic.  Singer kinda like Danzig.
To Be Announced: Green Day gone ska?
Juniper: Alternative-like (Nirvana). More punky: out of tune.
Spice Rack: Pop punk, sorta.  Reminds me of "Anarchy in the UK".
Spooked Horse: A heavier new Thought Industry. Gloomy, alternative.

See http://www.thewatch.com for more info on the bands involved.


Witches of Moodus - _Anthropophagia  (Coven Records, 1997)
by: Alain M. Gaudrault  (7 out of 10)

I'm still not sure whether I really like this album, because much  as
I admit to enjoying the music as I'm listening, I have  this  gnawing
feeling that as soon as  I  shelve  the  thing,  it'll  collect  dust
permanently. But for the time being, I'm kind of  getting  into  this
mish-mash throwback to the eighties. I hear heaps of Venom in many of
the song structures and even the vocals, although not always so  much
in overall tone as method of delivery.  Misfits,  Maiden,  the  whole
NWOBHM thing is happening here with good helpings of power and  speed
metal, surprisingly without  sounding  too  horridly  out  of  touch.
Competent musicianship, I'll concede to, although there really  isn't
much in the music that demands shitloads of skill. Nevertheless, they
manage to keep things  interesting  throughout,  avoiding  repetition
across tracks. These guys are going for a  more  party  metal  sound,
although they'll occasionally delve into darker moods and slight evil
imagery, but always with tongue planted firmly in cheek. Production's
also good, which at least shows effort, as does the packaging,  which
is befitting the music: reasonably attractive and complete. If you're
into fun metal albums with a good deal of variety from track to track
and a steady stream of genuinely interesting riffs, you  could  do  a
lot worse. To join "The Coven", send a S.A.S.E. to the address listed
below.

Contact: Witches of Moodus, P.O. Box 2051, Secaucus, NJ, USA 07096
         mailto:witches@full-moon.com

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


Association Area - _Tundra_ 7"
by: Adam Wasylyk  (****-)

Record players suck. Well,  at  least  mine  does.  After  months  of
collecting dust, I had mine fixed and could finally play a couple  of
7-inch's that I had obtained up to that time  period.  Local  Toronto
act Association Area's _Tundra_ release was one of  the  7-inch's  in
question, and I must say it wasn't bad at all, considering that  this
sort of music isn't found on the  typical  CD  I  throw  into  my  CD
player. A very  hard  band  to  describe,  it  combines  elements  of
hardcore, punk and perhaps some funk with bands like Faith  no  More,
Gwar and even a tad of Anal Cunt (hear track three, "Two  Can  Dine")
into a musical smorgasbord that is completely  unpredictable  and  at
times just plain weird. Guitarist Kevin Panko is also  known  in  the
Toronto area for his zine Doomhauled (a free copy  comes  with  every
7"). I can tell you right now it's one of the  funniest  and  sickest
zines you'll ever read, the topic for the free issue being "midgets".
Simply a must: sick reading and some cool music to boot.

Contact: ASSOCIATION AREA, c/o Kevin Panko
         63 Longbow Square, Scarborough, ON, M1W-2W6, CANADA


Ephemeron - _Ephemeron_  (10-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley  (****-)

This is one band I truly enjoy receiving material from. Plus  getting
a free t-shirt with the band demo helps get me motivated more  -  but
honestly folks, I really dig these guys. Look at  past  Unrestrained!
issues and scope out  a  review  or  two  on  this  band.  It  rocks!
Distorted noise and feedback  permeates  throughout  the  self-titled
demo in large  quantities  as  main  man,  sole  designer  and  noise
enthusiast Jon Apgar has done a killer  job  here,  forcing  odd  and
deafening takes on noise into  our  brains.  Passive  at  times,  but
easily shifting to distorted hell at the flick of a switch. An  eerie
feeling falls over the material  for  the  most  part  and  you,  the
listener, are taking on a ride into the depths  of  Apgar's  twisted,
yet creative, world of noise. Fans of Merzbow, Dead  World  and  even
Blunt Force Trauma will be into this massive  consumption  of  noise.
Proving once again that noise can create  emotions,  Apgar  sets  the
tone early on and you better buckle  up  (how  cliche?)  'cause  it's
gonna be a bumpy ride. Great stuff.

Contact: EPHEMERON c/o Scratch Bladder Production
         mailto:naepesh@aol.com


From the Depths - Promo demo 97  (4-track demo)
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (*****)

Even though officially it's only a  demo,  this  four-track  cassette
definitely outguns all the other stuff I've reviewed this month,  and
I'll be highly annoyed if this excellent performance  doesn't  garner
some healthy label support for From the Depths. If  the  band's  name
sounds familiar, that may be because  they've  already  released  one
cool CD of skillfully blended and tightly performed death  and  black
metal. This newer material is even better, with the emphasis squarely
on kick-ass riffing and engaging  dynamics.  In  my  review  of  last
year's CD (CoC #17), I griped that the vocals spent too much time  in
the driver's seat, often relegating the musicians to what seemed like
a merely supporting role. That  vocalist  has  since  been  replaced,
though, and this time the balance comes  out  right:  the  riffs  and
percussion are in charge, with vocals  acting  as  one  sonic  weapon
among a talented arsenal of equals. And the  riffs!  There  are  some
real killers here, my personal favorite  being  the  hella-malificent
black riff which towers over the excellent  "Anagoge".  But  dig  the
chugging At the Gates feel of the opening riff to  "Bereavement",  or
the  cunning  rips  of  death  metal  seamlessly   woven   into   the
blacker-sounding "Absentina". As mentioned above, From the Depths  do
a great job of blending black and death  techniques  --  not  in  the
boring, undifferentiated manner of many acts  who  sport  the  "black
death" tag; rather,  in  highly  articulate,  quickened  compositions
which incorporate the best of both styles, powerfully performed. Damn
good stuff. Here are some addresses:

CONTACT: From the Depths, P.O. Box 34414 Cleveland, OH  44134 USA
         mailto:FTDbereav@aol.com
         WWW: http://members.aol.com/frmthedeps/index.htm


Malamor - _Condemn the Rising_  (5-track demo)
by: Alain M. Gaudrault  (****-)

Agreed, this thing's a bit old now since it was released in 1996, but
I came into possession of it at this summer's Michigan  International
Death Metal Fest after having enjoyed their set and spoken to  a  few
of the members. It was still  their  current  release  at  the  time,
although there was talk of upcoming material. I should really get off
my butt and e-mail them to ask, but it then it becomes  a  matter  of
justifying why I haven't yet written a review of this thing  yet,  so
I'll wait until this  is  published  first.  As  it  stands,  Malamor
(derived, I believe, from the Latin words for "hate" and "love";  you
do the math) play fairly straightforward death metal; at times it  is
a tad homogenous and unimaginative, but it often displays  a  certain
unmistakable flair that keeps me wanting more. Well built  songs  are
strongly played and tightly woven,  as  the  whole  affair  is  quite
professional and sports a good recording  to  boot.  The  vocals  are
traditional, though well-delivered and not  grating,  grunting  death
and the drums make solid use of double-bass and throw  in  plenty  of
interesting fills, but can get a bit sloppy at times. The bass  isn't
immediately audible, although it may be filling  in  the  sound  more
than is readily perceivable, which would explain how they  manage  to
get such a full sound with only a single  guitarist.  Layering  is  a
possibility, of course, and wouldn't be surprising given the  quality
of the overall sound. I'm hoping for bigger and  better  things  from
them next time around, although this demo is certainly no slouch.

Contact: Ben Kolts, P.O. Box 483, Hurley, NY, USA 12443
         Voice: 914-334-8563
         mailto:bkmalamor@aol.com


Millennium - _Wilderness In White_  (7-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (***--)

A 30 minute demo presented with a large good-looking color booklet is
a good way for the band to show that they  are  serious  about  their
project, and  Millennium  also  shows  enough  personality  in  their
musical style. Not that the influences aren't there, but they do have
a sound of their own. Lots of atmospheric sections,  a  clear  gothic
feel, female vocals, and keyboards  dominate  the  music,  while  the
guitar work doesn't stand out at all. Also, they  competently  use  a
drum machine -- although it's not used as well as on Samael's  superb
_Passage_. So how well does it work? Sometimes it works  quite  well,
such as on the intro and next couple of tracks, especially the  title
track. But there's several rather uninteresting sequences, and, above
all, the production tends to lower  the  overall  quality.  Take  the
female vocals as an example -- the vocalist is talented  enough,  but
her voice doesn't sound as crystalline as it could. Still, in such  a
long demo as this, Millennium certainly have their good moments.

Contact: Millennium, P.O. Box 115, 2801 Almada codex, PORTUGAL


Nocturnal Symphony - _Monsoon Winds_  (5-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (****-)

One of the bands I recently saw live and whose demo I now review (the
other being Obscenus), Nocturnal Symphony has created an  interesting
demo which benefits from a  high  quality  production  to  achieve  a
consistent sound  which  enhances  the  skilled  guitar  playing  and
competent death growls and female vocals.  This  new  band  from  the
Porto, Portugal, area has their  best  moments  during  some  of  the
female vocal parts, namely during the fine choruses. As  I  mentioned
before in my concert  review  [see  CoC  #26],  the  similarities  to
Theatre of Tragedy are many, but Nocturnal Symphony  doesn't  have  a
keyboardist; therefore, their sound is guitar-based. Fortunately, the
guitar work is very good throughout the demo, something which  really
doesn't always happen in demo tapes. Nocturnal Symphony still have  a
lot of work  ahead  of  them,  namely  in  the  development  of  song
structures, but this demo does contain some very enjoyable songs.

Contact: Nocturnal Symphony
         Rua Visconde das Devesas 36, 3o andar
         4400 Vila Nova de Gaia, PORTUGAL


Obscenus - _Nocturnus Exordio_  (4-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (*****)

What a shame that this is only 17 minutes  long,  for  quality  music
fills this demo. As I mentioned in my concert review [see  CoC  #26],
Obscenus mix doom, black, and some death into their sound, which also
includes a violinist and backing female vocalist. All  put  together,
Obscenus is an eight-piece band. The opening and closing  atmospheric
tracks achieve their purpose very well, and  the  second  song  shows
much of what Obscenus are about. But it's the third track that stands
out as the main event here. Sung in Portuguese,  it  shows  how  good
Obscenus are at mixing a large array  of  influences  and  making  it
sound great. The keyboards remind me of Cradle of Filth at times, the
violins made me think of My Dying Bride,  the  folk-ish  clean  vocal
part is similar to Moonspell, and the use of female backing vox isn't
a new idea either. But does that really matter? Add blackened vocals,
good guitar work, and a good  combination  of  fast,  mid-paced,  and
atmospheric sections and, in the end, the fact is that it works,  and
this is one of the most professional-sounding demo tapes I have  ever
heard, and an exquisitely packaged one. The excellent violins, female
vocals, and melodies clearly hint at Obscenus' very likely signing in
the near future. In fact, if the violins  and  female  chanting  were
taken away, Obscenus might still be a good band, but by no  means  so
remarkable.

Contact: Rui Correia, Av. Antonio Borges, 2F Faja de Baixo
         9500 Ponta Delgada, PORTUGAL


Pain Lab - _Magenetic Chaos of Parallel Psychosis_  (10-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley  (**---)

I can't find the freakin' bio to this demo that we received. No  info
on who is in the band or where they hail from. But after from listens
of this noise-infested barrage of material, I can honestly  say  that
this band (or person) is not from this planet. Like that child's game
Simple Simon meets a bad outtake of Close  Encounters  of  the  Third
Kind,  this  fucked-up  ensemble  of  noise  gets  really  eerie  and
agitating as time goes on. My dog was howling to  the  beats  as  the
music went on -- weird shit, eh? But this record isn't  just  squeaky
annoying noise either, it's also a  monstrous  amount  of  noise  and
feedback thrust into our ears at ear-piercing volumes.  Being  rather
one-dimensional, this stuff lost me kinda  fast  and  seeing  that  I
really didn't have much to go on, this was almost a  lost  cause.  My
fault in misplacing the bio (if there was one?), but really, is  this
something I should be subjected to?  I  don't  think  so.  Shades  of
Merzbow (who creates noise music and  isn't  into  this  guy???)  and
Blunt Force Trauma - though not as good.

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



                 T H E   L O S T   P A R A D I S E ?
                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              Paradise Lost with Sundown and Uncle Meat
                     At the Coliseu dos Recreios,
                 Lisbon, Portugal, November 16, 1997
            by Nuno "Messiah" Almeida <messiah@pulhas.org>

     This was the second time I saw Paradise Lost live. The first was
in 1993, when they opened for  Sepultura.  Since  then,  things  have
changed a lot  for  them.  They  released  _Draconian  Times_,  which
revealed a more rock-based sound, and _One Second_, which  lead  them
even further into a more mainstream sound. Even so, I was expecting a
good show.
     First, let me tell you about Coliseu dos Recreios. It's  an  old
theatre, with a capacity of around 2000 people, that's considered the
best concert room in Lisbon, and it's kind  of  a  mythical  room.  I
mean, as far as Portuguese bands or artists go, playing  there  is  a
career landmark. And, besides, as far as I can recall, this  was  the
first metal show in there -- ever!
     The show was scheduled for 20:00,  but  when  I  entered  it  at
19:45, Uncle Meat were already doing their set. I  didn't  know  this
band; I only knew they played  thrashcore  with  an  industrial  edge
because of the use of samplers/keyboards. The room was  really  empty
by then, and only around 100 people were looking at the band but  not
moving  at  all.  The  band  has  4  members:  a  front  man  who  is
vocalist/growler and guitarist, a bassist, a sampler/keyboarder,  and
a drummer. The front man was a really good guitar player who did some
great riffs and a good solo on  the  last  song.  But  I  guess  they
weren't in their environment.
     Uncle Meat finished up and I prepared to see Sundown. I knew and
liked Cemetary, but this new project from vocalist Mathias Lodmalm is
a bit different. I had only listened to some songs from their  debut,
_Design 19_, so I didn't really know  their  material.  They  started
with "I Don't Like to  Live  Today",  which  is  a  great  song.  The
keyboards (sampled, unfortunately) are very melodic and  omnipresent,
which gives a gothic, tragic edge to the music. Sundown continued for
about 30 minutes and received a decent response from the crowd,  who,
by then, had increased to around 1000 people).  They  ended  up  with
"19". Lodmalm's voice had some failures, but nothing too serious.
     After some 30 minutes of delay, the lights went out and Paradise
Lost started their show. All hell broke loose at the first chords  of
"Say Just Words" as everybody began jumping and  singing  with  them.
The band continued with "Hallowed  Land",  "Blood  of  Another",  and
"True Belief", which is my favorite song of theirs. During the  show,
they were projecting some pictures on the wall behind them.  On  that
song, an image of Christ, an elderly Indian, and Buddha were  passing
one after the other -- a great moment. The show  continued  with  the
band playing mostly songs  from  their  new  album,  but  songs  like
"Elusive Cure", "Remembrance", and "Embers Fire"  weren't  forgotten.
To my surprise, the crowd sang along with every song,  especially  on
the new ones. They seemed to know the last  2  albums,  but  not  the
other ones.  They  didn't  play  anything  from  _Lost  Paradise_  or
_Gothic_. During "Forever Failure", the  picture  of  Charles  Manson
appeared on the wall, while his voice was sampled. On the encore they
played "Embers Fire" and "As I Die", their great classic. They  ended
up with "The Last Time", with everyone jumping and cheering them  and
screaming "PORTUGAL! PORTUGAL!" and "PARADISE LOST! PARADISE  LOST!".
Overall, it was a good show as Greg Mackintosh  performed  his  solos
perfectly and Nick Holmes acted a little different from what he  used
to; he's more a rock front man now.
     The Coliseu was half empty, but I'm sure noone  who  went  there
was disappointed. All three bands had a great sound quality.

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

       P O R T U G U E S E   P O T E N T I A L ,   P A R T   3
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                        Genocide and Withering
            Pixote Bar, Porto, Portugal, October 25, 1997
                          by: Pedro Azevedo

     I'm generally not a huge fan of either thrash or grindcore --  I
do enjoy both, but only under special conditions, for doom, black and
death are clearly  my  choices.  Still,  thrash  and  grindcore  were
precisely what this concert was all about, as Withering are  a  young
thrash band and  Genocide  have  been  around  the  Portuguese  scene
playing their death/grindcore for quite a while now (they released  a
self-titled CD a few years ago). Among the  special  conditions  that
may cause me to feel like  listening  to  thrash  or  grindcore,  the
strongest one, by far, is the chance of listening to it live (well, I
do listen to some grindcore more often than that, though). So if  you
were in  a  thrash/grindcore  concert  and  considered  how  suitable
grindcore is for moshing, would you rather be in  a  large,  sparsely
crowded room or in a tiny,  low-roofed  packed  one?  Well,  in  this
particular concert, the room wasn't -too- packed,  but  it  sure  was
damn small.
     After  a  surprisingly  short  delay  (of  'just'  40  minutes),
Withering opened the show. Even though they're still a young band  in
the demo tape stage, they managed to perform pretty well.  I  was  in
the first row at that time (literally with one foot  on  the  stage),
and the sound was loud, but not enough to become  annoying;  overall,
the sound quality was very reasonable and  better  than  I  expected.
Being a local band, Withering benefited from the fact  that  some  of
the audience knew their songs, although they rarely  managed  to  get
the crowd moving. Several good moments occurred in their concert, and
the playing, despite a few errors, was not bad at all. Not being much
into thrash these days, I wasn't very fond of  the  typically  thrash
metal vocal performance, but Withering did show some quality.
     After the break came Genocide, which featured  a  new  guitarist
and was preparing to release a new album. The guitar sound  was  very
deep, with lots of bass, strong (and fast) drumming, and a  competent
combination of thick death growls and  typical  grindcore  screaming.
Needless to say that, by now, I was no longer in the front row, since
it was rather difficult to stay in the same place  for  more  than  a
short while, due to the  massive  moshing  that  happened  throughout
Genocide's anger-packed performance. Including some songs from  their
new album, Genocide did deliver what the  people  wanted:  aggression
through both brutal death and ripping blastbeat  sections.  This  was
one of those concerts in which you knew what you would get,  and  you
did get it.

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

              A   N I G H T   O F   C O N Q U E R I N G
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
         Night Conquers Day and Abstract at the Penny Arcade
                Rochester, New York, November 13, 1997
                           by: Brian Meloon

     I went to this show  based  upon  the  song  I'd  heard  on  the
Watchmen studios compilation (see review in this issue)  by  Abstract
and my curiosity to  see  Night  Conquers  Day,  who  are  apparently
upstate New York's only black metal  band.  The  turnout  was  small:
about forty people (it was a  Thursday  night,  after  all),  a  good
proportion of whom turned out  to  be  family  members  of  the  band
members.
     This  was  the  debut  show  for  Night  Conquers  Day.  It  was
originally intended to  be  their  CD  release  party,  but  the  CDs
(released on Hammerheart Records) weren't ready yet. NCD  is  fronted
by Mikael Bayusik (Shadowcaster, ex-Buried Beneath), and  the  lineup
features another ex-member of Buried Beneath as well as  two  members
of another local band, Shadowlord. Their set started shortly after  9
pm (on time!) with a keyboard intro. The stage was mostly  dark,  lit
by only a few candles, and the band members had  their  backs  turned
toward the audience. As the keyboard intro  ended,  the  band  turned
around (in unison -- shades  of  Warrant's  "Down  Boys"  video)  and
ripped into their opening cut. They  ran  through  five  songs:  four
originals and a cover of  Bathory's  "Equimanthorn".  Their  original
songs were long and complex with many different parts, so they didn't
get boring. The playing was very good with some especially impressive
drumming and only one major screw-up (prompting a complete restart of
the song). The sound wasn't good enough for me to make out a  lot  of
the subtleties of the guitar work, but from the looks  of  it,  their
guitar work shows a depth that  most  black  metal  bands  lack.  I'm
looking forward to hearing  their  debut  CD.  That  is,  pending  an
overhaul of some of the vocals. The raspy vocals were fine,  but  the
King Diamond-like stuff just didn't work.  Mikael's  voice  was  very
flat in those parts, and it made me cringe every time  he  sang  that
way. Unfortunately, he had to do that in every song. Still,  when  he
wasn't singing high, I enjoyed their set. I also  found  their  stage
presence amusing: although Mikael was decked out in full battle  gear
(nailbands, corpsepaint, etc.), the other guys in the  band  weren't.
Their bass player wore the obligatory black T-shirt  and  jeans,  but
the other guitar player and drummer looked like they  could  be  frat
boys. Also, it didn't help their "evil" image to have  their  parents
there taking pictures of their performance. You can  check  out  some
pictures of the set at: http://www.frontiernet.net/~mikael/MIKAEL.HTM
     Abstract was up next, and they sound nothing like Night Conquers
Day. In fact, they really remind me of Sapien (from  Rochester),  but
they could also be described as some strange cross between  Lethargy,
Primus, the Smashing Pumpkins, the Red Hot Chili Peppers,  and  Naked
City. What were they doing playing  here?  Well,  one  of  Abstract's
guitarists is the younger brother of NCD's bass  player.  These  guys
were even more impressive  than  NCD.  Their  songs  were  technical,
interesting, quirky, constantly changing, and very  diverse,  ranging
from speed/death metal to jazz to semi-commercial hard rock. While  I
have a great respect for the playing abilities of  all  of  the  band
members, I really couldn't get into some of their songs. Maybe it was
the sax solos,  the  poppy,  commercial  quality  of  some  of  their
choruses, or maybe their music was just too much  to  digest  upon  a
first listen. In any case, the playing  was  phenomenal;  the  guitar
work was extremely good: very  fluid  and  interesting,  as  well  as
competent  stylistic  switches.  The  drumming  was  very  good  too:
powerfully metallic one minute, smooth and jazzy the next.
     Unfortunately, one of the guitarists broke a string  during  the
second song, and while he was tuning back up, the  other  guitarist's
amp blew out. This caused a long delay while they tried to get things
set up with a new amp, although they  eventually  decided  to  forego
that idea and play with one guitarist for the rest  of  the  evening.
That was definitely a disappointment, since  I  think  they  would've
been even more impressive with both guitarists.  Still,  I  was  very
impressed, and wished that there could've been more people  there  to
enjoy it.

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

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

Gino's Top 5

1. Monster Voodoo Machine - _Suffersystem_
2. Hypocrisy - _The Final Chapter_
3. Proscriptor - _The Venus Bellona_
4. Carcass - _Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious_
5. Deftones - _Around The Fur_

Adrian's Top 5

1. Hypocrisy - _The Final Chapter_
2. 16 - _Blaze Of Incompetence_
3. Burzum - _Balder's Dod_
4. Various - _Covered In Black: Industrial Tribute To AC/DC_
5. Kyuss/Queen Of The Stone - _Kyuss/Queen Of The Stone_

Brian's Top 5

1. Sadist - _Crust_
2. Empty Tremor - _Apocolokyntosys_
3. Borknagar - _The Olden Domain_
4. Various Artists - _With Us or Against Us_
5. Crown of Thorns - _The Burning_

Alain's Top 5

1. Various - _Steve Hoetzel's Unholy Black Metal Compilation_
2. Deicide - _Serpents of the Light_
3. Abuse - _A Sunday Morning Killing Spree_
4. Voivod - _Phobos_
5. Orphanage - _Oblivion_

Steve's Top 5

1. Mayhem - _Wolf's Lair Abyss_
2. His Hero Is Gone - _Monuments to Thieves_
3. Various - _A Storm of Drones_
4. Mortiis - _Crypt of the Wizard_
5. Sielwolf - _Nachtstrom_

Adam's Top 5

1. Entombed - _To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth!_
2. Katatonia - _Brave Murder Day_
3. Cemetary - _Sundown_
4. Meshuggah - _Destroy, Erase, Improve_
5. Bathory - _Jubileum Vol. 2_

Drew's Top 5

1. Falkenbach - _...magni blandinn ok megintiri..._
2. Samael - _Ceremony of Opposites_
3. Rush - _Retrospective One 1974-1980_
4. Rush - _Moving Pictures_
5. Kvist - _For Kunsten Maa Vi Evig Vike_

Andrew's Top 5

1. Jorge Reyes - _Mort Aux Vaches_
2. M. J. Harris & Martyn Bates - _Murder Ballads (Passages)_
3. Inanna - _Nothing_
4. Brutal Truth - _Sounds of the Animal Kingdom_
5. Cranes - _EP Collection Volumes 1 & 2_

Pedro's Top 5

1. Emperor - _Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk_
2. Dismal Euphony - _Soria Moria Slott_ (ltd. edition re-release)
3. In Flames - _Whoracle_
4. Anathema - _Eternity_
5. Enchantment - _Dance the Marble Naked_

Paul's Top 5

1. Face Down - _The Twisted Rule The Wicked_
2. Emperor - _Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk_
3. Atrocity - _Blut_
4. Brutal Truth - _Need To Control_
5. Daemon - _Seven Deadly Sins_

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


Homepage: http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html
FTP Archive: ftp://ftp.etext.org/pub/Zines/ChroniclesOfChaos

--> Interested in being reviewed? Send us your demo and bio to:
 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                         CHRONICLES OF CHAOS
                           57 Lexfield Ave
                            Downsview Ont.
                           M3M-1M6, Canada
             Fax: (416) 693-5240   Voice: (416) 693-9517
                     e-mail: ginof@interlog.com
 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


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

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

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

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #27

All contents copyright 1997 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.

