            ___ _                 _    _               __
           / __| |_  _ _ ___ _ _ (_)__| |___ ___  ___ / _|
          | (__| ' \| '_/ _ \ ' \| / _| / -_|_-< / _ \  _|
           \___|_||_|_| \___/_||_|_\__|_\___/__/ \___/_|
                        ___ _
                       / __| |_  __ _ ___ ___
                      | (__| ' \/ _` / _ (_-<
                       \___|_||_\__,_\___/__/

          CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, May 25, 2000, Issue #47
                   http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com

Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti <mailto:gino@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley <mailto:adrian@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Copy Ed./Contrib.: Pedro Azevedo <mailto:pedro@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Asst. Copy Editor: John Weathers <mailto:john@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Alain M. Gaudrault <mailto:alain@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Brian Meloon <mailto:brian@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk <mailto:adam@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Paul Schwarz <mailto:paul@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Aaron McKay <mailto:aaron@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: David Rocher <mailto:david@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Alex Cantwell <mailto:alex@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Matthias Noll <mailto:matthias@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>

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

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

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

Issue #47 Contents, 5/25/00
---------------------------
* Editorial
* Loud Letters
* Deadly Dialogues
-- Dark Tranquillity: Projecting and Reinventing
-- Vader: The Cold Demons of Death Metal
-- The Crown: Racing Towards Destruction
-- Crowbar: The Finely Balanced, Multi-Purpose Tool of Metal...
            That Never Dies
-- Krisiun: Kneel Before the Conquerors of Armageddon
-- Soulreaper: Reaping, Ravaging, Rebelling and Rocking
-- Virgin Steele: Metal Built on Tragedy
-- Infestation: Brutalised Britanic Butcherers
-- Negura Bunget: Truly Transylvanian
* Album Asylum
-- Agent Steel - _Omega Conspiracy_
-- Aghora - _Aghora_
-- Anorexia Nervosa - _Drudenhaus_
-- Carnival in Coal - _French Cancan_
-- Cephalic Carnage - _Exploiting Dysfunction_
-- Crowbar - _Equilibrium_
-- Decapitated - _Winds of Creation_
-- Deceased - _Supernatural Addiction_
-- December - _Praying Hoping Nothing_
-- Desecration - _Inhuman_
-- Earth Crisis - _Slither_
-- Einherjer - _Norwegian Native Art_
-- Enochian Crescent - _Omega Telocvovim_
-- For the Love of Suffering - _Sinus_
-- Fury - _Stigmatised_
-- Gaahlskagg / Stormfront - _Split MCD_
-- Immortal - _Damned in Black_
-- Impaled Nazarene - _Nihil_
-- Infestation - _Mass Immolation_
-- Judas Iscariot - _Heaven in Flames_
-- Krisiun - _Conquerors of Armageddon_
-- Liar of Golgotha - _Ancient Wars_
-- Maniac Butcher / Inferno / Sezarbil - _Proti Vsem_
-- Midnight Syndicate - _Realm of Shadows_
-- Misery Loves Co. - _Your Vision Was Never Mine to Share_
-- Mutant - _The Aeonic Majesty_
-- Mutiilation - _Remains of a Ruined, Dead, Cursed Soul_
-- Myrkskog - _Deathmachine_
-- Necrophobic - _The Third Antichrist_
-- Nocturnal Winds - _Everlasting Fall_
-- Of the Fallen - _Ancient Gods of Battles Past_
-- Old Man's Child - _Revelation 666: The Curse of Damnation_
-- Various - _Panther: A Tribute to Pantera_
-- Various - _Power From the North_
-- Ritual Carnage - _Every Nerve Alive_
-- Rollins Band - _Get Some Go Again_
-- Scarve - _Translucence_
-- Shadows Fall - _Of One Blood_
-- Soulreaper - _Written in Blood_
-- Steel Prophet - _Messiah_
-- Stratovarius - _Infinite_
-- Stuck Mojo - _Declaration of a Headhunter_
-- The Berzerker - _The Berzerker_
-- The Crown - _Deathrace King_
-- Vader - _Litany_
-- Viking Crown - _Innocence From Hell_
* New Noise
-- Cadaver - _Promo 2000_
-- No Rest for the Dead - _The Entrance of Your 14th Trip Demo_
-- Sacred? - <untitled>
-- Sempiternal - _Winternight Fury_
-- Skeletal Embrace - _A Landscape of Whorethorns_
-- Soils of Fate - _Blood Serology_
-- Void - _Promo 2000_
* Chaotic Concerts
-- God Hating Human Beatings: Crowbar, Eyehategod and Soilent Green
-- His Number Is One: Rollins Band in London
* What We Have Cranked
* Details

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

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

                          by: Gino Filicetti


     My friends, we are back! Here is  the  issue  you've  long  been
waiting for. I know I've explained myself in a  previous  mailing  to
the entire CoC readership, but I just wanted to  take  this  time  to
apologize once again on behalf of our entire staff.
     I would also like to thank the multitudes of those who wrote  in
after my last mailing to wish  me  luck  and  congratulations  on  my
graduation, upcoming wedding and move to  the  USA.  If  we  had  the
space, I'd print each and every letter in our Loud  Letters  section;
but alas, there was just too much praise!
     I hope you all enjoy this issue and hopefully we'll be  back  to
our regular monthly release schedule soon enough. Our next issue will
come out sometime in July and then our fifth anniversary will be upon
us in August. Five long and hard years slaving away at CoC  for  your
enjoyment, remember that.... FIVE LONG AND HARD YEARS!  But  hey,  do
you really think we'd still be doing  it  if  we  didn't  love  every
second of it? 'Til next time...

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

                 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: Sun, 05 Mar 2000
From: Scott <ultmetal@flash.net>
Subject: Re: Adrian's Tourniquet Review

Greetings,

Never e-mailed before but after reading  the  Tourniquet  review  and
hearing the disc myself, all I can say is, "Adrian, your  a  freaking
idiot!" While he says he could care less about the lyrics, he  spouts
off for most of the review about the "Christian" lyrics. "...it  just
seems like another reason for some hot-headed asshole  to  mouth  off
about religion..." Whatever! Sounds to me like he didn't  even  check
out the lyrics as they are quite intelligent and not just some  silly
Stryper "religious" lyrics.

It is quite obvious that  Adrain  has  a  prejudice  against  someone
expressing Christian beliefs through metal. It is also  obvious  that
Adrian has decent taste in music  as  he  gave  Demons  and  Wizards,
Jacob's Dream and the Holy Dio tribute a good review, so  what's  up?
Adrian blew apart an awesome METAL album without even telling us what
"sucks" about the music. This  album  is  heavy,  well  written,  and
creative both musically and lyrically. On top of this, the  music  is
some of the most technical stuff I have heard  in  a  while,  yet  it
maintains a great sense of melody. Unlike so many bands who  have  to
downtune their guitars three steps to write a heavy song,  Tourniquet
are able to write incredibly heavy riffs  without  the  use  of  such
garbage...and the  drumming  is  just  phenomenal.  While  I  am  not
necessarily saying this is the best Tourniquet album ever, it is also
far from crap. If Adrian has a problem with Christians in metal, have
someone intelligent like Alex Cantwell, who seems to give fair  MUSIC
reviews to anyone, do the job. Tourniquet RULES! Thanks  for  letting
me spout! Stay Heavy! George

PS. Where is Alex?


Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2000 13:31:59 -0800 (PST)
From: DEREK WOODRUFF <skylesryla@yahoo.com>
Subject: <none>

Holy Shit!!! (literally)

Is it just  me  or  is  this  religious  discussion  getting  out  of
control??? GET OVER IT!  If  'christian  metal'  or  'satanic  metal'
pisses you off, dont buy  it!  I  didnt  know  I  was  getting  on  a
'get-on-a-soapbox-and- belly-ache' mailing list!!! Why dont we  start
in on politics or abortion?

Anyway, keep up the kickass reviews!!! Hail all metal brethren!!!

\,,/     Dvirus


Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000
From: Alla Xul <xul@phreaker.net>
Subject: reply to gajo@EUnet.yu

hi...

>Regarding your statement about the  relationship  between  metal and
>christianity, I think you are wrong saying  that  christianity  is a
>sick  religion  that  controls  the  lives  of  the  weak.  I  think
>christianity is a form  of  self-discipline,  that  keeps  you  from
>crossing that line between decency and barbarism.

If you need religion to tell right from wrong you are weak.

>You have to be strong to be a true christian, because you have to be
>strong to forgive every person that does harm to you.

If you waste your strenght on subuing your anger that  should  affect
those who rightfully deserve it you are stupid.

>Metal is, of course, total freedom, but if everyone  was  worshiping
>Satan then we'd still live in Medieval ages.

More or less every individual that have achived major developments in
civilization have been labeld satanist. I am not saying that all  who
claim to be satanists are very great. Your statement  that  we  would
live in the middle ages are  completely  idiotic.  Real  satanism  is
about first developing the individual and then the society along  the
left hand path. Christianity  is  one  of  the  major  elements  that
through  the  implementation  of  herd   mentality   have   prevented
evolution.

>If you want to be free, then be so  in  your  own  house,  with your
>friends, because that is what your home is for. But  when  you  walk
>out of the door, then you don't slay down the first guy that  pushes
>you in the  bus...  that  is  the  result  of  education  under  the
>influence of religion, in your case, christianity..  you  could  not
>imagine what would the world be without that education. I

I would not 'slay down' anyone without a good reason if that is  what
you imply. I dont really understand what are you mumbeling about. Are
you equaling christianity with education?

>mean, you can try, just listen to cannibal corpse..

Are you saying that Cannibal Corpse are satanists?

/ax


Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000
From: "Bandi" <lbandika@freemail.c3.hu>
Subject: Children of Bodom

     Please...

I'd like to read more about Children of Bodom!!!! I think  they're  a
fucking killer band!!! Is it possible to make an interview with them?
Will you review their live album (Tokyo Warhearts) ?

Anyway, CoC rules!!! When I read CoC  I  feel  that  the  underground
scene lives!! Asshole Britney Spears fans can shut the fuck up!!!

                      ... Bandi ...

         "My gun will be your angel of mercy"


Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000
From: "Cream Of Anarchy Productions" <csarcher@hotmail.com>
Subject: Epicostal Arguments Up The Anal Canal

Man, is it just me  or  is  this  Christian  metal  argument  getting
annoying? Ever since gutterboy and Spinoza Ray Prozak  started  their
arguments way back in _CoC  #42_,  this  whole  argument  is  getting
sickening. First of all, IT'S JUST MUSIC! I don't know why people see
metal as just some Satan-vs.-Jesus  South  Park  boxing  match,  with
Satan beating the shit out of Jesus and The Horned  God  flaying  the
Saviour on the Infernal Cross. (Oh, I'm sorry! Did  I  mention  South
Park? I guess I'm not METAL then,  huh?)  Christian  bands  sometimes
have a tendency to  be  stupifyingly  boring  and  preachy  (Discern,
Embodyment, and of course the whipping boys of all  Christian  metal,
Stryper), but so do Satanic death metal bands like  Cannibal  Corpse,
Angelcorpse and the like. I've had my fill of bands who  have  demons
rape chicks, making them "swallow the seed, uh-uh-uh-uh." There's  so
much more to metal than misogyny and worship  of  Satan.  Let's  just
keep  tabs  on  the  people  who  have  tallied  thus  far   in   the
Christianity/Satanism in metal argument:

gutterboy (CoC #41)--notices  that  almost  all  Christian  metal  is
reviewed by Alex Cantwell. Reasonable argument.

s. r. prozak (CoC #42)--totally misses the mark.  gutterboy  did  NOT
ask for more Christian metal reviews, and goes on with  this  blather
about how Earth found Satan and morphed into Black  Sabbath  and  how
metal was formed in 1969 to comment on the negativity of  the  world.
Right, like metal just immaculately gave birth to itself. I  used  to
link Evilmusic at one time to my website but stopped when I  realized
he was full of bullshit.

Norman Doll (CoC #43)--says that metal is metal, whatever the  genre,
and that Christian metal can be played with the same  aggression  and
anger as Satanic metal. Good argument.

"conformity@aol.com" (CoC #43)--hates prozak, hates Christian  metal.
Great skewering of prozak, but the strong tone of the letter and  the
wonderful epithets of "Bite my cock,  give  your  mom  oral  pleasure
(?!?!?!), contract genital herpes" suggests he may be a misanthrope.

Ryuto Ishiwa (CoC #43)--lone argument,  but  a  good  one...like  the
line, "...why not also have a 'post-satanic christianism?'"

Wayno (CoC #44)--thought the Mortification review was valid.

Cream Of  Anarchy  Productions  (CoC  #44)--I  make  reference  to  a
question about what would happen if snakes  evolved  into  half-human
form. No one responds.

alla xul (CoC #45)--duh, metal is Satan and  God  is  a  weak  little
bitch. Hail Satan! YARRR!!! What a misanthrope.

DER TODESKIN (CoC #45)--Black Sabbath weren't metal when they started
out. Heard this before. Good letter  but  nothing  that  hadn't  been
debated before.

gutterBoy (CoC #45)--honestly, gutterb...I mean, Boy,  no  one  cares
what you think of Usenet and spinoza ray prozak. It's a  dead  issue.
Let it go already.

Unknown Unknownovich Unknownov (CoC #46)--Says Christian metal should
be as extreme as Satanic metal. Uh, it already is. Guy writes like  a
publicist for a bad underground print 'zine.

DJCANTU@aol.com (CoC #46)--duh, more gore! Christian metal  makes  me
sick! Why did you print this letter, CoC?  It  reads  like  this  guy
really likes his Exhumed. There's  more  to  metal  than  gore,  too,
DJCANTU.

gajo (CoC #46)--Christianity Be Not Bad. Throws his  argument  up  on
the board but doesn't provide any examples as to why Christian  metal
is a valid form of metal.

RayRuenes@aol.com (CoC #46)--Makes  the  argument  that  Christianity
isn't  going  to  go  away.  Bonus  points  for  pointing  out   that
Nietzsche's works were not as strong as his more successful,  earlier
works. However, he went insane, not senile, in his later  years.  You
have to remember that this guy became chair of classical philology at
Basle University at TWENTY-FOUR! He died at FIFTY-SIX! How  the  hell
can a guy like that become _senile?_

alla xul (CoC #46)--like reading his previous letter,  only  funnier.
He  attempts  to  slay  RayRuenes@aol.com   by   "ridiculating"   his
"intellectual mumbelings." You should talk. Learn how  to  spell.  Is
that foreign to you?

Well, there you have it. The argument that won't die away. Well, I've
got the definitive answer...LET IT GO ALREADY!  JUST  LISTEN  TO  THE
MUSIC AND DON'T TRY TO SEE ANY DEEPER MEANING IN IT THAN  IT  ALREADY
HAS! Well, now that I've got that out of my  system,  let's  see  how
many people respond to my letter. I  predict  there  will  be...three
people who respond to my letter. Let's see  if  we  can't  beat  that
estimate.

CAMERON ARCHER
THE UNBULOVA RIPOFF
http://www.nettoilet.com/users/theepisodes/


Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000
From: "Roberto Martinelli" <giorgio75@hotmail.com>
Subject: my letter

Dear CoC readers,

Hi, I'm looking to make some contacts to trade stuff with. I know you
like to keep up with the scene as much as I do. So let's trade copies
of what we've got.  We'll  both  be  able  to  benefit  from  it.  My
collection is quite extensive and I'm sure  you'd  be  able  to  find
something that you'd like to listen to. I'm  especially  looking  for
readers who have access to CDR technology. I find it's currently  the
best thing out there in terms  of  convenience  and  sound  fidelity.
Please drop me a  message.  I'll  trade  with  anyone  regardless  of
country of residency.

Roberto Martinelli

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

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

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


         P R O J E C T I N G   A N D   R E I N V E N T I N G
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 CoC interviews Niklas Sundin and Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity
                          by: Pedro Azevedo


One can hardly discuss Swedish metal without at least mentioning Dark
Tranquillity. Every album of theirs was a landmark in their time  for
many of us,  and  they  still  are:  their  debut  _Skydancer_,  _The
Gallery_  --  perhaps  their  greatest  effort  [see  CoC  #7  for  a
completely different opinion] --, _The Mind's I_ [CoC #22]  and  last
year's  more  experimental  _Projector_  [CoC  #41].   But   with   a
discography as brilliant as theirs, after four full-length albums and
more than ten years, Dark Tranquillity are still  looking  to  evolve
and  face  new  musical  challenges,  both  on  their  latest   album
_Projector_ and the forthcoming _Haven_ (to be released in July). The
following is an unfortunately  much  delayed  e-mail  interview  with
guitarist Niklas Sundin and vocalist Mikael Stanne  about  the  past,
present and future of their outstanding band. Much like what happened
with _Projector_ itself, I feel it was well worth the extended wait.

CoC: More than ten years have  passed  since  Dark  Tranquillity  was
     formed; do you have any plans to  celebrate  this  with  a  live
     album or anything?

Niklas Sundin: There may be some sort of celebration album coming out
               later this year, but at this stage it all  depends  on
               some factors that we don't have any control  over;  so
               we have to wait and see. If it happens, it'll just  be
               a mid-price  release  for  dedicated  fans,  featuring
               various goodies and rare songs  from  our  career.  We
               actually  were  in  negotiations   with   someone   in
               possession of a high quality  Dark  Tranquillity  live
               recording from the last tour, but for various  reasons
               an agreement couldn't  be  reached.  It  was  a  great
               shame, since we even had all the artwork ready.

CoC: What were  the  reasons  behind  guitarist  Fredrik  Johansson's
     departure after recording  _Projector_?  How  have  things  been
     going with his substitute, Michael Niklasson?

NS: Fredrik was simply too busy with his private life and job  to  be
    able to invest the same kind of energy and devotion in  the  band
    as the rest of us. Actually, our old  bassist  Martin  Henriksson
    now plays the second guitar. Michael Niklasson has taken over the
    bass duties, and everything's working really well. Fredrik is  an
    excellent guitarist with a very personal style. We  were  worried
    that it would be hard to get a new line-up with the same level of
    quality, but at this point I can safely  say  that  we  have  the
    strongest DT line-up ever. Keyboardist and digital wizard  Martin
    Brandstrom was added shortly after  Fredrik's  departure,  so  we
    have a  wider  range  now  than  before.  People  who  have  been
    listening to us for some time will doubtless notice  the  absence
    of Fredrik's playing, but other elements  have  been  added  that
    compensate for this.

CoC: Looking back upon four full-length albums and a couple  of  MCDs
     now, do you have any major regrets, anything that really  didn't
     turn out the way you would  have  liked  it  to?  What  is  your
     overall view of the band's career?

NS: Every band that has been around for some time probably have  been
    ripped off at least a thousand times, and we're no  exception  to
    that rule. I can't say that we've made any major mistakes or been
    victims of any bigger disasters so far. We've trusted some people
    who couldn't keep their part  of  the  deals,  but  most  of  the
    problems have been of a practical nature -- getting thrown out of
    rehearsal rooms two weeks before recordings and  similar  things.
    Nothing too devastating so far.

CoC: What is your personal  favourite  Dark  Tranquillity  album  and
     song, musically or emotionally?

Mikael Stanne: I would say that _Projector_  is  my  favourite  album
               right now, and I guess  my  favourite  song  would  be
               "Punish My Heaven" from _The Gallery_. It always  gets
               to me in a weird way.

NS: It's impossible to give a good answer, since it changes  all  the
    time. Some songs that I'm really satisfied  with  on  the  albums
    aren't very interesting to perform live and vice  versa.  "Punish
    My Heaven" seems to be -the- favourite for most people --  a  bit
    ironic, considering that it was the first song we wrote after the
    line-up change in '93.

CoC: Overall, how happy are you with _Projector_?

NS: We're pretty happy with it, but as usual there  are  some  things
    that could have been done a bit better. Now that almost two years
    have passed since the recording and we have more  perspective  to
    it all, I think that some of the songs are a  bit  too  tame  and
    could have used an injection of energy.  Then  again,  we  wanted
    them to sound the way they do at the time of recording, so...

CoC: If you were to compare _Projector_ to your previous  albums  and
     to the rest of the Swedish  scene  right  now,  what  would  you
     highlight as the album's most remarkable characteristics in each
     case?

NS: I don't follow the scene much these days. I'd like _Projector_ to
    be quite different from the rest of the stuff being released from
    Sweden, and judging from the  reactions,  that's  definitely  the
    case. We're not any good at analysing our own work -- we'd rather
    leave that to others --, but I guess that the most distinguishing
    feature that separates our new album from the rest of  the  bunch
    is the clear vocals and the fact that we're not  relying  on  any
    cliches or already fixed traditions with the  music.  _Projector_
    is a stand-alone entity, for good and bad.

CoC: Since you are unquestionably one of Sweden's premier bands,  and
     have been for several years, I have to ask you what you think of
     the competition these days. How do you view the evolution of the
     Swedish metal scene as a whole over the past few  years?  [Note:
     as this was an e-mail interview, I was unaware of the  start  of
     Niklas' previous answer, otherwise I wouldn't have  asked  this.
     --Pedro]

NS: I rarely listen to the competition, so I can't really give a good
    answer on this topic. I'm pretty comfortable playing this sort of
    music while mainly listening to other genres. Every now and  then
    I get to hear an album or a  couple  of  songs  from  a  "melodic
    Swedish death metal band" and it usually  doesn't  have  anything
    that interests me or grabs my attention.  Cliched,  stereotypical
    nonsense lyrics mixed with  the  obligatory  Maiden-worship  just
    makes me yawn, even though the musical skill  of  some  of  these
    bands is excellent. One  good  exception  is  the  new  Gardenian
    album, which is striking in almost every aspect.

CoC: Personally, I think that you have basically succeeded where many
     bands fail: in changing your sound the way you  did.  One  might
     still miss some of the "old" Dark Tranquillity, but  _Projector_
     is indeed a brilliant album. But what was it that  caused  these
     changes?

NS: I'm glad that you like the album. I agree that  a  lot  of  bands
    that try to change their sound into  a  "softer"  direction  fail
    miserably. Of course, there are people thinking the  same  of  us
    now, but at least in our ears we  managed  to  expand  the  sound
    without sacrificing the band's  identity.  The  reasons  for  the
    changes? We needed to come up with  something  new  in  order  to
    maintain the interest in playing.  Already  when  recording  _The
    Mind's I_, we  felt  somewhat  fed  up  with  the  musical  style
    (especially since so many newer bands were  starting  to  imitate
    what we've done in the past) and realised that we'd better  start
    exploring new territory before we grew tired of the whole thing.

CoC: I still feel the essence of what I like in Dark Tranquillity  on
     _Projector_, and the increased contrast  works  extremely  well,
     especially on songs such as "FreeCard",  "ThereIn"  and  "Nether
     Novas".  While  writing  and  recording  _Projector_,  were  any
     conscious decisions made about balancing the amount  of  harsher
     and softer parts, as well  as  the  use  of  new  and  "classic"
     elements, or did it all just turn out this way? Because it  -is-
     quite different from what it used to  be,  but  it's  definitely
     still Dark Tranquillity.

NS: It just turned out that way, but we were also determined to  make
    this album considerably different from the older ones while still
    retaining the DT-spirit. We have never been interested  in  being
    one of those bands that continue releasing the  same  album  year
    after year. We probably  would  keep  some  people  satisfied  by
    staying in a fixed style, but I honestly think that  the  quality
    of the songs would decrease, since our hearts wouldn't be  in  it
    the same way as before. With _Projector_, we had  something  like
    fourteen or  fifteen  songs  that  we  recorded  in  the  studio.
    Afterwards, we decided which ones should appear on the album  and
    which ones we should save.

CoC: Were you confident that the new elements in  your  music  (clean
     vox, keyboards,  etc.)  would  be  well  accepted  by  the  Dark
     Tranquillity fans?  Did  that  matter  to  you?  It  seems  that
     _Projector_ tended to cause rather extreme opinions  among  most
     of them, both positive and negative. How do you feel about this?

NS: It's hard to avoid getting some  slaggings  if  you  change  your
    style a bit, but we have to write the music  first  and  foremost
    for ourselves. After each album, we've  had  our  fair  share  of
    people moaning about the result and asking why we  couldn't  just
    keep going in the same vein as on the previous  album,  so  we're
    used to it. Of course we thought a lot  about  how  people  would
    react to _Projector_, but this  didn't  affect  the  songwriting.
    More than anything else, we were  really  curious.  As  expected,
    lots of people were disappointed  after  the  first  listens  but
    eventually got to like it a lot  with  time.  This  is  way  more
    interesting than playing it safe.

CoC: There is one song in particular that seems to be raising  a  lot
     of complaints from some of your fans, "Day to End". I personally
     do like that song a lot -- the vocals are great --, although  it
     wouldn't normally be my kind  of  music  at  all;  you  made  it
     excellent, though. It is, nevertheless, very different from your
     past works. What thoughts were going through your minds  as  you
     recorded it in  terms  of  the  intentions  behind  it  and  the
     feelings put into it?

NS: "Day to End" started out as a song Mikael wrote  and  just  toyed
    around with on his  acoustic  guitar.  It's  several  years  old,
    actually, but we always liked it  and  decided  to  try  to  make
    something out of it in the studio. Originally, the song was  more
    of a guitar-based ballad, like "Through Ebony Archways" but  much
    better, but we eventually added a more electronic flavour to  it.
    Honestly, I think that the song sounded better  in  the  original
    arrangement, but it was pretty fun to experiment a bit. But  this
    is the only song on _Projector_ that I feel shouldn't  have  been
    included on the album.

CoC: What's been on the bandmember's CD players the most, lately?

NS: We're all pretty diverse in our tastes, and it'd  take  too  much
    space to give any complete  lists  here.  Personally,  I've  been
    listening to everything from Enslaved to Madonna this week, so if
    I were to give a full list it'd give a very shattered impression.
    We're schizophrenic in our tastes for sure!

CoC: Mikael, you have suddenly used  your  previously  unknown  clean
     vocals on so much of the new album that one has to  wonder:  why
     did you decide to use so much clean singing so suddenly?

MS: I always wanted to experiment with other types of vocals and with
    this material I felt it was time  to  do  it.  The  songs  really
    needed different vocals this time around and I had a  great  time
    trying things out. It also opened up an whole new way for  me  to
    express myself lyrically and of course vocally.

CoC: I personally like the contrast between the most emotional  clean
     parts and the harsh ones very much, but you certainly  risked  a
     lot,  with  several  different  clean  styles  and  some  really
     emotional clean vox. Are you happy with the results?

MS: I am. And we will continue in this vein  on  the  next  album  as
    well.

CoC: I was quite interested by the "FreeCard" lyrics; can you tell me
     more about them?

MS: Basically it's about being a coward, one who escapes the  demands
    and has excuses for everything. There is always another way to go
    that is easier and the song is about people who choose  the  easy
    way out in every case.

CoC: One other song that has some particularly interesting lyrics for
     me is "Lethe". In Greek mythology, Lethe is "a river  in  Hades,
     the  water  of  which  produced,  in   those   who   drank   it,
     forgetfulness of the past." Was  this  the  concept  behind  the
     lyrics for that song? Can you expand on that some more?

NS: The whole song explores the notion of being able  to  delete  all
    your unwanted feelings and experiences.  As  many  other  artists
    have done in the past, I used a metaphor from well-known (or so I
    thought, hehe) mythology in order to illustrate the  concept  and
    get the point across better.

CoC: _Projector_'s release suffered  a  remarkably  long  delay  that
     included your departure from Osmose  and  signing  with  Century
     Media. What happened with Osmose after  all?  And  why  did  you
     choose Century Media as your new label?

NS: After we had recorded _Projector_ and given it some  listens,  it
    was obvious that it wasn't really Osmose material per se. We were
    always the "white sheep" on that label, and seeing that our sound
    had changed that much, it just wasn't a good match. Also, we  had
    just decided the line-up change, so we wanted to continue  riding
    that wave of reinvention. Osmose is a great label,  but  we  felt
    that their target audience was too far removed from how we  sound
    these days. Century Media  offered  us  the  best  terms,  so  we
    decided to sign with them for three albums.  Naturally,  all  the
    legal hassle took a long  time,  so  the  album  ended  up  being
    released almost a year after it was recorded.

CoC: So... what happened with the famous  _Projector_  digipak  bonus
     track, "Exposure"? My digipak was one of the forsaken...

NS: Good question, hehe. We first heard that all the digipaks  should
    feature this bonus track, but when the  album  got  released,  it
    turned out that only some of the copies actually  had  "Exposure"
    included. Furthermore, the  song  wasn't  printed  on  the  track
    listing on all of these copies either, and there apparantly  were
    some cases where the song was listed on the back  cover  but  not
    included on the actual disc, so it's a confusing matter...  We'll
    make sure to release it in some format in the future  since  it's
    actually one of the best songs from the _Projector_ recording.

CoC: You have recorded a video clip for "ThereIn", which  I  recently
     saw. Can you describe the concept behind it and how it fits  the
     song? Are you happy with the result?

NS: Well, the video is OK, but I feel that the original  footage  was
    better than what the end result may lead you to believe.  It  was
    all done on a very tight budget, so the mixing got a bit hurried.
    The storyboard involved focusing on the duality and contrast that
    the lyrics play with, but this was  only  half  realised  in  the
    video. Another weak point is that the song is  over  six  minutes
    long, and it's hard to keep the viewer's attention  for  so  long
    with the limited range of scenes that we had. Anyway,  the  video
    will be featured as a multimedia bonus on the first  pressing  of
    the next album, so eventually it'll be seen by more people.

CoC: Besides the band sequences, there are  several  nocturnal  urban
     scenes and lots of traffic moving  in  fast-forward  during  the
     video clip. Then those scenes turn into storm clouds  travelling
     in the sky. Is that a metaphor for how you foresee the evolution
     (or in this case, demise) of civilization in general?

NS: No, the main thought was to display this duality in a  convincing
    visual context. We had to improvise  a  bit  since  some  of  the
    footage we intended to use turned out to be ruined by  inadequate
    light conditions. This will probably take some  of  the  mystique
    away, but that footage is actually taken from a video library and
    not custom shot for the purpose.

CoC: I'm curious about one of the photos  from  the  _The  Mind's  I_
     booklet, the third (blue) one, depicting what appears  to  be  a
     tree beneath a wintry storm. The coldness and desolation that  I
     see on that picture make me think of  death  approaching,  maybe
     even the world coming to an end. What are your thoughts on that?
     And what does the picture actually mean to you?

NS: We worked closely with a Hasselblad photographer on  that  album,
    and he made a selection of photos that we  could  chose  from.  I
    can't recall that that picture had any specific meaning  attached
    to it. It just looked good and had the right  characteristics  to
    fit with the rest of the booklet. We were more involved with  the
    cover, for which me and Mikael arranged the "still  life  with  a
    horse's head". [So much for my philosophical approach... --Pedro]

CoC: After listening to _The Mind's I_, I didn't have a clue of  what
     was coming with _Projector_... Can you reveal some of what  Dark
     Tranquillity might sound like in the future?

NS: We just finished recording our new album, _Haven_, and it  sounds
    again a bit different from the norm. It's not a  continuation  of
    _Projector_, but it's not a return to the earlier  style  either.
    More than anything else, it's a mixture between everything  we've
    done in the past, but with lots of elements and experiments  that
    are new to us. I can't reveal too much in print, since it's bound
    to give the wrong impressions, but I'm  sure  that  _Haven_  will
    appeal to fans of both our older stuff and _Projector_.

CoC: What about touring, now that you're with Century Media?  I  know
     you've toured some of central Europe last year. How did  it  go?
     Any peculiar stories you'd like to share with us, from  that  or
     some other tour?

MS: Yeah, CM and our management fixed up a great tour for us as  well
    as some festivals. It was a great Summer for us and we've  had  a
    wonderful time. The five weeks with In  Flames,  Arch  Enemy  and
    Children of Bodom were certainly insane in many ways and I  would
    rather stray from the subject than tell the bone-chilling stories
    of this venturesome quest into alcoholic depravity....

CoC: What are your plans for the future? Any chance you might come to
     Portugal?

NS: I hope so, but nothing is confirmed about future tours yet. There
    will be some festival dates during the summer, and  we're  likely
    to tour with Sentenced in Europe in September, but I have no clue
    about where we'll play.

CoC: What is your greatest wish for the future of Dark Tranquillity?

MS: To continue to evolve and experiment. To do what we  like  to  do
    best.

CoC: Those were my questions; is there anything  you  would  like  to
     add, perhaps a  final  message  of  dark  tranquillity  for  our
     readers?

NS: Sorry for  the  massive  delay  in  finally  getting  this  intie
    answered. To the readers: stay tuned for _Haven_, set for release
    on July 17th!

Contact: http://www.DarkTranquillity.com

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     T H E   C O L D   D E M O N S   O F   D E A T H   M E T A L
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
               CoC interviews Peter Wiwczarek of Vader
                          by: Paul Schwarz


I consider Vader one of the most  solid  death  metal  outfits  still
around in the world today. They've more than paid their dues in their
just over ten year recording  career  and  with  1996's  classic  _De
Profundis_ [CoC #17] to their name the band are absolved of any  duty
to justify their existence. Vader have stayed  alive  where  so  many
have died, but  much,  much  more  importantly  Vader  have  remained
contemporary. By this I don't mean that they have followed the trends
that have swept through the underground,  certainly  not,  but  Vader
have remained appealing to new listeners, listeners who weren't  even
into Metallica or Iron Maiden when Vader  were  peddling  their  1990
_Morbid Reich_ tape through the international underground. What Vader
have avoided so wonderfully is becoming a relic of the past  trundled
out merely for the pleasure of the scene's stalwarts. Still the  band
of the youth (though  their  old  fans  never  abandoned  them),  and
possibly Slayer's equivalent  in  the  semi-underground  death  metal
scene, Vader attract a crowd looking for something a little less  cut
up and dried out than Cannibal  Corpse,  but  still  with  sufficient
simplicity to smack bodies and brains flying down in  the  pit.  Like
Slayer, it's seeing Vader live that completes the picture; that makes
it so damn easy to understand why they have the fanbase they do; that
reinstills your faith in the power of metal, for  fuck's  sake.  This
year,  the  time  of  bunnies,  eggs,  crucifixion  and  resurrection
coincides closely with what, to my mind,  is  a  far  more  important
event: the release of the new Vader album, _Litany_ [reviewed in this
issue], and it is a fucking -beast-. I don't think  the  death  metal
scene has seen this effective, convincing or plain brutal a _Reign in
Blood_-style speed and aggression crush in a long time. Tank obsessed
metal maniac vocalist/guitarist Peter Wiwczarek helped me fill in the
gaps as regards _Litany_ and what's  been  happening  with  the  band
since I (and David Rocher) caught up with them in Rennes last  Summer
[CoC #43].

[Note: Peter's English is not perfect, so sometimes  the  meaning  of
what he says may be ambiguous, i.e. don't  take  him  too  literally.
--Paul]

CoC: You've been doing this for fourteen years and you still  haven't
     slowed down? Is it still a drive to be more extreme than before?

Peter Wiwczarek: That's Vader's style, man.

CoC: Becoming  popular,  growing  as  a  band  hasn't  changed   your
     perspective on things?

PW: We never expected popularity or success at the beginning when  we
    started to play extreme music, that would be stupid. <pause as  I
    wait to see if he will continue> So, my friend, what do you  want
    to know, because, by the way, you are the last one tonight,  but,
    you know, I am fuckin' dead. I started at eleven in  the  morning
    and I didn't even have five or ten  fucking  minutes  to  take  a
    piss. There were a couple of guys who got ten or fifteen minutes.
    It was impossible, so you are lucky because you are the last one.

CoC: The album, to me, it sounds like you guys have been listening to
     _Reign in Blood_ a lot, would  this  be  correct?  Because  it's
     great, it sounds like you  guys,  but  twenty-six  minutes,  ten
     songs? Total destruction. What do you think?

PW: Well, you know it's kind of hard to control because we  got  some
    problems with Doc: he was too fast in the studio, that's  why  we
    had to write two more songs directly in the studio.  Because  the
    total time was too short, it was below the  limit:  these  mighty
    thirty minutes. But, by the way, I  think  that  like  thirty  or
    forty minutes is a perfect time for bands playing  extreme  kinds
    of music. More would be maybe too much for  a  human  being.  Two
    minutes of Vader is like five minutes of someone else. This is so
    intense. You can not control the time at this  intensity.  That's
    why; what more can I say?

CoC: That's the idea when you  did  "The  One  Made  of  Dreams"  and
     "North" and that sort of thing then.

PW: Maybe the Slayer guys, when they recorded _Reign in  Blood_,  had
    similar problems, maybe that's why they  recorded  such  a  short
    album, but still great, you know! I wish to follow them.

CoC: You supported them a little while ago, right?

PW: Yeah, in Poland. That was a great night 'cause we got a chance to
    talk to them, though not all of them. But Tom Araya,  he  watched
    our show, the Vader show. That was a  big  surprise  for  us  and
    after that we got a chance to talk to him for a few minutes. He's
    a very friendly, very nice person, you know.  Easy  to  talk  to,
    with a smile on his face. <laughs> So, it was really great to get
    a chance to talk to him finally. Kerry wasn't in a good mood that
    time. He told us it wasn't a  good  show  for  him.  <laughs>  He
    played "horrible": what the fuck are you talking about?  We  also
    got a chance to play two shows with Testament in Poland and  that
    was also a great experience. So we are now much closer, and there
    is even a chance to support them in America, at the  end  of  the
    year, maybe next year. That was a good connection and those  were
    great shows that we played together.  Also,  the  same  thing:  a
    legendary band, but who were very friendly, not rock stars.  That
    was great. It's good to know about that  because  sometimes,  and
    this  has  happened  lately,  you  meet  newcomers  who  [present
    themselves] like big stars, so you cannot even talk to them.  You
    know what I'm talkin' about, Paul. So, it's nice to know that the
    guys who are legends, who created metal, heavy metal and not just
    death metal or thrash metal,  are  so,  so,  so,  -so-  open  for
    everybody. Still have the young spirit.

CoC: It's great when you go to a  gig  and  it's  like  that  gig  in
     Rennes: just normal guys.

PW: Yeah, we still should be fans, fans of heavy metal, not feel like
    somebody special. Maybe we are kind of chosen, but we should feel
    like a regular maniac. We should be maniacs; fans of this  music,
    like we are.

CoC: Okay, "Cold Demons", let's talk about this song.  This  is  your
     song, right? 'Cause this is about your tank thing.

PW: <laughs> How did you guess?  <sarcastic>  Hey  Paul,  Paul.  Yes,
    exactly, but this is also different, compared to previous albums,
    because _Litany_ is a  concept  album  of  one  guy.  Almost  one
    hundred percent of our lyrics are  written  by  Paul  Frelik.  He
    appeared for the first time writing the song "Silent  Empire"  on
    _De Profundis_ and later with more songs on _Black to the  Blind_
    [CoC #27], but finally he got his concept  album.  This  is  also
    Vader's style, the supernatural things, the magic, but maybe  the
    difference is that there is more humanity  in  this  supernatural
    world. On previous albums maybe we forgot about humanity: a  very
    important factor when you are  talking  about  magic,  you  know.
    There are two exceptions, "Cold Demons" and "Forwards to Die!!!".
    Those two songs were written by me, as I said before  we  had  to
    write them directly in the studio because we had to do more songs
    since Doc was too fast. I tried to do something different so,  my
    hobby, tanks; war machines; humanity and its hunger for power. We
    also made a video. We made it using many original shots  from  my
    collection except for some Vader live shots. It's mostly in black
    and white. It's very dynamic, there are so many tanks, so  anyone
    who likes tanks and war machines will love the  video.  There  is
    also me as the commander,  of  course.  <laughs>  It's  going  to
    appear on the first edition, the special edition of the album.

CoC: How are things financially with you signing to Metal Blade?  How
     have things moved on?

PW: What a band needs, what Vader needs, is promotion, man. So to  be
    honest, up until now we've got to where we've got to  by  working
    hard and playing a lot, touring. But to be  honest,  we've  still
    got some problems with the promotion and distribution, and  Metal
    Blade can change that, I hope they will. Until now,  I've  had  a
    real TV interview session here, I've  done  fucking  hundreds  of
    interviews. Maybe I will survive this, but  this  is  what  every
    band needs. With the  distribution:  I  think  Vader  will  [now]
    appear in every main record store, and that's what  we  expected.
    Besides that, now I am sitting in  the  office  [at  Metal  Blade
    Germany --Paul]. And what I see is just men  who  are  very  into
    metal. They know what they're doing. I feel it has been  a  great
    move and that signing the deal with Metal Blade is the best thing
    that's happened lately for the band.  I  think  what's  going  to
    happen is going to happen for  the  better,  for  the  band,  for
    everybody, for the music, for the  maniacs.  Also,  finally,  our
    release is also vinyl.

CoC: Last time I talked to you, the guy from Yattering was filling in
     on drums, because Doc had some problems. That's all  sorted  out
     now and not a problem, I gather, but how did that contribute  to
     the making of the album? I guess Doc must have  been  hungry  to
     get back to it.

PW: Yeah, yeah, indeed. He had got a big problem  with  drugs  before
    and that's why we had to do something. We  still  felt  like  his
    friends, but it started not to be  his  problem  but  to  be  the
    band's problem. And that's why we talked to him  about  that  and
    decided to give him a couple of months to think about what he was
    going to do, in his life, to heal. During that time  the  drummer
    from Yattering did replace him but Doc came back at  the  end  of
    August on the first date of a festival in Poland. We were talking
    a week before and he was really hungry to get back finally and he
    spent the couple of months drumming all the time, so when he  got
    back he was in real good condition. I was so glad  and  happy  to
    see him back. I think his drum kit helped him  a  lot,  and,  who
    knows, maybe saved his life. For sure saved  big  talent,  and  a
    great drummer. He started to work with new songs not long  before
    we recorded them in the studio and now he is maybe in even better
    condition than he used to be. [That's possible? --Paul] So  watch
    out on the tour. I can't wait to do it.

CoC: What exactly is "Wings" about? The first lines are  "There  have
     never been gods and devils,  but  there  were  people  who  were
     turned into them"...

PW: As I told you at first, what I can tell you and explain  is  just
    the main things about the album, because if you want to know  the
    details you should talk to the author. But, as I told you,  there
    is a little bit more about the humanity which has to live in this
    world, about humanity and his beliefs. With "Wings" [the idea is]
    that there are -people- who create the  demons,  who  create  the
    gods. Exactly like in the beginning.  We've  got  something  like
    inclination, the human inclination  of  being  which  started  to
    exist. I think this is in general what  the  song  is  about.  Of
    course this is all just the  touch  of  a  theme  which  is  very
    significant in our creation. All the time we  leave  a  real  big
    space for imagination, so even if a song is written  by  one  man
    who knows exactly what his idea was,  he  leaves  space  for  the
    imagination of each person who listens to the music or reads  the
    lyrics. So everybody can find out something  personal,  just  for
    himself, and maybe that's why the response for Vader is so  great
    everywhere in the world, because everybody can find something for
    themselves. What else can I say? Well, I can explain  about  Paul
    Frelik, why I decided to  write  the  music  for  someone  else's
    lyrics. Well, because I know [that] if somebody  is  walking  the
    same kind of way, same kind of path, and of course it is not  the
    same path 'cause everybody is walking/following his own and  just
    his way, but if you know you are following the same kind of  way,
    same direction, you know, there's nothing wrong with being closer
    and co-operating. I am proud to make music for his creation.

CoC: You're doing a tour in the States in May with Krisiun?

PW: Krisiun, Angel Corpse, Dismember and Hate Eternal.

CoC: How long is it that you're there?

PW: One month, after we finish the No  Mercy  Festival  dates.  Then,
    after the American tour, we're going to get  back  to  Europe  to
    headline with Vital Remains,  Fleshcrawl  and  Rebaelliun.  We're
    going to be busy, but there's nothing wrong with that. That's our
    destiny, and I am glad of that.

CoC: Do you like being on the road?

PW: <mmmms, thinking> Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I like to play  live,  that's
    the best thing that can happen for a band. Of course,  if  you've
    got a tour for three or four months non-stop, your  body  can  be
    tired, but it's just body. <laughs> Like in "Hellraiser".

CoC: At the moment you tour very hard, you work exceptionally hard as
     a band. Do you think if  the  band  ends  up  with  commitments,
     family or whatever, that will change what Vader will  eventually
     become, because you have to work less hard  at  it?  Or  do  you
     think you'll keep doing it whatever happens, that  it'll  always
     be a part of you?

PW: You know, we're Vader and so there are so many  who  expect  this
    extremity. So, we want to keep being this extreme band as long as
    we are able to do that. And as long as we are going to be  useful
    for those guys. As long as people will need this kind of  extreme
    music, and as long as it will be alive, Vader will be alive.

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

         R A C I N G   T O W A R D S   D E S T R U C T I O N
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
             CoC chats with Janne Saarenpaa of The Crown
                         by: Adrian Bromley


     Some of you will know this by  having  read  my  review  of  The
Crown's (formerly Crown of Thorns) latest death metal  /  death  rock
release _Deathrace King_ in this issue: I am totally  blown  away  by
it. The passion. The speed. The intensity. All stellar elements  that
truly help shape one of the most promising (and easily most volatile)
releases this year.
     In short: these Swedes mean business. "This was a very important
record for us", starts drummer Janne Saarenpaa about the new release,
a follow-up their well-received third  album,  and  debut  for  Metal
Blade, titled _Hell Is Here_ [CoC #36]. "It took  us  many  years  of
playing out and recording to find the right sound within what we did.
We have become very confident now with our material and we  are  glad
that with this record we can now showcase what we want The  Crown  to
sound like."
     The Crown's success has lied within  their  staying  power.  The
want, or maybe more importantly, the need to keep focused and playing
metal music. Over ten years and four releases, Saarenpaa and his band
(rounded out by singer  Johan  Lindstrand,  bassist  Magnus  Olsfelt,
guitarists Marko Tervonen and Marcus Sunesson) have  made  sure  that
each and every release of The Crown is worthy of consumption  by  the
metal legion out there.
     "We have struggled to get the band name out and  record  music",
he says. "It has been hard  to  actually  try  to  make  a  name  for
ourselves and to get the name out, but things are  starting  to  look
good for the band. It seems as though we are finally getting what  we
deserve." He continues: "There has been a lot of work put  into  this
band, a lot of sacrifice, and it just feels so good that the band  is
starting to see success and recognition from the metal community."
     On the topic of the new release and the title,  Saarenpaa  says,
"This record is definitely more death metal sounding  than  the  last
record. As for the title, we think it really describes  what  we  are
doing here. Somewhat of a death race through Hell or  something  like
that. The album cover really brings that to mind, I think. It  really
feels very fast and furious and I think the songs really  drive  home
that experience."
     "I am really pleased that the stuff that we  have  created  with
_Deathrace King_ is easily compatible with the older Crown  material.
It feels very natural and very refreshing  playing  all  of  the  new
material because I was getting very tired of playing the old stuff."
     One thing that Saarenpaa says is a big priority is for the  band
to  come  over  and  tour   the   United   States   this   year.   He
enthusiastically explains: "The label has been pushing real hard  and
talking about bringing us over to play. It would  be  great  for  us.
They are talking about us doing a tour with Cannibal  Corpse  and  it
should happen. I'm hoping it does. We already  have  a  good  fanbase
here in Europe, so by playing over there, we would be  growing  as  a
band. It only seems like the right thing to do."
     So seeing that death metal seems to be resurfacing, haven slowly
dwindled away over the past few years, how does Saarenpaa feel  about
playing death metal music? What are his thoughts on  today's  current
state of metal music? "Playing this music has been a big deal for us.
It is good to see that this trend really didn't go away and  I  think
we really believed in what we were playing even if it  was  difficult
sometimes to get noticed or whatever. We have just  working  100%  on
what we do best and hope that we  can  survive  all  of  these  other
trends. I just think it is  hard  sometimes  for  death  metal  music
because people are so fixed on making all of these unique  styles  of
metal music and forget the original style of metal music. I think too
many records of this style were being put out and  the  quality  went
very low for a while. We believe in death metal and that is all  that
matters. We didn't want to feel bad about playing something  that  we
liked to play. We didn't change and I think that support for what  we
play has kept us on track."
     Adding, Saarenpaa notes: "A lot of the  death  metal  bands  out
there have changed a bit too much, I think. There is a  lot  more  to
discover within the extreme realm of brutal death metal. Sure  it  is
hard to come up with new material each time  out,  but  that  is  the
whole essence of being a musician. The harder you  work  at  it,  the
better it will turn out."
     Even though this is only the second  release  for  the  band  on
Metal Blade, their years of playing  have  been  well  documented  in
their two previous releases on Black Sun Records as Crown of  Thorns:
1995's _The Burning_ and 1997's _Eternal Death_ [CoC  #22].  It  just
seems now that being on a major label has opened up the band  (as  it
should) to a bigger audience.
     About the work with Metal  Blade,  he  comments:  "Working  with
Metal Blade has been a great experience for us. It  is  good  to  see
that they are really focused in doing the shit they  have  to  do  to
help the band, allowing us to concentrate on making music and playing
out live. It has allowed us to work hard and  define  our  sound.  We
just worry about playing our instruments and they do the rest."
     He finishes: "That is all we ever wanted and all  that  we  ever
needed to do in order to get the name out. Now it is just up to us to
tear things up with our music and have fun doing so."

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

 THE FINELY BALANCED, MULTI-PURPOSE TOOL OF METAL... THAT NEVER DIES
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              CoC chats with Kirk Windstein of Crowbar
                          by: Paul Schwarz


Their history now clocks in at a veteran-status-worthy  twelve  years
and still the heavy but infectious tones of Crowbar haven't caught on
in a big way. Still, Crowbar have seen enough trends come and  go  to
not let ambition get in the way of their appreciation of  where  they
have got to. New  album  _Equilibrium_,  on  Spitfire  /  Eagle  Rock
[reviewed in this issue], amply displays Crowbar's lack of  care  for
what others are doing, but more importantly exemplifies the  kind  of
quality riffed-up, beefy, and sludge-tinged metal they  can  produce.
On their recent trip to Britain, a few days before they flattened  me
senseless at the Underworld [see  Chaotic  Concerts  for  review],  I
caught up with guitarist and vocalist Kirk Windstein  to  talk  about
personnel changes, musical direction and the musical history of their
native New Orleans, among a few other intriguing topics.  Here's  the
story from the man who aspires to be "The Lemmy" of his generation.

CoC: You've sort of taken a bit of a different  direction  from  _Odd
     Fellows Rest_ [CoC #33]. Last  time  you  went  in  for  a  more
     melodic,  more  traditionally  song-structured  approach;   Todd
     Strange compared it to AC/DC.  This  one  is  a  bit  more  like
     _Broken Glass_ or _Crowbar_.

Kirk Windstein: It's kind of more raw than the last one --  I  really
                like _Odd Fellows Rest_ a lot, I really do.  Some  of
                the changes that we made on  _Odd  Fellows  Rest_  --
                songs like "Odd Fellows Rest" and "Planets  Collide",
                which is one of my favourites that we've ever done --
                I've tried to take  some  of  the  good  melodic  and
                positive things in the songwriting that  were  really
                good on _Odd Fellows Rest_ but also  throw  it  back,
                like you said, to some of the older shit and make  it
                a little more raw and aggressive. I  mean,  it's  got
                its mellow moments as well but it's  definitely  more
                aggressive; songs like "Down Into the Rotting  Earth"
                are fuckin' heavy. I love it, it's killer.

CoC: It's got a lot more of that groove  there.  It's  quite  a  good
     mixture, because "Dream Weaver" is very  much  in  the  "Planets
     Collide" kind of vein.

KW: Right, like "Command of Myself" is one that  everybody  at  first
    was kind of weird on and now they're really into it -- I like  it
    a lot. It's cool because we made a couple  of  changes  beginning
    with "Nothing" on _Broken Glass_. That was the first song we ever
    wrote -that- way; melodic vocally. I really got  bored  with  all
    the barking-type vocals thing. For some of the faster  hard  core
    ones it's cool, but for some  of  the  riffs  --  the  riffs  are
    getting more melodic even though they're really  heavy  --,  it's
    better to do something melodic on vocals on top of it. We've been
    doing this shit for twelve years, we'd get bored doing  the  same
    thing over and over again. We always want to stay  true  to  what
    Crowbar's about, but we feel that we've made subtle changes  over
    the years that enable us to do different stuff now: to  not  feel
    like we can only play this one style. We can branch  out  and  do
    some different stuff and it's cool.

CoC: It's made you into more of a -band-. Originally Crowbar was kind
     of like an oddity in the sense it was this incredibly heavy band
     with -big- guys in it from New Orleans and I think this album is
     very well-rounded. Again, along with that you've now  moved  on,
     you've got a new drummer and Sammy [Pierre Duet] is  doing  more
     writing. Do you think that affected the album a lot, did Sammy's
     contribution affect it much?

KW: Somewhat. I mean, we've got Craig [Nunenmacher, drums]  back  in,
    actually, from the first couple of records. Sammy definitely  has
    some cool stuff to it. I wish he could do more, I  mean  he's  so
    busy with all his other bands and that shit, but the  stuff  that
    he did do is very cool. Just him being in the  band  changes  the
    approach to stuff a lot 'cause he's a really good player, so it's
    pretty happening.

CoC: With the tour you're doing with Eyehategod  and  Soilent  Green,
     which is the same line-up of bands as it was in the States, they
     come from the same place...

KW: Right, fuckin' ten minutes away.

CoC: So is it really quite interesting going on tour with  all  these
     guys who you've known for so long.

KW: Yeah it makes it cool because number one,  I  love  both  of  the
    bands and number two, you already know you're going to get  along
    with the other bands -- otherwise you're always wondering whether
    these guys you're touring with  are  going  to  be  assholes.  We
    usually get along with everyone; we're pretty laid back,  but  it
    makes it cool. It's definitely going to  be  fun,  because  we're
    going to have fifteen people from New Orleans on  the  same  bus.
    We'll probably be bombed the whole time, so it'll be cool.

CoC: How are things shaping up with Down?

KW: We've got a lot of stuff written. We've got ten  songs  of  rough
    stuff written, nothing major at all. A couple of them are  closer
    than others to being finished but we're definitely going to do it
    this year, maybe not record it but finish up all the writing  and
    demo it and everything and maybe early next  year  or  something,
    depending on the Pantera schedule, we'll  fit  it  in  for  sure.
    Definitely, without a doubt we'll be doing another  one,  so  I'm
    excited about that.

CoC: Lyrically, the album certainly comes from a different  direction
     than you were coming from seven years ago...

KW: Yes.

CoC: _Crowbar_ is quite a lot about yourself. What would you describe
     this album as being about, generally?

KW: I mean a lot of it is still how it always has  been.  People  are
    always like "Jesus, you must be one fucking depressed  dude",  or
    "Why is everything so doom and gloom?",  and  all  this  kind  of
    shit. But if you really listen to the lyrics, in the  past  maybe
    they were that way, but now a lot of the stuff is more  about  --
    it's -about- difficult times  in  your  life  or  whatever,  it's
    -about- going through rough shit  and  all,  but  it's  always  a
    positive message. Basically, the whole  album  is  about  finding
    strength in yourself to overcome whatever bullshit. It  might  be
    fuckin' old lady problems, drug problems, you ain't got no money,
    whatever it might be: it's  about  overcoming  that  and  finding
    inside of you what you need to do, to be strong, to  fuckin'  get
    through it.

CoC: One thing I found quite  bizarre  was  the  twelfth  track,  the
     strange bluesy weird thing. How did it come about and what is
     it?

KW: You mean the thing after "Dreamweaver"?

CoC: Yeah.

KW: It's actually my friend Moon, who I've probably known since I was
    six years old. It was his birthday while we were in  the  studio.
    It's supposed to be "Anna Gotta Davida" by Iron  Butterfly  [Iron
    Butterfly fans correct me if I'm wrong on the  spelling  of  this
    song --Paul] like  <imitates  chords  in  song>.  He's  like  all
    bombed, like on three hundred pills, smokin'  weed,  he's  bombed
    out of his mind. So we taped him. He's like all drunk  tryin'  to
    do the riff and then he starts singin' it. At the very end I grab
    the mike from him  and  say  like  one  line  or  something.  But
    basically Keith [Falgout], the producer, took his voice trying to
    do the guitar riff and then looped it underneath the vocal  thing
    or whatever to make it like him singin' over his own  guitar.  It
    was supposed to be like twenty minutes after "Dream Weaver". It's
    just my friend drunk, on his birthday, a joke. It's just  to  let
    everyone know we're serious about what we're doing but  we  still
    like to have a good time.

CoC: Would you say as a band you feel any differently over  the  last
     twelve years or do you feel like you've just developed the  same
     band? Have you ever consciously sat there and gone,  "Right,  we
     need to make Crowbar different"?

KW: Not for any reason other than our  own  sanity.  You  know,  when
    things become stale it's like, let's do  something  different.  I
    mean basically like the whole starting point was "Nothing" off of
    _Broken Glass_ and a few things on _Odd Fellows Rest_ were a  lot
    different. A song like "Planets Collide",  which  is  one  of  my
    favourite songs we have, we never would have done it. I  mean,  I
    wouldn't have presented it to the band four or five years ago. It
    wasn't a Crowbar song, but we made it into a Crowbar  song.  It's
    no longer got to be, you know, everything played  on  the  bottom
    three frets and you're ready to kill yourself and all. You  know,
    it doesn't -have to- be that way any more. We've grown, you know,
    as people, as musicians, everything. There's a lot more riffed up
    stuff than what used to be in the past, which we've  always  been
    capable of playing; we just strayed away  from  it  for  whatever
    reason. But I don't want to put any more barriers up on  what  we
    can and can't do. I want to be able to do whatever  the  fuck  we
    want to do. As long as we write fuckin' good, original  sounding,
    heavy shit, then it's Crowbar.

CoC: What are your thoughts on the Celtic Frost reunion?

KW: Really!?

CoC: Yeah, 'cause I remember two years ago you guys were at Milwaukee
     and you played "The Dawn of Megiddo" as a kind  of  compensation
     for the possible 'Frost reunion [that was rumoured early  on  in
     line-up  possibilities  to  be  happening  --Paul]  that   never
     happened.  They  have  reunited  for  an  album   and   a   tour
     theoretically  sometime  this  year  and  of  course  they  just
     re-released the 'Frost back-catalogue.

KW: Well, I mean, they were totally an early  influence  on  what  we
    did. I mean I don't know about all this Apollyon Sun,  I  haven't
    heard it, I've just read something with Tom Fischer recently and,
    you know, people change and there's  nothing  wrong  with  it.  I
    still totally worship what they used to do. But I'm all for it, I
    hope if they do do it that they do the old shit and stay true  to
    that and not do the _Cold Lake_ era and stuff, not one  person  I
    know likes it, they're all like sittin'  they're  tryin'  to  cut
    their wrists like "What the fuck happened?".

CoC: Well, when they did the re-issues  they  didn't  re-issue  _Cold
     Lake_ and Tom said that he'd never deny it was Celtic Frost  but
     just that it wasn't -essential- Celtic Frost. It was just  plain
     bad.  They  also  said  they  would  do  the  old   shit.   It's
     interesting, though, because  Celtic  Frost  are  very  much  an
     influential band to the whole black metal scene and they're  all
     sort of done up in armour, but all these bands  like  yourselves
     and other very heavy, sludgy bands from New Orleans  and  around
     the States really like 'em and I'm curious why you think  Celtic
     Frost are like this anomaly?

KW: I was just into them 'cause number one, it was  an  influence  on
    Crowbar because they were extremely heavy but  they  weren't  too
    thrashy or speed metal-ish, which I'm into -- I love  fast,  good
    shit --, it's just when we started Crowbar we were trying  to  go
    against the norm of the time which was playing double kick thrash
    shit. That wasn't Jim Bower's style at all when he was playing in
    the band, he was more of a John Bonham [Led Zeppelin]-type  dude,
    which is my favourite drummer anyway, and Celtic Frost was one of
    the bands that stuck out, to me, as being super fuckin' heavy but
    without going two hundred miles an hour. To me, you could play as
    fast as you want, if you're not putting it from  your  heart  and
    from your guts and your balls, you're not heavy. Heaviness is  an
    emotion. It's a feeling. "Solitude" by Black Sabbath  is  one  of
    the heaviest songs I've ever heard in my life and it's so fuckin'
    quiet. But it's fuckin' heavy. Loud doesn't make you heavy.  Fast
    doesn't make you heavy. Slow doesn't  make  you  heavy.  It's  an
    emotion. Whatever you do. Some bands people don't think are heavy
    I think are fuckin' heavy.  Me  an  Jim  [Bower,  ex-drummer  and
    Eyehategod guitarist] always say that.  AC/DC  are  heavy.  Angus
    Young full of fuckin' spit and sweat, all cut  up  and  bleeding.
    He's into what he's doing: that's heavy.

CoC: I'd say the same thing about something like Rollins Band,  which
     a lot of people would kind of downgrade as being "mainstream" or
     "rock" or whatever.

KW: Fuck no! If you're up there screaming your balls off it's fuckin'
    heavy. It's not about anything other than emotion.  Whatever  you
    pour out in your music; that makes it heavy. That's what we  try.
    We really strive to do that in Crowbar. Try to sing with a lot of
    emotion, try to play, and it's from the heart and it's real. And,
    you know, that's just all there is to it.

CoC: You've been doing this now for twelve years. When you see  bands
     like Slipknot or Korn who are twenty-odd years old and they make
     one or two albums and then get a number one  in  the  States  --
     having done this for so long and done so many albums and  having
     had a lot of fans who've really stuck with you for a long  time,
     do you see Crowbar as ever suddenly becoming big now or  do  you
     just see yourselves as an underground band?

KW: Well, when we started doing what we were doing we never  expected
    to get this far. So, you know, it's not like we're  crying  about
    the fact that we don't have a platinum record or  something,  but
    at the same time it makes me still be  hungry  to  get  somewhere
    because I think we deserve more than what we've got as far  as  a
    level we  should  reach.  But  I've  no  -problems-  with  it  or
    anything. I mean, as far as the future, my goal,  my  main  goal,
    when I started the band, was that if we could just get  to  where
    Motorhead is or something... You know, not like  mainstream,  not
    on the radio, not on MTV, not on none of this shit, but  able  to
    just go on for fuckin' twenty-five years. I want to be the  Lemmy
    of my generation. I want to be fuckin' fifty years old and  three
    hundred fuckin' pounds. Full of tatoos, drinkin' beer and fuckin'
    jammin' my balls off because that's all I know how to do.  That's
    all I ever wanted to do -- I'd like to make a little  more  money
    --, basically be able to survive playing the music that I love to
    create and play and do it 'till I die, which hopefully is a  long
    time down the road. That's all my goal was. We've been on MTV.  I
    didn't even think stuff like that would happen. It's no big deal,
    we just want to jam, period.

CoC: With record labels, you started off on  Pavement,  which  didn't
     work out, and the last two records you've moved and ended up  on
     Spitfire/Eagle. It's a much bigger record label. Are you pleased
     to move onto a label with James Brown and Dio and Deep Purple?

KW: A friend of mine said it was funny we were on the same label with
    Dio and whatever, but I said so what,  'cause  Pantera's  on  the
    same  label  with  Whitney  Houston  or  something,  what's   the
    difference? If it's a label that's got money to promote  you  and
    to push you properly and if it's got good distribution  --  which
    are all things we've had problems with in the  past  --  I  don't
    give a fuck who's on it. As long as they believe in  Crowbar  and
    they're cool -- and Paul Bebo, who's the president in America, is
    a good friend of mine and he's  totally  into  the  band,  really
    believes in what we're doing. To him, this is our  first  record,
    it's a brand new record. He got  the  _Odd  Fellows  Rest_  album
    which he re-released and he's trying  to  get  the  rest  of  the
    back-catalogue, so we'll have  it  all  under  one  fuckin'  roof
    finally, where it belongs. And to him this is  our  first  record
    because he says that's he's going to do things and promote things
    that we've never had  done  for  us  before.  I  mean,  being  on
    Pavement we could have put out _Led Zeppelin IV_ and it  probably
    wouldn't have sold  that  well.  You  could've  put  out  fuckin'
    Nirvana's _Nevermind_, you could put out an  album  that  quality
    and no-one would know you fuckin' existed. I'm not saying  if  we
    were on fuckin' Columbia we would have sold five million,  'cause
    this is not for  everybody.  We  know  what  we  do  is  not  for
    everybody. We don't make it for everybody.

CoC: Absolutely, but there are lots of bands out there who are  doing
     similar things. The thing that's really annoying about the world
     is that there's a band who becomes popular, and then there'll be
     a band who does what they do, better, but they're on some  small
     label.

KW: I know where you're coming from. The  average  music  fans,  they
    don't even really look, you basically have to drop  it  on  their
    lap for them to really find it. People who are really into music,
    the hard-core fans, go out and search for the shit  and  find  it
    and they find the bands  that  influence  these  other  bands  or
    whatever. I understand what you mean. Hopefully, by  being  on  a
    new label, we can at least jump to the  -next-  level,  which  is
    totally within the realms of possibility. We  recently  did  some
    shows in Hawaii, which was very cool. We had a really good  time,
    got drunk, hit the water. I did an interview  with  the  Honolulu
    newspaper or whatever and the lady's like  saying,  "Having  been
    successful..." and I'm like "Back up: we never were  successful".
    We have no place to go but up. I  mean,  we  are  an  underground
    band, we've always been an underground band.  To  me,  I  haven't
    lost confidence in what we're capable of doing.  I  told  her  it
    would be one thing if we were like Poison,  that  ten  years  ago
    were selling five million records, playing arenas in America, and
    now they play the same clubs Crowbar plays. Then  I'd  be  saying
    that something wasn't really too cool here, but as  we've  always
    played the same clubs and we've never got up to the next level we
    have no place to go but up: that's our attitude.

CoC: Back in '93/'94 when you were on MTV...

KW: Right, that was the biggest hype era of our career.

CoC: To be honest, I knew about you through that. Then I got into you
     'cause I saw you play with Napalm Death, At the Gates  and  Face
     Down four years ago. That was the  clincher.  But  I  originally
     knew about you as "this  band  who  knew  Pantera".  That's  how
     people generally tend to  pick  stuff  up,  unfortunately.  Kids
     don't read enough magazines or look around the underground.

KW: I don't blame them, but people don't go search long and  hard  to
    find good music, they basically accept  whatever  is  dropped  in
    their lap. That's the problem with the whole music scene. There's
    so many great bands that for the most part, as far as the general
    public's concerned, they don't even exist. There's tons of  great
    bands who are like that, and not just  in  heavy  music.  I  mean
    there's tons of great blues musicians or whatever who don't  even
    get noticed until they're  sixty-five  years  old.  They've  been
    doin' it since they're fifteen, ridin' in an  old  pick-up  truck
    with a guitar and -finally- this guy's a great blues legend. What
    took everybody so long? He's been great for fuckin' fifty  years.
    Not that I'm sayin' we're great, I'm just sayin' that's  the  way
    we perceive everything. It's like, we're on a new label and it is
    a new beginning. You don't know what's around the corner. All you
    can do is just continue to jam your balls off every time you play
    live, write good fuckin' original music -- we don't want to sound
    like anybody else, we just want to  sound  like  Crowbar  and  we
    think we do a good job of that -- and  just  see  what  the  hell
    happens. And that's all you can do... and drink  beer.  <we  both
    laugh>

CoC: I think Crowbar has a lot of the feeling of blues. What you were
     saying about heaviness has a lot of resonance in terms of either
     bar-band blues or traditional Memphis blues. Would you  say  the
     legacy of New Orleans, even people like Dr. John and things like
     that...

KW: He's on our  label  too,  I  was  just  goin'  through  the  back
    catalogue.

CoC: I got into him just recently when I got _Gris-Gris_ and it's not
     like it sounds the same,  but  it's  got  the  same  feeling  of
     heaviness that you were talking about.

KW: Yeah, totally. We're subconsciously heavily influenced by all the
    New Orleans stuff, which is what we grew up on. On the radio,  if
    I do have to listen to the radio, I'll  listen  to  classic  rock
    shit. I heard "Such a Night" the other day by Dr. John.  Whenever
    it's Mardi Gras time, and there's crawfish bars, and parties  and
    stuff like that,  everybody  listens  to  Dr.  John  and  Neville
    Brothers and Funky Meters. That's what we grew up on. Since I was
    a little kid. I remember hearing all these Mardi  Gras  songs.  I
    work for a sound company, Jim [Bower] actually works for it  too,
    and we do the Neville Brothers  sometimes,  and  we've  done  Dr.
    John. If you watch these motherfuckers -- fifty-five, sixty years
    old --, they jam their fuckin' balls off.  They've  been  playing
    since they're fuckin' fifteen and  they  fuckin'  smoke.  You  go
    watch Mean Willy Green, the  drummer  from  the  fuckin'  Neville
    Brothers and your jaw will drop. This guy is so fuckin'  awesome.
    These guys know how to lay it down and play in a pocket. And  you
    can't help but get influenced by them. Especially the  fact  that
    they're a bunch of old fuckin' dudes. That  makes  it  even  more
    killer; they're playin' from their hearts.

CoC: It's great when older bands really show up bad new bands.

KW: Yeah, while we're on the subject, shit like the Neville  Brothers
    and all, it took them until maybe the last  eight  years  or  ten
    years really to even get noticed and they've  been  around  since
    the sixties. It took  maybe  'till  the  late-eighties  or  early
    nineties for them to basically get  noticed.  The  guy's  fuckin'
    fifty some years old. It took that long for them to  get  noticed
    and they've been there the whole time doin'  it.  Every  Saturday
    night playin' one of the clubs, doin' it for real. Sometimes shit
    takes a while to come around.

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

              KNEEL BEFORE THE CONQUERORS OF ARMAGEDDON
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              CoC chats with Moyses Kolesne of Krisiun
                          by: Paul Schwarz


Even when competing with the likes of  a  new  Vader  record,  a  new
Dismember record and the unexpected wake-up call  of  the  Soulreaper
album,  Krisiun   still   managed   to   come   out   tops   in   the
all-out-total-fucking-extremity  stakes  with  their  latest,   rabid
offering: _Conquerers of Armageddon_. After more than a decade in the
Brazilian underground, permeated only by their deal  four  years  ago
with Gun Records (which brought their frenetic, chaotic debut  _Black
Force Domain_ and  its  Kreator-inspired,  speed  obsessed  follow-up
_Apocalyptic Revelation_ to a limited audience) and recent  bouts  of
touring which have taken them as far as  North  America  and  Europe,
Krisiun recently signed a  deal  with  Century  Media  (which  should
hopefully push them to a bigger audience) and have secured  yet  more
touring throughout  this  year.  Guitarist  Moyses  Kolesne,  through
occasionally broken English, gave me the answers to all my  questions
about Krisiun: past, present, and possible future.

CoC: You guys have emerged  slowly  over  the  last  ten  years  from
     Brazil, a  country  with  a  few  metal  bands  like  Sepultura,
     Sarcophago, etc.. How much do you feel part of a Brazilian scene
     and how supportive would you say that scene is of you?

Moyses Kolesne: We have seen the Brazilian scene from the  very  best
                years. We saw Sepultura  and  Sarcophago  since  they
                started playing  here  in  '84  and  '85.  They  were
                playing really raw thrash/black metal.  So  obviously
                since we were at their concerts  we  would  get  some
                influences. Maybe not really directly but the kind of
                influence that stays in a part of your  subconscious.
                We witnessed this metal scene in  Brazil  emerge  and
                become really aggressive over the years. We had these
                influences. We started a  band  and  just  wished  to
                follow that path: make things more  extreme,  faster,
                whatever. We are doing the same kind of music, but we
                have this modern sound because we have  the  approach
                of modern death metal. We are just giving a following
                for that; we are proud to be part of  [the  Brazilian
                scene] and those bands opened up a lot of  doors  for
                the upcoming bands like us. But I have  to  tell  you
                that some years ago the extreme metal scene in Brazil
                was almost dead. Everybody here was just caring about
                thrash metal or whatever,  you  know,  the  American,
                more  fashionable   kind.   So   these   bands   like
                Sarcophago, Blasphemy, Morbid Angel were not  getting
                so much recognition here. We just  started  from  the
                ashes of that [intending] to bring again more respect
                for extreme metal here in Brazil. That's  our  cause.
                We fight for this scene because in Brazil there are a
                lot of bands in other styles like power metal, thrash
                metal,  hardcore,  whatever.  We   came   from   this
                [extreme] scene and we are  really  rooted  from  the
                very beginning of it, 'cause we  have  witnessed  all
                this history, you know.

CoC: Most bands, when they start out, want to be  the  most  extreme,
     especially death metal bands. But you guys,  you  just  seem  to
     keep wanting to be the most extreme band and you seem to do very
     well at it. <I laugh> So with the album are you just  trying  to
     be faster, heavier than every other band out there, is that  the
     idea?

MK: Well, no, man. I have  to  tell  you  all  this  aggression  came
    naturally. We are never putting anything to a contest.  The  main
    thing is our feeling; it just guided  us  this  way.  There's  no
    special reason, it's just a feeling to keep doing music you  like
    to listen to, you like to play. And obviously  we  do  that  well
    -because- we practice hard every day, and we kept  always  taking
    another step ahead with each album. We kept practising, we did  a
    lot of tours, we recorded a lot of demos, albums, but we  had  no
    budget, we had nothing. There were some small  labels  trying  to
    put our stuff out, but actually they gave it  nothing.  So,  we'd
    record our old albums in a very short time and so we'd go in with
    this -attack- feeling.

CoC: It did take you quite a long time to get a deal. Some bands take
     quite a while, but you guys went seven years?

MK: Yeah, more or less, seven years. So,  this  gave  us  a  feeling,
    'cause once you see so many trends happen --  like  we  saw  many
    bands claiming to be, you know, the -most-  extreme  death  metal
    band, like some bands did --, and all this gave  us  inspiration,
    'cause you know this is a lie, so we have to tell them the truth;
    we have to show them the truth because we are  pretty  rooted  in
    the real  death  metal  /  black  metal  basis,  like  those  old
    Brazilian bands, old Slayer, Possessed, Dark Angel, Venom, Sodom,
    you know. But we are doing kind  of  really  brutal  death  metal
    because, as I said before, we are a band that is -- now we are in
    the year 2000 -- still new outside Brazil. So that's why we  have
    this kind of approach.

CoC: Starting the band as brothers, how much difference did you  find
     that made? Also, did you find it made a difference that you come
     from a somewhat impoverished country like Brazil which  is  kind
     of out of the general music scene? How much effect do you  think
     all that had on you as a band?

MK: I have to tell you that we came from  a  normal  family  life,  a
    normal family. We went to school. So, we didn't live in all  this
    poverty, but of course we can see that. We  live  in  Sao  Paulo,
    it's a big city, so we see more of these things. I  saw  more  of
    that on TV as  well.  Whatever,  of  course  this  gave  us  some
    feelings like other things, but concerning the fact that  we  are
    from Brazil, this brings us another kind  of  influence,  because
    this is  a  -future-,  different  future,  different  everything.
    Brazil was outside from the tours in the best years, but now  all
    the bands are coming here. I saw Venom in Brazil in  '86,  I  saw
    Destruction, I saw Slayer, I saw Metallica, I  saw  Motorhead:  I
    saw a lot of shows to get influence  but  never  did  bands  from
    Brazil just go outside. But maybe in the next few years  it  will
    be normal for bands who come from Brazil, like it is  for  Europe
    or the US. This country is really new for metal, we don't have  a
    really old future here. They were  stopping  the  rock  'n'  roll
    scenes from the beginning, so metal and rock  'n'  roll  happened
    here in Brazil more in the eighties, after the seventies. Kiss, I
    guess, were the first band that played here in '81, so from  that
    the scene started  to  grow  up  a  lot  here.  People  get  more
    interested to play music, more metal  fans,  you  know,  so  that
    helps a lot and Brazil has a good infrastructure, so  that's  why
    people are coming from here more and not from the other countries
    in South America.

CoC: Yeah, the influx of bands  from  Brazil  is  an  anomaly.  There
     aren't really any Argentine or Bolivian bands who are big, there
     are a couple of Mexican ones [if we're  talking  Latin  America,
     since Mexico is geographically in North America --Paul] like The
     Chasm. Sepultura got into  that  kind  of  Brazilian  percussion
     thing, do you think that whole rhythmic basis for  some  of  the
     culture of Brazil affects your music at all?

MK: I don't think so. In my music I  guess  not.  We  are  more  into
    metal, whatever, we don't need that kind of stuff.  As  I  say  I
    never had it in my culture; I saw that but I didn't  live  it.  I
    never, you  know,  started  to  play  some  instruments  of  this
    culture, playing samba. I never cared. I was always  into  metal,
    pure metal. So we would never use that.

CoC: What made you decide to go to Germany to  record  and  use  Andy
     Classen and Eric Rutan as producers?

MK: Well, we had been to Germany since we signed with Gun Records, we
    stayed there for quite a while, but  of  course  we  returned  to
    Brazil a lot of times. So, once we were there,  I  met  the  guys
    from Morbid Angel, we became good friends  because  we  saw  them
    here [in Europe] -- I saw them in Brazil  in  '89  but  we  never
    spoke -- and I gave Trey our first album, _Black  Force  Domain_,
    so since then he supported our band, kept mentioning us. So,  the
    other guys from Morbid Angel got interested  from  that  and  our
    band kept evolving, we recorded another album, we did some  tours
    and also did a show in Tampa, Florida, and  there  were  all  the
    guys from Morbid Angel. There, we and Eric talked a  lot  and  he
    told us that he has a studio,  that  he  works  as  an  engineer,
    producing bands, that he has a new band, Hate Eternal,  and  that
    he was about to go and record and produce this band. So  once  he
    knew that we were about to record our new album he phoned us  and
    told us that he should be our producer. We figured that would  be
    great, so we told Century Media about  our  intentions  and  they
    thought it would be great, so  they  got  in  touch  with  Eric's
    manager Gunter [Ford]. Eric made everything really easy for  this
    to happen. He didn't charge very much money and he had a tour  to
    do in December which we did too. So we had the same tour  to  do,
    the label is in Germany, the studio [Stage One]  is  one  of  the
    best studios in Germany. A good studio that you can record in and
    don't spend as much money as  in  Brazil  or  the  US:  they  are
    cheaper in Germany. So, all the factors just made it  better  for
    us to do it in Germany. It was easier  for  everything:  for  the
    flight tickets, for the studio, for the label, for the tours.

CoC: Coming back to the album  itself,  it's  called  _Conquerors  of
     Armageddon_ -- is this a reference to the band, or  the  lyrical
     concept around the album?

MK: It's for the band, man. We achieved as a band a  conquest  inside
    us: the Armageddon is our  battle.  We  knew  that  we  had  been
    fighting for a decade. So we knew that this  time  we  should  be
    able to put a really good album out. Also we went to  the  studio
    and we realised we had achieved a  good  sound  quality;  we  had
    conquered  this  final  battle.  So,  we  are   conquering   over
    ourselves, over what's inside of us, not over any other bands. We
    don't claim to be the speediest,  the  fastest,  just  to  create
    hype, because words are words and music tells the real facts. So,
    we don't need to do that. Many bands claim to be, you  know,  all
    this shit, but, you know, they are not. Liars. So the conquest is
    inside of us over these hard, rough times that we  came  through.
    So we knew that we had established our name as a  band  --  as  a
    very important band for the death metal scene --, we  got  a  new
    label, we got a lot of tours to do, a lot of support, and we went
    to the studio and we kept doing our style. We didn't decide  that
    because we were on a new label we'd do one or two softer songs or
    whatever. We just don't care man, we just say  "fuck  off,  we're
    gonna keep doing this". We are not leaving this style  like  many
    bands are doing. Many bands  are  just  making  death  metal  way
    melodic or saying it's dead,  it's  just  making  it  easier  for
    people. You know, if you like techno you can like a lot of  death
    metal bands nowadays. If you like really soft, melodic stuff  you
    can like some death metal bands: they are full of these  melodies
    like Iron Maiden. But we don't want to be part of this.  We  want
    to be the real flame of death metal. The real, real  death  metal
    like Morbid Angel did in the beginning,  Deicide,  Blasphemy  and
    Sarcophago and Vader and Sodom, whatever, but playing, of  course
    -- because we are younger than those guys and  we  had  influence
    from them -- at a higher level.

CoC: With the lyrics, I get  the  impression  there  is  a  spiritual
     aspect to it, a mystical aspect, but it seems  almost  medieval.
     "Iron Stakes" and "Cursed Scrolls"?

MK: You're right, man. We kept, kind of, the apocalyptic vision  that
    we had on the other albums. We always had this idea  of  bringing
    destruction and vengeance from the natural order, from what makes
    us stay here on Earth. Now we are bringing in more of this occult
    science, the occult side of life, like really old traditions that
    many religions just banished. I guess we are pretty near  to  the
    third world war, you know, many  things  that  are  happening  in
    Europe, we are really near so we had this feeling of  Armageddon.
    So maybe next time you just can't avoid that, it is just a  man's
    decision to  push  a  button  or  whatever.  We  know  that  this
    destruction came from mankind's hand. We are talking a lot  about
    vengeance using the anti-Christian and Satanic philosophy to talk
    about reality. Because we are not  worshipping  devils  or  doing
    sacrifices or whatever: not living the Christian Satanism. We are
    more concerned to be like the old Sumerian, very ancient cult  of
    Scheitan [I think this is what he means,  but  I  am  not  expert
    --Paul],  like  the  people  who  discovered   mathematics,   who
    discovered the real facts of  biology,  astronomy,  the  planets,
    whatever, and  so  became  a  religion  with  subdivisions.  They
    [Christians, I think --Paul] just banished a lot of knowledge  to
    inflict their prophecies or whatever. So we  are  anti-Christian,
    but we are doing it on a  real  basis.  Like,  the  history,  the
    facts, -prove- they were -wrong- a lot of the time. They  made  a
    lot of mistakes. Also, the worst enemy for the Christian, or  any
    religion, is science, the numbers that prove that you are  wrong.
    They have a lot of contradictions. So this is just a  part,  just
    one religion that inflicts this. So,  that's  what  we  are  most
    concerned with, this vengeance came in really strong like  a  big
    storm, big devastation, something that fits with the feeling that
    the music gives, you  know.  So,  once  you  are  in  some  music
    claiming "Kill the Christ" it is like "Kill the lies", you  know,
    kill what has been inflicting all the shit in this world. So  our
    lyrics, they have this occult, Satanic side, but actually this is
    just reality, not so much fantasy or whatever.

CoC: It's like a way of expressing things in metaphor?

MK: It's a way of being political sometimes,  but  really  into  this
    kind of Satanic and Sumerian prophecies.

CoC: Right, and the cover kind of plays with that a bit. It's  got  a
     kind of like Tolkien-esque thing to it with the four riders, and
     also that's like four riders of the apocalypse. You've  got  the
     cross, and a scimitar and what have you.  How  closely  did  you
     link  the  whole  lyrics  and  the  cover  and  the  title   and
     everything? Is it at all conceptual or is it just an  expoundary
     of beliefs?

MK: Yeah, there was a concept, but I have to tell you that  at  first
    we had another cover. We were divided between ourselves  and  the
    label people, half liked it and half didn't. So we  just  decided
    we had to have something better, because  this  label  is  really
    professional. They know some things. So they just called  Petagno
    in Denmark and asked him to send a sample and told him about  the
    album, the lyrics, the apocalyptic vision of Armageddon,  and  so
    he sent that. He said this is the pure apocalypse, the knights of
    apocalypse. It was perfect. It represents  the  meaning  of  this
    album.

CoC: Anything you want to mention about  what's  happening  with  the
     band now, before we finish?

MK: Well, we are just releasing this album. We are pretty proud about
    this new wave of death metal that  is  emerging  again,  that  is
    coming really strong. We are not alone. There  are  a  few  other
    really powerful bands who deserve to take a  higher  position  in
    the metal scene. This is just claiming  vengeance  again  against
    the weak, soft metal bands claiming they are  the  best  shit  or
    whatever. But we are here not telling you we  are  the  best,  we
    just want to banish the fucking dogs that infect our ground. This
    is our fight. This is the reason we are here. We just want to say
    thank you, thank you to everybody who  has  been  supporting  our
    band. We are here to stay and not to wimp  out  just  because  we
    signed with a big label or whatever. Once  again  we  are  really
    aggressive and really brutal; fighting for the cause of the  real
    death metal.

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

              REAPING, RAVAGING, REBELLING AND ROCKING
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
             CoC talks to Tobias Kjellgren of Soulreaper
                          by: Paul Schwarz


From out of nowhere, my ass was well and truly kicked early this year
by Soulreaper. Obviously, I should have done my homework. When a band
comprises  half  of  Dissection,  great  things  are  a  little  less
surprising  than  when  they  come  from  unknowns.   But   regarding
Soulreaper as either a continuation or little brother  to  Dissection
(despite the dubious link offered by their name) would not only be  a
misrepresentation of the band's feeling about themselves, it would be
a grave -musical- mistake. Their _Written in Blood_ debut [see  Album
Asylum for a review] owes more to Morbid  Angel  than  to  any  other
death  metal  act,  blackened  or  otherwise.  Of  course   regarding
Soulreaper as a Morbid Angel clone would likewise be unwise. They may
owe Trey and Pete a lot, but  they  didn't  sell  them  their  souls.
Soulreaper have their own character and it's not  only  brutal  as  a
vicious beating  with  a  big  hammer,  it's  also  got  its  melodic
subtleties. With _Written in Blood_ still ringing in my ears, a  sore
throat choking me and the temptation to ask too many questions  about
Dissection firmly under control,  I  spoke  to  Soulreaper's  drummer
(yes, ex-Dissection) Tobias Kjellgren to see  where  Soulreaper  came
from, and where they might be going in the future.

CoC: What are you guys up to at the moment?

Tobias Kjellgren: Well, we are busy trying to do new  songs  for  the
                  next album and I guess we are going to record it as
                  soon as possible to get a new thing out.

CoC: How long ago did you record the original album?

TK: Well, it was January last year. So we have a couple of new songs.

CoC: With "the Dissection connection", in  what  way  did  Soulreaper
     come out of Dissection? How related would you say the two bands
     are?

TK: Non-related. A couple of months after Dissection split up, me and
    Johan Normann of Dissection decided  to  do  a  new  thing  since
    Dissection was turning to the grave, and here we are,  basically.
    Nothing to do with Dissection, really. The only  connection  with
    Dissection is that we took a couple of riffs that  me  and  Johan
    did -for- Dissection and used them in Soulreaper.

CoC: In the end what really did happen with Dissection, why  did  the
     band dissolve, ultimately?

TK: I don't want to go into it. I wouldn't bother to bore the readers
    with the whole story. But anyway, we  got  unfriendly  with  each
    other and it didn't work out in the end, so finally me and  Johan
    split Dissection. We didn't split, we got out  of  Dissection.  I
    don't know if  Jon  was  planning  to  continue  Dissection  with
    another line-up, but he got imprisoned  and  that's  history.  We
    didn't know how things would have turned out for Dissection if he
    hadn't.

CoC: So, do you not see Jon much any more then?

TK: I have talked to him a couple of times since he got imprisoned. I
    don't really have any good connection with him.  I  have  a  good
    connection with his brother. He says he's alright.

CoC: Did you set out to write a very brutal album,  because  _Written
     in Blood_ -is- very brutal?

TK: Was it planned? No,  it  all  came  out  spontaneously.  For  us,
    nothing is ever planned; what comes out comes out, really. It  is
    a brutal album, I can't disagree with you, but it's also [got]  a
    lot of other  elements  as  well.  That's  a  real  trademark  of
    Soulreaper, I guess: trying to do this brutal,  ultra-speed  kind
    of black death metal combined with the melodic parts.

CoC: Were you at  all  tentative  about  doing  this  considering  --
     although it has become more popular again of late -- it's  still
     slightly against the grain; it's somewhat against the grain  for
     the majority of albums Nuclear Blast release these days?

TK: We  just  ended  up  with  it.  What  can  I  say?  It  was  very
    spontaneous. We didn't plan to sound similar  to  American  death
    metal: bands like Morbid Angel, Angel Corpse or Hate Eternal. But
    Hate Eternal, for example, is a very new band also  and  I  can't
    say I had heard Hate Eternal before making the album. Of  course,
    obviously I've heard Morbid Angel before. Actually we had to  cut
    off some things in our songs because it  sounded  too  much  like
    Morbid Angel, so obviously we definitely do  not  want  to  be  a
    little-brother-band to any of these bands. We do  our  own  thing
    and we live in Sweden and I guess we're the only ones  in  Sweden
    doing this. So it's pretty original in the sense  that  it  comes
    from Sweden. <the last sentence had sarcasm underlining it>

CoC: Formerly, being in Dissection, you were very much  part  of  the
     black metal scene, though obviously you weren't in Norway.  With
     this album, do you see yourselves as alone or  would  you  align
     yourselves with  the  death  metal  bands  from  Sweden  or  the
     American death metal bands?

TK: Well, first of all, Dissection stated, back when  Dissection  was
    Dissection, that Dissection never -was- a black metal  band.  But
    we don't care if we're death metal or  black  metal  or  anything
    like that, it's just... you know what I mean?

CoC: I know what you're saying, you don't see  yourselves  as  really
     coming out of a scene...

TK: No, [and] we don't identify with anyone else  either.  We're  not
    the ones that like to compare us to every other band either.

CoC: On Dissection, I do appreciate that they never stated they  were
     a black metal band; I am just saying that  they  did  get  roped
     into that.

TK: Yeah, yeah, of course, I know what you mean.

CoC: With the album, who did you  decide  to  work  with  studio  and
     production-wise?

TK: Well, the principal matter was that we wanted to  do  a  new  and
    original thing. The turn-out is maybe not that. We used  a  local
    studio here in Gothenburg. Not Fredman or Abyss  up  in  northern
    Sweden. We wanted to do an  original  thing,  we  just  picked  a
    studio right in Gothenburg and we knew a guy  that  is  a  really
    good technician so we just did it.

CoC: Are the lyrics quite Satanic or occult,  would  you  say  it  is
     trying to convey an anti-Christian political message?

TK: Well, it is certainly anti-Christian, if you listen or  read  the
    lyrics. That's the only thing I can  say.  All  five  of  us  are
    Satanic individuals... and we play death metal, and we're here to
    conquer the world -- what else can I say? <laughs>

CoC: Would you consider  yourself  part  of  the  LaVeyan  school  of
     individualist Satanic  philosophy  or  are  you  more  into  the
     -ritual- of Satanic philosophy?

TK: No, not really. I used to be, but I'm really not that involved at
    the moment. It's more a mental life scene.

CoC: But for you, the lyrics are -real-, the Satanic philosophy is  a
     -real- part of your life. 'Cause a lot of bands  I  have  talked
     to, especially recently, have talked about Satanism as a way  to
     express  anti-Christian  feeling  or  feeling  towards  the  way
     society oppresses -- Immolation, for example, do this -- because
     it is a language that people can understand.

TK: Maybe Immolation, coming from America -- or any other  band  from
    another culture having, in general, people who are more Christian
    -- can see it on the streets. Not here in Sweden, we can't see it
    on the streets, we actually have to go into a church on Sunday to
    see the Christianity in the community. You're angry at  something
    for a reason and, well, here in Sweden we don't have  any  reason
    to hate anything because we don't see it every day.  But  it's  a
    lifestyle, I can't deny I'm a Satanist and the source that I have
    and the other guys in the band have also is hard to  do  without.
    It is the kind of people that we are; that I am, anyway.

CoC: As far as your influences go,  I  assume  you  guys  contributed
     quite a bit  to  Dissection,  so  would  you  say  you're  using
     different influences in  making  this  album?  You  say  it  was
     spontaneous, but looking back on it would you say it comes  from
     a different part of your past or whatever?

TK: Yes, all the elements are in the album if you really listen to it
    closely and I can't deny that -my- influences are  Pete  Sandoval
    on drums and Mikey Dee and this Dream Theater drummer,  all  this
    kind of shit, you know.

CoC: Would you say the "classic rock" movement had influence on you?

TK: Well, I can't see any New Wave of British Heavy Metal in it,  but
    those bands are my best influences because  that  was  the  music
    that I grew up with when I was little, so if it wasn't  for  that
    kind of music I wouldn't be releasing this album or  anything  --
    so I guess that's an influence: not in the music by itself but in
    the music life.

CoC: Are you touring at the moment?

TK: No, we're going to do a three week tour in  May  in  Germany  and
    Spain and every country in-between, I think, with  Gorgoroth  and
    Old Man's Child and some other bands as  well.  So  we're  really
    looking forward to that because we  haven't  really  played  live
    before. We just did a release party here in Gothenburg  a  couple
    of weeks ago and that was great and we're  really  hungry  to  do
    more shows.

CoC: Would you say you prefer playing live or recording material?

TK: Playing live, of course! That's why we're playing. When you're in
    the studio you're playing in front of a wall. The live  situation
    is great, you feel the energy from the  crowd  and  you  kick  it
    right back.

CoC: Regarding your image. As far as the way you look, you  certainly
     haven't followed the Floridian style of just looking like  fans.
     You have armour and stuff. With that image, what would  you  say
     you're trying to convey?

TK: No. The way that we look on the album is the way we look when  we
    walk down the street. So, it's not a typical image for the  band,
    it's just the way we are. If we had used corpse-paint,  which  we
    would never do, maybe I wouldn't say that.

CoC: So you guys walk around with armour [I should have  said  spiked
     armbands --Paul] and things?

TK: We don't have any -armour- on the photo!

CoC: Someone had a spiked wristband.

TK: That's the singer, he doesn't wear that walking down the street.

CoC: I used to know some people who did --  they  weren't  musicians,
     though. <we both laugh> Anyway, if  there's  anything  else  you
     want to bring out about the band, you're welcome to do so now.

TK: Well, I hope you buy the album and support us and  support  death
    metal in general, because it is definitely coming back. I hope to
    see you on tour, and hail Satan.

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

             M E T A L   B U I L T   O N   T R A G E D Y
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                    CoC interviews Virgin Steele
                         by: Adrian Bromley


     The success of Virgin Steele has always seemed to rest upon  the
shoulders of its leader David DeFeis. The band's latest effort,  _The
House of Atreus: Act I_, no doubt almost broke his back.
     The  73-minute  opus  _THoA_,  a  long  winding  epic  of  great
instrumentals and grand songwriting shaped around a Greek tragedy, is
one of those records that'll easily  draw  you  into  the  fold,  not
letting go until the magical music experience is over. The  album  is
indeed a work of art and DeFeis knows this. He  knows  this  all  too
well.
     "I  have  always  been  up  for   a   challenge",   starts   the
singer/keyboardist/ringleader down the line from New  York.  "I  just
really wanted to stretch the boundaries and show people what could be
done. We are just three  people  [DeFeis  is  supported  strongly  by
guitarist/bassist  Edward  Pursino  and  drummer   Frank   Gilchriest
--Adrian] just going at it. No guest players, no choirs, it  is  just
us playing the music. If you put your mind to it, look  what  can  be
done. I wanted to also push the boundaries of metal music in  general
and say that this is the 21st Century classical music."
     While many European acts  have  ventured  forward  and  explored
ideas of incorporating classical music  and  metal  music,  not  many
North American acts have been up to the challenge... until now.
     "Playing metal music has always been a thrilling time for me and
my band. It is worth the hard work that goes into it. From the  first
record we have ever put out till now it has been a  building  process
with the band. We have grown over the years and it has been great  to
take in all of this hard work and ideas. I didn't get into doing this
style of music on this record to get rich quick or be the  flavor  of
the month. I just wanted, as I said already, to push  the  boundaries
for me physically and technically."
     Through the years, Virgin Steele has been a band that  has  been
quite  visible  within  the  metal  realm.  Their  music,  while  not
mainstream or at the top of the heap, has always existed  and  stayed
true to their beliefs. Through albums like _The  Marriage  of  Heaven
and Hell_, _Noble Savage_ or _Invictus_, the band has always  focused
on keeping their dream alive. It has always been a big  priority  for
them.
     "Knowing what I have done with this record", he  says,  "I  know
there is a lot more for me left to do. There is  still  a  spark  and
things will go on. There will be a follow-up to this  record.  _THoA_
will finish at Act II,  but  the  style  will  continue  in  whatever
subject matter we tackle. I feel like  this  is  somewhat  of  a  new
beginning in the sound of Virgin Steele. It is just starting  to  get
good now for us. I want to go on for many, many years to come."
     "I enjoyed the obstacle that this record and its  ideas  brought
to me", he says. "It was very hard at times. I wrote both Act  I  and
Act II at the same time, some 40 odd tracks.  The  hardest  part  was
trying to work the flow of the lyrics, to work within  the  framework
of what was provided. It isn't just endless lyrics,  there  are  many
instrumentals as well."
     Just imagining the labour that went into this work gives me  the
creeps. DeFeis' hard work is showcased here through blood, sweat  and
tears, no doubt. The impossible became the possible with this release
and there is no doubt this effort lies deep within  his  heart  as  a
prized possession of musical creativity.
     "People probably think the music  took  months  to  record.  Not
really. A lot of the  material  on  _THoA_  was  done  in  one  take,
sometimes. It was just like go for it and move on.  The  thing  about
the studio work is that it makes you really become attached  to  your
work. At the end of the day, when all is done and mixed and all that,
I love what I have done, but at the same time  hate  it.  I  hate  it
because I can hear the music sounding ten times better had I had more
time, but you have to go with what you are provided with. I  just  at
that point step back and take it in for what it is. It is done, so we
move on from there."
     "I am  very  proud  of  the  compositional  standpoint  of  this
record", DeFeis says about the overall framework  of  _THoA_.  "Being
able to write the songs and get my  brain  on  record  has  been  the
highlight. There are some great performances here and now  the  songs
themselves can be taken by anyone (i.e. theatre company, etc.) and be
able to perform them and have a similar result."
     And what about those metal fans that just see Virgin  Steele  as
glorified '80s metalheads  working  around  a  Greek  tragedy?  "They
obviously aren't listening", he interjects. "This isn't a dated style
of metal. We come from traditional metal roots but the harmonies  and
the melody that are used are not some rehashed  Iron  Maiden  or  Dio
sounding material. This is true modern forward-thinking metal  and  I
think those people need to open up their ears and see just what it is
all about."

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

     B R U T A L I S E D   B R I T A N I C   B U T C H E R E R S
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 CoC chats with Declan Malone and Giuseppe Cutispoto of Infestation
                          by: Paul Schwarz


Last year you may recall me  talking  to  Infestation's  enthusiastic
drummer David Hirscheimer  [CoC  #39]  on  account  of  the  stunning
quality of the band's _Curse of Creation_ demo EP [CoC #36]. Well,  a
year later and we see  one  of  Britain's  best  brutal  death  metal
exports since the early nineties with  a  record  deal  (courtesy  of
Stuart Ness' newly formed Lunasound organisation) and a  debut  album
just released: the crushing and varied _Mass Immolation_. What we  no
longer see is Dave Hirscheimer's name in  the  album's  credits,  for
soon after I talked with him he left  for  a  brief  tenure  in  with
Cradle of Filth (he was unfortunately sacked after a mere two  gigs).
Infestation eventually recruited the  talented  Declan  Malone  after
trying out a number of drummers, but in the meantime  their  original
guitarist Jamie Evans slinked off. He was replaced by Jeremy Gray and
thus Infestation forged on ahead to outdo their impressive demo  with
their rock solid debut offering [see Album Asylum for review --Paul].
I met up with  new  drummer  Declan  Malone  and  original  guitarist
Giuseppe Cutispoto to talk blasphemy, masochism  and  other  pleasant
topics.

CoC: Were you happy with the way the album turned out?

Declan Malone: We're basically happy with the way it came out, but  I
               think  we're  such  a  tight  unit  now.  We've   been
               rehearsing  solidly;  our  main  ambition  is  to   be
               professional about it. There are times when  you  sort
               of muck about but it's not about that anymore.

Giuseppe Cutispoto: It's our dream, you know what I mean, it's always
                    been our dream to get  to  this  level,  make  an
                    album, do a tour: that's been like a passion.

DM: And the new stuff we're writing  is  much  better,  it's  getting
    somewhere and we're dead chuffed with it.

CoC: Things have definitely got tighter since the demo  (last  year's
     _Curse of Creation_), the production makes it  crisper  and  the
     actual playing has  definitely  tightened  itself  up;  whatever
     little holes were there. Is the new  stuff  more  complex,  more
     different or do you think you're  just  writing  more  technical
     things?

GC: We've  never  been  a  technical  band  like  Morbid   Angel   or
    Suffocation. We basically do what comes from the  heart,  whether
    it's simple or technical.

DM: It's basically what you can move to, because I think there  is  a
    lot of bands that overdo it. I think Cryptopsy's _None  So  Vile_
    is the closest any band  has  come  to  total  chaos  without  it
    sounding like noisy shit, 'cause the way it flows you  can  still
    headbang, you can still stand at  the  bar  pretending  to  do  a
    blastbeat when you hear it. Cryptopsy's not our major  influence,
    but it's one of them;  everyone  loves  that  album.  What  we're
    trying to do is basically get something which has a  grind  or  a
    groove people can really get into, that'll cause a big mosh.  Say
    some of the bits in _Harmony  Corruption_;  it's  almost  an  old
    Florida sound -- Scott Burns did it, didn't he -- so perhaps  not
    -sounding- like Napalm Death but with  those  rhythms.  And  then
    you've got your quick bits, and people,  I  think,  appreciate  a
    quick bit more when it's not just blasting all the  way  through.
    That's been done, there's no pointing in going  over  old  ideas.
    And what we're writing now: you can headbang to it on  stage  and
    we love it. That's why it feels good, and we're definitely moving
    in that direction. I  mean,  the  album  we've  done  we're  well
    chuffed with and whatever we do is one step further to getting to
    the top and making it.

GC: And we're always improving as well. I mean, we  practice  and  as
    time goes on we always get better; each song we write  is  better
    than the last one. It's not like we did it on purpose, it's  just
    that that's the way it happens. And it's such a good feeling: the
    atmosphere in the band at the moment.

CoC: Do you think the live playing has really changed things?

GC: The whole thing with losing the drummer [David  Hirscheimer,  who
    was recruited by Cradle of Filth, played two gigs, and was let go
    --Paul] was that we lost a really good drummer and we gained,  in
    my opinion, a better one, a more powerful one. The line-up  we've
    got now is the strongest it's ever  been.  There's  no  way  it's
    going to change: -this is the line-up-.

DM: When we  recorded  the  album  --  after  losing  a  drummer  and
    guitarist -- we'd only just started with this new line-up and  we
    lost half the writing part of the band. In the  last  six  months
    the chemistry has really improved, we all know what sort of speed
    a riff needs and Dave [Samuel]  is  the  most  amazing  vocalist.
    There's not a single person that I know who  touches  him.  Bands
    that just do super-low vocals like Soils of Fate  are  good,  but
    it's nice if you can mix 'em. He  can  scream  and  also  do  low
    vocals. You can hear it on songs like  "The  Hunt".  He  used  no
    effects at all on the album.

GC: He has a big range. He can do loads of stuff.  The  screams,  the
    growls: we don't often know what's going to come next.

DM: And the breathing he does -- where he's exhaling and inhaling  at
    the same time -- that allows him to go super low.  On  the  album
    everything has been over-dubbed, so you've got two  vocal  tracks
    going at the same time, mixing in, but in the rehearsals you hear
    him and you wouldn't even think it's a human being.

GC: I mean, we're playing and suddenly you're  like  <turns  head  in
    fixation as if distracted from playing a guitar>... fucking hell!
    It's good to have someone like that because with  Dave  we'll  be
    playing a song and he just takes off.

DM: He's basically our bass player. When we're playing something high
    up he'll do a low, deep growl and that complements it.

CoC: In a lot of death metal bands the vocals are just superfluous.

DM: Yeah, and I mean, I am not knocking any other  bands,  but  there
    are certain vocal patterns which basically just  stick  with  the
    beat. There are people out there who just grunt and  scream,  and
    that's great, but we want to do more  than  that.  I  love  great
    vocal patterns. I mean, Chris Barnes, he may  be  very  low,  but
    he's written some nice vocal patterns.

GC: I mean it's not just the vocals, it's the pattern as well.

DM: Like early Cancer, great fuckin'  vocal  patterns.  Cryptopsy  is
    just fucked up, but that still works, 'cause  you  wouldn't  want
    someone grunting all the way  through  that  --  the  music  does
    enough. [Lord Worm's] whole psychological  edge  just  pays  off.
    Like I was reading that review of  the  nineties  [in  Terrorizer
    magazine --Paul] where it said that the vocals are not just about
    the singin', it's like  another  musical  instrument  whereas  in
    other genres it's not. In this it is an instrument and Dave -- if
    it was a guitar it would be  a  fuckin'  ten  thousand  pound  BC
    Rich... with sixteen cabs. <we all laugh>

GC: A la Slayer.

CoC: "The Hunt" and "Black Pope" move things on quite a bit from  the
     demo tracks. There's also  a  full  blown  solo  on  "Demons  of
     Darkness".

DM: That was sort of my idea to try that out. I think it works really
    well, sounds a bit like Death. I don't  really  like  white-noisy
    solos, but I've never been against doing something good. We tried
    that.

GC: "The Hunt", on the other hand, has been  kickin'  about  for  two
    years or so. That song came about on  the  spur  of  the  moment.
    People said we couldn't have clean bits 'cause it's  death  metal
    or whatever, but we just liked it. Like I said before, if we like
    it and it sounds good, we'll have it.

CoC: Good attitude. It's surprising that so  many  people  are  still
     surprised at acoustic bits.

GC: Yeah, like Vital Remains did all  those  classical  bits.  That's
    totally different but it's brilliant.

CoC: It's also really good, because a lot of bands will use acoustics
     or keyboards as an intro  and  -then-  come  in  with  something
     really heavy, but there are few bands  who  put  it  into  songs
     well. Vital Remains have those big riffs with  acoustic  guitars
     behind them.

GC: Yeah, and sometimes you wonder what's going on,  but  then  again
    you have to admire what they're trying to do, because they're not
    just adding an element, they're just trying stuff out and  seeing
    what works.

DM: You try something, and if it works, it works. I mean, in the  new
    stuff we've got three songs which have slow bits either  bang  in
    the middle or at the start. You appreciate it 'cause it flows.  I
    mean, there aren't many bands who use acoustic  bits;  some,  but
    not many. Thing is "The Hunt" and "Evil, Evil" are  about  Robert
    Ramirez: "The Hunt" is actually about him  stalking  his  victims
    and "Evil, Evil" is about what's going on in his  head.  So  that
    acoustic start is sort of like an old  horror  film,  in  a  way.
    You've got that and then at the end you've got "I am the stalker"
    and all these fucked up screams. It sounds... "evil evil".

CoC: "Evil, Evil" is a very full-on track.

DM: It's a great song and it's a great song title as well.

GC: All the songs on the album have enough variation so you don't get
    bored. The listener will be sitting there from  start  to  finish
    paying attention because of the variation. But we always like  to
    be full-on.

CoC: Are you -aiming- to make it more and more brutal as time goes on
     or are you really not worried  about  whether  it  sounds  -more
     extreme- next time 'round?

DM: Well, we're always going to stay brutal.

GC: That's a really important element, but we don't sort of plan it.

DM: We can go brutal with a groove, not like stoner rock or  Pantera,
    but...

CoC: Like Dying Fetus, but not in their style?

DM: Yeah, just something you can really headbang to. Like  the  album
    but just sort of more progressed. I think everything  comes  with
    age. Like I said before: this line-up has been  together  a  year
    now so things are fuckin' flowing and moving on. We've done a lot
    of work and we're getting there and the new stuff  we're  writing
    is so, so good. It has different elements in it from the album.

GC: I mean, to give  you  an  example,  when  we  got  Jeremy  [Gray,
    guitar] and Declan in we wrote two songs --  "Legions  of  Death"
    and "Demons of Darkness" -- in one weekend on the second practice
    we were together. That's how  strong  the  line-up  is.  It  just
    happened like that. The chemistry just all clicked. This  line-up
    has only been together for a year and it's getting  stronger  and
    stronger and stronger.

DM: I really think our live show is really getting  there.  It's  all
    improving, but when we get reviews that criticise things we  work
    on them. It's almost like a new band that's been together  for  a
    year now: that's the way I look at it.

CoC: With the lyrics. Does Dave usually write lyrics post-practice?

GC: If we write a song at band practice we record it and he takes  it
    home and works on it, and the next week or whenever he's done the
    lyrics, he brings it down and works out vocal patterns  and  puts
    it all together. And we all work together.

DM: I mean, Dave is a really intelligent guy, he does not write shit.
    He goes home and works on ideas and makes sure  the  song  has  a
    good vocal pattern, because you can ruin a song with a bad  vocal
    pattern. And the lyrics behind it are always good twisted lyrics.

CoC: Is a lot of it about serial killers?

GC: Well,  we've  got  stuff  about  serial  killers,   demonology...
    masochism, which is Dave's thing. He's well into that.

DM: He loves it, if you look at his arms and his chest it's testament
    to it. He's got big Baphomet seals on there that  are  not  there
    for show. He's a step above  what  a  lot  of  people  think.  He
    doesn't do things to be cool, he does  things  because  he  means
    them. He'll carve stuff into him because that's  what  he  loves.
    Some of the stuff is like your basic death metal,  like  "Butcher
    Knife".

GC: Then you've also got  the  blasphemy  sort  of  side  of  things,
    because we all hate religion, basically.

DM: Dave's not a big fan of Jesus.

GC: Me,  personally,  I  can't  stand  the  whole   religion   thing.
    Christianity, I fuckin' despise it, to be perfectly honest.

CoC: 'Cause you've grown up with it?

GC: I've just seen what it's done to people. I know a few people that
    are like Jehovah's Witnesses and I've seen the damage that can
    do.

CoC: In what particular way?

GC: It  breaks  up  families  and  that  kind  of  stuff.   I   mean,
    Christianity I hate with all my heart.

DM: At the end of the day, Christianity is just based  around  -wars-
    <they both sound in>. At the end of the day the most wars and the
    biggest killings have all been caused through religion.  How  the
    fuck anybody can deny that and look at the Roman Catholic  Church
    in Italy that's got all this money and at the end of the day they
    give none of it to the poor. I think that if you want to  believe
    in that, fine, but  it's  not  about  whether  it's  something  I
    believe or don't believe in. I think that just finding out things
    on your own and whatever your guide is, is just fine.  The  whole
    concept of being told what to do by  God  or  Jesus  or  the  Ten
    Commandments, that's bollocks. At the end of  the  day  it  boils
    down to: if you're intelligent you'll work  out  what  the  right
    thing is to do. That guides you. At the end of the day  everybody
    knows what right and wrong is and it's up to you what you do with
    that.

GC: Everyone's got an opinion, but the way I see it  there  are  more
    important things in  life  than  religion.  Things  like  health,
    family, there's loads of other things. People are brought up with
    religion on the top of their list, above family and all  that.  I
    just can't get my head around that. Being part of a herd  led  by
    some imaginary person and having to do this or  that  because  if
    you don't do it then you're gonna burn in hell, fuck it! I  can't
    stand it.

CoC: Have you had any flak for your beliefs or lyrics?

DM: Our lyrics have been banned from being in  the  album.  It's  got
    nothing to do with our record company, I know that, but I -think-
    it's the people who are actually  publishing  it.  I  think  it's
    kicked up a stink because it's blasphemous. At the end of the day
    they are offensive lyrics. In one song Dave  actually  says  that
    Jesus is a cunt. Even though Cradle of Filth had  t-shirts  which
    said "Jesus is a Cunt" on the back, that caused a  lot  of  flak,
    they got away with that, but there was a reason. We're  not  sure
    what's really gone on. What we do know is that it's  got  nothing
    to do with our record company.  It's  a  shame  that  our  lyrics
    aren't in there,  but  I  think  there  are  talks  of  it  being
    re-pressed anyway. It's good publicity too.

GC: But we wouldn't write these lyrics if we didn't mean them.  These
    are our thoughts. We don't give a shit what people think. If they
    don't like it, don't read it or  don't  listen  to  it.  It's  as
    simple as that.

CoC: It's different from bands who write stuff -to be- offensive.

DM: I think that's pretty childish.

CoC: I could understand why people would want to  get  rid  of  stuff
     like that. People saying stuff unthinkingly  to  cause  trouble;
     there's no need for it. But people who want to say something and
     can't, that's what I call censorship.  Immolation  said  similar
     things about their lyrics. The  reason  I  asked  about  whether
     religion had been part of  your  life  was  because  the  reason
     Immolation were so anti-Christian was because they got  sent  to
     Catholic school.

DM: I went to Catholic school too, and I didn't like the way  it  was
    run. Coming back to the lyrics, I think stuff like the Cradle  of
    Filth top -- I mean it is quite funny -- -it is-  going  to  draw
    masses of attention, but at the end of the day it's  not  telling
    anyone anything.

CoC: It's interesting, though, the way that God and Jesus get  a  lot
     of flak because they symbolise the religion.  I  can  understand
     that symbolically, but in the end it's the people who are doing
     it.

DM: Maybe you should just shout out the name of  your  local  priest!
    <we all laugh>

GC: Yeah, I know what you mean, though, with the guy from  Immolation
    going to Catholic school. There's a few people in my  family  who
    are Jehovah's witnesses. I've seen it. I've spent God  knows  how
    many hours arguing and arguing. What gets me is when they try and
    force it on you. I mean, if someone's a Jehovah's witness,  fine,
    that's what they are. It's when they start laying it  on:  that's
    when it winds me up big time.

DM: It's basically up to people to look at things. It's like  albums,
    bands, censorship: if you don't want to look at something,  don't
    fuckin' look at it. With bands Cannibal Corpse,  I  don't  really
    find gore and stuff like that bad, because  it's  basically  made
    out of caricatures. But it's a death metal band.  What  the  fuck
    are people going to expect? If Mariah  Carey  fuckin'  all  of  a
    sudden had something offensive  maybe,  whereas  we  haven't  got
    responsibilities. Because  we're  not  influencing  really  young
    kids. I think these pop bands  who  are  going  out  and  getting
    really pissed, snorting all this shit  up  their  nose,  I  think
    they're the ones who've got the problem, because I think  they've
    got a responsibility. These people are only there because  people
    are buyin' their fuckin' records and  if  a  nine  year-old  girl
    suddenly thinks it's fuckin' cool to fuckin' do drugs because  of
    that twat Noel Gallagher or whatever -- I  think  if  you've  got
    responsibilities, accept them. It's almost like being  a  mother.
    You don't say things that are bad in  front  of  your  kids,  you
    don't swear at them or  whatever.  Adults  work  things  out  for
    them-fucking-selves, and  if  you  don't  like  something,  don't
    fuckin' look at it.

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                T R U L Y   T R A N S Y L V A N I A N
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                CoC interviews Negru of Negura Bunget
                          by: Pedro Azevedo


In a way, it should be one of the last reasons for you to  feel  like
investigating  a  band's  work,  but  a   black   metal   band   from
Transylvania, of all places, is  bound  to  at  least  generate  some
curiosity. These Romanians, however,  are  quite  detached  from  all
Stoker-isms and today's fashionable gothic vampyrism, and  prefer  to
discuss more spiritual and cultural issues. In CoC #38 you can find a
review of their second release, the _Sala Molksa_ MCD (which followed
their debut full-length _Zirnindu-sa_).  With  a  second  full-length
release on the band's horizon, Negru of Negura  Bunget  answered  our
e-mail questionnaire.

CoC: I  have  seen  the   expression   "Transylvanian   Spirituality"
     associated with your music quite often, but not  in  a  vampyric
     sense as might be expected. Can you tell us more about it?

Negru: Indeed, this Transylvanian Spirituality concept is one of  the
       most important for us. We see all of this matter as a  complex
       set of practices and beliefs gathered around these lands  over
       the millenniums, some of which are still active  in  the  deep
       spheres  of  today's  traditional  Romanian   mentality.   The
       vampyric elements are a part of this whole, an important  one,
       but usually not in the form and  manner  the  outsiders  would
       expect. I mean, all this modern preoccupation with the vampire
       matter is usually nothing but pure romantic garbage. The  real
       local elements connected with  the  matter  of  vampyrism  are
       about burial rituals, the view over the relations between this
       world and the  dead  one,  about  immortality.  All  kinds  of
       concrete beliefs and practices are  performed  even  today  in
       these contexts. But all of this we see is  a  result  of  some
       national  archetypal  spiritual  patterns  of  behaviour   and
       understanding,  impressed  over   the   millenniums   on   our
       collective unconscious. Through our black  metal  involvements
       we always try to explore the ultimate  consequences  of  these
       archetypes in a process of constant spiritual evolution.

CoC: Would you accept to play live with a black metal band you  might
     consider as pseudo-vampyric -- like Cradle of Filth, maybe?

N: Personally I could imagine such a  possibility,  not  because  I'm
   such a big fan of CoF (more like the opposite,  in  reality),  but
   because I think we should assume such  a  responsibility  if  we'd
   like to really speak about the real aspects of these matters.  But
   it would be really subversive towards CoF.

CoC: As far as I know,  you  were  born  in  Transylvania,  like  the
     notorious Dracula. I suppose Dracula, Transylvania and  vampires
     have become such trendy  subjects  these  days  that  you  could
     probably set the record  straight  about  certain  inaccuracies.
     What is your point of view on these subjects?

N: Well, you're right! Especially that I'm quite familiar  with  real
   history as well as with  the  mythological  consequences  of  this
   reality. This situation is quite difficult for us. If we  want  to
   speak about such a thing, first we must say what it doesn't  mean,
   and only in the end what it really is all about. At the same  time
   it is quite fascinating to see how a local  element  created  such
   hysteria all over the world.

CoC: Just out of curiosity, how does it feel  like  to  look  at  the
     title  of  a  legendary  black  metal  album  like  Darkthrone's
     _Transylvanian Hunger_ and  see  the  name  of  your  birthplace
     there?

N: Actually, that album was always quite special for us. But I was  a
   little bit disappointed when I had the opportunity to  ask  Fenriz
   about it and he chose not to elaborate on it.

CoC: Although you do use  keyboards,  you  still  seem  to  be  quite
     concerned with keeping your music rather raw. In what way do the
     keyboards help you reach your kind of musical  objectives,  when
     many believe that there is no place for  keyboards  in  the  raw
     black metal upon which your sound is based?

N: I think it all depends on the way you use the  keyboards.  I  mean
   you can use them to make your sound much softer, with a  musically
   melancholic touch, but at the same time you can use the keys  just
   to accentuate the intensity of the atmosphere you want to  create.
   This last one is the way we try to use the keyboards in our music.
   We really enjoy that raw savage feeling, but at the same time  all
   the  keyboard  atmospheres  are  very  important  for  our  music.
   Moreover, I like to think that through those keyboard  atmospheres
   you can also express some spiritual aspects of  the  actual  music
   much better.

CoC: Does the fact that Romania is the only Latin country in  Eastern
     Europe have any influence in your music?

N: I think it is actually quite the contrary. We usually focus on the
   local elements previous to the Roman Empire conquest of Dacia from
   106, destroyed by the very  latinisation  process.  On  the  other
   hand, we are who we are today as a result of all of these,  so  it
   wouldn't  be  logical  and  rational  to   try   to   deny   this.
   Consequently, we assume this Latin identity  trying  at  the  same
   time to reveal the ancient pre-Latin spiritual elements.

CoC: What does "Negura Bunget" mean? And what about your album titles
     and lyrics? I believe there is quite a  strong  connection  with
     ancient Romanian history; can you give us more details on that?

N: Firstly, I should say that we see our name as  having  more  of  a
   symbolic nature. It is the most  appropriate  expression  for  the
   unknown,  the  inexpressible  parts  of  our   spiritual   system,
   something that surpasses our natural abilities  of  understanding.
   That way it means a black fog, coming from  a  deep,  dark,  dense
   forest. It tries somehow to picture the kind of  atmosphere  (both
   musical and spiritual) we'd like to  portray  through  our  music.
   Also, the two words are from the  Dacic-Tracic  substrate  of  the
   Romanian language, the oldest, containing about 80 words,  as  the
   connection with our spiritual past is very important and  symbolic
   for  us.  As  for  our  albums'  names,  _Zirnindu-sa_  is   quite
   untranslatable into English; coming from  the  Indo-European  term
   "zirna" (black), it would be something like  turning  into  black,
   dying. As for _Sala Molksa_, that's also  from  the  Indo-European
   items. It is also in  close  connection  with  our  ancient  Dacic
   ancestors' highest spiritual value: immortality. This  way,  _Sala
   Molksa_ is the  very  place  of  unbeingness,  where  the  bravest
   ancient warriors went after their glorious death. All our  lyrics,
   except the one and only from _Sala Molksa_, are  in  old  Romanian
   languages. We always focus on getting the most of  the  spiritual,
   semantical and phonological atmospheres  of  the  places  we  came
   from.

CoC: I personally don't know any other Romanian  metal  bands;  which
     ones are currently thriving in the  Romanian  metal  underground
     these days, in your opinion? What  do  you  think  the  Romanian
     metal scene is like compared to other countries in  your  region
     of Europe?

N: Well, I would say there are a few very interesting  bands  in  the
   Romanian metal underground. I would recommend Psychosymphony, with
   an impressive progressive death/thrash easily similar  technically
   to Death or Cynic; Grimegod, quality death/atmospheric/gothic/dark
   or the dark/ambient Thy Veils. I think the Romanian metal scene is
   nothing less than the others from around here. Unfortunately,  I'd
   say not many do know or want to properly promote their music.

CoC: You have recently released an MCD, _Sala Molksa_. How would  you
     describe  the  material,  compared  to   your   previous   album
     _Zirnindu-sa_? And what do you think will be  the  main  musical
     changes  in  the  forthcoming  full-length  compared  to   _Sala
     Molksa_?

N: I would say _Sala  Molksa_  is  much  faster  than  _Zirnindu-sa_,
   except of course for the first track, a little  bit  more  complex
   too. Also, on the second track we used a quite  concrete  Romanian
   folkloric touch, a territory we'll probably explore subtly in  the
   future. In fact, we see _Sala Molksa_ as a transition between  the
   first album and the second one. It's not  so  different  from  the
   first one, but for sure not at all like the next one will  be.  On
   this one, there shall be more speed, cruelty and savagery, a quite
   new and unique lyrical style, and quite  a  few  other  things  as
   well. But you better wait and hear for yourself.

CoC: What did the addition of a third  member,  Spurcatu,  change  in
     Negura Bunget?

N: It was actually a move we prepared for a long time, as  he  played
   live with us for quite a while. Our main intention was to  compose
   all the music from the very beginning with two guitars, instead of
   only one, and another one just into the studio, as  we  previously
   did. And I think it was a good move, you can see that a little bit
   on _Sala Molksa_, but mostly on the new album, where  there  shall
   even be five guitars at a time.

CoC: With a new full-length album being prepared,  what  other  plans
     does the band have for the near future?

N: We are about to enter the studio these  days  to  record  the  new
   album. As we worked on this one for more than two years, we really
   have high expectations. So, for the moment we are  focused  mainly
   on it. We are also preparing for the near future the re-release of
   our first demo, _From Transylvanian Forest_, strictly  limited  to
   345 hand-numbered copies, with a brand  new  cover,  and  two  new
   songs recorded live at our rehearsal place.

CoC: Any final words for this interview?

N: Thank you very much for the opportunity. Stay black!! And may  the
   ZSALAMOLKXISA be your way!!

Contact: Negura Bunget (Negru),
         Str. Timis, Nr.1, Sc. D, Et. 3, Ap. 16,
         1900, Timisoara, Timis, Romania
         mailto:negura@hotmail.com
         http://members.tripod.com/~NeguraBunget/

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

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


Agent Steel - _Omega Conspiracy_  (Candlelight, December 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz  (6 out of 10)

Like so many bands who have of late attempted to rekindle the fire of
mid-eighties metal, Agent Steel are, put simply, irritating. I really
don't care if they have a "history" or if they've "paid their  dues",
because whatever their past, the simple fact is that the majority  of
_Omega Conspiracy_'s songs fail to emote  or  invigorate  me  in  any
significant way whatsoever. Repetitive riffs and  chorus  tirades,  a
somewhat flat production and spectacularly irritating vocals make the
whole thing a pretty dull experience in retroistic, unoriginal  metal
songwriting, and only the well executed  "Into  the  Nowhere"  and  a
fleeting few moments otherwise rescue  _Omega  Conspiracy_  from  the
bottom of the proverbial barrel. This would have been a  sub-standard
metal album if it had been released at the dawn of the  last  decade;
being released at the dawn of the new millennium puts it in no better
position.


Aghora - _Aghora_  (Dobles Productions, April 2000)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

Where the fuck did this record come from? Right out of left field,  I
tell ya. Managing to incorporate the ways  of  The  Netherlands'  The
Gathering and the now defunct progressive/technical outfit Cynic  (go
figure, as two members of that defunct band now  call  Aghora  home),
the Florida-based act are flying high in a world of technical ecstasy
and emotional overload. This debut disc is a  rock  solid  affair  of
metal mastery, not afraid to venture forth with diverse offerings  to
slow and/or quicken the pace at a second's  notice.  Singer  Danishta
Rivero's vocals work wonders over  the  rhythmic  groove  (thanks  to
Cynic alumni Sean Reinert and Sean Malone) and the hypnotizing guitar
work of  Santiago  Dobles  and  Charlie  Ekhendal.  A  must  for  any
prog/technical metal junkie.


Anorexia Nervosa - _Drudenhaus_  (Osmose, February 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (7 out of 10)

Lacking  neither  aggression   nor   atmosphere,   Anorexia   Nervosa
nevertheless fail to quite get a really  good  and  infectious  black
metal mixture of the two. I can't  deny  that  "A  Doleful  Night  in
Thelema" or "Dirge and Requiem of My Sister Whore" as much display  a
crushing guitar bite as they do the considerable orchestration (which
embraces such Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir-like  excesses  as  ten
tracks of violins) and crushing, tight drumming -- along, of  course,
with that Filthy habit of convoluting song titles.  However,  at  the
same time I  must  point  out  that  _Drudenhaus_  does  fail  to  be
seriously original and also lacks an x-factor in quality which  would
make it preferable over the majority of other releases in its  field.
The biggest stumbling point is the vocals; mixed too low and  blandly
uncharacteristic, they clinch the deal on Anorexia Nervosa's lack  of
individuality. _Drudenhaus_ is very accomplished and it is  certainly
contemporary, but it isn't the way for the future, neither is it  the
best example of its style.


Carnival in Coal - _French Cancan_
by: Paul Schwarz (7 out of 10) (Season of Mist/Kodiak, January 2000)

This is definitely one of the  most  unusual  and  worthwhile  covers
albums out there, and  quite  a  pleasingly  amusing  and  surprising
extreme metal release into the bargain. Reshaping tracks  from  metal
acts like Ozzy Ozbourne  ("Bark  at  the  Moon"),  Pantera  ("Fucking
Hostile"), Morbid Angel ("Fall From Grace") right through to  Genesis
("Mama"), Afric Simon ("Piranha"), Michael  Sambello  ("Maniac")  and
Gerry Raferty ("Baker Street") in ways so intentionally odd that  the
track-listing will give you little indication of what exactly  you'll
be listening to, Carnival in Coal have hit upon a relatively original
idea, though it is one that has been attempted, and successfully  so,
before. Thus we begin with the non-drastic,  though  storming,  death
metal beefed "Bark at the Moon", and move through bizarre  reworkings
like that of  "Fall  From  Grace"  (sounding  in  parts  merely  like
Laibach's powerful remixes, though  not  as  powerful,  while  adding
symphonic, carnival-esque  and  nursery-like  synthesizer  sounds  at
others) before finally closing with the continuously chortle-inducing
moog/lounge-room jazz version of "Fucking Hostile". Ultimately, it is
more  satisfying  for  laughing  than  enjoying  as  music,  although
occasionally  the  band's  talent  for  moving  between  styles   and
reworking familiar music into  new  frameworks  evidences  itself  so
strongly that one has to  take  a  moment  to  admire  their  daring.
However, it is still  a  covers  album.  There  is  nothing  strictly
original here, no track I would choose  over  the  originals,  and  I
doubt that in a year or maybe even less I will have any  interest  in
putting this on for more than a fleeting few minutes to laugh at  how
easily and amusingly the same music can be controverted by  a  change
of style.


Cephalic Carnage - _Exploiting Dysfunction_  (Relapse, April 2000)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)

There is no question in my mind that Colorado  act  Cephalic  Carnage
get off big time with their "Rocky Mountain Hydro-Grind", a deafening
mix of death metal  and  grindcore,  meshed  together  by  an  insane
barrage of unavoidable mayhem. This is like director Stanley  Kubrick
leading the venomous onslaught of Brutal  Truth.  From  the  get  go,
Cephalic Carnage hit us high and low with their music, especially  on
songs like "Hybrid", "Rehab" and  "Cryptosporidium".  Just  feel  the
bruises welting all over you. The quintet has managed to escalate the
vile insanity that has been etched into the grindcore sound since the
beginning, though they have taken it one step higher. Stand back  and
watch the insanity take over, folks.


Crowbar - _Equilibrium_  (Spitfire, April 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (9 out of 10)

For their sixth(!) record Crowbar have essentially  played  things  a
bit safe. This is not to say that they have slacked-up; their  steady
(out)flow of quality sludge-ridden, Sabbath-rooted heavy  and  moving
metal tirades has not halted or even slowed its course. The likes  of
"I Feel the Burning  Sun",  "Equilibrium",  "Down  Into  the  Rotting
Earth" or "Euphoria Minus One" riff it up with the style and  tugging
groove the  band  have  always  been  capable  of  delivering,  while
"Command of Myself" and rich, melody-soaked closer "Dreamweaver"  pay
lip  service  to  the  melodic  developments   which   blossomed   so
beautifully on their 1998 _Odd Fellows Rest_  record  [CoC  #33].  In
fact, _Equilibrium_ may even be a  more  complete  record  than  _Odd
Fellows Rest_: I can't quite decide. However, though its  songwriting
quality is hard to fault, _Equilibrium_ deserves  some  scrutiny  for
its lack of daring. This is the sense in which  Crowbar  have  played
things safe. I almost went as far as to downgrade them  to  a  merely
impressive 8.5 for their unwillingness to take another leap on top of
_Odd Fellows Rest_'s bound, but that wouldn't really have  done  them
justice. This is a cool record, if you're a fan you'll definitely  be
more than satisfied, and if you haven't yet got a Crowbar record,  or
haven't -got- the band up 'til, now then this is,  if  you'll  pardon
the pun, the best thing to weigh up the situation with. _Equilibrium_
exploits all the band's previously-known and well-loved talents.


Decapitated - _Winds of Creation_
by: Paul Schwarz (8.5 out of 10) (Wicked World / Earache, April 2000)

Vader may have excelled with their most recent _Litany_ offering, but
my advice to Peter  and  the  gang  is  to  check  their  six  pretty
carefully over the next few years, 'cause if they  start  losing  it,
Decapitated are liable to quickly overtake them. However, Vader  seem
more than aware of Decapitated's existence; Peter himself gave _Winds
of Creation_ its double bass crush and tearing guitar attack down  at
Poland's Selani studio. And unsurprisingly,  yes,  there  are  strong
nods to Vader throughout _Winds  of  Creation_'s  forty  odd  minutes
(inclusive of a cover of Slayer's "Mandatory  Suicide")  but  nothing
which comes close to plagiarism.  Even  if  there  -was-  some  minor
plagiarism here, I'd vote to give Decapitated some leeway simply  for
the fact that their average age is seventeen and they've belted out a
great death metal record. However, this is not a band who need to  be
given leeway. _Winds of Creation_ stands  up  to  releases  by  good,
well-established and experienced death metal acts, and  beats  out  a
fair number of the second-graders with two or sometimes  four  albums
to their name. My biggest  gripe  is  with  Sauron's  vocals,  which,
though amply indecipherable and low, are a  tad  one-dimensional  and
tend to drown themselves in the music. Fortunately Vogg's guitars and
Vitek's drums have more than enough great hooky riffs, time  changes,
breaks and inspired solos between them to make up  for  the  lack  of
involving vocals. Between Decapitated  and  Hate  Eternal,  Earache's
Wicked World really seems to be putting the  label  back  in  extreme
music's good books; let's hope that Decapitated have  more  joy  with
the label than their Polish brothers Vader  did  back  in  the  early
nineties. Here's hoping and wishing these  promising  youngsters  all
the best.


Deceased - _Supernatural Addiction_  (Relapse, February 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (9 out of 10)

Though I may not share drummer and vocalist King Fowley's opinions on
nineties death metal giants like Morbid  Angel  (for  the  uninformed
amongst you, he is -not- a big fan, to say  the  least),  I  have  no
problem accepting his difference of opinion -- in fact, if  it  keeps
Deceased so craftily juxtaposing "traditional" death metal  thrashery
(a la Possessed or Venom) with the classic melody-driving heavy metal
textures of the NWOBHM movement, then I am more than happy for him to
call one of my favourite bands  whatever  expletive  he  might  wish.
Three  years  after  the  sixty-eight  minute  zombie-horror  concept
masterpiece of _Fearless Undead Machines_ [CoC  #23],  Deceased  have
changed lyrical focus considerably,  drawing  on  more  traditionally
spooky, "morbid and macabre" horror like Edgar  Allan  Poe  for  this
latest  opus.  However,  it  is  _Supernatural  Addiction_'s  musical
developments  which  are  the  more  significant  to  their   career.
_Fearless Undead Machines_ toyed  with  metal  melody;  _Supernatural
Addiction_ embraces it  with  open  arms.  Horrified  long-time  fans
mouthing sell-out to themselves need not fear; Deceased retain  their
hard death/thrash character, they just don't let it  hold  them  back
from crafting full-blown melody wrangling metal  tunes.  Near-perfect
metal storyteller "A Very Familiar  Stranger"  is  -the-  example  to
prove how beneficial this is. Lyrics and music intertwine  seamlessly
on  this  songwriting  standout  while   Simon   Efemey's   air-tight
production, which has fine-tuned Deceased's sound  into  a  monstrous
and powerful but obedient beast, does its magical  work  on  bringing
out every note and line with incredible clarity and  power.  Deceased
can still thrash head-down with the best,  but  they  can  also  cram
melodic hooks  into  riffs  which  now  absorb  them,  procreating  a
wonderfully metalised twin-guitar attack which consumes about half of
_Supernatural Addiction_. Nevertheless, the simplistic two-riff crush
of closer "Elly's Dementia" or the dark thrashing  textures  of  "The
Hanging Soldier" affirm that traditional  Deceased  tactics  are  far
from, well, deceased. _Supernatural Addiction_ is one-hundred percent
Deceased from start to finish, but it does see them once  again  draw
on and incorporate new influences into their own distinctive  --  I'm
tempted by the word unique -- style. Surrounded by poor  power  metal
retroism  and  inadequate  Gothenburg  Maidenisms  of  death   metal,
Deceased have raised a pronged fist in the air and remembered what it
is to be dark, raging and most importantly metal as hell. Their solos
are forged of  pure  melting  melody  and  their  riffs  of  frenetic
thrashing steel. Chorus hooks grip you  like  the  Cenobites  gripped
"Hellraier"'s Frank, and they craftily temper the  thrashing  guitars
and hammering percussion. King Fowley's damned  screams  despairingly
strain to make sense of it all with character  and  impact  as  their
primary qualities. Definitely a mark by which to measure great  metal
by; crank it, bang your head and scale those air guitars!


December - _Praying Hoping Nothing_  (Inzane Records, 2000)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

Knocked to the floor from the opening  track  "Umbilical"  --  Nevada
quintet December (sounds like  an  European  avant-garde  band  name,
doesn't it?) lash  out  ferociously  with  a  hard  'n'  heavy  metal
assault. With a tinge of hardcore added to the pot,  December  groove
and plow through this offering on such  notable  numbers  as  "Heaven
Below", "8 Years" and "Mouthful of  Sand".  My  only  complaint?  The
drums are too loud in the mix/production. Other than that, these guys
sound like sick fuckers live. Just goes to show that  there  is  more
than casinos and brothels in the Nevada area to take note of.


Desecration - _Inhuman_  (Copro, February 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (7 out of 10)

Desecration have moved up three points in my esteem in the year and a
half since their posthumous _Murder in Mind_  album  [CoC  #32]  and,
though I don't see Desecration repeating such an exponential increase
and scoring a 10 for their next album, one listen to  _Inhuman_  will
amply demonstrate why. Not only have Desecration tightened  up  their
production, got a real drummer into the band to lay down some  deadly
precision percussion, and become a mite more sophisticated with their
chosen riffs, they've even gone  as  far  as  including  some  classy
little solos on a choice few tracks. However, whatever  may  be  said
about change or alteration, the main factor about Desecration is (and
likely will always be) that they are essentially stalwarts. If you're
looking for innovation, be it in the form  of  odd  time  signatures,
flirtations with romanticism or even a bout  of  clean  vocals  or  a
truly melodic guitar passage, you'd best look  elsewhere  'cause  you
won't find it here. What has changed about Desecration is that  their
stalwartism is now at least convincing. They bash out death metal  in
the traditional American style with all its trappings and  trimmings,
but they do it well, and that's definitely worth something.


Earth Crisis - _Slither_  (Victory Records, June 2000)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

Everyone's favorite hardcore/metal vegans Earth Crisis come into 2000
with one of the most volatile and extremely heavy-ass records.  While
not as bomb-dropping as labelmates Snapcase's release  with  _Designs
for Automotion_, Earth Crisis return  to  their  roots  and  original
label (after a one album  stint  with  Roadrunner)  and  the  results
couldn't have been more exciting. Managing to stir up enough  emotion
and deafening cries of aggression, the band storms  through  a  sonic
assault of heavy vibes and mosh pit worthy material -- and the  music
of _Slither_ is also chock-full of strong harmonies  to  boot.  Earth
Crisis still rock and it's nice to see that  they  aren't  afraid  to
turns things up. This is a great record that is full  of  gems,  most
notably the title track, "Provoke", "Agress" and "Arc of Descent".


Einherjer - _Norwegian Native Art_ (Native North Records, April 2000)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)

My only previous impression of  Einherjer's  sound  came  from  their
_Dragons of the North_ album on Century Media, and  I  really  wasn't
impressed. _Norwegian Native Art_, however, is quite a  step  forward
for the band, at least compared to  _Dragons  of  the  North_.  Their
Viking metal is based upon a guitar sound that tends to  occasionally
remind me of Old Man's  Child's  _The  Pagan  Prosperity_  [CoC  #27]
(especially on the fourth track), generally aiming to sound energetic
and dynamic and leaving the more melodic tasks for the keyboards. The
mostly snarled/sung vocals behave much  better  than  the  previously
more Viking-inspired ones, which certainly helps. This time Einherjer
do achieve several memorable passages throughout the album,  but  the
sheer  intensity,  atmosphere  and  inspiration  of  an  album   like
Borknagar's _The Olden Domain_ [CoC #28] is not really achieved here.
The style itself is different, however, and Einherjer  have  produced
an album which is overall very reasonably enjoyable in its own right.

Contact: http://www.einherjer.com
Contact: mailto:mail@nativenorth.com
         http://www.nativenorth.com


Enochian Crescent - _Omega Telocvovim_  (Avantgarde, 2000)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

Considering how good _Omega Telocvovim_ can get,  it  really  becomes
rather  hard  to  understand  how  this  Finnish  black  metal   band
occasionally allows such weaker passages to  creep  in.  Fortunately,
this does not happen very frequently throughout  the  album,  but  it
does prevent _OT_ from getting the 9 out of 10  that  it  would  have
otherwise deserved. Nevertheless, despite being  quite  an  irregular
album,  _Omega  Telocvovim_  is  certainly   adventurous   and   even
relatively original -- and,  most  importantly,  has  enough  overall
quality to compensate for most  of  that  irregularity.  During  this
guitar-driven album, Enochian Crescent come up with  some  remarkable
and quite unusual riffs, giving it a considerable  level  of  overall
interest. The fast passages are  generally  very  good,  intense  and
aggressive;  it  is  during  the  slower  ones,  however,  that  they
experiment with a couple of weaker choruses and less successful clean
vocal approaches.  Still,  they  can  also  create  very  moody  slow
sections and link them very effectively with  fast  ones.  Impeccable
Tico-Tico production adds the final  touch  to  this  rather  unusual
piece of  Finnish  black  metal,  which,  despite  a  few  lacklustre
passages, is definitely very interesting.


For the Love of Suffering - _Sinus_  (<Independent>, 2000)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

Seattle, Washington thrash band For the Love of Suffering  play  some
pretty straight forward thrash metal music. No gimmicks. No  variety.
Just the real deal. In the vein of early D.R.I. and Sacred  Reich  at
times, this tight outfit storms through an  impressive  four-song  EP
that'll no doubt bring out the early metal  rebel  in  us  all.  Raw,
bottom heavy and little regard for authority. Dirty metal just sounds
so rewarding at times. Looking for headbanging material, folks?  Look
here.

Contact: P.O. Box 47071, Seattle, WA 98146-7071, USA
         http://www.fortheloveofsuffering.com


Fury - _Stigmatised_  (<Independent>, March 2000)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7.5 out of 10)

When I first heard Australian act Fury's  eight-song  debut  disc  in
1997, I was impressed. The band was a  raging  onslaught  of  hellish
guitar riffs and pounding rhythms in  the  vein  of  Pantera,  though
radiating a definite death/thrash sound. I knew that in time the band
would allow themselves to mature and lay more  focus  and  care  into
their sound. The time has come, folks, as the act from  "Down  Under"
has lashed out a furious bite of metal harshness in the form of their
powerful four-song EP _Stigmatised_. While still ample of the  sounds
of the past, the 2000 version of the band is more pumped and ready to
rumble. While the title track gets thumbs up from this metal head, it
is the opener "Fallen One" that is just  so  intense  and  worthy  of
repeated listens. Good band, good sound. Let us see where this  music
takes them.

Contact: mailto:fury666@deathsdoor.com
         http://fury.musicpage.com


Gaahlskagg / Stormfront - _Split MCD_  (No Colours, November 1999)
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)

Germany's pillar of the underground No Colours  Records  seem  to  be
spewing out releases faster than Marilyn Manson changes costumes, and
with this split MCD clocking in at a meager 18:31  minutes,  it's  no
surprise. Briefness aside, both Norwegian  hordes  put  up  a  rather
impressive showing.  Opening  with  a  typically  superfluous  intro,
Gaahlskagg waste no time  crashing  into  "Skullfuck",  a  pummelling
attack not unlike Zyklon B's brand of fury.  Happily  for  them  (and
us), Gaahlskagg's material possesses a "groove"  reminiscent  of  the
Swedish War, elevating it above Zyklon B's often dull  mess.  Gaahl's
unearthly shrieks won't disappoint those familiar with his work  with
Gorgoroth and Trelldom. News is that a new album is due  out  in  the
Summer. Dark horses Stormfront opt for a somewhat mellower  approach,
and one could swear the two tracks here came right off Dimmu Borgir's
_For All Tid_ sessions. Old-timers lamenting the  rapid  degeneration
of Dimmu Borgir into mainstream pap will no  doubt  salivate  at  the
sound  of  "Styggmyr's  Triumpf"  and  "Trolltog...",  two   superbly
melancholic dirges so evocative of the early '90s.  Black  metal  has
never needed to be strongly produced,  nor  brutally  delivered,  and
Stormfront have proven beyond doubt  the  effectiveness  of  obscure,
atmospheric pieces of a quality last heard on _For All Tid_. This  is
some of the greatest and most obscure black  metal  this  maniac  has
heard in ages, and all those  true  worshippers  of  old-style  black
metal are urged to get their hands on this album, if only for the two
Stormfront tracks. Perhaps a tape trade would be more in order, until
more substantial releases appear.

Contact: NCR, Postfach 32, 04541 Borna, Germany (price: $14)


Immortal - _Damned in Black_  (Osmose, 2000)
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)

The frostbitten caverns of  Blashyrk  are  working  overtime  as  the
Undying Ones spew out yet another holocaust not a year later than the
last. I met this album with trepidation, fearing that my devotion  to
the band (especially after _At The Heart of Winter_ [CoC #39])  would
be shattered by a hasty, under-worked piece. Which isn't saying much.
Darkthrone may be considerably prolific in their  work,  but  a  more
elaborate concept like Immortal requires more work to avoid ending up
like latter-day Abigor. The effort that  was  put  into  _ATHoW_  was
apparent in the music, and likewise, the fact that _DiB_ is a  rushed
job  cannot  be  hidden.  Top  notch  production  and  irreproachable
musicianship is inevitable, coming from such  a  label/band  pairing.
The inimitable style on  _ATHoW_  is  reprised  here,  with  somewhat
thrashy riffs filling up gaps in what could otherwise pass off as  an
unfinished _ATHoW_ prototype. Now a three-piece (with the addition of
bassist Iscariah), Immortal have upped the brutality  level  a  notch
from their previous outing, but in doing so seem to have lost  a  tad
of effectiveness. The opening  segment  to  "In  Our  Mystic  Visions
Black", for example, harks back to the days of _Battles in the North_
and the dissonant adjoining riff is a far  cry  from  the  enveloping
majesty on _ATHoW_. Fans of their "holocaust-days"  might  appreciate
the  harsher  melodies  on  tracks  like   "Triumph",   and   Horgh's
occasionally manic pummeling admittedly adds an edge to their  music.
But Immortal,  despite  their  reputation  for  being  hyperfast  and
brutal-as-fuck,  also  have  the  potential  to   create   monumental
atmospheres, as the previous album proves. And  the  major  fault  on
_DiB_ is that this enthralling dramaticism is consistently broken  up
by out-of-place disharmonic segments. Atmosphere created by  towering
passages like the motif on the  title  track,  or  intense  riffs  on
"Against the  Tide",  are  destroyed  by  disharmonic,  inappropriate
thrash riffing. Unlike _ATHoW_, the listener is never drawn intop the
icy world of untrodden majesty the lyrics evoke. Instead, _DiB_ is  a
rather rough ride across rocky battlefields and wastelands. All said,
_DiB_ bears the undeniable mark of vastly  experienced  and  talented
musicians, from  whom  any  album  should  receive  no  less  than  a
near-perfect score. But, disappointingly short (33 minutes), _DiB_ is
no doubt the result of rushed, under-worked material. While still  an
excellent album by any standards, it's only respectful  to  say  that
Immortal are capable of far greater things.  The  sudden  release  of
this album in a beautiful limited edition cardboard casing  of  15000
(!) copies should set cash registers ringing, regardless of  what  we
reviewers have to say.


Impaled Nazarene - _Nihil_  (Osmose, January 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8 out of 10)

Maturity, musically or personally, is not something you'd think would
fit Impaled Nazarene. Despite progressing through various  successive
mutations of sound and line-up, there has always been  an  exuberance
-- even more than this, a downright dirty punky, spiteful rage which,
however  subdued  it  may  have  been  at  some  points  by   average
songwriting or poor production, was always  lingering,  and  in  many
cases leaping forth to deliver a good  sound,  drunken  kicking.  And
though the aforementioned  attribute  (maturity)  has  now  begun  to
permeate Impaled Nazarene's sound, courtesy almost certainly  of  the
contributions  of  now-second  guitarist  Alexi   "Wildchild"   Laiho
(ex-Children of Bodom), they are still an excessively punk, heavy and
metal band. _Nihil_ stands head and shoulders above the  band's  last
_Rapture_ [CoC #32] effort in terms of  production  and  songwriting.
The drunken punk fury, be it in the style's original musical form  or
merely the -fury- manifested as grindcore or black  metal,  shows  no
sign of abating, and this does the band credit, but what is  possibly
more impressive are the enriching contributions of Laiho.  For  while
Impaled Nazarene have always had the potential to  give  tracks  like
"Cogito Ergo Sum" or "Human-Proof" the impact that they do, they have
never before made that impact as exuberantly and  forthrightly  heavy
metal as it is on _Nihil_.  Never  have  I  heard  solos  or  melody,
however vague, be as efficiently and  effectively  combined  into  an
Impaled Nazarene album. Whatever disparaging cries they might  prompt
from the back row about not being as "nuclear" as  before,  the  fact
stands that Impaled Nazarene have pulled off progression, once again,
with a degree of style rarely seen in metal bands, be they  black  or
otherwise.


Infestation - _Mass Immolation_  (Lunasound, April 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8.5 out of 10)

From the instant that opener "Necrospawn" growls and chainsaw-guitars
its way out of your stereo, you'll know that Florida's most  crushing
efforts of yester-year are where  Infestation's  brutal  approach  to
death metal stems from. They've finally tightened up their ranks and,
with a quality production at their  command,  provided  a  definitive
statement of what they're about; an identity. But tracks as  visceral
as titles like "Butcher Knife" and "Evil, Evil" suggest are not _Mass
Immolation_'s   only   dimension.   Chunky   mid-paced    Death    or
Massacre-style riffing  ("Carrion"),  sombre  acoustic  guitar  tones
("The Hunt", "Black Pope") and even  a  well  placed  squealing  solo
("Demons of Darkness") keep things varied and though Infestation  may
not innovate,  they  more  than  prove  their  death  mettle  (sorry,
couldn't resist that one). The result  is  a  cracking  little  debut
album which well paves the way forward for greater and more ambitious
things in the years to come.


Judas Iscariot - _Heaven in Flames_  (Red Stream, March 2000)
by: Aaron McKay  (8 out of 10)

It becomes increasingly more difficult  to  explain  the  differences
between separate varieties of black  metal  despite  how  independent
their sound may be. For example,  Judas  Iscariot  boasts  proud  and
skillful obvious black metal compositions, yet as dauntless as it is,
the music comes across almost repressively understated. An impressive
texture actualizes itself in this technique, I think.  Comparatively,
bands like Dark Funeral and Marduk take a direct, marauding strategy.
One no more or less black metal than the other, but it is  this  type
of alluring sophistications that beguile  even  the  most  casual  of
fans. (At this point, brevity of subject being a  goal,  I  think  it
best not to even touch on the complexities of Bethlehem.) _Heaven  in
Flames_ did not take me by surprise as, let's say,  _Destroyer_  did,
but rather chose to build upon itself with subsequent listens. I know
that I have brought this up in past reviews, however the comment that
JI's sound coming across as "pulled back" or in some enterprising way
"muted" in feel, is also applicable to _HiF_'s mood. At  this  point,
having just explained that, I am reminded of  Sacrifice's  "Storm  in
Silence". That title may help communicate the  point  a  bit  better.
Certainly underground and defiantly grim,  Judas  Iscariot  does  not
suffer from inexperience.  This  one  man  project  was  stoked  from
non-existence by Akhenaten, the founder and sole member. Subsequently
releasing five efforts after beginning on Moribund Records  with  the
1995 debut _The Cold  Earth  Slept  Below_,  JI  now  stands  on  the
precipice of "Eternal Bliss... Eternal Death", which, by the way,  is
my favorite track on the disc. I'd have to say, watch for  more  from
this guy; Akhenaten knows what he likes.


Krisiun - _Conquerors of Armageddon_  (Century Media, April 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (9 out of 10)

Ahhh, I do love album titles which  do  my  describing  for  me.  For
despite  their  own  protestations  that  the  title  refers  to  the
conquering of their own vitriolic talents and is not  a  chauvinistic
statement of their devastating abilities, in the case of  Krisiun,  I
wouldn't have batted an  eyelid  if  they  -hadn't-  been  so  damned
humble. _CoA_ is a devastating and beautifully  executed  barrage  of
hyper-speed death metal with a strong thrash feel.  After  two  rough
edged but thoroughly impressive efforts  (and  yes  I  -did-  overate
_Apocalyptic Revelation_ [CoC #39], looking back it  probably  should
have been more like an 8 or 8.5 out of 10), Krisiun  have  found  the
perfect plateau from which to deliver their blitzkrieg of  a  musical
assault. Eric Rutan and Andy Classen must have damn near turned Stage
One into ground zero in creating the  thundering  monster  of  double
bass, biting snare and all that lies in-between which was  previously
just Max Kolesne playing drums in a studio.  With  Alex  Camargo  and
Moyses Kolesne's respective bass/vocals and guitar performances being
turned into some similar demons, Krisiun's final  piece  to  complete
the puzzle has been to pen  a  fine  batch  of  tunes  in  their  own
inimitable style. It may  be  hellishly  fast  and  deadly  from  the
opening barrage of "Ravager" to the blasting, manic close of "Endless
Madness Descends" (with virtually no let up  whatsoever  in-between),
but never does it drag; never do Krisiun let go their iron hold.


Liar of Golgotha - _Ancient Wars_  (Mascot, March 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (6 out of 10)

It's always a pity when you hear a band who have their shit  together
as far as playing and composing goes, and even go  to  the  point  of
producing some rather decent promo shots of themselves, but yet there
is something undeniably useless about their music. It's not that it's
quite -bad-, it's just that there is nothing you really have any need
of listening to; you could get more joy of -exactly- the  same  kind,
out of another  release.  Boiling  it  down,  _Ancient  Wars_'s  main
problem is that you could probably pass  it  off  as  Dimmu  Borgir's
discarded demos. With accompanying symphonic  and  acoustic  elements
prettying up their music as typically as the corpse-paint  they  have
so meticulously applied for their aforementioned  promo  photos  does
their faces, Liar of Golgotha give us forty-two minutes of distinctly
sugary and somewhat overdone, black(ish) metal, and a poor  cover  of
"Piranha" (Exodus) for our additional delectation.  And  I  have  the
distinct feeling that I used to own at least one record that  sounded
like this, but I can't seem to find any in my collection  right  now,
funny that.


Maniac Butcher / Inferno / Sezarbil - _Proti Vsem_
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)

I would never have had the chance to sample this obscure oddity had a
mail-order not sent it as a replacement for an  out  of  stock  item.
Maniac Butcher break new ground here in  an  unexpected  way.  "Metal
From Hell", their  only  contribution  to  this  split  album,  is  a
22-minute long tribute to the old bands. In other words, a medley  of
covers from the '80s. Seasoned thrashers might roll their eyes at the
sound of "Deathcrush", "Countess Bathory" and countless other  Sodom,
Frost and Slayer barrages whizzing past,  but  to  be  frank,  naming
every tune wasn't as easy as I  expected.  While  "Metal  From  Hell"
might make a great icebreaker at  your  local  Metal  Gathering,  the
remaining nine tracks are far more noteworthy.  Those  familiar  with
the old Polish underground will recognize  the  raw  yet  atmospheric
Eastern European trademarks  in  Sezarbil's  five  tracks.  Evidently
subscribers to Maniac Butcher's infamous  "No  Keyboards!  No  Female
Vocals!" campaign, this Czech foursome blaze  ahead  grimly  wielding
buzzsaw guitars with substantial melody. Czech bands have always used
their guttural effect in their music, and Sezarbil are no  exception,
lending their material the touch of ugliness forsaken by much of  the
scene. Not to mention providing me  pages  of  absolutely  unreadable
lyrics. Which brings  us  to  the  similarly  mystifying  Inferno,  a
four-piece who appreciate the value of  keyboards  rather  more  than
their compatriots. Taking more from the Norwegians, Inferno dish  out
four slabs of straight-ahead black metal. Placing  emphasis  on  pure
originality and working on creating killer tracks has worked for many
underground bands, and Inferno seem to be benefiting  from  the  same
ethos. Strong riffage, interlaced with sparse keyboards and galloping
drumming keep proceedings chugging along at a respectable  pace,  and
Inferno's formulaic playing belies  the  promise  of  a  considerable
force to come in the Czech underground. All in all, this trinity  has
gathered quite a respectable spread  which  shouldn't  be  missed  by
die-hard followers and collectors alike. Limited to 666  pieces,  and
highly recommended for both uniqueness and collectability.

Contact: No label info, but should be sold at
         Pussy God Records for $12 only(!!).
         PGR: Radim Hora, Stroupecska 2144, 43801 Zatec, Czech Rep.


Midnight Syndicate - _Realm of Shadows_
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)  (Entity Productions, April 2000)

The unique collaboration of work between  Ohio's  Midnight  Syndicate
duo (Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka) and well-known  gothic  fantasy
artist Joseph  Vargo  continues  with  _Realm  of  Shadows_.  With  a
gothic/soundtrack feel still present within their current  sound  (as
heard on their past release _Born of the Night_), Midnight  Syndicate
do their best this time to conjure the true dark forces of the  night
to work over our imagination. Haunting and creepy  from  all  angles,
_Realm of Shadows_ proudly boasts some of the  coolest  dark,  gothic
soundscapes in years. Fans  of  soundtrack  material,  or  even  just
gothic music, will definitely find solace within these Shadows.


Misery Loves Co. - _Your Vision Was Never Mine to Share_
by: Paul Schwarz  (7.5 out of 10)  (Earache, March 2000)

Misery Loves Co. have come a long way in the five years  since  their
self-titled debut made its stamp on the metal/industrial  overground.
Though never attaining quite the popular notoriety of  Machine  Head,
Fear Factory or Korn, MLC nonetheless gained an impressive  cadre  of
followers from a similar crowd, along with a good deal of respect  in
the scene in general. Now comes the  appearance  of  this,  what  was
bound to be MLC's "difficult third album" following  1997's  abrasive
_Not Like Them_. What is interesting, though, is  that  _YVWNMtS_  is
also likely to be the "difficult  third  album"  for  their  fans  to
understand. There is a sense in which it is commercial, but _YVWNMtS_
is not, in essence, a commercial album. Musical borrowings from  Nine
Inch Nails arrive expectedly, though in tasteful form,  while  echoes
of industrial heroes Cop Shoot Cop are perhaps less expected,  though
yet more welcome. Parts likenable  to  the  grunge-rock  of  Smashing
Pumpkins might  disturb  the  average  moshcore  or  even  industrial
listener as MLC almost get a bit too happy for their  own  good,  but
ultimately they banish themselves to a suitably gloomy corner  before
they can seriously dent their murky veneer. _YVWNMtS_ is a hard album
to assess, and I think that is to its credit. I am not sure  how  the
band's fanbase will take it; I myself  find  it  a  very  listenable,
though lengthy, adventure into very much known industrial  territory.
It could be more adventurous, and on a grander scale, but  judged  on
the expectations of the average band _YVWNMtS_ is  pretty  good,  and
MLC have good reason to pat themselves on the back for a  job  nicely
done.


Mutant - _The Aeonic Majesty_  (Listenable, March 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8 out of 10)

Quite well described as a combination  of  The  Abyss  and  Hypocrisy
(Peter  Tagtgren's  two  most  extreme  projects),  Mutant  have  the
rattling speed and endless fury  of  the  former  combined  with  the
calculated, often regularly pounding riffage of the latter.  However,
their chosen production does sometimes over-treble things, making for
an element of tinniness in _TAM_'s  overall  sound,  while  the  nine
songs on offer, though varied, do not vary quite enough to completely
avoid have any drag. But though Mutant may put  the  occasional  foot
wrong within the confines of _TAM_'s  near-forty  minutes,  the  fact
remains that they have positively  belted  out  a  ferociously  fast,
intense, atmospherically alive and technical  blackened  death  metal
album well worthy of some attention.


Mutiilation - _Remains of a Ruined, Dead, Cursed Soul_
by: Alvin Wee  (8.5 out of 10)  (Drakkar, 1999)

Long talked about, much sought-after, but unavailable to all but  the
most dedicated underground followers. A move that  caught  most  fans
unaware, the release of a new album by the French legends brings both
joy and regret to the die-hards. For the material,  while  previously
unreleased, is not entirely new, and the  liner  notes  proclaim  sad
news:  _Remains..._  heralds  the  withdrawal  of  one  of  the  most
enigmatic French Black Metal personas from the scene.  As  Meyhna'ch,
the sole force behind the cult reveals in his farewell notice: "Black
Metal is dead... so what the use to go on?" And rightly so,  for  the
music on this album is nothing  less  than  a  true  example  to  the
watered-down pap which passes for black metal today. In parting, five
tracks dating from 1993 have  been  exhumed  (after  the  failure  to
release  it  earlier),  and  together  with  two  tracks   from   the
_Vampires..._ sessions, they make up one of the most important French
albums in recent years. Opener "Suffer the Gestalt" had  me  somewhat
worried with its undeniable Abruptum  signatures:  torturous  screams
amidst slow, droning guitars and cursed drumming... better  than  any
of Abruptum's non-music at any rate. Things take a  more  traditional
(and comforting) turn with "To the Memory of the Dark  Countess",  an
exercise  in  Burzumic  shrieks,   uniquely   plucked   riffing   and
Fenriz-style  drumming.  Totally  dark  and  brooding,   surprisingly
melodic for music of this nature. Mid-paced,  melodic  riffs  on  the
following tracks remind one strongly of demo-era Sorhin... ahhh,  the
good old days... The rough four-track production  shines  through  in
the simplicity of the music,  being  faithful  enough  to  the  oddly
memorable melodies (think Vlad Tepes or Burzum), yet  raw  enough  to
give the music a deeply affecting atmosphere of great  obscurity  and
darkness. Anyone who has enjoyed  _Transylvanian  Hunger_  will  know
what to expect. Interestingly, it is the newer(?) material from  1996
that fails to deliver much  more  than  standard  demo-quality  black
metal fare. With the introduction of  keyboards,  much  of  the  raw,
primitive    atmosphere     has     been     sacrificed     for     a
pseudo-symphonic/cosmic effect that  falls  way  short  of  Emperor's
pioneering works. Ending up more messy than anything  else,  the  two
closing tracks prove a somewhat bitter end to  an  otherwise  ripping
album. Still, any old-timers shouldn't need my urging to pick up this
timeless classic, and if you've ever treasured those old  times  when
bands like Necromantia and Mortuary Drape were  still  kings  of  the
underground, _Remains..._ may be your best chance to capture a  final
piece of the ancient French underground. But if  _Vempire_  was  your
first black metal album, and if you  think  _Stormblast_  is  classic
Dimmu Borgir, then stay away from this one. Stay very, very far...

Contact: Drakkar Prod., B.P. 420, 84071 Avignon Cedex 4, France
         mailto:drakkar2@wanadoo.fr


Myrkskog - _Deathmachine_  (Candlelight, February 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8.5 out of 10)

Attacking  their  craft  like  rabid  beasts,  Myrkskog  succeed   in
producing one of the most explosive, fast and mechanistic black metal
records, which is unsurprisingly strongly death metal sounding.  With
a chunky mountain of hard and complex drumming as  its  backbone  and
electrified walls of sheer metal guitar  its  tools  of  destruction,
_Deathmachine_ slices and dices the likes  of  Dissection,  Hypocrisy
and Immortal,  digests  and  then  violently  vomits  forth  its  own
steaming concoction. Crushingly powerful and with only  a  few  minor
drag points in its thirty odd minutes, _Deathmachine_ is not  only  a
convincing step, it's also a possible  stepping  stone  to  something
truly incredible.


Necrophobic - _The Third Antichrist_  (Black Mark, March 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8 out of 10)

This  somewhat  melodramatically  titled  third  album  continues  in
Necrophobic's cold and fleetingly melodic  death/black  style.  _TTA_
has  a  good  mix  of  crushing,  brutal,  to-the-point  tracks,  and
atmospheric, darkly-melodic-solo-ridden, varied paced  ones.  From  a
Y2K perspective Necrophobic reek strongly of Dissection,  though  the
respective bands formed at similar times, but to  preserve,  and  not
merely mimic,  that  brilliant,  unholy  sound  Dissection  purveyed.
Throughout, Necrophobic are colder than a day in the Antarctic (aptly
titled third track "Frozen Empire" is all the evidence one  needs  of
this fact), which is a valuable quality, distinctly lacking  in  many
so-called death and black metal bands  currently  doing  the  rounds.
Thus, though hardly advanced or innovative for where either death  or
black metal are at this point in the game, "The Third Antichrist"  is
a well played and written reminder of how, with the required  talent,
one can preserve both the brutality and the mystery which  were  once
so inseparable from both black and death metal.


Nocturnal Winds - _Everlasting Fall_  (Aftermath, 1999)
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)

This is by no means a new album, but no doubt due to  typical  postal
service screw-ups, we only received this in time for  this  issue.  A
tip of the hat to Mr. Holm at Aftermath for this  one.  Nevertheless,
it's the music that counts after all, and on this  piece,  Gothenburg
debutantes (oops, they're Finnish are they?)  Nocturnal  Winds  churn
out 45 minutes of impressive fretboard acrobatics. While I may  avoid
most Gothenburg acts like the plague, Nocturnal Winds actually manage
to whip up an interesting whirlwind of highly  melodic,  almost  rock
'n' roll riffs with the flair of a band with two  demo  tapes  behind
them (uncommon by today's standards). Tracks like "Frost Divine"  and
"Son of the Winterstorm" boast twin  guitar  attacks  and  incendiary
solos that manage to keep proceedings exceedingly lively, and despite
my reservations, I found myself tapping my feet not five minutes into
the first track. "My Angel" opens  with  an  outstandingly  memorable
lead, flowing into  a  brilliant  interplay  of  guitars  and  Jani's
searing vocals. Great work, and impressive even in the deluge of  new
melodic death bands, if  only  for  the  band's  impeccable  ear  for
melodies. While nothing incredibly groundbreaking, this album belongs
back in the early '90s, when it could have made a much greater impact
on the scene than today. A great release anyway,  that  shouldn't  be
missed by fans of the style. Await a new album from these boys  soon,
I'm told.

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


Of the Fallen - _Ancient Gods of Battles Past_  (<Independent>, 2000)
by: Adrian Bromley  (6.5 out of 10)

With a real symphonic feel to things, Texas-based band Of the  Fallen
set out to shape their blackened realm of metal music with  intricate
guitar stylings and some nifty keyboard work. While I was throroughly
impressed with the band's self-titled offering last  year  [CoC #43],
with the new material I found myself intrigued with  what  they  were
doing (especially on songs  like  "Dawn  of  the  Blackest  Sun"  and
"Writhe in Vengeance"), but at the same time my interest  started  to
fade as the music continued onward. Typical  ideas  started  to  take
shape (away  from  the  harsh,  blackened  cries  of  aggression  and
passionate symphonic elements) and it became evident real  fast  that
Of the Fallen haven't really edged forward in  their  take  on  metal
music. It is still just spinning the same cycle of sounds. With  such
a promising debut offering I don't know what happened, but  hopefully
some more touring and studio work will help tie  up  loose  ends  and
push this promising band forward. Good  ideas,  but  some  experience
might help get them past the pack.  I'll be watching.

Contact: P.O. Box 203213, Austin, Texas, USA 78720-3212
         mailto:ofthefallen@hotmail.com


Old Man's Child - _Revelation 666: The Curse of Damnation_
by: Paul Schwarz  (7.5 out of 10)  (Century Media, April 2000)

A year on from their _Ill-Natured Spiritual Invasion_ [CoC #32],  Old
Man's Child have continued on the upward curve which joined _INSI_ to
1998's _The Pagan Prosperity_ [CoC #27]. Old Man's Child may still be
short of travelling alongside the bands at the very forefront of  the
black metal scene, but they are  certainly  catching  up;  increasing
their velocity as the years go by. With a nice, rich,  Abyss-produced
sound to help them along, Old Man's Child prove  themselves  more  or
less on par with the likes of Dimmu Borgir in procreating atmospheric
but resoundingly aggressive modern black  metal.  Cranking  out  some
uncommonly chunky mid-paced riffs not  far  removed  from  Immortal's
last two Abyss-spawned offerings,  OMC  generally  thrash  and  smash
their way pleasingly  through  the  majority  of  this  forty  minute
offering with skill and an unusual amount of style. OMC may  not  yet
be something to wonder at,  but  with  their  consistent  improvement
album-to-album there is every possibility that they will blossom into
the next level of quality at some point in the near future.


Various - _Panther: A Tribute to Pantera_
by: Adrian Bromley  (7.5 out of 10)  (Eclipse Records, May 2000)

I know some of you are thinking "A Pantera tribute?" Yes, it is true.
The good folks at Eclipse  Records  have  compiled  a  pretty  decent
tribute record to one of the most successful (though mainstream to  a
degree) metal acts out there. As the CD unfolds and homage is paid to
Phil Anselmo and Co., I can only wonder why particular bands  covered
certain songs from these Texas big guns. While  Disarray  slays  with
"Cowboys From Hell", ILL Nino does damage with "Five  Minutes  Alone"
and Strength does justice to "Cemetery Gates", bands  like  Murder  1
("I'm Broken") and Boiler ("Mouth  for  War")  just  bring  down  the
initial intensity. I know the job of a tribute is to  find  your  own
variation of a particular song, but these bands  just  slopped  their
way through 'em. A few gripes, but overall  a  solid  compilation  to
enjoy, especially if you are a Pantera fan. I hear there  is  a  Skid
Row tribute in the works too -- psyche!

Contact: http://www.eclipserecords.com


Various - _Power From the North_  (Digital Dimension/NBA, April 2000)
by: Adrian Bromley  (3 out of 10)

While this is a  great  idea  for  a  compilation,  the  concept/idea
stemming from the fact that present day Swedish  hard  rock  /  metal
bands would cover songs written by past Swedish  hard  rock  /  metal
acts, there is something that goes terribly wrong once  all  of  this
comes together. Don't get me wrong, some of the material here is kind
of cool (i.e. In Flames covering Treat's  "World  of  Promises",  The
Haunted doing Candlemass' "Well of Souls" or The Crown doing  Bathory
song "Burning Leather"), but for the most part the way the songs were
covered just seem forced and idiotic. An example  of  this  could  be
Gooseflesh doing Trash song "Boogie Woogie Man". Lame with a  capital
"L". Take your chance, people, but some classic songs  get  some  bad
treatment here.


Ritual Carnage - _Every Nerve Alive_  (Osmose, March 2000)
by: David Rocher  (8 out of 10)

These Japanese poseur bashers' debut, _The Highest Law_,  had  struck
me as being one hell of a fun, cliched and compelling  album  to  get
one's teeth  into;  and  in  a  sense,  Ritual  Carnage's  anno  2000
follow-up to their first raucous,  thrashing  sonofabitch  very  much
picks up where _THL_ left off. After a mildly lengthy intro  sounding
just that bit too much like Slayer's godly "Hell Awaits", _ENA_ kicks
in -- fast and hard. Ritual Carnage's "keeping this  simple"  formula
clicks just the same way as it always does,  graced  with  a  healthy
quantity of pounding drums, biting guitar and throaty vocals.  Ritual
Carnage's songwriting has generally progressed  vastly  in  terms  of
structures and musicality, but the most noticeable point remains  the
attention Damian's bunch now pay to  the  leads  --  _ENA_  literally
oozes with sweeping, screeching 100% metal guitar leads that'll  have
the air-guitar gene hidden deep within  every  metalhead  going  very
twitchy indeed! _ENA_, my friends, is quite simply  a  totally  METAL
album, in the same way as Deceased's releases are METAL; this  is  an
hour-long mouthful  of  intensity,  sweaty  leather,  adrenaline  and
cliches with an attitude,  and  comes  as  a  definitely  recommended
listen!


Rollins Band - _Get Some Go Again_  (Dreamworks, February 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (9 out of 10)

Rollins  has  certainly  progressed  from  the  dark,   near-suicidal
soundscapes of late eighties Rollins  Band  product  like  the  aptly
titled _Hard Volume_, and has  distanced  himself  from  the  gritty,
bitter taste of 1997's _Come in and Burn_, but still (though  it  is,
at least initially, less harsh) _Get Some Go  Again_  lacks  none  of
either the intensity  or  poignancy  we  have  come  to  expect  from
Rollins. Ditching all his former  band-mates  as  well  as  long-time
production helmsman Theo van Rock, Rollins has resurrected his "Band"
half by recruiting LA trio Mother  Superior  while  he  himself  took
personal charge of production duties. The result is less  subtle  but
ultimately more solidly rocking than the likes of _Come in and  Burn_
or _End of Silence_, seeming to roughly sandwich itself  between  the
rock spirit of earlier material, showcasing  Hank's  undying  passion
for  classic  bands  like  Black  Sabbath  or  Thin  Lizzy,  and  the
calculated  grooving  of  _Weight_.  The  change  of  faces  is   not
completely unnoticeable, but what is initially surprising is actually
how alike the old and new  "Band"s  are.  Likewise,  though  Rollins'
lyrical delivery utilises some different tactics, there is  the  same
focus on his  self-improvement/strength-in-oneself  philosophy.  This
time he has, however, allowed more of the  sharp-minded  maturity  of
his poetry, writing and particularly spoken-word work to permeate his
delivery and penning of Rollins Band  lyrics.  Closing  and  unlisted
studio-jam "LA Money Train" epitomises this. With MC5's Wayne  Kramer
joining them in the studio, the Mother Superior trio band flex  their
improvisational muscle in this subdued groover while the man  himself
delivers a scalpel sharp eulogy on LA life, with  the  skill  of  the
top-class satirist which he  has  ever  been,  though  previously  he
reserved it for his non-musical endeavours. On the  flipside,  _GSGA_
is also a direct, pumping rock  'n'  roll  record,  a  fact  no  more
evident than on the storming cover of Thin Lizzy's "Are You  Ready?",
where the band are joined by former 'Lizzy  guitarist  Scott  Gorham.
Juxtaposing muscle and mouth have  always  been  what  I  found  most
endearing about Rollins Band, and _GSGA_ succeeds in doing this while
also displaying more sides of Rollins than any other  single  product
of his that I have encountered, be it  book,  album  or  spoken  word
collection. With  an  abundance  of  great  lyrics,  rocking  musical
moments and overall crushing power, _GSGA_  is  a  well-balanced  and
forceful statement of the enduring relevance of Rollins Band,  and  a
damn good album in its own right.


Scarve - _Translucence_  (Furtive Metal / Musisoft, March 2000)
by: David Rocher  (8.5 out of 10)

It seems that the French six-piece Scarve have finally made it, after
several  years  of  revelling  in  the  realms  of  the  underground!
_Translucence_  offers  ten  raging  tracks  (plus  a  rather  horrid
rendition of Led Zeppelin's "Friends")  of  massive,  aggressive  and
quite excellent deathrash that displays  a  range  of  very  eclectic
influences as well as a sharp taste for experimentation --  Meshuggah
fans rejoice. Scarve's main originality resides in their use  of  two
permanent singers -- a  brutal  vocalist,  whose  vocals  range  from
hardcore screamed vocals to raucous, phlegm-churning, combined with a
melodic singer, whose power vocals, when they are not given the lead,
are often used to provide a ghostly back-up to Scarve's  violent  and
dissonant assaults. Dissonance indeed seems to  be  the  keyword  for
this album, as Scarve display a very strange sense of  melody,  which
fuses flawlessly with the massive, syncopated rhythm section led by a
skinsman whose playing is not un-reminiscent of Meshuggah's drum  god
Thomas Haake, and under whose technical and  powerful  skin-thrashing
Scarve's assaults extend from slow, doom-laden  parts  to  high-speed
blasting  segues.  Whereas  they  are  indeed  very  reminiscent   of
praiseworthy acts such as Meshuggah or Face Down,  Scarve  definitely
have the personality and originality  required  to  stand  their  own
ground in the saturated scene, as their influences  obviously  extend
from 1970's hard rock acts to present-day death metal purveyors,  all
the way through the 1980's thrash scene. In addition,  _Translucence_
was recorded  in  Sweden's  Dug  Out  studios,  under  the  masterful
guidance of the sound genius Danne Bergstrand,  and  boasts  a  huge,
crunchy sound which serves Scarve's music perfectly. With the  mighty
Loudblast now sadly gone, it is a reassuring  prospect  to  see  that
with acts such as Scarve, Dementia or Hysteresis, France still has  a
lot more on offer than Cradle  wannabes  of  the  likes  of  Anorexia
Nervosa.


Shadows Fall - _Of One Blood_  (Century Media, April 2000)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

One  of  the  most  promising  metal  acts  out  there   right   now,
Massachusetts natives Shadows Fall are in  a  league  of  their  own.
Their sound, their style and their deliverance is  unmatched  by  any
band on North American soil. They are  indeed  lucky.  The  sound,  a
complex style of multi-layered guitars, melody, powerful guitar riffs
and varied vocal styles, helps shape the  diverse  offerings  of  the
band. Mix in the vocals of Brian Fair (ex-singer of  hardcore  outfit
Overcast) and the speed of, say, At the  Gates,  mixed  with  classic
'80s metal, and you can draw your own idea of what they  sound  like.
Or can you? The proof of their talent is on their Century Media debut
(a follow-up to their successful _Somber Eyes to the Sky_ release  in
1997), a debut for the label that not only  showcases  such  talented
material, but a definite break in the cliche offerings that for years
Century Media had been releasing. Shadows Fall may not  be  the  best
band out there, but the album is damn good and they are truly in love
with the notion that metal  music  can  be  explored.  Make  you  own
judgement, but I'm sure you'll be agreeing with me soon enough. Note:
the band is touring with Dismember, Kataklysm and Krisiun  throughout
North America in June.


Soulreaper - _Written in Blood_  (Nuclear Blast, January 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (8.5 out of 10)

Just as my heart was  sinking  back  into  its  dormant  state  after
finding out that the new Morbid Angel and Nile  albums  will  not  be
seeing daylight till Fall, this little beast  found  its  way  to  my
desk. Picking it from  the  usual  pile  of  unknowns,  and  casually
dumping it in my CD player, I was not hopeful of what  was  to  come.
"Darken the  Sign"'s  opening  blast  beating  instantly  changed  my
attitude, indicating Soulreaper were going to be well worth taking my
time over. The rest  of  _Written  in  Blood_'s  thirty-five  minutes
served amply in confirming  this.  Though  pervaded  by  black  metal
beyond their armoured and grim-looking representation on _WiB_'s back
cover,  Soulreaper  are  for  the  most  part  a  death  metal  band.
Mentioning Morbid Angel earlier was not just me grinding  a  personal
axe; Soulreaper are about as good a substitute for a new Morbid Angel
album as one could hope for. MA's relentless assault  is  essentially
the template for Soulreaper's approximation of musical  annihilation,
replete as it is with skull crushing riffing (at both break-neck  and
hammering mid-pace speeds), barbaric drumming and heaving, unheavenly
vocals. The final product further draws very positive parallels  with
Aeternus' latest, shockingly violent outburst [CoC  #45].  While  all
this may mean that Soulreaper do not have originality on their  side,
at the end of the day it isn't of too much consequence:  _Written  in
Blood_ is a classy, violent  little  beast  which  provided  (in  the
ever-depressing month of January when I originally received this)  an
invigorating reminder of what treasures another year in extreme music
might bring.


Steel Prophet - _Messiah_  (Nuclear Blast, February 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (6 out of 10)

Time for some honesty. I don't know  who  Steel  Prophet  are  making
records for, but it certainly isn't me.  I  have  no  doubt  that  if
you've followed the band's long career,  liked  their  Nuclear  Blast
debut of last year (_Dark Hallucinations_ [CoC #39]) and want more of
the same, then you'll dig _Messiah_, because it  is  essentially  the
same. The vocal style is the -same- Dickinson-inspired  wailing;  the
guitars have the -same- subdued crunch to them; the  drums  have  the
-same- heavy, electronic thud; and the song structures are the -same-
traditional metal run-throughs, adding nothing to the tomes of  those
who wrote the various rule books. I  recognise  that  this  isn't  my
personal favourite as brands of  traditional  metal  go  and  I  also
recognise  that  Steel  Prophet  are  doing  a  pretty   decent   job
production, playing  and  writing-wise  in  reproducing  this  sound.
However, simple fact remains that _Messiah_ contains nothing remotely
new, and none of it gets me going more than maybe humming a half line
or taking note of the occasional solo. The mark reflects  objectivity
and the fact that _Messiah_ doesn't irritate  me  like  a  bad  rash,
rather than reflecting an undiluted, subjective, personal opinion.


Stratovarius - _Infinite_  (Nuclear Blast, February 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (7 out of 10)

Coming soaring and wailing from the Helloween school of heavy  metal,
Stratovarius immediately land on rather unstable ground as far  as  I
am concerned. This high-pitched and unashamedly  melody-driven  breed
of heavy metal can degenerate into horrific cheese at the drop  of  a
hat, though for the band that can walk its line with  skill,  it  has
the potential to produce truly wondrous results. With these lines  of
battle drawn, _Infinite_ turns out to just what you might  expect:  a
hit and  miss  affair.  The  likes  of  "Hunting  High  and  Low"  or
"Infinity" have me wailing (probably hideously  out  of  tune...  but
you'll just have to ask the  neighbours  about  that  one)  along  to
chorus and catchy verse line alike and air-guitaring like I should be
permed and suited in spandex (for those super-serious nineties  metal
hardboys reading: these are -good-  things).  However,  "Freedom"  or
"Glory of the World" are prime examples of  where  Stratovarius  have
crossed that  subtle  line  between  excelling  and  indulging.  It's
definitely one for the Helloween/HammerFall  fraternity;  _Inifinite_
more or less equals these bands'  most  recent  albums  quality-wise,
though it offers a slightly  different  take  on  the  same  melodic,
chorus-centric style.


Stuck Mojo - _Declaration of a Headhunter_
by: Adrian Bromley  (7.5 out of 10)  (Century Media, June 2000)

I don't know whether to like this latest Stuck Mojo offering or  hate
it. Not to say that Atlanta's heavyweights have released a bad record
in their career, but this one just throws me for a  loop.  I  worship
the band's 1997 offering _Pigwalk_ and I loved the variety offered by
1998's _Rising_ (though CoC veteran Alain  Gaudrault  might  raise  a
point about that record), but  the  band's  new  offering  sees  them
taking their heavy "rap-core" metal sound down the sweetened path  of
commercialism. Clean guitars and melodies are woven  into  the  metal
mass of anarchy that the band emits within  their  wall  of  Southern
metal and for some reason it is settling my stomach. No doubt backing
vocals of new bassist Dan Dryden have added a new punch to the  vocal
rhymes of singer Bonz. I'll still down with the Mojo, it is just that
their groove seems to have become a bit more polished.  Choice  cuts:
"Set the Tone", "Drawing Blood" and "Evilution".


The Berzerker - _The Berzerker_  (Earache, April 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (6 out of 10)

Earache's promotional efforts to characterise The Berzerker as if  it
were the final, horrific monstrosity finally seen at the climax of  a
horror film has not succeeded in preparing me for  their  arrival  in
such a way as to augment their musical impact. Essentially drawing on
a grindcore/death base, extracted quite obviously  from  the  halcyon
days of their current stable, The Berzerker nonetheless interestingly
underline standard blasts and aggressive rhythms with a  techno  drum
sound and occasional garage-derived rhythmic breaks. They also dabble
in keyboard  atmospherics  and  splice  some  quite  amusing  samples
between a number of their  songs.  But  ultimately  it  is  all  mere
dabbling, for neither any single song nor the album as a whole breaks
new and exciting ground, failing even to, however  distortedly,  echo
the past with any glorious resonance. The Bezerker don't by any means
compare to experimenters with programmed  drums  and  more  danceable
rhythms of the likes of Dodheimsgard, and even their reformatting  of
grindcore/death cliches only produces a finite  number  of  seriously
enjoyable moments.


The Crown - _Deathrace King_  (Metal Blade, May 2000)
by: Adrian Bromley  (9.5 out of 10)

I am going to make this review real short. The  Crown  have  released
their fourth (and best) record yet, titled _Deathrace King_,  and  it
will come at you harder than a  runaway  train.  Just  as  the  title
suggests, this sucker is built on speed and  high  speed  alone.  Big
nods  go  out  to  Entombed  and  Motorhead  for  inspiring  such  an
angst-ridden piece of rock 'n' roll metal that'll leave you  bloodied
by the wayside. The Crown show no remorse, none whatsoever.  Ah,  the
way metal is supposed to be. A grand release for 2000.


Vader - _Litany_  (Metal Blade, April 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz  (9.5 out of 10)

Vader seem to have tapped into whatever supply of drugs or collection
of mystical forces Slayer once sold their (proverbial  or  otherwise)
souls to to produce the incredible _Reign in  Blood_  back  in  1986;
they have delivered the essence of their  brutal  death  metal  sound
distilled into a concentrated twenty-six minutes. Yes, you read  that
right, -twenty-six minutes-: that's all you get (though  a  reworking
of "The Final Massacre" rounds the CD out  to  thirty-odd).  However,
there is hardly a second's let up  in  the  stellar  quality  of  the
material during that entire  time.  From  the  thumping,  classically
Vader, death  metal  pound  of  "Wings"  to  the  Terrorizer-inspired
blasting precision of "The One Made of Dreams" and  on  to  the  more
leisurely tempo but brilliantly structured riffing of "Xeper",  Vader
appear frighteningly driven and,  I  find,  are  impossible  to  stop
spinning, and spinning, and spinning. In a year  or  so  perhaps  the
immediacy of _Litany_ will leave it with nothing left to offer, but I
seriously doubt it. I really think Vader have hit a writing  vein  as
rich and unweatherable as that of _Reign in Blood_  or  _Pleasure  to
Kill_. Time will tell; for the present I'm willing to bet  that  this
year won't produce enough class-A records to deny _Litany_ a spot  in
my 2000 top ten.


Viking Crown - _Innocence From Hell_  (Baphomet, April 2000)
by: Aaron McKay  (10 out of 10)

Pure and primitive metal nectar to slake the  parch  of  the  current
black metal underground unfolds before  you  with  this,  the  second
offering from Viking Crown. This rabid release is the  life-preserver
you'd want heaved your direction if drowning in the Atlantic  or  the
extra tall cafe  grande  to  abate  your  raging  caffeine  headache.
Absolute brilliance! The insatiable "Anton  Crowley"  has  completely
reworked the rules with _Innocence From  Hell_.  His  mischievousness
miscreant partners enlisted to aid the once staunchly solo VC may not
surprise you; culminating the fiendish promenade are none other  than
Killjoy, Anton's bandmate in Necrophagia, as well as in the  upcoming
Eibon project, and Opal Enthroned,  lending  a  creative  majesty  to
_IFH_  with  lofty  cavalier  keyboard  workings.   As   a   baseline
comparison, again allow me to refer you to my review  of  _Unorthodox
Steps of Ritual_ [CoC #42].  A  very  notable  mention  goes  out  to
Patrick Tremblay for scheming together an artwork design for VC  that
conspires to be elicit and invoking in its duality, much the same way
the album title strikes you;  perfect  in  style  accented  by  mixed
duplicity and mutually exclusive terminology. Goethe would be proud.

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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.     Email     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 email).

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


Cadaver - _Promo 2000_  (5-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (****1/2)

Old Earache act Cadaver have dusted off their axes and returned  with
this tasty little demo of blazing grindcore/death, this  time  around
combined with a blackened thrash edge courtesy of the involvement  of
Dodheimsgard / Aura Noir protagonists Czral/Aggressor  and  Appolyon.
Czral's merciless  kit  battery,  replete  with  omnipresent  snares,
combines with Appolyon's strangled but powerful Aura Noir vocals  and
original member Anders Oden's monstrous riffs  to  tear  relentlessly
with all the fury of Terrorizer or early Napalm Death, but  with  the
thrashy leanings lending enough atmosphere and variation to make this
much  more  than  merely  a  glorious  nostalgia  trip.  No  address,
unfortunately, but just remember I warned you: with material of  this
quality, it'd be a criminal offence for Cadaver to remain  without  a
deal.


No Rest for the Dead - _The Entrance of Your 14th Trip Demo_
by: Adrian Bromley  (**---)  (5-track demo)

Okay... <catching breath> Can  someone  please  explain  to  me  what
happened to No Rest for the Dead? Seriously, what happened to  them!?
The latest installment of this once  promising  Japanese  noise/grind
band finds the band exploring the realm of Styx and Rush, rather than
the once vibrant flow of Eyehategod/Melvins meets Brutal  Truth  that
they once cast out to the waiting metal world. I am  at  a  loss,  as
their earlier demo and debut release titled _The  End  of  Space_  on
Deaf American Records (owned and operated by ex-BT drummer Rich Hoak)
was a cascade of crazy ideas and  over  the  top  noise  ditties  all
rolled into one vibrant  mess.  I'm  hoping  they  scrap  their  King
Crimson and Styx records and go back to giving  us  a  headache  with
their rebellious anthems of anarchy. Okay, I need to lie down...

Contact: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/9607


Sacred? - <untitled>  (3-track MP3 demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (****-)

When demo material is  described  as  sounding  like  a  mix  of  The
Kovenant and Dodheimsgard's latest outputs  plus  Marduk,  Satyricon,
Darkthrone and Mr. Bungle(!) influences, the risk of ending up with a
faceless, uninteresting piece of musical confusion seems rather high.
However, Lauri Laaksonen, the only musician behind Sacred?, has  done
quite well here and succeeded in creating musical rollercoasters that
manage to keep the interest level high enough most of the time.  This
is not to say  that  every  electronic  or  occasional  oriental-like
element he mixes with his sort of black metal works well, or anything
amazingly close to that, but overall the music flows quite well while
still  sounding  unusual  and  adventurous  --  which  is  very  good
considering this is demo material. The sound quality is quite decent,
and this material, though on MP3, is apparently not available on  any
physical media. Surprising,  intense  and/or  atmospheric  at  times,
downright weird some others, but certainly worth downloading  if  you
feel this kind of experimentation might interest  you  --  definitely
not for everyone, though.

Contact: mailto:lauri_laaksonen@hotmail.com
         http://www.mp3.com/sacred_


Sempiternal - _Winternight Fury_  (4-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (***--)

Thrashing melodic death metal with touches of the orchestral are  the
primary musical goods with which  this  French  two-man  project  has
created this reasonably good demo. It is a pleasing effort,  even  if
it suffers from similarities to Rotting  Christ,  among  others,  and
shows some serious potential despite not being anything astounding as
of itself. I suggest they tighten up their arrangements and  beef  up
their  production,  'cause  there  is  definitely  some  music  worth
developing on display here.

Contact: Stanislas Mettra, 82 av. Daumesnil, 75012 Paris, France
         mailto:sempiternal@ifrance.com


Skeletal Embrace - _A Landscape of Whorethorns_  (3-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (****-)

Here we have a "banned" (sic) who do need to tighten up some of their
press release writing skills, but have nonetheless managed to  master
a heavy and invigorating mix of extreme metal  (mostly  black,  death
and thrash) and blazing lead work. This three tracker would be better
off minus the baggage of  its  keyboard-backed  chanting  track,  the
dividing filling, sandwiched between two intense  bouts  of  crushing
riffage and searing vocal evacuations. In parts Skeletal Embrace near
sear with energy and potential.

Contact: 45 Blenheim Way, Walton, Thetford,
         Norfolk IP25 6XS, England
         (free if you send a self-addressed parcel bag)


Soils of Fate - _Blood Serology_  (3-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (****-)

For the  rock-solid  stalwarts  among  you  who  might  be  screaming
"sell-out" even at the minor decreases in all-out brutality showcased
on, say, the new Dying Fetus EP, Soils of Fate are the answer to  any
and all of your prayers. Tight, hard, fast and brain-numbingly brutal
death metal that, despite originating from Sweden, is as American  as
apple pie. 'Nuff said.

Contact: Henke Crantz, Satunavagen 24 C, S-195 41 Marsta, Sweden


Void - _Promo 2000_  (3-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (*****)

This is a five out of five so deservedly that  it  near  gleams  like
surgeons tools with cleanliness. Dodheimsgard's Czral deals a hand of
his deadly drum talents to London  metal  musicians  Kraken  (of  the
project of the same name [CoC #44], guitars) and Tirzah (vocals)  and
thus the three forge ahead to bring us one of the  most  impressively
experimental, unpredictable black metal  centred  records  to  emerge
from England, as it happens, since last year's Akercocke, but  before
that for a considerable time. Favourable comparisons to  Dodheimsgard
come easily to mind, and quite apart from Czral's involvement, though
the under-production of these three tracks does hinder them  from  as
well displaying the same glorious passion and drive to fuck with  the
rules in all the best possible ways. Void are never too  consistently
predictable. Maybe that element of surprise doesn't stir something in
the more narrow-minded among you, but, let's face it,  predictability
is probably music's most evil accepted quality.  With  the  financial
backing, leading inevitably to  a  proper  production,  and  a  sharp
creative  focus,  Void  may  well  bring  us   one   of   the   great
late-nineties-rooted extreme metal releases of the years to come.

Contact: Kraken, 55 Seyssel Street, Island Gardens,
         London E14 3EH, England

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


          G O D   H A T I N G   H U M A N   B E A T I N G S
          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                Crowbar, Eyehategod and Soilent Green
                 at the Underworld, London, England
                          April 1st, 2000
                          by: Paul Schwarz


     After an overpriced meal in a local  Camden  grease-shop  and  a
coffee to pick up my somewhat fried-out mind, myself and CoC's German
scribe of great gigs galore and, as I know from finally  meeting  him
in person, top dude Matthias Noll arrived slightly too late to  catch
all of Soilent Green's set. What I did get to see well preserved  the
jarring structures and violent riffage of their recorded efforts. Not
being a close follower of their work I unfortunately caught no  songs
in specific but the experience, however short, was backed by a  clear
sound which preserved a surprising degree of the band's uneasy  charm
and harsh musical character.
     Eyehategod took the stage soon  after  and  requested  that  the
crowd  be  "Stupid:  stupid  drunk".  Instantly  erecting   a   solid
wall-of-noise sound with their over-driven guitars, they proceeded to
pleasantly dirge and groove their way through a  loud,  extreme,  but
strangely toe-tapable set which I again could pick out  no  specifics
from but which left me smiling. Their vocalist complained a number of
times of the crowd's under-enthusiasm -- a complaint not uncommon  in
London, though I recall Immortal at this very  venue  two  years  ago
getting a huge and unprecedented crowd response --, but by the  set's
end things had gone from luke-warm to a  near-boil  down  the  front.
Impressively listenable live  act,  I  must  admit,  considering  the
ear-shattering tones of their recorded works.
     Finally, it was time for  the  final,  headlining  act  of  this
Nawlins triple-treat  to  take  the  Underworld's  undersized  stage.
Despite their  average  weight  having  lowered  since  the  apparent
retirement  of  original   bass   player   Todd   Strange   and   the
re-recruitment of Craig  Nunenmacher  on  drums,  Crowbar  have  lost
nothing in heaviness, and live is where they make the most  sense.  I
love their albums, but God damn, watching this band rip  up  a  stage
live (especially in a small sweaty club like the Underworld,  because
on the main stage at Milwaukee '98 they really didn't make  the  kind
of sense they did this evening) reminds you why live play is  such  a
key feature to more or less any great band's existence. Crowbar  pour
their heart and soul into jamming out their trademark barrage of  low
chords and thumping rhythm section beats. Kirk  Windstein  positively
belts his vocal performance into  the  microphone  with  such  vigour
you're almost surprised the stand doesn't fly across  the  room.  The
overall effect succeeds, as any live performance should, but, I find,
surprisingly few do, in improving on the album-recorded  versions  of
songs ranging from depressive dirges like "Fixation" or "All I Had (I
Gave)" to the immense, melodic  "Planets  Collide",  to  the  riffier
numbers off their newly released _Equilibrium_ offering like "I  Feel
the Burning Sun" or "Down Into the Rotting Earth". Thus, despite some
setlist changes I would personally have implemented and the over-long
breaks taken between each song (some seamless shifts would  not  have
gone amiss for preserving the momentum of the set),  Crowbar  were  a
pleasure to behold on this evening and I dearly hope  that  now  that
they are backed by a bigger, more solid record  company  than  before
their visits to the UK will be more frequent than every three to four
years. Do not pass up the chance to see this monstrous  package  tear
it up: pay up, drink up, smoke up, but definitely turn  up,  and  let
these hard-drinkin' Nawlins lads steamroller right over you like only
they can.

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

                  H I S   N U M B E R   I S   O N E
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              Rollins Band (and some crappy punk band)
                    at the Forum, London, England
                          March 25th, 2000
                          by: Paul Schwarz


     Henry Rollins is an incredible front-man. I would go as  far  as
to say he is -the- front-man. He certainly surpasses all others  whom
-I- have witnessed. And while the man is as much the focal  point  of
the live arena as he is of the band name and band itself, this is not
to downplay the role of his Band. The Mother Superior trio tear apart
Rollins Band material past and present tonight, like  they'd  written
the songs, and maybe even the book on how to reproduce them best live
into the bargain. Drummer Jason Mackenroth deserves  special  mention
for  laying  down  such  an  unrelentingly   energetic   performance,
remaining consistently powerful and precise the whole night  through.
The Forum was treated to a somewhat strange setlist comprising  every
song (bar monolithic closer "LA Money Train")  from  new  album  _Get
Some Go Again_, but nothing  from  the  past  three  albums  (!)  bar
"Tearing" from 1992's _The  End  of  Silence_.  Thus  tonight  was  a
thoroughly pumping and energetic run through Rollins Band's  abrasive
late eighties past and the ROCK 'n' roll styled glory of  their  most
recent present. The combination  worked  magic  on  that  stage.  The
majority of the conspicuously absent tracks [e.g. "Liar"] would  have
confused this set, not  improved  it.  Intense,  building  new  track
"Illumination" opened proceedings  beautifully  with  the  shirtless,
shorts-clad Rollins tearing about his carpeted section of  the  stage
barefoot; the picture of intensity and  commanding  power  throughout
the near  two-hour  stage  time.  Ear-splitting  renditions  of  such
decade-or-more-old numbers like "Hard", "Action", "What Have  I  Got"
or "My Number Is One" were reeled off while classy  new  tracks  like
"Change it Up", "Thinking Cap" (with a free jam included  in  classic
Rollins Band style) "Get Some Go Again" and "On the Day", along  with
two cracking Thin Lizzy covers played successively ("Are You  Ready?"
from the album  and  its  natural  second  "The  Rocker"),  came  off
superbly.  The  "new"  Rollins  Band  crushed  all   competition.   I
unfortunately have no personal basis for comparison,  but  I'd  wager
they'd -at least- give -any- of the old Rollins Band  incarnations  a
serious run for their  money.  What  is  for  definite  is  that  for
intensity and pure power, there is nothing harder  than  Rollins  and
his Band.

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

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

Gino's Top 5

1. Judas Priest - _Metalworks '73 - '93_
2. The Future Sound of London - _Dead Cities_
3. Amorphis - _Tales From the Thousand Lakes_
4. Slayer - _South of Heaven_
5. Led Zeppelin - _Physical Graffiti_

Adrian's Top 5

1. The Crown  - _Deathrace King_
2. Vader - _Litany_
3. Cephalic Carnage - _Exploiting Dysfunction_
4. Fury - _Stigmatised_
5. A Perfect Circle - _Mer de Noms_

Brian's Top 5

1. Spiral Architect - _A Sceptic's Universe_
2. Sync - _Variations About Themes of Evil_
3. Night to Die - _All Evil Crying_
4. Black Messiah - _Sceptre of Black Knowledge_
5. Lunatic Gods - _Sitting By the Fire_

Alain's Top 5

1. Summoning - _Stronghold_
2. Horde of Worms - _Dreams and Dying Eyes_
3. Pink Floyd - _Animals_
4. Hate Eternal - _Conquering the Throne_
5. Soul Reaper - _Written in Blood_

Adam's Top 5

1. Der Blutharsch - _The Pleasures Received in Pain_
2. Mayhem - _Grand Declaration of War_
3. Immortal - _Damned in Black_
4. Morgul - _Parody of the Mass_
5. Bathory - _Jubileum Vol. 2_

Pedro's Top 5

1. The Crown - _Hell Is Here_
2. Ulver - _Nattens Madrigal_
3. Rapture - _Futile_
4. December Wolves - _Completely Dehumanized_
5. Enochian Crescent - _Omega Telocvovim_

Paul's Top 5

1. Dodheimsgard - _666 International_
2. Deceased - _The 13 Frightened Souls_
3. Repulsion - _Horrified_
4. Order From Chaos - _Stillbirth Machine_
5. Iced Earth - _Days of Purgatory_ [thanks go to Roberto Martinelli]

Aaron's Top 5

1. Dark Funeral - _Teach Children to Worship Satan_
2. Danzig - _6:66 Satan's Child_
3. Death - _Spiritual Healing_
4. Prong - _Beg to Differ_
5. Mortiis - _Crypt of the Wizard_

David's Top 5

1. Darkane - _Rusted Angel_
2. Necrophobic - _The Third Antichrist_
3. Ominous - _The Spectral Manifest_
4. Morgion - _Solinari_
5. Vader - _Litany_

Matthias' Top 5

1. Vader - _Litany_
2. Vader - _De Profundis_
3. Entombed - _Uprising_
4. Dismember - _Hate Campaign_
5. Eyehategod - _Southern Discomfort_

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


Homepage: http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com
FTP Archive: ftp://ftp.etext.org/pub/Zines/ChroniclesOfChaos

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 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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DESCRIPTION
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chronicles  of  Chaos  is  a  FREE  monthly  magazine  electronically
distributed worldwide via the Internet. Seemingly endless interviews,
album reviews and concert reviews encompass the pages  of  Chronicles
of Chaos. Chronicles of Chaos stringently emphasizes all varieties of
chaotic music ranging from black and death metal to  electronic/noise
to dark, doom and ambient forms. Chronicles  of  Chaos  is  dedicated
to the underground and as such we feature demo reviews from all indie
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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #47

All contents copyright 2000 by individual creators of included  work.
All opinions expressed herein are those of the individuals expressing
them, and do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone else.

