      ___  _   _  ____  _____  _  _  ____  ___  __    ____  ___
     / __)( )_( )(  _ \(  _  )( \( )(_  _)/ __)(  )  ( ___)/ __)
    ( (__  ) _ (  )   / )(_)(  )  (  _)(_( (__  )(__  )__) \__ \
     \___)(_) (_)(_)\_)(_____)(_)\_)(____)\___)(____)(____)(___/
                             _____  ____
                            (  _  )( ___)
                             )(_)(  )__)
                            (_____)(__)
                    ___  _   _    __    _____  ___
                   / __)( )_( )  /__\  (  _  )/ __)
                  ( (__  ) _ (  /(__)\  )(_)( \__ \
                   \___)(_) (_)(__)(__)(_____)(___/


         CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, June 7, 1998, Issue #31
               http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html

Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley <mailto:energizr@interlog.com>
Contributor/Copy Editor: Pedro Azevedo <mailto:ei94048@tom.fe.up.pt>
Assistant Copy Editor: John Weathers <mailto:grief@bellsouth.net>
Contributor: Andrew Lewandowski <mailto:kmvb73c@prodigy.com>
Contributor: Alain M. Gaudrault <mailto:alain@gaudrault.net>
Contributor: Brian Meloon <mailto:bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk <mailto:macabre@interlog.com>
Contributor: Paul Schwarz <mailto:saul@mcmail.com>
Mailing List provided by: The University of Colorado at Boulder

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

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

Issue #31 Contents, 6/7/98
--------------------------
* Editorial
* Loud Letters
* Deadly Dialogues
-- Cannibal Corpse: Visiting the Gallery of the Damned
-- Nocturnal Rites: Retro Metal for the Masses
-- Novembers Doom: The Bitter-Sweet Taste of Life
-- Peaceville: The X-Viles
* Independent Interrogations
-- Ember: Smoldering Sub Terra
* Album Asylum
-- Acid Death - _Pieces of Mankind_
-- Anthrax - _Vol. 8: The Threat Is Real_
-- Astarte - _Doomed Dark Years_
-- Avulsed - _Cybergore_
-- Bal-Sagoth - _Battle Magic_
-- Beyond Fear - _Haunted by Visions of a Third Atrocity_
-- Boiler - _The New Professionals_
-- Capharnaum - _Reality Only Fantasized_
-- Carcariass - _Hell on Earth_
-- Cradle of Filth - _Cruelty and the Beast_
-- Enthral - _Prophecies of the Dying_
-- Enthroned - _Regie Sathanas_
-- EverEve - _Stormbirds_
-- Kadath - _Twisted Tales of Gruesome Fates_
-- Katatonia - _Discouraged Ones_
-- Korova - _Dead Like an Angel_
-- Lacuna Coil - _Lacuna Coil_
-- Ledel - _Behind Inside Unexpected_
-- Monster Magnet - _Powertrip_
-- Various - _Call To Irons: A Tribute to Iron Maiden_
-- Malignant Tumor/Squash Bowels - _Eat the Flesh...and Vomica/Dreams
                                     Come True...in Death_
-- Manegarm - _Nordstjarnans Tidsalder_
-- Mindrot - _Soul_
-- Nokturnal Mortum - _Goat Horns_
-- Novembers Doom - _For Every Leaf that Falls_
-- Obituary - _Dead_
-- Various - _Peaceville X_
-- Prototype - _Cloned_
-- Reincarnation - _Void_
-- Sculptured - _The Spear of the Lily Is Aureoled_
-- Septic Flesh - _A Fallen Temple_
-- Siebenburgen - _Grimjaur_
-- Taetre - _The Art_
-- Therion - _Vovin_
-- Various - _Until the End of Time_
-- Timescape - _Two Worlds_
-- Tulus - _Mysterion_
-- Tyrant - _Under the Dark Mystic Sky_
-- Unholy - _Rapture_
-- Various - _Voyager: 10 Years Nuclear Blast_
-- Xytras - _Passage_
* New Noise
-- Angrenost - _Evil_
-- Brutal Insanity - _Sick Perversions_
-- Cut.Love.Kill - <demo>
-- Downfall - _Der Anfang vom Ende_
-- Manifest - _Framework_
-- Mephitis - _Blinded_
-- Scythe - _The Sorcerer_
-- Soulscar - _Lost in Life_
* Chaotic Concerts
-- London's Underworld Holocaust: Immortal, Angelcorpse, Desecration
-- Morbid Mayhem: Morbid Angel, Vader and Entwined
-- Never Discount the Priests: Judas Priest with Gorefest
* What We Have Cranked
* Details

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

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

                          by: Gino Filicetti


     Well people, we're back! After a month of well deserved vacation
we're back with another issue of Chronicles of Chaos. Hopefully,  you
didn't contract a severe case of the jones; in any case, all is  well
now.
     We've had a few changes here at CoC (seems  like  this  time  of
year always excites change in  us).  Two  of  our  contributors  have
parted ways with Chronicles of Chaos; namely Drew Schinzel and  Steve
Hoeltzel. Drew and Steve have both been with us for over a year and a
half, and I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that  they'll  be
sorely missed.
     As you can imagine, we now have some openings on our  staff  and
I'd like to invite anyone who is willing and able  to  contribute  to
Chronicles of Chaos to get in contact with  me.  However,  there  are
some criteria that we are looking for. First of all, CoC isn't just a
bunch of strangers writing isolated articles and submitting  them  to
me. I can safely say that everyone on the  CoC  staff  has  become  a
group of close knit friends. It is important  to  me  that  this  not
change, therefore anyone who wishes to become a contributor must shed
any political or religious agenda  and  become  an  objective  writer
focussing on the music at hand, and nothing else. Also,  as  you  can
imagine, we  wish  to  uphold  our  excellent  tradition  of  quality
writing, therefore it'll be up to us to decide who can be  articulate
and well spoken enough to be included in our  pages.  There  will  of
course be a process of evaluation and  probation  during  which  your
writing will be critiqued  and  possibly  included  in  the  magazine
before you can become an official member of  the  team.  Lastly,  but
most importantly, we need people who  have  access  to  new  releases
and possibly already established contacts with record companies.
     Now, it may seem that I am being rather  strict  concerning  all
these criteria I've laid out. However, this has been my  policy  for
initiating new writers for a very long time.  It  is  because  of  my
close scrutiny and evaluation that CoC has thrived as it has, and the
reason that we've all become such  good  friends.  I  don't  want  to
sacrifice that for anything.
     Enjoy this issue, and have a blast. See you all next month.

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

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

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


Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998
From: Shadowhunter <night@lar.forthnet.gr>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters

well , the e-zine is very good but try to put the album reviews  when
the albums are out  and  not  4  months  later..  e.g  La  masquerade
infernalle in CoC 30

anyway.. since i am from greece i have to say that you dont interview
that many greek BM bands.. why is that ??

Rotting christ , Septic flesh, Necromantia,  Thou  art  lord,  JAKALS
TRUTH .are among the best BM bands in the world


Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998
From: peter hochins <phochins@Quetico.tbaytel.net>
Subject: ATTENTION:LOUD LETTERS

Well, well, well. Once again I awaken to a new issue of  COC  sitting
in my computer. Definitely another stellar issue. Adrian's  interview
with Guillotine was definitely killer, and they definitely possess  a
certain amount of cencarity, and capability and are leagues ahead  of
anyone else that plays "retro-thrash". I'm  just  glad  none  of  the
bands have adopted the vocal stylings of all of the old thrash bands.
We really don't need  anymore  people  that  sound  like  the  Exodus
singer. IS it just me, or are the vocals the only  thing  lacking  of
many old thrash records?  Anyway,  I  definitely  read  your  reviews
carefully because I'm always looking for new records  to  buy  (other
then the ones I get  for  free  from  doing  my  'zine  that  is).  I
definitely want to pick up the Disfear album. The Primal Fear  review
in this 'zine made me laugh so much. I think Alvin Wee missed  Primal
Fear's biggest influence, Painkiller-era Judas Priest. The first song
"Chainbreaker" doesn't sound like Deep  Purple,  it  sounds  like  an
out-take from the Painkiller album. I think this album has more to do
with the power metal scene then it does with the  glam  scene.  So  I
would liken this album more  to  fans  of  Judas  Priest,  Helloween,
Gammar Ray, Hammerfall, etc. People who like those  bands  and  their
albums will definitly like the Primal Fear  disc.  Skid  Row?  Jesus,
what they hell was that guy on?

Anyway, I think I've spewed enough stuff for now. Also just  a  quick
note. I think metal is starting to get a  lot  more  attention  these
days, and I think it may start to make a comeback.  Of  course,  gore
soaked entrail ripping death metal, chaos, grandma  beating  inducing
grind/crust, and black metal will never reach a mainstream  audience.
Bands like Korn, Coal Chamber and other  bands  in  this  style  will
become popular and their popularity will fade, so hopefully some good
old fashion metal will break the charts. Out of all of the  rap/metal
bands, the only one worth  listening  to,  in  my  opinion,  is  Limp
Biskit. They are definitely one of the most  original  bands  playing
this style. They are also more rap-like then the other bands  in  the
genre.

 Keep up the good work.

 Mike/Unbound 'zine


From: "Stuart L. Frazer" <sfrazer@odu.edu>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 12:53:32 EST
Subject: Just a thanks

Hey. I just wanted to provide some positive feedback on Chronicles of
Chaos. To show my age, I've been listening to metal  since  the  70s.
Chronicles of Chaos provides excellent coverage of  new  metal  music
and helps those of us not really socially  connected  to  the  scenes
sort out the good from the mediocre. This is all the  more  important
because most people must rely on mailorder to even get a hold of this
music. I've discovered numerous bands through your reviews,  which  I
really appreciate. Don't let the ongoing arguments  about  particular
genres (black metal vs. death metal)  obscure  the  fact  that  these
genres are part of a larger common musical history.  There  is  metal
being produced today which is as good or better than anything created
over the last 30 yers.

Stuart Frazer
sfrazer@odu.edu


Date: Mon, 27 Apr 1998 16:41:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Reiner <tombstonerock@yahoo.com>
Subject: mag suggestion?

HAIL!

This is Reiner of Tombstone Rock radio show here in New Mexico.

First I gotta say great mag, and your reviews make  me  want  to  get
those releases and avoid others. I agree with that Mortician review...

Anyway, is there a way you can include an address or email for  these
bands or distro so I can get them to send them to KUNM so I can  play
them? I just got Covenant, OK, but I want Empyrium!

Do you have an address for them?

[Empyrium's homepage is at:
 http://www.fdj.org/akbauer/music/empyrium/ -- Pedro.]

Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 09:31:42 PDT
From: "Blackk Soul" <blackksoul@hotmail.com>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters

Dear CoC,

     I'm a twenty-two year old Black\Death Metal fan from  Kathmandu,
Nepal. I am very pleased to have been a subscriber  to  CoC.  It's  a
very good concept and  this  zine  is  very  informative.  Thanks  to
everybody @ CoC.
     I'd like  to  make  a  point  on  something  that  I  have  been
witnessing these days in the  extreme  metal  scene;  the  so  called
_Black Metal Trend_. Just about a few years ago BM was considered  to
be the most extreme  and  the  least  commercial  of  all  music  but
nowadays it's a different story all together. People, who were  'till
yesterday listening to band like Metallica, Megadeth  and  all  those
trendy stuff, have suddenly become _BM fans_. It's a very  disturbing
thing for a _True_ fan of this music. Unlike  most  people,  I  don't
blame the bands or the record companies for this. I put the blame  on
the people who buy the records; kids who are 14 or 15 who  know  very
little about the ideology or even the musical style of  BM.  Most  of
the newer so-called-fans of BM are  nothing  but  a  bunch  of  trend
following motherfuckers. It's time that all the 'real and  dedicated'
fans unite against this phenomenon and cry out in a single tone.  Due
to this trend stuff BM is slowly beginning to lose  its  essence  and
the extremity. If anyone out there agrees with me, then you can  send
support mails to CoC  loud  letters  or  email  me.  And  if  someone
disagrees with my opinions then those assholes can send me hate  mail
via   CoC   or   my   email   address.   My    email    address    is
<blackksoul@hotmail.com> [mind the double 'k' in blackksoul ].

Sunil 'Blacksoul' Kathmandu, Nepal.


Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 16:43:29 +0200
From: Matthias Noll <Matthias.Noll@updatemarketing.de>
Subject: Want to subscribe CoC

Hello there, I want to subscribe you email magazine but unfortunately
my subscription emails get returned with a "fatal error"  message  as
shown above. Could you send me a message what I should do?

Btw: Great magazine. I´m from germany and have foolishly  banging  my
head to this kind of music since 79. So far this is one of  the  best
publications I´ve found and far  better  than  most  of  the  written
magazines we have in germany. There seems to be a  more  open  minded
atmosphere in the reviews and interviews I´ve seen  so  far  and  I´m
sick and tired of the "True metal", "Black metal",  "whatever  metal"
labels put on each and everything  with  the  different  groups  then
bashing each other for various reasons.

Best regards

matthias

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 V I S I T I N G   T H E   G A L L E R Y   O F   T H E   D A M N E D
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                    CoC Chats with Cannibal Corpse
                          by: Adrian Bromley

     The world of Cannibal Corpse has always surrounded  itself  with
death. Sickened images of mutilated bodies, blood, gore  and  decayed
remains have littered the lyrics and artwork of the band  since  it's
inception. Controversial, yes, but like any innovator in any kind  of
profession, one must search out and  find  his  own  niche.  Cannibal
Corpse did that. And they continue carving out that  niche  in  1998,
not afraid to go farther and more expansive than their past material.
     Cannibal Corpse have done all that gore stuff, ten  times  over.
That aspect of their music is still there, but the band has grown  in
the past ten years and seems fitting that, after a decade  or  so  of
stomping through vicious bites of gory detail, it's  time  to  spruce
things up.
     Welcome to their latest sicko  slab  of  sickened  metal  called
_Gallery Of Suicide_.
     "It was great for us to put together this material for _GoS_. We
aimed hard to make this record  sound  great,"  states  drummer  Paul
Mazurkiewicz over the phone from his home in Florida. "We  worked  to
make the riffs heavier and just give the music burst  of  creativity.
We have done all that gory, death stuff for years and it seemed  like
we should add some ideas and just take it up one step.  And  that  is
what we did."
     Following  in  the  footsteps  of  _Vile_  (1996),  _GoS_  again
features the powerful vocals of George  'Corpsegrinder'  Fisher  (who
took over for Chris Barnes who since went  on  to  forming  Six  Feet
Under) fronting one of metal's favorite death metal outfits.  "Unlike
most of out past records, this was  a  pretty  smooth  one  for  us,"
relates Mazurkiewicz over the  phone.  "We  really  had  no  problems
surfacing making _GoS_. And also having George in the  band  [rounded
by  new  guitar  player,  ex-Nevermore  axeman  Pat  O'Brien,   other
guitarist Jack Owen and bassist Alex Webster] has been a great  asset
for us. He has a lot more rhythm and direction. With  Chris  [Barnes]
it was really difficult to get stuff going, whereas  with  George  it
comes together very automatically for us."
     Does Mazurkiewicz still feel that Cannibal Corpse  is  the  same
band as it was when it started?  Or  does  it  feel  like  a  totally
different band?
     "I think when Chris left the band  and  whatever  other  changes
have occurred with the band; we have changed somewhat,  but  for  the
most part the overall core of Cannibal Corpse is still intact. Things
change. I think we have matured as a band and this seems  to  be  the
strongest lineup to date for us. I think we are in this for the  long
haul and that is why we  continue  to  do  this.  We  are  aiming  to
progress with each album and we have managed to  do  that.  It's  all
about growing with your music and I think we have done quite well."
     Look at what Cannibal Corpse has been  able  to  provide  to  us
metallers over the years. Ground-breaking and innovative albums  like
_Eaten Back to Life_ ('90), _Butchered at Birth_ ('91), _Tomb of  the
Mutilated ('92), _Hammer Smashed Face_ EP ('93)  and  _The  Bleeding_
('94) set the trends for bands and riddled our brain  with  masterful
epics of brutality shed upon society. And that glowing realm of anger
and aggression keeps Mazurkiewicz making music. "I love what we do. I
play and continue to play this music 'cause  of  the  aggression  and
what people get out of this music that Cannibal  Corpse  delivers  to
them. I've just been a big fan of all metal music like  Napalm  Death
and Morbid Angel in the early years  and  it  carried  over  into  us
trying to making a name for ourselves and make it fast,  violent  and
aggressive. I think we have succeeded in that."
     On the new LP, Mazurkiewicz says, "I think this record offers  a
lot more personality than what we have done in the past. I think  our
listeners will see and hear that when they hear this LP. I think this
record is very different from a lot of the albums that are out  there
right now. We are trying a lot of different things with  this  record
and we are pleased," he says.  "Overall,  the  reaction  to  the  new
record has been very positive for  us.  Both  critics  and  fans  are
digging it so that is a good thing."
     With the release of the new LP, as the ways  things  usually  go
for bands with new releases, the band will be taking this LP  on  the
road. Mazurkiewicz is excited about going on the road. He always  is.
He comments, "It's great to be on the road playing all  of  this  new
material. I just love  the  feeling  of  going  somewhere  different.
Playing different cities and meeting new fans. It has  been  about  a
year and a half since we have been out on the road  and  we  are  all
eager to go."
     He adds, "It'll be good to go out on the  road  and  incorporate
all of the cool song ideas we did with _GoS_ into the set. It'll be a
blast to play this shit live."
     As the interview winds down, I ask  Mazurkiewicz  about  today's
metal music scene and where he thinks veterans like  Cannibal  Corpse
fit in. "It's a good music scene out there right now. There are a lot
of good metal bands. I'm aware that there isn't a  really  big  metal
scene but it is coming back. Right now there are death  metal  bands,
but what people are perceiving as metal bands  are  just  rock  bands
giving hard music an edge. Bands like Korn and Deftones and that kind
of music is real big but it ain't metal. As for where we  fit  in?  I
dunno... I just see us as a band, a metal band, that is doing our own
thing and still putting out aggressive music for people to pick up on
and enjoy it. We're still Cannibal Corpse doing the same shit we have
always done. We aren't going to change now. We've been doing this far
too long to change now."

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

         R E T R O   M E T A L   F O R   T H E   M A S S E S
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                    CoC Interviews Nocturnal Rites
                          by: Adrian Bromley

     If you're going to play music, you might as well  play  it  fast
and furious. Keep it melodic and in check with a solid rhythm section
and you're  going  places  nowadays.  Words  to  live  by?  You  bet.
Nocturnal Rites has kept those guidelines in mind and it has  allowed
them to produce one hell of a metal record:  _Tales  of  Mystery  and
Imagination_.
     While initially surfacing as a death metal-styled act with their
debut disc _A Time of Blood and Fire_, released on a  small  European
label, the band opted to bring  more  melody  into  their  sound  and
eventually they [the band is comprised of Anders Zackrisson (vocals),
guitarists Nils Norberg and Fredrik Mannberg,  Nils  Eriksson  (bass)
and drummer Ulf Andresson] signed a deal with Century  Media.  Things
started to look promising for them.
     "We are just so happy with the way the evolution of the band has
taken," says bassist Nils Eriksson about  the  band's  melodic  metal
(i.e. Helloween, Iron Maiden) qualities on their new disc. "I mean...
we knew where we wanted to take this music. Right now we are  in  the
midst of gathering ideas for new material. Though  nothing  has  been
recorded, you can expect to see Nocturnal Rites continuing on in  the
same sound and direction in the future."
     "On this new record we really didn't change much on our approach
in the studio or recording material. It was all planned and  we  knew
which was to be the way to handle the recording." He adds, "This band
has been around for more than eight years now and it is quite cool to
see how a band changes their way or style when creating  music.  It's
like yourself and being a writer, the more you do it the  better  you
will get. With writing songs and stuff, it all falls into  place  and
you develop certain styles that work. Songs will always  get  better,
that is just the ways things work."
     In the long run, Nils believes that his band truly does have the
staying power. "I think we have a good load of material for the  next
few records. I don't think we will run out of ideas. We all have  all
of these ideas and arrangements running around in our  heads  all  of
the time. It's hard not to want to be creative when you are in a band
that wants to be successful as well as creative with what you create."
     The sound of Nocturnal Rites is very standard 80s metal. A sound
that has recently begun to take an interest amongst many  metal  fans
once again. Bands like HammerFall, Primal  Fear  and  several  others
have helped to bring back this vividly melodic metal  tone  to  metal
music of the 1990s. "We are very proud of the music here," he states,
"We wanted to bring the music of  Nocturnal  Rites  to  where  it  is
nowadays. We pay homage to the bands we  grew  up  listening  to  and
making melodic metal to play loud."  On  the  makeup  of  the  band's
sound, Nils says, "I think Nocturnal Rites is a  combination  of  the
early German metal scene, like Scanner and Gamma Ray, and  the  whole
British music scene sound, like Iron Maiden and Saxon. We  fall  into
those two types of categories when one is trying to define our sound.
Those bands we grew up listening to and they  have  found  their  way
into our music for sure."
     Continuing, he says, "I think Nocturnal Rites is a  great  asset
for metal music nowadays. So what if we play retro metal, spawned  on
by our influences? Who cares? The thing that I believe makes us  such
a good band is that  we  have  a  varied  sounding  LP.  An  LP  that
showcases a band eager to bring out the best of their experiences  on
record."
     The band's label, Century Media, has been  a  blessing  for  the
band. Their previous small label did hardly anything for their  debut
effort. The band didn't see much success over there and that was  one
of the reasons the band  felt  the  need  to  move  labels.  Eriksson
offers, "Century Media has been great for us.  We  are  getting  good
exposure, tour dates and  getting  the  albums  out  to  the  stores.
Something our old small indie label could not  provide  us  with.  In
this business it is all about exposure and getting  the  band's  name
out to the masses."
     What does Nils think about the diverse roster of Century  Media?
"I think it is really good that the label has a full  roster  of  all
types of music. I think it's cool 'cause someone might like a band on
Century Media  and  give  another  band  on  the  label,  of  another
style/genre, a listen. I don't see any problem with the many forms of
music that they are signing to their label.  It's  great  to  have  a
label with such diversity."
     For those of you in the know, both Nils and Fredrik  (guitarist)
also play in the thrash/retro  three-piece  known  as  Guillotine  on
Necropolis Records [interviewed in CoC #30]. Nils is excited to be  a
part of both projects, applying equal time and responsibility to each
band. "It's really not that  hard  to  separate  the  works  of  both
bands," explains Nils, "I mean... Guillotine plays music that is much
more back to  basics  and  rawer  than  Nocturnal  Rites.  It  is  so
different. I feel that both bands are so far apart  from  what  style
and sound they deliver. It really isn't a task to be a part  of  both
outfits. Making music is what I do and being in both bands  keeps  me
busy. And when I'm busy, I'm one happy musician."

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

     T H E   B I T T E R - S W E E T   T A S T E   O F   L I F E
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              CoC interviews Paul Kuhr of Novembers Doom
                          by: Pedro Azevedo

     Some may say that doom/death metal's prime moment is  gone,  now
that bands such as My Dying Bride, Anathema and Celestial Season  are
treading different paths. However, the early nineties  may  be  gone,
but doom/death certainly is not. Two  Portuguese  bands,  Desire  and
Sculpture, show it, and several others do so as well.  One  of  them,
and also one of the best after the release of their _For  Every  Leaf
that Falls_ EP, is Novembers Doom. After having  had  severe  line-up
problems following their debut _Amid its Hallowed  Mirth_,  Novembers
Doom are back to contribute to the future of doom/death  metal;  and,
considering the quality found in _For Every Leaf  that  Falls_,  they
seem to have what it takes to accomplish  that.  Vocalist  Paul  Kuhr
replied to my questions from the USA.

CoC: Would you like to describe to our readers the music  created  by
     Novembers Doom?

Paul Kuhr: We try to create an atmosphere with our music. If we write
           a song and it doesn't affect the entire band in a way that
           we are all completely satisfied, we don't keep it. We have
           no 'filler' in any of our songs. We try  to  create  songs
           that are enjoyable from start to finish.

CoC: There was quite a long period of time  between  the  release  of
     _Amid its Hallowed Mirth_ and _For Every Leaf that Falls_;  what
     caused it?

PK: Well, actually we called it quits. Here's a quick version of  the
    story. We all had a rehearsal space that cost quite  a  bit  each
    month to rent. I was the only member with a checking account,  so
    I would write the check for the room, and everyone would give  me
    cash. It was good for about six months,  and  we  wrote  all  the
    material for the second release. We were getting ready to  record
    in the near future, and some people in the band had no money come
    time for rent to be paid. I covered them with  the  understanding
    that I would be paid later for it. So this went  on  for  another
    two months, with  different  members  not  having  money;  I  was
    covering everyone, and not getting paid back. It got to  a  point
    where no one in the band had the rent, so I refused  to  pay  the
    bill. Two months of not paying our rent, and we were kicked  out.
    At that point we were all fighting about the music, and  fighting
    with each other, and I told everyone that it was over.  We  never
    recorded the second CD, and I'm glad we never did. It was  almost
    an exact repeat of _Amid its Hallowed Mirth_, with nothing new to
    offer in any way. After six months of being miserable and missing
    the band (not so much the members), I decided it was to time give
    it another try; only this time I  would  pick  the  members  more
    carefully. It took me almost a year to assemble the band we  have
    now, and it is truly the best lineup we have ever  had.  We  were
    only together for about three months when we recorded _For  Every
    Leaf that Falls_. That's how well we work together.

CoC: Is the lineup in the EP a steady one now or will there  be  more
     changes in the near future?

PK: With the addition of a second guitarist, which we are looking for
    now, this line up should remain the same. We're  all  very  happy
    with the music, and we have some things planned soon, that  makes
    everyone excited for the future.

CoC:  How  is  Abbas  [Jaffary,  drummer]  recovering  from  his  car
     accident? [I wish him a quick recovery.]

PK: Abbas is doing good. He's walking a bit now, on one  crutch.  The
    accident  shattered  his  pelvis,  and  it  had  to  be   totally
    reconstructed. They cut him from the center  of  his  stomach  to
    almost the center of his back, so he's pretty proud of the  scar.
    He was behind the drums playing with us just four weeks after the
    surgery. He can't walk, but he can play! He's  quite  an  amazing
    guy.

CoC: How satisfied are you with the _For Every Leaf that Falls_ EP?

PK: I'm totally happy with it. The production on it is great, and the
    musicianship is amazing.  Eric  [Burnley]  is  one  of  the  best
    guitarists / song writers I have  ever  worked  with.  It  really
    captures what my vision for Novembers Doom has always been.

CoC: How has the response to the EP been so far?

PK: It's been really good. We have sold about half of our pressing in
    about a month and a half, and that's without  much  promotion  at
    all. People seem to really like the new music.  It  has  so  much
    more to offer than the old material.

CoC: Personally, I find your lyrics quite interesting; would you like
     to tell us more about what lies behind the lyrics you wrote  for
     each of the EP's songs?

PK: When I write, I write for myself.  Everything  is  personal,  and
    written on a very personal level. I write  them  so  the  meaning
    people get when reading the song is usually different from what I
    wrote about. For example, the title track was written for  anyone
    that has felt loss. It deals with the death of a loved  one,  and
    the pure emptiness you have. That's what the  listener  will  get
    out of it. The true meaning is in fact different.  It's  about  a
    relationship having problems. The line "I used to  dream  of  the
    blue in your eyes" isn't about the color  blue,  it's  about  the
    sadness and innocence in a person. Basically it's saying "I  used
    to dream about the purity of your soul." But  that's  a  bit  too
    personal for me to write. I don't want people to know  what  goes
    on inside my head. "The Jealous Sun" is basically  written  about
    myself. It's the first time I have ever written  anything  solely
    about myself. "Dawn  Breaks".  That's  hard  to  explain  without
    getting into a huge answer. Let's just say this: if you looked in
    the mirror, and you saw nothing but darkness, this song is  about
    what lies beyond the darkness.

CoC: How have you been doing in what concerns concerts over there  in
     the USA?

PK: We played a good  show  with  Obituary  in  December,  and  we're
    supposed to play with Morbid Angel at the end of the  summer.  We
    will also be playing the International Metal Fest in Michigan  in
    August, so we have a few things lined up.  We're  all  hoping  to
    have a tour set up before the year ends in Europe.

CoC: I suppose the USA isn't exactly the best country  in  the  world
     for a doom metal band like yourselves... How  do  you  view  the
     current American metal scene?

PK: It's quite difficult here. Especially here in Chicago, where most
    of the bands are grinding death metal or black metal. The  crowds
    always seem to look confused for our first two songs or  so,  but
    then they get into it, because I think they  realize  that  we're
    quite heavy, just not blazing fast. It's a fun time. We've  never
    had a negative reaction yet, so I guess we're doing "OK". We need
    to get to Europe.

CoC: Some of your musical influences come from Europe, I think; bands
     such as My Dying Bride and Anathema could be named here. Several
     bands that literally made doom/death a few  years  ago  are  now
     getting softer. What is your opinion about that?

PK: It's disappointing, but at the same time, it opens up  new  doors
    for this style of music, and draws in a larger audience.  If  you
    ask just about anyone what their favorite My Dying Bride  CD  is,
    most people will tell you _Turn Loose the  Swans_.  [At  least  I
    will. -- Pedro] It has a nice mixture of both the clean  and  the
    dirty. It worked well for them. Many bands in this style use that
    mixture now. It's no surprise that we're influenced by bands like
    this. How could anyone not be?

CoC: Will there be many significant changes in  your  sound?  Do  you
     think the musical softening  I  just  mentioned  will  apply  to
     Novembers Doom in the future as well?

PK: Well, I can promise you this: while the band plays under the name
    Novembers Doom, you will hear at least 60% death  vocals.  That's
    one thing I won't change. Some of the music may have its  moments
    of softness, but we're a 'metal' band and will remain that way.

CoC: What about the future? Any plans for a full-length album soon?

PK: We scheduled time in the recording studio,  two  weeks  in  early
    October. The full length should be available in late 1998.

CoC:  Having  _Amid  its  Hallowed  Mirth_  been   released   through
     Avantgarde, and considering the high quality of the  _For  Every
     Leaf that Falls_ EP, it surprised me that this new EP  of  yours
     was self-financed. Why did this happen?

PK: Well, after being away for so long,  we  wanted  to  give  people
    something new to listen to, and to show people that  we're  still
    around.  We  decided  to  release  the  best   possible   package
    ourselves, and shop the CD to different record labels to see what
    offers come in. We received a few  offers,  and  Avantgarde  said
    they will work with us again,  but  we  haven't  signed  anything
    officially yet with anyone. We will be making a decision soon. We
    are waiting to hear back from a couple of labels, so  after  that
    we will be signing. It looks good. The  offers  we've  seen  have
    been good. Some better than others, but we will  release  the  CD
    through a label. We're just waiting it out a bit longer while  we
    write the new material for the release. We're close to  finishing
    the material, so it will be soon.

CoC: What would you like to see happening in Novembers  Doom  in  the
     future?

PK: We want, more than anything right now, to tour Europe. If we  can
    get there and play with a larger band  of  our  style,  it  could
    really be great exposure for us. I really think the European fans
    would accept us.

CoC: It's time for a final message, "for now... dawn breaks."

PK: Thanks to everyone who has picked up _Amid its Hallowed Mirth_ in
    the past. Don't forget to pick up _For Every  Leaf  that  Falls_,
    our new EP, and keep an eye out for the new full length  due  out
    Winter 1998. Thanks for the great interview!

WWW: http://www.novembersdoom.com/

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

                        T H E   X - V I L E S
                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  CoC interviews Hammy of Peaceville
                          by: Pedro Azevedo

     In  February  1988,  one  thousand  copies  of  _A  Vile   Peace
Compilation_ were released. Ten years  later,  April  1998  sees  the
_Peaceville X_ compilation celebrating the label's tenth anniversary.
Having once had At the Gates, Paradise Lost, Darkthrone  and  Autopsy
in their roster, My Dying Bride and Anathema are  nowadays  the  main
bands responsible for the Peaceville's success. It  is  therefore  no
wonder that Peaceville has become somewhat associated to doom  metal,
which the addition of the recently  extinct  The  Blood  Divine  only
strengthened; yet Peaceville's most recent signings  have  frequently
been somewhat surprising -- after Dominion  came  Acrimony,  Lid  and
Blackstar, and these last three certainly aren't the metal bands  one
might expect. But, as Peaceville owner Hammy tells us, this  attitude
has always been what has kept the label going. Here are  the  results
of our conversation.

CoC: First, I would like to ask you to tell  us  more  about  who  is
     Hammy... I mean, most Peaceville bands' fans have read your name
     over and over again, but don't know much about you. What is your
     role in Peaceville?

Hammy: I started it and I have always run it -- I suppose that is the
       simplest way to look at it. Obviously I have had lots of  help
       from others, but I'm the one who was here at the start and I'm
       still here now. I've always tried to stay  in  the  background
       until now, as I wanted Peaceville to have its own identity and
       not really be strictly associated with me, as  such.  Also,  I
       think it's a bit lame when the label boss is more famous  than
       the bands (like Rick Rubin or something). Because this is  the
       tenth year, we (me and Lisa) who run the label, decided to put
       up a bio page at our site for a while. To  sort  of  "let  our
       hair down" in keeping with the spirit of the "X" comp.

CoC:  Ten  years  ago,  Peaceville  was  being  created...  what  was
     Peaceville's objective back then? Is it still the same?

H: Back then, I had been in bands and I'd been running Peaceville  as
   a cassette only label for a few years; I wanted to  stay  involved
   with music, so the idea for a real record label was obvious to me.
   The only thing was, there were already a load of  labels.  So,  in
   order to survive, you have to have your own niche. As I'd come out
   of the hardcore punk era, I  was  into  having  a  really  sort-of
   "free" label. One which wasn't afraid to take risks and do  things
   differently. In a way, we have always gone down a  different  path
   to most conventional labels. So I suppose the objective  is  still
   the same. Never to sit back and pump shit out,  but  to  challenge
   and push the boundaries musically.

CoC: A lot can change in ten  years;  how  did  you  view  the  metal
     scene's evolution during this past decade?

H: Well, it has certainly changed.  I  mean,  OK,  when  you  release
   something like [Paradise Lost's] _Gothic_, you  expect  it  to  do
   well. But no-one could imagine that the band would become  one  of
   the -standards- of metal  music.  Same  with  Darkthrone,  really.
   Evolution seems  to  have  followed  Peaceville.  There  are  more
   "peaceville" bands that are big now  than  standard  metal  heroes
   like Saxon and what have you. So, obviously, I'm not  against  the
   changes.  Plus,  personally,  I'm  a  lot  happier  to  have  more
   diversity than ever in  the  scene.  It  stops  it  from  becoming
   stagnant.

CoC: You just mentioned Paradise Lost, who were once with  Peaceville
     and are now with Music For Nations.  What  is  your  opinion  on
     their career right now?

H: When we had Paradise Lost, they were growing at such a  rate  that
   it was always going to  be  hard  to  keep  onto  them.  I  simply
   couldn't offer the money that others could, so I can't possibly be
   bitter. The band have had great successes and traveled the  world.
   That's all they really wanted in the beginning. Right now, I think
   they're at a bit of a crossroads. I know they want to break out of
   their old image, but is anybody buying  it?  Actually,  I  thought
   _One Second_ was the only move they could make and it was the most
   refreshing thing they'd done since _Gothic_, but  that's  only  my
   opinion.

CoC: How much of a priority has it been for  Peaceville  to  keep  up
     with what the market wanted during this period?

H: Erm, none really. If we sucked up to the  market,  we  would  have
   nothing but black metal bands on the label.

CoC: The reason behind my previous question was your signing of bands
     such as My Dying Bride and Anathema, which are effectively  your
     main bands nowadays. Back then, there wasn't much  of  a  market
     for such doom metal, was there?

H: No; like I said, it's weird that our records have become standards
   within the scene -- instead of the dark, grubby little ghetto that
   we all crawled from ten years ago. That is also  relevant  to  the
   above. Because if we had just followed trends we would  always  be
   imitators instead of being the innovators that I think we are.

CoC: What made you sign them? I mean, what seized your  attention  in
     their sound?

H: They were both doing something which was completely  unique.  It's
   just that sometimes it takes others a lot longer to realize  -how-
   unique, because people often feel safer listening to something not
   quite as challenging to the norm.

CoC: How did you see Darren  White's  departure  from  Anathema,  his
     transfer to The Blood Divine and their signing for Peaceville?

H: Daz had been a friend for a long time and he is a much liked  guy.
   So, it seemed natural to continue working with Daz  and  I  really
   liked their demo when he sent it. It's always unfortunate to  lose
   band members, but it's just a fact of life. Just 'cos  you  run  a
   label, you can't make people happy when they are not.

CoC: Is Anathema's drumming problem solved yet, now that John Douglas
     has left?

H: Yes, absolutely. John was a  sad  loss,  but  now  the  band  have
   recruited Shaun Steels (ex-Solstice) and he is a full time  member
   and plays on the soon-to-be-released  new  album  _Alternative  4_
   [which I shall review on the next issue of CoC -- Pedro].

CoC: What is _Alternative 4_ supposed to mean?

H:  I  honestly  don't  know.  The  band  told  me  something   about
   civilization having tried three ways to live and  failed,  so  now
   it's time for alternative 4, or something like  that.  You  really
   need to ask the band about that one!

CoC: Did everything go well with the recording of  their  new  album?
     What changes can we expect in their sound?

H: It all went  fantastically  well.  Everyone  concerned  is  a  lot
   happier with the presentation for this album than with _Eternity_.
   There is a more structured approach to  the  song  writing.  Vinny
   [Cavanagh, vocalist/guitarist] has been taking singing lessons for
   a long time and you'll be amazed at his progress.  The  production
   is, by far, the best the band have ever  had.  I  also  think  the
   cover artwork is the best yet. But everyone has their  opinion.  I
   personally love the  album  and  I  can't  remember  listening  to
   anything else for the past few weeks...

[At this stage, we discussed the future of The Blood Divine. However,
a few days after the interview, the band broke up.  Few  details  are
known for now, except that everyone seems to  agree  that  The  Blood
Divine are no more. -- Pedro]

CoC: And what about  My  Dying  Bride?  Losing  keyboardist/violinist
     Martin Powell  and  drummer  Rick  Miah  must  be  difficult  to
     overcome. Any solutions in sight yet?

H: This may sound strange, but the solutions are all in place and all
   the negativity has been overcome. Yes, Rick was extremely hard  to
   lose -- and in such a way [officially due  to  illness],  but  the
   passage of time has helped My Dying Bride to overcome the reality.
   Plus, having the services of an exceptional drummer like Bill  Law
   [from Dominion] on hand... well, you can say it  could  have  been
   worse. Martin's timing was dreadful, but  it  was  becoming  clear
   that Martin was, at some point, going to quit the band  to  return
   to his education. So, rather than prolong the inevitable -- it has
   helped the band to focus, re-group and  look  forward.  As  Calvin
   wrote all the keyboard and violin parts, it isn't going  to  be  a
   problem in the studio. This buys the band  time  and  they  aren't
   clouding the album recording by looking for a replacement at  this
   point.

CoC: One thing I would certainly like would be My Dying Bride using a
     cello in their music. Has that ever been considered? Any  chance
     it might ever happen? I think that instrument can  add  much  to
     doom sound.

H: Well, that's totally up to the  band.  I  don't  know  if  they've
   considered it, I don't interfere with songwriting !

CoC: What information can you share with  us  concerning  their  next
     album? Can you give us any idea  of  what  direction  to  expect
     their music to take, despite the line-up problems?

H: I know that all this turmoil has made  the  band  look  at  itself
   inside out, and to me, well, I've never seen them so convinced and
   confident. It's pretty safe to say that it will be different  from
   previous albums, but as you can expect, it will still be My  Dying
   Bride. Plus, without the touring pressure they have also had quite
   some time to write and rehearse. So I am really looking forward to
   this. They record in May and mix in July.

CoC: Any other new albums out soon on Peaceville? Dominion, maybe?

H: Dominion's new album will be delayed  due  to  Bill's  involvement
   with My Dying Bride, but a new album of theirs is on the cards, as
   is Acrimony, Blackstar and Lid. Coming very soon, though,  is  the
   debut album from new signings Thine. The album is called  _A  Town
   Like This_ and will be out in July.  The  band  appeared  for  the
   first time on the _Peaceville X_ album. Considering  they  are  19
   years old, I think you will agree that they sound a hell of a  lot
   more mature than their ages suggest. The album is truly  stunning,
   in my  opinion.  Rarely  has  a  record  showcased  such  a  broad
   diversity from a new band. Personally, the guys involved remind me
   of the young Paradise Lost, because they  have  the  same  energy,
   confidence, determination and ability. I'm raving over these -- so
   check them out! They (will soon) rule!

CoC: You have a compilation out now, _Peaceville X_, celebrating your
     tenth anniversary. One question I would really like to  ask  you
     is why did you (or the bands) choose to  cover  non-metal  songs
     only?

H: As I said, I've always wanted to push the boundaries and do things
   a little differently. To me, if we had just done another Slayer or
   Sabbath covers album, it would mean  nothing  and  we  would  look
   childish and lazy. The bands all like the songs  they've  covered,
   they were their choices. I just said  "no  metal,  please."  So  I
   think you can also get a little more information about  the  bands
   from knowing which cover songs they picked.

CoC: But you could have pushed the boundaries  with  metal  covers...
     just imagine My Dying Bride playing  Emperor,  Dominion  playing
     The Gathering,  Anathema  and  The  Blood  Divine  playing  each
     other's music... why is it that such a compilation is never done?

H: Well, to be honest, I'd much rather they did what  they  did  than
   what you suggest. You are sticking too much to the  "scene".  It's
   important that we all learn to look outside our own worlds  or  we
   may miss something amazing -- just because it's not "cool"  within
   a niche market. ["Coolness" was never an issue for me... -- Pedro]

CoC: One band that I have to ask you about,  even  though  they  were
     never connected to Peaceville (at least not that I know  of)  is
     Enchantment. Their _Dance the Marble  Naked_  (released  through
     Century Media) does remind the listener of some of what Anathema
     were doing at the time, and they credit you as  having  produced
     the album and Mags as having engineered it. But that isn't quite
     right, is it?

H: True, this is a strange story. Century Media asked Enchantment  to
   get me to produce their album. I said OK, if there  was  a  decent
   budget, because I didn't want to do anything shit.  They  wouldn't
   give them any more studio time, so I refused to have  anything  to
   do with it, as five days for an album  is  nothing  and  I  wasn't
   getting anything anyway. Strange thing was, they still put me down
   as producer. Which is a little naughty. It didn't sound  all  that
   bad either! [Indeed, for me it remains as a powerful piece of very
   emotional doom/death.  --  Pedro]  It  just  shows  how  desperate
   Century Media was back then... <laughs>

CoC: Do you have any idea where Enchantment (or its members) may be
     now?

H: A good bet would be Blackpool -- 'cos they came from there.

CoC: Speaking of Century Media: how do you view their attitude  as  a
     label? They certainly are controversial.

H: I don't understand why they are controversial, so I  can't  answer
   this question properly. I can't see how they  are  different  from
   where we were five years ago.

CoC: Well, what I meant was that  many  consider  them  as  the  most
     mainstream    of metal labels, because of the direction taken by
     bands like Moonspell, Tiamat, etc.

H: I never thought of it like that...

CoC: Let us discuss some of Peaceville's current direction now. Three
     of your latest signings -- Acrimony, Blackstar and  Lid  --  are
     quite different, to say the least,  from  the  usual  in  recent
     Peaceville history. Does this indicate a new direction  for  the
     label?

H: No, never trust us to stick to one direction!! That was then,  who
   knows what tomorrow will bring? Maybe jazz-western...

CoC: Who's next? Care to unveil some of Peaceville's newest signings?

H: We're working on two new signings right now, but I  can't  mention
   anything because of the contract situation. Both will shock you!!

CoC: One thing that your three main bands' musical path has in common
     is that My Dying Bride, Anathema and The  Blood  Divine's  music
     has gotten somewhat more  attractive  to  larger  audiences.  My
     Dying Bride's latest isn't as deeply doomy as before, Anathema's
     sound is now much softer, The Blood Divine have changed  into  a
     more rocking and less doomy band. Is there really a set  pattern
     here and  a  reason  for  this  or  is  it  just  a  product  of
     coincidence?

H: I think that you first have to realize that when these people were
   doing their stuff seven years ago, they were a lot younger, hadn't
   traveled the world and didn't know what was in store for them.  To
   assume that they could possibly be the same person walking  in  to
   rehearsal now as they were then is missing the point  that  people
   do change. Inevitably, when artists change as  people,  their  art
   changes. When you grasp that, I think you can understand why.

CoC: Does Peaceville ever advise bands to apply  certain  changes  to
     their sound in order to make it  easier  to  sell?  I  ask  this
     because it is often said that labels have a strong influence  in
     the direction bands choose.

H: I have always given the bands a free reign to do  as  they  please
   artistically. Labels who  get  involved  with  the  creative  side
   should stick to what they're good at -- business, not songwriting.
   I mean, why should a band who have been playing together for seven
   years listen to a lawyer/accountant when it comes to  songwriting?
   It doesn't make sense. When it happens, it also invariably  messes
   up good relationships. I've seen  it  so  many  times  with  other
   labels...

CoC: Any plans of touring Europe in the  near  future?  I  understand
     this is a difficult moment to plan these things, considering all
     the changes happening in your biggest bands, but are  there  any
     plans for next year or so?

H: There are always plans. It's just that a lot of  them  go  by  the
   way. I'll be honest though -- there aren't many of our  bands  who
   enjoy being  cooped  up  in  a  van  half  their  lives,  so  it's
   difficult. But at the same time, I find it hard to  imagine  there
   being no major Peaceville tour this year.

CoC: To finish this interview, I would just like to ask how you would
     like Peaceville to be ten years from now...

H: In ten years we'll probably be  a  completely  independent  entity
   based entirely on the Internet  (or  what  it  becomes),  directly
   distributing  our  product  worldwide  from  a  single  server  in
   Yorkshire. This would make me very happy.  Simultaneous  worldwide
   release. The sheer luxury of  it.  Either  that  or  we'll  be  as
   foolish as Saxon or Girlschool look now... <laughs>

WWW: http://www.peaceville.com

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           |-   -|   | . | -_| . | -_|   | . | -_|   |  _|
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      |     |___| |_ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___| |_|_|___ ___ ___
      |-   -|   |  _| -_|  _|  _| . | . | .'|  _| | . |   |_ -|
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                                    |___|


               S M O L D E R I N G   S U B   T E R R A
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            CoC interviews unsigned metal stalwarts Ember
                          by: Steve Hoeltzel

If you've kept your ear tuned to the American metal underground, then
you've no doubt heard of this band already. Ember hail from  Illinois
and hammer out a distinct and potent alloy of  dark-blackened  metal,
spiked with a bit of thrashy aggression (minus the retro cliches) and
hardcore punch (minus the cornball machismo).  They've  put  out  two
well-received demos thus far (_Within the Realm  of  the  Snowqueen_,
followed by _The Gate_), and they're currently working on a CD, which
you can read about below. If you make  it  to  Milwaukee  this  year,
check out Ember's set -- downstairs on Friday, as far as I know right
now. Anyway, enough blabber out of me. I recently put some  questions
to vocalist Pete; here's what he had to say.

CoC: How would you describe Ember to someone who's  never  heard  the
     band?

Pete Mlot: From my point of view, I would say we're  a  modern  metal
           band, in the black metal vein, which  utilizes  influences
           both old and new to create  an  aggressive  sound  without
           losing a sense of  melody.  It's  kind  of  hard  doing  a
           self-description,  especially  when  you  hear   so   many
           conflicting reviews. However, we tend to focus on having a
           sense of aggression -- not basing it  on  hyper-speed  and
           grind, but maybe feeding off of Slayer  and  older  thrash
           influences of the same style.

CoC: What brought you guys together and inspired  you  to  write  and
     perform this kind of music in particular?

PM: Well, I had known Abbas since the early days of high school,  and
    we had talked about getting a band together, but  procrastination
    got the better part of us. A few years later, Mourngrym and I got
    to talking a bit. We had never really hung out much, but  we  had
    mutual friends. This connection led to  a  lot  of  talking,  but
    after procrastination, we got going. Abbas was soon brought in as
    a drummer, and by winter of 94 the ball was rolling.  So  far  as
    our specific style, a lot of it had  to  do  with  what  we  were
    listening to at the time. Obviously, the  black  metal  craze  in
    Europe affected us greatly, as is  evident  in  the  first  demo.
    However, the music came to us kind of naturally,  and  everything
    grew from there.

CoC: I understand that you're planning to put together a  CD  release
     some time in the near future. What can you tell us about that?

PM: Well, after several label offers (some really  quite  good,  some
    not so good), we decided to do another self-financed release, for
    several reasons. First and foremost, I suppose we feel that since
    Ember is our creation, we're a little hesitant  to  give  up  any
    control. Since we feel that we have the means, and we've gathered
    a little experience with the demos, we were ready to compile what
    we have. Also, the lack of interest in demos kind  of  forced  us
    into the position of doing something in a different  format,  and
    since what we would have wanted to do with a  7-inch  would  have
    cost too much, a CD seemed most efficient. The CD will consist of
    five or six new tracks, two covers (probably one Misfits and  one
    Cure; however, there are some other ideas being  tossed  around),
    and both demos. The plan is to sell it for the price of a mini-CD
    so no one will be stuck paying for the demos twice. If  all  goes
    well, we are hoping for an early summer release,  but  as  things
    tend to go with Ember, delays are possible.

CoC: How does the new music you're working on compare to the material
     from the demos?

PM: There are some changes, for sure.  Not  huge,  but  I  would  say
    noticeable. While the bulk  of  the  material  is  a  combination
    between the first two demos, I would say that we have been paying
    more attention to how we structure the music.  Instead  of  going
    from fast to slow, there are now bridges, which  help  the  songs
    flow a little better. There  are  also  parts  which  are  really
    somewhat different from what we've done before, plus a  few  more
    "breakdown", or slower thrash/hc parts. It just seems  that  most
    bands today in the underground are really vying for a nice mix of
    classical and metal (atmosphere, etc.) or are experimenting  with
    goth sounds (both of which we are all highly fond of)  --  but  I
    would say that we have chosen to continue by making things a  bit
    more aggressive overall. Technically speaking, we have  tried  to
    place focus on the drums quite often, as it really does seem that
    the beats we have used in the past have all been quite  standard.
    In order to show a bit of differentiation,  it  seems  that  with
    different drum beats, trying to leave a little  of  the  standard
    "pitter-patter" behind, we add a new dimension to the music.  All
    of this said, the music is still noticeably Ember,  but  I  would
    say we have now started to confirm the definition of our sound  a
    bit more -- a lot of this happening  only  within  the  last  few
    weeks. For the few who have heard it, they are quite  happy  with
    the way things are progressing.

CoC: In addition to the two demos and  the  forthcoming  CD,  there's
     your appearance  on  the  _Under  the  Pagan  Moon_  compilation
     (Cyclonic Productions) -- anything else?

PM: We've also been included  on  various  cassette  comps.  All  are
    important, but there are just too many to list.

CoC: What else would you like to see the band achieve over  the  next
     few years?

PM: For me, I would really like to be able to get something going  in
    the U.S. again. It seems as if it is starting to happen a little,
    but I suppose only time will tell. I feel that Ember would play a
    nice role in importing a new sound into  the  current  scene.  [I
    agree. -- Steve] Other than that,  I  hope  we  can  continue  to
    release strong material and, along with that, be able to play out
    more often. The opportunity to tour  would  be  a  nice  plan  to
    have...

CoC: What would you say your biggest band-related  frustrations  have
     been?

PM: I think I could truly  whine  forever,  but  well,  go  figure...
    <laughs> Actually, I would say the biggest frustrations  have  to
    do with distance and time. With Mourngrym and I still  in  school
    (not to mention the fact that Mourngrym is about 150  miles  from
    us 3/4 of the year), this only allows so much time for  the  band
    throughout most of the year. Other than that, I  would  say  that
    the choice to have had _The Gate_ released only on cassette was a
    bad decision in some ways. It seems as though we  got  plenty  of
    recognition from 'zines worldwide, but at this point, people want
    CDs. I'm kind of at a loss as to how a band could receive quite a
    bit of good press, but in the long run have  a  relatively  small
    response through mail, etc. I would say the first  demo  garnered
    more in the way of mail; however, the second tape has outdone the
    first in terms of  promotion  and  good  reviews...  frustrating,
    nonetheless. In the long run, I would  imagine  that  every  band
    that tries to carry on their  work  with  persistence  encounters
    these same experiences, so we try to make the most of what we are
    doing -- and surely it has been a hell of a good time so far!

CoC: What have been some  of  the  most  fulfilling  aspects  of  the
     experience?

PM: Well, to start  off  with,  we  all  hang  out  with  each  other
    anyways... Abbas and I have known each other for far too long  at
    this point, and Mourngrym and I have built  a  strong  friendship
    over the course of the band. Just the same, both Allen and  Chris
    have added a lot, not only with playing, but personality as well.
    Our jams seem to have grown a bit more  eventful  over  the  last
    year or so, not to mention the fact that we have  been  having  a
    great time meeting new people  and  entertaining  them  (or  vice
    versa). I  would  say  the  best  aspects  come  from  travelling
    (although for a performance, we've only done this once...), as we
    tend  to  have  some  quite  memorable  experiences  from   these
    instances. If we ever get a chance to tour, all hell is going  to
    break loose!! You've been out with us a few times,  and  we  were
    nowhere near our peak... Finally, I suppose being a rock star  at
    local burrito joints is always a plus... <laughs>

[Heheh! That, dear readers, is an  inside  joke  pertaining  to  some
culinary exploits in which Pete and I partook not too long ago. Funny
stuff, in a you-had-to-be-there kind of way. -- Steve]

CoC: From your own vantage point as a member of a damn good  unsigned
     band, would you say that interest in underground  metal  in  the
     states (or in the midwest, anyway)  is  growing,  dwindling,  or
     staying about the same?

PM: Recently, things seem  to  be  growing  a  bit.  I  mean,  to  my
    surprise, the death/grind scene is still quite large in  Chicago.
    Some other evidence would  be  Cradle  of  Filth's  reception  at
    Metalfest. Usurper also had a crowd of about 300  at  their  last
    show here in Chicago, so... While I  wouldn't  say  metal  is  at
    European standards so far as fanfare is concerned, the  scene  is
    changing. I also think the  increased  distribution  of  European
    black metal bands in the U.S. is a sign. It won't be an overnight
    sensation, but I think  within  the  next  couple  of  years  the
    changes may be rather dramatic. Finally, as the punk scene  seems
    to be dying out a bit, these kids will need somewhere to go,  and
    in my point of view, metal in the U.S. can afford to welcome some
    of them.

CoC: Who are some of the other unsigned or lesser-known bands, in the
     States or otherwise, who you'd  consider  especially  worthy  of
     checking out?

PM: Lately I haven't heard all too many bands. A  few  would  include
    Garden of Shadows, Scepter (although they  may  now  be  signed),
    Lilitu, Forest of Impaled (if they are still a  band),  Novembers
    Doom, and maybe a few others. All of the bands  listed  are  from
    the U.S. I know there are others, but I  highly  suggest  looking
    out for these band's releases.

CoC: How about the whole black metal phenomenon? Quite a  few  people
     who really got into black metal early on, before it  became  the
     much bigger phenomenon that it is today, are kind of down on  it
     now  because  it's  become  so  much  more  commercialized   and
     formulaic than it was at first. (I guess that's my own  attitude
     these days.) But on the other hand, it seems  like  more  people
     than ever are into it, now that some of the bigger metal  labels
     are  really  pushing  it,  certain  bands  are  headlining   big
     festivals, and  so  on.  Anyway,  speaking  both  as  a  serious
     long-time fan of the music, and as a member of a band with  some
     black metal heritage, what do you think of all this?

PM: A catch-22 situation, I suppose. This a bit of a difficult one to
    handle. Logically, there are some bands which I feel deserve  all
    the credit in the world for what they have  done  for  the  scene
    (I'm  solely  speaking  musically  here).  Bands  like   Emperor,
    Katatonia, Mayhem, and numerous others have been great influences
    on Ember as well as metal in  general.  But  at  the  same  time,
    growth and change is a bit disturbing. For all of us in Ember,  I
    think the black metal scene is the first we  have  been  involved
    with since its beginnings, and when it no  longer  belongs  to  a
    select few, it can suck. Personally, the scene is  no  longer  as
    interesting and passionate as it once was for me. There  used  to
    be genuine excitement in waiting for a new release of  a  band  I
    had heard of (Ulver and Gehenna come to mind) or read about,  but
    things have changed, a lot. The mystery that once  surrounded  so
    much has dissipated, and now we have pictures of Ulver  in  suits
    mocking what was once sacred. It is an annoying situation.  There
    are some bands who have been able to keep their respect levels up
    (e.g. Emperor) without having to resort  to  tactics  in  no  way
    related to their music. I feel there are a lot of  bands  that  I
    could criticize, but it would be quite pointless, mostly  because
    I don't know what their motives were,  and  anyway  we  have  all
    passed judgment on the actions of many bands. Still,  many  bands
    (Sort Vokter, etc.) keep the "true" underground spirit alive, and
    while this group remains a minority  (many  demo-level  bands  as
    well as bands who have released CDs are third rate), the music is
    still phenomenal. I am getting caught up here in my own  words  a
    bit, but the scene hasn't hit  a  point  where  I  am  completely
    sickened, and there are only a  few  blemishes  which  have  left
    their marks. I guess the biggest criticism I  have  is  that  the
    music back in 92, 93, and 94 was just so much better... But  what
    once was will not be again.

CONTACT: Ember, P.O. Box 2177, Darien, IL 60561, USA

Pete adds the following additional info: "We have only a handful left
of the second demo, and technically it is available  for  five  bucks
(US). If they want at this point, those interested could send a  SASE
(with sufficient postage = three stamps) and a blank tape (no  cases)
and we'll copy the second demo and include a cover  too...  Also,  if
you haven't heard, we are playing Metalfest.  We  are  on  the  lower
stage, Friday night, now scheduled to go on  between  5:00  and  6:00
sometime. Thanks."

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

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


Acid Death - _Pieces of Mankind_  (Metal Mad Music, 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (6 out of 10)

From Greece arrives Acid Death, showing  some  interesting  technical
thrash on their debut full-length  album  _Pieces  of  Mankind_,  the
follow-up to their  1994  split  LP  with  Spanish  death  metal  act
Avulsed. Not much thrashing actually happens here, though, as  things
are  mostly  mid-paced,  with  plenty  of  strange  tempos  and  nice
interludes. Strange tempos, however, are more easily thrown  in  than
made effective and interesting. Acid Death sometimes make them  work,
but they often get in the way of better sequences. Indeed, _PoM_  has
some good passages (especially on "While the End Is Coming"), but the
problem is that they  never  last  for  long  and  seldom  have  much
continuity -- they are frequently broken by the  band's  attempts  at
the exquisite tempos I mentioned or  simply  by  unremarkable  parts.
Nevertheless, this is a varied album that shows talent and plenty  of
creativity, even if it isn't very focused.

Contact: Acid Death, P.O. Box 31902, GR 10035, Athens, Greece
         mailto:jakeacid@netor.gr


Anthrax - _Vol. 8: The Threat Is Real_  (Ignite Records, July 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley  (6 out of 10)

The new LP by NYC thrash metal veterans Anthrax, _Vol 8:  The  Threat
Is Real_ (third with singer John Bush),  starts  off  real  promising
with opener "Crush" and "Catharsis"; but as  we  get  more  into  the
record, it becomes apparent that these veterans are running a  little
low on ideas. Lots of repetition and mid-paced rock numbers line _Vol
8_ for the most part, rarely getting the fists pumping  and  the  pit
going as was the case with vintage _Among  the  Living_-era  Anthrax.
Don't get me wrong, some of  the  rock-styled  numbers  like  "Inside
Out", "Killing Box" and "Hog Tied"  are  pretty  solid  numbers  with
choppy riffs and memorable choruses, but in end  it  does  little  to
help spruce up the overall feel of the record. I  loved  Bush's  work
with his debut disc for Anthrax (_Sound of White Noise_ in 1993)  and
was high on the follow-up _Stomp 442_ (1995), but I'm starting to see
how Bush's vocals and styles are becoming  one-dimensional/flavorless
as things go along. The band can only do so much with Bush  and  it's
becoming a bit lackluster right now. A good record, but  lacking  the
crunch or bite most Anthrax fans would be craving for right now.


Astarte - _Doomed Dark Years_  (Black Lotus Records, 1998)
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (8 out of 10)

This is fast and forlorn black metal, fusing stark  melodies  in  the
chilly style of early Emperor with freezing  riffing  reminiscent  of
Mayhem's _De Mysteriis_. And you'd never know it from  the  way  this
sounds -- including the anguished, throaty vocal rasps  --  but  this
band is composed entirely of women! If I'm  not  mistaken,  that's  a
black metal first. Not that it's evident  from  appearances:  there's
face paint; spikes and bullets; long, stringy hair, parted  down  the
middle... So Astarte look just like the typical black metal gents  --
but  then  the  guys  don't  exactly  come  across  as  paragons   of
traditional masculinity when the makeup's on and the skinny limbs are
posing up  a  storm,  eh?  Anyway,  musically,  _Doomed  Dark  Years_
definitely delivers.  Astarte  has  an  early-90s-Norse-style  sound,
pleasingly thick and abrasive in tone, pleasingly basic in style  and
structure. It's also a bit repetitive in the early 90s way --  though
this can be a plus when you're in the  right  mood.  There's  a  drum
machine in use, but it sounds solid as these things go: lots of sharp
fills and so on. The production is fairly crisp and  dense,  not  too
bright or  bouncy.  While  hardly  original,  this  band's  sound  is
extremely well-realized, occasionally  quite  haunting,  and  overall
very faithful to the inspiration of  some  of  the  pioneers  of  the
second wave -- not watered-down, polished-up, or  played-out  in  the
manner of so many recent releases in this genre. And speaking of this
genre, I wonder how Astarte shall be received... Which reminds me, in
a roundabout way, of a gripe I've got -- not about Astarte, but about
'scene'-type stuff. What many of us really like about black metal  is
the  music's  cryptic,  spectral,  alien  feeling  (enhanced  by  the
costumes -- sometimes). But that essential, unearthly vibe  is  often
spoiled when the genre becomes a platform for politics --  especially
in the form of intolerant whining and cliched  threats.  I'm  all  in
favor of intelligent, -informed- critiques of mainstream religion and
commercialism. But a lot of this  trendy  'underground'  race-bashing
and religious intolerance is closed-minded and muddled with ludicrous
old stereotypes, hence: lame. But hey, I'm not  the  thought  police;
I'm just stating my own view. Anyway, this Astarte album really rips.


Avulsed - _Cybergore_  (Repulse Records, April 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (0 out of 10)

Following the sad example given by  Fear  Factory's  _Remanufacture_,
Spanish death metal band Avulsed have  decided  to  release  a  remix
album of their reasonably good _Eminence in  Putrescence_.  The  band
describes these remixes as "cyber-techno/death" experiences.  Agreed.
The music on this CD is but a mangled, ridiculous version of _EiP_. I
will not waste anyone's  time  throwing  more  adjectives  into  this
review to detail the result any further, as the rating  above  should
easily clarify -my- opinion by itself.


Bal-Sagoth - _Battle Magic_  (Cacophonous, 1998)
by: Brian Meloon  (7 out of 10)

Not being familiar with this band's previous efforts, I  wasn't  sure
what to expect from this album -- but never did I think it  would  be
anything like this. This is one of the cheesiest  metal  albums  I've
ever heard. It reminds me of a  heavier  version  of  Manowar,  or  a
metallized version  of  the  "Rocky  IV"  soundtrack.  It's  pompous,
pretentious, and very self-indulgent. There  is  little  here  that's
"black  metal",  or  in  any  sense  "extreme",   (except   for   the
cheesyness), yet it's billed as "symphonic black metal".  The  vocals
are raspy like black metal in parts, and there are  spoken  parts  as
well. The music is extremely melodic. A lot of the  melodies  are  so
happy they make me want to puke, and some of them still make me laugh
out loud. The playing is  fine,  and  the  material  is  sufficiently
challenging to make  that  a  compliment.  The  production  could  be
better, as the synths are too high up in the mix,  tending  to  drown
out the other instruments. I recently got ahold of _Starfire  Burning
Upon the Ice-Veiled Throne of  Ultima  Thule_,  and  I  find  _Battle
Magic_ to be distressingly  similar.  The  overall  sound  is  nearly
identical, and they even use some of the  exact  same  melodies.  The
only thing that's really different is that the song titles on _Battle
Magic_ aren't as long.


Beyond Fear - _Haunted by Visions of a Thrid Atrocity_
by: Paul Schwarz  (7.5 out of 10)  (Utopian, February 1998)

Well, this wasn't quite what I expected.  When  it  said  "nearly  30
minutes" on the flyer I didn't expect only  3  tracks.  Since  Beyond
Fear are brutal death, and don't  use  any  orchestration/electronics
etc., the length of these tracks is about 2 to 3  times  the  normal.
Sufficed to say it makes for unusual listening. This is a  posthumous
release from Beyond Fear's  last  days  back  in  1996.  As  an  MCD,
_HbVoaTA_ is certainly very good value on account of its length,  but
the compositions are also pretty decent. Although Beyond Fear weren't
really breaking any boundaries, recycled riffs are not the  order  of
the day and, like  any  self-respecting  brutal  death  band,  Beyond
Fear's technical ability is pretty impressive -- right up there  with
their stamina, if they ever played these songs live. Ultimately, this
is one for brutal death fans: it is  not  an  accessible  record  for
trendies and even those who stop at Cannibal Corpse might find  it  a
little harsh. Although _HbVoaTA_ is not in  the  league  of  the  _De
Profundis_s or _None So Vile_s of this world, this was Beyond  Fear's
first CD release and they definitely display the potential they would
have needed to attain a higher level.

Contact: Utopian Productions, c/o J.D. Betts
         PO Box 91, Orpington, Kent, BR6 6UE, England


Boiler - _The New Professionals_  (Mayhem Records, May 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

While on the outside (and maybe even after a few listens) Boiler  may
seem to be a standard Biohazard meets ProPain  groove  metal  outfit,
there lies much more beneath this NY trio and  their  hard  n'  heavy
sounds. The LP, _The New Professionals_, is a kick in  the  teeth  to
those metal kids that think metal music has to be hard n' heavy  with
no room for groove. This record kicks ass for the most  part,  laying
on us thick slabs of metal n' groove that'll  shake  any  foundation.
Dark and broody emotions  fill  the  music  of  Boiler,  lashing  out
intense doses of creative stop n' start  numbers  that'll  amaze  and
impress fans that like their metal varied.  With  each  listen,  many
will get rocked  hard  by  "Stegosaurus"  and/or  "Vice  Grip",  thus
allowing Boiler to keep pummeling us while we're  trying  to  get  up
from the canvas following the solid one-two punch. Check this  record
out, 'cause it's a contender.


Capharnaum - _Reality Only Fantasized_  (Independent, 1997)
by: Brian Meloon  (7 out of 10)

This  is  death  metal  from  Connecticut.  It's  very  well  played,
moderately but not overly melodic, and fairly technical, but it  just
falls short for  me.  They  don't  seem  to  have  a  good  grasp  of
development: they'll begin to develop a  section,  and  then  quickly
shift to a completely different style. This is particularly true  for
the solos (and their  accompanying  sections).  Normally,  frequently
changing riffs don't bother me, but here it does,  primarily  because
they begin to actually develop the music, and then stop.  The  guitar
harmonies (both in  leads  and  riffs)  are  good,  but  they  aren't
consistent about using them, seemingly throwing  them  in  at  random
times. Some of the riffs are pretty complex and they have  some  good
ideas, but they're just not organized properly. The production's fine
-- except for the glitch towards the end of one of the songs  --  and
the playing is very tight. This is worth checking out, as  with  some
maturity and attention to development, they could be excellent.


Carcariass - _Hell on Earth_
by: Alvin Wee  (6 out of 10)

It looks like France is offering up more than its customary sacrifice
of uber-underground black metal. Belketre and co.  step  aside,  it's
time for the likes of Misanthrope to take the stage. Not  far  behind
are  self-styled  Gothenburg  clones  Carcariass,  who,  despite  the
strange name, claim to  have  received  considerable  accolades  from
respectable  publications.  With  the   current   surfeit   of   Dark
Tranquillity clones roaming the land, my immediate reaction  was  one
of cynicism, if not downright disapproval. My  hopes  did  soar  when
confronted with the melodic leads of the intro. Combining  remarkable
dexterity with more ferocity than, say, In Flames, the  boys  attempt
to blend the harshier styles of Gothenburg  (At  the  Gates,  Crystal
Age) with the more smoothly melodic (Dark Tranquillity,  In  Flames),
sounding on the hole a lot 'deathlier' than their other counterparts.
It's not totally unoriginal, though; a certain element of originality
lurks in most of Carcariass' work. Ranging from  ultra-funky  (yech!)
to pure death metal, original riffs  abound  on  this  album,  in  an
occasionally disruptive mix of styles; the problem here being a  kind
of identity crisis. What Carcariass has attempted to do is to  create
a whole new sound by  combining  radically  different  elements  into
single tracks. A problem faced by even some of the  more  experienced
bands, such music often sounds slapdash and improvised, the challenge
being to create fluid, natural songs. Sadly, Carcariass' music  falls
almost  entirely  into  this  category,  coming  across  as   totally
unplanned and  hastily  thrown  together.  Granted,  they  possess  a
certain element of jazz in their music, but such  avant-garde  styles
require years of refinement, something these guys obviously lack.  As
for now, _Hell on Earth_ offers little more enjoyment than a mediocre
demo to a discerning listener; however, don't  write  this  band  off
yet, the next album might just be one helluva stunner.

Contact: WWW: http://www.loria.fr/~couturie/carcariass
         mailto:couturie@loria.fr


Cradle of Filth - _Cruelty and the Beast_
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)  (Music For Nations, May 1998)

So this is it. My turn to review an album by Cradle of Filth, a  band
almost everyone seems to  either  love  or  hate.  Coincidentally,  I
neither love nor hate them. _Cruelty and the Beast_ is a good  album,
but  simultaneously  slightly  disappointing  for  me.  Most  of  the
'classic'  Cradle  of  Filth  elements  are  here  (including  Dani's
well-worked lyrics, the usual imagery effort and Sarah Jezebel Deva's
nice  vocals),  as  well  as  plenty  of  quality  musical  sequences
throughout nearly one hour. _Cruelty and the Beast_  is  mostly  less
aggressive and especially less intense than the 'old' CoF; it's  also
a bit more theatrical (_CatB_ is an interesting concept  album  about
Elizabeth Bathory, by  the  way)  than  their  previous  albums.  The
average speed is lower than  before;  the  guitar  sound  is  usually
cleaner; and the drum sound is of strangely poor quality, tending  to
hurt the album. The cleaner guitar sound also sometimes becomes  very
thin when the keyboards are silent, which,  together  with  the  drum
sound, has poor results.  However,  despite  the  production  faults,
_Cruelty and the Beast_ should be worthy of purchase in case you like
CoF's style.


Enthral - _Prophecies of the Dying_  (Hot Records, 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (5 out of 10)

Over one hour of blackened Norwegian metal that features some Swedish
influences, divided in songs of around  ten  minutes  each.  Add  the
reasonably careful packaging that  _PotD_  has  and  some  favourable
adjectives, and you have what could be a promising package.  However,
the album turns out to be  quite  weak.  It  has  a  rather  peculiar
overall sound, mainly because of the unusually loud  and  clear  bass
sound; this might even have  been  positive,  but  the  rest  of  the
production is far from ideal and the  bass  sound  becomes  annoying.
However, the main problem with _PotD_ is that Enthral display neither
the creativity nor the technical skills they needed to turn this into
a good album. As a result,  the  songs  become  repetitive  and  lack
points of interest, with few exceptions -- Enthral  are  just  -very-
far from the creativity and talent of  a  band  such  as  Opeth.  The
production doesn't help either -- and Enthral are  nowhere  near  the
remarkable  intensity  of,  for  example,  Nagelfar's  _Hunengrab  im
Herbst_, either. Ironically, Enthral failed to enthral me with  their
_Prophecies of the Dying_.


Enthroned - _Regie Sathanas_  (Blackened, April 1998)
by: Adam Wasylyk  (3 out of 10)

I've never hid my love and passion for that  lovable  cartoon  family
The Simpsons. I've seen every episode at least five times (hell, when
it comes on three times a day in my area, what's a guy to do?) and  I
consider myself  quite  knowledgeable  on  the  topic.  One  scene  I
remember well took place in the Simpson home, where Homer is watching
something on television but becomes angry and frustrated at what he's
watching, causing him  to  hit  the  television  and  yell  "Be  more
funny!". While listening to shit to review I often  fantasize  myself
taking hold of one of the members and giving him a huge  bitch  slap,
causing me to yell "play better music dammit!". Enthroned was one  of
those very bands,  taking  black  metal  to  a  new  low  with  their
monotonous playing while  adding  nothing  to  the  already  polluted
genre. This album was in  tribute  to  the  ex-drummer  who  commited
suicide last year (perhaps he was sick of playing bad metal?). I  can
only wish if I ever joined a band (yes, that's a stretch) and left it
in a similar manner  as  this  drummer,  that  someone  wouldn't  pay
tribute to me in such a ridiculous and silly way. And  people  wonder
why black metal is ridiculed by so many. This is the reason  why,  my
friends.


EverEve - _Stormbirds_  (Nuclear Blast, March 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

EverEve's superb debut _Seasons_ told, through intelligent lyrics and
music, a tale that went from despair to hope and back to  desolation.
_Seasons_, as you can read in CoC #20 (in a review I  entirely  agree
with), showed a highly talented  blend  of  doom,  gothic  and  metal
elements.  It  has  outstanding  doom  moments,  top  notch  metallic
qualities and occasional gothic touches that actually fit the  music.
Fortunately, _Stormbirds_ is a worthy sequel to that excellent album.
It remains clear that every member  of  EverEve  contributes  to  the
overall result and every instrument again manages to sound  just  how
it  should,  considering  what  EverEve  create.   I   was   somewhat
apprehensive about the direction EverEve would choose.  However,  the
introductory narration says we are about to enter a  realm  of  "much
prouder but nevertheless even sadder creatures" than the crows chosen
to represent the inevitable Winter found on _Seasons_  --  promising.
And as the band opens the album with "Fields of  Ashes",  it  becomes
clear from the very first few seconds of it that _Stormbirds_ can  be
as great as _Seasons_. And, in fact, even if this turns out to be the
album's best song, only "Universe" (towards the end) falls noticeably
below the high average quality. The songs, most of which  are  linked
together, are anything but predictable: this is one varied album, and
it features some faster  parts  and  perhaps  not  as  much  doom  as
_Seasons_. (Still plenty of  blackened  vox,  as  the  vocal  balance
didn't change much.) EverEve continue to experiment in  every  track,
be  it  the  seven  "normal"  songs,  the  short  and  very  romantic
"Dedications", the over four minute long  "Spleen"  (excellent  grand
piano and French narration)  or  the  strange  "Valse  Bizarre".  So,
EverEve have done it again. _Seasons_ still stands  as  my  favorite,
perhaps mostly because it's doomier, but _Stormbirds_  confirms  that
EverEve  are  one  of  those  bands  that  have  remarkable   musical
equilibrium and shows that they haven't lost their direction.


Kadath - _Twisted Tales of Gruesome Fates_
by: Paul Schwarz  (7 out of 10)  (Independent, November 1997)

It's a pity Kadath chose such a typically laughable  title  for  this
MCD, because for a band producing their first MCD  Kadath  are  doing
pretty well. Forget  that  this  'boasts'  a  cover  of  Terrorizer's
"Corporation  Pull-In"  (not  good  or  interestingly   reinterpreted
enough), concentrate instead on Kadath's own music and, hidden  among
a sea of well executed cliches, you will find a  good  deal  of  near
originality. The band add harmony playing, more typical of  black  or
brutal melodic death bands, into a sound which  is  most  prominently
influenced by grindcore and death. They also utilise some  refreshing
acoustic interludes which, although not  wholly  original,  are  well
woven into the tracks on which they appear.  As  debut  EPs  (they've
also done one split 7") go, _TToGF_ is damn good going and bodes well
for  future  releases.  Kadath  need  better  production  and,   most
importantly, greater technical skill (also a  must  for  doing  those
Terrorizer covers properly, at least in the drum department).

Contact: Holger Friedenberger, Eifelstrasse 35, 52068 Aachen, Germany
         Voice: (0049) [241] 532 747


Katatonia - _Discouraged Ones_  (Avantgarde, April 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

I can  only  draw  one  comparison  between  _Discouraged  Ones_  and
Katatonia's first album, the sorrowful masterpiece that is,  for  me,
_Dance of December Souls_. In my opinion, the main emotion  portrayed
in _Dance of December Souls_ is sorrow; ultimately, the same  can  be
said about _Brave Murder Day_. _Discouraged Ones_,  however,  as  the
name  itself  indicates,  is  more  of  a  work  of   discouragement.
Musically, relative to their _Sounds of Decay_ EP [CoC #28], the main
changes concern the vocals (all clean now) and song structuring (very
conventionally chorus-oriented now, far from the early days and  also
more conventional than in _Sounds of Decay_). For  a  Katatonia  fan,
these three changes should  define  _Discouraged  Ones_  well  enough
already, for the musical quality hasn't  been  lost.  Renske's  clean
vocals are adequately doomy most of the time, even if  exceptions  do
appear. Instrumentally, besides the (in my opinion, unfortunate) song
structure changes, similarities to _Sounds of Decay_ are  often  easy
to find, despite all  the  changes.  "Deadhouse"  and  especially  "I
Break" are brilliant examples of what Katatonia can  achieve  through
their new sound, and most other  songs  follow  those  close  enough.
However, in my  very  personal  opinion,  "Distrust"  and  especially
"Relention" should never have been on a Katatonia album, and  neither
should the kind of  guitar  solos  found  in  the  last  two  tracks.
Overall, this is a great album that  I  feel  could  have  been  even
better, considering who made it. Nevertheless, my rating reflects the
fact that I do not find _Discouraged Ones_ superior to October Tide's
_Rain Without End_ [CoC #30], which I personally  enjoy  better,  nor
quite as outstanding as the music in Katatonia's  _Sounds  of  Decay_
EP. Still, let it be very clear that this is  one  remarkable  album,
full of musical quality and the blend  of  emotions  and  music  that
Katatonia have always superbly achieved  --  even  though  these  are
different now: discouraging, rather than sorrowful.


Korova - _Dead Like an Angel_  (Napalm, 1998)
by: Brian Meloon  (8 out of 10)

Korova described their 1995  debut  album  _A  Kiss  in  the  Charnel
Fields_ as "northgoatified cyberbaroque".  While  this  is  a  rather
cheesy description, it does capture most of the salient  features  of
that album, which consisted of a unique  blend  of  black  and  death
metal, some goth, and a general weirdness along the lines of  Thought
Industry and Master's Hammer. _Dead Like an Angel_ continues in  this
tradition,   but    shows    the    band    leaning    more    toward
electro-experimentation. At times, they remind me of  such  bands  as
Therion (whose female vocalist also sings on  this  album)  and  Dark
Reality, but they really have a style all their own. The album starts
off as reasonably heavy and straightforward  industrial-tinged  death
metal, with keys used as accents. As the  album  wears  on,  it  gets
progressively  lighter,  more  symphonic/gothic,  weirder,  and  more
electronic. The song "Trip to the Bleeding Planets" (a redone version
of the one on Napalm's "With Us or Against Us" comp) appears  as  the
middle song, bridging the two halves of the  album.  There  are  both
black metal raspy vocals and clean male and female vocals. The  clean
male vocals could use some work, as he doesn't quite have  the  range
to hit the highest notes. He also has a goofy/silly  way  of  singing
that takes some getting used to. The playing is much better this time
around; it's tight, but  there  are  still  a  few  weak  spots.  The
production is clean (a big improvement over their  last  album),  but
there are some places where the guitar tones could be better. In all,
this is an excellent, diverse, and truly unique album.


Lacuna Coil - _Lacuna Coil_  (Century Media, May 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

While this Italian atmospheric/metal outfit  are  a  complete  carbon
copy of The Gathering in my books (I mean... just hear  the  vocals),
there just seems to be something emanating throughout this 6-song  EP
that draws me to the music of Lacuna Coil. The vocals  are  the  main
thing (thanks in part to the lovely Cristina), but  it  can  also  be
traced to the celestial sounds  of  passion  and  excellence  spewing
forth in monumentous proportions on numerous tracks (i.e. "This Is my
Dream" and "Falling") that leave the  listener  (like  myself)  taken
aback. Powerful expressionism that soothes the soul and leaves you in
a hypnotic state. A solid release that deserves a listen.


Ledel - _Behind Inside Unexpected_  (Grupo Premiato Musicattiva, 1997)
by: Brian Meloon  (8 out of 10)

This is Ledel's first MCD, following on the heels of their demo  "The
New Case" [see CoC #23]. It features one of the songs from that demo,
plus two new songs in a similar style. Their sound  is  difficult  to
categorize; it isn't really  metal,  but  it  does  contain  metallic
elements. They play styles ranging from latin dance to jazz to "space
rock" to dissonant metal. What I like the most about their  style  is
that they're very confident.  They  are  willing  to  take  risks  in
developing their songs, instead of sticking to what's comfortable and
predictable. They're also incredibly good at weaving a sonic tapestry
entirely without the aid of keyboards. All of the sound  effects  are
done on guitar synths (similar to Pestilence's "Spheres",  only  much
more  advanced).  In  that  respect,  I  haven't  heard  anything  as
impressive as these guys. The production is  cleaner  than  on  their
demo, and that causes a problem, since the  guitar  tone  isn't  very
good in places. It has kind of a weak, tinny distortion, sort of like
how it would sound if you poked a hole in  a  speaker.  Their  lineup
features a full-time percussionist, who adds to  their  dense  sound.
The music is typically complex, with usually a few things going on at
the same time. The playing is good, although there are  a  few  spots
where they're a little loose. The songs can get a  little  repetitive
at times, but, eventually, they move on and take the song  somewhere.
In any case, this is a refreshing, unique  vision  from  a  confident
band, and well worth a listen for those wanting something different.

Contact: mailto:slayer@dei.unipd.it (Maurizio)
         mailto:puppet@dana.dei.unipd.it (Luca)


Monster Magnet - _Powertrip_  (A&M, June 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley  (9 out of 10)

The return was inevitable. Like we could get rid of Dave Wyndorf  and
his merry band of stoners. Break out the joints people, "Space  Lord"
Wyndorf has returned with his best work since _Superjudge_ with their
latest cosmic crusade _Powertrip_. After  the  success  of  the  very
commercial sounding, but excellent record _Dopes to Infinity_ (1995),
I was kind of skeptical to where Wyndorf  and  crew  would  take  the
music of Monster Magnet. CoC  head  honcho  Gino  Filicetti  worships
their earlier efforts _Superjudge_ (1993) and _Spine Of God_  (1991),
like myself, because those records captured a renegade assault to our
senses through experimentive music and excessive amounts of drug use.
Both those records brought forth the unique talents of Wyndorf  as  a
storyteller, leading us like school kids through his jaded and fucked
up world of reality and mind searching. While _DtI_ had that kind  of
story tellin' feature, it lacked a real uneasy coat  of  rawness  and
dysfunctional state of mind. It was too clean for the most part. Onto
1998 and Wyndorf's longtime coming epic _Powertrip_.  Smokin'  opener
"Crop Circle" starts this cosmic leap  of  complexity  and  downright
groovy mode of deliverance. Strong  riffs  and  abstract  visions  of
love, life and drug use (courtesy of numbers  like  "Temple  of  Your
Dreams", "19 Witches" and "Tractor") manhandle the sonic  grooves  of
Monster Magnet, coating them with vices of the unlawful variety  that
peck at our minds. This is one of those  records  that  signifies  an
accomplishment in a band. Achieving a  status  of  creativity  utopia
where  all  seems  to  be  flowing  properly  and  symbolizing   true
craftsmanship. While I'm sure Wyndorf and Co. have years  more  music
to write, _Powertrip_ is a worthy collection of  numbers  that  shine
like there is no tomorrow. And Wyndorf's lyrics? Totally out there.


Various - _Call To Irons: A Tribute to Iron Maiden_
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)  (Dwell Records, May 1998)

Just by  glancing  over  the  track  listing  and  seeing  the  bands
participating in this much deserved tribute record, it was quite easy
to be excited about this compilation. Bands like Vital Remains  ("The
Trooper"), Morgion ("To Tame a Land") and Absu ("Transylvania") doing
Iron Maiden numbers -- what a cool concept. With eleven Maiden tracks
covered, I'll have to say I was pleased with about eight of them. And
the reason being? Well... I felt that  some  of  Iron  Maiden's  more
well-known hits (i.e. "Flight of Icarus" and "Number of  the  Beast")
were ignored, opting for more defined Maiden numbers  like  "Remember
Tomorrow", "Strange World" and "Ides Of March / Purgatory"). But then
again, I'm not the band covering my favorite Iron Maiden  number,  am
I? Standouts on this  compilation  include  Ancient  Wisdom's  killer
"Powerslave", Morgion's "To Tame A  Land"  and  Opera  IX  doing  the
classic "Rime of the Ancient  Mariner".  Some  cool  covers,  some  a
little weak, but what do you expect when you're competing against the
masters of metal? This tribute goes to show the power  and  influence
that Maiden held so tight in the 80s, something the chaps are lacking
as we head into the year 2000. I'm praying Steve Harris and the  boys
check this one out and realize that they don't write metal music like
this anymore.


Malignant Tumour/Squash Bowels - _Eat the Flesh...and Vomica/Dreams
                                  Come True...in Death_
by: Paul Schwarz  (7 out of 10)  (Obscene, August 1997)

Well, this really was a surprise. When bands advertise themselves, in
so many words, as pure, extreme grindcore I have come  to  expect  46
(or whatever number) minutes of  underproduced,  badly  played  white
noise to arrive at my door step printed onto plastic. This CD did not
conform to the latter. Yes, it is grindcore, and yes it is pure,  but
as bassed out pure-grind  goes  this  split  is  close  to  _Reek  of
Putrefaction_'s standard and has a slightly  better  production  than
the aforementioned. Malignant Tumour get the first half and 27 of the
43 tracks to do their thing and they are marginally the better of the
two. The riffs are repetitive and it would be a lie to call the music
original, although there are some nice drum breaks, but this  doesn't
matter because Malignant Tumour are simply  unashamed  and  rippingly
good gridcore; nothing more,  nothing  less.  Squash  Bowels  have  a
slightly murkier production and again the music is not devastating in
its originality, but similarly the songs are played out in style  and
the grind is good.  If  your  heart  longs  for  the  sound  of  pure
grindcore, look no further; your journey is at an end.

Contact: Obscene Productions, c/o Miloslav Urbanec
         Dolany 117, 533 44, p. St Zdanice, Czech Republic


Manegarm - _Nordstjarnans Tidsalder_  (Displeased, April 1998)
by: Adam Wasylyk  (4 out of 10)

The last black metal record I've heard from Displeased was by a  band
called Unlord. A band that could  easily  crush  the  likes  of  Dark
Funeral  and  Marduk;  they've   crafted   a   truly   barbaric   yet
unforgettable  form  of  hateful  black  metal.  Manegarm  has   high
inspirations but it falls short, as it  can't  sustain  the  strength
exhibited by only a couple of tracks over  an  entire  record.  Using
most of the usual black metal cliches, the band failed  to  create  a
sound for themselves but do show some talent at  regurgitation  while
demonstrating that this genre is becoming polluted with copycats  and
unforgettables. A short review for a band that gave me so  little  in
return.


Mindrot - _Soul_  (Relapse, May 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

Oh man... I was just losing it with just one listen of the new LP  by
Mindrot, _Soul_. What happened? I was in fact a big fan  of  Mindrot,
cherishing their two previous Relapse recordings,  _Forlorn_  EP  and
debut full-length _Dawning_, but there was something  very  different
about the new Mindrot. I had talked to  bassist  Matt  a  few  months
back, just prior to the efforts' release (and having only  heard  one
or two new tracks) and he had mentioned that  the  band  had  altered
their sound, experimented with the Mindrot sound and were very  proud
of what they had done with it. So I took that in stride  and  when  I
got _Soul_ and slapped it on. Shock. Unrest. Disbelief. The band  had
changed quite a bit in three years. While  still  respondent  to  the
eerie, atmospheric overtones of complex  metal  that  they  had  been
known for, this Southern California  outfit  had  thrown  into  their
musical cache  an  onslaught  of  violent  hardcore-esque  riffs  and
vocals. What the fuck!? Holy shit... I was in  disbelief.  How  could
this happen? Wasn't this going to ruin the essence  of  what  Mindrot
was about: searching of a soul through music? Oh...  wait  a  second.
Hold the phone. Okay... now I get it. I investigated  my  thoughts  a
bit more on the makeup of _Soul_ and for one day, through 12-15 spins
I cranked _Soul_. Over and over the record blasted  from  my  boombox
and I started to feel and understand the workings of the  band.  This
was shaping up to  being  a  godly  sounding  record.  Warped  within
harrowing screams of anguish and fluctuating through  softened  tales
of despair and hardened calls of anger and violence, Mindrot reveal a
true catastrophic view of society and  the  world  we  live  in  with
_Soul_. This LP discovers the makeup of one's life  and  it  tells  a
tale. Open it up moreso for the world to see and it becomes  quite  a
spectacle to delve into. That's how I feel with _Soul_. You  hear  it
in the background and it's a  pure,  powerful  dose  of  metal  music
tinged with hardcore stylings, but with more of an in-depth  analysis
it becomes quite a creepy piece of work to listen to.  Lyrically  and
musically, _Soul_ defines the ways of Mindrot, and it's a  definition
of great character and strong  ambitions  to  succeed  in  showcasing
talented works of creativity in recordings. Mission  accomplished.  A
great band that more should discover for  themselves.  Here  is  your
chance, kids.


Nokturnal Mortum - _Goat Horns_  (The End, 1998)
by: Brian Meloon  (8 out of 10)

Nokturnal Mortum hail from the frozen tundra  of  Ukraine,  and  play
high quality black metal. Their  lineup  features  two  keyboardists,
playing at the same time, but often not playing the same parts.  That
causes some sections to sound like three songs being played at  once.
Both keyboardists are very good, and  mix  both  classical  and  folk
influences into the music. They also use some unique  instrumentation
to give certain sections a distinct atmosphere. Some of the keyboards
are a little too happy (think "Bal-Sagoth"), but most are  consistent
with the music's dark atmosphere. The songs are  varied  and  feature
some interesting changes. The playing is quite good,  especially  the
keyboards, but all members are competent.  The  production  isn't  as
clear or  powerful  as  it  could  be,  but  it  gives  the  music  a
mysterious, obscure sound. Most  of  the  vocals  are  typical  raspy
style,  but  there  are  a  few  sections  with  clean  male  vocals.
Unfortunately, these often aren't as effective as they could  be,  as
they aren't very well done. Still, this is a good release, and offers
promise for their next album, which is scheduled to be released  this
summer.


Novembers Doom - _For Every Leaf that Falls_
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)  (Independent, January 1998)

Lovelorn, emotional doom/death of very  high  quality  on  this  MCD.
Novembers Doom show very  substantial  improvements  in  their  music
relatively to _Amid its Hallowed Mirth_: _For Every Leaf that  Falls_
mixes fine doom melodies with remarkably crunching  riffs,  and  adds
very  good  vocal  and  instrumental   performances   and   excellent
production. I might mention that the  music  shows  traces  of  early
Anathema and My Dying Bride; but those really are  just  traces  now,
since Novembers Doom have reached a sound that seems to be much  more
their own. Some nice occasional female chanting  contrasts  with  the
death vox, slow guitars and occasional stronger riffs -- all this  is
really well served by Novembers Doom, thus forming a very strong  MCD
indeed. Add to all this the good lyrics and the emotions contained in
the music, and what you have is one of those -good-  MCDs:  the  kind
that makes you feel like your money was well spent, unlike most  MCDs
out there, which have very little value for money. This is thoroughly
enjoyable tragic doom/death, of consistently high quality  throughout
the twenty minutes of this MCD. _For Every Leaf that Falls_ shows all
the quality  needed  to  turn  the  promise  of  a  future  excellent
full-length from this band into an expectable reality.


Obituary - _Dead_  (Roadrunner, April 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz  (7.5 out of 10)

Much  of  the  time,  live  albums  are  shameless   cash-ins,   and,
considering Roadrunner appalling record  with  those  recently  (does
ANYONE need details?), I didn't hold out much hope that _Dead_  would
break the cycle. It did; strike one, Obituary. _Dead_ is pretty  damn
good on a number of levels. It charts Obituary's career  quite  well,
although "I'm in Pain" is the only song from _The End  Complete_.  It
reproduces the live experience well, the  sound  is  maybe  a  little
worked on but it is the entirety of a single show in Boston. The song
versions are good, with a few surprises (the drum  solo  in  "I'm  in
Pain" is a nice one,  the  45  second  "Chopped  in  Half"  is  not).
Overall, _Dead_ is definitely one for quite dedicated Obituary  fans,
particularly those who like the new album and _Cause of Death_  best,
because those are the most extensively  covered  --  those  who  have
never heard them, where have you been? For anyone else, it depends on
how you stand with live albums; if you never actually listen  to  the
ones you have, then _Dead_ doesn't offer enough extra  to  warrant  a
purchase; but if you enjoy them, it is definitely up there very close
to Slayer's _Decade of Aggression_. At 65 minutes of  length,  it  is
certainly the longest Obituary album  you're  ever  likely  to  find,
unless they get all trippy on us: not likely from listening to _Dead_.


Various - _Peaceville X_  (Peaceville, April 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (no rating)

Peaceville is  now  ten  years  old,  and  have  decided  to  release
something special -- the choice was this compilation CD that features
the most important bands in the  current  Peaceville  roster  playing
non-metal covers. I have to say that it'd probably be something  else
to have My Dying Bride  playing  Emperor's,  say,  "With  Strength  I
Burn", Anathema covering The  Blood  Divine's  "Wilderness"  and  The
Blood Divine playing Anathema's "The Beloved", or maybe even Dominion
emulating The Gathering... I think it would have been much harder and
more challenging than their actual choices. You can check  Peaceville
owner Hammy's opinion about this  in  my  interview  in  this  issue.
Seriously, though, the option chosen here was to play non-metal songs
that'd somehow fit each band's style (or sort of), and the result  is
actually interesting -- even if not  constantly,  but  this  is  very
usual in  compilations.  Anathema  open  _Peaceville  X_  with  their
melancholic version of Pink Floyd's "One of the Few". Later,  someone
(presumably Daniel Cavanagh) from Anathema plays piano for Dominion's
Michelle Richfield's very good, emotional vocal interpretation of the
surprisingly doomy "Better Off Dead" (Bad Religion). Her vocals  here
are the best thing to be found on the  compilation,  in  my  opinion.
Anathema also finish the CD with another doomy Pink Floyd cover, this
time "Goodbye Cruel World". My Dying Bride play "Some Velvet Morning"
(Nancy Sinatra / Lee Hazelwood)  and  Portishead's  "Roads":  nothing
remarkably good, just listenable.  One  of  Peaceville's  new  bands,
Thine, closes the positive part of the CD with a good cover  of  Nick
Cave's sarcastically titled "Song of Joy", one of his good songs. The
rest... well, the rest is either just reasonable or rather  mediocre.
The Blood Divine completely  disappoint  with  their  covers  of  The
Osmonds and Joy Division, Dominion play Tears for Fears' "Shout"  and
Rolling Stones' "Paint it Black", Blackstar covers Husker Du and Thin
Lizzy, Acrimony choose Status Quo and Lid play  the  Beatles'  "Don't
Let Me Down". As for a rating, well, either you think that  you  will
enjoy such covers or you don't...


Prototype - _Cloned_  (Sublevel, 1998)
by: Brian Meloon  (8 out of 10)

This is Prototype's first CD, and it features the  three  songs  from
their demo _Seed_ [see CoC #15] plus three  new  songs.  Their  older
sound can be described as "a cooler (Wicked) Maraya":  melodic  power
metal, with a good mix of technicality and memorability. Their  newer
sound is less melodic, more  intense,  and  more  syncopative  (a  la
Solus, Meshuggah, et al.). It's still melodic at times,  but  not  as
much as their previous songs. This probably has at least something to
do with their new drummer (Pat Magrath, ex-Killing Culture). He fills
in the shoes of his predecessor quite admirably. The thing I like the
most about their demo are the overplayed  drums.  The  drummer  takes
advantage of the rather loose structure of the songs,  and  fills  in
the gaps. The newer songs are more tightly woven  together,  so  that
aspect of the band's style is gone. The songs all show a good variety
in tempos and structures, maintaining a cohesiveness  in  sound,  but
avoiding repetitiveness. The  production  is  very  good.  It's  more
powerful on the newer songs, but the older songs are more  laid-back,
and don't suffer. The weak spot of the album  is  the  vocals.  While
those on the older songs aren't great, they aren't bad either. On the
newer songs, the vocalist seems to be straining to hit notes that  he
doesn't have the range for.  He  has  also  stopped  harmonizing  his
vocals, which helped disguise his inadequacies  in  the  past.  Other
than the poor quality of the vocals, the music and  the  playing  are
very good. Fans of technical power metal should enjoy this.

Contact: mailto:protoemail@aol.com


Reincarnation - _Void_  (Repulse Records, May 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley  (5 out of 10)

What's with the production on this record? I could have  recorded  it
better in my bathroom using a 4-track recorder. Anyway... the overall
feel of this death metal / grinding blast beats-ridden 9-song  outing
is rather lackluster in my books.  The  riffs  and  blast  beats  are
loosely tied together, leaving  the  vocals  and  rhythm  section  in
shambles. While the band has  captured  a  low,  raw  feel  to  their
material (something that managed to be salvaged from poor production)
it's not enough to keep this CD  being  a  repeated  play  on  my  CD
player. This is 'fast n' heavy' music for the sake of being that way.
No real initiative to keep things in check. A loose cannon, that runs
out of initiative and ideas after the  first  few  songs.  Basically,
I've heard it all before -- and better.


Sculptured - _The Spear of the Lily is Aureoled_  (The End, 1998)
by: Brian Meloon  (8 out of 10)

Sculptured are from Washington, and play "progressive  death  metal".
The music is light death metal, along the lines of  Edge  of  Sanity,
but more interesting and diverse. They have some touches  of  the  In
Flames style in places, but avoid the ruts that bands in  that  style
frequently are mired in. The songs are frequently changing,  so  that
while some parts may not be effective, they don't completely ruin the
song. The band mixes together a good variety of styles,  and  include
many unique elements. The most  obvious  of  these  are  the  trumpet
solos, but there are numerous other passages which are original.  The
vocals are usually growled death vocals, with some  distorted  spoken
vocals at times. The playing is solid, but the material isn't  overly
challenging. The production is okay, but does sound a  little  cheap.
This is an impressive offering, and it shows lots of potential.  With
some maturity and development, these guys could be excellent.


Septic Flesh - _A Fallen Temple_  (Holy Records, March 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

Would you rather have an album that smoothly flows without any abrupt
changes, keeping the atmosphere  and  mood  constant  throughout  its
length, or one that presents strong changes every once in a while? If
you chose the latter, this may interest  you.  Presented  in  a  nice
digipak, _A Fallen Temple_ is  not  Septic  Flesh's  new  full-length
album yet, even though it does contain plenty of  new  material.  The
changes I mentioned occur because there are three very different sets
of material here: three new 'normal' Septic Flesh songs, two new long
neo-classical songs (unrelated to what the band had done so far)  and
a re-recording of their 1991 EP _Temple of the Lost  Race_.  The  new
Septic Flesh songs are more melodic than  before,  with  some  mellow
guitar leads and more clean vocals (even though the death vox  aren't
gone yet). The result is  good,  but  not  outstanding.  "The  Eldest
Cosmonaut" (and especially its so-called "dark version")  stands  out
as the best of those songs,  mainly  because  of  Natalie  Rassoulis'
superb vocal contribution. A brilliant voice, powerful and confident.
She only returns for the two neo-classical songs, which, as one might
expect, are rather strange -- reminded me of Arcturus' _La Masquerade
Infernale_ minus the metallic  elements  and  with  Natalie's  vocals
making them much more  interesting.  The  baritone  voice  they  used
annoyed me intensely, though. After the three new songs and the first
neo-classical  piece  arrives  the  re-recorded   material.   Faster,
stronger death metal, to which plenty of keyboard  enhancements  seem
to be added (I never listened to the original versions),  the  result
having turned out very enjoyable. In fact,  except  for  "The  Eldest
Cosmonaut", I liked this section better than the first. Part  two  of
the neo-classical piece then arrives, followed by the "dark  version"
of "The Eldest Cosmonaut" that I mentioned before (more death vox and
a more somber sound). _A Fallen Temple_ is thus an interesting album,
and above all very varied.


Siebenburgen - _Grimjaur_  (Napalm Records, May 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (6 out of 10)

This Swedish band's interesting _Loreia_ [CoC #22] relied  mainly  on
catchy riffs, folkish influences and unusual (yet very  good)  female
vocals to seize the  listener's  attention.  Strangely,  despite  the
band's style  having  fundamentally  stayed  the  same,  these  three
elements have nonetheless been somewhat forsaken on _Grimjaur_. Their
musical style can still be  described  as  generally  mid-paced,  not
really harsh black metal with folk influences, even though  the  pace
has  somewhat  increased   and   the   folk   influences   decreased.
Instrumentally, the band actually shows  some  improvement,  but  the
average riff quality is lower than  before  --  less  catchy  without
really accomplishing anything else significantly better than  before.
_Grimjaur_ starts pretty well, and the first few  tracks  flow  quite
nicely. However, after those  opening  tracks,  the  album  gradually
becomes repetitive and even sometimes monotonous,  only  occasionally
showing the quality I expected. With the exception of the last track,
there are few traces left of the folkish parts found in _Loreia_ and,
what's far worse, Louisa Hallsteed (the female vocalist  /  violinist
on _Loreia_) only has short appearances on three tracks -- beside the
nice final track, which is all hers. Considering that her vocals were
what interested me most in _Loreia_, this is a major  disappointment.
_Grimjaur_ thus falls a couple of marks below the much more enjoyable
_Loreia_, which deserved a better successor.


Taetre - _The Art_  (Diehard, March 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8 out of 10)

First off, yes, this is another band from Gothenburg playing  melodic
death metal. However, although the overcrowding in this scene is  now
getting positively claustrophobic, Taetre have managed to  produce  a
very listenable debut which is full of rock solid  riffing  and  nice
melodic lead lines. Particular highlights of the album are first song
"My Lament",  which  comes  in  very  smoothly  off  the  intro,  and
"Lifeplague". Although by the end of 41 minutes the tracks  do  start
to blend very slightly into one another (this lacks the penchant  for
brilliant  acoustic  interlude  which  At  The  Gates  possessed  and
utilised) the album is still well worth the time  spent.  Taetre  are
certainly following older Swedish tradition, early '90s that  is,  of
being brutal, something lacking  in  too  many  bands  emerging  from
Gothenburg at the moment. _The Art_ is definitely  a  fine  base  for
Taetre to build on, and, with their prestigious live experience (they
have played with  many  of  Gothenburg's  most  noted),  they  should
definitely get  further  than  a  great  number  of  their  horde  of
contemporaries. But, with the scene so overcrowded and peoples' taste
changing daily, who can say for sure.


Therion - _Vovin_  (Nuclear Blast, March 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (10 out of 10)

Did you think Therion would never be able to release a  better  album
than _Theli_? They just did. There  are  two  clear  improvements  in
_Vovin_  relatively  to  _Theli_.  The  first  concerns  the  voices:
exclusively choir and lead classical vox;  no  'traditional'  Therion
vocals were used here -- the result is excellent.  Beside  the  large
choir, you may recognize the names of Martina Hornbacher  (Dreams  of
Sanity), Sarah Jezebel Deva (whom you may  remember  from  Cradle  of
Filth) and Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear). But while  the  two  ladies'
contributions are very welcome, Ralf Scheepers is responsible for the
album's only poor moments, found in  the  fastest  track,  "The  Wild
Hunt". The chorus he performs ruins the song and is -far-  below  the
quality of everything else on _Vovin_. But that  detail  is  easy  to
forget,  as  Christofer  Johnsson's  superb  memorable  melodies  and
arrangements flow with pure genius and are brilliantly performed. The
second improvement regards the orchestration: no  synths  or  samples
here. The Indigo Orchestra (doublebass, contrabass, viola, cello, and
two violins) gives _Vovin_ the extra touch of quality it needed.  The
metallic side of Therion's music continues its loss of weight,  which
is understandable -- indeed, this is an album  which,  regardless  of
personal taste, is truly excellent.


Various - _Until the End of Time_  (The End, 1997)
by: Brian Meloon  (8 out of 10)

This comp is a must have. It features all of the current artists from
The End records,  including  Nokturnal  Mortum  and  Sculptured  (see
reviews this issue). I won't go further into those  bands,  but  I'll
give a quick synopsis of the others. Mental Home are from Russia, and
they play melodic doom,  along  the  lines  of  old  Tiamat.  They're
competent musicians, but really nothing new  or  original.  Epoch  of
Unlight play fast  death/black  metal,  loosely  played,  but  pretty
technical. The playing is good; a little sloppy, but considering  the
technicality, that's understandable. Calling them "an evil In Flames"
would  be  an  adequate  description.   Odes   of   Ecstasy   are   a
female-fronted band, and sound roughly similar to Theater of Tragedy.
They're moderately melodic, fairly typical sounding, and at  times  a
little cheesy. Scholomance are by far my favorite band on this  disc.
I'd describe them as "a cool(er) version of Cradle  of  Filth".  They
take the base sound of Cradle of Filth, minus most of the  theatrical
and gothic elements, and add many other styles to  that  base  sound:
Egyptian melodies,  much  better  guitar  work,  interesting  use  of
dissonances  and  harmonies,  and  busy,  interesting  drumming.   In
addition, all this is packed into  only  four  minutes.  I'm  eagerly
awaiting their debut CD. All told, this  is  an  excellent  comp.  It
features a good variety of mostly very good bands. To  make  it  even
more enticing, The End are smart enough to  give  this  one  away  at
cost. It's only $3 ppd US, ($5 worldwide) through their web site.

Contact: WWW: http://www.mythosmedia.com/theend


Timescape - _Two Worlds_  (Independent, 1998)
by: Brian Meloon  (6 out of 10)

Timescape are a progressive metal band from Sweden, and this is their
first full-length effort. It includes  revocalized  versions  of  the
three songs that were on their promo  [CoC  #12].  They  have  a  new
singer this time around, and he's not very good. It's not that he has
a bad voice, but I don't think he knows how to use  it  properly.  At
his best, he reminds me of the guy from  Damn  the  Machine.  At  his
worst, he sings over-expressively, and adds  superfluous  high  notes
that he doesn't hit cleanly. Otherwise, the music is good. They  have
a light progrock/metal sound, similar to Dream Theater, but different
in their own  way.  The  songs  lie  in  the  middle  ground  between
strophic,    riff-oriented     songs     and     thoroughly-composed,
development-oriented songs. The songwriting is good, as  it  takes  a
few listens to really feel comfortable with the songs, and  yet  they
have some easily memorable parts. Two of the new songs are  decidedly
more laid back than their previous ones, and the other two are in the
same vein as before, but perhaps  a  little  more  experimental.  The
playing is still very good, and the  production  is  excellent.  This
should appeal to fans of  light  progmetal  willing  to  overlook  an
immature vocalist.

Contact: Timescape, c/o Johan Berlin
         Skogvaktaregatan 4, 602 08  Norrkoping, Sweden
         mailto:johan.berlin@mailbox.swipnet.se


Tulus - _Mysterion_  (Hot Records, March 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz  (5 out of 10)

Tulus don't sing in English. This doesn't really bother  me,  I  love
Enslaved's _Eld_ album, and although these aren't translated some  of
my   favourite   albums   don't   have   'translations'   of    their
incomprehensible vocals; but  it  is  probably  Tulus'  most  notable
quality. Mysterion is not a bad debut, but it displays no hints of  a
revolution about  to  happen.  Songs  like  "Skuggeskip"  have  nice,
slickly produced guitar riffs and an  ample  amount  of  blast  beats
among other less typical  drum  rhythms.  The  band  also  manage  to
combine atmospheric  keyboard  parts  and  use  of  acoustic  guitar.
However, this really boils down to a case  of  (decent)  black  metal
by-the-numbers, which accounts for the by-the-numbers style in  which
I've written most of this review. Tulus  are  worth  getting  if  the
Arcturus / Covenant style of non-brutal, no blast snare  black  metal
is starting to get you down (not a problem I have): it has  distorted
guitars, screeching vocals and some decent use of dynamics.


Tyrant - _Under the Dark Mystic Sky_  (Pulverised, 1997)
by: Brian Meloon  (8 out of 10)

This is high quality Scandinavian-style black metal from  Japan.  The
music is similar to an aggressive version of Arcturus' _Aspera  Hiems
Symfonia_. It has a neo-classical feel  to  it,  mostly  due  to  the
keyboards, which are very well-played and show good  diversity.  They
don't overpower the rest of the band, but alternately drive the music
and act as accompanyment. The playing is competent, but  not  flashy.
There are a few guitar solos  thrown  in  here  and  there  for  good
measure. Although they aren't as well done as the rest of the  album,
they do provide a nice change of pace. The music varies from fast  to
midpaced, and  the  songs  show  a  fair  amount  of  diversity.  The
production is excellent  as  well:  slightly  raw,  but  fitting  the
music's brutal edge. The vocals are typical raspy black metal  style,
with some (mostly male) clean  vocals.  The  clean  vocals  could  be
better, but usually function adequately. This is a fine  black  metal
album, suitable for those seeking a mix of aggression and artistry.


Unholy - _Rapture_  (Avantgarde, January 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)

This certainly is one of the strangest albums I have heard in a  very
long time. I  could  label  _Rapture_  as  mostly  very  slow,  often
repetitive, depressive doom/death; the melodies are  few  and  almost
withdrawn. Totaling 67:47 minutes, time doesn't seem to have  been  a
problem when _Rapture_ was recorded. After a bland couple of  opening
tracks comes  the  main  highlight,  "For  the  Unknown  One":  slow,
devastating guitars and few keyboard melodies (the  keyboards  remain
on the background throughout most of the album), with an unusual  and
interesting female voice. Veera Muhli does indeed have  the  kind  of
voice that makes you want her  to  'stay';  you  don't  want  her  to
'leave', but the music is  eventually  over  after  ten  minutes  and
you're left alone again. (This kind of effect was even stronger  with
early 3rd and the Mortal's Kari Rueslaetten or The Gathering's Anneke
van Giersbergen, but Veera's voice is still very pleasant.)  And  so,
alone to face the barren landscape presented by the music ahead,  you
find the fifteen minutes long "Wunderwerck": a piece  of  very,  very
slow and heavy doom/death with funeral-like organs.  "After  God"  is
faster than the previous songs,  more  riff-based  --  still  unusual
doom/death, but somewhat catchy. The short  "Unzeitgeist"  shows  how
things can get stranger: screamed vocals,  crazy  bass  and  keyboard
work, totally different from everything else on the  album.  Finally,
two tracks, around ten minutes each. "Wretched" brings  more  funeral
keyboards and repetitive, crushing, dirge-like drumming  and  riffing
with death vox. "Delunge", an interesting doomy  instrumental  track,
closes _Rapture_. This could have been a great album;  however,  some
of the album's qualities are a bit  let  down  as  it  often  becomes
somewhat excessively repetitive.


Various - _Voyager: 10 Years Nuclear Blast_ (Nuclear Blast, May 1998)
by: Adam Wasylyk  (7 out of 10)

First off, I'd like to send out a big  'thanks'  to  PHD  Canada  for
sending this puppy to us, since Nuke Blast decided not to  send  this
comp to  zines  for  review  purposes.  I  was  considering  doing  a
track-by-track analysis, but then I realized I had better  things  to
do, so I decided a synopsis would suffice. The brass tacks? Basically
Voyager consists of 3 CD's, with each disk  representing  an  era  in
Nuclear Blast's existence. Disk #1 is composed of the bands that were
on NB during the formative years. I  wasn't  aware  that  this  label
started out as a hardcore/punk label, as indicated not  only  by  the
liner notes detailing everything that has happened  with  this  label
but also by the first 6 tracks. The first track worth  talking  about
would have to be "Resist the Urge for Power" by No Fraud, having cool
vocal  hooks  and  proficient  music  that  sustains/supports   them.
Righteous Pigs are represented  with  "Boundaries  Unknown",  a  good
track to show the madness behind their hardcore/death sound. The rest
of the disk is rounded out by the label's more prominent  bands  such
as Pungent Stench, Macabre,  Kataklysm,  Dismember,  Monstrosity  and
Disharmonic Orchestra. Disk #2  represents  the  modern  era  of  the
label,  with  bands  such  as  Sinister,  Therion,  Meshuggah,  Pain,
Dissection and Hypocrisy. It also shows the new directions  that  the
label are going into, namely gothic metal  (Evereve)  and  industrial
drivel (Girls under Glass). Bad metal is also represented; be sure to
use your skip button when  the  tracks  by  Benediction,  The  Abyss,
Pyogenesis, Slapdash and Night In Gales begin. Disk #3 represents the
future of the label, the bands that will bring  the  label  into  the
21st century. Both good and bad metal are present and  in  abundance,
like most compilations in existence. Dimmu Borgir start it  off  with
some easy listening black metal via  "Mourning  Palace",  with  bands
like In  Flames,  Dismal  Euphony  and  Covenant  following  up  with
well-played  tracks.  Stuff  like  Hammerfall,  Hollow,   Left   Hand
Solution, Primal Fear and Am I Blood are a yawn-fest. I'm gonna  give
the thumbs up on this comp, for the sheer amount  of  music  here  (a
good portion of it being quite good) but  be  forewarned:  you  gotta
take the bad with the good.


Xytras - _Passage_  (Century Media, February 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (6 out of 10)

Considering the excellent keyboard work found in Samael's  _Passage_,
the idea of a classical version of that album seemed very interesting
to me. However, Xytras' (Samael keyboardist) version of _Passage_  is
fun to listen to, but not much more than that. The  piano  lines  are
very good, even superb at times, and are by far the best  element  on
this recording -- especially  on  "Rain",  "Angel's  Decay"  and  the
enchanting "Moonskin". Xytras built this album  around  the  original
melodies, adding more piano lines, rhythm and orchestral synths. Here
lie most of the problems: while the rhythm synths are effective, even
if not too good, the orchestral ones tend  to  sometimes  fail  their
purpose. Some songs still turn out very good ("My Saviour"  was  left
out, by the way), but the quality of the less keyboard-based ones  on
Samael's version varies. As it  is,  this  _Passage_  has  plenty  of
outstanding keyboard work (even for those who  aren't  into  Samael's
music), and is indeed fun to listen to for a few times  if  you  know
the original versions -- but I found myself wishing I  was  listening
to Samael's originals for most of the time.

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

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

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


Angrenost - _Evil_  (5-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (*****)

Quality atmospheric black  metal  from  Northern...  Portugal.  Could
certainly have fooled me, though. This demo,  pressed  on  CD,  comes
from a band that may very well soon release  a  debut  album  through
Andromeda Creations, who also distributes this  demo  CD.  Apparently
inspired by  the  ilk  of  Limbonic  Art's  majestic  symphonies  and
Emperor's epic masterpieces, Angrenost have  created  20  minutes  of
eerie and very atmospheric  symphonic  black  metal.  Of  course  the
quality can't be compared to the bands mentioned above, but this is a
demo that rises far above what one  would  probably  expect.  As  the
booklet artwork suggests, Angrenost's approach to black  metal  seems
to aim at the creation of cosmic soundscapes in  some  ways  akin  to
Limbonic Art's,  with  a  'buzzing'  guitar  sound  and  occasionally
dominant keyboard melodies  and  atmospheres.  The  production  could
certainly be better, despite the CD treatment, and  I  do  expect  to
find plenty of improvement in this band's future efforts --  however,
considering the limitations placed on the recording of this demo, the
time elapsed since then, and the musical  quality  found  here,  this
band shows rather unusual potential. I  am  thus  definitely  looking
forward  to  hearing  new  material  from  Angrenost,  especially  if
recorded under better conditions.

Contact: Angrenost, PO Box 598, 4900 Viana do Castelo, Portugal
Contact: Andromeda Creations, PO Box 366, 2775 Carcavelos, Portugal
         Phone/fax: 351 1 4562292
         mailto:kosmosis@mail.telepac.pt


Brutal Insanity - _Sick Perversions_  (4-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (***--)

Brutal Insanity are difficult to rate universally. If  I  was  rating
playing of, production of, and writing of brutal  death  metal  tunes
which could serve as bonus tracks for Cannibal Corpse's _Tomb of  the
Mutilated_, then Brutal  Insanity  would  get  5  out  of  5  without
hesitation. However, one of the things that a brutal death band needs
at the moment is new ideas, new ways of playing,  twists  and  turns.
These are things not provided by Brutal Insanity, so whether you want
this depends on how picky you are about  your  death  metal  and  how
brutal you like it. If the new Cannibal Corpse and Benediction albums
have been all you could think about for the last 6 months, then  look
no further than Brutal Insanity  for  an  extremely  low  cost  (1.50
pounds, aproximately 3.00 Canadian dollars),  three  tracks  (and  an
almost 30 second long cover of Sabbath's Paranoid). If you want  more
than blast snares,  growling  vocals,  groovy  riffs  and  shit-heavy
guitar sounds, a bit of finesse for  instance,  then  I  feel  Brutal
Insanity will still please your ears for  11  minutes  but  will  not
interrupt your life for long.

Contact: Jonathan Rushforth, Killingwood Cottage, Beverley Road,
         Bishop Burton, East Yorkshire, HU17 8QX, UK


Cut.Love.Kill - <demo>  (3-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley  (***--)

Get down and dirty with the  boys  in  CLK  as  they  lay  down  some
ferocious hard core / aggro rock numbers that could easily strip  the
paint off a wall if it were cranked loud enough. Brash, forceful  and
for the most part dark, the music of CLK falls into one of those demo
categories that I have here at home: the repeat listen section. While
we get inundated with hundreds of label  efforts  and  demo  material
here at CoC, I do keep a good stash of indie ones to  crank  now  and
then. This will be one of them. While only providing  us  with  three
tracks, the message here with this demo tape is loud and clear. These
guys mean business. Opener "Used" symbolizes the hard-edge vibe  that
CLK dish out so forcefully on this demo. Fans of Hatebreed, Meshuggah
and even Machine Head may be interested in scoping this demo out.

Contact: 582 Rosemill Drive, Lexington, KY USA 40503
         Voice: (606) 266-4291


Downfall - _Der Anfang vom Ende_  (4-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (****-)

Not only did this twenty minutes long demo tread a  strange  path  to
reach me, as it also presents some rather unexpected music. No  metal
here. This demo is a piece of  very  melancholic,  depressive  music,
with goth-like  vocals,  acoustic  guitars  (used  mainly  as  rhythm
guitars) and sparse  percussion.  The  center  of  Downfall's  sound,
however, is the mournful cello, in which dwells most of what  I  find
interesting in _Der Anfang vom Ende_. (Perhaps  strangely,  or  maybe
not, this French band decided to translate their lyrics to German and
exclusively use that  language  on  this  demo.)  Downfall  could  be
accused of being somewhat repetitive, and it is indeed true that  the
vocals don't always  sound  too  well.  But  with  songs  like  "Mein
Schmerz", it became a demo  I  listened  to  more  than  I  initially
expected -- mainly thanks to the emotion found in the music, in which
I must stress that the cello plays a fundamental part.

Contact: Autumn Productions, 51 Rue de la Pomme
         31000 Toulouse, France
         Phone/fax: (+33) 05 61 22 40 15
         WWW: http://wwwperso.hol.fr/~miroir
         mailto:miroir@hol.fr


Manifest - _Framework_  (7-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley  (**---)

After you get past the poor vocals and the poor  production  of  this
7-track demo, there really isn't much left rather  than  a  bunch  of
kids trying to be all mighty and such with thick  riffs  and  violent
screams aimed to kick us down. Half-hearted death metal  attempts  to
run rampant here as Manifest seems to lose the  ambition  to  deliver
solid work from the get go. Not to shit all over this band, but there
are several obstacles/problems that need  to  be  solved  before  the
equation can be determined. I'm  left  wondering  why  such  generic,
poorly recorded stuff was sent out in  the  first  place?  Makes  you
wonder...

Contact: Nick Engwer 5920 Leda Road, Sooke, BC CANADA V0S-1N0
         mailto:amaranth@vvv.com


Mephitis - _Blinded_  (5-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (***--)

What can I say? _Blinded_ ain't a bad  five  tracks  of  music,  it's
nicely played,  quite  well  produced,  but  ultimately  lacks  being
special. Generally great or good demos partake to some degree of  one
of two things which makes them good, in my view. They can be original
or they can excel in  their  chosen,  albeit  often  cliched,  style.
_Blinded_ uses a  mix  of  screeching  (black  metal-ish)  vocals,  a
pounding rhythm section and  mostly  repetitive,  thrashy,  mid-paced
riffs to get its 'point' across. The problem lies in  the  fact  that
_Blinded_'s 'point' is not the kind  which  is  going  to  produce  a
revolution or a nostalgic riot: it just carries you along, like  most
of modern politics' evidence of hope for the future, though.

Contact: Robert Gibson, Carrick Road, Edenderry, Co Offaly, Eire
         Voice: (0405) 31352


Scythe - _The Sorcerer_  (3-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (*****)

With the virtual avalanche of bands ripping off the '80s in what  has
become a shameless case of spot-that-riff, you'd think that any  band
with old/real/thrash metal leanings would be doomed to just blend in.
Well, if most are, Scythe certainly are not. By mixing mid-paced '80s
thrash  riffing  with  distinct  black  metal  leanings,   especially
vocally, Scythe show more promise in three tracks  than  many  signed
bands do in a whole mediocre album. As a debut demo, I don't think we
could ask for anything more: Scythe have excellent  songs,  excellent
vocals (the let down  of  many  a  band),  excellent  production  and
excellent  little  details  (like  the  rumble  of  fast  but  almost
subliminal double bass drums which  permeates  the  verses  of  these
songs). All the way from powerful  opener  "Demonfrost"  through  the
pounding of "Storms of Wrath" to the majestic  closer  "Lair  of  the
Ancient  Snake",  Scythe  prove  they  deserve  their  place  in  the
post-thrash/death/black scene; purchase and worship!

Contact: Scythe, 43 Cambridge Rd, London, SW20 0QB, England


Soulscar - _Lost in Life_  (3-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley  (****-)

Much like the delicate art of finesse and  production  Carcass  would
demand for their material comes Vancouver's Soulscar, a  death  metal
(oh so little industrially-charged) outfit that works  damn  hard  to
keep things tight, precise and crisp sounding. This three-song outing
is almost near perfection. Strong  drum  beats  mixed  with  sinister
guitar riffs and sharpened vocals meld together into a top form death
metal outfit. This is some of the best Canadian indie  metal  I  have
heard in the last year or so. After hearing such numbers as  "Escape"
and the title track of this  demo,  I'm  eagerly  awaiting  some  new
material (possibly a full-length?) from this Canuck outfit. Heavy  as
fuck, this fucker will surely scar ya.

Contact: 4450 Valencia Ave., North Vancouver, BC CANADA V7N-4B1
         mailto:andresta@unix.ubc.ca
         WWW: www.angelfire.com/ca/soulscar

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


      L O N D O N ' S   U N D E R W O R L D   H O L O C A U S T
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                Immortal, Angelcorpse and Desecration
              At the Cameden Underworld, London, England
                            April 16, 1998
                           by: Paul Schwarz

     Since Immortal cancelled their planned tour of the UK last  year
due to Demonaz' poor health, the fact  that  Abbath  has  taken  over
guitar and a stand in bassist has been drafted in this time surprised
me somewhat. Either Osmose have forced them to go on tour  regardless
or they want to show the fans what they can do live; it is not  clear
which is the case before the gig.
     First band on were Desecration.  Playing  a  Cannibal  Corpse  /
Suffocation-ish pure death style  with  pause-for-the-bass-on-its-own
parts punctuating the blast snare mid-paced-grinding riff tapestry --
apart from feeling like a five year old vortex, Desecration evoked no
particular emotion in me.
     I have heard a number of  good  words  said  with  reference  to
Angelcorpse, especially in the wake of the release of their new album
_Exterminate_, but tonight they did not impress as much as one  might
have hoped. To my ears their sound was not mixed  crisply  enough  to
allow proper definition of the instruments,  and  at  the  volume  it
comes out on the speakers, Angelcorpse's performance probably  didn't
do them justice -- strange, considering how  long  it  took  them  to
soundcheck. It's a shame, because the band were  quite  animated  for
the technical level of their material and their live performance  was
extremely precise. In the end, Angelcorpse left me  wanting  to  hear
more of their music on record, at another gig,  with  a  better  mix;
however, as an experience in itself, Angelcorpse's set was nothing to
rave about.
     A short lapse and Immortal, the Masters of Nebulah  Frost,  took
the stage to begin their task of unleashing their musical  armageddon
on the not unsuspecting crowd. Immortal had a crisp sound: cranked up
to an earsplitting volume, the sound of  the  individual  instruments
still remains, and Abbath did a stunning job of filling  in  for  his
brother in darkness and managing a great vocal  performance.  Drummer
Horgh and the fill in bassist performed their tasks well, with  Horgh
unleashing quite a surprise when an incredible drum solo kicks in  in
the middle of "Pure Holocaust" -- which brings me on to the  setlist,
which  really  couldn't  have   disappointed   any   but   the   most
narrow-minded of fans. Immortal went through material from all  their
albums, although _Blizzard Beasts_ was  among  the  most  extensively
covered, with: "A Sign for the Norse Hordes to  Ride",  "The  Sun  No
Longer Rises", "Pure Holocaust", "Call of  the  Wintermoon",  "Unholy
Forces of Evil", "Nebular  Raven's  Winter",  "Mountains  of  Might",
"Blasyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)" and "Battles in the  North"  comprising
the blistering set. To answer  the  original  question  I  posed:  it
appears from the excitement of the crowd and the  enthusiasm  of  the
band that Immortal came for the fans. And you can see why: members of
the crowd shouted for "Blasyrkh" after every song, and when it  came,
cheered after every acoustic guitar line in the lull-before-the-storm
part at the end of the  song.  Immortal  may  not  have  known  their
fanbase was so strong here, since  Abbath  seemed  flattered  at  the
cheering in "Blasyrkh" and commented  that  the  crowd  was  "fucking
crazy!" Immortal played an uncompromising, and nearly hour long,  set
of some of the  best  brutal  black  metal  in  existence.  If  these
"blizzard beasts" come near you, beware; but, most  important,  don't
miss the chance of seeing them in action, even if Demonaz can't  make
it out this time.

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

                      M O R B I D   M A Y H E M
                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                   Morbid Angel, Vader and Entwined
           Joint review by: Pedro Azevedo and Paul Schwarz

Hard Club, Gaia, Portugal
April 18, 1998
by: Pedro Azevedo

     Before describing the  concert  itself,  I  shall  describe  the
atmosphere: a concert room built within semi-ruined stone walls, near
the Douro (the river which separates the cities of Gaia  and  Porto).
As the concert was held at night, the view of Porto across the  river
was superb -- at least to me. But I barely had  time  to  enjoy  this
familiar view, as, quite unexpectedly, sounds  of  Entwined  starting
their performance echoed outside the Hard Club precisely on schedule.
     And  so  Entwined  opened  the  concert  with  a  twenty  minute
performance. I had only heard fragments of their debut _Dancing Under
Glass_, and, in my opinion, they sounded better live -- or  at  least
harsher. The first thing that struck me when I  entered  the  concert
room, however, was the great atmosphere inside,  mostly  due  to  the
tall stone walls all around. The second thing is the outstanding view
of the stage you can achieve  if  you  stay  on  one  of  the  access
platforms or, like I did, in one of the stairways that lead  down  to
the concert room itself. The room below me was crowded enough,  which
was pleasant to notice. But back to  Entwined  --  except  for  their
sound not being too  clear,  they  played  a  reasonable  set.  Their
vocalist did manage to get on my nerves, however, as he kept shouting
"Oporto" every once in a while (even in the middle of songs),  in  an
attempt to please the audience that I considered rather futile.
     After the break, Vader. Again a band I knew little  of  --  just
_De Profundis_. Quite a show,  especially  if  you  happen  to  enjoy
double-bass drumming, as I do -- their drummer did a damn good job at
that. Fast, sometimes very fast, and precise. The rest  of  the  band
didn't seem to bother too  much  with  technical  details,  but  they
certainly made the crowd start moving (not as much  as  Morbid  Angel
did later, though). Their sound was better than Entwined's and so was
their on-stage presence. A powerful forty minute  show  from  a  very
good live band.
     Morbid Angel entered the stage after "Disturbance of  the  Great
Slumber" was played as an intro. Their show was  simply  outstanding:
excellent sound  and  spotless  playing  for  one  hour  and  fifteen
minutes. Their live sound is  remarkable,  with  the  addition  of  a
second guitarist clearly strengthening their output.  Some  of  their
fans who didn't own  their  latest  album,  _Formulas  Fatal  to  the
Flesh_, were somewhat disappointed, since  most  of  the  songs  were
taken from that album. No complaints here, as far as I am  concerned,
and even those who didn't know the new songs  seemed  to  easily  get
into them. Songs such as "Heaving Earth", "Prayer  of  Hatred",  "Bil
Ur-Sag" "Nothing Is Not",  "Hellspawn:  the  Rebirth",  "Covenant  of
Death" and "Invocation of the Continual One" were perfectly executed.
As for older songs, I can mention a few:  "Lord  of  All  Fevers  and
Plague", "Rapture", "Day of Suffering" and "Chapel of Ghouls",  among
others. A great concert indeed.
     As a footnote, this was my first visit to the Hard  Club,  which
recently opened. It offers excellent  conditions  for  concerts,  the
room was crowded, and it -must- have been profitable for  the  people
involved as well as good for the bands. So let's see if these kind of
concerts start happening more often over here, because  I  really  am
quite sick, to say the least, of seing almost every good band (mostly
European ones) playing concert after concert in  Germany  and  places
nearby without ever going anywhere else.


London Astoria 2
May 8, 1998
by: Paul Schwarz

     Vader, just as in Paris [CoC #25],  completely  tore  apart  the
fabric of the real world. Although only on for 33 minutes, Vader  got
through a well composed set consisting of: "Sothis", "Distant Dream",
"Black to  the  Blind",  "Silent  Empire",  "Blood  of  Kingu",  "Red
Passage", "Carnal" and "Dark Age". Once again, Vader began with their
sinister intro and Peter's initial words to the crowd. The  build  up
was once again superby executed and this time aided by the use of dry
ice, which enveloped almost the entire stage, just  before  the  band
launched into "Sothis". The sound  was  beautifully  crisp  and  once
again I found Vader virtually impossible to fault on any level. If it
had been another headliner, I would have felt sorry for  them  having
to follow Vader, but Morbid Angel were not shown up  in  any  way  by
their support band's astounding work, although they  didn't  show  up
Vader either.
     Morbid Angel are obviously as into _Formulas Fatal to the Flesh_
as I am, as they played every 'real' song off it except  "Chamber  of
Dis". Morbid Angel also played: "World of Shit", "Rapture", "Lord  of
All Fevers and Plague", "Day of  Suffering",  "Blood  On  My  Hands",
"Hellspawn" and "Chapel of Ghouls". Steve Tucker played  his  musical
and personal part of fronting the band  excellently.  Trey  and  Pete
were, of course, incredible to behold in their respective  parts  and
Eric Rutan's second guitar work came across nicely. Morbid Angel also
utilised the dry ice excellently, having it drift-by Trey and then be
blown into a storm of chaos by a fan at Steve's feet. The  sound  was
like crystal for almost the entire set and the  playing  was  of  the
kind you could set your watch by. A bill not to be missed at any cost.

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

         N E V E R   D I S C O U N T   T H E   P R I E S T S
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Judas Priest and Gorefest at The London Astoria, London, England
                            April 11, 1998
                           by: Paul Schwarz

     I think this was Gorefest's first ever  visit  to  the  UK  and,
taking into account the monstrousness  of  the  headliners,  Gorefest
seemed to have a decent contingent of deathsters eager to  see  them.
As any follower of the scene should know, Gorefest  shed  their  pure
death roots a while ago and now conform to  the  post-death/not-death
stereotype of non-black, unmarked clothes,  Gibson  Les  Pauls  (both
guitarists in this case)  and  "groovy",  cock-rock,  death  n'  roll
tunes. It's not that their sound is murky or that the  crowd  weren't
up for it (although they weren't), it's just that Gorefest's music is
ponderous and power chord driven and their stage presence  makes  you
wonder why they even put in an apearance. If  you're  going  to  play
music as easy as this easy move, stick your foot on the monitor, jump
around, do something!, bands with  far  more  technical  music  (e.g.
Slayer)  are  more  animated  are  far  more  watchable,  let   alone
listenable, than Gorefest were this evening.
     With Gorefest safely out of the way, Judas Priest had  the  rest
of the evening to demolish the venue and show up the aforementioned's
poor performance, something they  achieved  before  the  first  three
chords of "Hellion" finish their tour of the Astoria crowd's awaiting
ears. This is Priest's first gig here in about five years; they  have
a new frontman and their last  album  before  _Jugulator_  was  eight
years ago, yet Priest had no trouble  filling  the  Astoria  with  at
least as many young as  old.  After  the  "Hellion  /  Electric  Eye"
opener, Priest proceeded to crank out four  of  the  wholly  abrasive
offerings from  _Jugulator_  ("Death  Row",  "Bullet  Train",  "Blood
Stained" and "Burn in Hell"), amongst a setlist  comprised  of  heavy
metal classics: "Metal Gods", "Grinder", "The Sentinel", "A Touch  of
Evil",  "Beyond  the  Realms  of  Death",  "Metal  Meltdown",  "Night
Crawler", "Ripper", "Victim of Changes", "Breaking the  Law",  "Green
Manalishi With the Two  Pronged  Crown",  "Painkiller",  "You've  Got
Another  Thing  Comin'"  and  "Hell  Bent  for  Leather".  With  this
selection of songs, it is hard to see  how  Priest  could  have  gone
wrong, but all the same the boys from Birmingham have to be commended
for putting on one of the best gigs I have ever been to when some  of
them are approaching 50. Proving even more conclusively that  age  is
not an issue, Priest are very animated on stage, finishing nearly all
the songs with synchronised axe chops / drum  crashes  and  viciously
rocking with their instruments while ripping chorus' and verses alike
are churned out. Not that a band as classic as  Priest  are  -should-
ever be dismissed without a good reason, but  tonight  Priest  showed
that they weren't only a  classic  band  but  also  a  band  able  to
outperform about half of the trend metal bands who are thought to  be
so "cutting edge" these days. Two lessons  to  be  learnt  from  this
experience: 1) don't support Priest unless you  can  play  live  very
well; 2) never miss Priest live unless your life depends  on  it  (if
you died you'd never be able to see them again).

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

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

Gino's Top 5

1. Monster Magnet - _Powertrip_
2. Absu - _The Sun of Tiphareth_
3. Pitchshifter - _www.pitchshifter.com_
4. Various - _Steve's Unholy Holocaust_
5. Zaraza - _Slavic Blasphemy_

Adrian's Top 5

1. Pitch Shifter - _www.pitchshifter.com_
2. Monster Magnet - _Powertrip_
3. Katatonia - _Discouraged Ones_
4. The Hellacopters - _Payin' The Dues_
5. Primal Fear - _Primal Fear_

Brian's Top 5

1. Korova - _Dead Like an Angel_
2. Various - _Until the End of Time_
3. Sculptured - _The Spear of the Lily is Aureoled_
4. Nokturnal Mortum - _Goat Horns_
5. Emperor - _Reverence_

Steve's Top 5

1. Nile - _Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka_
2. Controlled Bleeding - _Inanition_
3. Astarte - _Doomed Dark Years_
4. Eisenvater - _III_
5. Tribes of Neurot / Walking Time Bombs - _Static Migration_

Adam's Top 5

1. Katatonia - _Discouraged Ones_
2. Nokturnal Mortum - _Goat Horns_
3. Incantation - _Diabolical Conquest_
4. Suffocation - _Despise the Sun_
5. Fiona Apple - _Tital_

Andrew's Top 5

1. AMM - _Generative Themes_
2. Luc Ferrari - _Cellule 75_
3. King Diamond - _Voodoo_
4. Vlad Tepes / Belketre - _March to the Black Holocaust_
5. Sun Ra - _Space Is the Place_

Pedro's Top 5

1. Katatonia - _Discouraged Ones_
2. Therion - _Vovin_
3. Novembers Doom - _For Every Leaf that Falls_
4. Ulver - _Bergtatt_
5. EverEve - _Stormbirds_

Paul's Top 5

1. Enslaved - _Eld_
2. Celtic Frost - _Morbid Tales/Emperor's Return_
3. Hypocrisy - _Osculum Obscenum_
4. Immortal - _Battles in the North_
5. Annihilator - _Alice in Hell_

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

--> Interested in being reviewed? Send us your demo and bio to:
 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
                         CHRONICLES OF CHAOS
                           57 Lexfield Ave
                            Downsview Ont.
                           M3M-1M6, Canada
             Fax: (416) 693-5240   Voice: (416) 693-9517
                     e-mail: ginof@interlog.com
                                 ----
                Our European Office can be reached at:
                     CHRONICLES OF CHAOS (Europe)
                         Urb. Souto n.20 Anta
                        4500 Espinho, PORTUGAL
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DESCRIPTION
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chronicles of Chaos is a monthly magazine electronically  distributed
worldwide via the Internet. Chronicles of Chaos focuses on all  forms
of chaotic music including black, death and doom metal, dark/ambient,
industrial and electronic/noise as well as  classic  and  progressive
metal. Each issue will feature a plethora of  album  reviews  from  a
wide range  of  bands,  as  well  as  interviews  with  some  of  the
underground's best acts. Also included in each issue are demo reviews
and indie band interviews.

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

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

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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #31

All contents copyright 1998 by individual creators of included work.
All opinions expressed herein are those of the individuals expressing
them, and do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone else.

