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Chronicles of Chaos Issue 077
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CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, September 1, 2004, Issue #77
http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com
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 #77 Contents, 9/1/2004
----------------------------
* Chats
-- Dismember: Indifferent and Content
-- Mastodon: Where Swims the Leviathan?
-- Inhumate: DIY Grind With a Mind
* Albums
-- Arachnes - _Primary Fear_
-- Bloodbath - _Nightmares Made Flesh_
-- Capharnaum - _Fractured_
-- Cattle Decapitation - _Humanure_
-- Council of the Fallen - _Deciphering the Soul_
-- Decrepit Birth - _...And Time Begins_
-- Dementor - _God Defamer_
-- Dragonauta - _Luciferatu_
-- Elend - _Sunwar the Dead_
-- Eviscium - _Underneath the Buried_
-- Ewigkeit - _Radio Ixtlan_
-- Forest - _Like a Blaze Above the Ashes_
-- HateSphere - _Ballet of the Brute_
-- Incantation - _Decimate Christendom_
-- Insision - _Revealed & Worshipped_
-- Kadotus - _Seven Glorifications of Evil_
-- Lord Belial - _The Seal of Belial_
-- Majesty - _Reign in Glory_
-- Mastodon - _Leviathan_
-- Neurosis & Jarboe - _Neurosis & Jarboe_
-- PsyOpus - _Ideas of Reference_
-- Pungent Stench - _Ampeauty_
-- Runemagick - _On Funeral Wings_
-- Seth - _Era Decay_
-- Textures - _Polars_
* Demos
-- Malebolgia - _Requiem for the Inexorable_
-- Seraphim Slaughter - _To Cataclysmic Path_
-- Terror Ascends - _Of Dark Descent_
* Gigs
-- God Forbid! It's Slayer -and- Slipknot
-- One of Our Drummers Is Missing...
* Rants
-- Black Metal: A Brief Guide
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I N D I F F E R E N T A N D C O N T E N T
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with Matti Karki from Dismember
by: Paul Schwarz
Fans had to wait five long years for Dismember's sixth album, _Where
Ironcrosses Grow_ (released in March). But as we all know, metal fans
are notoriously good at keeping the home-fires burning, even against
the odds: the Swedes' performance at last year's Wacken proved beyond
a doubt that Dismember kept a good few hearths warm, despite erratic
touring schedules and a complete lack of new releases.
As an original, old school Swedish death metal band -- who,
like Entombed, blossomed between 1990 and 1991, and were heavily
influenced by Autopsy and Repulsion, among a host of other usual
suspects like Slayer -- Dismember command a lot of respect in the
metal underground. Today, they stand primarily on their reputation.
Albums of the standard of _WIG_ of course help their cause, but it
would take a lot, at this point, for Dismember's fanbase to
wholeheartedly abandon them, after having effectively kept the band
alive throughout years of business-related difficulties.
Of course, as I commented last time Dismember were interviewed in
these pages, fans like myself are sometimes frustrated by Dismember's
relative lack of popularity; but damn fine bands don't always receive
the rewards they deserve, and in the end, perhaps it -is- enough that
Dismember can continue to play and record without sacrificing more of
their time and resources than they happily can. After all, that's
more than many bands can manage. So, without further ado, here is an
interview I conducted with Matti Karki shortly before the release of
_WIG_, presented in its entirety, with edits only for clarity.
CoC: One of the things that I think is interesting about Dismember in
this day and age, as it were, is that from the -inside-
Dismember is very much something you do in your spare time...
Matti Karki: Yes.
CoC: Rather than something you're trying to make a career of -- which
may have been somewhat true in the early Nineties, I imagine.
MK: Yeah.
CoC: But you compare that to the status of Dismember from the outside
-- take your performance at Wacken this year. You're almost a
legendary band <Matti quietly exhales a muted laugh> with a
trademark sound -- even if the wanky music journalist in us all
can, you know, dissect the band in terms of other influences.
MK: <chuckles>
CoC: You have a sound where people go: -that's- the Dismember sound.
MK: Yeah.
CoC: Firstly, how do you find that contrast between the inside and
the outside of the band? The contrast between what a Dismember
fan would say to you, and how it -is-, being in Dismember?
MK: I don't know, because we have been doing this for a long time now
-- and it's grown to be a very natural part of our lives. Even if
we are not able to do it full-time, it's still a big part -- and
we're gonna do this as long as there is interest from the
outside. I don't really know how I should make the comparison
from the inside and the outside.
CoC: It's difficult, isn't it?
MK: Yeah. I mean, as we see it, we are just Dismember -- and during
the latest years, with the last releases of the albums and the
live shows that we've done, somehow there has grown like a
reputation of, "Dismember, old-school veterans, they're not
giving up". So... it's kind of fun, but I don't know if we see it
that way. We're just... we're just Dismember.
CoC: _Where Ironcrosses Grow_ I think very much reflects that in the
same way _Hate Campaign_ did, to a great extent. What's become
clear to me, retrospectively, since _Death Metal_, is that --
once you were more relaxed with being -just- Dismember -- your
influences started to come out more clearly, or more directly.
MK: Yeah.
CoC: The Autopsy and Iron Maiden influences are very easy to hear on
_WIG_.
MK: Yes.
CoC: So do you think there's any sense where you're not being
particularly adventurous with the albums, because you know who
you are as a band?
MK: We have a very clear picture of what we wanna do and much of the
stuff -- problems with the record label and stuff like that, have
gone away. So we actually had -time- to write this album in all
peace and quiet, had a really relaxed recording session, and
just... you know, we felt that we needed to do a strong record
and we wanted to look back on the old stuff, and since the market
is pretty free -- you know, there's not many bands that play this
way -- we felt free. We felt like: now we can go all the way,
back to the roots -- and perhaps with the new influences and the
new, fresh material -- and arrange and organise the stuff the way
-we- want it, since -there is nobody else doing this-.
CoC: The -sound- of the record -is- more like _Indecent and Obscene_
or _Like an Everflowing Stream_.
MK: Yeah.
CoC: It's more -crusty- around the edges, in a really nice way. Did
you intentionally make an album for Dismember fans this time
around, more than with any other album?
MK: No, actually we just... When we started recording the album we
were discussing what we should do, what we wanted to accomplish.
First of all we felt that we were kinda pushed into doing a real
- strong- album because of the long absence of the band. And
since - now- we feel really comfortable with our status among
many people as death metal veterans, and expect us to do old
stuff -- not that it's any pressure, 'cause we really want to do
that -- it all felt natural: to go back to the old albums and
pick out the best things of every album. So soundwise we tried to
get closer to _Like an Everflowing Stream_. Influence-wise, the
riffs and stuff just went back to the roots. But we still tried
to make fresh and interesting music.
CoC: It's been five years since the last Dismember album was released
-- though _Where Ironcrosses Grow_ was recorded a year ago, four
years after _Hate Campaign_. The line-up who recorded _WIG_ was
yourself, Fred [Estby, drums], David [Blomqvist, guitars] and
Richard [Cabeza] [the core "classic" line-up -- Paul]. Richard
only recorded the bass on "Where Angels Fear to Tread" and
"Children of the Cross" -- though he's featured in the band
photo -- and David played session on the rest of the album. Now
you've got Martin Persson as a second guitarist. You had the guy
from Necrophobic doing bass at your Wacken performance last
year. Basically, after you finished _Hate Campaign_ and left
Nuclear Blast, what happened with Richard and what happened with
Magnus [Sahlgren, second guitarist for _HC_]?
MK: Well, Richard got married. He met a girl from the States and
after a while she got pregnant and they were planning to let the
baby be born here in Sweden. But during the recording of the
album David got the answer from Swedish immigration: no. So he
had to go to the States -- and that was in the middle of the
recording, so he only had time to do two tracks. Since we really
needed the album done because we had booked the studio and
everything, we just made the decision that David would have to do
the rest of the bass so we could get the album done and return to
other things like booking shows and planning for the future.
Magnus just drifted away after our long period of inactivity. He
drifted away, and when we started rehearsing the new songs for
the album and went into the studio, he didn't even show up.
CoC: I remember you telling me this when we talked at Wacken. He
didn't even quit, you had to call him up and tell him not to
bother coming next time.
MK: Yes. We asked him to leave. We said: this is not going to work,
you're showing no interest at all, so it's better if you quit --
and he agreed. So no hard feelings: we just needed to know that
he's not going to be in the band -- and so we needed to find
somebody else. Luckily, Martin actually phoned us up after
hearing rumours that we were searching for a new guitarist. So he
called us up and asked if there was a chance to try out, and he
was the second guitarist we tried out and he fitted perfectly.
CoC: That's very lucky.
MK: Yeah. And when you don't call the guy, he calls you. It's pretty
convenient.
CoC: Am I right in thinking that if the fan interest from the
hardcore of Dismember fans -hadn't- maintained over the last
five years, the band probably wouldn't still be around?
MK: It's a big possibility that after all this trouble we had with -
everything- -- record labels and fucked-up tours and everything
-- the chance would have been -very- big that we would just have
split up. But 'cause we've been doing gigs here and there, we've
always seen that there's still an -interest-. So that kept us
going, you know, and hoping, "OK, let's do the next album and see
what happens." Especially after we did Wacken: the support we had
at that show was -amazing-.
CoC: It was great. It was almost like a Dismember convention -- for
half an hour.
MK: <laughs> Yeah, and the people who enjoyed the music were not just
old, hardcore Dismember fanatics. I mean, there were a lot of
young people who were not there from the beginning, and still
seemed to enjoy the music, so it was very fun to see.
CoC: Yeah. It still has the power to kind of -convert- people on its
own back, the music?
MK: Yeah.
CoC: How did you track down Dan Seagrave to do the cover art for
_WIG_? Is he still drawing album covers?
MK: Well, we were thinking about who we should get to do this cover
-- 'cause the guy who did the cover for _HC_ didn't actually do
that good a job.
CoC: I would agree with that.
MK: So we kind of felt we wanted to use someone else. OK, so who
else? Once we'd remembered Dan Seagrave we tried to think of
album covers he'd done lately. We couldn't think of any, so we
thought we'd get in touch with him. I can't remember who sent the
e-mail, but we just mailed him and asked if he was interested. He
was interested, so we sent him the basic ideas and some... very
few guidelines. He asked for the songtitles and just made an
album cover.
CoC: It's nice that he can still do the death metal thing.
MK: Actually, I think he can because during the years when he did all
the album covers for all the bands he developed a certain style.
He began -- if you look at Carnage [1990's _Dark Recollections_
-- Paul] and both Entombed ones [1990's _Left Hand Path_ and
1991's _Clandestine_ -- Paul] and Dismember [1991's _Like an
Everflowing Stream_] -- with this organic feel, with a lot of
things from nature: water, trees.
CoC: Then there's a sort of techno-organic aspect that creeps into it.
MK: Yeah. During the years he made all these albums and developed a
different style with more futuristic machines involved and stuff
like that.
CoC: The Suffocation album -- _Effigy of the Forgotten_ -- and stuff
like that.
MK: Yeah. But somehow he managed to go -back- to the early stuff, but
with his -new- style of making his drawings.
CoC: So where do Dismember go from _WIG_? Have you got tours planned?
MK: Well, not actual -tours-. We have a lot of shows booked and we're
gonna fly across Europe doing shows here and there every other
week. So we have a lot of shows booked and we're gonna promote
the album - this- way. We'll have to see what happens with the
album, how the sales go, the fan reaction and -perhaps-, at the
end of this year, if there is enough -interest-, we'll try to
make a tour; but otherwise we just keep on, you know, flying down
to Greece, doing a couple of shows, flying back home; a week
later we go to Italy; and on like that. We're gonna jump around
Europe all spring and summer. And hopefully we'll get these huge
summer- festival offerings later on!
CoC: When I spoke to you at Wacken last summer you said, about _WIG_,
that if everything went right the album would be out in
November, and if everything went wrong it would be out in
February. It comes out in March. How do you feel about that?
MK: Like I said to you previously, we were hoping that the album
would come out at the end of last year, but I think much of the
stuff with Hammerheart turning into Karmageddon Media also had an
impact on the release date -- and in the end we just stopped
bitching about it, you know? OK, -March-: as long as it doesn't
go further than -March-, then it's OK. So I guess it gave the
guys a lot of time to do promotional work. I've never done this
amount of interviews for a single album in my whole career. I've
been sitting here for four days now, doing interviews all day.
CoC: So there are even more interviews than there were in 1992, when
death metal was big?
MK: Yes.
CoC: It must be a nice contrast to Nuclear Blast's very tailing-off
attitude to the band. They didn't even promote _Death Metal_
well enough, let alone _Hate Campaign_, which had these little
eighth- page ads that you occasionally saw in magazines!
MK: <laughs> Yeah, it's like, "Look! We have a mid-price CD!"
CoC: <laughs> Exactly. "...the new Dismember album."
MK: <laughs>
CoC: It must be such a different experience being with Karmageddon:
you're probably one of their biggest bands.
MK: Yes.
CoC: You'll probably have more of a chance of getting _WIG_ in the
album of year polls, having it released this year: a lot of
press -- and I'm not sure, but I think especially in central
Europe -- tend to miss releases that come out in November and
December, unless they get them right on time and all that sort
of stuff. I think Dismember have the potential to get really
quite high marks in the magazines who really like Hypocrisy and
quite a lot of the other melodic Swedish bands, who are very
popular.
MK: One thing I heard -- I think it was the German Metal Hammer --
they have this Soundcheck part, and I think we got on fourth
place, and apparently no death metal band has been -so- high on
this Soundcheck thing for -years-. So yeah, there's a huge
interest in the band at the moment and the album seems to get
good reviews and people are generally happy with it. So yeah:
let's hope that 2004 will be a good year for us.
CoC: As you were saying: you're taking it slow and steady. It's not
like: let's organise the huge tour and -do it-. It's more like:
let's test the waters, see how it goes, and we'll work up from
there.
MK: Mmhm.
CoC: How much time, month by month, do you guys find you have -for-
Dismember -- or do you have to devote -to- Dismember?
MK: Well actually not that much. Since all the live shows we have
done have kept the band quite tight and rehearsed, we only had to
rehearse the new songs for upcoming gigs, and actually we don't
have that much, you know, "band time", except when we go
and play. But otherwise, Fred is doing a lot of work, he's
taking care of all the booking nowadays. I usually do all the
interviews, and the other guys were busy doing other stuff, so I
said, "OK, I'll do - everything-. I'll take this week and just
sit and talk to all the people." So I mean usually, when nothing
is happening, there's actually very little Dismember time, except
for the usual things: I still write lyrics all the time, to have
like a small "back- catalogue" to go back to when there's
actually a need to do new lyrics.
CoC: So you don't have to stress.
MK: Yeah, and the other guys are just, you know, sitting at home
doing riffs and just building up material until it's time to do
the next thing.
CoC: So it's a very steady process. How much do you get -- not asking
figures, but as far as your life goes, is Dismember the
occasional cheque that's nice to get, or is it something where
you think: well, in three months I'll have so much money from
Dismember, so I can buy a stereo or something?
MK: It's the first option. Of course we have to think about the
economic situation, 'cause everybody has jobs and when we go and
play we need -at least- to have that economic guarantee: if we
have to take time off work, we need to get that money that we
lose from not working. So we have to take that into consideration
all the time, but otherwise Dismember -- well, it's not a hobby,
it's still our lifestyle, it's been there forever, you know. But
we don't have the time to devote to Dismember 100%. We still have
families and stuff to take care of.
CoC: Have Dismember ever been at a level where you could have quit
your jobs?
MK: No.
CoC: Practice-time permitting, have you considered putting any more
old songs that haven't been played in years back into the set?
[Dismember aired some songs at Wacken which until recently had
not been aired in years -- Paul]
MK: Yes, actually. For the upcoming gigs we have rehearsed a
catalogue of about 30 to 35 songs. So we have songs to choose
from. If we do a show and notice this song doesn't cut it live,
we'll change it for - this- one so that we can try out more, and
keep the set varied. So yes, there are a lot of songs popping up
from the old records.
CoC: Any songs in particular that you'd like to mention, that haven't
been aired recently?
MK: "Life, Another Shape of Sorrow", for example.
CoC: A cool song from _Massive Killing Capacity_, a very
under-noticed album, in some ways.
MK: Yeah, it got kinda caught up in everything else and though it got
some attention, we do have the two camps: either you like it or
you hate it.
CoC: Absolutely, but it's definitely one of the ones that's also
disappeared into the Dismember backcatalogue more than the
others. Any old songs that you -won't- be playing, for sure --
ones that you looked at and just said, "no way"?
MK: <laughs> A lot from _Indecent and Obscene_. Those songs were so
messy, with so many riffs and so many breaks and everything.
They're really complicated to play .
CoC: Yeah, I love 'em. <laughs>
MK: <laughs> So they kind of faded from our memories so there's a lot
of songs from that album we won't play. We are gonna do "Pieces",
though.
CoC: Can I make one recommendation which I'll make a bet with you on?
MK: OK... <small chuckle>
CoC: I'll bet that if you play a, possibly rearranged version of
"Skinfather": with that big massive riff in the middle you'll
get a big shout from the crowd. I'll bet you a crowd will go
nuts for that <dearn>... <dearn>... <dearn>...
MK: <laughs> Actually it -is- on the setlist. I think that song is
going to be one of the ones we play at almost every show.
CoC: Good choice. What about your choice of studio for _Where
Ironcrosses Grow_? You recorded _Hate Campaign_ at Das Boot with
Fred as producer and _Death Metal_, the last album you recorded
at Sunlight, was also produced and engineered primarily by Fred.
How come you've moved to SAMI? What's happened to Das Boot -- or
is there a reason you decided not to use it?
MK: It was because, first of all, Das Boot was very overbooked and
they were going through a -building- phase when it was time for
us to record. The whole studio was like a construction site and
you don't get the peace of mind to do a good album in that
environment. So that's why we decided -not- to use Das Boot.
Sunlight is not an option anymore. It's history. We'd rather take
something else.
CoC: Yeah, it's funny: black metal bands are recording there now.
MK: It was Fred who knew about the SAMI studio and I think the first
idea was just to record a kind of demo thing there, but then when
we actually started the recording process it just kept on going
and while we recorded we booked the studio further. We did it in
bits and pieces. Doing all the drums pretty fast, then doing
guitars for two days, having a little break, then going back to
do some more songs.
CoC: How many studio days was it in total? Maybe a month's worth?
MK: Yeah, a month. About a month.
CoC: Between December of 2002 and March of 2003.
MK: Yeah. The studio turned out to be really nice and there were not
many people -- because if you're at Sunlight, there's always
different people coming and going all the time. The same at Das
Boot. Since none of the other metal guys knew about this studio,
we had all the peace and quiet. It's in the middle of Stockholm,
it's really central. It's just in the basement of a building. It
was a very painless recording -- except we had some tape
troubles. The storage media was acting up all the time and then
we got this error code on the display. So we looked up the error
code and it said: remove tape as soon as possible, make copies,
it's going... <laughs>
CoC: ...it's going to blow! <laughs>
MK: Yeah. <laughs> So we were like, "Oh NO!". But luckily we made
back-up copies of that real fast so everything turned out okay.
If that had happened we would have had to start all over again.
CoC: How did you -find- SAMI studios?
MK: Through Fred. He was working at Das Boot, and he got hooked up to
a place in inner Stockholm, like a small gig place. They have
everything from jazz to rock 'n' roll and stuff like that -- and
he did the sound for the live shows. Now, this place is owned by
the SAMI organisation. It's a Swedish artists and musicians
organisation. So it's for people who don't actually play in
bands, but they are more like studio musicians.
CoC: They're like session musicians?
MK: They appear on albums from big -pop- musicians from Sweden. It's
almost like a -union-. It's a really big organisation and the
studio we used is actually in the basement of their huge office
building.
CoC: That's the SAMI organisation building?
MK: Yeah.
CoC: What do the letters stand for?
MK: Svenske Artisters og Musikers Interesseorganisation.
CoC: Swedish Artists' Musical Interest Organisation?
MK: Yeah. They have one big and one small studio. So we jumped
between those studios and, you know, first of all, as I said, it
was gonna be more demo stuff, to try out the studio. But by the
time we started recording we just changed everything 'cause it
seemed to go so well so we made our whole album instead.
CoC: So technically Dismember is being funded partly by the Swedish
government? Would that be right?
MK: Yes. <laughs>
CoC: It's good to see Sweden's supporting its good music. One last
question: were you ever tempted to go back to Sunlight, and have
a credit from Skogsberg on the album, -just- for the old fans
that it would pull in?
MK: <laughs> No. That was never actual. We never thought about that.
CoC: It probably wouldn't be worth the transaction anyway, 'cause the
cost of getting him probably wouldn't account for the extra
album sales.
MK: Yeah, I mean... <sighs> As far as it concerns us, Sunlight is
history. We noticed when we changed studios for _Hate Campaign_,
that the sound follows us and it's not studio based. We have the
guitar sound that we have and it comes through in a different
studio. That was a big relief, and it gave us more freedom to
look for better deals and different environments to record in.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
W H E R E S W I M S T H E L E V I A T H A N ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with Brann Dailor from Mastodon
by: Paul Schwarz
In this interview, conducted via phone on March 29th of this year --
long before anyone outside of the band and their immediate circle had
heard even a note of _Leviathan_ (Mastodon's second album, which
comes out on the 31st of August in the US and the 14th of September
in Europe) -- I chatted with drummer Brann Dailor about Mastodon's
then- recent activities; the recording of _Leviathan_, which took
place at Robert Lang and Litho Studios (who have played host to
Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Deftones, Soundgarden and others in their
time) with _Remission_ producer Matt Bayles (Botch, Pearl Jam, Isis,
The Blood Brothers); and the band's appearance on MTV's Headbanger's
Ball. Talk also turned to _Leviathan_ conceptual thrust -- which,
as most of you probably know by now, is anchored to themes,
ideas and characters borrowed from Herman Melville's proto-modernist
masterpiece, "Moby Dick" -- along with Mastodon's current position as
one of the most commercially promise-heavy bands in ex treme music.
Calling me at noon his time from the Seattle apartment that he and
bandmates Troy Sanders, Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher have been
sharing for a month while recording _Leviathan_, Dailor sounds
like he has just surfaced, his pseudo-drawl and often halting
speech-patterns giving the impression of a man who is permanently
stoned. But what becomes apparent is that this is just the way he
-sounds-, rather than a reflection of his inner mental lucidity.
Though he sometimes lacks the power to articulate his feelings
concisely off-the-bat, Brann nails things on the head with surprising
regularity once you get him going. He's one of the most quotable
interviewees I've encountered -- and in a good sense. Anyway, here
you go: expect another Mastodon interview conducted around the
album's release, in October or November.
CoC: Have you been to Seattle many times?
Brann Dailor: No, this is our first time here, but we've been living
here for a month, so I've made a few friends.
CoC: How is it going, working in Robert Lang and Litho Studios?
BD: We should be finished up tomorrow, with the mixing. At the last
minute we were listening back to one of the songs and we were
like, "Oh man! We gotta put some vocals over that one part." So
we had to come in, set up some microphones and record some vocals
over on this one part. So now that's the last song that needs to
be mixed.
CoC: And then the whole thing's done, you just need to do the
mastering?
BD: We need to put our samples on the tape today. There's only a few
but we need to put them in there and see if they work.
CoC: Weave it all together.
BD: Yeah.
CoC: That's worked pretty well ever since the _Lifesblood_ EP, which
you used samples on as well as _Remission_, right?
BD: Yeah. It's gonna be more... I don't know. When we did the EP
thing it was like... I don't know. We just threw some samples in
there. With _Remission_ I didn't want to use any real -movie-
sound-bites or anything like that. I think that's way overdone.
CoC: I know what you're saying. I think it makes for a more cohesive
musical record if you don't, to be honest.
BD: Yeah.
CoC: I mean, I think obviously they can work in there in some
records, but I agree with you it is a bit hackneyed at this
point, unless you do it really well.
BD: Yeah. It usually just comes off as kinda tacky.
CoC: Exactly. It's a difficult thing to balance. So you've now
finished up the record. What people have you had in the studio
with you? Relapse were saying you had some guest vocalists or
musicians?
BD: Yeah. It's just guest vocalists. We had Scott Kelly from Neurosis
and Neal Falon from Clutch. Neil did a part on one song and Scott
did one song.
CoC: Was that a last-minute thing or had you conceived any of these
particular parts with them in mind?
BD: Uhhh, well... I've always wanted to do something with Scott just
'cause him and I are really good friends and he's always asked me
to come play on his solo projects and whatever, but it never has
been able to come together and happen. So I figured since we were
in Seattle and he lives relatively close to here that I'd call
him up. And I was like: "Ummm, would it be... -gay- to ask you to
sing a song on our record?" and he was like, "Nah man, it's
cool." He came out so awesome. It's a Neurosis-ish part, so it
sounds pretty cool.
CoC: So is the other song a Clutch-ish part, would you say?
BD: Not really. It just called for a... voice, I guess. It was a
perfect part. We've done like three tours with Clutch, so we know
each other pretty well at this point. So we were like just trying
to figure out something for him to do just 'cause we just love
his voice, y'know? Both those dudes have two of the most distinct
voices -- for me, anyways -- in heavy music.
CoC: Working in the two studios with Matt Bayles -- who produced
_Remission_, but also for quite a few people, memorably, did
Botch -- and occupying the kind of position you do -- I remember
in an interview with Digital Metal you talked of liking
Dillinger and liking stoner rock, and that maybe Mastodon fans
are on the same page -- you look set to become a similar figure
to Botch for the current way-of- things, in the sense of having
a very specific status. That's in terms of the underground. In
the bigger picture you might break like the next Nirvana, in
terms of taking a lot of influences from an underground scene --
or at least a scene that's hidden from the mainstream -- and
bringing them into your own style as something which I think a
lot of people may well get into. For you, doing this album, with
some of the people who've recorded in the studios you worked in,
did you feel like there was anything more there; or was it very
much: let's do it and see what happens?
BD: Ahhh... well, I guess going into the studios our only thought
with recording here in Seattle was the fact that last time, when
we did _Remission_, we flew Bayles out to stay with us -- and we
were gonna do the record in two weeks. So he got there; and then
the tape machine broke in the studio we were scheduled to go into
and it just became this big mess and blah blah blah: -nothing-
worked out. I can't believe that _Remission_ even got recorded.
Everything just fell apart. We had to get out of the studio we
were in and change studios and blah blah blah blah blah. So when
we were going back and forth with the idea of using Matt Bayles
again I was like: well, you know what, I don't wanna bring him to
Atlanta again. I'd rather go to Seattle and work in studios that
he's comfortable in. Get a hotel room -- 'cause also, when we did
_Remission_ we were all working our day jobs and were not able to
100% concentrate on the record. So we'd work all day and then
have to go to the s tudio and then work in the studio. It was a
little too stressful. So when we got out here and realised all
these huge bands had recorded at these studios, that was cool.
It's cool to be in a studio and then look up and realise that,
you know, Nirvana and whatever famous bands recorded here, and
Litho being the dude from Pearl Jam's studio -- Dave Matthews was
just there last week. We thought that was pretty cool, but
basically we didn't really -know- much of that information going
into it. We just knew that we wanted to work with Matt Bayles
again, and we wanted to work with him on his own turf where he's
comfortable so we could try to make it the most -easy- record to
make instead of having it be a stressful thing, you know what I
mean?
CoC: The thing that's interesting to me is that, though the music may
not be different, with _Leviathan_ it's very possible that the
cultural impact will be different. The same was true with
Nirvana -- the albums may in the final assessment be quite
different, but when Nirvana released _Bleach_ it was to a
smaller crowd. It was still a big reaction, but from a different
segment of people. I'm always a bit uneasy asking bands those
questions 'cause the reaction of the band is usually that
they're very much within their own world. But it is quite
interesting for you guys now, 'cause you are one of the bands
out there who could possibly make that step. I mean, you came
over to the UK for just a few dates with High on Fire and unlike
a lot of bands you guys came back within a year to do a
headliner and more dates. Did you find the reaction to Mastodon
was quite strong in the UK?
BD: Yeah, it was huge. We pretty much come into every situation
without any expectations. Like you said, we're just in our own
world and in our own mind and in our own, you know, -band- and
it's just like: yeah, whatever. But when we came and played in
London... I thought it was gonna be good 'cause I remembered when
we played there with Today Is the Day -- people were really into
the music and were, like, freakin' out.
CoC: I think we've been a bit starved of it in the UK -- the noise /
rock / metal / core, whatever-you-wanna-call-it thing.
BD: Yeah yeah yeah.
CoC: I think in the States a lot more of those bands do the circuit.
In the UK, we get Converge or Botch or Mastodon or Keelhaul -
once- in a few -years- -- or that's certainly how it used to be.
BD: Yeah. Anyway, we were blown away by the reaction we got. We met
all sorts of really cool people, and we talked to our manager
over there and said we really had to come back as soon as
possible.
CoC: Talking about the album's title, _Leviathan_, and some of the
song titles that have been released so far: is there any
significance concerning the lyrics of the album or your career
in general -- not to characterise you like Manowar; I know
there's not gonna be a song about Mastodon ruling the world...
BD: <laughs>
CoC: Metaphorically speaking. Again, in that Digital Metal interview
you described _Remission_ in metaphorical terms, when faced with
the question of how to describe the album. I thought it was
interesting, incorporating the cover-art and the conflicting
elements in that and the title into the meaning, and such-like.
So, _Leviathan_ being the great beast of the sea: is there a
portent in that title?
BD: Well, this is our second release, but I think that -always- with
Mastodon there's always gonna be some kind of theme that has to
be worked out way beforehand, obviously. Last summer when we did
the headlining shows of the UK, I was in the middle of reading
"Moby Dick". We were in London in fact, and I kinda just spouted
off why we should choose "Moby Dick" as a guideline of what to
write about and what to go for. I was looking up all these
passages and reading them to the guys and saying: look, they call
Moby Dick the sea-salt mastodon, you know, it's all in here.
There are so many different images we can borrow from whaling and
just the whole thing as a complete package. I thought it would be
really, really cool, and I kinda used Mad Ahab as -us- being
obsessed with, you know, playing music and potentially going down
with the whale or whatever, you know what I mean? The whale being
the audience, and we just... playing music and touring being such
an obsession and just ki nd of like such a shaky ground 'cause
it's heavy metal music, it's really not -- I mean we're all like
30 years old and it's quite possibly, almost definitely, gonna
take you nowhere, you know what I mean?
CoC: As far as life security goes, no. Sure.
BD: It's not a good decision to make, to play heavy metal. Rap and
r'n'b and stuff like that, that's where the money is at. Rap like
Eminem; Britney Spears obviously: those are the people that are
massively successful, blah blah. But there's no integrity, no
heartfelt anything in that. But we just chose "Moby Dick" 'cause
we're all really interested in any kind of folklore. We're
totally into Sasquatch and The Yeti and The Loch Ness Monster and
all that stuff, you know. We like that kinda subject matter;
we're into that kinda subject matter. So I think the record as a
whole, as it's coming together right now, has taken all this
different stuff -- there's songs about like Fiji Mermaids, songs
about Nephilims and all sorts of crazy stuff going on -- but it's
also, we kinda tried to tie it into ourselves and the way we feel
about stuff, and try to make it as passionate as possible.
CoC: How did your recent co-hosting of Headbanger's Ball go?
BD: It was cool. It was kinda crazy because we hadda play a show the
night before and we slept for like one hour and then we got up
and had to drive to the city [New York -- Paul]. You have to be
there at, like, 9:30 in the morning. But you know, it's not like
the old Headbanger's Ball. The old Headbanger's Ball had a set
and you could run around and do crazy stuff. This was like: they
sit you down, and you have to sit -right there-. You can't move
'cause there are cameras -on- you. It's kinda subdued. I'm kinda
thinking that Headbanger's Ball has just started back up and
probably doesn't have the budget to do a lot of the things they
used to do, but hopefully it'll gain popularity, and they'll be
able to run around and go on location like they used to. Like
when they used to be at a Slayer show or an Ozzy show and blah
blah blah. We tried to be as loose as possible. It helped that
Jamie was there because I've been drunk on Hatebreed's tourbus
many times talking with Jamie. S o it was definitely a lot easier
than if it had been someone I didn't know. But 'cause I know
Jamie pretty well it was pretty cool: I was just talking to him
and the cameras are a little bit off in the distance, in the
dark, so you can't really see 'em. But it was cool, y'know: it
did a lot for our band, you know. I mean, we've been in places
here in Seattle and people walk up and they're like: I recognise
you from TV! It's like the ultimate goal in everyone's life is to
make it onto that little - box-, y'know. It's like: -you were on
the TV!-. It's like you're a different person now: you're not
just that dude, you're that dude from -TV- now. It's weird...
CoC: It's gotta be a strange thing for Mastodon 'cause Mastodon, in a
lot of ways, is about playing live and getting that sort of
energy and bringing it onto the record.
BD: Yeah.
CoC: Mastodon seem to have gone at least beyond where Today Is the
Day have gone as far as -- not cracking the -real- mainstream,
but cracking half-way into the mainstream, where a -lot- of
people are getting into it. 'Cause there was a huge buzz about
TItD and I'm not knocking them in the slightest, but as far as
the music's gone with _Sadness Will Prevail_ and stuff, I think
Mastodon's made a lot more connections in the last year or
two...
BD: Yeah.
CoC: ...and I'm just basically curious about whether you think in the
wake of Mastodon and Dillinger Escape Plan as well, making it to
the consciousness of many, whether a lot of the general
time- signature- changing, quite -solid-, stoner-rock-based [in
Mastodon's case -- Paul] music will make it onto a bigger
plateau. This is coming back to my Nirvana point, I think...
BD: Yeah.
CoC: ...just because: I totally dig what you're saying -- and I don't
wanna jinx it as far where the big money is, but as far as where
Nirvana came from in 1991/1990, they came as the antithesis to
the glam era...
BD: Right.
CoC: And essentially changed the way that people of the time thought
about a popular rock band.
BD: Yeah.
CoC: It had a lot of different effects on old heavy metal and stuff
like that.
BD: Absolutely.
CoC: But -- and it sounds -very- music journalist, but I think we're
due another one. I think some of the stuff that's come out of
extreme metal and its crossover, very strongly, with hardcore
and stoner rock is sort of -primed- to make that sort of thing
happen again. I think Botch were primed to do it, before they
imploded. On that level would you say that you do feel -- when
you go on tour and when people listen to the records and the
reactions come back -- that you are on the cusp of something, to
put it simply?
BD: I don't know. I guess I just can't see it or I can't tell. I
guess I feel like... you know... <sighs> I don't know. <laughs> I
don't think Nirvana had any idea what was about to happen to
them, you know what I mean? I don't think any band that's not,
like, being - coddled- by the -industry-... and plus I think that
things are so much different now compared to how they were back
then. I think that - because- of the fact that that Nirvana thing
happened, there's all these people that are, like, looking for
that... - now-, you know what I mean? Instead of just, like,
letting it happen naturally like it did with Nirvana, people are
trying to - force- it; so if they see anything that's like, not
even boiling but just on the pot, they're like all - over- it,
-immediately-, you know what I mean? Whereas Nirvana, they had a
little bit of time to... cook, you know what I mean? Without
being completely run through the mill; but as soon as _Nevermind_
hit it was like BOOM! It was -crazy- ! I remember walking into
Tower Records and this band that all my -skateboard- friends
listened to a year ago; now all that's in my face is that baby
swimming towards the dollar bill, you know? But you know, I guess
I hope that happens, but we're definitely not banking on anything
like that. We're just really trying to concentrate and make sure
that we write the music that we wanna write and make sure we're
not writing for anyone but ourselves, first off. And writing cool
stuff and writing really musical... - music-, you know. And
writing stuff that's challenging and writing stuff that's -new-
to us and -changing-: we didn't write another _Remission_ album,
you know what I mean? _Leviathan_ is -different-, it's a
different record. There's singing on it -- but it's not like...
<laughs> it's not like nu metal singing: it sounds like Thin
Lizzy or The Melvins or something like that. It's more -real-.
CoC: I think that -is- reflected in _Remission_. There are aspects of
_Remission_ where you can -see- how you could move forward with
it.
BD: It's gotta grow and open up like that, or else I don't know
what we're doin' here. <chuckles> If we just stayed stagnant?
Hopefully that's impossible for us. If it ever gets to be
stagnant, we'll have to do something else.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
D I Y G R I N D W I T H A M I N D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with Fred Anton of Inhumate
by: Jackie Smit
The name Inhumate won't easily ring too many bells with anyone
outside the most underground circles in extreme music, and quite
frankly, bassist and chief songwriter Fred Anton and his cohorts
wouldn't have it any other way. Not that it's for lack of talent,
mind you. _Life_ is the band's fourth full-length effort and easily
one of the most convincing grindcore efforts you're likely to
encounter this year. More than that however, _Life_ also serves as
the next installment in a grand concept that has spanned the start of
the band's career. So, why then does Inhumate continue to operate as
free agents? Fred explains:
Fred Anton: Basically we want to stay free of any obligations and
commitments to anything other than this band and making
music. Inhumate is an underground band and will stay an
underground band. We do what we want, when we want, and
nobody can tell us any differently, and that is what I
think is most important. Sure, without a label things are
slower in terms of promotion, but we don't care because
we're not in a hurry and because this isn't about selling
records. Being independent is what's kept Inhumate alive
for fourteen years.
CoC: Aside from the band, you also run Grind Your Soul distribution
in France. Was this started before Inhumate got together? Do you
have plans to develop it into a fully fledged record label?
FA: No, Grind Your Soul started after the band did, because it was
our only way to get enough money together to self-produce our
third album. For the first two albums, we paid a part of the
studio sessions and we paid for the CD pressing out of our own
pockets, which isn't easy. So we collectively decided to start up
the distribution company in order to trade our stuff and possibly
have some other things to sell. Now Grind Your Soul has been
going for a while and it's started make some money, and we are
able trade with people from all over the world and get enough
cash together to avoid having to put a fucking cent into the
music, except maybe for our instruments. It will never be turned
into a full-on label though. Grind Your Soul is there to fund
Inhumate, and that's it.
CoC: Judging by some of the other bands on the GYS samplers, there's
clearly a big metal movement taking place in the French
underground at the moment -- talk me through some of the best
bands and where you think the scene is headed.
FA: Yes, I think you're right -- there's a really big underground
metal movement taking place in France right now. Among some of
the best bands around right now would have to be Sublime,
Cadaveric Decomposition, Blockheads, Horrid Flesh, Vacarme,
Dislocation, Warscars, Heresy, Unformed, Absurdity and Recueil
Morbide. It's difficult to say where all this is headed though,
because of the language barrier.
CoC: Why has the French underground experienced such a boost of late?
FA: That's an eternal question to which I have only two possible
answers. Firstly, I think that French bands don't try to promote
themselves outside of French borders, and they don't do it
because many of them don't speak English well. It's a pity, but
that's how things are. Secondly, it's possibly because I think
that in France many people believe and almost religiously trust
in what magazines say are cool bands. This is slowly changing a
bit with the Internet making it way easier to discover new bands.
Also, more people understand that the underground can spawn
interesting and serious bands, and slowly they're starting to pay
more attention to the scene, which invariably makes it stronger.
CoC: Going back to Inhumate: you have said that all your albums form
part of an overall concept ("an heptalogy based on the concept
of Life and the Abolition of Time") -- tell me more about the
meaning behind this.
FA: This concept consists of seven albums. Four have already been
recorded and released at this point. _Internal Life_ came out in
1996, and dealt with life before life; in utero life, so to
speak. _Expulsion_ was completed in 1997 and picked up from the
moment of birth. _Growth_ was released in 2000 and concerns
itself with all the years in which the personality is being
formed. Now in 2004 there's _Life_. It's the mid-concept album,
which is why in its title you can find a word from the first
album title and also from the last one of the whole concept, and
it looks at how human beings mature; how they deal with maturity,
how they procreate and basically how life goes on. We will follow
this with _The Fifth Season_, which will be centered around
wisdom that comes from the end of life. _Expulsed_ will be next
and will look at death and the end of life, basically. And then
there will be _Eternal Life_, where a person has died, but life
is still going on through his or her chil dren and so on. Of
course, life never ends, and in the same way, we'd like people to
experience our concept again and again, while at the same time
it's a concept that takes place around the music rather than
through it. We've reached a certain level of maturity in Inhumate
after having been together for fourteen years, and at this point
we're still working really hard to make this concept large
and even further reaching. On a final note, this concept is
especially based on artwork rather than lyrics. Some lyrics are
obviously very directly driving the concept forward, but not all
of them -- that would be really boring, I think. After all, we
are in a grindcore band.
CoC: With your work being based around such a heady concept, would
you say that your departure point in dissecting it is based
around personal observations or around something more objective?
FA: I think it's more a commentary; a reflection about life the way
we see it -- what we are and where are we going to. If you have
the opportunity to read all our lyrics, you'll see that some
are actually quite stupid -- something that we have done
intentionally to reflect conditions in human nature -- while
others are more focused on the observation of things happening in
everyday life, which we then reflect into our music.
CoC: What is the principal message that you are trying to convey with
this concept?
FA: Maybe something like: "enjoy life". I know that it seems crazy
for a band who play the kind of music that we do, but why not?
CoC: Was it always the intention to create Inhumate as a
conceptually- driven band?
FA: No, absolutely not. This idea was brought up after we released
_Internal Life_, when we were thinking about the next CD. We just
basically though: "Why don't we make the next album a straight
sequel to the first one?" Then slowly the idea of the concept
began to make its way into my brain.
CoC: Considering the fact that grindcore isn't exactly the most
diverse musical genre around, do you sometimes feel restrained
in being able to explore something as complicated as the concept
of "life"?
FA: Not really, because as I said, this concept is based around
artwork more than anything else. So basically we create the music
and then Christophe writes lyrics. The writing process for coming
up with the music has nothing to do with the concept; we keep
music on one side and the concept on the other. It's only when we
record that we find some things that bind it all together. You
know, we also regard Inhumate as a live band in every sense, so
we create music that we can perform on a stage. We're not a "home
music band", and the kind of music that we play has to be
composed free of all intellectual ideas. I think to make good
grindcore, you need to be able to follow the urge that's telling
you what to play.
CoC: Your press-book mentions the names to several upcoming Inhumate
efforts -- does this mean that work on said records has already
begun? Will Inhumate continue after these records are completed,
i.e. once the concept has reached its conclusion?
FA: No, we just have the titles for the upcoming Inhumate releases,
nothing more. No idea of the music and no fucking idea of the
artwork for the time being. What will happen after that? I really
don't know. I do think that Inhumate as a band would have to stop
once we have concluded the concept. Inhumate are here to create
that concept and that's all. If we decided to go on playing
together afterward then we'll just have to change the band's
name.
CoC: What are Inhumate's plans for the near future? Any touring plans
for Europe / UK / USA?
FA: We have a few single shows lined up here and there across Europe
-- nothing in the UK unfortunately. We don't tour at the moment,
because it's so hard for us to all get off work at once, and we
also have such an energetic stage attitude that it wouldn't be
possible for us to go at it every night and not go a little soft.
And that is something that we definitely do not want to do!
Anyone who doubts that can just have a look at the multimedia
extra on _Life_ to see what I'm talking about.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
_, _, __, _,_ _, _ _,
/ \ | |_) | | |\/| (_
|~| | , |_) | | | | , )
~ ~ ~~~ ~ `~' ~ ~ ~
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!
Arachnes - _Primary Fear_ (Scarlet, 2003)
by: Brian Meloon (6 out of 10)
Before receiving this album, I'd never heard of Italy's Arachnes, but
they've been around for over seven years and this is their fourth
full-length album. As you'd expect, during that
time, they've had a
chance to hone and polish their style. Unfortunately, the style
they've chosen is generic Italian prog/power metal, which for me is
typified by Labyrinth's 1996 offering _No Limits_. This album
features the typical singing, the typical guitar work, the typical
melodies, and the typical washed-out production of Italian prog/power
metal. Thankfully, they do branch out from this style somewhat,
incorporating elements from Yngwie, Tony MacAlpine, Iron Maiden,
Journey, some church organ music, and a few other random influences.
Another thing that helps to separate them from the pack and bolster
their progressive credentials is that almost half of the songs on
this album are instrumentals (and real instrumentals, not just intros
or segues between songs). So ultimately, this album has a little more
to offer than a typical album from this genre, but it's not one that
will change your mind about Italian prog/power metal. If you like the
style and are interested in another band competently doing the same
style, then go for it; otherwise, you won't find much here to
entertain you.
Contact: http://www.arachnes.it
Bloodbath - _Nightmares Made Flesh_ (Century Media, 2004)
by: Matthias Noll (8.5 out of 10)
A few things have changed in the Bloodbath camp since _Resurrection
Through Carnage_: vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt left and was replaced by
Peter Tagtgren; Dan Swano moved from drums to the second guitar; and
new drummer Martin Axerot (Witchery, etc.) has joined the band. One
thing becomes immediately clear when listening to _Nightmares Made
Flesh_: the Bloodbath sound has once again changed considerably,
whether or not as a result of the new line-up.
Surprisingly this change isn't mainly due to the vocals, which remain
very similar to Akerfeldt's performance on _Resurrection Through
Carnage_. Tagtgren astonishes me with a brutal, powerful and pure
death metal performance, hardly ever using his raspier style, which I
had feared so much would be present on this album. What does not make
an appearance on _Nightmares Made Flesh_ is the "Sunlight Studio"
guitar sound which Bloodbath managed to recreate so successfully on
_RTC_. This time the guitars are downtuned and immensely powerful,
but the godly caustic and ripping tone Bloodbath borrowed from the
defining albums of the Swedish death metal wave has disappeared.
The songs on _NMF_ are also less linear, slightly less catchy and
don't flow as well as the ten songs on _RTC_. Of course this isn't a
Cryptopsy or Deeds of Flesh album, but some of the breaks and tempo
changes turn out to be surprisingly drastic and non-intuitive for a
band that so far has delivered their death metal in a deliberately
simple and non-technical way. One reason for this might be that the
band is taking advantage of the participation of a "real" drummer,
who even contributes occasional blast beats this time around.
However, the main feeling I get from _NMF_ is that Bloodbath are
trying to lessen the extent of their "tribute" and "just for fun"
approach and are instead aiming to establish a more clearly defined
identity as a unit that relies heavily on certain influences but
delivers them as an integral part of their own distinctive sound and
style. The fact that I find myself thinking that the new songs sound
like Bloodbath far more often than Entombed, Dismembe r or others
clearly indicates that the band has strived for and accomplished more
than just re-animating the glory days of the early '90s or paying
tribute to _Left Hand Path_ and other masterpieces. But from a very
subjective, almost selfish point of view, I nevertheless bemoan the
band's decision to say farewell to that -ultimate- guitar sound which
made _RTC_ considerably more ripping than _NMF_, even if I feel that
the overall quality of the songs on the previous album was only
slightly better.
In a review that sounds almost entirely negative so far, a couple of
things have to be made absolutely clear in the end: _NMF_ is a killer
record which must appeal to everyone who is into traditional European
death metal. It is by far superior to all recent output by
Hypocrisy, Dismember and other surviving or re-animated "big" names
-- like for example Grave and Unleashed. Comparable retro acts like
Chaosbreed would sell their souls to be able to write a crusher like
"Outnumbering the Day", and I strongly doubt I will hear more than
two or three death metal albums that are actually superior to _NMF_
this year.
Capharnaum - _Fractured_ (Willowtip, 2004)
by: Brian Meloon (8 out of 10)
Capharnaum's second full-length album is an improvement from their
1998 debut, _Reality Only Fantasized_ [CoC #31] and the _Plague of
Spirits_ demo [CoC #44] (though "Icon of Malice" from that demo also
appears here). Their style of death metal hasn't changed much over
the years; they still play a thrashy version of death metal focusing
more on speed and dexterity than heaviness. Their riffs are mostly
individual-note lines, which they frequently harmonize, but they add
a few chord-based riffs here and there and mix up the tempos to keep
things from being too monotonous. The vocals are a shouted rather
than growled style, and fit the music pretty well. The guitar, bass
and drum work are all very good: the playing is precise, and
they're very tight as a unit. Unfortunately, this album has a few
significant weaknesses in my eyes. Most importantly, although the
individual riffs are average to good, very little of the album is
really memorable. In fact, I can only think of three memorable
riffs throughout the whole album. To make matters worse, the song
structures don't do the memorability level any favors. Most of the
songs are interchangeable and there is very little to differentiate
them. For example, I have a difficult time telling the first
four songs apart. It's only when the opening riff to "Icon of
Malice" kicks in that I realize that I'm on the fifth track. As
another example, I don't understand why "Machines" is under two
minutes long; it doesn't indicate that it's going to be short, it
just unceremoniously ends, blending into the next song. At 26
minutes (technically almost 30 minutes, but the last three-and-a-
half minutes are a pointless mathrock exercise), this is a short
album even by death metal standards, but it's well-played and
well-produced, and it shows significant development for the band.
However, to become one of the elite members of the genre, they'll
have to continue to work on their songwriting.
Contact: http://www.capharnaum.org
Cattle Decapitation - _Humanure_ (Metal Blade, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit (7.5 out of 10)
If you discount the introductory piano piece as simply the precursor
to another platter of generic gore-grind, then the first big surprise
on _Humanure_ is the opening track, where the band break into an
almost symphonic breakdown within its first forty seconds that quite
literally comes swirling out at you through the Carcass-ified
riffing. Yes, I used the word "symphonic" to describe a Cattle
Decapitation song, and while the San Diego vegan-core merchants have
hardly made an attempt to emulate Emperor on their third full-length,
the follow-up to the rather dull _To Serve Man_ is definitely a big
step up for the band in terms of overall musicianship and song
writing, as well as sheer brutality. Songs are faster, more complex
and generally far more adventurous than anything this mob has
delivered so far. Yet, amidst all this new-found fervour and
ferocity, Cattle Decapitation can at times appear to be slightly
unconfident -- almost as though they're scared to fully embrace th e
evolution hinted at on the album's standout moments. Thus the record
wanes, particularly toward the end of its running time, with tracks
like "Polyps" and the absurdly titled "Lips & Assholes" sounding
indistinct and uninspiring. That said, it's very satisfying to see
the band develop to the point where one could reasonably argue that
the weakest track on _Humanure_ still manages to top anything that
they've offered us before.
Contact: http://www.cattledecapitation.com
Council of the Fallen - _Deciphering the Soul_
by: Jackie Smit (7 out of 10) (Season of Mist, 2004)
With the exception of last year's outstanding Vital Remains effort,
Myrtle Beach-based Council of the Fallen are one of the few bands to
describe their music as melodic death metal without actually adopting
the staid by-the-numbers folk-infused approach of their Swedish
counterparts. Instead, _Deciphering the Soul_ is a record seeped in
American death metal tradition, and Eric Rutan's presence as producer
only serves to emphasize and underline this fact. It's not only
Rutan's work that connects these guys to Hate Eternal, however: Tim
"The Missile" Yeung, one-time über-sticksman on HE's debut effort,
lays down some fairly relentless, if slightly uninspired blasting
from the comfort of the drum stool. But it is ultimately the melodies
that have the most prominent role in the enjoyment of songs like "No
Vision of Prophecy" and "Resurgence". Drawing from a decidedly
classical school of consonance, the bleak euphony present for the
duration of the record propel _Deciphering the S oul_ into almost
black metal territory on more than one occasion. This ultimately
lends the album its primary voice and creates an overall feeling of
grandiosity -- though not quite in the same league as a band like
Nile. Curiously, given the extent to which CotF's music almost
invites their presence, solos are in short supply, with precious few
tracks exploring any sort of progressive lead work whatsoever. While
I am hardly a supporter of throwing in a solo just for the sake of
it, _Deciphering the Soul_ is clearly an album that would benefit
greatly from this added dynamic. It would certainly be more welcome
than the clean vocals used on tracks like "Distant Memories", which
instead of adding variety to the fairly standard vocal performance,
end up sounding contrived and... well, just quite lame. Thankfully
though, this is the only mediocre ingredient in a cocktail that at
its best can be pretty damn potent.
Contact: http://www.councilofthefallen.com
Decrepit Birth - _...And Time Begins_ (Unique Leader, 2003)
by: Todd DePalma (9 out of 10)
"Now you stand before me, and I before you, the uncreation
You regret
I am the living doorway to re-existence
With a single breath you can be forever
I am the (messiah/savior/deliverer) of all"
- Decrepit Birth, "Rebirth of Consciousness"
Perhaps heralding a new generation of conceptually strong willed
artists, Decrepit Birth's debut effort picks up the slack left behind
as the landmark style put forward by Suffocation caught on and moved
away from harmonizing philosophy and sound to increased emphasis on
wowing, unteachable, musicianship. _...And Time Begins_ returns the
balance with a seemingly perfect union of thematic and song craft,
inspired by the atonal forms of early Nineties death metal, with
cover art by Dan Seagrave added for good measure. The beginning of
each track touches off a mantra-like redefinition of sound that
pummels for nine tracks in a psychotic Tetris behind the rending
throat of Bill Robinson, who intones a mythology of human history.
Drummer Tim Yeung (who has contributed his talents to far too many
albums to list here, uses triggers, but still I suspect, does not
possess actual human sinew) anchors this swarm, blasting aside
completely indulgent chord progressions as they rain like f ractal
debris cometting through space. In fact the totality of this release
feels like it ultimately aims at aurally portraying the "Big Bang".
The production balances every voice on the record fairly, but
the dizzying flight of movement engulfed in distortion makes a
crystal-sounding transfer of every note impossible. As the breaks do
practically nothing to interfere with the searing tempos, the pace of
this album confuses, and some listeners may feel subjected to a rant
in a foreign language, ready to brush aside as ill gibberish. The
length of the album is to its advantage, and it's hard to imagine not
playing the full album's chaos in one sitting over and over. These
thirty minutes communicate the exhale of gods.
Dementor - _God Defamer_ (Osmose Productions, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit (7 out of 10)
I recently shared in a very interesting conversation with one of my
fellow CoCers regarding the state of death metal in the midst of the
genre's current resurgence. My colleague pointed to the fact that in
recent times the bar has been raised by bands like Nile and Cryptopsy
to such an extent that it is growing increasingly challenging for
other bands to break out and be noticed without resorting to the most
OTT brutality or off-beat experimentation.
In hindsight, the man definitely had a point. Death metal as we know
it right now may be in a similarly booming state as that of the
glorious early Nineties, but in terms of what passes for good, the
style has evolved into an altogether more complex beast. The days
where a band could rightly be hailed for their unique production or
superior technicality have largely disappeared. In fact, I can hardly
remember the last death metal album to pass my ears that did not at
least sound mildly impressive on both those counts. Then of course
there's the question of actual songs. Again, this throws up a number
of arguments. Should a band constantly strive to innovate, or do they
aim to, in the words of Alex Webster, "always be heavier and faster"?
At what point does the preoccupation with innovation become counter-
productive?
This brings me to Dementor's latest effort. Every one of the album's
nine tracks provides a technically superb flurry of death metal that
follows the same violent path as Krisiun and Rebaelliun in a most
convincing manner. Likewise, Andy Claasen's work from behind the
mixing desk is crushing, easily outdoing recent efforts by Hate
Eternal et al for sheer, bludgeoning impact. But for all its merits,
_God Defamer_ is unable to catapult itself into the realm of
essential listening, simply because it does absolutely nothing that
we haven't heard many times before. A good, possibly even great death
metal album, yes -- but ultimately no one would be missing out on
anything pivotal if they chose to ignore this record. Which in turn,
boils things down to a question of how selective one chooses to be --
if death metal is your reason for waking up in the morning, then
Dementor is a must-have. If, however, you have bought less than five
death metal records in the past year, then chances are that this is
not going to do much for you.
Contact: http://www.dementor.sk
Dragonauta - _Luciferatu_ (Dias de Garage, 2003)
by: Todd DePalma (6 out of 10)
Boasting a reputation as Argentina's first doom band, Dragonauta
effectively reproduce the late '60s / '70s "jam" sound, channeling
the first Black Sabbath record or even Jimi Hendrix integrated with
jazz rhythm and Spanish guitar. The "doom" aspect of this record is
lacking in spots; it shares more kinship with the "stoner rock" sound
-- that starry, foot dragging vibe. Not so much a feeling of darkness
though the bridge seems to be a lax interest in the occult. The album
opens with an upbeat rock riff (and plenty of unmerciful cowbell)
before gassing out into an excellent limbo of softly stepping drums
and bass, with clean but thick guitars that levitate like fat
hummingbirds in stale air. The only real downer on this record
(besides the vocals, which sound more appropriate for a speed metal
outfit) is the lack of follow-through in songwriting that surrounds
these evocative moments.
Though able to conjure up moods that are nostalgic and at times
unique, Dragonauta are lacking in their ability to deliver strong
riffs in combination with the shapeless jam-rock atmosphere the way
their idols did, creating potholes of trite sound along the way. And
at times a dead end: "Funeral Magico" is an example where the band
works completely off the Sabbath blueprint -- no less than their
self- titled classic song. The problem here isn't that it's hardly
original, but that it doesn't build to nearly the same dynamic
climax, leaving the listener with no release of the tension that
builds throughout the entire song. If you're going to imitate to
this degree already, you better go all the fucking way. Still,
_Luciferatu_ is a neat cut across the spectrum from the cult of
downtuned overdrive lords like Electric Wizard and Sleep; for retro
enthusiasts the laid back, drifting vibe and variation this album is
saturated in is ultimately it's main attractive quality and should a
ppeal to fiends of both persuasions.
This CD also contains a CD-ROM video file of live footage and
interviews with the band.
Contact: http://www.dragonauta.com.ar
Elend - _Sunwar the Dead_ (Prophecy Productions, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9.5 out of 10)
A new Elend album, so soon? Having had to wait for five years to hear
a breath of life from Elend after their "Office des Ténèbres"
trilogy, this new five(!) album series that started with last year's
_Winds Devouring Men_ seems off to a flying start. As a result,
many pessimists would probably expect _Sunwar the Dead_ to be a
rushed job, where half-baked ideas are strung together to form a
disappointing follow-up to the excellent _Winds Devouring Men_. They
would be wrong.
_Sunwar the Dead_ is an extremely refined album from one of the most
talented groups of individuals in extreme music, merging together a
myriad of eclectic, subtle influences. Their neoclassical (the term
is employed loosely here) music continues to evolve: there is more
percussion, some of which you are unlikely to have quite heard
before; there is more experimentation with subtle noise, without it
becoming overbearing; and this time there is a massive choir and
string ensemble (over 50 people in all) to further enhance the sheer
vibrancy of Elend's work, more so than even before. This is
an altogether darker album, more brooding and violent than its
predecessor: much of it is downright unnerving, shifting the focus
from the often beautiful and delicate introspection of _Winds
Devouring Men_ onto its darkest reaches. (The blackened shrieking
hasn't returned, however.) More importantly however, the way in which
Elend explore this darkness has again been partially reinvented;
threads of what they did before are taken and woven into something
new, mysterious and gripping. The interplay of strings, voices and
electronics (in the best possible sense) is seamless in its dark
voyage, transcending the common studio feel of an album and becoming
something much closer to the ethereal. This may all sound abstract,
but in a way so is the music: it has to be heard, carefully heard, in
order to be appreciated.
So, is _Sunwar the Dead_ the ultimate Elend masterpiece? Well, even
if we exclude the "Office des Ténèbres" trilogy based on the fact
that its context is quite different, it's still hard to tell what
heights they might reach next. I cannot even say for sure that they
have topped _Winds Devouring Men_; or rather, I think they have
topped it in a number of ways, but the two are considerably different
albums. _Sunwar the Dead_ is perhaps a more difficult album than
_Winds Devouring Men_, one you may not play as often; but it features
a number of superb passages and an overall atmosphere that is perhaps
unparalleled. Given what they set out to do here, this may well be
Elend's greatest achievement so far -- but I hope they may still be
able to improve on it one day. One can always hope.
Contact: http://www.prophecyproductions.de
Eviscium - _Underneath the Buried_ (Still Dead Productions, 2004)
by: Todd DePalma (5.5 out of 10)
This is the sound of death crawling, infecting; determined death like
cancer ravaging from within. Composed of Ex-Rottrevore members,
Eviscium churns out a down-tuned soundtrack to mortal climax -- the
kind that requires dental records. Like its predecessors, there is a
strong influence from early '90s Swedish / Finnish death metal
(Demigod, God Macabre), although the sonic bluntness of _Underneath
the Buried_ far exceeds the members' former catalog. Simplistic,
chugging rhythms spread thickly over six tracks of gore cleft in half
by their recording dates -- which warrants mention only because the
mixing of tracks four, five and six is more even, whereas during the
first half of the album vocalist Mark Mastro is obscured and blended
in like a fleeting afterthought of guitar distortion. Eviscium
achieves a relative balance between doom and death, being neither
overly blasting nor plodding, with the most emphasis put on the
rhythmic, almost tribal breaks that are crushing yet s eparate from
the popular east-coast slam style. While not relating any epiphany,
this type of old-school cruor is seldom achieved without outright
stagnant plagiarism, and it's good to hear something this putrid that
doesn't toy with any grindcore novelties for a change.
Contact: http://www.eviscium.com
Ewigkeit - _Radio Ixtlan_ (Earache, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit (7.5 out of 10)
James Fogarty's hard-on for electronic music and ambient
experimentation has always been evident in his work with Meads of
Asphodel, and so it should come as a surprise to no one to find that
when given a platform offering the creative freedom which Ewigkeit
clearly affords him, he delves into this framework of influences to
an even greater extent. _Radio Ixtlan_ is the fourth album released
thus far under the Ewigkeit banner, and far from being merely a
collection of blackened electronica, Mr Fog (as he is known around
the Earache offices apparently) has chosen to pour just about
everything barring country music into the nine songs contained
therein. The result is a sonic journey that at times smacks ever so
slightly of early Dimmu Borgir ("Powerplant"), Fields of the Nephilim
("Platonic Verses"), Killing Joke ("Journey to Ixtlan") and Moby
("The New Way"). Unfortunately, for all the variety it brings to
proceedings, this diversity also results in a very uneven listen.
It's not so much inconsistency in terms of overall song quality -- Mr
Fog may not be adding anything truly significant to the genres he
draws ideas from, but in general the majority of the album remains
interesting. _Radio Ixtlan_'s problem lies rather in the inability of
its content to form a cohesive whole -- a flaw that is particularly
evident when a song like "Strange Volk" lives up to its moniker and
breaks from the quasi- cosmic atmosphere with a bizarre, out-of-place
folk melody that may as well have been pulled straight off a vintage
Amorphis record. That Earache claim comparisons to _The Dark Side
of the Moon_ doesn't exactly illicit any leniency toward this
effort either. _Radio Ixtlan_ may be an entertaining record, but a
milestone? Not quite.
Contact: http://www.earache.com
Forest - _Like a Blaze Above the Ashes_ (ISO666, 2004)
by: Matthias Noll (8 out of 10)
Recorded in 1997 but released on CD in 2004, _Like a Blaze Above the
Ashes_ is the second album by Forest. Featuring four songs and a
comfortable length of slightly more than 44 minutes, this release
represents two different styles. The first two tracks sound like the
ultimately legitimate Slavonic version of _Transylvanian Hunger_.
What this means is that infectious melodies and chord progressions in
the style of Veles, Infernum or early Graveland meet the possessed
drumming, hypnotising delivery and low-fi production values of the
Darkthrone classic. Sound-wise the drumming almost disappears in the
mix, and the fast strummed guitars with their thick but distinctively
Eastern European tone together with the raspy vocal delivery are
dominant in shaping the aural character of the two fast tracks. So
far my description might sound as if the music performed by this
Russian band on _LaBAtA_ is totally generic; that might be true for
the individual ingredients, but not for the fin al result. The fusion
of the Norse and Polish styles succeeds so seamlessly on this record
that it leaves the impression that two parts which naturally belong
together were finally joined.
The second half of _LaBAtA_ consists of material which is far easier
to clearly associate with single stylistic and geographical regions
on the black metal map. The last two tracks offer medium-paced, Pagan
and/or Slavonic sounding black metal, which is not mind-blowing but
nevertheless very well written and performed. On these tracks the
slower nature of the songs allows every instrument some more
space in the mix, and therefore the production appears to be far
more balanced, especially as far as the drums are concerned. The
last track features some clean vocals in an awfully bleating,
semi-operatic style (think Behemoth's Nergal on some songs from
_Grom_); these are painfully out of tune and tend to make me cringe,
but as a whole _LaBAtA_ is an excellent album which everyone who is
into the bands mentioned in this review should seriously seek to add
to his collection.
HateSphere - _Ballet of the Brute_ (Century Media, 2004)
by: Aaron McKay (8.5 out of 10)
These five Danes have tapped into their darker side. Coming off
2002's more straightforward _Bloodred Hatred_, _Ballet of the Brute_
underscores a thicker, more down-tuned orientation throughout the
album's forty-five minutes. Heavy (and I do mean heavy) riffing
ignite this highly volatile creation. Producer Tommy Hansen's
penchant for power metal seems to have added a unique element to
HateSphere's approach. Speaking of approach, guitarists Peter Lyse
Hansen and new bandmate Henrik Ehlert play off of each other's
ability on this effort like Holt and Hunolt of Exodus. Really pretty
amazing. Mikael Ehlert's convincingly fortified bass lines anchor
the album like nothing witnessed on either _Bloodred Hatred_ or
_HateSphere_. This could be some of the reason for the shadowy
texture so noticeable on this offering. Be that was it may, Ander
Gylanohr marks the second line-up addition. Ander's drumming skill
busts forth and refuses to hibernate behind all the metal mayhem set
down o n HateSphere's latest full- length. Again, Jacob's vocals are
enough to rattle the filling from your teeth. Jacob's lyrical attack
and throaty style changes will have your head swimming like an ether
induced coma.
At times the condition of rather ordinary soloing permeates a song.
For example, the short-lived and uninspired guitar feature on
"Vermin" falls fairly short of the mark set so high by the rest of
the track's otherwise thrash-tastic outpouring. In the case of that
song, favoring the more thrash inspired solo would have been
preferable to showcasing the hardcore lead HateSphere selected to
accentuate. To offset that critique, admittedly the solo mid-way
through "What I See I Despise" is a fine exhibition of this band's
lead guitar playing ability. Not to mention concluding "What I See I
Despise" with some of the chunkiest riffs on the album doesn't hurt a
band's score either -- not by a long shot. Hooks and chops on _Ballet
of the Brute_ fly like a beer bottles at bar brawl. As mentioned
earlier, the calculatedly dim nuance works well for these lads from
the very beginning intro to the couple of unlisted tracks at the end
of the disc. HateSphere doing a little "Bark at the Moo n" and
"Caught in the Mosh" -- that's well worth the price of admission
there, ladies and gentlemen.
Contact: http://www.hatesphere.com
Incantation - _Decimate Christendom_ (Listenable Records, 2004)
by: Todd DePalma (4 out of 10)
This band's previous album _Blasphemy_ wisely concentrated on
sounding older than a 2002 release, retracing old ground but at least
aspiring for memorable riffs and harmonization within a thinner, more
leveled, aged production. Now, with apparent disregard toward common
sense, twelve tracks are raked in absolutely sterile production that
conflicts with the compositions, allowing little atmosphere to
resonate on the very few bright spots related here. Perhaps if the
songs were substantially different at heart it could be justified,
but that's only so much wishful thinking.
What is offered on this album sounds like repetitive filler adjoined
by a biennial arch of pseudo-ambience that adds nothing except
another trusty clutter of exaggerated titles: "Unholy Empowerment of
Righteous Deprivation". There are a few tracks ("Blaspheme the
Sacraments", "Horns of Eradication", "Dying Divinity") that manage to
escape into a recaptured aura of unconsecrated musical tyranny that
prevails somewhat in spite of the rigid framing of sound. Otherwise,
Incantation have presented frankly what is largely expected of any
other death metal band (just sound heavy/cool!). Trusty as ever,
there are plenty of pinches and bends, collapsing drum rhythms; that
prerequisite dive on the open e chord. As the tracks wear on, they
illustrate the consequences of refinement within a creative vacuum.
_Decimate Christendom_ is technique reduced to a blitz of mannerisms
as durable as a wet paper bag.
Contact: http://www.incantation.com
Insision - _Revealed & Worshipped_ (Earache, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit (7 out of 10)
It's easy to see where Insision are coming from with their much-
publicized abhorrence of all things melodic. It's no secret that the
vast majority of death metal records to be exported from their
native Sweden in recent years have all tread similarly safe and
unchallenging waters to earlier efforts by In Flames and Dark
Tranquillity. Truth be told, with all this formulaic folk-death
flying around, it's been (with a few notable exceptions) a good
decade since anything more threatening than a new-born puppy has been
released by a Swedish death metal band. So, in their quest to show
their American and European counterparts what being brutal is all
about, Insision unsurprisingly pull out all the stops. Inhuman
technicality across the board? Check. Indecipherable, über-brutal
vocals? Check. Thick, crushing production? Check. Twin harmonics,
classically inspired solos, catchy pop- choruses? Are you out of your
fucking mind?! Yup, on the surface, _Revealed & Worshipped_ pretty
much h as all the makings of a death metal lover's wet dream, but
in practice the reality is slightly different. Five songs into
proceedings, the undeniable truth is that the band's assault is
not as refined or focused as Krisiun, not quite as crushing as
Suffocation and not of the same virtuoso ilk as Necrophagist,
which ultimately confines _Revealed & Worshipped_ to the realms of
underachievement. Not that it's in any way a bad album, mind you --
the complete absence of anything remotely tuneful may mean a distinct
lack of hooks, but songs like "The Unrest" are perfect death metal
nonetheless, and I'll be damned if "Ideas of Revolution" isn't one of
the grooviest, nastiest bastards to make its way onto an extreme
album this year. It's just that Inisision aren't quite yet the
snarling behemoth that they so desperately want to, and indeed have
the potential to be.
Contact: http://www.insision.com
Kadotus - _Seven Glorifications of Evil_ (Blut & Eisen Prod., 2003)
by: Matthias Noll (7 out of 10)
There's no doubt about Kadotus' origins, because in their song
material I clearly hear obvious traces of Warloghe, Satanic
Warmaster, Diaboli and other Finnish bands. While Kadotus are nowhere
nearly as good as the first two bands in this list were on their
debut albums, I think it's justified to rank them at the same level
as early Diaboli, Baptism and also Satanic Warmaster on the somewhat
less impressive _Opferblut_. The production on _Seven Glorifications
of Evil_ is relatively clear for a Finnish black metal band, with a
lot of reverb on the very screechy vocals, but easily raw enough to
put off everybody who's not into underground black metal. All of the
material on _SGoE_ is melodic in the typical, Darkthrone-derived
Finnish style, mainly fast and straightforward but with the
occasional slower section now and then. Of course this album is
generic and could even be called derivative, but for those who enjoy
the recent Finnish scene this is an absolutely solid release wh ich
is certainly worth purchasing.
Lord Belial - _The Seal of Belial_ (Regain Records, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit (5 out of 10)
Lord Belial -- in my humble opinion at least -- have always been the
token underachievers in black metal. Going right back to the early
days of _Enter the Moonlight Gate_ and _Kiss the Goat_, the band have
consistently remained several steps behind those they have tried so
desperately to emulate -- Dissection, Sacrilege et al --, and their
latest effort, _The Seal of Belial_, is no exception. The band may
have slowed things down since the formative blasting of "Unholy Spell
of Lilith", but very little has changed in as far as their penchant
for recycling ideas from classic albums by other bands. The slow- to
mid-paced blackened doom of "Chariot of Fire" as an example presents
absolutely nothing that hadn't been done to death on a hundred albums
doing the rounds in Scandinavia around the mid to late nineties. The
record's singular saving grace comes in the form of the haunting
"Legio Inferi", which shows the band in a rare moment where they're
able to throw together their para mount influences into a song that
actually works. Yet, while this is a highly enjoyable song, it mostly
serves to only make one marvel even more at the complete lack of
invention displayed on the rest of the record.
Contact: http://www.lordbelial.com
Majesty - _Reign in Glory_ (Massacre Records, 2003)
by: Adam Lineker (5.5 out of 10)
Many of you will have some kind of opinion on Manowar. I feel that
I'm probably right in thinking that the view of them as a tasteless
musical joke could be popular. Personally, I rather admire some of
their earlier albums, but this is outweighed by my dislike for the
school of heavy metal that they have spawned; a school that has been
represented by some of the more deplorably moronic music which has
drifted through my transom in recent years. So I'll wind up this
gripe now. Majesty obviously worship at Manowar's altar, so the
thematic concepts of _Reign in Glory_ are boneheaded in the extreme,
as one would expect from songs entitled "Heavy Metal Battlecry",
"Will of the Cobra", and "Into the Stadiums". The music itself is put
through a very forced and unbalanced production, dry guitars slashing
away under domineering and badly triggered drums, whilst thin and
reedy vocals attempt to do a convincing metal falsetto. Majesty do
come up with the odd decent riff or melodic passa ge, and there are
some good arrangements, but all too few to make _Reign in Glory_
worthy of more than a couple of listens. Ultimately, Majesty are
limited by the style of metal they play; this record has its fair
share of passable 'metal anthems', but there just isn't enough
variety or maturity to maintain my interest. Should one get past the
tedious approach of this record, then one may actually enjoy it, if
only for the rather dynamic, silly vibe that Majesty create with
their homage to the metal gods; for my part, I cannot view this as a
serious musical effort.
Mastodon - _Leviathan_ (Relapse Records, 2004)
by: Jackie Smit (8.5 out of 10)
I can hear the groaning already. "Mastodon sold out!" "Mastodon are
pussies!" "Mastodon sucks!" While these statements may all be down to
a matter of opinion and, in the light of objectivity, generally prove
to be untrue, one thing is certain: the hype preceding this record
certainly didn't do the Atlanta quartet any favours. When everyone
from the smallest of small underground 'zines to the suits at MTV are
crowing about a band being "the next Metallica" and "the future of
metal", it stands to reason that disappointment can never be lurking
too far back. Personally, it's those Metallica comparisons in
particular that always get me going. I'd be the last one to deny that
_Remission_ was a damn fine piece of work, but it has yet to lead to
the birth of an entire genre. I mean, let's put things into
perspective here! To be fair though, none of the boys from Mastodon
have ever indulged themselves in such ill-conceived hoopla, which may
well explain why _Leviathan_ has turned out the way it has.
What's initially most striking about this sophomore effort is the
overwhelming feeling that _Leviathan_ is definitely the album that
Mastodon (the band) wanted to make. Far from being the drastic
departure that I've seen other reviews make it out to be, the opening
snarl of "Blood & Thunder" makes it clear that this is not going to
be _Remission_ Pt 2. As it turns out, many fans will instantly lament
the greatly diminished presence of the debut's jagged, unhinged vocal
style, and its retro, unrefined production -- both having largely
been replaced by something I daresay is distinctly more accessible.
Likewise the band have held true to their promise of the "slower
parts being slower", whilst ignoring the juxtaposition of upping the
ante when things get heavier, with acoustic guitars and even samples
making subtle headway into proceedings. In fact, it's fair to say
that to a large extent, much of what _Leviathan_ offers has more in
common (in spirit at least) with Soundgarden' s _Down on the Upside_
than anything by bands like Neurosis.
But no matter how off-putting these advances may sound on paper, the
fact of the matter is that none of these changes are necessarily a
negative or indeed unnatural thing. Yes, the record will leave many
listeners bewildered and dumbfounded, particularly after its first
few airings. But then, is that not what the band have, by their own
admission, always set out to do? In the same sense, would a veritable
reiteration of _Remission_ not have courted its own barrage of
criticism? Make no mistake about it, _Leviathan_ is every bit as
challenging as its predecessor. On the surface it may be more
accessible, but by no means is it even in the slightest bit
commercial. From the thick, choppy riffage of "Iron Tusk" to
the psychotic rollercoaster ride that is "Megalodon", _Leviathan_
is about dense walls of larger-than-life guitars, Brann Dailor's
turbulent percussion and plumes of adventurous psychedelia.
_Leviathan_ is also a record that demands several listens to fully
appreciate. After a good twenty or so of these, I still find myself
discovering new things every time I hit the play button on my hi-fi.
And so, while I may still not be convinced that this opus tops the
band's debut, _Leviathan_ nevertheless comes highly recommended, if
mostly for the fact that it does reaffirm that Mastodon, regardless
of the hype, are one of the most exciting prospects in heavy metal
music right now.
Contact: http://www.mastonrocks.com
Neurosis & Jarboe - _Neurosis & Jarboe_ (Neurot Recordings, 2003)
by: James Slone (8 out of 10)
_Neurosis & Jarboe_ is a collaboration that seems natural and
inevitable. The former stage darling of the Swans, Jarboe brings a
blues-laden, southern gothic sensibility into the Neurosis formula of
claustrophobic guitars and moody back alley ambiance, creating one of
the most textured rock collaborations of recent years. Neurosis'
psychedelic doom provides the perfect bedrock for Jarboe's lurid
sensibilities. And she's no stranger to walls of distorted guitar
either, having long since mastered the art of navigating violent
noise and haunted soundscapes on classic Swans albums like _The Great
Annihilator_. This collection of songs, culled together from tapes
passed between her and the band, finds the center between empty
estrangement and artful violence, marrying Jarboe's usual themes of
religion, obsession, and rejection with Neurosis' carefully honed
blister. They've grown immensely as a unit. No longer loud for
volume's sake, they've brought quiet openness into their sound ,
creating a gulf of silence amid the noise. Droning rhythms and airy
guitar tones are just as prevalent as bombast, and Jarboe's voice
bleeds into it, sometimes a blues infected wail and other times a
nearly subliminal whisper suggesting words. There are moments here
that sound more like PJ Harvey than classic Neurosis, and these
moments, dense and encapsulating, elevate the Neurosis sound even
higher. Jarboe's voice brings a decadent swampy atmosphere to music
that cries out for it. The album's a bit too turgid and homogenous
for classic status, but it definitely points in an interesting
possible direction for Neurosis. Like Mike Patton and The Dillinger
Escape Plan, it just seems like a natural fit.
Contact: http://www.neurotrecordings.com
PsyOpus - _Ideas of Reference_ (Black Market Activities, 2004)
by: Brian Meloon (8 out of 10)
Rochester's PsyOpus have released their first full-length album,
following quickly on the heels of their two-song demo [CoC #67].
Their music has changed little from the demo, and in fact both songs
from the demo are on this album. Their style is dissonant metalcore,
in the same general style as The Dillinger Escape Plan or Ion
Dissonance, but it also incorporates some influences from Lethargy
(US) [CoC #51], Gorguts [CoC #33], and late '80s guitar spankoff --
in particular, Richie Kotzen. The guitar work on this album is truly
phenomenal, displaying a wide variety of original lead and riff
styles and switching effortlessly between them. The drums and bass
are equally impressive, simply by staying synchronized with the
guitars. The vocals don't do much for me, though: they're done in a
shouted style that neither adds to nor detracts from the music.
However, although I expected to really enjoy this album, something
about it just doesn't work for me. I think there are two related
reasons for this. The first reason is that there isn't that much that
is really memorable or catchy. There are some great riffs, but the
large majority of the album is just splattery, dissonant, and
chaotic. Unfortunately, this chaos doesn't really seem controlled,
which brings me to the second point: their sound lacks tightness.
That's not to say that the musicianship is sloppy, it's just that
they're not attempting the type of tightness that death metal bands
achieve. Combining this lack of tightness with their frequent use of
dissonance makes listening to this album a rather tiring experience.
Obviously, fans of The Dillinger Escape Plan and their artistic
brethren will probably not have these objections, and this should be
a fine addition to their collections. However, death metal fans who
expect a certain level of tightness may find this too chaotic and
unfocused for their liking, and it should go without saying that
there is nothing here to interest those who require hooks or melodies
with their music.
Contact: http://www.psyopus.com
Pungent Stench - _Ampeauty_ (Nuclear Blast, 2004)
by: Matthias Noll (5 out of 10)
So far the really worthwhile thing about the Pungent Stench reunion
has been their fantastic gig at the Wacken Open Air 2002 and the cool
artwork and photo sessions accompanying their last record _Masters of
Moral - Servants of Sin_. Musically this come-back album was pretty
much on the average side of things, and to my ears didn't even bear
much stylistic resemblance to the sound and style I associated with
Pungent Stench. At least the latter got fixed this time around, and
my first superficial impression was that _Ampeauty_ sounds very close
to what the bizarre Austrian trio did on _Club Mondo Bizarro - For
Members Only _. This means that the description "death 'n' roll" does
justice to almost all the material on _Ampeauty_, which is mostly
based on groovy, bluesy riffs. There are occasional bursts of speed,
but in general the album is kept at a medium pace.
What has changed in comparison to the Pungent Stench of old is that a
huge gap has opened between their over-the-top concept and the lack
of energy of their recent musical output. _Ampeauty_ has (by
professional standards) an excellent and full sound, but the delivery
of the music is almost unhealthily professional, casual and devoid of
all rawness and spontaneity. It's quite peculiar that the press info
accompanying _Ampeauty_ mentions that this album is supposed to be
"not that much sterile as" _MoM - SoS_, because this is actually my
main gripe with _Ampeauty_. I didn't expect anything as vicious as
the heavily Autopsy influenced "And Only Hunger Remains" from _Been
Caught Buttering_, but the tameness of the music and the band's
lyrical concept and sick humour are drifting apart to an extent that
what once complemented each other is now very close to being annoying
and contradictory. Unlike past efforts, the Austrians don't even seem
to attempt to integrate any parts into their music that mirror their
twisted and humorous take on death metal (like for example on hits
like "Klyster Boogie" or the hilarious but ultimately cool "Shrunken
and Mummified Bitch"). Furthermore, El Cochino's growl sounds tired
and forced and even weaker than Glen Benton of late, and all the
lyrical nonsense about amputations, sexual perversions, etc. which he
keeps delivering as if it was still 1991 is getting close to
self-parody -- most of all because the accompanying music is so
harmless that I would be in trouble if some heavy metal noob asked me
to name a death metal band which is -not- heavier and more aggressive
than the year 2004 incarnation of Pungent Stench. To remain fair I
have to say that some of the material on _Ampeauty_ is really catchy
and far from being crap, but after having played it back to back with
_Been Caught Buttering_ I can't honestly give more than 5 out of 10.
Runemagick - _On Funeral Wings_ (Aftermath, 2004)
by: Alvin Wee (8 out of 10)
Runemagick are proving more dependable than I ever expected, with
their seventh studio offering hitting my mailbox barely a year after
their triumphant _Darkness Death Doom_ effort. Even with their
prolific songwriting, the band manages to spew forth over 70 minutes
of gloom-laden old-school death that never once turns tedious.
Admittedly, _On Funeral Wings_ is somewhat harder to appreciate than
the previous album, given its even more sluggish pace and depressive
melody lines. Determined adventurers will nevertheless delight in the
album's complexity and depth, losing themselves in dank, oppressive
caverns with only the occasional glimmer of radiance to remind them
of how deep they've sunken. Nicklas Rudolfsson's tormented rasp
continually hints at a melody too twisted to grasp hold of, and
coupled with bassist Emma Karlsson's wall of low-end frequency,
reminds one of the grinding morbidity churned out by the early Dutch
bands like Asphyx and Pestilence. All in all another fa ntastic
effort from a criminally underrated band, and with the craze over
hyperspeed death metal starting to wane, Runemagick will hopefully
get the attention they've deserved for so long.
Contact: http://welcome.to/aftermath/
Seth - _Era Decay_ (Avantgarde, 2004)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8 out of 10)
While I've been aware of Seth's existence for a number of years and
heard several of their albums, I've never been truly engrossed by any
of their releases. _Era Decay_ is the album that changes this trend,
whether purely by merit or partially by chance; either way, this time
around their mix of aggression with interesting melodic twists has
succeeded in capturing my attention well beyond reviewing duties.
Perhaps the key to its success lies in the way this French outfit
have utilized their melodies: often understated guitar lines or
distant chord strumming is all it takes to carry them, allowing their
tightly controlled aggression to keep driving the music. Seth's
futuristic black metal is very well polished both technically and
production- wise, as you may already have guessed, and tasteful
guitar solos are also to be found. Their more aggressive side, while
quite dynamic, is good, but not especially remarkable; it is mainly
the aforementioned subtle melodic trickery that truly elevates _Era
Decay_ to something well worth your time. Seth also play around with
some electronic touches for atmosphere, and fortunately they don't
get in the way of the songs. In fact, most of the breaks and elements
in the album work well together and provide some welcome variety
throughout. Not one for the black metal purists for sure, but
definitely a good and rather distinctive album.
Contact: http://www.innomineseth.com
Textures - _Polars_ (Listenable, 2004)
by: Paul Schwarz (10 out of 10)
Like the antidote to some insidious disease, _Polars_ should, by all
rights, be causing bands to split up left, right and centre. Rarely
does any band make an album as simultaneously infectious and
adventurous as Textures have in this six song / eight track,
55-minute metal masterpiece: the fact that _Polars_ is the Dutch
band's -debut- just gives its brilliant, diamond-in-a-shitpile-like
radiance an extra shade of magnificent clarity. This is truly one of
those albums that puts the majority of up-and-coming acts to shame,
and in a -big- way.
Recorded over a near-two-year period without any assistance from an
outside -- let alone -known- -- producer, in a studio the band built
themselves -- and originally released self-released in August 2003 --
_Polars_, by sharp contrast, sounds like a professionally recorded
album, even bettering the work some of metal's 'big gun' producers
have done over the last few years. (No wonder Listenable snapped
Textures up and released _Polars_ properly with only a remastering to
alter it.) Of course, it probably helped that guitarist and back-up
vocalist Jochem Jacobs is somewhat of a producer in his own right;
who having worked on film scores and theatre projects for a number of
years has recently begun producing other musical artists, and this
month finishes his engineering course at a musical conservatory; yet
at the same time, it's not like Textures were simply -blessed-
by having a seasoned, veteran producer among their number. The
incredible production that propels _Polars_ to its snow-capped
heights is, technically speaking, more or less the work of amateurs.
Recorded, produced and mixed by the entire band -- with only
engineering and mastering being handled by individuals (synth-player
Richard Rietdijk and Jacobs, respectively) -- _Polars_ is a living,
breathing testament to Textures' dedication to their art, not to
mention their immense talents on just about all fronts of musical
creation. It is this all- round excellence which has prompted me to
award _Polars_ perfect marks. It is perhaps not a "perfect" record --
whatever that means... -- but full-points scores need not be reserved
for records which - sound- or -seem- "perfect": they can also be
awarded to bands who excel themselves both against the odds and
against expectations -- and Textures have done this in spades.
The immense breadth of feeling, depth of sound and musical scope
which _Polars_ encompasses is ill summed-up by words. But to put an
impression into your mind of what this marvel 'sounds like': imagine
Meshuggah-worthy off-kilter riff work, interspersed by vice-tight
modern thrash (a la The Haunted, at their best) which periodically
explodes into vast, richly melodic space-outs (like you'd find
on Strapping Young Lad's era-defining _City_ album), then winds
its way into a solo section which would fit snugly on a Cynic
album before slamming to a close in neck-snapping style. That's a
crude description of "Swandive", which opens _Polars_ -- and it
hardly even scratches the surface of what the album has to offer.
"Young Man" -- which kicks in just after follow-on "Ostensibly
Impregnable", a magnificent melding of mind-bending Meshuggah chug
and Townsend/Cynic-like subtleties that some of our Dutch readers may
have been lucky enough to see the video for on MTV, as it's
apparently been in pretty heavy rotation in The Netherlands -- could
be characterised as a Textures take on melodic Swedish death metal;
but despite on preliminary listens seeming somewhat derivative, the
song is in fact a stunning exemplification of how fresh and seemingly
timeless a track can be created from such well-known elements -- if a
truly talented group of songwriters are behind its creation.
But though the more traditionally structured 'side' of _Polars_
(think vinyl, people) is truly stunning, it is in its final two
tracks that Textures' true genius is revealed. Lasting over thirty
minutes, this 'side' sees Textures explore prog rock format from a
metal perspective, and achieve a degree of success that is almost
entirely unparalleled. The eighteen-minute title track is a more
convincing "epic" than Nile, Metallica or any other metal band I can
think of has penned. Its closing segment -- strongly recalling the
best work of Gabriel-era Genesis -- comprises the most beautiful
and truly -moving- five minutes of music I've heard all year.
Fourteen-minute outro-of- sorts "Heave" closes the album with a grace
and vulnerability that few metal bands ever evidence; and in contrast
to so many ambient outings in its field, is a seriously worthwhile
listen.
The ultimate icing on the proverbial cake of Textures' talents is
that they are a phenomenal live act; a band who can boil their head-
expanding, intricately textured sound into its raw essence, and expel
it note-perfectly without losing emotional depth or dynamic punch.
Though it's certainly the best metal album ever to emerge from The
Netherlands; the best debut album to emerge this year; and one of the
finest and most ambitious metal album's I've -ever- heard: _Polars_
is only the beginning. Buy it. Listen to it. Go and see Textures play
when/if they come your way (Europeans should get the chance in
October when the band tour with Alchemist; North Americans may get
lucky in the Spring of next year). But most importantly, perhaps,
rejoice and revel in the fact that there is a -new- band out there
who are moving metal into the future without forgetting or forsaking
its past; who are forging sounds which exemplify the style's
strength's without succumbing to its weaknesses; an d who are
ultimately making music which validates how vital and vibrant 'metal'
is, while simultaneously proving -- against common critical and
public opinion -- that the style is a barrier to progress and a
closed door to emotional depth. To those closed-minded morons I say:
listen and learn...
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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
Malebolgia - _Requiem for the Inexorable_
by: Brian Meloon (3 out of 5)
Malebolgia hail from North Carolina, and this promo is their
third recording. It features two songs from their forthcoming
self-financed debut full-length album. Their music is pretty standard
death/grind, featuring the traditional blast beats and hyperspeed
guitars accompanied by a combination of guttural and raspy shouted
vocals. I wasn't expecting to like it after hearing the first few
seconds, but to my surprise, it's actually reasonably well played.
Unfortunately, there's very little in the way of dynamics: it's
pretty much top speed all the way through. There are a handful of
medium-tempo parts, but they're few and far between. In addition, the
blasting drums and the sheer speed of the music tend to drown out the
guitars, so it's hard to really pick out the guitar riffs. For me,
this makes it difficult to enjoy, as I don't find the music very
memorable or interesting. Ultimately, it's competently played, and
for those looking for a death/grind fix, this should do nicely.
Contact: http://www.malebolgia.com
Seraphim Slaughter - _To Cataclysmic Path_
by: Todd DePalma (1 out of 5)
This demo CD-R is the first offering from Seraphim Slaughter, a black
metal four-piece out of New Jersey. The music here is pretty by-the-
numbers black metal. Norwegian mimicry taking pleasure in clumsy
instrumentation and the "raw" quality of the guitar that seems to
lose its juice as the songs wear on. The vocals are the strongest
element to the music here and pretty much overpower the guitar and
drums with a continuous stream of lengthy croaks and snarls, though
nothing original or stirring. Unfortunately the only truly attention
grabbing point of this disc is a fifteen second or so break on track
two that sounds like some kind of surf-jig on a Dead Kennedys
record... More motivated youth without direction.
Contact: http://www.seraphimslaughter.cjb.net
Terror Ascends - _Of Dark Descent_
by: Aaron McKay (3.5 out of 5)
As happens from time to time with the massive amount of material
flooding the underground, some recognizable some obscure, a rather
numbness sets in. Reviewers and listeners alike become rather
disinterested or complacent with bands reliably recording the same
albums with each and every effort. Some twist it here, some flavor it
there, with only minor modifications to speed, structure or length.
Once and awhile an act stands out among the crowd. Terror Ascends is
one of these bands. While just over seven minutes in duration, this
southern Virginia trio have released a demo that exhibits an energy
quickly recognizable as a gift for the extreme. Morbid Angel,
Vader, Sinister and maybe even Deicide spring to mind when taking
in what Terror Ascends is putting out there. Very appropriate
multi- expressional vocals lay thick on the substantive meat 'n'
potatoes of this band's delivery. Sterthanas Infernal incorporates a
low-end guttural technique primarily seasoned with a less exces sive
serpentine delivery reminiscent of Epoch of Unlight's vocal style.
Instrument separation displays another strong suit for TA. Not
relying solely on speed, the bass and drum playing are able to share
center stage periodically. Decent tempo changes and a harmonious
blending of rhythm and power, this outfit is more than capable of
keeping any fan's attention, albeit only for just over the seven
minutes the demo unfolds. Having witnessed bands come and go, I would
be willing wager, given the means and motivation, Terror Ascends
could develop their ability to captivate a listener throughout an
entire full-length effort. "Of Dark Descent" and "Compulsion to
Kill", as you might guess, eulogize profanely the fury and wrath of
any blackened / death metal group worth their salt -- nothing new
there. Can't win them all, but for this infinitesimal p
eek into the
music for a wanton world, Terror Ascends rises to the challenge.
Putting aside the trite subject matter of their lyrical c ontent and
brevity of this demo, how far they'll climb might just be limited by
their own aspirations.
Contact: http://www.terrorascends.com
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/ _ | / _ (_
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~ ~ ~ ~
GOD FORBID! IT'S SLAYER -AND- SLIPKNOT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slipknot, Slayer and God Forbid
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, August 13th 2004
by: Aaron McKay
Not just Anytown, USA -- this was Cedar Rapids, Iowa. An eastern Iowa
river town, C.R. is Iowa's second largest city. Rockwell Collins,
General Mills and Quaker Oats are all, in some way, synonymous with
this community. On Friday the 13th of August, it was also known for
God Forbid, Slipknot and the mighty Slayer.
The tremors started at 7:00 pm. That being the start time -- due to a
minor setback at the box office when I arrived to claim my tickets, I
missed the initial first notes of the night. I walked into the
palatial U.S. Cellular Center around 7:20. This venue is no stranger
to me: formerly known as the Five Seasons Center, many a night did I
make the trek to Cedar Rapids for a concert. Pantera. Morbid Angel.
Metallica. Let's face it, Iowa gets a less-than-par score for
chalking up metal acts that visit the state, so when bands come, I go
in support.
Catching the opening monolog by God Forbid frontman Byron Davis
introducing the killer "Gone Forever" from the Century Media release
of the same name, I knew instinctively the force of the evening was
already in full effect. Calling it old school thrash, Byron, Doc and
Dallas Coyle, John Outcalt and Corey Pierce proceeded to again set
the Richter scale needles jumping with their gargantuan live presence
and passionate energy.
Mentioning the stellar video for "Antihero" from the _Gone Forever_
effort, Byron shoves forth a defiant middle finger aimed at the
song's theme of the inconceivable corruption of others. God Forbid
dives into a live version of the track to which the recorded version
pales by comparison. As their set time runs short, the band quickly
unleashes "Broken Promise" from _Determination_ at just about 7:30.
Whipping up the crowd like few bands could before Slayer, God Forbid
held their own, certainly blazed new ground in the heartland and won
more than a few Iowa fans that night. Catching up to Doc later in the
evening, I thanked him for their set and asked, now more than ever,
that they always keep in mind the old and new God Forbid fans here in
Iowa when hitting the road in the future.
Slayer. A force to be reckoned with in their own right. A juggernaut
of epic proportions. A band needing no introduction. Who hasn't heard
of these titans of metal? The bigger question is why were they not
headlining?! I chalked it up to the fact that maybe, quite possibly,
Kerry and the boys traded nights at the top of the bill with
Slipknot, this night strategically placing Iowa's own nu-metal act in
the closing spotlight while in Cedar Rapids. Whatever the rationale,
I focused my energies on seeing Slayer -- my 21st time.
The bell tolls 8:00 pm. The intro to "God Hates Us All" fades in to a
deafening roar. Having witnessed this guys in 2002 at the Seven Flags
Event Center in Des Moines, I was more than ready to again to
sacrifice my (in)sanity at the altar of these legendary madmen.
Never phased by anything, Tom Araya welcomes the crowds after having
a plastic bottom bounced from his microphone mere inches from his
face. "War Ensemble" screams through U.S. Cellular Center to a wildly
frenzied audience.
The quintessential frontman, Araya eyes the pit in front of him,
asking if everyone's doin' fine, pausing to make sure. After a minute
or so Tom continues on with the show, but not before tipping his hat
to those in uniform.
"Who out there has loved ones making the ultimate sacrifice?", asks
Slayer's spokesman. The fans respond enthusiastically, shaking the
venue nearly to its foundation. "Mandatory Suicide!" comes the
answer.
Often referred to as the Slayer love song, "Necrophilia" is up next
with a seamless transition into "Seasons in the Abyss". At this
point, I wondered to myself quietly in the midst of all the thrashing
and commotion caused by the ebb and flow of the crowd around me, how
-any- band would want to be put in the position of following Slayer
on stage. Kinda like getting clothes from your grandma at Christmas
after Santa brings ya a plasma television.
"Stain of Mind" from _Diabolus in Musica_ began as Slayer rumbled
into their second half-hour. "Bloodline", "Dead Skin Mask", "Hell
Awaits" and an adrenaline infused version of "Payback" broke loose
before Jeff, Kerry, Tom and the prodigal drummer Dave Lombardo ducked
backstage before the encore.
Returning for "Postmortem", the primed and ready fans cried loudly
enough to knock the paint from the walls. "Reign in Blood" and "South
of Heaven" preceded the final signature piece to end the set, "Angel
of Death".
Never a disappointment, Slayer could always tear down the rafters in
any city. In fact, where compulsory and programmed metal seems to
have become the flavor of the week, Slayer has never looked back
throughout their more than two decades; they are the soil most bands
have placed their roots.
The crowd was eager for the headliners, and Des Moines' Slipknot took
the stage shortly before 10:00 pm. The Iowa "maggots" rushed the
stage as the nine costumed hooligans lead by Corey Taylor filed out
of the darkness to take their places.
Belting out "Three Nil" to follow the barrage of opening songs
reinvigorated the pit. Taylor inviting fan participation and reliving
the days where he was the one in the crowd watching Pantera, Kiss and
White Zombie, Slipknot fired away with "Duality", also from _Vol. 3
(The Subliminal Verses)_.
Corey confirmed my hunch that the last time Slipknot visited Iowa
was on the Pledge of Allegiance tour before busting forth with
"Disasterpiece" from the album named from their home state, _Iowa_.
As they finished up "Vermilion", a song dedicated to a couple of
Corey Taylor's family members who passed away recently, I came to the
conclusion that I had enough. I'm not a maggot or even much of fan of
Slipknot's style and antics, so about an hour was all I could endure.
As I gathered up those who accompanied me to the show in preparation
to leave, I took a quick glance at the guy's shirt immediately in
front of me. An older black tattered "T" adorned with the Misfits'
silhouetted skull was staring back at me. I looked up to see
the over- rehearsed choreography unfolding on stage presently and
pondered: is this the direction metal has taken? From Slayer to
Slipknot -- who would have thought? Then again, you have to
acknowledge the Slayer to God Forbid's connection, as well. Without
that last nugget of consolation, my friends, my outlook that
particular Friday the 13th would have been far more horrifying.
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O N E O F O U R D R U M M E R S I S M I S S I N G . . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Download Festival 2004, 6th/7th May, Donington Park, England
by: Adam Lineker
I arrived at Donington Park an hour before midday, under a calm but
overcast sky. After being refused entrance to the press area (the
only place where one encountered any effective security) I had no
option but to negotiate the heinous queue for admission wristbands.
During this time, I busied myself with straining to hear THE
DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN as they banged out their disjointed, cerebral
noise on the main stage. I know nothing of how they were received by
the early crowd, but every second was a pleasure from where I was
standing, as it ensured that Opeth would not be on whilst I was stuck
outside.
I was fortunate enough to gain entry at the very beginning of OPETH's
set, charging through the gate and scaling the embankment to the
eerie strains of "The Drapery Falls". With only half an hour to
perform, the band from Stockholm, Sweden played a very select
arrangement of their most accessible material to an audience who
appeared appreciative, if not completely understanding. Offering up
the mellow _Damnation_ cut "To Rid the Disease" to a festival crowd
initially struck me as a bad idea, but somehow the Opeth magic
worked, permeating their grey, midday setting with a cold, dark
atmosphere. The band punctured their own momentum by taking an
eternity between songs, but they succeeded on a musical level with
proficient and stirring performances of "Deliverance" and "Demon of
the Fall". Still, it is a fair judgement to say that an early,
open-air half hour is not the best setting to enjoy the Opeth
experience.
Over on the (secondary) Snickers Stage, VIKING SKULL were responsible
for some no-frills, ballsy rocking out. With flashes of AC/DC
providing the high points of some ludicrously entitled, oily rock
songs, the band relished every moment of their stage time, and large
amounts of energy were exchanged between performers and audience.
Though they wouldn't seem out of place performing in your average
biker bar, Viking Skull performed with guts and aplomb, entertaining
a crowd through a shared exuberance for unashamed, nostalgic fun.
After such a dirty rock and roll explosion, I wondered how the
gentlemanly extreme AKERCOCKE would come be received. From the
moment that the band's decorative equipment was wheeled onstage the
atmosphere began to build, but nothing could have prepared me for the
moment when the four be-suited men strode out onto the stage and
worked the audience into a frenzy with a passionate Satanic chant;
the sense of pure evil and menace emanating from the stage was
palpable. Akercocke then proceeded to deliver the goods in striking
fashion, blasting their violent and technical metal with total
control and potent venom. The intensity of "Of Menstrual Blood and
Semen" inspired the first pits of the day as the assembled throng
gave themselves up to the Akercocke blast. Renditions of newer
numbers "Leviathan" and "Son of the Morning" provided the set's
melodic highpoints, but undoubtedly the most memorable image of the
performance was the calm, expressionless face of David Gray as he put
hi s kit through the most breathtakingly technical display of
drumming that would be seen over the whole festival.
Over on the main stage it was nearly time for CRADLE OF FILTH. I knew
from the word go that The Filth were going to have a hard time
following Akercocke's triumph. Unfortunately they failed miserably,
and gave this long time Cradle fan his first big disappointment of
the day. Beginning their set with recent _Damnation and a Day_
material was an early warning, the opening song going on for an
eternity before the band finally launched into an underpowered and
unengaging "Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids". A band famed for their
more unsavoury elements, here the most unpleasant thing about CoF was
the surly presence of backing singer Sarah Jezebel Deva, who couldn't
have looked more sickeningly disinterested if she had tried. A
somewhat paunchy Dani Filth did his best to work up the crowd, but
his band just floundered as they struggled to keep the reigns taught
over a dodgy sound and a sloppy performance; the showcasing of
unimpressive new song "Gilded Cunt" (yes, I know) only succe eded in
lowering the tone. Ultimately Cradle of Filth were upstaged (not for
the first time) by their own stilt walkers and dancing girls, who put
on a highly entertaining backing show of high camp theatre and daring
stunts.
Meanwhile, over on the small Barfly stage, BURST were successfully
provoking a wrestling match. Despite the spirited and competent
performance, I struggled to focus on the band as six guys with the
physique of Phil Anselmo joyously beat ten bags of shit out of each
other in the pit next to me. All credit then to Burst for creating
such a good atmosphere with their metallic jolts and grooves that
people found the need to fight each other; a fact not lost on a band
who evidently enjoyed themselves whilst maintaining an impressive
musical presence.
After this macho display, it seemed appropriate to procure beer and
food, and then find a place to watch THE DISTILLERS from afar.
Although I have read much of the great punk energy that this band
create, none of it reached me, and I struggled to cultivate an
opinion that was anything other than apathetic. Despite the husky
sexiness of Brody Dalle's voice, it was hard to pay any serious
attention to them. Still, to their credit they were nowhere near as
annoying as THE HIVES, who played a set of sound-a-like material
ripped wholesale from The Stooges. Whilst frontman Howlin' Pelle
Almqvuist accused every other band of having "downtuned guitars and
amps that sound the same whatever they play", his band twanged
through a dull, irritating set that made me wish to be elsewhere.
Luckily, there was a better place ro be.
With the cancellation of STATIC X, and the moving forward of Arch
Enemy, I decided to give IGGY POP AND THE STOOGES a miss. In
retrospect, this is a decision that I don't regret in the least.
The last time I wrote about ARCH ENEMY was a painful experience, as I
had left their "Anthems of Rebellion" tour show in Glasgow with a lot
of doubt and disappointment (look for 'Sad Eyes Question Future" in
the Gigs section of CoC if you're interested). This time, however, I
witnessed one of the most exhilarating performances of metal that I
have ever experienced. After a lengthy intro, the band emerged
onstage though a thick haze of smoke and lights and exploded into
"The First Deadly Sin", inciting an immediate reaction in the
remarkably large and tightly packed crowd. Each member of the band
seemed to give off a light of their own, the star quality of
this group more evident than ever. Passionately ripping through a
set comprised almost entirely of _Wages of Sin_ and _Anthems of
Rebellion_era material, it was hard to identify a peak. Whether it
was the early inclusion of a frenzied "Ravenous", being hugged by a
complete stranger during the beautiful lead bridge of "Dead E yes See
No Future", or watching a crazed metalhead climb up the supporting
structures to a suicidal height and hurl himself off during "We Will
Rise", I cannot tell. What I remember most of all is that there was
a very powerful manifestation of the metal spirit. Arch Enemy
completely dominated Download 2004, and one can only hope that the
shockwaves of this significant event will travel far.
Exhausted after such an unrelenting metal experience, it was time to
meander back to the mainstage and find a place to crash whilst SUM 41
peddled their pop punk nonsense. Though they offered nothing of
musical interest, it was decided that this band are probably one of
the last bands of their genre that ought to be exterminated. The
strength of their endearing performance energy carried even through
the formulaic frippery being played, and their inability to resist
the temptation to cover old-school metal classics belied their
ability to play a lot better than they really ought to.
Having only caught the end of their set, much pleasure was acquired
through the brief offering of AC/DC that filled in the time before
headliners LINKIN PARK took to the stage and totally underwhelmed
most of the audience. They generated about as much excitement as what
you might get from playing the record very loudly at the bottom
of your garden, and their weaknesses became quickly apparent.
Although able to entirely replicate their studio albums live, this
quickly became horribly boring. Though on one level such proficiency
shouldn't be ignored, most of the band had very basic instrumental
parts, and the only mildly impressive performances were given by
singer Chester Bennington and MC Joe Hahn. There were no fills,
deviations, interpretations, or even any real evidence to suggest
that it was actually being performed live. Between songs we were
treated to the insufferable ego of third rate rapper Mike Shinoda and
his equally plastic counterpart. The most remarkable thing a bout the
whole show was the division in the Donington crowd: whilst those down
at the front seemed to love every minute of being postured at, the
majority of those assembled seemed ambivalent; a fact not lost on the
band themselves, as they tried to get their fans to boo those who
were just watching. Such actions left me feeling horribly cold and
the only thing that preserved my good humour were the audible shouts
for Slayer that were gradually increasing towards the back.
When Shinoda dragged the event to a new low with his awful hip hop
pretentions ("when ah s'ay yimmy yammy like dis y'all say like dis!")
it seemed like a good time to leave. Apart from being a rather
underpowered headlining act, their attitude left me feeling totally
alienated. This band are one of metal's biggest representatives in
the mainstream world, but they are so far removed from what metal
means to me. What I mean is that they didn't generate that musical,
emotional, unifying metal vibe. They didn't really seem to care
or understand that they were headlining Donington. They didn't
understand that they couldn't force the crowd to be down with the
kids. Maybe I am too sentimental but still, someone should inform
Joey DeMaio; if there was ever a bunch of wimps and posers, it was
Linkin Park on this night.
Deciding that a lie in would be preferable to having to listen to Ill
Niño, I arrived at Donington in the early afternoon. My second day of
Download began with the end of SOULFLY's set. Having never gained
much but amusement from Max Cavalera's stompy nu-third-world-metal
efforts, I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere generated by
"Eye for an Eye". The band themselves looked a little disorganised
and scruffy, but it was hard not to get caught up in their bouncy
groove.
Machine Head were supposed to follow this up, but due to a delay on
the behalf of Slayer, the whole running order did a quick shuffle and
forward-passed the thrash titans to an evening slot on the second
stage, whilst shoving Rob Flynn's mob up the ladder a little. So
next we were treated to a spirited show by DAMAGEPLAN, the new
incarnation of ex-Pantera brothers Dimebag and Vinnie. To their
credit, the Abbots have recruited some solid bandmates, and their
mission-of-metal statement came across loud and clear. What let them
down was the music itself, which never seemed close to the standard
set by their past output; numbers such as "Fuck You!" sounded
exceptionally moronic. Still, Damageplan were responsible for one of
the biggest moments of the whole festival when they slammed out a
titanic rendition of Pantera classic "Walk". Despite any quibbles I
have with their current material, it is great to see Dime and Vinnie
rocking out again.
After a quick trip to the overpriced stalls, I watched from afar as
MACHINE HEAD tore it up on the main stage. They exceeded my
expectations massively, and seemed to occupy Donington Park even more
so than the previous night's woeful headliners. As they began the
opening track of new opus _Through the Ashes of Empires_, I scanned
the whole crowd from distant back to heaving front and gained my
first real impression of how epic the occasion really was. In
this environment, Machine Head's performance may have seemed more
breathtaking than it actually was, but they undoubtedly delivered the
goods. While Flynn's dialogue and stage banter was awkwardly dumb
("this next song is an eight minute laymenshun on Death, y'all"), it
wasn't enough to bring down a performance that generated some
powerful vibes, peaking with career highlight "Davidian". Personally,
I've always been a bit apathetic towards Machine Head, but during
this Download appearance they went up in my estimation conside rably.
As I waded to the front for SLIPKNOT's set, an expectant, nervous
tension began to manifest and grow in the assembled horde.
Thankfully, the 'Knot delivered one of the festival's most balanced
performances and my expectations were well met. The band threw out a
well constructed, career spanning set, which somehow managed to
include all the hits whilst pushing all the right buttons, though the
older numbers were met with the greater reactions. The individual
performances of guitarist Mick Thompson and vocalist Corey Taylor
drew most of my attention; unquestionably Slipknot's ranks include
some passionate and committed musicians, however nauseous one can be
made by the hype. However, for a band who have been repeatedly touted
as the world's most extreme and dangerous group, this performance
felt very safe. The chaos onstage seemed to be controlled and well
executed instead of spontaneous, and while there was a lot of pit
action, it had a friendly vibe; I had a very good time ac ting like a
nutter and still had room for handshakes all round. This vibe rubbed
off on the band, as positive energies were exchanged to make this a
quite satisfying feel-good event, just as long as you weren't
expecting new levels of mayhem and insanity. I left the pit just
before the end, as "Wait and Bleed" began to sound out across
Donington, to take part in an altogether different affair...
These days the sheer arrogance of SLAYER is becoming harder to
forgive. Having turned the bill almost on its head, they nearly
incited a riot amongst the assembled crowd by pushing the time
back even further, and the engineers reinforcing the barrier in
preparation were injured by flying bottles flung from the impatient
(slayer)crowd. Threats to pull the band's set in response only
stirred things further. Slayer appeared onstage in front of a
claustrophobic and restless crowd; not a moment too soon either. As
they launched into "Disciple", pandemonium ensued. The crowd became
one giant, boiling, inescapable pit and the venue's support posts
were swamped with desperate, flag waving bodies. Having personally
considered and rejected this option myself, I eventually fought my
way to the security of the front barrier. Slayer's set included
all of their classic tracks, with a few nice surprises, and
their performance was the trademark Slayer onslaught of energy and
aggression; the _Reign in Blood_ to _Seasons in the Abyss_ era
material providing most of the high points. What almost ruined this
was how the band could come onstage after such a delay and say
absolutely nothing to an audience who had waited in a state
of discomfort for hours. Couple this with the fact that they
inexplicably kept walking off between songs, and one begins to wonder
how complacent Slayer are becoming. Despite my misgivings, I still
became totally caught up in their ferocious barrage of vintage thrash
metal. I'm just waiting for the moment when I can once again feel
that the spirit of a Slayer gig isn't just generated by their devoted
fans.
So, from one thrash titan to another. Headliners METALLICA followed
Slayer's trend of showing up over two hours late, and the Download
crowd actually began to show their disapproval en masse until Het,
Kirk and Rob had the grace to come out onstage and explain
themselves. The reasons why they had kept us waiting were soon made
clear: Lars Ulrich wasn't there. Hospitalised due to some "mystery
illness" (which was unofficially reported to be some sort of nervous
breakdown), Metallica were cut down to a three piece. However,
instead of pulling the show, they stuck it out alongside an
assortment of replacement drummers. This in itself was a highly
commendable gesture. However, understandable as it may be, Metallica
were incredibly sloppy and there were moments when it looked and
sounded as if certain songs were falling apart. Slipknot's Joey
Jordison performed the majority of the set, something for which most
mainstream metal magazines have lauded as the moment of the festival.
A ll credit to Joey's solid impromptu performance, but this simply
wasn't the case. If anything truly awesome came out of this spirited
but clumsy set, it was the opening salvo of "Battery" and "The Four
Horsemen", which featured none other than Slayer's Dave Lombardo
behind the kit; every thrash fan's dream come true. His pedal work in
Battery was simply breathtaking, displaying to the Donington crowd
just how much more powerful a drummer he is than Ulrich. Yet despite
even this, Metallica didn't really pull it off, seeming at half power
and performing a reduced set. Undoubtedly the band did the best they
could have done, and the performance was indeed emotionally engaging,
but after their life- affirming show at Leeds the year before, this
was an unsatisfying end to a good festival experience.
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|_) /_\ |\ | | (_
| \ | | | \| | , )
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
B L A C K M E T A L : A B R I E F G U I D E
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by: Quentin Kalis
This is an article intended as a short yet informative guide for
people who are generally familiar with metal but are largely
unacquainted with black metal. At the end I have provided
mini-reviews of what I consider to be the ten most influential and
essential black metal albums.
Definition
~~~~~~~~~~
The exact definition of "black metal" is a hotly contested subject: a
quick perusal of the archives of any metal message board will reveal
the extent to which even today it remains a hotly contested topic of
debate. One can find entire threads dedicated to the question whether
the new Satyricon and Enslaved can be considered black metal. Two
main camps have emerged over the last few years:
1. One school of thought, which I will call the "Purist" view, claims
that the term "black metal" refers only to underground acts (in this
context a "mainstream black metal" act is one which is signed to one
of the larger independents, such as Nuclear Blast or Candlelight).
These underground acts tend to have a rawer and noticeably simpler
style.
2. The second school of thought, which I call the "Inclusive" view,
permits a wider definition which includes more mainstream acts, such
as Emperor, and also bands such as Marduk, Dissection or Dimmu
Borgir. These bands tend to have superior production values and are
often more technical then their underground counterparts. These
bands tend to be more melodic then their cruder sounding peers,
and may also have a stronger focus on keyboards. Sometimes this
categorisation becomes overbroad and Viking metal bands (such as
Mithotyn or Einherjer) are lazily and erroneously considered as black
metal. I have even heard Children of Bodom being called black metal,
which is pushing the boundaries too far.
Black metal is notoriously hard to define, and vague, pretentious
statements such as 'black metal is the nihilistic audio
representation of all the misanthropic evil inherent in man' are
unhelpful. But perhaps the following exposition, taking into account
both of the viewpoints above, is the best:
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of metal characterised by snarled
or shrieked vocals and raucous tremolo riffs. The bass tends to be,
for all intents and purposes, non-existent. Production tends to be
trebly and raw. Most bands adopt a relatively simplistic style,
though some of the more mainstream acts (Emperor is a notable
example) are more technical. Generally, technicality is frowned upon
and soloing is infrequent and hardly ever used. A clearer, more
discernible but atonal vocal style is often used, usually in
conjunction with a harsher shrieking style. Keyboards are frequently
adopted. Usage of folk, neoclassical and, to a lesser extent, ambient
elements is frequent.
Unlike genres such as thrash or death metal, black metal has an
underlying philosophy behind it, and no definition of black metal is
complete without a consideration of its ideology. Lyrically, black
metal bands are at the very least violently anti-Christian if not
outright Satanists. It must be noted that the idea of Satanism is not
cast in stone and ranges from a relatively medieval style of Satan
worship through to the more intellectual strains of Anton LaVey's
notorious Church of Satan. Some have adopted Asatru, the contemporary
revival of the old Norse religion, as their spirituality of choice;
and in recent years this has often been accompanied with a strong
nationalist outlook. An overriding feature of almost all black metal
is the fascination with the past: many black metal bands include
anachronisms, such as the use of medieval-sounding melodies and
instrumentation, posing in Middle Ages inspired clothing, or harping
about a return to the ages long gone. The writings of Tolkien have
exerted a great influence on black metal -- more so perhaps then the
writings of Anton LaVey -- and this is reflected in the many names
adopted from his mythical world (e.g. Gorgoroth, Burzum, Isengard).
Although it is unclear as to how many bands have actually read "The
Antichrist" by Nietzsche, his views on Christianity have found
widespread acceptance.
The astute reader will have noted that I refer largely to tendencies
rather than hard and fast rules. This is due to the musical
diversity of black metal and the near-impossibility of constructing a
definition that would incorporate albums as disparate as _Det
Frysende Nordariket_ (Ildjarn), _Panzer Division Marduk_ (Marduk),
_La Masquerade Infernale_ (Arcturus) and _With No Human Intervention
_ (Aborym). Despite assertions to the contrary, black metal is an
incredibly varied genre -- certainly more so than death metal.
The Origins of Black Metal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Although many believe that black metal started in Norway during the
late Eighties / early Nineties, its true origin was much earlier.
Many accept Venom as the first black metal band, and thus the band's
debut album, _Welcome to Hell_, released in 1981, can be considered
as the true genesis of black metal. Other notable albums from this
period include Celtic Frost's _Morbid Tales_, Bathory's _Bathory_ and
_Apocalyptic Raids_ by Hellhammer.
It should be noted that none of these acts were regarded as black
metal in the beginning. On the eve of his sophomore effort, Bathory's
Quorthon described his music as "heavy metal"; Celtic Frost have,
depending on what you read, been described as being both thrash and
death metal. Venom is firmly rooted in NWOBHM. Their music was
described as being "black metal" well after the most influential
black metal albums were released. It is a term which only became
widely used with the rise of the second wave.
The second wave was constituted of Norwegian black metal, which
started in the late Eighties and reached its peak between 1991 and
1994. Many of the most important albums were released in this period,
including Mayhem's _De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas_ and Darkthrone's _A
Blaze in the Northern Sky_.
Burzum, Darkthrone, Immortal and Mayhem are the most important and
influential bands of the period. However, these bands were just the
tip of the iceberg when it came to the nascent Norwegian black metal
scene, and contributions by bands such as Emperor, Thorns, Satyricon
and Ulver, amongst many others, cannot pass by unnoticed.
Originally, the aim was to forge a return to what they considered to
be the true death metal sound and was a reaction against what they
perceived to be the commercialization of death metal. This 'true
death metal sound' later became what is now known as black metal.
Death metal bands in this period tended to perform in everyday
clothes and appeared on stage in tracksuits and sneakers. This was
unbearable for the likes of Euronymous, who adopted a more 'shocking'
and 'anti- social' image.
The Norwegian acts spurred on the rise of black metal's third wave.
The two most significant albums, both of which were instrumental in
accelerating its spread and popularity, are Emperor's _Anthems to the
Welkin at Dusk_ and Cradle of Filth's _Dusk... and Her Embrace_.
Emperor was one of the original Norwegian bands, but it was their
sophomore full-length that drew widespread interest and attention.
_Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk_ showcased an unprecedented degree of
complexity and technicality. It was well received, and placed highly
on virtually all "Best of 1997" lists.
Another noteworthy album was Cradle of Filth's seminal _Dusk... and
Her Embrace_. Whether Cradle of Filth can be considered as black
metal is one of the most highly debated topics, though it has
subsided in recent years as Cradle of Filth have veered towards a
more obvious commercial sound with each subsequent album. Whatever
you may consider Cradle of Filth to be, there is no denying that
impact that _DaHE_ has had on the scene, and its influence can be
felt in many bands commonly considered to be black metal, such as the
(early) works of Hecate Enthroned and Agathodaimon, which at times
border on outright plagiarism. Even Ancient, who were part of the
nascent Norwegian scene, were clearly influenced by Cradle of Filth
on some of their later works.
Alongside Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth were to become one of black
metal's crossover bands, gaining fans from the nu-metal / commercial
(Pantera, Metallica) metal crowd as well as attention from the goth
community.
Black metal was no longer confined to Scandinavia and bands started
to emerge across the world, from countries as culturally diverse as
Japan (Sigh), USA (Judas Iscariot) and the Czech Republic (Maniac
Butcher). Scenes started to become established across the world.
Perhaps the most significant scene was the "Legions Noires" or "Black
Legions" of France, which gave birth to legendary bands such as the
short-lived Vlad Tepes and Belketre. Although the Black Legions
collectively only released a handful of ridiculously limited albums,
they nevertheless had a huge impact on the development of black
metal.
Some black metal bands became more experimental, and bands such as
Arcturus, Sigh and later Solefald released albums that can be best
described as black metal avant-garde. Bands such as Aborym and ...And
Oceans borrowed from dance and EBM.
The third wave was further by its rapid increase in popularity within
the underground (and by underground here I mean bands that are not
signed to one of the major labels, such as EMI or Virgin) selling
more albums than any other underground genre. Labels scrambled to
sign black metal bands and a lot of unoriginal nonsense was released,
but in the end the imitators and hangers-on either found some new
ideas or disappeared. Black metal reached its apex in 1997, after
which sales started to decline. Given the rapid increase in bands and
its splintering into various scenes and subgenres, it is hard to
select the most influential albums of this period. (As mentioned
earlier, Emperor's _Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk_ and Cradle of
Filth's _Dusk... and Her Embrace_ are probably the most important
albums in terms of influence from this period.)
The Future
~~~~~~~~~~
The decline did in no way affect the progression of black metal, and
only the most naïve would believe that the relative loss of
popularity of the genre would mean its demise. All the major
labels have several black metal bands on their rosters, and many
smaller labels (such as No Colours Records and Drakkar Productions)
specialise almost exclusively in black metal.
A lot of would-be Nostradamuses predict that black metal with
a strong electronic influence -- think Aborym or latter day
Dodheimsgard -- will be the future of black metal. I've read
predictions about that in respect to almost any rock and metal
subgenre you could care to name -- and they have all been wrong! At
best a new sub-genre will be established, but this will in no way
supplant the more traditional forms. In addition, the widespread
adoption of electronic elements in black metal is made unlikely by a
strong and pervasive focus on the ancient past for a futuristic genre
such as EBM or industrial to exert a noticeable influence on a
significant number of bands. Nor are the above mentioned 'black metal
avant-garde' acts such as Arcturus the future of black metal: some
bands are simply too idiosyncratic for their basic style to be
espoused by others.
The future of black metal is dependent on a fourth wave emerging.
Most of the first wave are no longer active, and the Norwegian
veterans have either broken up (Immortal, Emperor) or have changed
their style to the point where it is debatable whether they can be
considered black metal at all (Satyricon, Enslaved). Few notable
bands have emerged from Norway since the mid-Nineties; clearly the
impetus behind the fourth wave will originate elsewhere. Although
various scenes have been established around the world, the one that I
believe will be the force behind the impending fourth wave is the
Eastern European scene. Already Poland's Graveland and the Ukraine's
Nokturnal Mortum are probably the most popular acts amongst the black
metal underground, and their names are familiar to many whose tastes
are more mainstream.
Musically, there is a tendency towards a greater clarity in
production as well as a more epic vibe with these bands, sometimes
combined with a folk influence. The overt Satanic tendencies of their
Norwegian counterparts have been abrogated in favour of a strong
nationalistic slant, usually accompanied by a neo-Pagan spirituality.
However, the rise of Slavic black metal has been accompanied with a
rise in National Socialist beliefs, which, although not exclusive to
Eastern European bands, does appear to be most prevalent there. This
is also a possible inhibiting factor preventing its widespread
adoption -- the larger, more commercially orientated labels usually
refuse to sign bands that are overtly racist, and the smaller labels
simply do not have the funds to promote their bands as strongly as
the bigger labels. In addition, some smaller labels such as Voices of
Wonder refuse to sign National Socialist black metal (NSBM) bands.
Even if they had the funds, many countries have hate speech laws,
which inhibits more widespread promotion.
The reasons behind the adoption of National Socialism in black metal
form a complex hydra-headed affair which can become the basis of a
doctoral thesis, and I cannot possibly consider all of them here.
However, it is worth noting that from the earliest days of the
Norwegian scene, a strong nationalist creed was present -- and is
still present. In addition, the line between racism and nationalism /
patriotism is an extremely thin and perilous one: if one is strongly
nationalistic, whereby one is proud of belonging to his origins and
of belonging to a particular social group, then it is no great leap
to start seeing other groups as inferior.
The 10 Most Influential Black Metal Albums
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Criteria: The following albums were chosen because of the impact that
they have had on successive bands. A fair amount of personal
preference has also affected the bands chosen, and in a list this
short it is sometimes the only way to make a choice between two bands
who are arguably equally important. For example, can it be said that
Satyricon are more influential than Thorns or Ulver? I have focused
exclusively on the first and second waves of black metal. The reason
for this is simple: these are the bands most often cited by current
black metal bands as being their biggest influence. Ratings are not
given, as I wouldn't mention them unless they were worth 10 out of
10. However, they are of more than historical interest and stand in
their own right as classic black metal albums that should be in every
fan's collection. If you don't have them, start saving!
Venom - _Black Metal_ (Neat Records, 1982)
Although relatively tame by today's standards, they certainly weren't
when they released their debut back in 1981 -- at which time they
were one of the first bands to explicitly and unambiguously espouse a
Satanic outlook. The genesis of black metal was Venom's seminal debut
_Welcome to Hell_. Any one of their first three albums could have
been chosen, as they are all classics, but the reason _Black Metal_
was chosen was largely because it has the quintessential Venom song
"Countess Bathory" -- as well as being the album that provided a name
for the developing genre. Venom's simplistic, raw sounding and
sloppily played songs were to be the blueprint from which all others
would follow in one way or another. Although they superficially don't
sound like most black metal bands, virtually all of the basic audio
characteristics are present; the major difference lies in the vocals,
which are sung in a clear and decipherable voice, having little in
common with the shrieked vocal styl e of almost all black metal
bands. Their Satanic aspect may have been a gimmick, and it may not
have been. Either way, it ushered in one of the most potent metal
subgenres.
Bathory - _Bathory_ (Black Mark, 1984)
Any of Bathory's first five albums can rightly be considered
a classic and have collectively had the biggest impact on the
development of black metal -- selecting just one as the most
influential is an exercise in futility. The best option was to simply
go back to the beginning where it all started: on his short and nasty
self-titled debut. Most of the songs struggle to attain the three
minute mark, the music is simple and sloppily performed and the
lyrics are laughable. At another time and another place, this might
have been seen as juvenile and doomed to obscurity. But the sheer
uncompromising violence of the music -- which was pretty much
unrivalled in 1984 -- meant that this album couldn't simply be
dismissed. Like many other black metal classics, the end result
was greater than the sum of its parts. Later albums would show
considerable growth and progression, but none would replicate the
'take no prisoners' attitude and youthful aggression of _Bathory_.
Celtic Frost - _Morbid Tales_ (Noise, 1984)
It is significant that while Celtic Frost do not fit comfortably into
either death, thrash or black metal, each genre has tried to
claim Celtic Frost as one of their own. Their debut album was a
relatively raw and simplistic affair, unburdened by the avant-garde
accoutrements that would be experimented with at a later stage. The
abrasive sound was probably due more to lack of funds than design,
but would nonetheless serve as a blueprint for future bands. Their
signature riffs have been much copied and their influence can be felt
almost everywhere, in bands as diverse as Samael and Darkthrone.
Their signature song, "Circle of the Tyrants", is probably the most
covered song in extreme metal, with everyone from Obituary to Mystic
Circle having a go at it. Although they were never one of the more
technical bands, their unique and original sound, combined with a
desire to experiment, meant that they would be remembered long after
their demise.
Immortal - _Pure Holocaust_ (Osmose, 1993)
Immortal got off to an unpromising and noisy start with _Diabolical
Fullmoon Mysticism_, barely recognisable as an Immortal release in
comparison to later efforts. But its successor _Pure Holocaust_ was
an entirely different beast: gone were the death metal overtones,
replaced with the characteristic cold production that came to be
known as the Norse sound. _Pure Holocaust_ sounds less noisy than its
predecessor, but infinitely more hateful, with more angry songs.
Immortal are one of the more unique black metal bands both in terms
of sound and appearance, thanks largely to Abbath's unique croak and
grim frostbitten appearance. If it were any other band attempting
this image, it would probably be extremely cheesy; but with Immortal
it somehow just seems right.
Satyricon - _Dark Medieval Times_ (Moonfog, 1993)
_Dark Medieval Times_ is a noisy affair, drawing on folk music and
the Middle Ages for inspiration -- a sharp contrast to the more
urbane image Satyr is currently cultivating. The use of folk elements
and the 'floating' guitar sound combine to create an incredibly
atmospheric album. While the insubstantial sounding guitars may be
considered a flaw by some, it provides the album with a unique sound
largely unduplicated by the black metal community. Indeed without
this sound, _DMT_ would lose a lot of its potent ambience. Along with
Ulver, Satyricon were one of the first acts to utilise folk elements
and were possibly the first 'trollish' bands. Many bands, such as
Wyrd and Nokturnal Mortum, have since then successfully merged folk
instrumentation and melodies with black metal.
Burzum - _Hvis Lyset Tar Oss_ (Misanthropy, 1994)
While _Hvis Lyset Tar Oss_ is superficially similar to its
predecessors, the stronger song writing as well as the inclusion of
the amazing "Det Som Engang Var" meant that this album stands out
(albeit only slightly) from his other work. This album features
all the Burzum trademarks, namely droning guitars and minimalist
drumming, all accompanied by Vikernes' unique wail. _HLTO_ also
features the obligatory ambient track, "Tomhet", which showcases
Burzum's skill in creating ethereal ambient music, present throughout
and an integral part of his black metal period, although sadly much
ignored.
Darkthrone - _Transylvanian Hunger_ (Peaceville, 1994)
Fenriz and company took the basic black metal outline that they had
helped pioneer on the amazing _A Blaze in the Northern Sky_ and
stripped it of any and all frills, resulting in a sparse, hateful
album. The thin production later became known as the "necro'" sound.
The raspy croak that passes for vox and the stripped down guitars are
the very embodiment of black metal simplicity, while the practically
non-existent production resulted in the bass being totally inaudible
and the drums dissolving into an undifferentiated sludge. These are
far from being negatives, as _Transylvanian Hunger_ embodied the very
spirit of black metal and formed the seed from which it was to grow.
Much imitated, but never equalled, _TH_ stands above almost all
others.
Enslaved - _Vikingligr Veldi_ (Voices of Wonder, 1994)
Unlike most of their peers, Enslaved eschewed Satanism in favour
of a neo-Pagan world view, focusing heavily on Norway's Viking
heritage. Many bands would advocate similar ideas, but Enslaved were
probably the first to do so (barring Bathory's Viking era material).
_Vikingligr Veldi_ is a delightfully lengthy and repetitive affair,
utilising the same cold Norse production as Immortal's _Pure
Holocaust_. But instead of playing furious black metal, a greater
emphasis is placed on creating atmosphere, inducing an almost trance-
like state in the listener. Like all other albums mentioned here it
is a unique album, yet it feels necessary to draw attention to this
fact here, as it tends to be in the shadow of most of the other bands
/ albums mentioned in this section.
Emperor - _In the Nightside Eclipse_ (Candlelight, 1994)
One could not imagine a more suitable name for the creative entity
centred around the duo of Samoth and Ihsahn, as at the time of their
premature demise they were the undisputed lords of black metal.
Although it was _Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk_ that brought them
widespread acclaim, _In the Nightside Eclipse_ ensured that they
already could be considered as one of black metal elite. Emperor
fortunately dropped the fuzzy guitar sound of the _Emperor_ EP in
favour of a more focused and infinitely more intense sound. Although
the lyrics are inferior to those on _AttWaD_, they were nonetheless
already superior to those produced by the vast majority of their
contemporaries. While they were not the first black metal act to use
keyboards, they were probably the first to adopt a more majestic and
-- pun unintended -- imperial sound, and helped pave the way for the
more melodic and symphonic black metal acts.
Mayhem - _De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas_
(Deathlike Silence Productions / Century Black, 1994)
This album was the result of a mixture of chance, luck, skill
and talent. Dead's suicide resulted in the recruitment of Attila
(Tormentor) for session vocals, whose unique, weird vocals provided
the perfect backdrop to Euronymous' furious riffs. While Euronymous'
guitar style was widely influential, Attila's unorthodox vocals
didn't exactly set the scene ablaze. The bass (performed by Varg
Vikernes or Hellhammer, depending on which story you choose to
believe) is unusually prominent and sounds particularly ominous on
tracks such as "Pagan Fears" and "Life Eternal". The drumming is
impeccable, provided by black metal's best drummer, Hellhammer. All
of these factors combined to form one of the definitive black metal
albums, one which remains a classic ten years after its first
release. This album also proved to be the albatross around Mayhem's
collective necks, as while it was massive progression from their
primitive death metal roots, such was the import of this album that
all of their subsequent work was doomed to be in its shadow,
irrespective of the quality.
Concluding Thoughts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It will be interesting to see what the next few years will bring to
black metal. As I mentioned earlier, I strongly believe the impetus
behind black metal's fourth wave will be in Eastern Europe. This may
be somewhat muted, as the National Socialist tendencies will act as a
dampener on more widespread adoption. Nonetheless, Slavic black metal
will come to dominate black metal in years to come. Scenes in France
and Germany, as well as in many other countries, will obviously
continue to develop and coalesce; however, eyes will be trained
further east.
This will not result in the disappearance of any black metal subgenre
-- there will be a place under the sun (moon?) for the raw shameless
Bathory copycats as well as the more futuristic acts.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
W H A T W E H A V E C R A N K E D ! ! !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gino Filicetti's Top 5
1. Ewiges Reich - _Ewiges Reich_
2. Ministry - _Houses of the Mole_
3. Svartsyn - _Destruction of Man_
4. Pest - _Ad Se Ipsum_
5. Dolorian - _Dolorian_
Pedro Azevedo's Top 5
1. Elend - _Sunwar the Dead_
2. Faith No More - _King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime_
3. The Dillinger Escape Plan - _Miss Machine_
4. Seth - _Era Decay_
5. Necrophagist - _Epitaph_
Brian Meloon's Top 5
1. Avec Tristesse - _How Innocence Dies_
2. Drudkh - _Autumn Aurora_
3. Moonlyght - _Progressive Darkness_
4. Kadenzza - _Into the Oriental Phantasma_
5. Capharnaum - _Fractured_
Paul Schwarz's Top 5
1. Cult of Luna - _Cult of Luna_
2. Textures - _Polars_
3. Bob Dylan - _Live at Aarhus 15-06-1996_ [bootleg]
4. Cradle of Filth - _Nyphetamine_
5. Mastodon - _Leviathan_
Aaron McKay's Top 5
1. Ministry - _Houses of the Mole_
2. Amorphis - _Far From the Sun_
3. The Amenta - _Occasus_
4. Entombed - _Inferno_
5. Iced Earth - _The Blessed and the Damned_
Matthias Noll's Top 5
1. Terror - _Lowest of the Low_
2. Evoken - _Quietus_
3. Deteriorot - _In Ancient Beliefs_
4. Funebrarum - _Beneath the Columns of Abandoned Gods_
5. Forest - _Like a Blaze Above the Ashes_
Alvin Wee's Top 5
1. Nightwish - _Once_
2. Desiderii Marginis - _Strife_
3. Ataraxia - _Saphir_
4. Nastrond - _Celebration of the Four_
5. Darkwood - _Herbstgewolk_
Quentin Kalis' Top 5
1. Butterfly Temple - _Wheel of Chernobog_
2. Nargaroth - _Rasluka Part I_
3. Krieg - _The Black House_
4. Blood Axis - _Blot: Sacrifice in Sweden_
5. Blood Axis - _The Gospel of Inhumanity_
Jackie Smit's Top 5
1. Rotting Christ - _Sanctus Diavolos_
2. The Amenta - _Occasus_
3. Danzig - _Circle Of Snakes_
4. Samhain - _Initium_
5. Morbid Angel - _Formulas Fatal to the Flesh_
Todd DePalma's Top 5
1. Behemoth - _Zos Kia Kultus_
2. Atrocity - _Infected / The Art of Death_
3. Burzum - _Burzum / Aske_
4. Wumpscut - _Eevil Young Flesh_
5. Krieg - _The Black House_
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Chronicles of Chaos is a FREE monthly magazine electronically
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to the underground and as such we feature demo reviews from all indie
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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #77
All contents copyright (c) 1995-2004 by individual creators of
included work. All rights reserved.
All opinions expressed herein are those of the individuals
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