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


         CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, May 5, 2004, Issue #73
                  http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com


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

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

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

Issue #73 Contents, 5/5/2004
----------------------------
* Chats
-- Dimmu Borgir: In Deep With the Deacons of the Dark Castle
-- Nightwish: Nemo's Search for Success...
-- Aborted: Neil's Needle Meets Carcass's Bonesaw
* Albums
-- Amen - _Death Before Musick_
-- Ares Wrath - _War Bombastic Black Metal_
-- Cephalectomy - _Eclipsing the Dawn_
-- Crimson Altar - _The Ghost Ship Sails_
-- Flowing Tears  - _Razorbliss_
-- Grimfist - _Ghouls of Grandeur_
-- Immemorial - _After Deny_
-- Insomnium - _Since the Day It All Came Down_
-- Necrophagia - _Goblins Be Thine_
-- Skinlab - _Nerve Damage_
-- The Ravenous - _Blood Delirium_
-- Vrolok - _Resurgence II: Where the Dying Meet the Dead_
* Demos
-- Demontage - _Madness Disease_
-- Doreterna - _Titanium Souls_
-- Project: Failing Flesh - _A Beautiful Sickness_
-- Saturate - _I Bleed Away My Mind_
-- Stand Aside - _Tears of the Dragon_
* Gigs
-- A Ghouls Night Out
-- Midlands Metal, Marsupial Madness and Scotland's Sign for the
   Norse Hordes to Ride!

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

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

             IN DEEP WITH THE DEACONS OF THE DARK CASTLE
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        CoC Chats with Shagrath and Silenoz from Dimmu Borgir
                          by: Paul Schwarz


Like Britain's Cradle of Filth, perhaps in some senses  -because-  of 
the Sussex sextet, Norway's Dimmu Borgir have received a lot of  flak 
-- in the years  since  their  1997  _Enthrone  Darkness  Triumphant_ 
album was released -- for being sell-outs:  a  commercially-motivated 
metal band. In some  circles,  they  even  received  flak  when  that 
album's predecessor (their second album, _Stormblast_) was  released. 
_For All  Tid_  thus  remains,  perhaps,  DB's  only  album  that  is 
'untouchable' from an 'underground' perspective. Of course,  in  more 
mainstream circles,  Dimmu  Borgir's  reputation  as  a  band  worthy 
of serious attention  has  grown  from  album  to  album  -following- 
_EDT_. To quote satirical television masterwork "Brass Eye":  it's  a 
strong  feelings-kidney  whichever  way  you  slice  it.  Personally, 
until recently, I sliced off most  of  the  band's  career  and  only 
occasionally picked at what was left; that was, until  I  got  _Death 
Cult Armageddon_. Though  still  very  much  a  'symphonic'  (meaning 
pseudo-symphonic in actual musical terms) black  metal  album,  Dimmu 
Borgir's latest is earthed magnificently by a grounded,  thrash/death 
derived and powerfully guitar-led approach. It's the best  album  the 
band have done, to my mind. What follows is an edited  transcript  of 
one phone conversation, conducted last July, in  which  I  talked  to 
vocalist Shagrath and guitarist/lyricist Silenoz in turn.             

[Note: I am, of course, aware that CoC has already published a recent 
 interview with Dimmu Borgir. My reasons  for  submitting  this  very 
 sparsely edited transcript in no way reflect a rejection  of  Jackie 
 Smit's excellent interview with Silenoz, nor any  sort  of  negative 
 claim as to its quality; I wanted to submit this because on the  one 
 hand it -is- very long, and I like to think certain  issues  of  the 
 band's work are discussed here that are either  not  discussed,  not 
 discussed in such depth, or not discussed from the same  perspective 
 as they are elsewhere. I leave it up to you, the readers, to tell me 
 whether I'm just kidding myself...]                                  

[Note on punctuation: In this transcript -- as in, I  think,  all  my 
 submitted transcripts for CoC  --  three  dots  (...)  are  used  to 
 represent a significant pause, and  are  not  intended  to  indicate 
 places where words have been edited out.]                            

CoC: Let's start off with  the  music.  Since  _Puritanical  Euphoric 
     Misanthropia_ you've taken on the orchestra.  Does  _Death  Cult 
     Armageddon_ have the same fourteen pieces  from  the  Gothenburg 
     Symphony Orchestra, or are there more?                           

Shagrath: There are a lot more, actually.

CoC: How many is it this time?

Shagrath: Ummm, on _Puritanical..._ we had  fourteen  or  fifteen,  I 
          think, and on the new one we have forty-seven.                        

CoC: Forty-seven... Wow!

Shagrath: Yeah. So it was a big  step  and  also  a  new  experience. 
          <laughs>                                                              

CoC: What's interesting is that -with- that there's... not  less  use 
     of the orchestra, but less obvious use of it. For  example,  the 
     last album started off with  that  two-and-a-half  minute  piece 
     of... orchestral music, basically. I personally didn't go for it 
     -- it all sounded  a  bit  "Last  of  the  Mohicans"  to  me  -- 
     but irrespective of that, this  album  really  incorporates  the 
     orchestra -wholly- rather than using it very -singly-.           

Shagrath: Yeah. I mean, we have like maybe four songs which are  just 
          like total -overkill- with the  orchestra,  you  know,  but 
          also we mixed  that  with  other  songs  which  have,  just 
          basically, typical guitar riffs.                            

CoC: You wouldn't say, though, that it's a more  guitar  album  or  a 
     more keyboard album in particular?                                    

Shagrath: I think it has the  right  balance,  actually.  For  us  as 
          musicians it's kind  of  important  to  try  to  work  with 
          different elements, doing different things,  and  just  try 
          not to make each song sound too much like the other  songs, 
          you know. We just want to give the listeners something more 
          varied to listen to, really.                                

CoC: I understand what you mean. But as far as the sound of the  band 
     goes, I think you're right: I think you have found  a  different 
     balance, but I think what's interesting about  that  balance  is 
     how you achieve it. I mean,  are  you  using  -all-  forty-seven 
     pieces of the orchestra mostly at the same time? 'Cause I notice 
     there's more - contrast- with the orchestral section this  time. 
     Sometimes you use just a few bits...                             

Shagrath: Yeah.

CoC: ...and then there are some bits where  it  uses,  probably,  all 
     forty-seven at once.                                                  

Shagrath: Yes. It's also important to create different highlights  in 
          the  music,  you  know.  So  maybe  some  parts  it's  just 
          basically  like  a  -  background-  thing;  then  maybe  it 
          harnesses more of a -lead- thing; and then maybe  you  have 
          like a highlight where the whole thing is  coming  in,  you 
          know? It's basically also how we build  up  the  songs,  as 
          before. Like having, for example, grim vocals; and then  in 
          the middle section maybe turning it into like a clean vocal 
          part, or something else. It's basically how we build up the 
          songs.                                                      

CoC: There's definitely a lot of variation in your work; and I intend 
     to come onto that, in general, in a  minute.  One  thing  I  was 
     gonna ask beforehand: a few years ago you said that you'd always 
     seen keyboards as being as important an instrument  as  guitars, 
     in your work. Would you say that since using  the  orchestra  on 
     _PEM_, it has become yet another part of Dimmu Borgir, or do you 
     think it's more of an experiment and a  luxury  that  might  die 
     down a bit more on other albums and not be quite as -integral- a 
     part of Dimmu Borgir?                                            

Shagrath: It's hard to say; but it's keyboards, or  the  -atmosphere- 
          that has always been a very essential thing in our music. I 
          mean,  if  you  listen  to  the  first  album,  we're  very 
          keyboard- orientated; but the bigger the band  has  become, 
          the more budget we've had to do better things  and  improve 
          our music. So many black metal bands out  there  are  using 
          keyboards and it's basically stretching it to  the  limits, 
          kind of, with the keyboards. So we decided that  we  wanted 
          to have 'the real thing'. <laughs>                          

CoC: Sure. And it goes along with your work and the work of a lot  of 
     other bands; using keyboards  to  replicate  orchestral  sounds. 
     Whereas the direction that less bands have gone -- or less bands 
     have gone successfully -- is actually to go down the, literally, 
     -synthesizer- path, where you're creating sounds and  that  sort 
     of stuff -- more  like  Seventies  funk  or  Herbie  Hancock  or 
     something like that.                                             

Shagrath: Also, we tried to experiment a little  bit  more  with  the 
          samples, this time -- which we haven't really  worked  much 
          with in the past. Now it's kind of a  nightmare  to  mix  a 
          Dimmu Borgir album because you've got a full orchestra, you 
          have the samples, and all these things are happening at the 
          same time, so basically we have a nightmare to mix  it  and 
          to be able to hear all that's going on at the same time. So 
          when you listen, for example, to the new  album,  it's  not 
          really that sophisticated or complicated -music-,  but  you 
          still have to listen to it a few times to figure  out  what 
          is going on, you know; because always so  many  instruments 
          are playing at the same time. So the more  you  listen  the 
          more you will always find new things.                       

CoC: When you talk about using samples, are you  thinking  mainly  of 
     audio samples like the voices and the marching that you hear  on 
     the album?                                                       

Shagrath: Yes, there are voices from different  things,  but  also  - 
          effects-, strange effects that you... when you listen to an 
          effect you're like: what kind of sound is this?  You  can't 
          tell. We also tried a little bit to work with that.         

CoC: How much is the album itself recorded -in- samples? For example, 
     for Fear Factory's _Demanufacture_, every riff that repeats  is, 
     literally, repeated: they sampled the riffs.                     

Shagrath: You can't really compare it with that, obviously.

CoC: So when you record, do you find that the basic instruments  like 
     the guitars, keyboards etc., minus the orchestra,  are  recorded 
     vaguely live, or is it recorded in bits?                         

Shagrath: It's recorded live. Some vocal parts are done like a cut-up 
          thing. If there is a chorus going like two times, maybe  we 
          have  repeated  -that-  in  some  places,  but  -basically- 
          everything is live.                                         

CoC: That's what I thought: I just wanted to check. 'Cause it  really 
     does sound very cohesive.                                             

Shagrath: Yeah, you know, 'cause if you copied too much  stuff,  then 
          you would be able to hear those things.  It  wouldn't  feel 
          right.       

CoC: You'd lose that kind  of  -feeling-  that  someone  is  actually 
     playing the music. It would sound stiff.                              

Shagrath: Definitely.

CoC: I think that's something that _DCA_ definitely avoids. In  terms 
     of actually writing the music and constructing the songs --  not 
     trying  to  accuse  you  here,  but  speaking  realistically  -- 
     how much would you say  is  the  songwriting  -tempered-  by  an 
     appreciation of how much any particular track -- when you listen 
     back to it -- would appeal to someone -outside- the band? 'Cause 
     when you're making music to sell to a  market  and  things  like 
     that, I think there is an aspect where, you know, you're  giving 
     music to other people, not giving it to yourselves.              

Shagrath: That's true, but still we  make  music  for  ourselves.  We 
          don't, like, have that in the back of our mind at  all:  do 
          you think the fans will like this?  It  doesn't  work  like 
          that. It basically is built  up  on  what  -we-  like;  and 
          -then- if people like it or not. But we must  do  something 
          right, you know, because we are basically - selling- a  lot 
          more than many other bands in the black metal genre.        

CoC: I don't know  whether  it's  maybe  a  question  of  looking  at 
     yourself in abstract. You know, think  about  yourself;  because 
     you -were- (or - are-, possibly) a music fan, a music  consumer. 
     And so if - you- like the music, why shouldn't other people like 
     it? I think that's part of it, and I can understand that.        

Shagrath: It's... I mean, it's... I guess a  lot  of  people  ask  me 
          about this: is this like a pressure? Because, you know, the 
          last album sold really  well:  do  you  have  the  pressure 
          behind you when you make a  new  album?  Well,  it's...  at 
          least for this one, the new  one,  we  didn't  really  feel 
          that, 'cause we were just working  every  song  in  a  home 
          studio and then it worked so well and  we  totally  relaxed 
          and we didn't even -think- about what -people- would  think 
          about it, you know? We thought, basically,  about  what  we 
          like ourselves. <chuckles>                                  

CoC: I find  that  interesting.  'Cause  I  would  think...  From  my 
     perspective -- if I was a musician and I could play  guitar  and 
     the various instruments as well as you guys can, and play it  in 
     a band -- I'd find it surprising in some ways that I wouldn't do 
     something a bit more challenging. Like  if  a  song  was  twelve 
     minutes long when you finished it, and you might like it  'cause 
     you play the instruments, so you've got bored with  writing  the 
     same... you know what I mean, the same sort of things...?        

Shagrath: Yeah, sure.

CoC: And it's interesting 'cause my 'theory'  is  that  Dimmu  Borgir 
     have sort of a feel for things that, at heart,  are  somewhat... 
     not - simplistic-, but simple. Do you know what I mean? It isn't 
     technical for the sake of it. It isn't a musicians'  album.  You 
     know, there's some part of you that is still very much  a  music 
     listener.                                                        

Shagrath: Yeeeaah, I guess so. <chuckles> I haven't really  given  it 
          much of a thought.                                                    

CoC: It  just  seems  interesting;  because  there  is   a   lot   of 
     technicality involved in there, and it's surprising to  me  that 
     it's still very accessible. Those two things are  very  hard  to 
     get together.                                                    

Shagrath: Yup.

CoC: Another thing I was gonna ask  about  was  the  idea  of  "black 
     metal" -- which I'm sure you've been  challenged  with  far  too 
     many times by now. Now, I said in  a  review  of  _PEM_  that  I 
     considered Dimmu Borgir to be a -metal- band,  who  happened  to 
     come out of  the  black  metal  scene,  and  I  was  reading  an 
     interview just the other day with one of you guys where you were 
     talking about how you'd been in thrash metal  bands,  and  death 
     metal bands, and then in black metal bands; but at the  core  of 
     it you just liked metal music or heavy rock  music  in  general. 
     Would you say that in a sense Dimmu Borgir are simply a - metal- 
     band, and that the black metal thing is, to an extent,  somewhat 
     incidental, rather than intrinsic?                               

Shagrath: I think you can find metal -elements-  in  our  music,  but 
          it's -still- black metal. It's like the  music,  you  know. 
          But for what we... I mean, Dimmu  Borgir  is  more  like  a 
          second- generation black metal band. But, I guess,  all  of 
          us in the band,  we  don't  really  listen  to  the  second 
          generation of black metal bands. We are  more  inspired  by 
          all the Eighties heavy or maybe thrash metal, you know?     

CoC: Have you guys ever thought about writing an 'arena song', as  it 
     were? I mean like a song that will  have  a  chanting,  anthemic 
     quality  to  it;  'cause  a  lot  of  Dimmu  Borgir's  stuff  is 
     quite catchy; but there's nothing that really  appeals  to  that 
     particular part of the metal audience or crowd  market,  if  you 
     see what I mean. Like what Accept do, or what, say, Overkill can 
     pull off nowadays.                                               

Shagrath: For us it's... <pauses, seeming to grasp for words>

CoC: Or on the other hand, does that happen?  Are  there  songs  from 
     Dimmu Borgir that are treated that way? Like when you play  them 
     people sing along and they know exactly what's gonna happen?     

Shagrath: Yeah sure, almost every show we do there  are  people  like 
          that. Of course there are some songs which people know more 
          about than the others. Yeah. I mean, you can see  that  all 
          the time, especially on festivals. When we play,  maybe,  a 
          slow song, a catchy song, the people get into it a bit more 
          easier. And we just kind of follow, you know. <chuckles>    

CoC: It's just something that I find interesting; because  Cradle  of 
     Filth and Dimmu Borgir are two of the biggest black metal  bands 
     of the last seven to eight years, and out of  the  two  of  you, 
     you've really managed to build up an incredible following  which 
     at particular points has out-done CoF in sales;  but  yet  Dimmu 
     Borgir have never written quite as -close- to a 'single' song -- 
     that has those kind of -radio- qualities -- as  CoF  have.  It's 
     interesting: in a sense you've sort of kept it more  -metal-  -- 
     metal in the sort of thrash metal, death metal, black metal sort 
     of sense. Would you say that was ever  anything  you  wanted  to 
     branch into? You know, writing a song that people would remember 
     you for the -song-, not just the album, or the name of the band, 
     but this particular song?                                        

Shagrath: Not really. I still think that on  each  album  we  have  a 
          couple of songs that maybe are  different  or  more  catchy 
          or easier, acceptable; or  for,  like,  general  people  or 
          something; but we don't really sit  down  and  think  about 
          that when we create the songs. It's more based on  what  we 
          think sounds killer, you know?                              

CoC: I understand, actually.

Shagrath: It's not like, "Right, now we're gonna write the  single!", 
          or "hit", or something. That  would  never  work  with  our 
          music.         

CoC: I know what you're saying; obviously I  can't  disagree  because 
     you're in the band and I'm not; but what's interesting is to see 
     how  many  bands  surprise  you  and  do  manage  to  make  that 
     conversion. Like Metallica: they started off as  a  thrash  band 
     and now they've got all these hit songs. It's interesting to see 
     how bands have and haven't done that.                            

Shagrath: But for us -- if you compare that with Dimmu Borgir -- it's 
          basically the opposite. 'Cause with us the  bigger  we  get 
          the more - extreme- we get.  And  OK,  maybe  other  people 
          think that because Dimmu Borgir sell a lot more albums  now 
          they're gonna be very soft and blah blah blah; and they use 
          more orchestra now. And they probably get that  impression: 
          that we will become softer. But for us it's  the  opposite; 
          because if you listen to the first Dimmu album it -is- very 
          soft and melodic and we are  getting  more  aggressive  and 
          more brutal - now-. More than it was before. So for us it's 
          the opposite.                                               

CoC: I  would  agree.  I'd  say  especially  --  although   partially 
     incidentally -- since Nick  Barker  joined  the  band.  I'm  not 
     putting down Tjodalv, 'cause he was a very good drummer...       

Shagrath: He's a very good drummer, yes.

CoC: ...but Nick really does have a very  brutal,  intense  style  of 
     drumming, and I think that kind of work has really informed  the 
     last two albums. There's a  lot  of  speed,  a  lot  of  use  of 
     blastbeats and that sort of thing.                               

Shagrath: Yeah, definitely. We are just able to do a bit more  things 
          like that than before. So that can also show in the albums.           

CoC: OK, we're gonna go onto titles and album covers, briefly.  Using 
     the three-word string titles <Shagrath begins to chuckle> -- I'm 
     sure you've been asked this before,  but  with  the  last  album 
     there was (and I don't know whether it was realised in the band) 
     a certain incongruity with the  way  that  the  title  ended  up 
     sounding,  because  of  the  word  "puritanical".  I  think,  by 
     comparison, this  time  you've  gone  for  a  much  more  simply 
     understandable title.                                            

Shagrath: Which we did on purpose, because I mean, it's basically too 
          hard for people to pronounce, read and understand the title 
          for the previous one, so we thought it would be  better  to 
          have a more primitive title  this  time  --  not  one  that 
          people don't understand.                                    

CoC: I know what you're saying; but was it also prompted by the  fact 
     that the last album, ultimately, the  title  didn't  quite  make 
     sense, as well?                                                  

Shagrath: It's basically opposites against each other, you know.

CoC: It did seem like a bit of a contradiction in  terms,  ntionally, 
     inte'cause   "puritanical...   misanthropia"   is   an   resting 
     inteconnection, if you see what I mean.                          

Shagrath: Yeah. <laughs>

CoC: Another thing, on the issue of the  band  developing:  when  you 
     played live in London (it was April 2000, I believe) you  did  a 
     strange thing. You started off playing old material at the  very 
     beginning of the set; then you took a break, almost like a  band 
     would for an encore -- but half an hour or so in, and  with  the 
     intro from _PEM_ covering the near-three-minute  gap;  and  then 
     you came on to play the first track proper of _PEM_.  Has  there 
     been any conscious division of the Dimmu Borgir  material  since 
     _PEM_, because of the addition of the orchestra and things?      

Shagrath: Well, basically, for the live thing, it's a good  thing  to 
          start up with something old that  people  maybe  have  been 
          listening to for ages, you know. So they can  get  into  it 
          more easily, rather than listening to a new album, and then 
          you have a tour and it's so fresh that you might  not  even 
          remember the songs. It's better to basically start off  the 
          tour with something old that the audience  will  recognise, 
          then kick off with newer stuff later in the set.  And  then 
          also, end the set again with a... -famous- song, you  know? 
          Or one of the most famous songs that  people  know:  that's 
          also a good thing because then it kind of  becomes  a  good 
          for the whole show.                                         

CoC: Everyone goes out on a high note, kinda thing.

Shagrath: Yeah.

CoC: I know what you mean. The other thing I was gonna ask you about, 
     about the London show, was --  and  people  disagreed  in  their 
     opinions of this, but quite a  few  people  actually  did  leave 
     early; and to my mind at least, the response was  a  little  bit 
     muted. I was curious how you felt about that: the show  in  2000 
     with Nevermore, Lacuna Coil and In Flames?                       

Shagrath: I think it was a good tour, but I can't say I remember that
          show specifically, so...

CoC: Fair enough.

Shagrath: I don't really remember any show we do, specifically:  it's 
          the same procedure every day, you know, so it kind of slips 
          your mind, so to speak. But I think the tour  --  if  there 
          was something completely wrong I would have remembered  it, 
          but I think it was pretty good, actually.                   

CoC: Fair enough.

Shagrath: As far as I can remember, anyway. <laughs>

CoC: I understand. The other thing I was gonna talk about briefly was 
     the stage set-up for that show -- which I  really  didn't  quite 
     understand. You had a really big stage, and you had keyboards at 
     the back on one side, and drums on the other, and  the  band  at 
     the front. I wondered whether the stage set-up in general was  a 
     big issue for the band, because it's  become  something,  again, 
     part of Cradle of Filth's work, but also  part  of  other  bands 
     who've become bigger recently, in similar markets.               

Shagrath: It's basically just a set-up, because we are six people and 
          the keyboard riser is just as big as the drum riser,  which 
          means you can't have the drums in the middle, because there 
          has to be some space for everybody, you know? For people to 
          walk and also for both of the risers in the back, and  also 
          maybe other things  you  have  on  stage  like  lights  and 
          monitors and all that. So it's basically just because  it's 
          that set-up for us, you know. <chortles>                    

CoC: I know what you're saying, but have you ever  thought  of  going 
     into a more arranged stage set-up; 'cause it's  something  Dimmu 
     Borgir could go into? Like adding aspects of circus or  carnival 
     so that, visually, it's more of a performance?                   

Shagrath: Well, the bigger the budget, the better  it  will  be,  you 
          know. That's basically all I can say. It's  all  about  the 
          budget: what we are able to afford. But of course  we  want 
          to give our fans as much as possible.                       

CoC: Absolutely.

Shagrath: So I mean, if we had a million bucks to spend on each  show 
          on visual effects then we would do that, you know?                    

CoC: Absolutely.

Shagrath: But I mean, it's hard when we tour  with  a  lot  of  other 
          bands 'cause they need their space on stage and  it's  very 
          limited for, basically, what you can do on  stage  for  our 
          stage show. So it all comes down to that, you know.         

CoC: It's something that divides Dimmu  Borgir,  though,  from  bands 
     with a -brand- and a -trademark- -- you know, bands like KISS.        

Shagrath: Yeah.

CoC: Where like every night you -know- that there's  gonna  be  fire- 
     breathing...                                                          

Shagrath: Yeah, exactly.

CoC: I think in that way it's kind of good though, 'cause  it's  less 
     of a formula. I think that's perhaps one of the things the  band 
     have managed to avoid to a certain extent: a formula, if you see 
     what I mean.                                                     

Shagrath: In one way it would be good, but I know what you mean.

[At this point, I remark to Shagrath that my next few  questions  are 
 about lyrics: he suggests this would be a  perfect  opportunity  for 
 Silenoz, the band's primary lyricist, to take over.]                 

Silenoz: Hey, Silenoz here.

CoC: Hello, how're you doin'? I was just gonna ask you about  lyrics, 
     basically.                                                            

Silenoz: OK.

CoC: I was reading some old interviews with DB recently and there was 
     one interview where you were saying that you hoped the words you 
     write in DB albums, the lyrics,  would  "enlighten  people"  and 
     "make them start to question things".                            

Silenoz: Yeah.

CoC: I'm just curious what you meant when you said that. I'm  curious 
     whether you actually think that people will read the lyrics, and 
     - just- from the lyrics themselves, as they are...               

Silenoz: Yeah, I mean for those who actually read the lyrics and take 
         them into consideration that's a  bonus,  at  least  for  me 
         personally; maybe for the band too, you know. What  I  meant 
         when I said like "people should question things":  it  seems 
         that a lot of people, they just  go  with  whatever's  being 
         said or what they see or hear, you  know,  without  actually 
         thinking about what's the case, and why is it like that. So, 
         I mean, in a very... if you look upon religion and all that, 
         that's just how I feel it is, you know.  I  personally  grew 
         up in a  very  religious  neighbourhood.  My  family  wasn't 
         religious at all really, but the neighbourhood made me start 
         to question: why are all these  people  doing  this  without 
         actually having a specific reason to do it?  There  must  be 
         something else, something  I  don't  get  or  whatever,  but 
         that's just how I grew up, from that. You know,  even  if  I 
         get told something, I always -- until I  see  it  proven  or 
         stuff, I tend to ask questions about it, you know?           

CoC: I see what you're saying in terms of being inquisitive...

Silenoz: Yeah, I try to  be...  it's  something  we  say  in  Norway, 
         "nøktern", which means you keep your  feet  planted  on  the 
         ground until you have to lift them, you know.                

CoC: The other thing I was gonna ask you about was what you meant  by 
     this -- which I didn't quite understand in  the  interview,  and 
     wasn't followed up on: "...there are far too many  soulless  and 
     superficial minded beings around that just go with whatever they 
     hear and see without asking why. Not everyone is worthy the gift 
     of life you know."                                               

Silenoz: Yeah.

CoC: What do you mean by "not worthy of the gift of life"?

Silenoz: It's just that, umm... how should I say  this  in  a  proper 
         manner? <he laughs and I chuckle> Errr,  it's  like,  people 
         don't really think about why they are here, you  know,  they 
         just take a lot of things for granted. I grew up,  I  guess, 
         from a kind of spoilt generation; but as it looks  now,  the 
         generation after when I grew up are even more spoiled;  and, 
         you know, they just take a lot things  for  granted  without 
         even considering or thinking about it.  So,  in  big  words, 
         that's basically what I meant  with  that  quote.  And  it's 
         probably kind of a harsh statement but still I stand  behind 
         it 100% because it's... I want people to talk  about  stuff, 
         you know, and you don't  get  people  to  talk  about  stuff 
         unless it's harsh words that you use.                        

CoC: I know what you mean: if you shock people, they  sort  of  do  a 
     double take and actually think about things.                          

Silenoz: Yeah.

CoC: So in some respects would you say that applies to the lyrics  as 
     well? That there are certain things which are maybe not said  as 
     - precisely- as they could be because they're said in a way that 
     tries to get people to sort of  light-up;  because  when  people 
     object to something it's when they start thinking about it most? 

Silenoz: Yeah, exactly, I think when you also read the lyrics on  the 
         new album you'll see that I've tried to write them in a more 
         kind of open way. I still think they're more extreme than on 
         the last album, but obviously I've used a lot of  symbolism, 
         metaphors and substitutions -- 'cause it's  really  easy  to 
         write it that way -- but still there's a lot of stuff that's 
         straight to  the  point.  I  expect  some  people  that  are 
         interested  in  reading  the  lyrics  will  take  them  into 
         consideration. You know, if they feel connected  to  what  I 
         write then, well, that's really a bonus, you know? It's  not 
         like we write something to try and convince  people;  'cause 
         we have an opinion and we leave -preaching- to the religious 
         people. They can -preach- to everyone, you know: that's  not 
         what we do. It's just an opinion, really.                    

CoC: I can understand that. Talking about  record  labels  --  again, 
     sorry for the perennial comparison, but it's notable that Cradle 
     of Filth have recently moved to  a  major  label,  Sony.  That's 
     something I think Dimmu Borgir, sales-wise, have  the  potential 
     to do. I'm curious whether you, the  band,  are  happier  making 
     metal on a big -metal- label like Nuclear Blast, than you  would 
     be on a major label where you would be a smaller artist?         

Silenoz: Well, you don't have any... guarantees on a major label. The 
         way we are getting priority on Nuclear is  so  overwhelming, 
         so there is no... we don't have any reason to even  consider 
         doing it with a different label, 'cause we have...  I  mean, 
         Nuclear Blast has really good  distribution  and  they  know 
         about metal in general. I mean Markus  Staiger,  he  started 
         his company from his bedroom in the late Eighties, and  look 
         where he's got now, you know?                                

CoC: Absolutely. They've really hit it.

Silenoz: So I mean, there's a good working  relationship  between  us 
         and Nuclear Blast. They give us a  little  bit  between  the 
         fingers. You know we have a deadline for every album, right? 
         But sometimes they see beyond that 'cause they know that  if 
         we get too much pressure on us... we have told  them,  like, 
         if you pressure us with anything whatsoever then you can get 
         the album but you -know- it's not gonna sound like  we  want 
         it to sound. So they just give us, you know, free  hands  to 
         deliver the album when we feel it's ready for it.            

CoC: They know and trust you as a band, you think.

Silenoz: Yeah, exactly. That's what makes it so easy.

CoC: That's unusual.

Silenoz: Yeah, and we're really grateful for that because they  don't 
         do that with every album or with every band. We  are  really 
         happy to have that relationship and they give  us  something 
         and we give them something back, so it's like a  fifty-fifty 
         to make it work properly.                                    

CoC: I think it's probably characteristic of the relationship  you've 
     had with them in that you've consistently made albums you wanted 
     to, and that always worked, if you know what I mean.             

Silenoz: Yeah, exactly.

CoC: That's not cynical as such,  but  pragmatically,  for  them,  if 
     you've made albums that work and sell,  then  they're  smart  if 
     they don't fuck with that, you know?                             

Silenoz: Yeah. They know that if we can do things on our own, the way 
         we want, then they know at least we have done  our  part  of 
         the deal and it's up to them to do their part of  the  deal. 
         And so far it seems to be a really successful relationship.  

CoC: The other thing I was gonna ask about  which  is  somewhat  more 
     light-hearted: on the road, I've noticed  a  lot  of  bands  are 
     playing computer games, because they fit  on  buses  and  things 
     like that.                                                       

Silenoz: Yeah.

CoC: I'm curious, 'cause I was reading another interview from a while 
     back where someone was talking about what  you  guys  did  apart 
     from playing music, and you said how little time you had. I  was 
     just curious what you guys did on tour  buses,  because  clearly 
     that's a large part of your life, having to  travel.  So  I  was 
     curious, thereby, what you do with a lot of your time.           

Silenoz: Well, I'm really interested in geography  since  I  went  to 
         school. So I try to,  you  know,  look  as  much  around  as 
         possible, especially if there's a place we haven't  been  to 
         before. Apart from that obviously there's a lot of  partying 
         going on -- as usual, you know -- maybe more  with  us  than 
         other bands, but <chuckles> that's how we are. I  mean,  the 
         six  of  us  work  really  well  together,  not  only  on  a 
         professional level but also on a personal level.  You  know, 
         there's a real camaraderie between us and  that's  something 
         that's really important when you're on tour for  like  three 
         months straight. There's a lot of waiting  around  on  tour, 
         you know, but it's up to each individual what you get out of 
         it so I try to keep myself occupied at least with  geography 
         and things 'cause I'm really interested in history and stuff 
         too.                                                         

CoC: 'Cause you're travelling a lot, you find  out  about  the  place 
     you're going and that sort of thing?                                  

Silenoz: Yeah.

CoC: I can see why you do that. So you wouldn't say there's a lot  of 
     computer games playing and film watching?                             

Silenoz: Yeah, actually, I'm probably  the  one  that  plays  -least- 
         computer games. <chuckles> But obviously, you watch a  movie 
         and then you meet a lot of friends or acquaintances on  tour 
         when you play different places too. So you hang out  a  lot, 
         you know, try to kill time as much as possible, really.      

CoC: This, of course, you don't have to answer -- and I'm not looking 
     for a -figure- -- but how  much,  in  general  terms,  do  Dimmu 
     Borgir make money-wise? 'Cause one of the things I was gonna ask 
     was whether anyone had had problems with substance abuse --  you 
     know, the things that  go  along  with  bands  who  have  rather 
     -charmed- financial existences. But from what  I've  read,  when 
     you guys run out of money  --  'cause  you  don't  have  -quite- 
     enough -- you have to go back to work for a little bit, or  what 
     have you, and things like that.                                  

Silenoz: Well, that -was- the case a year or two ago. I even  had  to 
         take a part-time job as a kindergarten uncle. Go figure! But 
         it made me the extra money I needed to  pay  the  bills  and 
         stuff. But -now- it seems that since the back-catalogue is - 
         still- selling really good, that at least  me  and  Shagrath 
         won't have to concentrate  on  extra  day  jobs  and  stuff. 
         'Cause at the same time we don't the have time to do it,  so 
         we're really happy that this is some kind of card game  that 
         goes on the right side, so to speak. I'm sure there's a  lot 
         of people thinking that we are getting rich  and  shit,  but 
         that's not, errrr... I mean, we basically  earn  an  average 
         Norwegian salary --  maybe  less  than  average,  but  still 
         enough to survive, you know, and pay  the  bills.  But  it's 
         like, when you're not touring or  you're  not  recording  an 
         album -- like we have done now for the last one and  a  half 
         years -- and you're kind of tight on  money,  sometimes  you 
         just have to borrow money  from  someone  to  keep  yourself 
         alive; but the other thing is that the tax rate in Norway is 
         so fucking high, and everything else in Norway is so fucking 
         expensive. So if we would have lived in  --  not  negatively 
         speaking -- but if  we  would  have  lived  in  Poland,  for 
         instance, we would probably have a decent life, you know?    

CoC: This is something I was thinking of, actually. If  you  live  in 
     Norway and you work a normal  job  in  Norway,  you  are  better 
     off than you are working  in  Britain,  because  in  Norway  the 
     wage-rates are adjusted to the money...                          

Silenoz: Yeah, that's true.

CoC: But you guys are making money through a German record company on 
     an international, not a Norwegian, market.                            

Silenoz: Exactly.

CoC: So clearly your money is gonna be less valuable to you,  if  you 
     see what I mean.                                                      

Silenoz: Yes.

CoC: I know you're not complaining about your status;  I  would  hope 
     and think that you're happy to be able live off the music at all.     

Silenoz: Yeah. But it took us ten years, you know,  and  it  was  ten 
         years of fucking hard work too. So it's like  -really-  good 
         to know that  everything  you  have  invested  --  not  only 
         money-wise but also like your  fucking  soul  and  time  and 
         everything -- is starting to pay back, you know, but with  a 
         good feeling: you don't feel like you ripped people  off  or 
         anything like that because, you know, you feel that you own, 
         rightfully, what  you  earn  now.  But  still  it's  nothing 
         errr... I mean, I don't even have my own car yet, you know?  

CoC: It's a strange contrast.

Silenoz: It is, actually.

CoC: Because on the one hand I think, for your age, you're managing a 
     pretty incredible achievement as an extreme -metal- band.             

Silenoz: Yeah.

CoC: But on the other hand, for your age as a job or for your age  as 
     a -huge- rock band, or whatever, you know, -monetarily-,  you're 
     in a very different situation. It's a strange contrast there.    

Silenoz: Exactly. It's a tricky situation. I mean, it was like one or 
         two years ago when in-between rehearsals and stuff, you  had 
         to have a second job to just be able to  have  food  on  the 
         table, so, you know...                                       

CoC: That's pretty tough.

Silenoz: Yeah.

CoC: One last question before we finish. Do you have any  opinion  on 
     the Tolkien connection with black metal?                              

Silenoz: Actually I am one of the people who hasn't had the  patience 
         to read the book, but obviously I've seen the  movie.  So  I 
         cannot  say  whether,  you  know  --  I'm  obviously  really 
         fascinated about the movie, but since I didn't read  any  of 
         the books I don't have any -specific- relationship to it, as 
         maybe other  people  have.  But  it's  a  quite  fascinating 
         history that Tolkien made, you know.  I  understand  totally 
         why people are so fascinated about it. I guess that's why  a 
         lot of black metal bands have  taken  inspiration  from  the 
         stories: it has like a dark and a light  side,  and  at  the 
         same time they're really close, they almost blended together 
         from my point of view, you know.                             

CoC: There's no connection, personally, between you and Silenius  who 
     plays in Summoning, is there?                                         

Silenoz: No, but I expect -- although I don't know him or anything -- 
         that he has also taken his name from the  same  character  I 
         have taken mine from,  which  is  from  Greek  mythology.  A 
         Silenoz is like... it's like the same as Satyrs but kind  of 
         a higher range, you know...                                  

CoC: I vaguely remember them from first year classics, actually.

Silenoz: That's cool.

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

       N E M O ' S   S E A R C H   F O R   S U C C E S S . . .
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      CoC has a brief chat with Tuomas Holopainen of Nightwish
                          by: Paul Schwarz


Big favourites with lovers of so-called  "Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-metal", 
Finland's Nightwish have, in  the  last  few  years,  become  one  of 
extreme metal's "bands to watch". In the wake of the mass  popularity 
Evanescence recently achieved -- and the  breakthroughs  that  Lacuna 
Coil,  crucially,  made  shortly  before  --  the  now-Nuclear-Blast- 
distributed, female-fronted Finnish five-piece look set to  take  the 
metal mainstream by storm with their forthcoming  fifth  full-length, 
_Once_. In the first week of March, I called  up  keyboardist  Tuomas 
Holopainen to chat about it, the  high-profile  video  the  band  had 
filmed with director Antti Jokinen for _Once_'s first single, "Nemo", 
and what Nightwish were up to for the rest of the year.               

CoC: You did two sessions with the London Session  Orchestra  --  and 
     with the second, on February 29th,  finished  the  recording  of 
     _Once_. What  was  it  like  working  with  the  London  Session 
     Orchestra?                                                       

Tuomas Holopainen: It was totally, absolutely incredible.  The  first 
                   time we went there I was  actually  pretty  scared 
                   'cause I hadn't heard any of the arrangements, but 
                   I was pretty confident in Mr. Pip Williams  and  I 
                   was definitely confident  with  the  orchestra  as 
                   well, because the same guys played in the "Lord of 
                   the Rings" and "Harry Potter" films. So I had  all 
                   the faith in the world in them, but it was still a 
                   very exciting thing to hear them play: it was  one 
                   of the biggest experiences of my whole career,  to 
                   have  them  play  my  songs.  Both  sessions  were 
                   incredible and they really gave a new touch to the 
                   album, for the overall concept of the album.       

CoC: So you think it enhanced what the album -was-?

TH: Yeah.

CoC: So now you've finished the album?

TH: Basically, yeah. We started mixing it today. All  the  recordings 
    are made and we have about a month's worth of mixing to do.           

CoC: Where are you mixing the album?

TH: At Finnvox studios, in Helsinki.

CoC: Is there a release date for it yet?

TH: It should be the 7th of June. The beginning of June, definitely.

CoC: So everything went to plan in the end, there were no setbacks?

TH: No, not in the whole session, really. We had been in  the  studio 
    since mid-October. The only bad thing about this whole  thing  is 
    that it's taken so long. But the atmosphere within the  band  and 
    in the recordings has been really  nice,  and  much  better  than 
    doing the _Century Child_ album. It's been a real  nice  process. 
    Too long, but that's a small thing.                               

CoC: When the album comes out in  June,  what's  the  plan?  Are  you 
     planning a tour?                                                      

TH: Well, we have a  few  festival  shows  during  the  summer,  only 
    festivals. I don't know much about that: a few shows  in  Finland 
    and in Europe. The actual tour starts in August. First we go  off 
    to America -- we have fourteen shows there -- after that  there's 
    the Finnish tour, Scandinavian tour, European and South  American 
    tour. Then we take a Christmas break and continue  touring  after 
    Christmas in 2005.                                                

CoC: You recently did a video clip with Antti Jokinen, who  has  done 
     videos  for  Celine  Dion,  Eminem  and  Shania  Twain,  and  is 
     currently working on "Exorcist: The Beginning" with Renny Harlin 
     ("The Long Kiss Goodbye"). How was that and what sort of visuals 
     have been prepared for that?                                     

TH: To be honest, I haven't seen any of the stuff yet.  The  original 
    idea for the story  was  made  by  me,  actually,  and  then  the 
    director saw it and he thought it was pretty cool, but he changed 
    it quite a bit, actually. The band is pretty much  playing  in  a 
    snowstorm so it's a very snowy kind of video  with  huge  special 
    effects -- at least, with our budget, what we can  do.  But  it's 
    something that, at least, nobody  in  Finland  has  done  before. 
    Antti Jokinen is amazing, he's like a Hollywood star so he really 
    knows how to do this thing and we just wanted to give him a  shot 
    and, like I said, I haven't seen one second of the  final  result 
    yet so I can't tell you anything more.                            

CoC: Are you looking for this album to make you a much bigger band in 
     terms of pop success?                                                 

TH: Well, that was never the intention, and once you hear  the  album 
    you'll understand what I mean. This  album  is  gonna  be  pretty 
    difficult -- difficult is the word,  because  these  songs  don't 
    have much "hit potential", that's what I think. Only the  single, 
    "Nemo", is written in the "hit song" structure. We just had to do 
    one of them, because of the  single.  The  album  has  a  lot  of 
    orchestra. It's very massive. It's very much different  parts  in 
    the songs. It's more like film  music  than  normal  heavy  metal 
    songs. It's definitely something unique, and I'm  very  proud  of 
    that. We'll see what happens.                                     

CoC: When you go on tour, are there any plans thus far  to  replicate 
     the orchestral sounds with live players, or is that  simply  out 
     the of question financially?                                     

TH: It's gonna be mini-disc at least for the  first  shows.  We  just 
    can't do it because of the money -- it's gonna  cost  like  hell. 
    But there are some plans, some preliminary plans for sometime  in 
    2005, to do some shows with the orchestra and a choir.  It  would 
    be  a  dream  come  true  for  us.  It's  gonna  take  a  lot  of 
    arrangements, but I think that we're gonna do it.                 

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

                NEIL'S NEEDLE MEETS CARCASS'S BONESAW
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  CoC Chats with Sven from Aborted
                          by: Paul Schwarz


Some might well argue that Belgium's Aborted are not a 'cutting edge' 
death metal band  --  except  in  terms  of  their  lyrical  content. 
Admittedly their  gore-obsessed  works  of  splatter  fuse  typically 
death/grind influences to almost Swedish-style passages  with  artful 
grace, and emulate Carcass  better  than  the  likes  of  Exhumed  or 
Impaled could ever manage; but in the big picture the band  have  yet 
to put out a truly era-defining or revolutionary  album.  That  said, 
not every band need be era-defining -or- revolutionary; and as far as 
satisfying the appetite for fresh  meat  of  those  who  share  their 
tastes in metal, Aborted  did  a  damn  fine  job  with  last  year's 
_Goremageddon - The Saw and the Carnage Done_. Presented here  is  an 
e-mail chat with vocalist Sven, from around the time of its release.  

CoC: Aborted  are  a  gore  metal  band  from  the  perspective  that 
     your lyrics seem  to  focus  squarely  on  gore-related  topics. 
     Simultaneously, a fair amount of your sound as a band owes a lot 
     to the likes of  Carcass  and  others  who  dealt  with  similar 
     subject matter for their lyrics;  but  Aborted  is  clearly  not 
     restrictively influenced by so- called gore metal bands: you can 
     hear this from _Goremageddon_ itself. How much does the  lyrical 
     subject matter or music of Aborted prefigure its counterpart?    

Sven: I'd say that the lyrics are an important part of Aborted, being 
      in a way that they have to be of at least some  level  and  not 
      just your regular 'chop hack stab  kill'  material.  Though  we 
      always have kept a certain level of black humour hidden  within 
      them -- we're not taking this too seriously,  there  are  songs 
      dealing with your regular poop joke, your regular zombie  song, 
      but we also have a lot of songs that are based on the acts  and 
      reasonings of serial killers and mass murderers.  We  also  put 
      some small critical messages hidden throughout the  album,  for 
      the listener to find out. The music and lyrics stand completely 
      apart from each other, they are both very important to  Aborted 
      but lyrics aren't based on the musical feel of a  song  or  the 
      other way around. I write my lyrics  to  the  music,  the  song 
      itself, based on topics or thoughts that come up at the moment, 
      if that's what you're meaning.                                  

CoC: Do you find that the two aspects (lyrics  and  music)  feed  off 
     each other, for example -- and if so, how do they do this?            

S: Well, in a way you can state that the lyrics build up the same way 
   the music does, or try to as much  as  possible.  They  accentuate 
   what the music itself is doing; it's all pretty  violent,  so  you 
   can't talk about roses  and  delivering  pink  underwear  to  your 
   neighbour now can you? As in any band of some level, I  think  the 
   lyrical aspect has a pretty important part in it.                  

CoC: In today's scene, of which Aborted  are  a  part,  there  are  a 
     number of bands promoting themselves and spreading  their  music 
     under the "gore metal" banner. American bands like  Impaled  and 
     Exhumed immediately spring to mind as the kind of acts many will 
     compare Aborted with: though there are distinct differences, the 
     profound influence of Carcass (and related bands) on  all  three 
     bands in both music and lyrics  is  striking.  Do  you  have  an 
     opinion on how Aborted stand in relation to the music being made 
     around them?                                                     

S: I wouldn't compare Aborted to any of those bands,  musically,  but 
   it's true that in imagery and in a lyrical aspect those bands have 
   one point in common, and that is the  love  for  Carcass,  one  of 
   the best  bands  that  has  walked  on  this  planet.  As  to  the 
   aforementioned bands, they are  rather  strictly  limited  to  the 
   medical world of Carcass; Aborted adds different aspects into  it, 
   being about organised religion, racism  and  social  apathy  which 
   eventually breeds killers. All those  things  are  present  within 
   Aborted, yet we're not putting it too much on  the  surface.  It's 
   true that music evolves, and shall always keep on evolving. As  to 
   standing in relation to the music being made  now  around  us,  of 
   course we're  listening  to  new  bands  and  checking  out  other 
   releases; everything we like is getting mixed up in there somehow, 
   and there are no limits. We've always been in search for 'our' own 
   sound of some sort, and I think with this new album,  we  have  in 
   some ways succeeded in calling this  to  be  Aborted  the  way  we 
   wanted it to be from the beginning.                                

CoC: Do you have an impression of the kind of crowd the band draws?

S: That differs really, there's a lot of different people  at  shows, 
   from the regular death metal freaks, to the grindcore fans, up  to 
   straight hardcore kids. Everyone is welcome at shows and it's  all 
   about respect. I'm not going to bitch  to  a  hardcore  kid  who's 
   straightedge that he can't like our music, or  that  we  have  gay 
   fans that listen to Linkin Park or whatever.  I  believe  everyone 
   into music is into it for the love of music.  I  don't  care  what 
   they wear, look like or even listen to besides death  metal.  It's 
   all about respect: respect for the bands and respect for the fans, 
   as simple as that.                                                 

CoC: Belgium as a country does not have the same kudos attached to it 
     as, say, Sweden or Norway, in today's extreme  metal  scene.  Do 
     you think your experience of being in  a  death  metal  band  is 
     substantially different  from  many  because  of  your  national 
     origins?                                                         

S: In a way it's harder: being from Belgium surely doesn't give you a 
   head start as if you were to come from  Sweden,  Finland  or  even 
   Holland. There aren't that much well known or better known extreme 
   metal acts here; in a way Belgium has been behind on this, and not 
   really working on this as well -- though there is a  strong  scene 
   now, and eventually Belgium will get on the metal map,  I'm  quite 
   sure. There's some strong bands in the scene now.                  

CoC: Do you feel like you have to try harder to  convince  people  of 
     your worth than, say, the average Swedish band  from  Gothenburg 
     or Malmö produced at Fredman or Berno respectively, for example, 
     has to?                                                          

S: Of course, as said above, not a lot of Belgian bands are known  or 
   loved; it's quite hard and you have  to  work  very  hard  to  get 
   noticed; but I guess in a way now the stakes are a lot higher here 
   and bands are working harder now, which is a good  thing.  It's  a 
   fact that if your album gets recorded at a  well-known  studio  or 
   produced by a big  name  and  what  not,  that  you'll  draw  more 
   attention to yourself; quite silly, but that's the way it  is.  If 
   you show a person a Belgian release  and  a  product  recorded  at 
   Fredman, what do you think they'll  choose?  I  think  it's  quite 
   evident.                                                           

CoC: Was the subtitling of your new album as "The Saw and the Carnage 
     Done" a reference to / pun on the Neil Young song? Why  did  you 
     choose to use a subtitling at all, and why  did  you  want  this 
     particular phrase?                                               

S: Yes, indeed, it's a pun on "The Needle and the Damage  Done"  from 
   Neil Young; we originally were going to  entitle  the  album  just 
   _The Saw and the Carnage Done_, but we thought it was  a  bit  too 
   long sounding, and not as catchy to the ear as "Goremageddon"  is. 
   "Goremageddon" has also been a term we've used from our  demo  on, 
   and a couple years back some other bands have been using  this  as 
   well; we didn't like that that much  to  be  honest,  so  we  also 
   wanted to make a statement: this is GOREMAGEDDON. We chose to  use 
   the original title as a subtitle cause the whole  together  sounds 
   pretty cool and it's  kind  of  a  blink  towards  _Necroticism  - 
   Descanting the Insalubrious_.                                      

CoC: It sometimes seems like  the  'rules'  or  'classifications'  of 
     metal have now been set down in  stone.  A  lot  of  bands  seem 
     to  almost  delimit  themselves  into  a  sub-generic  space  to 
     give themselves  a  'stronger'  identity  --  and  it  certainly 
     makes them easier to pitch at the  strongly  stratified  extreme 
     metal audience. Do you feel like there  are  boundaries,  albeit 
     self-created ones, which 'limit' what Aborted can be musically?  

S: For Aborted it's quite simple: we put into the music  anything  we 
   like. It's our personal taste  and  everyone  is  into  a  lot  of 
   different things and we're all quite open-minded. We don't give  a 
   fuck about boundaries, barriers or whatever  labels  they  put  on 
   music; if we like it, and we think it sounds good  and  fits  into 
   the music, it's good. Of course we're an extreme death metal band, 
   so the overall has to sound extreme, but there are no barriers  to 
   mix things up a little and keep it interesting.                    

CoC: If you as a band made an album and agreed it was a great Aborted 
     album, for example, would it just  be  nonsensical  for  someone 
     else to say, "That's not how Aborted should sound"?              

S: Maybe for that person yes, personally we wouldn't care about  what 
   other people say -- we're still in this band to enjoy  what  we're 
   doing, and as long as we like what we do, there is no one who  has 
   the right to say how we have to  sound.  We're  Aborted,  we  play 
   death metal, it's pretty extreme and fast,  yes.  But  that's  all 
   that is fixed, what is to come is a book  that  has  still  to  be 
   written.                                                           

CoC: Is there any form of music or experience which you think  should 
     be censored from having an impact on Aborted -- like a personal, 
     profound love of jazz or musical theatre in one of the  members, 
     for example?                                                     

S: As said, we're five very different persons, and we enjoy different 
   things, but we -do- know what goes in and what doesn't. We're open 
   to anything as long as it fits to the song in question and we  all 
   like it. So I don't think people have  to  worry  we'll  get  some 
   cheesy rapping y'all and jazz funk or whatever into it, haha.      

CoC: What is the best thing about being in Aborted for you, and  what 
     would you say is the best thing about Aborted, the band?              

S: The best thing for everyone in Aborted would be  touring,  playing 
   shows for different audiences. Playing live is still what it's all 
   about -- no album releases or anything can beat the energy you get 
   from the stage. The best thing about the band Aborted would be the 
   energy we try to give back to the people who come to our shows and 
   appreciate it. We don't try to be the  standard  band  music-wise, 
   and we give 200% at each show.                                     

CoC: Is  there  a  lyrical   concept   or   over-arching   theme   to 
     _Goremageddon_, like the exploits of a  gruesome  'doctor',  for 
     instance?                                                        

S: Not to that extent, but the whole thing is all  over  the  medical 
   concept, yes. Lots of songs deal with serial  killers.  "Ornaments 
   of Derision" deals about David Koresh, a Texan  sect  leader  that 
   lead to the death of  hundreds  of  people  because  of  religious 
   fanaticism. As said, it's just not your regular 'hack stab  slash' 
   album; there's a lot more different aspects worked out, yet  in  a 
   more gathered and streamlined 'medical' concept.                   

CoC: The song-titling on  _Goremageddon_  seems  to  draw  a  lot  on 
     Carcass' early/mid era, especially _Necroticim - Descanting  the 
     Insalubrious_. Is this where the inspiration came from?          

S: Haha, you're the first to actually notice, and yes, the  title  of 
   the album was both a pun on Neil Young and _Necroticism_.  Carcass 
   has been a very influential band to many acts, but I wouldn't  say 
   Aborted is in any  way  a  Carcass  clone;  there  are  much  more 
   influences and different things worked into it than just  Carcass. 
   But lyrics-wise, I would have to say we have,  at  least  on  this 
   album, worked a bit towards the Carcass feel indeed.               

CoC: Where did the knowledge and inspiration to write the lyrics  and 
     songtitles to _Goremageddon_ come from, both in terms  of  bands 
     and other inspirations like books,  films,  real  anecdotes  and 
     news, etc.?                                                      

S: Well, lots of the lyrics of the album were written in Denmark,  at 
   the hotel where we were  staying,  or  in  the  studio.  We  wrote 
   and recorded  the  album  in  a  period  of  five  months;  having 
   worked in two new  people  in  the  band,  everything  had  to  go 
   quite  fast.  I  just  sat  down  every  night  while  the  others 
   were playing and practicing  and  wrote  whatever  came  to  mind. 
   "Meticulous Invagination" is about the  first  Ted  Bundy  murder; 
   "Ornaments of Derision" is about David Koresh, as said before;  as 
   opposed to "Clinical Colostomy" which is a sequel  to  "Sphinctral 
   Enthrallment" which is the usual clinical poop joke, and so on. It 
   was quite hard to get everything right without a  dictionary,  any 
   lecture or anything around, I can tell you that, hahaha.           

CoC: Without which bands or musical styles could Aborted  have  never 
     existed?                                                              

S: Death metal to start with,  quite  obviously,  haha.  Some  bands: 
   Slayer,  Suffocation,  Carcass,  Dismember,  Entombed,  Cryptopsy, 
   Grave, Illdisposed, Morbid Angel and much, much more.              

Contact: http://www.goremageddon.be

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

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

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!


Amen - _Death Before Musick_  (Eat Ur Music, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (9 out of 10)

It's astonishing to note the degree of separation between what passes 
for punk these days and what truly goes some way toward defining  the 
term. That said, there has been much whining from various quarters on 
the topic, but one could perhaps  argue  that  this  sorry  state  of 
affairs has forced real punk bands to adopt  a  workmanlike  attitude 
that has ultimately served to benefit their recorded output, case  in 
point being Amen. While the members of Blink  182  were  showing  off 
multi-million dollar mansions on MTV's Cribs, the  past  three  years 
have at best been trying  for  one  Casey  Chaos.  Dumped  by  Virgin 
Records on the cusp of releasing his  band's  third  album  and  then 
being slapped with a demand for upwards of $200,000  just  to  secure 
the rights to his own music, is only some of the  near  career-ending 
turmoil that followed 2000's superb _We Have Come for  Your  Parents_ 
effort. Four years on though and instead of cashing in his chips  and 
calling it a day, like so  many  others  would  have,  Mr  Chaos  has 
recruited a fresh set of co-conspirators and poured what little money 
he had left  into  _Death  Before  Musick_.  The  results  speak  for 
themselves. Although  not  as  frenzied  as  the  group's  first  two 
releases, _Death Before Musick_ is  definitely  no  less  incendiary, 
providing ample evidence  once  again  that  Amen  are  the  combined 
reincarnation of The Dead Kennedys and Iggy &  The  Stooges.  Indeed, 
Casey Chaos' debt to one Iggy Pop is especially  noticeable  on  such 
mid-tempo rockers as "Hello (One  Chord  Lovers)"  and  "California's 
Bleeding". Unfortunately though, the record, like  its  predecessors, 
flags a little toward the end.  However,  in  this  instance,  it  is 
markedly less so than with past efforts, and invariably it  does  not 
detract at all from the fact that _Death Before Musick_ is as perfect 
a rallying call as there ever was for a full- scale riot.             

Contact: http://www.comaamerica.com


Ares Wrath - _War Bombastic Black Metal_  (7 out of 10)
by: James Montague  (South Satanic Terrorists Records, 2004)

"Satan and Tanks -- Together at Last!"

I would like to propose the above slogan for Ares Wrath,  the  latest 
incarnation of the unforgiving war metal style largely propagated  by 
the underground of Australia and -- as in this case  --  Brazil.  One 
can certainly make out the pioneering extremity of their  compatriots 
Sarcofago -- blended with the extremity of 1990s European  black  and 
American death metal -- in this brutal  twenty  minute  onslaught  of 
militant blast beats and calamitous guitar shredding. With the  album 
title, and exclamatory track  names  like  "Hail  Atomic  Bomb!"  and 
"Praise Hail Satan!", Ares Wrath surely aren't looking for prizes  in 
subtlety, and will more  or  less  follow  any  path  that  leads  to 
destruction and evil. Good for them!                                  

Now, the relentless blasting style of war metal is one  which  I  can 
only handle in limited doses, but there is much in this whirlwind  to 
suggest that Ares Wrath can produce a real keeper of an album in  the 
future. Most importantly,  these  sudamericanos  have  realized  that 
burying a melody somewhere amongst the carnage is not  a  bad  thing, 
and can add a sinister subplot to proceedings -- it was  this  little 
nuance that made Bestial Warlust's seminal work _Vengeance  War  'til 
Death_ such a classic.  Furthermore,  many  of  the  most  diabolical 
melodies are carried by the  bass  guitar,  giving  the  album  extra 
credibility in this biased reviewer's  opinion.  The  bassist  picks, 
scratches and slaps the strings around, adding real character to  the 
riffs. The guitarists generally just  shred  away,  and  the  drummer 
murders his kit while the vocalist screams his tits off.  That's  all 
well and good, but it's the bass guitar  that  gives  the  music  the 
winning edge. Another winning aspect of the music is its brevity -- a 
blasting black/death metal song  should  not  go  for  six  or  seven 
minutes as bands like Abominator would have  you  believe,  and  Ares 
Wrath  recognize  the  need  for  a  bit  of  wham-bam-thankyou-ma'am 
conciseness.                                                          

For a debut MCD, the amount of effort put into the packaging of  _War 
Bombastic Black Metal_ is noteworthy, each of the six  songs'  lyrics 
superimposed on WWII archive photos, scenes of nuclear armageddon and 
the crucifixion of that guy so many people fawn over. Ares Wrath have 
set out to bombard the listener with every extreme image  imaginable, 
and have managed to back it up with an  impressive  musical  arsenal. 
Fans of Bestial Warlust, Conqueror, Destruktor or  Abominator  should 
keep an eye out for these chaps.                                      

Contact: http://www.sstcircle.com


Cephalectomy - _Eclipsing the Dawn_  (Discorporate Music, 2004)
by: Aaron McKay  (8 out of 10)

As my inaugural foray into Cephalectomy's feverishly paced  world  of 
chaos and mysticism, I was overcome with the band's ability, form and 
style; Forest of Impaled had a similar impact. Spearheaded  by  Corey 
Andrews, Cephalectomy credits the assistance of  two  other  tortured 
souls: Jason Nichols and Rob DeCoste. The grind of this  Discorporate 
Music outfit is layered with all the necessary constructs,  including 
a brutal death, crusty black, gut-wrenching  grind  and  a  ferocious 
metal approach all at a nitro-charged jackhammer  pace.  If  that  is 
not enough, the melody  is  omnipresent  throughout  the  full-length 
sophomore  release  _Eclipsing  the  Dawn_,  ultimately  making  this 
effort a sizeable powerhouse of staggering fanaticism. Cephalectomy's 
mysticism, musically and lyrically,  soars  far  above  the  mediocre 
and challenges the extreme  metal  genre  in  complicated  new  ways. 
Furthering  their  progression,  these  Nova  Scotians  might  better 
serve themselves by developing a stronger use  of  their  inescapably 
intricate melody and timely tempo  changes  whereby  enhancing  their 
overall seismic allure on _Eclipsing the  Dawn_.  Inauspicious,  this 
band has struck a sinister balance between blunt force  and  devilish 
delirium. The articulate pace changes, intense low end and  punishing 
vocal savagery  make  _Eclipsing  the  Dawn_'s  exactly  thirty-eight 
minutes an experiment in punishment and power.                        

Contact: http://www.cephalectomy.com


Crimson Altar - _The Ghost Ship Sails_  (Independent, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (4 out of 10)

It was always going to be a difficult thing to review Crimson Altar's 
debut in the same month as the fantastic new Flowing Tears opus,  but 
even at my most lenient I cannot think of a phrase better  suited  to 
this London-based gothic metal outfit than "dull as dishwater". Aside 
from the fact that their  music  sounds  like  a  tedious  melancholy 
take on '70s rock, it becomes  increasingly  evident  as  the  record 
progresses that vocalist Jude K would benefit greatly by investing in 
a few singing lessons, since she seems barely capable  of  holding  a 
note for longer than five seconds. Occasionally, a faint  glimmer  of 
charm manages to break through the bogs -- the  chorus  to  "Sick  of 
Shadows" being one such rare moment -- but ultimately Crimson Altar's 
brand of musical doom and gloom is painful for all the wrong reasons. 

Contact: http://www.crimsonaltar.com


Flowing Tears  - _Razorbliss_  (Century Media, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (8 out of 10)

It is a sad and undeniable shame that the societal majority has grown 
increasingly accustomed to accepting what marketing  and  advertising 
force-feeds them, as opposed to selecting the  best  alternative.  If 
indeed the  latter  were  the  case  it  is  not  inconceivable  that 
Germany's Flowing Tears would long ago have enjoyed  a  much  greater 
level of popularity. Bred from the same generic stock as their  label 
mates Lacuna Coil, _Razorbliss_ is the first Flowing Tears record  to 
feature Helen Vogt on microphone duties --  and  in  case  anyone  is 
wondering, yes, aside from being quite fetching,  she  is  also  much 
better than her predecessor, Stefanie Duchêne. In fact, word  has  it 
that she is largely to thank for the  band's  heavier  approach  this 
time round. That said though, every member of Flowing Tears has  done 
a terrific job on _Razorbliss_, and particularly "Radium  Angel"  and 
"Believe" stand out as the highlights of their effort. Throw  in  one 
of Waldemar Sorychta's best turns in the  producer's  chair  and  you 
have an album that effortlessly shows  up  corporate  wimp-rock  like 
Evanescence for the tepid hogwash that it is.                         

Contact: http://www.flowingtears.de


Grimfist - _Ghouls of Grandeur_  (Candlelight, 2003)
by: Jackie Smit  (8.5 out of 10)

While much has been made of ex-Immortal sticksman Horg's  involvement 
with the Norwegian wrecking ball known as Grimfist,  those  expecting 
an onslaught of frostbitten black metal are bound for disappointment. 
Nay, straightforward and brutal METAL is the name of Grimfist's  game 
-- and a fastidiously played one it is. You see, while  Phil  Anselmo 
flaps his gums about his Superjoint Ritual being the  most  dangerous 
band in the world, and the mainstream salivates over the  rebirth  of 
metal in the so-called New Wave of  American  Heavy  Metal,  Grimfist 
have quietly created an album that recalls  the  menace  and  genuine 
ferocity of the old school. Add into the mix some furiously  chugging 
grooves that are borderline hardcore  and  a  tinge  of  black  metal 
darkness, and you have a record that no fan of heavy music should  be 
without. While it is true that Peter Tagtren's sterile production  at 
times renders the material lifeless, this is by no means a serious or 
overly  irksome  fault.  Songs  like  "Outlined  in  Black"  and  "No 
Compromise" are  the  products  of  tremendous  talent  and  passion, 
ultimately making _Ghouls of Grandeur_ an outstanding  debut  from  a 
band that clearly have the potential to contribute a helluva  lot  to 
this genre we all love so much.                                       

Contact: http://www.grimfist.com


Immemorial - _After Deny_  (Conquer Records, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (7.5 out of 10)

Despite Angela Gossow scaling the top of  many  a  readers'  poll  by 
virtue of more than simply her female wiles, the idea  of  a  female- 
fronted death metal band remains somewhat of an  anomaly  --  largely 
one might think due to evidence to the contrary which at best can  be 
described as sparse. Immemorial's Karla can therefore tap herself  on 
the shoulder for further strengthening the feminine cause in  extreme 
music with a performance that not only stands out, but transcends any 
sort of gender bias purely through ample amounts of raw  talent.  Not 
that her fellow bandmates haven't done a commendable job either, mind 
you. Alumni of the Behemoth school of death metal, Immemorial  follow 
a similar style to fellow countrymen Hell-Born, but for the most part 
the band are able to pull it off with far greater  panache.  Were  it 
not for its tinny and often cluttered production, _After Deny_  would 
most likely have scored even higher; but either way there  is  little 
that can mask the  inventiveness  behind  songs  like  "Corrupted  by 
Death" and "Longing for Sin". If brutal, grinding death metal is your 
flask of rum, then this record  should  most  certainly  be  on  your 
shopping list.                                                        

Contact: http://www.immemorialband.prv.pl


Insomnium - _Since the Day It All Came Down_  (Candlelight, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (10 out of 10)

When the distant gong of church bells  first  sounded  across  eight- 
tracks and record players the world over some three decades  ago,  it 
was clear that heavy music and melody would forever  remain  entwined 
in a relationship that more often than  not  would  not  be  mutually 
exclusive. As time passed, bands like Iron Maiden developed and  laid 
down the further  groundwork  that  would  see  classical  influences 
married to metal, and in turn this blueprint was later adopted  by  a 
glut of European extreme acts,  before  gradually  trickling  through 
into the rest of the world. Unfortunately as with all good ideas,  it 
soon became an institution, and an increasingly  dull  one  at  that, 
which made the arrival of bands like Opeth --  who  proved  that  the 
original abstraction still had much to offer from an  artistic  point 
of view -- so much more vital. And almost like the  de  rigueur  that 
greeted  the  arrival  of  _Morningrise_  and  _Orchid_,  Insomnium's 
sophomore release is an album that could potentially be  regarded  as 
perhaps a milestone for many years to come.                           

That _Since the Day It All Came Down_ blows away the  band's  already 
impressive debut release (_In the Halls of Awaiting_) in  just  about 
every conceivable category is pretty  much  implied  from  the  start 
here. Indeed one can only marvel at  exactly  how  far  this  Finnish 
quartet has come since forming in 1997. While _ItHoA_ may have hinted 
at the Scandinavian folk, classical  and  progressive  elements  that 
make up a large part of Insomnium's death metal, _StDIACD_ reveals an 
understanding of dynamics and songwriting  craft  that  within  their 
genre is virtually without parallel. In the same way  "Resonance"  is 
an introverted and sullen piece, stating its intent through  the  use 
of primarily a single acoustic guitar, so "Daughter of the  Moon"  is 
an aggressive, imposing beast, replete with duelling guitar  melodies 
not  unlike  those  heard  on  Amorphis'  _Tales  From  the  Thousand 
Lakes_. "Death  Walked  the  Earth",  on  the  other  hand,  is  pure 
Scandinavian melodic death metal, but retains the band's  progressive 
and experimental flair.                                               

With so little to fault on only their second outing,  Insomnium  have 
clearly created a situation of tremendous pressure when it comes time 
to produce a follow-up to what can only be described as a  bona  fide 
masterpiece. Be that as it may however, _StIACD_ is nothing short  of 
spectacular in every sense of the word, and as far as albums for 2004 
go this already has my vote as perhaps the highlight of the year.     

Contact: http://www.insomnium.cjb.net


Necrophagia - _Goblins Be Thine_  (Red Stream, 2004)
by: Aaron McKay  (9 out of 10)

In the literary world it is publish or  perish.  Musically  speaking, 
for Killjoy, Necrophagia's founder, this has never been a problem  -- 
though the part about perishing  might  hold  some  appeal  for  this 
twisted S.O.B. Album after album, this band enjoys  a  lavishly  rich 
history; Necrophagia has been able  to  draw  off  of  some  powerful 
experience and side-projects to put together a  MCD  of  accomplished 
proportions. _Goblins Be Thine_ is wonderfully packaged with  a  very 
professional look and feel -- taking massive strides over  and  above 
_Holocausto de la Morte_ and most of the rest of  the  back  catalog. 
Even though my player clocked off six songs, the listed  five  tracks 
in this effort provide an alluring exercise in  audio  terror.  While 
the MCD bears similarity to typical Necrophagia horror movie sampling 
and blood-curdling imagery, Killjoy, Fug, Marai, Iscariah,  Frediablo 
and Titta develop a strong connection  to  a  heavier,  chunkier  and 
"atmospheric" side of  the  band  --  almost  like  a  soundtrack  to 
Dante's "Inferno". It  works  for  these  guys.  _Goblins  Be  Thine_ 
is over-the-top in a  restrained  and  absorbing  way.  A  noteworthy 
point, as you can see from their well-designed  website,  is  a  nice 
tongue-in-cheek nod to Helloween's "pumpkins fly free" days;  however 
Killjoy obviously could  never  be  mistaken  for  Michael  Kiske(!). 
Nothing from nothing, the new look to the Necrophagia  moniker  is  a 
killer touch with respectful representations to Dark  Angel  and  old 
Death, but uniquely  fitting  to  this  gaggle  of  ghouls  who  call 
themselves Necrophagia. If _GBT_ is a  glimpse  of  things  to  come, 
Necrophagia's affinity for being strictly "an acquired taste" may  be 
a thing of the past.                                                  

Contact: http://www.necrophagia.com


Skinlab - _Nerve Damage_  (Century Media, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (7 out of 10)

As one journeys through this retrospective  collection  of  rarities, 
spanning Skinlab's decade-long career, one is often  struck  by  just 
how underappreciated the Bay Area quartet were. You see,  while  most 
every other  member  of  the  heavy  metal  fraternity  was  sporting 
outlandish day-glo hairstyles and a pair of trousers that appeared to 
be tailor- made for  a  small  elephant,  Skinlab  busied  themselves 
keeping things brutal. Shift their career  forward  by  a  mere  five 
years and it becomes highly likely that  they  would  have  been  the 
toast of the metallic crop. As _Nerve  Damage_  so  aptly  testifies, 
when their combination of thrash and hardcore worked,  they  had  the 
ability to be utterly devastating -- and it's no  surprise  therefore 
that even in demo form songs like "When Pain Comes  to  the  Surface" 
still reek of the same class as their  album  counterparts.  However, 
just as evident (if not more so  if  you  take  the  nature  of  this 
release into consideration), consistency was not Skinlab's forte, and 
the band often missed the boat  completely,  coming  across  sounding 
disheveled and sloppy. Thus while _Nerve Damage_ will  be  a  delight 
for hardcore fans, the casual listener might  be  better  advised  to 
give it a wide berth. For the devotees there's tons on offer  though, 
ranging from an  amusing  selection  of  covers  (Smashing  Pumpkins' 
"Bullet With Butterfly Wings" among others) to demo recordings  taken 
from each of their three releases, to live  songs,  to  some  frankly 
ill-advised remixes. Perhaps the two most sparkling treasures on  the 
album come in the form of "Losing  All"  and  "Beneath  the  Surface" 
-- unreleased songs  written  and  recorded  after  the  band's  last 
_reVoltingRoom_ effort -- that cast a bright  ray  of  hope  on  what 
Skinlab may still have in store for us in the future.                 

Contact: http://www.skinlabmusic.com


The Ravenous - _Blood Delirium_  (Red Stream, 2004)
by: Aaron McKay  (6 out of 10)

If ever one could more assemble a torrid assortment  of  the  rotting 
greats in the field of gore metal, they'd have the challenge of their 
lives of topping The Ravenous. "Underground" doesn't begin to explain 
these cannibalistic (un)human  subversive  demons,  as  Necrophagia's 
Killjoy, Brutal Truth's Danny Lilker  and  Autopsy's  Chris  Reifert, 
among other  twisted  sorts,  wreak  havoc  throughout  their  newest 
pile of steaming blood-soaked  cess.  Fellow  label  mates  Bethlehem 
have a near  monopoly  on  pure  derangement,  whereas  The  Ravenous 
challenges their stranglehold on  random  delusional  construct  with 
_Blood Delirium_. Horrific, vivid splatter movie sampling accompanies 
the perverse subject matter all throughout the  newest  The  Ravenous 
offering. As if you needed proof, you can imagine what  these  ghouls 
can do with  song  titles  like  "Nightmares  in  a  Damaged  Brain", 
"Baptized by Demon's Piss" and the always  intriguing  "A  Corpse  Is 
Forever", which is not a love ballad  in  case  you  were  wondering. 
Getting past their tracks of celebrated  bile-festering  afflictions, 
The Ravenous pile on interesting  song  arrangement  and  captivating 
metal segues to pique the  curiosity  of  even  the  most  discerning 
critic. Subject matter and lyrical content aside, this band  of  gore 
lords incorporate a host of developed arrangements throughout most of 
their work.  Enhanced  by  a  multimedia  CD-ROM  bonus  of  "Mordum" 
and "August Underground",  The  Ravenous  treat  their  disciples  to 
a  depraved  and  grisly  look  into  the  inner  workings  of  their 
indulgence(s). Without having the benefit of digesting the EP  _Three 
on a Meethook_ (2002), _Blood Delirium_ suffers somewhat compared  to 
the well-crafted _Assembled in Blasphemy_ (2000). The  newest  effort 
by The Ravenous stewed untapped behind the scenes ("Festering Beneath 
the Fog") for sometime before  unleashing  its  wrath  on  the  metal 
community. Having that kind of time to ferment, a more  mature  album 
could have been crafted. While in no way does _Blood  Delirium_  fall 
short on its promise of  torturous  debauchery,  Killjoy,  Danny  and 
Chris arguably could have made this  offering  their  (viking)  crown 
jewel.                                                                


Vrolok - _Resurgence II: Where the Dying Meet the Dead_
by: Aaron McKay  (3 out of 10)  (Alpha Draconis Records, 2004)

Jumping in mid-stream here, maybe I missed something... This  is  the 
second of a three part "Resurgence" musical voyage. While  Vrolok  is 
"on hold" and focusing attention elsewhere, I may  have  a  while  to 
wait until this "tale of the abyss"  reaches  fruition  in  any  form 
somewhere along the way. That said, Vrolok arguably harbors  somewhat 
of a fondness for the likes of Kreig, possibly Pest and/or  Nargaroth 
with their subterranean black metal texture found on _Resurgence  II: 
Where the Dying Meet the Dead_. Unlike the overt message  to  "strive 
for the inner funeral", Vrolok's six  tracks  of  abyssal  abominable 
atrocity grate  subtly  from  track  to  track  and  ultimately  wind 
up coming across  as  hampered  and  very  muzzled.  The  band's  two 
participants include founding member Lord  Perosus  Diabolus  Vrolok, 
whose duties include everything from vocals to keyboards to skull and 
antler percussion, and Lurker, a recent recruit having joined in 2003 
to add his influence in the area of drums and percussion. Not  overly 
wrapped in the whole "Satan or bust" mentality,  Vrolok's  lyrics  on 
this second offering of the trilogy focus on  a  personal  voyage  -- 
albeit this voyage is through a "compressed hell" of sorts, but  what 
could one expect? At the very least _RII:WtDMtD_ seems to  avoid  the 
tired "Devil this,  Beelzebub  that  and  Lucifer  the  other  thing" 
approach to songwriting. Nonetheless for  black  metal,  this  effort 
comes across as inhibited. What's more, it may be  under-produced  by 
choice, but the degree this album is done with that in mind is mostly 
harsh and musically noisy. To make matters worse,  the  font  on  the 
album cover, including the  band's  moniker,  is  highly  unreadable. 
Personally, I have never understood the whole thought-process  behind 
trying to create a certain atmosphere with descriptors on a CD if the 
damn thing isn't comprehendible at all -- what does that  accomplish? 
Enough of my soapbox tirade. In closing, the vocals in some places on 
the album and  samples  on  this  effort  are  pretty  well  a  plus, 
but Vrolok has some  gigantic  steps  to  embark  upon  during  their 
exploration of the abyss in order to be taken seriously above  ground 
with the rest of us in the world of extreme music.                    

Contact: http://vrolokofficial.cjb.net

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


Demontage - _Madness Disease_
by: Aaron McKay  (2 out of 5)

Upon initial spins, this three  piece  from  Toronto  Canada  spawned 
visions of the Chicago outfit Cianide and their bottom heavy offering 
_The Dying Truth_. Quickly, this pans out to be an unfair parallel to 
draw. Demontage's offers a mix of self-professed "black heavy  metal" 
exploring the highly abused themes of "satanic rites,  beer  and  the 
undead, and most importantly humanity's bleak and abysmal future"  -- 
all this done through the band's admittedly "sarcastic  and  callous" 
manner all throughout the demo. Comprised  of  Spatilomantis  (guitar 
and vocals), Abominatrix (drums) and Temüjin  (bass),  Demontage  has 
real stoner metal feel to their '80s throwback style on this eclectic 
nearly forty minute demo. Wisely, these Canadians are searching for a 
full-time growler to carry the torch vocally and allow  Spatilomantis 
to turn his full attention to guitar  duties.  While  the  protracted 
guitar passage on the last  track  of  the  demo,  "Human  Altruistic 
Relinquishment Machine" (where do these song titles come  from?!)  is 
an attention-getting outro of sorts, the vocals on this effort scream 
for some real refinement or outside expertise. As one  might  expect, 
the production is  fairly  harsh  ("Retroexorcism"  was  written  and 
recorded with the aid of a personal computer) and the  cover  art  is 
more-or-less sophomoric in concept. A key to Demontage's  achievement 
may reside in the ability to secure a skilled vocalist to communicate 
a more inspired set of lyrical content.                               

Contact: http://www.demontage.5u.com


Doreterna - _Titanium Souls_
by: Jackie Smit  (4 out of 5)

Of the two songs offered on Doreterna's first demo,  the  band  sound 
at their most  comfortable  on  "When  Angels  Fall",  a  track  that 
combines the cold atmosphere of early Enslaved with the  riffery  and 
experimentation of bands like Borknagar and vintage Ulver.  The  more 
deathly title track is slightly  less  remarkable  --  betraying  the 
band's understandable lack of confidence and maturity. However, it is 
young days yet for this Guildford-based outfit, and  judging  by  the 
class of material that they're already capable of putting together, I 
would not be surprised at all to see them picked up by a label in the 
not too distant future.                                               

Contact: http://www.doreterna.com


Project: Failing Flesh - _A Beautiful Sickness_
by: Aaron McKay  (4.5 out of 5)

Minus the experience and longevity, of course, this three-piece  unit 
are as tight as most any Sodom effort to date. For starters, Project: 
Failing Flesh displays wickedly superior drumming, especially on  the 
opening track, "A Beautiful Sickness". A clearly  defined  separation 
on the instrumentation also seems to be  a  valid  calling  card  for 
Project: Failing Flesh. To elaborate, what I mean by  that,  largely, 
is the choppiness of the guitar riffs layered  fantastically  over  a 
discernible bass line. Furthermore, there is little in the way  of  a 
substitute for a pronounced, pounding bass, I always say. There is no 
lack of powerfully  heavy  chops  on  this  effort,  but  what  gives 
Project: Failing Flesh their individuality  is  the  science  of  the 
remarkable and understated engineering of a  sonic  experience  woven 
into their precise exercise in brutality. There are light  references 
to My Dying Bride, musically, cut  with  all  the  meticulousness  of 
a Dying  Fetus  track  smoothed  over  with  a  Sacrifice  (_Soldiers 
of Misfortune_) vocal  similarity.  "9mm  Movie",  "Entrance  Wound", 
"Highwire Act" (riff- packed!) and  the  Venom  cover  "Warhead"  are 
favorites off this nearly flawless demo. Truthfully, I  have  trouble 
deciding now between the P:FF  version  and  the  Massacre  cover  of 
"Warhead" as to the superior of the two renderings. That said, anyone 
who knows my taste and my love for Massacre's musicianship knows that 
is a compliment of the highest order. Good  things  could  be  headed 
this band's way if given the chance. Get in on the ground floor now.  

Contact: http://www.projectfailingflesh.com


Saturate - _I Bleed Away My Mind_
by: Jackie Smit  (2 out of 5)

For the greater  part  of  their  first  demo,  Saturate  sound  very 
confused. On one hand they flirt with the monotone chug of  hardcore, 
and an instant later they  attempt  to  incorporate  garish  nu-metal 
influences into their sound. Predictably, it  leads  to  fairly  sub- 
standard results. This isn't to say that  Saturate  are  an  entirely 
lost case -- for however uninspiring their music sounds, they perform 
it with great fervor and precision. Clearly though,  a  lot  of  work 
needs to be done before this  Swedish  trio  are  anywhere  close  to 
playing at an international level.                                    

Contact: http://listen.to/saturate/


Stand Aside - _Tears of the Dragon_
by: Jackie Smit  (3.5 out of 5)

Stand Aside hail from London and produce slabs of extremity that  are 
very similar to what passed  for  Euro  metalcore  in  the  mid-'90s. 
Predictably for a band that have only been together for just a  shade 
over one year, much of what is on offer here  is  fairly  pedestrian, 
but to their credit Stand Aside  infuse  each  song  --  specifically 
those toward the middle of this seven-track  effort  --  with  enough 
character to make the listen at  least  consistently  enjoyable.  The 
high-pitched vocals tend to get a tad monotonous at times,  but  that 
is a  symptom  of  this  style  of  music  rather  than  an  outright 
criticism, and all  things  considered  I  shall  look  forward  with 
optimism to what Stand Aside can produce next.                        

Contact: http://www.standaside.co.uk

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

                 A   G H O U L S   N I G H T   O U T
                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       Morbid Angel & Akercocke @ The Mean Fiddler, London, UK
                           March 23, 2004
                           by: Jackie Smit


It's a hair over 21:00 in a woefully oversold Mean Fiddler,  and  I'm 
standing two punters' lengths away from the stage barrier, caught  in 
what borders dangerously close to  an  involuntary  sodomy  sandwich. 
It's hardly surprising though. After all, this is the first time that 
the reigning heavyweight champions of death metal have  played  these 
shores in nearly three years, and with the accolades currently  being 
lavished upon their latest _ Heretic  _  effort,  it  would  seem  as 
though a triumphant return is most definitely on the cards.           

To be fair though, tonight's barely  contained  exuberance  may  have 
been augmented by Akercocke's opening performance. I had heard horror 
stories of unparalleled audience hostility toward bands penciled into 
the Morbid Angel support slot (Gorgoroth being escorted off stage  by 
police at a certain European venue, anyone?), but tonight the  Cockes 
pull it off in fine style. Grimacing and writhing his way  through  a 
half hour set that includes "Becoming the Adversary", "Enraptured  by 
Evil", "Scapegoat" and a rousing rendition of "Leviathan",  the  ever 
enigmatic  Jason  Mendonca  leads  his  comrades-in-metal  through  a 
ferocious  set  which,  although  lacking  actual  volume,  gets  the 
anticipation running at  fever  pitch  for  the  arrival  of  Tampa's 
finest.                                                               

This brings me to the opening chords of "Day of Suffering" -- a  song 
that tonight bears a striking resemblance to the trumpet-call of  the 
apocalypse. Inevitably it almost instantly incites a mosh pit that is 
akin to a full-scale riot; one which sustains itself and indeed grows 
increasingly out of hand as Morbid Angel flay the audience  with  the 
likes of "Curse the Flesh", "Dawn of the Angry", "Chambers  of  Dis", 
"Pain Divine", "World of Shit", "Cleansed in Pestilence",  "Enshrined 
by Grace" and "Bil Ur-Sag". To top off a performance that tonight  is 
truly second to none, we're even treated to two surprises in the form 
of the much-loved, rarely played "God of Emptiness"  and  "Where  the 
Slime Live". But what really gets my (and the rest  of  the  gathered 
legions') juices flowing are the classics: "Rapture" and "Lord of All 
Fevers & Plague" sound better  than  ever,  and  aside  from  perhaps 
Slayer doing "Angel of Death", I can not think of  a  better  way  to 
close out a show than with "Chapel of the Ghouls".                    

The past few years have seen many contenders step  up  and  challenge 
Morbid Angel's status as the leading exponents of deathly  extremity, 
but there's a magic to their performance which goes beyond  the  high 
technical standards that quite frankly  is  par  for  bands  of  this 
caliber. Their reign may not be as undisputed as it once was, but  as 
the evening's proud display proves, it will take some doing to  strip 
Morbid Angel of their title.                                          

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MIDLANDS METAL, MARSUPIAL MADNESS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                    AND SCOTLAND'S SIGN FOR THE NORSE HORDES TO RIDE! 
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
             Kaleb, Dionysus and The Fall of Boss Koala
         at The Westport, Dundee, Scotland, April 12th, 2004
                          by: Paul Schwarz


The only local band on tonight's bill, The Fall of Boss Koala, rather 
cheekily,  don't  appear  on  stage  until  over  half  an  hour  has 
passed since their  scheduled  20:30  start  time.  But  though  such 
behaviour seems best interpreted as the result of blind arrogance  or 
deep-seated insecurity, neither aspect  seems  to  infect  the  young 
five-piece who finally take the stage. Boss Koala have certainly come 
-some- way since their not  unimpressive  but  relatively  indistinct 
performance at last year's  Revoltfest:  though  playing  to  a  more 
meagre audience, their performance tonight is sewn  together  with  a 
melodic sensibility that before only seemed able to properly  embrace 
the generic. There's enough noise- and metal-  to  balance  the  emo- 
that throbs at the "core" of Boss Koala's being;  they're  developing 
into a  formidable  force;  but  most  importantly,  they're  finally 
becoming their own band.                                              

To look at them, you'd almost expect Glaswegian  gladiators  Dionysus 
(also veterans of last year's Revoltfest)  to  continue  the  "core"- 
connected thread kicked off by Boss Koala; a lone In  Flames  T-shirt 
(worn, tellingly, by the band's -keyboardist-) gives only the vaguest 
hint of how pure (and yet blackened) a -metal-  band  now  stands  on 
stage. Mostly attired in combat trousers, and sporting as much  short 
as long hair (one member is even be-dreadlocked!), Dionysus dress  -- 
like many of their local contemporaries and  demi-predecessors,  from 
Broken Oath and Godplayer to Co-Exist and Madman Is  Absolute  --  in 
"hardcore casuals". But were you to walk in blindfolded and listen to 
any of the brash, thrash and death-infused  "black  power"  --  think 
Cradle of Filth or Bal Sagoth, rather than  Public  Enemy,  at  their 
best -- that belters they air tonight, you'd swear Dionysus  have  at 
least one spiked wristband, inverted cross, corpse-painted face or at 
least a solitary -sword-  between  them:  they  don't.  Interspersing 
tracks with  unashamed  yet  characteristically  self-aware  comments 
like, "Try to imagine a horde of Norsemen riding into battle:  that's 
what this song is about" or "This one's about dragons and stuff" in a 
straight-up style which  simultaneously  avoids  pompous  grandiosity 
on the one hand  and  cheap  irony  on  the  other,  Dionysus  elicit 
ever-loudening roars of approval and fond amusement from their  fully 
savvy crowd with each can of melodious metal whup-ass they rip  open. 
Rooted in the black/death underground  by  their  own  tastes  alone, 
Dionysus effortlessly shirk expectations, transcending the generic in 
one fell swoop: probably because, where they come from,  they  pretty 
much -are- a one-of-a-kind, almost  by  default.  Acceptance  may  be 
hard-won among "metal-metal" people for a  band  who  eschew  fashion 
"trends" so thoroughly, but in an era where the likes  of  Killswitch 
Engage, Shadows Fall and God Forbid are crossing  over  big  time,  a 
band like Dionysus have a serious chance of being  judged  purely  on 
the aesthetics of their  -own-  music  and  performance,  outside  of 
sub-generic category. The combination of visual and aural inputs  may 
initially seem "wrong", but when you  watch  Dionysus  make  it  work 
you'll quickly realise how "right" it ultimately is: your  neck  will 
tell you so the next morning!                                         

Vibrant,   technically    accomplished,    and    yet    gratifyingly 
give-'em-what- they-want straight in style, the melodic  metal-making 
of Midlands- based four-piece Kaleb perfectly  fits  the  mood  of  a 
crowd whose lust for "pure metal"  --  the  local  parlance  for  the 
traditional stuff, a la Iron Maiden -- has already  been  ignited  by 
Dionysus. Galloping, harmonising and grooving  their  way  through  a 
wickedly tight forty-odd minute set -- taking in  six  of  the  eight 
tracks from their self- released _Alive_ CD and a  ripping  cover  of 
Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" -- the young foursome  (whose  oldest  and 
youngest members are two  brothers,  aged  21  and  16)  successfully 
embrace that universalising metal spirit that flows through  Eighties 
Iron Maiden and Metallica; but without reproducing riffs like  brands 
(<cough> thdarkness <cough>). Nods to latter-day melodic metal heroes 
like In Flames and Iced Earth confirm how contemporary a prospect  is 
being dealt with; Kaleb do occasionally stumble on a song-title or  a 
riff that evidences their scene-less status or seems to somehow  show 
them up as greenhorn upstarts; but when you pick apart  the  niggling 
scene politics of it all, you're left with a young British  band  who 
are unflinching about playing  melodic  heavy  metal,  and  have  the 
balls, skill and singer to make it work like a charm. Now  how  often 
does that happen?                                                     

[Addendum: I feel compelled to mention that my relationship to  Kaleb 
 is not an entirely disinterested one; not only does my  good  friend 
 and fellow CoC contributer Adam Lineker play bass in the band, but I 
 am also now actively and directly involved in helping  them  further 
 their career. I would claim that  these  factors  did  not  bias  my 
 review of Kaleb one way or another; but I thought it  was  dishonest 
 not to mention these connections here.]                              

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DESCRIPTION
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Chronicles  of  Chaos  is  a  FREE  monthly  magazine  electronically
distributed worldwide via the Internet. Seemingly endless interviews,
album reviews and concert reviews encompass the pages  of  Chronicles
of Chaos. Chronicles of Chaos stringently emphasizes all varieties of
chaotic music ranging from black and death metal to  electronic/noise
to dark, doom and ambient forms. Chronicles  of  Chaos  is  dedicated
to the underground and as such we feature demo reviews from all indie
bands who send us material, as  well  as  interviews  with  a  select
number of independent acts.


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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #73

All contents copyright  (c)  1995-2004  by  individual  creators  of 
included work. All rights reserved.
All  opinions  expressed  herein  are  those  of   the   individuals 
expressing them, and do not necessarily reflect the views of  anyone 
else.                                                                

