If one would have to think of bands that Newbreed could be link to, the first would be without a doubt Opeth (I think Blackwater Park might be the reference point) and the second – well – let’s settle down with saying something like ‘Ephel Duath without the extreme chaos’. Heck – Opeth alone works just as well. Proggish (death) metal with mellower parts thrown in between of the harder riffing and growling, sometimes taking a turn to the jazz-lane.

Now, I’d forgive the band a lot if they turned out to pure shit, but I can’t find anything worth bashing. That’s why I had to resort to remarks about the band photo at the back. You’d think that a band which consists of members who just broke out of puberty would be lacking in some department – mainly vocals – but Tomasz Wolonciej’s work on the microphone doesn’t give me much to shoot with. While he’s no Mikael Åkerfeldt and the growl could be a bit deeper, he’s clean vocals work like a greased up blow-up doll on an isolate island. Technically correct or not, he’s able to bring in the final touch of emotion on top of the searing and soaring compositions.

What amazes me is that the guys don’t let themselves get carried away, but the songs are well balanced, well structured and most of all well constructed. The thin red line between the “my mind is isolated from the rest of the world”-parts and the more aggressive tones has been perfectly paced on this five song, 33 minute release (out of which only one song is below 6 minutes in length). The overall tone of the picture is slightly saturated with the last song, Lost, which is an instrumental for displaying the band’s talent. Luckily it’s no Dream Theater wankery as that would have just been out of place, but the drum solo part brought in a memory of a musical number in Manowar’s 27-minute epoch “Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts” – which is not necessarily a bad thing. After the solo drumming by Tomasz’ brother Stanislaw ends, Andrzej Czul steps in front with the bass and leading the band to more loungy and jazzy feelings.

Perhaps the bullet that could bring the band down, is the bullet marked with the word ‘originality’ as we already have ourselves an Opeth – but for tomorrow’s sake I refuse to pull the trigger as Newbreed – true to their name – shows undeniable potential to become something people will rave on about in the future. While Lost isn’t without its flaws, despite my raving on the previous paragraphs, I cannot but recommend it. Nervously waiting, I wonder whether or not the next one will finally outplay the dealer and collect the jackpot or go home in tears with huge debts casting a shadow of burden over their shoulders.

(It might even take less time to find out as I originally thought, as it appears the album came out already in 2003. Better now than never, I say.)

This band has been described as black death thrash and as Aussie war metal, in my opinion they are more of an 80’s death band, with the black metal influences minimal. The pace is full speed, guitar dominated chaos, and “the most brutal yet.” “Black Flames of Expulsion” and the final song, “The Ultimate Ordinance of Obliteration,” stand out from the rest slightly, though all songs are of similar quality.

 This is a fine release that plants Abominator squarely in the middle of the pack of their contemporaries and well worth possessing if you are a fan of the style. It was a nice change from what I usually listen to, but in all honesty, I have several much better brutal death albums I turn to when I need that fix.

One disappointment the the very short album length, 10 very short songs for a total of about half an hour. Finding an album too short is a good sign that you enjoyed it. Of the 10 songs, a couple are demo songs re-recorded. My favorite songs are “Necromantic Ritual Desecration” for, believe it or not, it’s subtlety. A well crafted song structure, equaled in “Goat’s Feast” and surpassed by the title track. “Evoke The Desecrator” is structurally their most ambitious and guaranteed to be the highlight of the live set.

Granted. These three bastards don’t resemble Dust to Dust that much musically. But something is all too familiar. Something is all too wrong… I mean, come on – even the album name gives people migraines; Nu-Tech Cyber Sorcery. What the fuck is wrong with you people? Why would you name anything – I mean anything at all – Nu-Tech Cyber Sorcery? It just doesn’t make any sense! Even less than wookies and the planet Endor! At least it shouldn’t take you too long to figure out what’s going on an album that carries such an interesting name. Yes, it’s nu’boyz meet Cradle of Filth meet industrial bands like The Kovenant and Ministry. And quite right you are, it’s horrible. To clarify this a bit, here’s a comment taken from the band’s guestbook: “I like your idea of combining keyboards with Metal”. Holy shit, Batman! Why didn’t I come up with that before? Why didn’t anyone come up with that before? That’s like… taking metal to a completely another level, beyond any boundaries and go where no one has ever gone before. Not even William Shatner himself! This puts the capital P in the word Progressive! But that’s not all, oh no – it gets even better!

In order to ‘follow’ the dark paths of sorcery and cybernetic blasphemy, the guys decided it would be a great idea to take another names in order to emphasize the concept. Heck, it worked for some black metal bands, so it must work for everyone! BRRR! WRONG! It sure as hell does not work for everybody – at least when you come up with such names as “Dr.Chaos”, “Mikeonis” and the vile, dark grandfather of blasphemy… “Mr. Sinister”! For fuck’s sake! And again – it does not stop there. Just looking at the band picture makes everyone realize that we’re standing next to a new species derived from the human race. And against Darwin’s theories life doesn’t go through evolution but devolution. These guys are the übermenschs of their new proud race known as the ‘Assclowns’ – whose sole purpose in life is to conquer the universe and to inject it with ‘teh’ suck. And the collar around Mr. Sinister’s neck surely makes me believe in such theories.

While I’m against parents beating the shit out of their children, instead of sending these guys out to summer camps, they should have been sent to an army base as living target dummies because this album really shows what’s wrong in today’s world. Music of this magnitude should be banned by international laws. No, I’m not against mixing “metal with keyboards” since there are bands that most of the time pull it off, but Psionic just plain and simply sucks at everything it does and even thinks about doing. This is hell of a lot worse than Dust to Dust, and that’s quite an achievement. Great job guys!

This is of course supreme death/ black art from Austria. From the screaming nuns to the chanted vocals they deliver violence and fury at full velocity. Once again excellent drumming, intricate guitar leads, and screams and growls to perfection. They have cranked it up in speed to Panzer level and added utter brutality. The production is clearer so each instrument stands out. The drum especially sounds great. Belphegor has also moved closer to mostly death metal from Swedish black, just don’t lose the dual vocals. The songs demonstrate long hours of practice and are the most memorable to date, and despite the speed they are always under control. “The Goatchrist” has dominating guitars with hyperspeed melodies and about equal time to each vocal style. “Demonic Staccato Erection” is more sedate with brutal drumming that is not quite so frantic with heavy cymbal work. The rhythm guitar is slow and Helmuth employs an inbetween style of vocals at the end. “Paradise Regained” has a very brief atmospheric intro then pulverizing intensity, the uberpanzer. The bass stands out more as well. “Fukk the Blood of Christ” starts off slow and ominous, the drums kick in slow, chugging rhythm guitar then blastbeats and minimalist guitar leads- high pitched squeals and lengthy slower sections without words to end one of my favorite songs pre Lucifer.

Having one song that surpasses most previous efforts but gets blown away by most everything else on this album demonstrates how far they have climbed. The title track is next and it’s back to pulverizing nuns. “The Sin Hellfucked” has clearly heard bass, heavy cymbol use, chaotic swirling lead guitars, and a Voivodesque ending. “Fleischrequiem” is a highlight of the album with acoustic folkish guitars and chanted vocals in addition to the black and death styles and some anguished screams along with fast drumming. Easily one of the best of 2003.

Firebox claims this to be “51 minutes of the most morbid music ever made.” It takes more than lines like “You can’t understand what you’re lost inside” to be funeral doom. The booklet calls it “suicide doom.” Four songs with an intro, and the intro is industrial rhythms, not a plus.

“Desolate” starts with nice slow ponderous doom riffs, so far so good. Shrieked vocals are too low in the mix, but the guitar sounds great, nice and heavy but not depressively heavy. It is four minutes plus before the song even gets underway with some keyboard melodies. The “noise” as they call it is rather musical in a conventional sense and does not overwhelm the rhythm until the twelve minute mark. Vocals are distorted a little too much and are not quite recognizable. There are several long passages without words, and they seem long. “Halla” begins with a pace that is a little more up tempo and the vocals seem a little clearer, but still too distorted (or not enough). The noise effects are much more intrusive, otherwise this song is more of the same. Next is “The 13th Horror,” with a Hollywood horror movie intro, then vintage Black Sabbath heaviness but no flow or direction. At seventeen minutes, it feels like three songs in one with garbled noise effects to separate the parts instead of to link the parts. When the pace picks up it’s good, otherwise it really drags on. It is mercifully over at 17 minutes. “Pervertum” is the final track and by the time this song has hit the three minute mark I’ve lost all patience with the album.

Based on pulsing programmed beats, distorted robotic vocals (often signing in French or Polish) and lumbering crawling riffs, Zaraza are a pretty unique entity that will propel many of you through wormholes and space continuums of distant galaxies as you become one with space. Me? I thought it sounded like someone put a keyboard, a drum machine and a microphone in front of Stephen Hawking and gave him some valium.

I could not even tell “Nova Akropola” was a cover song (Laibach) – it was that foreign sounding. A few stark but monstrous riffs surface the lengthy tracks like “Mark of the Infidel,” “Infliction” and “Znikad Donikad,” and at their least experimental, Zaraza crank out some suitably doomy, gargantuan moments, but they are too bogged down in wandering, sample laden FX and attempted eerie sound scapes to prove effective. My attention just wasn’t drawn in but this style, as ambient and genre defying as it may be. Some classical instrumentation occasionally backs the seemingly random pounding and buzzing, that gives the affair an even more off the wall atmosphere, but does little more than make the whole mix even more incoherent and tangled. It’s all too much for my rudimentary death metal brain.

The album’s last two tracks are lacking guitars completely, but still chaotically programmed and rendered with discordant sampling and FX. “Przeklinaj Smeirc” is strangely hypnotic but “Heart.Ov.the.Goat” just kind of tacks on the end of the album with horrendous spoken vocals. It only serves to show that even though Zaraza doesn’t do a lot for me during their heavy moments, their attempt at the English language and guitar less atmospherics are even worse. Even the music wasn’t that entertaining, the production does bring the estranged elements together, despite the hit miss results, the guitars, when utilized are vast, and the sampling is suitably haunting and unnerving, it’s just the end result as songs are directionless.

If you are the type that needs to own everything of the wall of different, this album is for you, as it certainly threw me for a loop. I hate to be harsh on a duo that is willing to push the envelope, but sometimes the envelope can be simple shoved too far and falls off the table, at that appears to be the case with No Paradise to Lose. Doable concepts and approaches are simply overdone and compound together, when a little restraint in some of the element and increased riffage might have been pretty good. But who am I to dictate what a band does? Anyway, admirable attempt, but less than admirable results as in the end, this is music for space cadets on Prozac.

Once again these Spanish pagan black metal warriors have produced epic and majestic songs. Nazak’s vocals are a bit more enunciated but just as harsh. The overall pace is slower with fast passages, or more often, fast drumming with slow guitars. They have surpassed Graveland in simple artistry, particularly with Frozen Wind’s superlative drumming. Many bands try to write long songs, few pull it off as well. With Berserk the key ingredient is keep it unencumbered, the music is simple superficially with some complexity under the surface. Never does the music get lost in distortions and it is quite easy to pick out each instrument and concentrate on it.

The first time I listened to this disk, I thought some flutes or something similar would be interesting, and then “De Este A Oeste” started. The guitars are the central instrument, with minimal flute, but it is a very effective break it the heart of the album. Forjstorm, write more like this. “Gaze at the Sky” features a more vikingesque vocal style that fits the mood of the song. “Astapa’s Ashes” is about a massacre by the Roman army in which the townspeople put up a heavy resistance that has never been forgotten. The title track talks of hanging the heads of the conquered from their horse’s neck after embalming them with cedar oil. “Blood Of The Gods” proclaims “death is an honor in the Celtiberian land. The tour through the centuries, we’ll never forget our roots.” that sentiment is the basis of the whole album, Fight for your land and never surrender. If Berserk is not the preeminent Spanish black metal band today, they will be tomorrow. Another disc full of great war hymns.

Killusion was the main force behind Thralldom, wanting to create something that enhanced the ungliness of music. Their first EP was Darkthrone style and their last EP was noise Abruptum style. In between, they released Beast Eye Opened To The Sky. The style reminds me of old Skepticism mixed with the simplicity of Darkthrone. The songs are electronic effects laden but have an organic flow. The songs number seven and the duration of the album is thirty minutes.

“Oath Of Ex-Communication” uses simple drum patterns and simple guitar rhythms over a backdrop of sonic distortion, at a fast pace. “Parasites (The 7th Plague)” has a rumbling bass, whining guitar, heavy cymbal use and a slow pace with lots of distortion. “Slicing Morality Off The Face Of The Sphere” is noise effects with some drumming as accompaniment. “Hypaethral” has a slow pace with a bit more drumming dexterity and the background noise is less intrusive. The album title is taken from the lyrics of this song. “Dead Aeon Of The Slain Gods” is the best song with some memorable riffs, more emphasis on guitars, less on noise effects, and has a mesmerizing quality. “Distorted Air” is fast, whirlwind intensity with heavy distortion of noise effects which winds down to a rather tranquil finish. “De Mysterio Mali” is a speech by Aleister Crowley with background effects, just a noise track.

What the album as a whole lacks is intensity. While I never felt the need to fast forward, neither was I ever glued to my seat. This album certainly will not save black metal.

First, I’d like to be completely unprofessional and empty my testosterone filled nads by mentioning super hot bassist Angelia. I have a thing for blonds (if metal doesn’t work out for you, give me a call). OK, that’s out the way-the music. Epicurean are ambitious if anything, mixing all kinds of acoustics, clean vocals, keyboard breaks and textures into their debut album, that if anything certainly shows some balls to simply not fall in line and be as brutal as possible, but with sloppy drumming and a strange sound mix, the end result comes across as slightly amateurish despite some nice song writing and structures. Song wise, Epicurean are above average, with a nice melodic, progressive edge to some of their sweeping black metal that’s not to far removed from Danes Compos Mentis but lacking some edge. The album often seems to be too ‘nice’ while at the same time wanting to be black metal in scope. That being said, their ‘nice’ side is full of colorful riffs and epic solos worthy of some attention.

I gather there has been some lineup shuffling since the recording of this album, but for this album keyboardist Maelstrom performed the vocals, and it’s a good thing he’s now solely responsible for keys as new singer John Laramy can only be an improvement and might add some vitriol to Maelstrom’s flat delivery. The clean vocals courtesy of drummer John Gensmer are adequate and not so run of the mill, in fact having some unique character. Guitarists Rob Nesco and Lance Vien could be tighter, but they make up for that with some well crafted riffs and solos, if rendered slightly messily.

After the obligatory intro, ‘Deviance of Horror’, that conveys neither deviance nor horror, Epicurean open tentatively with ‘Channeling Divine Creation’ before finding a comfort level with a more epic twist of the chorus that seems more natural to Epicurean than the more mid-paced technicality. ‘Demise: The Shattered Soul’, despite its cliched chorus is enjoyable and features the first eyebrow raising solos and tempo change that hints at Epicurean’s ability when they set their feet and just play. The empty production is only highlighted during the intro of ‘The Dying of the Light’, as the guitars are flat and sound like they were recorded in a Minnesota snowstorm. However, just as I feel the need to rip the band for the above flaws they sucker punch me with a tasty break or riff, just enough to belay my cruel words and listen a little more. The ending solo and clean breaks of ‘The Dying of the Light’ are a perfect example. Still, Epicurean need to hone their sound, as they come across as rather tame, even with blast beats and rasped vocals, they just seem slightly reticent and lifeless compared to their peers. The song title ‘The Irreparable Loss of Sons’ hints at a deep loss and tragedy, but the song itself delivers no such ambience, instead a peppy upbeat melodic trot within its chorus, plus it really highlights some of the sloppy drumming with its slower pace.

As the album wanes on, the highlights lessen, with only the weaving melody of ‘Ceremonies of the Moon’ (almost ruined by a strangely off key clean vocal break) warranting due attention, but at six minutes wears out its welcome. With four characterless instrumentals scattered about the 12 songs, the album tests you fast forward button. The lineup has changed considerably since this album was recorded, and hopefully the puzzle has all the right pieces in place allowing Epicurean to reach some potential that’s pretty well buried.

Not really a bad album per say, just an album that seems slightly awkward and nondescript. There is some potential though, and I hope Epicurean outlive their growing pains as the US could use more bands of this style.

The chaotic rhythmic passages range from slow to fast, rarely needing much melody to boost interest. Especially in the slower passages I hear Motörhead. Very few bands out do their past releases in intensity, usually tempering such extremities with maturity. Luckily, Nattefrost on his mellow days is still well beyond the realm of clinical normalcy. His vocals are among the best in black metal, harsh yet understandable. I can catch a lot of his words, but wish I had a lyric sheet with my promo copy. Their lyrics are always entertaining.

When you put this disc in your cd player (notice I did not say if), skip ahead to track 10, “The Old House On The Hill” will get you in the proper mood. Great atmosphere and memorable keys, this one sticks in your head. King Diamond would enjoy this one. It is hard to single out songs to discuss because that means ignoring some worthy ones. I won’t go through all of them, but a few of my favorites are “Skjend Hans Lik,” great bass, eerie interlude, extra harsh vocal delivery. “The Well Of All Human Tears” is slow and mesmerizing with very minimal drumming. Old Black Sabbath comes through. “One With The Earth” brings to mind Motörhead circa 1977. Always needing one truly strange song on each disc, this one’s called “Cold Murderous Music” with whispered vocals and a mournful jazz like feel. Twelve songs, fifty one minutes, with a consistent quality.

Carpathian Forest is one of the few bands that have an entire discography permanently in my cd changer. I reserved a spot for this disc a few years ago. It was worth the wait and will certainly join the back catalog in frequent playing. Season Of Mist has signed them to a two album deal, let’s hope it’s not another three years to the next one.
Grimulf

Featuring my favorite guitar tone of the year (courtesy of guitarist Lord K. Philipson and Nasum’s Mieszko Talaczyk) a new female singer, and now free from label issues, TPH have basically peaked. Hate, Dominate, Congregate, Eliminate is a tour de force, with rumbling malevolent down-tuned riffs, haunting female vocals and song structures that the last two albums couldn’t quite find consistently. With all the songs over 7 minutes, TPH manage to hold your attention for the entire time, whether with Jo Enckell’s ethereal voice, Jorgen Sandstrom’s (ex-Grave) massive bellow, or injections of essentially ‘techno’ intermissions, the album both stuns and entertains. New Singer Jo Enckell has a more delicate presence than former singer Mia Stahl; she is more subdued but more evocative and sorrowful. Her addition to the songs make for a more ominous mood that’s already pretty brooding thanks to Lord Philipson’s and Peter S Freed’s (2 Ton Predator) massive riffs and liberal use of keyboards.

Essentially those looking for a layman description, this is basically Grave with some Goth overtones and experimental trance/trip-hop beats thrown in. But it’s also so much more. Hate, Dominate, Congregate, Eliminate also features a handful of guest vocalists to add to the chaos as Magnus Caligula (Dark Funeral), Mogge Lundin (2 Ton Predator), and Rikard Alriksson (Genocide Superstars) add some vocal variety to the proceedings. With not a single blastbeat in sight, the huge guitar tone wades through eight equally hateful hymns of anti-Christian dissent laden lumbering grooves, epic dirges and eclectic ambience.

Standout tracks are hard to pinpoint, as all the single themed songs are pure Stockholm heaven. The 12 minute “Burn,” has to be mentioned though, as it never lets up for its entire duration, and there’s not many 12 minute non-doom songs that can hold my wicked short attention span. “Dominate,” with its sublime piano-laced interlude, also had me enthralled. ‘Eliminate’ starts with a classic Stockholm riff, that could have been culled from any early Sunlight Studio album, but it’s quickly given an injection of Ms. Enckell’s mournful diction.

Most of the songs feature some kind of “techno” break, either alone or backed by the monstrous guitars, and while those segments may have death metal purists grimace, I rather enjoyed them. Rather than come across as pure filler, they are done just right, as come across like Fear Factory or Avulsed’s full-on committed forays into techno, rather than a piecemeal gimmick. The breaks that surface most insistently during “Hate” and “Nailed” are violent exercises in Prodigy-esque tribal dance beats mixed with classic Swedish death metal – how cool is that? However, to their credit, those moments are never as drawn out or forced, as they sometimes came across in the last two albums.

Hate, Dominate, Congregate, Eliminate is simply magnificent album that harkens to Stockholm’s storied past, but with injections of futuristic nihilism that creates an pretty unique style that only TPH can claim. A sure-fire, top ten contender for 2003 or 2004 (depending if you got the initial Threeman version or the Candlelight licensed version).

It only takes a few minutes to realize Wrest is a legitimate rival of Judas Iscariot, not a mere imitator. “Submersed” is a slow, minimalistic soundscape, an instrumental interlude. On “The Idiot Sun” the vocals are among the most tortured wails and shrieks and choked sobs you’ll hear anywhere. Occasional abstract guitar noises add to the hysteria, offset by a slow and plodding pace and a buzzing bass. “He Whom Shadows Move Towards” displays some curiously familiar guitar lines about a minute and a half in. Kampfar’s “Hymne,” I’ll call it an homage because it is a great song. “Sardoniscorn” has slow passages that are particularly mesmerizing, and just enough distortion to carry the mood, not enough to bury the instrumentation in mud. All songs have their speedy passages as well.

By the way, Wrest, in the booklet, takes offense with “curious novelty seekers and their unoriginal cock=leech ideas of what ‘true’ is” If there wasn’t some disclaimer to this effect it certainly could not be ‘true’ so it must be. He also takes offense with, “mollusks that deem themselves qualified to ‘review’ for their inability to create anything.” Too bad the promo copies don’t mention this, I only know because I bought the cd before I got the promo in its cardboard sleeve. Another example of missing the target audience, or was the target audience not the reviewers but the ‘true’ fans? In any case, whether you’ll be worthy to purchase this disc or not, I recommend it. I have already added my copy to the pile of his back catalog on my shelf.

Now for the play by play. “Thamen Oteth” has an ominous undertone with deep resonating spoken vocals and harsh death vocals. The melodies are wandering, or maybe sauntering happily. The demon actually says “this is how you will kick the bucket.” Nagy and Gabriel share the vocals. “Shadow of Zrogdavar” is a lengthy composition featuring Gabriel’s high pitched shrieked vocals, low in the mix so as not to overpower the piano. Very effective deep spoken words as well as background chorus chanting help fill out the song. It has a slow pace with very simple melodies flowing throughout. The drums are subtle. It sounds like a musical backdrop to a Hollywood style satanic ritual. There is a long passage in the middle without vocals. The pace gets more frantic at the six minute mark and the vocals get harsher. the melodies are still very precise but get more hurried, higher pitched.

“Varaniju” is a highlight, and not because it is based on a novel of the same name co-written by Gabriel Wolf. It is somber music with some beautifully played piano solos and a tuba intro. The vocals are by Tomi Kallilola and have an interesting echo effect. The best thing I can say about this song is that it went by quickly, I lost track of time. I was surprised to find that it is nearly seven minutes in length. “Dark Side of Chaos” has a bit of a middle eastern flair and has clean vocals throughout. Another lengthy affair, this one sees the narrator transported to the land of the living dead. “Ytir” is about a demon locked in a bird cage. It features a faster pace, more up-tempo. The harsh shrieked vocals would be truly piercing if louder in the mix. The simple rhythm dominates and the melodies are a bit softer.

“Night Of The Werewolf” is both the first and last songs. The last track is a death industrial mix of the first, and is utterly forgettable. The techno beat drives you crazy. What a way to end an album. If you liked Trilogy of the Night, get this one too, if you didn’t this one is not different enough to warrant your attention. Overall, I find Ywolf to be a pleasant distraction from my usual listening pleasures, and I think this disc will see play just as much as the first one has. Recommended.

In fact, apart from the title track and pseudo-ballad “Tomorrow Turned Into Yesterday” much of Enemies of Reality’s songs are, at best, average; there are no centerpieces such as “Narcosynthesis” and “Engines of Hate” or “I Am The Dog” and “Poison Godmachine.” Without cornerstone tracks and Kelly Gray’s (Queensryche, Dokken) murky production, it appears as if Nevermore are pushing an album that isn’t representative of where they were as far as songwriting, vocal arrangements and overall atmosphere are concerned. Nevermore require these very traits (and contrast) in order to be more than just another heavy metal band. Where did they go wrong?

First, Jeff Loomis’ often twisted, unconventional riffage (“The River Dragon…,” Inside Four Walls,” “Beyond Within,” “All Play Dead,” et al.) is basically relegated to monochromatic thrash tricks.“Create The Infinite,” “I, Voyager,” and “Seed Awakening,” in all their technical fervor, sound unwieldy and unfocused, as if composed piecemeal, and hastily stitched together for vocalist Warrel Dane to roar atop. This isn’t the Nevermore of before.

Second, tracks “Ambivalent” and “Who Decides” are almost up to par. Heretofore, the balance between music and Dane’s voice harmonized, and rarely did the scale tip to one extreme; even if it did, it was for effect. Now, Dane, in full vocal regalia, suffocates the songs much in the same way Dani Filth does to Cradle Of Filth. The songs’ instrumental breaks are too brief of an escape from the histrionics, magnifying the fact that, as powerful and diverse a voice Dane commands, restraint isn’t part of the equation here.

Third, perhaps Gray, unfamiliar with a multi-headed beast like Nevermore, made matters worse. In its aggressive stance, the guitar sound should, if anything, slay. “Seed Awakening,” “Never Purify” and “Ambivalent” are prime hard-hitting, involved riff-fests and the lack of clarity and impact isn’t becoming. Furthermore, the rhythm section – one of the best in metal today – merely exists. Under Andy Sneap and Neil Kernon Jim Sheppard and Van Williams’ performances were alive, interwoven seamlessly into the Nevermore’s jarring hits and mercurial transitions.

Fourth, contrast and mood, a Loomis staple, are thrust clumsily into the forgettable “Noumenon,” which echoes of Testament’s instrumental solo power on “Hypnosis” and “Musical Death (A Dirge).” Naturally, there’s no true comparison. To Enemies of Reality’s credit, the title cut is one of Nevermore’s best, with a hard-to-forget chorus and smart guitar work shining as genuine achievements. “Tomorrow Turned Into Yesterday,” an updated power ballad, is what heavy music needs at the moment. Not so much as a direct link back to, say, Dokken’s “Heaven Sent” or Death Angel’s “A Room With A View,” the song just sounds familiar, and Loomis’ breathy solo work is full of ‘80s bravado. Enchanting, in a retrospective way.If Nevermore relied on strengths, their fifth and most visible album should be in high accolades, but as it stands two good cuts of nine is barely worth a cursory glance, and fans well aware of such potential are in for a hard reality. For Nevermore to release the album at a pivotal point in their career is all the more puzzling.

As previously mentioned, the real story here is the riffs of Ryan Jensen, all dynamic thrash riffs culminating in harmonic-screeching halts; his breakdown riffs stagger, stumble, and stutter giving the proceedings a sense of raw danger and unpredictability which is sorely missing from most of the rest of metalcore world at this moment. His talent is further displayed at the end of the album where he cools off a bit and performs an extended acoustic strumming piece, which reminds me of Sepultura’s “Kaiowas” mixed with the spaghetti-western melo-dramatics of an Enrico Moriccone film score. All in all, an interesting and energized debut from these San Antonio natives, well worth the time, ears, and dollars of those into bands such as Darkest Hour, who are looking for something a little more raw and rough.

Comparisons could be made to Dissection, Naglfar and Marduk (and to these ears, Angel Corpse), but Astriaal make the sound their own with their far more adventurous labyrinthine compositions. Forsaking symphonic pomp and atmospherics, Astriaal deliver their ambience through sparse acoustics and builds that often explode with phenomenal force into some of the best black metal I’ve heard in some years.

While certainly a majority of the album is a swirling tremolo filled cyclone, the subtle harmonics captured within the maelstrom are cleverly rendered to produce a layered sound that takes many listens to absorb. The production is smartly balanced to capture the classic Scandinavian grimness, but forceful and heavy enough to give each riff a little more weight and resonance than your average Darkthrone clone, but not the Marduk/ Setherial wall of sound approach. I would place the overall tone similar to Naglfar’s Vittra.

Astriaal’s songwriting is what sets them apart, especially towards the halfway point of the album as more diverse elements creep into an already impressive array of biting riffs and vicious harmonies. Tracks are hard to single out as favorites, as the whole 40 minutes bursts with supreme talent and jaw dropping ferocity. From opening ominous instrumental ‘The Funeral Procession’ and closer ‘The Halls of Perdition’, the album is consistently brilliant. But tracks with just hint of pace changing acoustics or haunting chanted vocals like ‘Glories of the Nightsky’, ‘Ode to Antiquity’ and ‘Arborescence’ leave gaping sonic puncture wounds in your memory, as the brief moments of peace only serve to enforce the total devastation wrought by the grandiose delivery of the rest of the material, and frankly they give you a bit of a breather. The underlying melodies are caked in a vitriolic gloss that matches anything Dissection put out. ‘Reaper of Dark Ages’ is simply a display of blistering perfection, and it sees the albums only brief introduction of synths, but only to close out an already breathtaking climax.

Renascent Misanthropy is a hard listen initially, because it is so violent and abrasive, (especially ‘Ritual Hate Construct’) but after a few tracks is does seem to calm down, with the wicked harmonies slicing their way out of the chaos, but the album is simply one of those that requires a full listen each time, as each track is worthy of your undivided attention (except maybe the intro and outro). That being said if the opening salvo of ‘Arborescence’ doesn’t blow you away, you might as well give up on listening to metal.

I’d have to put Renascent Misanthropy right up there with Anaal Nathrakh’s The Codex Necro as a landmark of modern black metal, and is a must own for any fan of black metal or any form of sonic extremity for that matter.

And I can already hear (yes, I possess supernatural powers which include, but are not restricted to, the intergalactic ability to hear and see things before they actually happen) how some one of you is about to whine that a) reviews should describe the music and b) give a neutral view of the album rather than waste the reader’s time on personal ranting. Well, what can I say? Shit happens and it appears that I’m the target of today’s pooprange execution; first I have to deal with the actual album and now with complaining visitors.

Now, as one with education as high as mine (in the field of life) would expect from the name of the album, what we’re dealing here with is a collection of rewashed nu-metal and modern alt-rock or whatever you wish to call those two chart breaking, critically acclaimed genres. Each thing taught in the books “Modern Rock for Dummies” and “Mallcore done Easy” are taken under use on this one hell of a sick album; as if this was the “Best of”-collection of ideas heard in today’s Top-40 ‘rock’ songs. Copy the copycats and find yourself on the verge of zero originality. Mind puzzling song names such as “Rot”, “BarelyBreathing” and “Pusher”, check. Distortion stolen straight from Korn, check. ‘Riffs’ done in the true unmemorable nu-metal fashion, check. ‘Riffs’ stolen from metal classics but made more boring, check. Angsty or almost-angry lyrics, check. Sampling that makes things sound like an old record was playing, check. That’s the basic stuff which doesn’t surprise anybody and as expected, is heard taking place in most of the songs.

Then there are things like the song “Shame” which combines Type O Negative and H.I.M together in a fashion where the two bands could sue Rob Traynor for some serious bucks. Rob? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. It appears that the whole package has been put together (e.g., most of the instruments, vocals and mixing/production) by one guy. I guess that’s the big surprising selling point. I mean, come on, aren’t “solo” projects original or what? Well, they can be if you’re Martin Schirenc but anyhow. The disc even has wet dreams burned inside of it about playing in such bands as Alice in Chains and Faith No More — yet, we’re very, very, very (did I say very?) far from the quality of those two names that got mentioned few words back. Sick feels just as empty as the list of reasons why anyone should spend their cash on this piece of personalized art. And I don’t care if there’s a solo or two in the torment of everlasting 53-minutes either, since quite frankly, they didn’t stand out from between the shit that came before and after them. Which might mean that the short solos were most likely rather insignificant themselves too.

As many of these bands are screaming about how they’re about to break, well, I finally broke and snapped and realized that the U.S. Army should use this as an interrogation tool. Sick forces me to admit that I didn’t find 2unlimited repulsive back in 1990 and that I find watching MTV’s dating programs more entertaining than listening to this album. I’m not sure if it’s solely because of this album or if it has something to do with the fact that I’m just growing more and more tired of being subjected to such, monotonous filth. Enough is enough! And everything heard on Sick has been heard many, many times before (and done better). While not exactly an atrocity against humanity, it would have been better for the world if the extreme borefest, aka Sick, would have been terminated with a shot in the head and laid to rest at the graveyard of ‘stupid but luckily unused ideas’ well before it had the chance to become ‘real’. I’ve got no problem with people expressing themselves, but if they’re just doing inferior, cheap copies of stuff that’s already been released, can’t they at least keep it private? Luckily, unlike me, you can choose not to spend any time with Sick.

With things such as Tranquil Bay’s “Behavior modification”-center, German scheisse videos and this Dust to Dust album, I guess the world is still quite far away from being the ideal place to raise your kids in.

My first impression from the opening track, “The Edge,” was of one of the weaker 1970s or early 1980s prog outfits. When the singer’s voice goes up, he almost sounds like “Weird” Al Yankovic. To be honest, it had me wondering what everyone that’s writing those glowing reviews is hearing in this.

I did hear it a little later on. I’m a big fan of folk-influenced metal, and there are moments when Tyr does it very well, as on “Regin Smidur” and the traditional Irish ballad “The Wild Rover,” which seems way, way, way out of place amidst the Viking themes that dominate the rest of the record, but is probably the best track on the record to my ears. Makes me want to lift a mug of ale and wave it over my head as I sing along.

I can also appreciate the mixture of styles, ranging from folk and power metal to a more commercial rock sound, to some doom stylings. Tyr is a band that certainly can’t be pigeonholed, but I have to wonder if they focused on just a few styles, could they do it better. But then again, I seem to be one of the few who think they need to improve, so what do I know?

In the end, I really don’t have much to say about this record. Though I like all the elements that Tyr puts together individually, in this mix, it’s just not my thing. If you like folk/pagan, Eric the Red is probably at least worth a listen. It’s just not for me.

In terms of style, Elegant … and Dying is far more consistent, for better or worse, than the previously release Sombre Romantic, shedding variation of style to settle on slow to mid-paced doom. While Virgin Black are extremely adept at changing tempos seamlessly with both emotional and melodic effectiveness, they often fail to expand their songs and instead settle for long periods of drawn out dirges which lack either punch or passion. This is particularly unfortunate because brief moments of increased tempo are often quick flashes showing Virgin Black’s potential brilliance. The drumming particularly stands out on these occasions, but you’ll have to pay close attention to notice this talent as Dino Cielo is rarely expected to do much.

In addition to their slowed tempo, Virgin Black’s vocalist is also a defining characteristic of the music. For many of Virgin Black’s listeners, Rowan London’s voice seems to be a highlight of the music. For me however, it’s not the first time that praise for a vocalist has made me wonder what people are eating. London is often off key, over dramatic, and sounds strained and out of reach, especially on higher notes. I must admit however that his growling vocals on the song “Beloved” are exceptional, albeit brief.

As for the songs themselves, I can’t remember the last time I found the best song on an album its last, and its worst song the first, but the opening “Adorned in Ashes” is six dragging minutes which I’m sure loses many new listeners immediately. On the other hand, despite being perhaps the most mainstream song on the release, the final track is perhaps the finest. “Our Wings are Burning” varies tempos while balancing good singing with yearning melodies and a unique sound. The song “Velvet Tongue” is an excellent microcosm of the entire album. It’s an overall good song with moments of great beauty, but weak vocals. It is eight minutes long, but does not diverge from its basic pattern. Had Virgin Black taken the final three minutes to develop the song and expand their musicianship rather than becoming repetitive, the song could have been great. London’s lyrics on this song are also probably the best of the album. Along with the previously mentioned final track, “And the Kiss of God’s Mouth” is one of the best songs, building layers of emotion while combining despair with melodic lead guitar work and hooks.

Moving to the weaker tracks, “dead in the middle” is how I would describe tunes 5, 6, and 7. “Renaissance,” seventeen minutes of the aptly named “The Everlasting,” and “Cult of Crucifixion” provide thirty three minutes at the heart of the album when one could take a siesta … or be forced. While this might rejuvenate your body, it won’t rejuvenate your spirit for Virgin Black.

In conclusion, though Virgin Black seems to have both up and down sides on this album, it would not surprise me if in the coming years, should they be productive, they could release a classic album. Still, if unlike me, you enjoy eons of lethargic doom and Rowan London’s singing, this release might already be the classic. On the other hand, Virgin Black’s fade into obscurity, as they do in the middle of Elegant … and Dying, would not shock me either. With Virgin Black, really anything seems possible.

This is primitive black that shows just how ridiculously pathetic so many ‘primitive’ bands really are. The individual instruments are easily separated in your ears and the playing is precise. This is like reliving the early years of black metal but with real production values. The mastering was done by Dan Swanö, excellent job, book Unisound for the next one. Drumming is a vast improvement over their last album. The drums dominate the mix as well, was this a conscious decision? On Supreme Misanthropy the guitars dominated in the mix, overpowering the drum machine. This time new drummer Fiebig is given the reigns. I appreciate the bass guitar clearly distinguishable in the mix. The song structure is no longer choppy, it is always changing and flows very well. Also, there is pure aggression, mostly missing last time. Blodsrit upstage most everyone with their brand of early 90’s black metal, technically precise without ever being complicated or overly redundant. No frills, no showboating musically, though they are resplendent in their spikes, studs and full corpsepaint. No keyboards, lots of memorable riffs, and fast and faster are the two dominant speeds.

After a few dozen listens the past few weeks, I find myself anticipating the music, a few seconds ahead, in my mind. Nazgul is still the principal songwriter though Saphanoz helps on three songs and Yxmarder on one song. This collaboration is a strength they should exploit in the future. Nazgul has surrounded himself with talent, relinquishing the lead guitar role to Yxmarder and finding Fiebig to replace the drum machine, the search paid off. There is nothing primitive about this drummer’s abilities. These two guys, plus Saphanoz on bass, have pushed Blodsrit to the top of the current wave of black metal. Lyrically, antichristian themes reign supreme. “Dying Breed” exclaims that Jesus is “drooling blood whilst saying prayers.” “Rape of Vestial Purity” says “thy prayers will forever stay unheard” and “Glorious Rise Of The Flames” declares that “all beauty will be found in death.” Picking out a few favorite songs is challenging, but I’ll go with “I Sorg, För Syndens Saknad” and “The Glorious Rise Of The Flames” From 2001’s Secrets Unveiled ep, “Secrets Unveiled” and “Rulers Of The Desolate Lands” make the transferal to this disk, both of which are worthy of inclusion. One half the way through the calendar year, but Ocularis Infernum is all but assured a place in the top ten at year end. Hail to Nazgul, and thanks for the disc.

Well, anyway, Time, Unveiled is the project’s third full-length manifestation, and those not familiar with the project, they play a sort of blackened death metal that was recently perfected by Council Of the Fallen (who’s main member also Kevin Quiron has ties to Aurora Borealis). It’s fast, hectic and merciless with scathing higher register vocals. Considering the drummer’s heritage, it’s a given you can expect highly technical drumming also. And I guess that’s my main beef with this album and other recent U.S. death metal. Is it me or have bands become projects that are showcases for session drummers? This album, along with the Hate Eternal, Council of the Fallen, and Internecine, while quality albums, seem to sound so “similar” to each other, party due to the inter-usage of band members. The drumming has little variety despite the vast levels of technical excellence. As a result, I think the actual songs become second fiddle to the drumming.

Rant over. On to this album. The majority of the material is breakneck staccato riffing over pretty impressive non-stop blastbeats courtesy of Mr. Yeung. However, while the often long lastingblast beats do wear on with little variety, he certainly does warrant being mentioned in the same breath as Roddy, Laureano, Duhamel and company The sheer black metal tempo is pretty constant throughout, without the variety and crushing death metal interjections of Council Of The Fallen. Which is a shame as when the rare instances that a little imagination is used, it’s pretty darn cool, and a welcome change from the hyper-speed. Take for example the last track “Reign”: its very low-key acoustic interludes that cleverly break up the breakneck speed very subtlety. My other favorite track “The Last Day”, also offering tiny snippets of variety, with a little more memorable melody and tempered speed, as opposed to the often faceless blasting of the prior five songs.

And that’s my issue here: while certainly a technically proficient album which superior musicianship that will no doubt satisfy those who enjoy Hate Eternal and other raging acts, it’s simply an album that left me cold and not really in a rush to listen to it again any time soon. “Triumph Again,” “Berzerker” and “Transversing the Skies”, while all competent, just simply whirled by me with little long lasting impact other than, “Man, that was fast!” “Sky Burial” is decent, and is the most Nordic sounding of all the songs, but still relies on rending high-end riffs, despite a death metal breakdown, that is a rare respite. The lone “slow” song “Searching”, while a respectable attempt at some mid-paced tempos, it soon degenerates into more Scandinavian style blasting. Normally, I wouldn’t have a problem with this but the riffs rarely are memorable or as dynamic as, say, Epoch of Unlight or Darkmoon’s later work. I’d actually compare it to the Internecine album structurally, which to me suffered the same “great musicianship, average songs” syndrome, although Aurora Borealis are a little more black metal; they are still similar (as well as being one man projects with session musicians).

Lyrically though, Aurora Borealis do stand out, breaking away from the Christ hating and Satanist views of most of their peers, instead choosing are far more historical and intellectual visage of ancient death and glory, with a slightly Viking lean. Production-wise, the guitars are a little shallow, but for a self-released album, it sounds fine and is quite beefy for a black/death metal album – I’ve heard much worse from bands on big labels.

The album comes with two bonus tracks from Vento’s former project, Lestregus Nosferatus, and were also re-released on Aurora Borealis’s MCD Mansions of Eternity. So, that might warrant this album’s purchase for diehards and such, but otherwise this album didn’t much for me other than realize that the overuse of the a core group of musicians in U.S. death metal cannot be good for the scene’s originality in the long run.

And with this built bridge, we get over to the actual subject. Prejudiced person that I am, when the Mokoma’s first album came out in 2001, I didn’t pay much attention to it since they seemed to be (to me), yet another band trying to ‘cash-in’ with the on going ‘underground’ trend, so to speak. Judging without listening and thus ignoring the band all together, I went and carried on with my life. Little did I know that during the time of my absence, the band apparently grew a hunger to step closer to the source of their original inspiration — the content of their CD shelves; where metal classics stood next to each other side by side. Of course, as it usually is with my ramblings – they’re nothing but groundless speculation, but hopefully I’m not too far away from the real reasons of why the band evolved from rock closer thrashadelic metal. And if I am at least somewhat right, the saying, “There’s no running away from the past” can yet again be found true.

As much as it pains to say it, I admit the fact that I overlooked the band completely. Perhaps even disrespect them with my assumptions (to which I’ve yet to find a confirmation) about their previous release. But shit, in the year two thousand and three, they’ve finally got their payback. Silencing the Judas Betrayer, me, completely with a beating that I won’t soon to forget. If ever. Mokoma’s newest CD, Kurimus, is without a doubt one of the best thrash/ier metal albums to come out in years. Sure, this might not feauture the constant intensity of “Raining Blood” or high pitched scrrrreaming of Overkill, nor would you mistake this for any Bay Area band for that matter. But none the less, Kurimus can only be said to be thrash. Even if not in its purest sense. Direct comparisons can be somewhat tricky in this particular case, but if pointed with a gun at my head, I’d probably gasp out Entombed’s Morningstar in order of hoping that it would be close enough to save my life. And even then, the death metal/deathrock/deathtrash outfit from Sweden would only have been mentioned because of the similar sound policy. In general, the sound is the type where when you cram it loud, it will break your neck and most likely, crush the rest of your bones too.

Most of the album we are treated with fast speed beating, there are a couple songs in between that, when compared to the extreme material, might be somewhat slow but none the less softer. Sure, the tempo goes down and the vocal melodies might become more rock, it doesn’t break the continuation at all but makes it richer with a good balance between anger and beauty. And while one might still insists that the few songs are softer than a box of chocolate in Hell, the lyrics bring the much required mental heaviness to the mix. In a situation where the guitars might satanically tell you “I love you”, the lyrics ironically state how life, once again, decays and rots. And while it might appear quite unimportant to those who can’t read the language, the lyrics use the richness of Finnish to full effect. Using words and ways of saying things that might have disappeared from casual street use. The ironic, sarcastic and bittersweet lyrics definitely add a lot to the essence of the album. And it’s not just in the lyrics where all the different aspects of mind are displayed, but also the music portrays a variety of emotions when it might just seem to be a simple “live fast, die young”- noise. And I think that’s actually one of the reasons why the album works so well for me, since it isn’t just limited to one level at a time, but a person can get as much or as little out of it as one sees fit.

Even when the quality is spread nicely throughout the album, there are still a few special standout tracks within the package. Most of the tracks being around three and four minutes, the 7-minute epic “Liiton Loppu” is a perfect doom’s day closener for the album. The two ‘slower’ songs, “Kasvot kohti Itää” and “Silmäterä” work especially well for me; making it hard not to sing along (despite my puny mortal voice) and get all watery eyed. And the greatest of the fastest are, without a doubt, “Takatalvi” and “Punainen Kukko”. Both of which have most likely made me closer of becoming a wheelchair avenger due to spinal problems. The first bringing the desert of Seasons In the Abyss to my head, while the hard ‘n’ heavy chorus of the latter, where they shout ‘Saatanan Kukko’, has simply become a mind blowing experience for me.

Even after hours and hours of intensive listening, the album still remains in constant heavy rotation. Kurimus is one of the most perfect albums out there. Stripped down from things that are unnecessary, each small detail that made through, have earned a place on the record. There’s not a thing I’d change. It’ll be no surprise that the album will most definitely shine over at the higher ranks for me when picking out the creme of this and all the previous years. And while general public of heavy metal might not look back at Kurimus like they might do with certain other metal classics, the album has become one of my personal favorites all time. “Make some room Mr. Everflowing Stream. I think you’ve got a new friend.” Yup.