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Chronicles of Chaos Issue 076
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CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, August 4, 2004, Issue #76
http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com
Ninth Anniversary Issue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Co-Editor / Founder: Gino Filicetti
Co-Editor / Contributor: Pedro Azevedo
Contributor: Brian Meloon
Contributor: Paul Schwarz
Contributor: Aaron McKay
Contributor: David Rocher
Contributor: Matthias Noll
Contributor: Alvin Wee
Contributor: Chris Flaaten
Contributor: Quentin Kalis
Contributor: Xander Hoose
Contributor: Adam Lineker
Contributor: James Montague
Contributor: Jackie Smit
Neophyte: James Slone
Neophyte: Todd DePalma
The individual writers can be reached by e-mail at
firstname.lastname@ChroniclesOfChaos.com.
(e.g. Gino.Filicetti@ChroniclesOfChaos.com).
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Issue #76 Contents, 8/4/2004
----------------------------
* Editorial
* Chats
-- Bathory: KICKING*ASS in '85 - Quorthon RIP
-- Destruction: A Fully Loaded Discharge of Metal
-- Meshuggah: From Nothing to Number "I"
-- Serpens Aeon: The Dawn of a New Aeon
-- Fall of the Leafe: Autumn's First Triumph
-- Descent: Into the Pit of Pain!
* Albums
-- Ad Hominem - _...For a New World_
-- AmmiT - _Mass Suicide / Steel Inferno_
-- Aphotic - _Stillness Grows_
-- Bazzah - _Kingdom of the Dead_
-- Deathspell Omega - _Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice_
-- Exciter - _New Testament_
-- Filii Nigrantium Infernalium - _A Queda / A Era do Abutre_
-- Forest of Impaled - _Forward the Spears_
-- Goretrade - _Ritual of Flesh_
-- In Grey - _Sulphur Tears_
-- Infinited Hate - _Revel in Bloodshed_
-- Killaman - _Killaman_
-- Krieg - _The Black House_
-- Leviathan - _Tentacles of Whorror_
-- Martyr - _A Malicious Odyssey_
-- MD.45 - _The Craving (remastered)_
-- Megadeth - _The System Has Failed_
-- Napalm Death - _Leaders Not Followers 2_
-- Nargaroth - _Raluska Part I_
-- Necrophagist - _Epitaph_
-- Officium Triste - _Reason_
-- Pest - _Daudafaerd_
-- Tankard - _Beast of Bourbon_
-- Today Is the Day - _Kiss the Pig_
-- Unleashed - _Sworn Allegiance_
-- Woods of Belial - _Deimos XIII_
* Demos
-- Chapter VIII - _Your Halo Is My Noose_
-- Empyrean Sky - _The Snow White Rose of Paradise_
-- Spiteful - _Upheaval_
-- The Green Evening Requiem - _The Green Evening Requiem_
* Gigs
-- Death Never Sounded This Good
-- Deicide? We Didn't Need No Stinkin' Deicide!
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A N O T H E R Y E A R P A S S E S U S B Y
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chronicles of Chaos heads into its tenth year
by: Gino Filicetti
As August 12th approaches this year, I'm sure there are many of you
that will be shocked to learn Chronicles of Chaos turns nine years
old on that date.
For years, we worked for many many months to gather up an incredible
amount of material, so that we could publish it on our birthday.
Anniversary issues of yesteryear were incredible behemoths filled to
the brim with as many articles as we could muster.
Well, things changed in 2003 when we re-opened the doors on a new and
improved CoC. No longer were we bound by the limitations of end-of-
month deadlines. No longer would articles sit idly by whilst their
newsworthiness dwindled, waiting for the next issue of CoC to be
published. And thus, with that transformation the notion of an
"anniversary" super-mega-behemoth issue died.
Regardless of that fact, I wanted to write this editorial to tell all
of our readers where Chronicles of Chaos is headed as we plunge into
our tenth year of existence.
There have been some staff changes recently here at CoC. One of our
newest writers, Adrian Magers, has left us to focus 100% of his time
on his new band and we wish him the best of luck in all his future
endeavors. Also leaving our ranks are two of our oldest staff
members: Adrian Bromley and Alain Gaudrault will be officially
leaving the staff. As you well know, Adrian was the co-founder of
Chronicles of Chaos and Alain joined forces with us on our second
issue. You just don't get any older than these old timers. Their
contributions to CoC made this magazine what it is today. And
although they may not be official staff members any longer, they will
always be close friends to all of us.
With this staff revitalization comes new blood, whom I am proud to
announce today: Todd DePalma hails from Long Island and comes to us
seeking to expand his writing repetoire and break new ground with
CoC, and James Slone is a name you may have heard in the past -- his
work at previous magazines caught our eye and we are delighted that
he's decided to bring his niche expertise to bear on CoC and our
readership. Please join me in welcoming our new additions; we hope to
see many great things from them in the future.
Those with a keen eye among you will notice a Bathory interview in
our archive as of July 16, 2004. This interview is actually a
re-print of a rare, early interview with Quorthon back in 1985.
Matthias thought it would be a fitting tribute to Quorthon, who
passed away unexpectedly in early June. Enjoy the interview and also
Matthias' introduction, which gives a lot of insight into the world
of early Black Metal at the time this interview was published and
Bathory's role in it. Rest in peace, Quorthon.
In closing, I want to thank our readers, as I've done countless times
in the past nine years. Without you and your continued interest in
Chronicles of Chaos, we would have bitten the dust aeons ago. Instead
we've stuck with it since 1995 when the Internet was in its
infancy, watched competitors come and go and watched the metal scene
completely transformed around us -- on more than one occasion.
Through it all the only thing that allowed this magazine to survive
and flourish for nine years is its indefatigable staff and its
sincere and loyal readership.
Cheers to you all.
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K I C K I N G * A S S I N ' 8 5 - Q U O R T H O N R I P
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"I just want to wake up, whether it's in heaven or in hell
or wherever, open a bottle of whiskey and know that I had a ball!"
by: Matthias Noll
As you all should know by now, Quorthon sadly passed away on the 7th
of June 2004 , at the age of 39. To honor his work, CoC has decided
to present the following interview to you -- and for the first time
in the existence of CoC, this is not an original piece of work, but
rather an interview that was originally published in one of the best
printed metal publications that ever existed: KICK*ASS magazine.
KICK*ASS disappeared almost two decades ago, and its editor Bob
Muldowney has gone MIA as well -- at least as far as we at CoC know.
Anyone who senses copyright infringements is hereby asked and
encouraged to stand up and be counted.
Besides the fact that this is one of the rare early interviews with
Quorthon, I find this piece to be especially interesting due to a
variety of reasons. This interview provides a look back to a point in
time when metal history was actually happening. Several passages
(like for example the constant mentioning of the "death metal fad")
could easily be taken from a 2004 interview, where the same problems
-- namely too many bands, too many crappy releases -- still exist.
Replace black with death and it describes the situation towards the
end of the second black metal wave or the second demise of death
metal during the mid-'90s. From today's perspective it's even more
peculiar, because the number of records that got released back then
is small compared to what we see today. Some problems have always
existed and will never go away.
I also believe it might be interesting for some of our readers to see
that in the mid-'80s, death and black metal were hardly considered
separate genres -- something that is often ignored in discussions
about the early days of black metal and about how to categorize bands
that range from Mercyful Fate to Hellhammer and Bathory.
In addition, there's also the question of "who created black metal",
which is as much a topic for discussion these days as it was back in
1985 -- even among the CoC staff. Quorthon has always denied that
Venom was his main influence; in this interview, he at least admits
that he's heard and even loves _Black Metal_. What's also interesting
is his claim to "have been the first maniac to know about Venom in
Sweden". If you take this last quote and remember that _Welcome to
Hell_ came out as early as 1981 and instantly made a splash in the
underground, and that _Black Metal_ got released in 1982, it's hard
to believe -- at least for me, who saw and still sees the same
similarities as Muldowney -- that Quorthon did not get exposed to
massive doses of Venom before the Bathory debut in 1984. Of course
this is my interpretation of what may have happened, and what it
comes down to in the end is whether you believe that what Quorthon
has said over the years about this issue is true or not.
Among many other things -- for example, the absolutely hilarious
statements about "Wimphammer / Celtic Compost" (and remember this
comes from a guy who together with Hellhammer, Frost and a few others
is considered to have created the pillars of black metal) -- it's
interesting that Quorthon was not at all concerned about his image.
The fact that he openly and honestly admits liking Motley Crue and
writing ballads and pop music (at a time when Metallica got accused
of having sold out with _Ride the Lightning_, and people like Nasty
Ronny from Nasty Savage filled KICK*ASS pages explaining what they
would do with the chopped-off head of Vince Neil) is absolutely
stunning. In the realm of underground metal in the mid-'80s -- which
was as much concerned about image and "trueness" (even if the word
had no meaning back then) as the black metal scene of today -- this
is the equivalent to Euronymous confessing his love for the music of
Michael Jackson during the recording session for _De Mysteriis dom
Sathanas_.
When you look at the "Venom is not black metal because they were
never serious" discussions that keep popping up everywhere, it would
be interesting to know why Bathory and Quorthon have never fallen
prey to the same nonsensical and revisionist interpretation of the
past. Despite these surprising confessions, early Bathory has not
sustained any damage and miraculously retained an effective shroud of
obscurity up to this day. A possible explanation that makes quite a
lot of sense to me is the fact that Bathory never played live and
never took the risk of damaging their public image by exposing their
ordinary selves and lousy skills on stage -- something that I
consider to be the main reason why the public perception of Venom as
the most evil and menacing people that ever walked the earth
went down the drain during the mid-'80s. It seems that Quorthon
accidentally (simply because he couldn't assemble a band and show off
his flame-throwers) found a formula that would work equall y well for
a band like Darkthrone. However, especially during the second half of
the interview, Quorthon doesn't come across as being any more "trve",
"kvlt" or serious than Konrad, Jeff and Tony, or other people from
assorted Newcastle pubs. So, I'll be looking forward to a "Bathory
were not black metal because Quorthon enjoyed listening to Motley
Crue better than celebrating black masses" thread on our message
board.
Most importantly, this piece serves the main purpose of paying
tribute to Quorthon, Bathory, and especially his importance in the
creation of the black metal genre and the fact that he played a main
role in shaping metal, even as we know it today in 2004.
In addition, I would also like to take the opportunity to hail
KICK*ASS and namely Bob Muldowney who conducted this interview (of
course the "ed." comments are also his), and who from my perspective
also played quite an important role during the rise of black, thrash
and death metal. His dedication and totally no-frills style, and the
fact that he never refrained from being critical and sometimes
brutally honest has and will always impress me.
Quorthon himself provides the perfect quote to end my rather lengthy
introduction: "I just want to wake up, whether it's in heaven or in
hell or wherever, open a bottle of whiskey and know that I had a
ball!" May it be so! Thank you for the music!
BATHORY - By Bob Muldowney.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(From KICK*ASS Magazine, A Journalistic Poser Holocaust,
Volume XXXI, November 1985.)
At the time I initially heard the first Bathory album, death metal
was just beginning to become the underground fad it now is. I saw the
cover, the song titles, read the lyrics and put on the record, and I
thought that this was like a vinyl version of the Sodom demo (which,
itself, I loved, because it was different from and sicker than
anything I've heard since _Welcome to Hell_), nothing more. Speed,
satanic lyrics and image, distortion etc.
However something made me listen to the album again, and the more I
listened to it, the more I realized Bathory was not a band comprised
of little kids trying to be offensive and failing. Sure, the speed,
distortion and raw production was there, but the more I listened to
the album, the more I realized those three factors (speed, distortion
and production) were part of the Bathory sound, not the entire
Bathory sound. The songs were legitimately heavy, and the more death
metal demos and records I heard in proceeding months couldn't
come close to delivering the sheer death metal hell that Bathory
delivered.
I then decided it was time to feature this band in KICK*ASS. However,
attempts at such continually proved fruitless. At that point, I
further began to realize this was a different band. No names on the
back of the album. Not a bunch of kids who wanted to see their "evil"
picture in every death metal fanzine to attain limited local
"notoriety".
Shortly after KICK*ASS #30 came out, I got a phone call from
Quorthon, rumoured to be Bathory, a one-man death metal assault
squadron. He was not some weenie talking in a "death metal tone of
voice". He didn't scream at me about the nuns he's raped, about the
black masses he conducts, about the little children he's deflowered
then killed. He came across over the phone the same way Tom Warrior
comes across to me through his letters -- a normal, intelligent heavy
metal musician who enjoys playing brutally heavy death metal music.
As a matter of fact, one of the things I vividly remember Quorthon
telling me was that he hates "death metal" and simply refers to the
music he plays as "heavy metal". I was anxious to do the interview,
and when it was over, my respect for and opinion of Quorthon were
even greater than they had been before.
As I mentioned, it is widely believed that Bathory and Quorthon are
interchangeable names. Quorthon is Bathory, Bathory is Quorthon. No
other musicians, no actual band. Such beliefs are only strengthened
when one notices the lack of interviews he does and the fact that the
first record (and now the second one) gives no listing as to band
members. I put this theory/question to Quorthon at the start.
"I believe Bathory rehearsed for the first time the 13th of March
1983. I met these two guys who already had the equipment and a
rehearsal place so I said, 'Hey, why not put something together?' We
had a lead guitar player auditioning for us after a month, but he
stayed with the band for only three and a half minutes, the time it
took the three of us to play one of our songs for him. I think we
played a song called "Witchcraft", a song we haven't yet recorded and
probably never will."
"We never took this thing with the band too seriously. We just wanted
to let off a lot of steam and have fun. We didn't even care about
writing some original stuff at all the first couple of months. We
blasted off with covers of Motorhead, Sabbath, Maiden, Anvil and
Status Quo. It's not that we were too influenced by them or really
big fans of them, but all three of us knew their songs quite well."
After the band's volume forced them out of their current residence,
the summer of 1983 found a new place to live and rehearse. "The other
two guys came up with this asshole claiming he was the new vocalist
of the band. They never really liked my way of singing so they came
up with this decayed asshole. Besides, I never sang too much anyway.
I ran around and shook my head till my brain felt like it was chopped
meat, and I never had any breath to sing. [The new singer] stayed
with the band until the middle of February 1984 when I gave him the
kick in his ass a few hours before we went into the studio to record
two tracks for the _Swedish Metal Attack_ sampler."
"I knew the Boss [Boerje Forsberg of Tyfon Grammofon AG Records] from
the time I used to help Tyfon out listening to demo tapes and picking
out new up-and-coming bands, so when I found out that he was going to
put together a metal sampler, I called him up and said he just had to
use one or two tracks with us... he gave us a few hours in the studio
one afternoon."
Quorthon said that "the band" was pleasantly surprised with the
favourable response elicited from the public who became fans of the
band based on their two songs on that compilation album. However,
towards the end of April 1984, the band split up. "We slowly grew
away from each other. They were not into this fast metal at all. I
wanted to go on with total hellpaced destructive shit. They didn't
wimp out at all. They dressed different and listened to totally
different stuff than me, but we are still best of friends." What a
pleasure to hear, rather than the usual death metal thing when a band
member leaves and the remaining members scream about what a poser he
is.
Despite this split, Tyfon wanted an album from Bathory, so Quorthon
began looking around for guys who could fit in (and survive in)
Bathory. However, this was not an easy task, as Quorthon discovered
that most musicians "would rather bet their ass on a band making sure
not to sweat on stage, making sure not to headbang as that is not
good for their hairstyle, and a band walking around the rock clubs of
Stockholm claiming to be the best with the heaviest record deal, and
a band with five blonde members walking home in anger and tearing
their Bon Jovi posters apart when they don't get laid after the gig."
"I told [prospective band members] what I wanted this band to be all
about: I wanted to breath fire with a smashed guitar, wear all these
chains, spikes and studded leather, vomit blood. I knew this guy who
made bombs and stage effects and he made four flame jets for Bathory
spewing out five foot flames. When the record company called and
asked how the auditioning was going I told them I had a few guys
interested but no one looking crazy enough to be a permanent members
of the band." Quorthon went no farther than that, keeping the mystery
of the band intact.
At this point in time, Quorthon admits he does not have a band
together. "The people who I used to jam with a bit have started their
own bands now and I don't know... maybe I can find two maniacs in
U.K. or U.S. the second album was recorded the same way as the first
one [but how was that one recorded?! - ed.], with almost the same
equipment [except] on this second one, I used my Marshalls; on the
first one, I used my little Yamaha 20W home amp. Whether it was
recorded with a 'band' or not, I cannot tell you, Bob. If I told you
the true story it wouldn't matter anymore. I want to have this touch
of anonymity with the band and therefore I don't do too many
interviews." Mystery... suspense... intrigue... anonymity... far more
effective than mindless gibberish about satan, evil, and violence,
wouldn't you say?
Anyone listening to the first album and the second album can't help
but notice a heavy Venom influence and draw parallels to Venom over
each band's first two albums. The first Bathory album's album cover,
song titles and lyrics sounded like they were all the end-product of
a Venom fanatic. Additionally the first Bathory album sounded like a
faster and more raw-sounding version of _Welcome to Hell_, while _The
Return..._ shows the same type of musical "maturation" and production
improvement that _Black Metal_ showed over its predecessor. However,
Quorthon takes exception to such ideas. "I'm not a fan of Venom at
all, though I love the _Black Metal_ album. Before _Black Metal_ and
after it, they have not [impressed] me at all. They really could have
gone far. I thank them for what they have done for the Satanic-based
metal movement of today, but in an exaggerated form."
"I have heard Slayer's first [album] and a few [songs from] bands
such as Sodom, Destruction, Wimphammer / Celtic Compost [Oh my! -
ed.], and I think they all suck. I don't even listen to black metal,
death metal, satanic metal, or thrash metal at all. It's mostly crap.
I don't say that Bathory is the best or anything, just that I don't
like any of these bands mentioned. It's all up to the kid who buys
our albums. I may think that Wimphammer / Celtic Compost is the
biggest load of horseshit I've ever heard, but I respect them [I can
tell! - ed.] and wish them the best of luck in the future. Slayer may
have tracks faster than Bathory but what the hell... on the third
album, I'll beat them all when it comes to speed."
"I write slow metal and fast metal, it all depends on what I have in
my balls and on my mind for the day. Bathory have some slow tracks on
first album [like] "Necromancy", "Raise the Dead" and "Reaper". On
the new album "Born for Burning", "Bestial Lust", "The Rite of
Darkness", and the middle part of "Reap of Evil" and the second half
of "Sadist" is quite slow. Once I had this question sheet from a
magazine and they asked me whether Bathory was death metal, black
metal, thrash metal, zombie metal, or even corpse pile metal or
simply just skullcrushing fucking metal... What happened to heavy
metal?! Bathory is simply just a metal band. It may be totally
hellpaced, it may be heavy and really slow. I may sing about Satan,
hell, perverted sex, cunts, the power of the weather, blasphemy
and... or a totally evil epic; I may dress up in spikes, studded
black leather, chains, spit blood, and breath fire, wear all these
upside down black crosses and bounce my guitar to the wall while
doing the leads in the studio; but it's still metal -- has always
been and will always be metal!"
There's little doubt from those statements that Quorthon is a true
metaller who happens to enjoy playing blood-curdling death metal, and
a serious metaller who is sick of what the death metal fad has
become. "Yeah, well this satanic thrashing thing has really become a
fad alright. I really think it has grown into something I really
don't want to be a part of any longer. Too many bands today come up
with crap demos that get quite good reviews in underground mags
while, at the same time, bands like Slayer and Bathory spend a week
in the studio with all the expenses and get an eight or a nine in the
same mag. Too many bands today put out shit vinyl and poison the
metal market. In a year or eighteen months, this satanic shit will
make people throw up all over a metal album."
"I am aware of Bathory being one of those bands considered to be
Satanic and total evil, but we're not. Bathory is a good way for me
to unify my biggest interests in this world: sex, horror, the occult,
death, speed, and noise. You may call it an image or not. I don't,
because I have never really put up an image. I dress in studded
leather and spikes and chains privately as well as [for the band]. I
may not be totally evil person, but I have my periods like anybody.
My friends say that I change a lot mentally during the period I write
the lyrics or a new track."
Getting back to Bathory, since Quorthon has never been able to find
any permanent or even semi-permanent band members, there has yet to
be a live Bathory show. "We've been close several times but when I
tell them what we do on stage, the answer is always the same: 'OK,
we'll see what we can do.' We've played in front of friends
sometimes and thrashing around the rehearsal place, which gave us the
reputation as the most outrageous, craziest and wildest thrashing
band in Stockholm."
One of the main reasons that Quorthon has been able to keep Bathory
going, despite all the obstacles, is the strong support he has
received from Tyfon Grammofon AB Records, who he said "gave us money,
time, and studio dates during a period when no record company would
even dream of looking our way. Tyfon gives a very free hand
when comes to the band. They don't complain about the material,
titles, music, [or] lyrics, they love this evil shit and certainly
don't look down at us just because Bathory may not be as good
[musicianship-wise] as their other bands. We're like a family, all
the bands, and Boss is our father."
Quorthon said that the band's first album was recorded in 55-60 hours
and cost about $500. "The studio was so small that the whole drum kit
could not be used in case we wanted to have enough space for both the
bass amp and the guitar amp. I am aware of the first album being a
little too short, but I didn't have more usable songs at that time. I
had tracks like "Die in Fire", "I Live in Sin", "Take it on your
Knees", "Satan, Master", and stuff like that... I didn't want to use
"The Return" on the first one because I wanted it to grow and,
besides, I needed new lyrics for it. The cover may not be the best
piece of art [as well], but I had three days to come up with
something or the record company would print a picture on the front."
"The second album was a little more expensive, about $3000. We worked
on the album for more than two weeks because I wasn't pleased with
the sound. The drums were recorded in this big room, like a concert
hall, the bass was recorded through an aluminium pipe-line to get
this very specific sound, and the guitars [one rhythm / one
rhythm-lead] was recorded in the same room as the drums. The cover
this time is much better and the fans deserve that. I receive about
three or ten fan letters a day. They send me Bathory comics, lyrics
in case I'd be out of inspiration and the time gets short, drawings,
and pictures of their girlfriend's cunts."
"The third album will be much heavier. I have several new tracks and
some of them are really heavy, some totally hellpaced and some just
thrashing metal at various speeds. The title of the third album will
probably be "Music from under the Sign of the Black Mark". It'll be
partly recorded in a church. I'll use a ten-girl choir [use them for
what? - ed.], instruments from the 14th and 15th century -- the fans
can expect a lot of surprises. I want to show them that you certainly
don't have to go on at 100mph just to sell or be powerful or wild."
Okay, now that we know all about Bathory (or about as much as we'll
ever know!), I wanted to delve into the person who is Quorthon. From
various statements made thusfar, one can easily see that he is not
some death metal weenie, but what goes on his mind when he is not
involved in Bathory? What makes him tick? Is Quorthon an image or is
it a person? "I may love this evil shit alright but I have distance
to what I'm doing. I can take off this studded shirt, look at myself
in the mirror, and see an ordinary kid from Stockholm into metal and
cunts. I'm not a beast or an overly-sick person.
"Quorthon is a two-way thing. First, it's a good name and it fits in
with the certain style of Bathory. Second, I don't want to use my
real name in case I'd start a new band after Bathory when that days
comes, and I wouldn't want people to be reminded of Bathory while
looking at me in this new band." Quorthon also wanted to make one
thing clear about his vocals. "I must have been the first maniac to
know about Venom in Sweden. Cronos has done a lot for this evil thing
and I thank him for that, but he didn't inspire me to sing this way
as some seem to think. I used to sing through the guitar pick-up once
and, shit, that really did sound cool, so I picked the whole thing
up, growl and roar like a beast."
"I'm totally comfortable when I have my 60 cigarettes a day, some
wine and whiskey, a cunt to fuck and a guitar to crank up really
loud. I may not live day to day, more like night to night, but I have
big plans and I take one week at a time. I just want to wake up,
whether it's in heaven or in hell or wherever, open a bottle of
whiskey and know that I had a ball!"
"I quite like cunts and I've had a lot of them. I like women as
friends and as sexual toys. Every new cunt is an experience because
they all want to be fucked, licked and beaten up in so many different
ways. I have written a few tracks about women. "Born for Burning" is
a song dedicated to a witch who lived in Holland from 1521 to 1591.
"Bestial Lust" is a track dedicated to this girl I fucked on the
lady's room floor at a rock club here in Stockholm, one night who was
really into bestial sex."
As far as his pre-Bathory days, Quorthon was quite vague. "Let's just
say I was born during the middle sixties -- peace, love, and
understanding, brother. Bathory is actually my first real band.
Before starting Bathory, I got together with some friends and
thrashed but I felt I wanted to start something for real. I'm self
taught, having started to play the drums a the age of nine, then
guitar and bass, piano and some other instruments at the age of
fifteen."
"I don't like any of these bands out there today playing black, death
or simply just decayed metal -- well, today you can use any word and
be right, so I can't figure out what band influenced me to perform
this type of hellpaced metal. I don't just write this kind of evil
shit. I write ballads, rock, pop, and metal because I enjoy writing
different kinds of music."
"My favourite bands would be Kiss form 1973 to 1978, Sex Pistols,
GBH, The Beatles. I like Toyah, the first three albums with Pink
Floyd, some Motorhead. I like Motley Crue and Aerosmith, Space Ace
Frehley, Sid Vicious, some Triumph, some Sabbath, Ripper, some Sweet
stuff, and classical music. That certainly is an odd combination, so
you know the end result would have to be sick. It's sort of like
throwing ice cream, chopped beef, pickles, vinegar, and onions all
together into a blender, mixing then thoroughly, and tasting the end
result -- SICK!!!
One other thing that Quorthon mentioned to me over the phone. An
interview with him was published in some German metal publication
which included him saying he liked some Motley Crue songs. He said
sometime after that, he received a couple of letters from people who
said that they burned their Bathory records when they found out
Quorthon was a "poser". Why is he a poser? Because he likes some
Motley Crue songs? If he enjoys some Motley Crue songs, some Beatles
songs, whatever, but listed his favourite bands as Destruction, Death
and Satan's Penis just to "impress" death metal weenies, then he'd be
a "poser". And why did these people burn their Bathory records? Does
the music sound any different? What a bunch of losers.
Anyway, that about wraps up this interview, and I'd have to say that
from it all can see that despite the underground fad status which has
caused death metal to spit up a bunch of chucks of metallic vomit
that do little else but leave a sour taste in any true metaller's
mouth, there are a couple of people/bands who are true metallers
playing savage death metal with sincerity, all the while keeping
things in their proper perspective. Quorthon and Bathory, Bathory and
Quorthon. We may never really know for sure if they are one in the
same. We may never know the whole story behind Bathory and, while I
remain curious, the knowledge of anything beyond what has been
discussed this far is quite irrelevant. As long as Quorthon keeps
Bathory alive, as long his sincerity is maintained, as long as
Bathory remains a viable entity in the metal scene, that's all I care
about. Is there anything else?
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A F U L L Y L O A D E D D I S C H A R G E O F M E T A L
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC Chats with Schmier from Destruction about the band's first
official DVD release _Live Discharge - 20 Years of Total Destruction_
by: Paul Schwarz
Whatever your opinion on Destruction -- whether you think they
started to suck after the _Bestial Invasion of Hell_ demo, _Sentence
of Death_ MCD, their _Infernal Overkill_ debut, or even if you think
they've never made a bad album (at least with the main original
members present...) -- it is undeniable that they have become thrash
metal legends. Perhaps it is even appropriate to say metal legends.
Thus a packed-to-the-gills DVD from this German institution is far
from unwarranted -- and when the DVD is as thoroughly comprehensive
as _Live Discharge - 20 Years of Total Destruction_, there's
no reason to complain. Centrally composed of an eighteen-song
meta-concert pieced together from three live performances by the band
-- and interspersed with backstage footage and the like -- the DVD
also features a host of extras, including Destruction performances
from the Eighties and backstage featurettes. I spoke to Schmier back
in March, before I'd had a chance to look at the DVD, to find out all
about it and what Destruction had been up to recently. Hope you enjoy
the results.
CoC: Destruction have recently been playing shows in Latin America,
right?
Schmier: Yeah. It was killer. We played three weeks, mainly in
Brazil. We had a show cancelled in Costa Rica because we
were getting tight on time -- everybody was getting sick and
we had to go back to Germany and continue playing here. So
to make it back to Germany we had to cancel the show in
Costa Rica, but we hope to go back and make up for it soon.
CoC: So the tour was successful?
S: It was cool. Record sales are improving and the shows had like
1000 people or more every night, so it was pretty cool.
CoC: Coming onto the new DVD: how did that come together?
S: We took the best parts of each show, so it's actually a complete
setlist of a normal Destruction gig, but made up mostly of parts
from Switzerland -- from the club show -- and, I think, three or
four songs from each festival. I think it's a nice mixture, you
know. We have the indoor club show, we have the at-night (Full
Force) festival performance, and we have the daylight Wacken
festival performance. It has all the, you know, different colours,
and I think it's much more interesting than just one single show.
CoC: It definitely has the variety: obviously there are only so many
minutes you can cram onto a DVD.
S: I think we have almost 4 1/2 hours, everything together. That's a
lot, I think. We wanted to put as much as possible. We really had
problems to fit everything on the DVD, 'cause it was getting very
tight. My brother, who was managing the whole thing, he really had
problems to get everything on, so we had to squeeze it a little
bit, you know?
CoC: You had to make some tough decisions to cut together the best
footage that you could get into a single show, to the maximum
amount of time that you had?
S: Yes. It also features a lot of little bits and pieces from the
road and also some older stuff. So I think we have the whole
variety, and I think for the first DVD we ever did, it's a great
job. It's definitely value for money, especially because it also
features the Japan-only release live album, _Alive Devastation_.
CoC: This live CD features the entirety of the Wacken 2002 show,
featured in part on the DVD itself, right?
S: Yeah. It's the one where we had the big fuck-up at the end where
the stage was totally out of power and we had to stop the show.
That's all on there, on the DVD .
CoC: Was it hard, getting _Alive Devastation_ [previously only
available on import in Europe -- Paul] packaged as a bonus with
the - standard- edition of _Live Discharge_?
S: Well, we kicked Nuclear Blast's asses over this. We said: we're
gonna release it worldwide as a DVD -with- the bonus CD. First of
all they wanted to do just a limited edition of 5000. We said no.
CoC: So you put your foot down?
S: I think it's a cool compromise. This way, everybody that was
complaining before that _Alive Devastation_ was a Japan-only
release -- that you couldn't get it in Europe -- can get it now
for free: just buy the DVD.
CoC: For the actual construction of the DVD, did you look to some of
the live videos or live DVDs that had been done by other
bands? For example, the format you use -- of concert footage
interspersed with interview or backstage material -- reminds me
of _Under Siege_ and _Live Intrusion_, from Sepultura and Slayer
respectively, and even, going right back, to Combat's _The
Ultimate Revenge_ Venom / Slayer / Exodus video.
S: I think of course you need to see what others do, to improve and
to make a nice statement. I've been watching a couple of DVDs --
not even Slayer or Sepultura: they have more been like latest
releases of other bands, of other big bands. To see, you know, how
high the bar is -- 'cause we definitely didn't want to release
something that looks cheap. So we tried to do whatever we could to
play in the first league with the DVD thing.
CoC: It's a really good thing for a band like you to do. Destruction
-- no offence intended -- are a band who stand very much on
their reputation, if you see what I mean?
S: Yeah. It's true.
CoC: People know Destruction. Destruction have a classic sort of
status. So even if someone were to put out a cheap Destruction
bootleg, a lot of people would buy it just 'cause it was
Destruction. So you could have taken a very different attitude,
and just issued something 'cause you knew people would but it.
It's good to see that you took on the challenge of doing
something good.
S: For us it was a big challenge because we don't have the twenty
years every year. So we felt, therefore, that we also had to prove
to people that we're still trying to do our best and, of course,
it's a big chance for us to reach those people, also, who never
saw Destruction before live -- somebody in Malaysia can now buy a
DVD and see what Destruction is all about. The DVD also features a
look behind the curtain, a look into the band. That's definitely
what I like about the DVD thing: it's not just a plain concert.
It's a look into the band, which also gives everybody the chance
to see the band.
CoC: So, to beg the question, what -is- Destruction all about? What
are people going to -see- on the DVD? What is it about
Destruction that comes out of the experience of watching _Live
Discharge_?
S: Basically, it's definitely that besides the show we're trying to
have a good time because, you know, the world sucks big time. So I
try when I'm on the road with the band to live the tour life. You
know, sex, drugs and rock n' roll is definitely... still around. I
mean, it's a big -party- for us: to go out there, jam with the
fans. Also we try as much as possible to have contact with the
fans besides the show. You know, just go out there, sign
autographs, shake some hands, have some drinks together. That's
what's in all the fucking backstage footage. I think you get a
nice view that we are a fucking aggressive live band, that we take
our music very serious on stage and we are fighting for some
recognition and some political statements also, sometimes. But on
the other side we're, as much as concerns the band, trying to have
-fun- besides that. That's what you can see in the footage: it's
not overplayed, it's just real stuff. And I like that, you know.
CoC: Talking about the actual footage, especially from Wacken, was it
a difficult process to get the rights to it? Because I've heard
rumours that the Wacken organisation makes bands sign contracts
to the effect that the Wacken organisation owns the footage.
S: Well, it's not that, but it's like: they bring a film team and
then you can... pay the whole thing, you know. That usually means
that the record company gets an offer -- they say: we filmed ten
bands of yours, and if you want the material you pay this amount
of money. It's a kind of... you know, eat it or forget it. You
cannot choose. The good thing was that we knew that, so we brought
our own film team.
CoC: You managed to get away with that?
S: Well, when they asked us to play we said we wanted to film it on
our own, and they told us that was no problem. But when we were
there and filming with our own film team, they were like: what the
fuck are you doing? Why do you have your own film team? We said:
it's in our contract. Don't worry about it. Even when the DVD came
out they thought we'd used their footage!
CoC: So because Destruction have a certain amount of clout, you
-could- say that because the Wacken people couldn't afford to
not have you play?
S: Exactly. That's how it works.
CoC: It's good that you did that: I think that's a bit rich, what the
Wacken people do.
S: I guess they all do it. They fucking make money out of that. We
tried to put even some more footage on the DVD from other
festivals where we couldn't film ourselves because it was in
foreign countries; and then they made us the offer: three songs,
10,000 bucks. We were like, "Fuck off! How many DVDs do you think
we're gonna sell? 500,000?! What the fuck is that!?" So we didn't
put on footage from two other big festivals where we had pretty
good footage too, but they just wanted too much money, so we said,
"No way".
CoC: What's the possibility of releasing any of the classic
Destruction performances, visual or audio? It's something
Mercyful Fate and King Diamond are doing, Kreator are looking
into it, and it's a market that's clearly rich.
S: You mean the old stuff?
CoC: Yeah, classic shows from the Eighties.
S: There's not that much existing.
CoC: I have a friend who recorded your first show in Frankfurt, when
you played at a Tankard record signing which Sodom were
performing at...
S: <laughs> I remember. We were there, Sodom were playing and then
they were like: Destruction is here! Let's get them on stage and
they will play with us. So we jumped on stage and we made some
noise, and yeah, that was basically our first show, but it wasn't
because it was Desaster. <laughs>
CoC: I've listened to the tape. It's actually quite interesting.
There was a rumour that Sodom were upstaged because although you
didn't play that -well-, there was something that came out of
it. There was some sort of energy that was there, and you can
hear it. It comes through the early demos; and in this
performance you sort of hear that rough and raw sort of -edge-
-- which you then hone, obviously, into the speed metal sound of
_Sentence of Death_ and _Infernal Devastation_.
S: For us it was just the first time on stage, you know, at this
show. So we were kind of excited about it, but it wasn't the best
performance ever because, as you can imagine, the first time we
were seventeen or sixteen and a half. I don't even remember. We
were young. So we just had a blast to be -invited- to go on stage,
because at this time the demo tape was just out for a few weeks.
The underground was fucking rising big time. We were really
surprised about it. So I guess it was a cool thing, but it was
definitely not a great show at this time. Talking about those
shows: they are really hard to get in good quality. That's why we
have some little pieces of some old performances on the DVD also,
but the quality is really bad. We tried to get better quality, but
it's really hard to find.
CoC: Have you been reaching out into the underground, asking if
people have anything?
S: Yeah. We tried to get some stuff, but the stuff people sent in was
-really- bad quality, on VHS tapes. So if you put this into a
digital system it's getting worse -- but we're still gonna keep an
eye open on that, maybe for a future project we will have the
chance one day to do a best of old material, and do like kind of a
medley or whatever we can do about it. But it's definitely a
problem that it's twenty years ago and the VHS tapes, they're
fucking falling apart now. I did just hear that Gary from Tankard
-- he told me he has a big collection, so I will come back to
him about this, because he told me he's got some stuff from
Destruction I never heard of. So maybe, for any future DVDs, if we
start collecting now we will have something for the future.
There's definitely a couple of songs from old performances on the
DVD also.
CoC: How balanced would you say the setlist is these days? Do you
like to -- or on the other hand, do you feel that you have to
play up the old stuff?
S: Well, I think the old stuff is a big part of Destruction -- so you
cannot leave the old stuff behind and play just the new stuff. I
think the balance -- if we headline and play a two hour set, the
set definitely features a lot of old songs. Especially the
classical stuff, from _Infernal Overkill_. I wouldn't say that
we're a band that just plays a lot of new stuff. I think the
balance has to be there, and it's actually a 50/50 thing.
Basically, if we play a one-hour set, it's a 50/50 thing. If we
play a longer set, then it's even more old stuff, I think.
CoC: Do you feel like enough of the audience, at least, are -with
you- on the new stuff?
S: Oh yeah. We have a couple of new songs that are overtaking the old
ones right now. "Nailed to the Cross" and "Thrash 'til Death" have
definitely overtaken a lot of the old songs. I think if you were
to put a top 5 together right now, first place would definitely be
"Curse of the Gods", and second place would be "Nailed to the
Cross", I think. Those two songs are top hits live right now.
Also, "Thrash 'til Death" is one of the songs that people love,
also "Butcher Strikes Back". I think those three new ones are on
the same level as "Bestial Invasion", "Mad Butcher" and "Curse of
the Gods". Sometimes, live, I'll just stop my wocals and people
are singing with me, and you see all the horns and the woices --
you can definitely tell that some of the new songs have reached
this point where people don't care if it's from the Eighties or if
it's from the year 2000. It's just a classical Destruction song,
now.
CoC: Well, it was nice to talk to you: hopefully we'll see you in the
UK some time soon...
S: Yeah. A UK tour is still planned. After our last appearance in
London we were talking about an English tour and Metalysee had
been connecting us with some English promoters, but then, all of a
sudden, Metalysee backed up, and I don't know what happened --
really happened; because we never got any confirmation for English
dates. There were some strange fuck-ups. Now, our agency is trying
to set up something for Autumn or so, some UK tour. I hope it will
happen. We will see. I hope so. It's always up to the promoters:
we want to play, we just need to find some promoters that are
gonna risk their ass on some thrash metal, you know. It's
difficult.
CoC: Oh, one little thing: is there any thought of adding "The
Ritual" into your setlist? Do you still play that?
S: We were playing "The Ritual", actually, let's say... two years
ago, at the headlining shows. So we still have "The Ritual" in the
setlist once in a while. Right now we are working on bringing back
some classics and exchanging some others. So we have "Deathtrap"
back in the setlist now. We have "Thrash Attack" back in the
setlist. So I think "The Ritual" is still on the list --
especially because just recently in Brazil, Kisser from Sepultura
was playing with us and he was playing the riff of "The Ritual",
and he was like, "Yeah, that's my favourite song!" So we were
like, "Hey, maybe we should play it again one day." Because we had
it in the setlist on the 2001 tour -- we just try to switch it
around a little bit. We almost play every song from _Infernal
Overkill_, so sometimes it's just nice to kick out "Tormentor" and
bring in "The Ritual", or kick out "Invincible Force" and bring in
whatever, you know? You cannot play every song on that album. "The
Ritual" is definitely a song that we are practicing right now,
again, for upcoming shows because we wanna exchange the setlist a
little bit. Right now, at some headlining shows, we are just
asking the people: what do you want? So if they're screaming for a
song, we just play it because we have them all in the setlist in
our heads, we just cannot play 2 1/2 hours of thrash or we will
die and people will fucking lose their heads! <laughs> But close
to a two-hour set is usual right now, so it's cool.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
F R O M N O T H I N G T O N U M B E R " I "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with Tomas Haake of Meshuggah
by: Jackie Smit
It's a funny thing, trends. Usually started off the back of something
fairly obvious and arbitrary, it's always highly amusing to observe
those who are first to jump on the proverbial bandwagon, staunchly
claiming to be the ones who were "there from the beginning". With the
exception possibly of Opeth, this ironic state of affairs has never
been more applicable than in the case of Swedish math-metallers
Meshuggah, whose star has been on the ascent from the moment that a
morbidly obese Jack Osbourne waddled his way on to television and
used their "Future Breed Machine" to intimidate his neighbours. True,
they may have been around for more than a decade before that,
creating some memorable slabs of metal like _Destroy Erase Improve_,
but pre quasi- celebrity endorsement, the majority of the media would
not give them the time of day. But times have changed and right now
it looks as though the world at large has finally started to "get"
Meshuggah. Thankfully though, the band seem just as hungry as ever to
dumbfound, confuse and befuddle -- whilst still keeping it heavy, of
course. I caught up with drummer Tomas Haake on the eve of the band's
recent London show to discuss future plans, past mistakes and the
sweet taste of comeuppance.
CoC: Your last album, _Nothing_, was released off the back of a lot
of publicity and hype. You were on the Ozzfest, you'd been
mentioned by Jack Osbourne on their show and you were being
touted as the 'next big thing' in virtually every other magazine
across the globe. In light of this, are you happy with the
overall response you eventually got for the album?
Tomas Haake: Oh, of course we're happy with the response. I mean,
sales-wise it's not like we've made it big or anything,
but it seems like we're getting a lot of credit from
other musicians and we're moving head commercially, so
that's all good. As far as the Jack Osbourne thing goes,
I think it's a bit overblown. It's three minutes of an
old song, and I wouldn't really add too much value to
that -- I doubt it really helped us all that much. We
did get some extra press out of it, but that was
from people who were more interested in why we were
mentioned, rather than in anything actually about the
band. So, we got some more press from it, but at the end
of the day, it's not really press that you need. I think
that the main reason that we got on to the Ozzfest was
not because of Jack Osbourne anyway. The same people
that booked us for the Tool tour were very involved in
the Ozzfest, and having seen us the year before, they
got in contact with us again and that got us on the to
ur.
CoC: It's interesting that you mention press that one doesn't really
need -- in the UK especially, the mainstream metal magazines
seemed to have a sudden change of heart regarding Meshuggah
following your mention on the Osbournes, in the sense that
writers who a few years ago would never give you guys the time
of day, were suddenly acting as though they were your oldest and
most loyal fans. How do you feel about this shift in attitude?
TH: Well, I think it's either a case of the people in the press
taking too much notice of the things we talked about, or that
people are actually finally coming to grips with what we're doing
here. I'm not really sure, but I can imagine that it takes a lot
of time for people to understand what we're doing, because it's
kind of different. The average listener might not understand what
it is on first listen. It's not something that you just put on in
the background and leave it on. And that's what we like about
this music. We like the fact that people have to really listen to
it. You don't put it on at a party or something -- that would
wreck the party!
CoC: With _Nothing_ Meshuggah seemed to take another step into a more
concept-driven and avant-garde direction. Now with your upcoming
EP _I_, you've recorded a single song of 21 minutes. What was
the reason for doing something like this?
TH: Actually it was just one of those cases where everyone says
"Fuck, let's do it." We were asked by Jason [Mann, from
Mushroomhead], who now has his own small label that he's just
starting up, whether we'd like to do something for him. At the
time we were kind of in an argument with Nuclear Blast, because
according to our understanding we had no more obligations toward
them. So, we accepted it, went into the studio and played around
and hoped that something good would come out of it, and it did.
It's a really cool song -- Meshuggah fans will love it. It's
really intricate and it really grabs you as a listener. It also
goes through a lot of changes -- there are lots of mellow parts
and then there are parts that (for Meshuggah at least) are faster
than anything we've ever recorded. It has this kind of unserious
touch to it as well; it's quite funny at times, but it has a lot
of raw energy as well. I really think that people will like it.
CoC: Touching on the label issue for a moment -- your next album
(_Catch 33_) is still being released on Nuclear Blast later this
year, according to my knowledge.
TH: Yeah, that's right.
CoC: Have you guys decided to re-sign with them then?
TH: No, we haven't re-signed with them, it's just a matter of
opinion. They say that we owe them a full-length album and in our
opinion we don't, and instead of taking it to court -- no matter
who wins the case, the drawback would definitely be on our
account, because fans would have to wait longer for the next
record, we wouldn't be able to tour... It's basically just a case
of saying "Fuck it", and doing it and keeping the fans happy. And
it's going to be cool album -- we're not going to be putting out
a lot of nonsense. It's not a proper full- length if you will,
more like an experimental full-length. Like _I_, it will be one
single song, but at full- length. It's going to be much more
guitar riff based than anything we have ever done as well, so
there won't be as much of the drumming that kind of throws you
off -- just more strai
ghtforward, but at the same time totally
insane riffing.
CoC: I guess it stands to reason that this will be quite a departure
from _Nothing_?
TH: I'd say so, yes. It's definitely experimental and we're not
telling people that this is the next official full-length. If
you're looking for another _Chaosphere_ or another _Nothing_ that
contains a bunch of different songs, then this is probably not
the album that you want to buy, but if you're interested in
anything that we're doing then it's something you should check
out. Like I said, I'm sure that Meshuggah fans will love it. It's
definitely a step to the side of what we're doing right now.
CoC: Is there a single underlying concept running through _Catch 33_?
TH: There is a certain concept running through it if you will,
because it is just one song with one set of lyrics. At the same
time, the concept is very vague.
CoC: Looking back at how Meshuggah has evolved and the extent to
which the band take more and more chances with every album, what
has been the inspiration behind all these risks you've taken?
TH: I don't know, really. In one sense we've started listening to a
lot of different music, compared to what we listened to before.
We don't really listen to metal all that much anymore -- more
electronic and alternative styles. I think -that- on one hand has
probably contributed somewhat, and also the fact that we just
don't listen to all that much music in general anymore. You know,
we make our way as we're going -- we influence ourselves while
we're writing, as opposed to being influenced by other bands. We
couldn't give, you know, a fuck about what's trendy now or what's
working now. We've never cared about that stuff. The changes that
we've gone through in between _Destroy Erase Improve_ up until
the next full-length have been pretty big, but where we'll end up
after _Catch 33_ -- that's hard to say.
CoC: You haven't considered nine-string guitars yet, have you?
TH: <laughs> That would be difficult. You have to make the guitar
neck really long for that. Even with these eight-string guitars
that we're using, for them to be intonated properly and to sound
good, you need the guitar neck much longer. So for a nine-string
you're pretty much stretching the limits!
CoC: You mentioned earlier that Meshuggah is being referenced a lot
more by other bands lately and your band's influence is starting
to become more and more apparent on up and coming acts like
Mushroomhead. Out of fan, press and peer recognition -- which do
you value as being the most important?
TH: <pauses> That's really hard to say. It's definitely cool that
we have influenced other bands, because it's definitely an
indication that a lot people listen to our music and a lot of
people are into what we do. There's a lot of people that come up
to me and say that they're really sorry if we think they've
ripped us off, and we usually listen to their stuff and find that
there's a lot of our sound going on there. But at the end of the
day, we still haven't found anyone that sounds like us. Usually
there's a lot of drummers out there that think they can do
intricate parts, but to copy the style of guitar- playing and the
bass-lines that the guys in our band do is really hard. It's not
that we really mind either, though. Music is free for everyone to
take and remake. If that's what you want to do, then go ahead. We
don't want to do that. We're not interested in sounding like
anyone else. We definitely feel like we're pioneers in a way in
this metal genre that we play in. As far as getting our music out
and getting new fans -- that's what we're about. It gives us the
energy to continue. I mean, that's basically what bands do. They
try to reach out to new people, and as long as we keep growing
with each album, that's a good sign.
CoC: So aside from all these things that go along with being in a
band, what drives you as a person to still want to make music?
TH: Well, within the context of this band, I feel very free. I can
program or write or come up with pretty much everything and it
won't be like when we started out. We will always try to make
songs out of everything that someone comes up with. I mean, if it
doesn't work out, then that's okay too. We all have a fixed idea
of where we want our music to go and what sort of sounds we trip
on where we can say: 'Yeah, that sounds really fucking cool.' So,
that's definitely the strongest driving point for me. As a band
we also feel that we've only just begun. There's so much more out
there to collect and to create. That's a really strong driving
power.
CoC: Touring with bands that don't necessarily have a strong
connection on a musical level to what you do, like Tool, etc. --
is that something you want to do more of in future?
TH: That's not something that we necessarily want. To us it doesn't
matter if we're opening for a death metal band, or if we're
headlining with a band that we love. We just don't want to open
up for a band that we think sucks, or have a band open for us
that we don't like. That was also the setup with Tool -- they
could have had any band, but they wanted us on the tour and we
got decent pay for it too. So it's evident that they work in the
same way.
CoC: Who would be your dream band to tour with?
TH: I grew up listening to Rush, so to me it would be great to tour
with them, although I don't think that our music would work with
that. Tool was definitely one of the bands that I wanted to tour
with. Metallica, of course -- I think their fans are a lot more
harsh to opening bands, but I think that our music could work
along with a lot of different styles. With Tool we didn't expect
it to work because of their music style and because their crowd
is like 50% girls. We don't really attract girls other than
someone's girlfriend, you know. I don't think that we're your
typical "girl's music".
CoC: You're known for taking a long time between recording albums, so
what can we expect from Meshuggah in the next few years?
TH: Well, that's the cool thing now -- we have the EP coming out this
year and then _Catch 33_ around October / November. So that will
be two releases in this year, and we won't tour for them. So
right after they're released, we'll start on the next proper
Meshuggah full- length. When we're done with that, we'll probably
try to stay on the road for a while and get the most out of it.
We also want to go to places we haven't been yet, like South
Africa, Japan or Australia when we do that tour.
CoC: What would you regard as your greatest personal accomplishment
in Meshuggah so far?
TH: It's really hard to say. I mean, I consider myself a drummer
first and foremost, but we really put a lot of collective
energy into the lyrics as well. I can't really name one lyric
I feel very strongly about, but I think that overall the
development that we have gone though lyrically is one of the
great accomplishments for me in this band. It's easier for me to
learn to play than it is to learn to express myself through
writing. We feel strongly about not having the same type of
lyrics that all the other metal bands are doing. We try to stay
away from all the metal clichés that other bands do.
CoC: Any last words?
TH: No man, I never have any last words. <laughs>
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T H E D A W N O F A N E W A E O N
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Luiz Martinez and Erick Diaz of Serpens Aeon
by: Alvin Wee
Simmering in the Mexican underground for half a decade with only a
single, underrated demo as testament to their talent, Serpens Aeon
has finally arisen on Moribund Records as one of the most impressive
newcomers in the death metal underground this year. Spawned out of
Luiz Martinez and Erick Diaz's departure from cult formation The
Chasm in 1997, Serpens Aeon ditched the progressive leanings of
their previous bandmates and indulged in a full-on celebration of
old-school death/thrash metal. Listeners familiar with their obscure
_Raising the Fire Serpent_ demo will recognize much of the same
material on the new album _Dawn of Kouatl_ in a much stronger
package. Recalling the glory days of Possessed and Sarcofago while
flaunting their updated musical abilities with hints of Dissection
and latter-day Immortal, Serpens Aeon has accomplished what countless
other "retro" bands have set out to do, but failed miserably at:
paying tribute to the gods of old while sculpting an original ,
inimitable new sound.
Still, breaking away from the "ex-The Chasm" label has proven
difficult for the band, especially with the advertising tack taken by
Moribund, clearly drawing on the two founding musicians' associations
with their previous band. "Yes, [Moribund label manager] Odin is
promoting the band and the album that way, which we know is a good
marketing approach to promote the album", agrees the bass-wielding
vocalist Luiz Martinez readily. "But we are breaking away from that
past since we do play a very different style from The Chasm, and we
are making a name for our own as well", he adds.
One would assume, given Serpens Aeon's dedication to old-school death
metal and The Chasm's slightly avant-garde stance, that musical
differences played a crucial role in the birth of Serpens Aeon as a
new entity. "Well, we all had that interest for the old school since
they are our roots to begin with, and indeed The Chasm had at the
time a different direction and another way to approach it", Luiz
concurs. "That wasn't the main reason for our decision to take
separate ways though. For me, it was more personal than anything
else. I was getting more involved with my profession as a tattoo
artist and so on."
Nodding, guitarist Erick pipes up enthusiastically. "In my case, it
was personal as well; I left The Chasm right after we finished the
recordings for _Deathcult for Eternity_. At the same time I had quit
film-school, so my life was at the right moment for a change. That's
when Luiz called me from Seattle, and invited me to go and visit him,
and from there we started playing again! We both had the concept to
do a side project besides The Chasm even before we left, but it took
a little bit of time to put every piece together."
What took the band so long to put anything official out then? "Moving
to the US definitely has to do with us not releasing anything earlier
than now", explains Erick. "Plus getting settled and finding the
right people wasn't an easy chore either."
Whatever their reasons for parting ways with the Chasm crew, Serpens
Aeon have certainly taken a different direction, taking their love-
affair with the past to the hilt in both music and concept. _Dawn of
Kouatl_ stands as an old-school, thrash metal paean to the ancient
Aztecan past, brimming with the imagery of aeons long-forgotten by
mankind. With the new breed of death metal bands (read: Nile,
Mithras) forsaking the political slant of the early Florida scene
for a more historical perspective, one wonders where this sudden
obsession with the past originates.
"It's not an obsession with the past at all", counters Erick. "We get
that sort of response all the time, but in reality we approach the
theme in a very different way. It is clear that the Aztecs have a big
part in our music, but also is a part of our life since we [Luiz and
Erick] were born in Aztec lands. That is our heritage, so that's just
a fact. We do not obsess; the past is completely [different from the
way] we live in these days, and we are indeed interested in the
contemporary music and themes that surround us. We just choose to
live our lives in the way that our ancestors did!"
Even as one struggles to see Serpens Aeon as a wholly original entity
with its own agenda, the band's lyrical and musical themes just
beg comparison with that other monument of the scene: Nile. I
couldn't resist a prod at their very obvious similarities, and the
possibility that Serpens Aeon might be construed as followers,
rather than originators in the micro-scene that Nile seems to have
single-handedly created.
"We are definitely not trying to do what Nile does whatsoever!",
insists Erick defiantly. "The way that we approach the Aztec themes
in our music and lyrics is mostly a reflection of our everyday life.
As I mentioned before, two of the members were born in Aztec lands so
it is natural to relate to those roots, rather than try to talk about
any other subject. We talk not about Aztec mythology; it is rather
how we live our lives with an Aztec approach, how we see our past and
how we deal with it in the present and in the future, whereas
mythology comprises tales about ancestors, heroes, etc.. Aztecs were
ahead of their own time and also had a very wise yet brutal
ritualistic calendar, and a knowledge of astrological events, so we
try to follow this ancestral path."
The lack of printed lyrics on the CD release only adds to the
obscurity and mysticism of the Serpens Aeon concept. I ask Erick to
shed a little light on the esoteric worlds conjured up by song-titles
like "Nectar", "Under the Fifth Sun" and "Circle of Serpens".
"Serpens Aeon means the era of the Serpent, to put it in a condensed
way. It's the sempiternal Way of Wisdom. The serpent was one of the
most worshipped figures in the Aztec society, and represented
knowledge, wisdom, eternity, etc.. The way we see and live our lives,
and the songs we write, are a mirror of how we are in real life.
"Nectar" talks about Pulque, a ritualistic alcoholic drink, the
Nectar of Gods, but it actually applies to any kind of alcoholic
drink used in a magickal way. "Under the Fifth Sun" is about a new
beginning for our kind: the 'Cosmic Race'. It can also be interpreted
as a Chant of War; from the Aztec point of view, there were four
worlds prior to our world, and each world had a representative Sun
and its people, and we live "Under the Fifth Sun". With "The Circle
of Serpens", we are depicting our brotherhood, the place we come from
and our way of thinking."
Taking a step back, I bring up the topic of today's resurgence of
death metal in the scene. I wonder, aloud, where Serpens Aeon fits
in, given their extreme old-school leanings and the current deluge of
sub- par death metal bands flooding the scene. The raw, emotional
power of the old scene seems to lacking in many of the newer bands,
and it is precisely this atmosphere of primal energy that Serpens
Aeon seems to be reviving. Erick nods emphatically, in evident
agreement.
"Feeling is what most of the new bands lack; they don't have the kind
of recordings the early death/thrash bands used to have. [The old
bands] didn't have the budget for big studios, but they did have the
guts and that's where that visceral sound comes from. We don't fit
into the new explosion of death metal, and we are not trying to be
the fastest nor the most evil ones; as I said, above it all comes to
the visceral way of playing... and I think we are in the limbo
between Old and New."
Is the old-school atmosphere on _Dawn of Kouatl_ a result of
production values perhaps? Sound engineer Curran Murphy isn't exactly
famous for working with death metal bands...
"Well, before the session we had a meeting with Curran and [producer]
Todd, and after we talked and reviewed the details, we felt
confident that they both were capable of doing a good job, and they
did. The studio itself was amazing; the facilities were top-notch
professional, with everything you needed! Besides all the newest
technology, they had a nice kitchen, a big yard in the middle of the
woods, and a place to sleep and relax... so I think it all reflects
in _Dawn of Kouatl_."
In conclusion, I question Erick about the band's musical direction
for the future. Serpens Aeon's old-school sensibilities will always
appeal to the die-hards in the scene, but aren't they concerned with
musical progression and development at all?
"Well, as we said before, Serpens Aeon is right in between the old
and new school", explains Erick. "Musical progression is important,
but that doesn't mean we are going to change our style -- just look
at what happened with Chuck Schuldiner. He started to get more and
more technical, until the feeling and energy were gone, and the music
thus became plain and flat, with no emotion at all! Even if we are
not looking for balance, it always comes naturally to us and it makes
our music energetic and powerful."
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A U T U M N ' S F I R S T T R I U M P H
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with vocalist Tuomas Tuominen of Fall of the Leafe
by: Paul Schwarz
It's rare that a band with a 'metal' sound manages to straddle
the gap between catchy, hook-laden pop-sensibility and emotionally
involved extremity; yet with their fourth album, _Volvere_, Finnish
six-piece Fall of the Leafe have achieved a synthesis that is
both unusual and intensely gratifying. Side-stepping comparisons to
other metal bands -- either from Finland or cast from what I
perceived to be a similar musical mould to FotL -- vocalist Tuomas
Tuominen answered all my questions by e-mail (back in March) with a
straight-up honesty and care-free humour that was truly refreshing.
CoC: Delving into your tumultuous six-year history via your press
release, it strikes me that _Volvere_ may well be like a fresh
new start, so to speak, for Fall of the Leafe. Your consistent
portrayal of the past as a learning curve suggests that -- as a
professionally- constructed, catchy and full-bodied album, which
projects a solid identity and is getting released on a more
reputable label than any other you've been signed to --
_Volvere_ is the first recording you've really been satisfied
with. Would you say that's a fair assessment?
Tuomas Tuominen: Thank you. Yes, in a way Volvere is a fresh start to
us. The truth is that Volvere is probably the first
Fall of the Leafe album that has the chance to be
recognized by wider audiences. This is largely a
consequence of us joining into the Rage of Achilles
roster of bands. Firstly, they are a European label.
This means we are now operating in our home front,
if you will. Second, they are professional and
things work smoothly. In the personnel department,
we have successfully integrated our old friend and
rock 'n' roll animal Matias Aaltonen into the band
-- in this process our sound has developed perhaps
in an edgier direction. We have stolen Jussi's
atmospheric music from him, whipped some groove into
it, and out comes _Volvere_. It blends our trademark
atmospheric elements and the kind of raw rock or
metal edge that Matias and Kaj tend to bring into
our jam sessions. And while we do value our past
works very much, we do believe, naturally, that
_Volvere_ is our best work so far.
CoC: Who would you say are your/FotL's core influences, in terms of
bands or individual musicians? Paradise Lost and Amorphis seem
to me to be the cornerstones of your 'sound', in the broadest
possible sense: bands whose careers have produced work that has
- essentially- informed what Fall of the Leafe write and perform
on _Volvere_ -- other names also come to mind... what say you,
Tuomas?
TT: Amorphis and especially Paradise Lost often come up as points of
reference and it is alright. Both are excellent bands, although I
have not followed either very much lately. However, perhaps some
of the most important influences to our music come from Jussi's
all time favorites. I happen to know, not least because it was
already years ago he infected my taste with these, that the
cornerstones of his record collection include works by New Model
Army, The Mission (UK), Fields of the Nephilim, The Smiths, Dead
Can Dance, The Pogues. However, apart from Jussi and myself, none
of the other members are very fond of these bands. So while most
of our material still comes from Jussi, the band that performs it
seems to like very different kind of music. For example, Matias
bends more toward grunge like Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and the
likes, as well as bands like The Cult or U2. Now that this issue
came up, I am planning on stealing this bastard's collection of
The Cult vinyls. K aj, on the other hand, digs the raw approach
of, say, Spiritual Beggars or Phil Anselmo's Down. Personally, in
addition to sharing many of Jussi's favorites, I am a big fan of
the Hellacopters, Radio Birdman, the Finnish space- boogie band
Blake, Verenpisara, and above all, anything that involves the
world's most soulful rock singer Scott Morgan. So we have a large
variety of tastes in this band. It means that a large variety of
different influences seep into our work. And if we manage to keep
this mess in any kind of control, like I think we can, things are
all good for us.
CoC: Your PR statement is written in an intelligent style: it
eschews, early on, the route of describing FotL's music, instead
opting to present facts of their history. Was your purpose to
fill-out people's image of what the -band- FotL are and what
their history has been like, while at the same time to -invite-
people to enjoy the music on their own, more independent
terms? If there was a particular purpose to your unusually
well-considered press release, please explain it...
TT: I have no idea what documents Rage of Achilles has sent away, but
I presume it is the Fall of the Leafe band biography we are
talking about here. [We are. -- Paul] I wrote the text with two
things in mind. The first one being the fact that I cannot tell
this band's story from any other viewpoint than my own. This
group is a bunch of down-to-earth blokes and since we have only
recently started speaking to each other, I don't know what they
all have felt in a given time or situation in the past. So in
lack of other viewpoints, our band history is, so to speak, a
Fall of the Leafe history through my eyes. Therefore it is
impossible for me to present a band biography that would be
simultaneously honest and objective. I dropped objectivity. The
second thought I had was about one's freedom of independently
forming an idea of what we are. All I can offer to our listener
is an explanation of what I believe our music stems from. And
what I believe we are. Chewing the bits and piec es and spitting
them out, saying 'this is what we are, this is what our music is
and you had it better to see it that way too or you are a bad
person', would be nothing short of under-estimating our listeners
who are all capable of independent thought. They wouldn't care
anyway. All are free to hear and understand Fall of the Leafe in
any way they see fit. My interpretation is mine and forcing it on
anyone else would be like stealing one's own.
CoC: Any interest in shedding more concrete light on what happened
around the recording of _Evanescent, Everfading_? I'd be
interested to hear an anecdote about "... the eventful trip up
north to Kemi and... the band's batchelor life there."
TT: Revealing too much here would ruin my plans of a massively
successful release of the _Evanescent, Everfading_ sessions video
diary. However, I can tell that the band's van was a hideous
piece of junk and was pulled over several times en route up
north. But before actually managing to even start the trip, the
band noticed that their singer was refusing to go and their
drummer had gone missing. Alright, I will cut the crap here. The
truth is I only have second hand knowledge of the events because
I was not a member of this band at that time. In fact, I was not
even living in this country.
CoC: How would you connect Fall of the Leafe to Finland? Would you
say there is anything intrinsically Finnish to your character?
Would you resist or welcome comparisons to the likes of
Sentenced or Babylon Whores?
TT: Well, we are undeniably Finnish fellows, that is for sure. We
don't speak much and if we do, we speak Finnish; we like the
sauna, porno, rock music and many of its subgenres, and we like
lager. However, apart from the sauna and silence, many blokes in
their mid or late twenties are made of the same components
regardless of their country. So besides being Finnish, we have
cultural ties to many things that do not have a home land. Such
as rock music, for example. Now that I have effectively made
clear that I have little cultural sensitivity, I am afraid that
further comments on this subject will only contribute to me
making an ass of myself on an internationally recognized arena.
Which is fine, because I care little, and I have further
comments. First, the electric guitar is much more a part of my
cultural heritage than kantele, and second, people are basically
the same everywhere. Only small differences here and there, but
people everywhere share quite similar dreams, hope s and needs.
Seriously, on my list of components of a good life, nationality
in itself does not come close to the top one hundred. Now, I am
confused as to whether these comparisons to Sentenced or Babylon
Whores should be made to music, or the musicians involved. I do
not know any of these people in person, so it is difficult to
say. Music-wise, I really don't care much. I don't know what kind
of music Babylon Whores play and Sentenced, while quality rock
music, should excuse me while I kill myself.
CoC: You've played live only six times in your history. Any concrete
plans to radically alter this situation in the near future?
Do you feel your music, as primarily not rooted in live
performance, has taken on a character which lends itself badly
to live performance? Do you think gigs are something that will
ever become a "high point" in your life as a band?
TT: Correction: we have now played live eight times and have more
coming. We finally cut our two year live celibacy and are now in
the process of changing our previously lame live situation. Our
first show in two years we played in support of the Finnish-
singing Verenpisara, which features members of Amorphis. With a
new line-up, new material, and pretty much a new situation we
were a bit uncertain as to what was going to happen with that
'come- back' show. And shoot, we were really good. We managed to
shift our songs and our great jam session atmosphere into a live
situation. And people liked it too. I could hardly believe my
ears when people came up after the show and asked for more. Also,
we played another good show at our _Volvere_ release party. So
much for being less of a live band, I think. This is all about
the scarcity of opportunities to play live. But whenever a
possibility comes up, playing live is nothing short of sheer
brilliance. It feels good and -- I never tho ught I would say
this -- we kick ass at it.
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I N T O T H E P I T O F P A I N !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with Duncan Mitchell from Descent
by: Paul Schwarz
Descent could be called London's best ever answer to Machine Head --
or as some might put it, "The Machine Head Problem". Voted amongst
Terrorizer magazine's best unsigned bands in both 2001 and 2002,
their combination of thrash metal's rhythmic chops, death metal's
downtuned heaviness and the catchy inflections of Pantera's 'power
groove' school has assured a steady rise to widespread local
notoriety -- backed as it was by increasingly impressive live
performances. Though formed in 1998, Descent were relatively unknown
until 2000: the year they recorded the impressively-acclaimed, Dave
Chang-produced _Focus, Purity, Darkness_ demo. A three-piece at the
time, Descent stepped up their touring schedule in the demo's wake.
To date, they have supported Shadows Fall, The Crown, Decapitated,
Darkane and many more 'name' bands, as well as clocking up many
'underground' gigs besides. One of their final significant 'acts' as
a three-piece came when they contributed a moshing (death) m etal mad
version of Testament's "Into The Pit" to Blackfish's killer _Thrash
Or Be Thrashed_ tribute compilation. But now, with the addition of
guitarist Tim Spurr, they've substantially broadened their horizons.
As a four-piece who have come to fully embrace Swedish death metal
leanings -- and even a progressive turn or two -- on their current
four-tracker, Descent are surely a more promise-heavy prospect than
ever they were before. I chatted with bassist Duncan Mitchell back in
April -- via Internet messaging -- to find out how things were going,
focusing mainly on Descent's recent activities, current release and
future prospects.
CoC: About the new four-tracker: does that have title at all?
Duncan Mitchell: No, it's not meant for general release, to be
honest. The demo's main purpose is to try and drum
up some record company interest -- though people can
download it from the website should they wish.
CoC: Let's talk about the demo. The thing that struck me, first off,
was how different it comes across, compared to the Dave Chang-
produced _Focus, Purity, Darkness_. I don't mean the sound
though: it's mainly the spirit, I suppose, in which the new demo
has been done. Without in the slightest wanting to insult your
songwriting on either release, the new demo does not, in
contrast to _FPD_, seem like the kind of release Metal Hammer
would generally latch onto. Unless their tastes have really
changed from "back in the day".
DM: Well, there has been a couple of years in-between the two demos,
and a couple of line-up changes. _FPD_ was written as a three-
piece. Then we got a second guitarist in, then we lost him
and got Tim into the band. We have quite a diverse set of
inspirations. Marc and Ross are big into power metal and the
whole Swedish sound; I'm into my brutal death metal, grind and
doom; and Tim is mainly into the classic Florida sound of
Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Suffocation... As for not appealing to
certain magazines' tastes, I see a bit of a shift in public taste
at the moment with bands like Shadows Fall and God Forbid all
doing well and sound-wise we're not a million miles away from
them.
CoC: Did you feel like you wanted to take a darker, more melodically
involved and less mosh-orientated approach to death/thrash --
the somewhat nebulous genre you broadly fit into -- with this
demo? Does that direction -- in the context of what you said
about the demo being mainly for getting a record deal -- reflect
the kind of record companies whose attentions you are hoping to
attract?
DM: There wasn't really a conscious effort to write in a certain
style. We all just bring our individual riffs and parts to
practice, jam on them and form songs from there. A big difference
now compared to FPD is that we have all become far more
accomplished musically since then and like I mentioned we have
added a second guitar which opens up whole new avenues. As for
record companies, we've had a few offers but nothing concrete.
There are certain labels I'd personally love to sign to, but as
long as we can find a good deal from a honest label, I'll be
happy. I think the main problem we have encountered so far is
that people can't really pigeonhole us as a particular style
(which I think is a good thing) but I suppose it does make us
that bit more awkward to market.
CoC: I dig what you're saying: they can hear and sometimes perceive
the roots of some core aspects of Descent, but A) that doesn't
cover the full gamut of what's there, and B) (as you've proved
with this latest demo) there's no real way of telling where the
band will go next.
DM: Yeah... to be honest, I don't think we know ourselves. <laughs>
CoC: Obviously there are limits -- your description of yourselves
very broadly as a metal band seems to cover the range well:
there's a lot of possibility in that configuration.
DM: The songs we are writing at the moment are so different from one
to another, some of them are getting stupidly technical and we're
all pushing ourselves to the limit musically. But then we have
other new songs where we just hold back, look for a groove and
try to do something a bit more catchy. I guess that's our
old school Pantera, Metallica, Fear Factory influences coming
through. We just tend to go with the death/thrash tag. I think it
pretty much sums us up. We have hardcore, power metal and even nu
elements to our songs, but at the end of the day you have to try
and put yourself under a vague umbrella.
CoC: And without wanting to put words in your mouth, I'd postulate
that what's "nu" about Descent came from death and thrash in the
first place -- too many serpents with too many tails!
DM: Exactly... people think that Korn and Slipknot were the first
bands to down tune to B and crank out a some great grooves, but
as we know Carcass, Bolt Thrower and tons of others were doing it
all fifteen years ago...
CoC: In the context of what you were saying about songs: have you
been playing live much recently, and if you have, what have been
the reactions to new songs (from the demo or after), and which
songs have you been airing?
DM: We've been doing a few low-key gigs. Tim is still relatively new
to playing live with us. He's only up to his sixth or seventh
gig, but we played with Dimension Zero recently and that was
awesome. Of the new songs, "Dust of the Fallen" always goes down
well. I think that one sums us up best. It's technical, it has
some great grooves and its heavy as fuck. "World of Dreams"
always goes down well, as well. We always joke that that song
will be our hit single, as it's us at our most melodic and
catchy.
CoC: Any specific support/touring plans for the next four-to-six
months?
DM: Well, we've just sent out 40+ press packs to labels and venues so
it depends what sort of offers we get back, to be honest. We do
have a couple of things lined up for the near future, but nothing
is 100% confirmed. It's best if people keep an eye on the website
for all the latest info.
Contact: http://www.descentonline.co.uk
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_, _, __, _,_ _, _ _,
/ \ | |_) | | |\/| (_
|~| | , |_) | | | | , )
~ ~ ~~~ ~ `~' ~ ~ ~
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!
Ad Hominem - _...For a New World_ (Undercover Records, 2004)
by: Matthias Noll (7 out of 10)
Simple, no frills, raw black metal is what Ad Hominem from France
have to offer a new world. I'm not familiar with their debut album
and have only heard that previously they've used a drum machine,
whereas _FaNW_ features real drums -- so you'll have to do without
direct comparisons. I hear remote similarities to Deathspell Omega
(pre-_Si Monvmentum Requires, Circumspice_) but overall Ad Hominem
are faster, more shredding, less melodic and more concerned about
impact than atmosphere. Highly distorted vocals, a killer sound with
ripping guitars, and seven relatively short and compact tracks of the
same quality and intensity level deal out a vicious punch throughout
the whole album. Stylistically Ad Hominem sit in a comfortable and
unpretentious but innovation-free spot somewhere in-between blazing
speed and blasting, and the simple-as-can-be approach of early
Gorgoroth; thankfully they avoid the kindergarden chord progressions
of the Marduk school of songwriting, but they also don't achieve the
total necro vibe of vintage Gorgoroth. My overall impression is that
Ad Hominem have recorded an album which is certainly no masterpiece,
but is nevertheless thoroughly enjoyable.
Contact: http://www.undercover-records.de
AmmiT - _Mass Suicide / Steel Inferno_
by: Xander Hoose (4 out of 10) (From Beyond Productions, 2004)
The amateurism of AmmiT's _Mass Suicide / Steel Inferno_'s inlay
doesn't promise much good, so thankfully I am prepared when I press
play. I haven't heard black metal this uninspired for quite some
time. And it's not even bad in a funny way, like Goat; it's just...
bad. The bio states AmmiT has been heavily inspired by Sodom, Venom
and Bathory -- three bands that had a great impact on the scene by
doing something new, something exciting. A few exceptions aside,
originality is hardly found on this album. _Mass Suicide / Steel
Inferno_ consists of three parts, the first one being the 2000 _Mass
Suicide_ album, which is actually the best part of this CD. The
1998 _Steel Inferno_ part has a horrible production, exceptionally
low-volume and even more uninteresting songs. The last part consists
of three songs from their 2004 studio sessions; the sound quality has
improved slightly on these songs, but the vocals are so damned
horrible it's impossible to listen to this without feelin g ashamed.
Had this album been released more than a decade ago, there would have
been a chance for AmmiT to sell some copies. But alas, we live in
2004 and albums like these don't live up to any standard.
Aphotic - _Stillness Grows_ (Flood the Earth, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8 out of 10)
Aphotic are an American atmospheric death metal band that has been
toiling in the shadows of the unsigned underground for several years
now -- its demos earning high marks and vast praise while record
labels strangely looked the other way. This disc unites all three
demos the band has recorded to date, including the very limited
_Stillness Grows_, and sees the light of day courtesy of Flood the
Earth Records.
Aphotic's gloomy atmospheric death has a sound of its own -- and
finding a young band who doesn't borrow heavily from well-known acts
is not an easy task. This isn't to say there aren't some similarities
to established artists, but Aphotic show a great deal of personality
on every demo. The songs have an understated catchiness and strength
to their riffs, which are helped along by unobtrusive background
synths. The death vocals are relatively clear and well-integrated
with the music, while the drumming plays a competent but secondary
role throughout (only the last demo features a human drummer).
While I understand the reasons why the band or label decided to have
the EPs in reverse chronological order (which may help put the latest
material under the spotlight), it might have been interesting to hear
the evolution in the band's sound reflected directly on the disc.
This is debatable though, and the quality of all three demos remains
high throughout; their sound quality is also sufficiently even to
avoid any significant continuity flaws.
Fans of doom and atmospheric death metal should definitely seek this
release and hope that it will prove to be a sign of better things to
come for Aphotic. There is great talent and personality in this band,
and it would be a shame to waste such potential.
Contact: http://www.aphoticdeath.com
Bazzah - _Kingdom of the Dead_ (From Beyond Productions, 2004)
by: Xander Hoose (3.5 out of 10)
OK, so I had just finished writing a fairly critical review of
AmmiT's latest album and now I get this thrown in front of my feet.
Bazzah hails from Malaysia and apparently they don't have a good
studio over there, because _Kingdom of the Dead_ suffers from the
worst sound quality I have heard in a very long time. If you like
your high frequencies, go for this album -- the producer even managed
to get the vocals and bass in that range. It changes somewhat for the
better after the first half of the album, making me suspect that
_Kingdom of the Dead_ actually consists of two albums. Unfortunately
there isn't much info in the booklet, and the info that is there is
unreadable. Don't bother finding out for yourself: all nineteen songs
on this album are based around the same guitar riff and drum pattern,
with probably only the vocalist trying something different on each
song. The only other band that comes to mind when I listen to this is
Enthroned, but even they are way above the level of this crap. Stay
clear of this and go for something real.
Deathspell Omega - _Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice_
by: Matthias Noll (3 out of 10) (Norma Evangelium Diaboli, 2004)
Deathspell Omega's new album seems to split their core audience right
through the middle. Some consider this a masterpiece. Others, and
unfortunately I do belong to the second category, feel that this is a
total disappointment, full of boring, overlong, pretentious and self-
indulgent songs that are anything but memorable -- or going anywhere.
While DO were always considered generic by some, I've always felt
that their riffs and melodies where totally distinctive, unique and
instantly recognizable. These trademarks have disappeared almost
completely on _Si Momumentum Requires, Circumspice_ and, if I hadn't
already known, I would have never, ever been able to recognize the
band. The flowing nature of previous DO work has given way to
a generally faster, more dissonant and almost hectic approach,
which features far more breaks and which, in quite a few places,
structurally and rhythmically reminds me of Satyricon on their
_Nemesis Divina_ album.
_SMR,C_ is a concept album dealing with "a theological dispute on the
divine essence of the Devil, the roles and virtues of faith and the
place of man therein" -- and I'm sure a tremendous amount of work has
gone into this project. But as interesting as this sounds, I've never
managed to spin this album without already getting bored during the
third of the thirteen chapters which are obviously necessary to bring
the dispute across. From then on, the main impression I get is
comparable to being present at a 72 minute lecture which turned out
to be pointless and useless right after the introduction. Congrats on
the full and powerful sound, but for the rest of the record I have to
say that, if this really is the first of three similar 'acts' or
albums, then I'm afraid that DO have ceased to exist in my personal
black metal world.
Exciter - _New Testament_ (Osmose Productions / The End, 2004)
by: Aaron McKay (5 out of 10)
Getting past the all the images of a Spinal Tap power metal emissary
resurgence is a real test for any reviewer. You know what I mean --
Sinner and their ilk have more-or-less (re)warped the power metal
scene beyond all recognizable comprehension. So what, right? At least
we have Exciter. These speed metal stalwarts from Canada have enough
time on the circuit to rename the whole damn scene Exciter Metal.
After twenty-five years, the recent _New Testament_ offering may
logically be viewed as a "best of" album. What makes that special?
The fifteen tracks are re-recorded with the newest ever-evolving
Exciter line-up. Most are familiar, at least somewhat, with Exciter.
Having forsaken their original moniker, Hell Razor, in favor of the
more Judas Priest-esque Exciter name, this late1970s band takes their
singing seriously, as would any Halford enthusiast; think "Freewheel
Burning" sung with Rob under-the-weather and that's what you butt up
against hearing Jacques Belanger's vocal style. This collection of
Exciter favs, by my count, makes ten officially released albums.
Obviously originality goes bye-byes with a "best of", but the
production on _New Testament_ is solid and that winds up being a
large plus. The ability (and cojones) to recreate past material is
another. Testament did this with _First Strike Still Deadly_. In one
reviewer's opinion, that revision by Chuck Billy and the boys sounded
more relevant for one reason or another. _New Testament_ incorporates
a wide diversity of Exciter's catalog, yet it plays out similar to
being ridden hard and put away wet. Much like having Massacre
(finally) put down "Corpsegrinder" on _From Beyond_, we can all be
grateful for Exciter's willingness to offer this collection on one
CD. Reviving "I Am the Beast" and "Blackwitch" make even the most
conventional fan wanna "Stand Up and Fight"! The sixty-six minutes
this disc spins is a bit too long and runs the risk of sounding
rehashed after that length of time . When all is said and done, in
spite of this "Brutal Warning", folks, even I have to admit
sheepishly that Exciter have kept "Long Live the Loud" close at
heart.
Contact: http://www.theendrecords.com
Filii Nigrantium Infernalium - _A Queda / A Era do Abutre_
by: Pedro Azevedo (6 out of 10) (Independent, 2004)
Portuguese act Filii Nigrantium Infernalium are all about good old-
fashioned thrash, with the unusual twist of singing in their native
tongue. Gathering two of the band's efforts, this disc provides half
an hour of their somewhat eccentric brand of thrash, accentuated by
piercing vocal shrieks. Venomous and determined, FNI rip through each
track while leaving in their wake some reasonably memorable hooks and
choruses. Both works suffer from a somewhat underwhelming production
and a certain lack of consistency, but they have their moments and
plenty of character shines through. It would be interesting to hear
what FNI might be able to come up with given a bigger budget to work
with, as there seem to be some good ideas floating about. Until then,
this release will remain mostly for the consumption of a limited
audience.
Contact: http://www.infernalium.com
Forest of Impaled - _Forward the Spears_ (Red Stream, 2003)
by: Todd DePalma (4 out of 10)
The opening track of this album begins with a short lead-in by way of
orchestra, very cinematic amidst the sounds of feat-hoofs crunching
along the dusty ground and the clamor of weaponry. In the next few
seconds we are launched into a trampling, viciously coordinate march
of metal, completely unrelenting for two or three briefly epic and
bloody minutes. What happened?
From here on the album deflates into a plainly derivative, if
energetic endeavor that falls short of the band's potential, still
apparent in at least a few tracks among the ennui. This group has
always contained a slight thrash element, full of melody but never
being completely "melodic" -- a trait retained on this release with
several catchy riffs here and there that (thankfully, I guess) never
become overdone or harmonized into something... Swedish. Nor do these
riffs seem to ever actually build to anything interesting or -- more
of a necessity -- sustain their own integrity. The latter is
disappointing, the former contemptible. They are from Poland after
all. Any interesting hooks usually appear in the first minute or so
of a track ("Sons of Cain", "Into the Mouth of Oblivion") and from
then on become surrounded and vanish within energetically played, but
impersonal guitar rhythms over the assault of Duane Timlin's drumming
-- which is sublime because in our age of tech-sa vvy percussionists
he's actually hitting the goddamn things. As it is, I can hardly hold
it against him that his work is not Atlas enough to prop up this
material. Vocalist / bassist Marcus M. Kolar (since departed) brings
a fierce amalgam of styles together that are enjoyable and stirring
to hear: a mix of rasps and David Vincent-like deeply spoken echoes.
But of the ten tracks here only the title track, "I Am the Temple to
Eternal Death" and the ceremonial "Orgy of Unearthly Delights" rise
above something other than standardized sound.
Contact: http://www.forestofimpaled.com
Goretrade - _Ritual of Flesh_ (Displeased Records, 2004)
by: Xander Hoose (8.5 out of 10)
Gore-grind and gore-death bands seem to be popping back to life
lately. Does it mean it's the new big thing? I don't know, but I
can't say I'm not happy with it. As long as quality improves I'm
happy with my served dish of mangled torsos, severed limbs and
rotting brains. Goretrade fulfills a fair share of my needs with
_Rituals of Flesh_. For a gore band they have a very decent
production, and the vocalist manages to squeeze a nice juicy grunt
from his vocal chords -- there's not much left to be desired. It is
true that the drums could be a little heavier, but that doesn't
deflect my attention from the music as a whole. While the bandlogo
gives me slight flashbacks of the good old Impetigo times, musically
I would love to see these guys perform as opening act to Cannibal
Corpse or Jungle Rot. Granted, _Rituals of Flesh_ is not as good as
the latest album by Splatterhouse, but this album does feature a
member of Internal Suffering! And it does have artwork by Jon Zig! If
any of you freaks don't mind spending money on more than one album
this month, you should be chopping your way through a mass of zombies
right now to make it to the record store.
In Grey - _Sulphur Tears_ (Last Entertainment Productions, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo (6 out of 10)
Separated by only a few days, two discs arrived in my mailbox from
previously unsigned bands gathering demos for their inaugural label
release: first Aphotic and now In Grey. Much like the Americans,
these Swedes have been producing demos for quite a few years, and now
seem to have found a light at the end of the unsigned tunnel. Last
Entertainment Productions is the label that took responsibility for
releasing their latest work _Sulphur Tears_ along with a few tracks
taken from previous demos, as In Grey now hope to gain greater
visibility in the metal scene.
In Grey haven't changed their style much over the past few years,
tweaking rather than reinventing their sound with each successive
demo. _Sulphur Tears_ is no exception, in spite of the addition of
three new members to the fold. Their gothic metal is at times vaguely
reminiscent of present day Katatonia -- though featuring much more
of a gothic look and a bouncier kind of sound, far from the
bleakness Katatonia can display, sometimes bringing to mind Sentenced
instead. Their melodic and chorus-heavy style is repeatedly explored
throughout the disc as In Grey try to play to their strengths. While
this approach reduces variety, it can also work in the band's favour
at this early stage in their career. You can easily pick out a few
sticky choruses and riffs from _Sulphur Tears_, and that's a bonus
for a band still looking to make a name for themselves. In Grey also
include the occasional variation to their chorus-oriented material,
which is quite welcome.
_Sulphur Tears_ shows the band is continuing to grow, especially
in the guitar department, while the new singer makes a rather
indifferent impact in the band's sound. The disc starts somewhat
poorly but improves later on, as the band struggles to keep things at
a constantly good level. Helped by a decent production, In Grey sound
more like a band capable of clinching a label deal than before, and
this release could well set them on their way to success. Some more
originality and consistency and a less evident desire to make a
hit single out of nearly every track would be advisable in the
future, but _Sulphur Tears_ should already provide reasonably good
entertainment for fans of the genre.
Contact: http://www.in-grey.com
Infinited Hate - _Revel in Bloodshed_ (Displeased Records, 2004)
by: Xander Hoose (6.5 out of 10)
Those of you who have been paying enough attention to what has been
happening in the scene have seen this album coming. Rising from the
ashes of Sinister, Infinited Hate includes most of the final line-up
of Sinister -- even female gruntster Rachel Kloosterwaard has taken
the step to provide _Revel in Bloodshed_ with vocals. The album
clocks a nice 37 minutes of non-stop death metal action from song one
to song eleven. You're not allowed, not even for a single moment, to
catch your breath. Not that I mind though! What I do mind is that
both production- and song-wise it could have been better. Sinister
has made better songs than we can find on this album, and the
production is a bit thin for a brutal Dutch death band. The usage of
a drum machine doesn't really become obvious unless you pay attention
to it; perhaps it does explain why there are only some sporadic
breaks in speed. Nonetheless, if you have always liked Sinister and
don't mind a more grindcore-oriented direction, you will like _Revel
in Bloodshed_. If you're looking for more variation, don't go looking
for it here. Infinited Hate has taken the other direction and it
doesn't seem like they are willing to turn back soon.
Killaman - _Killaman_ (Displeased Records, 2004)
by: Xander Hoose (9 out of 10)
Those who mourned over the disbanding of Murder Corporation can
finally put their grief behind them. Under the name Killaman
comes their new incarnation, consisting of Rune (vocals), Johan
(guitar/bass) and Rikard (drums). Those of you familiar with the
Deranged line-up might recognize a name or two as well. _Killaman_ is
not as much the continuation of the Murder Corporation sound as it is
the taking of a new course, mixing death with thrash and a sniff of
grindcore. On the eleven songs on this album, Killaman doesn't let
their guard down for a second: from the first notes to the last, your
senses are bombarded with non-stop violent riffing, aggressive
drumming and clear, deep growls. Think of a death metal version of
The Haunted's debut album and you might get the idea. Having a
fast-paced album without any slower pieces means something has to be
done to hold the attention: the tiny insane guitar parts that can be
found throughout the songs do the trick perfectly. Clocking in at a
decent 32 minutes, _Killaman_ is a worthy debut album that leaves a
desire for more. It's good to hear that in the meantime, a second
guitarist and permanent bass player have been found. If these guys
are playing at a club near you, go check them out!
Contact: http://www.killaman.net
Krieg - _The Black House_ (Red Stream, 2004)
by: Todd DePalma (10 out of 10)
After a seasonal round of split releases and limited demos, 2004
brings the third full-length release from Krieg, and the first thing
to note (sensibly... obviously, I suppose) is the album cover -- the
preferred style having changed over time from the illustrations of
Gustave Doré to obscure black & white photography. The cover art
captures a psychic prison "In effigie" representing the artists
inner "dreamstructure", but also a metaphor for its cognizant
manifestation on record. Though the conceptual nature of _The
Black House_ gives the most explicit framing for the band's work,
emphasizing personality, it remains alienating. The contradiction of
this approach is the nucleus of the album's strength. These are not
songs begging for understanding. (No lyrics, as usual. No sampling
either.) And although this is the most "listenable" Krieg yet, the
band retains its raw hallmark, remaining only semi-apparent like a
phantom to the listener.
Twelve tracks reflect a wider range of songwriting -- and with
them a necessary change in production, allowing the guitar to
have more clarity, capturing a more gothic sound in the truest
sense: often resounding a synthesis of Misfits (circa _Earth A.D._)
and Darkthrone. The slashing, militaristic riffs of "Deviant" and
"Sickening Voices Without Speech" display a handle on catchy rhythm
breaks that were either non-existent or previously indecipherable in
earlier works. There is even a racing but somber instrumental track,
complete with closing guitar solo. Imperial's vocals abrasively plow
through the storm of sound, belching multi-layered screams that do
not stray drastically from his unique and familiar style. But once
the ceremonial, trodden tones of "Venus in Furs" (Velvet Underground)
enter, Imperial is able to sing-scream over the slow chord changes,
which is surreal enough and compounded by the euphoric stupor of the
music itself. In a genre so accustomed to masking so much sameness in
bloated and overused descriptions, there is only one term that
truthfully describes this type of sound, in a word (most innocently):
Separatist.
Contact: http://www.destructionritual.com
Leviathan - _Tentacles of Whorror_ (Moribund , 2004)
by: Todd DePalma (7.5 out of 10)
This is the third album proper by the one-manned sound enterprise
Leviathan, a ghostly ambient work with strong black metal tendencies.
Twelve tracks of suicide-themed music that bear a wide range of
influence gathering industrial, death, darkw
ave and rock into over
one hour's worth of schismatic time changes, as songs segue to the
next and within themselves portraying a dream landscape of criminal
thoughts. Leviathan's music is cowled in scraping production, often
challenged by its melodically diverse personality. Bass is worthy of
its even mix, while guitars are thin and comparable to _A Blaze in
the Northern Sky_ or early Sepultura, and not surprisingly a
speed/death element emerges early on with "Heir to the Noose of
Ghoul". Whatever the more traditional instruments are involved in,
there is always some element that further affects the unbalanced,
schizophrenic mood displayed: bombs, wind, choirs, chamber sounds,
keyboards and the effectively frightening (if at times whiney)
hissing vocal performance by mastermind Wrest.
_Tentacles of Whorror_ is most rewarding when delving into its
ambient side, showcased in "A Necessary Mutilation" and the spacey,
Lynchian vibe of "Blood Red and True: Part 3". While this zealous
blend of technique is interesting, the styles are more stacked rather
than interwoven, and the more blatant black metal sections seem to be
weighing down a much more potent creative force. "Vexed and Vomit
Hexed" is easily the dullest piece, while track seven blasts
through three minutes of rough, unspectacular hysteria then splits
-- focusing on hypnotically reverberating guitar notes, loosely
reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine, over a mid-paced stride. When
splitting these types completely: one half appears a journeyman to
early Burzum while the other half could be approaching its own
sage-like summit. Recommended as a semi-brilliant, darkly engineered
dichotomy of art.
Contact: http://www.moribundcult.com
Martyr - _A Malicious Odyssey_ (Black Owl Records, 2004)
by: Aaron McKay (8 out of 10)
Another dip into Martyr's blackened waters, this release represents
the second offering from these guys following up the incredible
effort on Regimental Records, _To Confirm When Destruction Comes_.
Gone largely is the fiery, scorched playing style of their previous
effort, replaced with a more feverishly stripped-down approach in
favor of speed and purity of form; simply two ways of tackling the
same black metal objective. While there are still strong elements of
Martyr's musical rhythmic change-ups that accentuate their material
perfectly, _To Confirm When Destruction Comes_ exploited this
particular feature to a fine art. This is no question that Martyr
still harbors a great deal of potential. Under the surface of
material laid forth on _A Malicious Odyssey_ waits a whole host of
paths less traveled by others on the extreme scene presently.
As mentioned before, Martyr's technique has evolved somewhat, which
may be due to the departure of N. Silence -- a central member over
the last seven years. This development of their style could be viewed
as a maturation of Martyr's sound. Being a sucker of the more raw
aspects of _To Confirm When Destruction Comes_, admittedly it took
some time for _A Malicious Odyssey_ to fully take hold upon its
arrival. Still a three piece, this outfit continues to enjoy a rich
and full sound. "Downfall" drives forth a pounding punishment of
choppy riffs without sacrificing any of the harsher, unforgiving
expressions of Martyr's zealous sound. Immediately following that
track, "Failure of the 4th" embodies what I consider the undercurrent
of their technique. Catchy, with an enticing guitar accompaniment
winding its way through the onset of the song then dissolving into
the basic searing structure before resurfacing toward the end of
track's six minutes of wild enmity. Most assuredly a ba nd to
consider and monitor with interest.
Contact: http://www.blackowlrecords.com
MD.45 - _The Craving (remastered)_ (Capitol Records, 2004)
by: Xander Hoose (1 out of 10)
Call me a sucker for happy music, but MD.45's _The Craving_ has
always been one of my favourites. This collaboration between Dave
Mustaine and Fear frontman Lee Ving was the perfect mix between
thrash metal and that kick-in-your-ass punk attitude that only Fear
could provide. The catchy, intriguing guitar riffs and melodies have
kept me happy during many car rides. With a decent production, I
couldn't really find anything bad about this album -- so why remaster
this classic album? Now that I finally get to have a listen, I am
shocked. No, I am outraged. Mister almighty Dave Mustaine has not
remastered the album, he has stripped the original album of Lee
Ving's vocals and laid down his own vocal tracks. And it doesn't stop
there: upon mixing his new vocals in, he has completely ignored the
balance between the volume of his vocals and the rest of the
instruments. So what the new _The Craving_ is, is Dave Mustaine
raping the original songs with the instruments too far in the bac
kground. Unbelievable. Not only do Dave's whiny vocals make the album
hell to listen to, using the old bandname is downright hypocritical.
MD: Mustaine, Dave. 45: the Latin L and V for Lee Ving. For this
effort in backstabbing I refuse to give mister Mustaine a higher
rating than the one I'm praising the album with now. Those of you who
don't know _The Craving_, please go find the original.
Megadeth - _The System Has Failed_ (Sanctuary Records, 2004)
by: Brian Meloon (5 out of 10)
After Metallica's _St. Anger_ [CoC #63], one should've expected that
Megadeth would record an album that goes back to their roots. And
after hearing the MP3 of "Kick the Chair" from their website, I had
reasonably high hopes for this album, as that song sounds like
something that might have come off my favorite Megadeth album, _Rust
in Peace_. But instead of returning to the sound of their pre-sellout
albums, Megadeth's latest offering is a hodge-podge of elements
from throughout their discography. Aside from the fact that it's
professionally produced and played, this isn't a very good album. One
major reason for this is that there just aren't very many good riffs
here: most of the riffs are either derivative or cliché, and the only
ones I find decent are the handful that remind me (usually very
strongly) of riffs from _Peace Sells_ or _Rust in Peace_. Another
main problem is that it lacks consistency, so it comes off sounding
more like an anthology than an indivisible body of work. For example,
three of the early songs use samples, but none of the other songs do,
and three of the last songs feature religious overtones, yet none of
the others do. I frequently found myself wondering which album each
song might have come from, and finding that some songs contained
elements of a few of their albums. Strangely, they also seem to have
picked up influences from outside their discography, such as "Tears
in a Vial", which sounds more like early Tesla than any Megadeth
album. Given all of these influences, it's hard to find any new
elements that they've brought to this album -- so what we're left
with is a rehash of their old ideas, arranged and packaged as a new
album. Still, this is an improvement over _Risk_, for example. But
while it restores some of Megadeth's sagging credibility, I think
it's too little, too late to win back many of the fans of their
earlier albums, myself included.
Contact: http://www.megadeth.com
Napalm Death - _Leaders Not Followers 2_ (Century Media, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit (8 out of 10)
I had been looking forward to hearing this record for a while. Sure,
cover albums are fast becoming a dime a dozen and it can be argued
that they are little more than a convenient way for a band to release
something they can make money off while fans salivate in anticipation
of their next full-length. But, as the first instalment of Napalm
Death's _Leaders Not Followers_ series pointed out, covers albums can
also serve as interesting, if nostalgia-inducing reinterpretations of
forgotten classics, especially when the Brummy legends take a song
like "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" (originally by The Dead Kennedys) and turn
it into a bona fide Napalm Death classic. Consequently, _Leaders Not
Followers 2_ avoids the lazy cash-in of cover-albums like Six Feet
Under's _Graveyard Classics_, and goes straight for the jugular from
the word go. There aren't any surprises, and for once that's almost a
relief -- hell, you'd have been a fool for expecting anything to the
contrary anyway. _Leaders N ot Followers 2_ serves up nineteen tracks
of warp-speed violence that hit the mark again and again. On an odd
few occasions one might wince at the inclusion of a number that's
clearly not quite working as it should, but when you have an album
that features blistering adaptations of Agnostic Front's "Blind
Justice" and Discharge's "War's No Fairytale", you have a record that
contains enough primal aggression to power a small city. Add to this
the album's ultimate highlight (Sepultura's "Troops of Doom") and
there really is no way that you can go wrong with _Leaders Not
Followers 2_.
Contact: http://www.enemyofthemusicbusiness.com
Nargaroth - _Raluska Part I_ (No Colours, 2004)
by: Matthias Noll (5 out of 10)
Recorded during the same 2001 sessions as _Raluska Part II_ -- with
Moonblood's Occulta Mors on drums, but Kanwulf's vocals added in
March 2004 -- _Raluska Part I_ is technically not all too different
from the second part, which was released back in 2002. The sound is
identical, the mood and general direction of the material is the
same, but the quality of the tunes isn't. Those who thought that
_Geliebte des Regens_ was too slow and plodding might have reason to
rejoice, because (out of three songs and an intro) _Raluska I_
features two fast tracks; but as a whole, it leaves the impression of
by-the- numbers Nargoroth material.
After the "Trauermarsch" intro -- based on the traditional "Marche
Funebre" theme, used by Candlemass on _Nightfall_ and there credited
to an interpretation by Chopin -- the title track "Raluska" starts
off the EP in decent fashion, although it's certainly no outstanding
track -- and upon closer inspection just standard Nargaroth mid-tempo
fare. (The "Marche Funebre" theme makes a return here, but is lousily
integrated into the song itself.) Track three, "Where the Cranes
Fly", is definitely the most interesting of the three actual songs --
utilising blazing speed and unusual, interesting chord progressions.
The last track, "The Tears of a Man", does justice to its pathetic
title, consisting of a lukewarm riff that sounds disconcertingly
familiar if not worn-out, fast but absolutely monotonous and boring
drumming and some totally unimaginative and repetitious rasping by
Kanwulf.
This material might have gone down a lot better if both EPs had
gotten released as a whole, with a track-list that cleverly mixed
material from both, but as it is _Raluska Part I_ is sadly only worth
the money for die-hard Nargaroth fans.
Necrophagist - _Epitaph_ (Relapse Records, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit (8.5 out of 10)
And so yet another supremely worthy contender steps up to the
no-holds barred battle royal that is the current death metal scene.
In 2003 we were blown away by the likes of Zyklon, Morbid Angel,
Krisiun and Akercocke, and likewise in 2004 we've already seen superb
efforts by Decapitated, Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation. Now comes
_Epitaph_ -- an album which if anything gives new meaning to
the phrase "inhumanly technical". Off the back of the hyperspeed
scale-based opening of "Ignominious & Pale", one might even be nudged
as far as to say that this German quartet give Trey Azagtoth and the
late Chuck Schuldiner a run for their money in terms of pure
instrumental virtuosity. Indeed, Morbid Angel and Death influences do
feature heavily on this record, but unlike many of their peers
currently trying to make headway into this style of death metal,
Necrophagist have enough original ideas to deliver some outstanding
songs of their own. Not content to merely blast away (Eric Ru tan,
please take note for when you record the next Hate Eternal album),
the band shift seamlessly through a variety of tempos, melodies and
atmospheres, creating a deep-rooted sense of dynamics which one
unfortunately doesn't hear all that much anymore. "The Stillborn One"
is a perfect example, starting off with a chunky pinch-harmonic riff
before building to a Nile-esque speed explosion, which in turns tails
off into one of the most haunting guitar leads this side of _South Of
Heaven_. Relapse Records obviously know they're onto something
special here as well, and have ensured that the production on
_Epitaph_ is second to none -- every instrument is given ample to
room to breathe. The bass guitar in particular is cast in the
spotlight, which is not something you hear on death metal records
every day. That said, there is more than enough skill being displayed
here to ensure that a sterling production effort simply acts as the
trifecta on an album which quite frankly kick s ass on too many
levels to mention.
[Brian Meloon: "Aside from some questionable decisions in the
songwriting department, this is a very good slab of technical death
metal, and a more complete album than their debut. I'd score it
9/10, and rate it above Capharnaum, but below Psycroptic and Spawn
of Possession among recent technical death metal releases. And yes,
it's far beyond Morbid Angel and Death for sheer technicality."]
Contact: http://www.necrophagist.de
Officium Triste - _Reason_ (Displeased Records, 2004)
by: Xander Hoose (8 out of 10)
Usually I let doom metal albums pass, as I don't have the patience to
sit them out, but for some reason I couldn't get it over my heart to
let this one go. Officium Triste is one of the best doom bands that I
can think of; their songs are very well textured, have deeper layers
so you will keep finding out new elements to the songs on repeated
listens, but mostly I really dig the vocals. Vocalist Pim has a very
clear grunt, up to the point where I would call it 'well-pronounced'.
Not on one single moment does his throat sound forced, yet there is
enough power in it to give the song a brutal but sad edge.
Opener "In Pouring Rain" is actually quite fast-paced for a doom
song; a good ear will recognize the melody of "The Final Countdown"
near the end, brilliantly interwoven with the song. While "In Silent
Witness" is very slow and melancholic, Officium Triste picks up pace
again with "This Inner Twist". The longest song on the album is "The
Sun Doesn't Shine Anymore", my personal favourite. This album has a
clearer sound than _Ne Vivam_ and doesn't focus much on guitar solos
anymore. While not an outstanding album, _Reason_ is a very good disc
for those who yearn for melancholy yet don't want to drown in
sadness.
Contact: http://www.officiumtriste.com
Pest - _Daudafaerd_ (No Colours, 2004)
by: Matthias Noll (7 out of 10)
Pest, the Swedish band, is one of the newer signings of Germany's No
Colours label. I had been considering purchasing their first full-
length album _Desecration_, but a couple of samples on the No Colours
website did not fully convince me. This, along with Aaron McKay's
less than favourable review in CoC, prevented me from adding their
album to my collection. With the EP _Daudafaerd_, featuring a single
20-minute track, I decided to take the risk. In the end it's better
to waste 9 Euro instead of 13, and I have to say I'm pleasantly
surprised.
Like almost every other black metal band these days, Pest does not
innovate the genre while delivering the trademarks of raw black metal
within a slow and melancholic framework, with strong vocals, a
raw but surprisingly powerful sound, and riffs and melodies that
fortunately do not sound overly familiar. _Daudefaerd_ is not the
ultra- aggressive, Darkthrone inspired kind of material some might be
expecting from Pest. Instead it's much closer to, for example, the
material on Satanic Warmaster's _Black Katharsis_ EP, as far the
general mood is concerned. _Daudefaerd_ is a slowly flowing piece
which consists of three major themes and riffs which get delivered
and combined at epic length with a couple of slight alterations,
twists and turns. Basically it would have been possible to slice away
three or four minutes in the second half of the track without anyone
missing a lot, but as a whole _Daudafaerd_ works. Never does it sound
as if shorter songs were just combined to create a single long track,
and it succeeds in wrapping the listener in a shroud of melancholy
and sadness. A positive surprise, and from now on Pest are on my list
of bands which I believe might have an ace or two up their sleeve.
Let's hope they already deal it out on the next full-length.
Tankard - _Beast of Bourbon_ (AFM Records, 2004)
by: Matthias Noll (8.5 out of 10)
Maybe it's the power of well brewed, superior German beer that can
bring someone back from dead. Who knows? Fact is (I should better say
opinion) that Tankard have recorded an album that totally and utterly
crushes every album bands such as Kreator, Sodom or Destruction have
released since the German thrash revival started a couple of years
ago. To my ears this is a thousand times better than even the new
Exodus. Who'd ever have thought that thrash 'the Frankfurt way' could
sound better than one of the Bay Area legends?!? _Beast of Bourbon_
is easily the best Tankard album since _Chemical Invasion_. A totally
brilliant and crushing sound, courtesy of Andy Claassen; frantically
thrashing songs like "Under Friendly Fire", or the even better stuff
from the second half of the album like "The Horde" or "Beyond the
Pubyard"; cool solos: this is killer from start to finish. The only
exception is the Cocksparrer cover, "We're Coming Back", which sounds
far too German for its own goo d, but is fortunately put at the end
of the record. Gerre and his fellow beer-drinkers have successfully
gotten rid of all the melodic crap which made albums like _Disco
Destroyer_ so atrocious, and replaced it with pure energy, fun and
aggression. A prime example of a true return to form. Frankfurt
thrashers do indeed, and once again, rule tonight!
Contact: http://www.tankard.org
Today Is the Day - _Kiss the Pig_ (Relapse, 2004)
by: Aaron McKay (7.5 out of 10)
Sauntering rather unknowingly into the Today Is the Day boot camp
just a few years back at the Milwaukee MetalFest with their 1999
release of _In the Eyes of God_, Steve Austin and his clan have never
strayed far from their erratic trademark style. Tipping my hat to
that fact, this band has never remained satisfied or stagnant by
anyone's definition. One more statement of the obvious: Today Is the
Day is absolutely an acquired taste; like the mezcal worm, maybe.
Gusano!?
While late in life realizing the somewhat addicting paranoia of
this outfit, _Kiss the Pig_ is more of the same to pacify the
monolithically frenzied disciples -- yet ratcheted up to a fever
pitch. Now that is saying something for this band! Ramped up by
design in an effort to outdo himself, Steve Austin added more than a
few right angles that musically doubled back on themselves while
going in three directions at once with _KtP_. Confusing? Yes!
Interesting? Hell yea! Typically what one would expect from these
guys and their vast experience on the entire scene.
Mike Rosswog from Circle of Dead Children on drums and, again, Chris
Debari on bass join the fray on this new whitewashing of sanity they
collectively call _KtP_. As you might expect, Mr. Austin's vocals are
ever-changing. Sounding occasionally like an adolescent, whispering
other times, but always developing this vocal approach as if coming
from everywhere at once. The spotlight on this album seems to land
squarely on Steve's communication of TItD's unabashed acrimony. "This
Machine Kills Fascists" is an outstanding example of the shear danger
inherent in a band able to meld atypical structure, untold aggression
and militant riffing. Possibly arguments of the principles of
government and political persuasion aside, the merciless sonic
brutality Today Is the Day represents is what has become an industry
standard for even the most disjointed in the grindcore field.
_KtP_ climaxes with a double digit track clocking in at just over
twelve minutes. "Birthright" may be longer, and qualifies for an
honorable mention for rolling what sounds like more than one song
into a single track, it does punctuate this band's penchant for a
certain definable discombobulation. Crazy like a fox. Over thirty-six
minutes of punch-drunk abject dizziness, with a madman's creepy
perseverance -- _Kiss the Pig_ will amaze you (again) with style, but
not surprise you with novelty. But really, would you have it any
other way?
Contact: http://www.todayistheday.org
Unleashed - _Sworn Allegiance_ (Century Media , 2004)
by: Jackie Smit (6 out of 10)
If anything is to be said for Unleashed's seventh studio effort, it's
that at the very least it delivers a marked improvement over 2002's
_Hell Unleashed_, and the cringingly self-deprecating _Warrior_. At
the same time though, one has to wonder just how badly we need a new
Unleashed album, given its place in an increasingly saturated genre.
Sure, songs like "Winterland" and "Destruction" are skillfully
performed examples of old-school death metal, but even by vintage
standards they still come up pretty short against the likes of recent
Bloodbath and Demonoid efforts. Likewise, Fredrik Folkare's superb
sound engineering is crisp and hard-hitting, but no amount of audio
tinkering can hide the relentless absurdity of cliché dribble like "I
only fuck the dead" or "You open wide and prepare to receive / a
hunger for sex unseen". Ultimately, with _Sworn Allegiance_ it is
very much a case of nothing lost and nothing gained. It's an album
that will more than likely please existing f ans, but offers
absolutely nothing to highlight it over the efforts of its numerous
superior contemporaries.
Contact: http://www.unleashed.nu
Woods of Belial - _Deimos XIII_ (Firebox Records, 2003)
by: Xander Hoose (5.5 out of 10)
After a slow, haunting intro ("Worm of Na'ruq"), all hell breaks
loose. Or at least that's what you would expect; unfortunately, Woods
of Belial's sluggish doom metal is far from powerful or intrusive.
Instead, we are served a somewhat bland and poorly mixed album with
three songs clocking over ten minutes and one clocking a little
under. Most of them feel like a lifetime though, and they manage to
let all the obligatory ingredients pass by as well -- the cheesy
keyboard backset on "Halla", the church bells on "The 13th Horror".
They even mixed in a bit of industrial, according to the bio. I'm
sorry, but throwing a few effects over the mix doesn't make
this music any more industrial than your average doom metal band
--especially the half- hearted attempt at ambient industrial on
"Pervertum II", which is not even worth listening to. 51 minutes is a
long ride if there's not much happening; if Woods of Belial can learn
that no one is forcing them to write ten-minute-plus songs an d that
they should compact their songs, I will give them another chance.
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Scoring: 5 out of 5 -- A flawless demo
4 out of 5 -- Great piece of work
3 out of 5 -- Good effort
2 out of 5 -- A major overhaul is in order
1 out of 5 -- A career change is advisable
Chapter VIII - _Your Halo Is My Noose_
by: Aaron McKay (2.5 out of 5)
Complete with a new name, this five piece outfit (formerly known as
Krvnk) has now offered up a real Kafka-esque effort with metal-tinged
hardcore enough to properly (de)hydrate a University of Florida frat
keger -- at least for the thirty-four plus minutes the CD runs. Dark
and estranged, Chapter VIII seems to develop yet another blurring-of-
the-lines between two related, yet diametrically unique genres.
Crumbsuckers did this, as did countless others, but Chapter VIII have
(again) thrown their proverbial hat into the ring. Not overpowered in
form or feel, the metal riffing is absorbed quite well into the
general overall feel of the fast-paced fury of _Your Halo Is My
Noose_'s nine original tracks; the album closes with an unusually
stripped-down cover of Billy Idol's "White Wedding". I'm always up
for pushing the envelope, but "White Wedding"? If keeping with Billy
Idol is a must, "Rebel Yell" may possibly have been a more convincing
selection to demonstrate Chapter VIII's c onvictions, but that is one
humble reviewer's opinion. Anyway, these guys would no doubt be a
welcome addition to a Shadows Fall / Mastodon tour. Dirk delivers a
performance highlighted by strained vocals enough to pique the
interest of J.R. Hayes (Pig Destroyer) devotees. The disc starts of
with some solidly crafted material, as "Hourglass" may convince you,
and henceforth infuses musical arrangements plentiful enough to keep
the listener duly curious. Overall, _Your Halo Is My Noose_ is a
deliberately coordinated sonic metalcore stoning, but just enough to
say Chapter VIII didn't fall asleep at the wheel of imagination.
Contact: http://www.chapterviii.com
Empyrean Sky - _The Snow White Rose of Paradise_
by: Aaron McKay (5 out of 5)
The three piece outfit is very well packaged and delivers an audible
dance of decadence and delight. Light and dark, images of Milton's
"Paradise Lost" and Dante's "Divine Comedy" run like a raging current
throughout this disc. Hot and cold, this Chicagoland area outfit has
ostensibly blurred the genre lines significantly, to the point where
any listener might question what he or she is hearing. In fact, the
fast paced passages with eerily soft harmonies interrupting the
momentum are just enough to challenge anyone's delicate balance. The
six total tracks are epically long. Each pummel, yet caress, all the
while pounding and pacifying with each precisely played note. While
Empyrean Sky treads lightly with elements of doom, their skillfully
paced tempo changes and the ability to utilize crossover melodies
with artful ambiance demands attention. The finest example of
Empyrean Sky's aptitude on _The Snow White Rose of Paradise_ is a
song that shares the band's name. "Empyrean Sky" has something for
everyone: beginning with a stormy atmosphere, the track builds to
feature during its more than eleven minutes of track time a finely
crafted programming (synth) array, wildly outrageous riffs, and
subterranean inhospitality that calls into question the concept of
reality itself. Finally, the incorporation of both harsh and cleanly
sung vocals is engagingly vital to Empyrean Sky's demonstration as
they recreate a musical experience exploring disgrace and redemption.
Putting things as bluntly as I possibly can: why aren't these guys
signed to a major label yet?!
Contact: http://www.wormwoodproductions.com
Spiteful - _Upheaval_
by: Pedro Azevedo (3 out of 5)
Spiteful's _Upheaval_ is firmly rooted in classic thrash, and to a
much lesser extent death metal. This isn't exactly going in a
revolutionary direction, you might say -- but then again demos don't
usually do that -- and while derivative, Spiteful are a competent
thrash band. The production on this demo CD may not be of a great
calibre, but it's reasonably balanced and suits Spiteful's sound
quite well. Beefy riffs abound, and the band seem well on their way
to creating an interesting live set for thrash metal crowds. They
manage to show some of that vibrancy on disc, but remain a few steps
short of remarkable and a few more short of original. Still, as far
as demos go, _Upheaval_ is quite a decent effort from a band that may
well grow into something more interesting and unique in the future.
Contact: http://spiteful.gq.nu
The Green Evening Requiem - _The Green Evening Requiem_
by: Aaron McKay (2 out of 5)
Hints of Opeth dance with wild abandon on this self-titled demo from
Philadelphia's own, The Green Evening Requiem. For starters, this
outfit does place more of an emphasis on the harsher vocal style here
than most of Mikael Akerfeldt's work, but the cleaner sung lyrics do
infiltrate all four tracks in delicate form. This can be heard
nowhere better than on the second cut off the demo, "Dawn". This
track also has the distinction of offering an inspiring outlay of
talent as well. Picking up the tempo around the three minute mark,
"Dawn" definably lays waste to all serenity, but then regroups and
manufactures a finely laced, mood-induced surreal soundscape.
Most of TGER's material is geared toward enhancing an overall
atmosphere. Emotionally speaking, this band is not understated or
docile in their approach to song writing in order to conceptualize
their sonic vision; at times running a Diabolical Masquerade feel
through their material like a current. Maybe it is the Katatonia
connection that can be felt here. What is meant by that is Blakkheim
has an ability to coerce both stark and subtle qualities into roles
with bands embracing his versatility. At times, so does TGER.
Slightly over twenty-five minutes in length, this demo is deep with
competence and mastery. The Green Evening Requiem, however, appear to
prefer a more well-traversed path -- that path being one of forsaking
a certain Byzantine boldness for the stability of their influences.
It is prudent to lean on the support of those that inspire you, but
to forge your own path is a reward unto itself. Given time, a firm
line- up and proper motivation, The Green Evening Requiem has within
itself the capacity to make brand their mark. Until then, "Tomorrow
Is Just Another Day".
Contact: http://www.greenevening.com
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D E A T H N E V E R S O U N D E D T H I S G O O D
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Death Angel and Descent @ The London Garage, England, 15 July 2004
by: Jackie Smit
Less than a year has passed since my first encounter with the live-
powerhouse that is Death Angel, and I will forever recall how on that
particular occasion they promptly proceeded to not so much surpass,
but completely obliterate any expectations and presuppositions that I
had about them. It is mightily disappointing therefore that their
second visit to the Capital in less than a year is greeted
by an audience that barely exceeds the Garage's halfway mark,
notwithstanding the fact that this time round they're touring off the
back off what is easily one of the most convincing thrash efforts of
the last decade in _The Art of Dying_.
In stark contrast however, "convincing" is hardly a word that I'd use
to describe tonight's opening entertainment, Descent. Their ability
to play their instruments with an admirable level of prowess may be
unquestionable, but when it comes to piecing together a memorable
song, matters are unfortunately not so cut and dried. Tantamount to
their shortcomings this evening is their frontman's insipid between-
song mumbling, which pretty much sets the tone perfectly for the bona
fide yawnfest which inevitably follows. The UK's answer to Machine
Head? I don't think so.
Thankfully it's not long after Descent have completed their seemingly
endless droning that the acoustic intro track off _The Art of Dying_
breaks the sound of audience chatter and signals the imminent arrival
of the Bay Area legends. The reception, despite the poor turnout, is
overwhelming. Spearheading their set with the dual-headed assault off
"Thrown to the Wolves" and "5 Steps to Freedom", Death Angel very
quickly make it clear that regardless of the feeble turnout, they
intend to give people their money's worth. To comment on Death
Angel's ability to recreate the magic of albums like _Act III_ and _A
Frolic in the Park_ would be like telling Jenna Jameson that she has
a nice rack. Rob Cavestany and company take the act of performing on
stage to a level that only a precious few are able to attain.
This becomes particularly evident when Andy Galleon is handed the
microphone to handle vocal duties on "Spirit" -- while playing the
drums! Needless to say, his flawless delive ry has virtually every
punter in the building gasping in disbelief. But it's not only Mr
Galleon who gets the opportunity to flex his vocal muscles tonight;
as the evening progresses, we are treated to a Rob Cavestany-crooned
rendition of "Word to the Wise", and possibly one of my favourite
moments of the evening, Dennis Pepa punking it up on "Land of Blood".
This is not to say that Mark Osegueda is extraneous to the
success of the evening's set though. Indeed, the dreadlocked one
is the consummate front man throughout: always energetic, always
enthusiastic and spot-on with every bile-soaked line he spits out on
classics like "Bored", "Seemingly Endless Time", "Evil Priest" and
"Voracious Souls".
If it's not quite clear enough by now, let me reiterate: Death Angel
rule. Period. Whether or not tonight's performance tops my first
encounter with them is up for debate, but the bottom line is, no
self- respecting metalhead should let the opportunity to catch these
guys in action pass them by. If you do, you may as well go ahead and
admit that you think Linkin Park are "da shit, yo", and Fred Durst is
your role-model.
I've often wondered why, with all Metallica's talk of returning to
their roots and once again making "heavy" music, they don't put their
money where their mouths are and take a band like Death Angel out on
the road with them, as opposed to the gang of imbeciles commonly
referred to as Limp Bizkit. What's the matter, Lars? James? Afraid of
a little competition? Judging by tonight's show they have every right
to be.
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DEICIDE? WE DIDN'T NEED NO STINKIN' DEICIDE!
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Akercocke, Mystic Circle and In Aeternum
@ The Mean Fiddler, England, 8 June 2004
by: Jackie Smit
A haphazardly written sign tacked to the front entrance of The Mean
Fiddler reads:
"Due to circumstances beyond our control, Deicide will not be
performing this evening."
Unsurprisingly, the look on the faces of those who have taken the
trouble to leave the office early, travel from far and wide and
generally made the effort to make it to this evening's show, tell a
mixed tale of disappointment, astonishment and disgust. Never mind
the fact that this tour was announced in early March, giving Deicide
ample opportunity to review the conditions set by the promoter (which
supposedly is the reason for this unprofessional display), but one
could safely bet that if both the band and the tour organizers had
had the common courtesy to give punters even one week's notice, the
Damageplan and Mastodon shows taking place down the road would have
provided two very attractive alternatives for a night out.
Be that as it may, one would reasonably expect that in the light of
these circumstances, the management at The Mean Fiddler would show
just the slightest hint of empathy and competence in dealing with the
disgruntled ticket-holders. Instead, they opt to solve the problem
by charging attendees an additional £8.00 for entry, with the
instructions that they will once again be obliged to sacrifice both
their time and effort in order to get refund, but returning the
tickets to the outlets they bought them from. Now certainly, I
understand that doing things any differently might cause the odd
complication, but in the light of the fact that over five hundred
people have been told, upon their arrival at the venue, that the band
they came to see won't be playing, I would suggest that any
additional administration on the part of The Mean Fiddler would be a
small price to pay to at least slightly appease the disappointed
fans. Predictably, most of the people who were queuing outside go a
big rubbery one when informed about this, and when security finally
do open the doors after nearly an hour past schedule, precious few of
them decide to go ahead and watch the remaining three acts.
For the rest of us, as if things couldn't get any more ludicrous,
Swedish death metallers In Aeternum are given possibly the worst
production that I have ever encountered. To their credit, the quartet
do play their hearts out, but it is to no avail. Their sound is so
muddied and distorted that one can barely hear their frontman thank
the crowd when it comes time for them to leave.
The less said about Mystic Circle the better. Their ultra-generic
black/death ironically provided the opening "entertainment" the last
time that Deicide played The Mean Fiddler. They were terrible then,
and they're even worse tonight. Okay, so maybe I'm being a little
over-critical after the manner in which tonight kicked off. But songs
like "666 - Mark of the Devil" and "God Is Dead - Satan Arise" are
about as tepid and dull as their titles. Worse still, the absence of
Deicide gives the band additional time to inflict their aural torture
on us, and it is only after forty-five minutes of suffering that the
band finally say their last goodbyes.
So with In Aeternum and Mystic Circle not providing any sort of
escape from the frustration that has thus far plagued this evening,
the majority of those present are just about ready to cut their
losses and call it a night. That is until local heroes Akercocke take
to the stage and play not only the best set I have ever seen them
perform, but indeed quite possibly the most brutal, convincing set I
have seen all year. "Scapegoat", "Enraptured by Evil", "Praise the
Name of Satan", "Son of the North" -- every song sounds more intense
and more determined than the next, and as if knowing that the onus is
on them to make the best out of a rather fucked-up situation, they
pore absolutely every last ounce of energy they have into their
performance.
It's over all too quickly, and as if to underline their contempt for
the very patrons that pay their wages, the Mean Fiddler security
visibly rush to hit the lights, and begin urging the road crew to
dismantle the backline and the rest of the equipment. This leaves
Akercocke with no opportunity to provide us with an encore, even
though they could most probably have played for a good hour more and
still keep everyone captivated. Nevertheless their show provides a
confident testimony that, provided they can create a worthy successor
to their last _Choronzon_ opus, the world will soon be mentioning
them in the same breath as the very elite of extreme music. I will
freely admit to not being a fan of theirs since the very beginning,
but based on the ample evidence provided by their last record and by
the subsequent live shows I have had the pleasure of seeing, I stand
happily corrected.
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W H A T W E H A V E C R A N K E D ! ! !
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Pedro Azevedo's Top 5
1. The Dillinger Escape Plan - _Calculating Infinity_
2. The Dillinger Escape Plan - _Irony Is a Dead Scene_ EP
3. Kaamos - _Kaamos_
4. Aphotic - _Stillness Grows_
5. Deströyer 666 - _Cold Steel... for an Iron Age_
Brian Meloon's Top 5
1. Necrophagist - _Epitaph_
2. Novembre - _Dreams D'Azur_
3. Mirrorthrone - _Of Wind and Weeping_
4. Vehemence - _The Thoughts From Which I Hide_
5. Alex Masi - _Attack of the Neon Shark_
Paul Schwarz's Top 5
1. Textures - _Polars_
2. Venom - _Welcome to Hell_
3. Today Is the Day - _Kiss the Pig_
4. Type O Negative - _Bloody Kisses_
5. Nocturnus - _The Key_
Aaron McKay's Top 5
1. Unleashed - _Sworn Allegiance_
2. Borknagar - _Epic_
3. Malevolent Creation - _Warkult_
4. Hatesphere - _Ballet of the Brute_
5. God Forbid - _Gone Forever_
Matthias Noll's Top 5
1. Piledriver - _Metal Inquisition_
2. Graveland - _Carpathian Wolves_
3. Nehemah - _Requiem Tenebra_
4. Overkill - _Feel the Fire_
5. Impaled Nazarene - _Ugra Karma_
Jackie Smit's Top 5
1. Torture Killer - _For Maggots to Devour_
2. Cattle Decapitation - _Humanure_
3. The Dillinger Escape Plan - _Miss Machine_
4. Vision of Disorder - _Imprint_
5. Damageplan - _New Found Power_
Todd DePalma's Top 5
1. Disasterous Murmur - _Rhapsodies in Red_
2. Agiel - _Dark Pantheons Again Will Reign_
3. Ennio Morricone - _Once Upon a Time in the West:
The Original Soundtrack Recording_
4. Leviathan - _Tentacles of Whorror_
5. Krieg - _The Black House_
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DESCRIPTION
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Chronicles of Chaos is a FREE monthly magazine electronically
distributed worldwide via the Internet. Seemingly endless interviews,
album reviews and concert reviews encompass the pages of Chronicles
of Chaos. Chronicles of Chaos stringently emphasizes all varieties of
chaotic music ranging from black and death metal to electronic/noise
to dark, doom and ambient forms. Chronicles of Chaos is dedicated
to the underground and as such we feature demo reviews from all indie
bands who send us material, as well as interviews with a select
number of independent acts.
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
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You may subscribe to Chronicles of Chaos at any time by sending an
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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #76
All contents copyright (c) 1995-2004 by individual creators of
included work. All rights reserved.
All opinions expressed herein are those of the individuals
expressing them, and do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone
else.
