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

   CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, Thursday, April 3, 2003, Issue #60
                  http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com


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

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

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

Issue #60 Contents, 4/3/03
--------------------------
* Editorial
* Chats
-- Metalucifer / Sabbat: Can You Say "Heavy Metal"?
-- Kittie: Kittie's Got Claws
-- Vehemence: Christ, They Fucking Hate You!
-- Cradle of Filth: Disturbing the Mainstream
* Albums
-- ...And Oceans - _Cypher_
-- Abdullah - _Graveyard Poetry_
-- Aborym - _With No Human Intervention_
-- Aesma Daeva - _The Eros of Frigid Beauty_
-- All in Vain - _The Backside of Humanity_
-- Asgaroth - _Red Shift_
-- Beaten Back to Pure - _Last Refuge of the Sons of Bitches_
-- Beyond the Embrace - _Against the Elements_
-- Bloodline - _A Pestilence Long Forgotten_
-- Brave - _Searching for the Sun_
-- ChthoniC - _9th Empyrean_
-- Codeseven - _The Rescue_
-- Corporation 187 - _Perfection in Pain_
-- Council of the Fallen - _Revealing Damnation_
-- Dead Blue Sky - _Symptoms of an Unwanted Emotion_
-- Desaster - _Divine Blasphemies_
-- Dimmu Borgir - _World Misanthropy_
-- Disharmonic Orchestra - _Ahead_
-- Divercia - _Modus Operandi_
-- Fallen Into Ashes - _Solely Dreaming the Reconstruction of a 
                        Forgotten Revolution_
-- Flesh Made Sin - _Masterwork in Blood_
-- Freedom Call - _Eternity_
-- Hate - _Cain's Way_
-- Hate Eternal - _King of All Kings_
-- Himsa - _Death Is Infinite_
-- Impious - _The Killer_
-- INRI - _Hyper Bastard Breed_
-- Kataklysm - _Shadows & Dust_
-- Lacuna Coil - _Comalies_
-- Legion - _Awakened Fury_
-- Madder Mortem - _Deadlands_
-- Martyr - _To Confirm When Destruction Comes_
-- Megiddo - _The Atavism of Evil_
-- Mess Age - _Self Convicted_
-- Morningstar - _Kalevala Mysticism_
-- Necronom - _The Darkening Path_
-- Negura Bunget - _'N Crugu Bradului_
-- Nicodemus - _The Supernatural Omnibus_
-- Novembers Doom - _To Welcome the Fade_
-- Omnium Gatherum - _Steal the Light_
-- Origin - _Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas_
-- Overkill - _Wrecking Everything - Live_
-- Phantomsmasher - _Phantomsmasher_
-- Red Harvest - _Sick Transit Gloria Mundi_
-- Rotten Sound - _Murderworks_
-- Scalplock - _Spread the Germs... Over the Human Worms_
-- Sepultura - _Under a Pale Grey Sky_
-- Severe Torture - _Misanthropic Carnage_
-- Somnus - _Through Creation's End_
-- The Black Dahlia Murder - _A Cold Blooded Epitaph_
-- The Blood Divine - _Rise Pantheon Dreams_
-- The Equinox ov the Gods - _Where Angels Dare Not Tread_
-- Thine - _In Therapy_
-- Thorium - _Unleashing the Demons_
-- Thyrfing - _Vansinnesvisor_
-- Today Is the Day - _Sadness Will Prevail_
-- Various - _Covered in Blood: A Tribute to Slayer_
-- Vinterriket - _Und die Nacht kam schweren Schrittes_
-- Vintersorg - _Visions From the Spiral Generator_
-- Wolfnacht - _Night of the Werewolf_
* Demos
-- 7th Nemesis - _7th Nemesis_
-- Aggression Core - _Victim or Enemy_
-- Aphotic - _Stillness Grows_
-- Balseraph - _Balseraph_
-- Event Horizon - _From Beginning... to End_
-- Goldenpyre - _Necroterrorism_
-- Gotha - _Take Your Soul_
-- Honey for Christ - _Forging Iron Will_
-- Illogicist - _Polymorphism Of Death_
-- Recto Rectors - _Fight For Your Grind_
-- Serrated Scalpel - _Suspended in Misery_
-- Set in Silence - _Watch the Sky Burn_
-- Slaughter of Souls - _Nexus Avernus_
-- Solution 13 - _Solution 13_
-- The Last Winter - _IRA_
* Gigs
-- Morningrise in the Deadlands
-- King Tut's Burning Angel Hut

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

                    __, __, _ ___  _, __, _  _, _, 
                    |_  | \ |  |  / \ |_) | /_\ |  
                    |   |_/ |  |  \ / | \ | | | | ,
                    ~~~ ~   ~  ~   ~  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~

                         by: Gino Filicetti

Welcome to the  first  of  our  monthly  Chronicles  of  Chaos  email
digests. In this digest, you will find all of the articles that  have
been published on our website over the last month.

For those of you who haven't seen the new Chronicles of  Chaos,  head
over to: http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com and take  a  gander.  Check
out my editorial on the website for more info on our new format.

Also, let's not forget about the  new  Chronicles  of  Chaos  Message
Board at: http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/board. Sign up now for  an
account on our message board, and help foster a lively  community  of
CoC readers and writers.

Enjoy the new material, and remember to check back with  our  website
on a regular basis to read the latest and greatest as it's published.

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

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

         C A N   Y O U   S A Y   " H E A V Y   M E T A L " ? 
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      CoC chats with Geniezoluzifer/Gezol of Metalucifer/Sabbat
                           by: Paul Schwarz


It rode up on hell's hot wing, a heavy  metal  album  with  its  feet
defiantly planted in the past  which  nonetheless  had  to  be  taken
seriously: _Heavy Metal Chainsaw_. Of course, Metalucifer -- lead  by
Sabbat (Japan) frontman Gezol (aka Gezolucifer and Geniesoluzifer) --
had already delivered such an album with 1997's _Heavy  Metal  Drill_
[CoC #33], but with _HMC_ they bettered themselves ten times over. In
the West, _HMC_ saw Metalucifer  leave  the  ultra-small  underground
imprint Iron Pegasus (run by Costa Stoios of  Tales  of  the  Macabre
'zine) to join the growing ranks of small, US-based underground label
Rest In Peace. After its release early last year, _HMC_ began  slowly
but surely to garner ever more praise and interest  from  around  the
globe. Metalucifer played Germany's Wacken  festival  in  the  summer
and, at year's  end,  topped  at  least  one  leading  extreme  music
magazine's end of year poll. It may sound like just another story  of
a band who were marginalised  by  distribution  restrictions  finally
getting the exposure they needed to reach a  wider  audience,  but  I
think many of us doubted Metalucifer would ever get  anywhere.  Great
as they are, Metalucifer are so  god-damned  excessively  old  school
heavy metal that you'd think there'd be no place for them in  today's
scene. But if you thought that, perhaps you just weren't looking hard
enough -- or for the right things -- when you cast your eye over  the
metal scene, looking for a place  to  park  Metalucifer.  Old  school
metal is really growing again,  in  popularity  and  quality;  Wolf's
ultra D'Anno-era-'Maiden styled _Black Wings_ made an  impact  almost
as surprising as _HMC_'s last year. Perhaps  the  ground  -is-  still
fertile for a band as dedicated to old school metal  as  Metalucifer.
Who knows? In fact, who really cares? I think I'll just get  back  to
my headbanging and let you get on with reading what Gezol had to say.
Oh, and just in case you're confused, this interview was conducted in
early 2002: before Metalucifer's Wacken performance.  (Apologies  for
the time-lag.)

*[Disclaimer of sorts: I have left most of Gezol's sentences as they 
were because I feel his "Engrish" (see http://www.engrish.com for an 
explanation of this term, if necessary) has a certain charm to it -- 
also, even meticulous rewriting  might  well  not  convey  what  was 
-meant- by a given passage, even if it might read more cleanly.  One 
other good reason to leave things as they were was that this was  an 
email interview -- what you see  here  is  all  that  I  had  to  go 
on. That said,  I  actually  think  Gezol's  answers  are  perfectly 
understandable -- even if a second  reading  is  required  to  fully 
grasp the meaning of some sections/sentences. I think the  best  way 
to 'get' what Gezol is saying is to get into his mindset,  into  the 
-spirit- of what is being said. If you can do that, I  think  you'll 
not only be able to find out a lot about what goes on and  has  gone 
on with Metalucifer, Geniezoluzifer  and  Sabbat,  but  you'll  also 
start to understand how much passion and sincerity, I believe,  lies 
behind Gezol's words.]                                               

(Credit: Translated by Yohta Takahashi / HMSS / FETU)

CoC: In what circumstances did Metalucifer first form? What was  the 
     thought (if any) behind forming a traditional heavy metal  band 
     like Metalucifer?                                               

Geniezoluzifer/Gezol: First of all, the Metalucifer project was  born
in a very simple reason  that  I  just  wanted  to  play  a  sort  of
traditional metal music with pureness. I was...  I  was  an  innocent
pure guy for metal, a traditional one.

Around 1984 when Sabbat was founded in the countryside of Japan,  the
world metal scene was at the  very  beginning  of  the  thrash  metal
movement. Me and other members of early  Sabbat  were  of  course  so
young to understand the situation that we directed ourselves to  play
a kind of satanic metal. Sabbat was  in  a  part  of  Japanese  metal
underground  as  pioneer  satanic/black/thrash  metal  and  performed
violently, as the scene people expected of a satanic  band.  Yes,  we
were young. We put all our energy into our stage and always storms of
violence blew up on our stage. And in my opinion,  playing  music  as
Sabbat was much better benefit for me to let  metal  fans  understand
what I want to express. Yes, that's  satanic  metal  at  the  moment.
Still now I haven't changed this thought. Sabbat  can  sound  what  I
really want to do through metal. However, I have  kept  listening  to
traditional/typical metal  music  besides  playing  in  Sabbat.  From
NWOBHM to Euro/US power metal, my ears were hungry for various metal.
I just love metal! So I can't remember exactly, but one  day  in  the
very past  I  got  an  idea  to  form  a  band  to  play  a  sort  of
-traditional- metal, not as Sabbat.

Well, time run so fast and back in 1995  I  thought,  "The  time  has
come." In 1995,  I  think  the  scene  of  traditional/typical  metal
was totally declined. Maybe there  were  a  few  bands  in  the  very
underground around  the  time  who  would  be  the  core  of  today's
(2000-2001) new metal movement. But the scene itself at that time was
"fulfilled" with thousands of black/doom/death  metals.  And  it  was
crisis for pure metals, that many of these brutal bands  were  trying
to do cross-over music with quite different kind of  sound  far  from
metal. I asked myself,  "Gezol,  can  you  accept  this  situation?",
"Gezol,  what  can  you  see  in  the  future  of  metal  scene  with
such crossover shits?",  "Gezol,  now  is  the  time  and  chance  to
look over the real  substance  of  heavy  metal,  isn't  it?".  These
self-questionnaires and rage against the  scene  brought  me  a  pure
spirit for metal. Not only to destroy the  crossovers  with  my  pure
metal, but to bring hammer down on the semi-critics who proudly said,
"METAL IS DEAD". I wanted to prove  traditional/typical  metal  isn't
dead. It lives forever. Rise it from the dead!!!!

Let me say something about traditional/typical  metal.  I  think  the
base of this metal has already been developed out in the end  of  the
Eighties. Of course digital technology brought a kind  of  revolution
to the sound  quality,  later.  But  about  composing,  I  think  the
traditional metal got its final  style  with  _Painkiller_  by  Judas
Priest, Blind Guardian  and  Helloween.  Metal  bands  of  today  are
trying to  make  a  good  song  in  the  categorised  field  even  if
they're well aware that  there  are  no  new  ideas  coming  up.  Can
you make  a  masterpiece  metal  song  by  using  these  accomplished
ideas/phrases/rhythms? Is it impossible for us to do it? I wanted  to
prove: YES, WE CAN! That was the core-reason why Metalucifer appeared
suddenly in mid-Nineties. Metalucifer shows we can make  the  awesome
great metal songs by using Eighties ideas only. I want to say to you,
"YOU NEED THIS ONES WE ARE PLAYING NOW, YOU LOVE OUR MUSIC  IN  REAL,
DON'T YOU!? DON'T YOU!?

And I think modern black/death metals  are  one  of  the  results  of
the development of speed/power  metal  affected  by  thrash/grind/HC.
Dividing by so-called speed/thrash  as  the  border-line,  the  metal
is categorised  in  two:  black/death/doom,  and  the  other  one  is
traditional/typical/speed/thrash. I had known that  there  were  many
and  many  traditional/typical  metal  fans  in  the   musicians   of
black/death metals too, so my strategy was to blow 'em up with simple
Metalucifer sound and let them be sympathise with us -- and also  let
them be big Metalucifer fans... And then... we can  possibly  make  a
giga-wave in the metal scene! I think true metal fans  are  listening
to any kinds of metal music from NWOBHM to brutal metals. Metalucifer
should be one of their heavy rotations!

However, to tell you the truth, I didn't expect  to  get  such  great
reactions from whole world. I thought that was a kind of miracle  for
Metalucifer to release the second full-length  on  US/German  labels,
and additionally we are going to play at the Wacken Open Air!! In the
very beginning of this project, I just wanted to play heavy metal  in
my ideal. And I did  it.  Of  course  I  had  many  inspirations  and
thoughts mentioned above  along  with  this  project,  but  it  don't
matter. My first priority was to play what I  really  wanted.  I  had
confidence in the songs, but my pronunciation  and  lyrics  were  too
kiddish Japanese-English. Technique and sound itself  were  based  in
the Eighties one. I was a bit anxiety wondering if  the  young  metal
fans would say "No" to Metalucifer. But now the  reactions  sided  on
me. My project Metalucifer was  accepted  by  the  scene  and  I  can
proudly say, "METAL is SPIRIT!" People  want  high-level  masterpiece
and metal anthems anytime.

CoC: Your first full-length, _Heavy  Metal  Drill_  [CoC  #33],  was 
     released by the Iron Pegausus "label", run  by  the  editor  of 
     Tales of the Macabre, in Europe (and the US?). How did the deal 
     with RIP come about, and how did you feel about Iron  Pegasus's 
     release of _HMD_?                                               

G: Before the release of  Metalucifer's  Euro  version  CD  on  Iron 
   Pegasus, I pressed 1000 copies of the original version  of  _HMD_ 
   album on my own Evil / Metal Proof label in  1996.  It  was  fate 
   that Sabbat had a German tour next year and  the  owner  of  Iron 
   Pegasus was in front of our stage and... he  was  very  impressed 
   with our performance. He was  also  into  Metalucifer  sound  and 
   offered us the release of Euro version on his label.  Anyway,  he 
   made 1000 copies of _HMD_ and sold it out in a year. I was really 
   proud of the release in Germany and satisfied with the situation, 
   that many European metal freaks had got a  chance  to  listen  to 
   Metalucifer. Well, Iron Pegasus helped us to spread the  name  of 
   Metalucifer to the edge of the world. The metal scene of today is 
   based mainly in Northern/Mid/Latin Europe. Getting good reactions 
   from the mid-Europe was very effective for us to  let  people  in 
   Asia / America / Latin  America  be  interested  in  Metalucifer. 
   Fortunately Metalucifer  has  got  more  and  more  fans  than  I 
   expected, except UK.... One English man wrote me, "Metalucifer is 
   ultimate! But too late. It must be come 10 years ago."  Something 
   like that. Uh, he couldn't catch my spirit and faith  for  metal. 
   Probably English men, not only him, want to say  "Metalucifer  is 
   an anachronism, old-fashioned, etc." I am okay to his opinion  if 
   he is really honest to the music of Metalucifer. But  I  want  to 
   ask you English men, what is going on with the UK metal scene  of 
   today? Is there any new metal bands coming up and any  new  scene 
   or movements in the underground? I haven't heard any news from UK 
   today. Before criticise my UNIQUE vocal style (laugh),  what  you 
   English men should do is to look over yourselves and your scene!  

   In my opinion, these English critics  are  not  honest  to  heavy 
   metal music as art work, because you are  always  mentioning  the 
   ability  to  speak  English  when  you  guys  review  bands  from 
   non-English areas, especially from Asia. Heavy metal  is  artwork 
   of spirit! To tell you the secret, Iron Pegasus was  very  afraid 
   when they decided to release Sabbat/Metalucifer albums in Europe, 
   saying like this, "That's  desperate  war  for  Iron  Pegasus  to 
   promote a Japanese band in the current European scene because  of 
   kamikaze-English". Haha, but it was easy for me  to  guess  there 
   was also prejudice existing in European  mind  to  Asian  playing 
   metal. However, Costa of Iron Pegasus challenged that risky  game 
   and carried out to blow up the scene with Metalucifer/Sabbat. And 
   his belief in metal sympathised American RIP  records,  I  guess. 
   Well, I had already spread  100  copies  of  _HMD_  album  to  US 
   distributors before getting touch with RIP. I don't know how they 
   were interested in Metalucifer and I don't care  of  such  matter 
   right way. And what I can remember now about RIP Record was  that 
   the owner rang up me but was ripped by my Samurai-English,  haha! 
   He wanted to release some Sabbat albums on his label at the first 
   contact on the phone, but one  day  he  changed  the  subject  to 
   Metalucifer. Please ask him why.                                  

   (Stan (RIP): I did call him on a phone once and yeah it  was  way 
   too kamikaze for me but I never dropped the  idea  of  Sabbat  on 
   RIP. Actually the new album will most  likely  be  released  thru 
   RIP, so be forewarned!)                                           

G: Iron  Pegasus  advised  me  that   it   was   much   better   for 
   Sabbat/Metalucifer to have a contract with an American  label  if 
   we wanted to go America. So all of us -- me, RIP and Iron Pegasus 
   -- had a discussion about the contract offer from RIP and got the 
   best result, I see. Well anyway, the  things  went  so  naturally 
   with the Sabbatical circle and Metalucifer's strong impact to the 
   metal scene.  Actually  Metalucifer  is  under  control  of  Iron 
   Pegasus and we trust on the label perfect. They have done tons of 
   benefit on Sabbat/Metalucifer and I respect him, of course. I get 
   agreement from Iron  Pegasus  about  the  issues  of  any  offers 
   according to Metalucifer. No need to have  a  new  contract  with 
   Iron Pegasus about our management, because I trust on  him  100%. 
   That's SAMURAI's mind.                                            

CoC: Would you say Metalucifer are "a serious band"?

G: Metalucifer is not "BAD NEWS"! And in my  opinion,  Metallica  of 
   today is more comical than us. Metalucifer is  definitely  not  a 
   comic band, but really a serious band. We are not  playing  music 
   as parody of Eighties music. To prove for this, I  put  on  _HMD_ 
   album some Sabbat songs which were written in  mid-Eighties  when 
   Sabbat was at beginning. And there is no  comic  bands  of  metal 
   without technique and ability.  So-called  comic  bands  can  let 
   people enjoy because they are  highly  technical  and  performing 
   super. Metalucifer is an old-metal  band  being  totally  against 
   atmospheric epic/symphonic metal  which  is  under  influence  of 
   Rhapsody or Angra! Hey, I guess these atmospheric  epic/symphonic 
   metal fans  whom  brains  have  meltdown  in  eating  too  enough 
   McDonald's will judge us down as a joke metal band if they have a 
   chance  to  listen  to  Metalucifer,  haha.  But  that's  not  my 
   business.                                                         

   I would like to tell you one episode about one Finnish metal fan. 
   One day, the guy had  had  a  dinner  listening  to  Metalucifer. 
   Unfortunately that was his first time to  listen  to  Metalucifer 
   music. And when his CD player turned to "Heavy Metal Hunter",  he 
   couldn't stop spitting out the things in  his  mouth  because  of 
   funny sound. The things flew 5 meters  away!  Well,  he  couldn't 
   have the dinner at the night because he  couldn't  stop  laughing 
   all night. But... from next  day  he  couldn't  stop  headbanging 
   and Metalucifer became his  heavy  rotation.  I  think  he  could 
   understand what Metalucifer means and what I really wants to say. 
   That's METAL!                                                     

CoC: Do you care how 'the scene', 'the media'  or  other  collective 
     opinions on metal see Metalucifer? Do you have any  opinion  on 
     the state of metal today, or any proclamation  to  make  as  to 
     what Metalucifer are going to do about it?                      

G: Honestly I am totally not taking care of  media  saying.  Anybody 
   has any different opinions about artworks. FEELING is  not  given 
   by critic's words, but by LISTENING ONESELF to the  music.  There 
   are countless reviews by many fans and these opinions direct  the 
   intention of the scene  itself.  It's  a  very  important  factor 
   that  the  environment  of  Metalucifer  movement  and  affection 
   consist simply of these general metal fan's opinions! We  welcome 
   metallers arguing about the metal scene  or  Metalucifer.  But  I 
   just do what I want to play. I just want to reach  to  the  ideal 
   style of ultimate metal. And also I am doing Sabbat with the same 
   attitude with different members.                                  

   Sometimes I read some "GOOD" reviews for Metalucifer  on  medias. 
   But sadly some of them are not so serious to our music that I got 
   mad at the writers. Not only about Metalucifer, but always  MEDIA 
   lies. I am sad that many unable writers do ugly articles  without 
   understanding metal music. It's too hard  for  us  to  find  true 
   faithful writers in current scene.  So  I  could  say,  the  most 
   important thing for the scene  people,  especially  fans,  is  to 
   judge yourself with your own ears. It's stupid  to  believe  what 
   the media says blindly. Not only the media can  make  the  scene, 
   but need your power!                                              

   The main message of Metalucifer is, saying frankly, that  I  hope 
   the countries like the UK will revive the metal  scene.  I  guess 
   you English men have always looked down on  other  countries  and 
   still now you guys haven't  been  noticed  your  stupidity.  Like 
   Mini-cooper and fish & potato, what you can make brag of is  Iron 
   Maiden & Judas Priest only. Certainly NWOBHM was  a  legend.  The 
   movement left countless metal classics and still now  bands  like 
   Saxon, Tank and Motorhead is going on. And you  have  some  bands 
   like Curdle of Filth and Bolt Thrower following... but...  but... 
   what's the reason why your country cannot  have  a  new  band  of 
   traditional/typical metal coming up nowadays? Is there  no  scene 
   in the UK for that kind of metal?  Are  your  young  people  dead 
   out? Don't you have any rebellious  spirit  against  heavy  music 
   featuring stupid RAPS???? Even our Japan -- known as a developing 
   country for metal music -- we have some strong newcomers and  the 
   scene is beating hard. Nobody in Japan mentions Loudness anymore. 
   When you got the NWOBHM, it was the real glory for the UK  scene. 
   UK was the sanctuary for every metal fans as  their  destination. 
   However, I want to ask you again. Was it  really  over  now?  You 
   English-spoken people are sometimes saying  stupidity  like  this 
   "WE'RE ALWAYS NO.1 IN THE  WORLD",  but  do  you  know  that  the 
   metal-THIRD countries  like  Argentina,  Brazil,  Spain,  Mexico, 
   Czech, Hungary, Greece have got tons of new bands and getting the 
   new scene bigger and bigger these days?  In  old  time,  Japanese 
   metal fans only listened  to  English-singing  bands  because  of 
   prejudice, but now they open mind  to  ethnic  vocal  styles  and 
   accept bands singing in own language  like  French,  Spanish  and 
   Eastern block language. This time, I put the  song  called  "Lost 
   Sanctuary" in the end of the new album. This is my message to  UK 
   people and the scene; "We hit the road to new sanctuary. The time 
   has come. What we need is new place to  get  the  new  glory."  I 
   think that being proud of the past glory is  transient.  New-aged 
   fans cannot understand the glory in the past. There is no  future 
   for the UK scene if you can't say bye to the  "great"  glory  and 
   stupid pride. Now is the time to brave new world. I  really  hope 
   the UK scene will  be  back  to  the  forefront  with  new  metal 
   anthems.                                                          

   Anyway, the traditional heavy metal scene in the  UK  is  totally 
   dead now. And Metalucifer proves METAL AIN'T DEAD YET. That's  my 
   conclusion right away. The world must be into the chaos of  metal 
   war. Anybody can join in the  war  and  battle  for  getting  the 
   better result. To polish up each  other,  this  kind  of  war  is 
   benefit for the future of the scene. I hope UK bands  will  think 
   forward to my suggestion... and join us.                          

CoC: Metalucifer's music is unashamedly unoriginal -- and I love it. 
     But what would you say people who: a) claimed that  Metalucifer 
     are a pointless  band,  because  people  would  be  better  off 
     listening to HM records that are genuinely old; b) claimed that 
     Metalucifer are a pointless band, because they're not  as  good 
     as Primal Fear, Hammerfall or other 'true metal' bands?         

G: As  I  told  you  before,  I  think  the  basic  development   of 
   traditional/typical metal has  already  been  completed  by  many 
   bands in the past. Can you see  something  very  new  in  today's 
   bands playing that music? The main theme for the bands  of  today 
   is how to  compose  unique  songs  which  give  listeners  strong 
   impression and braving spirit. Hey, I could say, the  sound  with 
   all very original methods cannot be METAL. You know what  I  mean 
   and you know Metalucifer proved it, so in result you're possessed 
   by Metalucifer, aren't you?                                       

   A) So I say UK is dead. That's why you're sticking  with  FISH  & 
   POTATO even if the  World  War  Three  has  happened.  Don't  you 
   have any desire to know  what's  going  on  in  the  underground? 
   Metalucifer is a point-device band to ask you the  question  "Why 
   have we released such old-fashioned sound  now?".  If  you  can't 
   catch what I mean, it's waste of time.                            

   B) I don't like Hammerfall. That's a problem of subjectivity, but 
   when I  finished  listening  to  their  first  album,  I  had  no 
   impression left in my mind except one ballad song,  haha.  Sorry, 
   but their music was boring. I can't understand  why  many  people 
   are exciting with the band and making a fuss. Primal Fear is,  in 
   my opinion, just an ape of Judas Priest's _Painkiller_, isn't it? 
   But in the point of composing, Primal Fear is good enough,  so  I 
   am not beating them down.                                         

   Well, I would like to thank you because you compared  Metalucifer 
   with such big names like Hammerfall and PF! Fantastic.  Yeah,  as 
   you say, Metalucifer may be "lesser" than these TRUE  bands.  But 
   let me say one thing. Suppose  Prime  Fear  or  Hammerfall  plays 
   music of Metalucifer without telling people who is the  original, 
   definitely they can make more and more big sales than today.  Let 
   me ask you what is the "TRUE METAL" you mean with question? Can't 
   you say Metalucifer is much more "TRUE" than them because we  are 
   not doing the band for making money? Can you? If your  band  play 
   metal music with pure mind and without  any  gimmick  for  making 
   money, you're a true band, I guess. I am proud of Metalucifer  as 
   the true band even we have no contract with Nuclear Blast and  we 
   have no debut CD on big labels. The bands you have mentioned  are 
   just lucky to succeed in spreading their names to the market. Any 
   metal bands like Metalucifer, Hammerfall and Primal Fear...  what 
   we believe on is the spirit and the spirit is METAL.              

CoC: Roughly speaking, is there any thought put  into  Metalucifer's 
     lyrics, or do you feel that as  long  as  they  mention  "heavy 
     metal" as often as possible, they're good?                      

G: Sorry for the lyrics of _HMD_ album which was hard to understand. 
   I ought to study  English  hard  and  deep...  But  _Heavy  Metal 
   Chaisaw_'s lyrics were checked by ex-Death drummer Bill  Andrews, 
   so I think these is no problems in the lyrics. The problem is  my 
   pronunciation, so check the lyrics sheet when you  play  the  CD. 
   There is no difficulties to understand the Metalucifer's  lyrical 
   imagination. Please do understand the lyrics simple and straight, 
   that's all about Metalucifer. The meaning of  lyrics  depends  on 
   your imagination. We're not giving any serious story-lines to the 
   lyrics, we're not like modern black or gothic metals.             

   And as you point it, I use the word of HEAVY METAL so  frequently 
   so much. I really love HEAVY METAL music and a rhythm of the word 
   and its background. I dedicate 100% of my life  to  heavy  metal. 
   Well, my small  challenge  to  heavy  metal  is  getting  today's 
   reactions to Metalucifer and it goes on now. Probably you English 
   men cannot  understand  the  situation,  but  it's  true  that  I 
   have got countless e-mails  from  whole  world  saying  they  are 
   sympathised with the way of metal which I put on the  Metalucifer 
   sound. Need I say more?  Yes,  they  are  100%  understanding  my 
   lyrics. These is very important meaning  in  my  lyrics,  but  in 
   other hand, there is no meaning with it either.                   

CoC: How are Metalucifer related to Sabbat excluding the  fact  that 
     the two bands share some members -- in terms of music,  or  the 
     thought behind making the music, for example?                   

G: My main life work  project  is  Sabbat.  Metalucifer  project  is 
   done as my side-project (fun-project).  I  have  lots  of  things 
   to  do  with  Sabbat.  As  you  can  listen,  Sabbat  is  playing 
   black/thrash/death metal as  the  advance  style  of  evil-metal, 
   and much more  brutal  than  Metalucifer's.  So-called  metal  is 
   sub-divided into many categories today. In its basis, Sabbat  has 
   darkened themes like worshipping  evils,  occult,  anti-religion, 
   anti-pop metal, anti-hypocrisy  etc.  etc.  But  these  are  just 
   theme. These blacky themes match very well to evilized music like 
   Sabbat plays and that sounds exciting. When  I  am  a  member  of 
   Metalucifer, I am  just  a  traditional/typical  metal  nut.  You 
   medias often ask us what the goal as a band is,  but  I  have  no 
   goals for sure. I have no intention to change the world  with  my 
   music and no political ambition. I am not interesting in the news 
   like USA and UK bomb  Afghanistan...  I  am  not  interesting  in 
   making money, either. I live free, I play free. However, there is 
   only one exception in my life. I can't be  silent  to  the  metal 
   scene of  today.  So  I  sometimes  attack  the  scene  with  our 
   music.... The meaning of "band" for me is one of mankind's  sixth 
   sense, one of daily life habits same as eating  or  excreting.  I 
   play music for myself the first, and for fans who enjoy the music 
   as art, and for heavy metal kids who go crazy in the concert. And 
   then there is  the  SCENE  and  medias  like  you  following  the 
   Metalucifer movement. Enjoy  Metalucifer  music  straightly,  and 
   imagine something crazy from my great lyrics in your way!  That's 
   the way of art called music, isn't that?                          

   Well, about the point you  mentioned...  yes,  some  members  are 
   sharing both bands Sabbat and Metalucifer.  The  reason  is  just 
   simple. It's very hard for us to find able players  in  our  area 
   and that's better for me to do Metalucifer with all my friends or 
   Sabbat members. These German players on _HMC_ we're getting  from 
   connections with Iron Pegasus. Hey, they worked superb and I  was 
   satisfied very much with their way of metal! One  thing  I  asked 
   the Metalucifer members was "Enjoy it in your  way".  Metalucifer 
   session was full of joyment, but in other  hand,  that  was  full 
   of battle with originality/personality/potential  each  other.  I 
   didn't care of  the  result.  Some  members  asked  me  about  my 
   satisfaction, but that's not a matter. I asked them to  join  the 
   next sessions and told them, "Everything was okay if  you  really 
   enjoyed Metalucifer and had a confidence that you did  your  work 
   100%". There is one thing I have to take care  all  time  between 
   members of Sabbat and Metalucifer. My main project is Sabbat, and 
   Metalucifer is a part of Sabbat.  I  don't  ask  Metalucifer  and 
   Sabbat members to do lots of things... they are not  victims  for 
   my satisfaction and they should be free  from  any  pressure  and 
   stress.                                                           

CoC: What specific bands (if any) inspired the music of _Heavy Metal 
     Chainsaw_? What bands inspire Metalucifer most in  general?  Do 
     the primary  inspirations  vary  between  different  albums:  I 
     notice a marked (general) difference in  style  between  _Heavy 
     Metal Drill_ and _Heavy Metal Chainsaw_?                        

G: The music of  _HMC_  wasn't  inspired  specially  by  any  bands. 
   I myself am  influenced  by  Iron  Maiden,  Manowar,  Accept  and 
   many other NWOBHM/European  metals.  _HMD_  consists  of  40%  of 
   remaked/arranged versions (done in 1995) of my songs  written  in 
   the early Eighties, 30% of early Sabbat songs written in the  mid 
   Eighties, and rest of 30% were brand new songs written  in  1995. 
   _HMC_ songs were in the same vein of _HMD_ songs written in 1995. 
   You know Metalucifer had  a  chance  to  release  the  _Warrior's 
   Again_ 7" EP around 1998 and the _HMC_ songs were written at  the 
   same time as the EP materials. I did the composing  for  all  the 
   _HMC_ songs in six months. I mean, the _HMC_ album is very  tight 
   and not done in loose idea. When I was doing the  job  for  _HMC_ 
   album, I had some discussions  with  Iron  Pegasus  to  let  some 
   German players join in Metalucifer. So I tried to  give  straight 
   edges to the songs more than  dramatic  rhythm  changes,  because 
   simple feeling would be effective to German fans who know well of 
   the glory of metal Eighties! Well, I could say there  was  a  bit 
   change of musical direction between _HMD_  and  _HMC_,  but  it's 
   alright. Additionally we recorded it at a  new  studio  with  new 
   musicians.                                                        

CoC: Geniezoluzifer,    your    vocal    style     is     distinctly 
     Japanese-accented and  is  the  only  thing  about  Metalucifer 
     which isn't really blueprinted on classic NWOBHM  material.  Is 
     the Japanese accenting intentional or  can  you  not  help  it? 
     Personally, I really like it because it is comedic yet (for me) 
     captures that "warrior spirit" that makes traditional HM vocals 
     sound so powerful, and grip one's attention so much. What would 
     you say to that?                                                

G: What I want to say is as follows... uh. I just can't  DO  English 
   well and I don't make any effort to let my  English  better  than 
   now. And I have no enough time to study it  either.  However  the 
   MUSIC of Metalucifer is rising above  the  matter.  Please  don't 
   misunderstand our stance. We're not a kind of  NWOBHM  clone.  We 
   play the Eighties-styled traditional/typical heavy metal  with  a 
   touch of NWOBHM and I was inspired by not only  NWOBHM,  but  all 
   kinds of trad/typical metal from whole world. Right? And then,  I 
   want to ask you one question along with your feeling and  opinion 
   about Metalucifer. You said "Metalucifer sounds great as  classic 
   NWOBHM songs", in other hand, denying  Japanese-accented  vocals, 
   but you liked it... uh? Why don't you fall into dilemma with your 
   pointless question?                                               

   Or... are you a gentleman  taking  care  of  my  less-ability  of 
   pronunciation? What do you think of these  metallers  who  refuse 
   Metalucifer because of my terrible pronunciations?                

   Find the fact that the situation  surrounding  Metalucifer  rises 
   above your questionnaires. Bad  English?  So  what??  My  samurai 
   spirit says you that the real substance of Metalucifer magic blow 
   off away the negativities  of  Japan-esque  English.  That's  the 
   reason why I don't  make  effort  to  go  to  an  English  school 
   (paying huge money) or I  don't  share  my  composing  time  with 
   studying  Englsih.  Saying  frankly,  if  you  love  Metalucifer, 
   you should  study  JAPANESE-ENGLISH.  You  British  people  speak 
   British English. Americans do American English. Aussie people  do 
   Australian English. Europeans  do  European  English.  Asians  do 
   Asian English... If all of Chinese people speak Chinese  English, 
   absolute number of  the  spoken-English  people  are  consist  of 
   Chinese people as  the  main,  you'll  be  sub.  One  stupid  nut 
   American said like  this,  "Don't  play  metal  without  speaking 
   English!" Crazy. He addled his brain with  his  stupidity  to  be 
   against many domestic bands singing in  ethnic  languages.  Quite 
   nonsense. One German said like  this,  "Gezol's  English  is  not 
   acceptable, but I really love it sang in Sabbat and Metalucifer." 
   He continued, "Almost all of listeners in  non-English  countries 
   are  not  taking  care  of  the  pronunciation  and  they   don't 
   understand the words without lyric  cards  while  listening,  but 
   that's okay enough!" Many people are listening to my  ugly  vocal 
   as a part of metal sound, a part of artwork. Don't you think  the 
   words can be an art? Even if somebody rejects, even  if  somebody 
   worships, I live free from any chains and go  on  playing  music. 
   Actually our language Japanese itself is become broken  by  young 
   ages. I asked myself, is  there  any  must-rule  on  my  work  to 
   express what I want to say with PERFECT  and  CORRECT  words?  In 
   result, I tried to create new language based in some elements  of 
   Japanese (language) for Sabbat's _Karisma_ album, and fortunately 
   Japanese fans accepted it with open arms even  if  they  couldn't 
   understand the lyrics.                                            

   Definitely you can't understand my lyrics because of my  kamikaze 
   pronunciation, but you can catch me with your free  imaginations. 
   That's the way of art. We can say nobody can understand  the  art 
   without imagination and inspiration, can't we? As you know, music 
   is a sort of artwork to create some feeling from  zero.  Feel  it 
   free with pure mind for your metal spirit! If Metalucifer is okay 
   to you at this point, everything is OKAY!                         

CoC: I was not denying the Japanese accented vocals as "acceptable", 
     I was merely noting that they were not a part of  the  original 
     NWOBHM style-template and thus were additional to it. There was 
     not a dilemma; I was not being a "gentleman". I  like  the  way 
     you do your vocals in the sense that  it  fits  the  music  and 
     sounds good and METAL! I also find the accent sounds,  from  my 
     perspective, rather absurd singing the words that it sings, and 
     so that aspect amuses me.                                       

G: Okay, okay, I can catch you. What I am taking care the  most  for 
   composing the riffs  of  vocal  is  to  find  the  most  suitable 
   vocal-lines which fits perfect to the sound. There are  countless 
   combinations of different patterned riffs in general.  Just  like 
   an architect thinks of the plan of a house, it's possible for  me 
   to find thousands of  riff  patterns/combinations  from  my  past 
   experience and knowledge for my "house" (music). But when I write 
   the lyrics, I can find what's  the  best  vocal-riffs  which  fit 
   perfect to the sound with ease. That comes  from  my  spirit  for 
   metal so natural that I think it's not a difficult task.  I  give 
   enough priority to the vocal's riffs/melodies,  as  same  as  the 
   sound itself. That's the most important point to  understand  the 
   real substance of  Metalucifer.  Therefore,  in  my  opinion,  to 
   pronounce the English-written lyrics perfect  is  not  given  the 
   first priority for the  sound  of  Metalucifer,  but  Metalucifer 
   should be a great project created by those who believe in our own 
   style of metal which we must do and have. For example,  sometimes 
   Spanish-singing metal bands are really  attractive  in  point  of 
   powerful lyrics/vocals which is not  like  English-singing  ones. 
   That's sure that my style  is  based  on  Japanese  language  and 
   accent. But I myself think it's a sort  of  Japanese/English  mix 
   juice! I think my/our Japanese  vocal  style  is  very  original. 
   What you said to  me  "...not  a  part  of  the  original  NWOBHM 
   style-template..." is right and  I  accept  it  as  an  excellent 
   opinion. But let me tell you that I don't  want  to  play  NWOBHM 
   under the name of Metalucifer. What I want to do with Metalucifer 
   is the Eighties sound in the European/Japanese  style  which  was 
   played by people (except English men) who wanted  to  ape  NWOBHM 
   and wanted to be a follower of NWOBHM but who  couldn't  be  that 
   because of their  nationality,  language  barriers  and  original 
   feeling with own background. Also the  metal  scene  was  rapidly 
   developed in the past 20 years and it seemed that  there  was  no 
   place for these maniac metallers to  play  this  kind  of  music. 
   Metalucifer is attack to give them a good chance to look over the 
   history and show you the proof that we can  make  the  new  metal 
   sound by using the  Eighties  style  which  you  have  lost  away 
   somewhere. Metal ain't dead yet! That's the core-message from  us 
   Metalucifer. I've heard that  the  word  Lucifer  means  "Morning 
   Star", doesn't it? Yes, Metalucifer is a new morning star for the 
   metal next generation.                                            

CoC: Further to what I said about your lyrics in Metalucifer, I have 
     an appreciation for the amusing qualities of "Bad English",  as 
     I call it,  in  metal  lyrics;  like  in  Sodom's  "Blasphemer" 
     when the lyrics go,  "Midnight,  the  clock  strikes  twelve  / 
     Masturbate, to kill myself / Blasphemer!"; or when Kreator talk 
     of kicking away flowers with power in "Riot of  Violence"!  The 
     best "Bad English" I have ever seen was on one of  your  songs: 
     Sabbat's "Baby, Disco Is Fuck", which is a monstrous evil metal 
     disco destroyer anthem: "Stop singing such your song!"          

G: Sounds  great!  Are  you  the  guy  who  gave  the   review   for 
   "Baby-Disco" of Sabbat?  I've  got  a  mail  from  the  owner  of 
   Primitive Art and he told me someone wrote in the review  saying, 
   "Gezol is the world's greatest  metal  poet".  Did  you  do  that 
   article?                                                          

CoC: No, unfortunately not. But to continue... In fact,  my  biggest 
     problem with _HMC_ is that there aren't  -enough-  problems  in 
     the lyrics. The lyrics, as you say, have almost no mistakes  in 
     them. But they are a  little  repetitive  and  dry.  Before,  I 
     thought  the  scattered  pronunciation  gave  them  an  obscure 
     quality which gave them more charm.                             

G: That's the problem on my side.  I  should  show  you  more  crazy 
   English in next album with CARE! HA! Anyway, telling  frankly,  I 
   cannot imagine how you feel  good  and  bad  to  my  vocal  style 
   because I am a Japanese  resident  and  no  chance  to  pronounce 
   English sentences in my daily life. But  let  me  add  one  thing 
   about my vocal. Well, I AM TOTALLY  SATISFIED  WITH  MY  VOCALS!! 
   That's my pure style and probably I can't sing  better  or  worse 
   than today's style. If you metallers want to critic  Metalucifer, 
   you can do it free. If you simply like our music, I just want you 
   keep listening with relax feeling. I see, even if metal  fans  in 
   general is against my vocal style, they cannot be satisfied  with 
   Metalucifer without my vocal! Right?                              

CoC: Pretty much. Who do you consider the biggest wimps, poseurs and 
     disco-sluts in the world today?                                      

G: Metallica. The guy who was an European in the past [Lars  "'Do  I 
   have to play double bass drums? But it's so much  work!'"  Ulrich 
   --PS] answered to a Japanese magazine like this... "We  were  all 
   fool while we were a thrash band. We  can't  play  stupid  thrash 
   metal anymore right way." So I  could  say  Metallica  could  get 
   today's ugly position in the music scene. He has  eaten  so  much 
   rotten American pizzas that  his  brain  seems  to  be  meltdown. 
   Sometimes major bands answer to the interview, "Last album wasn't 
   good enough, but this time everything (new  album)  went  perfect 
   (so buy this one !)"... something like this. ... How  many  times 
   do they repeat the same answer in each time when they release the 
   NEW albums? They look down their fans, music fans. After  reading 
   the interview, I let myself cool down and go to  a  second  hands 
   record shop to make small money by selling their brand new album. 
   That's enough to buy some toilet paper... that's all.  The  bands 
   announced through the media interviews that their materials  were 
   not worth listening, lesser than toilet paper.                    

CoC: Who do you consider the greatest heavy metal  warriors  in  the 
     world today?                                                         

G: If you don't mention your band to this question, you're  a  false 
   metal. Of  course  Metalucifer  is  the  world's  greatest  metal 
   warriors. Metal artists are always trying to be better than other 
   rivals. We believe ourselves that we are the best and our  albums 
   are the best,  too!  Am  I  stupid?  Do  you  play  live  to  let 
   yourselves silent than other bills? We  ought  to  be  always  on 
   stage with belief to play the very best show and performance than 
   any others. That's not strange  if  there  are  many  BEST  metal 
   warriors in the world. You know, there are  countless  "ultimate" 
   black metal bands in the current. I am not conceited about myself 
   and I am not a rock star (see my  looks).  However  I  am  always 
   spending energy for metal to be 100% honest to  my  fans,  "We're 
   always on the 100% way of  heavy  metal.  We're  the  best  metal 
   warriors!". And hope, the readers of this interview, you must  be 
   another metal warriors and try being the best any time.           

CoC: Where did you think up the crazy pseudonyms for the members  of 
     the band and  the  instruments  they  play  [e.g.  "Elizablumi: 
     erotic Thai guitar  of  death  all  backing  riffs,  solos  and 
     chorus"]? Can you take us through  them  individually  as  they 
     appear on Heavy Metal Chainsaw and tell us... "WHY??"           

G: My pseudonyms are Gezol, consisting of  Gel  and  Sol,  both  are 
   colloidal liquid making human body.  On  the  activities  through 
   Sabbat, I  am  calling  myself  Gezol.  And  on  the  Metalucifer 
   project, I just add Lucifer to my name. Then when we had sessions 
   for _HMC_, I replaced some words with German  word  Geniesser  (= 
   enjoy) and Luzifer  (=  lucifer).  While  we  had  recording  for 
   _HMC_, I said,  "Enjoy!"  many  times  to  German  guys.  One  of 
   them, Tomentarou had flashed the idea.  "Bratwurst"  means  of  a 
   bread+sausage, doesn't it? I add "senf"  (=  mustard).  I  really 
   love the food and when I go to Germany, I am always eating it. Of 
   course we have the same one in Japan, but it's  Americanized  and 
   terrible  tasted.  German  ones  are  the  BEST!  Tomentarou  was 
   enjoying to give new pseudonyms to members.  One  day,  he  asked 
   me about pseudonyms of  Zorugelion  (drummer  of  Sabbat),  so  I 
   explained it.  He  is  similar  to  me,  so  let  my  name  Gezol 
   reverse... "Zoruge" and in the beginning when he  joined  Sabbat, 
   he had blonde hair and it seemed like  a  lion  to  me.  "Zoruge" 
   meets "lion", that turns to his name. Then Tomentarou  wanted  me 
   to give him a new stage name  as  a  member  of  Metalucifer.  He 
   is/was a fat guy, so  I  got  "Tarou"  from  Japanese  dictionary 
   meaning of fat. And added it to his name  on  "Desaster".  And  I 
   thought it was perfect if adding "Kamikaze"  and  "Sumo"  to  his 
   weapons. Sounds great as the drummer  of  Metalucifer.  Elizaveat 
   was one of the original Sabbat members in the very past.  I  took 
   his name from Elizaveat Bathory. Nowadays he  has  some  problems 
   with his BALLS, so I wished his balls would be back to usable and 
   gave name of "Spermy Splash" to his weapon. Elizabigore is a real 
   older brother of Elizaveat. Both of them are playing in  a  local 
   band, "Gore". He is  older  and  bigger  than  Elizaveat,  so.... 
   Eliza+Big+Gore. He is a figure artist of  Godzilla  monsters,  so 
   his  weapon  became  "Ecstasy  Screaming  Godzilla".  Elizablumi, 
   he  wanted  as  a  member  of  Elizaveat  family.  "Eliza"  meets 
   "Blumenthal", his real name. When we had the  recording  session, 
   he was a frequenter of a prostitute house in  the  town.  He  was 
   possessed by a cute girl from Thailand, and he enjoyed  her  like 
   hell... That's why his guitars is called, "Erotic Thai Guitar  of 
   Death".                                                           

CoC: Which of the following words best describes Andrew WK: "great", 
     "good", or just "gay"? Is there a better word?                       

G: Tell him that anus is better than a cunt, I think he'll like that!

CoC: Did you like the last Iron Maiden album?

G: Fans and medias are supporting _Brave New World_, but I  am  not. 
   In my opinion, Iron Maiden is finished with  _Seventh  Son  of  a 
   Seventh Son_. There is no albums  coming  out  from  Iron  Maiden 
   which is actually better than _SSoaSS_.                           

CoC: Should Rob Halford get back together with Judas Priest?

G: The scene people and the fans seem to let him come back to Judas, 
   but I don't want it come true. If he has very new ideas to make a 
   new album which is superb  better  than  _Painkiller_  album,  he 
   should come back. If not, they should keep distance  each  other. 
   Remember Accept please. U.D.O  was  simply  great  than  re-union 
   Accept, wasn't it?                                                

CoC: What do you think of _Warriors of the World_,  and  of  Manowar 
     post-_Kings of Metal_ in general? Were they not better  in  the 
     days of _Sign of the Hammer_ and _Battle Hymns_?                

G: For me, _Louder Than Hell_ was a great album. I think  the  album 
   was stronger than _Kings of Metal_. I liked "Brothers of  Metal", 
   "The Gods Made Heavy Metal", "Number One", "Outlaw" & "The Power" 
   a lot!! Still now I've been listening these tunes. They are heavy 
   rotations when  I  drive!!  BUT  --  sorry  for  Joey  Demaio  -- 
   honestly, _Warriors of the World_ is not good enough, but boring. 
   The sound is just Manowar fulltime! However, The Quality [sic] of 
   the tunes is inferior to their past masterpiece  albums.  I  feel 
   sad.                                                              

CoC: Anything to say in closing?

G: Before closing the interview, thank you again  for  this  chance. 
   Sometimes I was aggressive to answer to  your  questions,  but  I 
   just wanted to be honest to myself. If you  can  speak  Japanese, 
   probably you can catch me 100%, but I think I did my  best  right 
   now. I hope readers will understand the way of metal  and  what's 
   what in Metalucifer. Arigato.                                     

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

                 K I T T I E ' S   G O T   C L A W S 
                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
          Chronicles of Chaos interviews Mercedes of Kittie
                           by: Aaron McKay


As  the  saying  goes,  dynamite  comes  in  small  packages.  In  my
estimation, this harbors the meaning, among  other  things  possibly,
that explosive things are often underestimate. Kittie is a band  that
falls solidly in this class. Speaking of class, they have  plenty  of
that, too. Deference isn't  something,  I  suppose,  you'd  think  an
interviewer would describe a metal outfit as  possessing,  but  there
has to be a first for everything.

If you feel the need, swallow you preconceived notions  as  you  give
_Oracle_ a try. It'll surely scratch more than the  surface  of  your
mental whimsy. Don't walk, "Run Like Hell"  to  check  this  Canadian
outfit, but lap up a few lines of Kittie's mother's milk here  first.
Mercedes has some yarn to spin your direction.

CoC: I just want to start off by complimenting you guys on _Oracle_. 
     I hadn't got much exposure to you guys other than the Milwaukee 
     MetalFest... what was it, three years ago?                      

Mercedes: Yeah, a very, very long time ago.

CoC: Very long time ago, indeed. This disc, _Oracle_,  this  is  the 
     first exposure I've had in CD format to Kittie's music. I  have 
     to say that it's fairly incredible. I didn't realize how  heavy 
     you guys were until I actually got _Oracle_.                    

M: Well, thank you.

CoC: Could you elaborate a  little  bit  how  the  evolution  toward 
     making _Oracle_ as heavy as it is?                                   

M: Well, physically the songs are off of  our  first  record;  those 
   songs were written six years ago, a very, very long time ago -- a 
   different period in our life, and I mean there's not much  really 
   to it except the evolution of a band. Obviously, the only way  we 
   could go was heavier through the new record, and  I  mean  that's 
   the direction we wanted to go in and  subconsciously  that's  the 
   direction we went into. We  weren't  expecting,  you  know,  well 
   "this song has to do this and this song has to be like  this"  -- 
   it just kind of happened and it flows nicely.                     

CoC: Was there a lot of influence from bands that  you  toured  with 
     that you felt like, you know, we could have all added  our  own 
     sound and just incorporated that into Kittie?                   

M: Not really. I think that if anything, watching bands play is more 
   of like an inspiration, you know? It just makes you  try  harder. 
   We don't like to like pick up things from  other  artists;  we're 
   not that kind of band. We just like to pave our  own  trails,  if 
   anything.                                                         

CoC: Was "In Winter" the first one  released,  or  was  it  "What  I 
     Always Wanted"?                                                      

M: "What I Always Wanted".

CoC: And did "In Winter" come as a follow up?

M: Yeah, "In Winter" is actually released from like... between that.

CoC: As I mentioned, at the Milwaukee MetalFest years back, I had  a 
     little of exposure to Kitty.  Now  I  have  _Oracle_.  In  your 
     estimation, what would you think about a new fan hearing Kittie 
     for the first time and  their  first  exposure  being  "What  I 
     Always Wanted"? Is that  kind  of  what  you  intended  as  the 
     inaugural step?                                                 

M: I would hope that, well, I mean... yes. That is what we  kind  of 
   intended, but I mean at the same time I  think  I'd  rather  have 
   people listen to the record in its  whole  entirety  rather  than 
   listen to the one song. The record is so diverse  and  it  is  so 
   much different from  that  song,  and  every  song  has  its  own 
   personality, I think. I'd rather have them listen  to  the  whole 
   record and see how brutal it actually is.                         

CoC: Well, that's a good way of putting' it! It does  have  its  own 
     personality.  Here's  a  question  you  probably  get  in  each 
     interview: how did the Pink Floyd "Run Like  Hell"  cover  come 
     about?                                                          

M: Basically what happened was back in October  '99  (some  time  in 
   there, not sure about the dates) we were asked to do a Pink Floyd 
   tribute album. We recorded a version of the song, and right after 
   that we hit the road and, basically, while we were  on  tour  the 
   Pink Floyd tribute album fell through and we had already  started 
   playing the song live, so we really didn't know what to  do  with 
   it -- so we just kept on playing it live. After that we  kind  of 
   revamped it a little bit and decided to put it on the new record. 

CoC: I looked over Kittie's website just a little bit a  few  times. 
     The video clip there for "Run Like Hell" seems  like  the  fans 
     really get behind that song. Is that what you've found?         

M: Oh, definitely! We've been playing it for such  a  long  time.  I 
   mean everybody knows the song and before it  was  on  the  record 
   there was stuff on Napster,  live  tracks  on  Napster,  so  like 
   everybody knows the song. I think it's like  that  with  all  the 
   live songs though. Some more brutal than others.                  

CoC: Was it your first choice  for  the  tribute  album  as  far  as 
     getting to pick "Run Like Hell", or was it something that  they 
     asked you to do?                                                

M: It was our first choice. That was a song we felt  we  could  make 
   into our own song. Obviously the song doesn't sound anything like 
   the original, and that's what we were going for.                  

CoC: Yeah, but the distinctiveness is definitely  there  and  you're 
     absolutely right, but you can tell it's Pink  Floyd,  which  is 
     the great part about making a cover  your  own.  You  guys  did 
     flawlessly, if you don't mind me saying so.                     

M: Thank you.

CoC: I also wanted to touch on the bass aspect of the  band,  I'm  a 
     huge fan of bass lines being up front and "in your face", so to 
     speak. "What I Always Wanted" has a nice driving'  bass  aspect 
     to it. Was  this  a  showcase  piece  to  highlight  Jennifer's 
     ability?                                                        

M: Actually, our old bassist was on that recording  (not  Jennifer), 
   but I don't think that was our intention. I think with  Jennifer, 
   she adds a lot more stuff to the music now; she  adds  fills  and 
   actually has a bass solo. She's actually a good player.  I  think 
   now when we play the song live it is more of a showcase.          

CoC: It comes across really well all throughout _Oracle_,  but  that 
     was the song that really stuck  in  my  mind.  Having  ties  to 
     Canada like Kittie does, in your opinion, does that origination 
     point for the band have an impact on their sound or how  it  is 
     received in the  metal  community?  Put  another  way,  do  you 
     receive more or less attention because the band is from Canada? 

M: Um, I don't think being from Canada really  has  anything  to  do 
   with our sound, 'cause there's not a  lot  of  heavy  bands  from 
   Canada minus Cryptopsy and the like. There's a lot of  radio  and 
   punk rock here and that's about it. There's  a  few  really  good 
   heavy metal acts from Canada, but I mean other than that, I think 
   a lot of people kind of  [believe]  just  because  [a  band  like 
   Kittie is] from Canada they won't listen to  your  music  because 
   they think that just because you're from Canada you're  going  to 
   suck. There's not a lot  of  good  metal  bands  out  there  from 
   Canada.                                                           

CoC: How is the exposure in Canada for Kittie? Pretty diverse?

M: Not as good as in the US. Canada is a little  behind  and  always 
   has been. It's really annoying, kind of. They either hate you  or 
   they love you.                                                    

CoC: I think it is just a matter of getting them to hear  Kitty  and 
     understand it, because you touched on it best when you said all 
     the songs have their own personality. I think there is going to 
     be something on _Oracle_ that appeals  to  somebody  somewhere; 
     it's just a matter of getting  it  in  front  of  their  faces. 
     Touching on the songs a bit , the song "Pain" had a nice  layer 
     over the harsh and clean vocals. It  just  came  across  really 
     well in my opinion. Do you ever get anybody who says you have a 
     good singing voice and why don't you utilize that more; i.e. do 
     away with the other harsh style?                                

M: Yeah, we do get a lot of people who [say] that, but I  mean  it's 
   our band and it's our choice. Obviously we're not  going  to  let 
   anybody influence us except for ourselves.                        

CoC: There is a lot of varying up and changes when it comes  to  the 
     vocal approach -- sounding at times like in Flames or whatever. 
     What made you guys decide to have a couple different techniques 
     as far as where the vocals come from?                           

M: We are a band of all types of music and we  like  to  add  melody 
   into our music, you know? Other than being  just  a  straight  up 
   screaming or singing band, we like the best of both  worlds.  And 
   it really mixes well with our music.                              

CoC: Would the term "conflicted" pretty much  describe  Oracle?  Not 
     one path or another but kind a conflicted as far as  the  vocal 
     approach  and  all  the  facets  that  you  have  on  the  song 
     musically?                                                      

M: I wouldn't say "conflicted", I'd more say along the  lines  of... 
   blah... I don't know what I'd describe it as... it's different. 

CoC: "Safe" and "Pink Lemonade", I would consider a  couple  of  the 
     most dynamic on the new album. Does it show  another  side  you 
     want to demonstrate to your fans?                               

M: Yeah, definitely! We always wanted, on our first record (_Spit_), 
   to add an instrumental song that was more mellow, but  was  safe. 
   We really wanted to have a slower and more mellow  song,  because 
   we're not just into heavy music. We're into all sorts of music.   

CoC: It was excellent... Great way to end an album, great way to  go 
     out. What do you think is the heaviest song, in  your  opinion, 
     on _Oracle_?                                                    

M: In my opinion, I think "Severed" is really very brutal,  and  "No 
   Name" is really heavy. There's so many heavy songs...                

CoC: Yea,  and  they  drop  in  different  places,  too,  where  the 
     chunkiness picks up where the other left off. Maybe you thought 
     the previous song was heavy and then you get into a riff  in  a 
     certain song other track and you're like "DAMN, that's  heavy". 
     I mean, as far as the listener would go, I think they would  be 
     taken in in a big way by musicianship like that. Did  you  ever 
     expect _Spit_ to go to the heights it did?                      

M: No! We're signed to an indie label. I mean, we're from Canada and 
   a garage band forever, and so we really never expected anything.     

CoC: How's your relationship with the label?

M: It's alright, I guess... it's not the best.

CoC: Would you consider it a real eye opener from the last album  to 
     this one when a fan hears _Oracle_? Do  you  think  they'll  be 
     blown away?                                                     

M: [_Oralcle_] is so much more different and so diverse, and I think 
   a lot of people who haven't  taken  the  time  to  listen  to  it 
   because of the first record, I think, they would definitely enjoy 
   the second album.                                                 

CoC: Do you think, speaking of labels, dealing with them is a highly 
     complicated aspect of the music business? Does it ever  detract 
     from the more enjoyable parts of having a band like Kittie?     

M: Sometimes, but you know what, there's always going to  be  fights 
   and battles that you win or lose, but I mean this is my life  and 
   I love what I do.                                                 

CoC: Would you say that touring is the best  part  of  a  band  like 
     Kittie?                                                              

M: We got into this tour to have fun  and  play  live  shows.  We've 
   always been a live band and we always will be.                       

CoC: So that's probably the best part and everything else aside.

M: Yeah.

CoC: To a large degree I think that a band takes a little  bit  away 
     from every person they run into. Do you ever think playing with 
     a band like Slipknot impacts you in any way? For instance,  the 
     energy you get caught up in when performing with  an  band  the 
     size of a Pantera, or Slipknot, or an In Flames... Would it  be 
     different or would you be able to take something positive  away 
     from those different types of shows?                            

M: I don't know, I mean... I think that  always  something  positive 
   comes our of a show whether it be we're always going to make  new 
   fans no matter what.                                              

CoC: It is just a matter of getting you in front of the right people 
     for exposure. I noticed the mason jar on the front cover;  tell 
     me a little bit about the cover, where did that come about?     

M: The cover [of the CD] is of a flaming mason jar and you  open  it 
   up and there's pictures of x-rays of people's bones, for example, 
   and x-ray of a guy with a knife shoved in his eye. And then  it's 
   just different x-rays and different pictures that depict emotions 
   and other fun stuff. You have to see it!                          

CoC: You don't really know what the cover is instantly; you have  to 
     look at it pretty hard to pick it up.                                

M: A lot of people don't know what the cover is and I've heard  some 
   pretty interesting things people think it is...                      

CoC: Are there big plans for time on the road... tours?

M: Actually, we've been touring non-stop on this record,  and  we've 
   just set up a tour with us and Shadows Fall, and  a  band  called 
   Hotwire.                                                          

CoC: Will you guys headline it?

M: Yeah.

CoC: Thank you, Mercedes, and please end the interview any  way  you 
     like.                                                                

M: Come see a show! Forget every thing you've ever heard  about  the 
   band at the door and listen with open ears. Or go buy the  record 
   and forget anything you've heard about the band  and  put  it  in 
   your CD player.                                                   

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

     C H R I S T ,   T H E Y   F U C K I N G   H A T E   Y O U ! 
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               CoC interviews John Chavez of Vehemence
                          by: Adrian Bromley


It's tough being the new kid on the block. You're basically  starting
from scratch, thrust into a world of bullies, new friends and  a  new
neighborhood that you call home. It isn't easy to blend in and become
"one of the gang". Think of how hard it must be for a new metal  band
nowadays to fit into a scene that has been going on for thirty  years
now. A tough task indeed.

Phoenix, Arizona sextet Vehemence are  one  of  the  many  new  bands
thrust into the metal music scene. Their hard work  and  perseverance
as an indie band has paid off as they signed to Metal  Blade  Records
and have just  released  their  intriguing  concept  album  _God  Was
Created_.

Having fun yet, guys?

"Oh man, it has been a real blast for us the past few months",  beams
Vehemence guitarist John Chavez  down  the  line  from  his  home  in
Arizona. "It just feels great to have accomplished so much with  this
band and hooking up with Metal Blade. All we [the band is rounded out
by singer Nathan  Gearhart,  guitarist  Bjorn  Dannov,  bassist  Mark
Kozuback, drummer Andrew Schroeder and keyboardist  Jason  Keesecker]
ever wanted was to get our music out to  as  many  people  into  this
music genre as possible so that it could be heard."

"I think this record turned out pretty damn good with the budget that
we had for it and the amount of time that we had  spent  on  it",  he
says. "We made sure that seeing that this was our debut  disc  for  a
big label, that everything sounded the way  we  wanted  it  to  sound
before we left the studio. We really couldn't afford to mess up  this
release."

What does Chavez get out of the new album when he plays it back? What
are his reactions? What does he get from the music?

"I am very proud of this album when I play it back. I think  we  have
done something deeply honest and intense. We are very happy with  the
final results and it seems to be going over well with fans and  music
critics. We're just happy to be with Metal Blade and them backing our
music."

It is worthy of noting that the band took credit  for  producing  the
debut album as well. Does that go along with the fact that  the  band
wanted to make sure that everything turned out right  in  their  eyes
and ears?

"Kind of", he responds. "I mean, we were told to look into getting  a
producer to work within our budget for recording, and then some other
things happened, and it wasn't working out for certain scenarios.  We
eventually wasted some time and had to get things going right  again,
so we took charge. The album was recorded in The Saltmine Studios  in
Mesa, Arizona and mixed at Trident Studios in California. It  was  an
experience, to say the least, for us  this  time  around.  Next  time
we'll be ready."

Seeing that this was their debut album, did  Vehemence  go  into  the
studio with a  lot  of  ideas  to  work  from  or  did  they  have  a
concentrated array of songs to mix into the final product?

"We demoed and did some pre-production work before we had entered the
studio with the help of Metal Blade, just to kind of help  us  get  a
good feel of how studio work is. It was an okay experience, but  once
we were in the studio and trying to get all the ideas down,  that  is
when we really made a joint effort to  make  this  a  worthwhile  and
rewarding experience for Vehemence."

I heard your independent release (2000's _The Thoughts From  Which  I
Hide_) a while back and wasn't into the band at all.

"Really?"

Yeah, I just couldn't get into the earlier  independent  release  for
some reason. I was actually a little pessimistic about the new  album
when I heard you had  signed  to  Metal  Blade.  But  I'll  admit,  I
am definitely into the  new  disc.  Very  good  death  metal.  Sounds
impressive.

"Thanks man", he says with enthusiasm. "I'm glad you are into the new
album and that we changed your mind  and  thoughts  about  Vehemence.
_God Was Created_ is a progression for us. I think if you  play  back
our demo release and the last album we put out,  _The  Thoughts  From
Which I Hide_, you can really get a good sense of  us  expanding  our
sound and not really staying with one thing", he  remarks.  "Each  of
our albums are different. The last album set the standard for what we
needed to do creatively with this Metal Blade debut."

There is a lyrical concept behind _God Was Created_,  and  with  song
titles such as "Made For Her Jesus", "Christ, I  Fucking  Hate  You!"
and "The Last Fantasy of Christ", I was curious to know more.

"I can't really go too much into detail about  it  'cause  I  am  the
guitar player and didn't conceive the whole thing, but I'll try",  he
states. "Our singer Nathan had decided to make this  album  follow  a
concept. It all started with the first song on the album,  "Made  For
Her Jesus", and we just started building the concept idea from there.
The story has all of these religious overtones and gets more horrific
as it goes along. When we made this album we didn't want it to become
this big King Diamond kind of concept album where it would carry over
into several albums, we  just  concentrated  on  it  being  this  one
release. Now that it is done, we can go on to making another  record.
Who knows? Some day down the road we may make another concept album."

He adds, "We are taking all of this one album at a time.  Each  album
will be different. This album is death  metal,  the  next  one  might
cover black metal. We want to try and cover all genres with  what  we
do. The beauty of music is that you can't stop a creative  mind.  You
always want to try new things and not stay the same or go bland  with
your visions."

Are there any worries about this industry and being in a band?

Responds Chavez, "I'm not really worried about the music  we  create,
'cause I think we do a good job and I think we can hold our own,  but
I am more worried about internal problems for the band.  Things  like
jobs or school holding us back, or even family  matters.  Our  singer
Nathan just had a child and that is obviously an important thing  for
him to have in his life alongside his music."

As things go along in your career, just like any other job, you'll be
able to work around things.

"I agree", ends off Chavez. "Sure those things are in the back of  my
mind, but we just put out a great album and are  ready  to  tour  all
across North America and Europe, so that is more of a priority. Plus,
right now nothing is really bothering us, so we are good to go."

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

          D I S T U R B I N G   T H E   M A I N S T R E A M 
          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                       CoC talks to Dani Filth
                         by: Adrian Bromley


When it was revealed to the metal music world that  Cradle  of  Filth
had signed a worldwide deal with Sony Music to release their upcoming
album, _Damnation and a Day_, many metal music fans couldn't  believe
the news. Cries of "sellout!" could be  heard  throughout  the  world
amongst metal hordes and both angry and  confused  comments  made  up
hundreds of posts on message boards throughout the Internet. Was  the
end of the world near?

Along with many Cradle of Filth fans,  I  too  wondered  whether  the
vampiric / black metal regime -- who had taken  the  metal  music  by
storm with their now legendary demo _Total Fucking  Darkness_  (1993)
and debut album _The Principle of Evil  Made  Flesh_  (1994)  --  was
making the right decision. Well, according to lead screamer/spokesman
Dani Filth, every decision the band has made in the past has been the
right one, and this was just another stage in their ongoing career.

"When people say the 'fans' are talking shit about us signing to Sony
and saying all this stuff about Cradle of Filth, I really think  that
it is a minority of detractors",  explains  the  outspoken  frontman.
"Our fans who have come to know us over the years trust our judgement
-- after all, we -are- the band. When people mention that people  are
saying shit, I think it is an  elite  clientele  of  wankers  who  go
around trashing the band."

I know people like that. <laughs>

"Those people are worms. They are nothing. There is so much to  enjoy
out there in life, but to spend so much time in  the  negative  is  a
preposterous thing."

The topic shifts to the recording  of  the  Sony  debut,  with  Filth
revealing, "There was a lot of expectations, I guess, from fans, some
pressure for sure, but we tried to not let that get on top of us when
we went into record the album. We wanted to undertake a  record  that
was going to be a much bigger project for us. I mean, being  on  Sony
we had a much bigger financial backing with this album and it allowed
us to venture into Hungary to record with a 40-piece orchestra and  a
32-piece choir. We never intended to do a mammoth 77-minute album, it
just ended up that way."

How so?

He continues, "Well, we took ourselves to a well-hidden, out  of  the
way studio in the north of Wales to kind of get away from  everything
like girlfriends and business partners  and  just  to  get  the  ball
rolling. We  didn't  want  any  distractions  --  apart  from  sheep.
<laughs> Out of that experience was born this creation that just kept
on rolling and growing larger as it went along till it came to a halt
as this lengthy album consisting of seventeen tracks.  As  a  concept
record it was key to have a good lengthy set of material,  but  don't
let that scare you off from listening to several tracks out of order.
This album can be digested in many ways, really."

As some might expect, _Damnation and a Day_ is easily one of the best
produced albums the band has released during their career.  The  band
co-produced the album with Doug Cook and invested  a  lot  of  blood,
sweat in tears (not to mention time and resources) to strengthen  and
enlighten their darkened creative edge. Miles away from  their  debut
offering, but still on par sonically (for the most part)  with  other
classic releases like _Dusk and Her Embrace_ (1996), _Cruelty and the
Beast_ (1998) and _Midian_ (2000), the new album will  no  doubt  win
over the die-hard Cradle of Filth fans (and maybe even some of  those
"wankers") Dani loves so much.

"I know our fans will appreciate what we have done with  this  album.
The time and effort we put into this is mind-blowing in my eyes."

Is this the best Cradle Of Filth album?

"Yes, for sure. It is the biggest, the heaviest, and in  some  places
the fastest record we have ever done",  comes  Filth's  answer.  "But
some might say it is a bit commercial in some spots as well. It is an
album where we have grown as a band and brought forth a whole lot  of
ideas into the Cradle of Filth mix. We're still the  same  band,  but
have actively set out to get the best results with what resources and
time we were given to make _Damnation and a Day_. It is such a  weird
feeling being on Sony, I mean here we are rubbing  shoulders  --  not
really, but you know what I mean  --  with  Michael  Jackson,  Shania
Twain and all that other pap and we are going to hold our own."

And yes they can. Regardless of all  the  turmoil  that  has  plagued
the band  over  the  years  (label  changes,  band  members  leaving,
controversy, etc.), Filth refuses to see any  of  it  in  a  negative
light.

"We have always had a vision with this band and I hate it when people
paint a black picture of the past of the band. It is interesting;  it
is not bad or a bleak past. People always seem to pick up on that and
make it out to be some huge road of disaster. How can it have been so
disastrous and we have gotten to where we are now, then? I mean, each
album has gotten better as the years have gone on and...  well,  that
is only my opinion. It has been an  interesting  ride  for  sure.  In
regards to band members leaving, it is kind of like how  any  machine
works. If the machine is going along and some cog has stopped working
and it threatens to stop the movement of the whole machine, then  you
need to get rid of that cog and replace it with a new one. It's  that
simple."

So Dani, excited about OzzFest and headlining the second  stage  this
year?

"It is a great experience for  us",  says  Filth.  "People  might  be
seeing us in the light that they should not be  seeing  us  in,  i.e.
broad daylight, but despite that I  think  it  will  be  a  fantastic
opportunity for us to reach a totally new and bigger crowd."

I think people going there and seeing Cradle of Filth for  the  first
time will be blown away and want to go out after the set and buy  the
CDs and T-shirts.

<laughs> "Or they'll want to bottle us!"

True, very true. That could happen. You know how Americans get  when 
they drink, right?                                                   

"There never seems to be any middle ground with  this  band.  It  is 
very love/hate and it isn't about to change just because we signed a 
deal with Sony Music."                                               

So after getting finishing the album, doing press and readying to hit
the road, is Filth  worried  about  the  possibility  that  this  new
venture into mainstream may not work out, or does he not care?

"To tell you the truth, we may not go over so well, but that  is  how
things are set up right now. We get to see what happens with us,  and
fingers crossed, hopefully we'll prove  them  wrong.  Proving  people
wrong is such a huge satisfaction."

Filth ends off, "If we succeed, then other bands will follow and  the
metal music scene will grow even stronger. We're ready to take on the
mainstream, but are they ready for us?" <laughs>

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

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

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!


...And Oceans - _Cypher_  (Century Media, 2002)
by: Aaron McKay  (5.5 out of 10)

This band is as far  from  straight  metal  as  a  Northeastern  U.S.
politician's moral tendencies. This  sensory  infused  outfit  defies
classification  with  their  strangely  tormenting   soundscapes   of
haunting conundrum. The track  listing  on  _Cypher_  reads  like  an
offering for a depraved E.E. Cummings'  poem.  Strong  harmonies  and
inflicted vocals comprise the most valuable elements on this release.
No stagnation on this band's offerings, but there is something to  be
said for having a goal in mind and  shooting  for  it,  too.  Hearing
_Cypher_, I now think  ...And  Oceans  could  have  had  better  aim.
"Aphelion: Light Evanescence: Into Extinction"  and  "Silhouette:  In
White Rooms: Vacant Bodies" (see what I mean about the names  of  the
songs?) hold the fairest of  blossoms  on  _Cypher_.  The  verifiable
aroma of  exploration  intoxicating  this  effort  is  inventive  and
disturbing at the same time. My guess is that is  how  these  musical
explorationists intended it.  Hard  hitting  in  a  KMFDM-kinda  way,
...And Oceans slice culture  into  categories  of  the  wildly  harsh
fanatics and everyone else. Thirteen cuts of  bottomless  retribution
are scarcely contained within the confines of the _Cypher_  offering.
Regrettably, I've heard far better. If more on this effort would have
sprouted from the  inspiration  (barely)  contained  on  the  dynamic
"Comatose: The World Amnesia: Planet Dead", I might  have  been  more
taken with _Cypher_. As things are now, I'd seek the  unusual  in  an
X-Files episode before  looking  here  for  anything  more  than  the
cautious path self-proclaimed intrepid folk traverse. This CD was far
too tame for me personally and not at all what I was hoping for.


Abdullah - _Graveyard Poetry_  (Meteor City, 2002)
by: Quentin Kalis  (9 out of 10)

Over the past year, stoner rock label  Meteor  City  has  released  a
considerable number of high quality  releases,  far  more  then  most
labels. But Abdullah's sophomore effort may very well top  everything
else that they have released this year. Despite an album  title  that
sounds like the morbid infantile musings of a teenage goth,  Abdullah
are in no way connected to this genre, instead taking their cue  from
the rock of yesteryear to compose a varied  album  that  unlike  many
stoner rock CDs consists of more then recycled Black  Sabbath  riffs.
Of course there is a Black Sabbath influence --  it's  impossible  to
find a stoner rock album which has not been touched  by  these  heavy
metal grandmasters -- but my use of word influence is meant  to  mean
exactly that and not as a  euphemism  for  blatant  mimicry.  A  fair
number of songs contain strong overtones  of  NWOBHM  bands  such  as
Diamond Head, while the heavy final track takes it's  cue  from  punk
(the real stuff, not the power pop  nonsense  that  passes  for  punk
nowadays) and is a fitting closer for an  otherwise  largely  subdued
album. But despite these varied influences,  it  is  a  testament  to
their song  writing  skills  that  none  of  these  songs  sound  out
of place, complementing  each  other  to  produce  an  excellent  and
cohesive album. The lyrics are intelligent and introspective  with  a
philosophical bent, containing more then just  a  hint  of  paranoia.
Vocals are superbly handled by Jeff Shirilla who has emerged  as  one
of stoner rocks best  vocalists.  His  vocals  are  eerily  detached,
producing a coldness in an otherwise  warm  and  inviting  album.  In
short, this is an outstanding album with no major  flaws  and  a  few
inconsequential minor flaws, resulting in the genre's  best  offering
of 2002 and one of the best albums overall of 2002.

Contact: http://www.meteorcity.com


Aborym - _With No Human Intervention_  (Code666, 2003)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7.5 out of 10)

_With No  Human  Intervention_  starts  off  fast  and  chaotic,  yet
powerful and catchy with its  title  track.  Aborym  come  across  as
an apocalyptic black metal  band  a  la  Anaal  Nathrakh,  only  less
unrelenting in terms of pure aggression and more chaotic in terms  of
the sheer lunacy of the electronic samples and beats they throw  into
their music. While I personally  enjoy  Anaal  Nathrakh  far  better,
nevertheless I have to give credit to Aborym for taking  some  things
further in their own way and coming out with a  better  result  than,
say, December Wolves' own experimental exaggerations on _Blasterpiece
Theatre_. This may come as little or no surprise, but  Aborym's  more
techno  and/or  industrial-oriented  passages  consistently  fail  to
interest me throughout the album. Still, even though  Aborym's  black
metal almost always has a more-or-less synthetic, techno-like feel to
it, it is usually only on the  purely  electronic  passages  that  it
becomes obtrusive. Fast, often catchy  and  always  chaotic  to  some
degree, _With No Human Intervention_ is  a  difficult  concoction  to
evaluate, simply because it can go from really interesting to  rather
vulgar and back several times in a couple of  minutes.  It  has  some
really good tracks, several average ones, and  some  rather  annoying
ones as well -- fourteen in all, so excuse me for not naming them one
by one. If you want some name-dropping, then look  for  contributions
from Nattefrost (Carpathian Forest), Irrumator (Anaal  Nathrakh)  and
Bard "Faust" Eithun. Overall, it's mainly some  catchy  guitar  leads
and Atilla Csihar's vocal performance that provide the highlights  on
this one amidst an aural chaos of which a significant  proportion  is
rubbish and only a minority  actually  enhances  the  music.  It's  a
worthwhile release for those interested in the genre,  but  one  that
would have benefited from being more focused rather than such a mixed
bag.

Contact: http://www.code666.net


Aesma Daeva - _The Eros of Frigid Beauty_  (Root of All Evil, 2002)
by: Aaron McKay  (2 out of 10)

Besides the well-worded title, this re-recorded effort  comes  across
as drunk on its own sense of transgenre bullshit,  much  like  Dudley
Moore in Arthur -- and please know I hate to disgrace that movie with
this comparison. Aesma Daeva fans, mostly related to the band I would
assume, will say that I am not able to hear the beauty of this hybrid
zoological garden soundscape. Rubbish! The problem is I hear  it  TOO
WELL! In order to become aware of the menagerie at hand, the listener
must be at least modestly interested in understanding where the  band
is going with their music; I  am  not.  The  female  vocals  tend  to
nurture drowsiness expedited along by the classical guitar  style  of
AD's main-brain, Jon Prassas. Violence is  most  certainly  the  last
thing you think of when Aesma Daeva comes to mind, but to  illustrate
a point: even all the talent in the entire world spread out like grey
matter on a wall after a shotgun blast to the head couldn't make this
disjointed effort any more interesting. _The Eros of  Frigid  Beauty_
takes the "artsy" approach to metal about -three- steps too  far.  To
understand what I mean, spin _Stormblast_ from  the  beginning,  take
out all the black metal and its implications -- what you have left is
what you can expect from AD. To go one more and play upon the already
weak "AD" reference, the only wish I have for this particular disc is
that it would have been left in the "BC" period! Not a  funny  crack?
Well, this disc isn't either -- it's pitiful.


All in Vain - _The Backside of Humanity_  (<Independent>, 2002)
by: Quentin Kalis  (7 out of 10)

I  nearly  wrote  off  this  band  as  yet  another  entrant  in  the
increasingly overcrowded field of melodic death metal  after  hearing
the first track, which is nothing more than a by-the-numbers  example
of this genre. The first track on any album is supposed to be one  of
the best tracks on that particular release; something to attract  the
first-time listeners attention and lure him into  buying  the  album.
The fact that the first track was dismally boring  meant  I  did  not
hold out much hope for the rest of the  album.  But  the  second  and
subsequent tracks proved that first impressions can be wrong.  Whilst
I didn't experience a complete reversal of my opinion,  the  rest  of
the album is considerably more  varied  with  regards  to  tempo  and
raised my opinion of this band by quite a few notches. The  inclusion
of various gothic metal moments also helps to produce a varied album.
While _TBoH_ is unlikely to provide sleepless nights for In Flames or
Dark Tranquility, All in Vain may yet develop into a potent force  in
the scene.

Contact: allinvain@libero.it


Asgaroth - _Red Shift_  (Peaceville, 2002)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

I remember first hearing this Spanish band when they  released  their
album _Trapped in the  Depths  of  Eve_,  and  back  then  they  were
all  Emperor-worship.  Compared  to  the  relatively  straightforward
symphonic keyboards, fast drumming and screamed vocals,  _Red  Shift_
is certainly a different game altogether. Peaceville  liked  it,  and
are re-releasing the album after it originally came out  on  Abstract
Emotions in 2001. Ironically, _Red Shift_  brings  to  my  mind  some
latter day Emperor, like its predecessor did  with  its  contemporary
version of Emperor. This time, however,  the  similarities  are  only
superficial. _Red Shift_ has shades of black metal --  and  where  it
does they remind me of Emperor -- but it's mostly a rather  different
affair. Above all, _Red Shift_ comes across as modern, with a  slight
Fear Factory (circa _Demanufacture_) tinge to their  sound,  even  if
the music itself is far from  FF.  The  music  is  neither  extremely
aggressive nor bland, varying  in  pace  and  amount  of  melody  and
usually relying  on  a  good  guitar  sound  coupled  with  prominent
keyboards (some atmospheric, some electronic and a lot of piano)  and
varied vocals. "Naked Eye"  provides  a  well-balanced,  entertaining
opener for the album, and is followed by the operatic choir of "Lured
Decoy" that seems to make a point  out  of  showing  that  there  are
still things left to reveal after just  one  track,  in  case  anyone
thought that  was  all  there  was  to  Asgaroth's  sound.  The  next
track, "Cyphred", extends this symphonic element; it  is  a  tranquil
instrumental track that  provides  an  early  break  after  two  good
tracks, leaving the listener in anticipation of what is to come.  And
for the most part, the rest of the album does deliver in quality  and
variety -- take for example the  more  atmospheric  "Buried"  or  the
symphonic "I, Befouled", both of which prove the  importance  of  the
fine keyboard work on this album. Some of the tracks,  however,  seem
to lack a bit more of the intensity that one can find earlier in  the
album. Still, _Red Shift_ is varied, entertaining,  and  often  quite
impressive, and should be worth your time.

Contact: http://www.asgaroth.com


Beaten Back to Pure - _Last Refuge of the Sons of Bitches_
by: Xander Hoose  (7 out of 10)  (Retribute Records, 2002)

Virginia's Beaten Back to Pure were high on my  list  of  recommended
albums with their debut _Southern Apocalypse_ when  it  got  released
over a year ago. My only negative comment  back  then  concerned  the
sound quality. For this album, Beaten Back to Pure have  built  their
own studio (Sniper Christian) and it rubs off indeed:  with  all  the
instruments placed perfectly in the mix and  the  vocals  coming  out
more powerful than before, Beaten Back to Pure's  next  step  towards
maturity sounds more convincing than last time around. Musically, the
eight songs on this album are a small step  back  from  the  swampish
death-sludge and a small  step  towards  more  straightforward  death
metal. Vocal-wise Gorefest keeps popping up in my  head,  but  Beaten
Back to Pure incorporate more diversity in their  music:  the  guitar
work on "Shards of Mason Jars" and the catchy laid-back structure  of
"Paleface" show that _LRotSoB_ has a lot to  offer  for  the  careful
listener. Nevertheless, they made one  big  mistake  I  hope  to  see
corrected in the future: the incorporation of clean vocals. It's  not
clean vocals per se that I oppose, but the vocals featured in some of
the tracks on this album are absolutely unconvincing --  not  to  say
misplaced. Guys, please work on the clean vocals or  leave  them  out
and your next effort might be a masterpiece.


Beyond the Embrace - _Against the Elements_  (Metal Blade, 2002)
by: Aaron McKay  (8 out of 10)

A very tightly  packed  debut  from  this  Massachusetts  six-piece, 
Beyond the Embrace drives the sense of intrigue fused with power  to 
heights not often reached by most U.S. bands. Forced ahead  with  an 
up-front  style,  the  vocals  provided  by  Shawn  Gallagher  (also 
picking up the keyboard duties) are a nice blend  of  hoarse,  husky 
and melodious. Worked ever so  nicely  into  the  ear-pleasing  song 
structure are ambitious riffs of the  infectious  kind  courtesy  of 
Oscar Gouveia, Alex Botelho and  Jeff  Suade.  Yup,  that's  -three- 
guitarists alright and BtE sounds as full  as  any  band  out  there 
today. Vim  and  vigor  course  through  this  ten  track  disc,  so 
much so  that  you'd  swear  to  everything  holy  these  guys  were 
reincarnated  Berzerkers.  Completely  compelling  cuts  are  strewn 
generously  throughout  _Against  the  Elements_  with  two  finding 
themselves back-to-back: the instrumental "Drowning" and  the  title 
track, "Against the Elements",  on  which  Adam  Gonsales  pushes  a 
thunderous  bass  line,  the  likes  of  which  appeal  to  me  like 
all-you-can-eat BBQ. Not to let that momentum dissipate even  for  a 
second, Mike Bresciani on drums joins Adam's bass barbarity  on  the 
next track, "Release" -- the song is ripped wide open as  a  result. 
As a side note, recently Beyond the  Embrace  has  replaced  drummer 
Mike Bresciani with Kevin Camille. A small  bit  of  background  for 
those readers who are interested, Mr. Camille's former bands include 
Voices Forming Weapons and Roswell. Enough said that, BtE is one  of 
those things you might hear for yourself to appreciate.  This  is  a 
young outfit age-wise, so expect even bigger things headed  our  way 
from Beyond the Embrace. Time and talent are sure on their side.     

Contact: http://www.beyondtheembrace.com


Bloodline - _A Pestilence Long Forgotten_
by: Quentin Kalis  (7 out of 10)  (Ketzer Recs./Neodawn Prod., 2002)

This is the sort  of  release  that  is  designed  to  draw  a  mixed
reaction: the black  metal  purists  will  love  _APLF's_  deliberate
ultra-raw production while others will scorn the unnecessary wall  of
noise approach. While the latter view is understandable and I  in  no
way consider myself  a  black  metal  purist,  I  favour  the  former
approach, as the rawness of the music creates a  primal  fury  and  a
cold, clinical sound that would be missing  from  a  record  that  is
subjected to higher  production  values.  Such  low-level  production
is not without (other)  flaws:  the  drumming  is  relegated  to  the
background, while the intermittent  keyboards  are  occasionally  too
high in the mix. The  keyboards  are  often  necessary  in  order  to
counter the pure dissonance of the guitars. The musical  style  means
that it is unlikely to be tolerable and is likely to become  tiresome
over the course of a full-length; on this 7" EP release containing  a
mere two tracks - the title track and a cover of Burzum's "Was  Einst
War" - and with a playing time of some twelve minutes,  there  is  no
chance for boredom to make an entrance.  Its  brevity  works  in  its
favour, as it is likely that one would not be  able  to  stand  their
abrasive style over the course of a full  album.  If  under  produced
black metal appeals to you then the score above holds; if  not,  this
would be worth a two.

Contact: ketzer@ketzer-records.de


Brave - _Searching for the Sun_  (Dark Symphonies, 2002)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7.5 out of 10)

Formerly known as Arise From Thorns, Brave are a band that knows how 
to use their skills in a way that suits them. On _Searching for  the 
Sun_ they do not try  to  sound  heavy  or  depressed;  they  simply 
concern  themselves  with  showcasing  their  technical  merits  and 
Michelle Loose's talented vocals. While a lot  of  the  material  on 
this album comes across as quite radio-friendly, some of it also has 
a reasonable metallic edge. This is hardly a metal release  at  all, 
though you can tell there's a progressive metal influence at work -- 
fans of older Anneke-era The Gathering will be  interested  in  this 
one, as long as they can tolerate  the  loss  of  the  heavy  guitar 
sound. The music is, of course, very melodic; it's neither  sad  nor 
happy, though generally warm and possibly  uplifting  (depending  on 
the listener). I am left wondering how such an album fits in a label 
called Dark Symphonies -- more so if  I  look  at  the  sunny  album 
title, which doubles the irony of it all -- but that doesn't detract 
from the quality of the music inside. If you too are "searching  for 
the sun" instead of darker soundscapes, then you should give Brave a 
chance -- but you must  be  prepared  for  the  album's  very  light 
atmosphere.                                                          

Contact: http://www.bravemusic.com


ChthoniC - _9th Empyrean_  (Nightfall Records, 2002)
by: Aaron McKay  (7 out of 10)

I have no idea, honestly, how I came into possession of this disc.  I
am not serviced by this label, I have never heard of this  group  nor
could I truthfully tell you that I  can  even  pronounce  their  name
correctly for the record.  All  that  aside,  this  Taiwanese  outfit
embodies quality that is  imbued  with  elaborations  found  only  in
avant-garde black metal. Because of this  disc,  that  is  no  longer
true. ChthoniC has forged a melding of black  metal  and  atmospheric
harmonies that makes its own path like a cooling lava  stream.  I  am
not telling anything most of you  don't  already  know,  but  such  a
unique trait for independent musical creativeness is become more rare
than a search for meaning in the American Democrat party. While  that
is neither here nor there, ChthoniC is a band of  some  longevity  to
their existence. Recently this  five-piece  celebrated  their  nearly
half a decade anniversary as a band at a celebration  party  in  Hong
Kong. Passing their music off as an escape to other worldliness, this
band takes eight tracks of heavy keyboards and  strong,  but  subdued
guitars to heights of limited by imagination only. An ancient feel of
warped divinity plagues this band, however. I have grown weary of the
"more evil than thou" mentality prevalent in metal of all genres, but
ChthoniC, at least on the surface, seems to keep  this  in  check.  I
enjoy the isolated feel and unnaturally warm feel of this group,  but
a greater focus of energy toward venturesome riffs  with  more  of  a
heightened spirit of the Taiwanese  culture,  like  on  track  eight,
"Guard the Isle of Eternally", would benefit Chthonic immensely.


Codeseven - _The Rescue_  (Caroline Distribution, 2002)
by: Adam Lineker  (7.5 out of 10)

For a band whose  music  featured  on  a  WWE  (it'll  never  replace
WWF, will it?)  broadcasting,  Codeseven  are  surprisingly  mellowed
out. There is a certain honesty  about  the  music  offered  on  _The
Rescue_ that doesn't really fit well with their  emo-pop  tag.  While
there are moments that paint the  lightest  shades  of  what  At  the
Drive-In were trying to do, Codeseven leave a greater  impression  of
individuality. Musically, _The Rescue_ flows naturally and without  a
hitch; only what is expected  when  taking  into  consideration  that
three brothers form the core of this band. There is an evident  sense
of harmonic sensibility and invention, with the  band  throwing  more
than one curveball into the structuring and melodic progression. This
is backed by  an  attractive  production,  with  shining  guitar  and
thick, enjoyable bass; interestingly the  drums  have  that  distinct
'percussion booth' feeling and sit oddly with the  slick  feeling  of
the mix at first, although later it becomes apparent that  the  sound
complements the performance of this band: very sensitive to  its  own
creativity and yet very human. The vocals  vary  in  attitude,  often
taking a reflective commentary on the surrounding music, occasionally
welling up and emotionally bursting forth. It is both  absorbing  and
surreal, aural impressionism that reflects the  care  that  has  gone
into its creation. This also  proves  to  be  Codeseven's  only  real
failing. As with many bands that adopt a  surreal  element  in  their
composition, it can prove too vague in translation. Although it gives
props to the emo movement, it  is  often  unclear  what  emotion  the
listener is meant to be tapping into. Often  the  keyboardist  blends
entirely with the guitar line, losing  clarity  in  presence;  couple
this with a vocalist who is more than occasionally  incomprehensible,
and Codeseven's message is well and truly lost in the  fog  of  their
own music. Unfortunately this also detracts from their impact. Though
they may be absorbing and pleasurable, it is difficult to specify any
memorable moments in _The Rescue_; the title track is the only  piece
approaching a stand out work. However,  credit  where  credit's  due:
although this style of music may not be of  my  own  personal  taste,
Codeseven offered me an emotive and  relaxing  listening  experience,
though enthusiasts of this style may be somewhat disappointed by  the
length of _The Rescue_, falling short of  the  standard  for  a  full
album.

Contact: http://www.music-cartel.com


Corporation 187 - _Perfection in Pain_  (Wicked World, 2002)
by: Xander Hoose  (7.5 out of 10)

With the thrash revival at full speed -- mostly thanks to  a  handful
of modern Swedish bands (The Haunted, Darkane) --  thrash  itself  is
getting stripped  and  analysed,  deconstructed  then  reconstructed,
modernized to appeal to the youngsters with shorter attention  spans,
and brutalized to be just a little  more  extreme  than  what  people
might expect. Slayer did it with their killer last album, The Haunted
have proven they master the skills almost better than their  masters,
and Darkane has managed to create a whole  new  thrash  league.  More
marginally, bands like Dew-Scented  and  Carnal  Forge  are  bringing
successful albums to the market as well. Another name that should not
go unmentioned is Corporation 187, who debuted more  than  two  years
ago on Earache's Wicked World  sub-label.  _Perfection  in  Pain_  is
their second offering, consisting of little more than half an hour of
pure aggression. Reminiscent mostly of Carnal  Forge  in  both  vocal
style and song structures, _PiP_ will undoubtedly  appeal  to  anyone
with an interest in the thrash scene. However, the quality  level  of
Carnal Forge is not quite reached  yet:  _PiP_  sounds  like  it  was
cloned from the blueprint of CF's _Firedemon_ album. Nevertheless, in
all its straightforwardness, aggression  and  honesty,  _PiP_  is  an
album that'll cheer up the hearts of many  a  good  soul  during  the
drizzly Autumn.

[Adam Lineker: "The second album from the Corporation joins the  fray
at a time when the influences of thrash are  more  alive  than  ever.
Bookended by Darkane's _Expanding Senses_ and The Haunted's _One Kill
Wonder_, this second  release  is  well  timed  enough  to  have  put
Corporation 187 on the spot quite nicely. Thankfully, _Perfection  in
Pain_ is a strong enough record to sit alongside  the  records  which
have recently surrounded it. The music on _PiP_ translates  well  and
sounds fittingly modern  enough  to  sound  relevant.  Most  of  all,
this record is enjoyable and  involving,  with  some  powerful  songs
and effective musicianship.  However,  although  enjoyable  and  well
performed, _Perfection in Pain_ lacks that certain x-factor  to  lift
into a higher level that it almost reaches.  As  it  stands,  we  are
given a strong record that is worthy of attention; after all, we must
remember that not all bands can be The Haunted..."]


Council of the Fallen - _Revealing Damnation_  (Martyr, 2002)
by: Aaron McKay  (8.5 out of 10)

Like heat-priming a chimney before lighting a fire,  Council  of  the
Fallen are set to blaze nearly uncontrolled. This well-balanced three
piece have hardened their sound through experience. Derek Ruddy (Hate
Eternal), Sean Baxter (Broken Hope / Em Sinfonia) and  Kevin  Quirion
flare with magnificence on _Revealing  Damnation_.  As  a  matter  of
fact, Ruddy has issued  a  newly  released  45  minute  instructional
drumming video as of late. No half-baked, half-assed metal here! CotF
is purely scorching metal. In  this  three  piece,  a  listener  will
soon come to appreciate the duality  of  the  band's  vocal  assault.
Occasional and lightly used wisps of shadowed murmurs and whispers on
some tracks add a welcome hint  of  black  metal  to  this  firebrand
outfit. "Demon Winds" and "Secrets No Longer" showcase this  band  in
the best of lights magnifying Sean, Derek and Kevin Quirion's ability
and  consuming  passion  to  rip  through  some  largely  imaginative
material. Believe me -- it smokes. "Cast from  the  Heavens"  has  an
undeniable Epoch of Unlight undertone, where as the majority  of  the
rest of _Revealing Damnation_ incorporates a cross-section of  styles
from technical to black to death. Playing up  more  of  CotF's  vocal
style and interplay while mixing in  at  least  the  same  amount  of
texture, like at the 1:30 mark on "Unveiling the Pain", would be most
certainly a plus, adding to the band's already smoldering complexity.
Making it on the metal scene, as we all know,  takes  an  impassioned
desire to succeed. All I can say for sure is, Council of  the  Fallen
has the necessary the collective fire in  the  belly  to  engulf  the
metal community. I can't wait for the next offering.


Dead Blue Sky - _Symptoms of an Unwanted Emotion_  (Goodlife, 2001)
by: Brian Meloon  (9 out of 10)

Like the Indian fable about the blind men trying to figure out  what 
an elephant is, knowing only some of the facts about this album will 
lead you to wildly inaccurate conclusions. Based upon the cover  art 
and the band and album names, you'd be  tempted  to  think  this  is 
ambient or Projekt-style goth-lite music. Based upon the facts  that 
the band are American (from Ohio, actually) and this is released  on 
a hardcore label,  you'd  probably  expect  a  completely  different 
sound. And should you actually listen only to the music, you may  be 
convinced they hail from Sweden and feature some former  members  of 
Miscreant. In fact, all of these facts hold only partial truths. The 
music is a mix of atmospheric and melodic death  metal  with  rasped 
lead vocals and ethereal female backing  vocals.  These  contrasting 
styles are mixed throughout nearly all of the songs,  allowing  them 
to accentuate each other. In an impressive  display  of  songwriting 
prowess, the band are able to maintain the flow of the  songs,  with 
nary a jarring  transition  to  be  found  and  only  the  13-minute 
instrumental title track being overly repetitive. The metallic parts 
feature  tremolo-picked  harmonized  guitar  lines  and  riffs  that 
emphasize melody over heaviness.  Some  of  these  sections  bear  a 
remarkable similarity to those done by Miscreant over 8  years  ago, 
whereas others are more original, but all of them are well-done. The 
softer parts rely on  keyboards,  acoustic  guitars,  and/or  female 
vocals, and are varied in their style and duration. The drumming  in 
general is very impressive, as the drummer works hard  to  keep  any 
sections from getting too repetitive by throwing in  fills  or  even 
completely changing the rhythmic structure under the repeated guitar 
riffs. Some may find his style  "too  busy",  but  I  feel  that  it 
provides a needed diversity, and fits the  flow  of  the  music.  In 
contrast to this, the guitar and bass work is solid but  restrained. 
This is heavily guitar-driven  music,  with  the  keyboards  serving 
mainly to provide atmosphere and accentuate or provide  counterpoint 
to certain guitar lines. Overall, I'm very impressed by  this  debut 
effort, and I hope to hear  more  from  them  in  the  future.  This 
release should be enjoyed both by hardcore/metalcore fans who  enjoy 
a more melodic approach as well as fans of melodic  and  atmospheric 
death metal.                                                         

Contact: http://www.deadbluesky.com/


Desaster - _Divine Blasphemies_  (Iron Pegasus, 2002)
by: Matthias Noll  (9 out of 10)

In the last couple of years Desaster have mainly impressed me through
their display of stubborn underground spirit. In times where not many
give a damn about this style, the German four-piece has  proudly  and
inexorably delivered authentic-sounding German thrash  combined  with
slight black metal influences and  imagery.  This  mostly  failed  to
impress me on a musical level, because I  never  got  the  impression
that  Desaster  were  really  able  to  consistently  follow  in  the
footsteps even of second tier outfits like Deathrow, Violent Force or
Assassin. Desaster were  either  not  black,  not  thrashing  or  not
violent enough to do much for  me,  and  were  instead  uncomfortably
located in some kind of no-man's land where a lot of respect  is  due
for many reasons but  the  least  of  which  is  outstanding  musical
accomplishments. Seeing them live in Wacken 2001  was  enjoyable  but
not really spectacular either. I'm not really sure what has  happened
since then, but Desaster  are  back  with  their  new  album  _Divine
Blasphemies_ and here I sit, the non-believer, and want to inform you
that it shreds, totally!  It's  really  difficult  to  pinpoint  what
exactly makes this  album  so  much  better  than  previous  Desaster
material I've heard. It's a  combination  of  multiple  factors:  the
production is sharper and more aggressive while sounding refreshingly
natural;  the  songs  thrash  fiercer  and  more  memorably;  and  an
excellent quality level is maintained throughout the whole album. And
most  importantly  for  me,  their  new  vocalist  delivers  a  truly
phenomenal performance, whereas I never felt totally comfortable with
his predecessor Okkulto. The  aptly  named  Sataniac  does  not  only
shout, snarl and scream coarsely into the microphone  in  a  powerful
fashion; he attacks it like a rabid animal with such ferocious energy
that the recording equipment is often kicked into overdrive  whenever
he lets lose completely. Kreator's Mille has  quite  a  few  problems
sounding like a man in comparison to this madman during  their  vocal
duet in  the  song  "Nighthawk".  Musically  Desaster  deliver  prime
up-tempo and fast Teutonic thrash on _Divine Blasphemies_ and I don't
hear much of a black metal influence this time.  Although  there  are
occasional bits and pieces which remind me  of  old  Destruction  and
other legends, Desaster have developed their own distinguishable  and
raw style, with a genuine '80s vibe which clearly distinguishes  them
from more modern German thrashers like the formidable Dew-Scented.  I
really doubt there will be a better album coming out  of  Germany  in
2003. Get those denim vests out and join the thrashing rage -- now!

Contact: http://www.total-desaster.de/


Dimmu Borgir - _World Misanthropy_  (Nuclear Blast, 2002)
by: Quentin Kalis  (8 for the music, 5.5 for the DVD) out of 10)

As one of Nuclear Blast's more successful acts, it was only a matter 
of time before another Dimmu Borgir DVD  was  released.  (The  first 
DVD, _Live and Plugged_, was  released  back  in  1997.)  The  first 
_World Misanthropy_ DVD (it is a double DVD set) consists largely of 
selections from their 2001 tour. The focus  is  on  songs  from  the 
last two CDs; fans of  Dimmu  Borgir's  black  metal  days  will  be 
disappointed, though the second CD does feature some older  material 
from a 1998 tour and a few clips -- though old in  this  case  means 
_Enthrone Darkness Triumphant_ era Dimmu, with only  one  song  from 
_For All Tid_ and  two  from  _Stormblast_.  First  the  good  news: 
judging by the 2001 live concerts, Dimmu Borgir have evolved into  a 
tight, intense and totally impressive live band. The sound  for  the 
concerts is astounding and songs such  as  "Tormentor  of  Christian 
Souls" have never before sounded so powerful.  The  songs  from  the 
last two full-lengths may be those most despised by the black  metal 
purists, but if truth be  told,  these  are  the  most  complex  and 
layered songs Dimmu have ever written, a far cry from their raw  and 
primitive early days. They scored a coup by taking on former  Cradle 
of Filth drummer Nick Barker; however at times  his  drumming  feels 
too robotic and machine-like, making one  long  for  the  return  of 
Tjodalv's less adept but more human touch. On to the bad news: Dimmu 
also seemed to score a coup through the hiring of Vortex on bass and 
clean backing vocals. As a bassist he is easily replaceable, but  as 
a vocalist he is indispensable, having provided  some  of  the  best 
examples of clean vocals in black  metal  to  date  as  demonstrated 
through his work with Borknagar and Arcturus,  amongst  others.  Yet 
here his vocals sound strained and forced in both of the concerts he 
performs. I could excuse bad clean vocals from one concert (everyone 
has their bad days) but two? Perhaps he has relied a bit too heavily 
on studio tricks. Too much time is wasted on  showing  Dimmu  Borgir 
clowning around backstage; the space these inane,  less  than  sober 
antics occupy could have  been  put  to  better  use  by  showcasing 
several songs that are conspicuous by their  absence  (such  as  "In 
Death's Embrace" or "Reptile"). The obvious answer is  that  perhaps 
there was a desire not to feature the same songs that were on  their 
first DVD. Which initially sounds acceptable and understandable, yet 
the exact same performance of "Puritania" is to  be  found  on  both 
_WM_ discs! Did Nuclear Blast really think that  the  average  Dimmu 
Borgir fan would be so dim as not to notice? This DVD will likely be 
appreciated by anyone who has an interest in Dimmu Borgir. But  when 
one considers the amount of money a label the size of Nuclear  Blast 
must have put behind  an  ambitious  double  DVD  by  one  of  their 
top-selling artists, then one cannot help but feel  that  with  this 
DVD one hasn't exactly  received  their  money's  worth.  The  songs 
deserve an 8 out of 10 but the DVD as a whole is only worth 5.5  out 
of 10.                                                               


Disharmonic Orchestra - _Ahead_  (Nuclear Blast, 2002)
by: Xander Hoose  (6.5 out of 10)

I remember really being into _Not to Be Undimensional Conscious_, and
later on _Pleasuredome_, when  I  was  a  kid.  Metal  combined  with
weirdness, that was exactly what I liked, and  Disharmonic  Orchestra
were my heroes along with Pungent Stench. However, after  they  split
up I never really gave them much thought and it's been years since  I
last played one of their albums. Their reincarnation was somewhat  of
a surprise to me, and I can't deny having been a little  bit  curious
to know what they would come up with.  So,  now  _Ahead_  is  finally
released upon us, and I'm sad to say it doesn't provoke  any  of  the
feelings I used to have when I was a kid. Sure, they still try to  be
experimental and in some ways they succeed,  but  usually  they  just
sound like they got stuck in the mid-'90s.  Their  experimental  side
sounds outdated now, with many bands doing the trick better and  more
impressively (Dillinger Escape Plan, Red Harvest, Arcturus).  A  good
example is the song "Dual Peepholes", which  has  a  beat  underneath
that sounds so archaic any modern band would be ashamed to  use  such
cheap sounding instruments. Sure enough I enjoy their jazzy  approach
at metal, and the songs on _Ahead_ can be very catchy with  excellent
riffing ("Supervision"), but Disharmonic Orchestra is really  nothing
more than 'just another metal band' nowadays. Their  best  songs  are
probably "nine9nine" and "idiosyncrated", the only ones on which they
really seem to offer something different. Hey,  if  you  liked  their
first three albums you'll like this one as well, but those who expect
something surprising or out of the ordinary should look elsewhere.


Divercia - _Modus Operandi_  (Hammerheart, 2002)
by: Adam Lineker  (7 out of 10)

Being something of a Nightwish fan, I have to confess that the double
name-dropping of the Finnish operatic metallers on the bio for _Modus
Operandi_ caught my interest almost immediately. The other bands also
mentioned in the descriptive include Him and Dimmu  Borgir;  needless
to say, Divercia claim to  offer  an  interesting  mix  of  stylistic
influences and it becomes evident very quickly where these influences
fit in the Divercia sound. Keyboards  and  lead  guitars  battle  for
melodic prominence in  true  Nightwish  fashion,  while  the  use  of
synthesised orchestral tutti hammers the point home even further. The
heaviness of the rhythmic structure alludes to Dimmu Borgir, although
it has to be said that the material  within  _Modus  Operandi_  never
reaches the same levels of brutality or  aggression.  Jyri  Aarniva's
vocals have similar stylistic traits to Him frontman Ville Valo,  but
it is fair to say that the latter may have delivered a more  inspired
performance. However, this  isn't  to  say  that  Aarniva's  somewhat
disconnected delivery doesn't have its own merits,  as  it  seems  to
float above the ethereal metal, creating slightly gothic  shades.  If
anything, this quality could also be Divercia's biggest failing.  The
nature of the mix is such that it renders  the  music  a  little  too
ethereal, thus detracting from the overall power of the  material.  A
basic guitar distortion is clothed in  swirling  layers  of  keyboard
alongside a drum sound that is unsuitably treble heavy and the vocals
can  seem  awkwardly  out  of  place.  With  the  bass  being  almost
non-existent in the overall sound, the production  is  left  somewhat
thin and it is because of this factor that Divercia never  capitalise
on the bombastic nature of their writing, thus never fulfilling their
dynamic potential. Divercia are successful in conjuring some  strong,
innovative ideas and  create  some  enjoyable  music,  but  even  key
changes seem to slip by unnoticed in the shallow  soundscape.  Though
there are a number of moments that have reassuring quality, the  main
impression is one of unfulfilled potential. This would have  been  so
much more absorbing had it been that  little  bit  heavier  and  more
filled out;  perhaps  this  is  something  rectifiable  in  the  live
environment but, even so, it is  a  disappointing  fact  that  _Modus
Operandi_ is lacking in substantial impact.

Contact: http://www.hammerheart.com


Fallen Into Ashes - _Solely Dreaming the Reconstruction of a 
                     Forgotten Revolution_
by: Xander Hoose  (8.5 out of 10)  (Burning Season, 2002)

Fallen Into Ashes, a pretty recent band from the capital of  Hungary,
surprised me with this debut MCD. In order to master  the  fine  arts
of new-school hardcore,  New  Jersey  style,  these  youngsters  have
obviously listened carefully to Shai Hulud, Botch and Coalesce. In  a
mere five tracks, they  manage  to  impress  with  solid  songs  that
interweave brutality with emotion;  accent-less  raw  English  vocals
alternate with clean melodic vocals, and together  they  provide  the
perfect front for the well produced twin guitar combo while the drums
and bass complete the picture. Fallen Into Ashes is  a  high  quality
band that has the disadvantage of coming from an unpopular country --
from a musical point of view -- so only time will tell  if  they  can
manage  to  break  their  national  barriers.  _Solely  Dreaming  the
Reconstruction of a Forgotten Revolution_  comes  highly  recommended
for noisecore bastards looking to expand their collection.


Flesh Made Sin - _Masterwork in Blood_  (Thrashing Hell Records, 2002)
by: Quentin Kalis  (5 out of 10)

Flesh Made Sin's focus is the reproduction of '80s thrash metal  with
the unstated intention of emulating thrash luminaries  such  as  Dark
Angel and Possessed to the furthest extent that is humanly  possible.
As can be expected of an album dedicated to the  exhumation  of  past
trends, modern sensibilities have not had much of an impact  on  this
CD, Do not misunderstand me; there is nothing intrinsically wrong  in
a contemporary band mimicking a sound or style of old, and  _MiB_  is
far from being the worst thrash record in existence. But when a  band
chooses to replicate  a  classic  sound,  especially  one  which  has
already been done to death, then something new and  fresh  should  be
added; the musical boundaries imposed by that sound should be  pushed
and extended, however slight. And this is the major problem with this
CD: Flesh Made Sin do not move beyond the safe confines of the nearly
20 year old thrash sound. The CD is not entirely  bad  --  there  are
some catchy sections,  the  expected  overblown  and  extended  solos
enhance rather then distract from the song,  and  the  musicians  are
hardly marginally talented. But nothing is offered here that  even  a
casual thrash  fan  would  not  have  heard  numerous  times  before.
Recommended for diehard thrash fans only.


Freedom Call - _Eternity_  (Steamhammer / SPV, 2002)
by: Aaron McKay  (4 out of 10)

How can you avoid the comparisons to  Helloween  where  Freedom  Call
is concerned? Even  Alvin  couldn't  help  himself  in  CoC  #53  for
Freedom Call's sophomore effort, _Crystal Empire_. This is an  unfair
reference in my opinion; it is kind  of  like  calling  Kingdom  Come
Led Zeppelin  prodigies.  Typical  and  tame  mixed  with  ultimately
decompressing, trite rock riffs passing themselves off as metal  foul
this effort in more ways that  relieve  oneself  in  a  public  water
fountain. With the possible exception of the  moderately  exceptional
vocals on "Ages of Power", this effort seems to stumble  over  itself
both in musical direction and style. Freedom Call has  a  longing  to
have a ballad-type of sound, but that desire rubs up against  a  poor
man's Edguy; unsettling and conflicted. "Bleeding Heart", nearly half
way through this CD, is still far too dainty in form, but combines  a
choppy riff throughout that, as a consistent practice, would be  very
well received as a listener. It adds a great deal to  the  song  when
the music captures and grabs you as "Bleeding Heart" accomplishes  in
some places during its nearly five minute stretch on  Freedom  Call's
third installment. I cannot help but think that there is a  sense  of
smooth sailing on  seas  of  placidly  overt  tedium  on  this  disc;
_Eternity_, with an oasis dropped here and there, seems to last  just
a shade less than forever.


Hate - _Cain's Way_  (WWIII, 2002)
by: Aaron McKay  (5.5 out of 10)

There is plenty of room for improvement here,  but  -what-  Hate  can
improve is already honed to a fine point. What  is  distracting  from
_Cain's Way_ is the over-blended structures Hate utilizes. Where  the
band skillfully extenuates their music -- frictionless guitar  parts,
the far-too-few breakdowns, or harmonization --  this  Polish  outfit
exists a hemisphere away from  most  things  Behemoth,  Yattering  or
Vader (killer!) are doing. I see Hate much the same way  a  cat  sees
its own reflections --  limited  dimensionally.  _Cain's  Way_  would
benefit  significantly  from  capitalizing  on  this  strengths  like
incensed guitar solos (see "Future Is Mayhem" at the 2 minute  and  5
second mark). Harsh, dry vocals are another selling point that  if  I
was in Hate, I would not hesitate to exploit. I think the fire in the
belly remains untapped among this four-piece. Also, if Hate lost  the
atomic evil facade, too, it'd sure go a long way  to  minimizing  the
pigeonhole the band currently  fits  in.  That  area  being  one  not
conducive to wholly gratifying extreme metal.


Hate Eternal - _King of All Kings_  (Earache, 2002)
by: Matthias Noll  (7.5 out of 10)

It has always been denied, but do not  Hate  Eternal's  album  titles
really give any hint what Erik Rutan thinks the status  of  his  band
should rightfully be? First _Conquering the Throne_ and  now,  almost
logically, _King of All Kings_. The one ruling all those who  sit  on
lesser thrones. Well, at least several kings are allowed to exist  in
Hate Eternal's world. In the realm of death metal Erik and  his  gang
have of course long left the status of squires and knights  and  been
promoted to full blown lords.  But  since  _High  Voltage_  everybody
should be aware that it's a fucking long way to the top if you  wanna
rock 'n' roll. _King of All Kings_ succeeds and  fails  at  the  same
time. It  shifts  the  boundaries  of  ultra-extreme,  technical  and
blasting death metal  one  inch  further  than  other  contenders  --
Krisiun, for example. Erik also gives proof that he holds a  master's
degree in writing and playing some of the craziest,  most  dissonant,
intricate and unique riffs out there. The fact that the fast songs he
did for Morbid Angel's _Domination_ already  displayed  his  personal
style but sound almost  wimpy  in  comparison  is  testimony  to  the
immense leap he's made since then. Furthermore, a bunch of  memorable
songs  can  be  found  on  _KoAK_.  Something  at  which  bands  like
Lux Occulta and many, many  others  in  the  extreme  metal  universe
completely fail. Now, if this amounts to all you expect,  then  _King
of All Kings_ might be the current be-all-end-all  of  extreme  death
metal. At least until a new album comes along that proves that either
Hate Eternal or some other band can blast  faster,  be  more  brutal,
whatever. There is an obvious desire here to  be  more  extreme  than
thou, and display brutality for the sake of being  brutal;  and  this
single-minded focus is what  makes  _King  of  All  Kings_  a  pretty
one-dimensional affair. Simply because everything is  said  and  done
after five tracks at most, and, strangely enough,  even  its  playing
time of a meagre 30 minutes seems too long. The feeling of  listening
to something one-dimensional is greatly  increased  by  an  extremely
flat and compressed production that sounds anything but natural. Now,
as you can see from my rating, this still is a good record and better
than the debut. Taken  for  what  it  really  is  --  a  showcase  in
brutality -- there are moments where it can be  just  everything  you
need in your desire for ten or fifteen  minutes  of  aural  butchery.
During those moments it might even be a better remedy  than  the  new
Nile. The king of all kings certainly is a ruler  who  knows  how  to
trample and massacre everything in its path -- but also one who lacks
most other skills to command  a  realm  other  than  the  kingdom  of
butchery. I have the feeling that Rutan still has more to offer,  and
all I need to do to believe that is listen to "Hatework" from  Morbid
Angel's _Domination_. Maybe next time?


Himsa - _Death Is Infinite_  (Revelation Records, 2002)
by: Adam Lineker  (5.5 out of 10)

The first impressions created by Himsa  smack  strongly  of  hardcore
with a decidedly raw production,  created  mostly  by  fuzzy  guitars
riffing over treble-heavy drums. They  soon  work  in  some  metallic
features, with solo lead rolling over the top of the main  structure.
Working in regular sample work between the songs, Himsa are  able  to
keep the momentum running  strong.  The  fixed  mood  for  _Death  Is
Infinite_ is that of aggression, mostly  embodied  by  vocalist  John
Pettibone, whose  shouted  vocals  occasionally  drop  hints  of  the
spazcore peddled by Macabre  and  their  ilk.  The  song  writing  is
sound enough and there are moments when  Himsa  succeed  in  grabbing
your attention. Unfortunately _Death Is Infinite_  is  a  shoddy  and
ill-conceived release. There are only four studio tracks and one live
track, badly stuck on the end of the album and edited in such  a  way
that one could be forgiven for not noticing its inclusion;  it  rears
its ugly head only after half a minute of silence. The length of  the
album is a major failing of _Death Is Infinite_. It can  be  ventured
that had this release been a full-length album it could have  been  a
credit to Himsa's name, but, as it is, it leaves the listener no time
to appreciate the message or  direction  of  the  band;  indeed  what
little we can gain is only vague, even after multiple  playings.  The
momentum Himsa create  through  their  performance  and  attitude  is
unfortunately lost as the  listener  is  rudely  jolted  into  silent
dissatisfaction. I have found in the past that EPs can do  this,  but
it has to be said that even when taking the  nature  of  the  release
into account, Himsa still lack identity.

Contact: http://www.himsa.org


Impious - _The Killer_  (Hammerheart, 2002)
by: Adam Lineker  (7 out of 10)

The  first  release  from  Impious  on  Hammerheart  begins  with  an
effective acoustic intro, building up to the first track well  enough
before it begins with a surge of fast-paced riffage going  through  a
raw-edged guitar  sound  with  a  lot  of  mid-low  end  crunch.  The
drums seem rather mechanical,  as  Impious  employ  a  tight  use  of
triggering. The offered thrash material is quite strong and the riffs
that Impious  create  are  well  suited  to  their  chosen  approach.
Working in the odd guitar solo  and  finding  room  for  an  adequate
amount of melody,  Impious  are  not  entirely  unadventurous,  if  a
little unrefined. Martin Akesson's vocals are aggressive and  soundly
preformed, although they fail to be as imposing as  they  might  have
been. It is  fair  to  say  that  guitarist  Valle  Adzic  should  be
commended for putting in a lot of work as the band's core songwriter,
yet this is the source of  the  album's  main  failing.  The  overall
impression of _The Killer_ is that it is  somewhat  one  dimensional.
Impious are competent and the music is well performed, but the  songs
are based  around  singular  melodic  riffs  as  opposed  to  layered
writing. As the record progresses this becomes a little  uninspiring,
as one feels that the focus of their songs  needs  to  broadened  and
given more depth. Adzic, as a  song  writer,  has  a  decent  melodic
sensibility and is apt at  creating  melodic  thrash  riffs  but  the
finest melodic passage on the album arrives late in the one track not
written by Adzic:  Robin  Sorqvist's  "Needles  of  Sin".  One  would
conclude that a less concentrated creative input  could  be  required
for the future. The band often show glimmers of  creative  potential,
but Impious need more diversity in style if they ever hope to  ascend
to the top flight within their scene. Having said this, _The  Killer_
still holds enough to entertain die hard thrash fans and is  a  solid
enough release with which to begin their spell on Hammerheart.

Contact: http://www.hammerheart.com


INRI - _Hyper Bastard Breed_  (Cold Blood Industries, 2002)
by: Quentin Kalis  (7.5 out of 10)

For the past six months I have hardly listened  to  death  metal  for
reasons I will not go into here. However, I have  been  listening  to
INRI (or Insane Non-commercialised Rock Institute to give their  full
name) more times than is absolutely necessary  for  the  purposes  of
this review. As  to  why  INRI  should  represent  the  break  of  my
death metal fast  is  not  immediately  clear  --  they  are  neither
breathtakingly innovative along the lines of a Cynic or an Atheist  ,
nor is there a masterful display  of  guitar  virtuosity.  What  does
separate them from the hordes of death  metal  bands  is  the  highly
infectious passion and energy which imbues every single note on  this
album. The energy is upped by the brevity of the songs, which  rarely
venture beyond the three minute  mark,  and  are  unencumbered  by  a
single note of keyboard tinkling or acoustic strumming --  just  pure
flat-out brutality. A downer is their  Satanic-themed  lyrics,  which
owe more to the frankly infantile rantings of Deicide then  to  their
comparatively more subtle European black metal peers. Do not let  the
dubious album cover deter you from purchasing this release;  this  is
an excellent death metal record by these relative  unknowns  who  are
sure to give the big boys a run for their money.

Contact: info@coldbloodindustries.com


Kataklysm - _Shadows & Dust_  (Nuclear Blast, 2002)
by: Xander Hoose  (9 out of 10)

Over the years since I have  been  following  Kataklysm's  activities
I've seen them go through ups and downs, but I never expected them to
regain their former status after  the  disastrous  _Victims  of  This
Fallen World_. However, surely Kataklysm managed  to  overcome  their
line-up problems and fought to regain respect and  reputation,  going
into the third album with the new line-up: _Shadows &  Dust_.  It  is
debatable if pumping out a new album each year  is  too  frequent  to
keep delivering good songs, but fact is that _Shadows &  Dust_,  like
its two predecessors, has some very strong points  as  well  as  some
weaker ones. What strikes me most when comparing the  three  releases
is that the production on _Shadows & Dust_ is crystal  clear,  giving
especially the drums a much better place in the musical spectrum. The
vocals are shifting once more; they sound a lot less forced  than  on
_The Prophecy_ but have a more generic feeling to  them  compared  to
_Epic_ -- which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I do  prefer  the
other style. Giving this disc  a  few  spins  there's  another  thing
striking me: the song structures of _Shadows &  Dust_  are  more  and
more reminiscent of the early Kataklysm material, to the point  where
I would say that on its peak  moments  this  album  is  a  modernized
version of 1996's _Temple of Knowledge_. Whether fans  of  the  early
material will accept this sleek  and  almost  over-produced  style  I
can't say, but I personally think this album is the best in their new
style.


Lacuna Coil - _Comalies_  (Century Media, 2002)
by: Xander Hoose  (8 out of 10)

Judging a Lacuna Coil album is very hard. Take one look at their band
picture and who can deny being taken in  immediately  by  the  lovely
Christina? Listen to one bit of their music and deny the  same  thing
about her angelic yet powerful vocals. Yes,  impossible  indeed.  But
having the honour of reviewing _Comalies_ like I have reviewed  every
other album by Lacuna Coil, I do have to admit I feel  more  critical
than ever before. Not that _Comalies_ is a bad album -- not  at  all.
It's not even a bad Lacuna Coil album; it might very well be  one  of
their best. The production on  _Comalies_  is  yet  again  one  notch
higher than that of _Unleashed Memories_. Vocals  have  matured,  the
drumming has tightened, and there is a little  more  experimentation,
such as the '80s-style keyboards in the "Humane" intro, the vocals on
"Self Deception" and the increased use of electronics throughout  the
album. However, I can't shake the feeling  that  the  band  lacks  in
expanding their territory. Surely the band has matured  a  lot  since
their first EP, but if you look through the frills, the musical  core
is exactly the same as it was almost five years ago.  Secretly,  with
_Comalies_, I was hoping to discover something new, something  fresh,
something groundbreaking. My hopes weren't fulfilled, but then again,
with songs like "Heaven's a Lie", "Tight Rope" and "Unspoken"  Lacuna
Coil did deliver another smashing and faithful album.


Legion - _Awakened Fury_  (Ketzer Records / Neodawn Productions, 2002)
by: Quentin Kalis  (3 out of 10)

If their name sounds vaguely familiar, it's most likely because  they
were in the metal news earlier this year  when  their  drummer  Dragu
departed for the comparatively more lucrative pastures of Marduk.  It
is not surprising that Dragu was selected; the  drumming  here  is  a
testament to his considerable ability. But a more likely reason  that
he was chosen was his familiarity with the Marduk style: this  EP  is
little more then a thinly  disguised  attempt  at  emulating  _Panzer
Division Marduk_. Their imitation of Marduk even extends  so  far  as
the band name -- it can be no coincidence that they share a name with
the Marduk vocalist! For someone who has never heard  Marduk  before,
this will sound like a fast and furious black metal  assault.  To  be
fair, they can play their instruments and the songs  are  hardly  the
worst that I have heard. This does not  change  the  fact  that  this
remains a totally  derivative  release,  unburdened  by  originality.
Recommended for non-discerning black metal fans only.

Contact: http://www.ketzer-records.de


Madder Mortem - _Deadlands_  (Century Media, 2002)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

Once in a while a band comes along that  really  surprises  me.  With
_Deadlands_, Madder Mortem have just  made  it  into  the  restricted
group of those who have successfully surprised me  twice  in  a  row.
After changing half or more of the band's members after  their  debut
full-length _Mercury_ (which, in the light of their last two records,
I overrated back then), Madder Mortem proceeded to release two albums
that failed to make much of an impact upon first listen. I had little
expectations for _All Flesh Is Grass_, but after  a  few  listens  it
really started making sense and won quite a lot  of  admiration  from
me. _Deadlands_, coming along on the wake of _All  Flesh  Is  Grass_,
consequently faced  much  higher  expectations,  and  that  initially
seemed set to be its undoing. It simply failed  to  live  up  to  its
predecessor. That was until it too started making sense, not  as  the
successor of a great album but as an album in  its  own  right.  It's
different, yet still very much Madder Mortem. It won me over like its
predecessor did, only for different reasons that took me a  while  to
figure out. Yet with every listen, nearly all the  tracks  seemed  to
come forth a bit more, until finally I conceded to  myself  that  the
album was at least as great as _All Flesh Is  Grass_.  Madder  Mortem
are unafraid to sound strange at any given time, and they  definitely
do their own thing, which is what makes them  unique.  A  track  like
"Rust Cleansing", with its guitar lead interweaving with  the  vocals
and the crushing main  riff  and  drum  work  throughout  the  song's
remarkable structure, can  only  come  from  a  highly  inspired  and
talented band who doesn't  mind  being  labeled  as  'different'.  Of
course Agnette Kirkevaag's powerful,  inspiring  vocals  are  on  the
forefront of the sound  again,  and  on  tracks  like  the  excellent
"Omnivore" I wouldn't like to stand in her path. Much like  the  rest
of the band, she is not just talented: she is willing to  experiment,
and does so with great results. The instrumental side  can  move  the
music from doomy and introspective to angry and crushing,  with  some
really heavy, rhythmically challenging riffs alternating  with  great
leads and vocals. Madder Mortem sound fresh and unique in a world  of
copycats, although bound to be  misunderstood  by  a  lot  of  people
(perhaps even the majority). As far as I'm concerned,  I  just  can't
wait to see what they'll come up  with  next  and  whether  they  can
maintain this level of quality and originality.

Contact: http://www.maddermortem.com


Martyr - _To Confirm When Destruction Comes_
by: Aaron McKay  (8.5 out of 10)  (Regimental Records, 2002)

These guys are more than ready to run with the "big  dogs"  --  Dimmu
Borgir, watch your back. In a  street-fight,  black  metal  to  black
metal, I may back Martyr to most other notable  bands  on  the  scene
today. Lots of provocative saw-blade guitar style change-ups  on  _To
Confirm When Destruction Comes_, for sure. That is a rarer  spice  in
the black metal cauldron, if you ask  me.  Any  band  that  can  vary
their tempo and structure without weakening the  shadowed,  enigmatic
foundation is structurally sound from the ground up. Martyr  embodies
this song, lyric and delivery. Stained,  but  throaty  vocals  add  a
dimension to Martyr found in few extreme acts -- supplementing rather
than accentuating the music enshrouding them. While this  is  only  a
six-track release with room to expand on the band's taste for harsher
side of ambience, Martyr fills the available space with  enough  raw,
blazing aggression that you'd swear you just spun Old Man's Child  in
the _Stormblast_ oven of Hell's kitchen. "I Am  the  Bringer  of  New
Obtainment" and the title track are well worth  your  attention.  Who
knows? Martyr might very well make a fan outta you, too!

Contact: http://RegimentalRecords.tripod.com


Megiddo - _The Atavism of Evil_  (Barbarian Wrath, 2002)
by: Matthias Noll  (8.5 out of 10)

Chorazaim returns with a second  full-length  album  and  once  again
successfully delivers the orthodox black metal  goods.  According  to
Barbarian Wrath "Megiddo stand in proud defiance of anything recorded
after 1985 CE" and this is  indeed  a  proper  description  of  their
style. Basically  this  band  is  comparable  to  the  Bathory  debut
combined with a good dose of grooving and anthemic metal without ever
sounding like a rip-off or pure  nostalgia.  Blasphemous  lyrics  are
fiercely spewn forth in rasping black metal style and the  production
is extremely raw but remains thick and powerful.  This  is  certainly
not a record for people who exclusively consider  the  _Transilvanian
Hunger_ school of fast strumming the be-all-end-all of  black  metal.
The power of simple, crushing riffs makes this a  perfect  soundtrack
for drunken head banging,  thrashing  and  fist-pumping  rather  than
misanthropically dwelling in a cave in the nebula  forest  of  winter
frost. While certainly black metal at heart  _The  Atavism  of  Evil_
remains firmly rooted in what was considered  extreme  metal  in  the
first half of the '80s although the delivery is  far  more  ferocious
than what was the  norm  for  the  bands  back  then.  Again  Megiddo
have made an excellent choice  of  cover  versions.  This  time  it's
Onslaught's "Witch Hunt" from _Power From Hell_ and Warfare's  "Dance
of the Death" from _Pure Filth_, which are seamlessly integrated into
the original material. There are only  minor  changes  in  comparison
to the excellent previous  album  _The  Devil  and  the  Whore_.  The
dominating pace is still pounding mid-tempo but the number of  faster
scorchers got slightly increased, the production is even a  bit  more
ripping this time and Chorazaim's vocals sound a lot more natural and
not as artificially distorted as before. Overall this is an excellent
release not only for seasoned pre-second wave black  metal  lunatics!
If in doubt check out the two full-length samples at Barbarian Wrath.

Contact: http://www.barbarianwrath.org/


Mess Age - _Self Convicted_  (Conquer Records, 2002)
by: Adam Lineker  (7.5 out of 10)

Although they incorporate some rather tired  imagery  and  uninspired
layout designs, Mess Age thrash out a driving  and  somewhat  melodic
form of metal and this becomes clear from the  very  start  of  _Self
Convicted_. With a thickly produced rhythm section, the guitars churn
out aggressively formulated riffs through a metallic distortion  with
a fuzzy edge. It is the  rhythm  section  that  really  captures  the
attention, as the bass pulses and thumps  the  drums  are  tight  and
powerful, stamping authority on the music with its  intrusive  double
pedals. Mess Age include lead  passages  effectively,  even  if  they
are somewhat  sparsely  spread.  The  musicianship  is  solid  enough
to give the  music  on  _Self  Convicted_  more  of  an  impact  than
it may  have  had  otherwise.  Vocalist  Raaf  bellows  hoarsely  but
surprisingly expressively, phrasing the tortured, angry lyrics with a
basic but effective style. It is  reasonably  strong  material,  with
well-constructed riffs and an effective element of complexity in  the
melodic elements; it even succeeds on  occasion  in  being  haunting.
There are not many problems with  _Self  Convicted_  except  for  the
length of the song structure; they are all just a little too long and
often leave the listener behind. Lyrically, the songs are accompanied
by  a  patchwork  of  vindictive  grievances  that  are  occasionally
offensive, particularly on "Infected by Deflection" where Raaf  yells
"I saw some fags in speechless orgy of sights I threw  up  I  watched
somebody cover them with gas... and burn!". Whether or not this is  a
gratuitous display of boneheaded hostility, Mess Age still succeed in
offering some effective metalworks, even if they prove to be a little
drawn out. With a general grasp of how to be cold and aggressive, the
uncompromising nature of the thrash-tinged metal on _Self  Convicted_
creates many enjoyable and absorbing moments. This is  a  commendable
work that Mess Age should be proud of.

Contact: http://www.conquerec.com


Morningstar - _Kalevala Mysticism_  (RIP Records, 2002)
by: Adam Lineker  (5 out of 10)

It takes more than conviction and guts  to  pull  off  fantasy  power
metal. It takes an attitude, a true metal spirit and a  faith  strong
enough to match. If only this were the whole truth, Morningstar could
be right up there with the metal gods.  Alas,  they  lack  one  major
element that is essential to greatness. Whereas Manowar are  able  to
boast some truly great music alongside their 'more  true  metal  than
thou' beliefs, Morningstar are not. Whereas Lost  Horizon  can  match
their ridiculous furry Viking pants  with  some  exhilarating  metal,
Morningstar come across as mundane.  With  a  very  basic  production
accounted for, it is entirely on the shoulders of the music itself to
draw the listener in and _Kalevala Mysticism_  doesn't  quite  manage
it. To their credit, Morningstar  occasionally  create  some  emotive
riff progressions and show some  glimpses  of  creativity;  sometimes
their 'warriors of the north' metal almost works. Unfortunately there
are too many flaws that cripple _Kalevala Mysticism_  before  it  can
ever get off of the ground. Morningstar  would  do  well  to  find  a
vocalist who can actually sing convincingly, as powerful  vocals  can
make or break  power  metal.  Instead,  vocalist  Ari's  voice  lacks
passion, flair and ability, though in all fairness  he  is  also  the
guitarist, and plays convincingly, especially on "Battleaxe" --  this
track provides the best moment on the album as it segues  into  "Made
of Iron". Unfortunately such moments are saturated by an average-ness
that suffuses the whole record. The greatest flaws lie  in  the  song
writing and this becomes obvious as the tracks lose identity  as  the
record progresses. The structuring allows for far too much repetition
and the music is almost  constantly  one  dimensional,  resulting  in
crushing boredom. With all this in place, the 'true metal'  posturing
falls flat on its face, rendering Morningstar's imagery flaccid and a
sitting duck for savage humour. Contributions to the true metal cause
are mostly a good thing in my book, but offerings such  as  _Kalevala
Mysticism_ make the whole thing look so silly.

Contact: http://www.restinpeacerecords.com


Necronom - _The Darkening Path_  (Winterthorn, 2001)
by: Quentin Kalis  (6.5 out of 10)

Most one-man  bands  that  play  around  with  extreme  sounds  focus
on harsh, raw  black  metal  or  experiment  with  some  subgenre  of
electronic-based music. Necronom  are  the  exception  in  that  this
one-man band performs doom metal. Admittedly, a strong  argument  can
be made that they perform death metal  --  this  isn't  the  kind  of
release which is easily pigeonholed. However, the focus on creating a
sense of sadness with appropriate  atmospheric  effects  rather  then
balls-out aggression and a noticeable lack of speed suggest a  closer
link with doom  metal  then  with  death  metal.  Necronom's  crunchy
post-industrial guitar sound is quite unusual for an  album  of  this
nature. This, along with the ambitions underlying this album (this is
the second release in a planned trilogy of albums --  the  first  was
_Exordium_) as well as the use of  distinctive  atmospherics  ensures
that  Necronom  manage  to  create  their  own  characteristic  sound
-- innovation is always  something  to  be  welcomed.  Unfortunately,
innovation and originality  are  not  always  enough  to  produce  an
excellent album and while this album is not terrible, it still has  a
way to go before it can be regarded as  a  truly  excellent  release.
_Exordium_  was  poorly  received  by  a  co-writer;  this  album  is
definitely better then  the  measly  points  awarded  to  _Exordium_.
Perhaps the final album in Necronom's Trilogy of  Tears  will  see  a
further progression in quality and conclude the trilogy with an album
of note.

Contact: info@winterthorn.com


Negura Bunget - _'N Crugu Bradului_  (Code666, 2003)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

Large  chunks  of  dew-dripping  atmosphere  surround  the  metallic 
sections on _'N  Crugu  Bradului_,  the  new  full-length  album  by 
Romanians Negura Bunget. This is a band that takes  great  pride  in 
the knowledge they possess about their country and their  ancestors, 
a band that seems to truly feel the natural forces around them,  and 
it all shows in their music. In fact, even though Negura Bunget have 
again worked hard to create a remarkable package for  their  CD  and 
the sound quality is quite good, _'N  Crugu  Bradului_  is  still  a 
decidedly uncommercial record. _'N Crugu Bradului_ is  divided  into 
four untitled tracks, each ranging from twelve to fifteen minutes in 
length, and comes with a  multimedia  section  that  is  well  above 
average. Negura Bunget's brand of mystical black metal comes  across 
as very spontaneous and unconventional, and  at  times  even  almost 
ethereal. Had the playing been somewhat tighter and my rating  would 
have been higher; yet I realize that extra tightness might  actually 
reduce the enjoyment others will derive of this album's spontaneous, 
natural feeling. _'N Crugu Bradului_ is definitely not an album  for 
everyone's ears, but those who manage to fully immerse themselves in 
the sheer atmosphere this record possesses will be well rewarded for 
it. It's a very unique release.                                      

Contact: http://www.negurabunget.com


Nicodemus - _The Supernatural Omnibus_  (Dark Symphonies, 2003)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (3 out of 10)

Although the name David Penprase  was  unfamiliar  to  me  before  I 
received this Nicodemus CD, I must say I was quite impressed by  the 
cover art he put together for Nicodemus.  Unfortunately,  from  that 
point on it was downhill all the way for _The Supernatural  Omnibus_ 
-- and I'm not just referring to the  fact  that  the  rest  of  the 
layout is ridiculously poor in comparison. In brief, Nicodemus sound 
like a more gothic / power metallic version of Cradle of Filth... on 
Valium. In particular, on "Shards of a Bitter Night Wept" they reach 
such an  involuntary  level  of  Cradle  of  Filth  caricature  that 
the Brits would surely be  seriously  offended  if  they  heard  it. 
Throughout the album, the male and  female  clean  vocals  are  just 
average, while the black vocals sound so cartoonish I  can  scarcely 
believe my ears. The  extremely  bland  guitar  work,  coupled  with 
decent but over-melodic keyboards, fail to  compensate  for  any  of 
that. Worst  of  all  in  _The  Supernatural  Omnibus_  is  the  way 
Nicodemus fail so miserably when they try to sound heavy. It is only 
on  slower  sections  (namely  on  "Harlot"),  with  less  of  their 
pseudo-heavy guitar and vocals,  that  Nicodemus  rise  above  utter 
mediocrity. Unfortunately, such passages are few during the  album's 
excruciating hour of length and far from enough to save  it  from  a 
disastrous result.                                                   

Contact: http://www.nicodemus.us


Novembers Doom - _To Welcome the Fade_  (Dark Symphonies, 2002)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

By consolidating their sound and tightening their  focus,  Novembers 
Doom have created an album which is the culmination of their  career 
so far. Having witnessed from afar the evolution and tribulations of 
this band over  the  years,  I  am  thoroughly  pleased  with  their 
achievement. _To Welcome the Fade_ comes presented in very  suitable 
Travis Smith artwork (some of his best  to  date),  and  boasts  the 
production talents of Grammy award winner Neil Kernon as well as top 
notch digital equipment. The album does sound very good, but  it  is 
the consistent quality Novembers Doom manage to  deliver  throughout 
that makes all the difference. A stronger effort all around than its 
promising predecessor _The Knowing_, _To Welcome the Fade_ shows  an 
experienced band that is on top of their style and no  longer  seems 
to feel the need to 'expand' their sound. True enough,  "The  Spirit 
Seed" sports quite a bit of an  Opeth  influence  that  couldn't  be 
found before, but all in all the album does have a  very  consistent 
character. The band's doom/death can break hearts  and  crush  bones 
with  similar  ease  on  _To  Welcome  the  Fade_.  There  are  some 
remarkable gems to be found within the CD, most notably  the  superb 
"Within My Flesh" -- one of the best doom  metal  tracks  of  recent 
years -- which follows the more than suitable start provided by "Not 
the Strong"  and  "Broken".  This  is  a  thoroughly  competent  and 
inspired album from Novembers Doom, and a must for  any  doom  metal 
fan.                                                                 

Contact: http://www.novembersdoom.com


Omnium Gatherum - _Steal the Light_  (Rage of Achilles, 2002)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

If the words "In Flames meets Amorphis" make you retch with disgust, 
then you should read no further. If  what  you  feel  is  quite  the 
opposite, however, you should seek Omnium Gatherum's  EP  with  some 
urgency, because you're bound  to  enjoy  it.  (Note:  this  is  the 
Finnish Omnium Gatherum, not the Australian band of the same  name.) 
Tight, well produced, full of  catchy  melodies  and  lots  of  good 
hooks, and with raspy vocals to help stay away  from  the  lands  of 
power metal, _Steal the Light_ is a darn enjoyable little  EP  in  a 
way that reminds me of In Flames' _Subterranean_  EP  when  it  came 
out. The songs are  all  consistent,  well  written  and  performed, 
making this EP a very decent value for the money. Omnium  Gatherum's 
music  on  _Steal  the  Light_  is  undeniably  enjoyable  and  even 
uplifting in an old In Flames kind of way, though  with  more  power 
metal guitar leads thrown in and some vaguely  _Elegy_-era  Amorphis 
touches here and there. The vocals are well suited to the music,  as 
they provide some much-needed contrast against  the  overly  melodic 
instrumental side and give the whole thing  more  edge.  The  guitar 
work isn't all melody though, and despite the absence  of  any  real 
harshness the band still sounds heavy  enough  for  their  genre.  A 
follow-up album called _Spirits and August Light_ is scheduled for a 
March 2003 release, and  although  I'm  not  sure  they  can  easily 
pull off an entire  full-length  of  this  type  of  material,  I'll 
nevertheless be curious to see what else  the  band  have  up  their 
sleeves. For now, they have at least succeeded in releasing a highly 
playable EP.                                                         

Contact: http://omniumgatherum.cjb.net


Origin - _Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas_  (Relapse, 2002)
by: Adam Lineker  (8.5 out of 10)

It has been a while since I heard anything  this  violent.  Beginning
with a  buzzing  of  flies  that  soon  becomes  a  pulse,  _Informis
Infinitas Inhumanitas_ simply chunders  into  life  and  pummels  the
listener into a sticky mess. Origin's brand of brutal death metal  is
mercilessly intense and only rarely is the pace ever slowed. As  both
bass and guitar churn and thump out thick, soupy  riffage,  prominent
drums batter away relentlessly. If the band were not  so  tight  then
this would not sound anywhere near as powerful, yet they perform with
startling precision. With the reigns kept tight on the aural  assault
below him, vocalist James Lee is  able  to  perform  as  he  bellows,
screams and garbles his way through a range of extreme  vocal  styles
in a visceral and dramatic fashion. Origin's onslaught is put through
a heavy mix with only the drums  being  polished  up  by  triggering;
aside from this, the rough edges are not only present but  also  form
part of the character  of  their  sound.  We  are  graced  with  fret
squeaks, bass pops and muffled distortion, but it all seems  to  lend
itself well to Origin's style. Lyrically we are  treated  to  lengthy
odes of hatred that have more than a few awkward turns of phrase, but
it hardly matters as it is all belted out with  guts  and  intensity.
With such an intensity  being  maintained  throughout  _Informis..._,
Origin can become slightly one dimensional, but it is  made  all  the
more absorbing by the passion with which it  is  performed.  Although
the impenetrability of the metal all but  obscures  whatever  melodic
sensibilities Origin might possess,  killer  riffs  are  consistently
hammered out -- though it is all a little hard  to  remember,  as  it
blazes past in a violent blur. It is always a pleasure to hear a band
that imposes its music upon you rather than aiming for accessibility,
and it is safe to say that  Origin  have  never  heard  of  the  word
'compromise'. Overall _Informis..._  is  absorbing  and  solid,  even
enticing the listener back for more as it seems to end all too  soon.
This is brutal and technical death metal with attitude and presence.

Contact: http://www.origin-site.com


Overkill - _Wrecking Everything - Live_  (Spitfire, 2002)
by: Aaron McKay  (8 out of 10)

It seems when you got a good thing going, it is wise not to  stop  --
and Overkill never has. The power surge continues. Flying in the face
of all the commercialization, Overkill does as they please and have a
devoted following to reinforce that point to  boot!  Brooklyn  thrash
stomped to prominence largely thanks to this band, and I am very glad
for it. DD Verni's bass  is  flawless  throughout  this  newest  live
installment to the sizable Overkill catalog.  Strong  with  favorites
like "Overkill" and "In  Union  We  Stand",  these  guys  regroup  to
bludgeon the listener with killer cuts like "Thunderhead", "It Lives"
and "Long Time Dying". To be openly frank,  I  am  thrilled  to  have
"Evil Never Dies" and "The Years of Decay" on the same disc as  "Deny
the Cross". Having  never  heard  "Necroshine"  before,  this  was  a
magnificent way for Overkill to launch this performance. Recorded  in
March of 2002 at The Paramount Theatre  in  New  Jersey,  these  guys
reconfirmed their superiority on their home turf  for  the  umpteenth
and most decisive time. While I will hold onto  my  declaration  that
_Wrecking Your Neck Live_ will maintain its position of prominence as
THE thrash metal live disc, _Wrecking Everything Live_ is as close as
a runner-up could hope to come. If Overkill is wrecking everything as
a way to fix something that's not necessarily broken, they've done it
-- it's all fucked up now! Shred!!


Phantomsmasher - _Phantomsmasher_  (Ipecac, 2002)
by: Xander Hoose  (9.5 out of 10)

Forced to change their previous  name,  Atomsmasher,  due  to  'legal
issues', James Plotkin's super star band is back under a new  moniker
and with a brand new album to terrify the living daylights out of the
innocent souls wandering on this planet. When the  Atomsmasher  album
came out I loved  it,  but  it  soon  faded  into  obscurity,  as  it
lacked the necessary structure to  make  it  playable  on  a  regular
basis. The new Phantomsmasher album is different:  where  Atomsmasher
was a brutal,  violent  and  chaotic  attack  on  the  aural  senses,
Phantomsmasher stands out as a more structured and well-aimed kick in
the head. Its music -- death metal meets jazz meets blastbeats  meets
electronics -- is insanely accurate and well composed, resulting in a
much more solid album than its predecessor on the whole, but  not  in
any way less crazy or insane.  The  fucked  up  vocals  and  haunting
samples make it hard not to envision Jap-style anime  movies  as  the
perfect visual companion to  this  onslaught,  while  those  who  are
willing to listen carefully to this album will discover  layers  upon
layers of instrumental texture that many a band would be jealous  of.
Even though this is not music for the  weak  or  narrow-minded  metal
fans, Phantomsmasher will have a undeniable appeal to sci-fi oriented
fans and people who are disturbed  by  the  lack  of  creativity  and
technical progression in music nowadays. The only reason why I'm  not
giving this album the full 10 out of  10  is  that  I  overrated  the
Atomsmasher album. However, I'm quite certain that in the  end  it'll
turn out I've actually underrated this one.


Red Harvest - _Sick Transit Gloria Mundi_  (Relapse, 2002)
by: Aaron McKay  (5 out of 10)

Muddled riffs litter this effort like so many plastic beer cups after
a Bongzilla show (if anyone is interested, Bongzilla had a great  set
at this year's Milwaukee Metalfest). The heavier,  slower  aspect  of
this band is the most inviting facet of  this  Norwegian  outfit.  At
times, _Sick Transit Gloria Mundi_ would remind you of a power outage
-- at other times, they fit my taste like a socket and  a  plug.  The
inconsistency with this  effort's  mix  and  texture  is  my  biggest
hangup. "Godtech" has a wonderfully infused  source  of  power;  they
seem to draw from guttural vocals which remind you of a cross between
Oscar the Grouch and Barney Greenway. Unfortunately, this song  plows
directly into "Humanoia", a  mechanized,  overcharged  slur  of  Fear
Factory on speed. Yuck! One  thing  I  can  say,  being  a  huge  Pig
Destroyer fan, is that I'd bet Red Harvest has an  outstanding  stage
presence. With the drop to the tone on track five, "Dead", I would be
remiss in saying there  wasn't  hope  for  these  atom-smashers.  Red
Harvest energizes  fourteen  tracks  of  intangible  wattage  with  a
semi-techno charge that ups the volume  on  this  reviewer's  system.
However, the band has a tendency to lose sight of the  metal  element
to their creation on _Sick Transit Gloria Mundi_  --  not  that  this
is a bad thing,  but  it's  reminiscent  of  Frankenstein's  monster,
especially the further into _STGM_ you get. They say  you  reap  what
you sow and this harvest is more-or-less meager.


Rotten Sound - _Murderworks_  (Deathvomit / Necropolis, 2002)
by: Aaron McKay  (6 out of 10)

It sure feels better to be on the  road  to  valuing  Rotten  Sound's
material rather than sliding further back from the already  dismal  4
out of 10 I gave _Still Psycho_ in CoC #49. Even the name of this new
disc is more sensible while still retaining a childish  element  that
most of us expect from metal -- it keeps us young. Fourteen tracks of
single-word titles rip unforgivingly and in a way such that enjoyment
can be easily gained from every cut to some degree.  Anger,  violence
and aggression are, of course, the  staples  on  which  _Murderworks_
fuels its insatiable appetite. While I have never held Black Dawn  in
any regard whatsoever, the members from this band, as well as  ...And
Oceans, seem to strike a nice inharmoniousness chord on  which  their
combined efforts for this Finnish band are concerned. While  a  great
deal of time on _Murderworks_ is spent overplaying their  instruments
for intensity's sake, "Obey" and "IQ" offer  not  exactly  altogether
rational interludes in the midst of the  mayhem,  but  on  the  songs
where this  transpires,  it  works  fairly  well.  In  this  writer's
opinion, "Lobotomy" is the finest cut off of _Murderworks_. The  song
ties all the elements Rotten Sound is going for into  a  rope  lashed
together with tight strands of extreme power-hate without  saturating
the listener. This CD also came with three bonus video clips that  my
QuickTime player eventually opened. The band is in every way animated
and the video footage is certainly worth a look. The last  couple  of
tracks on _Murderworks_ are superior in most regards to the beginning
five or six minus the song "IQ". Rotten  Sound  would  do  themselves
well to cultivate the direction _Murderworks_  finishes  the  release
with -- that would be a Rotten Sound album I'd like to hear!

Contact: http://www.rottensound.com


Scalplock - _Spread the Germs... Over the Human Worms_
by: Xander Hoose  (6.5 out of 10)  (Cacophonous, 2002)

Perhaps known to some  from  tours  with  Napalm  Death  and  Impaled
Nazarene, it's not  difficult  to  place  Scalplock  in  the  musical
spectrum. The result of mixing black and death metal with the  crusty
Impaled Nazarene attitude can be heard on  _StGOtHW_,  which  is  the
band's third full-length album already. In  thirty  tracks  the  band
showcases its love for short aggressive songs,  with  the  occasional
sludgier song blended in ("Ever Eluding Promise", "Hyperbole"). It is
through these songs that the album  has  at  least  an  above-average
appeal: the sludgy feeling contrasts nicely with the heads-on assault
that is performed on most of the songs. The downside of _StGOtHW_  is
the mediocre production,  which  makes  the  band  sound  like  'just
another hardcore band', and the lack of songs that stand out  on  the
album, which further validates my previous  statement.  All  in  all,
Scalplock is a promising band that hasn't been able to make  a  solid
statement yet. If they do in the  future,  then  I'll  be  more  than
willing to give them a new chance.


Sepultura - _Under a Pale Grey Sky_  (Roadrunner, 2002)
by: Matthias Noll  (9 out of 10)

Oh yeah, the glory days of the early and mid-'90s! I vividly remember
an amazing amount of people wearing Sepultura shirts,  no  matter  to
which show or metal-related event one went. Looking at the  path  the
band had taken since recording "Necromancer" and the success they had
finally and rightfully earned, one  had  the  impression  that  there
might not be limits for the Brazilian quartet. Well, everybody  knows
what happened then. Hopefully some people have at least learned  that
it's not really clever to mix family and business. My  initial  hopes
that the Max-less Sepultura and also Soulfly would  turn  out  to  be
worthy successors died when exposed to  utter  crap  like  _Against_,
_Nation_ and the second and third Soulfly albums. While Soulfly might
have been able to reach a medium and rather stable level  of  success
by pleasing  some  nu-metal  youths,  what  happened  to  Sepultura's
popularity must be a disaster that makes Celtic Frost's  _Cold  Lake_
adventure appear like a flat tire in  comparison  to  an  earthquake.
_Under a Pale Red Sky_ is the last show of Sepultura's  _Roots_  tour
and also the last  show  with  Max,  recorded  in  December  1996  at
London's Brixton Academy. This  double  CD  contains  a  whopping  28
tracks, presumably the whole show. Eleven songs are from _Roots_. Far
too many to call the setlist balanced and enough to put some of those
who dislike _Roots_ off. While I believe that at least  five  of  the
_Roots_ songs should have never made  it  into  the  live  set,  some
others -- like for example "Spit" and "Endangered  Species"  --  work
much better than I  expected.  If  anything,  the  huge  presence  of
_Roots_ material shows the immense confidence the  band  had  in  the
quality of their then-latest record. Still, replacing  "Breed  Apart"
and "Born Stubborn" with "From the Past Comes the Storms" and "Escape
to the Void"  would  have  made  me  salivate.  Some  of  the  older,
'classic' Sepultura material appears in a shortened version or in the
form of a two-songs-in-one  medley,  like  "Arise  /  Dead  Embryonic
Cells". There aren't many surprises here for those who  are  familiar
with Sepultura setlists. "Necromancer" certainly is a huge one, as is
the Cro-Mags cover "We Gotta Know". But when considering that this  a
document of what was reality then and the  fact  that  a  pre-planned
live album would surely have  had  a  slightly  more  balanced  track
selection, such complaints are not valid. The familiar encores -- the
Titas cover "Policia" and Motorhead's "Orgasmatron" -- are also here,
as well as the  hyper-fast  "Troops  of  Doom"  and  an  ultra-wicked
version of "Inner Self". The  sound  quality  leaves  nothing  to  be
desired: it's huge, heavy and well balanced, and I noted a couple  of
fuck-ups in the guitar department (check "Troops of Doom"  around  30
seconds into the song) which seem to  confirm  that  the  performance
itself hasn't been doctored. Overall this is an excellent  album  and
when Max commands the audience to "Like in  the  old  fucking  times,
destroy this  fucking  place!"  during  "Inner  Self",  the  complete
time-tunnel experience including adrenaline rush  and  gooseflesh  is
upon me. The incredible live tracks from the  Barcelona  gig  of  the
_Arise_ tour (on the _Under Siege, Live in Barcelona_ video  and  the
_Blood Rooted_ double CD version of  _Roots_)  might  be  the  better
choice for those who gave up on Sepultura  after  _Arise_  or  _Chaos
AD_. All others  can  be  extremely  happy  that  we  have  two  such
excellent live documents from one of the most amazing metal bands  of
the '90s. This is so good, I don't even mind it being on Roadrunner.


Severe Torture - _Misanthropic Carnage_  (Hammerheart, 2002)
by: Adam Lineker  (6 out of 10)

The prospect of a second encounter with Severe Torture  in  only  two
issues of CoC did not exactly fill me with joy, as I had thought very
little of their _Butchery of the Soul_ EP. Thankfully, the fact  that
they just got banned in Switzerland  for  a  truly  delightful  piece
of  cover-art  made  reviewing  _Misanthropic  Carnage_  more  of  an
opportunity than I first anticipated. It didn't take a long  time  to
realise that this album was  a  lot  more  worthy  of  my  time  than
_Butchery of the Soul_, but that's not really saying much.  Utilising
a rather chewy distortion guitar, _Misanthropic Carnage_ is cut  from
a rather low-fi cloth.  Fortunately  this  rawness  creates  defining
character traits; the bass rattles and thumps along under the  guitar
lines, all its natural peaks and troughs laid bare for the  listener,
while the drums maintain a tight and basic attack, even if  a  little
too quiet in the overall mix. Add this to Dennis  Schreurs'  belching
death grunts and we are left with an aggressive  and  gory  brand  of
metal.  Severe  Torture  do  themselves  justice  in  performance  of
their material and  extra  credit  must  go  to  Patrick  Boliej  for
some impressively technical bass lines.  Unfortunately  _Misanthropic
Carnage_ suffers from a certain mundanity in the song writing. Though
Severe Torture carve out some effective riffs, they lack progression;
each riff they conjure up is merely slotted into a  four  bar  phrase
before lurching into a different riff that also gets repeated another
four times. There is very little variation from this pattern and  the
only embellishment on the displayed riffage comes from the drum line.
With the lyrics being nothing short of  totally  incomprehensible  (a
rather traditional touch), Schreurs is found lacking in invention and
quickly becomes boring. Although Thijs van Laarhoven's  guitar  forms
the lynchpin of the Severe Torture sound, he fails to shine  on  this
record; a few guitar  solos  would  not  have  gone  amiss.  Although
enjoyable in parts, one cannot escape the feeling that  _Misanthropic
Carnage_ plods along  and  lapses  into  a  vagueness  that  obscures
anything resembling a stand out track. Fans of gory death  can  catch
Severe Torture on tour with Cannibal Corpse and no doubt others  will
want to see what all the controversy is about, but  I  recommend  you
don't believe the hype. The music on _Misanthropic  Carnage_  is  not
quite as interesting as its cover.

Contact: http://www.hammerheart.com


Somnus - _Through Creation's End_  (Root Of All Evil, 2002)
by: Aaron McKay  (4.5 out of 10)

Most notable here is the drastic slip from the review  found  in  CoC
#49. The gossamer female vocals are a huge drawback on this album  as
I found them to weight down this effort's  direct  aim  and  somewhat
slumbering style. Where this band uses  such  a  feminine  style,  it
should be diaphanous and haunting all throughout _Through  Creation's
End_, but it is not. Instead it is  employed  much  like  a  crippled
person would a crutch: in place  of  inspired,  airy  proportionality
and balance, Somnus ends  up  passing  this  effort  off  as  sub-par
musicianship. Where both the male  guttural  and  female  vocals  are
employed, the message comes across perfectly. In this regard,  it  is
clear and well acclimated, but where the gruff vocal style  "lays  in
wait", behind everything but the instrumentality,  the  effectiveness
on this  sophomore  effort  breaks  down  completely.  Indifferently,
Somnus chooses  to  enshroud  themselves  in  profane  heathenism  of
popular paganism. I care little for this,  but  the  heavily  cryptic
themes pervade tracks such as "Dawn of Spirits" and "Warlock's Feast"
and rarely surface much more than a snout about the waterline  for  a
desperate gasp of air. Boiled down to the  bone,  this  effort  finds
itself complete with all the enraptured harmony to make this  release
-at least- as good as _Awakening the Crown_, but  instead  lacks  the
interesting arrangements and most of  the  appeal  found  on  Somnus'
debut. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing, as they say; what I would
say is Caveat Emptor!


The Black Dahlia Murder - _A Cold Blooded Epitaph_
by: Xander Hoose  (9 out of 10)  (Lovelost Records, 2002)

After hearing so many Gothenburg  thrash/death  bands,  I  mistakenly
thought I had grown tired of them. The Black Dahlia Murder has proven
me dead wrong. Hailing not from the cold plains of Sweden, but rather
from automobile-infested Detroit,  Michigan,  these  five  guys  have
managed to awaken my kindred soul and get  my  head  banging  to  the
insane pumping drive of the four songs featured on  this  mini-album.
Taking up the bits and pieces left by Dissection and  At  the  Gates,
they manage to give  them  a  tight-as-fuck  millennial  sound.  Even
though it might not be highly original, these guys  do  know  how  to
write  good  songs  and  how  to  maintain  a  steady,  natural  flow
throughout. The occasional twin vocal approach does wonders too,  and
it's good to see a band that doesn't fuck up a Rolling  Stones  cover
by trying too hard. _A Cold Blooded Epitaph_ is killer  material  for
those who are still mourning the loss of Sweden's greatest bands, and
an excellent introduction to the Gothenburg sound for those who  were
too young to experience it when it happened in the mid/late-'90s.


The Blood Divine - _Rise Pantheon Dreams_  (Peaceville, 2002)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (5 out of 10)

Born out of the gathering of ex-Anathema singer Darren  White,  three
former members of the early Cradle of Filth, Was from  Extreme  Noise
Terror on drums and Steve Maloney on bass, The  Blood  Divine  caused
quite an impact with  their  debut.  Their  short-lived  career  only
lasted for two albums, however, and their melodic, doomy metal  ended
up fading into silence a lot earlier than  one  might  have  expected
from a band with such high-profile members at the  time.  Despite  my
rating, _Rise Pantheon Dreams_ is not an especially poor  compilation
-- it features two unreleased tracks, a limited edition one, and  two
live songs, in addition to a good selection of the band's  best  cuts
from their two albums. The problem with  _Rise  Pantheon  Dreams_  is
that the material it contains  has  aged  rather  poorly.  The  Blood
Divine have gone from a band that greatly  impressed  me  with  their
debut a few years back to one that manages to  put  together  just  a
couple of really good tracks throughout the entire  compilation:  "As
Rapture Fades" and "Wilderness", although others like  "Aureole"  and
"So Serene" are perfectly decent. The add-ons, though  numerous,  are
nothing to write home about, so there's not  a  lot  going  for  this
compilation. It earns its points mostly from  the  good  material  it
contains, which some people may not yet have heard. However,  if  you
knew about The Blood Divine while the band  was  still  active,  then
this compilation is largely redundant.

Contact: http://www.peaceville.com


The Equinox ov the Gods - _Where Angels Dare Not Tread_
by: Adam Lineker  (3.5 out of 10)  (Virusworx Records, 2002)

Since last issue, I have experienced pangs  of  guilt  in  my  waking
moments over the violent  critical  mauling  that  I  gave  to  Danse
Macabre's _Matters of the Heart_ EP. Thankfully, The Equinox  ov  the
Gods reminded me of why I believe  synth-pop-goth  and  metal  should
never be mixed, thus laying my conscience to rest. Strangely  enough,
this album begins with  a  disturbing  mix  of  sampled  screams  and
gunfire; whether or not this was used to denote the severity  of  the
thematic content is debatable. However, it only succeeds  in  setting
entirely the wrong mood, as  the  following  music  conveys  no  such
sentiment; indeed, serious questions may be asked pertaining  to  the
music's capability to effectively  do  so  at  all.  Overall,  within
_Where Angels Dare Not Tread_  there  is  very  little  that  can  be
complimented. An acceptably active keyboard is consigned to  carrying
melodies that soon become mind numbing through repetition  while  the
guitar plays unchallenging and unimaginative accompaniment. The whole
rhythm section is rigidly  uninteresting,  seemingly  devoid  of  any
spark of innovation and although the production is clean, the  vocals
are far too high in  the  mix.  Lamentably,  these  vocals  are  also
monotonous in both expression and style. Somewhere between  a  bellow
and an exaggerated groan of  assumed  emotion,  the  intrusive  vocal
posturing drowns the music in a deluge of pretentious gothcheese.  It
is this element that adds higher levels of  detestability  to  _Where
Angels Dare Not Tread__; take into account that this  is  no  lyrical
masterpiece, yet is performed as if it  were  the  most  melodramatic
Shakespearean tragedy, making it embarrassing and laughable. Many  of
the songs seem to suffer from tempos that are too slow for their  own
good and the melodic layering often seems a little too  sparse;  even
if this was the desired effect, it is another factor that  makes  The
Equinox ov the Gods seem incredibly shallow. Occasionally, they throw
up moments of more striking melody or manage to formulate interesting
ideas, but their sense of  melodic  progression  is  too  linear  and
uninspired, resulting in a  collection  of  songs  that  seem  to  go
nowhere. Whether or not this will be played in Germanic goth clubs is
anyone's guess, but I  cannot  see  _Where  Angels  Dare  Not  Tread_
causing many waves.

Contact: http://welcome.to/thespectralgarden


Thine - _In Therapy_  (Peaceville, 2002)
by: Xander Hoose  (6 out of 10)

My main point about Thine's first album, some years back, was that it
sounded a lot like Anathema but was missing that special feeling that
made Anathema such a unique band. My advice  was  to  focus  more  on
creating a style of their own instead of imitating others. Now  after
all these years, Thine has decided to give it another try with  their
second album _In Therapy_. I felt curious as I popped the album in my
player, not knowing what to expect.  Fifty-six  and  a  half  minutes
later, I was left with the impression that time had stood  still  for
Thine. The music is a little more uptempo than before, but apart from
that Thine hasn't really changed a bit. They  give  away  a  faithful
imitation of Anathema in their _Alternative 4_ era, but  their  songs
sound less progressive, more cliche and lack a real soul -- the  fact
that I'm reminded more than once of Placebo probably says a  lot.  At
certain points it sounds like they start to get a clue ("In Therapy",
"Homewrecker Extraordinaire", "Running"), but most of the  songs  are
interchangeable and just as easily forgotten. It's all  the  stranger
considering they did a magnificent rendition of Nick Cave's "Song  of
Joy" at the start of their career. Better luck next time, lads.


Thorium - _Unleashing the Demons_  (Diehard Music, 2002)
by: Adam Lineker  (5.5 out of 10)

"Penetrate the  foaming,  bleeding  cunt.  Masturbate  in  the  open,
reeking asshole." Well done Thorium, that's great. Aside from  lyrics
of dubious moral content, this band shreds with more melodic leanings
than at  first  anticipated.  Opening  with  a  decently  atmospheric
passage accompanied by military themed samples,  Thorium  immediately
throw their trump cards on the table. Their song writing  peaks  when
they bring in lead  guitar  over  the  top  of  grand,  ominous  riff
progressions yet they seem to persist in obscuring the more  striking
moments on _Unleashing the Demons_ with unimaginative passages of sub
standard riffs. This makes Thorium somewhat unabsorbing and they  are
hardly aided by a  base  and  uninspiring  production.  The  bass  is
nowhere to be heard,  the  drums  feel  messy  underneath  a  crunchy
distortion employed by the guitar and the vocals seem  intrusive,  as
they are mostly  monotone  and  induce  boredom.  Yet  Thorium  prove
that  they  can  get  it  right  with  "Warlust",  by  far  the  most
accomplished track on the album and  strong  enough  to  survive  the
band's penchant for  tired  and  predictable  structuring;  even  the
vocals seem interesting. It is a shame that most of the  tracks  feel
so average, recycling a multitude of thrashy riffs but  nowhere  near
melodically explorative enough. Lacking progression, Thorium hew  out
a bunch of metal songs that seem to lack direction. It  is  a  shame,
because they have moments when they rise above  the  dirge  they  are
creating; it has to be said that more lead guitar would certainly add
more dimensions to the band's sound, and on their cover  of  Cancer's
"Cancer Fucking Cancer" it is proven that at least  someone  in  this
band can solo. With _Unleashing the Demons_ one gets the feeling that
Thorium's attitude is very negative. Aside  from  the  petulance  and
idiocy splashed all over the album sleeve, they  seem  neglectful  of
their potential; though they come up with some emotive  moments  that
show the faintest flickers of invention, it is debatable  whether  or
not they realise or even care.

Contact: http://www.thorium666.dk


Thyrfing - _Vansinnesvisor_  (Hammerheart, 2002)
by: Adam Lineker  (8 out of 10)

A couple of issues  of  Terrorizer  Magazine  ago,  the  vocalist  of
Nunslaughter made  a  proclamation:  that  owning  a  Thyrfing  album
induces  homosexuality,  as  opposed  to  making  one  'underground'.
Setting  the  record  straight,  you  should  be   aware   that   the
aforementioned notion is not really grounded in  solid  fact  and  is
somewhat unfair, as there are a lot of releases that  fail  to  match
up  to  the  quality  of  Thyfing's  new  opus.  At  a  basic  level,
_Vansinnesvisor_ incorporates metal with typical but effective  usage
of keyboards to embellish, counter and layer subtle, folkish moods to
well crafted melodics. The first track,  "Draugs  Harg"  demonstrates
this well, creating a distinct 'classical' feel  in  the  synthesized
string parts; not exactly  ascending  to  the  symphonic  heights  of
Emperor's swansong album  but  striking  a  tone  more  akin  to  the
melodics of In Flames during their  _Subterranean_  era  (when  their
logo kicked arse in a Morbid Angel-esque fashion). Thyrfing explore a
variety of subtle metallic shades, moody in riffage on  "Digerdoden",
then subtler as the mood changes  and  flows  into  follow  up  track
"Varldsspegeln". There is use of a style  of  multi-tracking  in  the
prominent vocals that is similar to that  of  label-mates  Mercenary,
combining low extreme with soaring clean that lends a more epic  feel
to the music. The guitars have a balanced mix and use  a  traditional
metal distortion that seems neither too harsh nor too thick; it is  a
shame that the drums seem a little too low in  the  balance  and  the
bass is camouflaged by the overall  production.  The  material  flows
soundly and never seems disjunctive or awkward in time  signature  or
structure. Thyrfing are also  successful  in  pulling  off  stylistic
elements of their music that have often proved to become pitfalls for
metal  of  this  nature.  The  Egyptian  feel  of  "The  Voyager"  is
understated and atmospheric without becoming clichéd, and their  folk
leanings are effective without provoking derisive  laughter;  overall
the music is accomplished in  being  both  enjoyable  and  uplifting.
"Angetsens Hogborg" is a great achievement, being epic in length  and
scope whilst  avoiding  the  onset  of  boredom.  Though  the  images
they paint can become somewhat  vague,  the  Thyrfing  soundscape  is
pleasantly colourful. Less blatantly metal crazed than  Skyfire  they
may be, but the given performance is still passionate,  albeit  in  a
subtler and deeper form. "Vansinnesvisan" itself  echoes  of  melodic
black metal, vocally adding more inhuman touches with vocal  effects.
It isn't all immediate and some of the less captivating moments leave
the album with certain murky overtones, but when Thyrfing shine  they
offer emotive glimpses of brilliance  that  earn  _Vansinnesvisor_  a
deserving high mark.

Contact: http://www.hammerheart.com


Today Is the Day - _Sadness Will Prevail_  (Relapse, 2002)
by: Xander Hoose  (6.5 out of 10)

Ask people to name the strangest bands in metal/hardcore and  chances
are big that they will come up with Neurosis and Today Is the Day  in
their lists. Not only do both  bands  have  a  pretty  hardcore  cult
following, they are both also cultish in other ways:  Neurosis  as  a
cult rather than a band, and Today Is the Day for  being  fronted  by
Steve Austin, who thinks, acts and looks like a cult leader -- not to
mention a striking resemblance to the infamous Manson  (Charles,  not
Marilyn). The God/Satan/religion-inspired themes of his music  surely
do add up to his image, and now --  in  the  holy  year  2002  --  he
assails the world once more with  an  onslaught  of  cultish  worship
packed onto as much as two shiny silver  discs.  That's  right,  this
clocks in at more than twice as much as his masterpiece _In the  Eyes
of God_. _Sadness  Will  Prevail_  also  features  a  completely  new
line-up -- which is not very surprising, taking into account that for
mysterious reasons he has a different  line-up  on  each  album.  But
where this change of line-up usually resulted in a  change  of  style
for the better, _Sadness Will Prevail_ is quite a step back from both
_Temple of the Morning Star_ and _In  the  Eyes  of  God_.  That  the
Reverend Austin lost some very good musicians was already clear  from
the raving success of Mastodon (featuring former  members  of  TItD),
but guitars and  especially  drums  on  _SWP_  are  downright  awful,
sometimes reaching an almost demo-ish level. Austin's vocals are even
more over-the-top than on _ItEoG_, at times  reaching  an  unpleasant
pitch and sounding more like a caricature of  himself  than  anything
else. The  songs  themselves  are  hardly  worth  mentioning  anyway,
compared to the weirdness of _TotMS_  and  the  sheer  aggression  of
_ItEoG_; in fact, what saves the album is the diffuse  collection  of
insane mayhem in-between  the  songs:  distorted  Diamanda  Galas  on
"Distortion of Nature", Mike Patton-ish screaming  on  "Butterflies",
lots of piano parts  and  intermezzos  ("Death  Requiem",  "Voice  of
Reason",  "Your  Life  Is  Over",  "Miasma")  and  weird  electronics
("Spaceship", "Sadness Will Prevail"). If one thing becomes painfully
clear is that Austin was not ready to release a double album yet. His
inspiration might be crazier and more productive than ever, but  this
performance is far below his capabilities.  Then  again,  considering
the past of TItD we shouldn't have to worry much about the future, as
his next album will surely feature yet another line-up  --  hopefully
consisting of better musicians.


Various - _Covered in Blood: A Tribute to Slayer_  (Spook City, 2002)
by: Xander Hoose  (4 out of 10)

Sometimes,  a  glance  at  the  album  sleeve  says  more  about  the
quality of the music  on  the  album  than  anything  else.  In  this
case, a cheap Photoshopped pentagram of razors  doesn't  create  high
expectations. Which is something we should be thankful  for,  because
high expectations would  be  fatal  when  listening  to  this  album.
_CiB:ATtS_ is not just a Slayer tribute album, it's a  Slayer  _Reign
in Blood_ tribute album done by hardcore bands, leaving  much  to  be
desired. I wouldn't go as far as calling it a piece of junk,  because
there  are  some  good  songs  on  it  (Unsilent  Reign's  "Altar  of
Sacrifice",  Crown  Deterrent's  "Reborn"  and  Left  With  Nothing's
"Postmortem"), but apart from those the non-quality of the  songs  is
fatal for both the listener and Slayer's songs. How It  Ends  ("Angel
of Death"), Over and Over ("Criminally  Insane")  and  The  Bad  Luck
13 Riot Extravaganza ("Epidemic")  are  without  a  doubt  the  worst
contenders on this album, screwing up the Slayer songs to  the  point
of heresy, and they are closely followed by mediocre performances  by
Arma Angelus ("Piece by Piece"), Most Precious Blood ("Necrophobic"),
Sworn Vengeance ("Jesus Saves") and Punishment ("Raining  Blood").  I
honestly can't see anyone  buying  this  and  actually  enjoying  the
listen, save a few exceptions here and there, so do yourself a favour
and pick up the  _Slatanic  Slaughter_  series  instead:  bands  like
Grope, Cradle of Filth and Mortician did the trick a lot better years
back.


Vinterriket - _Und die Nacht kam schweren Schrittes_
by: Quentin Kalis  (7 out of 10)  (Neodawn/Regimental Recs., 2002)

After releasing an inordinately high number of demos and EPs over the
past two years, Vinterriket has finally gotten  around  to  releasing
his (it's a one-man project) debut full-length, which clocks in at  a
satisfying 64+ minutes, unlike his all-too-brief  piecemeal  releases
of the past. Thankfully, he has all but abandoned his previous patchy
flirtations with black metal  (though  he  deserves  credit  for  the
original sound he created on the black metal-tinged demo _Sturme  der
letzen Stille_) in favour of a complete reversion to the  melancholic
and instrumental darkness found on his very first  release,  _Gjennon
Takete Skogen_. As with  _GTS_,  Vinterriket  utilises  an  array  of
ethereal soundscapes and tinkling keyboards  in  order  to  create  a
distinctively morose atmosphere. As before, his  ambient  meanderings
can be compared to early Mortiis  or  incarceration-era  Burzum,  but
even his very first  release  --  and  there  has  been  considerable
development since then, with more complex melodies being utilized  --
was more layered and complex then the likes of  either  _Fodt  Til  A
Herske_ or _Daudi Baldrs_. The production of his recent releases  has
seen a noticeable improvement over  the  earlier  releases  and  this
trend is continued here. There are a number  of  noticeable  dips  in
quality, most notably on  the  final  track  where  the  ambience  is
disturbed by the emergence of a "dance beat" -- for want of a  better
term -- and if that wasn't bad enough, it  sounds  like  it  emanates
from a cheap Casio keyboard. Nevertheless, these minor flaws  do  not
detract from what is otherwise an admirable debut.

Contact: info@neodawn.de


Vintersorg - _Visions From the Spiral Generator_
by: Adam Lineker  (8 out of 10)  (Napalm Records, 2002)

Remembering that past contact with Vintersorg had yielded some  above
average power metal experimentation, I was  pleased  to  see  that  I
could review his latest full-length album.  What  really  doubled  my
interest in _Visions From the Spiral Generator_  was  the  band  that
Vintersorg had surrounded himself  with,  most  notably  bass  master
Steve DiGiorgio. It becomes apparent early  in  the  album  that  the
musicians acquit  themselves  well,  with  DiGiorgio's  subtle  licks
really adding character to the Vintersorg sound. With a well-balanced
mix, in which each instrument is  free  to  play  its  role,  we  are
treated to a glossy and clear production. All  of  which  would  mean
very little if the music itself was a poor affair, but Vintersorg has
not disappointed. He has composed some impressively individual  works
of power metal,  diligently  balancing  his  influences  and  working
subtle changes of mood into the music. His folk leanings  colour  the
tonality of his melodies, and  while  his  riffworks  may  hold  base
origins in power metal, they are very progressive  in  structure  and
inventive in  composition;  his  use  of  melodic  keyboard  layering
emphasizes his progressive flair. While his band performs  the  music
with aplomb, his prog tinged vocals soar over  the  top,  harmonising
and countering instrumental  dialogue.  Vintersorg  also  throws  the
occasional curve ball by showcasing his black metal roots in the form
of a suitably savage  distortion  vocal.  The  music  on  _VFtSG_  is
absorbing and colourful, though often  melancholy.  However,  _VFtSG_
can be criticised for not always flowing  as  slickly  as  it  might,
with the relationship between some of  the  tracks  sitting  slightly
awkwardly; in particular the last track "Trance Locator" is as strong
a change in mood as you will find on the album, yet doesn't  feel  at
all like  a  conclusion.  Also,  while  sometimes  being  effectively
employed as an expressive tool, Vintersorg's  distortion  vocals  can
feel unsuited to the mood of the music. Thankfully, these  faults  do
not detract much from the overall resulting music, and though  it  is
hard to latch onto any  memorable  hooks,  it  remains  an  enjoyable
listening experience. One gets the feeling  that  Vintersorg's  music
reflects the intellectual nature of his  philosophical  concepts  and
lyrical ideas, though the fact that he prefers to sing in his  mother
tongue means that they are mostly lost on me.

Contact: http://www.vintersorg.com


Wolfnacht - _Night of the Werewolf_  (<Independent>, 2002)
by: Alvin Wee  (5 out of 10)

Indicative of the downward spiral the NSBM scene  has  taken  in  the
past year or so, _Night of  the  Werewolf_  awkwardly  straddles  the
realms of stock NS-rock and  semi-melodic  black  metal,  failing  to
execute either style with convincing verve or vigor. The title  track
starts off promisingly enough with a catchy, hum-along riff worthy of
any Honor album, but  soon  begins  to  wear  thin  as  the  lack  of
inventiveness in song-writing shines through. Things take  an  abrupt
black metal turn with "Black Bubonic Plague",  but  sadly  any  vague
hope of consistency  vanishes  with  the  next  track  "Aufstand",  a
dreadful foray into pure banal NS-rock with  lamentable  black  metal
vocals. The cover of Halgadom's "Wotan's Kreiger"  presents  an  even
grimmer picture of Wolfnacht's failings,  sounding  thin,  uninspired
and vocally abysmal (the horrid production on this track not  helping
in the least). Things begin to look up somewhat towards the end, with
the epic black metal  "Wehrwolfsschantre"  and  the  barely  adequate
cover of Absurd's "Eternal Winter" scarcely managing to  salvage  the
dismal proceedings in the dying minutes of the disc.  Despite  having
three "bonus tracks", the  entire  album  clocks  in  at  a  mere  30
minutes, half of which is practically unlistenable. Last I heard, the
respected Battlefield Records was slated to release  this  disc,  but
the inlay suggests an independent release by the band itself.

Contact: athalwolf1488@hotmail.com

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

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

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


7th Nemesis - _7th Nemesis_  (4 out of 5)
by: Aaron McKay

This bastard came off strong right out of the  gate!  It's  powerful,
ripped with energy, and -never- lacking the  beats  and  groove-laced
rhythm to suck me in and hold me tight. The French five-piece boast a
talented growler, Sargon, whose sole responsibility is  to  verbalize
the swarm of blackish irritability this band stand in the  midst  of.
The musicianship  on  this  demo  is  highly  respectable  and  quite
frankly, I think 7th Nemesis  is  more  talented  than  some  outfits
already performing on the black/death scene today. 7th Nemesis didn't
lose my interest once in the more than eleven minutes this demo  spun
on my JVC (multiple times, I might add). While I  wouldn't  fuss  too
much with the guitar sound -- that is damn good -- the bass could  be
accentuated a lot more and the vocals could stand some  work  in  the
area of magnitude and dominance. If  you  got  a  good  thing  going,
accentuate it! If the band explores expanding their style on "Phoenix
Resurrectio" to a large degree, 7th Nemesis wouldn't  be  languishing
in the bowels of metal's naiveté for very long. I expect  their  full
length they are nearly done with, _Violentia Imperatrix Mundi_, might
even be the catalyst this band needs.

Contact: http://www.7thnemesis.fr.st


Aggression Core - _Victim or Enemy_  (4.5 out of 5)
by: Aaron McKay

This Seattle, Washington five piece outfit is  all  over  metal  like
flies on a rib roast. Impressively chunky in sound and texture with a
power of near limitless range, Aggression Core is  far  more  than  a
single dimensional extreme death metal outfit. Instead they keep  the
listener engaged  and  beset  with  intrigue,  all-the-while  kicking
their ass with some  of  the  most  intense  shit  this  side  of  my
father-in-law's cattle ranch. A wickedly potent pummeling begins  the
disc with the title track, "Victim or Enemy", and it gets even deeper
from there on in.  "What  Your  Life  Has  Become",  while  seemingly
all-too-familiar in sound, is actually my favorite from the demo.  It
exercises the strongest aspects of Aggression Core.  Chamaeleon-like,
this band alternates enveloping  styles  like  so  many  folds  in  a
origami masterpiece and the sound separation is second  to  none.  If
you doubt this, play "Drunk", the final track on the album in your CD
player with some headphones; you'll be awestruck, I assure you. Track
five, "Dethroned", is a cut you'll  be  hard-pressed  to  forget.  It
introduces so many points of hard-edged intrusion  --  while  at  the
same time, taking a "beauty-and-the-beast" countermeasure to keep you
off balance -- you will hardly believe  what  you  are  hearing.  The
socially conscious, nearly Pro-Pain-esque lyrics, and current  events
infused essence of Aggression Core  is  MORE  THAN  WELCOME  in  this
"more  evil  than  thou"  genre  we  far  too  often  find  ourselves
muddling through. Whether it be the Seattle connection  or  something
else entirely, I cannot  help  but  wonder  if  Aggression  Core  and
Suicide Culture [CoC #48] share the same post  office  in  the  state
of Washington. While it  obviously  makes  little  to  absolutely  no
difference, I am left thinking that if I were Suicide Culture, I'd be
finding some way to integrate Aggression Core's potency onto my  own.
As a side note, I must comment  on  the  back  cover  of  _Victim  or
Enemy_. The UPC bar-code flag on the CD back  speaks  volumes  to  me
as an earnest metal  devotee,  but  not  because  of  some  misplaced
sense of rebellion flowing through my  veins.  Instead,  I  see  this
representation as a band's  prerogative  to  capitalize  on  creative
license. Like Aggression Core's style, it is scorching and harsh, but
it sits well with those of a suitable mind-set. This  style  is  most
agreeable and, the truth-be-known, while I don  very  few  shirts  in
support of bands, I would wear an Aggression Core T-shirt proudly  if
I owned one.

Contact: P.O. Box 47071, Seattle, WA  98146, USA


Aphotic - _Stillness Grows_  (5 out of 5)
by: Pedro Azevedo

Fair enough, Aphotic have a strong doom component in their music; but
it took me just one glance at their latest demo  for  my  spirits  to
sink even before I heard any of it. This wasn't caused by some  smart
cover art, but rather the lack of any. You see, Aphotic have released
two excellent demos on CD, complete with very tasteful packaging, and
all to no  avail  --  inferior  bands  kept  getting  signed  in  the
meantime, but not them. This third demo is to be their final  one  if
they aren't signed now, and gone are the packaging and illustrations:
all I held in my hand was a  CD-R  with  a  handwritten  front  cover
briefly stating that what lied inside was Aphotic's third demo.  This
disillusionment did not affect the band's ability to create very good
music, though. They have continued onwards with their  on  _Stillness
Grows_, and now  feature  a  human  drummer  in  their  line-up.  The
rhythmic difference on _Stillness Grows_ isn't  huge  yet,  but  this
line-up change does  give  them  a  better  margin  for  progression.
Powerful yet sombre, Aphotic's atmospheric doom/death  metal  manages
to sound varied without ever losing its consistency, and  melancholic
without becoming whiny or boring. All five songs are  interesting  on
this third demo, while the sound quality is very good. All I can  say
is that I crave a professionally produced Aphotic full-length  album.
Unfortunately that possibility is far from depending  solely  on  the
band, as apparently the record labels out there seem  to  have  their
eyes turned to easier -- if far less interesting --  markets.  Here's
hoping time will prove me wrong and Aphotic will get the deal they so
thoroughly have earned with each of their demos.

Contact: kpowers-aphotic@news.rr.com


Balseraph - _Balseraph_  (2.5 out of 5)
by: Adam Lineker

Through a muffled and unbalanced  production,  Balseraph  perform  an
ambient form of black metal that gives a few stylistic nods to Cradle
of Filth; for example, vocalist Beleth roars and spits his distortion
vocals at differing multitracked  pitches.  Balseraph  do  well  when
everything seems to come together; it is here that their compositions
reach the highest levels  of  melodic  strength.  Unfortunately  they
are undermined by the execution  of  the  music.  The  aforementioned
production detracts from the  musicianship  on  offer  to  the  point
of obscuring what  the  guitarists  are  doing.  However,  there  are
places where it is apparent that  Balseraph  are  musically  capable,
particularly the work of drummer  Seance,  and  the  poor  production
levels are forgivable; this  is,  after  all,  a  demo.  The  biggest
problems Balseraph have are with the song writing, as  much  of  what
they perform comes across as dull and uninspired,  particularly  when
they resort to long passages of bludgeoning riffage. They also commit
the musically abusive crime of giving keyboardist Ambriel nothing  to
do. It is obvious that they have spirit and passion  for  the  music,
but they have work to do  before  they  become  a  more  accomplished
proposition.

Contact: http://balseraph.cjb.net


Event Horizon - _From Beginning... to End_  (3 out of 5)
by: Brian Meloon

This 25-minute, five song demo  falls  into  the  categories  labeled
alternately as "progressive metal" and "power metal". I'm not  a  big
fan of  this  genre,  so  the  best  comparison  I  can  give  is  to
Labyrinth's 1996 album _No Limits_. Despite the age  of  that  album,
this seems to be an accurate enough comparison.  The  music  here  is
heavily melody-based, with keyboards for emphasis, and a male  singer
who likes to hit high notes. The songs  are  pretty  straightforward,
and don't  vary  much  from  standard  verse-chorus  structures.  The
playing is mid-to-fast tempo and generally restrained, deferring  the
spotlight to either the vocalist or the guitar solos (which are quite
average). This  might  be  a  reasonable  strategy  with  a  stronger
frontman, but Alessandro Formenti's vocals are the weak point of this
offering. While he has a good range, his choice of  vocal  lines  and
his overuse of high notes are reminiscent of  '80s  glam  bands,  and
really detract from the music. In addition, his voice seems  flat  in
many places, bringing down what  are  otherwise  memorable  choruses.
Aside from this weakness, the music  here  is  reasonably  good:  not
outstanding, but certainly on par with others in the style. Even with
the weak vocals, I wouldn't be surprised to find this band signed for
a debut release already. Fans of the style should keep an eye out for
these guys, as with a little improvement, they could be a contender.

Contact: http://www.eventhorizonband.com


Goldenpyre - _Necroterrorism_  (3.5 out of 5)
by: Alvin Wee

By no means hot  off  the  press,  but  well  worth  a  peek  at  for
traditional death metal maniacs nonetheless. This Portuguese  quintet
confidently spew forth four chunks of simple, grinding death  in  the
most beloved of old-school Scandinavian traditions. As is  often  the
case in this  genre,  _Necroterrorism_  offers  nothing  particularly
earth-shaking to jaded ears,  and  the  largely  pedestrian  material
even borders on the  tiresome  at  times.  However,  old-timers  will
find themselves inexplicably drawn to the  archaic  sounds  of  death
reminiscent of old At the Gates and  even  Cadaver.  The  production,
while solid, is just fuzzy enough to carry off that  early-'90s  vibe
and adds a considerable amount of character to the disc.  In  an  age
where hyper-brutal death like  Krisiun  rules,  Goldenpyre  have  the
distinction of sticking to their roots, and doing it damned well too.

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


Gotha - _Take Your Soul_  (3 out of 5)
by: Quentin Kalis

Gotha are an Italian band who perform Bay Area styled thrash. This is
true for the first two songs, which while  acceptably  competent  are
really nothing truly exceptional and certainly  do  not  signify  any
potential future greats in the making. But  it  is  the  final  track
which suggests that Gotha have more than one trick up their  sleeves,
in the form of the misleadingly  entitled  "Banshee":  a  brief  song
composed entirely of an evocative  and  melodic  guitar  lead.  Here,
Gotha demonstrate that they have the potential to develop  into  more
then Bay Area wannabes. Although it is  hardly  comparable  to,  say,
Yngwie Malmsteen in terms of technical  ability,  it  is  nonetheless
incredibly atmospheric. This  track  alone  is  responsible  for  the
addition of an additional mark to the rating above and  an  otherwise
nondescript demo.

Contact: f.tamas@libero.it


Honey for Christ - _Forging Iron Will_  (3 out of 5)
by: Aaron McKay

Know what chaps my ass? I know this Irish four-piece band  is  worthy
of all five out of five stars, but this three track demo  leaves  the
band a bit high and dry. Like shoveling  shit  against  the  tide  of
harsh, moody metal out there today, Honey for  Christ  stands  on  an
oceanic precipice of something great; they  have  obviously  found  a
natural spring of inspiration. They rise above metal's  murky  depths
like no band at this point in their career should be able,  but  they
do. Bathing the listener with only three cuts, Honey for  Christ  run
the gamut of metal -- from harsh to blackened-sliced abrasiveness  to
mood inducing interludes.  HfC  use  predominately  powerfully  clean
vocals with an injected guttural grunt  here  and  there  for  mostly
effect. While I am supportive of the less rigorous throaty-style  for
a fair number of bands that I will not waste  your  time  in  listing
off, Honey for Christ would do very well to explore  adding  MORE  of
the gravelly vocal approach to their material. It  washes  well  with
the musically foamy effervesce they  pound  forth  again  and  again.
Heavy, chunky and a varied style are things all well  represented  on
_Forging Iron Will_. You could get lost in the undertow HfC  creates.
While this isn't a bad thing, this demo lacks the endurance  to  hold
your attention -- in their watery prison -- long enough to  drown  in
their potential.


Illogicist - _Polymorphism Of Death_  (4 out of 5)
by: Alvin Wee

It's hard to understand how  _Polymorphism  Of  Death_  can  be  this
band's  initial  offering  to  the  tired  death  metal  scene,  when
faced with the  stunning  quality  of  this  MCD.  Displaying  little
of the  naivete  exhibited  by  equally  young  bands,  this  Italian
quartet toss off their brand of technical death metal  with  wondrous
ease. Incendiary solos reminiscent  of  James  Murphy's  Disincarnate
days  dot  this  delightful  20-minute  romp,   sitting   deliciously
amid headbang-inducing crunchy riff  acrobatics  and  mainman  Luca's
well-tempered growl. The band's influences no doubt run the gamut  of
technical prog-death bands like Atheist, Death  and  Cynic,  but  are
immaculately showcased in a completely updated framework  that  hints
at thrashier and more melodic elements of the new Swedish style. Song
structures and melody lines, while always complex  enough  to  remain
novel through multiple listens, never  lapse  into  the  unlistenable
musical masturbation marking the downfall of many a 'technical' band.
In my book, Illogicist could well be the next  Cynic,  for  producing
amazing material worthy of album status on their first  demo,  and  I
don't see them staying unsigned for long at all.

Contact: http://www.illogicist.com


Recto Rectors - _Fight For Your Grind_  (1 out of 5)
by: Brian Meloon

Recto  Rectors  are  a  two-piece  Italian  grind  band.  This  is  a
thirteen-minute slab of immature, cheap-sounding, pointless grind. It
features 21 tracks, two of which consist of a sampled belch played at
various pitches: the first to the tune of "Mary Had a  Little  Lamb",
and the second with piano accompaniment. Other than  those  stand-out
tracks, the rest of the album is generic grind with a few  irrelevant
bits that I suppose were intended to be funny. Given  the  nature  of
grindcore, there's very little musical skill  on  display  here:  the
drumming is done by a drum machine, and the guitar riffs  are  either
simple or just amorphous noise. Maybe this  will  be  appreciated  by
die-hard grindcore fans, but I can't believe it's anything that  such
a fan wouldn't already have heard a thousand times.

Contact: http://www.geocities.com/recto_rectors


Serrated Scalpel - _Suspended in Misery_  (3.5 out of 5)
by: Adam Lineker

Aside from a production lacking in power, Serrated  Scalpel  do  well
enough when performing solid death metal and succeed in creating some
good riffs, but it is unfortunate that  the  band's  preferred  tempo
never  really  aids  the  music  in  escaping  a  stodgy  feeling  of
sluggishness. With a guitar mix that is far too quiet, the  intrusive
evilbelch vocals only emphasise this. Still, with this  in  mind,  it
remains reasonable quality for a demo and allows Serrated Scalpel  to
display their compositional talent and capable musicianship. There is
an element of good progressive sensibilities and  a  fair  amount  of
fine riffs, yet the length of the individual songs lets a lot  of  it
become a dirge on first listening. All in all, what Serrated  Scalpel
offer is quite enjoyable and shows potential, especially on  standout
track "The Emblem of  Immortality".  To  its  credit,  _Suspended  in
Misery_ succeeds in  drawing  you  in  and  ascending  in  levels  of
quality; a fine and  often  lacking  characteristic  in  many  albums
you'll find floating around. This alone merits Serrated Scalpel worth
a look.

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


Set in Silence - _Watch the Sky Burn_  (4.5 out of 5)
by: Adam Lineker

Interchanging eerie melody with brutal riffage, Set in  Silence  show
potential from the word go. With guttural,  howling  vocals  claiming
dominion over the dark and  brooding  music,  Set  in  Silence  sound
convincingly forceful. Aided by  a  solid  production  that  is  well
above average  for  demo  standards,  _Watch  the  Sky  Burn_  yields
some progressive riff structuring with  aspects  of  metallic  groove
alongside some harmonies that would be easily suited to black  metal.
There is a fair amount of feeling and ambience to  this  that  allows
the audience to be drawn in quite easily and it is all performed with
guts and conviction. The music on _Watch the Sky Burn_  lends  itself
well to its mid tempo nature and very rarely becomes  a  dirge,  with
the only real inequities of this sort appearing on the closing  title
track. Overall, the music is well crafted and well executed; recorded
evidence of the capabilities of Set in Silence. _Watch the  Sky  Bun_
is a strong demo and a fine achievement.

Contact: http://www.setinsilence.com


Slaughter of Souls - _Nexus Avernus_  (4 out of 5)
by: Adam Lineker

The newest creation of ex-Reign of  Erebus  brothers  Pete  and  Mike
Rowland is melodic in style and performed  with  aggression  under  a
fuzzy and shallow production. As with many demos, the lo-fi feel  can
sometimes detract from the impact of certain riffs, but Slaughter  of
Souls do well in rising above the  technical  limitations,  shredding
out some passages with  impressive  ferocity.  Some  of  the  melodic
touches they employ are quite traditional, although  they  make  room
for a fair amount of discordant progressions that reflect the  band's
more extreme roots. Aside from ludicrous song titles, such  as  "Your
(sic) All Gonna Die" and "Club Dead", the only real gripe one has  is
that  the  reigns  could  be  held  a  little  tighter  on  the  song
structuring, with some of the material seeming to  lose  its  way  on
occasion. However, this doesn't stop _Nexus Avernus_ being  a  strong
demo, possessing some  really  driving  works  of  metal.  Hopefully,
Slaughter of Souls will do well  enough  to  release  an  album  that
reflects some of the qualities present here.

Contact: http://www.SlaughterofSouls.com


Solution 13 - _Solution 13_  (3.5 out of 5)
by: Adam Lineker

Were it not for  the  absence  of  a  record  label  acknowledgement,
Solution 13 could be mistaken for a signed band.  With  a  reasonable
production and  a  professional  presentation,  they  are,  on  first
impression, more than convincing  for  their  level.  They  peddle  a
thrash influenced form of rock, using conventional beats and stylings
but relying heavily on riffs,  many  of  which  are  faster  or  more
unusual  than  one  would  expect  to  find.  Though  vocalist  Ilkka
Jarvenpaa sings, he hasn't the greatest voice in the world,  sounding
like  a  dog-tired  crossbreed  of  Lemmy,  Phil  Anselmo  and  James
Hetfield. Incidentally there is a reasonable  amount  of  early  '90s
Metallica in this, and some of it works quite well. Having said this,
a lot of the material does lack punch and can sound passionless.  The
unexciting nature of the music means that one has to listen  hard  to
appreciate the level of quality. If it sounded more powerful and less
sterile then this, it would probably be a lot more absorbing.  As  it
stands, it remains just a bit too bland. One gets  the  feeling  that
the live environment would lend itself well to Solution 13; it is not
as if the music is impenetrable and  their  easy-listening  brand  of
metal can work on many levels.  With  riffs  that  are  of  an  above
average quality and  an  inventive  handling  of  familiar  formulas,
Solution 13 show potential. As a debut release, one can  forgive  the
basic nature of the music and hope that the song writing reaches  the
quality that it  would  seem  to  promise  in  time.  Get  a  heavier
production with some edge next time. Some of this  material  deserves
better!


The Last Winter - _IRA_  (3 out of 5)
by: Brian Meloon

Italy's The Last Winter may have  started  as  a  black  metal  band,
but  over  the  last  few  years,  their  sound  has  developed  into
something more interesting. This offering contains a few vestiges  of
their black metal days, most notably  the  vocals  and  some  of  the
tremolo-picked guitar lines, but for the most part, this is mid-tempo
thrash. There are only two songs here, but  they're  ten  and  twelve
minutes respectively. As you would expect from long songs, the  riffs
and tempos change a lot. However, The Last Winter go  a  step  beyond
what's expected by employing a wide range of styles  and  tempos,  so
that the music doesn't get  repetitive.  Most  of  these  styles  are
familiar ones, but the band do find some original  sounds  to  offer.
One area where they could use some work are the flow of their  songs.
In particular, the global organization of the songs didn't make  much
sense to me, and some of the  transitions  were  rather  clunky.  The
playing is generally good, though there are a few places where  their
timing is a little off. One more important point to mention  are  the
vocals. While most of the vocals are standard raspy-style black metal
vocals -- which fit the music pretty well -- there are four  sections
(totaling less than a minute, thankfully) with a clean  style  trying
to carry a tune. I say "trying", though, because he's way out of  his
(very limited) range, and the  end  result  sounds  simply  terrible.
These sections still make me cringe every time I hear them, and  this
vocal style needs to  be  dropped  immediately.  Taken  as  a  whole,
though, this offering shows that The Last Winter have  the  potential
to develop into an innovative and interesting  band.  They  have  the
most important aspect for this already: an original approach and some
interesting ideas. They should be an interesting band to watch, and I
hope to hear more from them in the next few years.

Contact: http://www.thelastwinter.3000.it

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       M O R N I N G R I S E   I N   T H E   D E A D L A N D S 
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Opeth, Madder Mortem and Kormoss at the Hard Club, Gaia, Portugal
                          by: Pedro Azevedo


It had been a lengthy spell away from the Hard Club  for  me  (during
several months of which the venue was closed, due to a row  with  the
City Hall), but Opeth and Madder Mortem provided a superb reason  for
my return. Opeth is easily among my favourite bands,  whereas  Madder
Mortem are, in my view, one of the most underrated  bands  around  --
they are perhaps victims of being on Century Media, which  is  not  a
very fashionable label these days (how about that for an ironic  turn
of events?).

Local band Kormoss opened the gig in  competent  fashion,  playing  a
brand of Samael-influenced metal and showing little evolution since I
first saw them several years ago -- even if they did seem to  lean  a
bit more towards death metal than the last time I heard them. Despite
the fact that they were nothing out of  the  ordinary  tonight,  they
still managed to entertain the audience reasonably well.  Impatience,
however, was impossible to disguise amidst the Opeth-hungry mob,  and
there were few who even bothered to try.

Madder Mortem were also affected by that impatience;  or  rather,  it
marred the audience's potential enjoyment of their set. In fact, even
though their performance was excellent tonight, few people seemed  to
even begin to appreciate it. Granted, their  material  --  much  like
Opeth's, although in a smaller scale -- is very difficult to get into
live if you don't already know  it  quite  well;  few  in  attendance
seemed to be familiar with  their  albums.  Madder  Mortem  played  a
combination of songs from their last two discs, _All Flesh Is  Grass_
and _Deadlands_, both of which  came  out  of  virtually  nowhere  to
greatly  impress  me  when  they  were  released.  They  opened  with
"Necropol Lit" off _Deadlands_, possibly the weakest song in a superb
setlist, followed by the excellent "Rust Cleansing" -- the final part
of that one blows me away every time. On to "Distance Will Save  Us",
another good track, and then  the  first  song  from  _All  Flesh  Is
Grass_: the massive "Breaker  of  Worlds".  Another  fine  new  song,
"Faceless", was next, then the  less  profound  but  very  contagious
"Jigsaw (The Pattern and the Puzzle)", and a truly  suitable  ending:
"Omnivore", which ends abruptly after an amazing crescendo.

The band was tight and benefited from a good sound setup,  but  there
is no denying that their vocalist Agnette Kirkevaag was the centre of
attention. She  is  definitely  not  your  average  female  vocalist:
she doesn't sport a goth  look  and  doesn't  stand  still  on  stage
pouring  forth  angelic  vocals.  Instead  she  moves  all  over  the
stage, thoroughly enjoying every riff, and takes the  listener  on  a
rollercoaster ride  of  amazing  vocal  twists  and  turns.  She  has
-talent-, not just a sweet voice. I was already hugely  impressed  by
her performance on disc, but my girlfriend  and  I  had  to  exchange
amazed looks at the sheer quality of her live  performance.  Quite  a
shame that so few of those in attendance were able to appreciate it.

Opeth was the band nearly everyone was there to see, and  Opeth  they
got -- a whole lot of Opeth, in fact.  Nine  songs,  which  by  their
standards guarantees about an hour and a half of music. And  although
Madder Mortem had set a high standard, Opeth were not daunted by  the
challenge. They proceeded to flawlessly execute a collection of epics
taken from the majority of their discography. They  opened  with  the
excellent  "The  Leper  Affinity"  from  _Blackwater  Park_,  and  it
immediately became clear that the audience was in for  a  treat.  The
guitars were spot on, the drumming impeccable and  dynamic,  and  the
vocals -- both clean and harsh --  came  out  perfectly.  Akerfeldt's
stage presence was simultaneously enthusiastic and  relaxed,  and  he
never felt the need to amuse people with stage  antics:  it  was  the
music that did the talking, and that's what everyone was there for.

"Advent" from _Morningrise_ was next, and what a rendition! That song
has some magnificent moments, but they just seemed to  carry  a  much
greater impact live. I am in awe of how Mikael Akerfeldt  manages  to
deliver such a  performance  on  vocals  and  guitar  simultaneously.
"Deliverance" from their new album was next, its  distinctive  ending
played with machine-like precision. Another cut from the  atmospheric
_Blackwater Park_ then followed, and another fine  song  too,  namely
"The Drapery Falls". Pure bliss. "Godhead's Lament" from _Still Life_
was a more questionable choice for the set, but I won't complain.  It
then gave way to the acoustic "Credence" off _My Arms, Your  Hearse_,
which came as a  surprisingly  welcome  break  to  the  more  intense
material. Just like his intense demonic vocals and growls,  Akerfeldt
continued to pull off his clean singing with great aplomb, while  the
remaining musicians continuously showed  their  remarkable  skill  as
well.

Opeth then entered the final stretch of songs, starting with  "Bleak"
from _Blackwater Park_ (with  its  marvelously  doomy  beginning  and
end),  followed  by  "A  Fair  Judgement"  from  _Deliverance_.  Then
finally, as an encore, the  monstrous  "Demon  of  the  Fall",  their
classic from _My Arms, Your Hearse_ (from which "April Ethereal"  was
sorely missing). "Demon of the  Fall"  ended  proceedings  more  than
appropriately, with its irresistibly powerful first half  and  mellow
ending. All in all, an amazing performance from Opeth, and one of the
best gigs I've ever attended.

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       K I N G   T U T ' S   B U R N I N G   A N G E L   H U T 
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            Arch Enemy, Corporation 187 and Without Face,
              at Glasgow King Tut's, December 9th 2002
                          by: Adam Lineker


Upon arrival at King Tut's, it is pleasing  to  see  that  the  metal
hordes have turned out in force. This was  expected,  as  Arch  Enemy
have been subjected to a frenzy of media  attention  following  their
magnificent third opus _Wages of  Sin_.  With  Corporation  187  also
turning up to have a little fun, the atmosphere inside King Tut's  is
one of high expectancy.

Opening the evening in a  more  reserved  style,  Without  Face  just
about  catch  the  interest  of  the  assembled  throng  with   their
gothic progmetal. Nobody in attendance goes crazy,  but  the  offered
performance is seemingly  appreciated  by  the  scattered  groups  of
watching faces. Based on this performance  however,  it  is  hard  to
imagine how they could coerce any other response. Though the music is
interesting, the musicians take a back seat to concentrate  on  their
playing, thus lacking stage presence. The performance is  competently
tight but the music is too ethereal for this to make a real impact on
the audience. If you take the time to look a little harder, it  would
appear that the drummer plays to a click-track. Couple this  with  an
invisible keyboard player and one gets  the  feeling  that  there  is
something artificial about the performance; such  heavy  reliance  on
DAT recordings never  sits  well  with  me.  This  leaves  a  lot  up
to the two vocalists  and  unfortunately,  something  really  doesn't
work tonight.  Establishing  a  well  used  formula  in  Scandinavian
and European metal, eerie female  singing  is  complemented  by  male
power/death vocals. However, the frontwoman is either hopelessly  out
of tune or her lines are completely atonal; this leaves any sense  of
melody severely marred. Worse still, she looks  disinterested  enough
for the problem to be caused  by  sheer  lack  of  effort.  This  all
renders the monotone growls of the frontman  somewhat  redundant.  To
his credit, his posturing captures the spirit  of  power  metal  well
enough, but he only just succeeds in  avoiding  looking  very  stupid
alongside his fellow performers. Though they  provide  an  acceptable
amount of entertainment with their musical endeavours, one can't help
but feel that Without Face are rather forgettable.

Thankfully, Corporation 187  are  up  to  the  job  of  grabbing  the
audience by the throat and  proceed  to  deliver  a  highly  spirited
performance. Succeeding  mostly  when  hammering  out  large,  catchy
riffs, they seem to delight in educating all and sundry in the joy of
thrash. It is  very  obvious  that  they  enjoy  themselves  as  they
bludgeon along, spurring on a supportive crowd and getting the bodies
moving. Filip Carlsson is a competent frontman  who  is  unafraid  to
make direct eye  contact  with  those  who  seem  to  be  more  rabid
than others, and he  is  backed  by  a  band  that  are  all  equally
strong performers. Using  a  lot  of  material  from  _Perfection  in
Pain_ to spearhead their  set,  there  are  many  memorable  moments,
particularly the crushingly infectious "Ghosts of  Confusion".  Above
all, Corporation 187 come across as very  proud  of  being  a  thrash
metal act and you can see it in their stage mannerisms;  even  though
bassist Viktor Klint just plants his feet and  headbangs  throughout,
the permanent grin speaks volumes. Though the Corporation  know  that
this isn't their show, they deliver an  entertaining  and  passionate
performance, suitably acting like a band with everything to gain  and
nothing to lose. Arguably there is some work to be done  before  they
make The Haunted look  over  their  shoulders,  but  they  leave  the
stage having asserted themselves  as  a  competent  addition  to  the
death/thrash cause.

As the lights go out and the haunting piano intro of  "Enemy  Within"
filters through the hot and smoky air, the atmosphere that  has  been
bubbling under  the  surface  all  evening  finally  begins  to  boil
over. The scene is set for Arch  Enemy  to  make  a  massive  impact.
Unfortunately, when they finally hit  the  stage,  they  seem  to  be
somewhat deadened. Infuriatingly, the  soundman  has  an  unfortunate
case of the gremlins and proceeds to battle with the sound desk in an
uphill struggle throughout the entire show.  Yet  sound  quality  was
never going  to  totally  dampen  the  spirits  of  this  crowd,  nor
compromise Arch Enemy's performance, and even  though  you  can  only
hear drums and a little bass  guitar,  the  Amott  brothers  make  an
energetic entrance that seems more suited to an arena than this small
stage. Special praise is first reserved for  one  Angela  Gossow  who
proves to be a brilliant and professional frontwoman, pausing between
songs to request better lighting placement  and  sound  quality.  Her
onstage manner ranges from intense to  cool,  as  she  rises  to  the
occasion and performs with energy and  flair;  even  the  mike  stand
isn't safe from her wrath. Yet her  real  talent  resides  first  and
foremost in her voice. She  may  look  comically  petite  when  stood
alongside the gargantuan  bassman  Sharlee  DiAngelo,  but  when  she
unleashes her death roar, you can feel it through your feet.

Yet this  is  still  very  far  from  being  all  her  show.  Without
exception,  Arch  Enemy  are  tight   and   charismatic   performers,
blistering through  their  intricate  instrumental  sections  without
fault, and when they launch into the  opening  bars  of  the  Carcass
classic "Corporeal Jigsore Quandary" at the  set's  mid  point,  they
incite an already mental crowd into a near riot. Vacating  the  stage
forthwith to let Daniel Erlandsson show his stuff behind the kit,  it
all seems so incredibly well thought out; when his sticks  go  flying
half way through the solo, it is hard to tell  if  it  is  a  genuine
mistake or his sense of humour.

Choosing a career-spanning setlist, Arch Enemy perform their music as
admirably as possible, given the sound conditions. Especially  worthy
of note is the crushing rendition of new song "Savage Messiah". There
are times when the pit becomes  so  violent  that  one's  survivalist
instincts begin to take over and the music seems  to  lose  momentary
priority, yet the air of triumph perpetuates throughout. If  not  for
the debilitating sound problems, this could  have  been  the  perfect
night for Arch Enemy. As it is, they  succeed  in  determination  and
competence,  as  their  dogged  performance  is  born  aloft  on  the
shoulders of a crowd that adore them.

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

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


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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #60

All contents copyright  (c)  1995-2003  by  individual  creators  of 
included work. All rights reserved.
All  opinions  expressed  herein  are  those  of   the   individuals 
expressing them, and do not necessarily reflect the views of  anyone 
else.                                                                

