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Chronicles of Chaos Issue 040
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CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, June 15, 1999, Issue #40
http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html
Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley <mailto:energizr@interlog.com>
Contributor/Copy Editor: Pedro Azevedo <mailto:ei94048@fe.up.pt>
Contributor/Asst. Copy Editor: Paul Schwarz <mailto:saul@cwcom.net>
Assistant Copy Editor: John Weathers <mailto:anguish@mindspring.com>
Contributor: Alain M. Gaudrault <mailto:alain@gaudrault.net>
Contributor: Brian Meloon <mailto:bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk <mailto:macabre@interlog.com>
Contributor: Aaron McKay <mailto:aaronm@trxinc.com>
Contributor: David Rocher <mailto:el_rojo@dial.oleane.com>
Contributor: Gabriel Sanchez <mailto:mwnoise@yahoo.com>
Contributor: Alex Cantwell <mailto:alex@netmdc.com>
NOTE: For more Chronicles of Chaos information, check out the
'Details' section at the end of this issue.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Issue #40 Contents, 6/15/99
---------------------------
* Loud Letters
* Deadly Dialogues
-- Skinlab: The Flesh Dealers Return
-- Nocturnal Rites: Nightly Nastiness
-- Rotting: Slowly They Rot
-- Payable on Death: Paid in Full
-- Blindside: The Blindside of the Law
* Album Asylum
-- Agathocles / Black Army Jacket 7"
-- Aurora - _Sadiam_
-- Various - _Beauty in Darkness Vol. 3_
-- Bifrost - _Mythistory_
-- Children of Bodom - _Hatebreeder_
-- Corpus Christi - _Anno Domini_
-- Dali's Dilemma - _Manifesto for Futurism_
-- Dellamorte - _Home Sweet Hell..._
-- Dolorian - _When All the Laughter Has Gone_
-- Ensoph - _Les Confessions du Mat_
-- Golgotha - _Elemental Changes_
-- Haste - _Pursuit in the Face of Consequence_
-- Heaven's Gate - _Menergy_
-- Hypocrisy - _Hypocrisy_
-- In Aeternum - _Forever Blasphemy_
-- In Flames - _Colony_
-- Moment Maniacs - _Two Fuckin' Pieces..._
-- Nightmare Lodge - _Blind Miniatures_
-- Nocturnal Breed - _No Retreat... No Surrender_
-- Power Symphony - _Evillot_
-- Pretty Maids - _Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Overdoing_
-- Various - _Psyclone Sinphonies_
-- Quiet Riot - _Alive and Well_
-- Scorched Earth Policy - _Tones of Ambivalence XCIX_
-- Various - _Smells Like Team Spirit III_
-- Soil - _Throttle Junkies_
-- Spock's Beard - _Day for Night_
-- Stretcher - _Stretcher_
-- Testament - _The Gathering_
-- The Chasm - _Deathcult for Eternity: The Triumph_
-- Therion - _Crowning of Atlantis_
-- Torture Squad - _Shivering_
-- Unfounded - _Corrode_
-- W.A.S.P. - _Helldorado_
-- Whiplash - _Messages in Blood - The Early Years_
* New Noise
-- Aghora - _1998 demo_
-- Antagony - _Antagony_
-- Autoerotichrist / Richard Ramirez - _Birthright_ 7"
-- Autoerotichrist / Incapacitants 7"
-- Autoerotichrist / Japanese Torture Comedy Hour
-- Inchtimer - _Inchtimer_
-- Mutant - _Eden Burnt to Ashes_
-- No Rest for the Dead - _Earthlings From Mars_
-- Teardown - _Persona Non Grata_
* Chaotic Concerts
-- Milwaukee, Eat Your Heart Out... Again!: NJ March Metal Meltdown
-- Dynamonic Destruction: The Dynamo Open Air Festival
-- Eternally Engraved: Sculpture with Omnio
* What We Have Cranked
* Details
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
M""MMMMMMMM dP
M MMMMMMMM 88
M MMMMMMMM .d8888b. dP dP .d888b88
M MMMMMMMM 88' `88 88 88 88' `88
M MMMMMMMM 88. .88 88. .88 88. .88
M M `88888P' `88888P' `88888P8
MMMMMMMMMMM
M""MMMMMMMM dP dP
M MMMMMMMM 88 88
M MMMMMMMM .d8888b. d8888P d8888P .d8888b. 88d888b. .d8888b.
M MMMMMMMM 88ooood8 88 88 88ooood8 88' `88 Y8ooooo.
M MMMMMMMM 88. ... 88 88 88. ... 88 88
M M `88888P' dP dP `88888P' dP `88888P'
MMMMMMMMMMM
This is the column where we print those lovely letters our readers
decide so graciously to write us. Whether they be positive, negative,
ignorant or just plain spelled wrong, you can rest assured that
they'll be here in their original form. If you'd like to see your own
letter here, e-mail it to <mailto:ginof@interlog.com> and enter
'Attention Loud Letters' in the subject field. Hopefully all letters
received will be featured in upcoming issues of Chronicles of Chaos.
Date: Thu, 20 May 1999
From: "J.D. Stoner" <searme@sosinet.net>
Subject: Chronicles error
In your most recent issue (good one by the way) you list Amorphis as
a Nuclear Blast band. They are infact on relapse.
[Indeed, my mistake. It was induced by the fact that it is Nuclear
Blast who distributes them in Europe; I ended up forgetting about
Relapse. -- Pedro]
Date: Fri, 21 May 99
From: Denis Shepetovsky
<Denis.Shepetovsky@p69.f44.n5005.z2.fidonet.org>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters
HELLo, ginof@interlog.com!
I started to read CoC from #20 back and forth and have to say your
ezine is fucking great for all: reviews, interviews, writings of
both,- but the one thing. This thing is
WHO ARE THE FUCKING BAND NAMED KYUSS ?
Writers use it like everybody should know what the style this band
play and listen to its music twice a day. This may shock you, but
nobody of people I ever conversated personaly or via FIDOnet in
Russia NEVER heard of band like this. I start thinking it is some
your local canadian band, but, hey, guys, you're writing for the
whole world.
Denis AKA Helgi.
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Correction
~~~~~~~~~~
In my review of Downthroat's _I've Got My Mother's Eyes_ in CoC #39,
the band's address contained an error (1157 instead of 157). Here is
the correct address. My apologies for any inconvenience this mistake
may have caused.
Contact: Downthroat, Apartado 157, 3780 Anadia, Portugal
-- Pedro Azevedo
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T H E F L E S H D E A L E R S R E T U R N
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Skinlab
by: Adrian Bromley
It's really hard to put into words the amount of respect and
admiration I have for Skinlab. Sure, when the Bay Area band surfaced
in 1997 with the metalcore, Machine Head-ish _Bound, Gagged and
Blindfolded_, it seemed fitting for where metal music was headed.
They had the right sound and style. Eventually, people caught onto
the band and they became more than just a run-of-the-mill kind of
metal act. They had the live show and they had the aggression. The
darkened beauty of their music was beginning to boil. They carried on.
Touring and more touring eventually led them to become a much
more experienced live act, further sharpening their razor sharp
skills and justly allowing them to explore their own creative angles
with the band. Mix in some line-up changes and all the other
experiences that bands go through from their debut disc onto their
sophomore disc, and you pretty much know what kind of shit Skinlab
has treaded through. Well... the new disc is out and it's a winner.
_Disembody: The New Flesh_ [CoC #38] is a blistering assault to all
of the senses. It's a cannon of aggression, firing equally strong
blows as the album goes forth. Much like the rare, limited edition
_Eyesore_ EP [CoC #36] that preceded the album, _Disembody: The New
Flesh_ is a masterful and succulent morsel of metal mayhem to chew
on. It's brutal and oh so juicy. Lock down and crank it up, my
friends. Skinlab mean business in 1999.
With a new band to follow his charge into the maniacal metal
world, vocalist/bassist Steev Esquivel is ready for anything. The
band -- guitarist Scott Sargeant (ex-Killingculture), Snake
(ex-Skrew) and drummer Paul Hopkins -- market themselves renegade
veterans of this genre of music; strong, thick skinned and flawlessly
showcasing attitudes that would make any street hoodlum envious.
Skinlab is all about maintaining a variety of powerful song ideas and
making sure we get it imbedded it into our skulls before they're done
with us.
And Steev Esquivel means business. He's a tough cookie, my
friends. Just check out the "nice" message he left on my answering
machine a few Saturdays ago when I was showering prior to an early
morning interview with him (note: 9 a.m. his time on the West Coast)
and he called a bit early.
"<BEEP>... Yeah, Adrian, it's Steev calling from Skinlab. I'm
calling for the interview. It's real early and you're not fucking
there. If you don't call me back in 20 minutes I'm gonna fly over
there and kill you. Call me. My number is... <BEEP>" Needless to say,
I dried off and called "Hitman" Esquivel right back.
So did he want to kill me? "No... I'm just tired, man. It's been
a really busy time for us. We were in Europe for five weeks and then
came back to the U.S. for a tour with Napalm Death for a few more
weeks and it just has gotten to the point where we had only a few
days off for a bit of downtime. This is rest time for us and I'm
trying to get a lot done. Interviews are a few of the things that had
to be put to rest. I'm just tired, I wasn't going to kill you,
really. No harm intended, OK? It's just been a busy month pushing the
new record."
Speaking of the new record, _Disembody: The New Flesh_ is
somewhat new territory for the band. While still overflowing with the
Bay area sound, the band manages to alter their shape and sound,
flowing strongly with vibes of powerhouse Neurosis at times. Does the
band realize the change in pace? Did it just happen gradually? "This
record has been a long time coming. It's been brewing in the back of
my mind and finally we've been able to put it on record. Sure things
have happened in our career over the last little while and it shows.
We're definitely gonna go the opposite of what we think people would
suspect we were going to do. We just kind of did the exact opposite,
'cause after listening to the first album (_Bound, Gagged, and
Blindfolded_) and touring on it for a couple of years, we felt that
it was a little slow. By the time we got done with our first tour in
Europe, we were playing all those songs hell fast! We feed off the
crowd and everything, basically, and that's what led us to think that
we should probably get some more direct "in your face" stuff. On our
first album we weren't really like that, we were kind of more
around-the-way-ish with an airy kind of feeling, and with this one
we're just pummelling you right over the head!"
He adds: "This record is all about aggression. There is a time
and a place for people to vent their anger and aggression and what
better way to do that than through your music, right? I mean, I love
being able to go into the studio or even on stage and just let loose
and let it all out. Why not? It's not like I'm hurting anybody. I'm
just venting what's inside me and it's cool that people can pick up
our disc and really get into what we do. Skinlab has always been
there for the fans and they have always been there for us. This disc
captures us at this point in our careers and it's a pretty intense
ride, if I do say so myself."
So besides the changing of band members and this album's change
of pace, what else brought changes to the new recording? "Basically,
we got a chance to tour a lot, and we've seen people on the road, and
we got a chance to re-evaluate our position with the band. We kind of
sat back and wondered "What the hell are we going to do?", "What kind
of songs are we going to come up with?", and so far we've received
nothing but positive feedback about the new album."
"I can't describe the thrill I had when I first heard the new
record in this studio. I was so impressed that we had been able to do
what we wanted to do, rather than just come out with a sophomore
record sounding like the first one. Doing the EP was cool too, 'cause
it showcased some of our changes, but I don't think people had
anticipated such changes and aggression as what we show here on
_Disembody: The New Flesh_. It just floored everyone." <laughs>
The one thing about the new record is the flow of the material.
It flows effortlessly from opener "So Far From the Truth" to the
closer "Looks Can Be Deceiving". One might even argue, with thoughts
at hand over the album title and the music's flow, could this be a
concept record? Starts Esquivel, "Well, we had a contest, through
Metal Hammer magazine, and we basically picked one word from a
contestant's entry. We had a bunch of people send in stuff, like all
different kinds of titles [for the album]. We liked a lot of them,
but one just stuck out and that was the word "Disembody", and we
already had "The New Flesh". "Disembody" kind of means us stepping
out from our past, and "The New Flesh" is kind of introducing the new
band. This record is all about being one. Starting with a form of
aggression and watching it mutate with the ideas we bring to the
record. This is a new sound to some degree and a definite new path
for us to follow."
Another much noticeable element to the true archaic, rusted
rampage of a sound that they deliver is the production work. As found
on the last outing, Andy Sneap (Machine Head / Earth Crisis) once
again took over duties of working the sound of the band. A successful
accompaniment once again. "We used Andy Sneap again", explains
Esquivel. "This record has a more raw and noisy, kind of just "boom!"
right in your face sound to it. Where the last one was heavy, and of
course for an album in 1997 it just crushed you, but still this one
just hits you right over the head immediately. There's no roundness
to it, there's a lot of wholeness to it. I mean we're very, very
proud and we're happy we were able to accomplish this record, and
it's real cool to put that under our belt."
With this record, Skinlab should break away from the derivative
and often overused definition of the band. You know? Machine Head
clone. Says Esquivel, "The biggest misconception is that everyone
thinks we're a big Machine Head clone, and that every time a band
comes out of the Bay Area it's just either going to be Metallica or
Machine Head, you know? Ten years from now people are going to be
saying about the next band coming out of here, "Dude you guys sound
like Skinlab!", so whatever."
In terms of new blood and new flesh for the band, how did that
work its way into song writing for the new LP? How much writing did
everyone contribute to the new album? "Actually, a pretty even
amount", explains Esquivel. "We all come in with our ideas, I'd say
myself and Scott wrote half the record and Snake wrote a couple of
songs. And between all of those we actually collaborated together on
them, and kind of put 'em together, threw 'em back and forth, and
tossed parts out and whatever."
Get past the notion that this band has been assembled from
various other projects; these guys play like veterans, crushing down
upon us such a killer sound and equally powerful momentum. It's a
shame that some may write off Skinlab because of what they may have
heard or the label they are signed to. Fuck 'em! I've said this
before and I'll say it again, _Disembody: The New Flesh_ is by far
one of the best LPs you'll hear this year. If your ears aren't
bleeding and your neighbours aren't complaining by a third listen,
then you're not playing it loud enough. It's ingenuity like this that
keeps metal music on its toes.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
N I G H T L Y N A S T I N E S S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Nocturnal Rites
by: Adrian Bromley
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out when a band is
on the right direction or when things are clicking pretty good. Case
in point, Nocturnal Rites. While their last record (and debut for
Century Media) _Tales of Mistery and Imagination_ was a blistering
assault of pure heavy metal mayhem consisting of solid song writing,
duelling guitars and intense vocals, they seemed poised to break open
the jar of creativity even further with each and every release
following this one. And that is what happened with their latest LP,
_The Sacred Talisman_. Heavy metal has once again come to the
forefront, my friends.
Latched somewhere between thrilling and intensely passionate
compositions, the music of Nocturnal Rites rests deep into woven
patterns of sheer brilliance. The guitar work of founding members
Frederik Mannberg and Nils Norberg is enough to draw you into the
world of Nocturnal Rites with just one listen. It's been a gradual
change for the band from their death metal beginnings and debut disc
_In a Time of Blood and Fire_ for Dark Age Music (Christofer Johnsson
of Therion's label) in 1995. Is this the best record of their career?
Could be. Frederik Mannberg thinks so.
"I think this is a great record", says Mannberg from his home in
Sweden. "The music is a lot tighter and we spent a bit more time on
the songs. This record is definitely a lot faster and harder, though
still maintaining a melodic feel. It was a good recording process for
us this time out."
About the interest and success the band -- rounded out by
vocalist Anders Zackrisson, bassist Nils Eriksson, keyboardist
Mattias Bernhardsson and drummer Owe Wulff Lingvall -- had with the
last outing, how has that changed their approach going into this
record? "We're glad that everything worked out for us with the last
record, though the initial tour that we had done when the record came
out with Overkill didn't work too well for us. It was a different
crowd for us at the time, but we pressed on with touring and got the
name out there. It's going good for us now, 'cause people are aware
of who we are and have seen us play."
Listening to the new record and hearing such tracks as "Destiny
Calls", "Eternity Holds" and "Free at Last", it's no wonder the band
has scaled down their death metal attack and aimed for a much richer
melodic metal attack. It suits them, as the songs just flow with one
another, leaving very few gaps of uncertainty as the record flows
along. Has it been a gradual change for Mannberg and the band since
their start? "It has been a good career for us. We're happy with
where we have taken the band's music. It has been a gradual change.
It was natural. I think we just got tired of playing death metal
music. We started listening to old school metal records and then I
dropped out of doing guitar and vocals and just focused on guitar and
we got Anders [singer] into the band. It's been exciting to see how
we changed over the years. I'm still happy with what we have done in
the past and the present."
"This record has a lot of great songs", explains Mannberg. "I
like a lot of the faster, heavier songs myself, but as a whole I
think this record works well and offers quite a bit to the listener.
It's very technical and very melodic. How could anyone not get into
that? The good thing about all the ideas on this record was that it
came together quite nicely and I think that is why I am so into what
we did here. The studio work was very simple. We came off the road
with the last record, got together, wrote some songs and went back
into the studio. It really wasn't as difficult as some would believe.
Maybe we just had a good thing going and we still had some solid
ideas from the last recording. Whatever it was, it worked and that's
all that counts."
Going more in-depth about the studio work, Mannberg accounts, "I
think one reason that this record turned out this way is because of
us really being tight and focused in the studio. We cut out a lot of
parts on some tracks because we felt they were too happy and not
really us. The songs are the way we worked them going into the
studio. Nothing really changed. There really isn't much to touch up
or change. For example, my guitar parts are all done live. Why should
we alter them more? I like to have a live guitar feel running
throughout the record. I plug in and we record. It's always been that
way, it just seems as though we have more to add to the mix now than
when we first started out."
One thing that Nocturnal Rites has had to deal with on a much
grander scale over the last few years is being signed to a major
label like Century Media. Says Mannberg, "Our first record was on a
small label called Dark Age Music and it was a small release, though
it did very well for us. With the last record and this one we have
had to deal with being signed to a major label like Century Media and
it's all new to us -- the contracts, the meetings and all that other
crap that comes with being signed. It's an experience, but we're
learning as it goes along. Things with Century Media have been quite
good."
And what about the Swedish metal scene right now? "I don't
know... I don't want to be rude, but a lot of the bands out there
right now are just playing metal music that is rather easy. Nothing
really complicated. I'm not saying that we are the best band out
there, but we at least have a lot going on in our music. It's quite
hard to put together and play such ideas on melodic guitars,
keyboards and choirs. It's a lot of fun to do this and I'm glad to
see some other promising metal acts coming out of Sweden, like
Hollow, Persuader and Auberon. People should keep an eye out for
these great bands."
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S L O W L Y T H E Y R O T
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC talking to Ontario's Rotting
by: Adam Wasylyk
Those who live in the vicinity of Toronto know that we've just
entered what could be called a prosperous time concerning the state
of metal. Finally some decent shows have come to our fair city, acts
including Entombed, Morbid Angel, Incantation, Vader... the list goes
on. What most people forget is that our indie bands are always here,
whether the times are good or bad. With Toronto's metal scene now
having a renewed sense of life, Newmarket's Rotting enter this
auspicious time at the height of its glory, its crowning achievement
being their new CD _Crushed_.
Death metal to the core, Rotting (comprised of Korey Arnold on
vocals, Keith Devry on drums, Rob Macaulay / Mike Belfry on guitar
and Jeff White on bass) have never had to prove how heavy or
aggressive they are. Need proof of the sheer heaviness of this band?
Look no further than track one on _Crushed_, "Sexually Tortured",
just to see how fucking heavy this band can get. Blast beats,
guttural vocals and a slight Swedish influence... and what really
gets me going: catchiness. There are many memorable tunes here, and
if you think this is just a Suffocation clone then you're sorely
mistaken. Crushed, indeed.
"Whatever people want to tag us with, it's fine", begins drummer
Keith Devry on how he feels about the tag "brutal death metal" being
placed on the band's music. "I know we're death metal. I guess we're
kind of brutal because of the lyrics and the aggression in the music.
But there's so much out there, so many other bands that people would
consider more brutal than us. It seems that bands instead of being
faster or heavier, everyone wants to be more brutal. I wouldn't say
something like we're the most brutal band in the world, but I guess I
can see someone calling us brutal."
Devry also revealed that the material on _Crushed_, being as
"brutal" as it may, is in fact a bit dated as far as when it was
actually written. "The material on it is about two years old, so it's
not really a representation of who we are now", states Devry. "Now
we're faster and probably heavier. [The new material] has been
referred to as "old school", as people have told us that they hear
the old school roots in it. I guess that's true to a certain extent,
because all of us grew up during the evolution of death metal,
starting in the late '80s. So I guess a lot of that influence wasn't
found on _Crushed_."
Rotting's new CD can be found on the fledgling death metal label
United Guttural, which is owned by Rich Lipscomb, who is better known
for his work in the band Fleshgrind. On how they signed with them,
Devry commented: "We met Rich in Milwaukee [at the Metal Fest] a few
years ago, and that was the first time we saw Fleshgrind play. Later
on during the festival we eventually got to meet him, got to talking
and exchanged addresses. A couple of years ago we played in London
with Suffocation and Fleshgrind, we got to talking and he was talking
about starting a distro or a label or something like that, and he
wanted to keep in touch. So we exchanged phone numbers. So the middle
of last year he got in touch with us as he had started [the label]
and we had already recorded _Crushed_, so things took off from there."
If there was just one thing that could sum up what this album
represents, it would be the cover art. A picture of a corpse that
appears to have listened to this album once too many times... well,
I'll let Keith explain. "Well, at first the album was going to be
called "Unholy Penetration", which would have had a picture of the
god of Sodomy screwing a nun up the ass for the cover. As we tried to
work images that way, it would just turn out to be really fake
looking. Korey looks at a lot of that [gore] stuff on the internet,
so we passed around a few pictures amongst each other, and he came up
with the new name _Crushed_. It's also supposed to be symbolic as far
as the music goes; crushed."
Apparently Canadian Customs wasn't too impressed with the new
album... at least on looks alone. "Rich sent up a couple of hundred
_Crushed_ CDs, so the government wanted to see what was coming up
from down there in all of these boxes. I think what happened was they
read the lyrics, as they never gave a reason why they were holding
it, but I suppose [one of them] sent a copy to Ottawa for review.
Everything turned out OK afterward. They ended up sending all of
them, even though about ten of them were smashed and most of the rest
had the jewel case centre, the thing that holds the CD, it was like
someone had put their finger on them and crushed them all."
I was curious as to what Devry thought of the present Toronto
metal scene, to get an opinion from a band who's been through the
good times and the bad. "It's better than what it was before. It's
growing. I'm starting to notice a lot more kids wearing [metal]
shirts, that was kind of non-existent for a couple of years, as
everyone was just wearing solid colours. The album sales always seem
pretty high, but the show turnouts weren't so hot."
So since _Crushed_ consists of older material, I conclude by
asking if there's any new direction that the band are going into. "I
was told that [the new material] sounds a lot like Rotting, but it's
not Rotting", Devry states. "I think we have a lot more groove to us
now, and of course a lot of fast parts -- we've gotten faster. The
song structures have kind of changed a bit as well, because when Jeff
headed out to Calgary for school, Rob and I started to do a lot of
the writing. If anything, it's gotten heavier. A lot heavier."
Rotting will be quite busy in the upcoming months. They've
already played the Ohio Death Fest, and are aiming to play both the
Montreal Death Fest and the Milwaukee Metal Fest as well. You've been
warned.
Contact: United Guttural, P.O. Box 752, Grayslake, IL 60030 USA
Contact: Rotting, c/o Keith Devry, 312 Buckingham Road,
Newmarket, ONT, L3Y-6K5, Canada
mailto:sdevry@home.com
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P A I D I N F U L L
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Payable on Death
by: Alex Cantwell
Payable on Death is a name that you will definitely hear more of
in the very near future. Having just signed a contract with Atlantic
Records and embarking on yet another DIY tour, they are ready to take
their music to the next level... of fans, that is. Their humble
beginnings are evidenced on their 1994 debut _Snuff the Punk_, put
out on Rescue Records, which was started by some relatives of drummer
Noah Bernardo Jr.. They blew everyone away on their second release
_Brown_, which infused punk rock with a touch of hip hop and reggae
into their hardcore sound. Don't let that scare you off, though,
because they are HEAVY. Live, they throw down like no other band can,
and have a knack for completely engaging their audience. To the
uninitiated, seeing and hearing a bunch of lunatics screaming chants
like "the plagues are coming, the plagues are coming, I feel the
breath of the death beast!" and then head walking, jumping, and
moshing themselves into frenzy might seem a bit strange, but that is
just PoD live. 1997 saw the release of _PoD Live at Tomfest_, which
displayed to those who would listen what this band was capable of in
a live setting. For 1999, they broke tradition with putting out
releases under Rescue Records and have done a one-off release with
Tooth and Nail Records: _The Warriors EP_. With the backing of
Atlantic Records, these guys have the platform to reach the masses. I
recently sat down with vocalist Sonny Sandoval (the band is completed
by Marcos Curiel on guitar and Traa Daniels on bass) before a recent
show in Las Cruces, New Mexico (my sixth time seeing them!!!) to see
what was up.
CoC: So when is the new record coming out?
Sonny Sandoval: August 24th.
CoC: And what's it called?
SS: _Fundamental Elements of South Town_.
CoC: Tell me everything about the Atlantic deal; what it involves and
what it's going to mean for you guys.
SS: We've been around, you know, almost six years on our own... so we
started shopping major labels, and through all of the different
people that we have talked with, it seemed like Atlantic was the
deal, so we went with them. They knew our whole history and
story. We basically told them that, you know, we've been doing
this by ourselves for six years and we'll continue to do it with
or without a major label, but we know that Atlantic has the
capabilities of going worldwide, and we told them that that is
something that we want to do. So we discussed it with them, and
they didn't ask us to change anything, they just said that "you
guys have something about you... and you guys definitely, without
a shadow of a doubt, believe in what you're talking about, and we
don't want to take that from you." And so, we just got done
recording. We've spent the last three months in Hollywood
recording, and we're going to do this tour, and then hopefully
after this is done, we're going to do some festivals, then they
are going to put us on tour, and then our album will come out on
August 24th. Right now they are trying to get us on the Family
Values Tour in September.
CoC: And that's with Korn and Rob Zombie?
SS: Korn is not on it this year, I think Limp Bizkit is on it this
year, and I think Soulfly, Kid Rock, and another rap group that I
can't remember the name of. But last year it was Korn and all
them.
CoC: So that's like a real deal? I mean you guys are going to get it
for sure, or...
SS: It's the only major festival that's not booked up already, and
since we're coming out in the ball game right now, that's the
only one we have a chance for. But all the booking agents that do
them, they want us for sure.
CoC: So how has Atlantic got your name out there without having an
album released through them yet?
SS: They haven't done anything; we've done it all ourselves,
basically. I mean, that's what they love so much about us, that
we've already made a name for ourselves. It's the people that
have been faithful, and came out when we come out to the little
places, and have continued to play our stuff and show their
friends, wear our t-shirts, and tell people about us, and it's
through that that Atlantic is like "wow, these guys have been
around, and these guys work". One thing that they told us about
all the artists that they have is that they have to make a name
for them. They have no base, they have no establishment, and
that's one thing they loved about us, even the fact that we
booked this tour with Blindside and Project 86. They couldn't
believe that we had booked this tour, and that we did it on our
own. They were just like, "woah", you know, and that was just
showing them [that] "yeah, they don't need us". Basically, the
way we look at Atlantic is that they are just a bank to us, you
know what I mean? They have the means to be able to put out a
quality album, and then do the marketing and promotion to get it
out to kids that we would never, ever have the opportunity to
reach, you know what I mean?
CoC: Tell me about "ghetto shows".
SS: What ghetto shows?
CoC: That you all used to do. Didn't you guys play house parties and
abandoned houses, and stuff like that?
SS: Yeah, we still do if they want us. We're nobody, you know what I
mean, we don't need to play a coliseum. We don't need to play a
big venue, you know what I mean? If one of my friends says "hey,
you want to play at my house?" or if somebody I know around town
says "hey, I'm throwin' a big keg party", then we're going to be
there to play where they all party. We'll always continue to do
that, that's where our heart is, you know what I mean? I just
think that everything is just moving up. It's going up levels,
although we'll play any party that we possibly can.
CoC: So what's the new material like?
SS: There are some songs that are absolutely heavy, and there are
some songs that are just catchy, they just groove. We got a
reggae song... we've never really been labelled to a certain
genre of music. It was never like "oh, those guys are hardcore,
those guys are metal, or punk". It was like "those guys play what
they like", and I think with this album we've pretty much done
that. I mean, all the way from doing a cover of "Bullet the Blue
Sky" by U2, we have an old song that basically sounds like an old
Bad Brains song, an old punk-like song, and we got just those
groovin' songs, and we got the heavy all-out songs. So it's a
mixture, man. It's basically going to be up to the listener to
decide what they think.
Contact: WWW: http://www.payableondeath.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
T H E B L I N D S I D E O F T H E L A W
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Blindside
by: Alex Cantwell
Blindside are a new band from Stockholm, Sweden, that have
absolutely nothing to do with "the Stockholm sound". As a matter of
fact, they almost completely defy categorization, and as you will
read in the interview, they don't even know what to call their music!
When I listen to their debut self-titled CD, I'm thinking along the
lines of a hardcore band playing Fugazi and Frodus tunes, but then
again I could be completely off base. I recently met up with bassist
Tomas Naslund and vocalist Christian Lindskog (the band is rounded
out by Simon Grenehed on guitar and Marcus Dahlstrom on drums) back
stage during their current US tour to learn about all things
Blindside.
CoC: So do you guys have anything new coming out any time soon?
Tomas Naslund: Yeah, we have a new record coming out in September.
Christian Lindskog: We don't really know yet if it's going to be out
in September, but we think so.
TN: We recorded it, but the contracts are not ready yet.
CoC: How long have you been around? When did the band start?
TN: November of '94.
CoC: And did you have any music released previous to the _Blindside_
CD?
TN: We had a demo...
CL: ... but besides that, no.
CoC: So how did Solidstate Records find you guys?
TN: The president of the record company in Sweden [Day-Glo Records]
was at a festival or something, and he handed out the CDs to
different people, and Brandon [Ebel, owner of Solidstate] just
called us up afterwards.
CoC: Without Solidstate, you wouldn't have been able to get the album
in America, right?
CL: That's right.
CoC: So what kind of following do you have in Sweden?
CL: Not that big. We are a small band.
CoC: Well, what do you call your kind of music?
CL: I don't know... I don't know. People label us so many different
styles. Actually, the next album that is coming out is quite
different from the last one.
CoC: How so?
CL: It's more, I think, hardcore, more like the hard stuff. The
screaming parts are more like screaming, but we still have those
mellow vocals. We have experimented with some stuff. So on one
hand we have the very hard, but on the other hand it's a lot
softer.
CoC: So is there an audience for your kind of music in Sweden at all,
or are people just pretty much caught up in black metal and the
Gothenburg or Stockholm sound?
CL: The scene is the same as here [US], I guess.
TN: Many good hardcore bands have stopped this year. We have a lot of
hardcore bands in Sweden coming up, like Refuse.
CoC: Who would you guys cite as influences for Blindside?
CL: A lot of different stuff.
TN: Yeah, we listen to everything. The drummer listens a lot to
electronic stuff, techno and all that. I guess we have some
influences on the new record from other Solidstate bands, because
we got all the records last year.
CoC: But none of that stuff is available in Europe, is it?
CL: It is, but you have to know where to look. You know, it's not
like you can just go into the store. It's not like that.
TN: It's hard to get.
CoC: What bands have you been able to build relationship with while
touring the States?
CL: Payable on Death. We've kind of met most of the Solidstate bands.
CoC: Are you guys going to be able to tour in Europe anytime soon?
CL: We'll see. We hope so.
TN: We hope that we can go now with a bigger band.
CoC: Who would you like to tour with?
CL: I would love to travel with PoD once again, in Europe, because
now they are big and maybe their company wants them to travel in
Europe. I think we would learn a lot from those guys. We have
learned a lot from those guys. We're going to actually tour with
Extol here in the States after this tour is done.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
_____ .__ ___.
/ _ \ | |\_ |__ __ __ _____
/ /_\ \| | | __ \| | \/ \
/ | \ |_| \_\ \ | / 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!
Agathocles / Black Army Jacket 7" (Deaf American, May 1999)
by: Adam Wasylyk (7.5 out of 10)
I'm really starting to get into vinyl. Not only does it sound great,
but it looks really cool as well! This particular 7" has the two
bands perform two tracks each, and they do a good job at it. I was
surprised at how much I got into the Agathocles tracks, as I had
previously obtained their _Thanks for Your Hostility_ CD and thought
it was pure shite. What made these tracks stand out was the kick ass
groove that was interwoven with the heavy riffs and blasting drums
the band is known for. Cool shit! The Black Army Jacket I was less
enthused about, but it still manages to kick ass! More hardcore
sounding, but they still manage to throw in a couple of drum blasts
for good measure. If you're into powerviolence or hardcore influenced
grind, then this is right up your alley.
Contact: R. Hoek, #3 Bethel Church Road, Dillsburg, PA, 17019, USA
mailto:rich666@voicenet.com
Aurora - _Sadiam_ (Serious Entertainment, February 1999)
by: Nuno Almeida <messiah@pulhas.org> (6 out of 10)
Aurora are Danish and play melodic death metal. This is a sort of
preview of their forthcoming second album, to be released sometime
later this year. After the well received debut _Eos_, with this 18
minute long, four song MCD, Aurora distance themselves from the
somewhat pompous and melodramatic _Eos_ and move towards a more
straightforward style, clearly influenced by the so-called
"Gothenburg Scene" (At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames).
After the instrumental "Beloved" come "To Hell" and "Sadiam". Though
Aurora play some good music, with nice and very melodic guitar riffs,
the main flaw is Claus Frolund's voice. I mean, he does try to make
an approach to Mikael Stanne's (Dark Tranquillity) vocal style, but
fails miserably, in my opinion. It's almost funny to listen to
Frolund's voice on "To Hell", for example. The last song, "Home", is
the only one that will appear on the new album. It's a nice song, but
the riffs are repeated a lot. If you think you'll like this, my
advice is that you seek the original Swedish bands. (Also reviewed in
Ancient Ceremonies #3 -- http://come.to/ac-zine/)
Various - _Beauty in Darkness Vol. 3_ (Nuclear Blast, March 1999)
by: Adam Wasylyk (6.5 out of 10)
The third instalment of the_ Beauty in Darkness_ compilation series
continues to showcase metal artists who have gothic elements in their
metal sound. Featuring both Nuclear Blast artists (Crematory,
EverEve, Darkseed, Dimmu Borgir) and acts on other labels who fit
into the gothic metal theme (My Dying Bride, Anathema, Moonspell), it
was good to see that the tracks present weren't just pulled out of
the respective bands' prior albums, as there's some previously
unreleased material and demo versions here as well. To tell the
truth, I haven't been a big fan of this compilation series, but I
must admit that volume 3 has some quality material on it, and those
who like some gothic in their metal should pick it up.
Bifrost - _Mythistory_ (Hammerheart Records, October 1998)
by: Nuno Almeida <messiah@pulhas.org> (7 out of 10)
Looking at the cover art of this release, one could be fooled and say
"yet another Scandinavian Viking metal band". Bifrost, however, are
very different. Since the cover work and band name were taken from
Norse mythology, I was somewhat surprised to find out that they were
Dutch. In fact, the band was created in 1993, this being their third
album and the first one on Hammerheart Records. The lyrics don't deal
with Norse mythology as one would expect, but rather with a wider
range of issues, such as witchcraft and magic, heathendom, occultism,
pre-Christian religions and mysticism. Musically, they have more to
do with, say, Judas Priest or Helloween, than with Enslaved. The
music is heavily traditional speed/power metal influenced, with the
trademark guitar solos, choruses, and more. Vocals follow the
old-school approach, changing to death growls or clean vocals now and
then. This could be an interesting release -- in fact, I must give
them credit for being original instead of following the black metal
approach of the other bands that share their lyrical content. The
problem is that the songs are not catchy enough, with only a few nice
parts, usually lead by the keyboard. Still, this is by no means a bad
release. (Also reviewed in Ancient Ceremonies #3 --
http://come.to/ac-zine/)
Children of Bodom - _Hatebreeder_ (Nuclear Blast / PHD, April 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (6 out of 10)
Out of the starting gate I really, really liked this record, but as
time went on there was something missing from _Hatebreeder_ that was
in full swing on the band's previous effort _Something Wild_. Maybe
the "wild" of the band was put to a minimum here? Maybe so, as the
band transcends through a thick pallet of heavy riffs, out of control
vocals and a speed factor that would topple most semi-trucks. But
through all the goodies found on this record, it still doesn't match
the complex and harsh deliverance of _Something Wild_. Maybe I was
expecting a better record? Who knows? It's unfortunate that the band
wasn't able to carry over some of the ideals that really hit a nerve
in me. Sure I was excited with the new material, but once I was
provided with enough time to take a listen, it just seems pretty
standard. Hate me for saying this guys, but I was anticipating a
better effort. Next time? I hope...
Dali's Dilemma - _Manifesto for Futurism_ (Magna Carta, 1999)
by: Brian Meloon (7 out of 10)
Three words best describe this CD: images and words (the 1992 album
by Dream Theater, that is). While it doesn't display quite the same
level of compositional skill, Dali's Dilemma have copied the _Images
and Words_ sound very well, including several of the guitar and
keyboard tones. Unfortunately, they went a little too far in this
regard, as evidenced by the "Wait For Sleep"-inspired "Whispers", and
their theft of part of the middle section of "Metropolis" in "Living
in Fear". Some of their other influences show up as well, such as the
very U2-ish intro to "Hills of Memory". As you'd expect, there's a
mix of heavy and light material, making this a diverse album.
Although the compositions don't flow as well as those on _Images and
Words_, there aren't many jarring transitions either. The
musicianship is excellent on all counts, with especially good guitar
work. The production is impeccable: clean and clear, without sounding
over-produced. This is technically a great album, but unfortunately
the obvious influences and blatant rip-offs really dampen my
enthusiasm for it. If you're in the mood for a good Dream Theater
clone, or you're unhappy with the direction they've taken recently,
this is a good choice. If you're looking for an original band with a
unique sound, look elsewhere.
Dellamorte - _Home Sweet Hell..._ (Osmose, May 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (5.5 out of 10)
If you're familiar with Dellamorte from their second _Uglier and More
Disgusting_ album of 1997 and you want that album's evil,
near-identical twin, you are advised to snap up _Home Sweet Hell..._,
no questions asked. For those of you not familiar with this Swedish,
Tagtgren/Abyss-produced band (wow, think of all the bands I could be
talking about with that qualification), their approach centres on
straightforward, speedy death-punk and "death 'n' roll" a la
Entombed's classic _Wolverine Blues_. Dellamorte's upside continues
to be that their production gives them power and that they write
songs which are listenable and "rocking". However, _HSH_ has some
serious fall downs. To be honest, apart from "Supercharged", which
has a bit of a Cathedral a la _The Ethereal Mirror_ thing going on,
this is an entire album of -exactly- the same sort of stuff that was
on _UaMD_, to the extent that I would suggest "Older and More
Uninteresting" would have been a more fitting title for _HSH_. It's
not that Dellamorte are the -most- unoriginal or the -worst- at
rehashing this style, but the point is they -are- unoriginal and they
-are- rehashing a style, and when I can hear this going on on an
album it tends to prevent me from enjoying it very much, apart from
exceptional cases; and Dellamorte are not one of those.
Dolorian - _When All the Laughter Has Gone_ (Wounded Love, 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8 out of 10)
Often sounding like a combination of some of the fundamental
characteristics of their countrymates Unholy and Thy Serpent, this
new Finnish doom band, Dolorian, at the very least manage to sound
different enough from the norm. Slow and melancholic in a harsher way
than usual, driven by the anguished vocals, devoid of many melodic
embellishments or musical flourishes, yet able to build powerful
moments -- this is what _When All the Laughter Has Gone_ sounds like
at its best. With generally long songs that never seem to really aim
at building a specific kind of structure and a somewhat psychotic
feel most of the time, Dolorian have released a doom album that shows
plenty of very interesting ideas. There are also some annoying
sequences, though; the occasional keyboard enhancements are often of
that annoying kind and some of the songs are a bit too long for their
own good. The nearly hypnotic nature of most of the music tends to
make the album somewhat repetitive as well. Nevertheless, the
remarkable moments that Dolorian do achieve throughout _When All the
Laughter Has Gone_ and the spirit that they show on most of the album
confirm that they are quite a promising band for the future -- and
_When All the Laughter Has Gone_, despite some flaws, is certainly
very good overall already.
Ensoph - _Les Confessions du Mat_ (No Brain, 1998)
by: Brian Meloon (8 out of 10)
Ensoph was formed from the ashes of Endaymynion [CoC #13] and have a
similar -- but more refined -- sound. Overall, their sound is gloomy,
comparable to doom bands like the Romanians Abigail [CoC #33] or God
[CoC #38]. There are three tracks on this MCD, the first two clocking
in at about eleven minutes each and the final track at five minutes.
The music on the long songs varies between light sections which
typically utilize clean guitar and lighter keyboard tones and heavier
sections with crunching guitars and few (if any) keyboards, as well
as sections showing characteristics of each. The band manages to keep
the songs flowing, avoiding the monotony traps that similar bands
sometimes fall into. They also use a variety of keyboard and guitar
tones, as well as flutes and even an accordion. Each of the songs is
layered, yet the parts fit together well, achieving a cohesive sound.
The vocals vary between male and female clean vocals and the
occasional black metal-style raspy vocals. While both vocalists are
good, the male vocalist's accent is more obvious due to his lower
pitch. The playing is good from each of the members, though none of
the material is particularly technical. The production is somewhat
drab, but this fits the music and adds to its gloomy feel. Overall,
this is a very impressive offering, as it features a unique and
original sound. Highly recommended for fans of gloomy music.
Contact: Cristian Luise c/o No Brain, Via Scortegara 135,
30030 Zianigo di Mirano (VE), ITALY
mailto:teskio@spiro.fisica.unipd.it
Golgotha - _Elemental Changes_ (Repulse Records, April 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
I know CoC writer Adam Wasylyk is really into the work of Golgotha
and I can see why. It's very enchanting, very melodic and
doom-oriented at times, etching waves of slow-paced numbers into the
music though still managing to muster up aggressive qualities as
well. He even likened it to mid-era Therion. A good comparison, I
must say. The main reason I am enchanted by the work of Golgotha is
its sincere gothic overtone, relying heavily on atmosphere and pure
creativity for the recordings to work efficiently. It's got power and
passion all rolled up into one headstrong recording. Though a bit
bland on the vocal side at times, the music sincerely makes up for
lost ground. Fans of Therion, Moonspell and EverEve might find this
interesting. Choice cuts: "Emotionless", "Lifetrappers" and "Internal
Fight". Passion runs deep within Golgotha's music and those giving it
a listen will embrace the warmth and honesty it offers.
Haste - _Pursuit in the Face of Consequence_
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10) (Century Media, April 1999)
This is an interesting release from Century Media -- to some degree.
While dipping a bit into the hardcore vat of styles, a worthy
addition to the already booming roster of hardcore acts on the label,
Haste seem to glide throughout many styles and ideas on their debut
disc _Pursuit in the Face of Consequence_ with the greatest of ease.
Many styles (hardcore, metal, jazz, rock) make up the music of Haste
and while it may seem like a huge task to tame all styles into one
recording, Haste basks in success. With the presence of two singers
and a strong set of musicians (they are a sextet), Haste kicks out
the jams and breaks things down hard 'n' heavy when need be. The
powerful momentum of the band, led by killer vocals and an
ultra-heavy groove, is spellbinding at times, as the band really goes
for the throat and succeeds. Is this the best thing on Century
Media's roster? Maybe not, but it's a definite gem in a massive music
world where good bands (make that unique or interesting bands) seem
to be few and far between these days. Fans of other Century Media
releases like Turmoil or Stuck Mojo will no doubt be drawn in by
Haste's work here. I was.
Heaven's Gate - _Menergy_ (Steamhammer/SPV, April 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (4 out of 10)
Drawing heavily from the classic heavy metal styles of Judas Priest,
Iron Maiden and the like, Heaven's Gate (who have been in existence
since 1987) could have some trouble standing out from the growing
crowd of "Reborn in Metal" bands. They have a good grasp of heavy
metal song structures, an ability to write decent, sometimes catchy,
riffs and somewhat anthemic and catchy choruses; but one thing they
are certainly not doing is injecting an ounce of originality into
this near-30 year old genre. One big fall down is their tendency to
focus on one particular band's style within individual songs; thus
"Mastermind" sounds like a lost (and worth losing) Annihilator track,
"Menergy" like 'Priest (with a couple of notes actually -ripped- out
of "Invaders" for good measure) and "Enter: Eternity" like the
fathers of Hammerfall's slow melodic ballady numbers. Overall, this
is disappointingly stagnant for a band who are four albums into their
career, but, as a stand alone album, is on par with the mass of
mediocrity currently being produced in this
flash-in-the-pan-fashionable genre.
Hypocrisy - _Hypocrisy_ (Nuclear Blast / PHD, April 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10)
How could anyone not like this record? It's got everything. Ace song
writing. Ace production. Ace guitar work. Hell, throw
singer/guitarist/producer/whatever-else-he-can-do Peter Tagtgren into
the picture (helping make sure all comes together nicely) and this is
an unstoppable metal machine, folks. The follow-up to 1998's all
powerful _The Final Chapter_ (and what was their supposed swan song
out of the business) is extra special for Tagtgren, the band and
their fans. This is a rebirth in style, sound and inspiration to some
degree. This is a strong record and most certainly recognized as the
second coming of the band. Sure there is a lot at stake here with
making a superb record (mission accomplished!), but there lies more
to this band's survival at stake than just that. The key to this
record and the role of Hypocrisy within the realms of metal is
Tagtgren's admiration for the material Hypocrisy is working on. He's
loving where the band is headed and it shows. Melodies and brutality
mesh so eloquently on the new record. Riffs have strengthened in size
and Tagtgren's vocals have never been more sinister. Lost within a
soundscape of brutality to the nines, Tagtgren and co. rip at us
'till we can move no more. Get crushed by such numbers as "Elastic
Inverted Vision", "Time Warp" and the ultra-cool "Fractured
Millennium". Hypocrisy has always been a band that has delivered the
goods, though this time it seems as though the goods seem to be in a
bigger and more impressive format. Hypocrisy, take a bow. This LP
rules!
In Aeternum - _Forever Blasphemy_ (Necropolis Records, April 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo (7 out of 10)
Swedish melodic black metal very similar to Naglfar's _Diabolical_
and also bearing some occasional resemblance to Dissection's _Storm
of the Light's Bane_ is what In Aeternum offer with _Forever
Blasphemy_. Fast, tight, aggressive, with plenty of memorable
passages and with decent production courtesy of Studio Fredman,
_Forever Blasphemy_ is one of those albums that isn't likely to
disappoint most fans of the genre. On the other hand, however, not
very surprisingly, the album contains practically no new ideas. The
thematic monotony suggested by the album title doesn't help much,
either, and while In Aeternum are no match for the genre's finest and
can't keep things as constantly good as Naglfar, for example (since
this is the band they sound closest to), _Forever Blasphemy_ is still
a very competent and enjoyable album.
In Flames - _Colony_ (Nuclear Blast / PHD, April 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (9.5 out of 10)
Holy shit... I thought the Hypocrisy CD ruled. Before I can even
catch a breath from the powerful onslaught of Hypocrisy I am slammed
face first into the ground by the harmonious and death-defying
masterful music of In Flames. "Wow" is all I can say. I was extremely
impressed with their last effort _Whoracle_ (1998) and the previous
one, the ever-brilliant _The Jester Race_ (1996). Seems as though as
the years go on and expansion into their own realm of creativity
opens up a bit more, this one-time death metal outfit has become one
of the most impressive and truly groundbreaking melodic metal acts
out there. It's so unique, yet so real in essence. The band manages
to capture each time out a special sound or emotion as the record
goes along, each time leaving us wanting more. As _Whoracle_ was a
really above standard record from their previous efforts, it did lack
in some melodic angles, though strengthened heavily by a masterful
array of death growls and chants. This record has it all. Sharp
guitar work, heavy drumming and an excessive amount of melody (in a
good way!) make _Colony_ a beauty to behold. When will this creative
energy be tapped up? Hopefully never. In Flames are the best at what
they do and it'll be a blast checking them out at this year's
Milwaukee Metalfest. You'd do no wrong purchasing this record. Keep
it in mind, people.
Moment Maniacs - _Two Fuckin' Pieces..._ (Distortion, March 1999)
by: Adam Wasylyk (9 out of 10)
Don't let the silly names (both band name and album title) fool you.
Moment Maniacs have written the album that Entombed should have put
out between _Clandestine_ and _Wolverine Blues_. Moment Maniacs will
definitely be called an Entombed rip-off, from the vocal delivery to
the drumming and to the guitar sound that the infamous Swedes made
popular oh so long ago. But in all honesty, fuck that. Entombed are
now nothing but a bunch of pussies, check out their new album _Same
Difference_ if you don't agree. _Two Fucking Pieces..._, containing
two members of Marduk and produced by Pete Tagtgren (Hypocrisy),
delivers ten tracks of crushing heaviness in epic proportions with a
little hardcore groove thrown in for good measure. Track five, "My
Loss", is better than anything Entombed have done in the last five
years, and this is coming from someone who likes most of what they've
put out in that time. If you can find this album, you need to pick
this one up.
Nightmare Lodge - _Blind Miniatures_ (Red Stream, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay (4 out of 10)
Kind of a snoozer here, fellow metal devotees. I am reminded during
most of Nightmare Lodge's forty-eight minutes of watered-down,
techno-influenced, ethereal keyboard menagerie of what my girlfriend
might delicately place in the CD player to provide some background
distraction while touching-up her makeup for some required Woody
Allen film festival. As an (unfair) basis for comparison, however to
simply provide all reading this with some kin
d of a working knowledge
of Nightmare Lodge's style, to a much lesser degree, as I am a
magnificent supporter of Mortiis, _BM_ would put the listener in mind
of one of the two tracks off of _Fodt till a Herske_. As I said,
comparing Nightmare Lodge to Mortiis would roughly be the equivalent
of saying Kingdom Come is like Led Zeppelin. The statement, however
remote, is true, but almost laughable, at the same time. Let me share
my thoughts on the four points that Nightmare Lodge earned. The first
attribute (worth two points, for those keeping score) being that
David Gilmour explained once, and I'll paraphrase this, that as long
as music of any kind is accomplishing its goal by making someone
happy, it is worthwhile. The second attribute (worth the remaining
two points) lies in the fact that this release is most certainly, as
Nightmare Lodge is described, full of "haunting passages of subdued
and quiet minimal soundscapes". There is a lot to be said for
describing a band on such a vivid word-picture canvas. Still, this
doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't put this CD on while slammin'
a cool one down waitin' for Slayer tickets to go on sale. Probably
sleep right through 'till the following morning...
Nocturnal Breed - _No Retreat... No Surrender_
by: Nuno Almeida (8 out of 10) (Hammerheart, October 1998)
Nocturnal Breed are another '80s influenced black/thrash band, this
being their second album, after 1997's _Aggressor_. The songs are
mostly reminiscent of early Venom. Very fast and heavy black/thrash,
with good black-ish vocals, killer guitar riffs (though the deja-vu
feeling appears now and then), killer solos and blazing drums. So,
throughout the album and in tracks like "Thrash the Redeemer",
"Warhorse", "Sodomite" and "Possessed", Nocturnal Breed give us their
vision of the '80s: a vision of power, hate and fury the good old
metal way. There's also a version of Twisted Sister's "Under the
Blade" -- I don't know the original (glam-rock was never my kind of
music), but I presume this is better than the original, hehes. On the
end of the album there's a surprise, "Armageddon Nights". Instead of
the usual fast, Venom-like songs, it's a slow/mid-paced, much more
blackened song, with anguished, painful vocals, keyboards, acoustic
guitars and female vocals. The song is OK, very Celtic Frost
influenced, though it has little originality. I guess this could be
an indication of the direction Nocturnal Breed are taking, and I bet
their next album will be much more Celtic Frost-like. Personally,
this is good, since I prefer Celtic Frost's type of metal. Despite
the lack of originality, this is a good and powerful album, and they
get an extra point for "Armageddon Nights". (Also reviewed in Ancient
Ceremonies #3 -- http://come.to/ac-zine)
Power Symphony - _Evillot_ (Northwind / Radiation Recs., April 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo (3 out of 10)
Imagine a melodic power metal version of Bal-Sagoth's _Battle Magic_.
Now add a remarkably weak instrumental sound and clear limitations as
far as talent and ideas are concerned -- the only reasonably
interesting idea featured here is the use of a lead female vocalist
who performs normal melodic metal vocals. The music on _Evillot_ just
tends to remind me of a simple, colourful and fragile plastic toy --
they need stronger production and much better ideas. They also
definitely need to make their music become less transparent and
obvious and give it much more depth and strength. Power Symphony's
debut is also the first record to be released through the equally
Italian based label Northwind Records (which will apparently be
distributed by Nuclear Blast's Radiation Records); definitely not a
promising start for them, but maybe things will improve in the future.
Contact: Northwind Records, P.O. Box 157, 15057 Tortona, Italy
Pretty Maids - _Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Overdoing_
by: Aaron McKay (2 out of 10) (Massacre Records, 1999)
What the fuck would you call this shit?! Power-metal? Maybe
"overdoing" glam-metal?! I'm stumped as far as what to say...
Massacre is the responsible for Fates Warning, but I cannot explain
what Pretty Maids is doing on such an adequate label. Imagine if you
will some of the skill, musically, of Ratt (Warren DeMartini --
guitar), but add to that the pathetic, girl-crooning whine of Poison
-- maybe then you'll have a cheap "B" version of Pretty Maids. Some
riffing on this release is noteworthy, like on tracks four and six,
"When the Angels Cry" and "Only in America". The guitar work on these
two songs (to say nothing of the other instruments clanking away like
a leaky pipe) would be like trying to patch-up the Titanic with a
Band-Aid. If the song titles "Hell on High Heels" and "Loveshine"
don't scream to the Musicland employee "PUT ME IN THE WINGER BIN",
I'm not sure what would. I'd avoid this if you have any hearing that
you would rather save for the next Pantera show.
Various - _Psyclone Sinphonies_ (Psyclone Sinphonies, 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo (5 out of 10)
What Psyclone Sinphonies offers here is about an hour of demo-quality
tracks featuring ten Greek bands. Their styles generally hover around
usually melodic variations of death or somewhat blackened metal, plus
a few thrashier bands towards the end of the compilation. Most of the
"black" metal on offer here is of the very softened-up, gothic
influenced kind -- but none of the bands reaches beyond some average
keyboard work and occasional allegedly vampyric influences. The sound
quality is never very good, but at least it's never disastrous,
either. Interesting to notice that five of the tracks are actually
over six minutes long and a couple of them go near the nine minute
mark; the average length is higher than I expected. Although the
songs usually lack originality and tend to have the kind of excess of
simplistic or rather imperfect sequences that are usually associated
with demo tapes, the compilation still flows reasonably well and it
seems likely that a few of these bands (Twilight and Mind Revolt are
marginally worth mentioning) may inclusively be able to evolve into
something interesting at a more professional level in the future. For
now, this is a compilation of material that would generally make
acceptable demo tapes, but in the end none of the bands manages to
really stand out from the crowd.
Contact: Psyclone Sinphonies, P.O. Box 33014, GR-566 10 Sykies,
Thessaloniki, Greece
Price: 11 US$ (Europe), 12 US$ (rest of the World)
Quiet Riot - _Alive and Well_ (Deadline Music, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay (7 out of 10)
Sometimes there is an itch that only nostalgic '80s metal can scratch
and I'm of the opinion that this newest Quiet Riot release has some
claws suited especially for those tough to reach afflictions. Whether
or not you support this type of musical variance (or even if you
agree with my assessment or not), very few of us could argue with Mr.
Rudy Sarzo's talent. Together with QR's original _Mental Health_
line-up, Mr. Sarzo is responsible for some incredible bass playing on
this release. Also, there is a certain undeniable sophistication and
culture to Carlos Cavazo's guitar style on this effort. The sound
Carlos lays out crafting _Alive and Well_ on tracks such as the
impressive "The Ritual" (No! Not the Testament album) is some bad-ass
honest work. I will grant you for every "The Ritual" there seems to
be a tune like "Slam Dunk (Way to GO!)" that creeps me out like a
David Lee Roth ditty off of _A Little Ain't Enough_. _AaW_ is
comprised of two almost totally separate sections on one disc. The
front nine tracks are "new" material including an absorbing cover of
AC/DC's "Highway to Hell". The following six tracks are remakes of
Quiet Riot classics including a hellish re-do of "The Wild and the
Young". Well, those of you reading this shaking your head in
disbelief, keep just two tidbits locked away in the ol' brain, if you
will -- _AaW_ was produced by Bob Marlette, who you will probably
remember from his producing duties on the new Black Sabbath with Ozzy
and the second morsel being this label, Deadline, is the one
responsible for giving us that _Straight to Hell_ tribute to Slayer
featuring some heavyweights like Hypocrisy, Brutal Truth, and Jungle
Rot. Food for thought, kiddies. Sometimes a bit o' divergency is a
good thing with variety bein' the spice of life and all. Grab _Alive
and Well_ for a trip down memory lane. I think you'll appreciate the
flashback!
Scorched Earth Policy - _Tones of Ambivalence XCIX_
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10) (Scorched Earth Music, April 1999)
Don't get me wrong when I write this review, because this band does
kick ass and I'm giving them a good rating, but I gotta tell it to
you straight up: it's all been done before. Like the work of Mindset,
Only Living Witness, Helmet or even Tura Satana (the list could go
on), Scorched Earth Policy keep their feet planted on the ground,
tune down the guitars and turn up the volume and crank it. Nothing
wrong with that, as all four songs on the EP rock like there is no
tomorrow (especially "Target Market"), but we need to break new
ground here as these noise-core/metal bands are starting to lose
ground and repeat themselves. It's becoming a little dishevelled in
the ranks, my dear music fans. But take note of a great pretty much
unknown band and lock heads. They should kick your ass pretty good.
Contact: 4168 Park Blvd Oakland, CA USA 94602
mailto:mlamb@presol.com
WWW: http://www.scorched-earthpolicy.com
Various - _Smells Like Team Spirit III_
by: Aaron McKay (8.5 out of 10) (Displeased Records, 1999)
Gotta give credit where credit is due -- Displeased has put out a
-fine- comp here, fellow metal fiends. You have your Manegarm,
Houwitser and Cryptopsy sublime standbys on this fourteen band,
seventeen song compilation totalling an hour and seven minutes, but
there are two bands that scream to me for elaboration. By name, those
two groups are Nembrionic and Verperian Sorrow. If the upcoming
releases from either of these two bands are a mere fraction of the
greatness encompassed in on _SLTSIII_, then I think that I may have
found one, if not -two- of my top 10 best for 1999. Maybe I'm jumping
the gun a touch, but the raw, sheer power of Nembrionic's death
crusade on both tracks, "Lawmaker" and "Beast Machine", as well as
Vesperian Sorrow's untainted eight minute forty-five second black
metal revolution entitled "From an Everblackened Star", on this CD
are almost -too much- for the mortal mind to wrap itself around. I'd
say this is certainly a plus for even the most casual collector, but
those of us looking to push the envelope a bit, Nembrionic and
Vesperian Sorrow are prescription strength dosages of metal mayhem
that are sure to quench the most violent of metal thirsts.
Soil - _Throttle Junkies_ (MIA Records, April 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
The last time we heard anything from Soil it was the five-song EP _El
Chupacabra_ [CoC #37], a blistering rock 'n' roll montage of heavy
riffs and sharp adrenaline spurts. Continuing where they left off,
this strong quintet have really gotten a hold of a heavy sound,
mixing it well with some serious licks and truly memorable chorus
numbers. As heavy as Pantera at times, though still chiming off
melodies like vintage Galactic Cowboys, Flotsam & Jetsam or even
Alice in Chains, Soil make sure they make their mark some way or
another with the material on _Throttle Junkies_. A young band with
much gusto. I like it. Also ace mixing work from producer
extraordinaire Steve Albini. Choice cuts include "Damning Eden",
opener "Everything" and the thrilling chunkiness of "Stand to Fall".
Spock's Beard - _Day for Night_ (Steamhammer/SPV, April 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (5 out of 10)
Confusing one to assess in some ways, this. When I get a shit black
or death metal record it's easy to affix what it is I do or don't
like about it because I have a wide and varied knowledge and
experience of those styles. What I have before me now is a
prog-rock/pop album done by high profile players who've done albums
with Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. It's not that I don't have an
opinion, it's just not easy to explain what it is that bugs me about
this record and what I like. Probably the biggest plus in this
record's favour is its more progressive funk influenced side. This
comes to include some decent slap bass work and funky drumming and
occasionally some nice guitar runs. Apart from these small joys, _Day
for Night_ rapidly drowns as far as I'm concerned. The band don't use
keyboards to very great effect and the singing is a sort of Pink
Floyd on Zanex whiny rock dirge which admittedly does occasionally
impress ("Distance to the Sun"), but in general is simply annoying
and infuriatingly pop-sounding. The album is additionally overlong
and contains that ridiculously wanky fall-down; the "revisited" song
(and Spock's Beard actually revisit two of them). Some very
digestible pop melodies and good musicianship on display, but
certainly not the kind of record I crave for the rock or metal
fraternity to produce.
Stretcher - _Stretcher_ (<Independent>, April 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
While I'm not keen on the whole six-song outing here -- some of the
vocal arrangements grow tiresome after a while --, for the most part
the dark 'n' moody sounds of Stretcher carry out rewarding results.
This up and coming New York outfit have a surprisingly strong
production and a knack for making sure the meaty hooks back the solid
songwriting. While at times I'm hearing a bit of older Soundgarden,
the material here easily sheds light on their own style and that is
worthy of being investigated. From a few listens of the disc, it's no
surprise that this band has the goods to carry it off live, a factor
all too real seeing that some of the material here is recorded live
at New York's famous CBGB's. I'm interested in hearing more.
Contact: 41-34 73rd Street Woodside, NY USA 11377
mailto:stretcher@erols.com
WWW: http://www.stretcherband.com
Testament - _The Gathering_ (Spitfire Records, June 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10)
With a mega-helping of pumped fists and guitars shredding everything
in sight, Bay Area metal thrash gurus Testament return to the music
scene with a blistering new LP called _The Gathering_. But is
everybody ready for the latest slab of metal from these metal Gods?
They better be. With little remorse for the weak, Testament lashes
out with some of their most volatile and proficient metal to date.
Mustering up enough aggression to surpass their ball-busting last
effort, 1997's _Demonic_, _The Gathering_ is a heavy trip into an
aggressive style of music. It's heavy and there is no denying that.
So what's the big deal with this album? Why does it sound so heavy
and so proficient in all sections of the recording? I'll tell you, my
friends. With Testament co-leaders Chuck Billy (vocals) and Eric
Peterson (guitars) at the helm, the two managed to snag James Murphy
(Obituary, Death, Disincarnate) on guitar, Steve DiGiorgio (Death,
Sadus) on bass and powerhouse drummer Dave Lombardo (Slayer, Grip
Inc.) bringing up the rear. Impressive? Yes. Wait 'till you hear this
record for yourself. It'll knock your socks off. While the music on
_The Gathering_ is very Testament-sounding, the band does gear a lot
of the music to establishing an aggressive factor, opposed to a set
style/sound of doing things. In other words, the band still sounds
like Testament, I mean, c'mon, this is their eighth record, but at
times the record manages to draw a few solid ideas that help expand
what the band is all about. All ideas represented here are worthy of
praising. Solid talent and strong motivation makes _The Gathering_ a
must for all music fans that like their music heavy and really well
executed. Man, Lombardo's drums really drive this puppy home. One of
Testament's best LPs this decade for sure; maybe the best.
The Chasm - _Deathcult for Eternity: The Triumph_
by: Paul Schwarz (9 out of 10) (Oz Productions, June 1998)
Yes, I know this one's old, but we never covered it, and thus, since
I recently picked it up and found it in virtually permanent rotation
on my considerably crowded listening platter for weeks, I decided it
was worth notifying you, the readers of CoC, of the existence and
brilliance of this album. This is the band Daniel Corchado (who did
the incredible vocals on Incantation's latest masterpiece,
_Diabolical Conquest_) is now once again a permanent member of, and
his gutturally crushing and wide-ranging vocal style features, and is
used to great effect over _DfETT_'s lengthy 55 minutes. But his
vocals are far from being the only highlight: the guitar work is
excellent, ranging from the infectious, straight-ahead pounding of
"Revenge Rises", which opens the album, on to the woven acoustics and
duelling melodies of "I'm the Hateful Raven" and "A Portal to
Nowhere" and back again and in other directions at the drop of a hat.
The drumming, though not really innovative, is creative and is a
meaty backing for the music. The production of this record is rough
and clunky (in the good sense), like early Autopsy and Incantation,
but not as darkly hollow sounding. The sound of _DfETT_ is much
thicker and the guitar melodies are pronounced and distinctly
melancholic, leaning towards a more doomy result than a sludge-death
one. Daniel (who wrote all the music and lyrics) has drawn heavily on
basic, hard-hitting death metal influences and combined these with a
more melancholic, doomy approach and produced a record which
possesses the rare combination of being both invigoratingly muscular
and violent, while also being stirringly emotional and creating
disconcerting atmospheres, impressively achieved without any use of
keyboards. The music here is pretty unique; I can't think of an album
I have which is quite like it and can pick out few records from my
collection which combine the two aspects mentioned above, so well, in
this, _DfETT_ sits up with the likes of _The Key_ and _Focus_. The
title says it all: a total triumph, and one which was recorded before
Daniel even joined Incantation. Thus, I am awaiting with bated breath
to find out what the band will now produce with all his additional
experience behind them: album of 1999/2000? It's certainly possible.
Contact: Oz Productions, Apdo. Postal 109, Boulevares C.P.,
53140, Edo de Mexico, Mexico
WWW: http://www.ozproductions.com
mailto:ozprod@hermes.uninet.net.mx
Therion - _Crowning of Atlantis_ (Nuclear Blast, May 1999)
by: Adam Wasylyk (7 out of 10)
It's always a disappointment for me to see a band fall from what I
perceive as a "state of genius". Therion's _Theli_ was one of the
most unexpected yet brilliant records of the '90s. Meshing metal and
classical influences effortlessly, it left both fans and critics in
awe. They followed up this gem with _Vovin_, an album I was somewhat
disappointed with. Lacking the strength and beauty of its
predecessor, it was a definite stumble in the musical path Therion
have carved over the years. In 1999 we see _Crowning of Atlantis_, an
EP containing new material, covers and live material culled from
their back catalogue. The new material basically follows in the
tradition of the material off _Vovin_, although it is a bit more
mellow and a little less metal. The live material isn't too bad; the
cover of "To Mega Therion" is great apart from the female vocals,
which could use a little more work. Loudness, Manowar and Accept get
the cover treatment, which Therion do in an adequate fashion. To sum
up, Therion fans should dig this, but it won't win over any new fans.
Torture Squad - _Shivering_ (<Independent>, 1998)
by: Nuno Almeida <messiah@pulhas.org> (2 out of 10)
Torture Squad are from Brazil and play death/thrash metal. The
problem is that this isn't brutal, this isn't technical, this is
nothing but unimaginative, bland, boring, completely dated
death/thrash. The vocals suck and the lyrics pretty much cover the
same stereotype issues of death, religion, social problems, whatever.
One final note. The band is looking for a label, and claims to
already have 15 songs, which should be enough to record the second
and third albums. So Torture Squad is seen as a song factory, and
things like musical and artistic progression apparently don't count.
(Also reviewed in Ancient Ceremonies #3 -- http://come.to/ac-zine/)
Contact: Torture Squad, Av. do Cursino, 2817/14, Sao Paulo SP, Brazil
Unfounded - _Corrode_ (Copro Records / PHD, April 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
While a lot of bands out there nowadays like to draw inspiration for
their music from their peers or idols and try to go their own way
when creating music, it seems almost inevitable that most bands out
there nowadays are thrown into a grouping or genre when people give
their music a listen. One listen to the music of UK outfit Unfounded
and the sounds of Machine Head and Pantera will no doubt be bouncing
around energetically within your cranium. While a bit weak on the
production angle (muffled vocals and downplayed guitars ran wild at
times), the music here is of the hearty variety. It's got groove and
works well with what the band has to offer. If you're craving for
some new blood in the moshcore/hardcore vein, then scoping out
Unfounded might be the sound choice.
W.A.S.P. - _Helldorado_ (CMC/BMG, April 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (4 out of 10)
Is it just me or does this -whole- record sound the same? From opener
"Drive By" to closer "Hot Rods to Hell", the new release _Helldorado_
becomes one blinding flash of sameness as we give it a spin. Blackie
Lawless, Chris Holmes and the rest of the W.A.S.P. clan are
desperately trying to revisit the past, trying to once again latch
onto the perverse and darkened days of the tumultuous '80s-era
W.A.S.P. that they have somehow lost going into the '90s -- though
_Crimson Idol_ was a kickass record. The key word is "try", folks.
They have tried to find that style in their music in 1999 and it
fails for the most part. While songs like "Dirty Balls", "Don't Cry
(Just Suck)" and "Cocaine Cowboys" would sure be a target for then
PMRC head Tipper Gore back then, nowadays it just seems so unharmful
and somewhat lame in this day and age where extreme music easily
surpasses some of W.A.S.P.'s earlier devil dancing, sex-crazed days.
It's a shame, really, as I saw some light of hope in 1997's _Kill
Fuck Die_ when Lawless re-teamed with guitarist Holmes. Oh well; good
luck, boys.
Whiplash - _Messages in Blood - The Early Years_ (Displeased, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay (6 out of 10)
Raw, mean, and powerful are simply the first of a whole string of
congruous and befitting adjectives that come to mind when hearing
Whiplash's historical catalogue of material. I am grateful to
Displeased for getting this into the hands of the metal-listening
community. To get the negativity out of the way, I might point out to
those of you reading this, while hearing the progression of a band's
sound by doubling up songs on a release is -very- interesting, it
makes it somewhat difficult to tolerate on multiple listens. For
instance, "Spit on Your Grave", "Stirrin' the Cauldron", "Respect the
Dead" and "The Burning of Atlanta" are all repeated on this disc.
Like I said, I am happy to hear Whiplash's career maturation taking
form on _Messages in Blood - The Early Years_, but simply keep in
mind that you'll have at least four songs repeated on this nineteen
track, seventy-seven minute CD. Some highlights include a
particularly rough, but done in fantastic fashion, "Eternal Eyes"
caught live in 1985 in Dover, New Jersey. Also, chalk me up as a fan
of "War Monger", once again, from a -very noticeable- live
performance, this time at New York's CBGB's. If you still are of the
opinion that Metallica's _Kill 'Em All_ or Exodus' _Bonded by Blood_
are the pentacle of all thrash, and you've yet to be exposed to
Whiplash, I might suggest hot-footing it down to your local CD store
to snatch a copy of _Messages in Blood - The Early Years_. By the
way, rumour has it that Whiplash will re-unite for a reunion record
on Massacre Records entitled _Thrashback_ with a reunion tour for the
lucky bastards in Europe only.
Contact: mailto:whiplash@mail.com
WWW: http://www.whiplashmetalmusic.com
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/ \/ / _ \ \ /\ / / / \/ / _ \| / __|/ _ \
/ /\ / __/\ V V / / /\ / (_) | \__ \ __/
\_\ \/ \___| \_/\_/ \_\ \/ \___/|_|___/\___|
If you have a band, don't forget to send us your demo with a bio if
you want to be reviewed; our address is included in the zine's
header.
Scoring: ***** -- A flawless demo
**** -- Great piece of work
*** -- Good effort
** -- A major overhaul is in order
* -- A career change is advisable
Aghora - _1998 demo_ (3-track demo)
by: Brian Meloon (*****)
"Aghora" is a Sanskrit term for "light, the absence of darkness".
Knowing this gives you a good idea of what Aghora, the band, sounds
like. The best comparison I can draw is to the first Portal demo. If
you haven't heard that, imagine a lighter version of Cynic with a
female singer who gives the music a touch of The Gathering at times.
Aghora's music is about the same heaviness as The Gathering, but it
has the technicality and mystical/Indian influences of Cynic. It is
quite complex, but the song structures belie this complexity. It is
quite possible to think that the music is simple after a first
listen. There are often several ideas layered on top of each other,
each carrying its own time signature. However, unlike Don Caballero's
_What Burns Never Returns_ [CoC #38], these parts combine into a
cohesive whole, instead of having a dissonant and abstract sound. The
musicianship displayed on this demo is very impressive. The female
vocals are outstanding, showing an excellent range. The drumming
(courtesy of ex-Cynic drummer Sean Reinert) is excellent, as is the
guitar work. There are several guitar solos and instrumental
sections, but the solos are always tasteful and add something to the
song, instead of being pointless wankery (not that there's anything
wrong with that). This is truly an excellent demo, and these guys
should appeal to fans of both Cynic and the Gathering. Aghora have
recently signed a deal with Sensory Records (who put out the Gordian
Knot CD), and hopefully will have a full length CD out sometime in
the Spring of 2000.
Contact: Aghora, P.O. Box 165503, Miami, FL, 33116-5503, USA
mailto:SDobles@aol.com or mailto:cekendahl@earthlink.net
WWW: http://www.veilmaya.org/aghora (with sound clips)
Antagony - _Antagony_ (4-track demo)
by: Brian Meloon (***--)
Antagony are a death metal band from California, and this is their
first demo. Each of the four songs on this demo begins with a long
sample and then turns into standard death metal. A lot of the music
is quite slow and plodding, though they break into several fast parts
as well. They tend to do this a little too often for my tastes, as it
breaks up the flow of the songs. The riffs are pretty standard fare,
and there isn't a lot to differentiate these guys from the throngs of
other bands that have done the same style. The vocals are
shout-screamed in more of a black metal style than the traditional
guttural/grunted death metal style. The musicianship isn't bad, but
the drumming seems to be a little off in some places. Other than
that, the playing is fine, but not exceptionally challenging. The
production is decent, but could certainly be better. All of the
instruments are audible, but the mix and tones aren't particularly
good. Overall, I think these guys need to work some more on creating
their own identity. The music is competently performed, but
ultimately not much different from every other band playing this
style.
Contact: Antagony, 470 Edinburgh Cir., Danville, CA 94526, USA
mailto:vasallo@earthlink.net
WWW: http://home.earthlink.net/~vomitforth/ (sound clips)
Autoerotichrist / Richard Ramirez - _Birthright_ 7" (WMF)
Autoerotichrist / Incapacitants 7" (Spite, 1997)
Autoerotichrist / Japanese Torture Comedy Hour (Chaotic Noise, 1997)
by: Adam Wasylyk (no rating)
Listed above are some 7"s we received from Mason, who plays in the
band Autoerotichrist (and Enemy Soil as well?). To sum up my feelings
on these recordings: I just don't get it. What we have here is noise
in all of its (lack of?) glory. I can't understand how someone could
voluntarily subject their ears to this. Feedback, distortion, loops,
scratching, screaming... it all sounds like a prolonged car crash.
And I dare you to try to tell these recordings apart! Rather than
giving this a zero, I'd rather say that this music may be worthy for
the right pair of ears (just not mine!). I guess some perceive this
as a "new level of extremity", but that can be achieved in any number
of ways. When it comes to extremity, give me metal anyday!
Contact: Send $4 (each) to: Mason Parrish,
809 S. Sugarland Run Drive, Steeling, VA 20164 USA
Corpus Christi - _Anno Domini_ (3-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo (****-)
This onslaught of highly abrasive and harsh black metal propelled by
a synthetic rhythm section, simple and aggressive guitars, background
keyboard distortion and searing vox could only make itself noticed by
its brutality and intensity; and it does. The structures are quite
linear and musical embellishments are absent; the elements I
mentioned above are all this demo is based upon. The production was
more than likely intended to be as primitive as it seems, like one
would expect; it sounds adequate enough through speakers (in this
case, for once, I prefer speakers to headphones). Some of the
synthetic drumming, however, sounds excessively shrill. Not something
to win any awards for complex musical contents, but nevertheless an
impressive outburst of rage.
Contact: Nightmare Productions, P.O. Box 83,
2825 Costa da Caparica, Portugal
Inchtimer - _Inchtimer_ (5-track demo)
by: Aaron Mackay (***--)
What we have here is a very clear, well packaged and produced demo
with what I would have to call thumpin' low end work more or less
spotlighted. In other words, the bass playing is hands-down a strong
selling point for Inchtimer. The drumming and guitar are extremely
appropriate for Inchtimer's straightforward "stripped" honest metal
sound. The vocals play very well into this aforementioned
description, but I assure you that you've heard a similar vocal
approach elsewhere; however, by the same token, it draws nothing away
from what Inchtimer is accomplishing on this demo. "Pull Bright", the
second track of five on this nineteen minute release, has some
excellent coordination between the members of this purposely
unhinged, but nonetheless tight, three piece unit from Minnesota. I
understand that the group plays quite extensively throughout the
Midwest, so give 'em some support if you happen to see Inchtimer
listed on a venue roster anywhere near you or feel free to contact
them at:
Contact: Inchtimer c/o The Bunker, 2645 First Avenue South,
Minneapolis, MN, 55408, USA
mailto:inchtimer@hotmail.com
WWW: http://www.angelfire.com/mn/inchtimer
Mutant - _Eden Burnt to Ashes_ (5-track demo)
by: Brian Meloon (*****)
Mutant is a black metal side project of Peter and Henrik from Theory
in Practice [CoC #23]. The music is of the extremely fast and
technical variety, putting Mutant right alongside bands like Abigor
and In Battle. The playing is exceptional, with fast and interesting
drumming, and agile guitar work. Keyboards are used sparingly for
atmosphere, and are well done. The songs offer a good variety of
feels and tempos, and they each have their own character. The first
three songs are very fast and technical, yet even a little catchy.
"Dark Spheres" is more of a mid-paced, atmospheric style, and "Abduct
to Mutate" finishes off the demo with a sound more reminiscent of
Theory in Practice. The music changes at various paces, allowing the
band to explore some musical ideas, and yet generally avoid
repetitiveness. Some sections do drag on a little bit, but for the
most part, the songs change fast enough that they don't get boring.
In addition, there are a number of particularly tricky changes that
help keep the listener off balance. The production is crystal clear:
all of the instruments are readily audible. This is truly excellent
black metal, and is highly recommended for fans of technical metal of
all varieties. The band has recently signed a deal for a debut CD
that will be put out by Listenable Records this fall.
Contact: Peter Sjoberg, Orrvagen 7, 81132, Sandviken, Sweden
mailto:mutant.metal@home.se
WWW: http://hem3.passagen.se/mutant1/ (with sound clips)
No Rest for the Dead - _Earthlings From Mars_ (4-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (*****)
When Rich Hoak (ex-Brutal Truth drummer) introduced me to this
Japanese band at the New Jersey March Metal Meltdown, they looked so
innocent and cutesy. Let me tell you folks, looks can be deceiving.
From opening number "Dislocated" through "Deny My Existence" and
"Waste of the Thread", this Japanese noisecore/noise/sonic quartet
pull no punches with some of the most blistering drums and screams to
grace any demo that I have heard. And the riffs? Right outta metal
school, boys 'n' girls. Pure mayhem. Mix Today Is the Day with Brutal
Truth and The Boredoms and you've got the maniacal assemblage known
as No Rest for the Dead. Utter brutality wherever you go on this
monstrous release. Rich Hoak, who is doing his own label right now,
called Deaf American, sure has a fine ear when it comes to awesome
shit like this. More to come? I hope so.
Contact: No Rest For The Dead, c/o K. Nozawa,
1-7-209, Inukura 3, Miyamae, Kawasaki
Kangagawa, 216-0011 Japan
mailto:norestforthedead@msn.com
WWW: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/9607
Teardown - _Persona Non Grata_ (3-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (***--)
Brazilian moshcore/metalcore/hardcore outfit Teardown play pretty
solid music, focusing heavily on making their music speak hard 'n'
heavy. With elements of Machine Head, Sepultura and Agnostic Front,
they can do no wrong with this three-song outing. While the title
track is the best offering of the demo, the three songs work well off
one another. Give this band a few more months and they should be able
to produce a slicker, more solid release. I think a good studio
workout would make these guys sharper and stronger than they already
are.
Contact: mailto:gabriel@hotnet.net
WWW: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Amphitheatre/8931/
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\/___/ \/___/ \/_/\/_/\/____/\/____/ \/_/ \/__/\/___/
MILWAUKEE, EAT YOUR HEART OUT... AGAIN!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC covers the March Metal Meltdown
in Asbury Park, NJ on March 12-13, 1999
by: Adam Wasylyk
It's time for another Chronicles of Chaos roadtrip! Scribes
Adrian, Alain, Paul, Jody, Alex (who mysteriously no one would see
during the event) and myself, along with former alumni Steve and
Drew, made the trip to the first annual New Jersey March Metal
Meltdown. It would be said about Asbury Park, the area where the
festival took place, that "If the world were constipated, they'd
stick the enema right here!". An apt description if I'd ever heard
one.
Allow me to paint a picture for you. The venue consisted of
three stages: the main stage, the side stage and the last, the
smallest of the three, the Relapse sponsored stage. What a relief to
find there were no stairs to climb, which I'm sure veteran Milwaukee
attendees truly appreciated. The Relapse stage sat closest to the
Atlantic Ocean (the building was on the NJ boardwalk), allowing cold
winds to enter the room and freeze the soul (as if the music wasn't
enough). The side stage allowed bands to play, and would later house
a wrestling ring where mostly amateurs came in to battle it out. I
must admit, yelling "YOU FUCKING PUSSIES!!!" is more therapeutic than
I thought it'd be. Anyhow, the main stage consisted of a huge pit
area and a bleacher area which many in attendance (including yours
truly) took advantage of. A better venue couldn't have been chosen
for this type of event.
Considering that there were over 100 scheduled to play, I would
discover that it was impossible to even check out half of the bands
playing. Picking and choosing carefully, here are some of the bands I
was able to check out.
Relapse's Benumb were just finishing up as we had arrived late
on day one of the two day event. Sounding as powerful as they did at
last Summer's Milwaukee Metal Fest, their brand of grindcore didn't
go unnoticed with onlookers, who applauded appropriately when they
finished up.
Is this what they call "hardcore" these days? Sounds like plain
metal to me. Straight edgers Earth Crisis showcased their wares to an
appreciative crowd, whom you could easily pick out (meaning anyone
without a Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir shirt). Their (lack of?)
musical quality isn't the lingering afterthought from this set, but
rather the dreadful cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs". I'll be the
first to admit that I'm not a fan, but even I -know- when a Black
Sabbath cover is butchered. If the vocalist wasn't embarrassed after
their performance, the rest of the crowd sure were. Yikes!
Incantation, one of my favourite death metal bands, played a
competent yet unexciting set with new vocalist in tow. Displaying vox
that suit the band well, I must admit I miss the great vocals of
Daniel Corchado on Incantation's last CD, the mighty _Diabolical
Conquest_. Good for what it was, but I expected more from this great
band.
I'll admit that I'm not a fan of power/traditional metal, but I
found myself getting into the 30 someodd minute set of Iced Earth.
Receiving a healthy response from the 2/3 capacity Convention Hall,
it was something that I wouldn't listen to at home, but it was
pleasant in a live setting.
Amorphis were one of the big reasons why I decided to attend;
I'm just so unhappy that they didn't live up to expectations. Having
missed them on their _Tales From the Thousand Lakes_ tour with
Entombed way back when, it was most likely more punishing to see them
at this stage, at a time where I feel their progression has gotten
slightly out of hand. Some of the blame for this set should go
towards the sound people, who needed about three songs to get the
sound exactly right. However, the band must be faulted as well. The
opening track was off their new release _Tuonela_, a song the crowd
couldn't appreciate because of the level of unfamiliarity with the
recent release of the new album. Tomi's growls just didn't cut it on
this night, "Black Winter Day" suffering because of this along with
inappropriately played keyboards almost making the track
unrecognizable. "Better Unborn" and "Against Widows" were performed
more tightly, but still, something was missing. A disappointment.
Having seen them play Milwaukee last Summer and not being too
amazed, Hypocrisy had another chance to impress, but they didn't do
too well. Guitarist/vocalist Peter Tagtgren at the beginning of the
set announced that their second guitarist had food poisoning and
therefore couldn't play. As their set went on, you couldn't help but
hear the hole vacant, where a second guitar could have thickened
their sound and given them more power. On top of that, they didn't
perform "Roswell 47", which the crowd were obviously listening out
for. And when Peter broke out into the American national anthem on
his guitar... well, you'd be in hysterics if you could have seen my
face.
Dimmu Borgir closed out the night, in classic fashion. Their
first show in North America, it wasn't difficult to read the
anticipation on the faces of many in the crowd. Suffering the same
sound problems as many before them, Dimmu were able to overcome them
and turn in a powerful set of Norwegian black metal. Playing material
off their impressive new release _Spiritual Black Dimensions_
("Reptile" being the definite standout, sans clean vocals due to
sound fuckups) and of course a couple of tracks off the highly
acclaimed _Enthrone Darkness Triumphant_ ("Mourning Palace", "In
Death's Embrace") were well received as well. Superior drumming and
great keyboards (especially during the tail end of the set) made this
a set most won't soon forget.
After almost no recovery time, day two was upon us. Holding the
majority of bands, it was make or break for the 4000 or so metalheads
in attendance. Sarcophagus would be the first band on the second day
that would make an impression. An impressive fusion of death and
black metal with a hint of retro, Sarcophagus dealt out some pretty
fast material with a lot of catchy hooks. Mad props goes out to the
drummer, whose expert drumming made an enjoyable set even moreso.
Despite the small amount of time on stage, they were quite
impressive, to say the least.
The set of Fallen Christ had me confused. Did I like this? Did I
want to hear any more? The keyboardist, dressed in a military-like
vest with some sort of pitch shifter on his voice, gave a somewhat
memorable performance with an unusual vocal style. The music was
competent yet unable to rise anyone in the crowd.
A pleasant surprise was the amazing performance of Osmose's
Vital Remains. They truly kicked ass on this night, highlighted by
the track "Battle Ground" on their _Forever Underground_ LP, a song
that I had really dug up to recently but didn't actually know this
band was responsible for it! Another set that was cut too short,
however Vital Remains used every second on stage to make a solid
impression, and they did just that.
Candiria's mosh pit almost caused certain death for this writer;
the band's fusion of hardcore and metal produced one of the largest
pits of the festival. Great stage presence accompanied by their
trademark start/stop and jazz breaks really made this a break from
some of the monotonous death metal that was playing nearby. Great
stuff.
Enslaved took to the blackened main stage with arms crossed and
guitars set on kill. Taking a page from the book of Dimmu Borgir,
drummer Dirge Repp (of Gehenna fame) had a tremendous impact on how
Enslaved would perform on this night. Known for not having keyboards
on stage, this really hurt them while playing the track "Slaget I
Skogen Bortenfor", which is really meant to have a keyboard
accompaniment. The new stuff off _Blodhemn_ sounded great live; I
can't wait to have another opportunity to check these guys out.
Divine Empire pretty much played the exact set they performed in
Toronto only a week earlier. Cool duelling vocals separate the band
from the pack, along with great material like the blastbeat supremacy
of "Out for Blood" or the unbridled insanity of "Silent Carnage". For
a three piece, these guys can sure dish it out.
The dark horse of the festival must belong to the sound
terrorists known as Today Is the Day. Vocalist/guitarist Reverend
Steve Austin was truly a man possessed, so convincing it appeared he
was mentally breaking down right before us. I won't even try to label
the music these guys play; all I can say is that it's noisy, loud
and, very much like a gory accident, you can't help but stare and
allow it to fuck with your head.
Bloodstorm are a band I just can't get into. This being the
third time seeing them live, I keep giving them a chance to grow on
me but they fail each time out. Mediocre black metal from the touring
bassist of Absu, I just don't get what they're doing. One of the many
bands one can say are a product of their influences.
Canada's Cryptopsy showed them Yankees how real death metal is
played! Tracks like "Defenestration", "White Worms", "Born Headless"
and "Slit Your Guts" devastated the crowd, despite the poor sound on
the Relapse stage at that moment in time. Vocalist Mike DiSalvo
roamed the stage like a madman, delivering a great vocal performance
on this night. Lord Worm would have been proud.
The last band I was able to check out was Poland's Vader, who
turned out one of the best performances of the festival. Playing with
twice the intensity they had in Toronto just a week prior, material
like "Sothis", "Silent Empires", "Black to the Blind", "Carnal" and
many others sounded just plain amazing in a live situation. A highly
underrated band, it was great to have them back over here in North
America.
We decided to skip out on Napalm Death and Sepultura to get an
early start back to the hotel so beer could be drunk in maximum
quantities and some herb could be passed around until oblivion would
eventually take over. It was a great experience, to be able to check
out a lot of great bands and meet a lot of cool people. Canadian
content was high, with bands like Cryptopsy, Anvil, Solus, Human
Disorder, Gorguts and others turning in good sets. Despite some flaws
(incompetent sound engineers, lousy food, etc.), I was glad I was
able to check out the show. A legacy has been forged.
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D Y N A M O N I C D E S T R U C T I O N
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dynamo Open Air 1999
Mierlo, The Netherlands, May 21-23, 1999
by: Paul Schwarz
Introduction
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having heard stories of how great an extreme music festival
Dynamo is for many years, it has longtime been an aim of mine to
attend this legendary three day event. 1999 proved perfect as I had
no school commitments, the funds to do it and Manowar were
headlining; what more reason does a person need? For those of you who
have avidly read CoC's various reports on American fests like
Milwaukee and the recent March Metal Meltdown (or who have even
attended these meetings of metal), Dynamo has many of the same fish,
but in a different kettle. It is, of course, an outdoor festival, and
is also nearly eight times the size of either of the aforementioned
in terms of attendance (40000 people witnessed Dynamo this year).
However, the significant difference, one which I think Koshick and
co. should take a hint from, is that the set times are not as
punishingly short. Cryptopsy got 50 minutes instead of 20 to 30,
Hypocrisy got one hour instead of 30 to 40 minutes, and I have to say
this makes a -big- difference. The line-up may not look as divinely
all-encompassing, but the level of satisfaction each set gives is
dramatically increased. I would say that if ten minutes were added to
each set at the various US festivals I have been to and a requisite
number of bands removed, attendees would walk away with a greater net
happiness. Anyway, through the trials and tribulations of hard
ground, expensive food, good -legal- pot, good German beer, copious
amounts of tobacco, even more water and hanging with most of
Terrorizer's writing staff, this is my story of Dynamo 1999; I hope
you enjoy it.
Friday, May 21st, Campsite Stage
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Having previously heard Darkane on the Wardance compilation,
what struck me about their set was that the vocals sounded distinctly
more melodic. Even though the singer occasionally used a metal tube
to create a differing vocal effect, he was still closer to power
metal wailing than the death metal rasping I had previously heard.
All the same, the band played decently and their sound, though far
from perfect, was still good.
After unfortunately passing out in my tent and missing Sodom, I
went back to the Campsite Stage for Anathema, who took the stage just
before 01:00. Opening with a well-executed cover of Metallica's
"Orion", Anathema showcased a sound tweaked to perfection and
proceeded to play a set composed most squarely of their newer
material (from the last three albums), which would be enough, I
think, to convince any non-believer that this band have talent,
musicianship and a penchant for developing their sound which is
rarely found.
Therion were accompanied tonight by an orchestra, which was
utilised to great effect, with interesting melodies and harmonies
being fused with the guitar/bass/drums/vocals core, as per their
_Theli_ album. "To Mega Therion" and others from this monumental opus
came off beautifully and the band put a big smile on this writer's
face by also grinding out the crushing "Wings of the Hydra" from
1995's _Lepaca Kliffoth_. After leaving the stage and being demanded
back on for one more song, the band decided it was time to pledge
their allegiance to old heavy metal and thus churned out an
absolutely brilliant cover of Saxon's "747". With every catchy vocal
line, riff and guitar lick intact and kicking serious ass, this cover
was an ideal closer to a triumphant and varied set.
Saturday, May 22nd, Campsite Stage and Main Stage
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I unfortunately had to bypass my chance of seeing The Haunted to
catch Meshuggah, who ended up taking the Main Stage over 20 minutes
late. Beginning with a long industrial-type intro at a volume which
made it feel like it was literally choking me, Meshuggah pounded
through the following set with precision and finesse:
"Concatenation", "Sickening", "Soulburn", "Future Breed Machine",
"Sane", "New Millenium Cyanide Christ", "Suffer in Truth" and "Gods
of Rapture". They paused at many of the time changes, which, though
it built suspense, was unwelcome in my eyes, because hearing these
sudden changes is part of the rollercoaster of Meshuggah's music --
though I will admit doing those sudden changes must be hard to pull
off live. Overall, Meshuggah were a thoroughly satisfying first band
of the day.
My next appointment was with the hieroglyphed sledgehammer of
death (metal) wielded by South Carolina's Nile as they took their
place on the Campsite Stage. With the setlist comprising "Barra
Edinazzu", "Pestilence and Iniquity", "Serpent Headed Mask", "Stones
of Sorrow", "Ramses Bringer of War", "Howling of the Jin", "Smashing
the Antiu" and one song from their first record, you could hardly go
wrong and Nile didn't falter on any level. The sound was a decimating
wave of sonic energy, but one which possessed such clarity that no
riff, solo, drum break or vocal line could possibly be lost in the
web of organised chaos that Nile weaved so brilliantly.
The band of the festival for me and a band I am already
salivating in anticipation of seeing again, Arch Enemy were certainly
a step down in heaviness and intensity from the all-out-assault of
Nile, but all the same they were relatively impressive.
Unfortunately, their sound lacked the crystal-like clarity of Nile's
and thus some of the finer subtleties of their more melodically
intricate music were lost. However, a good performance and a setlist
including "Bury Me an Angel", "Dark Insanity", "Beast of Man" (their
opener) and "Bridge of Destiny", among others, meant that Arch Enemy
were still a long way from disappointing.
Supreme masters of individualistic technical death metal,
Canada's Cryptopsy played their first European show ever today, and
they did more than just turn heads -- they near twisted them off. The
performance was flawless and frightening in its violent extremity and
the response was appropriately appreciative. With a killer setlist
composed of "Slit Your Guts", "Faceless Unknown", "Emaciate",
"Phobophile", "Defenstration", "Abigor", "Cold Hate, Warm Blood",
"Crown of Horns", "Born Headless" and "White Worms", Cryptopsy
pleased the faithful and, I am sure, convinced the unbelievers -- and
probably any passer by with ears -- that they mean serious business.
Another triumphant set from these crushing live performers.
The intro chosen by Hypocrisy nicely set the stage for their
arrival, as any good intro should, and though there were times during
their hour-long set when I found myself trying to figure out what
song I was hearing through the slightly dense sound, my overall
feeling about their set was positive. As usual, the band played a
good spread of material from their albums, with the vicious one-two
of "Roswell 47" / "Killing Art" and the hellish death metal of
"Pleasures of Molestation" being definite highlights from me. New
material from _Hypocrisy_ sounded cool and the band were in good form
with their second guitarist present and the set free of any unwelcome
deviations.
With their new drummer (David Hirshheimer, formerly of London's
Infestation) playing his second show tonight to 40000 people, one
might have expected Cradle of Filth to have played it a little safe.
However, despite the fact I am told this performance was not one of
their greatest triumphs, this evening Cradle of Filth impressed on a
number of levels. Firstly in performance, which was pretty damn
flawless, especially, and most impressively, on the part of the newly
appointed Mr. Hirshheimer, who does fucking brilliantly in playing
every song pretty much perfectly -- no mean feat when you consider
Nicholas Barker's considerable skill. Secondly in stage show; the
pyros, dancing girls and fake blood, though cheesy, make Cradle a
worthwhile spectacle to watch. Thirdly in stage banter; the quote of
the weekend comes from Dani, who proclaims: "We were gonna come on
stage on Manowar's Harley Davidsons, but unfortunately I couldn't
reach the peddles." All in all not quite something to write home
about, even with "The Principle of Evil Made Flesh" and "The Forest
Whispers My Name" both getting airings, but certainly worth
witnessing, and entertaining to say the least.
Well, "The time has come / All the training done / The muscle
and the blood will come to bear" and it's at last time for me to
witness Manowar (The Kings of Metal) live. After a longish wait and a
film-like intro ending in "Ladies and gentlemen... Manowar", the band
kicked off proceedings with "Manowar" from their classic _Battle
Hymns_ debut and over the next hour and a half also churned out:
"March for Revenge (By the Soldiers of Death)", "Kill With Power",
"Sign of the Hammer", "Fighting the World", "Sting of the Bumblebee",
"The Gods Made Heavy Metal", "Hail and Kill", "Return of the
Warlord", "Power" and "Black Wind, Fire and Steel" along with a combo
of Dutch songs especially for the people of Holland and a little
"performance" sandwiched between "Sting of the Bumblebee" and "The
Gods Made Heavy Metal". Off the bat, I must say that I was
disappointed. The setlist was somewhat disappointing (where were
classics like "Wheels of Fire", "Army of the Immortals" or "Dark
Avenger", and why was a quarter of the set culled from _Louder Than
Hell_, which is far from being their best record?) and the length of
time the band spent on Joey's little "performance", which involved
getting a male fan on stage to play guitar and a female fan on stage
to show her tits, was inordinate in a one and a half hour set, to say
the least, not to mention the continual use of somewhat ponderous
rock 'n' roll endings which further cut down on how much time there
was to hear this godly band's godly music. There were some
excellently funny moments in the "performance" segue (like Joey
saying to the female on stage: "Okay, I'll be fair with you: I'll
take off my shirt and then you take off yours", along with
continually claiming he'd "never done this [taken a woman's shirt
off] before") and of course what the band did play was fucking heavy,
loud and more invigorating than a shot of adrenaline straight into
your brain, but, as someone pointed out at the time, for a band that
are so no bullshit about their music and image, there was a lot of
bullshit in their set. What it comes down to is that we (the Manowar
fans) wanted the best, and didn't get it; simple as that.
Sunday, May 23rd, Campsite Stage and Main Stage
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is weird to see a band as old and well respected as Mercyful
Fate open the Main Stage proceedings under bands as young and
inexperienced as System of a Down, but it must be said that Mercyful
Fate were an absolutely cracking way to open up Sunday's proceedings.
Along with some great sounding songs from the new _9_ record, they
belted out the classic epic "Satan's Fall" and blew the sleep which
was still in my eyes clean away with "A Dangerous Meeting" and "Come
to the Sabbath". King was as inspiringly animated as ever and all
members (including bassist Sharlee D'Angelo, who was on his second
set of the festival) got right into the music, resulting in a great
all round performance.
After indulging in the pleasures of what is legal in Holland but
not elsewhere, I returned, appropriately, for Monster Magnet's set.
They were in fine form, opening with "Atomic Clock" and pounding
through a set with "Powertrip", "Tractor", "Crop Circle", "Dopes to
Infinity", "Negasonic Teenage Warhead" and "Space Lord" providing the
remainder of the ammunition, along with one song off _Superjudge_ and
a weird rap thing Wyndorf went off on. Monster Magnet have an
undeniable groove that, though downright infectious on record, is a
fucking andromeda strain in a live, outdoor festival setting,
especially when the sweet leaf is sprinkled so liberally throughout
the audience.
From my tent, probably three miles away, I heard Biohazard's
opening salvo of a new song from _New World Disorder_, followed by
"Shades of Grey", "Black and White and Red All Over", another new
song and "Tales From the Hardside", which convinced me, before I fell
asleep from fatigue, that there was still plenty of energy left in
Brooklyn's ever verbally amusing bruisers.
My final planned trip to the musical mosh pit of the Campsite
Stage was for Marduk's set as the headliners on the black stage. This
was a fucking "Baptism by Fire" if I have experienced one. Kicking
off with the searing "Panzer Division Marduk" from their new record
of the same name, they blazed through the earlier aforementioned
(also from the new album) and also gave the enthralled audience
"Beyond the Grace of God" and "Those of the Unlight" (among others)
before being forced off after much less than their allotted time
because of a late running stage and a pressing curfew time. However,
in the short time they had, Marduk positively decimated the Campsite
Stage and proved that no-nonsense, full-speed-ahead black metal is
worth its weight in spikes and bulletbelts when brought into the live
arena.
So, on to the dubious headliners, of whose set I only caught
parts. Metallica started off well with "Breadfan" and "Master of
Puppets" and also succeeded in playing convincing versions of
"Creeping Death" and "Fight Fire With Fire". However, Metallica don't
play even the old stuff as good or convincingly as they used to and
when watching them means you have to sit through various cuts from
the last two "Load of rock" albums, the idea and reality of seeing
them live becomes less and less appealing.
Conclusion
~~~~~~~~~~
In summation, I would say that Dynamo was an incredible festival
experience, not to mention a musical joy, and I only hope that work
constraints in the future will not stop me from going back year after
year after year. If you are anything like close to this Southern part
of The Netherlands around the time of Dynamo, I suggest you drop
whatever you're doing and make the trip; you won't regret it.
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E T E R N A L L Y E N G R A V E D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sculpture and Omnio
at the El Matador, Barreiro, Portugal
May 22, 1999
by: Pedro Azevedo
Ever since the first time I listened to Sculpture's debut MCD
_Like a Dead Flower_ [CoC #30], it was quite clear for me that they
had very different characteristics from most other Portuguese bands
-- different for the better. Skill, emotion and determination were
all equally abundant in each of the MCD's three main songs. Due to
Art Music's incompetence, though, Sculpture's highly promising
full-length album had been delayed for several months already by the
time the band played this show in Barreiro -- their very first,
despite having been together for a few years already. I was
unfortunately unable to watch the other band that played that night,
Omnio, so they shall not be mentioned again in this review.
Nevertheless, they did seem quite interesting from what I heard
during their sound check: doomy metal with full-time acoustic guitar
and both male and female vocals.
The result of putting together a band like Sculpture, who have
no problem in reproducing their CD sound live, and a strong and clear
live sound was an approximately 45 minute long lesson in doom metal.
After their new, very mood-setting keyboard intro "Unlighted Martyrs
Dream" came "At the Gates of Shadows World" to show just how tight
and determined the band was and also that the live sound would not
fail them. One of the new slow songs, "Made of Stone", followed, and
then "Autumn Serenades" and "Our Crying Earth" blended together for
even greater effect. Another new slow song followed, a particularly
excellent one, "Her Once Fructuous Womb", and then three more new
songs, two of which slightly faster than Sculpture's norm. Each of
the new songs was more than worth its time. The slow ones are of the
same heartfelt, painful and emotional ilk as the older ones and also
of similar quality. The two faster ones also worked remarkably well
live and proved to be quite powerful. To put it simply, Sculpture
proved that they have an album's worth of -excellent- songs waiting
to be recorded. Besides the technical excellence I already expected
from each and every band member (talented and precise guitar and bass
playing, skilled and creative drumming), their temporary vocalist
Nocturnus Horrendus (from the black metal band Noctu, whose project
Corpus Christi's demo is also reviewed in this issue) played former
vocalist Carlos d'Agua's part quite well, showing a very good range
of well performed vocal styles. Finally, I must also mention the
truly remarkable feeling shown by bassist Pedro Daniel throughout the
show; true dedication and emotion that are increasingly hard to find
in today's commercially polluted scene.
Unfortunately, however, Sculpture have come to a point where
their sadly short career will come to an end, despite the efforts to
avoid it. Having been one of the fortunate few to have witnessed what
will apparently remain as their only live performance, I still find
it very reasonable to write this article, as for me it was an
experience never to be forgotten. Sculpture certainly had all the
potential to become Portugal's finest band in the hearts of many doom
metallers, and they most definitely already were just that and more
in mine.
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W H A T W E H A V E C R A N K E D ! ! !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gino's Top 5
1. Autechre - _Incunabula_
2. Autechre - _Tri Repetae++_
3. Hypocrisy - _Hypocrisy_
4. Epoch of Unlight - _What Will Be Has Been_
5. S.O.D. - _Bigger Than the Devil_
Adrian's Top 5
1. In Flames - _Colony_
2. Cave-in - _Creative Eclipses_
3. Hypocrisy - _Hypocrisy Destroys Wacken_
4. Testament - _The Gathering_
5. Fantomas - _Fantomas_
Brian's Top 5
1. Mutant - _Eden Burnt to Ashes_
2. Ensoph - _Les Confessions du Mat_
3. Dali's Dilemma - _Manifesto for Futurism_
4. Primordial - _Imrama_
5. Hellwitch - _Terraasymmetry_
Alain's Top 5
1. Dimmu Borgir - _Spiritual Black Dimensions_
2. Nevermore - _Dreaming Neon Black_
3. Alice Cooper - _The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper_
4. Dying Fetus - _Killing on Adrenaline_
5. Incantation - _Tribute to the Goat_
Adam's Top 5
1. Nine Inch Nails - _The Downward Spiral_
2. Pan-Thy-Monium - everything!
3. Rammstein - _Sehnsucht_
4. Dismal Euphony - _All Little Devils_
5. Cathedral - _Caravan Beyond Redemption_
Pedro's Top 5
1. Evoken - _Embrace the Emptiness_
2. Naglfar - _Diabolical_
3. Dolorian - _When All the Laughter Has Gone_
4. Saturnus - _For the Loveless Lonely Nights_
5. Deinonychus - _Ark of Thought_
Paul's Top 5
1. Rush - _A Farewell to Kings_
2. Marduk - _Panzer Division Marduk_
3. Ripping Corpse - _Dreaming With the Dead_
4. Rollins Band - _Come in and Burn_
5. Belphegor - _Blutsabbath_
Aaron's Top 5
1. War - _Total War_
2. The Abyss - _The Other Side_
3. The Organization - _The Organization_
4. Cianide _ The Dying Truth_
5. Soilwork - _Steel Bath Suicide_
David's Top 5
1. Marduk - _Panzer Division Marduk_
2. Morbid Angel - _Covenant_
3. Immortal - _Pure Holocaust_
4. Hypocrisy - _Hypocrisy_
5. Sins of Omission - _The Creation_
Alex's Top 5
1. No Innocent Victim - _Flesh and Blood_
2. Arch Enemy - _Stigmata_ (Thanks Paul!)
3. Disembowelment - _Transcendence Into the Peripheral_
4. Neurosis - _Through Silver in Blood_
5. A Canorous Quintet - _Silence of the World Beyond_ (Thanks Pedro!)
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FTP Archive: ftp://ftp.etext.org/pub/Zines/ChroniclesOfChaos
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CHRONICLES OF CHAOS
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e-mail: ginof@interlog.com
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DESCRIPTION
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chronicles of Chaos is a monthly magazine electronically distributed
worldwide via the Internet. Chronicles of Chaos focuses on all forms
of chaotic music including black, death and doom metal, dark/ambient,
industrial and electronic/noise as well as classic and progressive
metal. Each issue will feature a plethora of album reviews from a
wide range of bands, as well as interviews with some of the
underground's best acts. Also included in each issue are demo reviews
and indie band interviews.
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may subscribe to Chronicles of Chaos at any time by sending a
message with "coc subscribe <your_name_here>" in the SUBJECT of your
message to <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>. Please note that this command
must NOT be sent to the list address <coc-ezine@lists.colorado.edu>.
AUTOMATIC FILESERVER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All back issues and various other CoC related files are available for
automatic retrieval through our e-mail fileserver. All you have to do
is send a message to us at <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>. The
'Subject:' field of your message must read: "send file X" where 'X'
is the name of the requested file (do not include the quotes). Back
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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #40
All contents copyright 1999 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.
