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


         CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, June 7, 2004, Issue #74
                  http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com


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

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

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

Issue #74 Contents, 6/7/2004
----------------------------
* Chats
-- Death Angel: From Death Into New Life
-- Insomnium: Sunday Morning Hangover Blues
-- Heaven Shall Burn: Not a Marduk Cover Band
* Albums
-- Agathodaimon - _Serpent's Embrace_
-- Dark Lunacy - _Forget-Me-Not_
-- Death Angel - _The Art of Dying_
-- Falkenbach - _Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty_
-- Gnostic - _Evoking the Demon_
-- Golem - _Dreamweaver_
-- Green Carnation - _A Blessing in Disguise_
-- Loits - _Legion Estland_
-- Loits - _Raiugem Ruunideks_
-- Lupercalia - _Florilegium_
-- Malevolent Creation - _Warkult_
-- Metalium - _As One - Chapter Four_
-- Must Missa - _Ma Ei Talu Valgust_
-- Necare - _Ruin_
-- Nortt - _Gudsforladt_
-- Orphaned Land - _Mabool - The Story of the Three Sons of Seven_
-- Psycroptic - _The Scepter of the Ancients_
-- Sabbat - _Sabbatical Holocaust (Five Massacre Demonslaughts)_
-- Skyforger - _Thunderforge (Perkonkalve)_
-- Suffocation - _Souls to Deny_
-- The Eternal - _The Sombre Light of Isolation_
-- The Great Deceiver - _Terra Incognito_
-- Therion - _Lemuria / Sirius B_
-- Ulver - _A Quick Fix of Melancholy_
-- Vehemence - _Helping the World to See_
-- Watch Them Die - _Watch Them Die_
-- Witches Sabbath - _New World Plague_
-- Withering - _Gospel of Madness_
-- Woodtemple - _The Call From the Pagan Woods_
* Demos
-- Behold the Arctopus - _Arctopocalypse Now... Warmageddon Later_
-- Born of Thorns - _New Horizon_
-- Cerberus - _Untitled Demo_
-- Darcane - _Anamorphica_
-- Gezeiten - _Demo CD 2003_
-- Mül - _Litany Circus_
-- Nocta - _Come Out (Wherever You Are)_
-- Philistine - _Consume and Devour_
-- Scala Mercalli - _My Daemons_
-- Sinn - _The Rune of Odin_
* Gigs
-- All Murder, All Guts, All Fun
* What We Have Cranked

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

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

           F R O M   D E A T H   I N T O   N E W   L I F E
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              CoC chats to Rob Cavestany of Death Angel
                           by: Jackie Smit


They say the more things change, the more they stay  the  same  --  a 
proverb that's proving  to  be  more  applicable  than  ever  in  the 
noughties. Case in point: when San Francisco's Death  Angel  released 
their last album fourteen years ago, the world watched as George Bush 
Sr. waged war in Iraq, while Israel and Palestine  were  engulfed  in 
similar conflict. Fast forward to our present point  in  time  and... 
well, 'nuff said really. Luckily the proverb doesn't  only  apply  to 
headline-grabbing world events though, and while  the  world  remains 
(for lack of a better term) fucked, it just  so  happens  that  Death 
Angel have returned from purgatory to unleash _The Art of Dying_ -- a 
record that quite easily  tops  any  of  the  band's  previous  three 
releases and is most likely going to be in the upper ranks of many  a 
metalhead's favorite albums of 2004.                                  

A Death Angel reunion wasn't always on the cards though.  Indeed,  if 
it weren't for a certain friend falling on hard times and  needing  a 
favor, another Death Angel record would most likely never  have  seen 
the light of day. Guitarist Rob Cavestany explains  his  apprehension 
at reforming the band:                                                

Rob Cavestany: To me it was just the hugest can of worms to  open  up 
               and however the band had ended back in the day, it had 
               been so long already that by looking  back  on  it  we 
               were just going over things that were really  terrible 
               when they  happened,  but  that  we  had  gotten  over 
               already. Also, everything we had  done  up  until  the 
               time we broke up had been, in our  minds  and  in  the 
               minds of a lot of people, of the highest quality and I 
               didn't want to ruin that.                              

CoC: Let's talk first of all about what got the  band  together.  The 
     Chuck Billy benefit was the first show that you played after the 
     break-up; what precipitated the  band's  participation  in  that 
     event?                                                           

RC: Our band Swarm was together at the time -- a band that  consisted 
    of me, Mark, Andy and a friend of ours named Mike Isaiah on  bass 
    -- and we were touring the States opening for Jerry Cantrell.  We 
    were asked to do the show, and I was not into it -- I was into it 
    for Chuck, but not into it to reform Death Angel for  any  reason 
    whatsoever, and I was just kind of like: "Unfortunately  I  don't 
    think we should do it, the band's broken up". Well, Chuck gets me 
    on the phone himself at this point and I just couldn't say no  to 
    Chuck -- he's an old bro from back in the day, he's got cancer -- 
    and I was just like: "Man, we've got to do this for  Chuck  then, 
    but how are we going to do it?" The  show  was  like  three  days 
    after we would come home off the tour and we hadn't rehearsed  or 
    played together for thirteen  years,  so  everyone  just  started 
    doing their homework. We decided to go for it on this  one  show, 
    and have a blast. We picked out the songs that we were  going  to 
    do, and then me and A ndy started  going  through  the  songs  at 
    sound check before the  Cantrell  shows.  I  would  sit  with  my 
    walkman when I had the  chance,  playing  the  songs,  trying  to 
    relearn them. We got home, rehearsed two times as a full band and 
    then did the show, and we were like: "Man, how is this  going  to 
    turn out -- we've had no preparation" -- and there you  have  it. 
    We did the show, and as soon as we hit the  stage,  it's  like  a 
    dream-state  came  on  and  we  were  transported  back  in  time 
    and everything just came  back  all  at  once  and  it  was  just 
    unbelievable. The show has been filmed, so it's around -- but  it 
    was just unbelievable.                                            

CoC: So one of the main reasons you were afraid to  reform  the  band 
     was the danger of somehow tainting the Death Angel legacy?            

RC: Exactly. You know, most people try to come  back  and  a  lot  of 
    people, including myself, always end up thinking:  "Why  did  you 
    guys do that -- you've just ruined everything." And  now  it  was 
    thirteen years later, we had grown apart and we were just not  in 
    the same headspace anymore. Plus I knew that it would be  a  huge 
    amount of work to get it to the level that it needed to  be,  and 
    if we wanted to do this, we would  have  to  'marry'  each  other 
    again and get down to some hard work, with the possibility of  no 
    pay- off. After the band broke up we had definitely grown  apart, 
    but we had all become good friends  again  and  our  relationship 
    wasn't based on Death Angel anymore. So, I just didn't  think  it 
    was going to be a good idea. Once we got on  that  stage  though, 
    and it felt the way it felt and the crowd responded the way  they 
    did, it was just unbelievable and it completely changed the way I 
    felt. At that point, I guess it felt worth it to take the chance. 

CoC: Walk  me  through  your  thought-process  as  you  guys  started 
     rehearsing again and as you started  playing  your  first  shows 
     after all those years apart.                                     

RC: It was bizarre. I think we all just sat there cracking up all the 
    time, because of some weird feeling -- it was like dating someone 
    you used to go out with in high school all  over  again.  At  the 
    same time, there was this unbelievable chemistry going on  again, 
    and at first I tried to deny it because I didn't want to get  too 
    excited and end up feeling let down if everyone wasn't  going  to 
    be into it as much.                                               

CoC: Do you think that everyone in the band shared  your  feeling  in 
     the beginning? When you played the benefit show for example, did 
     you all come off stage with the idea that Death Angel  had  been 
     reborn?                                                          

RC: No, we didn't decide on it that fast. We just all came  off-stage 
    and we were just looking at each other in disbelief and  we  were 
    hugging each other and just tripping out  --  we  definitely  all 
    felt it in the same way. I also think that everyone had it in the 
    back of their minds that maybe that wasn't going to be  the  last 
    time we played. But also that night  we  were  seeing  all  these 
    people from the old scene united --  Exodus  played  with  [Paul] 
    Balloff again -- all these guys were there that  night;  all  the 
    old-school friends and fans just transported us to how it used to 
    be back in the day in the Bay Area  when  things  were  at  their 
    peak.                                                             

CoC: Aside from Mark leaving the band, and Andy's  accident  --  what 
     were the key factors that led to Death  Angel  breaking  up  the 
     first time?                                                      

RC: Well, after the accident, we heard that Andy was going to be laid 
    up and that he wasn't going to be able  to  be  back  behind  the 
    drums for at least a year, and that obviously put  a  wrinkle  on 
    things. Our label at  the  time  [Geffen]  was  heartlessly  just 
    telling us to immediately get another drummer and get right  back 
    on it, and we were just in massive shock. I mean, our brother had 
    nearly just been killed and was massively  injured,  so  we  were 
    like: "We're not getting another drummer!  This  is  the  drummer 
    that we started the band with -- he's Andy on the drums!" And  so 
    at that, they dropped us from the label. Also, our manager at the 
    time was trying to manipulate us into getting back into things -- 
    he wasn't as down for the cause as we were, which was  causing  a 
    negative situation, and so by that point Mark just said  that  he 
    had had enough and he quit the band and he  moved  to  New  York. 
    When that happened, I was just like: "Without  Mark,  this  isn't 
    Death Angel, so that's it." We weren't going to  try  to  replace 
    him and with all  that  stuff  happening  we  were  just  totally 
    disgusted at how things had turned out and we felt that this  was 
    a sign that the band was not going to go on.                      

CoC: Considering how young you all were when this was happening,  and 
     that Death Angel formed part of your adolescence in  many  ways, 
     do you think that made the break-up even harder on you?          

RC: Oh, yeah... This was not just a band for us. I  mean,  literally, 
    we're family -- we're related by blood;  we're  all  cousins  and 
    we've been close since we  were  little  kids,  playing  at  each 
    other's birthday parties, and so everything was  always  just  so 
    intense for us. Life for us just revolved around Death Angel.  We 
    missed out on a lot of things that other people  did  because  we 
    were always on tour and we  were  always  busy,  and  we  started 
    disconnecting with a lot of our other friends. We weren't  really 
    independent yet, but we were forced to  be  and  leave  everybody 
    behind, which put a lot pressure on us at a very  young  age.  We 
    were handling it somehow, but in  retrospect...  You  never  know 
    what would have happened, but we're definitely more in control of 
    ourselves and of our destinies and to know what's  happening  and 
    understand the whole big picture of it all.  Back  when  we  were 
    starting out -- all we were  concerned  about  was  just  jamming 
    and having fun.  And  that  was  a  great  period  of  time:  all 
    the innocence and  all  the  naivety,  you  can  never  get  that 
    back. We weren't paying attention to what  was  happening  to  us 
    business-wise and we weren't really concerned about  our  future. 
    We were just concerned with the day-to-day activities  of  having 
    fun and just being fools. When I look at it now and try to put it 
    into a positive light, I do know that it could  not  have  lasted 
    the way it was up until now, because something would have changed 
    -- something would have happened. There's no way that we would be 
    able to be back together and just so into it the way we are  now. 
    We never stopped playing music; we played in a lot of other bands 
    and these were all stepping stones to where we are  now.  I  just 
    try and look at everything as happening for a reason, which makes 
    me comfortable with how things turned  out.  I  just  think  that 
    there's a reason and you don't always know the  reason  and  what 
    you can learn from the experience you need to use to your benefit 
    in whatever you'r e doing at the moment.                          

CoC: Okay,  so  the  Death  Angel  reunion   becomes   a    permanent 
     arrangement; why sign to Nuclear Blast?                               

RC: It was a beautiful pairing with us and Nuclear Blast.  They  were 
    there from the start when we started playing again, showing their 
    support, telling us how into it they were. And  we  got  to  know 
    them and know the label and we saw how totally into it they were, 
    and how they're fans of the band -- they're fans of music and  of 
    metal. I mean, we've never worked with a label like  that;  you'd 
    be hard-pressed to get a phone call or have someone  answer  your 
    calls at some labels. But with Nuclear Blast  --  they're  a  big 
    metal label, they're really into the band and that's huge for  us 
    -- the support they show us really means  a  lot.  I  mean,  they 
    signed us without having heard any of the new stuff that  we  had 
    done; they were into us from the start and they respected us.     

CoC: How many albums have Nuclear Blast signed you for?

RC: Four.

CoC: Given that Death Angel was out of commission  for  such  a  long 
     time, does it sometimes feel to you as though you're  in  a  new 
     band, or has it always just been a case of 'business as usual'?  

RC: A bit of both. At the same time actually,  the  good  aspects  of 
    both is what's happening. The fresh aspects and the  'new'  of  a 
    new band is there -- we're not sick of stuff.  I  mean,  after  a 
    while -- I hope that we retain the freshness -- but sure  enough, 
    time passes and when we got to the end of touring for _Act 3_, we 
    had just been going at it non-stop  for  so  long  that  we  were 
    sitting on the road just wishing we could be someplace else.  But 
    the experiences and the things that we've gone through,  combined 
    with the break we've had from each other and from the whole scene 
    -- nowadays we tap into that  and  we've  learned  to  appreciate 
    things and to take things as a blessing. We  constantly  talk  to 
    each other about it and keep each other grounded  and  just  stay 
    really thankful for the opportunity that we've been given and for 
    the position that we have been put in. We're just really thankful 
    that this is happening and we know how rare of a thing this is.   

CoC: When you started writing music for _The Art of Dying_,  did  you 
     initially find it difficult to come up with  material  that  you 
     could rightfully call Death Angel songs?                         

RC: No, it only took a little ice-breaking. It was actually a  little 
    bizarre, because we were all wondering like what the new material 
    was going to sound like.                                          

CoC: You had been involved in  projects  like  The  Organization  and 
     Swarm, which were obviously vastly different from what you  were 
     doing in Death Angel...                                          

RC: Absolutely, and that was done on purpose too.  When  we  did  The 
    Organization and Swarm, we were trying to explore different types 
    of music; different types of jams that  we  hadn't  done  before. 
    Because we had done this intensely  fast  and  aggressive  thrash 
    metal for so long, we wanted to expand our musical horizons. When 
    it came down to writing for this album -- I  mainly  do  all  the 
    writing for the band and I realized that I  would  just  have  to 
    start writing riffs, so I kind of  started  writing  a  bunch  of 
    riffs and jamming on them with the band, and we sort  of  let  it 
    just hang loose before we put full songs together. So  that  went 
    on for a while -- weeding out different ideas and vibes here  and 
    there, and then we started getting into the groove and we started 
    writing songs. Some of first songs we wrote were  "Prophecy"  and 
    "Five Steps", and so then we had those and we had other parts for 
    other songs, which we weeded out and jammed on. The bulk  of  the 
    writing really came in December , after we had  done  a  tour  in 
    November and went back home and just really got into it.  Touring 
    actually helped a lot, because we  played  all  the  live  shows, 
    talked to fans and it really got us into this upbeat mood and all 
    of a sudden the juices started flowing, and by  the  end  of  it, 
    things just happened really quickly. Now I'm  really  excited  -- 
    I've already started working on the next album, and I want to put 
    out a lot of music in the next couple of years. I also know  that 
    we're not immortal and I know that we're not going to be as young 
    as this forever, so I want us to use our  time  wisely  and  just 
    deliver as much music as we can while we're  still  into  it  and 
    while everything's going well. I think we're  really  in  a  good 
    flow right now.                                                   

CoC: With Death Angel being back together now, I  take  it  that  the 
     side-projects have been laid to rest for the time being?              

RC: Yeah, there's just no room for them anymore.

CoC: You wouldn't even consider resurrecting them once  you've  eased 
     into a pattern with Death Angel?                                      

RC: Well, I'd say that the fact that Death Angel is back together now 
    proves the theory that anything can happen, because this  is  the 
    last band I ever thought would get back together.  It's  not  the 
    plan right now -- we're totally focused on  Death  Angel  --  but 
    there's no reason why we can't do it in the future. Personally  I 
    would love to do another Organization show; I loved doing  it,  I 
    love singing and I was very proud of those two albums. But  right 
    now, there's just no time for any of  that.  There's  also  stuff 
    beyond those albums -- beyond Death Angel, Swarm and Organization 
    -- a bunch of stuff; about thirty songs or so that are  basically 
    like acoustic kind of stuff that's a  whole  different  vibe.  If 
    there was time in the future, I would love to be able to put that 
    out and express that. Right now though, we're all  just  focusing 
    on this band, but as time permits we'll look into  stuff  outside 
    of Death Angel. I'd say there's other things to come, for sure.   

CoC: There have been a lot of changes in the metal genre since  Death 
     Angel bowed out. What's your take on bands  like  Lamb  of  God, 
     Chimaira and other bands that are regarded right  now  as  being 
     the future of this style of music?                               

RC: Well, quite honestly, I don't really listen to much of it at all, 
    so I couldn't really give you an honest interpretation of it. Now 
    that we're coming back to the scene, and especially now that I'll 
    probably be getting  a  lot  of  free  music  <laughs>,  I'll  be 
    checking out a lot of the stuff, but ever since we broke  up  the 
    whole thing just left a bitter taste in my mouth and I just  kind 
    of went into different types of music that satisfied me from that 
    time on. Usually the metal I listen to is older stuff --  my  old 
    favorites that really meant something to me. I'm  not  trying  to 
    say that one shouldn't be into the new stuff; it just so happened 
    that I didn't really keep a pulse on the scene. And  what  I  did 
    hear, quite honestly, I wasn't very impressed by -- I found it to 
    be not very original, and it just didn't hit me the way  the  old 
    stuff did. But I really couldn't give you an  honest  opinion  on 
    those bands and that music.                                       

CoC: In the same sense, what is your opinion on bands like  Metallica 
     and Anthrax who were your peers in this business when  you  were 
     starting out?                                                    

RC: I'm stoked that these bands are still bringing out albums. A  lot 
    of those guys are old friends of ours who we played with back  in 
    the day, and I'm pretty sure that in the coming months  we'll  be 
    playing a lot of shows  with  guys  like  Testament,  Exodus  and 
    Anthrax -- and hopefully all of them will  continue  to  put  out 
    some good quality stuff that the newer bands can be inspired  by. 
    As far as the last Metallica album, it's kind of hard for  me  to 
    comprehend, in a way. The production sounds odd to me, the choice 
    that they made to have no guitar solos is odd to me -- especially 
    since I  love  Kirk's  lead  playing  and  since  he  was  a  big 
    inspiration to me.                                                

CoC: Kirk did your first demo, if I remember correctly; are you still 
     in touch with him?                                                    

RC: Yeah. The last time I saw him, I didn't really feel  like  asking 
    him why he didn't do any solos on the album. I don't  know  --  I 
    figure they have their reasons for doing what they did. In  their 
    level of the game and in what they're doing, I don't really  want 
    to pass judgment on them. They're our friends and I  really  have 
    nothing but the utmost respect for them. Being  in  the  band,  I 
    know how hard it is to maintain and stay in a band for  all  that 
    time, and the fact that those guys  are  still  making  music  -- 
    sure, their new album is not _Master of  Puppets_  or  _Ride  the 
    Lightning_ by any means, but it's  heavy  music  and  these  guys 
    still play it and I respect them for being around as long as they 
    have been. In this business, there's pressure to live up  to  and 
    outdo yourself and do better than you did on the last album,  and 
    there's a lot of different factors  that  add  to  that.  Besides 
    that, they have a different kind of  pressure  on  them  when  it 
    comes to making music, which we don't have. We're  kind  of  more 
    free in our music and in what we can do, whereas  with  Metallica 
    there's just so many people involved in the  machine  it's  quite 
    frightening.                                                      

CoC: Say for example then that _The Art of Dying_ were  to  take  off 
     and Death Angel were to find themselves in  a  similar  sort  of 
     situation. Is that environment something you'd feel  comfortable 
     or even able to work in?                                         

RC: Their level is pretty heavy, man -- their level is pretty wild. I 
    don't even set my sights on something like that, because they are 
    just mega... mega... ultra-mega <laughs>. But I do hope  that  we 
    will be able to elevate ourselves to the point where we  will  be 
    able to make our living off of music, so that we can focus on and 
    continue to deliver good music and good shows and  be  a  driving 
    force in music. That's just my main  goal.  Seeing  Metallica  -- 
    that's just something that I manage to not even think about. I'll 
    deal with it if we ever got to that point, but  I  kind  of  like 
    playing small places and I think that when you get that  big,  it 
    kind of gets weird -- something gets lost. I guess if we ever got 
    that big, we'd just progress with it. But as for  them,  I  guess 
    they're just their own guys and I respect them  for  still  being 
    together and for still playing and touring heavy music. Their new 
    album is not my favorite Metallica album, but there you have it.  

CoC: Particularly when one sees you guys on stage, a lot of your more 
     eclectic musical influences come to the fore: jazz, blues  etc.. 
     Where does that all come from?                                   

RC: It has a lot  to  do  with  all  the  different  types  of  music 
    that everyone in this band  listens  to.  We  all  listen  to  an 
    unbelievable spectrum of music and naturally it incorporates into 
    what we play. We don't even plan it that way -- it just works out 
    naturally. In fact, we have to try to keep it from not going  too 
    far out, because if you let  it  run  free  all  those  different 
    styles just end up sounding crazy.                                

CoC: So once again for the record, Rob -- are Death  Angel  back  for 
     good?                                                                 

RC: Absolutely, as long as we can carry on and not sound  ridiculous. 
    But our long term goals definitely include trying to keep  it  up 
    for as long as we can. So far it's been great; this is not a one- 
    off. We want to progress this thing and see how far we  can  take 
    it.                                                               

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

      S U N D A Y   M O R N I N G   H A N G O V E R   B L U E S
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              CoC chats with Niilo Sevänen of Insomnium
                           by: Jackie Smit


Niilo Sevänen is admittedly not a man of many  words,  and  with  the 
effects of a particularly heavy Saturday night still weighing heavily 
on his ability to communicate, he politely apologises at the start of 
our discussion for sounding out of sorts. Where this  scenario  would 
normally be a colossal pain  in  the  arse  for  an  interviewer,  in 
Niilo's case, Insomnium's latest effort has pretty much said all that 
can be said already. _Since the Day It All Came Down_ is  the  latest 
release by this Finnish quartet, and to claim that it will blow  your 
hair back is one of the understatements of the  century.  A  dazzling 
and emotional journey through several spectrums of music, it  is  one 
of those rare recordings that make you thankful you're able to  hear. 
Yet, as effortlessly as scythes its way through  your  consciousness, 
it's an album that apparently very nearly didn't get made...          

Niilo Sevänen: A lot of unexpected things happened while we  were  in 
               the studio. First the computers didn't work, then  for 
               some reason a lot of the recording  equipment  stopped 
               functioning properly. After that had been sorted  out, 
               our guitars were going strangely out of tune on a sort 
               of sporadic random basis -- I don't know what we  did, 
               but  that  was  certainly  a  problem.  All  sorts  of 
               little things which were really frustrating just  kept 
               mounting up and hampering the recording of the  album, 
               which eventually ended up taking  several  weeks  over 
               what we had planned. There were some points  where  it 
               looked  like  the  album  would  be  delayed  or  even 
               scrapped or like we'd have to move to another  studio. 
               But in the end, we're really happy  with  the  result. 
               Now that I think of it, even the mastering had  to  be 
               done twice!                                            

CoC: How close did you come to scrapping the work that you had done?

NS: Very nearly, but we pushed through. For a while though none of us 
    could listen to any of the songs we had recorded because whenever 
    we did we would be reminded of all  the  hassles.  It  definitely 
    took some time before we could listen to the album at all.        

CoC: Did you ever get an explanation as to the cause of the  problem, 
     or does it remain a mysterious set of unfortunate coincidences?       

NS: There must  have  been  some  poltergeist  loose  in  the  place. 
    <laughs> All I know is that there was supposed to  be  a  lot  of 
    cool new equipment to help us record the album  and  none  of  it 
    worked properly.                                                  

CoC: The new album is much heavier than your last _In  the  Halls  of 
     Waiting_ effort. Do you think that perhaps  these  problems  and 
     frustrations that you were  experiencing  during  the  recording 
     process added to the album's eventual energy?                    

NS: I'm not sure -- it might be, but  we  also  tried  this  time  to 
    create a heavier sound and to make the album much heavier.            

CoC: Aside from the increased heaviness,  it  is  also  by  your  own 
     admission much darker and more sombre. What was the reason for a 
     move in this direction?                                          

NS: I don't know what the exact reason was. These kinds of songs just 
    sort of come to us, and now we're happy with the  direction  that 
    we're moving in. Some of the songs on the first album were  maybe 
    a bit too happy sounding for me and that's  why  we  deliberately 
    tried to find a darker way of expressing ourselves. But as to the 
    overall feel of the album, I'm still not sure  why  it  ended  up 
    sounding the way it did.                                          

CoC: What were your influences and inspirations in coming up with the 
     songs?                                                                

NS: Myself and both our guitarists wrote the lyrics and  we  came  up 
    with the concept. What is the  concept  of  the  album?  I  don't 
    really want to reveal that right now, because I want listeners to 
    hear for themselves and make their own  interpretations.  It's  a 
    very tragic story and it deals with issues like coping with  loss 
    and losing loved ones. As to the  details  of  the  story,  we'll 
    leave that to the listeners to figure out for themselves.         

CoC: Is it based on  anything  stemming  from  a  personal  frame  of 
     reference?                                                            

NS: No, not really. The story was thought up by  me  and  [guitarist] 
    Ville Vänni, and we basically cut up the story into pieces to fit 
    every song. It was kind of like putting together a picture, in  a 
    way. As far as being based on a true story -- no, it's not.       

CoC: Looking toward your musical background -- Insomnium have  a  lot 
     of very diverse influences in their songs. Where  do  these  all 
     come from?                                                       

NS: As a teenager, I was listening to bands  like  Metallica,  Slayer 
    and Sepultura. Then I found bands like Opeth, Dark  Tranquillity, 
    Amorphis and At the Gates. As time passes by and you  get  older, 
    obviously you start to listen to many other styles of music,  but 
    at its core I think that Insomnium is rooted in the  Swedish  and 
    European style of melodic death metal.                            

CoC: Considering how technical some of your work is,  did  anyone  in 
     the band ever have any formal musical training?                       

NS: Our drummer, Marcus, has  trained  at  a  music  school  and  our 
    guitarist Ville played violin as a child. So both of them have  a 
    strong sense of theory and of musical  history  and  things  like 
    that. As for myself and our other guitarist, we taught  ourselves 
    to play our instruments.                                          

CoC: How did it happen that you decided to take up the bass?

NS: It was really a case of all the other  instruments  being  taken. 
    The first band that I joined already had  two  guitarists  and  a 
    drummer, so all that was left was the bass and I  was  the  lucky 
    one who ended up playing it.                                      

CoC: Your native country has played host to a big burst  in  activity 
     as far as metal records are concerned, and when you look at  the 
     Finnish music charts, it's not uncommon to see a metal  band  in 
     the top ten. Why do you think that Finland differs so much  from 
     most other countries?                                            

NS: I suppose you could say that it's dark here all the time and  all 
    the people are really depressed. <laughs> Rock music  in  general 
    is really popular  here  and  playing  in  a  band  is  generally 
    considered to be "cool", so you have a lot of young kids who want 
    to play in a band, which is where a lot of stuff gets started.    

CoC: Any up and coming bands that we'll be hearing from soon?

NS: I think most people will have heard Swallow the  Sun  by  now  -- 
    they're our friends and they're probably one of the best bands in 
    Finland right now. There's also a band called The Arrival who did 
    an album for a small  Norweigian  label.  Other  than  that  it's 
    pretty boring, really. You have a lot of Spinefarm bands  who  in 
    my opinion just all sound exactly the  same.  They're  all  power 
    metal bands and I can't stand that stuff. We definitely have some 
    interesting bands though, but out  of  everything  I'd  say  that 
    Swallow the Sun is the best thing going right now.                

CoC: How about your own musical aspirations -- do you have any  side- 
     projects or anything like that going?                                 

NS: Myself and Ville Vänni play in a band called Watch  Me  Fall  and 
    Ville actually played in that band before he came  to  Insomnium. 
    Now I do the singing in the band. We have done one  album  for  a 
    small Finnish label, but it hasn't come out yet and I don't  know 
    what will happen. Maybe in the future we will do  something  else 
    and try to get a proper deal for it, but I'm not sure yet.        

CoC: So what are the plans for Insomnium over the course of the  next 
     few years?                                                            

NS: In the spring, we'll be touring all  over  Finland  --  we'll  do 
    about twelve shows in total and play  some  summer  festivals  as 
    well. But after that,  I'm  not  sure.  Candlelight  Records  has 
    promised that they will try and arrange something for the autumn. 
    It would be very nice to visit England, Germany and  the  States, 
    but I can't say for sure whether that will happen or not. As  far 
    as music is concerned -- just  basically  experimenting,  pushing 
    the band in different directions and making  the  best  music  we 
    can, really.                                                      

CoC: Any last words, Niilo?

NS: To all readers of Chronicles of Chaos: if you're into melodic and 
    fierce music, check out our albums and visit our website.             

Contact: http://www.insomnium.net

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

            N O T   A   M A R D U K   C O V E R   B A N D
            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
          CoC chats with Maik Weichert of Heaven Shall Burn
                           by: Jackie Smit


The Associated Press recently ran an article detailing a study on the 
lyrics in modern metal, name-checking among others rising stars  like 
Lamb of God,  Chimaira,  God  Forbid  and  Soilwork.  The  writer  in 
question determined that many  of  heavy  music's  current  crop  had 
departed from  the  self-indulgent  wallowing  of  nu-metal  and  had 
instead adopted an overwhelmingly positive  and  life-affirming  core 
message. Of course, black and death metal did not form a part of this 
investigation, but in reading the article one is struck by  the  fact 
that in slightly less extreme quarters, metal  may  well  be  on  the 
verge of growing up. Certainly in this sense,  there  are  few  bands 
more effective in carrying over as strong and empowering a message as 
Germany's Heaven Shall Burn -- a band whose latest effort hits mighty 
hard in terms of both thought-provoking diatribes and  sheer  musical 
brutality. I recently caught up with  guitarist  Maik  Weichert,  who 
shed some light on veganism, politics and why he dis likes Formula 1. 

CoC: Your  previous  record  (_Whatever  It  May  Take_)   was   very 
     aggressive, but on your latest record you seem to  have  reached 
     new  peaks  in  terms  of  blatant  heaviness.  Considering  the 
     political and reality-based approach of your lyrics,  would  you 
     cite recent world events as a principal cause for this?          

Maik Weichert: Yes, of course -- there's been a lot of  rage  flowing 
               into our music that was caused by things happening  in 
               the  world  right  now.  But  at  the  same  time,  it 
               wasn't actually motivated by  any  specific  political 
               developments. It's more like a feeling  that  we're  a 
               part of the system and that we can't do anything about 
               it. If there's a  war  in  Africa  or  in  Arabia  for 
               example, we can go out into the  streets  and  we  can 
               protest against it; we can get together in vast masses 
               of people and shout against these things, but  at  the 
               end of the day the reason they happen  is  to  protect 
               our wealth. If you wake up in the morning and turn  on 
               the light switch, then you're a part of that game; and 
               even though  you  may  be  against  it,  you're  still 
               benefiting from it. It's something that  we  can't  do 
               anything about, because it's not a viable  alternative 
               to go out and live in the mountains of Afghanistan, so 
               in  a  way  this  is  almost  like  aggression  toward 
               ourselves, and also to our leaders and to  the  people 
               that tell us every day what we shall do  and  what  we 
               shall think.                                           

CoC: [Referring to the article I spoke of  in  the  preface  to  this 
     interview] With more and more legitimate  metal  acts  preaching 
     positivity and self-empowerment, would you say  that  this  new- 
     found attitude detracts from the danger and  excitement  of  the 
     genre in any way?                                                

MW: I don't think so. With Heaven Shall Burn we have always had  that 
    approach, but I also love bands like Cannibal Corpse and I really 
    hope that nobody takes their lyrics seriously! However, I do hope 
    that people think about our lyrics and the ideas that we project. 
    We don't see ourselves as artists -- we're not as skilled on  our 
    instruments  as  Cannibal  Corpse,  but  we  deliver  social  and 
    political commentary and we as a group try to initiate thought in 
    our listeners, which in turn could hopefully generate  change  -- 
    and in that sense our  lyrics  and  our  message  is  equally  as 
    important as our music. I always say that our music is  like  our 
    missile and our  lyrics  are  the  warhead.  We  aren't  like  an 
    ordinary metal band -- I think that we have more in  common  with 
    bands  like  Napalm  Death  and  Kreator,  who  always  had  that 
    political theme running through their songs.                      

CoC: With Heaven Shall Burn being classed as a metalcore band in many 
     quarters, and you all  being  straight-edge  and  vegan,  I  was 
     interested to know what your take was on why hardcore  seems  to 
     attract  such  a  variety  of  extreme  schools  of  thought  -- 
     everything from Christianity to Nazism to  Veganism  appears  to 
     have its own niche in the hardcore scene.                        

MW: Hardcore and punk has always been the most political part of  the 
    extreme music spectrum, and this is where bands like that gather. 
    Take again a band like Napalm Death -- they could very easily  be 
    a band with gore lyrics, but because of  their  message  and  the 
    topics that they deal with you have kids in the hardcore and punk 
    scenes listening to them. I  don't  think  that  you  can  define 
    hardcore purely by music -- it also has a  lot  to  do  with  the 
    attitude and the lyrics. I mean, if for example we play in  front 
    of a metal crowd, nobody will  be  overwhelmed  by  our  hardcore 
    influences and vice versa. With us the hardcore aspect is defined 
    by our lyrics, and I think that most socially conscious bands  -- 
    whether they write about animal cruelty or social ills -- can  be 
    defined as hardcore.                                              

CoC: Sticking to the  topic  of  extreme  schools  of  thought,  what 
     attracted you to veganism and being straight-edge?                    

MW: Well, it didn't really have anything to do with the music; it was 
    just the right choice for me. I mean,  so  many  people  who  are 
    straight- edge look down on people because they smoke or  because 
    they drink, and I would not do that. For me it would be stupid to 
    drink or do stuff like that,  but  for  others  --  that's  their 
    decision. There are many assholes who are straight-edge and  many 
    cool people who drink. As far  as  veganism,  it's  really  about 
    an awareness  of  the  problems  in  nature.  We  have  all  been 
    vegetarians for about ten years already, and being vegan is  just 
    a consequence of that. It was a very easy step for us to take. We 
    know that it's not the solution to all the problems in the world, 
    but it's the right thing to do. And if we reach someone with  our 
    lyrics to the extent that someone goes  to  McDonald's  one  less 
    time, or takes a bicycle to the pub and not the car, then we have 
    already achieved something.                                       

CoC: I'm interested to know why you decided to change your name  from 
     Consense to Heaven Shall Burn, which carries with it the obvious 
     connection to black  metal  --  something  that  you  are  quite 
     obviously very far removed from.                                 

MW: That's true; we've always had the problem that people think  that 
    we're a black metal band or a Marduk cover band or something, but 
    we wanted to make a statement with the band's  name,  and  to  us 
    that means that people should open their eyes and not follow  the 
    wrong ideals or false dreams. It has nothing to do with Satanism, 
    just that people should live in reality and not follow illusions. 
    Actually I think a name like Poison the Well is far meaner.       

CoC: What was the reason for the name change?

MW: We had a line-up change and the  guy  that  left  had  also  been 
    writing a lot of the music, so the style changed a bit.  I  think 
    that Consense was more of a "real" metal band in a  way.  We  had 
    our political ideas, but the approach to the hardcore scene  came 
    after the line-up change when we weren't  really  the  same  band 
    anymore.                                                          

CoC: Going back to the diverse audience that is attracted to hardcore 
     -- has the band ever had any problems with white power skinheads 
     or neo-Nazis at your shows?                                      

MW: Yes, we have. I mean, we are from East Germany and neo-Nazis  are 
    a big problem here, so sometimes they come to our shows and  they 
    try to start trouble, but we are lucky that we also a  attract  a 
    lot of cool people who share our views and support  us.  So  from 
    time to time, we have some assholes turn up at our shows  wearing 
    Blue Eyed Devil shirts or something like that. But we don't  tell 
    the audience: "Hey, beat these motherfuckers up!" Instead we just 
    tell the audience to turn around and laugh at them, which I think 
    is way worse for them than getting beat up. But of course here in 
    East Germany... it's a very weak part of Germany: there are a lot 
    of problems, like unemployment, and  it's  very  easy  for  these 
    radical groups to influence young minds. We really  try  to  show 
    people something different. More often than not,  these  troubled 
    kids are just looking for someone to identify with.               

CoC: Do you think that living in a country with the history  of  East 
     Germany played a role in inspiring a lot of  the  aggression  in 
     your music?                                                      

MW: Well, it's the thing that where we come from we  grew  up  always 
    questioning things and always questioning authority. Take my dad, 
    for example: he woke up one day and everything that  he  believed 
    in for forty years was gone, and as I child I  was  taught  those 
    same things, only to have it all switch back  from  communism  to 
    capitalism. I don't think that anyone can understand that if they 
    didn't live it.                                                   

CoC: Rammstein come from the same area as  you  do,  and  looking  to 
     their success and considering their  background,  do  you  think 
     that they played a role  in  inspiring  other  bands  from  East 
     Germany to start  working  more  pro-actively  and  to  be  more 
     focused?                                                         

MW: Oh yeah, totally -- they  definitely  inspired  us;  perhaps  not 
    musically, but we were still very inspired by what they were able 
    to achieve. Some of their first shows were actually in our  town, 
    and I remember being at their shows where they  were  playing  to 
    about 80 people in shitty clubs  and  they  were  using  homemade 
    pyros. They had all actually been in punk bands  before  and  had 
    been part of the scene for a long time, so a lot of people looked 
    up to them as role-models, and to look at them now  --  I'm  very 
    glad that they have achieved  all  their  success,  because  they 
    really deserve it.                                                

CoC: Considering  how  popular  some  of  the  subgenres   in   metal 
     (particularly metalcore) is becoming, would  say  that  reaching 
     the heights that Rammstein has done  is  something  that  Heaven 
     Shall Burn is aiming for in the future?                          

MW: Not really, because we don't have the  same  kind  of  commercial 
    appeal. Also, Rammstein created a very unique type of music,  and 
    I don't think that we are that original. I mean, right now I make 
    enough money from the band that I can concentrate only on playing 
    shows, writing music and my studies, and  that  is  an  advantage 
    that I would not have had without Heaven Shall Burn, so I am very 
    lucky.                                                            

CoC: What do you study?

MW: Law... I'm a fucking lawyer! <laughs>

CoC: What about the other members of the band: are they  students  as 
     well?                                                                 

MW: Yeah, we're all students. Our singer  did  environmental  science 
    and finished that, and now he is studying medicine or  something. 
    Our bass player works with disabled people, our  drummer  studies 
    economy and our other guitarist is studying something to do  with 
    electronics -- it won't  surprise  me  if  he  becomes  a  famous 
    professor one day.                                                

CoC: What takes top priority for you, the band or your studies?

MW: Well, right now I'd say the band, but we are lucky  because  when 
    we are touring  there  is  so  much  time  to  study  in  between 
    soundchecks or when you're on the bus or something. Heaven  Shall 
    Burn has a goal to instigate change in the world, and if  we  are 
    able to do it in our jobs one day, then we shall be achieving the 
    same thing that we want to do with our music. We don't want to be 
    rock stars, we just want to make music and promote  our  message. 
    If I can do that one day as a lawyer or as a judge and I  realise 
    that I can do more in my profession to achieve that goal, then  I 
    will choose that. I can always play music for fun.                

CoC: What's the touring schedule like for Heaven Shall Burn in 2004?

MW: I think we'll be covering Europe  in  weekend  shows,  because  I 
    think that gives you enough time to rest so that  when  the  next 
    show comes up you can give it your all and not be tired  like  if 
    you were playing forty shows or something. Hopefully those  shows 
    will include the UK, Scandinavia and places like that. We'll also 
    play some shows in the US and later this year  we  will  also  be 
    going to South America and Chile, which is going to be great  for 
    us because some of our songs are based on incidents that happened 
    there.                                                            

CoC: Any other plans for the near future?

MW: Well, there's the touring, like I said, and then we'll be writing 
    exams, and after that's over there will probably be  another  new 
    CD. We're also busy doing a video for the song "The  Weapon  They 
    Fear" that will hopefully be on MTV.                              

CoC: One final question -- I read this on the website and I was  very 
     distraught when I saw it: why do you hate Formula 1?                  

MW: For me it's not a sport, really. I  have  deep  respect  for  the 
    drivers -- they are very talented and they do a  great  job,  but 
    the rest is just a technical battle based around money. It's  the 
    same with tennis and golf and soccer: it has nothing to  do  with 
    sport anymore. Look at Beckham: he's a pop star, not  a  football 
    player. He isn't there because he  wants  to  beat  the  opposing 
    team; he's just there for the money. I'd  rather  just  see  some 
    kids in a bicycle race than watch Formula 1. Same with  football: 
    I'd rather watch some third division games than anything  in  the 
    big leagues; at least the players fight more.                     

CoC: But  surely  you  have  to  feel  some  pride  in  seeing   your 
     countryman, Michael Schumacher, lay waste to everyone in F1?          

MW: No -- Schumacher is so ugly  that  I  could  never  support  him! 
    <laughs>                                                              

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

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

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


Agathodaimon - _Serpent's Embrace_  (Nuclear Blast, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (6.5 out of 10)

It would probably have been handy to have had Agathodaimon's previous 
records handy to act as a reference for _Serpent's  Embrace_,  seeing 
as how the last time I  stumbled  across  the  band  was  around  the 
release of their debut in 1998. Some  may  recall  that  during  that 
period nary an item of Nuclear Blast literature could be  found  that 
was not buckling beneath the excessive touting of the  band  as  "the 
next big thing". Of course,  shortly  thereafter  Dimmu  Borgir  made 
their indelible mark on the  symphonic  black  metal  scene,  leaving 
lesser acts like Agathodaimon to become just another indistinct  blip 
on the extreme music  radar.  What  I  find  most  interesting  about 
_Serpent's Embrace_ from a critical point of view, is that  the  band 
still appear to be suffering from the same musical Achilles heel that 
they did four albums ago. You see, for however many times they manage 
to blow your hair back with songs like "Cellos for the Insatiable" or 
"Light Reborn",  they  seem  intent  to  persistently  counter  these 
momentary strokes of genius with the sort  of  Cradle  of  Filth-lite 
drivel that in my humble opinion barely qualifies  as  metal  --  let 
alone -black- metal.  And  so,  while  _Serpent's  Embrace_  is  well 
produced and flawlessly performed, it is often  a  decidedly  hit  or 
miss affair and chances are that in order  to  truly  enjoy  it,  you 
might need to rely on  your  CD  player's  "skip"  button  on  a  few 
occasions.                                                            

Contact: http://www.agathodaimon.de


Dark Lunacy - _Forget-Me-Not_  (Independent, 2003)
by: Brian Meloon  (9 out of 10)

Dark Lunacy is an Italian band, and this is their second  independent 
full-length release. They  describe  themselves  as  "Dramatic  Death 
Metal", and that seems fitting, though I recognize some  elements  of 
black metal in  their  music  as  well.  Now  before  a  lot  of  you 
stop reading, it's important to distinguish  between  "dramatic"  and 
"theatrical" --  such  as  Cradle  of  Filth.  The  "drama"  in  Dark 
Lunacy's music comes not from cheesy shock tactics  such  as  moaning 
"virgins" or "blasphemous"  lyrics,  but  from  their  heavy  use  of 
violins to create a morose  atmosphere.  It  is  these  violins  that 
elevate Dark Lunacy from a very good  melodic  death  metal  band  to 
something special. Brutal but  beautiful,  melodic  and  melancholic, 
this album captures the sad/angry mood better  than  any  album  I've 
ever heard. It's the same atmosphere that Mundanus Imperium and  Sear 
Bliss  were  going  after  on  their  best  efforts  (their  mCD  and 
demo, respectively), but Dark Lunacy are even  a  step  beyond  those 
two bands. Their riffs  are  generally  syncopated,  thrashy  melodic 
death riffs  with  shouted/screamed  vocals  and  the  aforementioned 
violins. They also add plenty  of  other  elements,  including  black 
metal-inspired tremolo-picked guitar lines,  acoustic  guitar,  piano 
and other keyboards, some whispered sections, and female vocals.  All 
of the instruments are very well played and very appropriate  to  the 
music. There's nary a flashy or distracting moment to be found. If  I 
have a complaint about this album, it's that the  second  half  slows 
down  somewhat.  While  it's  still  well-done,  I  much  prefer  the 
faster-tempo sections. I also wish they would expand upon their  more 
black metal-ish style, as this seems a more conducive vehicle for the 
violins to play against. But these are relatively  minor  complaints; 
this album really blew me away, and  I  can't  wait  for  their  next 
release. Fans of melodic black or death metal should search this out. 

Contact: http://www.darklunacy.com


Death Angel - _The Art of Dying_  (Nuclear Blast, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (8.5 out of 10)

Of all the comebacks that 2004 has played host to thus far,  a  Death 
Angel reunion was undoubtedly the one that very few of us could  have 
foreseen. A classic example, if any was  needed,  of  a  major  label 
taking advantage of young artists, the furor surrounding  the  band's 
acrimonious split from Geffen Records in 1992, and  their  subsequent 
decision to part ways, just about sealed the deal on any  hope  of  a 
follow-up to the critically lauded _Act 3_. But, as if to prove  that 
great things can be born (or reborn in this  case)  from  tragedy,  a 
favor to an old friend by the name of Chuck Billy saw the seminal Bay 
Area quintet back together once more. As the story  goes,  a  one-off 
soon evolved into something more substantial, which in turn brings us 
now, after a fourteen year absence, to the next studio installment in 
the Death Angel saga.                                                 

Considering that it's been nearly a decade and a half since the  last 
time Mark Osegueda,  Rob  Cavestany,  Dennis  Pepa  and  Andy  Galeon 
were in the studio together  as  Death  Angel,  it's  remarkable  how 
comparatively natural _The Art of Dying_ has ended up sounding. Laced 
with the band's  trademark  inventiveness  and  flair  for  punked-up 
experimentation, openers "Thrown to  the  Wolves"  and  "5  Steps  to 
Freedom" are pure old school thrash metal gold. Mark Osegueda's voice 
cuts an imposing figure and has never sounded more  arresting,  while 
the guitar synergy between Rob Cavestany and newcomer Ted Aguilar  is 
as effective as anything you will find on the band's early efforts. A 
surprise ballad in the shape of "Words to the Wise"  also  rears  its 
head, nodding knowingly in the  direction  of  Cavestany  and  Pepa's 
post- Death Angel outfit, The Organization.                           

Unfortunately, taking into  account  the  unashamedly  early  classic 
flavor of this record, it's to be expected that there are going to be 
some that will sneer at Death Angel's vintage approach. For the  rest 
of us however,  _The  Art  Dying_  is  well  produced,  neck-snapping 
rollick, and quite possibly  one  of  the  finest  old-school  thrash 
albums since _Rust in Peace_.                                         

Contact: http://www.deathangel.com


Falkenbach - _Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty_  (Napalm, 2003)
by: Quentin Kalis  (8 out of 10)

Falkenbach's last album was in 1998, and I had taken their silence as 
an indication that it (as it is essentially a solo  project)  was  no 
longer active -- so it was quite a surprise (though not an unpleasant 
one) to discover that one of Viking metal's most important  acts  had 
returned. This lengthy  break  --  which  is  apparently  due  to  an 
automobile accident -- has not seemingly impacted on  his  music,  as 
this album compares favourably to his previous work.  He  is  clearly 
still performing  _Hammerheart_-inspired  Viking  metal  and  can  be 
justifiably regarded as one of the masters of the style. However,  he 
has calmed down considerably: the music is less heavy, proceeding  at 
a comparatively more sedate pace. The black metal style vox have been 
virtually abandoned in favour of clean  vocals  and  the  omnipresent 
folk tendencies have  become  even  stronger.  In  addition,  Vratyas 
Vakyas has enlisted the help of several musicians, and this has aided 
the music considerably -- most notably with the drumming, as the drum 
machine is discarded in favour of  an  actual  person.  "...Into  the 
Ardent Awaited Land", which initially appeared on debut album  _...En 
Their Medh  Riki  Fara..._  has  been  re-recorded,  and  in  a  rare 
instance,  it  sounds  better  then  the  original.  It  demonstrates 
perfectly the  changes  in  style  as  the  status  of  the  electric 
guitar is downgraded in favour of  an  acoustic  guitar  and  a  more 
contemplative sound is adopted.  A  welcome  return  by  one  of  the 
masters of the genre.                                                 


Gnostic - _Evoking the Demon_  (Ordealis Records, 2003)
by: Quentin Kalis  (7.5 out of 10)

This album gets off to a bad start by using a sample from "Gladiator" 
-- which would not be a problem were it  not  the  very  same  sample 
which was used by Satyricon to open _Volcano_! Plus "Infernal  Crypts 
of Martyrdom" sounds suspiciously like a reject from  _Morbid  Tales_ 
era Celtic Frost,  further  suggesting  a  lack  of  original  ideas. 
However, the rest of the album proved to be, for the  most  part,  an 
entertaining and dynamic listen that turned out  to  be  considerably 
less generic than my first impression. Gnostic consider themselves to 
be war metallers, and if the aim was to create  a  frenzied  sounding 
recording that reflected the chaos of war, then they  have  succeeded 
-- perhaps more so than most others of their ilk. A  good  production 
is clearly not a high priority for this band: the guitars  possess  a 
fuzzy, droning quality, while the drums  tend  to  dissolve  into  an 
undifferentiated sludge. On occasion, its sounds as if  the  CD  were 
being played through a cheap radio with the vol ume turned too  high. 
In short, this album has a  strong  rehearsal  sound  and  one  could 
easily believe  that  this  was  recorded  in  one  of  the  members' 
basement! A live concert has been included as a PC bonus.             


Golem - _Dreamweaver_  (Nuclear Blast, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (8 out of 10)

With a bio describing their brand of extremity as a fusion of classic 
Morbid Angel and Carcass -- subsequently lumping them  alongside  the 
vast majority of death metal acts these days -- I'll admit  to  being 
less than enthused at  the  prospect  of  listening  to  this  German 
quartet's fourth effort. In reflection, my lack of curiosity may also 
have had something to do with the fact that I've  never  really  paid 
much attention to the band at any point  during  their  fifteen  year 
existence -- a factor that ultimately turned out to  be  a  blessing, 
because upon further investigation _Dreamweaver_ actually turned  out 
to be a huge step up from all its predecessors.                       

While the allusions to Carcass and Morbid Angel do ring true  on  the 
majority of _Dreamweaver_'s 60-odd minute duration, it is the  manner 
in which this blueprint has been incorporated  that  makes  Golem  an 
alluring and wholly interesting prospect. Think  Trey  Azagthoth  and 
Bill Steer trading guitar riffs while sharing the world's worst  acid 
trip and you start to get the picture. It  isn't  simply  a  case  of 
skewed influences however, as songs like "The Tower", "Diaspora"  and 
"Rose" toy with ideas centred around everything from black  metal  to 
neo-classical film soundtracks to progressive jazz.                   

Of course, as would most likely always have been the  case,  some  of 
these ideas prove to be a little too avant-garde for their own  good, 
and particularly the  spaced-out  guitar  wankery  of  "Le  Sacre  du 
Printemps" ends up sounding more trying than entertaining.  Kudos  to 
Golem however for returning to the fray  after  five  years  with  an 
album that shows off not only some damn good tunes, but the  sort  of 
daring songwriting that will sustain the death metal genre for  years 
to come.                                                              

Contact: http://www.golem-metal.de


Green Carnation - _A Blessing in Disguise_  (Season of Mist, 2003)
by: Brian Meloon  (2 out of 10)

Green Carnation's third effort is  the  aptly-named  _A  Blessing  in 
Disguise_. Why is this album a blessing in disguise, you  ask?  Well, 
first we have my misfortune  of  purchasing  and  listening  to  this 
horribly vapid album. And from that  misfortune  comes  the  blessing 
that I'll be more careful in the future not to purchase another album 
based upon the strength of a band or label's back catalogue. Oh,  who 
am I kidding? There's simply no silver lining to my purchase of  this 
insipid waste of time.                                                

I can only imagine what the band were thinking when  they  wrote  and 
recorded this album. To me, it sounds like  they  were  just  sitting 
down to start writing a new album, but decided that putting  together 
another epic atmospheric doom metal album like _Light of Day, Day  of 
Darkness_ [CoC #57] was too much effort. Instead, they opted for  the 
simpler task of writing a '70s rock  album.  So  they  took  the  few 
pieces of music that  they'd  already  written,  hastily  wrote  some 
generic filler and some lyrics, threw in some cheesy Moog synths  for 
a real "vintage" sound, and called it good. The  end  result  is  the 
type of non-threatening, middle-of-the-road, radio-friendly fare that 
I'd more expect from the likes of the Little  River  Band  than  from 
former members of In  the  Woods.  This  is  a  decidedly  half-assed 
offering that taints their good names with the stench of banality.    

Contact: http://www.green-carnation.tk


Loits - _Legion Estland_  (Ledo Takas Records, 2003)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (6 out of 10)

From the band's official website:  "Loits  is  a  wakening  for  Iron 
Youth, Loits  is  call  to  join  the  ranks  of  Legionaires,  Loits 
is everything what judeo-christianian  democracy  is  not.  Loits  is 
Estonian National  Pride."  In  addition  to  this,  the  decorations 
on the band's logo  leave  little  to  the  imagination  about  their 
political inclinations. Whether or not you  give  a  damn  about  the 
above statements, be prepared for the fact  that  there  is  a  clear 
militaristic, nationalistic feel pervading much of  _Legion  Estland_ 
(a look at  the  album  title  should  indicate  both  aspects  quite 
clearly).                                                             

However, those who are simply interested in some rocking black  metal 
fun need not worry about any of the above: this 7" EP  provides  just 
that, tweaked in Loits' own style, and  the  band's  political  views 
don't really get in the way of the music itself (so long as you  skip 
the redundant second track, "Terasvanne"). Loits infuse many of their 
black metal riffs with touches of folky synth and an infectious  rock 
'n' roll vibe, resulting in songs that remain enjoyable without  ever 
trying to achieve a remarkable  level  of  aggression,  intensity  or 
atmosphere. It's not that the music comes  across  as  relaxed;  it's 
just that with all the unholier-than-thou black metal bands out there 
competing for the ultimate in the genre's  extremity,  Loits  take  a 
rather different  approach:  their  mid-paced  riffs  are  pronounced 
rather than rushed, and the songs are well defined. The fact this  is 
only a brief EP also helps keep each song relevant, but on the  other 
hand only the first and third track really have  anything  worthwhile 
to offer (in addition to what I wrote above about the  second  track, 
closer "Demon's Night" is only passable). While the music on  _Legion 
Estland_ won't exactly floor you, it is unlikely  it  will  bore  you 
either; could be worth a punt if you're a fan of the genre and  don't 
mind the political crap.                                              

Contact: http://www.loits.org


Loits - _Raiugem Ruunideks_  (Schwarze MaSSenvernichtung, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (5 out of 10)

Packaged together on the  same  CD-R  as  the  band's  older  _Legion 
Estland_ effort, I received another  7"  EP  from  Estonian  national 
pride promoters Loits, this one titled _Raiugem Ruunideks_.  Released 
by a  different  label  (Schwarze  MaSSenvernichtung,  which  can  be 
translated into a pretty unambiguous "Black  MaSSeradication"),  this 
new EP features only two tracks. The title track  is  a  bit  folkier 
than the material on _Legion Estland_;  the  production  is  slightly 
inferior and the song drags a bit. The second  track,  "Tuleristsed", 
sheds the folk influence and boasts some improved  song  structuring, 
saving the EP from a negative rating. On the  whole,  however,  there 
isn't much on offer in  terms  of  quantity,  nor  does  the  average 
quality of the two tracks suggest you'll be spinning this EP over and 
over again. Decent material, but far from being a remarkable  release 
even if you have no qualms about the label's more  than  questionable 
choice of name.                                                       

Contact: http://www.loits.org


Lupercalia - _Florilegium_  (Equilibrium Music, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

Mixing  neo-classical  music  with  medieval   influences,   Italians 
Lupercalia are now on their second full-length album,  following  the 
_Les Nuits des Samain_ EP and the entirely  instrumental  full-length 
_Soehrimnir_ (neither of which I've had the  chance  to  hear  before 
delving into  _Florilegium_).  With  soprano  singer  Claudia  Florio 
joining classical guitarist Riccardo Prencipe, the duo then  enlisted 
the help of solo violinist Gianluca Uccio and  a  string  quartet  to 
create the lush medieval  ambience  of  _Florilegium_,  now  released 
through Portuguese label Equilibrium Music.                           

The songs on _Florilegium_ tend toward the tranquil side  of  things, 
though  some  more  stirring  passages  are  also  mustered   (during 
"Personent Hodie", for instance), as well as some more festive  ones. 
From Eastern influences to Latin lyrics, there is a lot of uniqueness 
to be found behind the skilled musicianship. The vocals are very well 
performed, adventurous and well suited to the music,  combining  with 
the violin, guitar and background strings  and  synths  for  flowing, 
involved compositions.                                                

While  very  pleasant  and   musically   interesting,   _Florilegium_ 
sometimes  lacks  more   memorable   passages   (the   aforementioned 
"Personent Hodie" comes to mind as a good example),  and  a  somewhat 
darker  atmosphere  would  have  been  a  definite  bonus   for   me. 
Furthermore, at over one hour in  length,  some  arrangements  become 
slightly repetitive, and some tracks therefore come  across  as  less 
relevant; but the medieval atmosphere is  convincingly  achieved  and 
well kept throughout,  which  goes  a  long  way  to  keeping  things 
together as an album.  In  spite  of  minor  problems,  _Florilegium_ 
remains a very good album, with a vast amount of  musical  merit  and 
an accomplished medieval  atmosphere  to  ensure  its  relevance.  An 
intriguing and enjoyable listen that should prove very rewarding  for 
those with an inclination for all things medieval.                    

Contact: http://www.equilibriummusic.com


Malevolent Creation - _Warkult_  (Nuclear Blast, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (7.5 out of 10)

With song titles like "Preemptive Strike" and "Shock & Awe"  adorning 
the tracklisting  down  the  back  sleeve  of  Malevolent  Creation's 
eleventh full-length effort, one suspects that  everyone's  favourite 
second-tier death metallers have decided  to  get  political  on  us. 
Whether or not they intend for _Warkult_ to be a deft musical kick up 
the arse for the Bushes and Rumsfelds of this world  becomes  a  moot 
point however after "Dead March" kicks into its  introductory  rumble 
and the message hits home that this is going to be a seriously  nasty 
piece of work. As with the band's last studio outing,  _The  Will  to 
Kill_, _Warkult_ finds the malevolent ones in top technical form with 
the vocals of one-time Hateplow growler, Kyle  Simmons,  sounding  as 
ferocious as ever against the  backdrop  of  Phil  Fasciana  and  Rob 
Barret's grinding guitars. The return of Dave  Culross  to  the  drum 
stool proves a further boon for the band, and quite predictably  many 
of the songs seem almost purpose-written to  take  advantage  of  his 
talent for blasting at nigh on insane speeds. Yet  overall  _Warkult_ 
fails  to  impress  to  quite  the  same  consistent  extent  as  its 
predecessor, which is largely due to the  band  slowing  things  down 
halfway through proceedings and inexplicably trading their  signature 
riffing for the kind  of  tepid,  generic  melodies  that  were  last 
being bandied around Sweden in the mid-nineties.  Astonishingly  this 
unnecessary lull lasts for a good three to four  songs,  breaking  up 
the record's atmosphere to the point where  you  might  think  you're 
listening to a different record. One could of course argue the merits 
of the adventurous intentions behind this attempt at  diversity,  but 
ultimately there are far more effective ways of adding variety to  an 
album, and  unfortunately  in  this  case  fifteen  years'  worth  of 
experience has apparently not proven enough to enable the band to  do 
so. And in this lies the album's biggest let-down, because songs like 
"Tyranic Opression" and "Murder Reig ns" probably rank  amongst  some 
of the best material in the Malevolent Creation discography.          

Contact: http://malevolentcreation.cjb.net


Metalium - _As One - Chapter Four_  (Century Media, 2004)
by: Aaron McKay  (5 out of 10)

In the political press it has been  said  that  you  aren't  a  "real 
journalist" until you've truly pissed off an elected official with  a 
published piece. That leads me to believe the author of  the  article 
in question here can distance themselves enough to write exactly what 
he or she sees the facts of the story to be. That's  kind  of  how  I 
feel when I find myself faced with the task of drafting something  up 
for Metalium. Never having been a fan  of  the  whole  "power/triumph 
metal" as a genre per se, Metalium presents me  with  somewhat  of  a 
dilemma. On one hand I can see their appeal and  hear  their  mastery 
over their chosen instruments -- skillfully executed solos and catchy 
riffs, for example. On the  other  hand  Metalium  forever  seems  to 
launch them headlong into well-traversed musical territory.           

All things being equal, as an aside, this new offering was very well- 
received in Japan.  Admittedly,  the  concept  that  this  four-piece 
German power outfit surround themselves with is completely lost on me 
-- kind of like exploring the intellectual prowess of Mad Magazine in 
your graduate level literature course. Warriors, Medusa, Heathens and 
a storyline that unites the Metalian hero with a female  counterpart, 
Metaliana -- Metalium tread too  close  to  the  whole  Dungeons  and 
Dragons meets Battletech arena for me (and not in a Manowar  kind  of 
way either).                                                          

That  hubbub  aside,  musically,  as  I  said  before,  Metalium  are 
competent  and  obviously  practiced  musicians.   Mostly   with   an 
aggressive fast paced edge, this band blazes out a fiery  album  here 
with _As One - Chapter Four_; no disputing that. Also a step  in  the 
right direction away from 2000's _State of Triumph - Chapter Two_,  I 
might add. Let me put it this way: if you  thrive  on  this  kind  of 
thing, Metalium is solid gruel, but don't look for any dessert.       

Contact: http://www.metalium.de


Must Missa - _Ma Ei Talu Valgust_  (Death to Mankind Records, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (5 out of 10)

Estonians Must Missa have surely been living on  a  diet  of  classic 
Darkthrone, Gorgoroth and such acts for quite some time now,  judging 
by this _Ma Ei Talu Valgust_ EP. There is a distinct feeling  of  old 
school black metal grimness running through each song, and while time 
seems to have stopped in the early '90s for the band, at  least  they 
can still come up with some decent examples of  the  genre.  Decently 
playing what others invented before them isn't a huge  accomplishment 
however, and the somewhat pedestrian compositions Must Missa  present 
us only just manage to escape a negative rating. They really need  to 
either excel at their chosen style or successfully add more of  their 
own personality to their music in the future.                         

Contact: http://www.metal.ee/must_missa/


Necare - _Ruin_  (Firebox, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

Playing the music you like, and sparing nary a thought for whether it 
is particularly fashionable or innovative at any given point in time, 
must be a great feeling for a musician. Necare are  almost  certainly 
one such band: harvesting influence from  early  '90s  British  doom, 
this American duo indulge in a form of doom/death metal that may  not 
be exactly groundbreaking, but nonetheless remains welcome when  done 
properly -- and for the most part, _Ruin_ is done  properly.  Indeed, 
the first three tracks after the intro -- all of which tend to scream 
_Serenades_ era Anathema -- rank among  the  most  accomplished  doom 
I've heard in a long while. But while originality  doesn't  run  high 
and  the  music  is  kept  fairly  simple  throughout,  the  fact  is 
_Ruin_ remains an unpretentiously enjoyable disc for those  who  like 
the doom/death genre. The Anathema  connection  tends  to  fade  away 
during the second half of the album,  which  is  also  slightly  less 
captivating, but not to the point of making this album  significantly 
less worthy of purchase for lovelorn doom/death fans.                 

Contact: http://www.firebox.fi


Nortt - _Gudsforladt_  (Diehard Bloodline, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

Browsing Nortt's website and looking at the collection of demo  tapes 
reaching back to 1997,  it  becomes  clear  that  there  has  been  a 
consistent aesthetic and musical theme since the beginning. Pondering 
on death as a welcome release from the torments of life, the grave as 
a darkened womb to return to, Danish one-man project  Nortt  combines 
black metal sonic elements with a doom metal state of mind; the self- 
inflicted label of "pure depressive black funeral doom metal",  wordy 
as it may be, is an apt description -- even the "pure" bit makes some 
degree of sense, since Nortt never seem like  they  would  compromise 
the bleakness and moroseness of the music on  _Gudsforladt_  for  all 
the gold in this world.                                               

Nortt have taken a sound reminiscent of early Burzum and  twisted  it 
to the point of seeming as slow for black metal as Skepticism are for 
doom. Mournful keyboards (mostly church organs and slow  piano)  very 
adequately complement the music, which is driven by  rumbling  guitar 
chords, slow pounding  drums  and  the  wails  and  laments  of  some 
tortured spirit (though not quite in Deinonychus'  downright  weeping 
style). The music has a droning, simplistic feel most  of  the  time, 
but that suits the unrelenting  oppression  created  by  this  album. 
There is no actual singing (even by black metal standards), no upbeat 
passages, no effort to make the album easier to accept  by  listeners 
(except perhaps if you point out the occasional piano  melodies,  but 
that would seem unfair since their delicate despondency and cobwebbed 
beauty only adds to the atmosphere). The tracks aren't very long,  so 
you need not expect the same riff getting repeated for  ten  minutes; 
it is the album as a whole that works in the way I described above.   

This is the kind of album most worth playing when you are not  simply 
alone but also  lonely,  or  at  least  considerably  melancholic  or 
sorrowful for some reason. It simply won't work on a sunny  day  when 
you're feeling good and your life's alright -- so be warned that this 
album may not be for you. Otherwise  you  really  need  _Gudsforladt_ 
in your collection. _Gudsforladt_  comes  presented  in  a  hardcover 
digibook (limited to 1000 hand-numbered copies), which at the time of 
writing is  being  sold  by  the  label  for  a  very  steep  190  DK 
(equivalent to about 25.50 Euro as  of  May  2004).  Considering  the 
quality of this release, however, I doubt even  at  this  exaggerated 
price Diehard will have much trouble dispatching all the copies.      

Contact: http://www.nortt.dk


Orphaned Land - _Mabool - The Story of the Three Sons of Seven_
by: Aaron McKay  (8.5 out of 10)  (Century Media, 2004)

Here is about the best way to describe this disc: a metal  menagerie. 
This six piece Israeli outfit maximizes all  sixty-eight  minutes  on 
this effort to stir in as much creativity, theology and conceptuality 
as humanly possible. To call this band experimental  is  like  saying 
gravity has a purpose -- a statement of the absolute  obvious.  While 
this is my first exposure to Orphaned Land, the previous two  efforts 
stretching their career back to 1991, complete with  the  a  demo  in 
1993 entitled _The Beloved's Cry_, must have been an adventurous path 
of wonderment to culminate in such a rich and well-crafted  album  as 
_Mabool_. This offering is the third for the band after a seven  year 
hiatus to concentrate on severe developments in their homeland.       

While this comparison  will  fail  to  deliver  a  true  sampling  of 
Orphaned Land's sophistication, try imagine everything a  Mid-Eastern 
version of Agalloch meets a  Borknagar  (of  sorts)  crammed  into  a 
less-than- suitable, and mostly  restrictive,  metal  labeling  could 
possibly offer; Orphaned Land is far too fluid to be  pigeonholed  in 
such  a  manner.  Barbarous  rhythms  and  tranquil  interludes  flow 
effortlessly  all-  throughout  this  concept  album.  Interlacing  a 
biblical tale of three sons uniting in an attempt to  restrain  God's 
fury, _Mabool_, or The Flood, eventually overtakes the Orphaned  Land 
wrought with fanciful indulgences and debauchery.                     

Not  content  to  lay   open   this   story   solely   with   typical 
instrumentation, Orphaned Land utilize  violins,  classical  acoustic 
guitars, cello and piano side-by-side with  instruments  of  oriental 
origin.  Orphaned  Land   complete   their   developed   presentation 
with  clean  and  harsh  vocals  that  continue  their  sophisticated 
experimentation and further stave off any notion of labeling style or 
concept not expressly exhibited by the band itself.                   

Obviously a deeply powerful album, but a minor point worth  surfacing 
is that for full effect _Mabool_ is most balanced when listening from 
start to  finish  uninterrupted;  for  those  of  us  mostly  musical 
attention deficit individuals, over an hour at one sitting is  asking 
a fair amount. From time to  time,  however,  pull  _Mabool_  out  to 
remember while there are only so many stings on a guitar and a finite 
number of ways to play them, creativity will not be stifled.          

Contact: http://www.orphaned-land.com


Psycroptic - _The Scepter of the Ancients_  (Unique Leader, 2003)
by: Brian Meloon  (10 out of 10)

I was almost sure that Spawn  of  Possession's  _Cabinet_  [CoC  #67] 
would be my favorite disc of 2003, but Psycroptic's second release is 
perhaps even better.  Australia's  Psycroptic  play  fast,  technical 
death metal featuring a constantly-changing barrage  of  riffs.  They 
keep the tempo fast enough and the riffs changing  frequently  enough 
that it's hard to classify them as "brutal", though  their  music  is 
certainly very aggressive. Their music  is  highly  syncopative,  but 
they add some melodic elements and even a few guitar leads  to  avoid 
sounding too one-dimensional. The riffs themselves,  while  generally 
above-average, aren't overly original, but it's their execution  that 
is so impressive. In particular, two things really  strike  me  about 
this release. The first is the agility of some of the riffs:  they're 
able to switch tempos, feels, and/or time signatures on a dime, which 
is very difficult to do in the middle of a blast beat. The second  is 
their tightness:  several  sections  simply  wouldn't  have  been  as 
effective without the band being as tight as they  are.  Needless  to 
say, the drums, guitars, and bass are all exceptionally well  played. 
The vocals are also very impressive, as their vocalist has a  lot  of 
versatility. His main vocals are a mix of  shouting,  screaming,  and 
growling, but he also incorporates a guttural style, a few Cradle  of 
Filth-style screams, a slightly distorted style that  reminds  me  of 
early-'90s Pantera, and several others. Most of these styles are very 
effective and fit the music very well.                                

If there's a problem with this release, it's that they  often  resort 
to simply average riffs, especially at the beginnings of songs. Their 
best songs don't really have an intro that reaches out and grabs you, 
and their best moments are often buried in the middle  of  songs.  In 
addition, they sometimes follow up an excellent section that  they've 
been building for a while with a distinctly average one, breaking the 
momentum that they had built. Nevertheless, they are usually able  to 
recover this momentum within a few measures. The production  is  very 
good; it's clear enough that  all  of  the  instruments  are  clearly 
audible, and it fits the music well enough. I can't imagine a fan  of 
technical death metal not liking this release. On the other hand,  it 
probably won't appeal to those who like to groove to their  music  or 
demand catchy hooks or melodies. Since I'm firmly in the former camp, 
I'm eagerly awaiting their next release and hunting down their  debut 
album, _The Isle of Disenchantment_ [CoC #53].                        

Contact: http://www.psycroptic.com


Sabbat - _Sabbatical Holocaust (Five Massacre Demonslaughts)_
by: James Montague  (7.5 out of 10)  (Time Before Time Records, 2004)

"Five Massacre Demonslaughts" -- translated for the sane, this  means 
"five Sabbat 7" EPs pressed onto CD". These are the first five of the 
band's career, released in the days before they adopted the curiously 
Japanese habit of putting out fifty limited vinyl pressings  a  year, 
so in fact this compilation  spans  a  staggering  five  year  period 
(1985-1990).                                                          

"Five" is clearly an important number when discussing  this  release, 
along with the ubiquitous "666", but that goes without  saying.  Does 
it deserve a five-star rating? Very nearly. This is a classic hit  of 
old- school black/thrash metal from a band that cut its teeth at  the 
same time as Bathory were making a bigger name for themselves over in 
Europe. The Sabbat of the late '80s played in a similar vein  to  the 
first few Bathory, Sodom and Hellhammer / Celtic Frost  EPs/LPs,  but 
with arguably better songwriting and certainly  better  musicianship. 
Fast, slow, melodic, gritty and ugly: they do  it  all  with  aplomb. 
There is a slight undercurrent of evil running through the music  (in 
fact the band were originally called Evil), but all in  a  cartoonish 
Grim Reaper kind of way. The true strength of  the  band  is  in  its 
mastery of thrash riffology -- this is neckbreaking thrash for drunk, 
long-haired louts. And it's not in the least bit  ridiculous.  Sabbat 
may not take themselves too  seriously  ,  but  they  do  take  metal 
seriously, and you can't help but admire the spirit  of  these  heavy 
metal samurai.                                                        

The compilation loses points for what  is  essentially  an  "official 
bootleg" presentation; the liner  notes  proudly  proclaim  that  the 
tracks were recorded directly from the vinyl, but it hardly  takes  a 
sound engineering genius to work  that  out,  given  that  the  snap- 
crackle-pop of 14-to-19 year old vinyl discs is clearly evident.  Not 
a lick of remastering on this CD -- would it really have been so hard 
to tidy things up a bit without eliminating the feel of the music?  I 
think not. The CD is also rounded off with  three  live  tracks  from 
1986, containing impeccable performance but a weak  sound;  certainly 
there are many live recordings by the band that blow this one away.   

It's hard to complain about 76 of minutes of killer blackened thrash, 
but keep in mind that Nuclear War Now! put out a stunning reissue  of 
three Sabbat EPs in a 6" boxset in  2004;  its  name  is  _Sabbatical 
Satanichrist Slaughter_, and I'd recommend you put that ahead of Time 
Before Time's lazy effort on your shopping list. Still, the  rule  of 
thumb with Sabbat is to take what you can get, whenever you  can  get 
it, because it's a right pain in  the  arse  to  get  hold  of  their 
quality recordings.                                                   

Contact: http://welcome.to/sabbat/


Skyforger - _Thunderforge (Perkonkalve)_  (Folter Records, 2003)
by: James Montague  (9 out of 10)

One of the most refreshing bands to hit the metal scene in  the  past 
decade, Skyforger have been flying the flag of  Latvian  metal  since 
1995. They have also seemingly taken on the burden of  educating  the 
world in the ancient pagan ways of their homeland, with  an  official 
website bursting at the seams with notes on symbology,  folklore  and 
customs; and music that incorporates several traditional arrangements 
into a modern metal form, plus a wide  variety  of  traditional  folk 
instruments adding to the authenticity.                               

There's a shameless  celebratory  aspect  to  _Thunderforge_  --  for 
instance, the instrumental "Long Dance" is an adaptation  of  an  old 
wedding dance tune, and "Oh Fog, Oh Dew" is  also  nuptial-based,  in 
this case telling the story  of  the  Moon's  union  with  the  Sun's 
daughter. Very few bands in the extreme metal  field  would  dare  to 
allow such positivity to creep into their songwriting, but  Skyforger 
are a determined bunch, and this ambitious venture succeeds in  every 
regard. From the immense power-chord marches of  "When  Usins  Rides" 
and "Through the Gates of the World Beyond" to the  more  black-metal 
tremolo stylings of "Warlord of the Night Sky"  (a  tribute  to  that 
great black metal icon, the Moon) and the joyous folk  melodies,  the 
album flows together like the cycle of life in the  world  of  Mother 
Nature that Skyforger hold so dear. I can almost feel the crackle  of 
flames from the campfire as I sit with my pagan  brothers,  drink  to 
the gods above and reflect upon the many wonders of t he world around 
me. Of course, I can't sit for long, when such kickarse  metal  riffs 
are bursting out of the soil. And so we have "pagan metal".           

The most evil  or  ferocious  record  of  2003?  Certainly  not.  But 
_Thunderforge_ is  an  album  of  such  impeccable  craftmanship  and 
uplifting energy; the kind of record that will always stir me out  of 
my melancholic haze and get me bouncing off the  walls  again.  Being 
Latvian hasn't helped Skyforger gain a massive  worldwide  following, 
but it has inspired them to produce some truly outstanding music.     

Contact: http://www.skyforger.lv


Suffocation - _Souls to Deny_  (Relapse Records, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (9 out of 10)

Whether it is down to  simple  coincidence  or  not,  it  nonetheless 
remains interesting to note that the last time death and thrash metal 
enjoyed the prominence that it does now, the world  was  engulfed  by 
similar ominous threats of nuclear devastation  and  war.  One  might 
even argue that world events spanning the last four years have  on  a 
subconscious level been  the  motivation  for  many  of  the  genre's 
erstwhile prophets of doom to fire up  their  instruments  in  retort 
once again.                                                           

Whatever the reasons,  there  are  very  few  acts  who  have  proven 
themselves capable of capturing the zeitgeist with the same  sort  of 
bone-jarring clarity as Suffocation; and on  their  comeback  effort, 
they certainly don't disappoint. Of course, evolving from a  pedigree 
that boasts such seminal efforts as _ Effigy of the Forgotten _ and _ 
Pierced From Within _  was  only  ever  going  to  send  expectations 
crashing through the roof, but despite being out of the  game  for  a 
good six years, the New Yorkers don't appear to have  lost  a  single 
step in their brutal danse macabre.                                   

Indeed, any doubts as to whether Suffocation still possess  the  fire 
needed to create music that can stand up to what they've  offered  in 
the past are quickly laid to rest as the album fades into the opening 
rapid-fire attack of "Deceit". Where dark melodies played  a  limited 
role in much of Suffocation's latter-day output, _ Souls  to  Deny  _ 
sees it introduced to a far greater extent -- evoking an almost black 
metal-like atmosphere on some  songs.  But  rather  than  dampen  the 
impact of their über-heavy assault, it adds a sense of  even  greater 
dynamics to the blueprint left behind on _ Despise  the  Sun  _.  The 
band's primary focus is still squarely  on  skull-crushing  brutality 
however, and with the help of Joe Cincotta in the engineer's booth, _ 
Souls to Deny _ is about as  aggressive  and  crushing  a  record  as 
anything one could have reasonably expected  Suffocation  to  deliver 
this point.  In  fact,  judging  by  the  dizzying  technicality  and 
superior songwriting on tracks like "To Weep Once M ore" and "Surgery 
of Impalement", I'd be willing to bet that their second coming  could 
well prove to be their most devastating.                              

Contact: http://www.suffocation.us


The Eternal - _The Sombre Light of Isolation_  (Firebox, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)

This debut album from Melbourne's The Eternal arrives in the wake  of 
three full length albums and two EPs released by pretty much the same 
people under the guise of Cryptal  Darkness  --  a  name  which  they 
apparently abandoned due  to  line-up  and  label  problems.  Indeed, 
the music created by this  Australian  quintet  for  their  debut  as 
The Eternal betrays a  good  amount  of  past  experience,  with  its 
considerably high level of composition, arrangements and execution.   

The music on _The Sombre Light of Isolation_ tends to come across  as 
quite mature, but on  the  other  hand  it  suffers  from  trying  to 
integrate more elements than might  have  been  advisable,  and  also 
possibly trying to please too wide a  spectrum  of  listeners.  As  a 
result, while most of the album will appeal  to  those  into  melodic 
doom, they will also find a considerable component of  Nevermore-like 
heavy metal and even plenty of what is pretty much gothic rock thrown 
into the mixture at times. This results in more  variety  than  usual 
for a doom album, but also in some clash of styles  and  consequently 
the loss of some of the all-important  atmosphere  every  doom  album 
should possess.                                                       

_The Sombre Light of Isolation_ is still  an  accomplished  album  in 
spite of a few lengthy lukewarm passages, though with all that's been 
thrown into it and clocking in at over an hour, it may be  a  lot  to 
digest. One remains with several memorable moments  sprinkled  around 
the album and a generally agreeable listen, but  not  really  a  disc 
that most people will enjoy from start to finish and keep going  back 
to. If you happen to like all the sub-genres mentioned in the review, 
however, The Eternal seem quite apt at all of them and  there  should 
be nothing to stop _The Sombre Light of Isolation_  from  becoming  a 
worthwhile addition to your collection.                               

Contact: http://www.firebox.fi


The Great Deceiver - _Terra Incognito_  (Peaceville, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)

The extent to which The Great  Deceiver's  _A  Venom  Well  Designed_ 
impressed me meant its successor would be welcomed with open arms  -- 
but also that it would have a hard time  proving  its  worth.  _Terra 
Incognito_ is, first and foremost, an album that picks up  where  its 
predecessor left off, but also one that doesn't seem to care where it 
goes  from  there.  The  Great  Deceiver  have  veered  into  a  more 
pummeling hardcore-based approach, and as a result much of  the  more 
introspective guitar work that really made some  of  _AVWD_'s  tracks 
shine has been forsaken this time  around.  The  final  result  is  a 
different balance of the elements that make up The  Great  Deceiver's 
sound, but despite a promising opener in "Today" it is also  somewhat 
disappointing.                                                        

_Terra Incognito_ is  a  mildly  enjoyable  album:  Lindberg's  usual 
screams occasionally go into lower registers than usual, and  there's 
a definitely impressive sound emanating from the pounding  riffs  and 
rhythm work -- often quite straightforward, but very  pronounced  and 
commited. A hard album to  judge,  _Terra  Incognito_  is  neither  a 
headbang-inducing riff-fest nor a  considerably  doom-infused  album; 
it's less doomy and more pounding  than  its  predecessor,  but  it's 
clear that The Great Deceiver are still very  much  doing  their  own 
thing rather than trying to create easy  music  for  a  given  target 
audience.  For  my  taste  _A  Venom  Well  Designed_  is  much  more 
enjoyable, but _Terra Incognito_ is still a  good  album  that  might 
even turn out to be more attractive for other listeners.              

Contact: http://www.peaceville.com


Therion - _Lemuria / Sirius B_  (Nuclear Blast, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (10 out of 10)

It's been nearly ten years since the first  issue  of  Chronicles  of 
Chaos swept across the pornography emporium that is  cyberspace,  and 
while we have never claimed to be the world's harshest critics, there 
have been comparatively few bands who in the  time  since  then  have 
managed to achieve a  perfect  score.  Even  rarer  still  have  been 
instances of a band being awarded this elusive honour for  more  than 
one album. Therion are an exception however, boasting  not  one,  not 
two, but three flawless records, underlining the fact  that  here  at 
CoC Central, there clearly  exists  a  consensus  view  that  in  his 
fifteen year  career  as  the  band's  leader  and  main  songwriter, 
Christofer Johnsson has been doing something right.                   

Still, in measuring the quality of Therion's tenth  effort  one  must 
look to the evolution of  the  band's  discography  and  the  gradual 
decline in quality displayed on the likes of _Deggial_ and _Secret of 
the Runes_. While these releases weren't nearly the overblown,  self- 
indulgent puff-pieces their detractors made them out to be, they  did 
fail in many respects to live up to the daunting standards etched out 
by their predecessors, in particular those  achieved  on  the  band's 
breakthrough opus, _Theli_.  Taking  this  into  account,  one  might 
therefore almost have considered the possibility that once  seemingly 
bottomless pool of Johnsson's creativity was about  to  run  dry.  Of 
course, seeing as how _Lemuria / Sirius B_  is  about  to  achieve  a 
record-setting fourth perfect ten, you'd have been wrong.             

Nine months in the making and featuring the contribution of some  171 
musicians (yes, that's right), the _Lemuria / Sirius B_ double  album 
is admittedly a band effort. Johnsson, along with Kristian and  Johan 
Nieman and producer Lars Nissen have created  a  double-headed  beast 
that quite frankly renders this review redundant after the first  ten 
minutes of play. It takes ideas  that  were  hinted  at  on  _Theli_, 
_Vovin_ et al and elevates them to the nth degree, but  such  is  the 
scale of this opus that these form only a part  of  its  dense  sonic 
tapestry. To aptly describe its sound would see one combing virtually 
the entire musical spectrum. Woven into  the  rich  soundscapes  that 
form the album are elements of opera,  classical  and  neo-classical, 
progressive rock, folk, and jazz, all augmented to levels unheard  of 
anywhere else. Similarly _Lemuria / Sirius B_ is a  markedly  heavier 
record. Where more recent efforts may have forsaken the harsher  side 
of music, _Lemuria / Sirius B_ restores i t to its former glory,  and 
in this instance, Johnsson has stepped up to  the  plate  and  pushed 
himself to extremes that were last seen on the band's earliest  demos 
-- even bringing back the odd death metal vocal.                      

In further listing its strengths, I could probably spend several more 
paragraphs analysing this album and honestly, if I were to  do  that, 
I'd more than likely find fitting superlatives in  short  supply.  At 
the same time, it is very hard, if not impossible to find a  flaw  on 
this record. Every song  is  virtually  note-perfect  from  start  to 
finish, and in this sense, it is an effort that is able to  not  only 
equal its ambition, but one that ultimately ends up transcending mere 
musical expression, to become pure art.                               

Contact: http://www.megatherion.com


Ulver - _A Quick Fix of Melancholy_  (Jester Records, 2003)
by: Quentin Kalis  (10 out of 10)

The tone of the album is accurately -- and predictably  --  described 
in the title. But exploring the darker aspects of humanity is  hardly 
new territory for Ulver, as virtually all of their  releases  explore 
bleak themes. What does change is the manner in  which  those  themes 
are explored, as Ulver are seemingly content to  switch  genres  from 
one release to the other. Apart from the thematic material, the  only 
other constants during their ten years of existence have been the use 
of distinctively Ulverian melodies and  the  presence  of  Kristoffer 
(Garm) Rygg -- who is now Ulver's sole member. But even against  this 
background, _AQFoM_ stands  out  as  being  particularly  creepy  and 
perhaps more avant-garde then any other Ulver release.                

Paradoxically layered  and  minimalist,  easy  categorisation  beyond 
vague and unhelpful terms such as "electronica"  is  near  impossible 
and not worth  attempting.  Stirring  neoclassical  strings  dominate 
alongside Garm's  potent  vocals,  which  continue  to  improve  with 
each successive  release.  On  "Vowels"  he  attempts  some  sort  of 
pseudo-operatic style, with the  passion  and  strength  black  metal 
bands can only dream about.  Electronic  beats  --  which  I  usually 
despise with a passion -- succeed as they tend to be evocative rather 
than danceable.  A  remix  of  "Nattleite"  off  _Kveldssanger_  ends 
the album, and for the  first  time  they  have  attempted  a  rework 
of  material  from  their  black  metal  period.  Ironically,  it  is 
considerably harsher then the original. Try as I might, I  could  not 
find any flaws -- at best it could be said to be too short.           

If _Nattens Madrigal_ was the ugly face of Ulver, then  this  is  its 
very antithesis; an ethereal and eerie album absolutely beautiful  in 
its stark simplicity.  Easily  Ulver's  finest  since  the  excellent 
_Perdition City_.                                                     


Vehemence - _Helping the World to See_  (Metal Blade, 2004)
by: Brian Meloon  (7 out of 10)

Arizona's  Vehemence  have  returned  with  the  follow-up  to  their 
excellent 2002 release _God Was Created_. Unfortunately, this release 
fails to connect with me the way  that  album  did.  I  was  somewhat 
surprised by  this,  as  the  two  albums  share  many  of  the  same 
characteristics. Both are melodic death metal with brutal and precise 
guitar riffs, growled/screamed vocals, and a  tight  rhythm  section, 
all played  with  considerable  aplomb.  Their  riffs  are  generally 
melodic without being hook-based and are often harmonized. They  seem 
to be fond of individual note lines -- especially arpeggiated ones -- 
but they do use chord-based riffs from  time  to  time  to  add  some 
diversity. And  although  none  of  these  elements  is  particularly 
original, they've managed to define their own unique sound. Yet there 
are three elements that make this album less appealing to me than its 
predecessor. The first is that many of the riffs are too  similar  to 
those on their previous album. Thus, while they might have been novel 
before, this time they've lost some of their impact.  The  second  is 
that the music is less diverse and more repetitive. The songs have  a 
more internally consistent feel, which might also be because each  of 
the songs is credited to a single band member, as  opposed  to  their 
last album,  which  had  several  tracks  that  were  collaboratively 
written. The last is the production, which certainly isn't bad by any 
means, but gives the music a sterile feeling. That's not to say  that 
this isn't an extreme album, because it definitely is.  However,  the 
production makes the music sound compressed or constrained, and  that 
limits its effectiveness. Overall, I think  this  is  a  pretty  good 
release. I certainly got my money's worth from  it,  and  I  wouldn't 
expect that too many death metal fans would be  disappointed  by  it; 
yet it doesn't really  show  much  progression  over  their  previous 
release, and thus I don't expect much from their next release.        

Contact: http://www.vehemence.com


Watch Them Die - _Watch Them Die_  (Century Media, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (8.5 out of 10)

It is interesting to note upon closer analysis of the current  thrash 
boom, that the majority of bands  leading  the  charge  of  the  next 
generation have -- on a  musical  level  at  least  --  followed  the 
schematics etched out on early Slayer records virtually to  the  very 
last note. Not that there's anything wrong with that,  mind  you,  as 
bands like The Haunted and Carnal Forge  have  proven,  almost  as  a 
testament to Slayer's enduring legacy, that  the  formula  can  still 
produce songs of amazing impact given a slap of contemporary  veneer. 
It is nevertheless refreshing to hear a new band explore  roads  less 
travelled -- in Watch  Them  Die's  case,  the  venomous  riffing  of 
classics like _Bonded by Blood_ and _Among the Living_. In  addition, 
this Bay Area outfit have also added a generous dose  of  progressive 
hardcore to the mix,  referencing  bands  like  Mastodon  and  Uphill 
Battle on more than on occasion. It's an approach that hits hard  and 
aggressively, particularly on tracks like "To See You Blee d" and the 
haunting "Resurrection". Given that the somewhat flat production does 
let the potential effectiveness of the songs down from time to  time, 
this is a remarkably mature debut effort -- one which may  not  quite 
be _Reign in Blood_, but that's definitely one of the  best  examples 
of the new generation of thrash you'd find right now. The  soundtrack 
of violence indeed...                                                 

Contact: http://www.watchthemdie.com


Witches Sabbath - _New World Plague_  (Necromance Records, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit  (6.5 out of 10)

Witches Sabbath's debut reminds me a lot of a low budget, independent 
film -- a director's  first  unfettered  foray  into  showcasing  his 
craft. Sensing the  amount  of  passion  and  effort  that  has  been 
ploughed into the work, you desperately want it to blow you away, but 
there's just one too many loose end, and one too many rookie  blunder 
left for you to overlook to truly appreciate the end result. So it is 
with _New World Plague_. It is undoubtedly a truly commendable effort 
from a band who would  most  likely  have  produced  this  record  on 
the thinnest of shoestring budgets,  and  still  managed  to  deliver 
something so technically competent. Certainly, when their Myrkskog  / 
Zyklon-style blackened death metal works, it can cut it with some  of 
the best in the genre. Then come  the  cringingly  ill-fitting  clean 
vocals on "False Truth Falls", the monotonous tedium of "Silent  Path 
to Die" and the hollow droning of "Legions  of  Death",  and  one  is 
instantly reminded that this is the  band's  first  effort  and  that 
Witches Sabbath still have a long way to go before  they  have  truly 
tapped their impressive potential. To their credit  however,  despite 
its flaws this record is promising enough  to  convince  anyone  that 
when such a time comes, the Spanish underground scene may well be  in 
for a boost of Polish proportions.                                    

Contact: http://www.necromancemag.com


Withering - _Gospel of Madness_  (Warhorse / Firebox, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7.5 out of 10)

Sometimes one establishes a  mental  connection  between  two  rather 
different bands, not because they sound similar  or  share  the  same 
kind of imagery, but rather because there is  something  about  their 
attitude that they have in common. Case in point, Withering  and  the 
legendary Carcass. Truth be told, Withering play in a very  different 
league from Carcass -- a doomy sort of death  metal,  and  not  on  a 
similar level of virtuosity. But different as their style may  be,  I 
am still  reminded  of  _Heartwork_  when  listening  to  _Gospel  of 
Madness_: there  is  the  same  underlying  -metal-  feel  to  it,  a 
stripping down of superfluous elements that gives way to  a  definite 
focus on each riff and each  hook.  Everything  is  very  pronounced, 
rather than hurriedly played amidst a flurry of blastbeats or a thick 
layer of keyboards. The production is strong but simple, and there is 
a feeling of conviction that imbues every riff and every  lead.  This 
wouldn't amount to much if said music was mediocre, but Withering are 
actually capable of keeping a very decent level throughout  and  even 
achieving a few particularly remarkable passages. There is  a  little 
bit of early Amorphis in these  Finns,  but  the  delivery  is  quite 
different and ultimately Withering seem more concerned  with  playing 
the music they believe in than trying to stand out  at  any  cost  or 
market their work as the ultimate in whatever way possible.  This  is 
simply a very solid, enjoyable semi- doomy death  metal  album,  with 
meaty riffs and catchy leads, competent gruff vocals and drumming  -- 
the sort of release that may not get into  many  album  of  the  year 
charts, but will likely provide more actual  enjoyment  to  reviewers 
and listeners in general than some of those that will.                

Contact: http://www.firebox.fi


Woodtemple - _The Call From the Pagan Woods_
by: Aaron McKay  (5.5 out of 10)  (No Colours Records, 2004)

Arguably one of No Colours' stronger  acts,  Woodtemple  is  a  solid 
manifestation of  black  metal  hedonism.  Calling  themselves  Pagan 
metal, this one man outfit has achieved his goal, if that  aspiration 
is dim anonymity. Aramath (where do they come up with these  names?!) 
trumps forth a steady, mid-paced  march  on  this,  his  second  full 
length offering. Drawing roots back to 1999 with the _Swords of Hate_ 
demo, _The Call From  the  Pagan  Woods_  attempts  to  push  forward 
efforts  begun  on  _Feel  the  Anger  of  the  Wind_  in  2002  with 
little to no development lyrically  or  musically.  Despite  the  new 
disc's blatantly obvious title, _TCFtPW_ delivers three intentionally 
elongated tracks book- ended appropriately by intro and outro segues. 
Complete with all the necessary elements one  would  come  to  expect 
from  a  black  metal  release,  Woodtemple  creates  a  conceptually 
bleak aura throughout _TCFtPW_'s  nearly  forty-six  minutes.  Highly 
repetitive in nature, the balance is struck  on  this  album  by  the 
lull ing effect  Aramath  concedes  with  the  raw  guitar  work  and 
uncomplicated atmospheric keyboards. Of course the  harshly  executed 
vocals are typical yet reassuring, in the  same  way  that  you  know 
Slayer will never stray too far from their bread 'n' butter stylistic 
formula. If you can fight through the surface monotony,  occasionally 
the mostly repetitious songs found on _The Call From the Pagan Woods_ 
aren't as much of a yawner as they might seem.                        

Contact: http://www.no-colours-records.de

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

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

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


Behold the Arctopus - _Arctopocalypse Now... Warmageddon Later_
by: Brian Meloon  (4.5 out of 5)

This NYC three-piece (formerly  known  as  "We  Need  a  Drummer"  on 
mp3.com) play an innovative brand of  jazzy  metal/rock.  You  should 
have some idea of what to expect just from looking at the instruments 
they play: "lead drums", "lead guitar", and "12-string super  guitar" 
(which I suppose is something similar to a  Warr  Guitar  or  Chapman 
Stick). It's hard to pin down exactly who they sound like, but  their 
sound is syncopative, technical, and  completely  instrumental.  They 
blend elements of jazz and fusion  with  metal,  while  incorporating 
influences from guitar spankoff, progrock, and probably other  genres 
that I'm not so familiar with. I noticed  some  elements  of  Voivod, 
Primus, Richie Kotzen, Greg Howe,  Spastic  Ink,  and  a  few  others 
represented in their music. But these influences are the minority  of 
their sound, as their style seems mostly original.                    

They  seem  to  prefer  individual-note  guitar  lines  (using   both 
dissonant and consonant harmonies), but they use  a  fair  amount  of 
(dissonant and power) chords as well. Much of the  variety  in  their 
music stems from their use of different  rhythms  and  tempos,  which 
change quite rapidly at times. Yet the band doesn't change things too 
quickly; they usually take the time to develop each section a  little 
before moving on to the next one. Still, the longer of the two  songs 
here, "You Will Be Reincarnated as  an  Imperial  Attack  Spaceturtle 
(Part 1)", clocks in at over eight minutes, and does seem to  lose  a 
little bit of focus at times. As you would expect, there are a lot of 
solos and other show- off sections  sprinkled  through  their  songs. 
These are generally well done, and the playing is excellent from  all 
of the members. Their tightness is especially  impressive  given  the 
technicality of the material. The production is a little  noisy,  but 
doesn't really detract from the music; in fact, it gives them a  more 
raw and chaotic feel. Ultimately, this is a  promising  demo  from  a 
very talented and original band. It should  be  enjoyed  by  fans  of 
technical metal and math-rock as well as fans of the more avantgarde. 

Contact: http://www.beholdthearctopus.com


Born of Thorns - _New Horizon_
by: Adrian Magers  (5 out of 5)

On their  last  release  _The  Encounter  of  Light  and  Dark_  Born 
of  Thorns  had  pushed  themselves  out  of  obscurity  and  into  a 
position as one of Finland's premier underground acts.  In  a  review 
of _The Encounter..._ I  dubbed  the  music  that  BoT  presented  as 
"beautiful, melodic, dramatic [and] grandiose."  After  listening  to 
their follow-up, entitled _New Horizon_, I'd like  to  expand  on  my 
previous description, but I'm  at  a  loss  for  words.  This  newest 
trinity of superbly-crafted melodic neo- black  songs  is  absolutely 
shockingly good. The guitar  riffs  are  better,  the  keyboards  are 
doubly haunting, and the interplay between  the  two  instruments  is 
sharper and more complex than  before.  Credit  must  also  be  given 
to the other aspects  of  the  band:  the  vocals  (particularly  the 
clean ones) are stronger, and the  drumming  has  intensified.  Great 
production, arrangement, technical playing... everything  about  this 
demo (it's almost unfair to call this work  of  art  a  demo)  is  an 
improvement from the l ast. At this point I'm  drooling  for  an  LP. 
The sound is slightly  more  progressive,  and  less  "Filth-y"  than 
previous works. Imagine Borknagar painted much darker  with  some  of 
the post-thrash fury initiated  on  Susperia's  debut  and  keyboards 
befitting of an  orchestra.  I  also  hear  a  little  bit  of  their 
countrymates Children of Bodom's influence in certain parts. Probably 
the best independent CD I'll receive this year -- that is  unless  an 
LP is coming along from this amazingly talented young act.            

Contact: http://www.bornofthorns.com


Cerberus - _Untitled Demo_
by: Jackie Smit  (5 out of 5)

This is what I like  to  hear!  After  a  very  impressive  debut  on 
last year's split EP  with  Seethe,  Milton  Keynes'  most  promising 
metallic exports have kept the  momentum  going  and  are  back  with 
three new tracks that don't  merely  improve  on  past  efforts,  but 
completely blow  them  away  in  every  respect.  While  the  diverse 
influences of bands like Mastodon and Entombed are still prevalent in 
their sound to a certain extent, the  band  has  made  several  grand 
strides toward becoming an entity  all  on  their  own  in  the  nine 
months following their  last  outing.  Chris  Milliken's  vocals  are 
sounding more aggressive than  ever,  at  times  hinting  toward  The 
Haunted's Peter Dolving, while the instrumental work shows a  greater 
depth and maturity  than  ever  before  --  particularly  so  on  the 
potentially riot-inducing "Mind Control", where Cerberus blend groove 
and technicality with a flair that could only come from  a  band  who 
are headed toward bigger things. Judging by the quality of this demo, 
that seems bound to happen sooner rather than later.                  

Contact: http://www.cerberus.2ya.com


Darcane - _Anamorphica_
by: Pedro Azevedo  (3.5 out of 5)

Darcane are Finnish and play melodic heavy metal --  let's  get  that 
clear from the beginning to avoid  any  confusion  with  the  Swedish 
Darkane. The music is based on  heavy  metal  riffing,  topped  by  a 
vocalist who has the sort of  half-gruff  singing  characteristic  of 
James Hetfield (which isn't quite the only Metallica connection  that 
comes to mind  over  the  course  of  this  demo).  Singer  and  band 
mastermind Tommy Dee keeps things a bit more  melodic  than  Hetfield 
though, and his somewhat odd singing style can actually become pretty 
catchy if you get into it. The band (who have changed their name from 
a lousy Holochaust to an  unoriginal  Darcane)  continue  to  produce 
unassuming, enjoyable songs  that  stick  to  the  ear  pretty  well, 
and still come across as  influenced  by  bands  like  Metallica  and 
Sentenced. This demo is a bit better than the two Holochaust demos  I 
reviewed, but despite the name change it's now the third release in a 
row where I've mentioned the same influences and  the  same  problems 
with their sound: it's not very original, and  while  the  songs  are 
catchy they also go away pretty fast. The first time  I  heard  these 
guys they were showing potential, but after hearing three demos,  all 
I can say is that they are in fact improving, but  they're  just  not 
going anywhere very remarkable with their music.                      

Contact: http://www.darcane.com


Gezeiten - _Demo CD 2003_
by: Pedro Azevedo  (1.5 out of 5)

Somewhere in the realm of gothic metal wanders a German  band  called 
Gezeiten in search of a  record  label  that  will  sign  them.  What 
arguments do they present to justify getting signed? Well, some would 
argue their melodic, keyboard-driven, very slightly heavy approach is 
pretty marketable these days. Add German lyrics, gothic clean  vocals 
and techno-ish elements to the mix -- hey, now we're  getting  higher 
in the marketing scale, this could even sound a bit  like  Rammstein! 
In addition, the demo is decently  produced  and  adequately  played, 
which is also quite useful. In all seriousness however, I don't think 
I can find a single good riff or interesting original passage in this 
demo. The act of putting together a few elements that seem likely  to 
sell doesn't spontaneously create good music, and this demo is a fine 
example of that rule. Some of the material  is  downright  atrocious, 
while most of it just wallows in mediocrity; only  a  small  minority 
can be rated as average. Not that any of the above necessarily  means 
Gezeiten won't eventually end up with a label deal...                 

Contact: http://www.gezeiten.com


Mül - _Litany Circus_
by: James Montague  (4 out of 5)

As Charles Montgomery Burns might say, I don't know much about  doom, 
but I know what I hate -- and I don't hate this. This  doom  project, 
though currently confined to small, select circles and word of mouth, 
compares favourably to the big hitters of the genre.  The  brainchild 
of one man in Bergen, Norway, Mül has put out five  ambitious  demos, 
and _Litany Circus_ is their daddy. As in the other demos,  disparate 
elements are bounced about on the traditional death/doom canvas,  but 
on _Litany Circus_ they rarely seem surplus to requirements.          

The opening number "Litanus" is a  right  cracker.  Torturously  slow 
riffs  are  tinged  with  what  feels  like  Middle  Eastern  melody, 
creating  visions  of  bleak  desert  landscapes  in  the  night;  an 
uncomfortable passage of clean vocals feels appropriate to a  passage 
of uncomfortable, drifting guitar noise; then a stomping  death  riff 
rises out of the morass to smack you across the skull. Wonderful.     

A little acoustic guitar piece offers some respite  before  "Dreaming 
of the Black Tomorrow" torments the listener for another ten minutes. 
Immense, sluggish riffs groan along, while melancholic  lead  guitar, 
siren wails and other haunting effects are draped over the top.  Pure 
bliss for the true doom fanatic -- horrible, wilting pain for  anyone 
else. The final track, "Tsakel", has a little more impetus behind it, 
and features some achingly beautiful guitar work -- listening  to  it 
as I write the review, I feel my opinion of the demo  rising  sharply 
-- leading into a lengthy outro of folky ambience and sinister  piano 
work. It feels rather like a collaboration between Raison d'Etre  and 
Profanum, and while not terribly coherent, the constituent parts work 
a treat for this reviewer.                                            

I really was surprised by how damn fine this independent release was, 
though you'd think that after more than ten years  in  extreme  metal 
I'd know that being signed to a label and having  loads  of  drooling 
fans means sweet fuck-all. This is definitely a  band  for  the  doom 
fiends -- Esoteric fans in particular -- to sink  their  teeth  into. 
Heads down and thumbs up to a quite excellent piece of work.          

(N.B. All Mül's demos are available for  free  download  at  the  URL 
provided.)                                                            

Contact: http://vindice.cjb.net


Nocta - _Come Out (Wherever You Are)_
by: James Montague  (2.5 out of 5)

From reading their biography, it seems Athenian quintet Nocta  are  a 
band that struggled to find their true identity in the early days,  a 
desire for recognition and popularity conflicting with a rejection of 
pop music's flippancy. Not surprisingly, their music  doesn't  wander 
anywhere near the extreme fringes of metal, where people like us have 
made our home.  _Come  Out  (Wherever  You  Are)_  is  essentially  a 
blend of '70s heavy metal and  modern  rock.  The  first  four  Black 
Sabbath albums are an obvious point of comparison,  and  this  demo's 
opening track,  "Wicked  Woman",  certainly  elicits  memories  of  a 
similarly-named Sabbath track.                                        

Although the demo is a little tame for my tastes, the nostalgia  does 
compensate,  and  the  songwriting  is  certainly  accomplished.  The 
vocalist gave up a career with a popular Greek rock band to lend  his 
excellent singing voice to Nocta, and  the  lead  guitarist  displays 
good technique  and  melodic  sensibility.  The  overall  package  is 
polished yet tasteful, with just the occasional dose of grit. I can't 
really pick any weakness in the band -- it's just not really  my  cup 
of tea. Nocta is certainly a name to look out for if you're  after  a 
mellow dose of old-school hard rock.                                  

Contact: nocta@freemail.gr


Philistine - _Consume and Devour_
by: Aaron McKay  (3 out of 5)

Heavily rooted in  the  Godflesh  sound,  this  northeast  two  piece 
low-end industrial outfit formed in the fall  of  2003.  Filled  from 
stem to stern with a wash of samples and synth, Philistine  builds  a 
sound of slow, low and heavy. Strong is the  undercurrent  of  simple 
aural assailments as well as a dependence on their influences.  While 
Philistine cites Grief, Halo and Khanate, Godflesh's 1998 self-titled 
release is laid out unapologetically on the inside cover of  _Consume 
and Devour_. Furthermore, song titles on this,  their  initial  demo, 
smile shamelessly upon Philistine's influences. Just over forty-three 
minutes in length, Natas Corpsegrinder (the last name is  not  to  be 
confused  with  the  Massacre  song  of  the  same  name)  and  Slave 
Voltage together combine their abilities in an attempt  to  shape  an 
exploration in dejection and desolation. Throughout the eight  tracks 
comprising _Consume and Devour_, Philistine does little  to  emblazon 
their own approach, but  their  sound  and  aptitude  i  s  admirably 
executed. The production on this demo is  equally  impressive.  After 
cutting their teeth for awhile on the scene, Philistine will no doubt 
find a stride more their own. Until  that  day  comes,  _Consume  and 
Devour_ is a creditable gesture toward a promising calling  for  this 
duo.                                                                  

Contact: Space Ghost Records, 206 Jarvis Gore Drive, Eddington,
         ME 04428 USA


Scala Mercalli - _My Daemons_
by: Jackie Smit  (4 out of 5)

Aaaah, the early days of discovering met-aaaaaal... If you  got  into 
heavy music at an early age and were anything like  me,  chances  are 
that you will recall several hormone-driven afternoons spent  in  the 
confines of your room, blasting the Iron Maiden, WASP, Dio and  Judas 
Priest C-90 copies at ear-splitting volume, belting out odes to death 
and destruction into anything resembling a microphone like  you  were 
Bruce Dickinson in his last ever  stage  performance.  Hearing  Scala 
Mercalli's version of "Be Quick or Be Dead" on their second  official 
demo, I am reminded of good  days  gone  by,  and  only  adds  to  my 
impression  that  this  Italian  five-piece  are  a  fairly  accurate 
incarnation of the band  that  every  young  male  metalhead  in  his 
formative years wished he could start. As such, this  is  hardly  the 
most inventive stuff you're  likely  to  hear  anytime  soon;  it  is 
unashamed in its love of metal's earliest traditions to the point  of 
being derivative. However, with just enough technical profi ciency to 
make songs like "Day of Fighter" and "Banshee's  Whisper"  rock  like 
the hard-nosed sons of bitches they are, there's something undeniably 
special about this band. In a world of several hundred  shitty  power 
metal bands, Scala Mercalli can rest easy in the knowledge that  they 
most definitely are not one of them.                                  

Contact: http://www.scalamercalli.com


Sinn - _The Rune of Odin_
by: Aaron McKay  (3 out of 5)

No longer content with the pace or substance  of  his  former  Oregon 
based outfit, Vido Sinn parted company with Jesters Moon  to  develop 
his own unique brand of vileness. The menacing  menagerie  culminated 
with the 2004  _The  Rune  of  Odin_  release.  Leaving  no  possible 
room for comparison, Vido mutated Sinn  away  from  the  hard-hitting 
straightforwardness of Jesters Moon into a wicked  variety  of  anti- 
religious sentiment and darkened disgust.  Adding  to  the  faithless 
frivolity, Tyran (drums/percussion) and Johann (bass) complete Sinn's 
line-up of seamy sorts. Lyrically, the message comes across loud  and 
clear in a highly unsurprising way - "sodomy on Earth", "breed  death 
and pain", "rot and plague" and the like. On the other  hand,  Sinn's 
strengths include a penchant for  mood,  largely  through  synth  and 
vocal range changes from the comprehendible rasp to the spoken  word. 
All this communicates the band's tone in an effective  and  efficient 
manner. No doubt due to circumstance,  _The  Rune  of  Odin_  suffers 
somewhat from underproduction -- the guitars betraying this truth  in 
the most noticeable fashion. Nowhere, however, does this effort leave 
the listener's attention to wonder.  Vido  enhances  Sinn's  ambience 
with a truly succinct and fitful song structure throughout the nearly 
thirty-nine minutes on _TRoO_. It could be said that Vido Sinn "stuck 
the landing" with his vault from Jesters Moon, but better  production 
and more attention paid to the lackluster lyrical content would go  a 
long way to securing a perfect score from the American judge  in  the 
metal mastery competition.                                            

Contact: isisvolgaard@hotmail.com


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

      A L L   M U R D E R ,   A L L   G U T S ,   A L L   F U N
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              Cannibal Corpse, Kataklysm and Gorerotted
       @ The Electric Ballroom, London, UK, on April 13, 2003
                           by: Jackie Smit


The workmanlike attitude that Cannibal Corpse  has  always  displayed 
toward recording and touring makes it almost a case  of  mathematical 
theorem that anyone living within the outskirts of their well-trodden 
path will be given the opportunity to witness them in action at least 
once every two years. Indeed, their last visit  to  the  capital  was 
just a hair under two years ago, and if  anything  has  changed  from 
their previous bi-annual sojourn it would be the attendance, which in 
keeping with the current inexplicable burst of interest in all things 
heavy, has more than doubled.                                         

Before the Cannibals can get down to the making of the metal  though, 
we have to contend with local blood-and-guts merchants Gorerotted for 
a half hour. This is a band whose appeal continues  to  elude  me  -- 
their farcical brand of deathgrind just  barely  manages  to  saunter 
beyond mediocre, and their live shows are  among  some  of  the  most 
boring that you are likely to witness  anywhere  in  the  underground 
scene. Unsurprisingly, tonight is no exception, as the band make nary 
an effort to even seem in the slight bit interested in  what  they're 
doing. Stage activity is virtually non-existent and  aside  from  the 
odd amusing nugget ("Hawksaw" being one such rare morsel), it quite a 
relief to see them head backstage.                                    

Not  so  with   Kataklysm.   Where   the   self-proclaimed   Canadian 
hypergrinders' last few studio outings have failed to impress as  far 
as I'm concerned, their stage performance is a whole different kettle 
of fish. Barreling through a selection of songs  culled  mostly  from 
their recent  _Serenity  in  Fire_  opus,  even  the  fairly  generic 
"Ambassador of Pain" ends up sounding utterly blistering. It is  when 
Max Duhamel launches into a drum solo that clocks in the  other  side 
of warp 10 however, that Kataklysm's set is elevated from merely good 
to completely mind-blowing.  And  just  when  you  thought  that  the 
envelope couldn't be pushed any further in terms  of  sheer  blasting 
speed, they follow it up with a rendition of "Blood on Swans" that is 
so insanely brutal it threatens  to  rip  apart  the  fabric  of  the 
space-time continuum.                                                 

Despite Kataklysm's best efforts,  the  heroes  welcome  that  greets 
Cannibal Corpse's arrival on stage makes it eminently clear  who  the 
majority of punters have come to  see.  Rather  than  launch  into  a 
selection of material off _ The Wretched Spawn  _  though,  tonight's 
set list draws quite heavily from  the  band's  first  four  records. 
"Stripped, Raped & Strangled",  "Vomit  the  Soul",  "Fucked  With  a 
Knife", "Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead", "The Cryptic Stench", 
"Gutted" and  "Skull  Full  of  Maggots"  all  get  suitably  riotous 
airings. Thankfully (for people like myself) fans of the band's later 
work aren't forgotten, as we also get to hear "Devoured  by  Vermin", 
"Pit of Zombies", "Dormant Bodies  Bursting",  "Pounded  Into  Dust", 
"The Wretched Spawn" and "Unleashing the  Bloodthirsty".  Bowing  out 
with the obligatory "Hammer Smashed Face", there's quite frankly  not 
all that much to set this show aside from any of Cannibal's countless 
other performances. That  said,  anyone  who  has  seen  the  Buffalo 
quintet in action will testify that when they are on  form  they  can 
kick up a racket with the best of them, and tonight they just make it 
look all too easy.                                                    

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

Pedro's Top 5

1. Insomnium - _Since the Day It All Came Down_
2. Nortt - _Gudsforladt_
3. Mastodon - _Remission_
4. Necare - _Ruin_
5. Hypocrisy - _The Arrival_

Brian's Top 5

1. Descend into Nothingness - _Darkened Reality_
2. Divinity Destroyed - _Eden in Ashes_
3. Vehemence - _Helping the World to See_
4. Eyes of Fire - _Ashes to Embers_
5. Pathos - _Perdition Splits the Skies_

Aaron's Top 5

1. Jungle Rot - _Fueled by Hate_
2. Finntroll - _Nattfodd_
3. The Forsaken - _Traces of the Past_
4. Celestial Season - _Solar Lovers_
5. Peccatum - _Lost in Reverie_

James' Top 5

1. Suffocation - _Souls to Deny_
2. Root - _Zjevení_
3. Faith No More - _The Real Thing_
4. Skyforger - _Thunderforge_
5. Nazxul - _Totem_

Jackie's Top 5

1. Therion - _Lemuria / Sirius B_
2. Malevolent Creation - _Warkult_
3. Suffocation - _Pierced From Within_
4. Amen - _Death Before Musick_
5. Demonoid - _Riders of the Apocalypse_

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

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


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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #74

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

