       ____  _     ____  ____  _      _  ____ _     _____ ____
      /   _\/ \ /|/  __\/  _ \/ \  /|/ \/   _X \   /  __// ___\
      |  /  | |_|||  \/|| / \|| |\ ||| ||  / | |   |  \  |    \
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      \____/\_/ \|\_/\_\\____/\_/  \|\_/\____X____/\____\\____/
                               ____  _____
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                    /   _\/ \ /|/  _ \/  _ \/ ___\
                    |  /  | |_||| / \|| / \||    \
                    |  \__| | ||| |-||| \_/|\___ |
                    \____/\_/ \|\_/ \|\____/\____/


	 CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, May 13, 2001, Issue #53
                   http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com

Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley
Copy Editor / Contributor: Pedro Azevedo
Assistant Copy Editor / Contributor: Paul Schwarz
Contributor: Brian Meloon
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk
Contributor: Aaron McKay
Contributor: David Rocher
Contributor: Alex Cantwell
Contributor: Matthias Noll
Contributor: Alvin Wee
Contributor: Gabriel Sanchez
Contributor: Chris Flaaten
Spiritual Guidance: Alain M. Gaudrault

The   individual   writers   can   be   reached    by    e-mail    at
firstname@ChroniclesOfChaos.com ("firstname" must be replaced by  the
respective writer's  first  name,  e.g.  Gino@ChroniclesOfChaos.com).

NOTE: You may unsubscribe from Chronicles of Chaos  at  any  time  by
      sending a blank e-mail to <Unsubscribe@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>.

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

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

Issue #53 Contents, 5/13/01
---------------------------
* Editorial
* Loud Letters
* Deadly Dialogues
-- Nile: They Couldn't Dam This River...
-- Darkthrone: Of the Lupine Lords That Lurk in the Shadows
-- Zyklon/Emperor: Detoxed But Not Disarmed
-- Dimmu Borgir: Majestic Visions, Triumphant Sounds
-- Opeth: Harvest of Blackness
-- Proscriptor: I Am the One
-- Monster Magnet: Dave Says Yes!
-- Immolation: A Truly Individual Sin
-- Lacuna Coil: Unleashed and Ready for Stardom
-- Gandalf: Death 'n' Roll Machine Rolls On
-- The Embraced: Norway's Gothenburg Sons
-- W.A.S.P.: Unleashing Terror Once Again
-- Relapse Records: Comments From Captain Contamination
* Album Asylum
-- Abyssic Hate - _Suicidal Emotions_
-- Archaean Harmony - _Nihility Mundane Soul_
-- Arghoslent - _Troops of Unfeigned Might_ 7"
-- Arthemesia - _Devs-Iratvs_
-- At the Gates - _Suicidal Final Art_
-- Aurora Borealis - _Northern Lights_
-- Blood Stained Dusk - _Dirge of Death's Silence_
-- Burnt by the Sun - _Burnt by the Sun_
-- Cathedral - _Endtyme_
-- Charnel House - _Sample of Murder_
-- Chikmountain - _Porn on the Cob_
-- Children of Bodom - _Follow the Reaper_
-- Craft - _Total Soul Rape_
-- Cybernetic Erosion - _Materialisation of Abomination_
-- Daeonia - _Crescendo_
-- Defiled - _Ugliness Revealed_
-- Demence - _Goutte a Goutte_
-- Desecrator - _Negative Progress_
-- Detachment - _Suspended in Stone_
-- Evanesce - _Sower of Sedition_
-- Falconer - _Falconer_
-- Feikn - _Helhesten/Aamanden_ 7"
-- Fictional Prison - _Dream Killer_
-- Freedom Call - _Crystal Empire_
-- Funeral Rites - _Necroeater_
-- Funker Vogt - _t_
-- God Forbid  - _Determination_
-- Haste - _When Reason Sleeps_
-- Himinbjorg - _Third_
-- hurt - _hurt_
-- Ikon - _On the Edge of Forever_
-- Impaled - _Choice Cuts_
-- Judas Iscariot - _Dethroned, Conquered and Forgotten_ +4 LP
-- Jungle Rot - _Dead and Buried_
-- Kaos Rising - _Wiped Away_
-- KorovaKill - _WaterHells_
-- Lacuna Coil - _Unleashed Memories_
-- Love Like Blood - _Chronology of a Love Affair_
-- Marduk - _La Grande Danse Macabre_
-- Mentallo & the Fixer - _ Return to Grimpen Ward_
-- Midnight Syndicate - _Gates of Delirium_
-- Minas Tirith - _Demons Are Forever_
-- Monument - _The Millennial Death of Success_
-- Moshquito - _Worlds End_
-- Mourning Beloveth - _Dust_
-- Mudslinger - _Cover the Sun_
-- Nocturnal Winds - _Of Art and Suffering_
-- Obsidian - _On the Path of Others We Follow_
-- Octinomos - _Fuckhole Armageddon_
-- Opeth - _Blackwater Park_
-- Pagan Altar - _Volume 1_
-- PCP - _Evil Hate Motherfucker_
-- Plan E - _Found & Lost_
-- Pro-Pain - _Round 6_
-- Psycroptic - _The Isle of Disenchantment_
-- Purgation - _Realm of the Dead_
-- Regurgitate - _Carnivorous Erection_
-- Various - _Requiems of Revulsion: A Tribute to Carcass_
-- Sabbat - _Live Meltdown_
-- Sacred Sin - _Translucid Dream Mirror_
-- Savatage - _Poets and Madmen_
-- Schizoid - _All Things Are Connected_
-- Serberus - _In Eternity_
-- Shadowbreed - _Only Shadows Remain_
-- Sirius - _Spectral Transition - Dimension Sirius_
-- Sisthema - _The Fourth Discontinuity_
-- Skinless - _Foreshadowing Our Demise_
-- Skylark - _The Divine Gates Pt. II - Gate of Heaven_
-- Soils of Fate - _Sandstorm_
-- Susperia - _Predominance_
-- Various - _The Return of Darkness and Hate_
-- Thorns - _Thorns_
-- Thornspawn - _Empress From the Realms of Blasphemy_
-- Watain - _Rabid Death's Curse_
-- Zyklon - _World Ov Worms_
* New Noise
-- Arctic Circle - _Arctic Circle_
-- Arctic Circle - _Weird Winds_
-- Arctic Circle - _Dimension Dreaming_
-- Aurora - _Promo 2001_
-- Mithras - _Dreaming in Splendour_
-- Vokodlok - _Unchain the Wolf_
-- Znich - _Adchuwanni Vyasny_
* Chaotic Concerts
-- Massachusetts + Metal = Wicked Brutal Pissa!: New England Fest
-- Baptized by Fire and Beer: Marduk, Mortician, Vader, etc.
-- At the Haunted Gates of Vengeance: Nile and The Haunted in France
-- Infernal Festivities: Norway's Inferno Festival
-- CoC Marches on the Metal Meltdown
-- Crimes in the Mourning Palace: Dimmu Borgir, In Flames & Nevermore
-- Too Fast for Love: Dying Fetus, Gorguts, Skinless & The Berserker
-- Norwegian Oldies and Norwegian Oldschool: Mayhem & co. in Norway
-- How Time Flies: Pantera, Soulfly and Morbid Angel in Iowa
* What We Have Cranked
* Details

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

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

                         by: Gino Filicetti


     It isn't very  often that an issue such as  this one comes along.
Only once before in the five and a half year lifespan of Chronicles of
Chaos has an issue been packed full of as much material as this one.
     It is  my great pleasure  to present  to you Chronicles  of Chaos
#53, or as we  like to call it, THE BEAST. In  these pages you'll find
nine concert reviews, loads and loads of record reviews and easily our
best  interview  line up  EVER!  How  else  would you  categorize  the
following  impressive list:  Nile,  Darkthrone, Zyklon/Emperor,  Dimmu
Borgir,  Opeth,  Monster Magnet,  and  my  personal mentor  and  idol:
Proscriptor.
     Meanwhile, the  EuroCoC saga  has been forced  to take  some time
off, but will be back in full strength for our next issue.
     It is with great reluctance that  I must report the retirement of
another CoC  staff member: Alex Cantwell,  who has been with  CoC ever
since our New Year's Evil Edition  III in January of 1999. Alex leaves
CoC with his plate more full than empty as the lead vocalist for a new
band, the co-editor on a brand new print 'zine entitled: Dirt Culture,
as well as a husband and father. We  all wish Alex the best of luck as
he joins  our esteemed group  of CoC alumni --  one of the  most elite
groups in the world, I might add.
     I want to thank everyone that  wrote a Loud Letter in response to
my lamentations for the lack thereof.  We definitely got a few doozies
in there,  so check them out.  We've decided to keep  our own opinions
OUT of our  Loud Letters section since we want  to promote the freedom
of speech and freedom of representation without deletion or editing. I
believe it is up to our readers  to respond and for Loud Letters to be
as open  a forum for  discussion as possible.  So please feel  free to
e-mail us at: loudletters@chroniclesofchaos.com and let it all out.
     I'm pleased to report that we've had a few auditions recently and
we are very pleased with the results.  Suffice it to say that some new
faces will  be hitting our  pages over the  next couple of  issues. As
always, we  are looking for  talented, bright and  highly misanthropic
individuals to join  our staff. If you think you've  got what it takes
then  e-mail: auditions@chroniclesofchaos.com  and  let  us know  what
makes you so  special. Don't forget to  send a personal bio  and a few
samples of your material.
     That wraps it up for me kids, as always, enjoy the issue and stay
TRUE.

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

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

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


Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001
From: "Brad" <metalurgy@home.com>
Subject: Festivals

Hey,
This may be  an idea for an  article, or a topic for  discussion. I am
wondering  about festivals  that  are worth  travelling  to. How  well
organized  they  are, wether  you  get  your  monies worth,  or  other
travelling  issues.  I have  been  to  Milwuakee, Dynamo,  Wave-Gothic
Treffen, and Ozzfest. Opinions on  Wacken, New Jersey, With Full Force
or any others would be appreciated. COC's concert reviews are great...
and sure make me jealous, thanks!
Brad


Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001
From: DER TODESKIN <splattergod@yahoo.com>
Subject: Just some freakin feedback.,.....

Darkest Hails, I  enjoyed the latest issue of CoC..I  really liked the
fact that you didn't slag either  Cannibal Corpse or Dimmu Borgir this
issue. This seems to be the  trend now....and is quite typical. A band
comes  out,  people sing  their  praises  then  after they  "make  it"
suddenly they are sell-outs or trendies, etc. I have been following CC
ever since they came  out and will until they call it  a day. What the
hell  is  wrong with  simply  putting  out consistant  material  every
release? As  for Dimmu  (as well  as Cradle of  Fith) they  were quite
popular in the underground until  they started getting press, then all
of a  sudden "they suck",  "they sold out" yada  yada yada. Give  me a
goddamn break. So  what if they cater to their  fans. There is nothing
wrong with  giving the  people what they  want. Yeah,  I know...."they
aren't black  metal"......well what the  hell is black  metal anymore?
Venom coined  the term but they  are more in the  death metal vein....
Bathory  also,  though  it  became "viking  metal"  after  a  bit.....
Wytchfind? Black  Widow? Coven? Black  Sabbath? Is it the  lyrics that
make black  metal or  the music (or  both?)? Deicide,  Incantation and
Acheron  all have  strong anti-xtian  lyrics yet  they are  most often
refered to  as death metal......perhaps Mayhem,  Burzum or Darkthrone?
All have  death metal roots which  slowly transformed.....Emperor? But
they use keyboards just like COF and Dimmu. Enslaved or Immortal? Both
bands state they are not black metal. Is it the production? Must black
metal be raw?  Again, this leaves out Emperor  and King Diamond.....Is
it corpse paint  and bullet belts? The Mersey  Monsters, Alice Cooper,
and Kiss were wearing a form of corpse paint way back when I was a kid
yet none  of the 3  are even  remotely likened to  black metal....It's
pretty asinine isn't it? Personally I think black metal is lyric based
and  so I  consider Dimmu,  COF,  etc black  metal.  I may  be in  the
minority but  I never did follow  trends anyhow. Just needed  to spout
off..!
 ......by the way, in regards to  Graveland.....the music is ok, but I
refuse to  buy any of their  releases. Why? Because of  their constant
slagging of  the US and of  people wanting autographs, etc.  I find it
quite hypocritical that they trash the  US in every breath yet have no
problem accepting $17 for  their releases.....I'll probably get flamed
for this but  I welcome it.......I wouldn't expect anyone  to buy a US
release if the  band slagged their country either.  Thanks for letting
me sound off,  darkest hails....Splattergod ps: if  you are unfamiliar
with some of the bands I mentioned check them out, you gotta know your
roots. Wytchfind is playing the NJ  meltdown this years too, you don't
want to miss this! S

Check Out My Radio Program!!Splattergod's Underground Metal Show


Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001
From: "Frederik Okholm" <doom@superevil.org>
Subject: War on atheism

Greetings.

How sad to see an issue of CoC without any loud letters. I will make a
suggestion to  why no one  can think  of anything worthwhile  to share
with our cultural colleagues.
In the twin  darkness of the global/nationalist mind, there  can be no
constructivity or creationism  without a spirit to light  up the truth
of humans: That the primary qualities  of any human is shared with all
others  - we  just  have different  ways of  responding  to this.  For
example, Gino  mentions a success in  CoC - the 'war  on christianity'
thread,  which is  a  way of  man  to confront  what  is blocking  his
evolutionary path.

Let's  have  a  war  on  atheism.  With  the  dead,  stinking  god  of
Christianity out of the way, we have  a new battle: What should we put
in his stead? Nothingness?
I can't be  an atheist. I have  tried though, in my teens,  when I was
also fascinated with Satan (Satanism is NOT post-christianity) and the
Loch Ness monster. I  still am, but I don't believe  in them any more.
My persuasion says that this world and universe is a living, breathing
god who is  an eternal image of  your mind and the minds  of all other
living beings.  I go  for 'Everything  possible to  be believed  is an
image of truth'. Thus, atheism and Christianity is truth, but only for
those who believe  in it. I would  like them to open  their minds. But
not to  the known  gods, since  they are  hopelessly tied  to outdated
cultural traditions and  hate in general (hate=love gone  bad). What I
would like to  see emerge from the  war on atheism is  more courage to
accept a spiritual  reality. Among atheists, people who  does this are
somehow mentally  weak, hiding  behind some  fairytale to  obscure the
hard facts  of materialism. That  is not how I  see it. Going  from an
atheist stance to accepting what feels  real but is unprovable takes a
lot of personal courage. Denial is easy - spiritual evolution is hard.
To  end  this  for now,  I  will  make  this  letter relevant  to  its
surroundings by claiming that metal music cannot be atheistic. It is a
manifestation of the spirit's will  to be diverse, individual and hard
on its adversaries. It is a way of reinventing god.

Frederik.


From: Sentinel Steel <metal@sentinelsteel.com>
Subject: Manilla Road Mystification review

Hello Alvin,
Your review and e-mail address was passed on to me by a friend.

The review  was fantastic and I  want to express my  deepest gratitude
for such  a wonderful review. I  forwarded it to Mark  Shelton as well
and I am sure he will be pleased.

But there is one correction I would like to make: in the last sentence
of the  review, you make  a comment  about European sales  of Sentinel
Steel  titles which  is  not  true. All  Sentinel  Steel releases  are
available in Europe  from over a dozen  major mail-order distributors.
My releases are very  easy to get in Europe. It is true  that I am not
servicing individual foreign  orders but this is  because the European
distributors are doing their job well.

Sentinel  Steel releases  can be  obtained from  places like  Hellion,
Rising  Sun,  Hard-Boiled, Metal  Merchant,  Nuclear  Blast, and  many
others. Cyclone Empire even puts the CDs into shops in Europe.

I hope  you can correct  the last sentence  in your review  because it
really gives the wrong impression to fans. In addition, it may make it
appear to the band (Manilla Road) that I am not doing my job.

Thanks for understanding and thanks again for the great review!

Best regards,

Denis

P.S. By the way, 'The Deluge' has not been reissued yet.


[Denis (and all),

 The statement I made regarding overseas distribution was referring to
 the  fact that  Sentinel Steel  does not  handle overseas  mailorders
 directly, and  must have been  very misleading, given  the widespread
 distribution by many other large  labels. I apologise for making such
 a misleading statement.  As a matter of fact, Hellion  Records is the
 place  I turn  to  for  most Euro-metal  releases;  readers might  be
 interested  in contacting  them about  Sentinel Steel  stuff as  well
 (mailto:hellion-juergen@gmx.de).

 _The  Deluge_  is supposed  to  be  released by  Italy's  Underground
 Symphony in  two formats, but  as yet we  don't know what's  going on
 with this release. Thanks Denis!

 -- Alvin Wee]


Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001
From: Robert <robert_s@cwcom.net>
Subject: letter

Hi

Seeing as you  seem desperate to print something for  the loud letters
section I thought I'd write something in  for it. Might as well get it
off my chest.

First off- why  is it not possible to unsubscribe  via the address the
newsletter is  sent from? I  initially tried  at least three  times to
unsubscribe  using the  return  address, simply  because  the one  you
suggest is  at the bottom of  the newsletter, and I'd  never read that
far down. I've since relented, but  it was all the more annoying given
that I don't remember signing up in the first place.

Second  of all,  you  claim to  show  that COC  is  "dedicated to  the
underground"  by reviewing  demos "from  all indie  bands who  send us
material".  This  isn't  dedication  to the  underground,  this  is  a
concession to the underground. Dedication would be going out there and
looking for  good underground band.  It would be buying  and reviewing
demos having  merely heard a whisper  about the band. Given  that your
zine  isn't hard  copy, the  outgoings  are negligible  compared to  a
printed zine, so you can't claim  the "I've spent too much on printing
and postage" defense. Though I appreciate  that you get a lot of stuff
coming in through your offices, there  should be enough of you to deal
with this. Regardless,  if you can't devote enough time  to demos then
you aren't devoted to the underground.

I've been in the zine business for as  long as you have, so I am fully
aware of  how much work it  takes, and how draining  and demanding the
whole thing  is. Yet, to summarise,  if you're not prepared  to go out
there looking for underground bands, you're not in any way dedicated.

Feel free to reply to me directly if you disagree, or if you'd like to
be on the mailing list for my newsletter: mailto:robert_s@cwcom.net

Robert


Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001
From: "Muller Bernard" <mbenes@hotmail.com>
Subject: Questions

Hi all,

When I read  a record review, I  like sometimes to get  a reference to
previous albums of the band/artist, or  of their other work, to know a
bit what is the music direction on their latest offer.
So, if  I read the last  Groinchurn review ('whoami') I  would hope to
know a bit  if there is an  evolution compared to 'Fink',  which was a
big step forward compared to 'sixtimesnine'. Instead, I read something
that  remains totally  abstract to  me. That  Kirsty doesn't  like the
record is  clear to  me, but that  doesn't mean that  I won't  like it
either. What I  wanted to know was  for example if she  did like their
previous record,  so I would  know more precisely what  she's speaking
about.  But it  looks more  like she  even don't  know that  they have
already other records in their discography. The same for Catastrophic.
Not  to mention  that I'm  sad because  Matthias doesn't  like at  all
Obituary  records post-'Cause  of  Death' (personnaly,  I love  'World
Demise'), I can't read at least once the name Pyrexia in his review of
the Catastropic album. On the  contrary, after reading the review, I'm
almost sure he doesn't know at  all the existence of Pyrexia, and that
all members  of Catastrophic except  Trevor are Pyrexia  members. Does
'Sermon of Mockery'  or 'Sustem Of The Animal' ring  a bell, Matthias?
But, beside this,  you still one of  the very best e-zine  on the web.
Continue like this.
Something else, do you agree with the new Death Metal direction on the
new Extreme Noise Terror record?

Take care.

Bernard


[Dear Bernard,

 Thanks for  your feedback!  In fact, I'm  not familiar  with Pyrexia.
 Neither the  music on  _The Cleansing_ nor  the way  Catastrophic got
 promoted led  me to  the conclusion  that the  Pyrexia-connection did
 really matter. About _World Demise_: I  do indeed think it's a boring
 record,  offering nothing  Obituary hadn't  done three  times before,
 besides  the  lyrics  and  samples,  with a  better  sound  than  its
 predecessors.  But it's  still much  better than  _The Cleansing_.  I
 wouldn't go so far  as to say I dislike it, but  "Don't Care" and the
 bonus track "Killing Victims Found" are the only ones I really enjoy.

 By the way:  Editor-in-Chief Gino is as confused as  you are about my
 lack of enthusiasm for latter-day Obituary. So let's put a big IMO in
 front of everything I say.

 I'm glad you enjoy reading CoC and I really appreciate your feedback!

 -- Matthias Noll]

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    T H E Y   C O U L D N ' T   D A M   T H I S   R I V E R . . .
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      CoC chats with Karl Sanders and Dallas Toller Wade of Nile
                           by: Paul Schwarz


At Glasgow's  Cathouse, the  evening's mostly underexposed  line-up of
extreme metal entertainment prepare  themselves for the evening ahead.
Local Glasgow acts Co-Exist (grind/hardcore nutters with a noted sense
of humour,  formed from ex-Confusion Corporation  members) and Regorge
(promising death/grinders  with technicality, invention  and brutality
fairly proportioned, and a singer -obsessed- with Manowar) talk, laugh
and soundcheck. Ex-Dearly Beheaded's Sleath are also present. Nile are
the  exceptions of  the night.  The band  have gone  from strength  to
strength since they  came howling, desert-swept out  of South Carolina
with their  second CD release,  _Amongst the Catacombs  of Nephren-Ka_
nearly three  years ago  [CoC #32].  Three years! On  the one  hand it
feels like  a longer time than  Nile have been in  my consciousness --
they still feel new, yet already they feel classic -- and on the other
it is such  a short time for a  band to rise to the very  top of death
metal's hierarchy. In our last  issue we voted the storming, creative,
brutal monstrosity of _Black Seeds of  Vengeance_ [CoC #50] the top of
our writers'  chart, and we were  no exception. The response  to their
latest album has been phenomenal for  a band so groundedly still death
metal, yet not easy. And Nile still  have a long way to go before they
gain the notoriety  and sales of a Morbid Angel  or a Cannibal Corpse,
but the point they have got to already  -- and in such a short time --
is to be celebrated, not merely  accepted. I put Nile's popularity and
many other issues  up for debate when  I met up with  Karl Sanders and
Dallas Toller Wade backstage at the  Cathouse. Here it is, in a pretty
raw transcribed format.  I hope it helps you understand  more not only
about Nile, but about the kind of people who make up the band.

CoC: It really looks like Nile are  progressing onto a whole new level
     from _Black Seeds  of Vengeance_. Where do you  see things going?
     Did you ever see yourselves getting to such a point as this?

Karl Sanders: Well, the point  is... <looks  over at Dallas>  that is
              exactly not the point.

Dallas Toller Wade: <nods in agreement> Exactly.

KS: We started this band and certainly  when Dallas joined up with us,
    we were still a band that was lucky to get a gig and we were gonna
    be happy  if -five- people  heard our  record. We would  have been
    happy because  this is the music  that we've put all  of the years
    into, all the blood and sweat, and  we didn't care if it was... if
    it was whatever. We were just playing our music and that's the way
    I feel  today. I  think it's  wonderful that  some metal  fans are
    getting  the chance  to hear  it and,  uh, maybe  we're getting  a
    little  bit of,  a small  amount of,  recognition: I  think that's
    great and it certainly feels good and we've put a lot of hard work
    in over the years. But it's not the point, the point, the point is
    we love  the music we make,  that's why we're here  and really, we
    still work day jobs. I mean, that's what we do, it's metal, you're
    not gonna be rich and famous if  you play death metal. If you play
    death metal,  you're playing  it because  you love  metal, because
    that's what  you believe in, that's  what you wanna do,  it's what
    you  give your  life  to.  And that's  what  we're about,  despite
    enormous personal sacrifices we've done what it took to keep going
    with the  band, just to fuckin'  survive. And to us  that's really
    the  ultimate... reward.  Just  to keep  goin',  keep playin'  our
    music, fuck, at this point I'm happy, I'll feel pretty comfortable
    if  the record  company'll let  us make  another record.  And yes,
    y'know, fuck, I'm happy!

CoC: Doesn't  pay to  be  over-optimistic, that's  fair,  but if  Nile
     continues to grow  and if Relapse as a label,  as well, continues
     to grow, one of  the things you'll be able to do  is do more with
     the records, with  money. For _Black Seeds..._,  for example, you
     definitely seem to have put much more into it production wise and
     had more time to do it.

KS: Well,  you know,  it's not  like we've  got a  budget fit  for the
    out-of-state prince. We're still  shaving corners wherever we have
    to just  come in on the  budget. We ran  into a lot of  trouble on
    this  record and,  yeah, budget  was a  problem. Certainly,  we're
    trying to do some ambitious things and  it would be nice to have a
    proper budget, but this is the real world, this is death metal and
    you know, you  can only ask for  so much with good  reason, so I'm
    realistic about it.

CoC: Why did you choose ancient Egypt as a subject matter in the first
     place? I remember  last time we talked [CoC #43]  you were saying
     it was  to do with hearing  Middle Eastern music at  Pete's house
     when you were younger.

KS: Yeah, sure.  Well, here again,  it really  comes down to:  when we
    started this band, what really mattered was, we're gonna play some
    music, we're gonna do what we like  to do. So, I was interested in
    Egypt, Pete had an interest in that sort of thing, so... it's what
    we wanted  to do! Since  we didn't expect  to be big,  we expected
    that no-one would give a -fuck- what some guys from South Carolina
    were doing. So we  just said: let's do what we  wanna do, let's do
    what we like, fuck everyone else.

CoC: But for this record as well you  did a hell of a lot of research.
     I think  that was  really cool,  it definitely  comes out  on the
     album, it's  far more well  rounded than some other  records, but
     would you say  in any way you're trying to  educate people as to,
     kind of, the ancient texts of Egypt?

KS: No. No, I think it's in the entertainment realm.

DTW: It's  more of an inspirational  tool for the songs  than anything
     else.

CoC: Are you thinking of moving on  in the history of Egypt? I've been
     studying ancient history at university,  so it's quite curious to
     kind of come across the same  stuff. For example, did you get the
     "Eternal Oceans of Sand" thing  from an old inscription [actually
     a source  from Arrian, I  think --  Paul] on Alexander  the Great
     where he  goes to see  the oracle of Amon,  and it says  that the
     sand makes  some eternal ocean so  you can't see the  path and he
     gets led by two talking snakes?

KS: Yeah, I read that, y'know, but most of the song comes from an H.P.
    Lovecraft story called "The  Outsider". "Beneath Eternal Oceans of
    Sand" was  just... that's  what it  felt like  when I  played that
    acoustic riff. That's what that riff feels like to me: the eternal
    oceans of sand. I don't know, you stick it together, it might mean
    something or... or it might not.

CoC: But I think it's always been one of the things with Nile that the
     music does kind  of gel with the subject matter.  You can kind of
     feel the  violence or feel  whatever you're trying to  express. I
     think that's something you've definitely managed to capture. What
     happened with Pete and with changing drummers? I've heard various
     different stories...

DTW: Well, uh, he  tore his arm up  really bad and he needed  a lot of
     time to heal. That's pretty much  all that needs to be said about
     it. He tore  his arm up and we  got Derrick in to do  most of the
     record and got  Tony to do the tours. But  it's very unfortunate,
     the guy is 150% metal and it saddens us all, but even he wouldn't
     want to see us quit so...

CoC: Do you think his arm will recover?

KS: I  don't think  people  ever get  back to  the  level of  physical
    endurance necessary to do this kind  of music on a thirty or forty
    date tour. He could  play one or two nights, I  think, but I don't
    think that injury will ever heal to the point where he can sustain
    the endurance over a month-long tour.

CoC: That means that Pete, effectively, will have to leave the band.

KS: Like Dallas  said, we're all very  sad about it. Pete  has been my
    best friend for twenty years. It  feels like I've lost my brother.
    But, y'know, sometimes the metal  gods are cruel. Pete Hammoura is
    one of the people that worked so fucking hard over the years, with
    a long-term commitment  to this band. Without him  I don't exactly
    think we would have done all the things that we did. He was one of
    the really  key elements  within the band.  It's saddening  for us
    all, but what are we supposed to do, just piss off?

CoC: Yeah, absolutely: you've gotta  keep the band going. "That's what
     he would've wanted", I guess, would be the phrase.

DTW: Yeah.

CoC: With the  subject matter  again, do you  think you're  gonna just
     continue looking  into ancient Egypt  or do you think  maybe that
     subject matter might get a bit old? [I never even realised at the
     time how silly that sounds -- Paul]

KS: Well, I've been asked that question before but when I get tired of
    it, y'know,  I imagine  the rest  of the  band will  start getting
    tired of  it. <suddenly loud and  excited> But I don't  think that
    that's happened yet, I think we've got a few more Nile albums!

CoC: Totally,  I was  curious whether  you might  branch out  into the
     later history of Egypt: the  Greeks taking over Egypt, the Romans
     taking over Egypt, what have you.

KS: Who knows, the  new album is not finished yet.  We're just kicking
    around a  few song  ideas so  far. Who  knows, we've  gotta finish
    working this record a little  more before we start making ultimate
    grandiose plans <puts on amusing, melodramatic low voice>.

CoC: Well, if you want some help, I'll be up for doing some research.

KS: Right on. I might call  you... what's that gameshow where they ask
    if you wanna phone a friend?

CoC: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?".

KS: Yeah, yeah.  I'll call you up:  "We're in the studio,  I need some
    more lyrics!"

CoC: It  was funny 'cause you  remember those T-shirts you  printed up
     with "Ithyphallic death metal"?

KS: Yeah.

CoC: I never  realised what  that meant until  I read  the Ithyphallic
     hymn from  Ptolemy [Ithyphallic  means "upright  phallus"]. Would
     you be interested  in maybe going through some  of your favourite
     gods or rules from ancient Egypt for us?

KS: <laughs a lot> I don't know,  that's kinda gay. That's like saying
    what's my favourite  Barbie doll. <Karl and Dallas  both laugh, as
    do I> At home  I've got I couple of Annubis statues.  I have a Set
    statue. I have a Sekhemet statue. I have an Annubis that's on like
    an altar. Some Ankhs, some papyri hanging. Dallas has a few things
    at his house.

DTW: I have  a [vira, I think  -- Paul] that I put  candles around and
     stuff when I'm practising. Sets the mood a little bit.

CoC: So you guys really immerse yourselves in that stuff?

KS: I don't know...

DTW: It  just kinda  helps get into  the spirit of  it, it  just kinda
     helps the inspiration.

KS: Yeah, that's it. It definitely helps  'cause I have all that stuff
    where I write  my music. It helps,  but we still live  in the real
    world. <looks at Dallas and both chuckle knowingly>

DTW: You  gotta find a  way to escape every  now and then,  stay glued
     together. <chuckles again>

CoC: Yeah, I mean you guys haven't gone to the next level, the kind of
     Manowar level of wearing all the stuff on stage.

KS: <reverently and  almost ominously>  Be careful  when we  speak of
    Manowar.

CoC: <Dallas laughs  as I defend  my steel> I  love Manowar. I  had to
     decide between  "Battle Hymns" or  The Chasm today  [that's which
     shirt I was to wear -- Paul].

KS: OK, alright.

CoC: I snowboarded down mountains with Manowar on, very proudly.

KS: Yeah?

DTW: Alright!

CoC: Me and my  mate put them over our jackets.  Wiped out to Manowar.
     <Dallas, Karl and  myself, laugh heartily> So do  you think you'd
     go to  that next level,  or do you think  that's maybe a  bit too
     kitsch for death metal?

DTW: We're  just a  bunch of guys,  y'know. I mean,  we kinda  like to
     leave that to the music.

KS: Yeah, if your music doesn't say it, then no amount of posturing is
    going to do it  for you. Death metal fans are  not stupid. You can
    not fool a kid...

CoC: <I  sit up and  speak with  mock-seriousness, feigning that  I am
     offended> Are you saying Manowar fans are?

[Dallas  laughs, as  do I  after a  second or  two. Karl  is a  little
defensive, not instantly realising the joke]

KS: No, no, no, no, that's not  what I mean. I mean, we couldn't dress
    up like ancient Egypt gods and take ourselves seriously.

CoC: Right.

KS: The music's got to do it. If the music doesn't do it, if the music
    is not  getting there and  doing it  by itself, then  it's... it's
    funville, it's Vegas.

CoC: I agree.

DTW: <nods firmly in agreement> It's really silly.

KS: Yeah, it's gay! <I laugh>

DTW: Yeah, and  you know plus  the fact too that  even if we  did ever
     decide we wanted  to do something like that --  which we wouldn't
     -- you'd have  a bunch of people saying that  they thought it was
     cool  and a  bunch of  other  people saying  we were  a bunch  of
     posers. 'Cause you've got some  serious hardcore death metal fans
     that're just totally not into that  and you got other people that
     are into that. That's cool and all  but it's best to just keep it
     to music.

KS: I really like it  -- just like you said -- keep  it to the fucking
    music, 'cause you won't find  any political messages in our music,
    you won't  find any fascist, Nazi  stuff. I mean, we  just totally
    avoid all  that 'cause we  really don't care!  The Satan/Christian
    argument? Well, who cares: we're writing about stuff that's before
    Christ, so  it's irrelevant. You  come to  a Nile show,  you don't
    have  to deal  with any  of  that crap.  I mean,  you can  believe
    whatever you wanna  believe, that's fine, you can still  come to a
    Nile show. You know, you're not  gonna get any opinion from us one
    way or the other. We're not concerned with those things.

CoC: Whatever  your personal sentiments  are, they're not part  of the
     band.

DTW: Exactly.

KS: Exactly.  We're just  here, we  love the  music, that's  why we're
    here!

CoC: I  think that's  always been  a part  of death  metal, the  whole
     appearance of  death metal. It  has moved into Satanic  areas but
     essentially it seems to be a bit removed from that. On that note,
     where the extreme music scene's going these days, it does seem to
     me that the scene's split up, it has kind of fragmented in a good
     way --  as much as that  can be a bad  thing. Nowadays, Cryptopsy
     describe  themselves as  extreme  metal rather  than death  metal
     'cause death metal  just doesn't fit them anymore.  How would you
     say that fits into Nile? Would you say you're still -championing-
     death metal?

KS: We're waving the flag of death metal. We've always been metal, but
    really, no matter what tag you  stick on it, it's -still, metal!-.
    We still feel a brotherhood with, say, Metal Church or Iron Maiden
    or Manowar or whoever you want: Slayer. All the way down the line,
    all  the years  back we  feel  all that  is  a part  of our  metal
    heritage  and we're  proud  to  be contributing  to  the world  of
    metal. Even  if what  we have  is that we're  just a  small little
    contribution, you know. I mean, how do you argue with Iron Maiden?
    They're an institution. Compared to an Iron Maiden we're just this
    little tiny blip on the screen,  but we're proud to be that little
    fucking blip on the TV screen of metal.

DTW: Yeah, that's it.

CoC: I think that's  really good and that's cool: I'm  a metal fan and
     I've been  a metal fan for  years, but I also  like various other
     styles of music. I like hardcore  and things and the thing I find
     today in  2001 is that hardcore  kids and metal kids,  they enjoy
     the same  things. I've a load  of friends here today  who're into
     Nile,  Converge, old  hardcore,  new hardcore  and  all sorts  of
     things. Would  you say it even  broadens out to beyond  metal, to
     just kind of  being "extreme music"? Or would you  say Nile stick
     with the metal side of it?

DTW: It's what we  like to do. I mean, hopefully  people that are into
     all kinds of different styles will  have an open mind, and like a
     little metal, and like a little hardcore, and not, you know, pick
     sides and  start a  fuckin' holy war.  That would  be ridiculous.
     It's just best to keep an open mind.

KS: Eventually, people will  still like what they like  anyway, so why
    separate  it? I  believe there's  a lot  of different  elements of
    different sorts of metal within what we do. But you won't find any
    hip-hop or hardcore elements...

CoC: You're not gonna do rapping on the next album?

KS: No.  No, you  won't catch  us  doing that,  but we  sort of...  we
    champion the cause  of metal. Everywhere we go --  we're kinda new
    to  this international  thing, this  is only  our second  European
    tour, but every country we go,  metal is sort of the international
    language. Maybe  other people already  know this, but it's  new to
    me. So, to  me it really means something. We  go somewhere and the
    kids all  look the same, they  look just like us,  they wear boots
    and  T-shirts and  long  hair and  when we  throw  the goat  horns
    <raises a  two-pronged hand>, the  metal horns, on stage,  and the
    kids throw it  back to us, it's like an  international language of
    metal. I  feel like we're  part of an international  solidarity of
    metal. It means  something, some of them might not  even speak the
    same  fuckin' language  you do,  but they  understand metal,  they
    understand a  powerchord. You  know, you  hit that  fucking chord,
    it's  like,  you feel  an  instant  communion,  you know.  It's  a
    bonding. And  I'm really a  great believer  in: metal should  be a
    unifying force, not a destructive force. I don't like to see bands
    who go: "My  metal is the only  kind of metal that  exists and all
    others  suck". I  don't believe  that. I  believe there's  lots of
    different good things  in different kinds of  metal... except, you
    know,  dance  music  that's  -disguised-  as  metal.  I  know  the
    difference. If you  want a fucking disco beat and  you have people
    going like this <mimics the hip-hop-a-like hands of Fred Durst> to
    heavy guitar  and call  it metal, it's  -not fucking  metal-! Real
    metal bands know what the fuck metal is, and that's a wide area.

CoC: What I  think is great  as well, what  you were saying  about the
     international language, is that not only are people understanding
     metal, I  think what Nile and  Cryptopsy have shown is  that they
     also  understand that  metal  can  progress, that  it  can go  in
     different areas without them rejecting it.

KS: Right on.

CoC: _Black Seeds..._,  for example, is very symphonic  in parts, it's
     very curious and I think it's good that kids have got into that.

DTW: I  totally  agree. Metal  is  like  a  vessel that  brings  unity
     throughout the entire world; it can travel, that vessel. And even
     though we might speak different languages, different cultures, we
     all  understand the  feeling that  metal  gives us.  It's a  very
     empowering thing.

KS: Yeah, man, when we were hangin' out with Krisiun, man, you talk to
    those guys, stand  with 'em for five minutes, and  you feel... you
    feel stronger, you  can -feel- the metal. It's a  thing that sends
    chills down my  spine. You know, I've been asking  myself a lot of
    questions lately, like:  OK, why are the metal gods  being kind to
    us? There's a  lot of fucking bands that work  fucking hard, a lot
    of bands that deserve to be heard,  why us? Why are the metal gods
    being kind  to us? And it's  our responsibility, so I'm  taking it
    seriously. I believe:  there is a cause, there is  a reason. Metal
    is a good  thing, it's a worthwhile thing and  it's a good feeling
    to have.  When you  go to a  show and you  reach people  from, you
    know, wherever,  all-over and  you have  something in  common with
    them, you  know. It's a  good thing, it's  a powerful thing  and I
    believe that we owe a certain debt  to the world of metal to stand
    up for  what's right and play  our music to champion  the cause of
    metal.

CoC: I agree.  I definitely think it's  a positive thing. It  was very
     cathartic for me when I was at  school. I think it's a pity a lot
     of people don't see that and see it as a negative thing that kids
     have to get over.

KS: It's not!  It's not: there's been  times when I got  fired from my
    job or whatever because I  was doing <glances at Dallas> whatever.
    I'd stick  in a Manowar  CD, I'd feel the  power and I'd  have the
    courage to go: alright, I'm gonna go get another fuckin' job, fuck
    that motherfucker if he don't like my long hair, fuck 'im!

DTW: You're just too metal for 'im. <chuckles, as do I>

KS: Damn right! 'Cause, I know I'm a worthwhile human being and I know
    I've got something  positive to contribute to this  world and I've
    gotta work  hard like  anybody else:  at my job,  at my  music, at
    whatever. You know,  and sometimes, metal will  carry you through.
    If you're feeling a little bit weak, you need a little inspiration
    from the metal gods...

DTW: Crank it up!

KS: Yeah!  Crank it  up, feel  the power, let  your brothers  help you
    through.

CoC: And Manowar's pretty damn good for that one.

DTW: <slowly, savouring the sentiment> Oh yeah! <I laugh>

CoC: I got  a lot  of  my friends  who  aren't even  into metal  into
     Manowar. It just has that spirit to it.

KS: Right on.

CoC: It must be a lot of work doing all these shows, right?

KS: Yeah,  but touring  Europe  is a  piece of  cake  compared to  the
    States. Dude, in  the States we travelled in a  little van, loaded
    our gear ourselves and we get paid. Over here, we get treated like
    human beings, it's wonderful. Coping  with the PAs is a challenge,
    but what're  you gonna do, cry  about it? No, you  gotta deal with
    what the gods give you. The gods  give you a chance, they say: OK,
    you've got this gig. They give it  to us. What're we gonna do with
    it, cry about it or work with  what we've got? No, we fucking work
    with what we've got. We were in Wakefield, first show of the tour,
    and the sound was  bad, we lost power and my  computer cut out. We
    had the  choice, we could toss  the show and walk  away -- because
    the sound  wasn't gonna be great  -- just walk away.  We'd already
    been paid  for it, what the  hell. But there were  kids, lined up,
    for -three  hours- outside. So,  what're you gonna do?  Those kids
    came here for metal.

[As  sound-checking ensues,  we  cease talking,  the  noise around  us
stifling fluid conversation. I break the mini-silence by commenting on
Dallas' Immolation T-shirt.]

CoC: Nice shirt man!

DTW: That new record is one of the greatest fuckin' records.

CoC: Fuckin' a!

DTW: That is one  of the -baddest- fuckin' records  ever, man. They're
     just so fuckin'  heavy. _Close..._ is the best  thing since _Here
     in After_.

CoC: I was very impressed.

DTW: Getting  popular's not  what  they care  about,  they care  about
     making the music that moves  them as musicians, making themselves
     and the  people that  do listen  to them  happy. That's  all that
     really matters.

[Another  interruption  of sound-checking  ensues,  then  I decide  to
breach a particularly hot topic of the time with Nile]

CoC: Do  you think Tony [Laureno]  is going to take  over as permanent
     drummer?

KS: Well... <exchanges  looks with Dallas, silently  deliberating what
    to say> That is one of those delicate questions which is best left
    to the band room.

DTW: We haven't sorted it out ourselves.

CoC: On a personal note, I'd say: technically, do it. Obviously how he
     works in the band is what matters.

KS: Well, he's a great  guy. He's a great drummer, he's  a nice guy to
    work with, he's certainly a solid individual. You can count on him
    when you're out on tour.

DTW: Yeah, he works hard. He's got a good work ethic.

KS: Yeah, we don't have many complaints.

CoC: But you just haven't made a decision yet?

DTW: Yeah.

CoC: There  probably aren't many  drummers out there who  you could've
     got to do this tour, though.

KS: Well, don't say that to him, he might start asking for more money.
    <we all laugh>

CoC: I was quite  worried when I heard about Pete  [Hammoura] 'cause I
     didn't know who would take over and I could see some drummers not
     quite getting it right.

KS: I can see  that too. It's a double-edged sword.  Any time that you
    want to  push harder, any time  that you want to  say to yourself:
    OK, I'm gonna push myself to the extreme limits of human endurance
    with these songs. You know, you  set lofty goals for yourself like
    that, and not only do you have to, yourself, somehow achieve them,
    but you gotta get a fuckin' drummer  that can do it, and that's no
    walk in the park.

DTW: Yeah, then [Derrick] Roddy just totally smoked the record.

KS: We've known  Derrick for  years 'cause  he's from  Columbia, South
    Carolina  and  he used  to  play  in  bands  with Bob  Moore,  our
    producer.  Derrick does  most of  his recordings  with Bob  Moore:
    they're old  buddies. And every  band that Derrick ever  played in
    over the years recorded at the Soundlab.

[I bought Rebaelliun's  _Bringer of War_ EP at the  Nile gig; the next
section of conversation led on from Karl and Dallas studying the CD]

CoC: D'you ever check out Rebaelliun?

KS: No.

CoC: From a similar vein to Krisiun. Pretty good band, actually.

KS: They covered "Day of Suffering", that's one of my favourite Morbid
    songs.

CoC: They covered it live, actually. They were on a great tour package
     with Vader and Vital Remains.

DTW: That's a wicked album cover.

CoC: It's a bit more sort of  _Altars of Madness_ / Slayer tinged, but
     very similar to Krisiun.

KS: That's kinda the Brazil vibe.

CoC: Yeah, totally.

DTW: Yeah, just hold it to the floor as long as you can. It's the song
     of death.

CoC: I don't know how the fuck Krisiun manage it with three people.

KS: They're fuckin' brutal! They are the fuckin' brutallest metal band
    on this planet as far as I'm concerned: Krisiun. And one day, they
    will own the world. <I laugh>

DTW: Yeah, even  if they have  to take  it over by  force. Definitely,
     those guys are amazing live and amazing guys. They're the coolest
     guys you'll  ever meet.  They have  the shreddingest  damn guitar
     player I think I've ever seen in my life. God!

KS: We're  pretty lucky.  The entire  Cannibal  tour we  had to  share
    dressing  rooms  so every  day  while  Dallas  and I  are  sitting
    backstage practising, Moyses was back  there and would pick up our
    guitars and go: <he imitates the  noise of millions of notes being
    played and  widdles his fingers  in tandem>.  Every day we  got to
    witness this guy: up close and personal.

DTW: In the raw.

KS: We'd go: hey, uh, would you mind doing that again a little slower?

CoC: You'd  have to  put it  in slow motion  just to  see what  he was
     doing.

DTW: It would still blur.

KS: Yeah. Those guys are  so true. You will not find  a truer band. To
    me, it's kind of like the Vader story. Vader had to make their own
    guitars and  Krisiun is pretty  much the  same story. They  had to
    work their  way up  from difficult  beginnings. To  me, that  is a
    whole lot more meaningful than  say, in America where your parents
    will buy  you instruments, they're  readily available and  all the
    kids  have great  guitars... but  none of  them bother  to fuckin'
    practice! Then  you see  someone like  Vader who  had to  work for
    every damn thing they got. Man, I respect that man, those guys...

CoC: From behind the iron curtain as well.

KS: Yeah,  they have  integrity.  They have  fuckin' integrity.  <Karl
    flicks  through  a   copy  of  Terrorizer  and   spots  the  cover
    to  the  "new"  Narnia  record>  Look  at  this  man,  more  Egypt
    stuff. Everywhere  I look  there's more  Egypt stuff.  Egypt stuff
    everywhere. There  was a  band with flyers  on the  wall yesterday
    called "Egypt".

DTW: There's another band  in the states called Coffin  Texts. I think
     they've been  around as  long as  Nile has, so  I think  that may
     possibly have just been a coincidence.

KS: Yeah,  it's a  coincidence. <spies  an  advert for  Nile's gig  in
    London the  day after  which has Septic  Flesh as  support> Septic
    Flesh! Septic Flesh  are gods! They're genius! I  have nothing but
    respect for Septic Flesh: we should  be opening for them. They are
    a great fuckin' band. I've got all their albums, well actually, my
    wife has all of them and I have listened to all of them 'cause she
    plays it  incessantly. They're incredible. I  feel very privileged
    to have  been able  to hear  Septic Flesh  'cause in  America they
    don't  get  so  much  press  or  hype  or  anything.  But  they're
    incredible! They're a fuckin' incredible band! Very, very amazing,
    the  compositions  are  great,  the  musicianship  is  great,  the
    orchestrations are  great, the production is  great, their fuckin'
    album artwork  is great.  Their fuckin' album  cover is  ten times
    better than ours. Is there a  fucking cover even mentioned [in the
    Terrorizer readers poll] because it deserves to be?

CoC: No.

KS: No?

CoC: I  don't think  Septic  Flesh  made  it  into the  readers  poll
     anywhere.

KS: Well that's  a fuckin' tragedy that needs to  be fuckin' remedied,
    'cause they're a great fuckin' band.

CoC: Where did you get that cover  from? Was it made up by the graphic
     designers?

KS: Well, do you want the real story?

CoC: Yeah.

KS: Alright, we  had our own ideas  about what the album  cover should
    be, and  Relapse had  theirs. And,  um, well, when  I look  at the
    album cover now  I really can appreciate the beauty  of it, it's a
    great album  cover. It's beautiful, I  mean, what can I  say, it's
    great. It  wasn't exactly what we  wanted but we've grown  to like
    it.

DTW: Yeah, it grew on us. At first we were like ewwumm...

KS: Yeah, like: what!? Another mother fucking mummy. <I laugh loud>

DTW: Yeah.

KS: But I've  grown to like it, appreciate it.  It's a beautiful piece
    of work.

DTW: The colouring  really set  it off. And  it looked  better printed
     than it  did on a  computer screen too, so  that led us  to begin
     with.

KS: They sent us a JPEG all  downsized and grainy and the colours were
    all weird and we were like: what the fuck is this?

DTW: You had to scroll it from side to side...

CoC: At first  I didn't like that  particular cover myself and  when I
     saw it  quite big  in an  advert it made  an impact  on me  and I
     understood where it was coming from.

KS: Yeah,  in the States  we have  nice big posters  of it and  it's a
    beautiful record.

CoC: Have you  been contacted to do any soundtrack  work on "The Mummy
     2" ("The Mummy Returns")?

KS: You  know, that  pisses me  off so  much, 'cause  I called  up our
    management  and said:  look, listen,  these fuckers  are making  a
    sequel and I want a chance, I  want a chance to do some stuff. And
    they  go: well,  we'll send  'em an  album but,  you know,  you're
    really  not big  enough for  them  to care  about, because  unless
    you're big enough  to actually get more people to  the movie, then
    they don't care.

CoC: This is a  weird idea, but one way some  bands get on soundtracks
     is one guy  down the production company going: I  love this band,
     let's stick  'em on. So, hopefully,  if the right person  gets it
     maybe someone will figure it out.

DTW: There  are some pieces  on the record  that'd be perfect  for it.
     What I'd really like to see is "Khetti Satha Shemsu"                 .

[Karl nods  in agreement as  they both make enthusiastic  noises about
the idea]

CoC: That would be fuckin' cool, when the thing rises from the fuckin'
     sarcophagus.

DTW: Yeah.

CoC: That would be excellent.

DTW: I think even people that were  not into a death metal realm would
     still appreciate it because it is a very chanty piece.

KS: It has lots of feeling.

DTW: It has  the spirit  and it  just so  happens to  be death   metal
     growling, but it fits perfectly. You can see serpents rising.

[Karl laughs in a distinctly evil, pronounced way]

CoC: Do  you know if The  Rock is a fan  of Nile, 'cause he's  in that
     film? <we all laugh merrily>

CoC: He's like the bad guy in it or something.

DTW: Wow...

CoC: Can you smell what the Mummy is cooking? <we all laugh again>

[I mention a commercial for Film Suez, a company in Argentina, who had
an advert which could have been the beginning to a Nile video]

CoC: Bands back  in the day used  to make videos, but  MTV just aren't
     playing that shit anymore. There's no "Into the Pit" anymore.

DTW: You  had to wait  for the triple-thrash threat  when "Headbangers
     Ball" was around even to see stuff then.

KS: "Into the Pit"...

DTW: Yeah, they totally took that  out and "Headbangers Ball" was just
     totally wiped out.

CoC: In Europe at least, it was like three years ago that they took it
     away and they  never brought it back. Even in  Germany, there was
     Superock and  there was fuck all  metal on it. It's  all Korn and
     Limp Bizkit.  I can't believe  it, a  country full of  metal, and
     there's no metal on MTV.

KS: It's gay, isn't it?

CoC: That is pretty gay, yeah.

DTW: That's OK because metal has  always proven that it doesn't need a
     whole bunch of hype around it to exist.

KS: The fuckin' fans  know what the deal is. The  fans are everything,
    they don't  need a fuckin'  radio, they  don't need a  fuckin' TV,
    they go, they see it for  themselves and if you can't convince 'em
    in the  real world, in the  real setting... You know,  if you suck
    live  the kids  know,  man.  You can't  fool  'em,  you've got  to
    deliver the  goods. And I think  the bands who deliver  the goods,
    ultimately, through  genuine hard  work, eventually will  do well,
    just because it's... death metal is a thing, I believe, founded on
    truth. There's  a certain truth --  when you go see  the band it's
    right there, there's no trickery  involved in death metal. How you
    gonna hide? You  got your drums: they're right there.  You got the
    guitars:  they're right  there. Where  you gonna  hide? You  can't
    hide, that's the truth. You got kids this far from you <holds hand
    at arms length from face>. They see it. They know because they see
    every other  band. There's  a foundation  of truth:  either you're
    good or  you're not or  whatever, but  the kids fuckin'  know. You
    need to deliver  the real fuckin' thing. And  television, radio or
    whatever, it's irrelevant to me.

CoC: I'd say, once you're in the  realm of metal it is irrelevant. The
     thing I find is that when I got into metal I didn't get into Nile
     or whatever was  underground at the time, I got  into Pantera and
     Metallica...

KS: Yeah, and then you work your way...

DTW: ...and search for something heavier. Descend into hell.

CoC: And if those  bands aren't even on  MTV at all and  if people are
     being pushed  away from  metal... I'm curious  to see  where Limp
     Bizkit and Korn takes people. I talked to Matt Jacobson the other
     day and he was saying that these kids -- because the jocks listen
     to that stuff  now it's not cool anymore --  so he thinks they're
     gonna go underground  from there, and possibly  head towards more
     stuff like what Dillinger or Nile  are doing or more of the stuff
     that's on the underground side of things.

DTW: Well, if that happens, whatever, but  the people we care about --
     that come to the shows --  are the true die-hard metal followers.
     Not  the people  that  are  gonna change  genres  because of  who
     they're hangin' out  with or blah blah blah. You  either like the
     shit in your heart or you  don't, and if you're there just 'cause
     you're  trying to  be trendy  then you  may as  well just  leave,
     'cause that's not the people that we wanna play to.

KS: Right.

DTW: We wanna play to the true, metal followers.

KS: Those are the  ones who cared about us when  we were no-one. We're
    not gonna  do a  'Cold' Lake  or anything  like that.  Anybody you
    wanna name like that, we're not gonna do it, because frankly we're
    adults, we've been playing metal all of our lives, we played metal
    when  no-one gave  a fuck  who we  were, we  played metal  when we
    couldn't get paid for a gig,  we played metal when we couldn't get
    a gig. So now  that we've got a gig, what do  I play? Metal! Dude,
    we're not  gonna do anything  except do what  the fuck we  do. And
    people that have  been with us since the beginning,  that liked us
    because of who we are and what  we do, that's who we're playing it
    to,  and if  some new  people wanna  come and  join in  with that,
    that's nice, that's  fucking cool, and maybe we can  bring them to
    metal, but we're  not going to dilute what we  do, we're not going
    to cheese it. We care about metal, we care about the kid that pays
    his fuckin' twenty bucks a ticket, buys a T-shirt. When a kid buys
    a T-shirt you know  where it goes? It goes in  our fuckin' van for
    gas to  go to the  next fuckin' show.  We care about  those people
    because we are those people. When I'm at home, you know what I do?
    I have to pay to get into  shows. I don't have any grand status or
    anything. I still have  to work for a living. I  still have to pay
    for my CDs  just like everybody else. So I  feel a certain fucking
    -common bond-. When  I'm at a show --  and all of us too  -- we go
    out and we talk  to the people who come to  our shows because they
    like us and they took enough care to make us feel welcome: to come
    to the show, to drive however long they have to drive -- sometimes
    in the  States kids'll drive  six, seven,  eight hours, I  'm sure
    it's the same  over here -- to  come to our fucking  show. Now, if
    somebody does  that, just to  come hear  your music --  fuck, man,
    that means something.

DTW: That's a true metalhead right there.

KS: Damn right! That's who we care about.

DTW: That's who  I feel  that I am  about metal. I  can play  to three
     people, I can play to three thousand,  I don't care -- as long as
     it's  metal, I'm  gonna do  it. I've  been metal  whether it  was
     popular or not. It has never  been difficult for me whatsoever to
     say that I  like fuckin' metal. If people make  comments about my
     CD collection or  my hair, I'd just say: well,  go listen to your
     shit, go get spoon-fed some more  music. That's the ones I really
     respect too,  the metalheads who've  stayed metal all  the years,
     they  didn't switch  over  to something  that  was popular,  they
     stayed metal all the time.

CoC: I  got into  death metal  when  it was  at its  least popular  in
     1995/6. I  just got into  the music. I  never got to  see Carcass
     live, they split up before I ever got time.

DTW: Yeah, that's how I felt about Suffocation.

CoC: I saw them once at Milwaukee 1998.

DTW: Awww, I hate you! <laughs>

CoC: That band has to reform someday.

DTW: I know.  I think  it would really  do some good  to the  scene, I
     think there's  a lot of people  out there who are  -starving- for
     some more Suffocation.

CoC: And the  fucking respect  they got  out of  _Despise the  Sun_, I
     can't believe they never followed that up. That's one of the most
     brutal things ever.

DTW: I wish they would have written even some more tunes for that one.

[Note: This interview  occurred before Chief Spires left  Nile. I have
no information on how this sits  in the band apart from Relapse/Nile's
official press statements.]

[I wish it to be noted that though I cannot speak for Karl, and had no
occasion  to ask  him,  the use  of  the word  "gay"  as a  pejorative
adjective  by me  is  done purely  out of  habit  and its  unfortunate
phonetic  snugness,  not  through  any  prejudice  whatsoever  against
homosexuality or homosexuals. -- Paul]

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

             OF THE LUPINE LORDS THAT LURK IN THE SHADOWS
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                 CoC interviews Fenriz of Darkthrone
                           by: David Rocher


"Darkthrone,  Holy  Darkthrone" --  when  the  now literally  mythical
Norwegians' sophomore _Soulside Journey_  was released by Peaceville a
full ten years  ago, after Darkthrone's demo  _Thulcandra_ had already
earned great  reviews in the  extreme metal subterranea,  little could
possibly have  foretold that this  obscure, darkened death  metal band
were in  time to become  the uncontested, all-godlike  flamebearers of
the Satanic Norwegian blackness which took the metal world by storm in
the  mid-nineties.  With their  consecutive  releases  -- the  savage,
enrapturing _A Blaze in the Northern  Sky_, the bleak _Under a Funeral
Moon_  and  the chilling  _Transylvanian  Hunger_  -- Darkthrone  then
unwittingly  began  to  set,  in  their  own  concealed,  obscure  and
meaningful ways, landmarks in the  brimstone landscapes of black metal
by  which countless  hordes  of derivative  and more-or-less  inspired
impious hordes were  to be rated. And with the  darkness, came secrecy
--  the  utterly black,  evil  and  almost unfathomable  shroud  which
always so  fittingly cloaked  Darkthrone's myth  also fed  the wildest
contradictory rumours and beliefs -- and gradually, as a new tombstone
was added  to the landscape in  the guise of each  of Darkthrone's new
releases, the intangible, obscure Norwegian growing legend thrived and
strengthened,  letting no  light  be shed  on it  other  than a  grim,
blackened aura  that gradually evolved  into a near-religious  form of
reverence --  "Darkthrone, Holy Darkthrone".  Needless to say,  I felt
both  graced  and  definitely  apprehensive when,  shortly  after  the
release of  Darkthrone's seventh full-length, _Ravishing  Grimness_, I
accepted an interview with the  emblematic black metal personage named
Fenriz  -- for  who, other  than Darkthrone's  lyricist, could  better
embody  the most  inscrutable,  impenetrable darkness  I  was ever  to
encounter? In  fact, adding to  the mystery that will  always enshroud
this band,  even with my  numerous questions politely  and extensively
answered, what Fenriz accepted to  disclose of himself revealed him as
a startlingly acute,  affable and talkative person  -- who nonetheless
retains a form of unfathomable, extremely disconcerting shape-shifting
obscurity into  which, I presume, no  interviewer may ever be  let. So
come now, and revel in the shadow of the horns...

CoC: It's  been a  while since  _Total Death_  was released,  and many
     rumours  had  announced Darkthrone  had  split  up --  so  what's
     Darkthrone been up to, exactly?

Fenriz: Well, Nocturno Culto has been  settling down, trying to find a
        steady place to live; he's used a lot of energy in his life to
        try and  find himself the  right, the right home...  He's been
        settling down  with kids and  things, and I've  basically been
        feeding my ears, because I did  a lot creative things from '92
        to '95, and maybe I got "burned out", so I've been mostly just
        listening to music,  and breaking barriers when  it comes down
        to what sort of music I listen to.

CoC: What barriers?

F: Well, what  it means to  me is to listen  to music that  I normally
   wouldn't have  been interested in ten  years ago, so that  would be
   extreme, for me. I mean, it's  almost quite disgusting to listen to
   old Commodores, but I'm getting into it! <laughs>

CoC: <definitely skeptical> So, you  mean music that completely leaves
     the field of metal?

F: No, no! It's always  in metal, I'm proud to say  I'm always a death
   metal fan, so it's metal everyday for me -- but it's a lot of other
   things  everyday  too. Music  is  larger  than  life for  me;  this
   occurred to  me maybe  three or  four years  ago, and  it's totally
   exploded in my  life, so I've just been into  getting a huge record
   collection. But I have to  tell you that for Darkthrone influences,
   Nocturno Culto and I just listen  to what we always did, because we
   don't want  to change. The  thing is that if  I listen to  all this
   weird stuff  -- and Nocturno  Culto is also  listening to a  lot of
   psytrance -- it doesn't influence our sound at all, because this is
   important for us.  A lot of people get very  enthusiastic when they
   discover a  new style of music,  and they try to...  no, they don't
   try, they -put- it with the music that they play, and then it comes
   like a new style, entertainment, crossover or stuff, but not what I
   would call the old school black metal that Darkthrone is about. Any
   influences coming from  the new things we listen to  will not enter
   Darkthrone, we will just stay the same.

CoC: <gradually losing  foot!> You just said Nocturno  Culto is pretty
     much into techno...

F: <cutting across>  It's mostly psytrance.  Uh, it's just  that we're
   not  talking  about  this  or  that  trance,  we're  talking  about
   -psytrance-.  <chuckles> It's  really important  for us,  it's like
   what we are discussing right now  -- we know the difference between
   death and black  metal, so it's important to get  things right. I'm
   more  of  the  aesthetic  techno,  underground  techno,  house  and
   everything, and  he's getting into  darker drum 'n' bass,  but I've
   been through all  possible styles within the  electronic field, and
   I'm still into that. I'm checking out a lot of older music, now.

CoC: So what do you think of  the way several black metal bands, among
     which  Samael  and Arcturus,  despite  never  having been  really
     raw  black metal  bands,  have recently  opened  their sounds  to
     electronics; I'm particularly  referring to Samael post-_Passage_
     era, and to Arcturus' latest output, _Disguised Masters_?

F: I  haven't  really heard  either  --  I  haven't heard  the  latest
   Arcturus, and I  haven't really checked out Samael  since the first
   one! <laughs> But  I love the first Samael, it  was important. They
   were a  very important band  for us --  not that we're  inspired by
   them, but  it was a  great thing that they  could stay occult  at a
   time when  the scene was  not really  interested in this.  The same
   thing goes for bands like Tormentor and Sarcofago.

CoC: And what do you think of the more industrial way...

F: <cutting across> I don't like Fear Factory, for instance...

CoC: <also  cutting across!> I was  more precisely thinking of  a band
     like Attila Csihar's band, Aborym.

F: Oh, Aborym? Is that Italian? I haven't heard it yet... I'm supposed
   to be sent a  copy of that, because I was meant  to do an interview
   with a guy  who's playing in the band. When  he explained the idea,
   it sounded  like old Necromantia  -- it  was black metal,  and then
   some esoteric parts like Cold  Meat Industry bands. It sounded like
   he was  analysing some old  Necromantia things, because I  was into
   Necromantia for several years.

CoC: To get back to _Ravishing Grimness_...

F: Oh yeah, I completely forgot! <we laugh>

CoC: What does it represent to you in terms of Darkthrone's life?

F: For us, it's  one more nail in the coffin  <laughs> -- just another
   album, really!  We don't  try to make  a big thing  about it  -- of
   course we are, actually, because  we're doing all these interviews;
   but I've been told to do interviews and to be nice! <we laugh>

CoC: I'm  glad you're  broaching  this  --  you  do it  rather  well,
     actually...

F: Well, because  I fucked  up so  many things I  said in  the earlier
   years, so...  we're trying to  hold the distribution that  we have,
   but I think I'm actually  undermining the credibility of Darkthrone
   by doing  all these interviews. But  at least we're not  doing more
   photos -- we  haven't been doing photos since '93,  so why the hell
   should we start  now? We should have  decided then to do  it in the
   _Total Death_  era. If  I were  a Darkthrone  fan seeing  all these
   things  from the  outside,  I  would not  want  to  read all  these
   interviews, see new  photo sessions in a nice studio  and that shit
   -- but for us too, this is -not- a good idea.

CoC: Fair enough. That's comprehensible to me...

F: I usually  use this  argument, and  now you  will hear  my argument
   <speaking with  a deadly serious  tone>, and I'm saying:  I've been
   liking  Bathory since  '86, and  you don't  see me  crying for  new
   photos! <we  both laugh> So  if Bathory can  do this, why  the fuck
   can't we, man?! <we laugh again> Basically, we're not trying to say
   we are changing  anything with this new album, but  we are offering
   one more alternative to the new school style, which is now dominant
   in the scene, while we are still able to make some old school shit,
   so  that the  people  who  are interested  in  that  can also  have
   something to listen to. We're sort of Samaritans! <laughs>

CoC: I  was looking  at the  lyrics sheet  I received  with _Ravishing
     Grimness_...

F: <cutting across> There's a lot  of misprints there, but it's not my
   fault, I'm not the dyslexic! <laughs>

CoC: I was quite surprised by the lyrics, actually...

F: I know, it's just me, I'm a big cry-baby, and I've been having some
   problems with  my mind recently, so  I'm writing a lot  about that,
   and a lot about death and hatred and things.

CoC: It looks like a lot of instinctive writing...

F: <ponders> Hmm, it's  instinctive, but it is also poetic,  and it is
   sort of calculated, because I have  been writing lyrics for a long,
   long time, and I have a certain set of aesthetic rules that I won't
   change; and  I'm also trying to  put these words into  the mouth of
   the guy  who's singing, which is  Nocturno Culto, so I'm  trying to
   make words that are great, and cut  out in rock for some of them --
   but they  still must be something  new, and still must  be good for
   Nocturno Culto  to sing them. It's  a very difficult job,  and this
   time I  worked my ass  off for that shit,  and it feels  like we're
   moving a lever for every word. It's painful.

CoC: And how did you come across words like "necrohate", "panzergrim"?

F: For me, they're  totally logical. "Panzer" is like  "very", so it's
   something  "very  grim". These  are  small  details that  are  very
   important for  me -- a good  example of a new  word is "deathsane",
   instead of "insane".  A very strange word, but I  knew exactly what
   it  meant for  me  when I  wrote  it  down, but  now  I think  I've
   forgotten already. <he pauses> There's a lot of pain involved here,
   and I  think my mind has  attempted to suppress it  when I couldn't
   deal with it.

CoC: The way  the mind automatically tends to sort  good memories from
     bad ones...

F: Yeah! <he chuckles nervously> Man, my life is totally fucked!

CoC: So "necrohated" would then mean "hated to death"?

F: Yeah. To  me, it's  also a  magical word,  "hating to  death" means
   you're so  rotten that even  the angels hate you,  because usually,
   they won't hate  you. [The quote from the track  "Claws of Time" is
   "Necrohated by angels..." -- David]

CoC: _Ravishing  Grimness_   also  has  a   very  melancholic-sounding
     track, "Claws  of Time",  which is  rather unusual  by Darkthrone
     standards...

F: Oh yeah,  yeah... People keep  mentioning that track, but  I didn't
   make  it, so  there! <laughs>  I  don't know,  but if  you saw  the
   fucking  place where  Nocturno  Culto is  living  now, maybe  you'd
   understand, because it's  rather beautiful, and the  place where he
   lives sounds like the opening riff. I'm in nature the whole fucking
   time, and  he lives in nature  too, and although he  doesn't go out
   walking in the mountains, I still  think he uses nature as a source
   of inspiration. When  I make riffs, I don't refer  to that anymore,
   because I'm really close to nature  all the time. [I suppose Fenriz
   meant that he had got used to nature, and didn't actually notice it
   any more -- David]  I spend two or three days a  week in the forest
   when I can  -- because we have  a problem with the  weather here in
   Oslo, it's really  unstable --, but the thing is  that when I write
   riffs, I rather think of  smoking and drinking beer, and Hellhammer
   and shit. I think Nocturno Culto takes care of the melodies now.

CoC: I noticed _Ravishing Grimness_ has no more lyrics in Norwegian...

F: No, there's  just a line in  there which is Norwegian.  We were the
   first band  to sing  in Norwegian,  and that  was very  brave. What
   happened  at that  time was  I had  been told  by the  guys from  a
   Norwegian band called  [I couldn't quite make out  what Fenriz said
   at this point, it sounded like "Moment" -- David], they were around
   in '85-'86,  and made -excellent-  death metal, but they  broke up,
   and the two guys started playing for Mayhem. So they told us, "hey,
   it's about time  somebody sung in Norwegian" -- by  then, they [the
   band] weren't about to do it,  because they didn't want to play any
   more; so  I guess  I just had  that in  the back of  my mind  for a
   couple of  years before I actually  wrote some lyrics --  it's very
   suitable for  being sung by Nocturno  Culto. After that, I  think a
   lot of  people tried to  sing in Norwegian,  and some of  it's been
   great, and some  of it's been not  so great. When you  sing in your
   own language, you  should be really careful about  using the words.
   It easily feels pathetic for  us, and sometimes it works, sometimes
   it doesn't work, I don't know. I  don't want to mean that I've done
   everything perfectly, but  still <Fenriz suddenly cuts  off> -- but
   we didn't have any lyrics in  Norwegian on _A Blaze in the Northern
   Sky_, so what's  the big deal, man? <laughs> [This  is indeed true,
   but Darkthrone  -did- use Norwegian lyrics  on releases consecutive
   to _A Blaze..._, which is where my question arose from -- David]

CoC: What  do you think of  Darkthrone's earlier albums when  you look
     back upon them?

F: The point is that Nocturno Culto  and me really agree on this: when
   we look upon  the albums, we're looking at things  that happened in
   our lives,  around this  album, whereas the  people that  will read
   your interview and have the albums will not -- they will just think
   about the music, that's all.  It's really not that interesting, and
   when people ask  me if I have  a favourite album, I'd  rather say I
   have  favourite songs.  You have  what studio  it was  recorded in,
   things that don't  matter to the audience at all  -- and also, this
   has  nothing to  do with  what the  album will  sound like  for the
   audience. I  don't really travel much,  so when I'm in  the studio,
   it's like very exciting for me, I'm getting out of Oslo, and that's
   what I'm thinking about <laughs>  -- the car trip, the cheeseburger
   I ate on the way and things like this, and that uninteresting shit!
   <laughs> Well, at least we never used more than 30 hours to make an
   album, this time  neither. We just go straight in  and straight out
   again, and it  goes very quickly. This time it  took four days with
   the mix  and everything like that!  <he stops> But why  am I saying
   this?!  <laughs  as  though  he's  embarrassed>  I  didn't  fucking
   remember, sorry! <chuckles>

CoC: <totally  disconcerted>  Erm  --  no  problem  at  all...  <after
     a  bewildered  pause>  After  _Soulside  Journey_  had  disclosed
     Darkthrone as being an excellent occult death metal band, with _A
     Blaze in  the Northern  Sky_ you actually  created a  musical and
     thinking style, with the raw  sound and repetitive riffing of the
     Norwegian  black metal  style, that  actually became  a trademark
     which thousands then  followed -- how did you  first move towards
     this musical extremism?

F: Uh -- I'm going to give you  a really long answer now, I guess. The
   thing  is, we  had  all the  important albums  from  before in  the
   eighties, because we bought all that  shit you -need- to make black
   metal, like  everyone else thought  they all had the  right albums,
   like  Hellhammer, old  Bathory,  and  that shit.  But  then we  got
   totally  worked up  in the  underground and  death metal  scene, at
   least I did, and there were  compilation tapes out, and death metal
   was still pretty  uninteresting shit, and I think it  was late '89,
   and I remember the whole side  A was nothing really interesting for
   me,  and the  first song  on  side B  was sung  by Tormentor,  from
   Hungary. And I  was like, "ooooh yeah, that -old-  feeling, this is
   IT", and suddenly,  the interest was there again, it  was just like
   picking up  the whole fucking  Destruction and Kreator  shit again,
   and this  time I  saw it in  a new  light, in what  I would  call a
   -black- light,  then I hooked  up with Mayhem pretty  quickly after
   that -- I hadn't been talking with  Mayhem for about a year at that
   time --  and thought "this  is really where  it is". Still  we were
   playing death  metal, and even  better death metal  after _Soulside
   Journey_  -- the  _Goatlord_ stuff  that  we made  was really  good
   riffs, and would  be one killer death metal album,  but we couldn't
   really continue, because the rest of  the band was also starting to
   get into the whole sound of  Bathory and Celtic Frost, and that was
   IT for  us, except  for our  bass player, who  wanted to  play more
   technical, so he  had to leave. This  was it, and one  thing that I
   have to  say is that  we're still  doing this primitive  style, and
   this is  because we've  already been through  the evolution  of the
   band -- you know, we started playing, and we weren't really good in
   the  start, and  then suddenly  we could  play difficult  things in
   death metal, and playing a lot  of complex drum stuff and shit like
   that, and we've been through it,  so when we took the decision that
   we  wanted to  play black  metal,  it was  like "we  will not  play
   technical again", at  least not in black metal, but  a lot of black
   metal bands you  see today are totally technical --  it even sounds
   like  death metal  with some  minor changes.  These are  bands that
   haven't gone through the evolution first; they started out as black
   metal,  and the  natural  evolution  still has  to  happen, and  it
   happens within  black metal. We  took that outside black  metal, we
   didn't start  playing black metal  until we were finished  with the
   evolution,  that's why  it's easy  for us  to make  primitive black
   metal. Other people I know have  really big problems if they play a
   riff eight  times in a row  -- they become very  insecure and think
   "this is  boring, this is  shit", but it's  not -- it's  like, just
   listen to  Hellhammer -- if  you like that,  it's not shit  to play
   primitive!

CoC: Sure. And where did the idea of the really thin sound come from?

F: The thin sound is typical Bathory, along the lines of _Bathory_ and
   _Under the Sign of the Black  Mark_, there you have the really thin
   sound, and this is  what we want. You have a  totally thin sound on
   an album like _Eternal Devastation_ by Destruction.

CoC: It's  pretty amazing now  when you see  the number of  bands that
     took to this sound.

F: Well, I think Immortal, for  instance, went through the same thing,
   and Burzum  too -- Count  Grishnack was a  part of Old  Funeral and
   shit, and I think we have the same background, and Emperor also had
   the same type  of background, and Mayhem was there  too, to keep it
   all together. And  then Thorns were there, and they  were among the
   ones who really invented the typical Norwegian black metal riffing,
   which is sort  of special. I don't  wan to hum it  to you <laughs>,
   but I can easily  tell you what that sort of  riffing is all about.
   That's really the typical Norwegian  sound, and what the press have
   been saying  is typically Norwegian  often isn't -- but  they don't
   really know.  But I've seen  the history --  I've been there,  so I
   know what's what!

CoC: And  this black metal  movement actually grew more  than anything
     you could expect, and actually became a social movement...

F: Yeah, but  that's because it leaked  through to the press,  and all
   the shit. I'm  always going back to '91/'92 when  I think about the
   black  metal shit.  I can't  deal with  all this  press, man,  it's
   horrible, man, horrible. I wasn't really smiling back in '94, I can
   tell you! <laughs> That was a fucking drag, man!

CoC: Was this the reason why Darkthrone was such a secretive band back
     then?

F: Yeah, we  didn't want to  do that media  thing. I was  like hanging
   around in  Euronymous' shop back in  '91-'92, and I thought  it was
   great, but  Zephyrous and Nocturno  Culto quickly drew out  of that
   small circle because  they thought it was beginning to  look like a
   social club, and we were like --  eight! No big thing, you know? We
   were all centred here in Oslo,  but no-one actually came from Oslo.
   In '90, there was actually not  one single black metal dude in Oslo
   -- it's only 500 000 people here,  but you can imagine how small it
   all was at that  time. Later there were like eight,  ten of us, and
   then that grew into a stronger following. Enslaved and Emperor were
   also important,  although Enslaved  didn't want to  be part  of the
   black metal  scene, they wanted to  do that Viking stuff,  and then
   you had  like Satyricon  and Gorgoroth coming  into the  scene, and
   then other bands  from Bergen, like Hades and others,  and I'm sure
   I'm  forgetting  some  --  it's  really  embarrassing  when  I  do.
   <chuckles>  There  were  just  a  few of  us,  but  it  was  really
   disgusting when  that whole thing blew  up in the press,  it was so
   tabloid. That's also  why I liked to keep playing  old school, like
   nothing  ever happened,  you know?  I'm living  a lie!!!!  <laughs>
   We'll just do old school stuff until the day we die.

CoC: What does Darkthrone represent to you now, as an individual?

F: It represents at least  that I'm very proud that I  was born when I
   was born, so  that I could be  able to take my place  in creating a
   strong style. That's  great, to have released at least  a couple of
   classics, that is  fucking beautiful. That makes me feel  that I am
   someone, but I don't know if people will remember this thirty years
   from now -- at least I hope they will remember Mayhem.

CoC: Darkthrone  were  also   granted  a  nearly  "religious"  status
     throughout these years...

F: Not after I've been doing all these interviews! <laughs> I feel I'm
   exposing  Darkthrone  to  death,  I'm  really  worried  about  this
   situation.

CoC: I  don't really follow you  -- do you think  Darkthrone audiences
     are going to turn their backs on the band now?

F: Well, I would! <hesitates> I don't  know, man, I've been told to be
   polite  and to  have  as  much fun  as  possible,  but the  typical
   Darkthrone fan may not be into  so much fellowship... but I am, you
   know?

CoC: Do you think it would actually  be preferable for the band not to
     give any interviews at all?

F: Well, it would be... preferable,  actually, but it would be killing
   for the label. But I wouldn't mind -- there was a long, long period
   when we  did no interviews, and  I have no problems  with that. The
   rumours will  still circulate, I  don't even do interviews  to stop
   rumours, I usually get misquoted a  lot, so the rumours will always
   be there. I'm just talking, and  talking... Where I was brought up,
   my first six years were like I  had no kids around to play with, so
   I'm  doing all  the talking  I missed  then! <laughs>  But at  some
   point, I  had a lot  of people refusing  to do interviews  with me.
   They were expecting that I would be really mean! <chuckles>

CoC: Talking about  this, what do  you think of the  often excessively
     misanthropic attitude that is displayed  by many followers of the
     black metal genre?

F: Oh, I  think it's important  to go through  this sort of  phase the
   first two or three years, I really  do. If you get that black metal
   feeling, man, you're not the  most positive character in the world,
   you know?  But this  wears off,  but it's  important that  I've had
   this, that  I've been  through this myself,  and I've  been enemies
   with a lot of people I never should have been enemies with, and all
   that shit, but I think that was  necessary for me, and I hope a lot
   of people will be like that. But I guess you're a bit sick to start
   with when  you -are- into  the likes of  Morbid Angel and  stuff --
   it's "blessed are the sick", man! <chuckles>

CoC: OK, thanks  for your time, Fenriz -- what  are the chances seeing
     Darkthrone on tour?

F: Well, unless we're shipped away against  our will, you won't get to
   see us, because we don't like to  travel, and to play live, we want
   Newman from  the "Seinfeld" series playing  bass for us, and  if we
   don't get  that, we want JR  from "Dallas". <chuckles> And  I think
   this will  not happen. And  even if it does,  we will only  tour in
   Peru! <laughs>

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

           D E T O X E D   B U T   N O T   D I S A R M E D
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            CoC chats with Zamoth/Samoth of Zyklon/Emperor
                           by: Paul Schwarz


     OK, I guess you might be wondering why I've used that strange two
names  /  two  bands  format  on the  interview  header  there.  Well,
essentially  it's because  Emperor  founder and  guitarist Samoth  has
put  together  a new  full-time  band,  Zyklon (their  name  shortened
from  Samoth's  retro  side-project  of  five  years  ago,  Zyklon-B),
but  the press  release  to their  debut album,  _World  Ov Worms_  on
Candlelight [reviewed  in this  issue], notes his  name as  Zamoth but
does not specify  whether this is his "Zyklon-name" or  whether he has
"officially" altered  his pseudonym.  Ultimately, it's  not important:
Zamoth (as I'll  continue to reference him) should be  judged by words
and  not deeds,  and  on  this basis,  his  judgement  is emerging  as
resoundingly favourable.
     For a band essentially constituting an  offshoot of a band as big
as Emperor,  I found it surprising  that I'd not even  heard of Zyklon
until after the _World Ov Worms_ promo was already in my possession. I
probably just  missed the hype,  but once I  found this out  _World Ov
Worms_ was  soon after spinning in  my CD drive. A  percussive assault
reminding me centrally  of the impressive Myrkskog  and flavoured with
curious  mechanical  and electronic  sections  greeted  my ears.  Upon
perusing the  press release, I was  hardly surprised to find  a member
of  the aforementioned  Myrkskog  residing in  Zyklon,  and even  less
surprised that that  "percussive assault" I mentioned  was courtesy of
Samoth's fellow Emperor (sic) Trym.
     In  this  interview from  the  latter  part  of December  2000  I
attempted not  only to  extract from  Zamoth as  much about  Zyklon as
seemed appropriate,  but also to  delve into  the past of  Emperor (it
being  around a  full decade  since the  band had  first emerged)  and
further to try  to ascertain what would be the  course of their future
actions --  whether there would  be more  than one more  Emperor album
before  the band  was no  more, for  example. I  hope the  results are
informative.

CoC: Zyklon  shows a  huge mix  of influences.  It definitely  doesn't
     sound the same as Emperor, but  at the same time it doesn't sound
     -- y'know  -- very specifically  black metal. Would you  say that
     you took  a very different  approach to  how you wrote  the music
     compared to how you did it with Emperor?

Zamoth: No, not really. I mean, I  do not really ever decide what kind
        of music I write; I just write. And a lot of the music I write
        -- out of Emperor -- is  rather more primitive. With Emperor I
        work together with Ihsahn and  he's always developing my ideas
        into more  symphonic ideas or  monumental parts, and  adding a
        lot of  stuff, while with  Zyklon we kind  of kept it  more in
        your face and straightforward, primitive and intense.

CoC: It's definitely  more riff-heavy. It  has a  lot of that  sort of
     machine-gun  riff and  drum work  and  things like  that. Do  you
     think  using different  people --  apart from  Trym who  does the
     drumming for  Emperor, obviously  -- like  the guy  from Myrkskog
     [Destructhor] made an impact?

Z: Yeah, he  had a huge  impact on the final  outcome of the  music, I
   think. I mean, me and Trym worked  for it for, like, a while -- got
   the basic  material ready -- but  as soon as we  got Destructhor in
   the band we got more like a unit and we improved all the songs and,
   yeah, got a more totality of the music.

CoC: It definitely shows an influence. I remember getting [Myrkskog's]
     _Deathmachine_  [CoC #47]  nearly a  year ago.  And the  sound of
     Zyklon reminded me of that somewhat, but far more developed...

Z: Yeah,  there's a  little,  I can  hear that.  I  think Myrkskog  is
   actually more death  metal and more -- Zyklon is  even more intense
   and extreme in a way, I think. And also more sharp in sound.

CoC: I think so. It's a lot  more of a -cutting-, -ripping- sound. One
     of  the  things about  it  is  that  it's almost  completely  the
     opposite to  what you  do with Emperor  on a  conceptual, lyrical
     scale.  I  mean,  nowadays  Emperor have  developed  a  lot,  but
     certainly in  the beginning  Emperor, like a  lot of  black metal
     bands, had  this sort of  throwback, past concept to  it, whereas
     Zyklon is very  much futuristic. What made you  choose that slant
     and musically, what made you use electronic elements?

Z: Well,  I guess  it's  because  I'm a  little  bit more  up-to-date,
   on-the-ball: living  in today.  I mean,  I realise  I don't  live a
   thousand years ago. So I'm rather taking the inspiration maybe more
   from things  that I absorb in  this life. Before, with  Emperor, we
   had a lot of this longing for the past, the old ancient days.

CoC: Medievalism and that sort of thing.

Z: Yeah. So  in a way I  kind of grew  tired of that whole  concept. I
   still have an interest in the old days, but my main influence these
   days is more like horror from the real life of today.

CoC: What was the motivation behind the title "World Ov Worms"?

Z: Well,  that title  is obviously  open to  interpretation, but  it's
   based around the  song "Worm World". So, it's just  like a twist on
   that title and  that specific lyric is a  quite primitive hate-text
   describing human depravity, in a way.

CoC: Unfortunately I don't have a lyrics sheet, but I do know from the
     press  release that  Faust did  the lyrics.  I know  from reading
     interviews that  you've kept  in contact  with Faust  through his
     prison  sentence, but  I was  curious why  you chose  to use  his
     lyrics for  this project. Was  it due  to his involvement  in the
     -other- incarnation of Zyklon, Zyklon-B?

Z: No, it was  not really due to  that, it's just that we  have a good
   communication and he  has for these last years been  doing a lot of
   studies while  he's been in prison  and he's on a  university level
   now on  the religion of  history. So he  has a lot  of intellectual
   insight  into the  topics of  religion and  history and  this whole
   thing. And  I gave him  some ideas and  hinted that maybe  he could
   come up with  some lyrics and he  wrote a set of lyrics  and it was
   really good  stuff. So  he will  be doing the  lyrics for  the next
   album as well.  I think he's a  big part of the  conceptual side of
   the band, actually.

CoC: And  I'm assuming that that  makes you quite happy,  working with
     him again.

Z: Yeah,  yeah, and I think  it's also good  for him. He's also  a bit
   more active in the scene again.

CoC: Any idea of him taking over on drums at any point?

Z: Actually he did  some drums on -- you know the  band Sirius which I
   released on Nocturnal Art?

CoC: No.

Z: It's a Portuguese black metal band.  He did some drums on their new
   album,  actually, which  is coming  out on  Nocturnal Art  in March
   [reviewed in this issue -- Paul].

CoC: What would you think of him doing drumming for Zyklon?

Z: Yeah, I  mean he still has  several years to go in  prison. I don't
   know how good his talent is these days.

CoC: Fair enough, I guess they  don't allow you those sorts of things.
     [Thank you, Mr. Obvious... DOH! -- Paul]

Z: No, it's strict.

CoC: OK.  Basically, with  Zyklon being  a full-time  band, as  you've
     stated [in  the press and  promotion] a  number of times,  how is
     that  gonna fit  in with  Emperor? And  on that  note, could  you
     address the  rumours that  have been going  around that  the next
     Emperor album may be the last one?

Z: Uuuuuuh, well... I  mean, we haven't made any  decisions about that
   being the last one or not, that's just rumours because we're not --
   I mean,  we have now officially  said we're not gonna  be an active
   touring band for this  new album and Ihsahn has a  few bands on the
   side and  I have Zyklon on  the side, so  I think due to  all these
   things people started to think: is  this gonna be the last? And who
   knows, maybe it  will be the last, but it's  never been a decision:
   we have  not made a  decision that this  next Emperor album  is the
   last one.

CoC: Fair enough.

Z: And, as I said,  Ihsahn has a few bands on the side  and so do I --
   so I  feel I  have the  time for  it as  well, especially  now that
   Emperor is not gonna be an  active touring band. It's no problem to
   have Zyklon as a full-time band.

CoC: Are you looking forward to touring with Zyklon?

Z: Yeah, absolutely.

CoC: Where are you guys heading out to?

Z: Well, we've done  a few gigs in  Norway now -- last  month and this
   month and  we have a  few more gigs coming  up in the  beginning of
   2001 and  then hopefully we'll  be off on  a full European  tour in
   April or May.

CoC: So how's  the whole kind  of sound  been working live?  'Cause, I
     mean, the majority of the material is, you know, riffs, drums and
     vocals,  but I  think for  me  what makes  the album  a lot  more
     special and good is that -- for example, on "Chaos Deathcult" and
     "Zykloned" -- it  spirals off into electronic  parts which really
     work.

Z: Yeah. That's  the thing, like,  live we  won't be having  all those
   effects  as we  have on  the album  -- except  for "Zykloned",  the
   mid-part, obviously  we'll have  the industrial part  'cause that's
   half  of the  song. Can't  leave  that out.  But so  far it's  been
   working quite  OK live. It's  really intense, I mean  everybody who
   saw us was like: wow, it's brutal! And also I think with Daemon [of
   Limbonic Art -- Paul], he is  a very good stage character. He's got
   a very strong charisma.

CoC: His vocals worked really well on the album.

Z: Yeah, yeah.  So he's doing very well, looking  like he's gonna kill
   ya...!

CoC: So he'll probably continue as vocalist? You're hoping he'll join?
     [The  PR for  Zyklon has  him  down as  doing live  work but  not
     necessarily  being a  permanent member;  he is  not in  the press
     photos. -- Paul]

Z: Yeah, he is actually to be  seen as a permanent member now. So he's
   gonna follow us all next year on live stuff and on the next album.

CoC: When  is the  next album planned  for? Do you  have any  ideas of
     where you wanna go with it?

Z: No, not  really. I mean, we'll  have to see how  much touring we're
   gonna be doing first. Probably, if  that is going well, maybe we'll
   have another  tour in  the Autumn.  Then it will  take a  long time
   before  we get  started on  the new  album. And  it's depending  on
   Emperor: how well the new album  is doing and... yeah <sighs>, many
   things and the label and everything.

CoC: The  two guests  on the  album --  Trickster G  [a.k.a. Garm,  of
     Ulver] and  [US fetish  queen] Persephone --  did they  help only
     with vocals or did they also help with the electronic parts?

Z: No, they were only doing vocals.

CoC: So the electronic parts are  just something that you and the band
     decided to include just for variety and interest?

Z: Yeah. Intentionally, like  in the beginning, we wanted  to use more
   electronic parts,  but after a  while we  found out that  the basic
   drums and  guitar worked  by itself  as well so  we didn't  feel we
   needed to add any more than was necessary.

CoC: On the subject  of Emperor, what is the status  of Emperor at the
     moment? What is the band doing?  Is the album planned? What ideas
     do you have?

Z: Yeah, I  would say  with Emperor it's  quite -- we  are on  a quite
   positive vibe at the moment. Of  course there has been quite a long
   silence now for  some time. I mean,  since we did the  last gig for
   _IX  Equilibrium_ in,  I think  it  was Poland,  October last  year
   [remember that's 1999 -- Paul] and since then we didn't really play
   together until  now. So it's  been a long  silence, but now  we are
   getting back together and working again  and Ihsahn has got all the
   material ready for the new album and  so we hope to start to record
   it  in January.  But it  might  be a  bit  later. So,  if all  goes
   according to  plan, then it should  be ready for a  Spring release,
   but most likely it's gonna be in Autumn.

CoC: Do you think the fact that the band's been over a year apart from
     touring will  change the  vibe of  the album  a lot,  because you
     won't have been playing together, on a stage, for so long?

Z: No, but I think the change may be the vibe a bit between us as, uh,
   people, because in the end,  not everybody was overly excited about
   this touring  and we  some bullshit  with some of  the tours,  so I
   think it was good for us to just have a little break, to get things
   into perspective. Now I feel it's a positive vibe going.

CoC: That's cool.  It should be  interesting to see what  that results
     in. OK, on a different tack I wanted to see what you said to some
     ideas of  mine. I think when  black metal started, it  started in
     many respects as a reaction against other musical styles, against
     the way that things had gone in music. I don't know whether you'd
     agree with that, but certainly the way that Euronymous put it was
     that, like, the  death metal scene had killed  whatever vibe came
     from the  earlier "death metal"  music. When you  were originally
     doing Emperor,  if you  can remember,  on the  one hand  were you
     strongly influenced by either Euronymous personally or that whole
     ethos, and  in other respects were  you kind of trying  to create
     something evil, trying to create something -like- something else?

Z: Well,  when we  started Emperor  --  well, I  mean, it  was me  who
   started it and  I started it with the intention  of creating, like,
   to... almost copy  Celtic Frost and Bathory. And that  was like: we
   gotta make  old school  extreme black metal.  And Celtic  Frost and
   Bathory  were  my  favourite  bands,  so we  took  them  as  direct
   influences. If you listen to the _Wrath of the Tyrant_ demo you can
   easily  hear  it.  It's  nothing  original,  really.  As  for  this
   Euronymous... I mean, obviously we  were really young back then and
   he was pretty  much older than everybody else back  then and he was
   like -the- character in the Norwegian  scene, and he was the leader
   of Mayhem and  the Deathlike Silence [label], the  Helvete shop and
   everything, and so obviously he  had quite some respect from people
   and he managed to put quite a lot of influence to people.

CoC: Would you say that Emperor would have progressed -- I mean one of
     the things that I thought of was: if Euronymous hadn't have died,
     hadn't  have been  killed in  1993,  how would  things have  been
     different? Because in the end where black metal has got to in the
     year 2000, it's a significant,  recognised musical scene and it's
     progressed in a huge, crazy sort of way -- none of which seems to
     have been his, or anyone else's, intention at the original point.
     Do you  think Emperor  and other bands  would have  progressed if
     Euronymous hadn't disappeared from the scene?

Z: Yes, I think so,  but it's difficult to imagine how  it would be if
   he hadn't died. But I mean, he  wasn't like a god, he didn't decide
   everything, so I think it's natural  for a human being to progress.
   And  a lot  of the  black metal  bands then  were teenagers  or [in
   their] really  early twenties. So  if you stop progressing  at that
   age --  it's not normal, it's  normal to have an  evolution in your
   life.  But I  noticed a  change with  him as  well, because  in the
   beginning  he was  like: underground,  underground, everything  was
   really  very strict  underground. But  they were  running Deathlike
   Silence for many  years and it went nowhere: they  were broke, they
   had nothing and it was crap, really. At some point you have to kind
   of earn  some money to  get anywhere. So  there was a  certain time
   when he kind of like, changed  his attitudes, like to get the bands
   big and  get the  money so  that you  can build  up your  own thing
   stronger. In  a way that's what  happened, but it has  got a little
   bit out  of hand  because the term  "black metal",  it's completely
   watered out. Like, what is black  metal today? I don't really know.
   I mean,  you have all kinds  of bands claiming to  play black metal
   and the original idea is completely gone.

CoC: It seems  so ridiculous now when  you get bands who  sort of come
     out, make their production values extremely low and basically try
     and copy, I  don't know, _Wrath of the  Tyrant_ or [Darkthrone's]
     _A Blaze in  the Northern Sky_ or what have  you, and say: right,
     this is true black metal. It's kind of like, in the end you can't
     just keep ripping off the same bands and calling it true...

Z: No, exactly. I mean, you kill the genre by doing that. There has to
   be some fresh blood. Also,I think you have the stuff that's going a
   bit softer:  you have all  this keyboard, like these  Cradle copies
   and I'm  not thinking of  Cradle of Filth  but all the  copy bands,
   third generation  bands copying  Dimmu Borgir  and Cradle.  I mean,
   such bands,  they are not interesting  at all. I think  these bands
   are watering things  out. And then you have the  ones who're really
   extreme, who  don't know how to  play anything, who just  make some
   noise and say: this is true and it's whatever.

CoC: Do you  think that now black  metal has become diverse  or do you
     think that many bands have simply ceased to be black metal bands?
     'Cause I  mean, with Emperor,  Mayhem and pretty much  most other
     major black metal  bands apart from Darkthrone,  you all branched
     out in what I'd  say was a very interesting and  good way. I have
     no problem with that, but it's certainly not the same as what you
     were doing years ago.

Z: No.

CoC: And  would you say that  that's progressive black metal  or would
     you say that that's ceased to be black metal?

Z: Well, I guess  that's open for interpretation, but for  me it's not
   really  that important  that Emperor  has to  be labelled  as black
   metal today  -- but it  started as a black  metal band and  I still
   have quite  the same ideas  as I had before.  I still have  some of
   these ideas, but musically we  have kind of progressed, like beyond
   what people used to think of as black metal. I don't really see any
   problem with that.

CoC: What's interesting about black metal, is that in a similar way to
     punk -- I  mean punk on a  musical level to some  extent tries to
     rebel  against things,  but certainly  on a  social level  it was
     an  expression of  rebellion.  I'd say  with  black metal  what's
     interesting is that, through a  musical style which was trying to
     repeat the past,  I think people managed  -- yourselves, possibly
     Mayhem, possibly others -- to  actually reach new places. I'd say
     for example Dodheimsgard did that.

Z: I think  that is really  cool. I mean,  we started this  thing with
   strong inspirations from a genre  which basically was dead, almost.
   I mean  when this rise  of black metal  came in Norway  in '92/'93,
   bands like Bathory and Venom, they  were completely out. So we kind
   of brought that thing in again  and we took inspirations from these
   bands but  then we  developed and  mixed it  with our  own personal
   musical  ideas. And  developed, in  a way,  a new  form of  extreme
   music.

CoC: I think  maybe somehow  it's kind of,  in one  sense, highlighted
     that kind  of darker, earlier  thrash feel and in  another sense,
     kind of put a lot of that back into music. Even as far forward as
     Zyklon, the riffing is not all from the late '80s; a lot of it is
     kind of a darker, harder sound.

Z: Yeah.

CoC: Which you've kind of gone back to.

Z: Absolutely.

CoC: Do you have any final words for us?

Z: "Check out the album" is basically all I've gotta say.

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M A J E S T I C   V I S I O N S ,   T R I U M P H A N T   S O U N D S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                 CoC talks to Silenoz of Dimmu Borgir
                          by: Adrian Bromley


     When I  first received an  advance copy  of the new  Dimmu Borgir
disc _Puritanical  Euphoric Misanthropia_  [CoC #52],  I was  a little
apprehensive about spinning it. Not that  I was not looking forward to
a new  album by  this Norwegian black  metal sextet  (singer Shagrath,
guitarists  Silenoz  and  Galder  (Old  Man's  Child),  bassist/singer
Vortex (ex-Borknagar),  drummer Nick  Barker (ex-Cradle of  Filth) and
keyboardist  Mustis), but  more wondering  where the  band would  have
taken their sound in 2001.
     Their  last effort  _Spiritual  Black Dimensions_  [CoC #38]  was
good, but a little too slick sounding, and for sure breaking away from
the black metal roots. Die-hard black metal fans were starting to feel
some disgust with Dimmu Borgir as  they had already done with the work
of Cradle of Filth.
     But, as  it turns out,  the new disc  is an abrasive  and totally
majestic state of affairs full  of killer guitar riffs, menacing vocal
cries,  eerie  atmosphere and  some  collaborating  work with  a  real
orchestra. You heard me -- an orchestra!
     So  the phone  call comes  in late  one afternoon  from guitarist
Silenoz to talk about what could  just be the best Dimmu Borgir album.
Here is how it all went down.. .
     "This new record  is by far the best album  Dimmu Borgir has done
so far", starts  Silenoz. "I am sure  a lot of people  out there don't
like what  we do, but to  tell you the  truth, we don't care.  We have
never really  cared what people thought  about what we do.  We just do
what  we think  needs  to  be achieved  within  our  music. The  whole
powerful aspect of  this record isn't really a statement  to all those
who didn't care  for us, this is  just where we are  right now. People
can either love or hate us."
     What was  the studio experience  like this time out,  seeing that
the  band  had switched  producers  (from  Peter Tagtgren  to  Fredrik
Nordstrom)  and  had worked  with  an  orchestra (conducted  by  Gaute
Storas)? Was it hard to get _PEM_ assembled?
     "This was a great experience for us  all. It was a bit of work to
get it  all going,  but once  we got  into the  studio and  we started
laying down guitar tracks, I knew this was going to be killer. We were
excited about  using the  orchestra as well.  Gaute Storas  had worked
with  us a  few years  ago when  we had  performed on  the [Norwegian]
Grammy Awards.  It was a  great time and we  offered to work  with him
again, and the end result was his magnificent work on _PEM_."
     "When you  play the new record  against any of the  past records,
especially _Spiritual  Black Dimensions_  you can definitely  hear the
difference  in the  arrangements  and the  production",  he says  when
talking  of the  new  disc.  "This record  is  totally different.  For
example, we used  Fredrik this time around. The reason  why is because
we felt that Peter and the way he works in the studio, is kind of like
following an old  recipe and knowing how it will  taste each time out.
He needs to maybe try a few  new things and re-arrange how he does his
production. Fredrik is great because he is  able to do what we ask him
to do. That is the main reason why we wanted to work with him. He came
to Norway to hear some of the songs and we discussed what we wanted to
do and he said he'd be able to  do it, with a bit of work. That really
got us  wanting to work  with him. Peter  would be saying  stuff like,
"Well, you  can do  that, I guess,  but you should  try it  this way".
Fredrik is much easier going when it comes to band ideas in the studio
and would say something like, "It might  not work, but at least we can
try".  I think  we made  a  record that  will hopefully  open up  more
borders. I  think we have  done a superb  album has helped  expand and
keep the music of Dimmu Borgir interesting."
     How would  you rate your  guitar playing on this  record? "Better
than the last album. <laughs> I think my guitar work is pretty good. I
let Galder  take on the leads  on this record while  I concentrated on
the rhythm and making it all sound so tight."
     One question  that must  be asked:  what do  you think  about the
cover  artwork for  _PEM_  being  censored by  the  label? "The  label
already censored the cover. We had to tone it down. Originally you had
the torso with chopped  off legs and arms and they  thought it was too
much. We  told them  to put a  black sleeve over  it, but  they wanted
changes.  They got  the final  word  on this,  and if  there had  been
any  bigger problems  stemming from  it,  it might  have affected  the
promotion, the  North American tour and  the release of the  record. I
guess  we were  on the  weak end  of that  decision, but  you have  to
swallow  shit  sometimes  in  this  business  to  get  somewhere."  He
continues, "I remember years ago  they had macabre looking covers from
bands like Pungent Stench and Dismember, but I guess it is just an old
thing for  them and they  want to  move on. We  got the freedom  to do
ideas for the  bandmember shots within the CD sleeve,  so we are happy
with that."
     Looking back at the  career of the band -- way  back to the early
black metal experience of _Inn I  Evighetens Morke_ (1993) or _For All
Tid_ (1994) --, it is amazing to see how the band has not only altered
their sound, but remained tight and in focus. Their sound has evolved,
but their musicianship has grown and tightened ten-fold.
     "Each record of Dimmu Borgir sounds like us. But each time out we
always manage  to do something  different and  that is a  very natural
experience for us, to tell you the truth. Even though there are six of
us in  the band with different  ideas and visions, we  all pretty much
have the same goal  with this band. When we put  our minds together we
will always come out varied and different sounding from any other acts
out there."
     And Silenoz's  take on  the whole  black metal  scene --  does he
care?  What are  his  views on  it?  "I don't  really  follow it  much
anymore. I don't really have the time anymore to follow the bands that
are playing the  scene and hear all  of the new bands  that are making
black metal music. I  just hope I get to hear the good  ones. I hope I
don't miss out on anything good."
     One of  the band's most  infamous traits  is the large  amount of
musicians  that have  come  and  gone throughout  the  years of  Dimmu
Borgir's existence -- how has that helped or hindered the band?
     "All of these  line-up changes have definitely  helped the band",
Silenoz states. "But at the same time, it can be extremely frustrating
to be in a situation where you need to teach people the songs you have
played  for so  long.  With new  people,  you need  to  help them  get
familiar with the songs and work with  the band. It is a great feeling
to have  someone like Galder in  the band because we  have pretty much
the same  background of playing  music. It  just felt natural  when he
joined the band." He adds, "I  remember saying on the last promotional
tour that that was  the best line-up we had ever had.  Well, I guess I
am saying  the same thing  for this album.  "This is the  best line-up
we've ever  had." <laughs> Every  line-up change has made  us stronger
and better."
     "We still get excited with the music  we make and what we do", he
notes when asked  why he still plays black  metal-inspired music after
all of  these years. "I think  a lot of  bands out there get  bored of
what they do and  want to try new things. That is  great for them, but
for us, we want to evolve the sound and take it where we want to go. I
think each  Dimmu Borgir  record becomes more  extreme each  time out.
That  is how  bands  vary differently  -- some  want  to change,  some
don't."
     About their  longevity in this music  business, Silenoz comments,
"Yeah, we're stubborn bastards. We don't  want to give up. You have to
be really  confident and have ambitions  to be in this  music business
and you need to fulfil those ambitions. If problems arise, you need to
get rid  of them and move  on. That is why  we are still here  and why
we'll be here next year as well."
     "After so many years in this business you know how to take people
for what they are. This is the  shittiest business to be in. You see a
lot of  fake people and it  really disgusts you, but  playing music is
what I do and I can take care  of those fake people anyway. As long as
I can make music  and be creative, I'll stay in  this business. I just
have to  -- as I have  done in the past  -- deal with the  bad side of
this job."
     In closing  I comment,  "I can  see you  guys getting  some weird
groupies. Is that true?"
     Silenoz pauses. "Yeah, we get girls around our tour buses all the
time, but I have never been into that whole groupie thing, really. I'm
engaged right now, so that whole  groupie thing means nothing [to me].
Let  the  other bandmembers  have  fun.  I  just  stay focused  on  my
relationship and the music I bring to the band."

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               H A R V E S T   O F   B L A C K N E S S
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               CoC interviews Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth
                          by: Adrian Bromley


     While  Opeth's  singer/songwriter/guitarist Mikael  Akerfeldt  is
excited about  the buzz  that his  band's latest  offering _Blackwater
Park_ [reviewed in this issue] is receiving, his love for his music is
greater than what fans or critics have to say: good or bad.
     "It is  great to hear all  of that, but  to be honest with  you I
stopped caring about  all of that a long time  ago", Akerfeldt starts.
"I don't really care about reviews anymore or what people have to say.
It's great  to read a  great review or be  nominated for the  album of
year, but at the end of the day it doesn't change much for me. Even if
this was a super underground release,  it would still be a great album
for me."
     "This record,  like many other records,  is a big task  for me to
take on", says Akerfeldt. "When I go into making a record I try not to
think about how  the record will sound or what  we will do differently
or how the guitar  will sound. The way I make music is  the way it has
always been. I just sit down and play guitar every day and just gather
together a  bunch of riffs and  arrangements and then try  to piece it
all together. I only  try to come up with cool songs  and not a master
plan of  how certain songs will  sound on an album.  This just happens
for us.  We don't really  know how the album  will sound until  it has
been  mastered and  finished  because  we experiment  so  much in  the
studio. When  we go in to  make a record  we just let the  music flow.
That's it."
     About his work with _Blackwater Park_, Akerfeldt says: "I am very
proud of everything on this record. I  am proud of all the songs. I am
proud of the vocal  lines that we did on the  song "The Drapery Falls"
and also the  overall production of the record. We  worked with Steven
Wilson this time  and he did a  lot of great things to  help the album
sound  good." He  adds, "It  is hard  for  me to  say if  this is  the
ultimate Opeth album, but right now it feels like it is the best one."
     "The  studio  is  a very  inspirational  environment",  Akerfeldt
admits. "The  only thing I  wanted to make sure  of when we  wrote and
recorded this album was that we liked it. That was the only thing that
mattered. We wrote a few songs together and went in to record them. It
wasn't  that tough  at all.  People think  that we  rehearse like  one
hundred times a day or go sit  out in the forest and play guitars, but
it isn't  like that. Like  any guitar player, I  get the urge  to play
every day and sometimes I come up with some cool riffs and ideas."
     "We are willing to  try a lot of things within  our music, but we
don't want to stray too far  from our sound", says Akerfeldt about the
band's love of experimenting with  each recording. "I think ever since
we found the sound we did on the  first record, we have gone on to try
and develop it over the years. We will continue to try and develop it.
Opeth's sound covers a  lot of ground and we can  go in many different
directions and still  be Opeth. I think  we are going to  try and milk
this sound  of Opeth until  there is nothing left.  I think we  have a
long way  to go. I  think we will  be able to  come up with  some cool
albums in the future."
     Does Akerfeldt ever listen to  older Opeth records when making an
album? "No", he  sharply juts in. "I  want to keep a clear  head. If I
repeat something  I have already done,  I don't want to  know about it
till afterwards. We basically concentrate on what we have before us in
the studio and take  it from there. The past is  pretty much gone when
we enter the studio for a new record."
     Having seen the  band two times in the past  month, live the band
(the rest of Opeth is rounded out by guitarist Peter Lindgren, drummer
Martin Lopez  and bassist  Martin Mendez)  make sure  to cover  all of
Opeth's work, from  the early days of 1995's _Orchid_  onto 1998's _My
Arms, Your  Hearse_ [CoC  #32] and  onto the  new material.  What does
Akerfeldt think about playing the older songs with the newer ones?
     "I think those  songs are very representative of  what we sounded
like seven  years ago.  Playing those  songs live  is a  bit different
because of the way they were done. We don't think "oh, this will sound
cheesy, we  better not  play it".  We just  bring it  into the  mix of
things  and crank  it out.  I don't  feel the  contrast between  those
songs. The listener in the audience may. I'm just there to have a good
time live and have some diversity with our set."
     One of the most rewarding factors  about the new releases is that
it  marks the  first time  the band  has solid  distribution in  North
America via  Koch Records.  Is he  excited about the  deal to  get the
band's name out even more now?
     "It feels  real good", says  the singer. "We've never  had proper
distribution in  North America till  now and the album  is everywhere.
Those at Koch are  doing a great job at promoting us  and they are one
of the key reasons  why we are touring over here right  now. This is a
big deal for us -- we are  playing fifty dates in North America. After
this tour we will go back to Europe and play festivals and wrap it all
up with a European tour in the Fall. After that, we will stop this and
take some  time off till  we put out the  next album, which  should be
late next year."
     What are you going to do with your time off?
     "I  have some  other stuff  I  want to  do music  wise with  some
friends of mine."
     Really? Does it sound different from Opeth? Who else is involved?
     "The band consists of myself,  the keyboard player from Spiritual
Beggars and  a famous  guitar player  from over  here in  Sweden named
Renneh. We  want to  do something  together, and  I have  written some
songs, but we have  yet to play together. We are  going to record some
material soon. Once  that is all done and finished,  I will then begin
assembling new material for the next Opeth album."
     "I've always  wanted to do  this. I just  have urge to  work with
other musicians",  confides Akerfeldt  about the need  to work  on the
new,  yet unnamed  project. "I  really want  to work  with a  keyboard
player because  I love the vintage  sounds of keyboard work.  It'll be
very dark,  gloomy '70s stuff.  It'll be very mellow.  The keyboardist
can sing as well,  so we plan to have these  Simon & Garfunkle harmony
lines, but not your run-of-the-mill vocal lines. This will be a lot of
fun for me to break away from Opeth."
     As  most fans  know, Opeth's  music is  very hard  to categorize.
While the band plays metal music, with intense mood swings and melodic
overtones, everyone  has their own take  on what Opeth is  about. Even
Akerfeldt  does. And  because  of that,  he finds  that  to be  strong
characteristic about the band's music.
     "People call us a  metal band and I am happy  with that. Metal to
me is a very wide term. It is  not just 100% speed all of the time. To
me, metal is  ranging from The Beatles onward", he  explains. "It just
sounds ridiculous for  me to say something like  Opeth plays symphonic
extreme progressive  gothic epic  metal -- that  just sounds  like too
much."
     Akerfeldt ends, "We are not a run-of-the-mill type of death metal
band. We play metal music. I like  the fact that we can go about doing
what we want and have fun creating the sounds with Opeth. It seems the
fans do too."

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                       I   A M   T H E   O N E
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                      CoC interviews Proscriptor
                           by: Adam Wasylyk


     One of  the American black  metal scene's most  prolific artists,
Absu's  vocalist/percussionist  Sir   Proscriptor  McGovern,  is  also
responsible for one  of the better darkwave/ambient acts  I've had the
pleasure  to hear  -- named  Proscriptor. Making  its debut  with _The
Venus Bellona_  (Cruel Moon),  the occultic/atmospheric  flavour which
revolves  around the  ancestral bloodlines  of Proscriptor's  Scottish
roots proved  not only  to be  an invigorating  and an  almost magical
listen, but  also served as  a truly original recording.  Twenty songs
(or "acts") immersed the listener into the mystical world of this most
fascinating musician, one in which  dedicated fans, such as myself and
the editor of this fine publication, are quite grateful for.
     Despite delays and unforeseen circumstances, a follow up has been
released  in  the  form  of  _The  Serpentine  Has  Risen_  (Dark  Age
Productions).  Taking  off  from  where _TVB_  left  off,  the  newest
Proscriptor  recording   sees  more  concentration  being   placed  on
songwriting (eight tracks grace _The Serpentine..._ compared to twenty
on its predecessor) and, as a nice surprise, features some echoes from
the past (who could forget the immortal line, "My Words are the Flames
for you...").  There's no question  that Proscriptor are a  cult band,
one  whose recordings  will always  be relished  by its  dedicated fan
base.
     The  prerequisite to  have a  few questions  answered was  gladly
accepted by  Proscriptor McGovern, so hopefully  those unfamiliar with
this  most  special  band  will find  the  following  informative  and
enlightening. Onward!

CoC: I'm  sure   that  there  are   those  who  are   unfamiliar  with
     Proscriptor, so perhaps  you can detail how it  differs from your
     work in Absu. Do you see any similarities between the two bands?

Proscriptor McGovern: Absu can  be classified as  "mythological occult
                      metal",  as  Proscriptor  can be  classified  as
                      "Allaxitonian/Glenorchy   Fantasy   Musick"   or
                      "Scotch  Folkwave". Absu  has  the  set mind  to
                      execute  the  most   baneful  fashion  of  metal
                      projected towards  mankind, as  Proscriptor does
                      not  have  a  set  mind;  I  personally  execute
                      whatever  I ethereally  feel  when writing  that
                      style of  music. The  only similarity  that Absu
                      and Proscriptor share are  two things: the inner
                      domains of  immortality and some  Celtic themes,
                      but not too many.

CoC: I  read that _The Serpentine  Has Risen_ was recorded  in 1997...
     what were the causes for its delay?

PM: In 1997, my initial idea was to release _The Serpentine Has Risen_
    as a  picture-disque 7" EP.  After I  kept writing more  songs and
    collaborating  various  ideologies,  it  turned  into  a  mini  CD
    and  then  eventually  it  became a  full-length  opus.  The  Cold
    Meat  Industry subsidiary  label for  Dark Age  Productions, Cruel
    Moon International,  decided to  follow up  with a  second release
    off-shooting  from  _The  Venus  Bellona_.  After  the  album  was
    recorded, I  planned on  releasing _The  Serpentine Has  Risen_ on
    both Cruel  Moon as  well as  Dark Age.  After I  sent all  of the
    master materials to Roger Karmanik  (Cold Meat's label manager), I
    did not hear  any feedback from him in almost  three months. I was
    rather  curious to  know what  his  reaction was  towards the  new
    album, yet I knew he'd have  different notions regarding it. In an
    e-mail he  replied back to me,  he told me that  it was completely
    horrendous and there  was no way he would release  it. His opinion
    did  not affect  me  at all,  so  I simply  asked  for the  master
    materials back  from him.  I received them  from Sweden  five days
    later. Afterwards, I sent the album  to roughly 50 labels (most of
    them non-metal)  and they refused  it by  saying that it  was "too
    diverse" and  "not directed towards  a certain market".  I realize
    this because  every song I  wrote for  it came from  a spontaneous
    thought in  my mind and whatever  style best fits its  ideology is
    the  way it  will  come out  to  be. Most  humans  that have  been
    indulged by  the "personal" music  of Proscriptor ever love  it or
    hate it. It's not black metal, nor  is it hardly metal at all, but
    a  concoction of  styles, such  as pre/post  wave rock,  art rock,
    oscillation/experimental,  and  Allaxtonian folklore.  Finally,  a
    breakthrough arrived in the latter  portion of 1999 when a company
    here in  Dallas called  Reality Music assisted  me in  the biggest
    way.  The  founder  of  Reality  Music,  Cristal  Clopton  (a.k.a.
    Tiamatsu McGovern),  decided that  she would  help me  release the
    _Serpentine..._ album and help promote it  for me as well. So with
    her facilitation, she was able to  release it with me through both
    Dark Age and  Reality Music. Well last year, a  Greek record label
    called In  Vision Musick  decided that they  wanted to  license it
    from me and release it on  a worldwide basis. However, it is still
    not out yet  and I am presently being ripped  off by a particular,
    deceiving  mortal  from  that  enterprise!  In  hindsight  and  in
    conclusion, _The Serpentine  Has Risen_ has not  been crowned with
    too much  success, but ironically  speaking, I think it's  my best
    solo work up to date.

CoC: Does  Proscriptor have ambitions  to play  in a live  setting, or
     does the complexity of the music render this impossible?

PM: It is possible  that I could perform in a  concert atmosphere, but
    not  in the  near  future. I  have  three other  live  acts to  be
    concerned with at the moment.

CoC: Do you take influences  from other ambient/atmospheric bands, who
     therefore influence the music of Proscriptor?

PM: The chief inspiration  of Proscriptor really comes  from dogmas of
    Thoth,  metaphysical expeditions  concerning my  past immortality,
    yet  my  deathless spirit  throughout  the  Glenorchy District  of
    Central-Western  Alba (Scotland).  Of course,  occultic lifestyles
    inspire me; however,  I can say that there are  many influences of
    music that interest me and my solo efforts, such as the Art Bears,
    Henry  Cow, Magma,  Granada,  Holy Toy,  Tangerine Dream,  Captain
    Beefheart,  The  Tubes,  Mellow Candle,  Lucifer,  Blondie,  Human
    League, A Flock of Seagulls, Sparks, Plasma Pool, Devo, Kraftwerk,
    Popol  Vuh, King  Crimson,  Genesis, Soft  Machine,  Ween, M,  Joe
    Jackson, Pat Benatar,  Styx, Dan Fogelberg, ABC,  Split Enz, Romeo
    Void, Yello, and Aphrodite's Child.

CoC: The  tracks  on  _The  Serpentine..._  are  lengthier  and  sound
     much  more epic  than  those on  _The Venus  Bellona_.  Was it  a
     preconceived idea to  write lengthier pieces of  music as opposed
     to the  numerous tracks on  The Venus  Bellona, or did  this just
     occur naturally?

PM: Yes, it  was intentional  to write  longer and  more abstruse-like
    songs and  I'll tell  you why.  _The Venus  Bellona_ is  an actual
    past  life experience  I  have  dealt with  in  the 13th  Century,
    [while] _The Serpentine  Has Risen_ is a collection  of dreams and
    subconscious realms  I have  encountered directly after  the debut
    opus. What more can I say?

CoC: Will Proscriptor  continue  to release  recordings  (or has  new
     material been written since the recording of the new album)?

PM: Yes, my  first project  I will  be working on  is a  seven-inch EP
    called  _Thoth Music(k)_  and  I  shall follow  up  with my  third
    full-length nightmare  called _726:  The Sign  of My  Number_. And
    always recall  this equation: 726=6x11 (ii)  / 33x22 (Vitriolistic
    Nous). "The sign  of my number is the arithmetical  formula to the
    Universal Solvent, which  lies beneath the soil  you are currently
    standing on. The abyss: it's right below you."

Contact: Dark   Age   Productions   (Southern  Tower),   c/o   Cristal
         Clopton,  P.O.   Box  743307,  Dallas,  TX   75374-3307,  USA
         http://www.realitymusic.com

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                     D A V E   S A Y S   Y E S !
                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
             CoC talks to Dave Wyndorf of Monster Magnet
                          by: Adrian Bromley


     I know  there are a lot  of Monster Magnet fans  in North America
wondering why  the Hell it  has taken so long  to get the  new Monster
Magnet _God  Says No_ [CoC #51]  on store shelves in  North America. I
mean, the  record was  released five  months ago  in Europe.  What the
Hell?!
     Don't fret any longer, metal heads, as Chronicles of Chaos hooked
up with supergalactic rebel leader Dave  Wyndorf to talk about the new
album, drugs, comic  books and of course,  why it took so  long to get
_GSN_ in our hands.
     We begin...

CoC: The record  came out in November  in Europe and I  had heard that
     the reason why it wasn't released here was because of the release
     schedule for North  America around that time and  that you didn't
     want to get buried beneath all  of these bigger releases. Is that
     true?

Dave Wyndorf: What happened  was that we  had finished up the  album a
              bit late and it was too late to get it out in the Summer
              of last  year, so the only  time they had to  put it out
              was in September or October.  They were trying to get it
              out before Christmas because  the only thing that really
              sells  around Christmas  are  box  sets, Electric  Light
              Orchestra or  Billy Joel.  <laughs> So  I was  cool with
              September and I  thought it was a bold  move seeing that
              we  weren't the  biggest band  in the  world and  we had
              never released a record then.  Then I walked into my own
              record company and saw that they had on the same release
              schedule,  or around  that  time,  Limp Bizkit,  Marilyn
              Manson, U2, The Wallflowers and somebody else, and I was
              like, "No!  This is going  to kill us!".  Monster Magnet
              has always stood  to the left of everything  else and we
              thought the best way to go about this was to come in the
              back way and have it released after New Year's.

CoC: And how was the record received in Europe?

DW: Really well. The best one ever. We always do well over there. They
    are  just eating  it up.  It worked  out goof  to have  it out  in
    Europe. We also played six weeks over  there and it is good for us
    here [in North America] because we are ready.

CoC: Initially, when you  sat down to record this album  and soaked up
     the success of the last disc (_Powertrip_ [CoC#31]), what was the
     mindset going into this record? Did  you feel the need to rush in
     and put out another record or did you want to take your time?

DW: I didn't  want to  rush into  this, but  I did  want a  record out
    sooner than the last  one. The last one I was  dicking off for two
    years when  I wrote it. This  one, I said to  myself, "Okay, we've
    been on the road for two years with _Powertrip_, everyone take six
    months off and  I'll write the record."  So we did that  and I had
    never written that long and I just let it come together real easy.
    I started putting together a little  here and a little there, some
    words from  this day and  some music  ideas here and  collect them
    together. Then  after I get  all of  these ideas together  and get
    ready to  throw it together, it'll  be like a cache  of ammunition
    when it  becomes really serious.  I had  done this over  those six
    months and more or  so was ready to get it  all down and recorded.
    About two  months before  we went  in to  record, I  was seriously
    grouping together the  ideas. In the middle of all  that, I had my
    stuff stolen from me.

CoC: What!? Really? What happened?

DW: It was a real bummer. I was driving around and I was at some truck
    stop just outside of Toledo. So my  stuff was gone. I dunno what I
    really lost, as it was just being assembled half-assed and I don't
    know  how  much  was  gone.  Once again  I  was  forced  to  write
    _Powertrip_ style and I just freaked out, came right home and went
    in to my kitchen and set  up the four-track and started writing. I
    was able  to come up with  about fifteen songs in  twenty days. It
    was scary.  My whole  time of  taking it easy  went right  out the
    window.

CoC: Were you able  to piece back together any ideas  you had lost? Or
     did you say "Fuck it!" and started from scratch again?

DW: First  I was  terrified  and  thought I  would  never  be able  to
    remember any of the  ideas I had come up with.  But in the process
    of working on those  songs in my kitchen, a lot  of the stuff came
    back. The words didn't come back and that is what I miss the most,
    but the music  did. Music always comes back  because it percolates
    in you all the time. I  remember turning phrases and stuff I liked
    in those notes  and not really making an effort  to record knowing
    that  I would  eventually  bring the  ideas  together. I'll  never
    really know what I lost.

CoC: So someone out there right now is trying to decipher your notes?

DW: Yeah! <laughs> Some crackhead is burning my notes.

CoC: It  has been  a long  career for  Monster Magnet,  with the  band
     shapeshifting sounds  and ideas as  the career has gone  on. Each
     album is different and represents new ideas and new vibes. Do you
     like to feel that from each record?

DW: Totally. If  I didn't  get a  different vibe  from each  record, I
    wouldn't do  this. I have  limited musical  ability and so  what I
    have to do is change things around with the mood and atmosphere on
    each record. As the producer and writer I'll try to write songs in
    different keys and different ways to get the most out of the band,
    yet remaining true  to my core and  what I am strong  at doing. In
    order to keep myself sane, I need  a new mood each record. And the
    hard part, seeing that I am limited  and just a rock 'n' roll guy,
    is  to do  that successfully  each time  out. Making  a record  is
    amazing.  You  can colour  anything  anyway  you  want it.  It  is
    important for me to  be happy with a record and  the way it sounds
    and the way it moves me as a musician.

CoC: Do you  get tired of doing  certain song ideas and  moods for the
     Monster Magnet albums?

DW: What I want  to do, especially on this record,  is to compress the
    things I like about each record  into shorter forms and try to get
    the most out of those parts.  If something in the past was glossed
    over with  psychedelic sounds, it  would go  on for three  or four
    minutes. On this  album I wanted to have a  song structure and use
    the psychedelic sounds as something that would pop out and then go
    away. This record is stripped down, but  in my mind it is the most
    complicated of  all the  Monster Magnet  records because  I really
    needed to  pay attention to each  and every step that  I wanted in
    there and  more importantly what  I didn't want in  there. Y'know?
    Don't scream the whole record, try to sing.

CoC: A lot of  bands who get into  the flow of making  a record really
     make an effort to just clamp  down for four weeks and just finish
     it  up,  rarely  taking  a  break  from  recording  and  resting.
     Are  you like  that  or  do you  like  to  take "breathers"  from
     songwriting/recording?

DW: I love  to walk away from  something for two days,  but I normally
    don't do that very  often, only if I am having  problems. 20% of a
    Monster Magnet record is do over, the rest is just almost straight
    down. There comes a point for me where I just figure it just won't
    be right for me  and I just let it go. If I  am 60% happy with the
    disc, I let it go. After that  it is up to the listeners to decide
    if they like what they hear.

CoC: What excites you  about the new record when you  play it back and
     hear it?

DW: This  record I  am proud  of the  diversity, which  is what  I was
    really trying for. I wanted to  have different scopes for my voice
    'cause the voice rhythm is one  of the most important pieces for a
    record -- at least  I think. I wanted this record  to be much more
    subtle too.  Not weak,  but just  subtle. I wanted  it to  be less
    screaming than the last record. I like  the fact that I can go off
    into insanity with songs like  "Melt" and "Heads Explode" and then
    take it down a bit and go off an do a song like "Gravity Well".

CoC: Do you find yourself going back to listen to older Monster Magnet
     records either in preparation for a  new record or just to listen
     to them for nostalgia sake?

DW: I don't listen  to the older Magnet records that  often. But every
    once in a  while after we come  off tour I'll throw on  all of the
    records over  the course of the  week and just listen  to them and
    go, "I should have done this better". Or I'll just know what to do
    or what not to  do and just bring ideas that I  have done into the
    new recording as an  idea. It is very weird to  go back and listen
    to your  own music. It  is like reading a  diary. I don't  want to
    listen to my music too much because I might get caught up in it.

CoC: What is your least favourite Monster Magnet record? Is there one?

DW: The one  that totally bagged  out on me  and was the  most trouble
    was  _Superjudge_.  It  was  a very  troublesome  record  for  me.
    _Superjudge_ and _Dopes  to Infinity_ were both pains  in the ass,
    really. _Powertrip_  too, but it  was a  lot quicker. I  just love
    knowing  it is  what it  is.  I love  having mistakes  and I  love
    unhappy  mistakes.  When  I  listen  to  _Superjudge_  now  I  get
    frustrated  because I  knew  how little  time I  had  to make  the
    record. I  get mad knowing  how I  didn't plan out  the production
    correctly and  I can hear  songs that are  unfinished on it.  As a
    songwriter and producer I had to wear  all of these hats and I was
    wasn't prepared  to and sometimes  the songs suffer. On  the other
    hand,  some of  it is  really psychotically  cool because  of that
    fact. I was pissed off when I wrote that record and it sounds like
    it. I just take it all for what it is, but if you ask me which one
    I am least  happy with, it is  that one. That record  was over and
    done before I  knew it was done.  If I could have  walked away and
    come back, it would have been a million times better.

CoC: You seem to be like the kind of musician who doesn't mind dealing
     with the business aspect of things, but you don't want to get too
     caught up in it. Is that a valid assessment, Dave?

DW: Yeah. I don't  want to get too  caught up in it. I  don't think it
    pays off  spiritually or  financially. If  I was  into all  of the
    business sides of things I would go crazy, I think. Being involved
    in  that is  just  so anti-art.  Part  of rock  'n'  roll is  when
    commerce  meets creativity.  You  can see  now  what happens  when
    people take complete control of it. You get people like Fred Durst
    [Limp Bizkit].  There is a  guy who  is more concerned  with money
    than music  and it shows. He  is just out there  saying, "Hey, I'm
    the big daddy! Oh, and I also  make music." Whatever. He is like a
    goddamn clothing  ad. I am  just so old  school, I think,  when it
    comes to all of  that. I just want to make sure  all the bills get
    paid and  that no  one dies.  Let's just make  music and  think in
    concept rather than what the single is going to sound like.

CoC: Seeing that you played a few  weeks over in Europe, how'd the new
     stuff go over in the live  environment and with the older Monster
     Magnet material?

DW: Surprisingly well. I  was a little scared that it  wasn't going to
    work, to be honest. As usual, when  we play live, if I see that we
    have an  organ part  and no  organ player, we  switch that  with a
    guitar part. From that the songs get different, yet still stay the
    same somewhat. A lot of the songs sound more rocking too, I think.
    You just  really need to  go out. Play the  songs and turn  up the
    volume. I  am happy they  are going over  well. They seem  to meld
    with the  old stuff well.  It took me like  five times to  get the
    right set list that would work for  the new songs and old songs to
    work off one another well.

CoC: When  Monster Magnet  took  off almost  a decade  ago,  it was  a
     different musical state. The sounds were different and bands were
     doing different things. There was just a different vibe going on.
     What is your take on music nowadays?

DW: The late '80s and the early '90s  was a really cool time. It was a
    time of a lot of promise and a  lot of cool bands. There was a lot
    of  psychedelia  for  those  of  us who  enjoyed  it.  Bands  like
    Screaming Trees, first couple of Soundgarden records, Spaceman3. A
    lot of  bands had psychedelic  tinges and just really  rocked. Not
    indie  rock, but  real rock.  Now that  promise was  bought up  by
    record companies  and it  just ran  its course up  to where  it is
    today, at the  bottom of the pop mountain.  Nowadays there doesn't
    seem  to be  any  breeding ground  that is  far  away from  record
    companies to  gestate properly.  There are  no scenes  because the
    scenes get co-opted  immediately by guys with  checkbooks. I think
    the next big  thing to come and  maybe make a change  to the scene
    will be from the Internet. But that is a lot less human.

CoC: So  where do  you see  Monster Magnet heading  over the  next few
     years? Is there still longevity in the band and its music?

DW: I think  about that all  the time, really.  It has been  about ten
    years since we really became a real band, but the concept has been
    around since 1989. Every time I  turn around, it seems like I have
    been out for  only like two or three years.  When it actually hits
    me how long it has been and I say, "Man, it feels like I have been
    out  for twelve  years", that  is when  I'll say  I can't  do this
    anymore.  I just  get so  excited making  records. Music  is never
    going to go away from me. I'll be doing this for a long time, with
    Monster Magnet or without. There are a lot of other things I would
    like to do...

CoC: Like what?

DW: I'd like to  go to school. I  quit when I was in  high school. I'd
    like to study pop culture. I just  like to indulge in all of that.
    Twentieth century pop culture just fascinates me. I'd also like to
    write. I am starting to get at  my point where I can sit still for
    a couple  of seconds.  I am  not there totally,  but I  am sitting
    still a  bit. That  is why rock  'n' roll is  so cool:  'cause you
    don't have to sit still. You get to jump around and rock out.

CoC: You  obviously lived  the  rock  'n' roll  experience.  A lot  of
     excess, a lot of ups and downs and a lot of drugs and sex. But it
     does take its toll.  How do you feel about all  of that which you
     have experienced?

DW: The drinking  and the drugs: that  is what killed me.  I have been
    straight  for six  years now.  That stuff,  what it  did, it  just
    blocked my imagination and my  songwriting process. When you are a
    consumer,  that is  one thing;  when you  are a  creator, that  is
    something else. When  you work on things and create  stuff all the
    time and  use drugs, you are  just blocking yourself and  what you
    do. It  wasn't for  me. I just  realized after a  lot of  drug and
    alcohol abuse that it wasn't for me. This was just so crazy. I was
    trying to  get in touch with  my inner child. That  is mostly what
    drugs are about. If  it is not about pain, it  is about your inner
    child. It is  not about smothering pain, really, it  is more about
    feeling  uninhibited,  the way  you  did  when  you were  five.  I
    realized if I could get through that without the drugs, then I can
    be seeing clearer and having a good time. The excess part got more
    out of hand.  It just got way  out of hand. It  wasn't just sloppy
    stoner sex. It was full on,  like the next plateau. It was extreme
    behavior. It really  spooked me. Here I was running  this rock 'n'
    roll ship and I felt like  Captain Kirk on the Enterprise in "Star
    Trek".  Captain Kirk  in  the  '60s would  fuck  up every  mission
    because he  was too  busy trying  to ball some  purple woman  on a
    planet. That is what it was like for me. I was making bad business
    decisions and  that took me  into the  real rock 'n'  roll excess:
    money and  women. It was the  whole power thing. I  just needed to
    step back from all of that, I realized, and now when I look back I
    can see where  I went wrong. Now  I try to conserve  my energy for
    when it  is absolutely  necessary. It  is a  very crazy  world out
    there and  it is  very stereotypical. I  look back  and everything
    looks very Spinal Tap-like.

CoC: I remember the  last time we chatted, for  the _Powertrip_ album,
     you mentioned an interest in electronic music. Are you still into
     electronic music?

DW: I love  all of that stuff. I haven't  heard anything recently that
    has blown me away, but I'm always looking.

CoC: Would you ever do an electronic record or band project?

DW: I do it home and I have all these sequencers around the house, but
    it strikes me  as something almost anyone can do;  but in reality,
    it  should be  made by  the people  who listen  to it  and not  by
    artists. Part of the fun of  electronic music is being able to add
    stuff to sounds so quickly and  play it back almost immediately. I
    just think sometimes, "Why should I do this when everyone else out
    there can do it and probably better than me?" It is fun to do, and
    make music and  all these crazy sounds, but I'll  stick to putting
    out my rock records.

CoC: As we close  down here with the interview, I'd  like to know: how
     would you describe this record to Monster Magnet fans?

DW: This  is  a very  lush  and  deep record.  I  think  this is  more
    psychedelic than  _Powertrip_. I  hate to  say varied  or diverse,
    because it  scares people away and  can be the "Kiss  of Death" in
    the music  business, but  it has more  diverse character  than any
    Monster Magnet record.

CoC: And with each recording, is the excitement still there?

DW: Every record is totally exciting. It  gets better as you go on and
    there is less stuff to stress you out. When I was first working on
    records I  was scared to make  them and work with  24-track studio
    equipment. Now  it is  like a  breeze and a  real enjoyment  to do
    studio work. Now the thing for me is  to try and get into a lot of
    challenging situations with a record and  the music I make. I want
    to pull  off a huge song  and then go  onto a real simple  song. I
    just want  to make a record  that works well with  one another and
    not follow  a certain style.  Making records is  a lot of  fun and
    after so  many years  of doing  it I get  excited. I'm  like, "New
    record? Let's go!" It is like  being in a circus or military camp.
    Y'know? Forward! Forward!

CoC: Is it still worth it?

DW: Yeah. It was worth it the first year I was doing the band. This is
    just a natural part of my life. I can't imagine not making music.

Discography:

_God Says No_ (2001)
_Powertrip_ (1998)
_Dopes to Infinity_ (1995)
_Superjudge_ (1993)
_Tab_ (1992)
_Spine Of God_ (1991)

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

             A   T R U L Y   I N D I V I D U A L   S I N
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       CoC chats with Robert Vigna and Ross Dolan of Immolation
                           by: Paul Schwarz


     It is hard to know what qualities other people look for when they
search out music. Judging by the amount of bands in the world who make
a living out of essentially  contributing to a collective stockpile of
albums that  sound more or less  the same, it seems  evident that many
people hear one thing  they like and just want more  of the same. I'll
admit, I have  been guilty of succumbing to this  tendency -- and many
times without shame,  even in retrospect. However, more and  more I am
finding that records, or bands, without something unique to themselves
-- something that can't be found  elsewhere or at least can't be found
in  a  "better" form  --  are  gradually  disappearing from  my  music
collection.  This is  why, for  example,  _The Bleeding_  is the  only
Cannibal Corpse  album I still  own --  every other one  except _Eaten
Back to Life_  has been sold-on through lack of  interest. I have been
realising recently  that many bands only  make a few albums  which are
truly worth owning,  and many more merely a handful  of songs. Mostly,
the bands  who suffer  from this  syndrome are  what I  would describe
roughly as "genre" bands: bands who  produce music of a certain "type"
(e.g.  "Florida  death  metal", "Gothenburg  death  metal",  "standard
American  brutal death  metal"),  not music  which  is unmistakably  a
product of the band in question. I can't see the point of listening to
many of these bands who don't  have something individual to offer. Why
would you bother with Fleshcrawl  when you have Entombed, Mangled when
you have Cannibal Corpse, or Primal Fear when you have Judas Priest? I
really do wonder.  Immolation are a band I have  never wondered about,
at least  not in this  way. It's not that  Immolation are the  best at
what they do,  it's that they don't  "do" the same thing  as any other
band.  Immolation are  a fiercely,  fiercely singular  musical entity.
They may be a death metal band,  but they're a death metal band living
entirely  by their  own  rules. To  paraphrase  Nile guitarist  Dallas
Toller Wade,  Immolation don't  care about  pandering to  the popular,
they  care  about making  music  that  moves  them, and  about  making
themselves and their listeners happy.
     Last  November, Immolation  delivered the  finest album  of their
career thus  far, their fourth release  _Close to a World  Below_ [CoC
#51].  The album's  production,  for the  first  time in  Immolation's
decade-spanning history, managed to properly and fully represent their
individual  sound  in  the  full  glory it  so  long  cried  out  for.
Immolation  wrote their  sharpest songs  and committed  to tape  their
finest performances.  This may all  sound like typical  fan hyperbole,
but  it  isn't  --  Immolation really  have  far  exceeded  reasonable
expectations with _CtaWB_. Long-standing fans  of the band like Dallas
or myself agree that _CtaWB_  is Immolation's finest album, while even
previous haters or  doubters of the band's work such  as CoC's beloved
David Rocher have found an album they  can't deny its worth. I hope if
you haven't given it a chance yet, you will in the near future.
     This  interview is  in two  parts. First  is a  conversation with
Immolation guitarist  Robert Vigna  conducted one week  before _CtaWB_
was released. Second is a short  e-mail chat with bassist and vocalist
Ross Dolan  done in mid-February. I  hope the insights into  this very
special band's work, as well  as the "before-and-after" aspect of this
particular story, prove interesting for you.
     Immolation   are   currently   on   the  road   in   support   of
_CtaWB_   playing   dates   on   both   sides   of   the   pond.   See
http://www.ImmolationDirect.com for  details of whether they'll  hit a
town near you  at a convenient time.  If they are, don't  miss them: I
assure you, you'd be missing quite a treat.

November 2000: Robert Vigna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CoC: How are things in the band going at the moment, what have you got
     lined up for the next little while?

Robert Vigna: We've got  the album  coming out in  a couple  of weeks.
              Right now  we're just working  on the website.  We wanna
              change that by the time the  album is out. We were going
              to do  some tours with  Morbid Angel  at the end  of the
              year, but that didn't work  out because they've got some
              other things  goin' on so we're  gonna probably postpone
              that 'til February. So we don't have any touring planned
              until early February. We're just  going to let the album
              get out  there, let everyone  absorb it for a  couple of
              months.  From now  until  February  we're probably  just
              gonna work on the next album and get that written.

CoC: That's pretty good, I guess, 'cause this album is the first album
     that has really seen you get onto a good track with releasing.

RV: Without a doubt.

CoC: It's one year  from _Failures for Gods_ [CoC #41]  and the others
     had been (at least) three year  gaps. How did it feel to actually
     get it out on time for the first time?

RV: Well, we used to be real lazy bastards back in the day, so this is
    pretty good. <laughs> We got _Failures..._ out last June [of 1999]
    and it was recorded in June of '98. It didn't come out 'til a year
    later 'cause we couldn't get in touch with Andreas Marschall about
    the artwork. It was delayed but it was well worth the wait, 'cause
    it was a  fantastic cover. That was  what we wanted, so  we had to
    wait. When we'd got the album out  -- and we were happy with it --
    we did the  [Milwaukee] MetalFest, did a few  headlining tours, we
    did a tour with  Six Feet Under at the beginning  of this year and
    pretty much in March we were  thinking about doing some touring on
    our own  and we  just decided to  get this album  done: to  get an
    album out  this year. In March  we made the decision.  We made the
    studio time for June: two months  later we were in the studio with
    a new album. So that's basically it.  We wanted to get it done and
    we just pulled  it together and did  it and I think  it's the best
    thing we've ever done.

CoC: Yeah. To be honest, I love pretty much all your albums and I am a
     fan, but I am very surprised  'cause I really think it's the best
     one.

RV: Without a doubt.

CoC: Surprisingly enough  because it's coming  out only a  year later,
     and I  was very worried that  it might be written  too quickly or
     written in a rush.

RV: You thought it was gonna be crap! <jokingly, and with accompanying
    laughter>

CoC: It  happens to  a lot  of  bands, but  this really  has come  out
     excellently  well. And  you've  worked again  with Paul  Orofino.
     Again, you've  never before  repeated use of  a producer,  so you
     were particularly happy with his production, right?

RV: We had met Paul when we were looking for studios for _Failures..._
    and we had  a mutual friend, so  we went up, met with  Paul -- his
    studio's about  an hour north of  where we're at here  --, saw the
    studio, obviously  the studio was  definitely capable and  he was.
    He'd worked with a lot of classic metal acts such as Between Kids,
    Dee Snider, Riot, Blue Oyster Cult and Liquid Tension -- he'd also
    worked with  big jazz names  -- so  he was definitely  capable and
    more importantly he  was a very personal person, a  very nice guy,
    down to earth.  We went in, the whole _Failures..._  session was a
    great session,  very comfortable, the most  comfortable we've been
    in  the studio,  not only  because it  was our  third time  in the
    studio but  because of  him too. Our  relationship was  very calm.
    None of them in the past were  bad, but this one was just that bit
    more comfortable. It  worked out very well, we had  a good rapport
    with each other, so  when it came time to doing  this album he was
    the first guy we wanted to call. _Failures..._ was the first album
    he ever did in  any kind of death/black metal ever  -- and I think
    he did a  fantastic job --, so  this time we thought  he'd do that
    much better.  And not  only did we  do better in  the studio  as a
    tighter unit,  but I think  he did a  hundred times better  and he
    actually enjoyed the music that much more and the whole thing just
    worked out 'cause  we were both using each other  and knew what to
    expect from each other. So it was very comfortable and it came out
    fantastic.

CoC: I agree.  I think  it's the  first time  you've got  a production
     which has  really, really pushed  out everything about  the sound
     that's good.

RV: Oh, definitely.

CoC: It's really powerful, it really emphasises the drums but also the
     guitars.

RV: A fantastic job.

CoC: Absolutely. Also, you were saying  you got tighter in the studio:
     it is faster -- not in the sense that it's all fast but the parts
     that are fast are faster and it's harder, it's more percussive.

RV: Right, I mean this band's never  been about speed for speed's sake
    or anything like  that anyway, so what  we do is just  try to make
    things as  creative as possible.  So there's probably some  of the
    best slow and  medium stuff we've ever done, but  there's also the
    fastest  stuff we've  ever done  and there's  also just  a lot  of
    in-between, because  when we're  writing music  we don't  say: OK,
    this is -gonna- be this way -- we need a song like this -- we just
    keep going, and it's whatever comes out. And I think this album in
    particular flows the best out of any one we've done and flows from
    the first second to the last. The  music is easier to get into but
    at the same time it's very...

CoC: Cohesive?

RV: Dimensional.

CoC: Absolutely. I think  also it's the first album  you've done where
     everything's come together  and it's like with  Slayer or certain
     other bands:  every album you do  seems to be very  much you. I'd
     say you're  a great  example of someone  from the  American death
     metal scene because you're very  good but you're not scene based.
     It's not a scene sound, it's an "Immolation" sound.

RV: Without  a  doubt,  yeah.  I  mean, we've  always  strived  to  be
    different and do  our own thing: from  day one. We never  got on a
    trend or  what was  the new thing  or the thing  going on  at that
    time. We just went with what we believed in and how we thought the
    music should sound. The first album [1991's _Dawn of Possession_],
    where the whole Florida scene was  such a big thing -- Scott Burns
    and Morrisound great producers, nothing  against them, but so many
    bands that  went there, there was  no reason for them  to go there
    and [they] sounded like other bands. So we went with Harris Johns,
    who did  the classic stuff like  Kreator, Sodom and Voivod.  To us
    that  was  so  classic  and  it came  out  really  great:  it  was
    a  different  kind of  production  and  it  really  had a  lot  of
    atmosphere. And with the second album [1996's _Here In After_, CoC
    #6], it just worked out where we decided to try something a little
    different and we ended up doing kind of like our own thing with an
    engineer  and  it  came  out  different  but  again  it  came  out
    Immolation, but maybe a bit more straightforward -- the production
    was  a bit  more intense  and  dynamic but  when we  went to  Paul
    Orofino I think he  put the two together and on  this album he did
    that even better.

CoC: Absolutely, I mean the drums are just like -thunder-!

RV: Thanks man, I  mean that's what we  look for, we want  a nice big,
    heavy sound. We  want to emphasise those  qualities. That's really
    what it's  about: the feeling,  the atmosphere, that's  what we're
    looking for.

CoC: Atmosphere would be a word  I'd definitely use. Especially in the
     last year, the death metal scene  has really been starting to run
     out of steam in the case of certain bands. I think a lot of bands
     have run dry on creativity. [Morbid Angel, I'm looking at you!] I
     think one  of the  things you  guys have  is atmosphere.  I think
     that's exemplified on  the album on the final track  -- the title
     track  -- "Close  to a  World Below".  It's long,  it's an  eight
     minute affair,  and you  haven't done much  like that  except for
     "Christ's Cage" [_Here in After_], I think.

RV: That one's pretty short too. [He  was right, only 5:51. -- Paul] I
    think this song is definitely the  longest one we've ever done and
    the funny part is it didn't take that long to write but we were on
    such a roll with it that it  all came together so nicely. And it's
    an  eight minute  song but  it  doesn't feel  like eight  minutes:
    that's the important thing.

CoC: Absolutely.

RV: It flows. Everything's there and before  you know it it's done and
    it's eight minutes later. So it  wasn't intentionally made to be a
    long song but it came out that way and yeah, we're real happy with
    everything on the sound.

CoC: It really brings out the dynamics, it goes up and down and really
     captures a  lot. I was gonna  talk about the lyrics.  No offence,
     but I  thought I was  gonna be talking to  Ross, who I  talked to
     last time. So I don't know how far we're gonna get on the lyrics.
     Are they written by the whole band?

RV: We all have a  play in the lyric department, and a  lot of times I
    don't wanna be  too descriptive about the  lyrics 'cause sometimes
    you describe it too much and everyone has their own idea when they
    listen to the music: they get their  own thing out of it. When you
    look  at songs  like "Father,  You're Not  a Father",  which is  a
    pretty straightforward song: it's pretty  much about the people in
    the priesthood out  there that have abused children  for years and
    have got away with it. And we saw stuff on the news just last week
    about one  person in particular that  had abused tons of  kids and
    people, and he was on his deathbed  now, at 90, and what good does
    it  do now,  you know?  I mean,  he's already  destroyed countless
    lives. That was one thing we targeted. A song like "Lost Passion",
    for instance,  deals with, in the  song and the context,  it deals
    with a poor  soul who believes in Christ, believes  in God and was
    disappointed and  let down, and all  the effort and time  they put
    into that:  it meant nothing. But  at the same time,  the song can
    also reflect anything  from a relationship with someone  or a type
    of person, or  another type of thing  you look up to.  I mean, the
    world has let-downs all around us, you know what I mean?

CoC: Absolutely.

RV: The songs are one thing on the surface but they always have double
    meanings and  they always  have other things  inside them.  So, we
    always like to put  a lot of thought and time  into the lyrics and
    the music 'cause to us one without the other loses the meaning and
    the feeling, so we always do 100% on both.

CoC: I was gonna just say a couple of things about the lyrics as well.
     I felt one of the things about the lyrics this time was that they
     were a lot more  personal. On _FfG_ I felt that  it was very much
     about the concepts a lot more.  There are concepts on _CtaWB_ but
     _FfG_  was  more  conceptual,  it was  more  about  movements  of
     religion, like "Failures for  Gods" was about organised religion.
     This seems to be on a much more personal level.

RV: Without a  doubt, without a  doubt and it's  just the way  it came
    out. We're always trying new angles,  new ideas and pretty much we
    mature as musicians  and as songwriters as we go,  so this time it
    came out that much better. We  always try to go deeper and deeper,
    so  this  one  just  goes  that  much  deeper  into  the  feel  of
    everything.

CoC: Two  bits I  wanted  to mention  out of  the  lyrics. First,  the
     beginning of "Unpardonable Sin": "Take  your Heaven and your hell
     and leave them for the children. I refuse to believe these lies."
     Is this connected with the fact  that you guys were brought up in
     quite a Catholic background?

RV: It's really saying  that all these types of icons  of religion and
    all that -- to us --  is just nonsense. And the song "Unpardonable
    Sin" is saying like: all the stuff that was created by people over
    the centuries or whatever, is  just nonsense. Believe in yourself!
    For instance: "I commend myself for this unpardonable sin. For now
    more than ever  I see clearer than before."  "Unpardonable Sin" is
    basically saying:  I defy and deny  God and Christ as  existing or
    anything, I  am totally against  it, I don't  believe in it,  I am
    disgusted  with it.  And anyone  that  goes up,  according to  the
    church, and  defies the  lord consciously, it's  unpardonable sin:
    it'll never  be forgiven by the  church. We're proud of  that fact
    'cause we believe that everyone that doesn't believe in that isn't
    a bad person. I think we're  better people than most people 'cause
    people in religion and  stuff like that, a lot of  them tend to be
    either weak  or pretty  much doing  stuff behind  everyone's doors
    anyway. So that's what that song kind of like teeters on.

CoC: Absolutely, the Catholic church is notoriously corrupt. The other
     lyrics I really liked were the  set for "Close to a World Below".
     It sounds  like it's toying with  the idea of "hell  on earth" or
     that earth is more like hell than anything else.

RV: Pretty much,  I mean there's other  meanings too. Like I  said, if
    you start dissecting the stuff -- I was just talking to Ross about
    this like  half an hour  ago, and he said,  "I'm gonna try  not to
    dissect stuff"  -- like if  I tell you  this is exactly  what it's
    about  and  this and  that,  maybe  you'll  look  at it  a  little
    differently,  and maybe  it's  not  as cool  for  you anymore,  it
    doesn't fit you personally anymore, you know what I'm saying? Some
    people just  listen to the  music -- I've  had a couple  of people
    e-mail us recently  saying: "I'm really into the  band, I've heard
    this new album,  it's great. I'm a Christian, and  maybe I'm don't
    particularly agree with the lyrics, but  I love your music and you
    know what? Your lyrics are more intelligible than most death/black
    metal bands and  I kinda understand where you're  coming from." So
    they might  not even agree  with what  we're saying, but  they can
    accept the  fact of what  we believe in,  and enjoy the  music for
    what it  is. Whatever anyone's  gonna get out  of it is  their own
    thing, so when  -you- say what it depicts to  -you-, you're right,
    'cause that's what it means to you. That's really what it's about.

CoC: So  from that perspective what  you'd basically say is:  read the
     lyrics, see what they're about.

RV: Exactly, see what they're about for you, see what they draw out of
    you.  Some people  are gonna  get  one thing  out of  it and  some
    people are gonna  get something else. That's  cool. Whatever suits
    the  person, that's  what music  is about.  Mainly it's  obviously
    entertainment and enjoyment. Also, we wanna make you think too and
    those who wanna  keep thinking more and more and  look deeper into
    it then that's cool.

CoC: One  last thing  I  wanted to  touch  on was  the  inlay and  the
     beginning of the CD which, being  an atheist, I thought was great
     -- "Didn't  you say... Jesus  was coming". Were you  just waiting
     for the millennium to put that one on?

RV: That's been an idea of Tom's for a while. All these Christians out
    there are just expecting Christ to show up any minute now and it's
    just a way of kinda being sarcastic about it. Like: didn't you say
    Jesus was  coming? 'Cause we  know for a  fact that he's  not, you
    know. And the way it's written  is distorted and the sample at the
    beginning is distorted,  which sort of represents how  it's one of
    the  distorted views  of  religion. The  album  cover in  general,
    Andreas did a phenomenal job  on that. It's unbelievable 'cause we
    give him concepts and he just knows what to do. He's really on the
    same level. He  makes it happen. With this album  we really wanted
    to try something different and with  the cover we really wanted to
    try doing something where people didn't know what it was at first.
    Then  they see  that  it's  fire and  then  you  kinda notice  the
    crucifix and then you notice that there's all these figures in the
    fire and  the flames kinda  like making it  something interesting.
    The whole packing  in general: we have a team  so that it reflects
    the songs and there's a lot of symbolism and stuff. We pretty much
    put that  together ourselves. I  did that  with my brother.  To us
    everything's gotta  be 100 percent. The  look of the CD  has to be
    right too.  I think this  CD looks a  lot more brutal  and intense
    than _Failures..._ did.

February 2001: Ross Dolan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CoC: Were you  happy/satisfied with  the reaction  _Close to  a World
     Below_ garnered, in the end?

Ross Dolan: Yes, we are very happy  and satisfied with the reaction we
            have been  and still  are getting for  the new  album. The
            reaction has  in fact been  even better than we  had hoped
            for.  We are  constantly getting  e-mails from  people who
            really like the  new album, as well as  getting many great
            reviews and  positive write-ups in  the press, so it  is a
            very nice feeling  since we are very proud of  _Close to a
            World Below_ and  feel it is by far  our strongest release
            yet. So it is nice to see  most people feel as we do about
            it.

CoC: Looking back on the album, are  you still as satisfied with it as
     you were October/November time? Anything really specific you wish
     wasn't on there or that you had changed?

RD: Our feelings  for the new  album have not  changed a bit  since we
    last  spoke. We  feel even  stronger about  it now  since we  have
    finally received some feedback. It is really the first time in our
    thirteen year career  that we are completely  satisfied with every
    aspect of  a release, especially  production. We have  always felt
    our past releases  could have been a bit better  in the production
    department, but  this release  we feel  has it  all. The  music is
    strong, dark and very intense. The lyrics, I feel, are some of our
    best. The  packaging is  right on  the money and  most of  all, it
    sounds incredible. This is definitely  the production we have been
    striving for for the past three releases and we have finally found
    it. We  don't feel there  is anything  we could change  that would
    make this CD any better.

CoC: What has  been happening with Immolation in the  last three or so
     months since _Close..._ was released?

RD: Well, we are  really getting ready for our world  wide assault. We
    have Bill Taylor  [ex-AngelCorpse] playing guitar with  us for all
    of our  live performances  now since Tom  [Wilkinson] will  not be
    able  to come  out on  the  road with  us this  time around.  Bill
    learned all the songs very quickly  and fits in perfectly. He will
    be a  strong addition to  the Immolation  live show. We  have been
    getting ready for  our US "World of Darkness" Tour  which will run
    for 43 dates starting mid March, and will also include the awesome
    talents of Incantation and Goatwhore. This  is truly a tour we are
    really looking forward to and we feel it will make its mark as far
    as tours  go. Then immediately  following, we begin  the "Darkness
    Over Europe" Tour, a 20 date  European tour starting on May 1st in
    London.  Joining us  on this  tour will  be Deranged  from Sweden,
    Destroyer666 from  Australia and Decapitated from  Poland, so this
    will surely be an event for all  fans of extreme dark music. So we
    have been real busy. This is just the calm before the storm!

CoC: Do you have much or any  material written for the next Immolation
     album? Any idea when that will be  or hints as to what it will be
     like?

RD: We have  not begun writing  any material  yet for the  next album,
    although we do have some ideas lyrically which will follow closely
    to the subject matter on _Close  to a World Below_. Musically, our
    intentions are  to keep the  new material  as intense and  dark as
    _CtaWB_, with of course some new  elements just to drive the point
    home; what one can usually expect from  one of our CDs. I think we
    plan to push the next album a  bit farther, a bit more intense and
    a bit more extreme. And of course,  we do plan to use Paul Orofino
    and Millbrook Studios again to capture  the great sound we had for
    this album.

CoC: Have you done any touring so  far for the record, if so, how have
     shows gone, and are you looking forward to playing the UK again?

RD: We have only played one show since the new record was released. We
    did a  belated record  release show  at CBGB's  in New  York City,
    playing almost two straight hours of material from the first album
    up until the new album, which we played in its entirety. We played
    close to twenty songs and it went over great. It was a truly great
    night, the crowd really knew and liked the new material, so it was
    just a boost for us in  preparation for the upcoming tours. We are
    really looking forward to the  tours and we are especially looking
    forward to the London show. We had such a great response there the
    last time  around for the _Failures  for Gods_ tour that  we can't
    wait to bring some new darkness and chaos for them to enjoy.

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

    U N L E A S H E D   A N D   R E A D Y   F O R   S T A R D O M
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            CoC chats with Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil
                          by: Adrian Bromley


     You don't have  to tell Lacuna Coil singer  Cristina Scabbia that
the band's new  disc _Unleashed Memories_ [reviewed in  this issue] is
going to  break the  Milan, Italy-based band  into stardom.  She knows
this already.  She just wants the  metal world to discover  the record
and let fate take its course.
     "This is a very emotional  and powerful record", starts a vibrant
Scabbia down  the line from  Milan, Italy.  "We have become  more than
just a gothic metal band with a female singer and male growled vocals.
The band has grown tremendously. We've  have matured as singers and as
songwriters and I think people, especially those who have followed our
career up to this point, will  hear that with _Unleashed Memories_. We
worked hard with this record and I  know it'll open a lot of doors for
us, doors we haven't been able to open yet."
     Listening to the passionate and expressive compositions making up
_Unleashed Memories_,  such as the  beautiful opener "Heir of  a Dying
Day", "When a Dead Man Walks" and "Cold Heritage" (the song closest to
Scabbia's heart), one  must wonder what inspired Scabbia  and the rest
of Lacuna  Coil --  the sextet  is rounded out  by Andrea  Ferro (male
vocals), guitarists Cristiano Migliore and Marco Biazzi, bassist Marco
Coti Zelati and drummer Cristiano Mozzati  -- to really make an effort
to take flight and be able to produce a unique offering for metal fans
to digest.
     "I think we just wanted to have  a record that we could be really
happy about, both  as songwriters and as musicians",  she relays. "The
last few  recordings were great,  but they didn't really  capture what
Lacuna Coil was about,  I think. This record is all  that. I feel very
strongly about the disc. I love it!"
     And what about The Gathering  references that seem to have dogged
the band  since signing on  with Century Media  back in 1998  with the
self-titled EP [CoC #31]? Does it bother her and her band mates?
     "Not really",  she comments. "I mean,  I can see how  it happened
early  on.  Two  gothic  metal  bands with  female  singers  and  soft
melodies. The comparisons were expected. But that has all changed now,
really. We both have changed so much as bands. The Gathering are going
off and doing their thing and bringing new sounds into their music and
we are just doing our own thing too, just getting better at it. People
can say what they want. It doesn't bother me."
     The  topic   of  conversation  turns  toward   the  recording  of
_Unleashed Memories_ and how it all came about. While it wasn't really
an arduous  task, seeing  that the  band was  working once  again with
gifted  producer Waldemar  Sorychta (Moonspell,  Tiamat), finding  the
time and initiative to get the ball rolling was another thing.
     States Scabbia, "Making a record is  always a big deal for us. We
know what we want  and how we want to do things. It's  just the act of
getting into  the studio and getting  it all down on  record. <laughs>
After the last EP  (_Halflife_ in 2000) we set a  goal to have another
disc out within  a year. A month  went by and no real  work, then four
months  and then  another couple  of months  and then  we realized  we
wouldn't be  keeping our commitment to  have something out. So  we got
our act together and went in to record the new disc."
     "I really get excited about my music and just making music in the
studio and  playing live", says  the singer.  "I don't know...  I just
think making records and being creative  with all of those involved in
the band  is such a wonderful  experience. Making a record  is tiring,
yes, but so  rewarding. I couldn't be happier with  the end result. It
just adds another  direction and style for Lacuna Coil.  I can see the
changes within what we do."
     Unlike the way things were going for the European metal community
a few  years back with  a major  emphasis on Scandinavian  acts, Italy
seems to  be spurting  out some quality  bands like  Rhapsody, Domine,
Power Symphony and White Skull. What  does Scabbia credit this to? Why
are these bands making names for themselves after years of not getting
noticed?
     "I am so proud to see a lot  of these bands, a lot of good bands,
getting noticed by the metal fans around the world. There are a lot of
good acts here", she  insists. "I think the reason why  a lot of bands
have never really taken off is because most of them were afraid to try
new things and just  copied other acts and it all  sounded too much of
the same  and fans  never caught on.  Now a lot  of Italian  bands are
making an effort to be true to what they want to do and make music for
the sake of making music, not just to  be a part of a trend or to copy
bands they worship."
     She adds:  "I think  we were in  the same frame  of mind  when we
started out  and we just  realized we needed to  make an effort  to be
true to what we wanted to do as a band. We needed to grow and expand."
     "When I listen to the new  record, I get this real strong feeling
of passion. The record is full of some great moments, both from myself
and  all of  the others  in  the band.  The  real strength  is in  the
songwriting this time. I think this is some of our deepest, as well as
best work",  she notes.  "We knew  we had  a lot  to provide  for this
record and one listen and you'll know  we were on fire when it came to
songwriting."
     Scabbia continues:  "I think it  was important for us  to explore
new ideas and not be worried with  what people would say", she says of
the band's varied  approach to certain songs. "Nothing  on this record
sounds the  same, yet it all  meshes together quite well.  That is the
way any good record should be."
     "Being part of this creative team is like no other job. Every day
it  is  a new  experience.  And  the music  just  makes  it even  more
enjoyable", she ends. "I'm  just proud to be a part  of music that not
only moves our fans, but moves me as well."

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    D E A T H   ' N '   R O L L   M A C H I N E   R O L L S   O N
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               CoC chats with Nalle Osterman of Gandalf
                          by: Adrian Bromley


     Sophomore jinx?  I think  not. Finland's  death 'n'  roll machine
Gandalf move forward  with their sophomore effort  _Rock Hell_ (Wicked
World  / Earache),  a potent  fire 'n'  brimstone, balls  to the  wall
concoction of AC/DC drive and devil worshipping attitude. [See CoC #52
for a different  opinion.] Lock up the kids, Gandalf  is ready to rock
the house!
     Unfortunately, that  same drive can't be  associated with Gandalf
drummer Nalle Osterman  right now, as it closes in  on 1:30am his time
and he is dead tired. But like a true trooper of metal, and from under
the covers in his bed, he relates  to Chronicles of Chaos why rock 'n'
roll drives his band's music and why he doesn't like Entombed anymore.
     "I think we  really wanted to capture the essence  of every metal
era  with  this new  record",  starts  Osterman.  "We  took a  bit  of
everything from those eras. From the  '60s with Black Sabbath and Deep
Purple, onto the '70s with what Rainbow, Judas Priest and Led Zeppelin
and what they did  with the music, then moving into  the '80s and what
Iron Maiden and  Slayer provided us with, and then  into the '90s with
what  bands  like Machine  Head  were  doing.  We  took all  of  those
influences and brought them into the new millennium with our music. We
aimed for something unique and I think  we were able to bring that out
in _Rock Hell_."
     Has Osterman seen changes in  his playing since the band's Wicked
World debut  disc titled  _Deadly Fairytales_  (1998)? "Of  course you
become more mature as things go on,  and I think we as a band [rounded
out by singer Jari Hurskainen, guitarist Timo Nyberg and bassist Kimmo
Aroluoma --  Adrian] have  been able  to see  what we  want to  do. We
definitely  understand music  a lot  more than  we did  when we  first
started out as a band. Those changes have helped us to not only evolve
our sound but become more original in what we do as a band. We want to
make things more  interesting as the years  go on and I  think you can
hear that with the new record."
     About the  studio experience for  this record, he says:  "We knew
exactly how this whole studio experience  was supposed to work out. We
had rehearsed all of our parts and  knew what was going to happen, but
each studio  trip brings out new  ideas as well. Just  by trying other
ideas in the  studio and working with a producer  [Hannu "Guts" Leiden
at Seawolf  Studios --  Adrian] who wanted  to get more  out of  us, I
think the record really turned out  better than we had ever hoped for.
He was able to bring out a lot from inside of us. It was all rehearsed
musically, but that  whole studio experience was aided  by the visions
of all these  great engineers who just added to  the strength of _Rock
Hell_. All  of these ideas  just stand so  strong compared to  what we
have done in the past."
     On  the songwriting  process, he  comments: "It  is always  a new
musical adventure  each time out  that we go  into record an  album. I
don't want to see us repeating  our ideas or ourselves. Everything has
to be new and inspiring for  us to go forward with recording material.
I make  an effort  to write  songs that are  just different  from each
other. There  are so many  bands out there  right now that  have found
their particular sound and they just stick  with it an cash in and not
worry about it all. They can make money now and not worry. But for the
visionaries in  this music  industry, it is  much more  challenging to
find new visions with each song  that you create." He adds, "Making an
album is supposed  to be rewarding. How can you  feel rewarded with an
album if it  sounds like the last one?  I think we are one  of the few
who make an effort to be creative and not predictable."
     "I want to  make records a lot faster, but  the label's policy on
recording and releasing albums isn't like  that. If you look at all of
the  bands on  Wicked World  when they  started releasing  material --
bands like Elysian Fields, December Wolves, etc. -- you will know that
we are one of  first bands to put out our  second record. Obviously we
want to  record and put stuff  out. I don't  want to wait too  long to
record material because  you start to lose the momentum  and lose fans
along the way, because they forget about  you. It is as if you have to
start from scratch again.  This is a good record and  we don't want to
go unnoticed.  We need to  make an effort to  get back into  the scene
after not having a record out for  two and a half years and let people
know we are still  here. We are inspired to create  music that we want
to share with metal fans worldwide."
     Speaking of  inspiring music, what albums  influenced Osterman to
want to join a  band and make music? "I'd have  to say Slayer's _Reign
in Blood_, At  The Gates' disc _Slaughter of the  Soul_ and Entombed's
_Wolverine  Blues_. Slayer's  disc  at the  time  just changed  things
around so much. A lot of people think it is the quantity of music that
matters. _Reign  in Blood_ is  under 30  minutes and it  just delivers
such a punch. It  still stands up after all of  these years and hasn't
lost any  appeal to  metal fans.  _Slaughter of the  Soul_ was  such a
powerful record. I never liked At  the Gates, but after I heard _SotS_
I was like,  "What the fuck is  happening?" It blew me  away! It still
does. As  for _Wolverine Blues_,  I just was  so fond of  that record.
Nicke Andersson [Entombed  drummer -- Adrian] was my  mentor of sorts.
He influenced me so much. He  just really made me appreciate what they
were all about. This record just really inspired me. After he left the
band, it just wasn't the same for  me. All of those records, when they
came out they added fresh blood to the stagnant death metal scene."
     So Nalle, is it fair to call Gandalf a "death 'n' roll band"?
     "I don't  know what  we should be  called", quips  Osterman. "Our
producer told us it is metal rock or rocking metal. I don't really see
a use  in putting a  term on what  we play. We  are just here  to rock
hell! <laughs> Let the fans decide what  they want to call us. I don't
care what they all say, as long as it is something good -- that is all
that matters."

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           N O R W A Y ' S   G O T H E N B U R G   S O N S
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               CoC interviews Rune Holm of The Embraced
                            by: Alvin Wee


Though  not as  high-profile as  some of  their Swedish  melodic death
counterparts, The  Embraced (not to  be confused with  Regain Records'
keyboard-based  black  metal  act  Embraced  [CoC  #51])  pull  off  a
decidedly  non-Norwegian  stunt  on  their newest  opus  _The  Birth_.
Eschewing  the  Norse  "holocaust-metal"  ethic of  old  and  all  but
ignoring  the latest  wave  of electro-industrial  pouring forth  from
their homeland,  this Norwegian  quintet embrace (sorry!)  a technical
death perspective that's refreshing coming from Norway. After numerous
line-up changes,  a messy  deal demise  with the  now-defunct Invasion
Records and the band's subsequent  return to original label Aftermath,
The Embraced are back with a vengeance and a solid new album, almost a
year delayed.  Axe-man Rune Holm gave  me an idea of  their ambitions,
and was  (I suspect)  nearly driven to  exasperation with  my critical
views of the Gothenburg genre.

CoC: First off, I'd like to ask about your expectations regarding your
     new album. How do you expect  the response to be this time round?
     Any hopes?

Rune Holm: We're pretty  enthusiastic about  this release! I  think we
           have  a much  stronger album  than _In  My Dreams..._.  The
           songs on  _The Birth_ are  all more technical,  melodic and
           brutally different than our debut  album. This time we have
           a  better  distro than  the  last  time so  we're  promoted
           basically in all of Europe,  Japan, USA and Scandinavia. We
           look forward to hearing how  people will react to our music
           and we hope they'll like it!

CoC: And the label?

RH: Aftermath  have attained  a lot  of new  distros in  the last  few
    years, so  they are  really working hard  to promote  their bands.
    We're very happy with Aftermath so far, but we'll see what happens
    in the future. Our  record deal was only for one  album, so now we
    just sit back and see what happens...

CoC: There's been a separate Asian release too, hasn't there?

RH: In Japan  we let Soundholic  records release the album  on license
    from Aftermath. It  was easier for both  Aftermath and Soundholic,
    because Soundholic agreed  to do all the promotion  down there and
    that was  a release for our  label. There's also a  bonus track on
    the Japanese version, so it's pretty  cool when all of our friends
    order the Japanese version instead of the European.

CoC: A good decision, since Japanese pressings seem to be doing pretty
     well  in terms  of demand  nowadays. Now  I must  admit that  I'm
     pretty unfamiliar with your previous releases. How did they do in
     terms of sales?

RH: In 1998 we  released our debut album called _In  My Dreams... I Am
    Armageddon_ on Aftermath music.  It was Aftermath's first release,
    so we were both pretty anxious to  see how this would turn out. As
    time went  by, we discovered  that distros all over  Europe [were]
    interested in  our album and Aftermath's  forthcoming releases! We
    had estimated  a total sale of  500 ex. [copies --  Alvin] for the
    album, but it turned out that  we sold about 2000! Not the biggest
    number  in  terms of  sales,  but  I  must  say that  things  look
    interesting in the future! Soundholic has estimated a sale of 3000
    ex. only in Japan, so this looks good for us!

CoC: How have you matured since then?

RH: Immediately after releasing our debut album we started to rehearse
    and compose new  songs for our follow-up _The  Birth_. During this
    period  we listened  a lot  to Dream  Theater, Children  of Bodom,
    Hypocrisy and such. Our music was quickly inspired by these bands,
    so there is  a significant change in how we  sound! _The Birth_ is
    much more powerful, technical, melodic and brutal than our debut.

CoC: From what  I see you're really quite determined  to go beyond the
     underground and achieve some form of success worldwide...

RH: We try  to create  a name so  that people know  that Norway  has a
    death metal  band included in  the black metal jungle  here. We're
    also planning a tour in Scandinavia to begin with, so we try to be
    recognized in the media wherever we  go. What we really want is to
    go  out and  play live  as much  as possible,  so we're  promoting
    ourselves  quite  heavily  at  the  moment  to  get  the  people's
    reaction, you know...

CoC: Your  bio states  that you're  now  playing a  "more brutal,  yet
     technical form of  death". Sure, there are faster  parts here and
     there,  but  your  overriding  concern seems  to  be  melody  and
     atmosphere  rather than  the  brutal/technical aspects  of it.  I
     mean,  with all  the acoustic  segments, melodic  leads etc..  So
     what's the issue here?

RH: We like  to put  in some clean  guitars / parts  to create  a more
    diverse feeling in the songs. I still believe that this album _The
    Birth_ is more  brutal than _In My Dreams..._, our  last album, so
    we're  definitely  moving  towards  a more  brutal  and  technical
    approach. The  new songs for our  next album sound a  lot like old
    death metal, [like] Hypocrisy's _Osculum Obscenum_.

CoC: This   description  doesn't   sound  very   different  from   the
     fifth-hundred  band out  there playing  cool Gothenburg  metal...
     What's to stop us from labeling  you guys as just another generic
     Gothenburg act?

RH: This is the way  we like it! If you want to  call us "just another
    generic Gothenburg act", then so be it!  We like to put in some of
    our inspiration sources  in our music and if  people doesn't [sic]
    like it they can simply buy a different album!

CoC: Hmm? OK, in  my opinion, the new wave of  melodic death has about
     as  much in  common with  the traditional  Morbid Angel  style as
     Britney  Spears has  to do  with  rock. Where  have the  original
     attitudes  gone?  Death  metal  wasn't meant  to  be  catchy  and
     melodic!

RH: I know  what you mean...but get  ten people to label  one band and
    you get  ten different  answers! It's pretty  hard to  label bands
    these  days because  they play  so  many different  styles in  one
    album... I like "the originals" as you call them, but a lot of the
    newcomers have some interesting approaches in their music too. I'm
    really fond of the '80s hard rock bands and I like to combine that
    feeling with our death metal inspired music.

CoC: Even  in  the  death  metal  boom of  '92  and  '93,  bands  like
     Suffocation,  Cancer and  Monstrosity  were  all playing  brutal,
     crushing music. Today however, the rise of NWOSDM has contributed
     to  the scene  being filled  with previously  non-metallers. Some
     blame the "pollution"  of the scene on this new  wave of bands...
     What's your opinion on this? Isn't the scene exclusive anymore?

RH: I  really don't care  what other  people think. If  someone thinks
    that this "new wave" thing is polluting the scene, that's OK!

CoC: Uh huh...

RH: I don't care  what label people put us under,  or how they respond
    to our music. If  they like it it's cool, but if  not I just don't
    give a  shit! Personally, I think  it's good that new  bands enter
    the  scene with  other inspirations  and a  different approach  to
    their music. This  helps to create a big mass  of metal based fans
    and I think that's a great idea! I must admit that some of the new
    bands like HammerFall,  Rhapsody and Edguy don't  appeal that much
    to me... It seems to me  that when people have heard HammerFall or
    Edguy a  few times too much,  they begin to listen  to more brutal
    metal! I managed  to get my girlfriend to  enjoy death/black metal
    using this technique... <grin>

CoC: Quite right  indeed! So  are  you still  inspired by  old-school
     brutal death?

RH: Absolutely! I  still listen  to Carcass,  Death, Hypocrisy  and so
    on... Our new bassist  Tom gave me a CD the  other [day] to listen
    to.  The CD  was [by  Nocturnus] and  it totally  blew me  away! I
    rushed out to buy as many of their albums I could possibly find...

CoC: And how do you integrate this into your melodic material?

RH: I'm not  really sure  how we  do that... I  often get  inspired by
    whatever I  hear on my  stereo, so everything  can turn up!  I can
    listen to  Children of Bodom  or Dismember  and play that  kind of
    style for the  rest of the week!  When I'm making a  song I'm just
    fooling around trying to mix two, three or four riffs together. At
    this stage I have ruled out ten  other riffs that I didn't like or
    [couldn't] do  anything with.  If it's  a traditional  death metal
    riff or  a Children of Bodom-like  riff I don't really  care about
    it. If I (and the rest of the band) like what we hear, I'm happy!

CoC: So,  bringing things  back to  the new album,  what can  the fans
     expect this time round?

RH: This time they can expect (as  I mentioned earlier) a more brutal,
    melodic and technical album than  _In My Dreams..._. We have added
    a lot  more technical elements in  the songs and the  melodies fit
    the songs in a nicer way  than the last album. Maybe we remembered
    to tune our guitars  on _The Birth_ too? On a few  of the songs on
    _In My Dreams..._ we didn't bother to fine-tune our guitars... bad
    mistake!

CoC: So you're satisfied with the result?

RH: My personal  goal with _The Birth_  was to achieve a  decent sound
    and an overall  good production. As I listen to  it now I'm pretty
    satisfied  with it,  since we  got to  do all  the work  ourselves
    (supervised by the studio owner, of course).

CoC: To  end off,  what are  your plans  for the  future? What  can we
     expect soon: tours, new material, etc.?

RH: Well, first of  all we're going out touring  around Norway, Sweden
    and Denmark (and  possibly Finland). We're also in  the process of
    making a new  album, so we'll probably play some  new songs on the
    tour  to check  out the  response.  There's also  some talk  about
    longsleeve T-shirts and an LP version of _The Birth_.

[Readers interested in The  Embraced merchandise can contact Aftermath
Music at: mailto:ruholm@online.no -- Alvin]

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       U N L E A S H I N G   T E R R O R   O N C E   A G A I N
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              CoC interviews Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P.
                          by: Adrian Bromley


     W.A.S.P. guitarist/frontman/songwriter  Blackie Lawless  has seen
himself put through the ringer over the years for whatever reason, but
it seems as though today's press  day for the new disc _Unholy Terror_
(Metal-is) might take the cake. You see, he has been doing promotional
interviews for  the album day  since 9am PST, and  so by the  time the
phone call comes to my home (an hour and a half late) he as been going
solid for almost ten hours, with still four more interviews to go.
     Not a good day, Blackie, is it?
     "No, it  isn't. It has been  quite a grueling day,  actually, but
what are you going to do."
     Exactly, there  is nothing Lawless  can do on the  outside world,
where his  music is put  on store  shelves, promoted in  magazines and
played on  the airwaves. But  in the studio he  is the "Master  of His
Domain". This  is where he takes  his visions and passion  and creates
his artwork:  his music. The  new album -- thanks  in part to  the now
steady  line-up  of guitarist  Chris  Holmes,  bassist Mike  Duda  and
drummer Stet Howland -- is a  much darker record than in recent years.
The music is rich in ideas and  Lawless has done quite a number on the
production here.  The terror reigns  within the music as  expected and
Lawless has  still managed  after all  these years  to keep  the music
sounding like W.A.S.P..
     "I work  hard at keeping  up with that  continuity on all  of our
records", he  starts. "I have always  made an effort to  keep W.A.S.P.
focused. All of those other bands  out there have kind of strayed away
from their sound  because they are all chasing the  tail of the charts
and trying to find  out what is happening and what is  going to be the
next big thing. You can't do that.  All you can do is what feels right
to you. There  is no need to be  like a chicken with its  head cut off
running around trying to find out what  is going on. You don't want to
do that. That is just a fool's game."
     So  what is  going on?  What does  Lawless know  about the  music
industry that we don't?
     "I think number one, you just need  to keep in mind that you have
to just make the  best record that you can. You put  one foot in front
of  the other  and whatever  happens after  that is  just out  of your
control from that point on. There is  nothing you can do about it. All
you can do is  be true to yourself. I have  fairly general tastes when
it comes to  music. What I am  moved by, I'm pretty  sure someone else
will be moved by too."
     He adds, "Like I  have said in the past, it is  all about who you
are right now and what you are feeling. When you take people on a trip
with your music, and they want to be lifelong fans of the band, you've
got to  be willing to open  up your head and  let them be able  to run
around and see what  is going on in your head. You  can't be afraid to
let people see  what is in there.  If you are afraid,  you'll never be
able to develop this  intimacy that you need to do  this. If you don't
have the intimacy, you aren't going to go on this ride for life."
     So  what is  Lawless's trip  like for  W.A.S.P. fans  in his  own
words?
     "I am a big fan of what we do musically, but I honestly think the
lyrics are what I do best. If I am writing lyrics that I believe in, I
am basically  making up my own  storyboard that you can  make your own
movie to. As the  movie is going on in your head, the  music acts as a
soundtrack for you as the movie is going along. I want to write lyrics
that create imagery. I'm not at  all interested in writing lyrics that
don't have imagery."
     "I think  this record is  a good  cross between our  first record
[self-titled  disc in  1984  -- Adrian]  and  _The Headless  Children_
[1989]", states  Lawless when  asked to describe  and compare  the new
disc to  older recordings.  "I find  a lot  of similarities  with this
record and those two.  For example, the song "Let It  Roar" on the new
disc is  kind of  like a newer  version of "I  Wanna Be  Somebody". It
wasn't  until  after  I  finished  recording it  that  I  noticed  the
similarities."
     "Time also  seems to be my  enemy of everything I  do", continues
Lawless about  the recording  of _Unholy  Terror_. "That  is why  I am
always  so historically  late with  records  and jamming  at the  last
minute. The  new album was literally  being done as the  last song was
being mixed. I was in the  makeshift situation trying to finish it up.
If you had  seen that you wouldn't have believed  it. <laughs> It just
looked real crude, the way the recording was done and how I got what I
needed for that song. It was just something that I felt I needed to do
on the last day to that song to make it just a bit better and be happy
with the end result. For me, it is a real personal statement for me to
get everything in my head about that  record out. I want all the ideas
swept clean. I want to record a record to the last minute to punctuate
what I  was thinking at  that particular place  and time. Then  I move
on."
     "I don't like  things rattling around", he explains.  "If I don't
get it out of me at that moment, it just doesn't feel right to go onto
the next thing.  It isn't always the way for  each recording, but most
of the time I need to get it all out of me and make sure I have it all
done on record."
     Leading up  to this record, a  lot of things have  changed in the
metal  music business  and  life  itself. Bands  have  come and  gone,
technology is just booming and  "Survivor" is ruling television. These
times are a changing. What are the W.A.S.P. frontman's thoughts on all
of this?
     "I don't care. I really don't  care what is going on", he laughs.
"And to tell you the truth, I have never watched "Survivor". I know of
it, but have never seen it. I am not at all interested in any of that.
My music is what means a lot to me. My music moves me and that is what
keeps me interested in all of this. I like to be creative and just let
loose and let my  fans take in what I have provided  them with on each
album."
     And writing music for each album -- has it become easier?
     "Shit, I wish", blurts out Lawless.  "Every time I go into making
a record and  writing material, the time frame is  different each time
out.  Songs just  come together  easily sometimes,  but sometimes  the
problem lies within the making of  a song where you reach a roadblock.
But that is  the writing process and  how it comes about.  A song like
"Hate to  Love Me"  happened immediately. The  song "Charisma"  took a
month to do."
     "Regardless of if  the song makes the record or  not, that is the
exploration process that comes with  songwriting. You need to discover
if after all the work -- either a  short time frame or not -- if it is
worth it  all in the end.  You have to twist  and turn it and  take it
apart to really get to know the song and the end result."
     Lawless ends, "A  good song will last for ever;  it just may take
you that long to get it right."

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C O M M E N T S   F R O M   C A P T A I N   C O N T A M I N A T I O N
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     CoC chats with Matthew F. Jacobson, head of Relapse Records
                 by: Paul Schwarz and Adrian Bromley


You will  probably have heard  of _Contaminated 3.0_. If  you haven't,
get ye hence with your eight US  dollars and purchase what must be the
best  value-for-money extreme  metal-centric compilations  around. Two
CDs and  fifty-one (yes, 51!)  tracks await you  -- and if  you hadn't
heard that extreme music and focussed grind label Relapse were putting
out this  compilation, this  will be your  education, your  first step
into a new  world of vicious extremity and vibrant  variation. Matt F.
Jacobson  started it  all --  just to  put out  a 7"  from a  friend's
hardcore band!  Ten years have  passed since then, Relapse  has grown,
and in the  last three years particularly, the label  has blossomed to
bear the  fruit of many of  extreme metal's more interesting  and most
spectacular moments. 2000  was what I'd call a career  best so far. As
2001 and its many future possibilities began unfolding before Relapse,
I chatted with Matt F. Jacobson... and so did Adrian Bromley -- he had
a lot to say!

Paul Schwarz
~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC: What  was  the idea  of putting  out _Contaminated  3.0_, in  its
     volume of tracks especially?

Matt F. Jacobson: The whole purpose of _Contaminated 3.0_ was to allow
                  people an overview of what Relapse is about and what
                  we've done over the last ten years. And we wanted to
                  be able  to put it  out there and make  it available
                  for a  low price  -- in the  States, it's  less that
                  eight bucks. I  just wanted to give people  a lot of
                  music for a little amount  of money and give them an
                  idea of what we're about.

CoC: It  represents mostly  from '95  onwards, it  doesn't reach  back
     quite to the beginning; it's got  more of a focus on the slightly
     more developed angle of Relapse.

MFJ: Well, I can  tell you that when  we sat down to come  up with the
     track-listing it was really difficult  and I can say that there's
     certainly some of the early  stuff that I'm really excited about,
     like Exit-13,  Disembowelment, Disrupt in  particular. Obviously,
     we didn't get to  dig into the 7" round just  because there was a
     limited  amount of  space. There's  certainly a  lot more  that I
     wanted to put on there, but it just wasn't feasible for us to put
     out a  five CD package. It  really would take five  CDs to really
     get the idea. So we tried to represent as much as we could and of
     course  there is  a  little bit  more of  an  emphasis on  what's
     happened lately,  and we tried  to keep it up-to-date  by putting
     some of  the new  stuff on there  as well. I  wanted to  give the
     existing Relapse fans who may be familiar with most of that stuff
     something still that  was gonna be interesting and  new and worth
     their eight bucks. One of the things  you'll see is that a lot of
     the earlier  tracks are  some of  the same  tracks from  like the
     _Corporate Death_ compilation, but we really just felt that those
     were the tracks that best represented what we were about and what
     we did. So that's why we chose to put them on here again.

CoC: With where  Relapse has got to,  did you ever expect it  to be as
     encompassing and as big as it is?

MFJ: I certainly  didn't in the beginning.  When I first started  it I
     just put out a 7" for my friend's hardcore band and one thing led
     to another and it was probably a  year and a half, two years into
     it before I really realised: wow, we've surpassed everything that
     I thought we might reach and I realised there's not necessarily a
     limit on what  we can accomplish. So, that was  kind of a turning
     point in my mind when I realised:  wow, we can really go far with
     this and, um, here we are...

CoC: Especially the last  three to four years Relapse  has really shot
     up.  When  I first  got  into  the  more  extreme side  of  metal
     in  1996/1997,  I knew  a  few  bands  on  Relapse, it  was  only
     pushed  into my  face every  now and  again, and  it was  kind of
     around 1997/1998,  especially after doing Nile  and Incantation's
     _Diabolical Conquest_  -- it  really started  to take  off around
     that time. From there you've got to where you are now, but do you
     expect that  same thing to happen  again, do you expect  over the
     next two years Relapse will grow to "the next level" as it were?

MFJ: There's no way  to predict for sure, although I  feel that that's
     what gonna happen. From day one we've grown very organically, and
     frankly our  biggest problem  is always having  enough resources,
     enough working capital, to do what we want to do. We never do, we
     never have. And that's why  we've been forced to grow creatively,
     and forced to  grow slowly and painfully anyway. So,  I've seen a
     lot of very positive things  happen and we've reached levels that
     we  haven't before  with some  of our  bands and  especially with
     bands like Dillinger Escape Plan -- this last release has done so
     incredibly well  and the amazing  thing is that it's  their first
     album. So, one thing that I  see happening with the label is that
     we still  have a number of  artists who are still  on their first
     and second records,  and when they reach third  or fourth records
     and they have that catalogue that is there to support it as well,
     it definitely starts  to change the dynamics. So, I  expect a lot
     of growth, for sure.

CoC: Virtually none of  the bands of the early days  of Relapse did as
     well on their first one or two albums...

MFJ: Correct.

CoC: ...as Nile and Dillinger have done.

MFJ: Except  for Amorphis,  which is the  only exception:  they're the
     exception to every rule.

CoC: What I find  interesting is that you've got to  a point now where
     you could take  a very commercial angle. A lot  of the bands will
     now start  to get, if  the progression  of sales continues,  to a
     point where  you can make a  lot more money and  it's interesting
     what you were  saying: you do put  a lot of money on  the line as
     far as I can see...

MFJ: Yeah, we certainly do.

CoC: ...doing the  Contamination tours, doing various  other tours and
     doing Milwaukee, where Relapse's  presence is almost omnipresent.
     Do you feel that if you kept  on making more money with the label
     that you'd keep  that close margin, really  pushing yourselves to
     spend money on the bands?

MFJ: I think so.  I'm just kind of  -driven- that way by  nature for a
     number  of reasons.  Number one,  I believe  so strongly  in what
     we're doing that  I'm convinced that if we had  more resources to
     put our  stuff here and  here and here, to  do this and  this and
     this,  that we  could just  reach a  larger audience.  My primary
     objective  is to  make  our  bands as  popular  as possible,  not
     necessarily  'cause we  can  make  a lot  of  money, but  because
     they're great bands that deserve  the exposure. I mean, I started
     this as a hobby when I was eighteen years old because I wanted to
     put out cool records, and I  didn't really realise in the process
     I would become a business man,  which is something that I have to
     deal with. But our ultimate goal, what we really deal with is art
     and  we have  art and  we have  to have  business and  we want  a
     balance --  but with art first.  And we try to  incorporate great
     art with creative marketing and smart business and I hope that it
     continues to  grow and expand  and I'd  love to expand  it beyond
     just where it is today as far  as, even the things we are dealing
     in. Right now, we're a record  company and we're a mailorder, but
     I see many other things that I  would love to be involved with in
     the future, creatively speaking, and  we'll have to see what that
     brings. We're not gonna go in a more commercial direction because
     we're not Roadrunner,  we're not a company that says:  OK, now we
     can try  to break the  major labels  and reach this  other level.
     We're about  underground music  and while some  of our  bands may
     evolve to  have a more  developed or accessible sound,  and while
     our  roster  will  continue  to diversify  and  expand  in  other
     directions, it's not with the intention  of: OK, now we can shift
     100 million  units. And  I see  some of the  labels that  are out
     there that  moved away from  what established them to  begin with
     and I think it's a shame, because that's their core audience. And
     we're  always  going  to  maintain  that  direction  as  well  as
     expanding  from there.  There are  some people  who accuse  us of
     selling out and so on and all I can tell them is: look at the new
     Regurgitate album! Whatever dude, you know.

CoC: Would you  say that you  expect that this  sort of music  will go
     more  into the  mainstream or  maybe that  just the  audience for
     extreme music will expand?

MFJ: I  think all  of  the above.  I  think that  you  have kids,  the
     outcasts in high-school, who start  out with things like Korn and
     Limp Bizkit, that  now the jocks listen to, so  they can't listen
     to  that  anymore  because  it's  not  cool.  So  they  naturally
     gravitate to something that's more and more underground. Everyone
     needs a bridge. I mean, when I started listening to extreme music
     I didn't go from pop radio to Napalm Death, I went through ZZ Top
     and Black Sabbath, to Motley  Crue and Iron Maiden, to Metallica,
     Slayer, Celtic Frost, Napalm Death. And I see those same kinds of
     things happening. I think that there are gonna be more people out
     there that are  conditioned and have the bridge to  get them into
     more underground music, and I just  think that over a long period
     of time word  of mouth just builds things, and  if you keep doing
     exactly what you're doing, over a period of time more people will
     be aware  of it, and  because more people  are aware of  it, more
     people are  interested. There's  a million  bands out  there that
     change what they  do to make them more  accessible or commercial,
     when really sometimes,  over the long haul, they'd  be better off
     sticking true and  wait it out, because their  fanbase will build
     over time  -- but they  try to take  the shortcut and  often they
     lose their fanbase,  and go down the tubes. So,  I'm conscious of
     those things  and I wanna  always do  what we've always  done and
     what establishes those  things that we love, but I  think that we
     can expand well outside  of that as well and we  just plan to try
     to do it all.

CoC: I've  got  to  agree,  I'd   be  very  interested  to  see  where
     the  generation  of nu-metal-type  sports  metal  stuff goes  and
     obviously, as usual, will be watching the progress of the label.

MFJ: There's one thing  I would like to squeeze in  there: I really am
     proud of our  website and would really encourage  people to check
     out Relapse.com because  I think it's really at  the forefront of
     the metal sites, and  we try to do as much with it  as we can and
     there's a lot to offer.

CoC: It is one of few websites where you can really get into it.

MFJ: I think  some of that  has to do with  the fact that  Relapse has
     more of  a distinct personality  than some of the  companies that
     are out there. I'm not  slagging anyone 'cause everyone has their
     own thing,  but companies like  Century Media and  Nuclear Blast,
     they put out  black metal when that's popular  and power metal...
     and they just kind of move  with the flow and that's really smart
     from  the business  perspective, but  we have  more of  a defined
     personality that's  still nebulous but  I think that  allows some
     people to kind  of identify with it  and be into it and  we get a
     quarter of a million unique visits  a month to our website. We've
     had hundreds of thousands of posts  on our bulletin board that we
     have to keep deleting 'cause  otherwise it'll crash our site. And
     I think that's pretty special.

CoC: I think  Relapse has  a distinct  personality where  other labels
     don't.  You don't  know  what  to expect  from  Century Media  or
     Nuclear Blast...

MFJ: ...And I  don't  think you  know what  to  expect  with  Relapse,
     necessarily.

CoC: I was  gonna say:  you don't  know what  to expect  with Relapse.
     <Matt laughs>  The interesting thing  is, you don't know  what to
     expect from Relapse but you know  that it won't just be something
     that's coming out on all the other labels.

MFJ: Right.

CoC: It'll be whatever Relapse  sees as interesting and, generally, as
     going to the extremes of things.

MFJ: Definitely. It's  kind of hard to  narrow it down or  put it into
     words, but there's  something there, I think. I  think it's true,
     and what I'm really excited about now is -- I was very frustrated
     for a  long time because  these were the  kinds of things  that I
     felt but it  didn't seem like many other  people recognised. But,
     over  the last  couple  of years  especially,  other people  have
     started to  recognise those  very things  and I'm  really psyched
     'cause that's  what we  set out to  do. And I'm  happy to  see it
     happening.

Adrian Bromley
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC: Are  you surprised  that Relapse  Records has  been able  to stay
     grounded after so  many years and not sign a  billion acts to the
     roster and have it all spin out of control?

Matt F. Jacobson: It has  been deliberate  that we haven't  done that.
                  We've  tried  to have  a  balanced  roster. That  is
                  really our goal.  Sure, sometimes we have  a bit too
                  much of this sound and it falls out of whack, but we
                  try to keep it mixed up. We can't really control how
                  our roster  goes because we  only aim to  sign great
                  bands.

CoC: I'm sure  you are faced  day in and  day out with  numerous other
     problems that  come with this  business other than  signing bands
     and putting out records. What inspires  you to keep wanting to do
     this, since this has obviously grown much bigger than you had set
     out to do with the label?

MFJ: I think it  is my passion for  music. I also think  it is because
     Relapse is  my creative outlet  for both my involvement  with the
     aesthetics  and presentation  of  our material,  as  well as  the
     business side of  things. I approach our business  side of things
     very creatively  and I  think we  do well, but  that just  may be
     behind  the scenes.  There  are  times when  you  are up  against
     something  that  it is  hard  to  make  an advance  with  certain
     decisions  and it  gets difficult  at times,  but those  are just
     temporary setbacks for us.

CoC: How important to you is your relationship with your bands?

MFJ: I think it is very important.  The relationship with our bands is
     incredibly important  to me and I  realize the longer that  we do
     this and  the bigger that we  become, there are going  to be some
     people that won't be  happy with what we do. I  think most of our
     bands are happy with what we do.

CoC: How do you think Relapse Records has affected today's metal music
     scene?

MFJ: I am  very proud  that we have  had such an  impact on  the music
     scene,  because we  have such  dedicated people  and super  bands
     working together. Maybe  our bands don't sell the  most, but they
     are doing something that is making an impact somewhere and making
     people take  notice out  there. I  am glad we  have been  able to
     first establish our vibe in the metal scene, especially the death
     metal  scene,  and then  expand  out  from  there. We  are  still
     remaining true to what helped  establish us in the beginning, but
     continuing to push forwards in many different directions.

CoC: How does Relapse decide what bands they want to work with?

MFJ: We get  tons of stuff sent  to us all  the time. We don't  have a
     checklist or look for bands a certain way. We just look for great
     music. I don't know if we want a certain band until we hear their
     music or see them play. But one thing that seems to carry through
     with most of our artists is  that they are either incredibly good
     at what they do  -- I'm talking cream of the  crop of their niche
     or sub genre -- or they are doing something fresh and interesting
     and can't  be labeled. I  think we are  a lot more  interested in
     putting out  music that'll  be interesting  for the  music scene,
     rather than  if it will  sell a lot  of records. From  a business
     perspective that sounds stupid, but I didn't start this to have a
     business, I started this to put out cool records.

CoC: I don't hear much about and/or from William Yurkiewicz anymore --
     is he still with the label?

MFJ: Bill became  a silent partner  of the label.  The short of  it is
     that with the pressures of running  a serious business with a lot
     of stress that  comes along with it, it just  wasn't something he
     was looking for. When we started the label, he wanted to just put
     out cool music like I did. But inevitably as the company grew, it
     wasn't just about  hanging out with the bands and  smoking pot --
     not that that  was what he expected. The reality  was that it was
     pretty stressful for  him and that put  him in a bad  mood and he
     caused  stress  in the  office  and  it  just wasn't  creating  a
     positive environment for  anyone. As a result from  this, it just
     made sense for him  to get on with his life  and do other things.
     He is still a silent partner.

CoC: Why has there been such  a strong allegiance to death metal music
     for Relapse Records?

MFJ: When  we started  out,  death  metal was  at  its  peak and  with
     bands like  Suffocation, Incantation  and Mortician we  were onto
     something. We were interested in the music style and working with
     bands of that genre. Death metal  had originated in Europe and so
     we were  one of the  few labels that was  pushing it. Then  a few
     years later  other labels like  Century Media, Nuclear  Blast and
     Earache dropped all  the death metal acts and  signed power metal
     bands,  black metal  bands  and  just other  genres  of bands  to
     promote. We  just kept on doing  what we wanted to  work with and
     guess what? Now death metal has come back around again and peaked
     people's interest and all of these labels are signing death metal
     acts, something we never stopped doing.

CoC: Seeing that you are the head guy  at Relapse and know all that is
     going on, what  is coming down the Relapse pipeline  that you are
     excited about?

MFJ: There are  so many  coming up. One  of the ones  I am  so excited
     about  is the  Burnt by  the Sun  EP [reviewed  in this  issue --
     Adrian].  Fucking incredible  band! I  am so  excited about  this
     band. I am  really into the new Amorphis album,  the new Neurosis
     disc as well as a new  signee called Mastedon, which has ex-Today
     Is the Day  members. I'm down with Skinless and  Pig Destroyer. I
     just heard some  of the new rough material from  Pig Destroyer --
     whew! That is all I gotta say.

CoC: Tell me  about Relapse's role on  the Internet. It is  a big deal
     and you guys go all out for promoting Relapse stuff.

MFJ: I think  that the Internet and  our website are a  very important
     part of our focus of moving forward.  I do believe we have one of
     the premiere sites in the metal  realm. We wanted to expand that,
     though, and  that is all part  of my vision to  help move Relapse
     forward  in the  coming years.  The  vision continues  to go.  By
     nature, I  have always been a  dreamer and the more  successful I
     am, the bigger  dreams I have and  want to carry out.  Some of my
     ideas seem  crazy to people, and  a fraction of them  will become
     reality, but  the ones  that do  become reality  I am  very happy
     about.

CoC: What was the reason behind the label name?

MFJ: It goes  back to  the days  when I  used to  do a  fanzine before
     Relapse with John Canady  called Horrendified, which was inspired
     by a Sore Throat song title. We were both going to do compilation
     tapes and  started brainstorming about  names for these  tapes. I
     can't  remember the  name he  came up  with, but  I came  up with
     Relapse.  Eventually we  couldn't agree  on  a name  so we  chose
     Lethal Records. Coincidentally, when I was set to release a 7" of
     John's band,  I chose to release  it under Relapse. The  reason I
     chose that name was  1) it had a nice ring to it  and was easy to
     remember and 2) most importantly, it wasn't limiting. Some people
     come up with  record labels like Deathgrind Records  or Fuck Your
     Mom Records. I  didn't know where I was going  with this label at
     the time and I was happy to have it be open-ended.

CoC: To give you a bit of  a history lesson about Chronicles of Chaos,
     when  Gino [Filicetti,  editor] and  I started  up Chronicles  of
     Chaos, we had  another name planned out. We don't  think it would
     have gotten us this far. The name was originally going to be, and
     I still laugh to this day when I say it, The Brutal Bugle.

MFJ: <laughs> Yeah! That is incredible!

CoC: <laughs> Isn't that funny. Hey! Stop laughing.

MFJ: <laughter dies down>  I just want to  say that it is  good to see
     you guys stick with a name  and continue to support the scene. It
     always  makes me  feel good  to see  publications supporting  the
     cause. Thanks for your time.

Contact: http://www.relapse.com
Label biography: http://www.relapse.com/high/relapse/biography.html

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

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


Abyssic Hate - _Suicidal Emotions_  (No Colours, 2001)
by: Alvin Wee  (8.5 out of 10)

Finally... the long  awaited full-length from this  Aussie cult, after
driving fans  nuts with  a stream of  elusive tracks  on compilations,
split  CDs  and  tapes.  Followers of  the  underground  scene  should
already  know  what  to  expect:  pure  Burzum/Darkthrone  worship  in
the  old  way  like many  of  the  bands  in  the NSBM  scene.  For  a
band  that's  often  mentioned  in the  same  breath  as  Mutiilation,
Nargaroth and Judas Iscariot, Abyssic Hate doesn't fail to deliver the
coldest breath  of melancholy on  _Suicidal Emotions_. The  four track
titles reading "Depression: Part  I", "Betrayed", Depression: Part II"
and  "Despondency"  should be  warning  enough  even before  the  disc
begins spinning;  indeed, the  opening dirge  reeks of  Burzum's early
repetitive, droning  melancholy, setting the  stage for more  gloom to
come.  Clocking  in  at  a  surprising 49  minutes,  the  four  tracks
don't stand  out individually  as much as  create a  single oppressive
atmosphere. Not a  band to work up a sweat,  Abyssic Hate never allows
the  pace to  increase  beyond a  docile  canter; rhythm-wise,  things
are  equally  understated with  the  drums  tapping out  a  simplistic
Fenriz-type  tattoo in  the background  while the  guitars buzz  along
amiably (well, not quite) with the old atmosphere sadly lacking in the
current  scene. Not  much left  to say,  really, as  originality isn't
quite the band's forte. Still not  a bad thing for die-hards who can't
get over Grischnack's change of style  since _Hvis Lyset Tar Oss_, and
even the pervasive monotony and repetition  on the album can be passed
off with  a straight face as  atmosphere. Certainly up there  with the
best of 'em in the  genre (read: Judas Iscariot, Moonblood, Katharsis,
etc.),  and it's  wonderful to  see  a few  German underground  labels
spewing out bands like these.

Contact: mailto:info@no-colours-records.de


Archaean Harmony - _Nihility Mundane Soul_  (Solemn Music, 2000)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (6 out of 10)

A re-release of the band's 1999  demo, _Nihility Mundane Soul_ is also
the debut MCD of Malta's Archaean Harmony -- one of these days I'll be
able to  say I've heard metal  from every country in  Europe. Starting
with a  short intro somewhat similar  to a passage from  Emperor's own
intro  on _Anthems  to  the  Welkin at  Dusk_,  Archaean Harmony  then
present half  an hour  of their blackened  form of  progressive metal.
Technically adventurous in terms of guitar and keyboard work, on _NMS_
Archaean Harmony relied  on a drum machine that will  in the future be
partially  or entirely  replaced by  a  human drummer.  The band  does
achieve interesting passages, but alas  these generally don't last for
long -- experimenting with strange  tempos and often drifting off into
seemingly unrelated  guitar soloing doesn't  do the fluidity  of their
music  much good.  _Nihility Mundane  Soul_  could do  with some  more
direction and consistency, but considering this is a re-recorded demo,
Archaean Harmony  may well  already be  on their  way to  finding such
needed qualities to add to their technical skill and will to innovate.

Contact: Archaean Harmony, P.O. Box 8, Zurrieq BPO, Malta
         mailto:darkmortem@hotmail.com
         http://www.darkmetal.com/archaean/


Arghoslent - _Troops of Unfeigned Might_ 7"  (Horror Records, 2001)
by: Alvin Wee  (8.5 out of 10)

Stateside blasphemers Arghoslent return with a brilliant three-tracker
on Horror  Records' trademark vinyl.  Arghoslent is one of  the select
few who can  rightly claim to play war metal:  the atmosphere of pagan
battle  and pride  is  unmistakable throughout  the all-too-short  EP,
and  is all  the  more impressive  for not  resorting  to the  generic
Graveland-type bombastics.  Boasting a catchy  pagan riff to  die for,
the  title track  marches forth  bearing traditional  metal, folk  and
death  metal  banners  with  equal  pride,  and  will  have  the  most
melancholy of you humming all the  way to the battlefield. Indeed, few
bands have managed to fuse the  genres as well as Arghoslent have, and
those who have are currently riding on far greater commercial success.
B-side  "Jaws  of  the  Furnace"  turns up  the  aggression  a  notch,
pummeling out  churning waves  of old-school  death. True  death metal
hasn't been seen  outside the underground arenas for a  while now, and
it's  heartening  to see  talented  formations  keeping the  tradition
alive. Charming as  the typically dirty mix may  be (characteristic of
all Horror Rec. vinyl it seems), it doesn't do justice to the powerful
music of the title track; this  material begs the clarity and punch of
a better production, though it must be said the primitive B-side seems
tailor made for such rawness.  Limited and hand-numbered to 666 copies
(in two colours), it's a wonder there are any left at the label.

Contact: $7 to Horror Records, Joergensgaard 49B, 1.-4,
         DK-6400 Soenderborg, Denmark


Arthemesia - _Devs-Iratvs_  (Native North Records, January 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

With a style that lies  somewhere between old Obtained Enslavement and
present day  Dimmu Borgir,  these Finnish  debutantes have  produced a
very competent  hour of classically influenced  symphonic black metal.
The music is  fluid and dynamic, alternatively  emphasizing melody and
aggression, keyboard and guitar. Most of the melodies and arrangements
are quite smart, usually keeping  a good balance and avoiding keyboard
sweetness. The  band achieves some  pretty emotional passages  as well
as  effective outbursts  of  energy  and keeps  it  all flowing  quite
consistently.  Despite a  couple  of weaker  passages (especially  the
guitar work around  the one minute mark in "Celebration  of the Heaven
Lost"), the  band is very  competent technically and there  is usually
enough going on  to keep the listener interested  throughout the album
--  that is  in case  you are  appreciative of  classically influenced
symphonic black metal; otherwise, it  is unlikely that Arthemesia will
win  you over.  However, those  who have  been moaning  about Obtained
Enslavement having recently forsaken  their keyboards [CoC #46] should
find solace  in Arthemesia. A  very good debut  indeed and one  of the
best records I have  heard in a while in this genre,  even if the band
is hardly breaking new ground.

Contact: http://www.arthemesia.com
         http://www.nativenorth.com


At the Gates - _Suicidal Final Art_  (Peaceville, March 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)

These  days Peaceville  may  be more  famous for  My  Dying Bride  and
Anathema, but there  is huge injustice in forgetting this  is also the
label that released At the  Gates' first three full-length records. In
my view,  At the  Gates have  always had the  ability to  innovate and
influence other bands and a  whole scene with their talent, uniqueness
and vision. Their records remain as  classics that to me seem not only
virtually ageless  but also unparalleled  in some ways.  _Slaughter of
the  Soul_ in  particular sets  the standard  [CoC #4,  #48], but  the
uniqueness of _The Red  in the Sky Is Ours_ and _With  Fear I Kiss the
Burning Darkness_ and also the special blend found in _Terminal Spirit
Disease_ remain  equally unmatched  in their own  way. In  addition to
their aggressiveness,  technicality and excellent  songwriting skills,
At the  Gates further mark  their importance  in the history  of metal
with the sheer  emotion they have always managed to  imbue their music
with. If you don't know these masters of Swedish death metal yet, then
I hope that  by now I have managed  to impart to you at  least some of
the quality, importance and relevance  I find in their work. _Suicidal
Final Art_, the compilation now at hand, arrives six years after AtG's
swansong album,  _Slaughter of the  Soul_, the final and  also highest
point of  their career. Only two  tracks from _Slaughter of  the Soul_
(which came out on Earache) are featured, but I must say I find that a
good effort  from Peaceville in  trying to make sure  this compilation
isn't flawed through the omission  of the band's greatest achievement.
The bonuses for  those who already own the entire  AtG discography are
mildly appetising, but far from  overwhelming. First, a band biography
written  by vocalist  Tomas Lindberg,  which  in my  case provided  an
interesting read. Second,  two demo versions of songs  from _With Fear
I  Kiss  the Burning  Darkness_,  which  are  good but  not  amazingly
different from the  better known versions. And  third, enhanced CD-ROM
video  clips of  "Terminal Spirit  Disease" and  the very  unique "The
Burning Darkness", which constitute nice collector's items, but aren't
something you are  likely to be watching over and  over again. All put
together, there may be just about  enough to justify a purchase if you
already own their records, but I would have -really- appreciated a few
unreleased  live  cuts.  If  you  are  not  familiar  with  everything
AtG  released, however,  you  should definitely  consider buying  this
collection of brilliant tracks as  a starting point for purchasing the
albums themselves (hence  my balanced 7 out of  10 rating). Contrarily
to, for example, the first part of the My Dying Bride compilation [CoC
#51], I feel  the value of _Suicidal Final Art_  depends mostly on how
familiar you  are with  the band;  it has something  to offer  even to
those  who own  their whole  discography,  but I  feel including  some
unreleased live  tracks would have  made a  lot of difference.  If you
don't know the  band, however, then either buy this  or take advantage
of Peaceville's current  series of reissues, which  includes the first
three AtG full-length albums.


Aurora Borealis - _Northern Lights_  (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (9 out of 10)

If you are going to play black  metal music and you live in the United
States, you better be good at it -- none of this Cradle of Filth pansy
screaming and  cape wearing  stuff. If  you are  into all  that, you'd
better find  a new sound  to hone your musical  skills on, as  that is
just getting  a tad  tiresome. For  those into  metal music,  you know
black metal is a big deal for  music lovers, and while in recent years
it  has  become somewhat  of  a  commercial  commodity in  this  music
business, the raw feel and coldness of it all is what keeps those fans
true to  the sounds  and styles  of it  all. For  fans picking  up the
latest disc _Northern  Lights_ by Maryland act  Aurora Borealis, their
black hearts will  warm up to this. Fast and  furious, Aurora Borealis
aim high and hard  to make sure your time with them  is well spent. No
doubt fans of black metal will be  in awe as they take in the sinister
vocals,  the  monstrous  drumming  (listen  to  the  fucking  blasting
drumbeats on  "Sky Dweller"  -- incredible!) and  the raw  guitar tone
blasting from  this disc.  While some  black metal  fans (I  guess the
"true" ones?)  say that there are  very few black metal  acts in North
America keeping  the spirit  of black  metal real  and intense,  I can
think of numerous  black metal acts that are doing  fine jobs. You can
add Aurora  Borealis to  the list  of such  notable acts  as Noctuary,
Acheron, Absu and Canada's Burning Moon. And while Aurora Borealis are
black metal  at heart, there is  a definite death metal  feel at times
radiating throughout their music, most  notably in the guitar work and
some vocal arrangements. All of these ideas and sounds work for me, as
Aurora Borealis has  managed to keep things interesting  from start to
finish. Black metal is  alive and well on the US  East Coast. Feel the
coldness as it delivers its crushing blow.

Contact: Ron Vento, P.O. Box 1327, Clinton, MD 20735-5327, USA
         mailto:ronvento@auroraborealis.org
         http://www.auroraborealis.org


Blood Stained Dusk - _Dirge of Death's Silence_
by: Aaron McKay  (7 out of 10)  (Baphomet, February 2001)

My first impulse was  to take this band over the  coals -- not because
they were sub-par or inadequate, but  instead because I hear -so- much
more to Blood Stained  Dusk than what I think is  offered on _Dirge of
Death's Silence_.  Possessing a strip-mine, excavatingly  harsh sound,
this band displayed  the right combination of ability  and aptitude to
attract the  attention of  Killjoy from Necrophagia  / Viking  Crown /
Eibon fame.  Released in  cooperation with  Red Stream  Records, BSD's
demo was issued  forth as a mini-CD.  The way I see  things, I believe
Blood  Stained Dusk's  greatest  strength rests  in  their ability  to
soothe the  volcanic chaos they  so wantonly create. Take  for example
the fourth track at  about the three and a half  minute mark (3:28), a
cooling  salve is  applied to  the blistering  burn the  rest of  "The
Infernal  Praise"  scorches on  the  unprepared  listener. Unique  and
fulfilling riffs also  surface from time to time  throughout _Dirge of
Death's Silence_. "Vastland of the Empire Lost" in its more than eight
minute duration displays just such an example. Deep guitar cuts unlike
many others in the genre slice  intently (2:54) before they slather on
the  soothing ointment  about  the  starting at  the  four minute  and
nineteen  second mark.  Far from  the prospect  now with  as solid  an
effort as _Dirge of Death's Silence_ is, this Alabama four-piece needs
to emphasize  their incomparable  attributes or find  themselves being
held back  with the less gifted  bands in the black  metal class. They
say silence is deafening at times,  even dirges relating there to, but
BSD  could  profit  more  from  a  judicious  utilization  of  quieter
stillness amidst the pandemonium.


Burnt by the Sun - _Burnt by the Sun_  (Relapse, 2001)
by: Aaron McKay  (8 out of 10)

This kinda shit really blows my  hair back. Four tracks seemingly have
been pulled behind a tractor trailer through downtown Detroit, as this
band smacks  down an  EP of interminable  hardcore/metal. Not  too far
removed from  a Human  Remains / Dillinger  Escape Plan  / Discordance
Axis blend, Burnt  by the Sun is intriguing  and forcefully energetic.
"Buffy", "You Will Move", "Lizard-Skin Barbie" and "The Fish Under the
Sea Dance" will get you revved-up like a 454 big block for a live show
by the band. The rumor mill is  churning out that BbtS is confirmed at
the Metal Meltdown, New England Metal & Hardcore Fest, and, of course,
the Milwaukee MetalFest.  That last one I can hardly  wait for, 'cause
live is where I think Burnt by the Sun will heat things up!


Cathedral - _Endtyme_  (Earache, April 2001)
by: Alvin Wee  (9.5 out of 10)

After a  two-album sojourn through  the realms of  groovy stoner-doom,
Lee  and Co.  are  back  with a  hugely  surprising, monumental  piece
of  depression. With  a  heaviness that's  reminiscent  of the  band's
pre-_Carnival..._ halcyon  days, _Endtyme_  opens with  the grindingly
sluggish "Cathedral  Flames", forcefully pounding home  their newfound
seriousness chord  after crushing chord. The  torturously wrenched-out
"Melancholy  Emperor"  has  enough bottom-end  riffage  and  anguished
wails  to make  any _Forest  of Equilibrium_  maniac cream  his pants;
yet  beneath   the  utter  depression  lie   the  undeniable  dynamics
characteristic of the band's mid-'90s  work. It's a welcome change for
die-hard fans to see the band steering back to their monstrously heavy
roots, yet  retain the psychedelic  excitement of the  later releases.
Backing up the  potent mix is a surprisingly  grungey production, with
the emphasis  returning to  the infamous Cathedral  bottom-end plunged
into a  vat of grainy psychedelia.  A sound which fits  the band's new
material well, taking the slightly non-serious edge off their previous
attempts and coating  it in a lysergic haze  of leviathan proportions.
Dorrian's tongue-in-cheek  quirkiness hasn't entirely  disappeared, as
the  no-holds-barred  arena-chants  towards  the  end  of  "Whores  to
Oblivion" show, and  with twists like the  soft, cosmic dream-sequence
of  "Astral Queen"  sneaking in  among the  other devastatingly  heavy
pounders,  there's proof  enough that  the band's  got more  tricks up
their sleeve than anyone's ready to admit.  You've got to hand it to a
doom institution like  Cathedral to hold their own  against the deluge
of stoner-rock  pretenders to  the throne: few  others are  capable of
redefining the  genre while revisiting  the benchmark merits  of their
past.  That  said,  this  crusher is  absolutely  essential  for  both
long-time believers in  the band and new followers  of the stoner-rock
scene, and pretty much everybody else in between. European release out
since February; the US will have to wait as usual.


Charnel House - _Sample of Murder_  (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (4 out of 10)

There are  several reasons why  I am not getting  too much out  of the
death metal groove  of New York act Charnel House.  One of the reasons
is  the really  poor  production  of their  material  here. While  the
production does  capture the  raw stomp of  their death  metal grooves
effectively, better production  would no doubt raise their  sound to a
much more  palatable level  for what  they are  trying to  convey with
their music. The second reason  is the vocals/lyrics. The lyrics sound
too cheesy,  too cliche.  Songs about murder  and crushing  skulls are
sung with such a boring death metal  snarl that it is just oh so wrong
for Charnel House and the music they  play. They sound like a bar band
trying to play death metal music. I  know the band is getting ready to
release their twelve-song  _From Birth to Burial_ and I  can only hope
they got a  better producer and kind of cleaned  "House" so that their
next  attempt at  providing  music to  the masses  will  be much  more
acceptable. My fingers are crossed.

Contact: P.O. Box 570677, Whitestone, NY 11357, USA
         mailto:charnel10-83@juno.com
         http://www.mp3.com/ACharnelHouse/


Chikmountain - _Porn on the Cob_  (Tachist Records, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (5 out of 10)

I almost  threw this  record out  my window,  seriously, What  a truly
irritating piece of music, annoying enough  to give me a mild headache
--  yet I  am compelled  to listen  as the  chaos unfolds.  Not really
rocket science  here, folks,  as Chikmountain  dissect porn  clips and
mesh them with abrasive sound effects. Throw in a huge wad of nonsense
like echoing screams, grinding machinery and incoherent babble and you
have the general  makeup of _PotC_. In  some way -- and  this may send
the members of Chikmountian into a  furious fit of excitement -- I can
hear  a bit  of  Neurosis within  their  music. Just  a  bit, but  the
influence is  obviously there, even  if they  don't want to  admit it.
Neurosis are  known for bringing  together a  vast wave of  sounds and
styles into a  massive flow of energy and Chikmountain  does that, but
only in  small sections of _PotC_.  I guess someone out  there will go
ape-shit about all of this noise; I just can't really get too far into
this  before  I feel  like  I  need  a  break. Intense  and  annoying,
Chikmountain do their best here and  for that I salute them. Now where
is the Advil?

Contact: 1643 13th St, NW #1, Washington, DC 20009, USA
         mailto:tachist@yahoo.com


Children of Bodom - _Follow the Reaper_  (Nuclear Blast, 2001)
by: Alvin Wee  (7 out of 10)

Yet another melodic  assault from the Finnish  superstars, _Follow the
Reaper_  is everything  we've  come to  expect from  the  new wave  of
Finnish talent sweeping the commercial metal world. CoB belt out track
after track  of virtuosic  ear-candy with an  unashamed rock  'n' roll
ethic to put even their country mates Sentenced to shame. If I thought
the opening  title track was proof  of the band's ability,  the second
track proves me wrong almost instantly. Blazing with incendiary solos,
crunchy riffing  and semi-melodic  group chorus  chants, it's  the raw
energy and  pure fun-ness  of the  music that  makes it  so appealing.
Setting the band  apart from the hordes of Gothenburg  clones is their
absolute lack of pretensions to being the slightest bit "death metal";
conversely, the music also rises above the lacklustre "gothic"-ness of
Sentenced's latter  works. The only  problem is  the lack of  depth so
characteristic  of the  genre: after  three or  four spins  it becomes
apparent that the  initial jaw-dropping impact of the  music loses its
edge after  some time.  Still, the  album is  one huge  celebration of
heavy metal  for heavy metal's  sake, and  the bonus cover  of Blackie
Lawless'  "Hellion" is  a firm  hint to  where the  band's roots  lie.
Certainly not every metaller's cup of tea, but if a purist like me can
enjoy it, it's worth  giving it a try! (Look out for  the one of three
different bonus tracks offered depending on country of release.)


Craft - _Total Soul Rape_  (Rage of Achilles, September 2000)
by: David Rocher  (7.5 out of 10)

Standing  fast against  the ebbing  tide, with  which as  the raucous,
harsh,  near-primitive tones  of  primeval black  metal  have in  time
mutated  into highly  sophisticated, intricate  and melodious  extreme
metal,  Craft  hark  back  to  the  malignant  times  of  Darkthrone's
_Transylvanian  Hunger_ and  _Panzerfaust_,  _Total  Soul Rape_  being
their first offering of "vicious black metal". And these Swedes' first
effort  indeed lives  up to  its denomination,  offering seven  tracks
(plus  an  outro programmed  by  Arckanum's  own Shamataae)  of  grim,
raw  and extremely  misanthropic black  metal massively  influenced by
Darkthrone  and Burzum.  From the  album opener  "World of  Plague" to
the  bitter  end of  "Total  Soul  Rape", Craft  convincingly  display
their extreme  ability to  write harsh,  violent material,  which they
successfully fuse  with a great  sense of dynamics. In  fact, although
Craft's songwriting  is definitely  predictable, it  nonetheless oozes
with energetic time changes,  suitably chaotic and un-melodious leads,
catchy percussive  tricks and --  this is  one of Craft's  most potent
features --  vocalist Mikael's  totally insane, painful  screams. This
hellishly malevolent five-piece clearly have  more than just the basic
technical abilities  and talent  required to play  quality, compelling
black metal, and  thus _Total Soul Rape_ is a  promising first attempt
-- if  the squeaky-clean,  finely-tuned material of  present-day Dimmu
Borgir, Cradle  of Filth  or Marduk  fails to  whet your  appetite for
seething, raucous musical unearthliness, fail not to turn to Craft for
a rush  of true, angered  and professional black metal,  summoned from
the blackest years of the genre.


Cybernetic Erosion - _Materialisation of Abomination_
by: Adrian Bromley  (9 out of 10)  (<Independent>, 2001)

I must admit, after reading the  bio for this one-man project by Vadim
Ozvald Davidson -- with the tales of a talented young musician leaving
his homeland of the Soviet Union to relocate in Tennessee, thrown into
a mental institution and later spending years striving to find musical
creativity through various projects until he found this one -- I was a
little bit worried that this cheesy  As the World Turns scenario would
result  in  the  music  being  utter crap.  Not  the  case  here  with
_Materialisation of  Abomination_, as I  am blown away by  the surreal
charge of this electronic based project. Atmospheric and eerily sedate
at times, the music of _MoA_  moves forward with grace, even though it
alters its  direction and intensity  as the disc  goes on. The  use of
synthesizers is  done with  excellence, as  Davidson really  has grand
control of this electronic experience we are taking in. Out of the six
tracks provided on  _MoA_, I'd have to say that  "Salt Iron Blood" and
the lengthy  "2000 Years"  really shine as  exquisite pieces  of work.
Even after more  than ten minutes of electronic,  atmospheric flare on
"2000  Years", Davidson  still  keeps  things interesting.  Cybernetic
Erosion is a great find for fans  of this genre to take in. I'm hoping
Davidson plans another expedition sometime  soon, 'cause this trip has
been worth it.

Contact: Funeral Decadence Prod., 304 12th St. Apt. #5,
         Knoxville, TN 37916, USA
         mailto:ulv815@hotmail.com


Daeonia - _Crescendo_  (Candlelight, April 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (1 out of 10)

Are bands like  this still signed? I just don't  understand the reason
for bands like Daeonia to exist, really. I like gothic music, I really
like gothic  metal, but gothic rock  sounds just too pansy  and really
unsure of  what it is really  doing. There is nothing  more irritating
than hearing some guy singing like he  has a stuffed up nose while the
overdone keyboards echo in the background and the band keeps up a real
pompous  rock  and  roll  beat  to go  along  with  the  keyboards.  I
personally think Daeonia are one of the worst gothic rock bands I have
heard in some time. The music  is very bland, never really getting any
momentum worth noting. And the lyrics? Don't get me started, but for a
laugh read lyrics to "The Bridge and  the Ashes". I am sure these guys
worked their asses off to get them  where they are, but I think people
really need to tell  them that they need to call it a  day or add some
real fire  to their sound. Regardless  of whether they change  or not,
I'm keeping my distance from this band -- forever!


Defiled - _Ugliness Revealed_  (Baphomet, March 2001)
by: Aaron McKay  (6 out of 10)

Over and  over have I listened  to _Ugliness Revealed_. I  even made a
list of things I found interesting about this record and things that I
would  have done  differently. First  off,  coming from  Tokyo, I  was
instantly drawn  to the  band. "Oh,  something different",  I thought.
Getting into _Ugliness Revealed_, I  delighted in this band's skillful
use of atypical  beats and "off rhythms". Very  wicked indeed. Fitting
intros to most  songs are a huge plus and,  of course, Defiled's speed
is nothing  if not  a bonus.  Lastly, having  a previous  history with
Brian Griffin  in 1997 bolstered  my respect for this  Japanese outfit
instantly.  The drawbacks,  however  few,  have unfortunately  largely
counterbalanced my built-up esteem for  Defiled. Other than the astute
use of unique tempos, Defiled's material  is same-y and too _Reborn in
Chaos_-esque to be  overwhelmingly original. Will I  listen to Defiled
often? No. Do I think they may have an impossibly bright future should
they develop themselves further musically? Very definitely!

Contact: http://www.necropolisrec.com


Demence - _Goutte a Goutte_  (Neoblast/Warfare, April 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7.5 out of 10)

The last thing that  I had heard from Montreal death  metal / gore act
Demence was  1996's _Total Demembrement_ CD  and that was a  long time
ago. Just  where would the band's  sound be in 2001?  Would they still
sing in  French only? Would they  still sing about the  evils that men
do? In short: could they deliver the goods? After a few spins, I think
it is safe  to say that Demence  have managed to stay  focused and not
lose their touch over the years.  _Goutte a Goutte_ is a punishing and
brutal assortment of  tight death metal numbers  that shape themselves
around  heavy grooves,  technical  guitar playing  and sadistic  vocal
growls. The one thing I like about  Demence is the kind of dark humour
they bring to  death metal. You can  see it in their artwork  and I am
sure  the lyrics  are  laced  with witty  humour  (I can't  read/write
French).  Best tracks  here:  "Vilaine Locuste",  "Cervivore" and  the
title track. Fans  of other Quebec acts like Cryptopsy,  Quo Vadis and
Ghoulunatics will want to find out just what Demence is about.

Contact: Demence, 5840 St-Andre Montreal, Quebec H2S 2K4, Canada
         http://www.neoblast.com/demence/


Desecrator - _Negative Progress_  (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

It is  safe to say that  Desecrator are indeed good  musicians -- just
listen to their latest offering _Negative Progress_ --, but I do think
a  name change  is  in  order. Desecrator  sounds  like some  basement
dwelling, brutal death metal act out  to shred more riffs than humanly
possible, and  not a name associated  with a gifted prog  metal / '80s
inspired metal act  from New York. In  the vein of Iced  Earth and Jag
Panzer, throw in some synth-inspired ideas a la Rush/Styx and the epic
range of early Iron Maiden, and you have the sound of this band. Good,
long and  interesting song structures for  the most part can  be found
here, with  only the cover  of the Kansas  classic "Dust in  the Wind"
having me shake my head with some  form of uneasiness as I listened to
it.  Great  song,  wrong  band  to cover  it.  Anyway,  the  music  of
Desecrator flows with  a deep sense of melody and  strong guitar work,
aided nicely  by intense vocal  ranges. While  I was excited  over the
work of another prog metal-tinged band (see Monument), Desecrator make
a real lasting impression here. I  hope they change their name, 'cause
I really think it'll give people the wrong impression of what they are
all about. Plus, they'll miss out on the truly impressive numbers like
"Strive for  Perfection" and "The  Struggle Between Good and  Evil" if
they don't give them a chance.

Contact: P.O. Box 170 Celoron, NY 14720, USA
         http://www.desecrator-usa.com


Detachment - _Suspended in Stone_  (<Independent>, 2000)
by: Brian Meloon  (9 out of 10)

As I've been saying  for years, the main problem with  Top 10 lists is
that  they're  out of  date  almost  immediately  after being  put  in
writing. Such is the case with my  Top 10 of 2000 list, as within days
of the release of CoC #52, I  received two releases which belong in my
top  10: Mutant's  _The  Aeonic Majesty_  [CoC  #47] and  Detachment's
_Suspended in Stone_. Detachment hail from the metal hot spot of Cedar
Rapids,  Iowa, but  their album  was  recorded at  Morrisound, so  the
production is excellent. Their music is technical, melodic thrash with
keyboards,  similar  to old  Nocturnus,  but  tighter, catchier,  more
diverse and  less sci-fi. As  with Nocturnus,  their music has  a good
degree of keyboard work, though the music is heavily guitar-based. The
keyboards add melodies and atmosphere to fill out rather than dominate
the band's  sound. The vocals are  shouted in a style  which suits the
music, but there are some sections with decent power metal style clean
vocals ("Empty  Attack"). The  songs are  moderate in  complexity: not
repetitive, but not straightforward, and  generally show a good mix of
tempos and riff styles. The playing is excellent on all counts: varied
and  interesting, as  well as  being  very tight.  In particular,  the
guitar work is exceptional, as  their guitarist handles many different
styles -- from tight, staccato  harmonized single-note lines to chunky
power chords  to quirky, percussive  sections -- with ease.  His solos
are technical,  but appropriate  for the song,  and not  overused. The
band  diversifies their  sound with  some experimental  sections, most
of  which  are  well  done,  but  feel a  little  out  of  place.  The
Cynic-influenced  jazz break  in  "Bloodmirror" is  one such  section.
Overall, this is a very impressive debut, and I hope to hear more from
the band in the future. Their website is currently under construction,
but it does have some links to downloadable MP3s. Tracks I'd recommend
as examples  of what the band  is capable of are  "Unintelligible" and
"Empty Attack". CDs are available from  the band for now, but the band
is working on wider distribution.

Contact: mailto:detachment_1@hotmail.com
         http://www.detachmentkicksass.com (website)
         http://www.musicbuilder.com/detachment/ (MP3s)


Evanesce - _Sower of Sedition_  (Retribute Records, September 2000)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)

<spoken  in a  young girl's  voice>  "When I  wanna feel  close to  my
special friend Jesus,  I sing him a very special  song. You wanna hear
it?"  And  then  begins  "Winters  Sun",  track  seven  of  _Sower  of
Sedition_.  Evanesce occasionally  make  an effort,  either through  a
sample like  this one or  some unexpectedly more  subdued instrumental
passage,  to keep  the  death  metal on  _Sower  of Sedition_  varied.
Evanesce's  style  of  death  metal  reminds  me  most  of  Malevolent
Creation's recent efforts, as the  band opts for rasped vocals instead
of a death grunt much like Malevolent Creation. Evanesce differentiate
themselves somewhat  from the  death metal  masses, even  if not  in a
particular original  way, and achieve rather  pleasant results through
their competent  musical skills  and very reasonable  songwriting. The
aforementioned  "Winters Sun",  "Autumnal Death",  "Eternal Decadence"
and "Second City  of Empire" (the only song where  they use some death
grunts) are all  good tracks, and the band occasionally  even hints at
what might  be a  slight influence  from At  the Gates.  Evanesce keep
things reasonably varied in terms of  pace and style, and although not
brilliantly,  they  do  succeed  in  generally  keeping  the  listener
interested. A very  decent debut in which Evanesce show  a good amount
of potential.

Contact: http://www.evanesce.co.uk
Contact: Retribute Recs, P.O. Box 76, New Ferry, CH63 0QT, England
         mailto:retribute@aol.com


Falconer - _Falconer_  (Metal Blade, April 2001)
by: Alvin Wee  (10 out of 10)

For the benefit of readers with short attention spans: BUY THIS!!!!! I
haven't  been this  excited  about  a new  power  metal release  since
Freedom  Call's debut,  and even  then the  potential this  new outfit
shows  puts  the  majority  of   recent  German  endeavors  to  shame!
Ex-Mithotyn  Viking-warrior Stefan  Weinerhall drops  his black  metal
ethic here  in favor of  a pure  folk-based power metal  direction not
unlike Blind  Guardian, producing  as close  to a  perfect album  as I
dare  to imagine.  A few  seconds  into the  opening track  is all  it
takes  to convince  this  stunned reviewer  of  the miraculous  powers
these  guys possess:  such  a combination  of astounding  musicianship
and  divinely-inspired songwriting  has  seldom been  attained in  the
history  of melodic  metal. Drawing  together the  best of  the band's
Mithotyn-folk past  and traditional  Maiden-inspired heavy  metal, the
mesmerizing beauty and infectious energy of metal-hymns like "Wings of
Serenity" scale infinitely epic heights  while never succumbing to the
overblown cheese of Freedom Call  or At Vance, retaining its freshness
and appeal even after countless  replays. Olde English-style ballad "A
Quest For the Crown" sweeps  many of Blind Guardian's similarly-themed
tracks  under the  carpet for  the moment,  conjuring up  the days  of
minstrels and  bards with  its insidiously  catchy, authentic-sounding
refrain. Traditional seabound rockers like "Royal Galley" put the band
on  dangerous par  with  benchmark-setting pirates  Running Wild,  yet
maintaining a distinctly unique sound  of their own: something one can
only describe  as Mithotyn-ian.  Lead minstrel  Mathias Blad  issues a
spirited challenge  to the  ranks of famed  metal vocalists  like Jeff
Scott  Soto  or Rob  Rock,  drawing  on  his  unique experience  as  a
full-time stage-musical singer (this I  gathered after hearing a radio
interview  with  Stefan), bringing  a  whole  new vocal  dimension  --
exciting  and  vibrant --  into  a  tired genre.  Stefan's  inimitable
songwriting  shines through  with the  impeccable Los  Angered Studios
production, and  even on the twentieth  listen, I still marvel  at the
melodies  of the  characteristically florid  leads on  "Substitutional
World" and the opening track. Attempting to describe this unbelievable
sound in mere words  is futile: you have to hear  it to understand it.
The limited  first edition  also comes  with a  bonus track:  a purely
traditional  folk  song (reminiscent  of  Storm's  old material),  and
absolutely worth  the extra effort obtaining.  All I can say  is: beg,
steal or borrow; this album is worth dying for, stunning cover-art and
all! Blows away all of Mithotyn's back catalogue (not an easy thing to
do by  any standard), proving  the change  of direction a  worthy one.
Without a doubt slated to be  this year's top power metal release, and
definitely one  of the most important  releases in the history  of the
genre!


Feikn - _Helhesten/Aamanden_ 7"  (Horror Records, 2001)
by: Alvin Wee  (9.5 out of 10)

If you think you've seen this reviewed ages ago, you're right. But the
recent  re-release of  this obscurity  on beautiful  picture vinyl  by
Denmark's  Horror  Records warrants  a  short  note. That  the  entire
edition sold  out rapidly from  even an underground label  like Horror
Records attests to  the quality of material on offer  here. Two tracks
of highly, -HIGHLY-  atmospheric black metal on offer  here, the likes
of  which  hasn't often  been  encountered  since  _For All  Tid_  and
_Bergtatt_. True fans missing the good  old days of muffled guitar and
soft acoustic  passages interspersed with fast  yet atmospheric mayhem
shouldn't miss this  for all the world: one listen  to this and you'll
be  digging up  all  your old  Manes stuff.  Coming  on a  beautifully
rendered picture-7" and  hand-numbered to 111 copies,  this one's sold
out from the label too (yes that's right, instantly again) but finding
it on distros shouldn't take too much effort.


Fictional Prison - _Dream Killer_  (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (3 out of 10)

Holy bizarreness, Batman! I have to  tell you CoC readers, it had been
a long time since a record (indie or major label) had really turned my
stomach and thrown me  for a loop. Coming across the  CD for review, I
was unsure of  what to expect, but  from having done this  for so long
and seeing the layout, song titles  and images, I was able to conclude
that Fictional Prison  would be some kind of progressive  rock band. I
was somewhat close.  This Ohio band plays a really  bizarre mixture of
progressive  rock,  hard rock  and  heavy  metal,  all tossed  into  a
smorgasbord  of  sounds and  more  emotional  ups  and downs  that  my
grandmother on medication. Think Rush meets Queensryche meets Savatage
meets King  Diamond and throw  in a huge helping  of "look what  I can
play" guitar riffs. Too weird for me to take in. I also have a problem
with the singer -- front man Caine gets a little too theatrical for me
at times as the disc goes on and that was a total turn off. This isn't
a dream, more like a nightmare.

Contact: 1519 Harrison Ave. SW, Canton, OH 44706, USA


Freedom Call - _Crystal Empire_  (SPV, 2001)
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)

As much  as I'd like to  give _Crystal Empire_ another  perfect score,
something inside just refuses to click. Despite the flawless scripting
and performance of each anthemic track, _CE_ just gives the impression
of another band  going the HammerFall / Nocturnal Rites  way: too much
of  a  good thing  can  hurt.  An  entire album  of  "everybody-sing!"
choruses and saccharine-sweet melodies is  hard enough to bring off as
convincing, let  alone a  sequel of almost-identical  nature. Notables
include  the  incredibly  cheesy  yet  somehow  embarrassingly  catchy
"Pharaoh" with its  plodding, epic chorus; the blazing  "Call of Fame"
is reminiscent of latter-day Gamma  Ray in its punchy delivery. Closer
"The Wanderer" adopts an  almost Blind Guardian-esque folksiness, only
to lapse into  another fairy-tale chorus to make  Helloween sound like
Venom. If you find yourself inadvertently singing along... don't say I
didn't  warn you!  Semi-legendary Charlie  Bauerfeind seems  intent on
outdoing himself behind the consoles once more, gifting the album with
a rock-solid  production that puts  1999's _Stairway to  Fairyland_ to
shame. Still, all  the lavish packaging cannot disguise  the fact that
Freedom Call  plays a  style of  music that's  ambrosia only  in small
quantities -- and no more than that.


Funeral Rites - _Necroeater_  (Painkiller, 2000)
by: Alvin Wee  (4 out of 10)

A somewhat  old release, but since  Painkiller sent it over  I thought
I'd  say  a few  words.  Not  that there's  a  lot  to be  said  about
this  Japanese quartet  claiming to  play old-school  black metal.  If
"old-school" has  become a  euphemism for  "outdated", then  I'd agree
fully with the greatly overstated  bio. Seven "Hellish" (certainly not
my words) tracks of  generic Norsecore replete with kindergarten-level
keyboards in the vein of old Covenant don't make for much of a listen,
and  the fact  that most  tracks are  re-recorded material  from their
demos  barely  accounts for  the  lamentable  lack of  originality  on
the  album.  The  embarrassing  simplicity  of  keyboard  instrumental
"Disenchantment"  could  make even  Mortiis  weep  with pity.  In  all
fairness,  there isn't  really  anything truly  horrendous about  this
album; it's just the absolute lack  of -any- imagination that makes it
such a drag.  With country-mates like Sigh, Sabbat  and Ritual Carnage
vying  for our  attention,  this is  the stuff  we  really don't  need
clogging our shelves. Then again, if you love old Covenant...

Contact: mailto:painkiller@infonie.be


Funker Vogt - _t_  (Metropolis, 2001)
by: Aaron McKay  (5 out of 10)

Heavily  rhythmic, dance-infused  electro industrial  power is  a good
description of Funker  Vogt, but especially as  that statement relates
to their newest  offering, _t_. I would strongly  encourage reading my
review of _Maschine  Zeit_ in Chronicles of Chaos #49.  Much of what I
imparted  to you,  the CoC  reader, in  that review  still holds  true
for  this  Funker  Vogt  offering. Charged  electronics  disclose  the
stripped-down, back-to-the-basics effort this band  is know for can be
found  all through  this double  disc, fourteen  track escapade.  Some
claim they bear  witness to KMFDM influences in FV's  material -- I do
not. Funker Vogt, in my  opinion, maintains their own identity, though
a strong argument  could possibly be made to the  contrary. The reason
for my uncharacteristically  low tally for this  usually superior band
is the lack of  any standouts on this release. I can  find no track to
point out to you  as if to say, "listen to this cut  -- it is -really-
great". A fine  band, but I would rather have  -one- CD from _Maschine
Zeit_ than -two- from _t_.


God Forbid  - _Determination_  (Century Media, April 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (9.5 out of 10)

If there was any record hitting  the market this year that will surely
decimate the metal population, God Forbid's debut CD for Century Media
titled _Determination_  will surely be  leading the charge.  Not since
The Haunted's self-titled disc a few years' back has a debut disc just
knocked me right  on my ass. Singer Byron Davis  leads the attack with
his bellowing  screams of  aggression as the  tight outfit  hits solid
strides with their rhythm section and creates havoc with the shredding
guitar riffs  and stomping  groove. The  shape-shifting sounds  of the
band, from a violent charge to powerful groove sections, has to be one
of their  most appealing  qualities, as  does the  intense production.
Never  does  the  disc  weaken  with  material,  as  the  listener  is
constantly embracing eat wallop as the songs keep coming. This is just
one solid  beating. It  is safe to  say that God  Forbid push  all the
right buttons on _Determination_ with the brutal factor, but are smart
to leave enough room for them to move things around and keep us coming
back for more.


Haste - _When Reason Sleeps_  (Century Media, March 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

It's a given that sophomore albums  are the most crucial in any band's
career. You  might make an  impact with a  debut disc, but  the second
album always means more. Scary thought, I know, but how many bands can
you think of that faded after  a debut disc? HammerFall, anyone? Well,
Alabama hardcore/metal  sextet Haste don't  have to worry  about being
pushed to the wayside with their second offering _When Reason Sleeps_,
as it pummels the listener with its dual vocal assault and some of the
mightiest  guitar riffs  to embrace  hardcore music  in some  time. In
other words, this  is balls to the wall intensity.  And while heavy on
the intensity, the dual vocals allow  Haste to add a much deeper sense
of melody to the aggressive nature of the band. Don't believe me? Just
check  out numbers  like "Confessions  of  a Lesser  Known Saint"  and
"Engine" and  see how the band  are capable of reaching  highs in both
aggression and  melody. Tres cool!  If I was to  put my finger  on the
real uniqueness  to Haste,  I'd have to  say it has  to be  the unique
vocal  arrangements the  bring into  the sometime  derivative hardcore
realm. I'm  excited about seeing these  guys on tour this  year and so
should  you. _When  Reason Sleeps_  is worthy  of multiple  spins this
year.


Himinbjorg - _Third_  (Red Stream, 2001)
by: Aaron McKay  (9 out of 10)

While this is  exactly the same rating I gave  _In the Raven's Shadow_
back in 2000 [CoC #46], I think  the fact that _Third_ is an MCD means
it is at least a half a step superior. In all actuality, I am thinking
seriously about including this latest  Himinbjorg piece of divinity on
my Top 10 releases  of 2001. Yes!, I realize it is  only March, but it
is -that- good.  A blistered and chapped Opeth/Burzum  feel slyly runs
through  _Third_  as  it  coils  around  your  interest  peaking  your
intellect.  I  think that  you  will  find it  is  one  of the  finest
French arctic  chills you've  ever had creep  over you,  freezing your
comprehension.  Deep diversity,  atmospheric anomalies  and monumental
moods  sweep consistently  through _Third_'s  twenty-five minutes  and
forty-seven seconds. I'd  get my hands on  a copy of this  if you knew
what I know.


hurt - _hurt_  (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (9 out of 10)

If you  are looking for  no-nonsense, straight-ahead vile  and extreme
grindcore music, then look no further than disturbingly violent Canuck
act hurt.  Trust me,  the name does  this band  justice. Transplanting
themselves from  the prairies  of Canada to  Vancouver, BC,  hurt have
spent years  trying to take their  music to the extreme.  Y'know? Push
the boundaries of where they can and  can't go. As the years have gone
on, it is quite  obvious that hurt have managed to grow  as a unit and
with their violent  approach to music making. And these  guys say they
want to take it more extreme? Wow! And while chaotic for the most part
(just listen  to songs like "deemon"  or "lobo"), there is  not much I
can say other  than that fans of Brutal Truth,  Discordance Axis (RIP)
and Pig Destroyer should scope out  these guys and get all whacked out
on their crazy-ass songs. In closing,  I'll pass this bit of info onto
you. The  bio on their  website says: "No one  will be safe  from this
sonic onslaught. Be forewarned!" Don't say I didn't warn you.

Contact: mailto:hurt@idirect.ca
         http://www.hurting.org


Ikon - _On the Edge of Forever_  (Metropolis, 2001)
by: Aaron McKay  (8.5 out of 10)

Strong, stalwart goth  rock is what Ikon lays on  the cheerless masses
with textures of  despondency caked on in  liberal strokes. Incredible
song  structures comprise  _On  the  Edge of  Forever_  from start  to
finish.  Hailed as  the die-hard  cross-bearer of  the Ikon  heritage,
Chris McCarter  (vocals, guitars, keyboards)  works a nice  wreathe of
clean vocals, sounding at times like  The Jesus and Mary Chain or Clan
of  Xymox, and  instrumentation  communicating a  flushed out,  sullen
message.  This  Australian enigma  known  as  Ikon has  an  inexorably
powerful  sound  pulling  musical edifices  off  ever-so-lightly  from
Egyptian culture, blurring the point  of knowing for sure whether Ikon
is talking  about the  ancient pharaohs  or you.  Clocking in  at over
fifty minutes of preeminent goth rock,  _On the Edge of Forever_ is as
curious  as the  Sphinx  and  prying as  the  thieves  of Giza.  While
inspired from  onset to conclusion,  the treasure  in my mind  is just
before  the finish  of the  disc. "Afterlife"  and "World  Beneath the
Sand"  are  positioned  so  perfectly  as  closing  tracks,  Imhotep's
architectural prowess could not have placed them any better.


Impaled - _Choice Cuts_  (Deathvomit, March 2001)
by: Aaron McKay  (5 out of 10)

Growth  seems to  be the  least of  this band's  concern. Staying  the
course, on the other hand, is what Impaled is all about. In CoC #48, I
reviewed Impaled's _The Dead Shall Dead Remain_. In #50, I interviewed
Leon Del  Muerte. Little has changed  with this band since  then, save
this new effort.  Exactly a year to the month  later, these grind/gore
fiends  issue forth  what  they appropriately  dubbed their  "greatest
shits". The tracks comprising _Choice  Cuts_, I understand, are mostly
unreleased  and  certainly  rare.  Serving  to  pacify  fans,  _Choice
Cuts_  does  its  job  exhaustively with  demo  versions  ("Immaculate
Defecation",  "Flesh &  Blood",  "From Here  to  Colostomy", etc.)  to
Carcass and Impetigo covers ("Carneous  Cacoffiny" and "I Work for the
Streetcleaner",  respectively).  Two  new  tracks can  also  be  heard
on  _Choice Cuts_:  "Nightsoil"  and "Until  Death".  Expect the  same
unfailing  Impaled sound  and style  on both  of them.  Thirteen total
songs on this effort to be offered  at an EP price, I believe. Impaled
fans should relish  this, but from my perspective  the new full-length
to be  recorded this coming Winter  has a better than  average shot at
being  something more  notable.  Why? "Nightsoil"  and "Until  Death",
while very representative of Impaled's gore-ish nature, have a certain
potential that, properly developed (choppier and more rhythmic), could
be their ticket  outta the gutter slime and cess.  Then again, I'd bet
Impaled like it there.

Contact: http://www.impaled.net


Judas Iscariot - _Dethroned, Conquered and Forgotten_ +4 LP
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)  (No Colours, 2001)

If you  think you've  seen this review  before, you're  not completely
wrong. But Germany's No Colours  has performed another masterstroke by
releasing  the  MCD  on  vinyl,  and  throwing  on  the  sought-after,
impossible-to-find  demo  from  1993  that  was  pressed  in  only  20
units(!!). For  a full review  of the MCD  material, refer to  CoC #50
(although it  can't be said  I hold the  same views --  sorry Aaron!).
Raw,  bestial  and  black  to  the  extreme,  the  material  from  the
eight-year-old  demo  holds  up  surprisingly  well  considering  what
Akhenaten is  doing today, and it's  hard to believe that  the band is
only getting  the attention it  deserves these days (1997's  _Of Great
Eternity_ is  way out of  print and has  been all but  ignored). Total
Burzum worship  that wouldn't  have sounded  out of  place in  the old
scene, and  a grim  reminder of  the direction  the wayward  scene has
taken since then.  Of course, the simplicity of tracks  like "The Cold
Earth" reveal the immaturity of  the recording, but hugely atmospheric
cuts like "In Den Quaelen de  Hoelle" benefit greatly from the rawness
of the production.  Certainly a cult demo up there  with the legendary
ones  like Strid  and Carpathian  Forest  (back then).  Worthy of  any
Nargaroth / Mutiilation / Abyssic Hate  fan to check out, just for the
rare demo tracks, especially on this noble, limited piece of vinyl. On
a side note, the band seems to  be German, but the letters I exchanged
with Akhenaten years ago were to/from the States. Go figure.


Jungle Rot - _Dead and Buried_  (Olympic Recordings, 2001)
by: Aaron McKay  (9.5 out of 10)

I'll be  hung, drawn and  quartered (to borrow unpretentiously  from a
Cancer song) if  this CD from Wisconsin's Jungle Rot  isn't one of the
most  riff-ervescent  packages  ever  crushed onto  disc.  Unlike  the
camouflaged  disc and  the  _Dead  and Buried_  cover  would have  you
believe, this effort  is anything but covert -- instead,  I would call
it  the most  in-your-fucking-face blast  of aggressive  confrontation
since Dying  Fetus' _Purification  Through Violence_ [CoC  #20]. Great
riffing,  superiorly  technical,  and commandingly  engaging  is  this
effort. I'd  have to say  that _Slaughter the Weak_  solidified Jungle
Rot's position  in the front line  of old school extreme  death metal,
but the  raw frontal blitzkrieg executed  on _Dead and Buried_  is top
brass!  Take for  instance the  choppiness  about the  one minute  and
twenty-three  second mark  area of  "Strangulation Mutilation",  track
five; its roller-coaster guitar  chops rhythmically smite the listener
violently into a bass  line to rival old Overkill on  a very good day.
"Red Skies"  holds the crown  for brilliance in  sniper-fire, fox-hole
slammingly heavy cuts, however. No  doubt this newest Jungle Rot slice
of  rapid-fire barbarity  will capture  your attention  like a  firing
squad filling a mass grave  with civilian women and children. Probably
"Top 15"  material so far  this year  for this reviewer.  Certainly an
advised purchase.


Kaos Rising - _Wiped Away_  (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (6 out of 10)

If I had to lump independent  Illinois act Kaos Rising into a grouping
of bands who they sound like,  I'd have to say Soulfly and/or Skinlab,
though with a real brutal death metal stomp to things. Now some may be
cringing at that  comparison, but this is 2001 and  bands like Soulfly
and  Skinlab  can easily  be  pinpointed  as  bands that  really  help
establish  a solid  hardcore/metal groove  in metal  music. And  while
those bands  are no doubt  influences, it is  good to see  Kaos Rising
taking a few  bars of inspiration from the classic  brutal death metal
sound. The combination of both  styles helps reinforce their attack, a
menacing  flow of  sinister vocal  cries and  thick guitar  riffs that
slash 'n' mash the listener. Kaos Rising are good at what they do, and
it is quite  obvious they put a  lot of work into their  band, but I'm
hoping they can find a style/sound that they can call their own. I can
see some metal fans out there that might listen to their sound and say
it has been done before. Let's hope it doesn't come to that with their
music in the future. Choice cut: "Pieced Through".

Contact: P.O. Box 375, Monea, IL 60449, USA
         mailto:kaostorise@aol.com
         http://www.kaosrising.com


KorovaKill - _WaterHells_  (Red Stream, 2001)
by: Aaron McKay  (4 out of 10)

Trying to cope with the ebb and  flow of this Austrian outfit was like
shoveling shit  against the tide. Not  always a bad thing  saying that
one  cannot easily  affix  a  label to  a  band  immediately, but  for
KorovaKill  it  is  a  mixed  bag.  The  music  is  often  incredible:
meticulously played and extremely interesting  for the black metal the
band claims they belong to. The guitars are gritty, with enough choppy
texture to  fishnet the  interest of even  discriminating aficionados.
"Drown Symphony",  toward the beginning of  _WaterHells_, employs many
devices to  snare intrigue.  Well used female  vocals (on  this track)
complement the rough and choppy guitar riff and the deeper vocals lull
you in like a lighted port in the storm. My favorite track immediately
follows "Drown  Symphony": it is  entitled "Into the  Waterwhils". The
song is heavy, somber, but with a quicker tempo. The gruff vocals wash
against  the sand  of your  perception  with grace  witnessed only  in
the  talents of  this  planet's aquatic  inhabitants.  Some less  than
complementary points I  would raise might include doing  away with the
female  vocals  utilized  hit-and-miss on  _WaterHells_.  Infrequently
used, KorovaKill could have drowned the listener in washes of feminine
ambience, but I  feel _WaterHells_ is overkill in this  area. The male
vocals stretch from  clean to husky to strep-throat a  la King Diamond
on _Them_. I would struggle to call this effort black metal. Dive into
this submersible of  an effort if you dare. Personally,  I'd stay high
and dry and look  into something that would provide me  with less of a
sinking feeling.


Lacuna Coil - _Unleashed Memories_  (Century Media, March 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8.5 out of 10)

I'll admit it,  folks. I'm in love with Cristina  Scabbia's voice. Not
only  is the  woman a  work of  art physically,  but her  voice is  so
angelic  and so  mesmerizing, it  just leaves  me powerless  with each
listen  of Lacuna  Coil's  new disc  _Unleashed  Memories_. While  the
Italian band has  grown tremendously since their  self-titled EP debut
for Century Media back in 1998 [CoC #31], the band still maintains the
gothic elements and dual vocals they had  early on. And that is a good
thing. While change has come to  the band, no doubt in Scabbia's vocal
range and the  songwriting aspect of the band, Lacuna  Coil don't show
off too much with what they do. They just do what needs to be done and
move on. Some of the grander moments that permeate throughout _UM_ are
songs like "Heir  of a Dying Day"  and "When a Dead  Man Walks", songs
that reek of perfection and long hours trying to bring an epic feel to
them. I've  always liked the dual  vocals of Scabbia and  Andrea Ferro
(growls), a  trait I've  always appreciated  with another  great band,
Within Temptation. _UM_  is a great record for fans  of metal music to
take  in nowadays,  because not  only  does it  offer a  solid set  of
variety, it also  takes you on a  journey that few bands  can take you
on. Brutality is  left at the door  with Lacuna Coil, only  to have it
creep into the  music for short intervals as  the beautifully sculpted
sound flickers and regroups to  take shape as another stunning display
of musicianship. This record should break Lacuna Coil open big time --
at least I'm hoping it will.


Love Like Blood - _Chronology of a Love Affair_
by: Aaron McKay  (9 out of 10)  (The End / Hall of Sermon, 2000)

My first  experience with  this goth  rock troupe  was the  "Shed Your
Skin" track  on the _Beauty  in Darkness_ compilation about  1997. The
Eysel brothers' music was instantly  alluring as their respect for the
darker aspect  of music unfolded  before me  by virtue of  this single
track. _Chronology of a Love Affair_ has a truly professional feel due
to  production being  handled by  Gunnar Eysel  at Spacepark  Studios.
There are many things I would point out in relation to this album, but
in  the interest  of brevity,  I'll say  this: _Chronology  of a  Love
Affair_  is a  very fine  effort. The  CD, running  over seventy-eight
minutes in  length, is a  chronology (hence the  name) of some  of the
biggest and more respected goth bands  during the majority of my music
listening background. For the most  part, this release is the textbook
definition of a compilation. Love Like Blood spared no expense in time
or trouble making this disc one  of the better gothic group "tributes"
I have  heard. Broken  down into  four time  frames, LLB  embraces the
founders of the movement ('80 to  '85), the distant past ('86 to '90),
the  recent past  ('91 to  '95)  and, more-or-less,  the present.  Joy
Division, Bauhaus  (yea! Peter  Murphy), The Cure  and The  Sisters of
Mercy constitute  the founders of the  genre on _Chronology of  a Love
Affair_. Christian  Death, The  Mission, The Cult  and Jesus  and Mary
Chain are  more of the past  far removed. Fields of  Nephilim (McCoy's
great "Love Under  Will" from 1994's _Revelations_),  a redone version
of  LLB's  "Injustice" (from  the  MCD  _Ecstacy_), Killing  Joke  and
Paradise Lost  all from the  not-so-withdrawn age of  yesteryear. Most
recently categorized on _Chronology of a Love Affair_, Love Like Blood
features works from Lacrimosa, Type  O Negative, Tiamat, and yes, even
a notorious  Marilyn Manson  cover of "The  Great (Big)  White World".
Unlike Love  Like Blood's  past renditions  from David  Bowie, Rolling
Stones  or King  Crimson, this  compilation is  a fine  representation
in  their own  style  of dark/goth  rock  from historically  prominent
musicians  in  a methodically  laid-out  package  that can  hardly  be
topped. If this  kind of thing blows  your hair back as  it does mine,
I'd not hesitate  in snatching myself a copy of  _Chronology of a Love
Affair_. I've enjoyed every minute of this musically lyrical escapade.
I hope you will, too.

Contact: http://www.theendrecords.com
Contact: http://www.love-like-blood.com


Marduk - _La Grande Danse Macabre_  (Regain, 2001)
by: Matthias Noll  (8 out of 10)

Marduk, I  think most  of our  readers will  agree, is  a band  with a
rather limited creative  potential. Unlike artists who  try to explore
unknown, visionary  territory, Morgan  Hakansson and co  are extremely
skilled craftsmen --  engineers rather than visionaries  -- capable of
utilizing their  skills within  a given  framework, determined  by the
merciless laws  of the True  Black Metal  style. On their  last studio
record, _Panzer Division  Marduk_ [CoC #42], they made  the right move
for a band  with such a handicap: they avoided  the creativity trap by
moving into an even more extreme direction and occupying the throne of
the  fastest  black  metal  band  on  earth.  Let's  not  forget  that
being "the  fastest" has  been a  very popular  idea for  twenty years
or  so and  countless  bands  have made  this  claim. What  ultimately
matters is  that Marduk  have succeeded and  others haven't.  Now that
with  _LGDM_ the  focus has  switched back  to a  more varied,  almost
unspectacular approach, Marduk's limitations aren't camouflaged by the
over-the-top  onslaught that  characterized _Panzer  Division Marduk_.
These limitations I see are a  rather small arsenal of really inspired
riff  and  break  ideas  (especially  in  the  mid-tempo  range),  the
foreseeable structure of almost all  material on _LGDM_ once the first
couple of seconds have indicated the  general direction of the song or
section, and  Legion's unidimensional vocals.  This might be  true for
older material as well, but increased  diversity puts it more into the
spotlight  --  _Nightwing_, for  example,  had  better songs  and  its
two-part structure worked in favor  of the general flow. Nevertheless,
the super-tight ferocity of faster-than-the-speed-of-light tracks like
the opener  "Azrael" or  the slow  and pounding  "Bonds of  the Unholy
Matrimony" are highly impressive and no song on this album is what you
would call  weak. The  accompanying lyrics, which  deal with  the last
theme in  the trilogy of  blood, war  and death, are  quite acceptable
with the exception of "Jesus Christ... Sodomized". Featuring gems like
"Piss  on Christ  and kill  the priest,  follow nature  -- praise  the
beast", this is even more stupid  and hilarious than almost anything I
quoted in  my German  Metal Lyrics  article in CoC  #50. If  they just
wouldn't try  to put such crap  in rhymes... Excuse my  ranting, but I
really wonder how  someone can seriously consider Marduk  to have more
integrity  than  bands  with  T-Shirt  backprints  like  "Jesus  Is  a
Cunt" or  "Cunt Hunters of  the Night". Production-wise,  the Tagtgren
brothers have done another good  job and provided the instruments with
more  space than  ever.  They have  even avoided  to  make _LGDM_  too
Abyss-typical. I would have preferred less treble in exchange for more
guitar volume,  low end and  distortion in  the mix, which  would have
enforced the heaviness  of the slower material, but  overall the sound
is  good. With  respect  to clarity,  it is  probably  the best  Abyss
work  to  date. In  conclusion,  this  is  a decent,  diverse  record,
unfortunately  with some  weaknesses  that make  it  inferior to  both
_Nightwing_  and  _Panzer  Division  Marduk_.  It is  by  no  means  a
milestone, but certainly a necessary  purchase for black metal maniacs
and of course all of Marduk's broad fanbase.


Mentallo & the Fixer - _ Return to Grimpen Ward_  (Metropolis, 2001)
by: Aaron McKay  (6 out of 10)

Mood  inducing,  beat  driven, open-minded  industrial  tracks  flaunt
themselves unashamed all throughout _Return to Grimpen Ward_. Totaling
fourteen tracks,  _Return to Grimpen Ward_  is the latest in  a -long-
history  of  releases from  this  Texas  duo  who  also happen  to  be
brothers. Drawing  from a  predisposition to bands  like The  Cars and
Gary Numan  ("Cars", also --  how 'bout  that?), Mentallo &  the Fixer
began to  lay down a framework  for new wave material  only from their
perspective. Coming to Metropolis Records with their last album, _Love
Is the Law_, _Return to Grimpen  Ward_ denotes only the second release
for the band  on this label after  a history of ten  previously, by my
count. As  you can see,  Mentallo & the  Fixer have a  nice, congenial
past of  utilitarian efforts that give  them a perspective few  in the
industrial genre  possess. Very light, pulsating  measures drive songs
like  "Murders Amoung  Us" ever-so-slightly  into our  sub-conscience.
Buttress your  skepticism upon Mentallo  & the Fixer's history.  I can
assure you, I did. Other than  a somewhat lack of stimulated ingenuity
-- hence the rating --, I was,  for the most part, not disappointed by
the harvest  brothers Mentallo &  the Fixer (Gary and  Dwayne Dessing)
reaped with _Return to Grimpen Ward_.


Midnight Syndicate - _Gates of Delirium_
by: Adrian Bromley  (9 out of 10)  (Entity Productions, April 2001)

Having followed  this band for almost  as long as CoC  has been around
(just comb  through the many reviews  we have done on  this band), the
latest installment of horror-inspired  atmospheric numbers by Midnight
Syndicate is no doubt their most impressive and mind-blowing. Midnight
Syndicate, comprised of the duo  Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka, take
their visions of  the macabre and transform them  into huge theatrical
numbers that are as eerie as they  are magnificent to take in. This is
soundtrack music that no doubt inspires the listener to become part of
what is going on. _GoD_ is inspired by the madness that goes on within
a turn-of-the-century  asylum and the  treatment of the  patients, but
there is a lot more to the  ambiance of the album than just that. Each
listen proves  to be as rewarding  as the last one.  Truly pioneers in
their  field,  this  may  just  be the  record  that  allows  Midnight
Syndicate to  get noticed outside  of the  realm of fans  that already
swear by  their talented work. Not  only should the new  disc be heard
from  start to  finish without  interruptions,  may I  suggest a  dark
candlelit room  and just  headphones. Geesh!  I'm getting  freaked out
just  imagining that.  Take a  bow  Midnight Syndicate,  your work  is
marvelous and oh so creepy.

Contact: 7100 Rushmore Way, Concord, OH 44077, USA
         http://www.midnightsyndicate.com
Contact: http://www.entityprod.com


Minas Tirith - _Demons Are Forever_  (FaceFront, 1998)
by: Chris Flaaten  (9 out of 10)

Since I  refer to  Minas Tirith  in this  issue's Chaotic  Concerts, I
thought it would be natural to  include a retro-review of their newest
album as it  hasn't been previously reviewed in CoC.  Despite having a
name from  Tolkien, being  Norwegian and having  opened for  Mayhem in
Jessheim 1989 and  now recently in Oslo March this  year, Minas Tirith
is not a  black metal band. Far  from it. They have been  around for a
long while,  but they still have  only released one album  that wasn't
self-financed. This album was  released on FaceFront, Norwegian Scream
Magazine's  tiny label  (see contact  information below).  _Demons Are
Forever_ opens with a spooky, somewhat annoying intro. Disregard it --
the music  starts at track  two. This music  is not easy  to describe,
though: it is truly unique. Imagine a technical fusion of heavy metal,
progressive death/thrash with  the feel and, at least  to some extent,
sound  from  Nevermore's  99(!)  release _Dreaming  Neon  Black_  [CoC
#38].  Minas Tirith,  a three-piece  consisting of  extremely talented
musicians, have the  tightest sound I have ever heard.  This comes out
especially well  in the  production of this  album, perfect  for their
"one for  all, all for one"  style of playing. Bass,  guitar and drums
have  equal weight  and on  top  comes bassist  Frode Forsmo's  clean,
elegiac  vocals and  death grunts.  The  album, along  with the  songs
themselves, is  greatly varied and  you'll hear everything  from black
metal riffs to cheerful strat-harmonies. Don't let that last statement
of  merriness,  nor song  titles  like  "NecroNoMicOn" or  "Mad  Alpha
(Lunatic-tac)" scare  you, though.  This album provides  a depressive,
misanthropic  feel, thanks  mostly  to the  vocals  and lyrics.  Minas
Tirith has,  in their trademark  eccentricity, produced an  album that
requires some  spins before it really  makes sense, but it  won't take
long  before it  has  crawled  under your  skin.  If  you like  tight,
technical metal you should be pleased. Hopefully these musketeers will
get a deal with a bigger label and release another album soon, I crave
more!

Contact: FaceFront, Postboks 3865, Ulleval Stadion,
         N-0805, Norway ($15)


Monument - _The Millennial Death of Success_  (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

If Monument singer Kirk Callaway had to  round up the troops to pick a
certain style of metal music to play  and stick with it, I don't think
he and his band could do it. I don't think I would want them to do it.
Why  ruin  something good  when  it  all seems  to  be  headed in  the
right  direction? Monument's  third release  _The Millennial  Death of
Success_ is a  wonderful array of song vocal  styles, prog/power metal
musicianship  and an  old school  thrash  element that  just seems  to
shape this  into a  stellar release  from all  angles. Right  from the
in-your-face assault of  opener "Guilt Is the Sin", the  guys have you
by the throat,  dragging your ass right into the  thick of things. And
while the  power metal aspect of  their sound is obviously  one of the
draws of this  band, their metallic heaviness and  doom-like groove at
times  adds a  real  treat for  the listener  with  _TMDoS_. With  the
success of  such bands  as Iced  Earth and Nevermore  in the  past few
years,  I can  definitely see  fans of  those two  acts latching  onto
Monument and  being excited  about what they  are provided  here with.
While Monument  are still on  an independent level, they  could easily
pass for a  signed act on the  Century Media or Metal  Blade roster. I
can  only imagine  what better  production  would do  to this  already
impressive sounding  disc. Monument are indeed  a talented independent
act  that know  the importance  of honing  your skills  with years  of
practice and  taking the time to  let the buzz build.  Good things are
surely coming their way.

Contact: P.O. Box 892881 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73189, USA
         mailto:webmaster@monumetal.com
         http://www.monumetal.com


Moshquito - _Worlds End_  (Morbid Records, 2001)
by: Matthias Noll  (3 out of 10)

Once upon  a time, in  the land where Iron  and Steel never  rust, the
Gods of  Metal sat in  their assembly  hall and polished  their mighty
broadswords. Suddenly, from out of nowhere a voice was heard. "Gods of
Metal, we summon thee!" "Oh no,  not Germany again", one of the lesser
Gods remarked, and  they continued with their daily  routine. "Gods of
Metal, we summon thee" was  heard again and probably because polishing
broadswords all day  long is a mighty boring task  even for Gods, this
time they  acknowledged the  summoning. "What  is your  desire?", they
asked. "We are  the band Moshquito and we need  your advice." The gods
looked at each other and  replied: "Moshquito, despite your absolutely
stupid band  name we look  upon you  with great sympathy,  because you
have  been around  for more  than fifteen  years. You  have even  been
worshipping  us  from behind  the  wall  that once  separated  Eastern
and  Western Germany.  Ask  and  you will  receive  advice!" "Gods  of
Metal, allow  us to  describe the problem",  the band  Moshquito said.
"Unfortunately we  have no clue  how to write a  song. We also  do not
know how to write a single really crushing metal riff, but we can come
up with a high quantity of  less impressive riffs instead. Further on,
we have  a singer who  can neither sing,  nor screech, nor  growl, and
doesn't have any real qualities. On the other hand, our rhythm section
is quite tight  and enjoys doing intricate stuff, even  if they are no
match for  masters like Meshuggah or  Watchtower. We also have  no big
budget and the  sound engineer we plan  to use for our  next record is
not  very capable.  Almighty Gods  of Metal,  please help  us --  what
should  we do?"  The  Gods  of Metal  looked  at  each other,  already
regretting  that they  had  offered their  support. "Moshquito",  they
said, "Why  don't you  play covers?" "No  way, we want  to do  our own
stuff  and we  have a  record deal",  Moshquito answered.  "Okay, your
dedication honours  you, Moshquito. There's  only one way to  go. Play
very  technical thrash  metal.  That  way you  don't  need songs,  but
instead many, many breaks. Just try to sound weird and interesting and
use as  many average  riffs as  possible. You also  won't need  a good
singer, because if you engage in pseudo-technical wankery long enough,
you'll  produce so  much intricacy  there'll be  no need  for melodies
anyway.  And don't  worry about  the  sound. Even  producers like  our
beloved  Fredrik Nordstrom  and  Peter Tagtgren  wouldn't  be able  to
substantially improve  your record.  Now you must  leave us  alone and
start  to do  the  deeds of  Metal!"  "Gods of  Metal,  we praise  you
eternally. Allow us one last question. Will we be successful with that
album?" "Moshquito,  you are grown up  people and you deserve  to know
the  truth. You'll  sell records  only to  your friends  and families,
because you do  not have much talent.  And now off with  you, or we'll
put you under  the spell of the disappearing mullet,  which will leave
you bald-headed  forevermore!" And so  the band Moshquito,  happy with
the advice  they got  from the  Gods of  Metal, recorded  their album,
which  will soon  be available  on  eBay and  bargain bins  throughout
Europe for extremely reasonable prices.


Mourning Beloveth - _Dust_  (Bron, April 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

If the fact that a band with a name such as Mourning Beloveth has just
recorded their debut  full-length at the Academy Studios  with Mags as
producer doesn't ring a bell (or a whole lot of them), then you should
probably  skip to  the next  review. Otherwise,  you can  surely guess
_Dust_  brings  back strong  memories  of  early  My Dying  Bride  and
Anathema.  _Dust_, "a  true  Irish tragedy",  is  a crushingly  heavy,
mournful doom/death  dirge comprised  of five tracks  that last  for a
total of about an hour.  Mourning Beloveth combine sombre clean vocals
with  a majority  of harsh  death  vox, and  add that  to the  massive
sound  of  their  instrumental  side.  Dismal  and  bleak,  _Dust_  is
also  an emotional  record  (though  not exactly  in  a romantic  way)
that  is not  concerned  with being  innovative  or experimental,  but
simply  compensates that  with  quality. _Dust_  reminds  me think  of
Enchantment's _Dance the  Marble Naked_, but not because  the music is
particularly  similar  (_Dust_  is much  slower).  Enchantment's  only
record  became,  for  various  reasons,  quite a  cult  album  in  the
doom  metal underground  -- but  either underrated  or simply  unknown
outside it, and  the band disappeared shortly  after releasing _DtMN_.
Here's hoping  that Mourning Beloveth  will have  much more of  a fair
opportunity to succeed at a higher level.

Contact: mailto:mourningbeloveth@ireland.com
         http://www.clubi.ie/primordial/beloveth/


Mudslinger - _Cover the Sun_  (Lord Slog Recordings, April 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

Even  though it  may be  hard  to breathe  at  times with  the air  of
heaviness bogging you down as Mudslinger plays on, the doom-influenced
sludge  machine manages  to allow  some breathing  room as  they storm
through their  tonnage of  material. Only a  bit, though.  Taking some
spirit from  the ways of EYEHATEGOD  and Soilent Green (in  regards to
the heavy sludge-tone), Mudslinger really digs deep into the ground to
set up their attack of noisy mayhem, heard quite effectively on tracks
like "Swamp" and "Lambs". The music of Mudslinger is pretty rock solid
when it  comes to  really putting  weight on the  listener; it  is the
mediocre death-like growls that sometimes  seem too pressured to reach
the bowels  of the earth that  the music hits so  effectively. A minor
black mark  on a disc  that shows a lot  of promise. I'll  be spinning
this for a while more till I get my hands on the new Soilent Green.

Contact: mailto:dacouch@pacbell.net
         http://www.mudslinger1.com


Nocturnal Winds - _Of Art and Suffering_  (Aftermath, February 2001)
by: Alvin Wee  (8.5 out of 10)

After  the  numerous accolades  gathered  for  their impressive  debut
_Everlasting  Fall_,  Finnish sons  Nocturnal  Winds  opt for  a  more
complex formula on _OAaS_. Way  more technical than the catchy, almost
simplistically  enjoyable _EF_,  the  new album  takes on  progressive
elements, melding  the jazz-like dissonance into  other more formulaic
Gothenburg portions.  The opener "Chaotic  Universe of Mind"  hints at
the band's newfound  ability with rapidly evolving  hooks and rhythms,
moving away  from the beaten  path and into more  technical territory.
I'm not really  one for the dissonance of progressive  death, but like
Unmoored,  Nocturnal  Winds retain  enough  basic  musicality to  make
listening  bearable, unfolding  in  texture and  complexity with  each
listen. Memorable leads still abound, like on the moving "Erased", but
hidden  in the  sweetness lie  the  claws of  the traditional  Florida
sound: "Winter in My Heart" opens with a pummeling intro foreshadowing
all-out brutality only  to diffuse into a  nostalgic sound reminiscent
of old Eucharist.  If _Everlasting Fall_ was  too sweetly "Gothenburg"
for you,  then give _Of Art  and Suffering_ a try.  Those who remember
the good  old days  of _A Velvet  Creation_ will  appreciate Nocturnal
Winds' newfound maturity.

Contact: mailto:ruholm@online.no (Aftermath)


Obsidian - _On the Path of Others We Follow_
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)  (Rage of Achilles, April 2001)

When  I first  read the  sticker on  the album  cover ("Ex-members  of
Cradle  of  Filth and  Infestation  --  with  guest vocals  from  Dani
Filth"), I'll admit I was a little hesitant about putting on Obsidian.
But relatively  new British label  Rage of Achilles' track  record has
been pretty good so far (i.e.  Goatsblood and Catholicon) so I decided
to give it a  few spins on my boombox. Consisting  of former Cradle of
Filth /  Infestation drummer Dave Hirschheimer  and former Infestation
lead guitarist  Jamie Evans, Obsidian  has managed to gather  a strong
set of individuals to help add to the demonic death metal assault this
five-song EP provides us with. While songs like "Sunsets the Dawn" and
"Self Inflicted  Enslavement" are  tight and as  ferocious as  can be,
check out track five "Massada"  (which features Dani Filth doing guest
vocals). The sheer brutality of this song -- most notably the drumming
and  the growls  of singer  Pete Knight  -- is  unbelievable. A  great
closer for a real solid death metal release.

Contact: PO Box 20508, London NW8 8WT, England
         mailto:rageofachilles@clara.net
         http://www.rageofachilles.clara.net


Octinomos - _Fuckhole Armageddon_  (Baphomet, February 2001)
by: Aaron McKay  (8 out of 10)

Like Judas Iscariot, Octinomos is comprised of a single individual: F.
Soderlund,  of Puissance  notoriety. Possessing  a proclivity  for the
misanthropic,  Octinomos blasts  forth  with  unhinged aggression  and
fury. Seven  tracks pummel and  batter the listener into  complete and
utter acquiescence.  Having never  heard this band's  freshman effort,
_Welcome to My Planet_, I can only guess at its unbridled passion, but
calculated thought compels me to  inform you definitively of the power
_Fuckhole Armageddon_ holds in its  command. I usher your attention to
track five,  "Wipeout", as it is  currently my favorite of  the bunch.
Open disregard  for conventionality,  "Wipeout" dominates  the release
with its seething conviction and steep  black metal prowess as it dips
in  and around  the feast  and the  famine that  _Fuckhole Armageddon_
controls. If the  title doesn't perk your spirit up,  the music surely
will. When  I communicate to you  Mr. Soderlund is misanthropic,  I am
putting things delicately. Only the  blackest of orbits are dim enough
to estimate  the far-reaching  scope of  Octinomos's dominion.  A room
with(out) a view.


Opeth - _Blackwater Park_  (Music For Nations, 2001)
by: Chris Flaaten  (8 out of 10)

My favorite band is out with  their fifth album. When talking to other
Opeth fans,  no single album seems  to be the most  liked. Some favour
their old  material, some think  they get  better with each  album and
others, like myself,  think _My Arms, Your Hearse_ [CoC  #32] is their
best yet. _Blackwater Park_ opens very  much in the vein of _MAYH_ and
my  expectations enter  lunar orbit.  However,  I notice  the lack  of
linearity some  minutes into  the opener,  "The Leper  Affinity". They
started including some verse/chorus elements on _Still Life_ [CoC #44]
and this  is now  the norm  on _Blackwater Park_.  This does  give the
songs more  identity, but of  course makes the album  more repetitive.
Even though  this is  Opeth's longest running  album, it  contains the
least  music.  The lyrics  too  are  separated  from each  other,  not
following a concept  like previous albums did. Well,  enough about the
structure --  let's delve  into the music.  Opeth have  always flirted
with progressive rock influences and have, by incorporating these into
their extreme music,  created a truly unique sound. On  this album the
prog rock elements are clearer than  ever, and although this makes the
music more  melancholic and "beautiful",  it also muffles  the rawness
and intensity  and thus creates a  small shift in their  usual balance
between brutality and  beauty. This works well in  "The Drapery Falls"
-- a stunning piece with great atmosphere -- but in other songs I find
myself yearning for more fuel. "Dirge For November" is a good example.
After a  one and  a half  minute long acoustic  opening, the  amps are
turned on  and the  typical Opeth mellow-but-hard  harmonies continue.
This lasts for four minutes, though, with hardly any variation at all,
and  is then  followed by  a slow,  repetitive acoustic  guitar melody
going on for two minutes. An  eight minute Opeth song with essentially
only three different elements... who  would have thought? Still, there
are solid enough quantities of well  written music here to make this a
good album; I  just feel Opeth can do better.  _Morningrise_ [CoC #14]
was written over a five year period, _Blackwater Park_ was written and
recorded in less than  six months. That may be one  of the reasons for
what  I feel  is a  slight lack  of variation  and dynamics,  but then
again, _MAYH_ was written  in a hurry too. A good  album, but my least
favorite by this great band.

[Pedro Azevedo:  "At times uncannily  repetitive for an  Opeth record,
 _Blackwater Park_  nevertheless proved marginally more  enjoyable for
 me than  its predecessor _Still  Life_. Brilliant music as  one would
 expect from  Opeth, fortunately not  going too far into  their mellow
 '70s-influenced side, but  still not as close to  matching the superb
 _My Arms,  Your Hearse_ as I  hoped it would be.  Excellent record in
 its own right, though, with remarkable artwork to accompany it."]

[Brian Meloon: "I'm disappointed with _Blackwater Park_. Not that it's
 a bad  album, but it  isn't an improvement  in any way.  If anything,
 these songs are less memorable, partly  because some of the riffs and
 changes  are similar  to  ones  on their  previous  albums. You  will
 probably enjoy  it if you  like Opeth's style,  but if you  don't, it
 won't change your mind about them."]

[Paul Schwarz: "Rare are albums which inspire such a feeling of wonder
 as  _Blackwater  Park_  does,  yet from  Opeth  such  an  exquisitely
 brilliant release  is not a  surprise, but an expectation.  Opeth are
 songwriters of the highest order  who are expert at combining strains
 of dark,  distorted intensity  with moments of  exquisite melancholic
 beauty. Opeth are truly in a league all their own."]


Pagan Altar - _Volume 1_  (Oracle Records, 1998)
by: Alvin Wee  (10 out of 10)

This album means salvation for true metal devotees! Released ages ago,
this only came to me recently.  The lack of attention this release has
got is  lamentable considering this may  be one of the  most important
re-releases in the past few years! Released as a bootleg LP with a b&w
cover  years ago,  it soon  became a  highly sought-after  collector's
item, despite  the horrendous sound  quality. Now, Oracle  Records has
done  the metal  world  a huge  favor by  finally  exhuming this  cult
classic with  a decent sound-mix.  A collection of demo  material, the
album  is monumental  in its  ability  to evoke  scales of  pitch-dark
epicness reached  in the  commercial metal  world only  by Candlemass'
early  works. By  turns reminiscent  of Ozzy-era  Sabbath, Witchfinder
General and  even some of  Manilla Road's slower _Dreams  of Eschaton_
demo material,  every single track  stretches the very  limitations of
epic doom  metal. Words cannot  describe the heights these  guys reach
with their  music, and considering  the year of recording  (1982, with
some  material  written  in  1979!), it's  only  possible  to  compare
their pitch-black  image alongside Death  SS and perhaps  Black Widow.
Brimming with  unforgettable, epic  melody like  the old  NWOBHM bands
(anyone remember Incubus?), it's bands  like Pagan Altar who downright
embarrass today's commercial impostors HammerFall and Nocturnal Rites.
Shrouded in flowing black robes and belting out eerie dirges like "The
Black Mass",  the band must  have cut  a terrifying figure  onstage as
they are  pictured on the front  cover. It's a pity  the lyrics aren't
included with the CD, but lyrics  like "Blue velvet shrouds the altar,
black  candles  pierce the  dark  /  The  skulls of  unbelievers  peer
sightless, bleached and stark" should  give you an idea! NWOBHM, doom,
or just  plain heavy-metal, Pagan  Altar are  simply Gods, and  if you
haven't grown  up on Dimmu Borgir  or In Flames, there's  a chance you
might be  true enough to  realize this  stands alongside the  likes of
Pentagram and Death SS. And if you've ever spun a Demon record on your
turntable and  loved it,  spare no  effort to lay  your hands  on this
disc. You'll thank me for it.  The label (thanks Lynn!) also sent over
a T-shirt  (which is on  sale) with the  band logo that's  pretty damn
cult! Visit the merchandise page at:

Contact: mailto:oraclepromotions@lineone.net
         http://www.btinternet.com/~paganaltar/ (merchandise)


PCP - _Evil Hate Motherfucker_  (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

While California act PCP play death metal with a real brutal and heavy
edge  to it,  there is  a definite  groove going  on within  the music
of  _EHM_  as well,  bringing  some  diversity  to their  attack.  The
guitar riffs  are tight  and the  drumming is  fast and  furious, good
characteristics to have  when you want your death metal  to serve up a
punch. Mammoth bass player / singer Nate Clark growls like there is no
tomorrow on tracks like "Mr. Issimo" and "Hypocrisy, Lies and Deceit",
but his real work  can be found on the cool  "Volatile Ghost". Fans of
the Bay Area thrash/death metal scene will find something appealing in
the music of PCP as the band  pushes all the right buttons in making a
record move metal  fans with such force it could  knock over a trailer
park. No doubt better production would have earned them a higher mark,
but hey, this still rocks heavy on us!

Contact: P.O. Box 332, Vineburg, CA 95487, USA
         http://hometown.aol.com/evilh8mf/pcp.html


Plan E - _Found & Lost_  (Solardisk / Spinefarm, March 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (3 out of 10)

Never having heard of  this band before, I had no  idea what to expect
going into _Found  & Lost_. As it  turns out, this is  a collection of
mostly slow and depressed  material that relies on electronic-sounding
synth  and morphine-drenched  deep goth  vocals accompanied  by simple
fuzzy guitar  riffs and percussion. When  I say this is  -mostly- slow
and depressed, I mean Plan E  may also surprise you midway through the
record  by going  into  upbeat  mode and  therefore  adding insult  to
injury, because while the slower  material is dull and repetitive, the
more  upbeat stuff  is  downright irritating.  Recorded  at Tico  Tico
Studio, _F&L_'s  only credit  is the  expectably decent  production. I
shall not try to  guess why the band decided to  repeat the entire 35+
minutes of _F&L_ all glued together  in the final track and apparently
being played -backwards-. Ultimately, in  my opinion, Plan E just fall
into  the  abyss that  separates  being  affectingly doomy  and  being
pleasantly catchy without ever getting anywhere near achieving either.

Contact: http://www.solardisk.com


Pro-Pain - _Round 6_  (Century Media, 2001)
by: Matthias Noll  (7 out of 10)

I have the feeling  that the closer music gets to  the very basic rock
'n' roll formula, the more I am  able to tolerate a lack of innovation
and progress.  I'm not really  able to explain  why, but just  look at
AC/DC. Can  it get  any simpler  and less  adventurous than  that? And
still they  enjoy well-deserved  massive popularity and  are respected
for their stubbornness. I already made  an AC/DC comparison in my last
Pro-Pain review  [CoC #38], but it  is still valid --  maybe more than
ever  -- because  Pro-Pain  have  made another  record  devoid of  any
changes  to their  old and  well proven  formula. The  only exception,
almost  too small  to  mention, is  the  use of  clean  vocals on  one
chorus. Besides  that, _Round 6_  is the typical,  Gary Meskil-steered
steamroller, perfectly  constructed to  crush everything in  its path.
This year's groove-metal attack is slightly more up-tempo than _Act of
God_, but other than that there's really nothing to say that I haven't
already  mentioned in  my  review  of that  previous  album. Just  the
thought of  seeing them live with  this record makes me  salivate, and
almost every  track on  _Round 6_ is  a killer, but  I can't  help but
wonder  how much  longer this  formula  is going  to remain  effective
before even a fan like myself gets bored.


Psycroptic - _The Isle of Disenchantment_  (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8.5 out of 10)

It is hard nowadays  to really find death metal music  with an edge to
it. Sure there  are numerous acts out there (thousands,  in fact) that
play death metal  with passion and honesty, but few  manage to bring a
distinct element to what they do. Just think of the numerous bands you
have heard  throughout the  years that  sounded like  Cannibal Corpse,
Incantation or  Suffocation. Too many to  count on two hands,  eh? But
every once in  a while a band will  pop up out of nowhere  (or in this
band's case near the edge of the world) and just dazzle you with their
talent and musicianship. With a definite  tight sound and a real knack
for raw 'n'  dark death metal comes Psycroptic, a  punishing band that
rallies  a stunning  display of  death metal  dexterity all  over this
nine-song debut  disc. Singer Matthew  Chalk delivers a  vicious vocal
assault, especially  on such tracks  as "Condemned by  Discontent" (my
fave track),  the title  track and the  cleverly chaotic  "Beneath the
Ground  We Dwell".  Not only  is this  band playing  death metal  with
passion but also  they are making a strong effort  to show variety and
not be  afraid to move their  style from point A  to B with a  few new
twists. This  is not complex  and varied  like Gorguts (who  is?), but
_TIoD_ pumps a real adrenaline rush into your veins with each listen.

Contact: 70 Lochner St., West Hobart, 7000 Tasmania, Australia
         mailto:psycroptic@hotmail.com
         http://www.geocities.com/psycroptic/


Purgation - _Realm of the Dead_  (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (4 out of 10)

While the doom-inspired  rock 'n' roll flow of  Purgation is addictive
and meant to draw you in,  there is also another underlying message to
their  music: the  word of  God. This  three-piece from  Louisiana are
inspired by God's message and make  an effort to let the listener know
this through  their lyrics. Now,  if you  decide you've had  enough of
this religious  angle of  the band  and want to  skip this  review, go
right ahead; but  I have to be honest, despite  their message (which I
have no  interest in --  that is  my own view),  they do have  a nice,
groove-driven sound at times. I'm  particularly fond to track three of
this four-song disc, titled "Slumber". A  lot of the music here sounds
like early  '90s rock, with  a slightly  doomier feel to  it. Powerful
drumming and eerie  vocal cries add some dimension to  the mix, but in
the end,  the music  here just seems  to come up  with less  bite than
would be needed to  draw me in for repeated listens  over the next few
years. Good luck to Purgation and their crusade for God.

Contact: P.O. Box 640672. Kenner, LA 70064, USA
         mailto:info@purgation.com
         http://www.purgation.com


Regurgitate - _Carnivorous Erection_  (Relapse, 2001)
by: Aaron McKay  (7.5 out of 10)

While I think  I would prefer Pig Destroyer's _38  Counts of Battery_,
I'd  have to  say Regurgitate  is a  gunnery array  of physical  abuse
themselves. Chaotic  and wildly violent, this  Swedish four-piece sure
knows its "Bloody  Pile of Human Waste", track 20,  from its "Stinking
Genital  Warts",  track  34,  when  it  comes  to  heinous  grindcore!
Red-blooded vomitous  vocals spew  forth gut-wrenchingly as  to almost
cause  the  listener  empathetic  pains. I'd  say  slurp  _Carnivorous
Erection_ up in small doses or risk dysentery. After even a small wiff
of Regurgitate's stench,  you'll know what I mean.  Nauseating, to say
the very least.

Contact: http://www.regurgitate.net


Various - _Requiems of Revulsion: A Tribute to Carcass_
by: Aaron McKay  (8 out of 10)  (Deathvomit, March 2001)

Carcass. One  of the greats. This  effort is sure done  pretty fucking
well, too, as  to reverently pay respect  to the one of  the giants in
the genre. Some tracks listed  on this compilation have been mentioned
elsewhere by this writer on occasion  -- for example, Rotten Sound and
their re-do  of "Reek of  Putrefaction", Impaled's cover  of "Carneous
Cacoffiny"  and  Pig  Destroyer's  brilliant  re-working  of  "Genital
Grinder / Regurgitation of Giblets", among others. For the majority of
the  remaining fifteen  tracks  or  so, I  could  have  not been  much
more  impressed. Some  cuts  I  personally might  have  left off  this
tribute, like  Machetazo ("Suppuration") and Dead  Infection ("Pungent
Excruciation"), however  the diversity  of the participating  bands is
mostly  astounding  and  their  execution  of  Carcass's  material  is
wonderful. Anyone  as transfixed  by this  now defunct  but celebrated
great  will cherish  _Requiems of  Revulsion_, I  believe, as  I have.
Godfathers of gore, recognize the retribution!


Sabbat - _Live Meltdown_  (HMSS/Horror, 2001)
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)

Another obscure release from  the Japanese-based Heavy Metal Superstar
Records, this  time a collaboration  with Denmark's Horror  Records. A
blessing  for die-hard  Sabbat maniacs,  for this  means this  edition
of  the  infuriatingly  elusive  _Live..._  records  will  finally  be
available  outside Japan.  Notoriously  underground and  misanthropic,
HMSS Rec.'s  previous releases  of live  Sabbat performances  on vinyl
(_Live Kindergarten_, _Live Curse_, etc.) sold out instantly, with the
few remaining  copies reaching  incredible prices  ($40 or  so). _Live
Meltdown_ presents the Japanese Cult live in Sweden while on tour with
Unpure, Denial  of God,  Urn and Pagan  Rites, on  beautifully colored
picture vinyl  complete with obi  and backing  sheet. On show  are the
usual cult  favorites "Evil  Nations" and  "Satan Bless  You" together
with  newer cuts  like "Charisma"  from  their latest  album, and  the
recording quality  proves remarkable, given the  somewhat dodgy nature
of  the HMSS  releases. Accusations  of  Sabbat putting  out too  much
miscellaneous material  are unfounded; despite the  incredible slew of
7"s  and stuff  the  band  has released  on  a  consistent basis,  the
material on _Live Meltdown_ speaks  for itself: an iron-spiked fist in
the face  of wimpy commercial black  metal. Well worth the  high price
tag  if only  you could  find a  copy, the  entire edition  of 100(!!)
hand-numbered copies sold  out from Horror Records even  before it was
pressed in February, with fans like  myself having to buy their copy a
month in advance.

Contact: http://hmssrex.hoops.ne.jp


Sacred Sin - _Translucid Dream Mirror_  (Demolition, April 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

There  is  something  really  unique   sounding  about  the  music  of
Portuguese  act  Sacred  Sin.  The   epic  vibes  of  their  music  on
_Translucid Dream Mirror_, mixed with the aggressive metal assault and
fancy keyboard work,  really throws this act into the  spotlight in my
books. Unlike a lot of bands  out there nowadays who try their hardest
to fit into a scene or style, it  is great to hear an album like _TDM_
where the band has made a conscious effort to explore everything about
themselves as  musicians and  bring that  out in  the music.  The band
obviously disregarded  whatever is  popular in  the spectrum  of music
nowadays and aimed  to capture their metal essence  within _TDM_. Just
listen to the work on songs like  "Ravish the Soul" or "Gift of Second
Sight" and you  can just feel the intensity they  bring to their sound
and style.  This is  epic death  metal, with  a flair  for progressive
metal at times  (though in small doses) and of  course the radiance of
the black metal aura. A great band that deserves a lot of exposure for
the hard work they put into _TDM_.

Contact: http://www.demolitionrecords.com


Savatage - _Poets and Madmen_  (Nuclear Blast, April 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

Very  few bands  in  metal music  have been  as  successful at  making
concept records  as Florida's Savatage, who  are one of the  few bands
making metal  music that have the  talent and control to  stay focused
and weave  a wonderful  tale for  us to follow.  Take for  example the
plunge we  took into a  drug-ridden world  of _Streets: A  Rock Opera_
(1991). That  was mind-blowing  work, and  still stands  as one  of my
favourite albums  of all time.  While the band  has crusaded a  lot of
other  ideas  over  the  years  since _Streets_,  I  haven't  been  as
intrigued with much of their work of late as I have with the new album
_Poets and Madmen_. Yet another journey  by a group of musicians about
an insane asylum  (see Midnight Syndicate), the new album  (as the bio
says) "explores the dangers of  not looking deeper at the individuals,
objects and  incidence that surround  all our  lives". A big  round of
applause must  go out to Jon  Oliva, who returns to  the frontman role
for  this record  (though now  they have  Damond Jiniya,  who replaces
departing singer Zak Stevens). He  does an exceptional job at bringing
an older-era flair to the band once again, something chipped away when
Stevens began  fronting the band in  the mid-'90s. While the  power of
the record relies on the structure of the story, which is quite a good
read, the music of Savatage seems to have become a bit more toned down
and  thus  gives the  mood  of  the record  a  really  simple glow  of
aggressiveness. There  is a lot  of keyboard  work from Oliva  here as
well. It  still sounds tight (listen  to the track "I  Seek Power" and
"Awaken") and  it is good to  see Savatage still keeping  their wheels
turning and  making quality music. I  guess it is true  what they say:
storytellers never seem to fade away.


Schizoid - _All Things Are Connected_  (D-Trash, March 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

If you were  to scrape away all  of the sound clips,  the gabba techno
rhythms, the hypnotic  drum beats and all the  screams, Schizoid would
be nothing more than  a dark, evil rock 'n' roll  machine. A scary one
at  that, thought.  But with  these elements  at the  band's disposal,
Schizoid has managed to take the sound to a higher level, a gargantuan
array of song ideas that stomp  the listener and destroy everything in
its path. At times the electronic mayhem seems to be headed in various
directions, thus weakening  the drive, but for most of  the record the
cramming of  sounds, ideas  and whatever  else seems  to be  the right
thing  to do.  It is  hard to  say where  Schizoid draws  most of  the
inspiration for _All Things Are Connected_,  but to be honest, with so
much going on you don't really have time to think about that -- you're
more worried about what is coming  around the bend and bracing for the
next sonic  charge. Want to  piss off a neighbour  / your parents  / a
loved one?  Put this on and  watch the fireworks start.  Can't wait to
hear Round 2!

Contact: 34 Ontario St. N. #1, Kitchener, Ontario N2H 4Y4, Canada
         mailto:gfyrecords@hotmail.com
         http://www.schizoid.org


Serberus - _In Eternity_  (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (6 out of 10)

While  at  first I  was  interested  in  the aggressive  overtones  of
this  death metal  act (with  some melodic  grooves), I  slowly became
disinterested after  a few spins.  Colorado act Serberus  are talented
and  can play,  it just  seems  like they  can't really  get the  ball
rolling when it  comes time to avoid the cliche  metal music they seem
to be gnawing on. The vocals are a  bit over the top at times with its
raspy, echoing growl, the drums seem a  tad bit heavier in the mix and
also  the drummer  seems to  have gone  loony on  wanting to  have the
double-kick drumming  on Mach3.  Sounds like a  great idea  "YES", but
when it  starts to sound  like a typewriter stuck  on the "Z"  key, it
gets out  of hand.  I'll give out  some good marks  for the  solid and
blistering  opener  of  "Ancient  Throne"  --  heavy,  melodic  growls
accompanied by a sinister guitar riff that would make Tony Iommi proud
--, but not  really much else stands out as  worthy of heavy praising.
Serberus play  very adequately on  _In Eternity_  and it shows.  It is
quite possible they may win me  over with their next outing, but right
now I'm not really interested in where they are taking their music.

Contact: mailto:info@serberus.com
         http://www.serberus.com


Shadowbreed - _Only Shadows Remain_  (Painkiller, March 2001)
by: Alvin Wee  (7.5 out of 10)

I've  always been  a huge  fan of  Dutch death  metal, but  I have  my
reservations  about Shadowbreed's  newest offering.  Don't expect  the
grinding torture  of Asphyx,  or the  thrashy Frost-isms  of Pentacle:
what's  on  offer  here  is   a  rehashing  of  Unleashed's  brand  of
semi-melodic northern death metal. Track titles like "In the Shadow of
Yggdrassil" and  "Battlerager" don't leave  much room for doubt  as to
where their persuasions lie;  the Viking/Northern theme shines through
musically as  well, if not as  strongly as in some  Aeturnus material.
Vocalist  Remigius' characteristically  torrid  Dutch  growls have  me
wondering if there's something in the water over there that gives them
all  this  higher-pitched  timbre...  then again,  it's  a  refreshing
change  from  the guttural  American  mic-cuppers.  There's little  to
criticize  on this  album: the  songwriting is  competent if  somewhat
pedestrian, and backed  up by the confident musicianship,  makes for a
pretty solid  listen. The press-release's comparisons  to Bolt Thrower
and  Sepultura seem  largely  unsubstantiated; with  the exception  of
Unleashed (and perhaps Aeturnus) being the fore-runners in this genre,
Shadowbreed come  off as predominantly  original. Still, it  lacks the
edge  to make  it a  truly exceptional  album, and  with country-mates
God Dethroned  releasing an  album almost  simultaneously, Shadowbreed
face tough  competition from  their home-land  itself, not  to mention
internationally.  Great artwork  by Kris  Verwimp (hey,  it's a  pagan
theme, right?)  rounds off a  quality package, and  all in all  it's a
pretty good  sophomore album for  these Dutch Deathsters.  Released in
(get ready): digipak, jewel case, LP  and PicLP formats. Will never go
out of print this way...

Contact: mailto:painkiller@infonie.be


Sirius - _Spectral Transition - Dimension Sirius_
by: Chris Flaaten  (8 out of 10)  (Nocturnal Art, March 2001)

This Portuguese  black metal  band have toned  down the  classical and
symphonic aspect of their sound  since their promising debut _Aeons of
Magick_ [CoC  #46]. Following in  the footsteps of Emperor,  they have
recorded their newest album in Akkerhaugen  studio and ended up with a
sound not  very far from  _IX Equillibrium_  [CoC #39]. As  this would
indicate, the  guitar work is  much more  present now and  since their
riffs are  much more  interesting and aggressive  this time  around it
suits them well. In fact, this album  packs quite a punch and yet they
have kept  enough symphonic  elements to  ensure variety  and maintain
interest. Still,  I have to comment  on their lack of  originality. If
this album had come  out two years ago, it would have  raised a lot of
eyebrows, but releasing it way into this "black metal bands get vastly
inspired by  death metal" wave  the scene seems  to be on,  seems like
just  following the  trend.  The inspiration  from  Emperor's _In  the
Nightside  Eclipse_ was  very apparent  on their  debut too,  so there
seems to be a pattern. Having a cover of "The Majesty of the Nightsky"
as a bonus track  on their newest album also signals  who they look up
to musically.  Too bad they skipped  _Anthems to the Welkin  at Dusk_.
That being said, one can't deny  the quality of this music. These guys
can play well and  know how to make solid songs.  Let's hope they gain
enough confidence  with this album  to truly  stand on their  own with
their next release.

[Pedro  Azevedo:  "Sirius  position  themselves at  the  forefront  of
 symphonic  black   metal  with   _ST-DS_,  updating   and  developing
 their  sound  in  this  second  full-length  album  of  theirs.  More
 guitar-oriented  than its  predecessor,  _ST-DS_  features very  good
 musicianship and  songwriting, competent production and  a few famous
 guests. A  very worthy  purchase for followers  of this  sub-genre of
 black metal."]


Sisthema - _The Fourth Discontinuity_  (Noise, April 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley  (5 out of 10)

While I  am down  with the Meshuggah-inspired  grooves of  Italian act
Sisthema, everything from  the metallic crunch of the  guitars and the
vocal pattern  of singer Massimo  Pirazzoli (who is  copying Meshuggah
singer  Jens Kidman  big time!),  I have  to say  that it  gets pretty
tiring after  a while. Not the  Meshuggah worshipping -- I  don't mind
that, really -- I mean the lack  of diversity to their sound. They hit
one groove  pattern and  it sticks  throughout the  disc. And  when it
isn't Meshuggah  they are carving  ideas from, it is  _Chaos A.D._-era
Sepultura  they  hit  up  for  inspiration.  Even  though  songs  like
"Distorthica" and "When Everything Turns to None" are quite memorable,
it is sad to hear Sisthema  trying to play futuristic-style metal when
they can't help but  dip deep into the past to  mold their music. Good
for what it is, but only worth buying if all the Meshuggah records are
sold out at your local store.


Skinless - _Foreshadowing Our Demise_  (Relapse, 2001)
by: Aaron McKay  (7.5 out of 10)

What  I can  appreciate about  Skinless is  their in-your-fucking-face
style of brutality. The bass guitar, expertly played by Joe Keyser, is
another reason for my unabashed fondness  for this New York based four
piece with an attitude. Does it remind  me of the Florida bands I grew
up listening to?  YEA, but so what?! What  1998's _Progression Towards
Evil_ did to rope me in, _Foreshadowing our Demise_ did to solidify my
allegiance. Brutal, barbaric, heavy, catching and bold -- everything I
like in  a death metal  band (complete with some  audacious sampling).
Same-y? Probably, but shit this  severe is worth owning. Don't believe
me? Check out "The Optimist"; you'll be singing praise for evermore...


Skylark - _The Divine Gates Pt. II - Gate of Heaven_
by: Alvin Wee  (8.5 out of 10)  (Underground Symphony, 2001)

Eddie  Antonini and  crew  are  back with  the  second installment  in
Skylark's  "Divine Gates"  series (trilogy?).  Once again  Luis Royo's
fantasy cover art  almost steals the limelight from  the music itself,
and presented in  the limited A5-digipak format, is  simply a stunning
sight to behold.  Musically a continuation of their  previous works --
and effectively a summary of the  entire Italian power metal scene --,
_Gate of  Heaven_ simply  bursts with  symphonic epicness  and soaring
atmospheres, all  the while maintaining  the metallic edge  missing in
Antonini's solo  work. Somewhat handicapped by  the horrendously thin,
squeaky  production  and Fabio  Dozzo's  typically  nasal vocal  style
(another characteristic  of the  Italian method),  the quality  of the
material  still  shines through  in  bursts  of brilliant  melody  and
emotion. The  deceptively under-produced  drumming holds  the material
together  with  deft  passages  of pummeling  tightness,  the  equally
understated guitars chug along contentedly  in the background with the
keyboards  providing a  subtle, epic  backdrop,  and it  is Dozzo  who
holds  court with  an  impressively charismatic  vocal performance  in
the  forefront.  Tracks  like  "Lady  of  the  Sky"  and  "The  Heaven
Church"  clock in  impressively  at 11  and  13 minutes  respectively,
flaunting  Antonini's  mastery  at  creating  complex,  non-repetitive
song-structures, and proving the band's  eagerness to make the most of
such  splendid  material. While  Skylark  never  once comes  close  to
Rhapsody's monumental  orchestrations, the effectiveness of  the music
is remarkable considering its relatively effortless simplicity. All in
all  another  masterwork by  the  maestro  and team,  reminding  their
country-mates like Drakkar  and Power Symphony that it  is still bands
like Skylark  and Rhapsody who are  at the top of  Italy's power metal
scene.

Contact: mailto:underground.symphony@tiscalinet.it


Soils of Fate - _Sandstorm_  (Retribute Records, February 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (4 out of 10)

The words "ultra guttural blasting sickness" can be read near the band
name and album  title in _Sandstorm_'s front cover, and  it might make
you wonder  whether Soils of Fate  have been listening to  Mortician a
bit too  much. Well,  Soils of  Fate do  have a  human drummer,  and a
competent one at that,  so I thought they might not be  that much of a
copy of  Mortician after  all. I  was right, but  SoF's goal  of being
considered Sweden's  most brutal band  ever is decisively  hampered by
mostly uninspired riffs, generic songwriting and the deeply sad result
of their attempt  at "ultra guttural" vocals. SoF  shoot themselves in
the foot  by trying  so hard  to ensure  the vocals  are as  brutal as
possible that they  completely overdo it. As a  result, the ultra-low,
barely human  death grunts (allegedly  effect-free, by the  way) sound
practically powerless,  expressionless and amusing  at best --  just a
rumbling,  unintelligible sound.  The  final scream  that echoes  long
after  the last  song  is over  (before they  go  into "hidden  track"
bonanza,  that is)  provides the  proverbial  icing on  the cake.  But
even  if  the  vocals  didn't  ruin  the  whole  thing,  their  mostly
blastbeat-driven riffs are unimpressively passable at best and generic
throughout.  In this  debut album  of  theirs, SoF  seemingly fail  to
understand  that  there  is  far  more  subtlety  to  creating  really
effective aggression  than simply exaggerating  your sound as  much as
you  can. _Sandstorm_  is a  record  that could  eventually be  played
simply for fun, but which lacks any real substance.

Contact: Retribute Recs, P.O. Box 76, New Ferry, CH63 0QT, England
         mailto:retribute@aol.com


Susperia - _Predominance_  (Nuclear Blast, March 2001)
by: Chris Flaaten  (8 out of 10)

Tjodalv left Dimmu  Borgir because their intense  touring schedule was
incompatible with  his personal responsibilities. Now  he's playing in
Susperia,  signed on  Nuclear  Blast  and currently  on  tour with  --
you  guessed  it  --  Dimmu  Borgir.  Maybe  not  the  biggest  change
after  all,  but at  least  there  was  a  change in  music.  Susperia
doesn't  play  symphonic  black  metal  like  most  (myself  included)
expected.  _Predominance_  opens with  a  riff  similar to  Immortal's
latest album, and Susperia continues with 100% synth-free thrash/death
metal throughout  the entire album.  Cyrus, their lead  guitarist, has
composed  good songs  with plenty  of interesting  and dynamic  riffs.
Vocalist Athera impresses with very  varied vocal work and Tjodalv has
continued to improve as a drummer. They have recorded the album in The
Abyss and although the production differs a bit from the usual of that
studio, there  are no big surprises.  That's not a bad  thing, though;
The Abyss sound fits well with guitar-oriented metal. Overall, this is
an even  and enjoyable thrash  album and it  is obvious that  they got
signed to Nuclear Blast for reasons other than Tjodalv's presence.


Various - _The Return of Darkness and Hate_  (Drakkar, 2001)
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)

Probably  the most  eagerly anticipated  underground compilation  this
year, and  understandably so: the  mere thought of  fifteen previously
unreleased  tracks by  names like  Unpure, Sabbat,  Mutiilation, Demon
Realm, etc. are  enough to make a die-hard blackster  cream his pants.
Aussies Anatomy  kick off  the festivities with  a ripping  preview of
their  new album  _The Witches  of Dathomir_,  while Celestia  rapidly
takes  over with  their  expected brand  of melodic,  Swedish-inspired
black  metal, showing  unsurprisingly little  progress from  their MCD
material. French  underground proponents  Count Nosferatu  prove their
worth with  a semi-symphonic  piece of  darkness reminiscent  of early
Mysticum, which  turns out to be  one of the more  memorable tracks on
the CD. I've never quite  liked Sweden's Unpure, but "Incubus" rapidly
makes  me reconsider  my stand  with  its unique  blend of  oppressive
dissonance  and  strangely  headbang-inducing crunchiness.  It's  well
followed up by an dual  Asian onslaught: Singaporean thrashers Impiety
are in fine form after signing to  Drakkar and blast the faces off any
detractors  with the  raging "Sodomythical  Frostgoats"; the  Japanese
legend Sabbat follow hot on their heels with a marginally more subdued
but no less crushing live outtake "Evoke the Evil". It's doubtful that
any  band can  successfully  follow  up such  killer  tracks, but  the
French-cult Mutiilation  holds the  fort pretty  well in  the expected
Burzum-esque  style.  By  this  time,  it  isn't  so  easy  to  remain
clear-headed  about  each  track  anymore,  and  after  the  following
unimpressive track it's easy to understand why Danish destroyers Demon
Realm have received mixed reviews in  the past. Still not a bad piece,
and the same  mediocrity could be applied to  Norway's Nebular Mystic,
who follow on  with a typically symphonic approach.  Two French hordes
come on  next with marginally  better results:  Temple of Baal  with a
strangely  convincing  crudeness and  mayhem,  while  Garwall adopt  a
slightly more sober approach with  some semblance of melody lurking at
the edges.  Japanese crew Magane are  a breath of fresh  air after the
suffocating  bout  of primitiveness,  offering  a  more melodic  style
reminiscent of now-defunct country-mates Tyrant, but the repetition of
"Izanafi" makes for somewhat tiring listening after a while. Cursed is
the only band refusing to provide  contact info in the nicely laid-out
booklet,  but are  somehow  terribly compelling  with  their brand  of
dirty, primitive evilness. Certainly a band to keep an eye on, more so
than Grimlord  or Nebiros, who round  off the gala with  two tracks of
pedestrian,  yet not  unpromising blackness.  All in  all a  great buy
for  any  dedicated  follower  of the  underground,  and  a  fantastic
introduction for anyone  who's ever wondered about  the Drakkar circle
of bands: they're all here in full glory. $18 from the label.

Contact: mailto:drakkar2@wanadoo.fr


Thorns - _Thorns_  (Moonfog, March 2001)
by: Chris Flaaten  (9 out of 10)

More than ten years after the legendary Trondertun recordings, perhaps
one of the most inspiring sources  to Norwegian black metal as we know
it today,  Thorns finally  release their  debut(!) album.  Contrary to
what  one  would  think,  this  record  sounds  completely  fresh  and
original. The sound is similar to  a mix of other Moonfog artists like
Satyricon and Dodheimsgard, but colder,  grimmer and perhaps even more
futuristic.  Thorns mainman  Snorre has  come up  with some  psychotic
riffs that  are truly  hypnotising. Add  to them  magnificent drumming
courtesy  of Hellhammer  and vocals  by  both Satyr  and Aldrahn,  and
quality is ensured.  Songs vary from soothing ambient  pieces like the
intro to  "Underneath the  Universe" to  the ultrafast  and aggressive
"Interface to God". Like _Rebel Extravaganza_ [CoC #43], this album is
black metal(R) to the bone, albeit in a quite different form from what
most  are used  to. The  production is  perfect; crystal  clear. Sheer
coldness, laced  with a synthetic,  machine-like feel. _Thorns_  has a
feel to it that cannot be fully explained; it needs to be experienced.

[Paul Schwarz:  "Though not as mind-fuckingly  weird as Dodheimsgard's
 _666  International_,  _Thorns_  is   nonetheless  one  of  the  most
 effectively progressed  albums to come  from black metal in  years --
 and  is undoubtedly  the  best  yet this  year.  A strong  electronic
 tendency  is explored  to  great effect  without  interfering in  any
 negative  way  whatsoever  with   a  remarkably  tight,  intense  and
 wonderfully uncomfortable traditional-instrumental assault, iced with
 top-class vocal performances from Satyr and Dodheimsgard's Aldrahn."]


Thornspawn - _Empress From the Realms of Blasphemy_
by: Aaron McKay  (7 out of 10)  (Baphomet, February 2001)

Never  an opportunity  lost  for this  damn  impressive embodiment  of
horror  to  mystify  their  audience  with black  metal  of  the  most
uncompromising  sort. Back  in CoC  #48 last  year, I  was floored  by
_Blood of the Holy, Taint thy Steel_'s unreal fervency, but this Texas
four-piece has upped  the ante for certain here on  this MCD, _Empress
From the Realms of Blasphemy_. Only three new tracks were added to the
release  I  have:  "Master  of  Blood  Fury",  "Everlasting  Siege  of
the  Necro-Soldiers"  and, of  course,  "Empress  From the  Realms  of
Blasphemy".  Without so  much as  a  second thought,  I would  declare
"Everlasting  Siege of  the Necro-Soldiers"  the best  new cut  on the
album. I believe it embodies the direction Thornspawn would be wise to
move  in: brutal,  but uniquely  obscure as  the eviscerated  passages
scrimp across occasionally  among the wild debauchery.  See the review
of _Blood of  the Holy, Taint thy  Steel_ in CoC #48  for more insight
into this band, but let it  be known these additional three tracks are
more than a welcome addition to Thornspawn's repertoire.


Watain - _Rabid Death's Curse_  (Drakkar, 2001)
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)

It's  gonna happen  again: sold  out before  anyone realizes  what hit
them. Latest news is  that the last copies of this  are moving fast at
the  Drakkar  camp...  all  without  any of  the  promotion  or  prior
excitement from the other bands on the label. Pure Swedish fury of the
highest  quality  from these  unannounced  debutantes,  and with  such
astonishing quality  for a debut,  Watain are  set to leave  a blazing
mark  on the  international  underground. Combining  the intensity  of
Marduk /  Dark Funeral  with melody  akin to  Sorhin or  early Algaion
is  something  Thy Primordial  has  already  set  the stage  for,  and
_RDC_  works hard  at  pushing  the limits  here,  proving that  utter
violence  and ferocity  didn't  end with  Immortal's  _Battles in  the
North_. Alternating  between an all-out Norwegian-style  holocaust and
razor-sharp melodic hooks, these four blasphemers hurl forth all eight
tracks  at  the  altar  of  Christ with  a  terrifying  tightness  and
conviction that belies their relative  newness on the scene. Lyrically
too, the band stand head and shoulders above many of their labelmates;
while the subject matter won't be too  hard to guess at, it's all said
in a lean, refined style that  somehow reflects the utter blackness of
the musical atmosphere  without resorting to crudities.  It's great to
see there's some life yet in the  old corpse of the Swedish scene; not
all has gone  soft and Gothen-fied, and lately _RDC_  has been getting
more air-time  on my  speakers than  Marduk's latest  offering. _Rabid
Death's Curse_ is also available as a gatefold LP on End All Life, but
like their two other 7"s this won't last more than an instant.

Contact: mailto:drakkar2@wanadoo.fr (Drakkar)
Contact: mailto:eal@wanadoo.fr (End All Life)


Zyklon - _World Ov Worms_  (Candlelight, February 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

Zyklon sounds like  an explosive concept even before you  play the CD:
it is comprised  of Emperor guitarist Samoth (now  Zamoth) and drummer
Trym,  Myrkskog guitarist  Destructhor, and  Limbonic Art's  Daemon on
vocals.  Furthermore,  considerable  effort  seems to  be  going  into
making  it  clear to  everyone  that  this  is  a full-time  band  and
not  just  a  side  project.  So,  in the  end,  what  does  it  sound
like?  Well,  it  tends  to  sit  somewhere  between  Myrkskog  and  a
guitar-oriented  Emperor. Daemon's  vocals  are competent,  but a  bit
different and less remarkable than his work with Limbonic Art, perhaps
because  the rest  of the  sound  has so  little in  common with  LA's
symphonies. Trym's  drumming and  the guitar playing,  however, reveal
their imperial  origins, but the  Myrkskog component in the  latter is
often clear. The  result is a sharp-sounding, agile  and dynamic album
that combines  massive aggression and superior  technicality with good
ambient-setting, somewhat futuristic (or perhaps present day?) samples
and electronic  passages. The music  is intense and  rapidly shifting;
modern  black/death metal  is perhaps  the description  that suits  it
better, as  their style lies  somewhere between Emperor's  black metal
(sans keyboards)  and Myrkskog's stronger death  metal influences. The
result  definitely  works  well  and _World  Ov  Worms_  is  generally
consistent  and varied  throughout.  Ulver's Trickster  G (i.e.  Garm)
contributes a few vocal lines in the last track, which turns out to be
quite pleasant. _World Ov Worms_ is quite clearly derived from Emperor
and Myrkskog, but  it is nevertheless a very impressive  record in its
own right.

[Paul Schwarz: "Though  solid brutal death/black riff  and rhythm work
 sits comfortably with modern electronic sounds at intervals on _World
 Ov  Worms_, this  record  focuses on  getting the  most  it can  from
 metal's instrumental set-up. The result  is a good, enjoyable record,
 but looks  creatively tame and  almost repetitive next to  the Thorns
 album."]

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

If you have a band, don't forget to send us your  demo,  including  a
bio,  if  you  want  to  be  reviewed.  We  accept  demos  either  on
traditional   media    or    MP3     format.     E-mail     us     at
<mailto:Demos@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>  to  know  which  is  the   most
appropriate postal address for you to send your CD or tape,  in  case
you are sending one, or to indicate the location of  a  website  from
which we can download the MP3 files  of  your  entire  demo  (but  do
NOT send any files attached to your e-mail).

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


Arctic Circle - _Arctic Circle_  (12-track demo)
Arctic Circle - _Weird Winds_
Arctic Circle - _Dimension Dreaming_
by: Adrian Bromley  (***--)

I think it is safe to say that you need to be in another state of mind
to fully enjoy the bizarre nature of the one-man outing calling itself
Arctic  Winds. I  don't  necessarily  mean drug  intake,  but hey,  it
could  only help.  With a  real raw  production (some  might even  say
"horrible"),  Arctic Circle  manages to  plunge itself  deep into  the
bowels  of lunacy,  abrasive riffs,  samples and  screams that  are so
piercing they  seem they could cut  through walls. I am  actually glad
that I received three demos at once from Arctic Circle so that I could
see just  how far this man,  machine and four-track project  has taken
its sound. The self-titled demo is a mish-mash of ideas really, aiming
for  a  eerie  atmospheric  sound  (with  distortion  throughout)  and
moves through  certain black metal  inspired song structures.  The low
production  seems  to take  kindly  to  the song-like  sections  quite
nicely, proving that things are flowing  with some form of idea behind
them. The  following demo, _Weird  Winds_, sees the project  trying to
find a bit more structure in the material, more vocal arrangements and
lots  of  guitar  work  flow  evenly  here.  It  seems  as  with  this
demo, Arctic  Circle discovered  that the  anarchy could  mold itself.
Interesting, as  Arctic Circle  has somewhat  disbanded the  notion of
atmosphere  and gone  down the  route somewhat  of becoming  a regular
band. As  I play the third  demo, _Dimension Dreaming_, it  is good to
see that the anarchy is still there, as is the songwriting (growing as
the months go on), but still a  sense of uncertainty with what you get
as the demo plays on. I like the ideas here, and it is cool to see the
strong ideas (and sounds) coming from Arctic Winds; I'm just wondering
if people will have  time to sit through this and  come away with some
kind of satisfaction. I  did for the most part, but  I'm left a little
dumbfounded  of what  was  being thrown  in my  face  as the  material
played  on. Good,  but there  is room  for improvement.  Arctic Wind's
creator Sean  should be excited  that his creativity has  spawned some
interesting ideas. Now it is up to him to take them further.

Contact: 8-258 12th St., Brandon, MB R7B 2X5, Canada
         mailto:arcticcircle50@hotmail.com


Aurora - _Promo 2001_  (4-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (*****)

Following the demise of their  label Serious Entertainment, Aurora are
now seeking  a new home. This  demo CD therefore contains  four tracks
which  they  hope  will help  them  secure  a  new  deal, and  for  me
constitutes a more than welcome surprise after their superb _Devotion_
[CoC #49],  which I elected  my favourite  record of 2000.  I entirely
expected  being  treated  to  another  dose  of  excellent  technical,
emotional extreme  metal, but I  was wondering whether  the production
would  be up  to par  --  fortunately, and  somewhat surprisingly,  it
sounds just  like _Devotion_, i.e.  clear, sharp and powerful.  As for
the four songs  on display, Aurora simply continue  to demonstrate how
extensively  they  master their  art,  again  adding well  thought-out
songwriting to superb technical skills.  The first three songs are all
normal Aurora  material, mixing  dynamic extreme metal  with anguished
Swedish-sounding vocals and more  subdued sections with tortuous clean
vox  -- memorable,  powerful and  emotional. I  have compared  them to
Opeth and Dark Tranquillity's _The Gallery_ before, and the comparison
still sounds valid to me, even if ultimately these are just influences
and these Danes definitely have their  own unique sound -- which makes
it all  the more worthwhile. Fourth  and final track "Chains  of God",
however,  is rather  different, as  Aurora explore  their very  doomy,
tensely  tranquil  side  before  exploding onto  one  final  burst  of
aggression. Overall,  surely demo  CDs can't  come any  more brilliant
than this.  This ought  to be  such a quick  signing that  they should
already have a  label by the time  this review comes out,  but just in
case there's  something wrong  with all  the labels  out there  and no
one's picked them up yet, I'll put it this way to try and get my point
across clearly: if -I- had a label, I'd  do all I could to make sure I
signed Aurora.

Contact: http://www.aurora.ms


Mithras - _Dreaming in Splendour_  (3-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (***--)

They  may have  changed their  name from  Imperator since  their _Gods
Among Men_ demo  [CoC #46], but their goal still  remains the same: to
create what they describe as "brutal, experimental, epic death metal".
With a massive  Morbid Angel influence, I might add.  Last time around
the  band was  seeking a  new drummer;  however, founding  member Leon
Macey is  the one behind the  drums on _Dreaming in  Splendour_, and I
feel they  -still- need  to look for  a new drummer  to get  some real
consistency  into their  tempos. Nevertheless,  _DiS_ is  certainly an
improvement  over  _GAM_: the  songwriting  is  less drawn  out,  more
concise,  the instrumental  side  is generally  better  and the  death
grunts sound quite competent, if generic. Mithras now need to become a
tighter unit and shake off this Morbid Angel shroud they carry around,
in the process hopefully creating  some more impressive riffs as well.
Mithras show they have been working  hard, and apparently they have an
entire album ready for recording; whilst  I think it might be somewhat
early for that, I'm pleased to  see Mithras improving and it might not
be  long before  they are  indeed  ready for  the next  step in  their
career. For now, however, I would still recommend some more maturing a
bit more before moving on.

Contact: http://www.mithras.freeserve.co.uk


Vokodlok - _Unchain the Wolf_  (5-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (****-)

With their band name coming  from ancient Romanian "vukodlak", meaning
"werewolf", and  their demo being  titled _Unchain the Wolf_,  you can
probably guess  Vokodlok play black metal,  and not of a  modern kind.
These naming  choices might even lead  you to think Vokodlok  are some
sort of a  Romanian version of Ulver circa  their esoteric masterpiece
_Nattens  Madrigal_ [CoC  #21]. The  former conclusion  would be  more
accurate than  the latter, for  Vokodlok do play relatively  raw black
metal and  shun keyboards,  but in  a rather  different way  from what
Ulver ever  did. Vokodlok  utilise a  guitar-driven style,  the guitar
work  being rather  busy  in its  creation  of Norwegian-sounding  icy
melodies and  riffs. _Unchain  the Wolf_ is  mostly mid-paced,  but it
does contain plenty of effective outbursts of speed as well. The music
harkens back to older black metal  influences, whilst at the same time
boasting good (yet cold-sounding) production and a drum machine, which
is competently  used. The vocals work  well with the guitar  lines and
artificial drumming, creating some  good, even memorable passages, and
the overall result is a rather pleasant demo. I see no reason why this
young band would not be able  to follow the footsteps of country-mates
Negura Bunget, for example, even if their style is quite different.

Contact: Andrei Pantiru, str. Aleea Saturn nr. 9,
         bl. A11, sc. A, Ap. 2, Arad 2900, Romania
         mailto:vokodloks@usa.net


Znich - _Adchuwanni Vyasny_  (3-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (**---)

Znich are  from Belarus and play  Slavonic folk metal. How  about that
for unusual? Wait,  there's more: they sing in  their native language,
and  everything on  this demo  tape  is written  using their  Cyrillic
alphabet. By now you're probably getting  a feeling that this might be
something quite  special, different  from the norm.  Well, it  is, and
Znich  (formerly  a doom/death  band)  should  certainly receive  some
credit for their unusual style -- in fact, you should add another mark
to my rating if what I  described so far sounds especially interesting
to you. As  for their music, a  simple guitar line leads  the way, the
female  vocals evolving  around it  rather repetitively  -- and  it is
essentially through the female chanting  that the folk element becomes
more apparent, as the male  vocals (ranging from clean to occasionally
growled) and instrumental side are a  bit more normal. Znich have been
around for some  time, having two previous releases to  their name and
many a live concert (not to mention numerous line-up changes), and all
in all that tends to detract from the value of _Adchuwanni Vyasny_: it
could have been a reasonably promising and somewhat daring demo from a
young band,  but given the  experience Znich  should have by  now, one
would expect  something much  more consistently interesting.  The very
prominent and  peculiar female  vocals are  not to  my liking,  but at
least  Znich are  trying  to  do something  different  from the  norm;
however, there is still great room for improvement.

Contact: Yuhnevich Sergey, Box 473 Minsk, 220047 Belarus
         mailto:manager@znich.com

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


             MASSACHUSETTS + METAL = WICKED BRUTAL PISSA!
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               New England Hardcore and Metal Festival
         April 13/14th 2001 @ The Palladium in Worcester, MA
                           by: Adam Wasylyk


     Ah yes, another road trip. Although a bit early this time around,
as  our usual  haunt of  the  infamous summer  festival the  Milwaukee
MetalFest  has  been usurped  by  the  springtime annual  New  England
festival. This  year being my  first in attendance, reflecting  back I
must admit,  despite not being floored  by many of the  bands on hand,
this  was  the best  scheduled  and  most effortlessly  planned  music
festival I've  had the pleasure  to see.  Bands played when  they were
supposed to,  cancellations (which are always  inevitable) didn't slow
things down... it's nice  to see some order to the  chaos the bands on
hand were in the process of delivering.
     My lasting  impressions of the  venue, the Palladium,  aren't too
great. Featuring two stages -- the "Main Stage" and the "Second Stage"
-- is a good idea simply because of the diversity of the acts on hand.
For  example, death/black  metal fans  could check  out Vital  Remains
while those into  the noisecore spectrum of music  could witness Burnt
by the Sun. There  was always a band to check  out which matched one's
tastes in music,  which I'm sure all in attendance  were thankful for.
My only beef was how small the second stage was, causing standing room
only and preventing  some from seeing bands simply because  of lack of
room.  The  acoustics were  average,  but  that  pretty much  met  the
expectation I  had going in, so  no disappointments there. I  hear the
venue will be changed to a bigger one that sits close by, which should
be  a smart  move as  I only  see this  festival gaining  momentum and
popularity in the years to come.
     The  CoC  contingent this  year  consisted  of yours  truly,  the
editors Gino and Adrian, along with  CoC alumni Alain and Steve. Along
with a lot of metal went the usual chemical consumption by some of our
crew,  including plenty  of  green  (and I'm  not  just talking  about
Heineken) and Jager for all.

Day 1
~~~~~
     The first band I was able to check out wasn't the greatest way to
get things  started in my mind.  Pessimist took to the  Main Stage and
surprisingly left a lot to be desired. The shoddy sound had a big hand
in it,  along with my  complete unfamiliarity with the  material being
played. If any of  it was old stuff, I wasn't able  to recognize it. I
know the  band have had  line-up problems  recently, so that  may have
factored into it, but what I heard was indistinguishable from the many
generic death metal band's I've forgotten about over the years. A true
disappointment.
     Having seen  Vital Remains before,  it was a good  opportunity to
check out  Burnt by the Sun.  Powered by the drumming  prowess of Dave
Witte (ex-Human Remains, Discordance  Axis), the Relapse signee ripped
through a half hour set to  a -packed- Second Stage. The track "Lizard
Skin Barbie"  was but one  highlight in the noisecore/grind  set these
guys churned out. Lethal.
     It  was now  time to  see just  how bad  Catastrophic could  get.
Having been completely turned off by their debut album _The Cleansing_
[CoC #52], this  was their time -- their second  chance essentially --
to prove me wrong  and to give me a reason  to re-explore their music.
Proving  that I  do  know something  metal, they  went  to sound  like
the  pretenders that  they  are. Some  have said  they  sound like  an
invigorated Obituary... bah! Just because a band contains an ex-member
of Floridian death metal legends Obituary doesn't equate to a spin-off
band being as good. Their sound can't compete, in any way, to the gods
of this  music -- Nile,  Morbid Angel, Death... even  Cannibal Corpse.
There's  really  no reason  for  this  music. Catastrophic  -are-  the
weakest link. Goodbye.
     Having seen Monstrosity once before,  I was expecting the band to
turn in  another good performance. Boy  was I wrong. Making  it to the
stage  just in  time (to  the threats  of the  P.A. guy  who announced
"Monstrosity to the stage, this is  the final time, Monstrosity to the
stage"),  they fell  beneath the  bad sound  emanating throughout  the
Main Stage  and couldn't  free themselves.  Sure material  like "Fatal
Millennium" and "Imperial  Doom" is a great idea to  perform live, but
not coming  out of  these speakers. I  can only pray  that I  see them
again in a better venue, as I know this set wasn't indicative of their
live performance.
     Checking out my set list for the rest of the night's festivities,
I soon found that the Main Stage was a lock for the rest of the night.
The time in between I was able to peruse the suffocatingly small space
the vendors  occupied, and become  better familiar with  the structure
and architecture of  the building I currently resided.  The main stage
has a nice  gothic feel to it,  very similar in both mood  and look to
the  Opera House  in Toronto,  Canada, but  ten times  the size.  It's
unfortunate that the acoustics were so poor, as bands would fight them
the entire length of the festival.
     The Main Stage  would soon see one of the  biggest tours in metal
thus far in 2001, featuring Lamb of God, The Haunted, Dimmu Borgir and
Cannibal Corpse. By about 9pm the news circulated that the first night
had sold out... metal had indeed scored a big one that night.
     Lamb of  God had the  task to begin  the four-band tour  off, and
they did so with  a lot of gusto and flair.  The noisecoric and jagged
metal riffs  from the  guitars were only  magnified by  the pissed-off
vocals and  stage theatrics  of singer Randy  Blythe, who  prowled the
stage like a madman and made  machine-gun gestures to the thousands in
the crowd. A great warm-up for what was to come.
     The Swedes  in The  Haunted put  on a  good performance  of their
style of metal, which sat well with me, but failed to "move me" in any
significant way. Indeed  tracks such as "Hate Song",  "Bury Your Dead"
and "Hollow  Ground" were performed  exceedingly well, but  I'll admit
that the  excessively melodic nature of  the band gets to  me. When it
gets to sound a  little too happy or bouncy, well,  that ain't me. The
crowd  respectfully  and  faithfully  gave the  band  an  enthusiastic
response, visibly  affecting the  band. They  deserved it,  despite my
occasional indifference.
     Dimmu Borgir were to follow, sure  to appease those who crave for
pseudo-orchestrated black metal. Opening  to an orchestrated piece and
a green-coloured fog,  the Norwegians entered the battle  arena to lay
claim to lost souls and badly corpsepainted fans. A good number of fan
favourites mostly  came from  the past  three albums,  songs including
"Spellbound by the Devil", "Master of Disharmony", and a big chuck off
their newest  LP _Puritanical  Euphoric Misanthropia_ [CoC  #52]. What
did I  think? I thought  they were  capable of attaining  some serious
atmosphere and  chaos, but  oftentimes fell into  a foray  of banality
which, again,  may be in part  due to a  lack of the good  acoustics a
band such as Dimmu Borgir depend on.
     Deciding to  retire early, the  preference to hang out  and sleep
early than to  bear witness to the brutal death  metal stylings of the
closers to the tour, Cannibal Corpse,  was too strong. The rest of the
night is clouded in memories of green haze and harsh black liquids.

Day 2
~~~~~
     Day two  began with  a slight  hangover, but  a brisk  shower and
sunny, warm weather  had a positive toll on my  head. Forgoing as many
forgettable bands  as possible, I  arrive to see Skinless  closing out
their  set. Playing  a powerful  blend  of mosh-heavy  riffs and  sick
blast beats,  Skinless performed  a good deal  of their  Relapse debut
_Foreshadowing  Our Demise_  [reviewed  in this  issue],  much to  the
delight of  their many fans in  attendance. Definitely a band  who has
potential to perhaps  one day lead the brutal death  metal scene. Yes,
they are that good.
     Disappointingly,  Gorguts had  cancelled  their  set, so  Exhumed
stormed the  stage to the tune  of their brand of  gore metal. Furious
death metal was accentuated by projectile vomiting, fire breathing and
corpse  head  vomiting... how  could  someone  -not- like  this?  Damn
entertaining, hope to see more of them sometime soon.
     The  rumour  started to  circulate  that  this was  Dying  Fetus'
farewell tour, although this has been  discounted by the band on their
website, so  fans can rest  easy and expect  a new line-up  for future
recordings. Playing  a tight and  brutal set,  which is what  has made
these guys so  popular, kicking into "Killing on  Adrenaline" ranks as
one my favourite moments at the  Fest. My only criticism is with their
new  vocalist, who  takes care  of  the mid-range  growls. His  vocals
aren't bad,  but don't quite  measure up to  ex-bassist/vocalist Jason
Netherton, whose former role in the band may never be filled properly.
Nevertheless, it was a very powerful set, easily one of the best.
     Sweden's Opeth opened  to the rousing cheers and  shouts of their
many  fans on  hand, delivering  a  powerful set  of their  championed
melodic  death.  Despite my  alcohol-soaked  brain,  gems like  "White
Cluster", "Forest of  October", "Advent" and "The  Drapery Falls" were
performed  effortlessly, although  they  would perform  said songs  in
Toronto about two weeks later with  much better sound. But it was nice
to  enjoy Opeth  with  what was  at least  2000  people minimum,  many
showing their appreciation with the  flame of their lighters. Powerful
set.
     I've always had a love/hate  relationship with Amorphis in a live
setting. I've  always felt  that the members  never do  their recorded
material justice. After seeing the band a couple of times in the past,
apparently #3 was the trick as it finally offered me a set of Amorphis
music I  could enjoy.  Plush with high  quality tracks  ("Greed", "The
Castaway", "My Kantele", "Better Unborn"),  their set was an enjoyable
one if not  perfect. I still believe their treatment  of "Black Winter
Day" does  not signify the brilliance  of said track, but  that's just
me. And Tomi  really needs to start singing the  growls again, as even
though Pasi  is getting better with  time it still isn't  the same. Oh
well, I exist in frustration.
     Time  for  Meshuggah! They  proved  to  be  the perfect  band  to
headline the second and last night  of the festival, as Meshuggah hold
musical  qualities that  both  hardcore/noisecore and  metal fans  can
enjoy. Mosh  heavy and maniacal,  I guess this is  as good a  place to
discuss the "moshing"  that went on during the festival.  I don't know
what they call  this in New England,  but back in Canada  we call that
assault!  Flying fists  and  elbows, blind  kicks...  I'm surprised  I
didn't  hear  any  serious  injury stories  during  my  stay.  Anyhow,
Meshuggah  picked a  great set  list  to perform,  songs like  "Sane",
"Future Breed Machine"  and "Vanished" were vomited  forth and eagerly
devoured by  its most rabid fans.  There's still debate as  to whether
"Transfixion" was  played... if it  was, I must have  gone momentarily
deaf during its performance. A great  way to finish the Fest off, with
thoughts of possibly attending next year as strong as ever.
     My favourite moments of the Fest:  hangin' out with the CoC crew,
watching some  brave soul  breakdance in the  mosh pit,  the brutality
(Skinless, Dying  Fetus, Meshuggah), the melody  (Opeth, Amorphis) and
meeting friends both old and new. Thank  you all for making it a great
Fest.

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

          B A P T I Z E D   B Y   F I R E   A N D   B E E R
          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Marduk, Mortician, Vader, God Dethroned, Amon Amarth,
        Mystic Circle, Sinister, ...And Oceans and Bal Sagoth
        at the Hafenbahn, Offenbach, Germany, April 14th 2001
                          by: Matthias Noll


     No Mercy tour again. And in the shitty Hafenbahn again, too. This
place should really get eradicated from  the face of the earth. Packed
like a  cattle transport,  incompetent personnel  at the  entrance, no
place to  sit or rest  other than  the slime-covered floor,  a heating
system  running on  full  power  during a  seven  hour  plus gig.  The
situation  was worsened  by hordes  of stereotypical  dumb-faced black
metal retards whose intelligence was  obviously just sufficient to put
on a  Burzum T-shirt and by  unknown means of transport  arrive at the
location, only to  collapse during the first two or  three gigs due to
an overdose of German beer.
     The first two bands, Bal Sagoth and Finland's ...And Oceans, were
equally crappy. Bal Sagoth's dwarfish  vocalist, his face covered with
a leather  mask, posed with  a sword straight  out of the  King Arthur
memorabilia shop in Cornwall, England, while his colleagues created an
absolutely horrible  and undistinguishable  rumble in  the background.
Utter crap!
     Commencing  in  this  interesting   style  of  performance,  more
appropriate for  a bad comedy  show, the  ...And Oceans singer  wore a
white T-shirt,  white boxer shorts(!)  plus biker boots(!!).  His bald
head and the T-shirt were smeared with blue paint. This looked neither
weird  nor psycho  -- it  looked nothing  other than  totally moronic.
Backing  him up  on his  crusade  for more  humour in  metal were  two
baby-faced six stringers  who turned out to possess  a master's degree
in the art of motionlessly watching their left hands fumbling the neck
of  their guitars.  From  time to  time they  hid  their faces  behind
angelic blond hair  and engaged in head banging of  a type even people
with serious spine injuries would consider healthy. A bass player with
a plastic bag over his head  and a surprisingly normal looking drummer
without any noteworthy  skills completed this theatre  of tragedy. I'm
not really sure  if there was a keyboard player,  because from where I
was watching I  couldn't see anyone, but keyboards  weren't audible at
all anyway. Before someone accuses me  of judging a band on the visual
impression alone:  the music  was likewise. My  original plan  for the
night had included  buying their new album, _AMGOD_, from  which I had
heard a  convincing track,  at the merchandise  booth. Some  plans are
made to be changed.
     Holland's Sinister, whom  I did not really  remember for anything
but a couple of rather average records  in the first half of the '90s,
must just recently  have joined the ranks of death  metal outfits with
female  vocalists. A  dainty brunette  with quite  a mean  grunt. With
songs like  "Bastard Saints",  the Dutchmen sent  the audience  into a
frenzy  I  had never  expected  so  early  and definitely  not  during
Sinister's gig. Their  simple but effective death metal  was very well
executed  and there  were  enough  old school  death  metal freaks  to
initiate some  considerable chaos in  front of the stage.  Others were
also surprised by  how well Sinister went down and  got rid of objects
hindering them in their thrashing. A full plastic mug emerged from the
front  row. The  owner  must  have been  a  specialist in  ballistics,
probably a  veteran of  the German  World War  II rocket  factories in
Peenemunde, because  once on  its trajectory the  mug sailed  over the
crowd without spilling any of its content. I saw the projectile coming
straight at me, but my arms were pinned  to my body by the crowd, so I
wasn't able  to do  anything but  slightly bow my  head. With  a weird
sound, which was audible to bystanders even with Sinister playing, the
mug hit  my forehead and provided  me with a baptism  in true Teutonic
style. Despite this unpleasant but  funny incident, Sinister were good
enough to make me order two of their albums from Nuclear Blast today.
     Germany's most hated  black metal band, Mystic  Circle, played in
fourth place. I  saw quite some people in the  audience with Nargaroth
T-shirts,  having the  quite entertaining  back print  "Anti Count  v.
Beelzebub Corporation".  The much-hated count  turned out to be  a not
really  Satanic looking,  bald shaven  guy, who  would have  been well
advised  to wear  a T-shirt  instead of  presenting his  wobbly chest.
Their music  never left  the realm of  cheesy, typical  keyboard laden
black metal  with incompetent guitar  solos. To my ears  Mystic Circle
sounded like a watered down, simplified and uninspired Dimmu Borgir or
Cradle of Filth rip-off. Some in the audience showed their sympathy by
constantly  flipping the  bird towards  the stage,  others engaged  in
weird  dancing as  if listening  to  disco type  music. Mystic  Circle
completed their  set without commenting  on any  of that, and  even if
there's no reason to hate them I can agree with the Nargaroth fan base
that Mystic Circle suck.
     Amon Amarth were next and one  of the four bands that had already
played on  the No  Mercy tour  2000 [CoC #48].  This time  they didn't
impress me quite as much as last  year. This was mostly due to a muddy
sound, which was  heavy and in your  face but made most  of the guitar
melodies inaudible.  They also  omitted all  their older  material and
played only songs from _The Crusher_ [reviewed in this issue]. There's
no  doubt  that  this is  a  great  album,  but  I missed  songs  like
"Victorious March",  which worked so  brilliantly last time.  The band
played  a very  short set  of approximately  30 minutes  and performed
tracks like "Bastards  of a Lying Breed", "The Sound  of Eight Hooves"
and at last  the brutal "Masters of War", which  must have caused some
snapped  necks  in the  crowd.  Amon  Amarth's stage  performance  was
convincing as usual and singer Johan  Hegg (a man with the proportions
of a  mountain) never lost  control of  the audience, which  in return
gave Amon Amarth a level of response worthy of a headliner.
     Although  I  failed  to  understand  the  reasoning  behind  this
particular sequence of bands, Holland's God Dethroned played after and
not before Amon Amarth.  They went down a lot better  than on the year
2000  version  of  No  Mercy,  but considering  the  amount  of  crowd
participation, they should  have been placed before  Sinister as well.
With a new permanent skinsman and not Tony from AngelCorpse behind the
drums, the  band played a very  tight set, including tracks  like "The
Art of Immolation", "Boiling Blood"  and "Serpent King", plus a couple
of tracks  from their new  album _Ravenous_. Despite some  decent song
material, they never managed to  cross the frontier that separates the
good but slightly  insipid from the great live acts.  They ended their
set  with an  almost  unidentifiable cover  version  of Death's  "Evil
Dead".
     The  first band  to have  the  full stage  and play  on the  main
drum  set was  Vader. Unfortunately,  the continuously  bad sound  was
responsible for the  only disappointing show I've seen  from the Poles
so far. While Peter's solos were  more at the forefront than ever, his
and Mauser's  rhythm guitars remained almost  inaudible throughout the
set. This  became so frustrating that  I was almost happy  they didn't
play  my favourite  song  "Xeper", which  would  have been  completely
ruined by the  lack of guitars. Still, the audience  went crazy to the
sound of tracks like "Carnal",  "Silent Empire", "Sothis", "Wings" and
two songs from their latest  release, _Reign Forever World_ [CoC #52].
The band's  stage performance was as  energetic as ever but  could not
really make up for the sound problems. Fortunately, they'll be back in
late Summer, supported  by Cryptopsy and a couple of  other bands, and
from my last  encounter with Vader on the _Litany_  tour I can testify
that under  more favourable conditions they  are on par with  the very
best live  acts. If  Vader and Slayer  would play on  the same  day in
different places, you wouldn't find me  at the Slayer gig. I hope this
illustrates how highly I rate this band.
     Now it  was time  for the second  headliner, Mortician.  For some
people this  band is the most  brutal thing around, but  I'm more with
Paul  Schwarz and  the 0(!)  points  he gave  Mortician for  _Chainsaw
Dismemberment_  [CoC  #42]. They  were  entertaining  for exactly  two
songs. And,  like a slightly  above average joke  which is good  for a
laugh and a  half but gets incredibly annoying when  told twenty times
in a row,  things got extremely tiresome from the  third song onwards.
Would the next song  start with the staccato riff and  end in the blur
of noise  or vice versa?  It got truly hilarious  when the guy  at the
mixing desk got confused which  song-intro to select. Directed by Will
Rahmer himself from  the stage, he skipped through a  couple of tracks
on his CD to finally find the  right piece of gore movie sample. As if
it mattered.  Unfortunately I  can't give  you any  song titles,  as I
didn't bother to take any notes and also did not attempt to unscramble
announcements  like (in  a  normal  voice) "This  is  from _Domain  of
Death_"  and then  (obviously  starting the  evil  machine from  Hell)
"Uuuuuuurghhhh  uuuuurghhhh uuuuurguguuuurgh".  Probably one  fifth of
the audience  enjoyed Mortician's  gig and there  was some  moshing in
front of  the stage, but most  stood and watched and  a small minority
obviously had a good laugh.
     It was around  11:15pm now and I had been  standing in the shitty
venue for  more than  six hours --  my desire to  listen to  metal had
already given way  to complete exhaustion. Even worse,  Marduk was not
part of my  must-see list after one bad and  one okay-ish encounter in
the past,  and only pride  made me stay even  though I was  tempted to
leave.  Unexpectedly, Marduk  did  absolutely slay  on this  occasion.
After the intro  they launched "Azrael", the  lightning-fast opener of
_La Grande  Danse Macabre_ [reviewed  in this issue], operating  at an
almost unbearable volume.  The whole band seemed to be  far more agile
than at the  previous shows I had witnessed. Even  B. War had replaced
his "stand still and stare, looking  as evil as possible" stage acting
with serious headbanging. Legion whirled around like a demon from Hell
and showed  that he has  developed remarkable frontman skills.  I even
became worried about how much longer his voice was going to endure the
strain of endless  touring and recording. His rasp was  popping in and
out like listening to music on headphones with a broken cable. Somehow
that  made the  aural onslaught  even  more ferocious  and genuine.  I
wouldn't have been surprised to see him spitting blood sooner or later
without him  caring about it. The  sound experience was not  only like
standing  behind  a  starting  747,  the engineer  got  the  mix  dead
right with  clear and  powerful drums, a  punishing guitar  sound and,
surprisingly for  a black  metal show,  audible bass  work. Continuing
with a  mixture of old  and new  material, Marduk really  convinced me
this time, and that  means quite a lot taking into  account that I had
almost left the venue before they started. A killer show, during which
almost everybody  in the audience  mobilized their last bit  of energy
and which ended  with the doomy "Summer's  End" -- and at  last the No
Mercy tour was saved from being a disappointing event.

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

  A T   T H E   H A U N T E D   G A T E S   O F   V E N G E A N C E
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     CoC attends Nile, The Haunted, Carnal Forge and The Forsaken
           in l'Antipode, Rennes, France, 9th February 2001
                           by: David Rocher


     For a devoted  follower of the Swedish death metal  genre such as
myself, the 9th  of February 2001 was  more than likely going  to be a
day  to remember  -- condemned  as  I am  to live  with the  rancorous
insight that  I will  very likely  never get  to see  At the  Gates on
stage, the prospect of beholding a full set of Jenssen and the Bjorler
brothers' energetic  material live was  definitely getting me  to grow
more  than just  twitchy as  I  waited for  the venue  doors to  open.
Finally,  running a  full hour  late  -- I  am, in  time, getting  the
inkling that this is a recurring curse punctually bestowed unto me for
every each  underground metal gig I  attend --, the doors  opened, and
the assembled  hairy crowd  rushed in to  meet tonight's  openers, The
Forsaken.
     I am  rather perplexed about  The Forsaken's debut,  _Manifest of
Hate_  [CoC #52].  The high  'n' mighty  praise cooked  up by  Century
Media's  press  releases prior  to  the  album's release  had  somehow
succeeded in really firing me up -- what death metal addict could fail
to be allured by a band  that supposedly, to state their official bio,
fuses  the "untamed  power  of the  sadly defunct  At  the Gates,  the
songwriting wit  of Arch Enemy  and the obscure atmospheric  twists of
Morbid  Angel"? Well,  all  in all,  _Manifest of  Hate_  is a  great,
intense death metal album, showcasing brilliant musicianship and great
songwriting, but The Forsaken simply  seem to have occurred -too late-
to the  metal world to  really leave an indelible  mark in it  the way
Arch Enemy's _Black  Earth_, Morbid Angel's _Blessed Are  the Sick_ or
At the  Gates' _Slaughter of  the Soul_  have. Therefore, it  was with
great  curiosity I  awaited  to be  enthralled or  be  rebuked by  The
Forsaken's  live  appearance.  Fronted  by  Ominous'  vocalist  Anders
Sjoholm,  the five-piece  very professionally  went about  rendering a
fine selection of tracks from _Manifest  of Hate_ on stage, and proved
to be  precise, efficient, incisive  and entertaining. Tracks  such as
"Seers Hatred", "Demon Breed" or "Manifest of Hate" really worked, and
definitely succeeded  in opening my  ears wide to The  Forsaken's cool
death metal.  Their sound was  also fittingly powerful and  clear, and
completed the five-piece's flawless playing.
     After a very intense and  successful twenty minutes, The Forsaken
cleared  the stage  for labelmates  Carnal Forge,  who released  their
_Firedemon_  on  Century  Media  after their  rather  mitigated  debut
_Who's  Gonna  Burn_  was  released  on  Sweden's  WAR  Music.  Fusing
hardcore-influenced thrashing  metal with  Swedish death  metal tones,
Carnal Forge  are capable of  writing some  very good tracks,  just as
they are  quite as likely  to produce some clumsier,  less interesting
tracks.  So, Carnal  Forge  arrived  on stage,  and  went about  their
performance with a very honourable  dose of enthusiasm and conviction,
which made  them, for the  first few tracks, a  worthwhile experience.
However,  Carnal Forge  live suffer  from the  same defects  as Carnal
Forge on disc, and after a few  tracks, a form of sameness and deja-vu
seeped in, dulling my interest for the rest of their show, despite the
inflamed passion  this band obviously  have for their music  and, more
generally, the  metal genre. Their  track listing covered an  array of
material from  both their  outputs, with some  particularly convincing
tracks such as "Too Much Hell Ain't Enough For Me" and the title track
"Firedemon", and also some rather less convincing material, where they
bluntly reverted to sounding like  a tachycardiac Pantera on a Swedish
death  metal spree.  I didn't  succeed  in paying  them due  attention
throughout all of their set, and I deserted the room to give my ears a
bit  of a  rest  before The  Haunted,  the band  I  had -really-  been
awaiting, took to the stage.
     As The  Haunted appeared on  stage, and immediately  proceeded to
play the opener  "Dark Intentions", followed by the  very muscular and
catchy "Bury Your Dead", the first striking point was that, as I knew,
former Mary Beats Jane vocalist Peter Dolving had been replaced by the
sadly missed Face Down's  Marco Aro, but as I knew  not, At the Gates'
skinsman Adrian Erlandsson has also been replaced by Per M. Jensen, of
who I  know nothing. The Haunted  then went through a  tasty sample of
material from  both their  albums, including "Leech",  "Hollow Ground"
(on  which  Marco  Aro's  vocals were  somewhat  flat  and  disputably
pleasant to  my ear), as  well as  "Three Times", "Chasm",  "In Vein",
with  however a  wide majority  of  material from  _The Haunted_.  The
crowd's  reaction  was  amazing,  as  a huge  moshpit  formed  at  the
front,  and stage  divers continually  launched off  the scene,  which
unfortunately, as many a time, turned out be a blatant pain. The catch
is, I  don't mind stage-divers,  but some egotistical  wannabe showmen
just can't refrain from lingering on  the stage, sometimes for as much
as a full  fucking minute -- a minute during  which they often succeed
in getting in the musician's way,  and sometimes also in damaging some
equipment, as was the case here,  since one of the speaker racks cable
was partly torn out at some point, which resulted in a series of minor
sound problems  that somewhat hampered  both The Haunted's  and Nile's
performance that night. Nonetheless, The Haunted's show was compelling
enough  to take  my mind  of these  issues, and  all seemed  more than
satisfied with the chaos they stirred  up that evening. As The Haunted
finished  their set  with  the excellently  violent  "Hate Song",  the
audience cheered, roared and raged for  an encore, which took the form
of a very  cool moment indeed -- Marco announced  that they were about
to play  a track  specially for  Rennes, and,  pointing at  the sweaty
Bjorler brothers,  hinted that it  was "a  track written by  these two
fuckers here"... And here it  came, the awaited and hoped-for crowning
final blow, as The Haunted  launched themselves into the killer opener
from "Blinded  by Fear", from  At the  Gates' godly _Slaughter  of the
Soul_. At this  point, I was totally elated --  although Marco's vocal
delivery failed to constantly impress me throughout the whole gig, his
rendition of Tompa  Lindberg's screamed vocals were  spot-on, and made
this  live performance  track an  unforgettable two  minutes of  metal
brilliance which  I will very  likely never -forget-. After  this, The
Haunted saluted  and left,  leaving a  sweaty mass  of fans  of theirs
dazed and gasping for breath. Totally  wicked, to the very bitter end!
It was now up  to roadies to begin the lengthy setup  for Nile to take
to the stage, so I sauntered off  to the overcrowded bar for a beer or
ten  during the  twenty-something  minute wait  which preceded  Nile's
appearance.
     Finally, as waiting  time drew to an end, the  lights dimmed, and
Nile's  memorable intro  started  playing,  foreshadowing the  brutal,
enrapturing forty-minute set which was  to come. Cruising with amazing
ease through insanely intricate material  off all their releases, Nile
were  simply  enthralling  that  night. Whether  on  "Black  Seeds  of
Vengeance",  "Pestilence and  Iniquity", "Ramses  Bringer of  War", or
"Stones  of Sorrow",  Nile's  performance was  flawless, powerful  and
literally hypnotic. Although a few  particularly bovine members of the
audience still persisted in wearily  moshing and elbowing around, most
of the  attendance were simply  mesmerised by the -perfect-  show Nile
put on that night. The technically astounding, atmospheric and violent
music was perfectly completed  by Nile's characteristic three-throated
vocal  assault, and  by  ex-Angel Corpse  skinthrasher Tony  Laureno's
totally awe-inspiring performance. I don't  think I have, -ever- in my
life,  seen four  musicians  play  this hard,  this  fast and  this...
perfectly. For a  full forty minutes, Nile  very literally -entranced-
the attending  crowd with  impeccable restitutions of  the tantalising
"Masturbating the War  God" and "Multitude of Foes"  from _Black Seeds
of Vengeance_, "Opening  of the Mouth" and "Howling of  the Jinn" from
_Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka_, plus various other tracks whose
titles I fail to recall.  Although the very predictable encore gimmick
was played, I  was elated when the ginning  four-piece Nile reappeared
on stage after  a due two minutes of the  crowd chanting and growling,
and  happier  still when  they  kicked  into the  murderous  "Defiling
the  Gates of  Ishtar"  --  much-awaited and  oh  so predictable,  but
nonetheless,  a  final, crushing  blow  to  the  neck which  left  the
extenuated gathering of  fans to slowly descend back  the glum reality
of  modern times  after a  truly  bewitching journey  to the  Egyptian
battlefields.
     Sadly, shortly  after the gig,  it was learned that  Chief Spires
had left Nile  -- although Nile's songwriting shall  apparently not be
hindered by his  departure, his warlike scenic presence  and wild mass
of red hair will be missed direly during Nile's appearances to come.

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               I N F E R N A L   F E S T I V I T I E S
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                         The Inferno Festival
              at Rockefeller and John Dee, Oslo, Norway,
                       April 13th and 14th 2001
                          by: Chris Flaaten


     Friday the  13th -- Good  Friday the 13th  even -- saw  the first
ever Inferno  Festival kicking off.  The festival bragged  about every
top  Norwegian act  and said  it would  be the  greatest gathering  of
extreme metal bands ever. As it  turned out, they had only -asked- the
great bands to play, no contracts  having yet been signed. Still, they
wound up with a decent line-up and  22 bands over two days for roughly
$2.50  each,  which  is  a  bargain.  The  festival  had  two  stages.
Rockefeller, which was the main stage, and John Dee, a smaller stage /
pub  in the  basement  of  the same  building.  Throughout the  entire
festival, things went as on tracks. As soon as a band were done on one
stage,  another  band started  playing  on  the opposite  stage.  Very
professionally run, big props to the organizers there.

Day 1
~~~~~
     Khold kicked the arrangement off. Khold have received much praise
from the  likes of Satyr, who  also signed them to  his Moonfog label,
and there was also a certain buzz going around about them. Can't say I
was too  impressed, though. Slow,  monotonous metal with  black vocals
was  their thing.  Even with  the great  sound they  had, I  still got
dreadfully bored. Some  songs I swear consisted of only  one riff, and
the variations  in tempo within  songs were virtually  non-existent. I
later found  out that this band  is basically a continuation  of Tulus
and features two  of the same members along with  the same music. Many
seemed to enjoy their performance, though,  so I guess they're good at
what they do. Just not my thing.
     Audiopain  were  next. Playing  quite  '80-ish  speed metal  with
semi-brutal  vocals, they  were just  what I  needed after  Khold. The
guitarist/vocalist really  knew what  he was  doing, churning  out one
hyperspeed  riff after  another  while staring  upwards  into the  mic
Lemmy-style. They had  decent sound; such metal  doesn't require total
hi-fi from  the PA. They rocked,  especially on a song  where Apollyon
from Cadaver Inc. guested on vocals.
     When I  got back  to the  main stage  Peccatum had  already begun
playing. I  am not a  big fan of  this band --  the music is  great at
times,  but the  vocals leave  much to  be desired.  This was  also my
impression of  them in the  concert setting.  Ihriel and Lord  PZ just
don't  have the  necessary  timing  and vocal  abilities  to pull  the
theatrical thing  off. Add to  this an overly dramatic  appearance and
you have to  backstreet cats wauling to Ihsahn's  guitars. Towards the
end of their  gig, Peccatum, thanks mostly to Ihriel,  also did manage
to wreck  Bjork's "Play Dead" to  a point of no  repair. Disappointing
performance, even though the sound was good.
     Crest of Darkness  followed at John Dee. I  found their sophomore
album _The Ogress_ [CoC #39] quite  decent, mostly due to the keys and
female vocals.  At Inferno, they  had neither and played  mostly songs
from their  latest album. They  had a very  poor sound and  since they
lacked the  elements that make their  music interesting to me,  I left
after two very noisy songs.
     Trail  of Tears  then seized  the  main stage.  ToT has  released
two  solid  albums,  but  I've  never spent  much  time  listening  to
them,  preferring other  bands  in  the same  genre  and  most of  all
preferring  other  genres. I  might  have  to rethink  this  strategy,
though,  since this  seven-piece  was  magnificent! With  professional
musicians, glittering vocal performances  (unlike the previous band on
the main  stage) and excellent sound,  Trail of Tears was  a highlight
and also the most positive surprise I had at the Inferno festival.
     Bloodthorn had  terrible sound when  I returned to John  Dee. Not
being in  the mood  for a  wall of  feedback and  other noise  and not
knowing their music, I left quickly.  I later heard that the sound got
better after a while and that  Necrobutcher joined them for a cover of
"Deathcrush". Oh well...
     Time  for Gehenna.  I have  not acquainted  myself properly  with
their  discography,  but  it  wasn't   hard  to  enjoy  their  intense
performance.  They had  hired a  session keyboardist  to do  the synth
parts and I  imagine it could have gotten a  tad tiresome without them
in the background.  Big plus to the drummer for  pounding the skins so
hard; rare to see drummers to  that. Highlights were "A Witch Is Born"
and "Lord of Flies".
     Hades Almighty (Norwegian black  metal band previously named just
Hades) played at John Dee afterwards, but since I was extremely hungry
I opted for a calzone instead of catching them.
     Witchery cancelled  due to  illness at the  last minute  and thus
Zyklon were pushed ahead. Instead of  closing John Dee, they were next
up at  the main stage.  Zyklon played well,  but were plagued  by poor
sound. Trym had  both sound and technical problems with  the drums, it
seemed, and  the guitars were too  blurry to drive the  music properly
ahead. Daemon is an excellent front figure in the live setting and his
vocal abilities  are awesome --  but still, I  feel he fits  better in
Limbonic Art,  where he  has time  to put some  quality length  to his
screams.
     Enslaved  had the  honour of  closing  day one.  Their sound  was
decent, but on the blurry and chaotic side. That's not that big a deal
considering  their music,  though. Enslaved  focused on  their heavier
material, leaving  out the more  epic things like my  favorite "Storre
Enn Tid  - Tyngre Enn  Natt", but fortunately included  the monumental
"Aeges Draum", which was the highlight  for me. They played songs from
their entire discography and the audience seemed -quite- pleased. They
finished early, though.  They obeyed the original  schedule, but since
they didn't  have anyone  playing after  them I  felt they  could have
played something extra.

Day 2
~~~~~
     Entering the venue day two, I  heard some modern metal with angry
vocals and pictured  a big, mean vocalist. To my  surprise, Zeenon was
three girls and a male drummer. I  had decided to go to John Dee early
to hopefully get seats, thus ignoring Zeenon's performance.
     I never bought Tidfall's _Circular Supremacy_ [CoC #48], thinking
I would rather have the originals than copycats. Keyboard driven black
metal is  always interesting to  see live, though, and  despite having
some problems with  the sound they delivered a  good performance. They
included  a  taste from  their  forthcoming  album  as well  --  quite
promising. With more identity in their material and a bit more touring
experience, Tidfall might become big.
     Having  been successful  in finding  good  seats at  John Dee,  I
skipped M-Eternal's performance altogether.
     Ram-Zet  had close  to  no live  experience  beforehand, but  one
couldn't tell from  watching them. In fact,  Ram-Zet's performance was
by far the  most professional of the entire festival!  The drummer was
probably the most impressive,  flawlessly playing the complex staccato
rhythms  that  Ram-Zet is  all  about.  Having  a female  vocalist,  a
violinist and a talented fellow on the synths, the atmospheric element
was also very  well kept intact. They used synth  effects and sampling
in between their songs to weave everything together. Flawless and very
impressive, although Ramseth's vocals got tiresome, just like on their
debut album _Pure Therapy_ [CoC #50].
     Susperia  were next  on the  main stage.  I saw  them live  a few
months ago, before they began touring with Dimmu Borgir, and they were
already  good  back then.  Susperia's  thrashy,  death-ish metal  does
extremely  well in  the  live setting,  and when  the  sound is  great
enjoyment is inevitable. They played  the best and most riffy material
from their  debut _Predominance_ [reviewed  in this issue],  and apart
from vocalist Athera  seeming a little tired, everything  was close to
perfect.
     Burning Rubber was next on John Dee, but were ignored in favor of
more calzone.
     Hypocrisy  was,  along  with  Borknagar, the  first  band  to  be
confirmed for the  festival. However, Peter Tagtgren found  it was too
much trouble rehearsing  for only one gig this year  and cancelled. He
offered Pain  as a substitute,  though, and  they played. I  find Pain
quite uninteresting. The tempo and  beat was the exact same throughout
the  gig  and  they rarely  put  more  than  two  riffs into  a  song.
Their  music  was  better  live  than on  CD,  though,  despite  Peter
singing  a  bit out  of  tune.  They played  five  or  six songs  from
_Rebirth_, all sounding  exactly the same to me, and  a version of The
Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby".  Some of the audience seemed  to be enjoying
themselves. I wasn't.
     Farout Fishing had a "gig"  outside Rockefeller once while people
were waiting  to get  in at  the Satyricon/Pantera  gig not  long ago.
Playing angry  and very "American"  hard rock,  they are not  among my
favourites and were ignored this time around.
     Cadaver Inc., formerly  named Cadaver, are back. They  have a new
album, _Discipline_,  coming out  sometime in  April. I  was fortunate
enough to have  heard the album beforehand, unlike  the audience. It's
usually a big plus to know  the material being performed. Cadaver Inc.
rocked hard, playing  their ultra-hard and brutal death  metal. Led by
the always smoking  and drinking Apollyon, who  performed awesome live
vocals (possibly  due to  him putting  his cigarettes  out in  his own
forearm for extra effect), Cadaver Inc.  won my "being most extreme at
Inferno" award, just ahead of Gehenna.
     I was curious as to how Red Harvest's music would do live. It did
great! The  drums were much more  noticeable and made the  music sound
more intense.  They focused mostly  on their latest album,  _Cold Dark
Matter_  [CoC  #48], and  live  the  walls  of  sound were  even  more
impressive. The synth on "Last Call" could have been stronger, but all
in all the sound was great and the gig left me with a great feeling.
     Borknagar was the  only band remaining. Guitarist  Jens F. Ryland
was  actually the  one,  along with  some help  of  course, in  charge
of  making the  festival  happen. Borknagar  opened  with "Rivalry  of
Phantoms" and "Ruins of the Future" from _Quintessence_ [CoC #48]. The
sound was decent, but the drums  were a complete mess during the first
song and the toms were absent  throughout the entire gig. New vocalist
Vintersorg surprised me greatly -- he  fit much better than I thought,
and apart from struggling a bit on "The Black Token" from _The Archaic
Course_  [CoC  #36],  he  delivered a  very  solid  performance.  It's
not  easy to  imitate Simen  Hestnaes's wild,  ingenious vocal  lines.
Borknagar played  songs from their last  three albums and the  set was
close to perfect, the most obvious flaw being not having included "The
Presence Is  Ominous", my favorite. They  also introduced us to  a new
song,  but I  need  to hear  it  a  couple more  times  before I  pass
judgement on  it. The vocals  seemed less  interesting on it  than I'd
hoped, though. It was great to finally  see this band live, and I look
forward to catching them again.
     That concluded the  first ever Inferno Festival,  easily the best
metal arrangement  in Norway ever. Plans  are being made to  turn this
into an annual event -- may all infernal forces help the people behind
the festival make that happen!

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  C o C   M A R C H E S   O N   T H E   M E T A L   M E L T D O W N
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                      Metal Meltdown III, day 1
                    Asbury Park, NJ, April 6, 2001
                           by: Brian Meloon


     This year's  edition of the  NJ MetalFest (a.k.a.  Metal Meltdown
III) provided  pretty much  what you'd expect  from such  a gathering:
lots  of people  dressed  in  black, CD  hawkers,  people handing  out
flyers, flyers all over the floor, overpriced food and drinks, drunks,
last-minute  schedule changes,  and  delays in  getting  the bands  on
stage.
     Asbury Park's Convention Hall is a nearly ideal venue for such an
event: not only  is there plenty of space to  put three stages without
too much  interference from the other  stages, but there is  plenty of
space  for booths  without being  on top  of the  stage. The  entrance
hallway / ticket booth leads  directly to a large open warehouse-style
area.  Immediately as  you  enter  are the  booths,  and  in the  back
is  the  Relapse  stage.  Off  to  the  right  is  the  Digital  Metal
stage,  in a  gymnasium,  complete  with bleachers.  Off  to the  left
and  down  a  small  hallway  is  the  SnakeNet  stage,  in  what  was
formerly  a  playhouse  or  movie  theater.  I  found  the  SnakeNet's
dilapidated-but-formerly-glamorous stage  provides a  wonderful "decay
of  society"  backdrop for  a  death  metal  concert. That  said,  the
existence of immovable  seats in the SnakeNet stage was  rather odd. A
theater full of death metal fans in their seats watching a death metal
concert and  politely clapping after  each song is almost  surreal. Of
course, it  also makes moshing  rather difficult, but there  are still
those who will try (like that drunk idiot who tried to mosh by himself
during Amorphis' set).
     Although the show  started at 4:00, we didn't  arrive until 8:00.
We caught the last few minutes of a  set by a band whose name I didn't
catch (Natron, perhaps?), and spent  some time wandering around the CD
and T-shirt vendors.
     After  a full  day of  work, I  wasn't up  for a  lot of  aimless
wandering,  so we  ended up  in the  SnakeNet stage  for the  next few
hours. Opeth was  scheduled for 10:20, followed by  Amorphis at 11:20,
and I wanted to catch both of  these bands. I was hoping to also catch
Monstrosity, but they were scheduled for  the same time as Opeth, so I
had pretty much ruled that out.
     The first  band we ended  up seeing was Austin,  Texas' Vesperian
Sorrow.  I have  their debut  album _Beyond  the Cursed  Eclipse_ [CoC
#41],  and found  it pretty  decent melodic  black metal.  They played
tracks from that  album and their forthcoming  Displeased release. The
band  put on  a  solid  and energetic  performance.  They had  several
problems with  the sound, as the  cheesy keyboards were too  way heavy
for  the first  three songs.  When the  sound finally  evened out,  it
became more impressive,  but they only had a song  or two left. Still,
this  was  a good  showing  for  them:  their performance  was  tight,
and  they got  a good  reception.  Their singer's  stage presence  was
excellent, and during  the songs, he threw almost a  dozen T-shirts to
enthusiastic fans.
     Next  up was  Sweden's Vintersorg,  a band  whose music  I wasn't
overly familiar  with. Their  Viking metal  sound didn't  do a  lot to
impress  me, but  their  performance  was solid.  They  were short  on
between-song dialog, and lacking a dedicated singer hurt their rapport
with the crowd, but their set was moderately well received.
     After their  set was a long  delay, followed by the  first actual
soundcheck of  the evening. At  around 10:45, Pain finally  arrived on
stage.  They played  a short  but energetic  set of  industrial-tinged
death metal, finishing with an  amusing cover of the Beatles' "Eleanor
Rigby". Their set was quite well received, as many people had filtered
in to check them out or reserve good seats for Opeth.
     Finally, at around 11:45, Opeth took the stage. Their performance
was nothing short  of excellent. The only flaws I  could find were the
first few  notes of  each clean singing  section, which  were slightly
off, but the  songs were otherwise flawlessly  performed. Their manner
was  very  relaxed and  informal.  Not  only  did  they do  their  own
soundcheck, but after Mikael Akerfeldt's  tuning got screwed up (after
the  first song),  he methodically  re-tuned his  guitar and  politely
apologized for  having difficulties. They  played six songs:  one each
from  _Orchid_,  _Morningrise_, _My  Arms,  Your  Hearse_, and  _Still
Life_, and two from _Blackwater Park_ [see CoC #14, #32, #44, and also
this issue]. Their set lasted over an hour, finishing around 1:00. One
thing that struck  me about Opeth during their set  was how much their
music is influenced by '70s progrock. Of course, one can get this idea
just by looking  at their photos in the _Blackwater  Park_ sleeve, but
hearing them  live really drove this  point home to me.  Another thing
that struck  me was  just how  much bass  player Martin  Mendez (whose
birthday it was) looks like Spinal  Tap's Derek Smalls on stage. Their
set was certainly the highlight of my  evening, as I'm sure it was for
most in attendance.
     Opeth's  website billed  their  appearance  as "Opeth  supporting
Amorphis", but  these roles should  have been reversed, as  there were
roughly half  as many  people for  Amorphis as  there were  for Opeth.
Surprisingly, I only saw one person get up and leave during their set.
I know  I was tempted to,  as Amorphis put on  a terrible performance.
The only reason I stayed was that I was hoping they'd play an old song
or two. I  suppose asking for "Exile  of the Sons of Iusliu"  is a bit
much,  but they  could've  played  something off  of  _Tales From  the
Thousand Lakes_ or even _Elegy_  [CoC #10]. Heck, even Metallica still
play old songs.
     Now, I haven't been a fan of their material since _Tales From the
Thousand Lakes_  (Opeth is as much  '70s influence as I  can stomach),
but this  performance was particularly  bad. The music  was adequately
performed, though the guitarists seemed half-asleep at times. However,
their singer single-handedly  ruined their performance. He  has a much
whinier and more  nasally voice than he does on  their studio efforts.
In addition, I think the poor fellow is having delusions that he's Jim
Morrison.  In sharp  contrast to  the informal  and personable  set of
Opeth,  Amorphis'  performance was  haughty  and  impersonal. To  make
matters  worse, not  only  was  his voice  incredibly  bad, his  stage
presence was  pathetic. When  he wasn't singing,  he just  stood there
like a tree. And at the end of  their set, he dropped the mic (with an
audible clunk), and walked off stage.
     And on that note, the first day of the MetalFest ended. There was
still  a whole  day's worth  of metal  on Saturday,  but as  there was
only  one  band  I  was  interested  in  seeing  (Gorguts),  I  didn't
attend. Overall, the show seemed  pretty well orchestrated. Aside from
the  scheduling changes  --  it  turns out  I  probably could've  seen
Monstrosity's set after all --, I  had few complaints. I'm hoping next
year's show  is much the  same as this  year's, as I'll  definitely be
making the trip again.

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      C R I M E S   I N   T H E   M O U R N I N G   P A L A C E
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                Dimmu Borgir, In Flames and Nevermore
         at the Longhorn, Stuttgart, Germany, April 4th 2001
                          by: Matthias Noll


     Arriving late due to heavy  traffic on the famous German Autobahn
(to all ye  foreigners: forget about free wheel  burning without speed
limits) plus a long  queue at the entrance, I was just  in time to see
Lacuna  Coil's last  song, witnessed  by an  audience of  800 to  1000
people.  A turnout  that is  not surprising  at all,  considering that
Dimmu Borgir and In Flames usually  enter the German charts with every
new record of  theirs (according to Nuclear Blast,  Dimmu Borgir's new
_Puritanical Euphoric  Misanthropia_ entered the German  and Norwegian
charts in  16th position). In  addition to this high  caliber package,
the Longhorn  was chosen  as a  film set for  the famous  German crime
series "Tatort" ("Crime Scene"). This proved to be quite a distraction
during Nevermore's set,  because the lights had to stay  on to provide
the  cameras  with  sufficient  illumination.  Although  the  audience
endured  it with  a stoic,  "we  don't care"  attitude, the  resulting
atmosphere turned out to be somewhat unreal. Rather than seeing a gig,
one had the impression of  watching some fake, staged scenario, devoid
of the typical characteristics of a live show.
     Nevermore's  show didn't  really  help to  overcome these  averse
conditions. Singer Warrel  Dane had obviously lost almost  half of his
normal vocal range, due  to a cold I assume, and had  to leave most of
the  higher notes  to the  audience, an  extremely painful  experience
during the likes of "Believe in Nothing". Besides this, his continuous
attempts to rally the audience seemed  somewhat out of place and would
have been better left to bands like Machine Head of Biohazard. "I want
to see a moshpit from the front to the back" as an introduction to the
thrashing but very complex "The  Sound of Silence" cover was logically
not followed by  anything resembling a pit nor any  movement one would
call "moshing". Another disappointment  was Nevermore's setlist, which
consisted solely  of material from _Dead  Heart in a Dead  World_ [CoC
#50]. A weird  choice, because even if _DHiaDW_ is  a fantastic album,
the previous  Nevermore records  are of similar  quality and  many had
expected to even hear some  Sanctuary material. Despite the brilliance
of their last  album, Nevermore failed to do justice  to material like
"Narcosynthesis", due  to an  uninspired, mediocre  performance, which
was plagued by a muddy, weird sound.
     Fortunately, the  end of the  filming for "Tatort"  shortly after
the break between In Flames and Nevermore meant no further disturbance
for a brilliant set  by the Swedes. It's hard to  believe that this is
the same band I saw for the  first time in 1997, also supporting Dimmu
Borgir, that time on the  _Enthrone Darkness Triumphant_ tour. On that
gig In  Flames resembled  a bunch  of teenagers  who by  some accident
found themselves  on a  stage with instruments  in their  hands. Since
then, the band has become  professional in the most favourable meaning
of the word. These days the guitar tandem Gelotte/Stromblad plays with
a coolness and tightness that often resembles immortal six string duos
like  Thin Lizzy's  Sykes/Gorham. Anders  Friden has  become extremely
skilled in handling the crowd, entertaining everybody with a good dose
of humour and physically and  vocally exhausting himself on stage. The
coolest thing about  In Flames is the complete absence  of any kind of
image, spikes and leather outfit and the incredible positive vibe they
manage to create  with their music. Had you been  there you would have
seen  me grinning  like a  moron while  headbanging and  air-guitaring
during most of the set. The  track list was the expected greatest hits
collection  and included  mostly tracks  from the  last three  albums.
Beginning with  the excellent, in  comparison to the  recorded version
far  more  dynamic "Bullet  Ride",  they  played "Gyroscope",  "Beyond
Space", "Episode 666", "Ordinary Story",  "Pinball Map", "Only For the
Weak", "Embody the Invisible", "Colony" as  the encore and a couple of
others. They  even had a  couple of pyros  firing off but  that didn't
do  much to  enhance  the experience.  Regarding crowd  participation,
cheering  and visible  movement  in  the front  rows,  In Flames  were
celebrated like the headliner and delivered  a gig which will be among
the best I'll see this year.
     I couldn't help but feel rather skeptical that Dimmu Borgir would
be able to top this tremendous  performance. I turned out to be right,
but I'm convinced no one in  the audience was dissatisfied either. The
Norwegians  had  a  bigger  sound,  but  unfortunately  Nick  Barker's
incredible drumming was lost in the  mix and only fully audible when I
occasionally used  my earplugs.  Partially making  up for  that, Simen
Hestnaes could be heard clear and strong through the PA. Overall I had
the impression that their song material seems to develop more and more
into  areas where  it  requires concentrated  listening  on your  home
stereo  instead of  demanding intense  thrashing and  headbanging. The
amount  of  crowd reaction  was  definitely  less than  throughout  In
Flames' set and  in general things stayed rather calm.  There was loud
cheering in  between songs, but instead  of going over the  top people
seemed  to prefer  to stand  and watch.  Only during  less complicated
songs like "Mourning Palace" or "Spellbound" the majority broke out of
their stasis. Visually Dimmu Borgir weren't very spectacular. Shagrath
isn't the most impressive frontman  around and in general there wasn't
much going  on onstage besides  some more pyros. The  setlist included
"The Insight and the Catharsis", "Arcane Lifeform Mysteria", "Kings of
the Carnival Creation",  "Puritania", "IndoctriNation", "The Maelstrom
Mephisto" and "Tormentor of Christian Souls". In general, Dimmu Borgir
played a solid gig but offered nothing to get overly excited about.

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

                  T O O   F A S T   F O R   L O V E
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
           Dying Fetus, Gorguts, Skinless and The Berserker
            at E9, El Paso, Texas, USA, on March 27th 2001
                          by: Alex Cantwell


     This night's  festivities began with  a shock as  Australia's The
Berserker took the stage wearing crazed monster masks. Having not seen
a photo of  them previous to this show, I  was obviously not expecting
this, and  it was real  hard not to laugh,  even though the  music was
beyond reproach. The  band kept having technical  problems through the
entirety of their  set, never knowing which  microphone would actually
work,  and vocalist  Luke  got  more and  more  agitated and  remained
visibly frustrated as their set  progressed, bumping into band members
and throwing the mic down.  Their brand of industrial-tinged grindcore
just pretty much freaked people out (or was it those darn masks?), and
everyone  stood still  the whole  time. The  thing I  most appreciated
about them was their killer rendition of Carcass's "Incarnated Solvent
Abuse".
     Tonight  was also  my introduction  to New  York's Skinless,  and
although their  debut album  had just been  released four  days prior,
there were some in attendance who were familiar with their material --
much to  the amusement  of their vocalist,  who made  his bewilderment
known, but then stated "oh yeah, the internet -- nobody has to pay for
music anymore,  I love it". Skinless  tore through songs new  and old,
and made many  new fans in the  process, as most everyone  I talked to
talked  about  them  favorably.  Skinless  are not  the  best  or  the
brightest, but  their mix of  crust, mosh  parts, and old  style death
metal made for a good live set.
     This was  my second time  seeing Montreal's  Gorguts, so I  had a
clue  as far  as what  to expect  --  but what  I did  not expect  was
new  guitarist Daniel  Mongrain's complete  control of  the stage  and
audience. Not to take away from the  other members of the band at all,
who obviously  have to  hold their ground  to play  their over-the-top
style  of chaotic  death metal,  but  all eyes  were on  Daniel as  he
dazzled  us  with an  incredible  one-handed  tapping technique,  wild
glares, intense virtuosity,  and all around charisma.  So there's this
wild man on stage left capturing the visual aspect, whilst the rest of
the band plays a perfect set  of carefully timed mayhem, providing the
aural pleasures.  Although their set  was over much too  quickly, they
tore through two new songs,  and standouts like "Obscura", "With Their
Flesh... He'll  Create" and  "Stiff and Cold",  amongst a  few others.
This  band is  one  which demands  to  be  seen live  in  order to  be
understood,  because  quite honestly,  the  technicality  and the  new
approaches to squeezing  and scraping sound out of  guitars which they
have taken on  their last two albums  must be -seen-, or  else it runs
the risk of being dismissed as noise.  A superb set on all counts, and
Luc  Lemay and  the boys  must be  commended on  hitting the  road and
letting us sit in on a musical experience that can't be forgotten.
     It was  late by the time  headliners Dying Fetus took  the stage,
and most  of the night's  excitement and enthusiasm had  been directed
toward Gorguts. It  didn't help matters much that it  took three songs
for Dying  Fetus to  get up  a full  head of  steam. The  guitar sound
sucked, and all of the band  except the lead vocalist just stood there
the whole time. On the other  hand, the drummer ruled, and their songs
were good,  but it  was actually  too fast to  mosh to,  and so  for a
second time, everyone just stood  still and watched, clapping politely
after each  song. I  had never seen  such a lack  of response  from an
audience towards a headlining band, but it seemed that by some strange
course  of events  many  were  in agreement  with  me:  that the  true
headliners had already played and packed up their gear.

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

               NORWEGIAN OLDIES AND NORWEGIAN OLDSCHOOL
               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              Mayhem, Carpathian Forest and Minas Tirith
           at Rockefeller Music Hall, Oslo, March 10th 2001
                          by: Chris Flaaten


     Minas Tirith  were first up.  I had  already seen them  live once
before, but  then they had  a rotten  sound. This time  everything was
-much- better;  in fact, close to  perfect. They opened with  some new
material which turned  out to be an intro to  "Hellfaith", the opening
track from _Demons Are Forever_  [reviewed in this issue]. They played
a great set, including some old favorites and a new song. They sounded
tight as glue; these guys know  each other's musical abilities and the
songs intimately. The only drawback is that they do not present a very
entertaining  visual performance.  Both vocalist/bassist  Frode Forsmo
and  guitarist Stian  Krobol  stood  with their  feet  planted on  the
ground, never  interacting much with  the audience. This and  the fact
that their music is far from  black metal are probably the two reasons
why most  of the audience never  got into their performance.  The ones
who knew them beforehand did, though, as they played marvelously.
     Carpathian Forest were  next. The first thing I  noticed was that
they seemed  to have  kept the  bass settings  from Minas  Tirith: you
could  hardly hear  the guitars  because it  was so  high in  the mix.
Carpathian Forest do  not have any interesting bass  lines, though, so
they sounded dreadfully uninteresting. The second thing that struck me
was the guy  behind the synth. Big, strapping fellow  wearing a ton of
spikes, etc.. He  touched the synth only during one  song, though; the
rest of  the time he basically  stood there looking mean.  He did some
vocals on  a couple of  tracks too,  but did a  poorer job at  it than
their  original vocalist.  Near the  end of  their set  the sound  got
somewhat better and  I could hear some riffs.  Still wasn't impressed,
though. I was not  a big fan of their music before  the concert and am
possibly  even  less  enthusiastic  about  it now.  They  had  a  good
vocalist, though.
     Mayhem opened in  a fury of pyrotechnics with "In  the Lies Where
Upon You  Lay". Apart  from a slightly  messy sound  from Hellhammer's
V-drums,  they had  a great  sound. Driven  by Blasphemer's  precision
riffing and Hellhammer's drumming-inferno, Mayhem were very convincing
musically,  and  also visually  thanks  to  madman Maniac.  Maniac  is
probably one of my least favourite  vocalists, but he does well in the
concert setting.  Mayhem played  a well  rounded set  including greats
such  as  "Deathcrush"  and  "Freezing  Moon",  old  obscurities  like
"Carnage" and four or five songs  from their latest album. There was a
decent response from  the audience, which is rare in  Oslo, and Maniac
of  course responded  by cutting  himself. All  in all  it was  a good
concert, with Mayhem  being Mayhem, Minas Tirith  ruling musically and
Carpathian Forest being somewhat of a disappointment.

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

                     H O W   T I M E   F L I E S
                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            Pantera, Soulfly, Morbid Angel and Nothingface
          at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
                          February 23, 2001
                           by: Aaron McKay


     You've all no  doubt heard the saying "It's a  bitch to get old".
Well,  I think  I am  now  beginning to  have some  insight into  that
particular phrase.
     Maybe  it was  the  size  of the  crowd  (though  that never  has
bothered me in the past), or maybe  it was the type of crowd, or maybe
it was  something else entirely,  but the  Pantera / Soulfly  / Morbid
Angel  / Nothingface  performance in  Cedar Rapids,  Iowa at  the U.S.
Cellular Center was not what I had expected.
     Three  years ago  to the  month,  and nearly  to the  day, I  saw
Pantera at the  very same venue, then called the  Five Seasons Center,
with Anthrax. Even  though Phil Anselmo and the guys  had some serious
difficulty with their sound at the time cutting out on them a lot, the
crowd was understanding and the band  was apologetic. It turned out to
be a  very killer evening. Whoever  is to credit for  Pantera thinking
enough of Iowa and Cedar Rapids in particular to have the band perform
on a weekend back-to-back times is an asset to his or her profession.
     My comments here have little to do with the band, speaking solely
to the  crowd aspect:  the individuals in  attendance were  idiotic --
taking an evening  out to pull themselves from the  primordial ooze of
high school  athletics to "be seen"  acting cool at the  Pantera show.
More  there for  the popularity  factor  than the  music, these  dolts
sought the fights rather than the  experience. Follow the herd -- just
another cow. 'Nuff said. I think nothing of morons of this caliber and
see no reason to dwell on them in this article any further.
     I  spent a  portion of  the  show trying  to get  to an  arranged
interview that  never happened,  so I  missed Nothingface.  Not seeing
them  was not  that big  of a  loss  for me.  As I  was chatting  with
Trey  Azagthoth backstage,  he was  summoned on  stage. WHAT?!  Morbid
Angel next?  Shit. As  experienced concert-goers  know, this  meant an
abbreviated  set.  Sure enough,  around  a  half-hour was  the  entire
duration of  their set. A  band of  MA's caliber and  experience needs
forty-five minutes  minimum. If they were  trading on an off  going on
right before Pantera, I understand that. If Morbid Angel was relegated
to this  position for the entire  tour, I am insulted!  They are -far-
too talented for such an inadequate position on a bill.
     That aside, Morbid Angel was  beyond great; flawless execution of
their material from past to present. Phil Anselmo even joined the guys
on stage for a song and  watched the band's entire set from off-stage.
That speaks well of Trey, Steve, Erik and Pete, if you ask me. Also, I
picked _Gateways to Annihilation_ in my soon-to-be famous Top 5 albums
of  last year.  This performance  did  nothing if  not reinforce  that
opinion.
     I admit, I skipped Soulfly, as I have little time for them. Their
music  is respectable,  but not  to  my taste,  so I  sought out  some
refreshments.  Gauging from  the time  in the  beer line,  Soulfly got
about forty-five minutes or  so. At this point I would  like to give a
special "HELL YEA!" to the  awesome security guard who could obviously
tell my need for  a Michelob and told me where I  could find a shorter
line... Here's to you, brother! Cheers.
     Pantera graced  the stage at  approximately 9:15pm or so.  I have
always  had nothing  but respect  for  these fine  gentlemen and  this
performance  did nothing  but strengthen  that resolve.  Personally, I
would have included a greater range of Pantera's lasting classics into
the  set, but  no one  asked me.  The band  sounded like  a blitzkrieg
anyway. Admittedly, I  do not own _Reinventing the Steel_  and I would
say a fair portion of the songs on friday evening were taken from that
release,  but I  picked out  a gem  of recognition  here and  there. A
rather killer  rendition of a  not-so-favorite song of  mine, "Floods"
from  _The  Great  Southern  Trendkill_,  came  out  sounding  like  a
berserker's rage.  Fire, theatrics and showmanship  accompanied all of
Pantera's ninety minutes.
     Unlike three  years ago  when I last  saw this  four-piece, there
were no  unabashed anti-Metallica  tirades a  la Anselmo  style. DAMN!
Hats off Phil,  Rex, Dimebag and Vinnie. Next time,  Mr. Anselmo, work
in a  cover of  "Invocation Towards the  Conjuration of  Black Souls";
other than  Morbid Angel, that  would have  been a supreme  reason for
attendance!

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

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


Gino's Top 5

1. Absu - _Tara_
2. Various - _Campaign of Hate Compilation_ (Hell disc)
3. Proscriptor - _The Serpentine Has Risen_
4. Nastrond - _Age of Fire_
5. Judas Priest - _The Best of Judas Priest_ (1978)

Adrian's Top 5

1. God Forbid - _Determination_
2. hurt - _hurt_
3. Lacuna Coil - _Unleashed Memories_
4. Sepultura - _Nation_
5. Arise From Thorns - _Before an Audience of Stars_

Brian's Top 5

1. Weakling - _Dead As Dreams_
2. Gory Blister - _Art Bleeds_
3. Nokturnal Mortum - _Lunar Poetry_
4. Forlorn Legacy - _Dead Man's Fear_
5. Epoch of Unlight - _Caught in the Unlight!_

Alain's Top 5

1. Thorns - _Thorns_
2. Dimmu Borgir - _Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia_
3. Opeth - _Blackwater Park_
4. Zyklon - _World Ov Worms_
5. Monster Magnet - _God Says No_

Adam's Top 5

1. Aborym - _Fire Walk With Us_
2. Karaboudjan - _Sbrodj_
3. Katatonia - _Last Fair Deal Gone Down_
4. Various - Norwegian black metal circa 1989-1995
5. Proscriptor - _The Serpentine Has Risen_

Pedro's Top 5

1. Katatonia - _Last Fair Deal Gone Down_ / _Teargas_
2. The Forsaken - _Manifest of Hate_
3. Aurora - _Promo 2001_
4. Zyklon - _World Ov Worms_
5. Opeth - _Blackwater Park_

Paul's Top 5

1. Keelhaul - _II_
2. Old Man Gloom - _Seminars II & III_
3. Dismember - _Death Metal_
4. Dismember - _Indecent & Obscene_
5. Scissorfight - _New Hampshire_

Aaron's Top 5

1. Jungle Rot - _Dead and Buried_
2. Himinbjorg - _Third_
3. Dark Tranquillity - _Haven_
4. Catastrophic - _The Cleansing_
5. Thorns - _Thorns_

Matthias' Top 5

1. Disbelief - _Worst Enemy_
2. Katatonia - _Last Fair Deal Gone Down_
3. Thorns - _Thorns_
4. Dimmu Borgir - _Puritanical Euphoric Misantrophia_
5. Ulver - _Perdition City_

Alvin's Top 5

1. Falconer - _Falconer_
2. Pagan Altar - _Volume One_
3. Virgin Steele - _The House of Atreus Act II_
4. Marduk - _La Grande Danse Macabre_
5. Various - _The Return of Darkness and Hate_

Chris' Top 5

1. Diabolical Masquerade - _Death's Design_
2. Thorns - _Thorns_
3. Opeth - _Blackwater Park_
4. Susperia - _Predominance_
5. Zyklon - _World Ov Worms_

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


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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #53

All contents copyright 2001 by individual creators of included  work.
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