
  ,- _~. ,,                              ,,                        /\
 (' /|   ||                       '      ||                       ||
((  ||   ||/\\ ,._-_  /'\\ \\/\\ \\  _-_ ||  _-_   _-_,     /'\\ =||=
((  ||   || ||  ||   || || || || || ||   || || \\ ||_.     || ||  ||
 ( / |   || ||  ||   || || || || || ||   || ||/    ~ ||    || ||  ||
  -____- \\ |/  \\,  \\,/  \\ \\ \\ \\,/ \\ \\,/  ,-_-     \\,/   \\,
           _/
                     ,- _~. ,,
                    (' /|   ||      _
                   ((  ||   ||/\\  < \,  /'\\  _-_,
                   ((  ||   || ||  /-|| || || ||_.
                    ( / |   || || (( || || ||  ~ ||
                     -____- \\ |/  \/\\ \\,/  ,-_-
                              _/


       CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, February 13, 1999, Issue #37
               http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html

Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley <mailto:energizr@interlog.com>
Contributor/Copy Editor: Pedro Azevedo <mailto:ei94048@riff.fe.up.pt>
Contributor/Asst. Copy Editor: Paul Schwarz <mailto:saul@mcmail.com>
Assistant Copy Editor: John Weathers <mailto:anguish@mindspring.com>
Contributor: Alain M. Gaudrault <mailto:alain@gaudrault.net>
Contributor: Brian Meloon <mailto:bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk <mailto:macabre@interlog.com>
Contributor: Aaron McKay <mailto:aaronm@trxinc.com>
Contributor: David Rocher <mailto:el_rojo@dial.oleane.com>
Contributor: Gabriel Sanchez <mailto:mwnoise@yahoo.com>
Contributor: Alex Cantwell <mailto:cvantwell@juno.com>

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

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

Issue #37 Contents, 2/13/99
---------------------------
* Editorial
* Loud Letters
* Deadly Dialogues
-- Bathory: The Countess' Favorite Band Lives On!
-- Aura Noir: Of Thrash and Trueness
-- Ritual Carnage: The Great Eastern Trendkill
-- Night in Gales: A Night to Remember
-- Madder Mortem: Crimson Dreams
* Album Asylum
-- Another Nothing - _New Breed_
-- Apophis - _Heliopolis_
-- Aura Noir - _Deep Tracts of Hell_
-- Autumn Tears - _Love Poems for Dying Children... Act I (Reprise
                   MCMXCVIII)_
-- Bewitched - _Hell Comes to Essen_
-- Bob Marinelli / Facialmess - _Split_
-- Castigate - _Bring Me the Head of Jesus Christ_
-- Cauldron - _Tampering With the Unnatural_
-- Claymords - _... More Sombre Than Life_
-- Daemon - _The Second Coming_
-- Darklands - _A Memory of You_
-- Descend - _Beyond thy Realm of Throes_
-- Dichotic - _Collapse Into Despair_
-- Dreamsfear - _Prelude to Destiny_
-- Droys - _And if..._
-- Evoken - _Embrace the Emptiness_
-- Flotsam and Jetsam - _Unnatural Selection_
-- Forced to Decay - _Perkussive Perlokution_
-- Various - _Full Moon Productions Sampler CD_
-- Groinchurn - _Fink_
-- In Solitude - _Eternal_
-- In the Woods... - _Strange in Stereo_
-- James Murphy - _Feeding the Machine_
-- Lasse Marhaug - _Audio Explosions Every 10 Seconds_
-- Madder Mortem - _Mercury_
-- Morningstar - _Hell_
-- MO*TE/TADM - _Split_
-- Nomad - _The Tail of Substance_
-- One Dark Eye / Macronympha - _Split_
-- Overlife - _Between Passion and Madness_
-- Path of Debris - _In the Eyes of the Basilisk_
-- Power of Omens - _Eyes of the Oracle_
-- Puya - _Fundamental_
-- Rok - _This Is Satanik_
-- Sacramentum - _Thy Black Destiny_
-- Salutary - _Violated Holiness_
-- Shango - _Metal Mafia_
-- Sinister - _Aggressive Measures_
-- Soil - _El Chupacabra!_
-- Suicide Culture - _Suicide Culture_
-- Tefilla - _Grievous Anguish_
-- Temple - _Bloodletting_
-- The Protagonist - _A Rebours_
-- The Rita - _Crusty Etruscans_
-- Thorazine - _C17H19CO2S1N_
-- Trail of Tears - _Disclosure in Red_
* New Noise
-- Apocalyptic - _Apocalyptic_
-- Bill the Death Metal Cowboy - _Rustling Up Some Metal_
-- Crucifer - _III_
-- Sirius - _... The Eclipse_
* Chaotic Concerts
-- Like Fathers, Like Sons: Black Sabbath, Pantera, Slayer, Megadeth
* What We Have Cranked
* Details

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

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

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

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


Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1998
From: Eugene Boitsov <ewgenij@cityline.ru>
Subject: Thanx

Hail to CoC from snow-ridden,  frost-bitten,  crisis-crippled  Mother
Russia!

You guys are doing a great job! I've tried a lot of  shiny,  colorful
Web-zines to rummage for information (mostly reviews), but CoC is the
best in this respect. Always the bull's eye. Just imagine that  there
is only ONE shop in Moscow (about 11 million people)  where  one  can
get black/grind/death/doom CDs or tapes! Hordes of metalheads  listen
to a dozen of commercial bands, not even  remotely  suspecting  about
the existence of such  Maestros  as  Primigenium  (Spain),  Tartaros,
Fleshgrind (Brasil), etc., and I wouldn't know shit from piss if  not
for your sniper-like reviews.

Thank you no end,

Eugene Boitsov, Moscow


Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999
From: gajo <gajo@EUnet.yu>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters

Greetings to the CoC team, you're still the best thing ever!

In the previous number (36) you've wrote about the new Sepultura in a
positive and negative way,  which  is  very  good,  but  it  left  me
undecided what should I do (buy the album or not).

Sepultura's  been  my  favorite   band   since   their   release   of
Schizophrenia, and when Max left  the  band  I  thought  everything's
gonna be OK, but I guess it won't be :( I have bought SoulFly's first
album and I was a little bit disappointed, since the A side was quite
boring, and the B just couldn't make me get all my anger out. Because
of this I still haven't bought Sepulturas'  "Against",  because  they
still are my  favorite  band,  and  I  don't  want  to  have  another
disappointment and turn to Aaron Carter or even  worse:  THE  SMURFS.
So, could you just tell me, based on  all  opinions  and  charts  and
stuff like that: is Against a good album?

Thanx, Csaba gajo@eunet.yu


Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999
From: djkelt@earthlink.net
Subject: yea!

killer zine bro, Hats way the hell off for the BT  interview.  I  dig
the fact that the stuck with Karl (Martin is a  wanker).  I  do  miss
Andy, but the drums were decent just the same. Why  does  Boltthrower
rule...cause "if it aint broke, dont fix it!)

Please Please...do you know of anywhere I could pick up a Boltthrower
longsleeve. If not, do you at least have  an  email  of  somewhere  I
could contact the band to get one??

also does Alex have an email addy?

Thanks alot for kicking my ass


Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999
From: Iain Pattinson <iainpattinson@weeks.co.uk>
Subject: Enslaved new album

In your interview with Enslaved in issue #36 you asked  Grutle  about
the noise at the end of Blodhemn and he didn't tell. Well I reckon  I
know what it is. I think it is someone roller skating in a  dark-damp
tunnel with the mix really low so you can't hear it to well. But with
headphones you can distinctly hear when  the  wheels  of  the  roller
skates hit the concrete floor. Of course I could be wrong!

Iain.


Date: Sun, 17 Jan 1999
From: Janek Hellqvist <janek@slaytanic.com>
Subject: CoC

Thanks for a great issue of Chronicles of  Chaos  (#36),  but  please
don't forget to upload it (and the updated index  file)  to  the  FTP
server!

I have all past issues of CoC on my hard drive, which makes  it  easy
to look through the review without going online or even starting  the
mail program...

I only need to do a quick search through the index file and the  view
the right issue in a text editor. Feel free to share  this  tip  with
the CoC readers if you think it's useful (I do!). :)


Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1999
From: Minda Lapinskas <wounded@takas.lt>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters

Aye! Hey, I was reading your CoC since  issue  32  or  something  and
never came round to writing some comments. Basically, I always wanted
to  say  how  fuckin'  good  it  is,  loads  of  fresh  intviews  and
well-written reviews, but when I was just ready to  stay  as  another
anonymous and appreciative reader I spotted a major fuck up and  just
thought "I must tell to those dudes!" yeah, well, so in CoC  #36  I'm
reading all these reviews and all of a  sudden  I  see  some  poofter
named Alex Cantwell slagging PURE METAL band SCEPTER for being  what?
TOO METAL?? Now, c'mon, everyone is entitled to his own opinion,  but
this Alex dude goes on about his family, kids,  job,  viewpoints  and
what made me really angry he starts to PRAY! This is way  too  much!!
The bloke p'bly never understood what Metal is all about anyway and I
believe STYX was his fave band. He thinks that metal must be  created
according to his views and then he'll like it, right?  No  "bad"  and
"wrong" lyrics that'll make your kids scarred and wife angry?  That's
just a load of shite!!! I mean, SCEPTER dudes p'bly are laughin about
that idiot and me getting all hot over it, but I feel I must say that
their album "I'M Going To Hell" is definitely one of the most catchy,
no-bullshit, ass-kicking METAL releases from last year! Sure, it  has
CELTIC FROST and MANOWAR vibes shining through, but it's damn  heavy,
right?! I was doing Wounded zine for 6 years  and  during  that  time
heard lots of good and bad bands,  and  believe  me  -  SCEPTER  will
fucking RULE!!! It's because they put their hearts into Metal, unlike
those materialistic and oh  so  politically  correct  cunts  who  are
criticizing them. That's about it, keep up a good work  and  take  it
easy!! Cheerzz to Paul Schwarz for excellent  and  truly  intelligent
reviews.

      Smokin' regards,
      Minda "Plix" Lapinskas        mailto:wounded@takas.lt

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

       __ \                 | |
       |   |  _ \  _` |  _` | | |   |
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                               ____/

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


                THE COUNTESS' FAVORITE BAND LIVES ON!
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                 CoC talks to the legendary Quorthon
                           by: Adam Wasylyk

     A band that needs very little introduction, Bathory's  influence
on metal today is undeniable. With their contemporaries,  bands  like
Celtic Frost and Possessed, they've  carved  a  path  of  aggressive,
hateful music that bands still follow and adhere to today. But unlike
the aforementioned bands, Bathory aren't done quite just yet. Not  by
a long shot.
     Bathory's music has been well documented over  the  years,  from
its early primitive black metal  to  its  intermediate  Viking  metal
period to its latter day speed/thrash metal. The Jubileum compilation
albums (I and II, released in '92  and  '93  respectively)  showcased
material from all of Bathory's albums up to _Twilight of  the  Gods_,
accompanied by rare  or  previously  unreleased  material.  Bathory's
newest release, _Jubileum Volume III_,  contains  material  from  the
past five years (off _Requiem_, _Octagon_ and _Blood on  Ice_)  along
with more unreleased and rare material, the highlights  being  "Satan
My Master" and "Witchcraft", two tracks recorded in  the  early  '80s
that never found their way onto any official Bathory recording.  Like
the two previous compilations, _Jubileum Volume III_  features  music
from each stage of the band's existence (black, thrash, Viking, etc.)
which fans should definitely take the time to check  out,  and  gives
the uninitiated a way to hear why this band is a legend to many.
     Quorthon is a bit restless  as  of  late.  Along  with  watching
hockey on TV, which he can't do without, he informs me that he, along
with the rest of Sweden, is "buried under six feet of snow". He  also
lets me know that this release has been  one  of  the  less  promoted
albums in Bathory's history, so I got the impression that  he  really
wanted to get all of his points across and give me the full story  on
what's happening with the band. Here's what he had to say.

CoC: Tell me about the new Bathory release,  _Jubileum  Volume  III_,
     and what your thoughts are on it.

Quorthon: When the first two Jubileum albums came out, they  were  to
          celebrate Bathory's ten year existence. We thought, at  the
          time, "To celebrate ten years, wouldn't it be great to  put
          out some sort of compilation album?" It  was  also  a  good
          idea to put it out at that time, as I didn't have too  many
          ideas for the next Bathory album, and my mind was  also  in
          the solo project as well. Now  celebrating  fifteen  years,
          we're doing basically the same  thing  with  the  exception
          being we're not looking as far back  as  we  did  with  the
          first two Jubileum albums; we're just picking  tracks  from
          the past five years. I dug deep in  the  archives  to  find
          some demos and stuff that were worth releasing. There  were
          two tracks there recorded before the first album  was  even
          recorded, in a proper studio.  We  figured  that  the  fans
          would really like to  hear  what  we  sounded  like  before
          anyone had heard of us. So that's what the  album's  about;
          to celebrate fifteen years and give our loyal fans  a  peak
          into what we've done the past five years and  what  we  did
          before with some unreleased stuff.

CoC: With the release of this record, does that mean that the Bathory
     vaults are now officially clean, or have you  left  room  for  a
     Volume IV?

Q: Well, there's plenty of shit down there! <laughs> We're just  sort
   of airing what you could call the least "stenchy" parts.  Whenever
   I talk about a new album I say "the new slab of shit"  and  people
   were getting the idea that we thought that Bathory was just  shit.
   Well, the archive is of course full of shit! I don't know  whether
   the fans would really like to hear the black metal album that  was
   never released, the Viking album that was never released...  There
   was an album recorded between two  other  albums  that  was  never
   released, there's a lot  of  projects  on  tape  that  were  never
   released. Of course, if there would be  a  substantial  amount  of
   people in another five or ten years who would like to  hear  that,
   it wouldn't cost much to put it down on disk.

CoC: Could you go into some detail on the tracks  off  _Jubileum..._,
     like personal highlights or why some of the tracks were chosen?

Q: Actually, the fans are responsible for the track listing. For  the
   first two [volumes], what we did was ask a  lot  of  people  whose
   opinion we trusted, people who wrote us who we were  sure  weren't
   just trying to flatter us and tell us that  everything  we  do  is
   great. We asked them if they'd like to sit down and check out  the
   albums and write down which five or six tracks they'd like to hear
   on a future compilation album. We did just about  the  same  thing
   this time. They picked their favorite tracks off  the  last  album
   and [tracks from] the last five years, and I filled out  the  rest
   of the CD by including six unreleased tracks, some of  which  were
   recorded during the _Requiem_ and _Octagon_ recording sessions.

CoC: It has been a few years since  Bathory  released  new  material,
     since the last two releases have been _Blood on Ice_ [originally
     recorded in 1988/89] and now _Jubileum Volume 3_.  What  do  you
     have in store for fans as far as newly recorded material?

Q: Actually, someone just told me recently it has  been  three  years
   since anyone heard anything new from Bathory. I can't  believe  it
   has been three years, as it's felt like just one year. But sitting
   down and thinking about it, I've realized that I've been doing  so
   many different things and being involved in so many projects  that
   have nothing to do with the side project or Bathory. Probably what
   I needed was to get away from it all. You need to feel  aggressive
   and the hunger when you write music, and that hasn't been the case
   for the past three years, so we said "The hell with it!  We  won't
   do anything until we feel that hunger again." As far  as  material
   for the next album, I have a bunch of songs, probably  a  hundred,
   which we have been working on to  a  certain  extent.  We  haven't
   added vocals or guitar solos  or  anything,  just  [outlined]  the
   basic tracks. And  they  range  from  everything;  from  the  most
   hell-paced stuff we've ever done to some experimental stuff. So as
   far as the next album [goes], it's hard to put a finger on it  and
   say this is exactly what  it's  going  to  be  about;  probably  a
   combination of all sorts of stuff.

CoC: Did I hear you right? A hundred songs?

Q: Yeah. Three years... a hundred songs. Sure.

CoC: So, specifically, how does the new material compare musically to
     _Octagon_ [Bathory's last official studio album]?

Q: I'm going to talk to a lot of fans whose opinion I trust,  through
   e-mail and letters, and try to make out, at street level, what the
   fans would probably want  to  hear.  Because  every  time  Bathory
   release an album, 50% of the record buyers  will  be  disappointed
   because they'd want the black, Satanic shit, hell-paced stuff. And
   the other 50% would  want  the  Viking,  slow,  heavy  with  sound
   effects and twelve minute songs. Regardless of  what  the  Bathory
   album sounded like, it doesn't feel  good  to  have  50%  of  your
   potential  record  buyers  being  disappointed  when  you've  been
   working for a couple of months in the studio. So  the  combination
   of both sides of Bathory would be a very good solution, but with a
   new 21st century sound or approach to the material.

CoC: Any idea on when it could be released?

Q: The first time Black Mark was making it public that a new  Bathory
   album was going to be released was in August ['98], then they said
   October, then January, February and now March or May. That's  just
   another way for them to say that Bathory hasn't entered the studio
   yet! <laughs> Winter isn't a great time to record an album,  since
   I would be riding my bike to the studio, as I don't have a car, so
   the Summertime is more likely, or a place where we  wouldn't  have
   to spend a lot of money.

CoC: Has an album title been chosen?

Q: We had an album title during the summer,  _Nemesis_,  but  then  I
   found out the ex-Slayer drummer produced an album  with  the  same
   title [referring to Grip Inc.]. So the new title is _Destroyer  of
   Worlds_. I read  these  science  fiction  items  that  laid  as  a
   foundation to the manuscript for the movie "Independence Day".  It
   was also from a Hindu script;  when  Oppenheimer  constructed  the
   atomic bomb, so it exploded in the Nevada Desert, he said "I  have
   become death", [which] is also from that Hindu script.

CoC: Since the last time we  talked  there  have  been  a  couple  of
     Bathory tribute albums released. One  being  the  Metal  Invader
     tribute _Hellas Salute the Vikings_ and Hellspawn  Records'  _In
     Conspiracy With Satan_. I was wondering if you had a  chance  to
     hear either and what you thought of them.

Q: I heard the Greek one [referring to _HStV_]. I found it very, very
   exciting to hear the bands  play  Bathory  material.  I  was  very
   surprised and happy that [the bands] sat  down  and  worked  their
   guts out to make it as close as possible and yet be their personal
   interpretation of the material.  The  [Hellspawn]  one  I  haven't
   heard yet, but I understand there is some  court  stuff  going  on
   between Black  Mark  and  the  persons  responsible  for  the  _In
   Conspiracy With Satan_ tribute album. I don't  know  whether  that
   will be on the market for a long time. Those who  actually  bought
   it should hold on to it, as probably they're going to cut down the
   release or the availability of it.

CoC: It's actually quite good; it contains some of the  bigger  names
     of black metal, like Emperor, Marduk, Satyricon...

Q: I know Black Mark got a copy of it, but  they  sent  it  to  their
   lawyer for an upcoming trial, so I haven't myself heard it yet.  I
   understand a lot of those young or second/third  generation  black
   metal bands that are getting  some  coverage  in  these  magazines
   contributed a Bathory track. What  [Hellspawn]  did  was  use  the
   Bathory logo and goat head, which is copyright stuff. We tried  to
   discuss with them about two years ago, "You can do this and  that,
   but you cannot  do  this  or  you  cannot  do  that",  as  far  as
   copyrights, logo types and registered  trademarks  are  concerned.
   Down the line, they didn't meet our agreement, they went their own
   way, cut the communications, and the album just  appeared  on  the
   market, opposing everything we had been talking about.

CoC: And finally,  do  you  feel  added  pressure  when  writing  new
     material, with these high expectations being placed  on  you  by
     fans who consider you a legend?

Q: It's an added pressure, yeah, but you have to  realize  that  that
   pressure or legendary status comes from what's in  the  past,  and
   for anybody to compare the past with the future is a mistake. When
   there's a new Black Sabbath album, with the exception of  the  new
   live one, I sort of say "What's better than the old days?",  so  I
   instead think about their stuff from '72/'73. So, from that  point
   of view, I'm certainly making those same mistakes myself when  I'm
   referring to some groups as well. When people say  "the  good  ol'
   days" as far as Bathory is concerned, they're thinking  about  the
   '80s. That's a long time ago, that's more than ten years ago,  and
   in some respects more than fifteen years ago.  You  have  to  look
   into the future.

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

             O F   T H R A S H   A N D   T R U E N E S S
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                 CoC talks to Appolyon from Aura Noir
                           by: Paul Schwarz

     A "new" genre has, in recent  years,  appeared  in  the  extreme
metal community. "Retro-thrash", as this backward looking  genre  has
been dubbed, has given birth to bands, such as Inferno and Bewitched,
who wanted  to  re-create  the  '80s  thrash  metal  feeling,  though
unfortunately many bands used the same riffs to do so. Many of  these
"retro-thrash" bands are made up of people who  also  play  in  black
metal bands in Norway or  Sweden.  Since  any  fool  knows  that  the
Norwegian black metal scene of the '90s  was  heavily  influenced  by
'80s thrash bands ("Satanic" or otherwise) like Celtic Frost, Bathory
and Venom, it  is  curious  that,  with  "retro-thrash",  some  black
metallers seem to be stepping back into their past, instead of  using
their past as a stepping stone to the future.
     With their debut album, _Black Thrash Attack_  [CoC  #21],  Aura
Noir seemed to be heading down the  "retro-thrash"  path,  though  in
much more style  and  with  more  skill  than  the  majority  of  the
"retro-thrash" scene. Late last year, their second full length  _Deep
Tracts of Hell_ [reviewed in this issue] saw  the  light  of  day  on
Hammerheart, a new label for the band. Blasphemer,  of  Mayhem  fame,
who played bass on _Black Thrash Attack_ and toured  with  the  band,
took no part in _Deep Tracts of Hell_. _DToH_ features only  Appolyon
(Dodheimsgard) and Aggressor (Ved Buens Ende, Inferno), who have been
the core of the band right from the start. They have  always  been  a
little different, too: Appolyon and Aggressor  each  write  half  the
songs, sing and play guitar on half the songs (the ones they  write),
and play drums on half the songs (the ones they  don't).  Thus,  each
record is an interesting (though not intrusively noticeable)  mix  of
their two writing, singing and playing styles. This songwriting  core
of the band has not changed for the making of _DToH_, but  the  sound
has. Aura Noir have added a vicious black metal edge to their  sound.
They haven't lost the thrashy brilliance of  their  debut,  but  they
also haven't let their previous musical  formula  stagnate,  so  that
now, instead  of  "BTA  vol.2",  we  have  the  aggressive,  thrashy,
blackened mass of metal that is _Deep Tracts of Hell_.
     Appolyon (who I  sometimes  refer  to  by  his  "nickname"  OJ),
relaxing in Norway's Elm Street (the gathering place for a number  of
the black metal scene's musicians), happily  answered  my  questions,
even though he had to fight off small winged beasts to do so  in  any
comfort.

CoC: Could you give a brief history of Aura Noir, for those  who  may
     not know the band, and how the "project" came about originally?

Appolyon: That is always a hard question, because I don't know. I get
          confused. It's me and Carl Michael (Aggressor). He actually
          started it and it was meant to be a side-project from -- he
          plays in Ved Buens Ende.  This  was  supposed  to  be  even
          stranger music than Ved Buens Ende was. He did some  songs,
          he went to the studio with them, and he wanted me  to  help
          him with some guitar stuff, which  I  did.  And,  I  think,
          while we were in the studio, he figured that "Hey, I  don't
          wanna do this anyway, so let's just play old thrash  metal.
          No one else does that nowadays and  everybody  should  like
          it." So, we started  playing  thrash  metal,  black  thrash
          metal, and (I can't remember when this was, but  should  be
          '94/'95 or something) we released our first album,  on  the
          Norwegian label called Hot  Records.  That  was  a  mini-CD
          called _Dreams Like Deserts_. After that we did  some  gigs
          here in Oslo and since we were only two guys we had to have
          some other guy on stage  with  us  to  fill  in.  We  asked
          Blasphemer from Mayhem  and  he  wanted  to  join  us,  and
          suddenly he was in the band.  Then  we  changed  labels  to
          Malicious Records Germany and we made a new  album,  _Black
          Thrash Attack_, with the new line-up and everything. Now we
          have just released... umm, what's it called? [With  sarcasm
          in his voice as he looks at  my  t-shirt,  adorned  by  the
          album cover] _Deep Tracts of Hell_ on Hammerheart  Records.
          Blasphemer is not on that  album  because  he  was  in  the
          States [with Mayhem].

CoC: So has he left the band?

A: No, he hasn't left, I think now he's back again.  Even  though  he
   may not be on further albums, he will always play live with us.

CoC: So he will certainly be there for the live playing?

A: I think he will be in the band for the next album.

CoC: With this new album, in comparison to  previously  doing  _BTA_,
     how do you think the music has changed, how do you think it  has
     developed from _BTA_? I think _BTA_ is a little  catchier,  it's
     in a slightly different style.

A: I think, at least, Carl Michael's songs are more complex  than  on
   _BTA_. And also, both our songs are somewhat harder -- it is  more
   black metal, actually. That's, I think, only  because  old  thrash
   metal, the good thrash metal riffs, are starting to get well  used
   by now.

CoC: Used up.

A: Yeah. But there are also some songs  that  are  even  more  catchy
   maybe, some of my songs, the slow ones. But  I  don't  know;  some
   people say this is our best album and some people say _BTA_ is the
   best one. But I think maybe if you put both of the albums together
   and take the best songs from both of the albums it  would  be  our
   perfect album or something. <laughs>

CoC: On the album, and  in  previous  times,  you've  always  swapped
     instruments, you and Carl Michael,  from  drums  to  guitar  and
     vocals; why did you choose not to have a concrete  "set-up"  for
     doing the band, is it because you both enjoy doing both things?

A: Yeah, more or less, and also it's easier in the studio, 'cause  we
   don't practice that much, so we just make half the songs each.  So
   if he makes a song I will play drums and he does all the rest, and
   the other way around [for me]. So we don't have to  rehearse  that
   much before we go into the studio. <laughs> But it's also probably
   mostly because we enjoy doing both things.

CoC: Do you think that makes a big difference to the  vocals  on  the
     album, because there are two different vocalists throughout  the
     album, or do you think it still sounds quite consistent?

A: You can hear, at least now, our songs are quite different. I think
   it is more the songs [than the  vocals].  It  doesn't  sound  that
   boring, you know, with different vocals. Not that it's  boring  to
   hear one vocalist throughout the whole  album,  but,  maybe  --  I
   don't know. <laughs>

CoC: How do you feel Hammerheart is supporting you with  touring  and
     general promotion?

A: I think they've done a good job so far. We  haven't  heard  --  we
   only just released the album, but we have already  been  on  tour,
   which was the main reason why we left Malicious  Records:  because
   they didn't want to send us on tour. We think it is very important
   for every band to go on tour if they have  something  to  show  on
   stage, and we consider ourselves a pretty good live band, so  it's
   very important for us to go on tour. I  think  they  [Hammerheart]
   have treated us well, but, you know, it's only just been released,
   so we don't know anything about -- yeah,  I  think  we  sold  3500
   after one week or something. [OJ makes a  point  about  the  sales
   which didn't come out on my tape, then adding  "at  least  they're
   out there". -- Paul]

CoC: That's cool. So, you've also got an upcoming  tour  with  Vader,
     Malevolent Creation and some other bands?

A: Yeah... our record company guy said that he hoped  to  get  us  on
   that tour. We don't know anything yet. We hope so.

CoC: You said when you wanted to do Aura  Noir  you  were  doing  old
     thrash. What, of your older influences, influenced you and  Carl
     to do old thrash, and how does it differ from  the  other  bands
     you do, like Dodheimsgard?

[OJ is bothered by a fly and attempts to exterminate it.]

A: Could I have the first part of the question again?

CoC: Sure. What were you influenced by when you were doing  something
     that was thrash based?

A: Bands? I don't know if we both listen to them, but Kreator, Slayer
   and everything. Early German stuff, but I don't think we are  just
   influenced by all of them [but  by]  good  music  in  general.  We
   think... it's confusing me, this fly shit. <laughs> [More flailing
   at the fly on OJ's part.] We just make riffs and we try to make as
   good riffs as possible and it's just coincidental that they  sound
   very similar to old stuff. I don't know how  to  explain  this,  I
   could do it better in Norwegian.

CoC: To put it a different way, do you think Aura Noir fit into being
     a "retro" band, do you think they belong to  a  scene  which  is
     quite current now, or do you think it  is  just  a  retro-thrash
     band?

A: No, it is not just a retro-thrash band, because there is  sort  of
   -- it is sort of a black metal band, but, you  know,  we  consider
   the  old  thrash  metal  bands  black  metal,  or  at  least  very
   influential, or should be, for a black  metal  band.  People  have
   started to play all this moving shit, not shit, but um... it  goes
   in another direction now, most of the scene, so we thought  "Let's
   do the aggressive thing again", 'cause we think that this kind  of
   music gives us the most black metal feeling.

CoC: Does Aura Noir conflict with your other bands, either  yours  or
     Carl's?

A:  I  was  a  bit  sceptical  about  Dodheimsgard,  'cause  we   use
   synthesizers and now we will use... drum programming on  our  next
   album. But I was in the studio, a couple of days ago, and heard at
   least one of the songs, and did the basswork, and it sounds really
   great, so I don't think so, I am  just  nervous  that...  I  -was-
   nervous that it would sound too melodic and too nice.  Because  it
   would be sort of treason or betrayal, to say  that  in  Aura  Noir
   interviews. I think this Dodheimsgard [album] sounds so different,
   but still very aggressive.

CoC: So what would you say to people who haven't heard Aura Noir, who
     are thinking of checking them out?  Who  would  you  say  should
     check it out and what would you say generally... about the band?

A: What would I say to people who want to check it out?

CoC: Or who read this interview or whatever  and  think  "hmm,  maybe
     I'll check that band out." [I turn  my  dictaphone  off  and  OJ
     takes a while to think and kill flies.]

A: If you like old thrash metal bands, you should check  it  out,  at
   least. If you don't, if you're only into the  new  wave  of  black
   metal, you should either check us or the old thrash  metal  bands,
   and maybe them first. Really old, like Slayer, Kreator and  stuff,
   of course, everybody should have heard of it, but really the first
   album of all those guys  --  Destruction,  Sodom,  whatever.  Then
   check us out. It's really aggressive music, the way it  should  be
   played. I think our strongest side is maybe our live act, so  come
   check out the shows as well.

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

        T H E   G R E A T   E A S T E R N   T R E N D K I L L
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
          CoC chats with Damian Montgomery of Ritual Carnage
                           by: David Rocher

     Many bands suddenly seem to be developing pretentious ideals  of
bringing the "true spirit" of heavy metal back to  life,  and  merely
use this new philosophy in life as a pretext to rip  the  sleeves  of
their jeans jackets and align a few simplistic,  unimaginative  riffs
and solos. However, Ritual Carnage's  first  offering,  _The  Highest
Law_,  stood  out  among  the  tasteless  mass  of   generally   lame
revival/tribute bands, with its sweaty, ultra mean leather n'  spikes
attitude, simple but incredibly addictive songs, and,  last  but  not
least, its excellently  cliched  cover.  Obviously  enough,  bassist,
grunter in chief and band mastermind Damian Montgomery proved  to  be
an  authentic,  no-frills,  poseur-bashing,  nun-devouring  kind   of
gentleman, an enthusiastic metalhead truly in love with the lifestyle
he preaches... and unquestionably practises. The following  interview
was heroically performed during Driller  Killer's  soundcheck  in  Le
Gibus, in Paris, France, with  the  assistance  of  the  mighty  Joey  
Jaffrezic ("JJ"), who co-hosts the Breton radio show "Metal Invasion".

CoC: What is the history of the band?

Damian Montgomery: I started the band in 1994 -- I formed it, so it's
                   kind of my band. The original members didn't  last
                   too long; the first  bassist  was  a  Finnish  guy
                   living in Japan, and he went back to Finland about
                   a year later, and our first  drummer  had  another
                   band -- he couldn't dedicate  himself  to  [Ritual
                   Carnage] full-time,  so  we  went  separate  ways.
                   While I was  doing  Ritual  Carnage,  I  was  also
                   playing with another Japanese band  called  Tyrant
                   [signed  on  Singapore's  Pulverised  Records   --
                   David], and I left  that  band  just  before  they
                   recorded their album -- I had more  confidence  in
                   Ritual Carnage. In 1996,  [we  found]  Eddie,  our
                   guitarist, and Hamaii, our  drummer.  They  had  a
                   band called Krakkbrain, that had been together for
                   quite a while. After it broke up, I told them what
                   I wanted  to  do  with  Ritual  Carnage,  so  they
                   joined, and Shige, our other guitarist, joined the
                   band this February. On _The Highest Law_,  I  play
                   guitars; we had a bassist at the time, but he left
                   the band in July due to personal problems, so  I'm
                   doing the bass and vocals  right  now.  Eddie  and
                   Shige do the lead guitars.

CoC: How did you get signed by Osmose? Were no American  or  Japanese
     labels interested?

DM: Actually, there are no labels in Japan at all  that  do  anything
    for any extreme metal bands.  After  we  recorded  the  album  in
    January, I sent four songs from the album to labels we respected,
    but... from the beginning, we wanted to be on Osmose, we love all
    the bands on the label. I don't think there are any poseur  bands
    on that label, which is very important  --  and  Osmose  was  the
    first label that contacted us, about a week after I sent it  out.
    We had other offers that we didn't follow, because we  wanted  to
    be on Osmose, period! So -- it's a dream come true! <laughs>

CoC: How did you choose the  name  Ritual  Carnage,  and  your  album
     cover? Don't you think they sound kind of cliched?

DM: The name was actually something I thought of years ago,  probably
    back in the  early  '90s.  I  got  the  idea  from  a  newspaper,
    something about  Algeria,  the  crazy  Muslims  killing  all  the
    people, and there was the name Ritual Carnage -- so I stole it.

CoC: What about the album cover?

DM: I guess we're not offended to hear it's  a  cliched  jacket,  but
    back when we were young -- I'm 32 years old -- [we  listened]  to
    bands like Manowar, Saxon, Motorhead... it's -that-  metal  image
    we wanted. The '90s metal image has kind of worn out a bit.

CoC: There are quite a few bands now who play '80s metal with a  '90s
     edge  to  it,  pretty  much  like  Children  of  Bodom;  do  you
     appreciate this kind of music?

DM: Yeah, I like Children of Bodom, and I really like '80s metal more
    than the brutal stuff -- I'm not really into brutal music, I like
    -real- heavy metal you can bang your  fucking  head  to!  I  like
    those bands... but they really need to  give  the  keyboards  up!
    <laughs>

CoC: Don't you think keyboards have a place in metal?

DM: Not in heavy metal!

JJ: Black metal?

DM: Well, even the "symphonic" stuff... <pauses> The band that used a
    keyboard to the best effect was Emperor, on their first album, it
    was fucking perfect! It wasn't too loud, it wasn't too  soft,  it
    was great! But now, well... the way Cradle of Filth use  them  is
    pretty cool, but you've got to be careful with how you use them.

JJ: Since Loudness, Japanese metal seems to  be  having  difficulties
    exporting to Europe and America. How do you explain that?

DM: From my point of view -- I'm not Japanese, so I don't  know  what
    the Japanese think of it, but I know the guys in the  band  don't
    like Loudness, they laugh at it, and I do  too!  The  early  '80s
    just totally -fucked- metal; the big record companies  and  stuff
    did it all for fucking money, you know, and I  can't  look  at  a
    band like Loudness and say "Wow, they were great!" I think it was
    a band that was nothing original; I guess the thing  that  helped
    them a lot was that they were Japanese, that's what  made  people
    become interested in them. To an extent, I think  it's  the  same
    for Ritual Carnage, Tyrant and Sigh. Westerners have an  interest
    in the East, you don't hear a lot from bands from there, so  when
    something comes out, people look at it, and think that even if it
    doesn't have a lot of originality, it's not westerners playing it
    -- and that draws a lot of interest.

CoC: Why is it that so many old, unsuccessful  metal  bands  seem  to
     have great success over in Japan?

DM: I think that's another thing  with  the  record  companies,  they
    really push [bands], and after a record company  pushes  one  and
    puts it in the kids' minds  and  fans'  minds  that  they  should
    listen to it, they do! And I think that, to an extent,  it's  the
    same with Ritual  Carnage,  because  we're  busting  our  ass  to
    promote the record in Japan,  and  it's  selling  very  well.  We
    haven't  had  somebody  to  promote  us  in  Japan,  we're  doing
    everything ourselves; and  the  most  influent  record  chain  in
    Japan, Discunion,  really  like  the  band,  and  they're  really
    helping us.

CoC: What do you think of the practice  that  consists  in  releasing
     Japanese versions of CDs that feature between two and five bonus
     tracks when compared to the European version?

DM: I think it's fucked, I  think  the  West  should  get  them  too.
    Another thing with Japan is when they release those CDs with  the
    bonus tracks, they're paying an extra five dollars  for  the  CD,
    so... Our CD sells in record shops for about 17 or 18 US dollars.

JJ: Your first album is extremely fast and violent; don't  you  think
    it can be dangerous releasing this kind of a first album,  as  if
    Slayer had first released _Reign in Blood_?

DM: Well, it was weird, the way everything in the band formed the way
    it did...  Our  first  drummer  really  held  us  back  from  our
    capabilities. We had so much we could do, but he didn't  want  to
    play fast stuff, so when Krakkbrain broke up,  Eddie  joined  the
    band, and we still had our old drummer -- and  we  knew  that  he
    wasn't going to work out, so we had him leave the band, and  then
    Hamaii joined, and we just started with the real aggressive stuff
    that we wanted to do, and that's what came out! I mean, we didn't
    say "hey, let's do something like _Reign in Blood_!" I think  you
    can get so much more done in a song if you just fucking  cut  out
    all the bullshit, just go right at it, and that's  what  we  did!
    Most of our songs on _The Highest Law_ only have  five  riffs  at
    most, and a couple of songs only have three riffs -- so  you  can
    just work with three to five riffs, and do killer stuff!

CoC: What do you think of the way cult bands like  Metallica,  Slayer
     and Sepultura have gone?

DM: Ah, I  fucking  hate  it!  <laughs>  I  was  really  pissed  when
    Metallica fell -- I can tolerate them up to _... And Justice  for
    All_, but after that, if they want to go the money way  and  live
    off the band, that's their choice, but at the same time,  they're
    loosing fans -- they've lost me! We do a  Metallica  cover  ["Hit
    the Lights"] because we love their first album, but...  it's  the
    same with Slayer, I was really disappointed with the new  record,
    there's a couple of really aggressive songs, but on  most  parts,
    they sold out. I love  _Divine  Intervention_,  but  on  the  new
    record, it sounds like they're rapping or  something,  you  know,
    ta-dam, ta-dam, ta-dam! -- like Machine Head and Korn  and  stuff
    like that. I was really pissed off that -they- did that. And even
    in style, they've just gone... I love the metal style,  man!  The
    leather, the spikes and shit like that  --  I  bought  the  first
    Slayer record, not because I knew what they sounded like,  but  I
    looked at the back and saw what they were wearing,  and  thought,
    "this must be a killer!"

JJ: To me, Saxon's _Unleash the Beast_ was one of the best albums  of
    1997, a comeback to true heavy metal; did you listen to it?

DM: Yeah, it's cool, I like it. It's a lot better than some of  their
    older stuff. But I think the best comeback -- they're on the same
    label as us -- was Exciter's _The Dark Command_.  I'm  so  pissed
    off that so many magazines just turned their backs to that album,
    it's fucking brilliant, man! Razor, they released _Decibels_ last
    year, well, it's a piece of shit; Infernal Majesty's  released  a
    new album, which is total shit. But  the  fucking  Exciter  is  a
    killer, I love every song on that album, it's great, man!

JJ: Do you know Nasty Savage have reformed?

DM: <Amazed> No way?!

JJ: Really! Last September, they played at a gig in Germany.

DM: Killer! Ritual Carnage used to do a Nasty  Savage  cover,  "Metal
    Knights"! <laughs>

CoC: Yeah, heavy metal is resurfacing now, with  wimpish  bands  like
     Ratt and shit like that who are reforming... What do  you  think
     of this new trend in the metal scene?

DM: Well, to me, Ratt are not a  fucking  metal  band,  that's  -not-
    heavy metal! I come from the early '80s -- heavy  metal,  to  me,
    was Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon, stuff like  that.  I'm  not
    into any of that Los Angeles bullshit,  it  totally  killed  true
    heavy metal.

CoC: And what do you think of the endless  succession  of  trends  in
     metal?

DM: When I played with Tyrant, I told the guys in the  band  that  we
    should do something a little different, and put some  more  heavy
    metal influences into it, because black metal has hit its peak --
    you can't go anywhere else with it. I told them that they  should
    try something different,  but  they  weren't  interested,  they'd
    rather go the way they did. I knew it was  gonna  happen,  and  I
    predicted that; a big example was Immortal's  _Blizzard  Beasts_,
    they totally went over to more of a death metal sound.

JJ: What do you think of the bands on Osmose who try  to  give  older
    metal a second life, like Bewitched or Demoniac? Do you like them?

DM: Oh yeah, I fucking love Bewitched, they're  one  of  my  favorite
    bands, actually!

CoC: How is extreme metal perceived by the masses in Japan?

DM: Actually, it's unbelievable, the American record  companies  have
    so much money and so much fucking power in Japan, that they force
    it into the kids' heads to listen to stuff  that  is  so  fucking
    boring it's unbelievable!  I  did  an  interview  with  a  German
    magazine, and they said most Germans laugh at Helloween,  but  in
    Japan, they're fucking -huge-! They sell out all their shows, and
    it's just the record companies that are influencing this.

JJ: How did you convince Eric Rutan  and  George  "Corpsegrinder"  to
    play with you?

DM: Well, I first met George back in '96, when Cannibal Corpse toured
    Japan. We hung out, drank some beers and traded  a  few  letters,
    and when we recorded our album, in January, Cannibal Corpse  were
    recording their album at the same time, so when they were  mixing
    their record, we were hanging out with them  and  bullshitting...
    They were mixing the Sacrifice cover, and I told George  we  were
    doing an cover of Onslaught. And he said  "great,  man!",  and  I
    just  said  "hey,  wanna  sing  with  me  on  it?"  and  he  said
    "allright". And I met Eric in a record store, we started talking,
    I asked him if he wanted to play leads too, and he was all up for
    it, so it was cool! <laughs>

JJ: I have heard that when Deep Purple played in Japan in  the  early
    '70s, the Japanese crowds were very still, and I'd like  to  know
    if things have changed.

DM: It wasn't even the early '70s --  when  I  first  went  over  [to
    Japan] in 1988, Anthrax came over, and I went to  see  the  show.
    It's the security, with  the  insurance  and  responsibility;  if
    people start stagediving and stuff and get  hurt,  they  can  sue
    [the  organisers].  It  was  the  security  and  promoters,  they
    wouldn't let people leave their seats! Morbid Angel and Death all
    came over and played in venues that were basically free  for  all
    -- you come in, you're on your own, there were  signs  and  stuff
    saying that they were not responsible if you got hurt, so  people
    knew they had better not stay in front if  they  couldn't  handle
    the intensity -- but it's pretty crazy!

CoC: Your CD mentions that you "vomit on Buddha, shit on the star and
     desecrate the cross". You only mention  monotheistic  religions,
     what is your opinion on forms of paganism?

DM: I don't know -- the religions that I attacked on  the  album  are
    the ones that affected me. I've grown  up  around  religion,  and
    when I first  went  to  Japan,  I  was  in  the  military  --  my
    grandfather fought in World War II, my father was in  Vietnam  --
    so I joined the military basically out of respect for  them,  you
    know? They did something for their country, and in America, there
    are a lot of religions  --  obviously  there's  Christianism  and
    Judaism, but [there are] also Muslims, and Hindus, and Buddhists,
    and I lost an awful lot of respect for those  religions  --  they
    can live in America, but -they- would not do anything  for  their
    country. I'm not a right-winger or anything like that, but  those
    religions, the laws and stuff that they follow are out  of  hand,
    if you ask me. For example, everybody right now is  dealing  with
    the Asian collapse in the economy, most Japanese  are  Buddhists,
    but these supposedly Buddhist  businessmen  are  totally  fucking
    greedy, and they  caused  all  these  scandals  and  rip-offs  --
    they've fucked the whole country, you know?

JJ: I have the impression you are a kind  of  father  for  the  other
    members of the band; am I right, are you a  kind  of  leader  for
    them?

DM: Yeah, obviously, I have to do everything here,  because  none  of
    them can speak English, but I'm not the leader to say  "hey,  you
    do this, you play that!" Basically, the songwriting and the image
    we want for the band is what I have control over, but  they  live
    their lives and do what they want. But as far as  the  songs  are
    concerned, when they write a riff, I may tell them "I don't think
    it's Ritual Carnage-sounding" -- I make that  decision,  if  it's
    Ritual Carnage or not, so that's  basically  what  my  leadership
    within the band is.

CoC: I guess you are getting new material ready; what's it  going  to
     be like?

DM: Our music's still gonna be aggressive, like on _The Highest Law_,
    but the Judas Priest and  Metallica  influences  will  definitely
    come out more. With _The Highest Law_, we went back to our roots,
    but on the next album, we plan to use those  roots  and  go  back
    even a little bit further with it all, new wave of British  heavy
    metal sounds and stuff like that!

CoC: What do you think of bands that don't  really  seem  to  evolve,
     like Iron Maiden?

DM: Well, I don't know... Even off the latest stuff by  Iron  Maiden,
    there are good songs, but there's also stuff that I'm bored with.
    But I have no problems with their song  structures  and  the  way
    they arrange their music -- if they did it  any  differently,  it
    wouldn't be Iron Maiden!

CoC: Like Bolt Thrower.

DM: Yeah, like Bolt Thrower  --  I  think  the  new  album's  fucking
    brilliant, you know? I think they're a great band, and they're  a
    good example of a band that stays by  its  original  sound.  They
    might add a couple of little things, but you still know it's Bolt
    Thrower.

CoC: Concerning the attitude you demonstrate on your album,  what  do
     you think of all these bands that try acting "evil"?

DM: When it gets real childish in the interviews and the kids try  to
    sound like they're larger than life, I  think  that's  really  so
    cheesy! I personally believe in Satanism in the same ways as King
    Diamond does, you know? I feel that I am my own god and  creator,
    but I feel that a lot of these bands, like Graveland,  they  take
    Satanism and make it sound like  it's  a  game.  But  I  look  at
    Satanism as intelligence and rational  thinking  --  when  I  see
    something I don't like, I can just laugh at it, and not attack it
    to the point that it gets stupid and brings out the unintelligent
    side of me.

CoC: Okay! Last words?

DM: I hope everybody likes our record... Our next record is gonna  be
    just as good,  definitely  better;  if  you  like  lead  guitars,
    there's gonna be twice  as  many  leads  --  everywhere  I'm  not
    singing, there's gonna be leads, so it's  gonna  be  a  real  fun
    album!

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

                A   N I G H T   T O   R E M E M B E R
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
             CoC interviews Deutschland's Night in Gales
                          by: Adrian Bromley

     When I first heard German metal outfit Night in Gales' debut for
Nuclear Blast, titled _Towards the Twilight_, I was  taken  aback  by
the band's aggressive, yet melodic, music. Think In Flames mixed with
At the Gates and you pretty much get the idea of  their  debut  disc.
The band explored many cool ideas within the LP and showed that  they
had worked hard as musicians to make sure their abilities shined from
every angle. I was impressed, to say the least.
     I'll  be  honest,  though,  upon  hearing  the  band's   quickly
assembled follow-up _Thunderbeast_, I was miffed by the fact that the
band had latched onto a stronger, volatile attitude with  the  music,
more aggressive and raw in every aspect, thus losing the melodic tone
throughout the release. Had the band shot themselves in the  foot  by
moving onto a new sound? Was the death metal style infiltrating their
melodic metal angle? Who knows? It was a mediocre effort in my  mind,
until I gave it another chance. How do  I  see  the  LP  now?  As  an
excellent homage to fast-paced death metal, with a  pinch  of  melody
thrown in for good measure. The  band  edged  out  their  soft  side,
gearing things up for a riotous ruckus for the most part. I'm  hooked
now more than ever.
     "This record seems a bit rushed at times", admits bassist  Tobbe
Bruchmann early on in the interview, "but that's the way  things  go.
We were touring extensively with numerous bands and  just  needed  to
get some ideas into the studio. When we had some time we went in  and
here is the final result. We wanted to get this out  as  fast  as  we
could, to show the fans that we  really  enjoy  making  music.  I  am
totally satisfied with what we did here. There is so much  more  here
than what we did with the last record."
     "The new  record  is  being  worked  on  as  we  speak",  admits
Bruchmann, "but we need time to get things going  and  then  properly
record. The music has to come from our hearts before we  can  attempt
to record [the album] properly. There are  a  lot  of  ideas  flowing
right now, it just takes time to get them to take shape."
     Bruchmann and the rest of Night in Gales -- guitarists Jens  and
Frank Basten, drummer  Christian  Bab  and  singer  Bjorn  Goobes  --
couldn't be happier with the way things are headed for the band.  "We
are just so happy to be back out there with [new]  material.  Showing
people that we mean business. It's tough to  keep  people  interested
with what you do. Hopefully people take note of what we did here with
_Thunderbeast_."
     One thing Bruchmann is adamant about with his band is  to  avoid
following trends. His love for trendy bands is non-existent. "We  aim
to focus on our influences, rather than what the new sound  of  today
is. We are one half heavy metal band, the other half a  brutal  death
metal band. It has a bit of melody and harmonic guitar lines,  paired
up with a serious death metal overtone. There are not a lot of  bands
here in Germany that sound like we  do.  Many  go  with  the  trends.
That's just not us. We'd rather stick to our roots and influences and
bring that back into the music that we create."
     "It's been a great last few years.  The  band's  musical  skills
have developed quite a  bit  over  the  years",  he  says.  "The  new
material, compared to the old stuff, sounds much  better.  It  sounds
better, we played better and even the production is top  notch.  When
we were starting  out  early  on  with  our  debut  7"  and  demo  CD
_Sylphlike_, we were a little  ignorant  of  how  things  worked.  We
wondered how to get the sound and production to sound so good. It was
a learning experience and I think  with  _Thunderbeast_  people  will
hear that and see that we mastered the art  of  making  music.  We've
brought changes to this band, but not enough  to  [fuel]  the  notion
that we jumped on any trend. Fuck going with trends. Music  is  about
creating your own ideas. We follow that  philosophy,  I  wish  others
would too."

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

                     C R I M S O N   D R E A M S
                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            CoC interviews Sigurd Nielsen of Madder Mortem
                           by: Pedro Azevedo

     Madder Mortem's first full-length _Mercury_  [reviewed  in  this
issue] reveals another Norwegian band whose lead  singer  is  female,
but a band that is not only very talented,  but  also  determined  to
avoid falling into the synth dependency  that  most  of  the  genre's
bands have. In a way that occasionally brings to mind early  The  3rd
and the Mortal, Madder Mortem's music is based on guitar work and the
female vocalist does not perform any  duets  with  a  growler  (as  a
matter of fact, there are hardly any male vocals to  be  found).  The
result, thanks to the band's musical skills, is refreshing  and  very
enjoyable. I e-mailed drummer Sigurd Nielsen some questions about his
band and _Mercury_; here is the result.

CoC: What's the meaning of your band's name, Madder Mortem? I suppose
     it has something to do with madder, the plant?

Sigurd Nielsen: Hmmmm... I've never heard about the plant. [Madder is
                indeed a plant, the colour obtained from  which  dyes
                as "crimson madder",  which  explains  what  you  are
                about to read. -- Pedro] Agnete [Kirkevaag, vocalist]
                was the one who created the band name and she got  it
                from one of the colours her father uses, as  he  does
                some art painting. Madder is actually  some  kind  of
                red colour. If you were to translate it, it would  be
                "red death", but the name isn't meant to be that way.
                We decided to go for it because it sounded  cool  and
                not for what it means, because  "red  death"  doesn't
                describe what we do.

CoC: What was the idea behind _Mercury_'s cover,  an  autumnal  image
     with three dark figures walking beneath some trees?

SN: The idea behind the  cover  wasn't  anything  in  particular.  We
    wanted a cover that didn't look like it had been made entirely on
    a computer. It was natural to use photographs.  If  you  see  our
    full cover, it has a lot of these red/orange pictures  all  taken
    at the same place. In the back, you have the text  printed  on  a
    composition of many pictures in blue. They make a great  contrast
    effect with the red/orange  ones.  The  pictures  were  taken  in
    Norway at a place where they've just built a  twenty  meter  high
    protection over some ruins of a medieval cathedral. You  can  see
    this building made of glass and steel inside the cover.  I  think
    there is a lot of harmony between the cover art and the music.

CoC: You have released a self-financed MCD called  _Misty  Sleep_  in
     1997; since then, you have signed for Misanthropy  and  released
     your first  full-length  album,  _Mercury_.  Was  everything  as
     smooth for the band as this  indicates,  or  did  you  have  any
     problems finding a label and releasing a full-length album?

SN: To be honest, I think it all  went  too  smoothly.  I  see  bands
    struggling so much to find a label and all that. We've just  been
    concerned with making the music.  Misanthropy  gave  us  a  quick
    response after we gave  them  our  demo  CD,  and  we  were  very
    satisfied with that, of course.

CoC: So are you happy with Misanthropy Records now?

SN: As I said, we were happy and we still are. They give us a lot  of
    artistic freedom. The only thing they control is money.  <laughs>
    They really have a good promotion network and give their bands  a
    lot of support that way. Another positive thing is that they only
    sign a few good bands, instead of a hundred shitty ones.

CoC: What would you say your musical evolution  was  since  the  MCD,
     considering that some of its tracks have been  included  in  the
     full-length _Mercury_?

SN: We've had time to work on our material very much, so  every  song
    you hear on _Mercury_ has gone through  a  long  process,  during
    which we have tried to be as critical as possible. Our  goal  was
    to make the songs come out exactly the way  they  should  be.  We
    achieved this on _Mercury_, I think.

CoC: How satisfied are you with _Mercury_? What areas will you try to
     improve the most in future recordings?

SN: Right now, I don't listen to the record at all.  I  need  to  get
    away from it for a while before I can say  what  I  really  think
    about it. A lot of things happened in the studio; good things and
    bad things. You'll never be satisfied enough while you're working
    in the studio, but what is important is to think about the  whole
    production. That way, I'm very satisfied.

CoC: There are, of course, many Norwegian metal  bands  using  female
     vocals right now. However, you don't depend on keyboards as much
     as most of them do; there's more guitar work  in  Madder  Mortem
     than usual in the genre. Some of the album's softer  parts  even
     remind me of early (i.e., Kari Rueslatten's)  The  3rd  and  the
     Mortal, whereas most bands in the genre nowadays opt for a  more
     "symphonic" sound; but your sound  is  usually  quite  different
     from most of what's being done in the genre right now. What  are
     your thoughts on all this?

SN: I'm glad you don't categorize us as a symphonic band. We  started
    without a synth and that way  we  discovered  what  sounded  good
    without one. After a while we  wanted  the  synth,  but  only  to
    improve some parts of the music. We have never used the synth  as
    the basis for a song.  It's  very  easy  to  move  in  the  wrong
    direction with a synthesizer, and this way  we've  done  well,  I
    think. The effects should be added, not used as a basis. The  3rd
    and the Mortal does this very well.

CoC: What are your plans for the near future, now that  _Mercury_  is
     being released?

SN: We will do anything we can to tour with another band. Apart  from
    that, we are already rehearsing new material. Right now,  we  are
    preparing our release party in Oslo.

CoC: Any concluding remarks?

SN: Nope, since I'm extremely tired right now. Have a nice one...

Contact: mailto:drugis@hotmail.com

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

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


Another Nothing - _New Breed_  (Chord, February 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

After a lot of the stuff I heard  for  this  issue  of  CoC,  it  was
refreshing to put on and listen to Another Nothing. It  was  intense,
in-yer-face noise core metal music that didn't pansy itself upon  the
notion of being a metal wanker with their material, as  did  some  of
the music that I reviewed in this issue. This is  music  that  really
stands strong  on  its  own,  each  track  glistening  with  powerful
concoctions of ample noise and metal parts, with a definite knack for
adding eccentric quality to the sound here and there.  For  the  most
part, Another Nothing really repeats what a lot of  bands  out  there
are doing (V.O.D., Converge, Hatebreed), but it's the  band's  gritty
character that sets them apart within numerous tracks on _NB_. Choice
cuts: "Still the Same" and "Facade". I'm pretty  sure  this'll  be  a
band that'll have a future if they play their cards right.

Contact: P.O. Box 15793 Philadelphia, PA USA 19103
         WWW: http://www.chordrecordings.com
         mailto:toodhype@aol.com


Apophis - _Heliopolis_  (Morbid, November 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz  (7 out of 10)

Despite the Egyptian styled (though  somewhat  poor)  cover  artwork,
Apophis are not, as I initially suspected, a clone of Nile.  Apophis'
sound has some grounding in the melodic Swedish death  movement,  but
with deeper vocals than is typical for,  say,  In  Flames,  and  less
vitriol than those of the more brutal  side  --  A  Canorous  Quintet
would be a prime example of this. Doom  metal  is  an  influence  and
affects the progression of  their  playing  most;  they  use  melodic
chords, as opposed to the more percussive  brutal  death  style,  and
tend to choose downward progressions. An overall comparison  I  found
prominent was to Hypocrisy, on their last three albums.  Apophis  are
not as skilled as Hypocrisy but they do attempt,  and  are  sometimes
successful in, combining keyboards, catchy riffs and melody.  "Behold
My Arrival" borrows from Hypocrisy without sounding like  a  rejected
b-side, while "Reincarnation of the Serpent God" nails a catchy vocal
line and backs it up with a solid  riff  in  a  Hypocrisy-reminiscent
fashion. Overall, _Heliopolis_ mostly lacks sparkle --  by  the  time
you are into the final ten or fifteen minutes it is beginning to drag
and some of the songs suffer from being  somewhat  excessively  long.
Apophis nail some solid riffs, show overall technical proficiency and
combine brutal playing with a good  use  of  melody  (including  some
pretty good,  and  often  slow,  lead  guitar  work).  Unfortunately,
Apophis don't excel sufficiently in any of the styles they choose  to
play to beat those who have come before them. So, when they augment a
heavy riff with keyboards, for example, the thought that goes through
my head is "It sounds good, but not as good  as  Nocturnus."  Apophis
have dared to set out on a difficult path, and for that I  give  them
credit,  but  they  are  not  finding  the  journey  to  be   without
difficulty. This is their third album; I haven't heard their first or
second, and though they should be picking up the pace by now, I think
_Heliopolis_ could be their final stepping stone  to  doing  a  truly
worthwhile album.

Contact: Morbid Records, Postfach 3, 03114 Drebkau, Germany
         fax: (0) 35602/20636
         WWW: http://www.morbidrecords.de
         mailto:morbidrecords@ranet.de


Aura Noir - _Deep Tracts of Hell_  (Hammerheart, December 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz  (9 out of 10)

This release conclusively proves to me that being heavily  influenced
by '80s music doesn't exclude you from being able to  make  an  album
which is both endearing and relevant in 1998. _Deep Tracts  of  Hell_
reeks of the '80s, it reeks of the black, twisted  roots  which  '90s
black metal had in the last decade's early innovators,  but  it  also
shows its youth in that it doesn't preclude the '90s scene  and  does
have a distinctly modern aspect to its primary,  overall  old-school,
flavour. Appolyon and Aggressor's  songwriting  is  tight,  with  the
alternating they partake in (see the  interview  in  this  issue  for
details) giving the album all the more colour, rather than making  it
seem disjointed, as I had feared might be the case. OK, fair  enough,
_DToH_ is not really original, it is not like this style of music has
never been tackled before; it has, and by greater and  lesser  bands,
but the fact remains that _DToH_ is a raging, catchy  and  more  than
worthwhile near-40 minute ordeal of thrash metal excellence.

Contact: Hammerheart Rec., PO Box 277, 6300 AG. Valkenburg, Holland
         mailto:hhr@xs4all.nl
         WWW: http://www.xs4all.nl/~hhr


Autumn Tears - _Love Poems for Dying Children... Act I (Reprise
                MCMXCVIII)_  (Dark Symphonies, November 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

This re-release of the originally limited to 2000 copies Autumn Tears
debut is a fine opportunity for anyone who is unaware of  the  band's
existence (or just doesn't have this CD) to discover the _Love  Poems
for Dying Children_ trilogy. Of course, for those who originally  did
buy the first edition, this may be considered  rather  unfair,  since
this reprise features better production, new artwork and a  new  song
-- enough to make this better than the  original,  but  probably  not
enough to justify a  purchase  for  someone  who  owns  the  original
version on CD. Then again, those who do own that first version  don't
actually -lose- anything because of this  re-release  (they'll  still
have the limited edition, in  a  strange  way),  and  those  who  are
interested in beautiful, dramatic, dark classical  music  potentially
have a lot to gain. Following the brilliant opening track "They Watch
With Closed Eyes", "Ode to My Forthcoming Winter", "One  Tender  Kiss
(The Lost Seasons)" and "Carfax Abbey" are especially good,  but  the
other  songs  (namely  "The  Eloquent  Sleep"  and  "And   Then   the
Whispering...")  are  also  quite  good,  making  this  album  highly
enjoyable from start to finish. Skilled keyboard playing and talented
male and female vocals combine to create  excellent  atmospheres  and
very enjoyable music throughout the album;  the  female  vocals  are,
again,  like  in  _The  Garden  of  Crystalline  Dreams_  [CoC  #23],
especially remarkable, although there Erika doesn't perform any black
vox here. Also included is a new song, which promises a superb  third
act and features the new lead female vocalist -- Erika  will  perform
only guest backing vocals on the next album. Although I find  Erika's
vocals just slightly more enjoyable, Jennifer seems perfectly able to
handle the task. As for this reprise,  I  strongly  recommend  it  to
those who are prone to enjoy this kind of music and  didn't  purchase
the original version.


Bewitched - _Hell Comes to Essen_  (Osmose, December 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz  (3 out of 10)

I saw Bewitched on the tour on which this live document was recorded.
As my review  [CoC  #28]  indicated,  I  found  Bewitched  to  be  an
impressive live band. Since that gig I got hold of their most  recent
_Pentagram Prayer_ album and, though a  little  too  backward-looking
for my liking, I found it a catchy and marginally worthy retro-thrash
workout which utilises melody well. _Hell Comes  to  Essen_  combines
ten tracks from  their  live  concert  in  Essen  in  1997  with  the
unreleased "Sabbath of Sin" (to be on their new album in a  different
version) and a cover  of  "Born  to  Be  Wild"  in  a  thrash  style.
Unfortunately, although Bewitched had impact when I  saw  them  live,
this live disc really has little musical attraction.  The  songs  are
different, this is Bewitched "entirely live" apparently, but most  of
what  is  different  is  worse.  A  lot  of   the   skilled   melodic
manipulation, which is what makes the  songs  on  _Pentagram  Prayer_
worthy of note, is lost and replaced by thrash metal rage and  drive.
I am beginning to find the owning of live albums hard to  justify  in
any case, and in this one I think point is lost. "Sabbath of Sin"  is
a decent, catchy and melodic thrash number, but it's far from special
or massively different from Bewitched's other output, and only serves
to show how weak the songs sound, performed live, on disc. The  "Born
to Be Wild" cover is, as always, no patch on the original and is  the
kind of thing which, ironically, would sound better pulled off  as  a
surprise at the end of a live set. I can't find a reason to recommend
this to anyone.


Bob Marinelli / Facialmess - _Split_  (Distorted Vision, 1998)
by: Gabriel Sanchez  (8.5 out of 10)

As much as I am open to covering as many different acts as  possible,
it is hard not to keep returning to past favorites when their  output
is this damn good.  Distorted  Vision  Records  brings  together  the
chaotic noise workings of Bob Marinelli with one of  Japan's  leading
(and somewhat  unsung)  noise  master  Facialmess.  Marinelli's  side
provides more of the excellent fast paced sound swirls that have made
him (in my mind) one of the single best artists in the United  States
today. The collage of noise provided can best  be  described  as  the
beautiful sound your '86 Ford Taurus' factory speakers  make  as  the
busted tape deck devours your  brand  spanking  new  Winger  cassette
while you simultaneously experience the thrills of a ten car pile  up
accident occurring right in front you. In other words, it is  nothing
short of orgasmic. Facialmess, in turn, slow  the  pace  down  a  bit
while still providing a number of quick changes to  their  sound  and
still managing to kick up the  harshness  another  level.  Everything
from boomy bass explosions, therapeutic feedback, and distorted voice
manipulation for good measure come dancing out of the audio channels,
not giving two shits or a flying fuck what poor creature's ear  drums
are in their way. Could this be love? I think so. This is  definitely
a release any noise junkie will want to get their grubby little hands
on, not to mention newbies to the genre fixing to kick  back,  relax,
and blow their $2,000 speaker systems.

Contact: Distorted Vision Records, 300 West Fourth St.
         Mt. Carmel, PA 17851, USA
         mailto:tgbob@sunlink.net


Castigate - _Bring Me the Head of Jesus Christ_
by: David Rocher  (2.5 out of 10)  (Pavement Music, December 1998)

Now, there's not much in this vile world that may even hope to  equal
the exquisite pleasure of wrecking  your  neck  to  the  roaring  axe
attacks and battering rhythmic assaults  of  a  titanic  death  metal
album. And, quite naturally, this is  precisely  what  makes  sitting
through half an hour of  the  pathetic,  discordant  gruntfest  named
_BMtHoJC_ such a tedious act of abnegation.  Castigate  claim  to  be
brutal; I merely call this messy -- somehow, I just  don't  see  that
being "brutal" is an excuse for each musician to seemingly be  trying
to race through his part faster than anybody else.  Castigate  aren't
-always- worse than some bands out there, but with the  great  number
of high-level violent/brutal death  metal  acts  the  actual  extreme
scene is graced with (Cryptopsy, Malevolent Creation, Dying Fetus and
others), paying attention to this gurgling, immature, rampaging metal
field trip would be nothing more than a waste of everybody's time  --
but  then  again,  the  lads  and  lasses  who  called  Suffocation's
_Breeding the Spawn_ a great death metal album  will  probably  crave
for _BMtHoJC_... No big deal, really.


Cauldron - _Tampering With the Unnatural_
by: Adrian Bromley  (1 out of 10)  (Headrush Records, January 1999)

I hate it when bands -try- to be metal and think they're doing a good
job. Cauldron is one of those bands. This is the band that  gets  the
first shellacking of 1999: they stink. The rock/thrash metal style is
horrible, the vocals are so cheesy  and  the  band's  originality  is
non-existent. Where did this band go wrong? Many places. The  key  to
bands starting out should be that you can  offer  something  new  and
fresh to the metal scene. Not the case here. Listening to this is  as
bad as shitting your pants. It's an awful mess  and  you  don't  know
what to do with it.

Contact: 712 Pemberton Detroit, Michigan 48230
         mailto:cauldron_metal@hotmail.com


Claymords - _... More Sombre Than Life_  (<Independent>, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

Not sure how to make out  the  music  of  this  bizarre  outfit  from
Norway. It's a lil' bit country and a lil' bit rock  'n'  roll.  (I'm
joking! That's a Donnie & Marie saying. IGNORE!) Anyway, this trio of
musicians really do go out on a limb and bring quite a vast array  of
ideas and sounds into the fold with this six-song recording. From the
darkened ways of black metal onto thrashing / speed metal  injections
and a varied gothic overtone scattered throughout,  Claymords  really
gets the blood going. You're excited when you hear  this.  Also,  the
band's vocal style (very death metal-ish) makes their  punch  just  a
tad bit stronger, as songs like "Breathe With Me", "First Convulsion"
and "Aftermath" plow over you like a freight train  out  of  control.
Variety is the true masterpiece of this outing. A label deal  is  not
far off.

Contact: Nils Ivar Martila, Wiers Jenssens V. 33 b N-5030,
         Landas, Norway
         mailto:claymords@online.no


Daemon - _The Second Coming_  (Diehard, February 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8 out of 10)

_Seven Deadly Sins_ did seem to have its five minutes of novelty fame
and then, at least for me, sink without a trace. It surprised me that
a second Daemon album appeared at all, so imagine  my  shock  when  I
found that I really liked it, too. _The Second Coming_ still reeks of
old Entombed (Nicke Andersson's departure has not altered this),  but
not only is there more depth to the Entombed-a-like songs, many songs
also draw on  somewhat  different  influences.  As  a  result,  _TSC_
doesn't sound like an inferior Entombed album, a syndrome which _SDS_
suffered badly from. It probably helps that Daemon are now, at  least
to me, a better listen  than  Entombed  with  their  current  output.
Unfortunately, "My Kingdom Is a Sacred Place", with its  attempts  at
soft/loud dynamics, doesn't really work, and the record clocks in  at
just under half an hour, if you exclude the "Symptom of the Universe"
cover, so it is far from a perfect purchase. Additionally, if you are
looking  for  _Clandestine_-esque  material,  you'd  do   better   to
investigate A Canorous Quintet, Impious or  others  of  Sweden's  new
breed. However, if the longing  for  "new"  old  (as  in  mid-period)
Entombed is already suffocating you, _The Second Coming_  is  one  of
your best options and it's a damn rocking album in its own  right  to
boot.


Darklands - _A Memory of You_  (Heathendoom Music, February 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (1 out of 10)

If Peter Steele of Type O Negative ever had a kid brother who  wanted
to rock out, start a band and be like his big brother, this would  be
his band. Unimaginative gothic rock/metal that really goes nowhere at
all. Like a cat  in  heat  moaning  on  a  fence  in  your  backyard,
Darklands need to get a shoe (or something a lot  bigger)  thrown  at
them to make this atrocity stop. Blah!

Contact: Box 36, S114 79 Stockholm, Sweden
         WWW: http://www.surf.to/darklands
         mailto:heathendoom.music@swipnet.se


Descend - _Beyond thy Realm of Throes_
by: David Rocher (7.5 out of 10) (Black Lotus Records, December 1998)

The Greek four-piece Descend were until last year known as  Epidemic,
a  thrash  outfit  whose  two   releases   _Artificial   Peace_   and
_Industrial_  proudly  displayed  their  noble  influences  --  early
Kreator and Sacred Reich,  two  bands  for  which  Epidemic  actually
opened  live.  Despite  their  name   changing,   Descend's   musical
influences obviously remain pretty much the same, although this  fine
mid-tempo  melodic  death/thrash  now  bears  the  mark   a   certain
melancholy.  The  ten  tracks  of  _BtRoT_   are   creative,   finely
constructed with hard, rapid low-case riffing -- fans of _Pleasure to
Kill_ and such works of art should definitely cast  an  ear  on  this
band -- and nice melodic  leads,  and  cleverly  include  alternating
schemes of quiet, mildly sorrowful parts and all-out  rushing  thrash
assaults. In fact, the only real loss on _BtRoT_ is due to  the  mix,
which tends to completely drown the already rather "tame" guitar tone
in the rabid vocals, which in turn get to be a little  invasive.  The
precise drumwork is  also  sadly  a  little  feeble  in  the  mix  --
nonetheless, it goes  to  show  that  if  _BtRoT_  had  been  granted
improved means and therefore a  more  powerful  sound,  we  would  be
facing a crushing release indeed. However, Descend's first  offspring
leaves great room for further evolution, and that  is  definitely  an
asset not many present-day bands may claim to detain.


Dichotic - _Collapse Into Despair_ (Discorporate Music, January 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (9 out of 10)

Okay... my ass has been  kicked.  Holy  mother  from  hell,  is  this
powerful stuff from Eastern  Canada  (Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  to  be
exact). No remorse and no regret is etched in the minds of all  those
taking part of  the  musical  ways  of  impressive  outfit  Dichotic.
Slamming down a driving force equal to that of  a  tornado,  Dichotic
lash out at the listener with fierce death  metal  anguish,  rallying
behind killer riffing and a vocal style that could peel paint  off  a
wall. Are they this good? Yes. Many others I know  are  praising  the
ways of this truly talented band and it's definitely worthy of  going
ape-shit over. The band just totally delivers with thunderous numbers
like "Solely on Opposites", "Heed to  Instincts"  and  "Love  Stained
Splatter". Saviors of metal in Canada?  Who  knows...  but  at  least
they're making their mark. Death metal fans who itch for sheer  power
and a touch of variety, look no further.  Canadian  bred,  yet  death
metal led. Stunning record. Others should have their asses kicked  by
Dichotic. What are you waiting for?

Contact: Discorporate Music / Dichotic, 2476 Robie Street, #8,
         Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 4N1 Canada
         WWW: http://is2.dal.ca/~rfguy/dichotic/
         mailto:guy@cs.dal.ca


Dreamsfear - _Prelude to Destiny_  (Ill-Omen Records, November 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (6 out of 10)

Although  this  is  described  in   the   promotional   material   as
power/thrash, only the first song, "Ruins", comes  close  to  fitting
such a description. The next two  songs,  "Bleak  Horizons"  and  "As
Darkness Falls", are mid-paced and semi-doomy, and the last  song  of
this nearly 30 minutes long MCD, "Burning Bridges", even sounds a bit
too much like a "power ballad" for  my  taste.  Dreamsfear  are  from
Ireland,  but  the  doom  elements  in  their  music  are  completely
different from those of the excellent, and  also  Irish,  Primordial.
(Speaking of doomy influences in Dreamsfear's music, one of the  band
members is actually wearing a My Dying  Bride  t-shirt  in  the  band
photo, which is unusual for a power/thrash band -- and the t-shirt is
even from  the  _Turn  Loose  the  Swans_  era!)  Anyway,  after  the
reasonably  well  done  but  not  very  interesting  opener,   "Bleak
Horizons" shows those doomier elements. The clean  vocals  seem  more
effective here than  on  the  opening  track,  and  the  song  itself
generally flows better. However, the track that I ended  up  enjoying
the most was clearly  the  third  one,  "As  Darkness  Falls",  which
combines what the band does best in each of the first two songs.  The
chorus is especially good, although simple. In the booklet, the  band
thanks "everyone involved in the recording  and  production  of  this
misadventure" and also "almost everyone  of  you  for  your  lack  of
belief and encouragement, without which  this  would  not  have  been
possible". Well, I don't know how serious they were when  they  wrote
that, but I personally do think that there may be hope for Dreamsfear
-if- they concentrate on the kind of music that constitutes the  best
parts of this MCD -- namely some of "Bleak Horizons" and "As Darkness
Falls"  --  and  find  better  ways  to  keep  the  heaviness   level
sufficiently high.


Droys - _And if..._  (Polymorphe, 1998)
by: Brian Meloon  (8 out of 10)

Droys hail from France, and this is their second  release,  following
1995's _Experience_ MCD,  which  was  released  on  the  now  defunct
X-Label Records. Three of the four tracks from  _Experience_  are  on
this release, though. Their style is technical thrash, in the vein of
bands like Quo Vadis, Obliveon (_From This Day  Forward_)  and  Sadus
(_A Vision of Misery_, especially). Their  vocalist  has  a  slightly
distorted shouting style, which reminds  me  of  U.P.'s  vocalist  on
_Mindfailure_. There  are  some  clean  vocals,  but  they  are  used
sparingly. Although I find the vocals one of the weaker parts of  the
album, they don't make the music unlistenable. The songs are  usually
quite  fast.  Occasionally,  the  parts  are   very   technical   and
experimental, but at others it's just straightforward thrash. They do
some very nice melodic and acoustic interludes, which gives the album
a fair amount of  diversity.  They  also  sprinkle  melodic  elements
throughout the heavier sections. I  particularly  like  the  way  the
guitars harmonize complex parts, as well  as  the  way  they  develop
sections using harmonies. In general, the  songs  flow  pretty  well,
although at times they cobble riffs together without a clear purpose.
The playing is great on all counts, with the guitarists  and  bassist
handling even the  most  difficult  sections  competently.  Even  the
guitar solos are done well; they're  appropriate  and  tasteful.  The
band is very tight, and the parts are difficult enough to  make  that
quite a statement. The production could be a little better,  as  it's
lacking in power. It's clean, but could be fuller and heavier.  While
I wouldn't call this album essential, it is a very good album, and is
recommended for fans of technical thrash.


Evoken - _Embrace the Emptiness_  (Elegy, 1998)
by: Alex Cantwell  (8.5 out of 10)

Evoken play doom  of  such  crushing  magnitude  that  it  takes  the
listener straight into the depths of sorrow, or something like  that.
I just can't review a doom album without sounding  like  an  A&R  guy
from a label, I  guess.  Like  all  well  composed  doom  metal  CDs,
_Embrace the Emptiness_ is  grandiose,  yet  subtle;  beautiful,  but
dark; it's also dreadfully heavy and clocks in  at  over  70  minutes
with just seven songs. Evoken also make use of keyboards quite a bit,
creating sombre atmospheres and dark soundscapes as the  backdrop  to
these tales of sorrow and tragedy. The sound is huge, and the rhythms
sometimes become bombasts; cannons of war.  In  the  thirteen  minute
long "Ascend Into the Maelstrom", there is even a guitar  solo  --  a
rarity in doom metal for sure. The vocals are primarily growled,  but
sometimes a monotone clean vocal style is used. The lyrics are poetic
in form; each song being a different path toward sorrow and woe,  and
although written for fantasy, the emotions are real. The cover says a
lot about this CD. Lacking a flashy logo, it is simply  a  black  and
white photo of a figure  draped  in  black  shroud,  knelt  before  a
tombstone in an ancient graveyard of  burial  mounds,  uttering  last
regrets and grieving.

Contact: Elegy Records, 248 Lakeview Ave., Suite 319
         Clifton, NJ 07011 USA
         mailto:Elegy666@aol.com


Flotsam and Jetsam - _Unnatural Selection_
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)  (Metal Blade, February 1999)

Well, it just seems to be going pretty good for  Flotsam  and  Jetsam
these days. Over the last few years, the band has managed to put  out
some quality material, breaking away from the generic sound of  metal
music and adding their own sound/style into the fold. Their  last  LP
_High_ was a kick-ass record that fueled the intensity of their music
with rampant sounds of complicated riffs meshed with a sinister vocal
snarl. It was addictive. With _US_ we  see  F&J  continuing  on  with
their trademark sound, but venturing off just  a  tad  bit  with  the
material and not being afraid to add some eccentric  ideas  into  the
fold. Y'know? Make the music breathe some creativity every once in  a
while. The production is clear and, when mixed with a  truly  intense
guitar sound, _US_ sounds top notch. Fans of the band will  no  doubt
be pleased and other metal music fans will probably dig it as well.


Forced to Decay - _Perkussive Perlokution_
by: Paul Schwarz (7 out of 10) (System Shock/Pavement, December 1998)

This is strange stuff. Though I hear hints of the hardcore-apocalypse
style of Bloodlet and  elements  of  Neurosis,  especially  with  the
chosen acoustic style, Forced to Decay can, to some extent, be termed
"death metal". They owe nothing to the Floridian take on  the  style,
being  totally  devoid  of  bass  heavy  production   or   relentless
kick-drumming, but do hark  back  to  those  of  a  more  death/grind
persuasion. Vocals alternate between very harsh screaming  and  quite
melodic singing of sorts. When you  listen  carefully  and  "explore"
_Perkussive Perlokution_,  it  is  pretty  interesting.  The  use  of
dynamics is commendable, though not unique, and the overall feel  the
album emanates is one of discomfort, which seems likely to have  been
one of the aims. Ultimately, my problem is that it doesn't strike the
right balance with me. If the band achieved what they were trying to,
then I have insufficient interest in their  chosen  style  of  music.
Forced to Decay seem to have put quite a bit of effort into this with
some success, and that is always commendable.


Various - _Full Moon Productions Sampler CD_ (Full Moon, 1998)
by: Alex Cantwell  (8.5 out of 10)

I was surprised by the quality of the bands  on  this  sampler.  Full
Moon Productions is perhaps  more  known  for  being  a  distribution
service than a label, and this sampler should provide  some  exposure
for all of the bands that they have signed. Their line-up is  varied,
but not so much in musical style as in talent. You have your standard
black metal in Diaboli, Soulreaper, Mysticum and  Algaion.  You  have
your blackened thrash from Hades and Primigenium, but  the  standouts
in this category and for the album  as  a  whole  would  have  to  be
Swordmaster and Indungeon, whom I liked way more  than  I  thought  I
might -- both do an incredible job of blending old with new. Everdark
and Argentum play Satanic dark metal, with a Yngwie  protege  playing
leads for the latter. Some  people  appreciate  black  metal  in  its
rawest form, and  I'm  not  opposed  to  it;  I  just  hate  the  bad
production that accompanies it. Such is the case with Black  Funeral,
a one man project of "vampyric" black metal that is  simple  in  form
and not flashy in the  least  bit.  Apollyon  is  the  angle  of  the
bottomless pit of hell, but in this  case  I  suppose  it's  just  an
extremely fast black metal band. There is something that puzzled  me,
though, and that is that there are  three  instrumental  tracks  from
Abruptum, Lord Wind, and Octinomos, which I thought were  strange  to
find on a sampler CD. Are these tracks representative of  what  their
entire albums sound like? Who  can  know?  The  Lord  Wind  track  is
actually another highlight, with its medieval instrumentation. All in
all, this CD provides a good sampling of many  quality  under-exposed
underground bands.

Contact: Full Moon Productions, 2039 Roxburgh Ct,
         Lakeland, FL 33813, USA


Groinchurn - _Fink_  (Morbid, October 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8.5 out of 10)

If you, like me, were feeling the first pang of jonesing for more  of
Brutal Truth's brilliant brand of grindcore when the  news  that  the
band had split surfaced, then you, like me, need some  Groinchurn  in
your life. Groinchurn borrow from New York's finest in parts, but the
main comparison between the two bands lies in the raw talent, not the
exact  sounds  they  produce  (although,  as  the   mark   indicates,
Groinchurn still have a while to go before they match  the  masters).
_Fink_ unleashes some mean beasts from Grindcore Heaven  (or  Hell?),
like the simple "Being  Ripped  Off",  the  blasting  "The  Clock  Is
Ticking" or the warped playing style of "Generic", which  proceed  to
mangle any unsuspecting listener's mind for 36 odd minutes. A  little
humour, a lot of rage, and a touch of the  eclectic  make  Groinchurn
one of the world's premiere grindcore concerns.

Contact: Morbid Records, Postfach 3, 03114 Drebkau, Germany
         fax: (0) 35602/20636
         WWW: http://www.morbidrecords.de
         mailto:morbidrecords@ranet.de


In Solitude - _Eternal_  (Grade / Independent Records, 1998)
by: Alex Cantwell  (8 out of 10)

In Solitude have been around since 1995,  but  this  is  their  first
full-length album. They play very creative, keyboard driven  European
metal that is mid-tempo throughout the  entirety  of  _Eternal_.  The
music is very well played, and I say "European" because, as  everyone
should realize by now, European musicians create melodies and  guitar
lines that no one else would ever think of. The songs  are  all  very
catchy after a few listens, but the standout is "My Daisy", which has
a killer, killer riff and is not a song from the Dukes of Hazard. The
backing vocals definitely take some getting used to, as they are sung
in a trembly, gypsy-sounding style, but they help to  set  this  band
apart. My opinion is that the main vocals are holding this band back,
but they have the potential to  be  improved  upon.  During  vocalist
Sergio Martins' good moments, hints of Nick  Holmes  (Paradise  Lost)
can be heard.

Contact: Independent Records, Rua Sa' da Bandeira, 311-10T,
         4400 Gaia, Portugal
         mailto:ind.rec@esoterica.pt


In the Woods... - _Strange in Stereo_  (Misanthropy, February 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)

_Omnio_ [CoC #25] is an outstanding  album,  but  one  that  requires
plenty of listens in order to fully  appreciate  its  quality.  As  I
listened to its successor _Strange in Stereo_, I kept that  in  mind;
however, it turns out that _SiS_ overall just isn't as  brilliant  as
_Omnio_. The songs are generally shorter than before, but  apparently
quite  loosely  structured;  strange  arrangements  abound,  although
fortunately the results are usually good and often  contribute  to  a
reasonably pleasant atmosphere (i.e., not a happy one), and some fine
atmospheres  are  occasionally   achieved.   Although   the   musical
ingredients are somewhat similar to _Omnio_'s, they are  mixed  in  a
very different way: there is  basically  much  less  metal  and  more
experimentation now, which is hardly a surprise nowadays.  Contrarily
to what has been happening with several other  bands  recently,  this
choice had (and still has, for future albums) a lot of potential with
In the Woods..., considering _SiS_'s best moments, but  unfortunately
the female vocals and classical strings aren't used as frequently  as
I would have liked. Most of my reasons for saying this can  be  heard
in  "Basement  Corridors"  and  especially  "Cell",  not  to  mention
_Omnio_. The same can be said  about  the  metal  elements  (is  this
really the same band who made _HEart of the Ages_?), which also sound
rather weak as well. Nevertheless, quality is kept  high  during  the
first six tracks, but after the sixth track (of  twelve),  the  album
tends to quickly lose the listener's  interest,  which  is  the  main
problem with _SiS_. Although the first half of  the  album  has  some
excellent sequences, _SiS_ is hardly ever as great  as  _Omnio_,  and
it's also a  much  more  irregular  album  quality-wise.  Overall,  I
expected a lot better from the band, but _SiS_ is still a good album.
In fact, a whole album as good as _SiS_'s  best  moments  would  have
been excellent, and, in my opinion, that's what the band  should  aim
to achieve in the future  --  which,  considering  _Omnio_'s  overall
quality, is by no means impossible for them.


James Murphy - _Feeding the Machine_  (Diehard, January 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8 out of 10)

I would be lying if I said that I had -not- expected  James  Murphy's
newest solo album to be technical work-out. Despite penning a  number
of great riffs while doing stints (often  short)  in  such  bands  as
Cancer, Obituary, Death, and  more  recently  Konkhra,  it  has  been
James' often ridiculously good and, particularly, complex leads which
have, in a Spinal Tap-ish kind of way, become his  trademark.  It  is
hard to know what I should have expected from _Feeding the  Machine_.
Despite making quite a name for himself in  the  death  metal  scene,
James has shown over  the  years  that  he  is  also  heavily  thrash
influenced as a guitarist. It is the thrashy side which shows  itself
on _FtM_, which to some extent is one of my regrets about the  album.
Groove-ridden thrash is what one might term the  musical  extreme  of
_FtM_ riff-wise. Songs like "Feeding the Machine"  and  "No  One  Can
Tell You" have the hardest riffs and the hardest vocals on the album,
and there is still a considerable amount  of  melody  in  these.  The
majority of the time, though, solid chugging riffs are not what James
opts for. Many of the tracks are instrumentals and the riffs on these
are rarely basic metal ones (except in  cases  like  "Race  With  the
Devil on Spanish Highway", where a  simple  riff  is  used  to  bring
attention to complex percussion). "Oddesy"'s  acoustic  passages  are
reminiscent of Rush and on this track and "Epoch" (in fact,  on  most
tracks, a singer is forsaken), riffs are almost not present  and  are
replaced by technical runs. This often works very  well,  though  the
runs  can  boggle  the  mind.  Progressive  elements,  like  "spacey"
keyboards and guitar synths, as well as jazzy breakdowns,  also  show
themselves in the instrumentals. The sung songs,  which  contain  the
simple repetitive riffs (though they also usually feature exceptional
technical backdrops), can be  the  weakest  tracks.  The  vocals  and
lyrical content on "Visitors" are both very poor and the song  itself
is ponderous. "Feeding the Machine" and "No One Can Tell You" get the
best mix of the two and feature my favorite vocal performances,  from
Clark  Brown  (Geezer)  and  Chuck  Billy  (Testament)  respectively.
Assessed as a whole, I find the album good, and of course technically
stunning, but lacking in flow and also confused. The basic riffs  are
never that stunning and the technical passages are often only good to
marvel at and less easy to actually enjoy in the proper sense.  James
doesn't get close to capturing the mix of  death  metal,  progressive
elements, jazz and  technicality  which  Cynic  completely  mastered,
though I wish he had, and I think that if he were to intentionally go
more in this direction in the future, he would, judging by _FtM_,  be
one of the most likely people to succeed as Cynic did.


Lasse Marhaug - _Audio Explosions Every 10 Seconds_
by: Gabriel Sanchez  (6.5 out of 10)  (Extraction, 1998)

With a title like that, you'd almost be expecting  a  (dun  dun  dun)
noise concept album!  However,  instead  the  album  (mis)treats  its
listeners to rather simplistic (though at times  interesting)  tracks
of noise which tend not to feature many changes,  but  luckily  don't
drone on too long. In some senses, this album is a borderline case of
that fine noise/ambient hybrid which so many artists are diving  into
these days, though at others there is a clear  distinction  with  the
harshness and attempts at using some elements of  sound  varying  and
textures (including a noise standard pornography sample of some  fine
young lass doing her best to  fake  orgasms).  At  best,  the  tracks
featured on here can be called harsh surrealism, though perhaps  that
is taking a step a bit too far in a positive  direction.  For  Lasse,
this is the same old deal which any previous fan of the  project  can
easily identify with, and perhaps even herald as one  of  the  better
recordings of the artist out there. However, on the grander scale  of
judging noise, this is a better than average work that  is  screaming
for some better work on the audio sequencing and changes  so  it  may
take a leap forward into the more prominent  circles  of  the  field.
Bottom line: good, but nothing to go sucking the artist's dick over.

Contact: Extraction Records, PO Box 1213
         Quogue, NY 11959, USA
         mailto:irzine@aol.com


Madder Mortem - _Mercury_  (Misanthropy Records, February 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

Although Madder Mortem play a form of doomy metal with female vocals,
they did not choose the more symphonic path that several  bands  have
been taking lately. Instead, _Mercury_ reminds me more of a generally
heavier version of early The 3rd and the Mortal at times. In "He  Who
Longed for the Stars"  and  "The  Grinding  Silence",  two  excellent
tracks, the resemblance is uncanny, although the rest  of  the  album
doesn't  suffer  too  much  from  lack  of  originality   (at   least
considering most of what comes out these days). Like The 3rd and  the
Mortal, Madder Mortem don't depend on keyboard melodies  as  much  as
other bands in the genre, although  _Mercury_  does  have  plenty  of
melody, too. It comes mostly from the guitars and good vocals, as the
keys take a secondary role and the guitars are the  main  instruments
behind  Agnete  Kirkevaag's  very  enjoyable   voice.   Nevertheless,
although they may not  use  keyboards  as  frequently  as  one  might
expect, they're still very well handled and  planned  ("These  Mortal
Sins" being a fine example). Acoustic parts  are  also  occasionally,
and successfully, thrown in.  The  band  seems  more  concerned  with
creating their own music than with following trends,  something  that
applies not only to the instrumental part but also to  Agnete's  very
interesting work. Although there are exceptions to this  description,
there is a lot of melancholy and emotion in _Mercury_, which is  very
important, as well as musical quality to back it up. Except  for  the
weaker "Remnants" and some  other  occasional  sections  that  appear
during the second half of the album, the  quality  level  is  usually
very high and  there  are  plenty  of  delightful  moments  scattered
throughout _Mercury_ that contribute for a remarkable overall result.


Morningstar - _Hell_  (R.I.P., 1998)
by: Alex Cantwell  (6 out of 10)

These lads from Finland play basic '80s thrash that some  would  deem
as being "classic sounding", while others would say it  was  generic,
outdated, boring, redundant, etc.. I  seem  to  fall  in  the  middle
somewhere, because while this  CD  had  me  playing  air  guitar  and
headbanging through its entirety upon my first listen, I  must  admit
that the music is a bit redundant. I do have to say, though,  that  I
haven't heard a thrash album like this in a long time,  and  some  of
the  songs  hearken  memories  of  Celtic  Frost's  _Morbid   Tales_,
especially "Metalstorm". Most of the songs are okay, but  then  there
are some stupid ones as well, such as  "Speed  Demon",  "Heavy  Metal
Heretics", and "Booze and Hate", which happen to be the  first  three
songs -- things can only get better from there, I  suppose.  Although
played well, the  mistitled  _Hell_  (there's  really  nothing  about
"hell" on the whole CD) is  comprised  of  basic  thrash,  so  unless
you've really been jonesin' on Xentrix and Detritus lately,  I  would
say "pass" on this one.

Contact: R.I.P. Records, P.O. Box 41182, Chicago, IL 60641 USA


MO*TE/TADM - _Split_  (Uncut, 1998)
by: Gabriel Sanchez  (8 out of 10)

This fine split release from Japan's MO*TE and Canada's finest  noise
artist TADM gives the listener two complete tapes, each one featuring
that  particular  artist's  work.  MO*TE's  tape   begins   with   an
interesting wail with a variety of surrealistic audio  layerings  and
channel flipping before breaking  into  the  usual  crunchy  noise  /
cosmic  sound  mix  that  is  the  cornerstone  of   MO*TE's   mighty
antimusical style. MO*TE even manages to hit  Incapacitants  level  a
number  of  times  for  "incoherent,   unpatterned,   harsh   noise".
Impressive. TADM chooses to kick of his madness very low  key  before
ripping  a  gigantic  hole  in  the  silence.  TADM  also  share  the
philosophy of placing no restrictions on the chaos  one  can  produce
with noise, and, in doing so, creates two  mighty  tracks  which  are
filled to the  brim  with  stunningly  beautiful  layers  of  static,
feedback, and at least a half dozen other electronic  pissings.  With
each passing moment, the track seems to scream  "Fuck  you!"  to  the
plethora of "noise" artists who try to pass  off  second  rate  power
electronics slop as the latest, darkest, most evil sound around.  You
want evil? You want destruction? You want to feel like  someone  just
belted you in the testicles with a jackhammer? TADM is your  hook-up.
This split release is most certainly one intended  for  the  hardcore
noise junkie, as anyone less would find this type of  release  to  be
uncivilized. Great shit.

Contact: Uncut, 56 Takahisa, Yoshikawa-shi
         Saitama 342, Japan


Nomad - _The Tail of Substance_  (Nomadic Hell, January 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz  (7.5 out of 10)

Pulling straight into the pummelling fast lane  of  bass-heavy  death
metal riffing out of their serene, orchestrated intro, Nomad ask  for
around 45 minutes of one's time to show what they can do.  A  lot  of
the time Nomad do little, in the sense that they chug along,  in  the
sense that much as they have good riffs, they really give you nothing
too out of the ordinary. However, there are quite a  few  times,  and
they stick in your head, on _The Tail of Substance_, where  the  band
do something memorable.  They  pull  some  great  leads  out  of  the
tumultuous hat of their sound, and execute good build-ups. Of course,
like many Polish bands these days, it seems (Yattering,  Vader),  the
band utilise Andy Bomba's considerable talents at the production helm
and thus no subtleties are "lost in the mix".  The  band  also  avoid
sounding like a Vader or Yattering-a-like via  their  songwriting  or
Bomba's production, which scores them additional points.  I  do  feel
the band could be less arrogant than attempting to give  their  style
such a unique and defining moniker as "Nomadic Hell Metal" and I hope
that there was some element  of  humour  behind  this  press  release
statement. A pleasing start and a debut which will be interesting  to
look back to.

Contact: Nomad, PO Box 69, 26-300 Opoczno, Poland


One Dark Eye / Macronympha - _Split_  (Spite, 1999)
by: Gabriel Sanchez  (8 out of 10)

Americanoise pioneer Joe Roemer brings two of his  projects  together
for an excellent split which delivers the dark crusty ambience of One
Dark Eye with the  unrelenting,  unyielding  pure  aural  assault  of
Macronympha. When I first popped this into my tape deck, I had  fully
anticipated One Dark Eye  being  along  the  lines  of  other  "harsh
ambient" acts whose sound, while  unarguably  brutal,  tends  to  get
punishingly boring. One Dark  Eye,  however,  features  a  number  of
interesting changes through their electronic  composition  of  mental
madness. The sounds are surrealistic enough and employ enough minimal
repetition to keep it ambient,  but  the  harshness  mixed  with  the
occasional unexpected change  makes  the  piece  a  highly  enjoyable
antimusic experience.  On  the  flip  side  of  this  tape,  Roemer's
Macronympha once again tear the house down with  one  gigantic  noise
thrust that will leave any listener who has the testicular  fortitude
to withstand the brutality craving for more. This is worthy to  check
out not only for the amazing noise captured on tape but also for  the
fact it brings together two sides of  Roemer's  creative  personality
which retain their own distinct features but also retain all  of  the
harsh qualities which has brought him so much praise.

Contact: Spite, PO Box 51653
         Kalamazoo, MI  49005, USA
         mailto:mononanie@aol.com


Overlife - _Between Passion and Madness_  (Goldtrack, 1998)
by: Alex Cantwell  (4 out of 10)

If the music wasn't very good thrash, this would  have  no  redeeming
value at all. Overlife can pretty much be  described  as  Queen  gone
metal with a Spanish accent. That's all I can say.

Contact: Goldtrack Records, P.O. Box 37062, 28080 Madrid, Spain
         mailto:goldttrack@arrakis.es


Path of Debris - _In the Eyes of the Basilisk_
by: David Rocher  (7.5 out of 10)  (System Shock, December 1998)

Path of Debris' first effort, despite the band's less-than-convincing
name and the album's dramatically feeble cover, reveals  a  potential
in this band that is far greater than in the average trivial newcomer
death metal act. Path of Debris' epic  heavy/death  metal  is  graced
with a clear, powerful sound crafted by producer  Andy  Classen,  and
this greatly enhances the power the nine tracks of _ItEotB_  deliver.
Even though the song structures are on the whole fairly  predictable,
and the arrangements definitely do not stand out as the most original
I've heard to this day, the musical efficiency of  these  Germans  is
pretty impressive, even if all songs do not always stand out as being
equally interesting. Path of Debris' huge metallic wall of  sound  is
mildly tempered by interspersed keyboard parts (church  organs,  epic
percussive elements and eerie synthetic veils of  sound),  which  are
never overused, and therefore never make  _ItEotB_  sound  cheesy  or
effeminate a la Dimmu Borgir. These lads definitely know how to write
a raging, bombastic death metal track, and my  guess  is  that  their
next efforts, if they turn out the way they should, should have these
guys standing somewhere near the front of the overcrowded death metal
scene -- so don't cheese out, people!


Power of Omens - _Eyes of the Oracle_  (Elevate, 1998)
by: Brian Meloon  (8 out of 10)

Power of Omens are from San Antonio, Texas (USA),  and  play  a  dark
style of progmetal. All of the standard progmetal elements are  here:
a Geoff Tate-ish vocalist (who is quite good), long songs  with  long
instrumental sections, keyboard solos, the obligatory  Dream  Theater
(_When Dream and Day Unite_ era)  and  Queensryche  references,  etc.
However, one element that sets Power of Omens apart is  the  darkness
of their music. The tone  is  more  like  _Operation:  Mindcrime_  or
Vauxdvihl than happier bands like Altura and  Shadow  Gallery.  There
are some happier moments, but the overall tone is dark.  Their  style
is moderately diverse: the album  retains  a  consistent  sound,  but
still manages to throw in enough different material to avoid  getting
monotonous. In  particular,  the  almost-20-minute  "Test  of  Wills"
offers  many  interesting  stylistic  changes  and   some   excellent
development. The songs generally flow very well; it's clear that  the
band put a lot of effort into arranging the songs,  and  they're  far
above  other  bands  in  their  genre  in  this  respect.  The  music
frequently uses keyboards for added  atmosphere,  but  also  for  the
countermelodies and the occasional solo. The drumming is  very  good,
although a little more complex than the music seems to  deserve,  but
his playing is very solid and quite interesting. The guitar  work  is
excellent;  it's  melodic,  precise,  agile,  and  even  occasionally
flashy. The bass work is quite good as well, showing a higher profile
than usual: he takes a few fills here and there and keeps  up  during
the fast parts. While the production could be a little stronger, it's
at least clear, and all of the intricacies of the music are  audible.
Overall, this is an excellent debut, if not terribly original, and  I
look forward to future releases from this band.

Contact: WWW: http://members.xoom.com/PowerOfOmens/


Puya - _Fundamental_  (MCA, January 1999)
by: Jody Webb  (8 out of 10)

Those  looking  for  serious  headbanging  inspiration  or  technical
wizardry should look elsewhere, but adventurous listeners should read
on.  Puya  is  a  Puerto  Rican  foursome  displaying  an  intriguing
combination of metal and latin music. _Fundamental_ may throw you for
a loop at first, because one does not expect a pounding riff to segue
into a tasty salsa beat, but that is the core idea on this album. The
band opts to alternate between the  two  styles  most  of  the  time,
although  some  meshing  does  occur  at  points.  The  minor   latin
percussion and unmistakable signature of brass  horns  in  the  latin
parts  contrast  nicely  with  the  chord  oriented  mid-paced  metal
grooves, resulting in a thoroughly listenable album that  won't  burn
you out after a  couple  of  songs.  The  Spanish  speaking  vocalist
attains a catchy vocal prosody, and he certainly turns the tables  on
us English speakers, making me appreciate what it must be  like  when
kids in other countries listen to their Iron Maiden CDs.  Recommended
listening includes "Oasis", "Fake" and the title track.


Rok - _This Is Satanik_  (Osmose, December 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz  (2 out of 10)

The crazy Australian who fronts death metal band  Sadistik  Exekution
now releases this, his first solo album. With others of  considerably
more lengthy  pseudonyms  in  tow  (The  Imposter,  Princess  Heinkel
Hellfukker, Hellaxe Snot Hammer and Piston Thunderblood), he  ploughs
through nine tracks in only just over 30 minutes. In this short time,
there is about 25 minutes of standard songs. This material is  mostly
reminiscent of (early) Venom,  though  it  is  not  up  to  the  same
standard, and other raw thrash bands. Other than this, the  album  is
filled up by what  I  would  call  a  lot  of  unnecessary  and  very
unexciting tracks. "Fukked" is a load of bad organ playing with a guy
screaming in mock agony behind it and then shouting, in what I find a
rather amusing Australian accent, "Fuck off with your pufta,  fuckin'
keyboard, fuckin' shit". This would be a trashy album  in  any  case,
but when I got to  track  eight  ("Multidimensional  Mentality")  and
found that it was a total rip-off of Celtic Frost's "Danse  Macabre",
I was ready to smash the disc into pieces --  it  irritated  me  that
much. I guess the fact that "Pestilence of Insanity Backwards"  is  a
total Frost rip-off song shouldn't really  have  surprised  me  after
that. Though the album's beginning seems to have some good,  straight
ahead thrashy metal tunes, none of it is an original  formula,  there
are a whole shitload of bands who  can  do  it  better  and  I  don't
imagine, considering the riff rip-offs I -have- managed to spot, that
all of these riffs are original anyway. If you have -every- drunk and
angry thrash album in existence and  you're  -still-  not  satisfied,
maybe there is a reason for you to want this. If not, I can't  see  a
reason to fill space with it.


Sacramentum - _Thy Black Destiny_  (Century Media, February 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (7.5 out of 10)

The Swedish four piece are back with their third offering of  Swedish
death/black metal. Since 1997's _The Coming  of  Chaos_,  Sacramentum
seem to have dropped many of the black metal-isms of their sound and,
today, sound  considerably  less  like  Dissection  and  considerably
closer to Dismember or Unleashed. The band have also opted for a more
frenetic  approach  on   many   songs   ("Shun   the   Light",   "The
Manifestation"), really displaying their technical  competency.  This
is not to suggest that the album is entirely fast --  in  fact,  _Thy
Black Destiny_ has a better  overall  dynamic  than  _The  Coming  of
Chaos_ did. The band have also thankfully opted to leave out  of  the
equation any kind of pointless outro, a symptom _The Coming of Chaos_
-really- suffered from. Sacramentum have improved considerably in  my
eyes, and, although they still aren't a patch on  classic  old  bands
(Dissection, Dismember, etc.) or equal to the cream of the newer crop
(A Canorous Quintet, Dawn), they occupy  the  middle  ground  of  the
scene with a certain degree of dominance.


Salutary - _Violated Holiness_  (The Corner Company, 1998)
by: Alex Cantwell  (6 out of 10)

_Violated Holiness_ is the first  release  from  Holland's  Salutary,
which is actually their demo on CD, plus four live tracks.  In  their
bio, Salutary falsely compare themselves to  many  great  bands  with
which they have nothing in common. That is not to say that they are a
bad band; they are just smiling upon themselves  perhaps  a  bit  too
much. _VH_ features primarily thrash, or what the band refers  to  as
"thrashcore", that is played well and successfully drew me in, but it
seemed as though I had heard  it  all  before.  Detritus'  _Perpetual
Defiance_ comes to mind frequently during a listen.  The  vocals  are
shouted/sung, and for a  short  time  in  "Hysterical  Manifestation"
backed by growls. The live tracks, two of which are also part of  the
four studio tracks, actually have good production,  but  the  guitars
are noticeably out of tune. The professional layout helps the overall
package, and I  will  keep  an  eye  on  these  guys,  as  they  have
reportedly gotten heavier.

Contact: The Corner Company, P.O. Box 1039, NL-2410 CA Bodegraven,
         The Netherlands
         mailto:Arjan.Nihot@tip.NL


Shango - _Metal Mafia_  (Back Room, 1998)
by: Alex Cantwell  (0 out of 10)

This is a joke, right? According to all the literature they sent  me,
Shango is the best thing since freakin' sliced bread.  Not  so,  says
me. If there is one thing I still respect about Metallica, it's  that
in their tour programs for the "black album" tour, they  printed  all
of their bad reviews, which I thought was  not  only  hilarious,  but
also proving that they had some humility. Then here comes  some  band
called Shango (heavy name, huh?) sending  me  all  of  these  reviews
about how they will be the next big thing, and that  their  music  is
just really great. Nice propaganda, boys. In summary,  _Metal  Mafia_
is terribly generic, lame "metal", and, in my opinion, is  the  worst
thing I've heard in 1998. Shango is a garage band that  should  never
have had the privilege of recording a CD.

Contact: Metal Mafia USA, 1330 54th St., Brooklyn, NY 11219
         mailto:MetalMafia@aol.com


Sinister - _Aggressive Measures_  (Nuclear Blast, December 1998)
by: Paul Schwarz  (7 out of 10)

Sinister use a formula similar to the one used by Malevolent Creation
on 1992's _Retribution_ to construct this latest offering  of  brutal
death metal. The sinister (pardon the pun) intro  is  followed  by  a
relentless volley of pummelling, percussive riffs,  vocal  lines  and
drum thwacks. Sinister are no  match  for  the  likes  of  Malevolent
Creation in the consistency department;  they  pen  some  good  riffs
("Beyond the Superstition" highlights this fact), but they also  fall
prey to many a boring guitar line (the  title  track,  "Emerged  With
Hate") and the one-facedness of the vocals does little to  help.  The
rhythm section is more than competent but does little  creatively  to
assist the overall effect, or lack thereof. Sinister have done better
than this, as have many greater bands, but  there  is  still  a  mean
streak and a number of good riffs present which  place  Sinister  far
above the mass of mediocrity which dwells at the bottom of the  death
metal scene's collective barrel.


Soil - _El Chupacabra!_  (MIA Records, January 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

I know there has been some talk amongst some of my metal friends  and
esteemed music critic colleagues that they  really  didn't  dig  this
music too much, found something wrong with what Soil was  doing  with
this five-song EP or what have you. But I gotta be  honest  with  you
kids, this is the shit! Busting  out  with  the  incredibly  reckless
"F-Hole" and continuing on with the ultra-heavy "Broken Wings",  Soil
have done nothing wrong here. It's all good shit. While the EP  tones
down the aggression towards its middle half, offering another look at
the band's musical ability, the band ends in  style  with  a  thrashy
rock 'n' groove ditty called "Two Cent Friend". A great offering  and
a band I'm definitely marking down  as  one  to  watch  for  as  1999
unfolds.


Suicide Culture - _Suicide Culture_  (<Independent>, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

The band's demo from last year, a three-song sample of  what  was  to
come, was a good mix of Slayer-like riffs, intense vocals and a  real
solid groove. The full-length LP showcases just where  the  band  was
headed with the demo material. From start to finish, the material off
Suicide Culture's debut disc kicks you  in  the  teeth,  leaving  you
bloody and scarred as they tread all over you and even kick you  when
you are down. Brutish momentum helps make this metal charge  electric
over and over again. Good marks also go out to the band's solid  song
writing.  Choice  cuts:  "Mothercursedearth"  (off  their  demo)  and
"Puncture". A worthy thrash metal band to give into.

Contact: P.O. Box 807566 Seattle, WA USA 98107


Tefilla - _Grievous Anguish_  (Fear Dark, 1998)
by: Alex Cantwell  (8 out of 10)

Tefilla  are  quickly  becoming  known  in  their  homeland  of   The
Netherlands and beyond as a rising force in metal. I was very shocked
upon my first listen of _Grievous Anguish_ as to how high quality  it
was in musical as well as production  value.  I  always  get  excited
about hearing new bands, and this  is  a  band  that  I  will  remain
excited about for some  time  to  come.  Tefilla's  guitar  sound  is
remarkably close to fellow countrymen Decision D's, a  feat  which  I
thought impossible, since it  is  such  an  original  sound.  Another
comparison must be made to Decision D, and that is the  abundant  use
of bizarro-world chords that make  for  some  interesting  songs  for
sure, especially when the moodier parts roll in. It is  good  when  a
band can lay technical music, but make it accessible and memorable to
the listener, which this release accomplishes; no problem. This  band
should have a good future ahead of them,  as  they  play  emotionally
fueled, technically proficient metal that will  appeal  to  the  hard
metal fan, as well as the hardcore fan.

Contact: Fear Dark, Chopinlaan 30, 2742 BJ Waddinxveen,
         The Netherlands
         mailto:feardark@hotmail.com


Temple - _Bloodletting_  (<Independent>, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

Another one  man  outfit  (see  The  Protagonist  review)  and  I  am
wondering, as Ned Flanders on The Simpsons  might  say,  "What's  the
dealio?" I am all for one man outfits, there just seems to be a large
abundance of them out there nowadays. Do bands even exist anymore?  I
guess with computer /  studio  equipment  becoming  more  affordable,
almost anyone can do this. But few can pull it off,  right?  Case  in
point, the latest offering _Bloodletting_  from  Austin,  Texas-based
Temple. Produced, recorded and written entirely  by  metal  head  Dan
Temple, his solo outfit is basking in  strong  songwriting  and  some
very intricate arrangements. Throw in a killer,  off  centered  death
metal rasp vocal style and you've got the goods on Temple. The key to
the success of this solo project is Temple's knack for keeping things
tight  and  in-yer-face,  something  quite  easy  with  Temple's  jaw
dropping thrash/speed  metal  flare,  touched  up  tightly  by  death
metal-esque arrangements. It's not about wanking off and showing what
he can do, but about having the balls to keep people going  from  the
get go. I'm  all  for  artists  like  Temple  that  need  to  express
themselves with their music but don't come off all  pretentious.  All
guts 'n' glory here. Check out "Before You Die", "Murder in the Black
Hall" and "The Followers". Dan Temple should be proud of his work.


The Protagonist - _A Rebours_  (Cold Meat Industry, January 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

With a definite knack for themes based on tragedy and the passions of
sombreness comes the eloquent ways of  The  Protagonist,  a  one  man
outfit  that  shines  ultra-bright  in   the   creative   department.
Well-orchestrated arrangements, mixed with enchanting violin work and
rumbles of  drumming,  echo  throughout  this  release,  drawing  the
listener further in as each arrangement is played. This  is  powerful
music   to   explore,   though   music   that   only   the   die-hard
ambient/orchestral music fans would pick  up  on.  I  can't  see  the
classic death metal fan really getting into this, though  many  metal
heads out there do have a wide spectrum of metal music.  Some  do  --
not all. Anyway, The Protagonist glides with  eloquence  through  its
eight tracks, never really slowing down. Reading like an epic  motion
picture  soundtrack,  _A  Rebours_  is  packed  to  the   hilt   with
brilliance, just waiting for the many who give it a spin to fall head
first into the emotions displayed here.


The Rita - _Crusty Etruscans_  (Spite, 1998)
by: Gabriel Sanchez  (7 out of 10)

Canadian crunchy noise  master  Sam  McKinlay's  The  Rita  initially
impressed me with  their  track  on  the  Mother  Savage  compilation
_Underground Canada_ and this release proves to be no exception.  The
Rita outpours one massive assault of some of the crunchiest,  low-end
noise you are likely to ever hear. The sound  chooses  not  to  alter
itself or even fluctuate, but remains a steady stream  of  sub-woofer
rumbling harshness from start to finish. While no one  can  certainly
call The Rita the most dynamic noise artist out  there,  one  has  to
respect their desire to stay unyieldingly harsh. Despite the lack  of
broad accessibility, The Rita are certainly worth checking for  those
fans of other similar low-end noise artists such  as  Macronympha  or
fellow Canadian artists TADM and Knurl.

Contact: Spite, PO Box 51653,
         Kalamazoo, MI 49005, USA
         mailto:mononanie@aol.com


Thorazine - _C17H19CO2S1N_  (<Independent>, 1998)
by: Miika Kuusinen <mega@lut.fi>  (7 out of 10)

These six tracks on this advance tape are  taken  from  the  fourteen
song debut of Thorazine, a young band whose name will get bigger  for
sure. One could easily imagine that everything has been done  in  the
death metal genre, but bands like  Thorazine  are  expanding  it  and
taking it to whole new dimensions. The album topic deals with the end
of the world and the music fits the feeling more  than  well.  It  is
cold and rather technical, yet not in the Fear  Factory  vein,  where
industrial  and  dance  elements  are  mixed  with  the   aggression.
Thorazine are technical, they use two vocal styles and the songs  are
mainly mid-tempo with hypnotic drum patterns. They almost  remind  me
of VoiVod gone death metal around _Killing Technology_ or  _Dimension
Hatross_. Thorazine takes a lot from the listener as  it  isn't  easy
listening, due to complex song structures,  weird  rhythm  and  tempo
changes and songs that end abruptly. Bands like  Thorazine  and  Nile
are needed to stir up the bowels and  gore  of  the  otherwise  quite
stagnant death metal scene.

Contact: WWW: http://bbs.tdp.net/thorazine/
         mailto:matilda@tdp.net (Don)
         mailto:drifter@tdp.net (Shane)


Trail of Tears - _Disclosure in Red_  (DSFA Records, December 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

Despite Theatre of Tragedy's apparent departure from metal with their
mediocre _Aegis_, the number of new  bands  using  death  and  female
vocals as well as keyboards in  metal  has  been  remarkable  lately.
Trail of Tears are another Norwegian band who have chosen those basic
ingredients for their music and, similarly to what happens with  most
other new bands in the genre, tried to add just a little something of
their own -- in this case, mainly Helena  Iren  Michaelsen's  vocals,
which are more varied than  usual  (in  "The  Day  We  Drowned",  for
example), including some impressive operatic vox, which I feel should
have been used more often throughout the album. Trail of  Tears  also
use some -relatively- heavy and busy guitars and faster  parts,  and,
similar to their labelmates Within Temptation, their  music  can  get
quite "bombastic" at times. Although the second half of the album  is
overall inferior to the excellent first half  (enough  to  make  them
lose one mark), Trail of Tears' debut album still flows well  enough.
_Disclosure in  Red_  offers  plenty  of  musical  quality  and  well
achieved arrangements, even  some  traces  of  originality  here  and
there, and it can be very enjoyable.

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

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

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


Apocalyptic - _Apocalyptic_  (5-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (**---)

This demo contains death metal which  is  set  very  solidly  in  the
American template of the style. Cannibal Corpse, Deicide,  these  are
the bands which have most influenced Apocalyptic,  or  at  least  the
bands whose influence they have shown in their own recorded  material
the most. The riffs are generally  derivative,  although  a  somewhat
rolling drum style allows for the occasional break or fill to  be  of
some interest. The production isolates drums, vocals and guitars from
each other, leading to a disjointed feel. One bonus is the occasional
solo: some of these are not  just  standard  widdling-by-numbers  but
actually  have  had  some  thought  put  into   them.   The   vocals,
unfortunately, only enhance the  disjointed,  uninteresting  feel  by
being almost completely the same throughout the entire demo. There is
hope for Apocalyptic, but they have a long way to go  and  a  lot  of
catching up to do.

Contact: Penas, c/o Errebalbur No. 6 3o c,
         Ermua (Bizkaia), C.P. 48260, Spain


Bill the Death Metal Cowboy - _Rustling Up Some Metal_
by: Adrian Bromley  (*****)  (Scratch Bladder Productions)

It's always a pleasure to hear new material from Bill Sannwald.  It's
been a while since any of the  material  he  has  sent  me  has  been
reviewed in Chronicles of Chaos.  Well  people,  it's  time  to  give
praise to his detailed and hard work once again. While I got two demo
tapes in the mail (his black metal outfit Meth will  be  reviewed  in
the next issue), I opted to review _RUSM_ only  'cause  of  its  very
eerie sense of musical madness. And for  the  fact  that  it  is  his
-BEST- work to date. While _RUSM_ is pretty much in the same vein  as
a lot of Sannwald's projects (meaning the  absurd  oddness  like  his
Amish Mafia project), _RUSM_ is truly a gripping  and  totally  weird
outing. I love it! There is the powerful  aggression  of  the  guitar
tones, run amuck by some serious DJ scratching, sinister vocals and a
total off-the-wall amount of sound clips. Fuck! I even hear  rapping.
It's mayhem and Sannwald (the crafty lil' fuck that he  is)  wouldn't
want it any other way. You truly have to give this a spin to see  how
Sannwald's  wheels  of  creativity  continue  to  move   forward   in
blistering fashion. Sannwald, take a bow. Is there anyone  out  there
that is so dedicated to making music? I think not. Cheers!

Contact: 3538 Paseo Salamoner, La Mesa, CA 91941, USA
         mailto:Keirka@hotmail.com


Crucifer - _III_  (4-track demo)
by: Miika Kuusinen <mega@lut.fi>  (**---)

Judging the band by their name, I was expecting to get  vicious  '80s
dirty thrash, but boy was I  wrong.  Apparently  this  is  Crucifer's
third demo, so we aren't exactly talking about a new band here. After
listening to a couple of songs, the band's style has been defined  as
something like a mixture between  hard  and  street  rock  with  some
influences from '80s thrash. The melodies  and  song  structures  are
hard rock-like, yet  the  guitar  work  owes  quite  a  lot  to  '80s
speed/thrash. Riffs aren't catchy, yet they  manage  to  sound  quite
mean and dirty. The whole concept is rather interesting and original,
but unfortunately the result  seriously  lacks  attitude  and  power,
which are essential for music like this. The production is clear  and
clean, but perhaps partly because of this the "kick ass" feeling  and
atmosphere is never there. Clean and a bit amateurish vocals  do  fit
the music, but like the rest of the music,  they  do  not  manage  to
boost up the aggression and energy level. Overall, the  music  leaves
you desiring something more and tastes as refreshing as tepid water.

Contact: Crucifer c/o Anders Custafson, Glasmastarv. 7
         S-12553 Alvsjo, Stockholm, Sweden
         mailto:crucifer3@hotmail.com


Sirius - _... The Eclipse_  (4-track demo)
by: Nuno Almeida <messiah@pulhas.org>  (*****)

Let me start this review by saying that this release  blew  me  away!
It's very hard to find a new band achieving this kind of  quality  in
such a short amount of time. _...  The  Eclipse_  is  Sirius'  second
release, after an instrumental promo version of "Fiery Strife at  the
Cosmic Gates of Armageddon", released  a  few  months  ago.  Although
clearly  influenced  by  the  likes  of  early  Emperor,  Setherial's
_Nord..._ and Limbonic Art, Sirius don't follow the copycat  approach
that is so common nowadays. Instead, they picked the  best  parts  of
Emperor's and Setherial's frozen landscapes, Limbonic Art's  majestic
symphonies, injected them with their own style and created  the  best
demo I've listened to in years! The music is very fast and very tight
most of the time,  with  agonizing  high-pitched  screams  from  Lord
Gornoth, interluded with slower acoustic guitar  and  clean/whispered
vocals. Keyboards play a major role in Sirius'  music,  as  beautiful
orchestrations and melodies flow throughout the  entire  demo.  After
"Fiery Strife..." and "Out of the Serpent  Line"  comes  a  beautiful
instrumental synth piece, "The  Quest  for  Dreamfore  Essence",  and
"Unveiled the Path of Algol,  the  Riddles  Beyond  the  Stars",  the
demo's best track, in my opinion. The production is  the  only  flaw,
but it's quite  acceptable  for  a  demo.  Having  been  released  by
Andromeda Creations, who already carry Angrenost under their wing, is
almost enough proof of Sirius' quality. Killer release!

Contact: Carl Draconiis, Quinta das Flores, Lt 12, 6C,
         2670 Sto. Antonio Cavaleiros, Portugal
         mailto:Draconiis@geocities.com
Contact: Andromeda Creations, PO Box 366, 2775 Carcavelos, Portugal
         Phone/fax: 351 1 4562292
         maito:kosmosis@mail.telepac.pt

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     \ \ \/_/_  / __`\ /' _ `\  /'___\ /'__`\/\`'__\ \ \/  /',__\
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            L I K E   F A T H E R S ,   L I K E   S O N S
            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
          Black Sabbath, Pantera, Megadeth, Slayer, Soulfly
    At Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona on December 31, 1998
                            by: Jody Webb

     I am outside, in line and buying  my  ticket,  when  the  tribal
chant starts, tipping off everyone outside that Soulfly is taking the
stage. Phoenix is Soulfly's base of operations, you might  say,  and,
as such, I could read the anxiety on some of  the  prisoners'  faces,
myself included. Actually, I  was  barely  containing  some  cursing,
because I was stuck behind this threesome of 40 year  old  Ozzy  fans
who were dicking around and making me miss Soulfly!
     The deciblage increased and, wasting no time  with  courtesy,  I
grabbed my ticket and rushed for the gates.  I  got  inside  and  was
knocking down slowpokes  and  pumping  my  fist  while  running  down
through the stands onto the grass to the  stage.  I  jump  in  a  big
swirly pit but I've never seen so many Soulfly fans.  The  sound  was
bad, the guitars were noise, but  I  didn't  care  much  because  the
atmosphere was balls out. Jump kick! About midway through their  set,
the tribe breaks out the drums and busts into a percussion  jam  with
some guy who looked suspiciously like Chino Moreno of Deftones.  Then
Marcello Rap breaks his bass, but like I said the sound was so bad  I
don't think anybody but the bass tech noticed. The quote of  the  set
was Max Cavalera's patented  "Fuck  hootie  and  the  blowfish!"  For
interested parties, here is the set: "Eye for an Eye", "No Hope =  No
Fear", "Bleed",  "Spit"  (Sepultura),  "Tribe",  "Bumba",  "Attitude"
(Sepultura), a medley ("Headup" (Deftones), "Territory"  (Sepultura),
"Cockroaches" (Nailbomb)) and "No".
     During the interlude I had a chance to survey the scene.  Crowds
didn't just fill the ballpark. They packed it. A seasoned  friend  of
mine on the event  staff  estimated  the  crowd  at  forty  thousand!
Accompanying the big crowd were big names in metal. Reported to be in
attendance were Rob Halford and Rob Zombie, as  well  as  members  of
Tool, Anthrax, Coal Chamber and others.
     The stage was on the field, about 1/3 of the way  out  from  the
center field wall, and facing home plate. Security  had  set  up  the
moat-style barrier that is common in big shows.  I  heard  there  was
supposed to be a marching band competition at the  stadium  the  next
day. Hah! Good luck with the grass.  The  stadium  dome  was  closed,
which made the already bad  acoustics  downright  cavernous.  The  PA
loudspeakers were not beefy enough. They were the right size  for  an
arena, but not a stadium. Between the stage and  the  sound  pavilion
things were loud enough, but way back at the seats just on  the  edge
of field, the show  was  kinda  quiet.  Well,  if  you  consider  100
decibels quiet. In other words, no need for plugs if you have to have
it LOUD, like me.
     Chants of "Slayer, Slayer" echoed through the joint and  finally
Tom Araya and company commanded the  stage.  At  first,  I  was  just
loitering far back from the action, waiting for  the  right  song  to
inspire. The sound is atrocious, worse than Soulfly, but the frenzied
fans indigenous to these habitats don't  seem  to  care.  Envision  a
violent European soccer riot. A friend observing the melee  from  one
of the sections above noted: "I counted twelve distinct pits  all  at
the same time!" By the third song, the engineers had improved the mix
from atrocious to not so fuckin' good, and somebody starts a fire  at
the center of my pit, burning off discarded cups, t-shirts and  hats.
Flames  dance  six  feet  into  the  air  and  atmosphere   is   pure
exhilaration.  Setlist:  "Bitter   Peace",   "Death's   Head",   "War
Ensemble", "Die by the Sword", "Stain of Mind",  "South  of  Heaven",
some song I didn't  know,  "Dead  Skin  Mask",  "Mandatory  Suicide",
another song I didn't know and "Angel of Death".
     Now the Megadeth fans started in  with  their  rally  calls  and
pressing forward to the barrier. For the first time in  the  evening,
the house lights drop. A loud cheer resounds. The PA blares  a  brief
symphony piece which the band has adopted. Dave Mustaine hammers  out
the first notes of "Holy Wars" and it's on. Even though I don't  like
Megadeth very much, I think the first two minutes of "Holy  Wars"  is
the baddest moment in metal. I get a neck workout  of  Schwarzenneger
proportions. Megadeth has a tendency to be shrill and scream  at  the
ears, and tonight was no exception for  the  first  couple  of  cuts.
Finally the guys behind the boards got  things  right.  Guitars  were
crunching, drums were punching, and metal was in  full  force.  These
boys just don't draw the ferocity out of people like Slayer,  though,
and the crowd reflected the more civilized behaviour  that  I'm  sure
the stadium staff preferred. You know,  the  ones  that  don't  light
fires and shit. My chief complaint here was the  band's  tendency  to
engage in long masturbatory sessions with their  instruments.  Thanks
to the fans who helped me identify the songs  as  they  were  played.
Nobody knew what one of the songs was, but Mustaine at least gave  us
a clue: "This ain't no  Shania  Twain!"  Setlist:  "Holy  Wars",  "My
Darkest Hour", "Reckoning Day",  the  song  nobody  seemed  to  know,
"Hangar 18", "Secret Place", "Angry Again", "Sea Wolf",  "A  Tout  le
Monde", "Almost  Honest",  "Trust",  "Sweating  Bullets"  and  "Peace
Sells".
     Now some serious  stuff  was  afoot.  Roadies  hoisted  a  large
Pantera banner boasting "Hell Patrol". A country song was played over
the PA, no doubt a taunt ordered by Phil Anselmo himself. At last the
terror from Texas took the stage and blitzkrieged the place with  the
pulverizing "Domination", an excellent choice for opener. Though  I'm
not much of a Pantera fan,  the  spirit  of  metal  possessed  me.  I
slammed full steam into the nearest 250 pound mosher and blasted  'em
backwards. Then somebody steps on the heel of my  shoe,  I  raise  my
leg, and my goddamn Nike vanishes into thin air! After a brief search
in a state of confusion, I give up. Argh! Fucking livid, I skulk into
the stands and plop into a bleacher seat. I wanted to just go home. I
mean, some people may be saying "So what, you lost a shoe, why  would
that stop you from having fun?" Bah. They need to walk a mile  in  my
shoes, haha. Losing my shoe at  this  show  was  like  being  at  the
biggest drinking convention of the decade and then losing your  mouth
or something. You can't mosh. You get scared about stepping on  sharp
objects. You can't take a leak unless you like the sweaty urinal stew
on the ground in the john.
     But allow me to show my professionalism by  changing  the  topic
from my woes back to the show in progress. Logan Madder from  Soulfly
did a cameo vocal on "Walk", then Scott Ian from  Anthrax  and  Kerry
King from Slayer appeared to help  bang  out  "Fucking  Hostile"  and
"This Love". Anselmo revealed plans to release an album  in  '99  and
offered up an excellent line at the end of the set: "It's new year's,
everybody eat pussy until your jaw breaks." Set:  "Domination",  "New
Level", "Walk", "Becoming", "Use My Third Arm", "War Nerve", "Fucking
Hostile", "This Love", "Cowboys From Hell" and "Mouth for War".
     In the interlude, several strangers remarked: "Dude, I  think  I
saw your  shoe.  It  got  chucked."  Thanks  for  the  pointers,  you
fucksauce gobblers! While I contemplated my next move, I realized  an
event of major gravity was about to occur. I pressed myself into  the
crowd, heading for the barrier,  recruiting  an  army  of  teens  and
twentysomethings,  while  the  old  timers  in  the  crowd  protested
vehemently. Above the stage, a  video  screen  sprang  to  life  with
photos and film of Sabbath in the '70s, while  sound  bits  from  the
first eight studio albums played over the PA.  Then  "Supertzar"  was
played from CD over the PA, light effects began to weave  magic  into
the air, and poof, BLACK  SABBATH.  The  eerie  beginning  of  "After
Forever"  cranked  out  at  full  amplification,  the  most  brutally
crushing push pit ever commenced, and I was in the  thick  of  things
with my silly one-shoed self. After being trapped in an  unimaginably
dense sea of people for the opener, I crowd-surfed to a safe distance
to witness the madness.
     The sound  was  right  on  and  the  effect  amazing.  Unearthly
heaviness had been achieved. Johnny Osbourne was up there  conducting
the crowd with his customary "Let me see your hands! You  are  number
one!" Thankfully I wasn't looking when he mooned the audience! Butler
and Iommi botched a few parts  and  it  was  pretty  funny  to  watch
Osbourne trying to get Iommi to laugh whenever  he  messed  up.  Bill
Ward pounded out a rockin' rhythm or three  and  seemed  to  actually
have learned some new tricks, sporting a double kick attack on a song
or two, not to mention the catchy solo he knocked out.  I  tell  you,
that guy has as much to do with the Sabbath groove  as  anyone.  Just
look at all the rappers over the years  that  have  stolen  his  many
tremendous beats.
     The boys kind of missed the point of the show and  played  right
on through the stroke of midnight, not skipping a beat. As they  were
closing with "Paranoid", I noticed a draft but  could  not  find  the
source until I looked up and saw the stadium  dome  parting.  Then  a
fireworks display went off right inside  the  building,  creating  so
much smoke I couldn't see more than fifteen feet.  Sabbath  left  the
stage, the house lights stayed off, the  song  "Changes"  was  played
over the PA, and I experienced 36 hours of  mild  tinnitus.  Setlist:
"After Forever", "Into the Void", "Snowblind", "War Pigs", bass solo,
"NIB", "Faires Wear Boots", "Killing  Yourself  to  Live",  "Electric
Funeral", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath",  "Lord  of  This  World",  "Black
Sabbath",  a  medley  ("Sweatleef",  "Symptom   of   the   Universe",
"Supernaut"), drum solo, "Iron Man",  "Children  of  the  Grave"  and
"Paranoid".

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

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

Gino's Top 5

1. Black Sabbath - _The Ozzy Osbourne Years_ 3-disc compilation
2. Bethlehem - _Sardomischer Untergang un Zeichen irreligioser
                Darbietung_
3. Absu - _In The Eyes of Ioldanach_
4. Pitchshifter - _Desensitized_
5. Sheavy - _The Electric Sleep_

Adrian's Top 5

1. Queens of the Stone Age - _Queens of the Stone Age_
2. Tchort - _The Heavens Are Showing the Glory of Tchort_
3. Zeke - _Zeke_
4. Faith No More - _King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime_
5. The Gathering - _How to Measure a Planet?_

Brian's Top 5

1. Gorguts - _Obscura_
2. Power of Omens - _Eyes of the Oracle_
3. Droys - _And if..._
4. Nomicon - _Yellow_
5. Oxiplegatz - _Fairytales_

Alain's Top 5

1. Zimmer's Hole - _Bound by Fire_
2. Oppressor - _Elements of Corrosion_
3. Devin Townsend - _Infinity_
4. Ocean Machine - _Biomech_
5. Jerry Cantrell - _Boggy Depot_

Adam's Top 5

1. My Dying Bride - _34.788%... Complete_
2. Bathory - _Jubileum Volume III_
3. Katatonia - _Discouraged Ones_
4. Defecation - _Purity Dilution_
5. War - _Total War_

Pedro's Top 5

1. Anathema - _The Silent Enigma_
2. The Elysian Fields - _We... the Enlightened_
3. Enslaved - _Blodhemn_
4. In the Woods... - _HEart of the Ages_
5. Carcass - _Heartwork_

[In Ruins' _Four Seasons of Grey_ incorrectly appeared in 9th place in
my top 10 of 1998 (CoC #36). In Battle's _The Rage of the Northmen_
should have been there instead. Due to a mistake of my own,
Sculpture's _Like a Dead Flower_ was left out (I thought it was a 1997
release). It should have been ranked at number 6. -- Pedro]

Paul's Top 5

1. Cynic - _Focus_
2. Exit-13 - _Smoking Songs_
3. A Canorous Quintet - _The Only Pure Hate_
4. Manowar - _Hail to England_
5. Spinal Tap - _Spinal Tap Soundtrack_

Aaron's Top 5

1. A Canorous Quintet - _The Only Pure Hate_
2. Ancient Wisdom - _The Calling_
3. Epoch of Unlight - _What Will Be Has Been_
4. Ablaze My Sorrow - _The Plague_
5. Ripping Corpse - _Dreaming With the Dead_

David's Top 5

1. Amon Amarth - _Once Sent From the Golden Hall_
2. Rhapsody - _Symphony of Enchanted Lands_
3. Nokturnal Mortum - _Goat Horns_
4. Grip Inc. - _Solidify_
5. Running Wild - _Masquerade_

Gabriel's Top 5

1. Bob Marinelli / Facialmess - _Split_
2. Various - _WWF - The Music Vol. 3_
3. One Dark Eye / Macronympha - _Split_
4. New Order - _The Rest of New Order_
5. Humectant Interruption - _Internal Feedback_

Alex's Top 5

1. Extol -_Burial_
2. Deuteronomium - _Street Corner Queen_
3. Galactic Cowboys -_At the End of the Day_
4. Katatonia -_Discouraged Ones_
5. Tefilla -_Grievous Anguish_

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


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

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may subscribe to Chronicles of Chaos at any  time  by  sending  a
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must NOT be sent to the list address <coc-ezine@lists.colorado.edu>.

AUTOMATIC FILESERVER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All back issues and various other CoC related files are available for
automatic retrieval through our e-mail fileserver. All you have to do
is  send  a  message  to  us  at   <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>.   The
'Subject:' field of your message must read: "send file X"  where  'X'
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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #37

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