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CHRONICLES OF CHAOS E-Zine, April 18, 1996, Issue #9
Co-Editor: Gino Filicetti <ginof@io.org> <_DeaTH_ on #metal>
Co-Editor: Adrian Bromley <bw823@torfree.net>
Assistant Editor: Alain M. Gaudrault <alain@mks.com>
Web Page Manager: Brian Meloon <bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>
Mailing List provided by: The University of Colorado at Boulder
--> Interested in being reviewed? Send us your demo and a bio to:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
CHRONICLES OF CHAOS
57 Lexfield Ave
Downsview Ont.
M3M-1M6, Canada
Fax: (416) 693-5240 Voice: (416) 693-9517
e-mail: ginof@io.org
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DESCRIPTION
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chronicles of Chaos is a monthly magazine electronically distributed
worldwide via the Internet. Chronicles of Chaos focuses on all forms
of brutal music; from thrash to death to black metal, we have it all.
Each issue will feature interviews with your favorite bands, written
from the perspective of a true fan. Each issue will also include
record reviews and previews, concert reviews and tour dates, as well
as various happenings in the metal scene worldwide. We here at
Chronicles of Chaos also believe in reader participation, so we
encourage you to submit any material you may have to Gino Filicetti
<ginof@io.org>.
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may subscribe to Chronicles of Chaos at any time by sending a
message with "SUBSCRIBE coc-ezine <your-name-here>" in the BODY of
your message to the list handler at listproc@lists.colorado.edu.
Please note that this command must NOT be sent to the list address
<coc-ezine@lists.colorado.edu>, but to the mail server which handles
this mailing list.
WORLD WIDE WEB SITE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are currently in the process of constructing a website for
Chronicles of Chaos. You can check it out by pointing your web
browser to http://www.io.org/~ginof/coc.html. If you have any
comments or suggestions, please e-mail Brian Meloon
<bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Issue #9 Contents, 4/18/96
--------------------------
- Editorial
- Loud Letters
- Ferocious Features
-- Skrewing With Your Soul
-- Struggling to Stop the Stereotypes
-- Chillin' In The Cemetary
-- Neurotics Never Know
-- Ophthalamia Opens Up
- Independent Interrogations
-- ... Of Outer Pain and Inner Misery
-- Pan-Thy-Monium III - _Khaooohs and Kon-Fus-Ion_
-- Slayer - _Live Intrusion_
-- Various - _In Memory of Celtic Frost_
-- Edge of Sanity - _Crimson_
-- Gorefest - _Soul Survivor_
-- Abigor - _Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)_
-- Chum - _Dead To The World_
-- Crimson Relic - _Purgatory's Reign_
-- Divine Sin - _Winterland_
-- Kreator - _Cause for Conflict_
-- Enthroned - _Prophecies of Pagan Fire_
-- Imprecation - _Theurgia Goetia Summa_
-- Neurosis - _Through Silver in Blood_
-- Nifelheim - _Nifelheim_
-- Profane Grace - _The Divination of Souls_
-- Helloween - _The Time of the Oath_
-- Ron Thal - _The Adventures of Bumblefoot_
-- Serpent - _In The Garden of Serpent_
-- Svarog - _Svarog_
-- Warlord U.K. - _Maximum Carnage_
-- Perpetua - _Irrational_
-- Puzzle Head - _Missing Pieces_
-- Forward Now - _Smileremover_
-- Spiral Architect - _demo_
-- Stigmata - _The Gods of Earth and Heaven_
-- Morbid Angel/At the Gates/Dissection/Sadistic Intent
-- EYEHATEGOD with Pachinko
-- Skrew with Kreator
-- Satyricon/Dissection/Gorgoroth
-- Sacred Reich
- What We Have Cranked
- The Final Word
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E D I T O R I A L
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by: Gino Filicetti
What's up everyone? I hope this past month has gone well for all
our faithful subjects. Here's what's been happening on the Chronicles
of Chaos front.
The Toronto Deathfest (part I of it anyways) took place on March
31st. Unfortunately, for reasons beyond our control, both Adrian and
I could not attend. I know I know, you guys must be thinking, "What
fucking poseurs!" But seriously, I was more than pissed that I had to
miss such an opportunity, one which doesn't come along often in the
Toronto area. However, a good friend of ours, Adam Wasylyk and our
very own Alain M. Gaudrault were in attendance and will have a joint
concert review for CoC #10.
I've been busy in my graphic arts class at school, going crazy
on our printing presses making millions of copies of Chronicles of
Chaos notepads, flyers, and letterhead. It's funny if you think of
it, keeping with CoC's tradition of high quality through low cost,
I've been able to print hundreds of dollars worth of material for
absolutely nothing. All in the name of "class projects," hahaha... I
love scamming.
I'm proud to announce that Chronicles of Chaos is now being
serviced by two more labels: Napalm America and Osmose Productions. A
big round of applause should be given to Steve Hoeltzel who
single-handedly tackled the job of getting these two labels under our
belts. I'm sure the addition of these heavy duty labels will please
you, the reader, as much as it pleases us.
This issue marks the first exposure of two of our new writers,
Steve Hoeltzel and Sally Sanchez. Keep an eye out for the excellent
reviews by Steve and the Ophthalamia chat by Sally. Great work guys!
As of next month, we plan to restructure Chronicles of Chaos'
Record Revelations column. Since our first issue we have been
reviewing albums out of a possible 10 points. It now seems that this
scale is a little too large to accurately rate albums. With that I'd
like to announce a change to a 5 point rating system effective next
month. I hope everyone is as glad about this as we are, seeing that
we are now forced to make up our minds about a certain album and not
have so many ratings in the range of mediocrity.
Also new this month is a section I have long pondered including
in Chronicles of Chaos. Tours of Torture is a new column in our
magazine that lists tour dates for various currently active tours
anywhere in the world. Basically this section is something which I
doubt will appear every month for the simple fact that there aren't
enough tours going around. But rest assured that whenever I get tour
dates, they will be written up for inclusion in our Tours of Torture
column. As always, any information YOU, the reader can give us would
be MUCH appreciated. Do not hesitate to mail in any tour information
you may have.
Loud Letters response this month was okay, but not great. We got
two excellent letters, but that was it. I hope to see more for next
issue, and please remember, Loud Letters aren't just for praise, we
just want you to speak your mind, about anything! It could be a
correction of an error we've made in the past, or just your opinion
of the scene, it's all up to you. Make sure you include 'Loud
Letters' in your subject field.
Well, that's about it for me. This issue pales in comparison to
last month's monster of an issue, but the quality you've come to
expect from us is still present and shining brighter than ever. Have
a great month, hope it doesn't snow in your part of the world like it
did in ours (5 inches of snow fell in Toronto on April 4th !!!).
Later everyone, keep it hard.
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M""MMMMMMMM dP
M MMMMMMMM 88
M MMMMMMMM .d8888b. dP dP .d888b88
M MMMMMMMM 88' `88 88 88 88' `88
M MMMMMMMM 88. .88 88. .88 88. .88
M M `88888P' `88888P' `88888P8
MMMMMMMMMMM
M""MMMMMMMM dP dP
M MMMMMMMM 88 88
M MMMMMMMM .d8888b. d8888P d8888P .d8888b. 88d888b. .d8888b.
M MMMMMMMM 88ooood8 88 88 88ooood8 88' `88 Y8ooooo.
M MMMMMMMM 88. ... 88 88 88. ... 88 88
M M `88888P' dP dP `88888P' dP `88888P'
MMMMMMMMMMM
This is the column where we print those lovely letters our readers
decide so graciously to write us. Whether they be positive, negative,
ignorant or just plain spelled wrong, you can rest assured that
they'll be here in their original form. If you'd like to see your own
letter here, e-mail it to <ginof@io.org> and enter 'Attention Loud
Letters' in the subject field. Hopefully all letters received will be
featured in upcoming issues of Chronicles of Chaos.
Date: Fri, March 8, 1996
From: Chris Smart <chris.smart@canrem.com>
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Hey man; anybody complaining about the delay should be tortured to
death very slowly, while listening to Alanis Moresette! Its a great
magazine, its free, and its my only source for info on what's
actually going on. The mainstream has completely given up on metal
for the time being, except of course for White Zombie (snicker), so I
am always starving for info until your e-zine arrives! Beyond Eleven
on 97.7 FM is ok in this area; no substitute for college radio though.
Anyway, thanks for the delay notice; it reminded me I meant to drop
you a line. I'm in the Metallica club, and although they're pretty
damn commercial after the last album and boxed set, I could always
pass along new developments. If you read the Metallica newsgroup on
the net you probably hear everything I do though.
Well, gotta run. gotta go see my guitar teacher in his Metallica
tribute band ... unfortunately called Sandman. (puke) Oh well; it'll
be loud, the place is about as big as my closet.
Great, and by the way, as a blind omputer user, I have to say thanks
for putting together something that's just good ol' ASCII; no
graphics and shit. It makes my life easier.
Keep up the great work!
Chris.
.. Love is the law, love under will.
Date: Sat, March 16, 1996
From: "Cackowski, David" <david.cackowski@tri-c.cc.oh.us>
Gino,
Excellent issue this time out. The obvious enthusiasm in the
interviews and some of the album reviews have made me want to seek
out some of this music,especially My Dying Bride. Also the band
Crisis that you profiled is playing tonite here in Cleveland and I
may go see them. I'll write something up if I do go to let the
readers know what I thought.
I liked the Maiden review as I just saw them here in Cleveland
last month.
Keep up the good work. It's the only life left for metal music,
since radio has all but abandoned any metal over the airwaves,(except
college radio in Cleveland), thank god!, and also watching the Power
30 on Much Music from Canada is about the only way to see visually
what some of these bands are about.
I urge everyone in every town who reads this to support metal
shows when they come through town, as that is the only way that this
music will thrive and get the exposure that other styles of music
currently receive.
Thanx for listening,
Dave C.
Cleveland
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\/ \/ \/ \/ \/
The meat of the matter lies here. Read on for the juiciest morsels on
bands ranging from the reknowned to the obscure. No fat, no gristle,
just blood-soaked slabs served hot and ready. Dig in, readers.
S K R E W I N G W I T H Y O U R S O U L
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by: Adrian Bromley
"I am an extremely open-minded person," explains Skrew
guitarist/singer Adam Grossman from his home in Texas, about the role
of technology - something his band has accepted with open arms - in
music. "I really feel like whatever new things there are to do or
help my music it helps make me do my job easier which is to take how
I feel and convert that to tape. The cool thing about the way Skrew
is going about that is that we can combine the newest technology and
combine it with old retro aspects - stuff that I will listen to. I am
into old 1930's and 1940's music. I just enjoy listening to it over
newer stuff. It is weird because we have written stuff on the new
record influenced by that. An example of that would be 'Crawl'. While
it doesn't have that blues element, there is something about the mood
or the lyrics that helped influence it. It is cool to add new
industrial technology and old music values and mix them in a pot and
throwing it all over the floor and seeing what you got."
Skrew's latest effort is titled _Shadow of Doubt_, a harsh brush
with reality and feelings, coated with loud guitars, samples, and a
very abrasive edge. The abrasiveness of the band's latest effort
truly puts them leagues beyond the somewhat monotonous or typical
approach/sound they lent to their two previous offerings _Burning In
Water, Drowning In Flames_ (1991) and their critically acclaimed
sophomore sound-montage of _Dusted_.
"That is how I feel as well," admits Grossman, "the first album
was okay and it was really all-over the place kind of album. The
production wasn't that good and there are a few songs that are good
but it was more of an experimental album for us. The second album was
hell to make. For that it was just basically me and the two producers
of the album in the studio doing the stuff. I was also working with
the band members at the time who were hard as shit to work with. It
was a really negative experience but the album came out pretty good.
"Most of that album was written in the studio. It really didn't do
for me what I wanted it to do though. A lot of people liked it but I
need to be satisfied before anyone else," says Grossman. "This record
I feel like it has more direction and focus. I think that may be due
to my work with Jim (Vollentine - keyboards), whom I have worked with
for over three years. We got really good at working together and
focus on what we want to write."
Says Grossman, "I would have to say it is a very dark, in-
your-face effort. Funny thing is when I listen to the record now it
is loud. I must have been touching in on a lot of inner shit when I
was writing this, both lyrically and musically. I think it is the
best balance overall of technology with guitar aspects. Nothing of
either style really sticks out. For example if you order stew at a
restaurant, which has meat, potatoes, carrots, etc... When you eat it
you want to taste a little bit of each and not just carrots. And I
think this is probably the best mix of everything that we have ever
done."
Skrew is made up of guitarist Rob Lampman, drummer Steve May,
bassist Chadwick Davis, and newly acquired guitarist Bobby Gustafson
(ex-Overkill). About the acquisition of guitar shredder Gustafson,
Grossman tells this story: "We were at first dealing with this really
cool guitar player from Vancouver and we had so much in common. We
had pretty much picked him to be in the band but the whole thing of
him being a Canadian citizen and the government made it really
difficult to work here." He adds, "Not the Canadian government but
the American one."
So the search continued. "That whole thing didn't work out for
us over a while because we hadn't found anyone else who had
professional attitude in a guitar player." Until finally the pieces
came together with Gustafson joining the sextet. "We had met Bobby a
few times and he had just moved back to New York from San Francisco
where he had a band and I called him up thinking he wouldn't be
interested in it. But he was so when he came to the studio to join,
the band had already recorded almost the whole album. Then he came in
for a couple of days and recorded all his parts. It was cool the way
it worked out for both parties."
Going into some detail about the recording of _SoD_ (with
Queensryche/Flotsam And Jetsam producer Neil Kernon) Grossman
reveals, "This record was all written outside of the studio and
recorded in three months." He notes, "There is a weird story about
the song _Black Eye_. That was the first song Jim and I wrote
together. We wrote that as soon as we got out of the studio with
_Dusted_. He had just joined the band. All the other material has
been written since last March when we went to record the album. We
had songs that we had written but didn't like the direction they were
taking."
The struggles to complete the album continued. "Then I had this
fuckin' head-on car wreck on the freeway," says a somewhat annoyed
Grossman. "Some guy passed out or fell asleep in his car and crossed
the median into my car. It was a weird situation, and to make a long
story short, it took weeks to get back into the studio and pick up a
guitar. I had nerve damage in my left arm. It was a weird time for
me, but this album came together really well for us."
Onto the third album in five years, asking Grossman about the
reason behind his band's longevity he answers, "The first reason, and
an important one, is that we make money for our label. Unfortunately,
that is the bottom line. I don't think you have to be 'million
sellers' to have longevity. We are on a label with people that like
what we do and also there must be fans out there that enjoy what we
do too because they buy the records. It is kind of a happy median
where we are at. I mean we all don't just live off making music, we
have jobs, but it is definitely getting better. With every album we
make more money. Like I said, we are striking a chord in someone."
In regards to album sales and success, has Grossman ever felt
that the band has had to compete with their industrial/metallic style
to a certain level to be successful in the music industry? "To be
real honest, I don't listen to current stuff. I am not a big fan of
the industrial music scene. We use those aspects and electronics just
because it gives us more to work with but there really is no
competition. Rather more for myself and Jim it was to get our
feelings on the tape. That is why I think this is the best album I
have ever made even though I don't like it 100% and everything is
perfect but it is the closest I have gotten down on tape what my
intention was."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
S T R U G G L I N G T O S T O P T H E S T E R E O T Y P E S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An Interview with EYEHATEGOD
by: Gino Filicetti
"They [the label] don't really know what we do. They just assume
that, 'This is what EYEHATEGOD's about - they're fucking crazy - so
let's try and market them like that.'" -- Joey LaCaze (drummer)
Upon first glance of the name EYEHATEGOD, what images come to
mind? A horde of Satanic black metallers donning their corpse paint?
Or, as is the case, a group of southern rockers just doing their own
thing by mixing southern influenced music with their own brand of
craziness? If you guessed the former, don't worry, you aren't alone
in your misconceptions. EYEHATEGOD has been perceived as something
they really aren't since their inception, and nowadays have come to
live with that fact, and accept it as an integral part of who they
are.
The whole thing started as a loosely knit group of musicians and
friends who got together out of the simple desire to jam and have
some fun. Although it all started in 1989, in the beginning,
EYEHATEGOD was somewhat like a club, where people came and went,
played for a few months and then left, it was all a very informal
thing. Then came along guitarist Jimmy Bower to put the wheels in
motion and form the band that today is known as EYEHATEGOD. He got
together Joey LaCaze (drums), Brian Patton (guitars), Vince LeBlanc
(bass). and Mike Williams (vocals).
The musical style of EYEHATEGOD is definitely a unique one, one
that Joey explains can only come about over time. "We just pretty
much jammed and we kind of developed our style just from everybody
not knowing how to play. We got together and learned and eventually
over the years the chemistry came together between all of us and just
evolved into the style that we play now."
Being signed was something that was never anticipated by the
band. They were happy doing their own thing, and the thought of
anyone even wanting to sign them was absurd in their eyes. However,
the time came when they were approached. "We did the first record on
this label, Intellectual Convulsion, which was this guy from France.
Before that, we had been jamming just to do it, you know? And he
approached us and said, 'Hey I want to put your stuff out.' We were
just like, 'Cool!' We never anticipated anything happening and then
next thing you know, we got to do the record. We mostly just wanted
to do a good recording of the stuff." He continues, "so we did the
record and it kind of got around, and people knew about it, and we
ended up hooking up with Century Media like a year or two after that
and that's when we put out _Take As Needed For Pain_ and we've just
been touring ever since then."
The music of EYEHATEGOD is something that has evolved slowly
over the span of their existence. Joey explains what goes into their
music. "We never put too much writing into the music. We've always
wanted to keep the style just like how it comes about. We all play
from just feeling. When we go into our room, we might come up with a
riff that we really like, just from jamming for awhile; or someone
might have something that they've written or something. We pretty
much just feel stuff out. We play and usually something ends up
coming out of it." He continues explaining how their structure comes
about. "Then we'll just put the stuff together the way we think best
suits it you know? We never try and write the music, like, 'Oh man,
we're gonna write a piece like this.' We don't arrange the songs like
that. The best parts usually end up staying with us, they are what
usually make it to the record."
As far as the band's lyrics and themes, they are completely
conceived by vocalist Mike Williams. The rest of the band sends their
completed demos to his home in New York, and Mike just takes it from
there. "What he does is he writes a lot so he's got a lot of shit
that he's written before. When we send him songs he just feels his
way through things and decides for himself what he wants to go where.
But the lyrics never try to portray anything, they've never got a
story to them or anything like that. A lot of times what we'll do is
just create the atmosphere with the music, and he'll take it from
there. There are definitely parts that he does that stick out and
then there are other parts that he'll just do like adlib or on the
spur of the moment, especially live."
The image of EYEHATEGOD is something that has become distorted
and misinterpreted twenty times over. Read any other article about
EYEHATEGOD and you'll see the image and hype that the media likes to
portray about the band. What does Joey think? "I think mostly nobody
knows and nobody could ever understand what we really do you know?
<laughs> I think a lot of people just come up with their own
interpretations of what they think it is. We pretty much leave
everything open ended. It might just be something that we come up
with, that we like the way it sounds or it's something that in some
kind of way reflects what we like. Or Mike might have something in
his own mind that he feels some kind of vibe off of." He continues
about their artwork, "We've always taken pictures and other stuff
from outside sources. We'd take pictures that we think has some kind
of symbolic meaning to us, and we'd arrange it the way we think could
create a sort of atmosphere or emotion. When you look at the picture,
I mean, there is never any original meaning behind us putting the
cover together but when you look at it you get a sort of feeling. We
pretty much always keep everything like that.
Being from New Orleans, the band has grown up being exposed to
the excesses of life 24 hours a day. Joey explains, "Down here
everything is just tongue and cheek, or understood. Everybody is
familiar with that type of stuff. Everybody from here definitely
knows what we're about, but in other places nobody really gets it.
For them it just kind of takes on its own meaning, which is cool in a
way for me, like I hear shit from people that I could never believe
<laughs>. But then again, I think it's pretty much where we live,
everything is like that. It's weird, it's just been like that all the
time, that's what we've been exposed to our entire life. We'll put
stuff like that on there just to, like, fuck with people <laughs>.
Sometimes we like to create a little misunderstanding just so nobody
knows what the fuck we are doing.
Success is a key word in any band's vocabulary. It makes the
difference between being dropped and making another album. So how
does Joey think they'll do with this album? "I hope it goes well, but
it all depends on how it's promoted. Being on Century Media is cool,
they've always come through as far as getting us tour support. I know
they do a good job and they bust ass to do stuff, but the whole label
thing is a little too 'business' for EYEHATEGOD I think. Just the way
that they promote stuff and the way THEY interpret it to come across.
I don't think they really understand it and I don't think they'll
ever understand it because they don't really know what we're about.
We always get grouped together with a bunch of other bands and it's
just like another band on the label type of thing." He continues, "I
think it's really a catch 22. We could survive without them now,
because we have enough following and we deal with a lot of shit on
our own. But they've helped us get here, they've always given us
support to get a van and go out and do a tour and we would've never
had the money to do that in the past. So in a way they've helped us
big time just by the exposure, but it's just kind of weird. The band
has never anticipated shit like this happening. Like actually having
promotional things and that kind of shit. Sometimes it's just kind of
weird because they'll go out on a tangent to use something when it
really has so little to do with our band that it ends up coming up in
interviews and in the media. There's a lot of stuff that we can tell
is rumors that they've started, you know what I mean? <laughs>"
Finally, Joey is asked to tackle one of the biggest questions
that can be asked of him: Why are you playing this kind of music? "I
don't know <laughs>. I guess it just kind of happened like that you
know? I've just been playing this for so long. As for this style, I
consider EYEHATEGOD one of the funnest bands that I've ever played
in. As far as people-wise and how well it runs, that's because
everybody's only in it to play. Everybody just kind of knows each
other down here so that's kind of how it got together. We met each
other one way or another. There have been times when things have
changed, like Jimmy moved out of town, and Mike lives in New York but
it all works out. And we've never really tried to, like, push it, you
know? We never anticipated anything, it was never like, 'Man, let's
write some music so we can get signed.' So much stuff has happened to
us just from us doing what we do, that we don't want to change it. We
feel that if we take it too seriously like all these other bands, it
might become something we never wanted it to be."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
C H I L L I N ' I N T H E C E M E T A R Y
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Story by: Adrian Bromley, Interview by: Gino Filicetti
For the past four years, Sweden's Cemetary have grown as a band.
Since their debut album _An Evil Shade Of Grey_ (on Black Mark) back
in 1992, and onto their fourth and latest LP _Sundown_, the band has
managed to explore their musical diversity with an attempt to capture
not only the truest death metal qualities within their music but also
maintain a slow but apparent injection of ample amounts of rock
characteristics into their music as well. The move to do so has been
gradual, but on _Sundown_ it is more apparent than ever before. "We
were scared when this album came out because it is a big step for us
from the last one," begins singer/guitarist/lyricist/producer Mathias
Lodmalm. "We were wondering what people were going to think. It has
been a good response so far," he states.
"Right now it is going good for us. We are selling more albums
and it has been really weird with this album in Europe, especially in
Sweden, where it is selling really good which hasn't happened to us
much in the past. We are getting written up in national newspapers,
getting four out of five in reviews. We even got into some other
charts with Nick Cave and other alternative/rock acts. It has
surprised us."
Lodmalm, along with the rest of Cemetary - guitarist Ander
Iwers, drummer Markus Nordberg and bassist Thomas Josefsson -
continue where they left off with their well-received third offering
_Black Vanity_ (1994). Simply put, production of _Sundown_ began with
the finishing of _Black Vanity_. Lodmalm entails, "One song, the
title track, we demoed for the _Black Vanity_ but we felt it didn't
fit in with the other material. After _BV_, we pretty much started
working on the next release and putting together material. We put
together all the bits that we had done about two months before we
started to make this record."
Lodmalm is the main contributor to all the works of Cemetary
over the last few years. Though he co-produced the record with
producer Bernie Randulw, this time around Lodmalm found himself
working a bit more with the band on ideas, as well as with Randulw.
"I do all the writing, the music and the lyrics but we all decide if
we like it or not. I produced the album as well so I kind of got a
visual of how it should be too."
About the working of the record at the famous Bauhaus Studios in
Goteburg, Sweden, he begins, "We recorded a cover ["South Of Heaven"]
for the Slayer tribute album there - it is a massive studio. For the
first two records (1992's _AESoG_ and _Godless Beauty_ in 1993) we
used Sunlight Studios (Entombed, Dissection, Dismember, Grave) and
then _BV_ was done at Montezuma Studios. The problems were that we
didn't have enough money to do what we wanted to, and now that we
have the money we did it. We spent a lot of money and it turned out
good. Producer Bernie Randulw helped out and it worked out good
because he knew what I wanted with this record. He was really into
it. He was enthusiastic but still he made me call a lot of shots and
pushed me as well to do stuff. He'll be doing the next record."
Does Lodmalm have any regrets about the previous works of the
band and what they could have done with them? "We probably could have
done them better now but back then that was what we were capable of
doing. It is like looking back on your school grades. You think,
'Maybe I should have done that or taken that class' but you didn't."
So what is the difference between _Sundown_ and previous
Cemetary releases? "Probably a lot of tracing of the rock groups and
sound. We are bringing that forward like Samhain, Joy Division and
The Damned, and early new wave punk like New Model Army coming more
into the music than it used to be. There is obviously a big change to
the vocals." About the changes, he responds, "It is probably that I
couldn't really express myself fully before. I couldn't get across
what I wanted to do with muddy vocals. It was kind of hard to do this
record without proper vocals so this change was needed. I mean it
wasn't like we sat down and wrote what was to happen, it just
happened. The emotions that I had and the feelings I wanted to come
across were there. It just came naturally and we had to do things
this way."
As many know, when a band breaks away from the specific musical
mold they are known for, the band is faced with fans loosing
interest, but in the process, this jump to a more "mainstream" sound
could increase their fanbase an even greater amount. Are they afraid
of being left out in the cold by their older fans with _Sundown_?
"No," he responds, "I think the more you break into different markets
the better it is. The more exposure you get with your music can't
hurt. You can only gain more fans of your music. I hate people that
say, 'We want to only appeal to this market' or 'I want us to be true
black metal.' It is just a bunch of bull. I think if you make music,
you want as many people as possible to listen to it. Not wanting it
to hit other markets is like being musical fascists. That is not what
we are about."
For those unfamiliar with Lodmalm's work in the metal community
other than with Cemetary, in 1994 he produced the stunning debut
album of labelmates Lake Of Tears. But as time went on he has found
that he is branching off to different things, some within the music
world and some outside of it. About future production work he says,
"I have a really tight schedule. I am writing a book [a crime novel]
and whatever else. If there is something that I want to do I will,
but right now it is trying out new things and getting new
experiences."
Cemetary plans to set aside some time this year for a tour which
includes a twelve-date tour of the Eastern Bloc of Europe
(Czechoslovakia, Russia) with German metallers Pyogenesis and then a
co-headlining tour with the same band for the rest of Europe some
time in May. Lodmalm even hints of a possible tour in North America
this summer. "We may do something in America and maybe Japan. Touring
America needs to be done, but we have to do the tour properly."
In closing the question is asked: What do you want to achieve
with this record? He answers, "I couldn't tell you. I just want
people to listen to it with an open mind. I want people to enjoy it
and find that it has something in it for them. I also want to sell a
shit load of albums as well and get a lot of money ... obviously."
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/ /__/ _ \/ _ `/ _ \/ __/ / __/ / /__/ _ \/ _ `/ __/
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/ __/__ ___ ___ (_)__ ___ ___
_\ \/ -_|_-<(_-</ / _ \/ _ \(_-<
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This is the column where CoC sits down to have a face to face, no
holds barred conversation with your favorite bands, and get the
inside scoop into what's happening in their lives.
N E U R O T I C S N E V E R K N O W
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Chat with Neurosis' Dave Edwardson
by: Adrian Bromley
Being a musician is not an easy task; working hard trying to
channel your thoughts and feelings onto an album. Living in this
world is hard enough and some have to make sacrifices and decisions
to stay true to their beliefs. In return it'll tend to make you a
stronger person and/or leave some serious dents in your psyche.
Welcome to the scarred world of Neurosis.
For ten years, Oakland's Neurosis have managed to survive the
growth period of the band, since 1987's _Pain Of Mind_, and deliver
some real obscure, versatile stylings that have gone from punk to
metallic anarchy. The band has shaped its sound through the release
of several offerings such as _The Word As Law_ (1990), _Souls At
Zero_ (1992), and _Enemy Of The Sun_ (1993). After _EotS_, the band
took time out to record an album entitled _Silver Blood Transmission_
with their side project Tribes Of Neurot, an ambient noise offering,
which saw their album released via Relapse Records/Release
Entertainment.
The band - made up of bassist Dave Edwardson, guitarist Scott
Kelly, drummer Jason Roeder, vocalist/guitarist Steve Von Till, and
keyboardist/sampler Noah Landis - eventually signed to Relapse and
have just released their latest album, _Through Silver In Blood_.
While following along the same direction as the band's previous works
with an aggressive outbreak of emotions, this time the band has
become a bit more spiritual and reflective with regards to their
songwriting and music. The music found on _TSiB_ shows how the band
has edged towards trying to get some kind of inner respect for their
music as well as blowing the speakers apart.
Neurosis bassist Dave Edwardson spoke recently with CoC about
their debut album on Relapse, the fans of the band, and the
importance of technology within music. Here is what he had to say:
CoC: Neurosis has been around for some time now. What is behind the
band's longevity? What fuels the fire and keeps you guys
interested in the music you create?
Dave Edwardson: Well ... the brotherhood between us is pretty equal
and intense, and the fact that our perspective as far
as a project like Neurosis goes always gets better,
because we grow older and wiser and have more input.
We get a clearer idea of what we do each time we do
it, to the point where it is so natural and it is
never forced. It just flows out of us working
together and it is quite magical at this point. We
are finding it easier and to us we are getting better
and the ability to communicate is growing each time.
Until it doesn't get any better, we'll keep doing
this.
CoC: What ideas and strategies went into the process of setting apart
_Through Silver In Blood_ from your other works?
DE: The process was a lot more natural and that was something that we
had started to experience on the last record. We didn't have to
be more cerebral, we could actually be more gut with the way it
came out and trusting the engineer we were working with.
(The band recorded the album with producer Billy Anderson (Sick Of It
All, The Melvins, EYEHATEGOD) at Brilliant and A Different Fur
Studios in San Francisco)
DE: We basically knew what we were going for. I'd say this record is
more of an epic undertaking than the last one. We know how to get
a lot more out of one note these days and we are a lot more
trance-oriented in our music as far as wanting it to be
overwhelming and aggressive but at a constant flow. We were
trying to develop a record that was like one song that actually
means more from the beginning to the end than it does
individually.
CoC: How did you hook up with Relapse?
DE: We originally encountered them when we were looking for a label
for our Tribes of Neurot side-project and they were first to be
interested, so we went with them. We were impressed with the
enthusiasm they had for the Neurot stuff, and for them it must
have been like a small release, but they did more advertising for
us than our previous label (Alternative Tentacles) had done with
a Neurosis record and we needed to grow as a band. AT is a great
label and they work hard, but they don't necessarily want to be a
competitive label and they don't have to. That is where they are
at. They helped us out, and we are pleased at that, but we need
to grow to survive and it seemed kind of a nice way to grow while
staying independent. When Relapse got Neurosis, their enthusiasm
shot through the roof and all of a sudden we are top priority and
that means a lot to us.
CoC: And I guess that push is exactly what you are looking for as a
band, right?
DE: Exactly. This band is our whole life. Our souls go into this band
and we needed this kind of enthusiasm to let us know that people
still feel we are a priority.
CoC: Has the band's songwriting had to adjust to the change in
decades and musical trends? Have you been influenced by things
that happen around you?
DE: Not in music. Our perspective adjusts to what is going around in
the world and we keep developing a bit and being a bit more
farther away from a political stance to a more spiritual one
which also has to do with our personal lives and with the
personal self-growth we have taken upon ourselves. I don't know
if that affects the songwriting much, but having Noah join (a
longtime friend from Christ On Parade) with the same mindset made
all the songwriting more natural. We all have input and all write
together. About our music and feelings, we understand less and
less why it comes about.
CoC: Have you ever intentionally played music a certain way or wrote
songs to please the public? Has it always been personal?
DE: It has always been personal. Strictly personal. We could give a
fuck what anyone else thinks. It sounds like a cliche statement
but when you put your full emotion into anything you couldn't
care less what anyone else thinks. We really want to be raw when
we do stuff. We are used to turning our fans off. Our first
record was a punk rock record so when we added metal on the
second one we lost some of our hardcore/punk fans. We shocked the
shit out of them with the next record when we added keyboards and
samples. When people thought we were gonna go prog-rock, we came
out with _Enemy Of The Sun_ which was a sludge/tribal-fest, and
the new one is an amalgamation of all of the above, and where we
are at right now. We always lose somebody but that is probably
because they are close-minded or it might not be their taste. If
someone is adamantly against it, then the poor bastard must have
some confines on their beliefs.
CoC: You find a lot of that with people and music, right?
DE: For sure. People are afraid to be open and they like to stick to
a certain clique or in a box of musical styles and what they are
supposed to like instead of taking each thing in.
CoC: With the direction of the band heading a certain way and fans
growing with you over the years, do you feel the fans can now
relate to what you are feeling or at least understand what you
are trying to tell them with your music?
DE: I think so. I think if they have stuck around they have
experienced some stuff that we feel, but I don't know if we want
them to feel a specific thing because it is a personal thing and
it is for us. I think we throw enough vague concepts out there so
that people can get out of it what they need to get out of it. We
know specifically what we are talking about but we will never
say. It is intense music so if someone needs to feel that way,
they can listen to our music. Or if they need to deal with anger,
depression or need to be inspired with something, they can get an
effort out of our music.
CoC: What is the most important thing that you want a Neurosis fan to
get out of this record?
DE: For people to be inspired by it. Maybe with the emotions we
reveal people can relate to it and get through that shit. To have
a part of it speak to their deeper self or soul. That is what
we'd like to see come out of it.
CoC: And the meaning of the album title?
DE: Again, that is one of the vague ideas that mean something to us
and not the listener. I don't know if I can really go into it but
basically, it is a very spiritual statement to us dealing with
humanity's place in the cosmos and dealing directly with alchemy
and psychedelics.
CoC: So I guess the average metaller wouldn't understand it?
DE: Yeah ... they might think it means stab someone with a silver
knife. <laughs>
CoC: What is your views of the use of technology with Neurosis and
the band's future work?
DE: I believe it is a tool, and a tool for us to use. Electric
guitars are still technology. If we wanted an anti-technology
stance, we would go back to just drums and flutes, which isn't
totally out of the question, but I can't see us doing it anytime
soon. Samplers are blowing the boundaries out of what you can do
with music. You can make anything into a music instrument with a
sampler. I mean you can create rhythmic samples out of abstract
noises, and Noah is great at doing that and aiding the band's
sound. I am not a big fan of it, but if [technology] is there,
why not use it? Computers scare the fuckin' shit out of me, and I
wish it would all end, but as an artist I feel I have to use it.
CoC: How does the live show mix with the music?
DE: It is kind of a contrast because you can't ignore the music; it
is so loud and intense. We can't be ignored because we go out
with 100% each night even if no one is there because that is how
we feel the music needs to be expressed. We have to achieve that
state to make it feel good. Music has to take over our body and
control us. If you augment that with strobing lights and hypnotic
visuals it helps. I mean you can close your eyes and listen, look
at the stage or look above us. No matter which perspective you
take it'll be overwhelming. Even if you don't like [the music],
it'll at least annoy the shit out of you. We try to make a vibe
out of it ... all the time.
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O P H T H A L A M I A O P E N S U P
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Chat with IT
by: Sally Sanchez
OPHTHALAMIA is a fantasy world created by IT. The "Goddess" of this
world is a woman named Elishia. IT also created the surroundings of
Ophthalamia, the creatures, and the language of Ophthalamians. Every
one of OPHTHALAMIA's songs are stories about this fantasy world.
OPHTHALAMIA started in 1989. The first lead vocalist was All, but he
moved on and was replaced by Shadow for _A Journey In Darkness_. Then
Shadow was replaced by Legion on _Via Dolorosa_ when it was recorded.
Legion has now left and All is now back in the band.
The Official Line-up:
IT -- Guitars, Screams, Whispers, Additional Vocals, Talk
All -- Lead Vocals, Screams
Night -- Bass, Acoustic, Guitars, Screams
Bone -- Drums, Percussion
CoC: Tell us how the new album is going. What changes were made this
time around.
IT: Elishia is the Ophthalamian "Satan," the huntress of the night.
She or he is the daughter (or son) of the three moons that one
can see on the great Ophthalamian sky. Everything evil on
Ophthalamia is her works. In other words, Elishia is just an
Ophthalamian version of our Satan. I might as well say Satan and
sometimes I do. Our new album will be based on the great work of
Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare. It will be an
Ophthalamian version. Of course, the evil characters will be
triumphant in the end. Changes are: All has replaced Legion on
vocals. Ole Vhman from Dissection has replaced Winter on drums.
Bone (Ole) has left Dissection and All who appeared on the two
first Abruptum demos has come back for revenge. We also have a
second (still secret) guitarist in the band. The last line-up
changes have strengthened the band since the new members are much
better than the earlier people.
CoC: How are label deals coming along? What are you looking for in a
label?
IT: The label should give us fame and fortune as far as they can. We
are now negotiating with a few labels.
CoC: I hear there might be a possible tour. If so, where would you
like to play and with whom?
IT: There are some plans to go on tour, probably with Marduk. I would
really like to go on tour with some of the great old Heavy Metal
bands of the 80s like Motley Crue or Iron Maiden.
CoC: Ophthalamia is a fantasy world created by yourself. Is
Ophthalamia a place that you escape to?
IT: Ophthalamia is a very hard world, where one must be strong to
survive. There is no escaping the hardship of life. If you really
like to escape then blow your brains out. I've had 23 years of
hardship and still i go on to do the deeds of my master.
CoC: I had a friend that wanted to escape into a world much like
Ophthalamia, but he was weak and let foolish things take him
away, how do you escape to Ophthalamia? Through your dreams, or
through other ways?
IT: Ophthalamia exists, you just don't see it because of your
ignorance. Think about it for a while. What does Ophthalamia
symbolize?
CoC: How do you find time to deal with your other bands?
IT: Not all of us have other bands, Ole only plays in Ophthalamia
now. Our second guitarist only plays in Ophthalamia too. As for
me, I play in Abruptum also, but I do not have to work for it
that hard. Night has a project called Swordmaster and me and All
also have a side project going on called Vondur. Debut album out
soon on Necropolis Records.
[Look for a review of Vondur's debut album in CoC #10 -- Gino]
CoC: Well that is all for this short interview. Would you like to say
anything else to the readers and your fans out there?
IT: Do the Work of Satan!!! Darkness it'll be.
[I would like to thank Markey for his help and for getting the
Ophthalamia bio from his site. E-mail him at MARKEYd8@Cti.ecp.fr --
Sally]
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,.:/
Here is where CoC gets the inside story on up-and-coming bands. Check
out this column for a variety of fresh, brutal groups. Should you be
an aspiring band on your way to super-stardom, send us your demo and
bio; our address is included in the zine's header.
. . . O F O U T E R P A I N A N D I N N E R M I S E R Y
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An interview with Inner Misery
by: Alain M. Gaudrault
Southern Ontario is home to a hard working group of guys known as
Inner Misery. Playing a mixture of speed, power, and death metal. The
band, comprised of Don Clark (vocals, guitar), Todd Hutchinson
(guitar), Brett Savory (drums), and Sheldon Benson (bass), is doing
their best to make a name for themselves and establish a career in
the music business. One of their claims to fame is a slot at the
Milwaukee Metalfest IX. We spoke to Don and Brett recently to see
what makes them tick.
CoC: Let's start with the basics. How long have you guys been
together?
DC: We started in June of 1994. That's when me and Brett met,
and then we had a completed lineup in August, and were playing
shows in September.
CoC: Has everything been going somewhat well since then, or have
there been a lot of pitfalls along the way?
DC: A number of pitfalls.
BS: Also a lot of cool stuff, too.
CoC: Speaking of cool stuff, how was your experience at last year's
Milwaukee Metalfest?
DC: Amazing. It was a total party, for myself. We got drunk. And when
we played, there was only one stage happening at that time. It
was great, and a lot more than what I expected, that's for sure.
Probably 800 to 1000 people there when we played, right Brett?
CoC: Do you feel your appearance at Metalfest has significantly
increased your overall exposure, has it opened any doors?
DC: We got a lot of mail from the Minnesota, Chicago area. We got
some really cool stuff from that area. We're on the Milwaukee
Metalfest CD, too, so there's a lot of people that have heard
that and just went "Oh wow, that's really cool." It's obviously
helped us out, so that when we call up somewhere, and we can say
we were at the Milwaukee Metalfest, 'cause people go "Inner
Misery, why do I know that name?", and we can tell them we're on
the [Milwaukee Metalfest] CD.
CoC: Stepping back a bit further, Don, what caused the split between
you and former bandmates SFH (a southern-Ontario metal band,
fronted by ex-Razor vocalist, Bob Reid)?
DC: Well, let's see. It's just that I wanted to go heavier, and they
wanted to do what they do. I'm not saying there's anything wrong
with what they do, but I wanted to be - now this is going back
about 5 years - I wanted to be more of a Slayer-type thrash band,
and the direction they were going in was more of a
Motorhead-like, heavy band. I was disillusioned music-wise. I
wanted to be heavier.
CoC: So no hard feelings between you and they?
DC: Oh, no, I still talk to them all the time, actually. We've opened
up for them a few times in Sarnia at different places. I get
along really good with those guys still. If we can play a show
with them, we know it's gonna be fun, because they all like to
have fun, too, have a good time, so it's not like everybody's
walking around with big egos and stuff, it's just a really good
time.
CoC: When did you find out that a name change for the band was in
order?
DC: We found out in December [1995] that there's a band in Canada
that's a Metallica tribute band, and we were kinda saying "Hey,
we've been here longer", but then we found out about the bands
(also named Misery, IM's former name) from Australia, I think it
is, or Austria, and Belgium, and there was just no sense in
competing with a band that has CDs out. A tribute band, well that
didn't matter to us, but with two other bands named Misery with
CDs out, we just wouldn't get known in a large enough area.
CoC: You want to get known for your music, not for your court battles
over a band name!
BS: And yet, we wanted to keep our original name in there, so we
added a word at the beginning instead of a complete change.
DC: We just sat around one night and we said to each other, "Well,
what are we gonna do?" We threw around a couple of names, and
then Inner Misery came out, and everybody looked at each other
and said "Yeah, that's cool." So we've been Inner Misery since
January [1996].
CoC: Why did Cory Evans (former lead vocals/guitar) decide to call it
quits?
BS: We just couldn't really see eye to eye on stuff. That's basically
why everybody who has been in [the band] has left. We can't agree
on every aspect, so it just doesn't work out. You just argue and
argue, and you just go "Well, screw it then, you know?"
DC: Plus, like, me and Brett have a pretty specific idea of where we
want to go, and you know, it takes a lot of dedication and, I
hate to say it, but it takes money too! You know, when you get a
phone bill! We do a lot of phoning and mailing, 'cause we're not
that well known, you know? And if somebody's not going to put in
- it doesn't even have to be their full time, but at least a good
effort towards stuff - then it keeps the whole band back.
CoC: Not just time, but money as well, eh?
DC: Yeah, money is a pretty major thing. Myself and Brett, we can't
afford cover for everybody, and that's just the way it goes. The
one guy, our bass player, he owns two businesses, so that was
cutting in on the time. Now we've got Cory (former member,
filling in temporarily) playing bass for us and we're presently
looking for another guitar player. We're looking for two
permanent members, somebody dedicated, willing to move [to
Sarnia, Ontario]. We had a recent problem with another guitar
player. Three months had went by and things weren't progressing
because he hadn't moved down and so we had to do something. We'd
rather have dedicated members, people who go "yeah, this is our
goal, I want to be here." That's what we're trying to achieve in
finding the two other guys. A want a band with total commitment,
but with Cory playing bass, we're able to play shows now, and
that's just as important, 'cause we can't be cancelling shows,
and Cory knows everything already!
CoC: So Cory's not doing vocals anymore?
DC: No, he's gonna be doing the background vocals, and there's a
possibility that he'll be singing one of the songs. It gives me a
break, and it's just fun too.
CoC: Was he the vocalist on the _Perpetual Sadness_ demo?
DC: Yes, that's Cory on vocals. On the _Sonic Obliteration_
[compilation] CD from Utopian Vision music, it's me singing on
that, and the Milwaukee Metalfest CD, that's me ... making noise,
anyway! We're going into the studio on the 27th and 28th of March.
CoC: After Cory left, you had Andy Phillips on guitar, and you, Don,
had taken over the vocals. What led to Andy's departure?
DC: Andy, well, Andy was just a temporary replacement. He was a
friend of ours, and we needed someone to go do the Tennessee
show, 'cause a lot of our stuff is written for two guitars, and
Andy just said "Hey, I've been listening to you guys since you
began, and I really like your stuff. I'll fill in for you for
these couple of shows." So he just came in to help us out,
basically.
CoC: I gather any interested parties thinking of filling one of the
two Inner Misery slots are encouraged to get in touch with you?
DC & BS: Definitely, yeah.
[see band info at end of article - Alain]
CoC: Tell me how well the _Perpetual Sadness_ demo has fared so far?
DC: It did really good, actually, in the first few months, basically
because we were pumping it. And then come the wintertime, I don't
work, so we slow down on our mailing. Then come the summertime,
we weren't interested in selling it as heavily anymore because
Cory wasn't in the band anymore. The music's still the exact same
songs, except I sing them, but basically the same way Cory did.
CoC: With all the lineup changes, has the band's sound changed much?
DC: The music hasn't changed, really, 'cause the band is mainly the
two of us. We did basically all the writing. Cory has contributed
a couple of riffs, and they are cool riffs, but for the most
part, me and Brett will just sit there and work everything out
and we'll spend a lot of time, like we won't just throw out a
riff and say "Hey let's try and cram fifty riffs into this song."
If the riff sucks, it's gone. We don't sit there and try to work
a riff to death. If it's not making me feel anything, if we can't
feel the energy when we're writing it, then we just drop it. We
figure, if you're on stage, and you're playing the music and look
like you're bored playing it, how can you expect the people out
there to be enjoying it? We've always had the philosophy that if
we're up there getting into it, then even if the people don't
like it, they're gonna at least pay a little bit more attention
to it until they decide if they do like it, you know? It's not
like "These guys look bored, and this music isn't that great."
Everybody we've had [in the band], we always stress "You have to
able to move when you play." We don't want nobody that's just
going to stand there, because we're not that type of a band. Cory
and Sheldon were both always moving around, and of course I was
also as much as I could. Giving the people something to watch as
well as something to listen to. Like I say, if you look bored
playing it ...
BS: Oh yeah, that really matters. If you have a bunch of guys who are
just kinda playing, not moving, not even looking like they're
into it, they're just going through the motions, as it were, and
they just get everybody out in the crowd just looking at you and
thinking "Why are you doing this if you don't like it," you know?
The crowd plays as much off of you than you play off the crowd.
If you're not into it, then the crowd won't be. If the crowd
isn't, you won't be.
CoC: Have you been in the studio since the release of _Perpetual
Sadness_?
DC: Yeah, we went in last year just to redo the vocals on "Inner
Peace" for the [_Sonic Obliteration_] CD. In December we did one
complete song called "Dreaming of the End" which is gonna be on
Dark Serene Records' compilation. In a week and a half, we're
going in to lay down the guitars and vocals to two more songs
that already have drums and bass done for them.
CoC: Where will those two songs be released?
DC: Yeah, we're gonna be putting it out onto CD once I'm back to
work, and getting some money happening, hopefully within the next
two weeks, 'cause my business is seasonal, so it sucks that way.
It's only gonna be a three-songer. It's more of a viable product
nowadays because you send it out to a rep or a radio station and
they're gonna spin a CD more often than a cassette. So we figured
it'll cost us a few more bucks, but we get more back from it.
It's well worth it. We're hoping people like it. We're getting a
lot of compliments for "Dreaming of the End", the song we did at
Signal To Noise in Toronto with Rob Sanzo who has done Mundane
and some other bands. People are going "you guys sound way
heavier," and it's not so much that we're ...
CoC: What are your plans for the next year or so?
DC: Well, we're gonna have this CD out hopefully by the end of April.
We're gonna put out some advance cassettes in the meantime so
that people can hear this stuff. We will be selling cassettes of
it also because not everybody has a CD player. In June, we're
playing the Michigan Deathfest with Hypocrisy, Brutal Truth,
Kataklysm, Vital Remains, Lucifer's Hammer, and I can't remember
who the hell all else. There's I think 13 bands. It's on June
29th. Hypocrisy will be headlining. The Tennessee one was really
cool, too. There was Gorguts, Immolation, Internal Bleeding,
Cryptopsy, Ancient from Norway ... I can't even remember all the
bands for that one either.
CoC: So your next show will likely be the Toronto Deathfest on March
31st?
DC: Yeah, we're in debate on what to do about that right now, if
we're gonna go down and do it as a three-piece [with Cory Evans
still filling in], or if we can get this other guy that we know
to fill in on bass, and put Cory on guitar, doing it as a
four-piece. But we don't really want to miss it because we're
going to be in the studio [in Toronto] that weekend, and we want
to start getting tapes out to people. Also, in June, we're trying
to get a few shows set up with Necrosis from Rhode Island. They
just moved to Florida a couple of months back, but we're trying
to get a few shows set up with them up here in Canada and
hopefully get a couple in the States. Anybody that reads this and
want to book us, try and get a hold of us! <laughs>
Contact: Inner Misery c/o Don Clark, 381 1/2 George Street
Sarnia, Ont, Canada, N7T 4P6
Voice: (519) 336-8466
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This is where we rant, rave, and rip apart albums. Check this column
every month for the scoop on the latest in heavy hand-outs.
Scoring: 10 out of 10 -- If there was ever a perfect CD, this is it!
8 out of 10 -- A great piece of metallic mayhem
6 out of 10 -- Not too bad of an album
4 out of 10 -- You are treading in dangerous waters
2 out of 10 -- If you like this, you are fucked!
0 out of 10 -- My shit can put out better music than this!
Pan-Thy-Monium III - _Khaooohs and Kon-Fus-Ion_ (Relapse, March 1996)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (8 out of 10)
Swallow real good before you listen to this one for it will certainly
make your jaw go slack. Yep, get ready to be dumbfounded as your
speakers gush riffs that crush, manic time-changes that slap you
silly, and leads that drip like honey into your ears. Cool keys as
well - and lots of other surprises that I'm not going to give away,
all courtesy of Day Disyraah (who sometimes also goes by "Dan Swano")
and his fellow disciples of Raagoonshinnaahh. This is just severely
crazy stuff! The first two songs clock in at over twelve minutes each
(!) and sprint through the course from death to doom to grind to
jazz-core to I-don't-know-what again and again and again. But they
never cease to hold your attention, because the heaviness and the
creativity never let up. I guess the techno-alien-death-grind
stylings of Demilich are a reasonable comparison here, but
Pan-Thy-Monium has a much more diversified and refreshing sound. Very
weird, yeah, but it'll hammer you pretty damn hard and then mesmerize
you completely. Track three, "Behrial," is a drop-dead beautiful
soundscape, the golden haze of a perfect summer day painted in sound.
It's a brilliant set-up for the closer, "In Remembrance", which
commemorates the totally unique entity that was Pan-Thy-Monium. Yep,
"was" is right: this is the third release from these underground
heroes; it's the first to see distribution in North America; and it's
the last we'll ever hear from this truly outstanding band. If you're
looking for something really powerful, yet completely different, then
this one is not to be missed.
[I've never done this before, but I just HAVE to put my own two cents
(plink, plink) in for this album. Fuck if this isn't the best thing
I've heard in over a year, I don't know what is. It would get a 10
out of 10 from me because of its sheer brilliance. I am completely
mesmerized by its greatness. I'm telling each and everyone of you,
get this album or YOU WILL ROT AND DIE. It takes a few listens before
the realization of its magnificence hits you, but when it does -
watch out - there is no escape. A great album which I will have a
hard time removing from my CD player. -- Gino Filicetti]
Slayer - _Live Intrusion_ (American Visuals, December 1995)
by: Gino Filicetti (10 out of 10)
Holy fuck! That's all I could say after the 70-minute onslaught of
pure Slaytanic mayhem that this home video delivers. Incredible to
say the least, Slayer have managed to capture the essence of their
insanity on this home video. This video was shot at Slayer's final
concert on the _Divine Intervention_ tour at the Mesa Amphitheatre in
Mesa, Arizona. The film is directed by NFL films' mastermind Phil
Tuckett, a perfect choice to capture the brutality which ensues at
every Slayer concert. I can safely say that I've never seen a home
video filmed from so many camera angles including a first time 'Mosh
Cam.' There is never a dull moment in this film, and I have YET to
speak about the music. Contained herein are 9 classic Slayer cuts, 5
tracks from _Divine Intervention_ and 1 cover of Venom's "Witching
Hour" performed with the aid of Machine Head's drummer Chris Kontos
and singer/guitarist Rob Flynn. As with all home videos, offstage and
backstage footage is included to give the viewer an inside look at
the band. Unfortunately, with the footage they included, Slayer seem
to be a bunch of immature dumbasses, which of course, THEY ARE! :)
Nevertheless, this video is AN ABSOLUTE MUST for Slayer fans of all
ages and for anyone who has yet to experience the mayhem of a
Slayer-pit. Also included at the beginning of this tape is exclusive
footage of the 'arm-carving session' performed on the crazy, but
willing fan who appears on the _Divine Intervention_ CD cover, a
gruesome ordeal to say the least.
Various - _In Memory of Celtic Frost_ (Dwell Records, March 1996)
by: Nick Bassett (7 out of 10)
This album is a compilation of 14 bands performing songs from the
legendary Celtic Frost and Hellhammer. The promo tape I received
contains the following tracks: Morgion - "Innocence and Wrath / The
Usurper", Enslaved - "Procreation of the Wicked", Slaughter -
"Dethroned Emperor" (this is not the Slaughter who play glam metal,
this is the true Canadian cult-band Slaughter), Mayhem - "Visual
Aggression", Inner Thought - "Morbid Tales", Sadistic Intent -
"Return to the Eve", Cianide - "Dawn of Megiddo", Divine Eve -
"Visions of Mortality", Grave - "Mesmerized", Apollyon's Sun -
"Babylon Fell", Opeth - "Circle of the Tyrants", Closedown - "Danse
Macabre", Emperor - "Massacra", 13 - "Triumph of Death". Total
running time is about 70 minutes. Features a lengthy biography of the
Celtic Frost story, which I thought was surprisingly good. Some more
observations:
o The Enslaved track features Ivar on guitar, bass and drums; Grutle
does an amazing Tom G. Warrior vocal impression!
o Yes, "Visual Aggression" is done by the *new* Mayhem.
o The Emperor track features Dirge Rep (Gehenna) on drums.
o Short (1-2 paragraph) biographies are included for every
contributing band except Emperor.
o Apollyon's Sun features Stephen Priestly and, of course, Tom G.
Warrior himself. It also features some interesting high-pitched
vocals, done either by a female, or by a man whose testicles have
been eaten off.
There are some surprises to be found here, but overall I'd have to
say that most of the tracks have not been changed too drastically.
The only one that is completely different would be "Danse Macabre".
There is actually a lot of quality stuff on here. Recommended for any
fan of Celtic Frost and Hellhammer who want to hear the old favorites
with a new sound.
Edge of Sanity - _Crimson_ (Black Mark, April 1996)
by: Gino Filicetti (9 out of 10)
Wow! If you've never thought a 40-minute song was ever possible,
think again! Dan Swano and his cohorts have lived up to their promise
and delivered _Crimson_, a song that not only enthralls the listener,
but makes time absolutely fly by while listening to it. If you've
read the interview with Swano in CoC #4, you already knew what this
mastermind was up to. For about 2 weeks at the end of '95 and the
beginning of '96, Edge of Sanity locked themselves up in Dan's
Unisound Studios and started the creation of _Crimson_ completely
from scratch. In about 24 hours, the basic ideas for the music were
laid out, and the lyrics were written in another 24 hours. The music
on this album combines all the elements that have made up the Edge of
Sanity sound since their first album, _Nothing But Death Remains_.
_Crimson_ goes from the most brutal end of the musical spectrum to
the most melodious and back again. The lyrics are conceptual and tell
the tale of a world in the distant future where good battles evil
only to turn into evil itself and be beaten by the new forces of
good. Confusing? Yes. Interesting? Most definitely. It's safe to say
that Edge of Sanity have created an epic that will forever have its
place in history, not only because of its extreme length, but because
of its musical mastery.
Gorefest - _Soul Survivor_ (Nuclear Blast, April 1996)
by: Gino Filicetti (7 out of 10)
Acclaimed as the most successful Dutch band of all time (as per their
bio), Gorefest are back with their fourth effort in their seven year
career. When I first put on this album, I couldn't believe that I was
listening to Gorefest. It was the same feeling I had when I popped in
the latest Napalm Death for the first time. This album starts off in
a very ... well, the only way to describe it is, in a very non-heavy
way! The music just doesn't seem powerful at all. However, the band
redeems itself as soon as the vocals come into play. At this point
the music starts pounding away and the vocals of Jan-Chris de Koeijer
are as heavy and forceful as ever. This album definitely shows a lot
of progression on the part of the band, but is it the kind of
progression we wanted to see? That I do not know. But what I do know
is that the vocals carry the entire album, and that I wouldn't have
even thought of giving a rating of 7 without them. Also included
after some silence at the end of the last track is a little 'jam
session' hidden track. Now THAT'S the kind of music I'd like to hear
on the entire album, but I guess when you get a taste of the money
that goes along with mainstream life, there is no heading back.
Abigor - _Nachthymnen (From the Twilight Kingdom)_
by: Steve Hoeltzel (6 out of 10) (Napalm Records, November 1995)
Still available (in North America) only as an import, this is the
much-awaited follow-up to the 1995 MCD _Orkblut: The Retaliation_, on
which Abigor advanced from the rawer sound of their full-length debut
into realms at once speedier and more melodic. _Nachthymnen_ builds
confidently upon that progression, weaving together an even more
complex pattern of time changes, different voices, speedy guitars,
creepy interludes, and synthesizers galore. Especially notable are
the occasional contributions of vocalist Elisabeth Torisen, whose
crystalline tones can make the hair stand up on the back of your
neck. The overall sound is quite similar to that of Emperor's _In the
Nightside Eclipse_, but with a -much- clearer production. For my
money, though, the songs on this release often disappoint. My main
gripe, I guess, is that there just aren't that many hooks - there are
probably a hundred different riffs, but only a few are really
engaging. Abigor definitely create a rich and varied sound on this
CD, but the spine of the whole structure is often a riff that doesn't
grab your attention. Still, I definitely do like "Revealed Secrets of
the Whispering Moon" and "A Frozen Soul in a Wintershadow". If you're
into the more musical black metal bands like Emperor and Enslaved,
then this outfit is definitely worth checking out. But if I were you,
I'd try out _Orkblut_ first. (I rate that one an 8.)
Chum - _Dead To The World_ (Century Media, March 1996)
by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10)
Like an archer hitting a bull's-eye dead-on, this debut album by the
Huntington, West Virginia quartet is pure marksmanship ... or in the
band's case shall I say musicianship? The amalgamation of harmonic
bliss and chaotic guitar riffs sets this band ahead of the pack with
a triumphant bit of genuinely open and sure-fire songwriting. No
sooner than the first track "Stepping On Cracks" begins do we feel
the intensity that Chum are willing to reveal to us through their
music - and it only gets heavier. Much like the style of labelmates
Only Living Witness (though more hard-edged to some degree) or New
York's Helmet and Quicksand, Chum are so far between styles with each
song, it is too hard to pinpoint exactly where they belong in any
critical classification spectrum. Chum's album spews forth such
dynamically strong numbers as "Greetings", "Untouchable", and
"Halfway Home" (_DTtW_ even has a cover of [the artist formerly known
as -- Alain] Prince's "Darling Nikki"), and can only be seen as
something of pure aggression. Not 'Rip-Your-Fucking-Heart-Out!!'
aggression, but packed with enough energy that it'll knock you off
your feet several times before you can hit the stop button. Chum
wants your attention. Now!
Crimson Relic - _Purgatory's Reign_ (Nuclear Blast, March 1996)
by: Gino Filicetti (4 out of 10)
Hailing from California, Crimson Relic was born out of the ashes of
the late Divine Eve. Xan Hammack is the only member left from the
previous band, and he has joined forces with Morgion's Rhett Davis
(drums and timpanis) to form this old school black metal wannabe
outfit. One word can describe this album - repetitive. Perhaps it is
because Xan saw it necessary to take on all the responsibilities of
vocals, guitars, and bass himself. The guitars here are simplistic at
best, the bass non-existent, the vocals are as weak as my
grandmother's and the drummer is half decent, if even that. I guess
the problem with this album is that they are about ten years too
late, and therefore it's hard to take these guys seriously. Don't
waste your cash with this one, just crack out the old Celtic Frost
albums instead, this one's a bust.
Divine Sin - _Winterland_ (Black Mark, February 1996)
by: Adrian Bromley (6 out of 10)
While struggling for almost seven years to make a name for themselves
with playing out and multiple demos and line-up changes we finally
have the debut album by Swedish death/progressive metallers Divine
Sin. While primarily drenched in a total progressive metal
atmosphere, _Winterland_ manages to allow the harshness and brutality
of some death metal riffs and vocal styles to be placed throughout
the record. I found numbers like "All Alone", "Children Of
Conformity", and "Years Of Sorrow" to act as the spokesman/standard
of what this band is providing us. The emotions are there, thanks in
part to the musical stylings and sounds of the progressive metallic
output as is the intense edge that this band adds to that with
growls, heavier riffs, etc. While it has taken the band this long to
release a debut, what they have learned with this outing and what
they continue to create can only be seen in due time. But from what I
can see, the future looks pretty good if they stick with what they
have. An adequate listen for progressive metal fans who need this
type of music a bit harsher.
Kreator - _Cause for Conflict_ (Noise, 1995)
by: Alain M. Gaudrault (7 out of 10)
Mille Petrozza has redefined Kreator once more. Personally, I was
hoping for an expansion on the direction taken with their previous
release, _Renewal_, which featured a highly mechanical, yet not
entirely industrial, musical approach with enough melody and
interesting hooks to keep me interested. Perhaps the backlash from
longtime fans and declining sales have prompted a return to a heavier
sound. Unfortunately, Mille has chosen a sound which incorporates
some of the more annoying trends in metal these days brought upon by
bands such as Biohazard, Machine Head, and even Sepultura. The vocals
are most noticeably different, oftentimes mildly emulating the
vocalists of the above mentioned groups. The hardcore influence is
apparent, particularly in their choice of cover songs, a track from
Italian hardcore metallers Raw Power. Despite its shortcomings, the
album does have some redeeming qualities. After all, we're talking
about a Kreator record. There are some cool riffs throughout, some
nifty vocal effects here and there, and the occasional throwback to
an older Kreator sound. While it took me a number of listens, I did
come to appreciate this album, although I can't say that it has a lot
of staying power.
Enthroned - _Prophecies of Pagan Fire_ (Evil Omen, December 1995)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (8 out of 10)
Here we have yet -another- new black metal band who seemingly comes
out of nowhere (actually, Belgium) to deliver an excellent debut.
Enthroned aren't scoring any points for originality - but then I
don't suppose they're really trying to, do you? Nope, they're scoring
points for their totally ripping delivery of fast black metal,
interspersed with some very good leads and even some crunchy riffing.
Vocals are the standard high-pitched harshness, and keyboards add an
extra dimension to the sound without becoming overbearing. How does
this trio stack up against the competition? Well, they're posing here
with a big sword, an ax, and a pretty mean looking flail. So let's
see: that means they could probably hold their own against Abigor in
a fight, but might have a tough time with Marduk - who, besides being
a quartet, have two -very- large and sharp-looking axes. But
seriously, when it comes to the music, Marduk's excellent _Opus
Nocturne_ is a good point of comparison, although Enthroned generally
go in for a bit less breakneck speed and a bit more metallic punch.
They also change tempos with more frequency than a lot of other black
metal bands do, which makes their ferocious delivery that much more
impressive. Check out "As the Wolves Howl Again" for proof. As I
said, musically there's really nothing new going on here, but there's
still a great deal of skill and conviction on display. I give it high
marks for achieving just what it sets out to achieve: blasting out of
your speakers like the shockwave from a hydrogen bomb.
Imprecation - _Theurgia Goetia Summa_ (Repulse/Sepulture Prod., 1995)
by: Gino Filicetti (4 out of 10)
Signed to Spanish label Repulse Records but hailing from good ol'
Texas is Imprecation. One look at the packaging of this CD and you'd
think that this band was another one of Repulse's European Black
Metal bandwagon bands. The cover art depicts a Satanic last supper
with Satan rising in the background in all his majesty ... complete
with a hard on! Haha, I couldn't help but laugh when I laid my eyes
on that one. The band is a three-piece with vocalist/bassist Mark
Beecher in true pseudo-Emperor fashion, donning his own blend of
corpse-paint. The music on this release consists of two separate
entities it would seem, one being the heavy guitar, blast beat death
metal style with the guttural monotone vocals that can barely be
heard; and the other is the black metal super fast guitar riffs with
the high screeching vocals. MAKE UP YOUR MIND, says I, as the
transition from one style to the other isn't very clean. One good
thing I neglected to mention about this CD is the inclusion of
lyrics. For once a band is smart enough to actually write down
whatever the hell it is they are talking about, even if - as in
Imprecation's case - the lyrics are shitty anyway. Despite all this
negativity, I do have a favorite track on this album, "Vomit Floods
of Christian Remains" (kewl title, eh?). The riffs in this song have
a good grind to them, and the vocals are at least tolerable here.
Overall, I don't think this album breaks ANY new ground, so I'd steer
clear of it.
Neurosis - _Through Silver in Blood_ (Relapse/Release, March 1996)
by: Gino Filicetti (6 out of 10)
This album marks Neurosis' fourth venture into the world of recorded
sound. This ten year old Oakland band has seen many changes since
their first album _Pain of Mind_ which was for the most part just
another furious hardcore album. Nowadays the band has evolved into a
form which is beyond the scope of any single genre. This album has
been touted as the ultimate musical experience of our age. Umm ... I
don't think so. Although not a TERRIBLE album, I didn't find enough
hooks or interesting parts on this disc to keep me from falling
asleep. The vocals here are still very much the typical hardcore
yellings, but with an industrial-edged distortion added to them,
perhaps in an effort to hide what they really are. Two songs in
particular that I thought dragged on forever were, "Purify" and
"Strength of Fates" as well as the 11+ minute opener, "Through Silver
in Blood". Try them out if industrial/hardcore is your thing. If not,
don't blink twice at this CD.
Nifelheim - _Nifelheim_ (Necropolis Records, 1995)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (7 out of 10)
Well, it has finally happened: the first totally retro black metal
band. Way back in the days before death metal exploded, before
everybody started down-tuning and gurgling about fetuses,
'necrotomies' and what not, there were bands like Sodom, Destruction,
and Kreator. On seminal early releases like Kreator's _Pleasure to
Kill_ and Sodom's _In the Sign of Evil_, these outfits cranked up the
speed and the viciousness to heights just barely glimpsed by the
likes of Venom and Slayer. Hearing Nifelheim rip through eight tracks
in 29 minutes, you get the impression that these guys have hardly
ever listened to anything else save the first two Bathory albums and
the debut record by Possessed. So if you're a fan of the crazy
mid-80's sound that pre-dates the emergence of black, death and
thrash as largely distinct metallic styles, you'll definitely
appreciate Nifelheim. If you're not familiar with all this older
stuff, you could do worse than to check this out and hear the
maniacal style that inspired so many different facets of today's
underground scene. "Unholy Death", "Possessed by Evil", and "Storm of
Satan's Fire" are especially noteworthy tracks, but the entire disc
rips it up pretty good. Definitely a welcome departure from the
current metallic norm.
Profane Grace - _The Divination of Souls_ (Gothic/Sepulture Prod.)
by: Gino Filicetti (7 out of 10)
This disc is perhaps one of the most mysterious, weird and utterly
cool CDs I've laid my ears upon. Suffice it to say that I know
absolutely nothing about this band except their names; Xastiel,
Vrathurn and Zorsith. I don't even know when this album was released,
but one listen to the contents of this CD and all the mystery
surrounding it seems somehow fitting. The music here, if you can call
it that, is pure ambience with a VERY light touch of synth work here
and there. There is, however, a focus on vocals which are very echoed
and evil sounding growls, gurgles, grunts, and groans from all over
the vocal spectrum. This album contains seven tracks and totals 51
minutes in length. One particularly interesting part is on the second
track, about 7:40 into the song. Adrian and I were at my house one
day doing some work whilst listening to this record when this part
came on, which is basically the vocals screaming out from the
speakers ... "Adrian!" It totally tripped out both of us and shows
how freaky this album is. This record is definitely one that'll scare
your girlfriend shitless, and send your mother to the priests asking
for an exorcism.
Helloween - _The Time of the Oath_ (Castle Records, March 1996)
by: Alain M. Gaudrault (6 out of 10)
I've been a Helloween fan since the release of their debut eponymous
EP ... in varying degrees. This classic German power metal outfit has
seen many lineup changes, and a significant change in focus regarding
musical direction. Their two previous outings, _Master of the Rings_
and _Chameleon_, left me rather unimpressed. _The Time of the Oath_,
the second album with the current lineup featuring the band's third
lead vocalist Andi Deris, is a pleasant surprise. While not quite as
serious as I would prefer, this album nonetheless showcases some
excellent guitar work. In fact, it is the guitar work which makes the
album enjoyable and worthy of several listens. Admittedly, Helloween
is still writing 1980s-influenced metal with a significant pop
orientation, but for what it is, it's excellently crafted. My biggest
beefs are the overly cheesy bits interspersed such as the song title
"Anything My Mama Don't Like", and the sappy first few minutes of
"Forever & One (Neverland)". I'm also not too fond of Andi Deris'
vocals, which remind me too much of a cross between Claus Meine
(Scorpions) and Ugly Kid Joe's vocalist, who's name I can't be
bothered to look up [Whitfield Crane, yes, I AM embarrassed to know
it :) -- Gino]. While Andi can carry a tune just fine, he
unfortunately adds an additional air of pop commerciality which I
often find inappropriate for the underlying music. A worthy purchase
if you're into melodic power metal.
Helloween can now be reached by e-mail at helloween@castleus.com, or
on the Castle Communications WWW page at http://www.castleus.com/
Ron Thal - _The Adventures of Bumblefoot_ (Shrapnel, 1995)
by: Brian Meloon (4 out of 10)
When I first heard Ron's "Chopin Fantasie" on Shrapnel's 1992 comp,
_Ominous Guitarists from the Unknown_, I was blown away. Upon hearing
that he was releasing his first solo album, I had high hopes for it.
Unfortunately, neither that track nor anything else that good is on
this album. Instead what we get is an unfocused collection of
primarily rock instrumentals. Ron is definitely a great guitarist,
with a distinctive style - when he chooses to play it. He plays a
fluid sort of jazzy-metal, sounding almost like he's playing random
notes, or what I'd call "computer music." It's definately not a
linear sound, and I really like it. Unfortunately, Ron doesn't take
the music seriously enough on this effort, instead going for a goofy
style, trying to be humorous. Sometimes it sort of works, but most of
the time it doesn't. The other big complaint I have is that Ron tries
to cover too many styles, including an almost flamenco-style acoustic
piece, and the obligatory banal bluesy stuff. The production is up to
the usually excellent Shrapnel standards, and the playing is
wonderful, but this needs focus and some inspiration. As it is, it
sounds like a good, versatile guitarist trying to prove he's a good,
versatile guitarist. Ron has much more potential than he is
exploiting.
Serpent - _In The Garden of Serpent_ (Nuclear Blast, March 1996)
by: Adrian Bromley (6 out of 10)
The bio of the band refers to them as something like "the bastard
child of Motorhead and The Obsessed" - I really don't know about
that?! The music of Serpent (which consists of ex-members from
Entombed and Therion) is quite heavy but more in a rock fashion
rather than the brutal and harsh speed-like offerings of the
aforementioned bands. There are also many Sabbath-esque qualities
that are quite evident in numerous numbers with the way they are
assembled and delivered. Also evident is the dirge-like metallic
characteristics of such bands as Kyuss, Monster Magnet, and Trouble.
This album works more off groove and feedback than heavy riffs and
speed. While the groove may be the most appealing factor to Serpent's
debut, the sincere attitude of the band proves to be a worthwhile gem
as well. It just seems that the band is not out to play the heaviest
riff or be the loudest band, rather they focus more on writing
strong, memorable numbers like "Stoned The Dawn", "Lost Dreams", and
"Magic".
Svarog - _Svarog_ (Elegy, January 1996)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (4 out of 10) ... (Bio: 10 out of 10)
This cassette-only release from Elegy is notable less for the music
contained upon it, which basically sucks, than for the totally
over-the-top black metal boasting that dominates the packaging and
the accompanying bio. You see, Svarog claim to be members of an
ancient Central European barbarian tribe which inhabits, to this day,
"a harsh region that has survived untouched by foreigners with their
silly ideas." "Centuries ago," we are told, "they beheaded all
intruders - an act still symbolized in the ritual decapitation of
their monstrous cattle." Ahem. Also, Svarog claim to have recently
chopped off the head of a very unlucky (and very anonymous) black
metal musician from Norway. Okay ... But the offending head-remover
"was sentenced to work in the uranium mines for life," which means
that Svarog now only has one member. That would be Strashidlo, who
has apparently declared war on the remaining members of Norway's
"Inner Circle." Well, Strashidlo, I hate to say it, but musically the
Norwegians (and pretty much everybody else) totally kick your
boasting barbarian butt. Okay, so the agility of your playing hands
is limited by those boulder-punching warrior rites designed for
"fusing the first two knuckles into one impaling knob." And yeah, you
have created a very chaotic sound, one that reminds me a lot of old
Beherit material, but that's about all I can say. You definitely
haven't come up with anything I'd really recommend to anybody else.
Warlord U.K. - _Maximum Carnage_ (Nuclear Blast, March 1996)
by: Adrian Bromley (4 out of 10)
The thing that bugs me about this band is the fact that the blending
of old school thrash and death-ish vocals and music styles seem to
clash, making the music on _Maximum Carnage_ seem a little too loose
and scattered rather than a solid sludge of noise. There is no real
emotion, no direction and most of all, hardly any intensity found on
_Maximum Carnage_. Don't get me wrong, the band (comprised of two
Benediction members: Dave Ingram and Neil Hutton) can and does shred
some heavy shit like the title track and "Race War", and they do an
outstanding cover of Slayer's "Raining Blood". But somewhere between
growls and the 'dat-a-dat' of the drums and the guitar riffs we lose
interest real fast - at least I did. Warlord U.K. deliver a mediocre
blend of music and that's about it.
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/ \/ / _ \ \ /\ / / / \/ / _ \| / __|/ _ \
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Your best source of information on the newest of the new, and the
lowest of the underground, New Noise is the place to read about all
the coolest shit you never thought existed! And if you have a band,
don't forget to send us your demo with a bio if you want to be
reviewed; our address is included in the zine's header.
Perpetua - _Irrational_ (12 track demo)
by: Gino Filicetti
I'm confused. This tape has all the appearances of being a demo, no
sign of any record label affiliation anywhere, so I'm reviewing it
here. However, the bio states that Perpetua has been picked up by
Pavement and that their previous efforts have been distributed by
Relapse (US) and Napalm (Europe). WTF? Anyways, regardless of whether
this tape is an indie or not, it rocks! The production of this demo
is superb considering it was recorded, mixed and mastered in a scant
90 hours at Digiart Studios. The band themselves hail from Argentina,
and show some of their South American background by including certain
tribalistic sounds on their tape, much like the new Sepultura
(however, let it be known that this demo was around first). The music
has a very strong presence and power, and sounds a little too much
like Fear Factory's _Demanufacture_. The vocals especially sound
identical to Burton's "new found" vocal style, and the
instrumentation has that slight industrial feel as well. Whether this
fact makes you hate this tape or want to get it is up to you, but I
would definitely recommend this to anyone interested.
Contact: PERPETUA, C.C. 4612, 1000 Correo Central
Buenos Aires, Argentina, Voice/Fax: (514) 799-4232
e-mail: perpetua@grunbaum.biocom.com
Puzzle Head - _Missing Pieces_ (5 track demo)
by: Gino Filicetti
This East Coast band is the brainchild of Mike Potter and Mike
"Serial" Greenhall, the sole members of Puzzle Head (formerly in
Stentor). This "EP" is a nicely packaged CD including full colour
liner notes and top notch production. The music on this CD is most
definitely death metal, but not the every day generic death you might
be thinking of. The two Mikes incorporate many different elements
into their music making for quite a varied effort on their part. The
first track, "Filth Inside", starts off as a blast beat ridden slab
of music. The vocals on this song, and throughout the rest of the CD,
are the very deep guttural type of growls. The drumming on this CD is
of the utterly annoying "tin can" type, which makes me want to cringe
at times. The second song, "Hate Me", has a few hardcore elements
worked into it such as off beat drumming, but the vocals are still
very much death metal. The track, "In Memory Remains" is dedicated to
a long-time friend and fan of the band, Allen Ray White (1975-1995).
Mike Greenhall, aka Serial, is also a poet who utilized the best of
his poetry for the lyrics on this demo/EP. I couldn't be bothered to
decipher the lyrics from the liner notes because the band decided to
be different and print the lyrics in a ransom letter style font
that's impossible to read. All in all, this demo is interesting, but
nothing to kill your mother over.
Contact: PUZZLE HEAD, c/o Vampyrum Publicity, 2441 Temple Ct.
Alexandria, VA, 22307, USA
Voice: (703) 765-7755 Fax: (705) 765-8280
or 1-800-571-MOSH
Forward Now - _Smileremover_ (6 track demo)
by: Brian Meloon
Forward Now is a two-man industrial/metal project from Rochester, NY.
I'm not a big fan of industrial, but there seems to be a good amount
of it going around these days, so I've heard my share. The production
here is a little lacking, but not too bad considering that this is a
demo. All of the standard industrial elements are here: distorted
shouted vocals, techno-like beats, and of course samples (including
the obligatory porno-movie sample). They also add a good variety of
metallic influences, from doom to grind to a black metallish sound,
and a variety of vocal stylings, the most effective being the melodic
clean vocals. Most of the music is heavy, bringing to mind Strapping
Young Lad, but there are enough "light" (not atmospheric) sections to
keep it from overkill. The music is for the most part pretty dense,
and less repetitive than most industrial efforts. Some sections are
very complex, but some really drag (such as the long sample
sections), and they have a tendency to include annoying noises every
once in awhile. Overall, this is a pretty diverse affair, so if you
like industrial metal, there's probably something here for you.
Contact: Forward Now, 281A Le Chase Manor Drive
Rochester, NY, 14606, USA
Spiral Architect - _demo_ (2 track demo)
by: Brian Meloon
Did you think that Scandinavian metal bands all played death or black
metal? Well, think again. Spiral Architect is a Norwegian band that
plays a heavy, dark style of progressive metal, and do it better than
anyone else. I'd liken them to a heavier version of Dream Theater,
minus all of the cheesy parts. Imagine taking the best (read:
heaviest) parts of _Images and Words_, removing the keyboards, and
then mixing with Helstar or Psychotic Waltz's _A Social Grace_, and
throwing in the occasional influence from Fates Warning and Cynic,
and that's what this sounds like. Technically, they're excellent:
each member really shines on the two songs of this demo. The guitar
solos are tasteful and appropriate, the drumming is dense, and the
bassist even gets a cool solo. The (session) vocalist is average, but
doesn't really bring this down, nor does he shine. Although the songs
change rapidly, they aren't vehicles for over-indulgent musical
masturbation. The songs flow very well for the most part (with a few
exceptions), so well in fact that you hardly notice that one or two
minutes have gone by and myriad changes have taken place in that
time. Both songs are roughly through-composed (with some repeated
sections), and hence don't get boring, even after repeated listens.
The production is top-notch too. The only flaws I can find are a few
sections which sound a little too prog-rockish (commercial), and the
aforementioned seams in the music. Still, this is excellent, so pick
it up, and watch for their upcoming album ... they'll be signed very
soon.
Contact: Spiral Architect, c/o Asgeir Mickelson
Chr. Krohgsgt. 30, N-0186 Oslo, NORWAY
e-mail: asgeir@gi.no, WWW: http://www.gi.no/Spiral/
Stigmata - _The Gods of Earth and Heaven_ (6 track demo)
by: Alain M. Gaudrault
One look at their WWW homepage and you know who inspired this trio to
pick up instruments. While they openly admit to being heavily
influenced by Black Sabbath, I personally found a greater resemblance
to Alice In Chains, particularly in Josh Brock's vocals. In fact, I
consider this one of the album's weak points, not because I don't
enjoy Layne Staley's singing, but because I'm constantly reminded of
it throughout all 6 tracks. Few people want to hear a band trying so
hard to sound like someone else, and I'm no exception. The music
itself, performed by Kyle Toucher (guitar, vocals), Steve Vega
(drums, vocals), and Josh Brock (bass, lead vocals), is grinding and
groovy, much like the two aforementioned bands, but too often
unmemorable. This is a fine demo, expertly packaged and very well
produced, featuring some decent bottom-heavy riffs, but in my
opinion, Stigmata needs an infusion of originality. AiC borrowed from
pioneers and created their own style; Stigmata need to do the same.
Send $8US or $10US (overseas), shipping included. Money orders should
be made out to Kyle Toucher.
Contact: STIGMATA c/o Kyle Toucher, 1247 S. Petit Ave. Suite 429
Ventura, CA, 93004, USA, email: machine@rain.org
WWW: http://www.rain.org/~machine/StigmataHomepage.html
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\ \ \L\ \\ \ \ \ \/\ \L\.\_/\ \L\ \ \ \_\ \ \/\ \__/
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\/___/ \/_/\/_/\/__/\/_/\/___/ \/__/ \/_/\/____/
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\ \ \/\_\ ___ ___ ___ __ _ __\ \ ,_\ ____
\ \ \/_/_ / __`\ /' _ `\ /'___\ /'__`\/\`'__\ \ \/ /',__\
\ \ \L\ \/\ \L\ \/\ \/\ \/\ \__//\ __/\ \ \/ \ \ \_/\__, `\
\ \____/\ \____/\ \_\ \_\ \____\ \____\\ \_\ \ \__\/\____/
\/___/ \/___/ \/_/\/_/\/____/\/____/ \/_/ \/__/\/___/
Here is where Chronicles of Chaos gives you the lowdown on the latest
shows coming your way. Check out Chaotic Concerts every month for the
scoop on the bands brutalizing the masses with their own form of
terror.
MORBID ANGEL / AT THE GATES / DISSECTION / SADISTIC INTENT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Live at the Latin Village
Pico Rivera, California, March 21, 1996
by: Nick Bassett
A chill rose in the air as the satanic hordes of death metal met
on that dark and stormy night in Pico Rivera ... the time of
purification was at hand, and what a brutal purification it was...
Agonized screams filled the air as SADISTIC INTENT, the west
coast guardians of old school death metal, took to the stage with
"Asphyxiation", "Conflict Within", "Dark Predictions", and other
morbid hymns from their 1995 _Resurrection_ MCD. An excellent
performance, which also included their version of the classic "Return
to the Eve" (also appears on the newly-released Dwell Records
compilation, _In Memory of Celtic Frost ..._ - see review section for
details).
The intermission that followed was filled with the sounds of rap
music, which after about half an hour faded out and were replaced by
the sounds of "At the Fathomless Depths", the intro to DISSECTION's
_Storm of the Light's Bane_ CD. The bullet-belted warriors emerged
one by one onto the stage, and broke into "Night's Blood" not a
moment after the intro had drawn to a close. The response was
overwhelming, though some stared in disbelief, perhaps still
skeptical that such a fine brand of black/death metal (as they prefer
to be called) would ever grace these North American shores. Up next
was "Heaven's Damnation" from _The Somberlain_, their 1993 debut CD.
This was received with marked voraciousness, perhaps a little
surprising to some, since the album in question had never been
released domestically. At about this time in the concert, something
went wrong with the electrical system, and everything went to hell.
The florescent ceiling lights came on, and the music stopped
abruptly. Vocalist Jon Nodtveit ordered that the lights be turned
off, though this had no apparent result. After yelling at various
people on the side of the stage, he simply sat down in the middle and
dragged on a cigarette until the sound people could get their shit
together ... which they eventually did, and the band rounded out the
show with numbers such as "Retribution - Storm of the Light's Bane",
"Where Dead Angels Lie", and "The Somberlain" (finale). Tight
performance, great show, despite the technical difficulties.
I'd really like to say that AT THE GATES also put on a great
show that night, but the fact is they were on the stage and off again
within 10 minutes! Their brief show began with "Blinded by Fear"
(opening track on their latest album, _Slaughter of the Soul_), and
ended with "Forever Blind", I think it was. Rumor was that the show
was "running late," and they had to leave time for Morbid Angel (an
excuse I wasn't too satisfied with, since Morbid Angel is one of
those bands I see on an annual basis!). I don't know if that's what
really happened, but I'd hate to think Morbid Angel insisted on those
kind of terms just so they could play for 1:45 instead of 1:30. In
any case, they put on a tight show (if it can even be called that),
and I'd really like to see them on another American tour soon ...
which I've heard rumors of already.
Ok, soon it was time for the headliners ... MORBID ANGEL!! The
lights finally went out as the organ melodies of "Doomsday
Celebration" began to grind (I remember when they used to use a
special, non-album intro tape, but apparently those days are over
with). The band dominated the stage with "Dawn of the Angry" from
their latest album, last year's _Domination_. They continued to belt
out classics old and new, along the lines of: "Where the Slime Live",
"Blood on my Hands", "Dominate", "Melting", "Nothing But Fear", "Eyes
to See, Ears to Hear", "Blasphemy", "Chapel of Ghouls", "Doomsday
Celebration", "Fall from Grace", "Blessed are the Sick", "Day of
Suffering", "Lord of All Fevers and Plagues", "Rapture", and "Sworn
to the Black". (Hint: it helps to have a set list in front of you at
times like this!) Encore was "God of Emptiness". That was my fourth
time seeing them, and what can I say, it was pure Morbid Angel:
strong stage presence, tight performance (once again), and don't
forget David Vincent's (now VERY familiar!) anti-MTV speeches
(*yawn*)!! My own personal favorite elements of a MORBID ANGEL show
are watching Pete Sandoval play 90 intense, flawless minutes dotted
with blast beats; and cheering on Trey "George" Azagthoth during that
frenzied guitar solo in the middle of "Chapel of Ghouls". The only
thing that could have made the show even slightly better for me would
have been if they played more of the really OLD stuff, especially
"Immortal Rites" (which I'm quite certain they played last time, and
even on their 30-minute opening slot for Black Sabbath back in
'93!!). But the set was really quite balanced overall, and so there's
really nothing to complain about.
Though the phrase "once in a lifetime" seems a bit too dramatic,
this was unarguably the concert of the year for those of us lucky
enough to witness two of Sweden's greatest bands sandwiched between
two of America's best (and longest-surviving) examples of
consistently brutal, unholy death metal!! Judging from what I've
heard, the tour was a successful one for all involved parties, so
perhaps this will open doors for other such tours. May further hordes
of extreme metal find their way to these shores soon.
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__ / _ __ \ / / /_ ___/_ ___/ _ __ \_ /_
_ / / /_/ / /_/ /_ / _(__ ) / /_/ / __/
/_/ \____/\__,_/ /_/ /____/ \____//_/
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___ __/______________ /____ _____________
__ / _ __ \_ ___/ __/ / / /_ ___/ _ \
_ / / /_/ / / / /_ / /_/ /_ / / __/
/_/ \____//_/ \__/ \__,_/ /_/ \___/
Welcome to Chronicles of Chaos' tour listing column. Check out Tours
of Torture every month for the scoop on who's coming to town and
where to catch your favorite bands. If you have any information about
upcoming tours, we'd be more than happy to hear about it. Contact us
at <ginof@io.org>.
EYEHATEGOD with Pachinko
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apr 18 - Orbit Room, Dallas TX (with Zeni Geva & Today Is The Day)
Apr 19 - Barrister's, Memphis TN
Apr 20 - Cherokee, Louisville KY
Apr 21 - Area 81, Lexington KY
Apr 22 - Grog Shop, Cleveland OH
Apr 23 - Asbury Alley, Buffalo NY
Apr 24 - CBGB, New York NY
Apr 25 - Memory Lane, Baltimore MD
Apr 26 - Twister's, Richmond VA (with Zeni Geva & Today Is The Day)
Apr 27 - Nyabinghi, Morg'town WV (with Chum)
Apr 28 - Woogie's, Columbus OH
Apr 30 - Old Miami, Detroit MI
May 1 - Club Soda, Kalamazoo MI
May 2 - Fireside Bowl, Chicago IL
May 3 - The Chamber, Madison WI
May 4 - Unicorn, Milwaukee WI
May 5 - (to be announced), Iowa City IA
May 6 - Grand Emporium, Lawrence KS (with Hostility)
May 7 - Rock Island, Wichita KA (with Hostility)
May 9 - (to be announced), El Paso TX
May 10 - Emo, Austin TX
May 11 - Deep Phat, Houston TX
May 12 - (to be announced), New Orleans, LA
Skrew with Kreator
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apr 1 - The China Club, Seattle WA
Apr 2 - The Starfish Room, Vancouver BC
Apr 3 - Moody's, Portland OR
Apr 4 - Berkeley Square, Berkeley CA
Apr 5 - Showcase Theatre, Corona CA
Apr 6 - The Cage, Tucson AZ
Apr 7 - The Mason Jar, Phoenix AZ
Apr 8 - The Attic, El Paso TX
Apr 9 - Showcase, San Antonio TX
Apr 10 - Emo, Austin TX
Apr 12 - The Abyss, Houston TX
Apr 14 - Club Impact, Pompano Beach FL
Apr 15 - Fairbanks Inn, Orlando FL
Apr 16 - The Flamingo, Jasper SC
Apr 17 - The Wreck Room, Atlanta GA
Apr 18 - Jeremiah's, Charlotte NC
Satyricon/Dissection/Gorgoroth
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apr 11 - Gibus, Paris FRANCE
Apr 12 - Baroeg, Rotterdam NETHERLANDS
Apr 13 - Biebob, Vosselaar BELGIUM
Apr 14 - Tagrijn, Hilversum NETHERLANDS
Apr 15 - Rohre, Stuttgart GERMANY
Apr 16 - Knaack, Berlin GERMANY
Apr 17 - Exil, Trier GERMANY
Apr 18 - Markthalle, Hamburg GERMANY
Apr 19 - Werra-Rhon-Halle, Merkers GERMANY
Apr 20 - Ratskeller, Fraureuth GERMANY
Apr 21 - Jugendhaus, Saalfeld GERMANY
Apr 22 - Zeche Karl, Essen GERMANY
Apr 24 - Chelsea, Vienna AUSTRIA
Apr 25 - Frontiera, Rome ITALY
Apr 26 - Poison Apple, Torino ITALY
Apr 27 - Maribeau, Marseille FRANCE
Apr 28 - Garatge Club, Barcelona SPAIN
Apr 29 - Palha D'Ago, Porto PORTUGAL
Apr 30 - Revolver, Madrid SPAIN
Sacred Reich
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apr 1 - Golden West Salloon, Albuquerque NM
Apr 2 - Skate N' Play, Clovis NM
Apr 3 - The Attic, El Paso TX
Apr 4 - The Depot, Lubbock TX
Apr 5 - Galaxy Club, Dallas TX
Apr 6 - The Abyss, Houston TX
Apr 8 - Club Impact, Pompano Beach FL
Apr 9 - Fairbanks Inn, Orlando FL
Apr 10 - The Wreck Room, Atlanta GA
Apr 11 - Flamingo, Savannah GA
Apr 12 - Twister's, Richmond VA
Apr 13 - El N Gee, New London CT
Apr 15 - The Rat, Boston MA
Apr 16 - Saratoga Winners, Cohoes NY
Apr 17 - Club A GoGo, New York NY
Apr 18 - Al Rosa, Columbus OH
Apr 19 - Agora, Cleveland OH
Apr 20 - Harpo's, Detroit MI
Apr 21 - The Thirsty Whale, Chicago IL
Apr 22 - The Mirage, Minneapolis MN
Apr 23 - Big Dogs, Cedar Rapids IA
Apr 24 - Rock Island, Wichita KA
Apr 25 - Mercury Cafe, Denver CO
Apr 26 - The Bar & Grill, Salt Lake City UT
Apr 27 - Crazy Horse, Boise ID
Apr 28 - The China Club, Seattle WA
Apr 29 - Town Pump, Vancouver, BC
May 1 - The Boardwalk, Sacramento CA
May 2 - Berkeley Square, Berkeley CA
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W H A T W E H A V E C R A N K E D ! ! !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gino's Top 5
1. Pan-Thy-Monium III - _Khaooohs & Kon-Fus-Ion_
2. God Lives Under Water - _Empty_
3. Slayer - _Live Intrusion_ (home video)
4. Edge of Sanity - _Crimson_
5. Profane Grace - _The Divination of Souls_
Adrian's Top 5
1. My Dying Bride - _The Angel And The Dark River_
2. Only Living Witness - _Innocents_
3. Chum - _Dead To The World_
4. Sepultura - _Roots_
5. No Doubt - _Tragic Kingdom_
Brian's Top 5
1. In Flames - _Subterranean_
2. Various Artists - _A Gathering..._
3. Spastic Ink - _Ink Complete_ (advance)
4. Dark Tranquility - _The Gallery_
5. Twisted Helices - _Traversing a Twisted Path_
Alain's Top 5
1. At the Gates - _Slaughter of the Soul_
2. Obliveon - _Cybervoid_ (advance cassette)
3. Quo Vadis - _Quo Vadis_ (demo)
4. Hidden Pride - _The Encounter of the First Kind_ (demo)
5. Summertime Daisies - _Gathering of Vermin_ (demo)
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T H E F I N A L W O R D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fuck, I can't believe issue #9 is done and gone. Next month is CoC
- *** NUMBER TEN **** !! Can you people believe it? I wonder how many
of the original 80 people who saw the release of CoC #1 are still
around today? Shit, what can I say except a HUGE thank you to Adrian,
Alain, and Brian for all the work they've done and are continuing to
do for Chronicles of Chaos, and also to Steve, who's been utterly
helpful and completely cool for the short time he's been with us.
Last, but not least, I HAVE to thank all 600 of you, the readers,
without whom we'd be writing this magazine for nobody. You guys rule!
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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #9