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CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, October 19, 2001, Issue #55
http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com
Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley
Copy Editor / Contributor: Pedro Azevedo
Contributor: Brian Meloon
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk
Contributor: Paul Schwarz
Contributor: Aaron McKay
Contributor: David Rocher
Contributor: Matthias Noll
Contributor: Alvin Wee
Contributor: Gabriel Sanchez
Contributor: Chris Flaaten
Neophyte: Kirsty Buchanan
Neophyte: Quentin Kalis
Neophyte: Vincent Eldefors
Spiritual Guidance: Alain M. Gaudrault
The individual writers can be reached by e-mail at
firstname@ChroniclesOfChaos.com ("firstname" must be replaced by the
respective writer's first name, e.g. Gino@ChroniclesOfChaos.com).
NOTE: You may unsubscribe from Chronicles of Chaos at any time by
sending a blank e-mail to <Unsubscribe@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>.
For more Chronicles of Chaos information, check out the
Details section at the end of this issue.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Issue #55 Contents, 10/19/01
----------------------------
- Editorial
- Loud Letters
- Deadly Dialogues
-- Emperor: Prometheus Unbound
-- Crematory: The End Complete
-- Rebaelliun: Annihilating the Competition?
-- Godgory: Creation Through Evolution
-- Jag Panzer: Unstoppable Progressive Metal Machine
-- Astroqueen: Killer Band Puts Us "Into Submission"
-- Shocore: Crossing Boundaries and Having Fun
-- Anathema - _A Fine Day to Exit_
-- Arch Enemy - _Wages of Sin_
-- Averse Sefira - _Battle's Clarion_
-- Awakening - _An Eves Nightmare_
-- Bastard Noise - _Analysis of Self Destruction_
-- Various - _Beauty in Darkness 5_
-- Benediction - _Organized Chaos_
-- Bernd Steidl - _Paganiniana_
-- Brick Bath - _I Won't Live the Lie_
-- Celestia / Goatfire -
_Darkness Enfold the Sky / Black Slaughterization_ split 7"
-- Death - _Live in LA - Death and Raw_
-- Delirium Endeavor - _Flight of the Imagination_
-- Depraved - _Decadence & Lust_
-- Devin Townsend - _Terria_
-- Divina Enema - _At the Conclave_
-- Dornenreich - _Her Von Welken Nachten_
-- Ebony Tears - _Evil as Hell_
-- Emperor - _Prometheus - The Discipline of Fire and Demise_
-- Entombed - _Morning Star_
-- Eternal Majesty / Temple of Baal -
_Unholy Chants of Darkness / Faces of the Void_ split LP
-- Evergrey - _In Search of Truth_
-- Fireball Ministry - _FMEP_
-- Fleshitized - _Here Among Thorns_
-- Ginger Leigh - _From Artesia With Love_
-- Godgory - _Way Beyond_
-- Imagika - _And So It Burns_
-- In Aeternum - _Past and Present Sins_
-- In Flames - _The Tokyo Showdown_
-- Levl - _Controlled by Time_
-- Mannhai - _The Sons Of..._
-- Mastodon - _Lifesblood_
-- Merzbow - _Collapse Twelve Floors_
-- Meshuggah - _Raretrax_
-- Morbid - _Deathexecution_ picture 7"
-- Morgue Supplier - _Not Dead Enough_
-- Mortiis - _The Smell of Rain_
-- My Dying Bride - _The Dreadful Hours_
-- Mystifier - _The Fourth Evil Calling From the Abyss_
-- Pig Destroyer - _Prowler in the Yard_
-- Porn (The Men Of) - _Experiments in Feedback_
-- Profanum - _Musaeum Esotericum_
-- Prophet - _Broken Promise_
-- Sadistic Intent - _Resurrection of the Ancient Black Earth_
-- Shape of Despair - _Angels of Distress_
-- Soilent Green - _A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down_
-- Solefald - _Pills Against the Ageless Ills_
-- Sonata Arctica - _Silence_
-- Splattered Cadaver - _Merciless Butchery_
-- Suppression w/ Crank Sturgeon / Misopsychia - _Split_
-- System of a Down - _Toxicity_
-- Tristania - _World of Glass_
-- Ulver - _Silence Teaches You How To Sing_
-- Unexpect - _Utopia_
-- VLE - _Book of Illusions: Chapter 1_
-- Zero Hour - _The Towers of Avarice_
-- Bisclaveret - _Aegri Somnias_
-- Deathguy - _The Secondary Quest_
-- Effluvium - _Genesis of Our Conquest_
-- Exhibition - _Mind Explosion_
-- Holochaust - _Valley of Misery_
-- Human Abstrakt - _Human Abstrakt_
-- Phantasmagory - _Odd Sounds_
-- Renazcore - _Veritas Vincit_
-- Serpent Eclipse - _Thy Bleeding Heavens_
-- Spiritus Mortis - _Demo 2000_
-- Summer Dying - _Summer Dying_
-- Triton - _Darkroot_
-- I Love the Smell of Napalm in the Evening: Wacken Open Air
-- No Rest for the Weary: Milwaukee MetalFest XV
- What We Have Cranked
- Details
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/ /) , , /)
)__ _(/ _/_ _____ _ //
/ (_(__(_(__(_)/ (__(_(_(_(/_
(_____)
by: Gino Filicetti
Welcome back everyone. It's been a little more than two months
since our last issue of CoC, and to say that a lot has happened since
then would be an extreme understatement. I'm not going to dwell on the
issues plaguing our world today, or try to make some sense of them in
the context of our magazine, for that would merely serve to trivialize
the gravity of these events. I'm certain every last one of you has
felt the effects of this tragedy in one way or another in your lives,
but it's time to move on with our lives and more importantly to never
forget what took place that day.
After taking a well deserved break following our sixth
anniversary issue in August, I thought we would have to make due with
an extra "skinny" issue this time around. However, our fine writing
staff -- who never cease to amaze me -- were able to pull together a
mountain of material in the very last days prior to our deadline.
In this issue, you'll notice we've got two "swansong" interviews,
if you will. Both Emperor and Crematory have called it quits and are
parting ways. In the case of Emperor, you've got a band that survived
ten tumultuous years that saw two members jailed for murder and arson,
not to mention countless other surprises, to emerge as one of the
greatest and most revered black metal bands that Scandinavia has ever
produced. Crematory, another ten year veteran, managed to produce
eight albums during their tenure as one of the most respected
purveyors of gothic death metal Germany has ever known. Both bands
will be dearly missed but, more importantly, fondly remembered as true
giants.
Finally, don't forget to check out our Chaotic Concerts section
this issue for coverage from two gigantic metal fests on either side
of the pond. From Milwaukee, Aaron McKay reports on the immortal
Milwaukee MetalFest. And from Germany, Matthias Noll delivers the
goods on the twelfth Wacken Open Air Festival.
I want you all to thoroughly enjoy this issue and to ready
yourselves for our next issue: CoC #56, The New Year's Evil Edition. I
assure you, Chronicles of Chaos will close out 2001 with a bang!
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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 <mailto:LoudLetters@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>.
All letters received will be featured in upcoming issues of
Chronicles of Chaos.
Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2001
From: "Rigsby" <Rigsby@rigsbyszone.co.uk>
Subject: Burning Embers
Geezers,
Although others moan at you for this and that, I feel that without
some optimism in this world, nothing would happen. On that tract, I
feel I must say how good I feel your Zine is and that it takes some
dedication to keep something together with the intensity that you guys
do for the time you have. Okay, we might not agree on every item, but
we are all individuals and that's what we all represent at the end of
the day! It's just opinions, support and promotion of a style of music
we all enjoy...
We have a modest effort of our own that is occasionally helped by
people we know, but essentially ours is one made of people holding
down full-time jobs and then going downtuned in their own time, so I
can more than sympathise.
I think, what I am trying to say is something I read in another Zine
recently, and that is 'support the supporters', because if you don't
then what chance has the whole thing of surviving, let alone
progressing!?
Peace,
Rigsby. (Downtuned Sounds)
Transcripts From The Downtuned
Subtitled: Rigsby's Music Zone
(http://www.rigsbyszone.co.uk)
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001
From: "Steven"
Subject: Fw: Chronicles of Chaos #54 (6/10)
Hi! Steven here from Vibrations of Doom Magazine. Got a letter for ya
you seriously need to print in the next issue...
Great issue! Glad to see C.O.C. still kicking around! Hope to see you
guys put out issues as long as I have, me realizing that my own rag is
nearing the 11 year mark.
Have to make a MAJOR gripe here. In the interview with Virgin Steel,
Mr. Defeis writes that he wrote "all of the material for Act I and II
at the same time..." That's complete bullshit! Has anyone ever heard
of a band called EXORCIST? Yeah, the same band that released
"Nightmare Theater" on Cobra Records back in 1986. Okay, now then
listen to the song 'The Fire Of Ecstacy' from "Act II." NOW. On my
site there is completely digitized the Exorcist album "Nightmare
Theater." Go listen to the song 'The Exorcist' and TRY and tell me
it's not the same song! Guitar parts, lyrics and all (of course, some
of the lyrics are different, but I swear to god you can follow the
song The Exorcist using some of the lyrics from 'Fire Of Ecstacy.')
are damn near the same! This wouldn't be such a bad thing, except
NOWHERE in the liner notes does he mention that this is a reworking of
a song from ANOTHER BAND! Interviews nowhere does he mention Exorcist,
which if you listen to you will realize was one obscure, but very
innovative forerunner to the black metal scene which breathed life in
the very early 90's. Back in 86 black metal had it's roots. In
Exorcist. And for Defei to deny this is simply a crime. This is
something I plan to confront him with if he even has the balls to face
me in an interview. Okay, I'll come off the soapbox now. Go listen to
Exorcist and many classic 80's metal albums, many STILL out of print,
at:
http://members.spree.com/vibrations
Fly the flag of metal high... ALWAYS!!
Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2001
From: "Markus" <hl_1001@flashmail.com>
Subject: RE: question
Hails,
Not much to say, just: Extreme music for extreme poeple. Satanic,
hate, brutal, anti-christian, against-the-system and even right-winged
lyrics belong to death/black metal. With these things this extreme
music became big and after these rules a lot of fans of this genre
live. So i think there are only two solutions: 1. Don't take the
lyrics too serious and enjoy the music or 2. Pic another music style.
Maybe you can enjoy pop or rap music more.
..Markus
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001
From: Nokreth@gmx.net
Subject: Dominus Sathanas
Hail,
cool mag and all..
This mail is aimed at Jim Tasikas and people of his opinion in
response to his mail posted in youre anniversary issue...
Jim Tasikas, you write that metal should evolve in a more musical
derection and immediatly obandon its ideological views... But this is
not possible, i say. the 2 are interlinked. Remove one and the other
crumbles. It crumbles either in the putrid hands of commerce or
suffocates. You mentioned sepultura as one of you recognised bands.
But what drove Max Cavalera to write such brutal music? I say it was
his fascistic love for his ancestry, his hate towards christian aliens
and government induced poverty. We all saw what happened to Sepultura
when they started focusing on their music.
Let us compare BURZUM with DARK TRANQUITY. Both bands play
"blackmetal" i can hear the muical complexity and emphasis on the
technical aspect of blackmetal in DARK TRANQUILTY. But they dont even
CuM FUCKING CLOSE to the madness, derpression and anger compiled in
songs such as "Stemmen Fra Taarnet" ot the sadness of "Der tod
Wuotans" (by BURZUM). What makes Blackmetal bands, such as Burzum
supernatural is not only the music, but also what it means.
I say people need to have another look at what Blackmetal really is.
It is slowly evolving into something pathetic. A new generation of
alternative children are trying to take the genre and and strip it of
all that cannot be soled. If, Jim Tasikas, you want to take metal and
with it create a new form of jazz, or whatever, then fucking a! do it
today. 'cause after all music is something to cherish. But touch NOT
not BLACKMETAL !!!!! There are people like Varg that burn fucking
Churches out of love for blackmetal and all it incoorperates. Anyone
reading this mail should ask themselves whether they really belong
here, or are they just trying 2 piss off their parents.
Blackmetal is only for the aryan children of Wotan and that is the
truth.
"The fucking Priests must Hang"
<Grimnir>
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P R O M E T H E U S U N B O U N D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Ihsahn of Emperor
by: Adrian Bromley, Chris Flaaten and Pedro Azevedo
Prologue: THE DEMISE OF LEGENDS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by: Pedro Azevedo
One of the greatest bands in the history of extreme metal is
laying their more than decade-long career to rest. Some may argue
whether Emperor really are -- sorry, -were-; I must get used to
speaking of Emperor like a deceased entity. Anyway, I was saying that
perhaps not everyone will agree with my opening sentence regarding
Emperor's excellence. However, I doubt anyone with a broad view of the
extreme metal realm will deny this band's massive importance within
it. This prologue is not meant to serve as a band biography; I shall
not go into much detail about each of their releases or historical
issues, but rather try to provide an overview of what I feel made this
band so remarkable throughout most of its existence.
Even if you disregard their demos, Emperor's full-length debut
_In the Nightside Eclipse_ made it clear that they were not a band in
need of a crutch. The press publicity surrounding Norway's early black
metal scene was certainly not the deciding factor in their success.
Sure, they were part of that publicity to some extent, and there may
certainly be a criminal record or two in the band (most notably, but
not exclusively, former drummer Bard Faust). However, with _In the
Nightside Eclipse_ it became clear that the influence of all that
sideshow was insignificant compared to the musical prowess the band
was developing.
_In the Nightside Eclipse_ (1994) is, to this date, arguably one
of the most intensely atmospheric black metal albums ever made: the
keyboard symphonies mixed with the harsh guitars and piercing screams
to create a chilling wall of sound. With this album Emperor made a
strong statement that they would clear a path of their own, adding
a thick layer of keyboards to the icy guitar foundations and
experimenting with classical influences to develop their own style of
black metal.
Although the influence of _In the Nightside Eclipse_ in today's
densely populated symphonic black metal scene appears undeniable,
Emperor's classically influenced avant garde approach to the black
metal foundations was not to reach its peak until the band's next
album, _Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk_ (1997). Complex, multi-layered,
venomous and grandiose, _Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk_ is still today
a record of highly unusual magnitude and, much like its predecessor, a
genre milestone. Propelled by Trym's highly talented drum barrage,
Ihsahn's classically influenced orchestrations and Samoth's more death
metal influenced guitar approach combined to once again prove that
contrast is not necessarily an obstacle to consistent results. A few
passages in that album remain some of my absolute favourites in
extreme metal.
Great records usually cause great expectations to be built up,
and potentially great disappointments to follow. For many that was the
case when Emperor released _IX Equilibrium_ (1999), which repeated the
_Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk_ formula with a greater emphasis on
death metal and even heavy metal to some extent. The result, despite
its technical merits, was certainly not to everyone's liking; I
personally found only a couple of tracks to be truly worthy of the
band's legacy. Nevertheless, others believed the album reaffirmed
Emperor's excellence and progression within the extreme metal realm,
spanning other genres besides black metal, and possibly again leading
the way for others to follow in their wake. Followers of the "true"
black metal scene who held the band's pre-_In the Nightside Eclipse_
releases as their favourites felt mostly alienated by now, but the
band continued to achieve widespread notoriety in the metal scene.
Anno 2001, the Emperor lays down to die after one final battle.
_Prometheus - The Discipline of Fire and Demise_ is the band's
swansong album; you can find a review in this issue, and also greater
insight into the album and the reasons behind the band's demise in the
article that follows.
Two CoCers were scheduled to interview Ihsahn -- Emperor's
vocalist, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. To avoid redundancy,
each of the interviewers planned his part of the questionnaire from a
different angle: Adrian would cover their career and Ihsahn's thoughts
on it, while Chris would delve into their new album and its creation.
Ihsahn speaks; the fire still burns inside him.
Part 1: THE FIRE STILL BURNS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by: Adrian Bromley
Emperor's singer/guitarist/founder Ihsahn says he feels
"liberated" now that his band of the last twelve years has finally
come to an end. Strong words from a musician who has helped shape the
black metal sound throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium.
He also says he is pleased with the success the band has seen
over the past ten years and the four full-length albums they have
released, including the forthcoming album titled _Prometheus - The
Discipline of Fire and Demise_ on Candlelight [reviewed in this
issue].
But it is time to move on, he suggests. Time to explore music and
be creative all over again under a new vision of ideas. The fire still
burns within Ihsahn.
"This is very liberating, being finished with Emperor. I guess
now I have this kind of childish excitement knowing that I will be
involved with Peccatum [with his wife Ihriel -- Adrian] and my own
solo stuff in the future", starts the talkative Norwegian. "It feels
good to bring one chapter of my life to a close and be able to go onto
another one."
While many fans are unsure why a band like Emperor would fold
after four full-length albums -- _In the Nightside Eclipse_ [1994, CoC
#1], _Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk_ [1997, CoC #22], _IX Equilibrium_
[1999, CoC #39] and the latest one --, Ihsahn points out that if there
was any time to end the band, then this was the perfect time.
"I think this album is a good way to end it all. I feel that on a
more personal level with one another in the band [guitarist Samoth and
drummer Trym], it was the right time to bring it to a close and in a
good way. We have always had our differences musically over the years
and the way we worked, but I think we have all drifted in many
different directions and it was the right decision to end it while we
can still work in a constructive manner, rather than fighting to put
out releases."
"We just wanted to keep Emperor the way it should be and keep our
friendship with one another", he reveals. "It is very healthy for us
to bring this to a close and try new things. We are better off from it
for sure."
Knowing that this was going to be the last Emperor album, did
Ihsahn have any set goals with the new album _Prometheus: The
Discipline of Fire and Demise_?
"I think we always had that goal to take our music a step further
with each record", he states. "We have always had the same foundation,
but we always made an effort to do something different with each disc.
We wanted to add new dimensions and to better ourselves. I think the
biggest step we ever took as a band was with _IX Equilibrium_,
especially when you look at it from a production point of view."
He continues: "With this album, I think we have pretty much kept
the same philosophy when it came to creating music and made an effort
to take it a step forward. But we also made an effort to bring in
various other ideas, like the epic sounds, atmospheric ideas and a
bunch of other ideas that have been part of older Emperor works. We
wanted this record to be well-rounded."
Seeing that Ihsahn had written and assembled the whole album on
his own (while Samoth and Trym were busy with Zyklon), was it a really
draining experience for the front man?
"This was a very challenging record for me", he says, pointing
out that he had done a lot of the record in his own studio. "It wasn't
intentional that I wrote all the material, it just turned out that
way. Samoth and Trym were busy with Zyklon and I was just so
concentrated on getting an album underway."
You know, a lot of people out there will probably assume that
this was all your doing and that this is Ihsahn's final record, when
it really is a final Emperor record. Am I right?
"For sure. If this had been my solo record it would sound a
lot more different than what you have here with _Prometheus: The
Discipline of Fire and Demise_. This is an Emperor album. You can just
hear the way we all work together to comprise this sound. Plus, there
is so much power and expression with Trym's drum work on this record.
How could anyone assume it was anything but an Emperor record? It was
a very interesting work experience to assemble this record, with
Samoth and Trym getting CDs of the material and working on their parts
and me assembling them later on and mixing the album at Akkerhaugen
Studios. It was chaos, but it worked out fine in the end. It was great
to be doing a lot of the work at my own studio, because I had my own
pace to work on the record and move arrangements around and try new
things. There was no pressure to get in and out."
Is Ihsahn happy with the new album?
"Yes I am, but there are always things that you wish you could
have done but had to compromise because of studio time or whatever
else is the case. In comparison to the other albums that we have done,
where we were rehearsing the music and doing preparations before the
studio, this record just came together much differently, as I had
pointed out, and it was an experience. There are some things I would
change if I could, but not as many changes as I would have liked to do
with previous Emperor albums. I am happy with this record. I am happy
with the way it finished off the career of this band, as it doesn't
leave me wanting to work on any more material to finish the legacy of
Emperor. This is the final album and I can live with the final
results."
And the past albums of the band? How does he feel about the
career of the band musically?
"I think all of our records are great representations of
different eras of the band", Ihsahn points out. "I was sixteen when we
started the band. Each period was different for us when we went into a
record. It all changed as the years went on with me growing up, our
musical styles changing and just the way we thought things should be.
I'm not embarrassed about anything we have ever done. I have always
said that each album that we ever did was the best that we could do at
that point in our career. I am very proud of what we did with the
band. I think there are a lot of people who are proud."
Seeing all of the problems that Emperor faced early on and
throughout their career, how does Ihsahn feel about all that has
transpired?
"I think what people need to understand about all of the events
that happened during the early '90s was stuff that happened outside of
the music. The music genre got a lot of attention from what was going
on. When you play this kind of extreme music you don't sell half a
million records because of a certain event. People are no doubt
inspired and into the music and they buy the records. Those events
happened, but I think the reason black metal has been so popular, and
why we have continued to be a part of it all, is because we are good
musicians and create great music for people to enjoy."
Do you try to just forget what happened?
"On the band level, we had to deal with some problems with our
line-up, but we always tried to look past all of that and work hard on
our next recordings. For us personally, as we were a part of all of
this as teenagers, it did have an impact on us, but on the other hand
as a band, it never really affected us musically."
Can Ihsahn believe what he has been a part of with Emperor?
"In a way, but for us it is on a very different level", he
responds. "We never really toured much and a lot of our work was put
towards making albums. We are very privileged that we have been able
to do this, not only as an extreme metal band, but also as a Norwegian
artist. We have been lucky. We are humble to the fact that we have
been able to make records and a living from doing this for ten years."
Now that Emperor is over, what work lies ahead of Ihsahn?
"The first priority for me right now is the new Peccatum album. I
am very excited about it all. It is great that Ihriel is so involved
with the music and ideas within Peccatum and that I can add my own
ideas, as well as follow her direction on how things should go. I
just love working together with her. It is a very mutual and
creative environment. It is great to work on guitar parts with her
and decide how they should be and breaking things down. That is
something completely new to me, because Emperor worked on ideas much
differently. With Peccatum we don't really know where we are going
musically or lyrically, but that is what I enjoy about it. I know
Ihriel has some ideas of where she wants to go, but I have a feeling
that it may go even further musically. It is all very exciting."
What about solo work? When can we expect that?
"Oh, I don't even know what is going on with that", he replies
with a chuckle. "I am very pleased to not have any idea about that
right now. That is very exciting for me too, just not knowing where it
will go for me. With the end of Emperor making me feel so liberated,
things are starting to feel all new to me again and I enjoy that
feeling. I am having these urges to try and just build stuff. I don't
know when this will happen, seeing that I am working on Peccatum, but
it will happen some time. I just don't want to jump into the solo
thing too quickly. I want to take the time to form ideas and get
things going."
As the interview closes down, I ask Ihsahn what has been the
highlight of his ten year career with Emperor.
"It is really hard to say. Putting out each album was a big deal
for me, especially this final one. I see the ten years of Emperor as a
whole, even though it has been in fragments with a lot of things
happening in between. To me there has been a lot of progression with
this band, but also a lot of disappointment. When Emperor started to
grow commercially as a band there were a lot of things that we had to
deal with, on a much grander scale, and that was always something we
weren't happy with. It has been great to know we have been able to
make a living from this. I am grateful that we have been able to be so
creative and so inspired by what Emperor is all about."
Final question: in ten years from now, will there be an Emperor
reunion tour or album?
"No. This is definitely it for us", he blurts out. "Emperor has
come to a close. It is time for all of us in the band to search out
new ideas and grow as musicians. I'm looking forward to the music I
will be creating in the years to come, and I think Samoth and Trym
feel the same way about what they plan to do musically."
Part 2: THE MUSICAL DISCIPLINE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by: Chris Flaaten
I am called the exact minute I am supposed to be, and we get
right to the point. I ask Ihsahn if he has an adequate opening
statement regarding the new record.
"Well, production-wise we did things very differently this time
around, since this was from the start a studio-only album. Musically,
I felt that was a big advantage -- doing the entire pre-production and
most of the actual production in my own studio. This time the songs
were not created during rehearsals; the entire songwriting process was
done in my studio, which also was new for Emperor."
On this album, Ihsahn flirts more with some classical passages,
almost baroque-sounding at times. Is this something he has read/worked
alot on?
"I did some on the Thou Shalt Suffer album, but I feel that
classical elements in some form always have been a part of Emperor. At
the same time, inspiration from classical music has grown stronger and
stronger and it is very cool to work on with sequencers. It comes
naturally, sort of. In the beginning, I planned to have more
electronic elements on the album, but it really didn't blend that
nicely with the rest of the music from an arrangements point of view.
The classical elements, however, fit very well with the pompous feel
of the genre."
I point out that classical music would also be written in the
same way Ihsahn did for this album -- you do not jam in the studio and
come up with a full symphony. Had Ihsahn perhaps studied any theory
regarding this method of composing?
"Well, some, but not a lot, really. However, I have always been
very interested in arranging music. From this perspective, it was very
relieving to write the music in the studio and not writing band music,
drums and guitar and then adding synths, vocals etc. later as filling.
I could record a riff when I came up with it, or I could write a riff
to accompany a new synth passage, or vice versa. The arrangements
became more complete because of this; I had much more freedom. I could
delve into various elements for a mid-section of a song, and then not
have to worry about the beginning or ending of the songs until later
on. I think this way of working is much more interesting and
rewarding. It gives me greater control over the various musical
aspects."
_Prometheus - The Discipline of Fire and Demise_ is a very
complex album, and somewhat fragmented in its expression. Ihsahn
explains that the writing process shares these traits...
"The writing process is also very fragmented; I always work that
way. Sometimes it is just a full chaos. This is why it feels so
comfortable to have a studio at home. I can document my ideas as I get
them, record riffs immediately after they are developed. Later on,
I can pick out elements and work more on them or change them
afterwards."
Is this true for all of the songs on the new album, or are there
exceptions? Like my favorite track, "In the Worldless Chamber",
perhaps?
"Yes, that song is different. In my opinion, that is the least
ambitious song on the album, it is more back to basics. The fun thing
about that song is the contrast between the music and the lyrics. The
music is very grand and bombastic with warhorns and whatnot, while the
lyrics are very claustrophobic. I have actually received a lot of
positive feedback on that song. People seem to pick it out as one of
the better ones on the album. Sure, it is a decent song, but in my
mind the least special one. People say the album is hard to get into,
but I have difficulty relating to that. A matter of taste, I guess."
I explain that I feel technical metal and jazz are usually easier
to get into than _Prometheus_. Ihsahn is quite puzzled by this, it
seems...
Ihsahn mentioned pompousness earlier, but this album has less
of these elements than earlier albums. There are no massive
synths leading the show here. Like _IX Equillibrium_, it is more
guitar-oriented.
"Yes, this again is a result of the writing process. Being able
to distribute tracks from the start, rather than writing the basic
song first at a rehearsal and then just adding/filling synths, etc.
This time I was able to write everything from the beginning at the
same time. Letting the guitar lead, the melodies came naturally. Also,
this is the first time we worked with seven-string guitars. With the
massive platform they provide, there was no need to add that much
synth tracks. The guitars filled a larger portion of the spectrum
now."
A paradox, at least to the interviewer, is that sound-wise there
are fewer tracks on this album than on earlier ones. On _Prometheus_
there are usually two guitars, bass, drums, vocals and the occasional
synth, while on _Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk_ there could be layer
upon layer of synth. Was it not tempting to go all out with the
synths, now that they knew they were never going to play the material
live?
"That is mostly due to experience, I think. As I learned and grew
as a musician and songwriter, I got a less-is-more attitude. On
_Anthems..._ we had the basic songs first, then I sequenced all the
synths at home before playing them live in the studio afterwards. When
doing this, however, you don't get the true feeling of the music that
actually is there. It drowns in all the fillings. It is no problem
filling out with synths and arranging and arranging forever, until you
have a complete wall of sound, but how relevant is it to do this? With
such a massive fundament as we already have, and the tempo and
everything, we have focused more and more on staying true to the
essence of the music. Instead of adding layers, we tried to vary the
different themes when they reappeared and so on."
The album is very fast at times, and the guitars have a deeper
sound than before, probably due to the seventh string. As with _IX
Equilibrium_, there are many death metal elements on the album. Samoth
was said to be the mind behind those elements on _IX Equilibirum_, but
this time Ihsahn wrote everything himself and they're still there. Was
this done on purpose?
Ihsahn explains: "If I had done a solo album, things would of
course have been radically different. This album was written from the
fundament of what is the Emperor sound and this was something I always
had in mind while composing it. Writing riffs as I have done here
actually comes naturally for me. I also have to mention that the death
metal elements on _IX_ were not solely Samoth's work. Since we knew
this was going to be the last Emperor album, we drew inspiration from
what we have done on past records. On each album we have tried to
evolve and incorporate new elements, and I feel we have done this
again on _Prometheus_. I also enjoyed bringing back some of the
atmosphere and moods of earlier records on some of the new songs,
achieving a mixture of past and present. So bringing back some of the
groovy, death metal feel from _IX_ was really quite natural, instead
of just doing very fast and smooth-going music. I don't feel
_Prometheus_ is as death metal oriented as _IX_, it's more a common
denominator of our musical past, and at the same time it has new
elements."
When having to stay true, so to speak, to the Emperor sound, did
Ihsahn feel confined at all? Was it hard writing the "correct" music
and not drifting off into other non-Emperor areas?
"No, not at all! Of course, one has boundaries to work within,
but Emperor has always been a compromise between the members' various
musical standpoints. Nothing was new there. Our musical standpoints
have drifted farther and farther away over the years, but I still
found it interesting to build upon our musical past and add new
elements. I really feel there are -many- new things on this album.
These are things we have never touched before, but they are presented
in a way so that it still feels very Emperor. I tried to do as much
as possible within the boundaries present, and perhaps also push
these slightly. I didn't feel them confining or restraining. Also,
being simultaneously songwriter, producer and technician was a great
learning experience."
Well then, was he happy with how the production turned out?
"I am very happy with it, but of course that is also thanks
to Torbjorn at Akkerhaugen Studios. I liked the way we did the
pre-production in my studio, then recorded the drums at Akkerhaugen,
then added guitars and more at my place again and then finally
returned to Akkerhaugen for mixing. Torbjorn is a technician with
great experience and we have known him for a long time. Still, he
hadn't heard the album, so he had a completely fresh view of things
when we did the mixing. This way, he could stay very objective and it
was great to get his input at the end of the recording process."
Ihsahn is then asked to introduce each song with a few words.
"Lyric-wise, things are quite different on this album, as the
lyrics are more chronological. On the first three tracks, there's
almost a complete storyline and the music follows this in a way.
Things then take a turn and break from the chronological concept and
finally get back on track on the last couple of songs. The third
person narrative is also used much more often on this album than on
any previous ones. "The Eruption" has, appropriately enough, an
opening track feel with a classical intro that hints about the various
elements to come later in the song. There are wide contrasts between
the soft parts with clean vocals and the very raw black metal, and I
really wanted to present the contrasts to come throughout the album
clearly in the very first track. "Depraved" is different, with its
almost dissonant opening, and it brings everything down. "Empty" is
more basic in its expression, with no clean vocals and a very hard
feel from start to finish. "The Prophet" is almost like a ballad,
except for the fast, intense mid-section. "The Tongue of Fire" is one
of my favorites, with a nice flow in spite of many sharp contrasts.
This is a goal for me, writing sharp contrasts without having the
transitions being too sudden. In "In the Worldless Chamber" the
contrasts are, as we already have discussed, between the lyrics and
the music. "Grey" and "He Who Sought the Fire" are more of an average
musically, and then you get a brutal and epic conclusion with "Thorns
on My Grave". I feel there's a clearer red line musically on this
album than on _IX_."
My last question about the album concerns the riffing, since it
stands out from older Emperor albums. They're more metal now, more
groovy and distinct rather than fast, monotonous black metal riffs...
"I think the riffs are a result of me focusing much more on
smaller details and nuances. Over the years I have tried to become
more experimental with my guitar playing, since very direct, forward
playing gets so boring after a while. I made an effort to think new
and to be more bombastic or... violent in my expression. I am not a
very technical guitarist who plays superfast solos, so I opted for the
closer and more elaborate approach. I also thought it was cool to play
some more groovy and playful stuff which appeals to more... nails and
headbanging and those sorts of things." Ihsahn laughs. "You know,
lipstick and stuff..."
Finally, I ask about Ihsahn's inspiration for the album.
"As far as inspiration goes, I listen to everything -but- metal
almost." Like what? "It could be anything from old classical music to
electronica and even pop. Even if I don't like the music per se, there
can always be musical elements within it that are of interest
from my point of view. Also production-wise there are things to
learn from these genres. I also pay attention to technical issues,
instrumentation and syncopes, etc. Finding new ways to use these
elements, or new contexts for them, is very interesting. A genre is
really more defined by the instrumentation and arranging rather than
the actual music. I actually think some elements on _Prometheus_ could
have been good pop choruses with different instrumentation. I hope to
work more with these contexts and ways of arranging music in the time
ahead. Without a ten-year musical fundament upon which to build, I
stand free to write whatever I feel like. The new Peccatum album is
the first item on the agenda, but after that there are no plans.
Maybe I'll play together with musicians with an entirely different
background, more solo work perhaps... only time will tell. I feel I
have regained the childish curiosity about music."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
T H E E N D C O M P L E T E
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC talks to Harald of Crematory
by: Adrian Bromley
Crematory bassist Harald is well aware that the end has finally
come for his German gothic metal band. The band recorded, toured and
partied for the last ten years and he is glad that the band is
finishing things up on a high note, their double-disc _Remind_ (on
Nuclear Blast).
So, how does it feel to know that the band is over?
"I don't know. It feels very strange, but in a good way", starts
Harald. "When we started this band off, we never imagined that we
would even get this far. When we recorded out first album [1992's
_Transmigration_ on Massacre Records -- Adrian] nobody really believed
in what we were doing. But we had seen some success, some fans really
liked what we were doing, so we kept going and recorded another album.
We [the band is rounded out by vocalist Felix, guitarist Matthias
Hechler, keyboardist Katrin and drummer Markus Jullich -- Adrian] took
this band further than any of us imagined we would have."
As mentioned above, the final installment of Crematory and their
career comes to us as a deluxe double-disc set. _Remind_ is a live
seventeen-song set from the band that sounds really good. No doubt the
band wanted to go out with a bang, opposed to a half-assed live record
like the new one from In Flames, _The Tokyo Showdown_ [reviewed in
this issue]. Also included are alternate versions of songs and some
old demos, as well as a 60-page colour booklet (written entirely in
German, so I didn't understand one word) with tons of pictures and
words from the band.
So why does Harald think many music fans grasped onto what
Crematory was doing musically?
Starts Harald, "I think people, our fans, just really liked what
we were doing. We always did what we wanted to do musically and there
was never any real pressure from our label to make our music become a
certain way. Our hearts always guided what we did musically. When we
got such amazing feedback from fans, it really helped us become more
excited about what we were doing."
"We are very proud of what we have done with the band. I think
one of our biggest accomplishments was our last studio album _Believe_
[2000]", says the bass player. "For me personally, I think we had the
best songs we had ever written on that album, as well as the best
production we ever had with any Crematory disc. It was just a great
record for us, with sales and chart entry. It was great to release
that record and see how people reacted to it."
Are there any regrets or mistakes he would like to correct in his
career?
He responds: "We made a lot of mistakes over the years. <laughs>
But we always continued on. You will always look back at what you did
and say you could have done things differently, but you also learn
from those mistakes. We knew what we had done wrong at certain points
in our career and we moved on. We just used that experience we got
from our mistakes and used it to help take this band further."
The topic turns to the idea of assembling _Remind_. How did this
double-disc set idea come about?
Says Harald: "We could have finished things off with _Believe_,
but we wanted to give the fans of Crematory a present. We also wanted
to give ourselves a present as well, to celebrate what we had done as
a band over the past ten years. We thought it would be great to sum up
the last ten years in one album, to record a live show and assemble a
double-disc set with a good lengthy booklet. It took almost a year to
do all of this, to pick out photos, write the history and put it all
together. It took a long time for us to make sure this was the perfect
gift for our fans. We wanted it to be a perfect summary of our band
from day one up to now."
"I am happy with everything about _Remind_. We did all of this
ourselves. Our keyboard player Katrin did it all, really. She just
collected all of these pictures and items from the last few years. It
looks really good."
So now that it is all officially over for the band, what is next
up for bandmembers of Crematory? Day jobs? Relaxing time? New bands?
Harald comments, "I think we all just really want to have a
normal job right now. We also have to take care of our private lives,
too. For the last ten years it has all been about Crematory and rock
'n' roll. We are all in our thirties and it just seems like it is time
to get things in order. Also, none of us have ever taken any real
vacations, because the band has been so demanding. This band needed
100% from all of us all the time, so vacations never really happened."
"Over the years, making records for us has been a chore", he
continues. "Early on we spent a while trying to find our sound and
style. We eventually did, but as the years went on, it became a little
easier to add onto what we had accomplished the record before that."
"It just seems like this is the right time to go out for us",
Harald states about their decision to end it all. "We have done so
much as a band and with our music. We made some great records and
toured a lot. It has been a great experience. We just think this is
the right time to go out. We wanted to go out when things are going
good for the band and have been able to play for so many years.
Crematory, in a way, is a cult band. We want to remain that way for
our fans forever. We want to go out on a high note where people
remember us being great, rather than fading out like a lot of veteran
bands do and no one takes notice of them any more. Those bands just
disappear. We wanted to quit on a high note and just say "goodbye"."
He ends, "This seemed like the right thing to do. I don't think
Crematory fans are upset; I think they are proud of us and excited
about what we left them with _Remind_. Who knows? Maybe in two, three
or five years we might create some songs together and return with
Crematory. Right now that doesn't seem like it will happen, but I
promise you, if we do come back it will be with a big bang. Until
then, goodbye to all of our fans."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
A N N I H I L A T I N G T H E C O M P E T I T I O N ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with Fabiano Pena of Rebaelliun
by: Paul Schwarz
The ripples Krisiun made when Europe and North America were
exposed to them around five years ago have recently brought a
veritable tsunami of Brazillian extreme metal crashing down on the
extreme metal scene. Many bands who before would have been lucky if
their -demos- were heard in the northern hemisphere, have now gained
label deals and recently released albums.
Two or three years ago, Krisiun were pretty much the only
Nineties-originated extreme Brazillian death metal band with a name in
Europe. I say "pretty much" because Rebaeilliun are one of the
few other bands with a similar -- though admittedly lesser --
status at that time. Emerging as a band in 1998 -- though its
respective members had all been playing death metal since around 1991
-- Rebaelliun quickly gained a reasonable following after selling
virtually everything they owned to come to Europe and play nineteen
surprisingly successful live shows in three countries. Recognised as a
quality death metal band via their _Promo-Tape '98_ [re-released by
the band's label, Hammerheart, in the form of the _At War_ EP] and
1999 debut _Burn the Promised Land_ [CoC #45], Rebaelliun certainly
wore the influence of Krisiun on their sleeves, but yet individuated
themselves via a more directly Slayer and Morbid Angel influenced
musical approach.
This year's avalanche of Brazillian extreme metal has revealed
the majority of Rebaelliun's counterparts to be as concerned with
individuation as they are. Much of what has been released recently is
characterised almost solely by the "Nineties Brazillian sound" --
which you could just as easily call the "Krisiun sound" -- and the
impression so far of Brazil's metal scene is not that of a vibrant and
varied musical landscape, but rather a planned housing development,
with only the odd architectural variation. Nonetheless, it is early
days for the bands who have just hit the scene, and it would be unfair
to write any of them off individually -- or write off the scene itself
as a whole -- on the basis of what little has happened so far.
However, two Brazilian extreme metal albums that should be
closely scrutinised and considered in terms of what they suggest for
the future of the scene (and, of course, the bands who made them) are
Krisiun's _Ageless Venemous_ and Rebaelliun's _Annihilation_ [CoC
#54]. Neither of these albums -- both released this last summer -- are
mere continuations of what has gone before them; neither Krisiun nor
Rebaelliun have merely made an album that you can spin, enjoy, and
put down again without pause for thought. _Ageless Venomous_ is
at the least a record any Krisiun fan is likely to find odd:
its production sharply separates its instruments, destroying the
cohesive, whirlwind-of-fury feel that characterised 2000's _Conquerors
of Armageddon_ [CoC #47]. Musically, I find it not only by-the-numbers
Krisiun, but also extremely boring Krisiun; _AV_ displays Moyses
Kolesne's technical ability for speedy fret-scaling yet completely
disregards the need to construct interesting progressions. _AV_
is Krisiun's equivalent to Suffocation's _Breeding the Spawn_ or
Malevolent Creation's _Stillborn_. _Annihilation_ is different.
Sonically, it is, unsurprisingly, reminiscent of _Conquerors of
Armageddon_ -- _Annihilation_ was recorded and produced with Andy
Classen at Stage One studios -- and is utterly flattening in its
brutal impact. In terms of overall musical merit, _Annihilation_ is a
very in-between album. Its riffs, solos, drum-blasts and vocal
evacuations are not badly executed, but its structure severely lets it
down. I don't find it the kind of album that has you coming back
for more time and time again. Yet at present it still seems to
leave Rebaelliun ahead of much of their competition -- and most
significantly, ahead of Krisiun's most recent work.
Where Brazil's extreme metal scene is headed is very difficult to
tell, but with their following in Europe, Rebaelliun seem sure to be
an important part of it for a while to come.
I questioned Rebaelliun guitarist and founder Fabiano Pena about
_Annihilation_, Rebaelliun's career, and the Brazillian scene in
general. I hope you enjoy the results.
CoC: Rebaelliun have been an internationally known part of the
Brazilian scene since near the time of their inception. It has
now been nearly two years since you first toured Europe. Your
first album was deservedly well received. What did that rapid
rise to acknowledgement contribute to _Annihilation_? Do you
think the warm reception you received gave you more confidence?
Fabiano Pena: Although Rebaelliun is one of the youngest bands in the
Brazilian scene, we all have been playing death metal
since 1991/1992, so we believe that the response we have
got with Rebaelliun is also a response for almost ten
years playing death metal. I doubt a band could get such
a quick response in the worldwide metal scene without
any background. I mean, if we had started playing death
metal in 1998, when we formed Rebaelliun, we would not
be here for sure. _Burn the Promised Land_ is a
good death metal album with a strong feeling, and it
fortunately got a huge response within the extreme metal
community -- especially in Europe -- although we all in
Rebaelliun knew right after recording _Burn..._ that we
were able to do much better than this album. Anyway, the
response for _Burn..._ was great, we toured Europe twice
to promote this album, and this response gave us more
strength when writing the new album. So I consider
_Annihilation_ a mix of two feelings: a strong will
to go further than _Burn the Promised Land_ and a
motivation born from the response of that album.
CoC: When we last talked [CoC #48], you said that one of the
differences between Rebaelliun and others in the Brazilian scene
was that you were treading more in the early the steps of Morbid
Angel and Slayer, and that you would be taking those influences
further. Is that what happened with _Annihilation_? Would you say
_Annihilation_ is primarily influenced by the style of early
Morbid Angel and Slayer?
FP: I wouldn't say that _Annihilation_ sounds like early Morbid Angel
or Slayer, 'cause it doesn't and that was not our intention at
all. The main thing about the music in _Annihilation_ is that we
tried to reach our own sound with this album. As I said before, we
have been playing death metal since 1991/1992 and this is surely
the main goal for any band which wants to have a serious career:
to find their own sound. I think most of the Brazilian bands sound
too modern, some of them have speed as the only element in their
music, and bands such as Morbid Angel and Slayer -- the first
extreme bands in history -- showed that there are a lot of
different elements that can be incorporated into the music to make
it even more extreme and intense, without sounding boring. If you
have a strong melody or write good lyrics, that will differentiate
you from the other bands in the end, not the speed itself. I would
say we drew a bit the feeling and the way to structure the songs
from these bands, not the music itself.
CoC: Who do you think are the most promising band in the Brazilian
extreme metal scene at present and why? (Yes, you are permitted
to say "Rebaelliun", but I'd like you to justify whatever choice
you make.)
FP: I think that Krisiun and Rebaelliun are the biggest extreme metal
bands in South America and both bands are in the right way.
Krisiun is already established in the scene, they have toured a
lot all over the world and have huge support, and Rebaelliun is
growing quite quickly as well, we have the feeling that if we keep
working like this things will happen for us sooner or later. There
are several other good bands in Brazil, some of these bands
already got record deals with foreign labels and released good
albums, but it's maybe still too early to say that these bands
will get really bigger, 'cause it's a long and hard way to get
tours and true support from the fans.
CoC: Personally, I am worried that the Brazillian extreme metal
scene is declining. My worry is based mostly on my opinion
of the latest Krisiun album (which I think is creatively
extremely boring and a massive disappointment after _CoA_)
and Abhorrence's debut album (which I think lacks defining
qualities). _Annihilation_ I am more positive about. Firstly
because sonically speaking _Annihilation_ is absolutely crushing,
but also because structurally it is more interesting than the
aforementioned two records, and differs considerably from your
first album. Firstly, what do you think of what I have said
above? Secondly, do you think the Brazilian extreme metal scene
is in danger of declining (or at least becoming boring) if it
doesn't seek to progress in some significant way?
FP: In my opinion the main problem about the Brazilian extreme metal
scene nowadays is that most of the bands are trying to sound just
like Krisiun. This is not good for the bands, for Krisiun, for the
fans and for the scene itself. I mean, this is really bad in every
sense. However, this situation will not last too long; most of the
bands will realise in a couple of years that labels and fans are
not interested in copies: they want something original. We know
how hard is to create something original when playing death metal,
but as I already said before: in _Annihilation_ we reached this
"old" goal. The album sounds very original and this will make
Rebaelliun more known in the worldwide scene, 'cause we are not
just a copy of any other band, we have personality in the band.
About the latest Krisiun, I think it's not their best album, but I
personally like it, maybe 'cause I'm a fan of Krisiun since
1991... Abhorrence is a good band, but they have to develop their
own style to go further, although the musicians are very good.
CoC: Why did you choose to record _Annihilation_ at Andy Classen's
Stage One studio? Did hearing Krisiun's _Conquerors..._ album
influence your decision at all?
FP: Recording with Andy at Stage One was an idea from Hammerheart;
after recording the _Bringer of War_ MCD in Brazil we decided with
the label to produce the next album in Europe or the US; we knew
that _Annihilation_ would be an important step in our career and
we should get a good sound with this album. Hammerheart had
already sent some other artists to record over there and they were
probably satisfied with the results, and so offered us this studio
to produce _Annihilation_. The only album we knew that had been
recorded with Andy was _Conquerors..._ and we all think it sounds
very good, so we accepted and went to record there. Fortunately,
we got a good sound as well and it was nice to work with Andy: we
learnt a lot during the recording. The sound of _Annihilation_ is
also very different than most of the recordings we have heard on
the last years; the album sounds powerful, heavy and clear,
exactly what we wanted for this stuff.
CoC: When you first went to Europe -- selling everything you had to
get there -- were you positive about the outcome? Did you ever
think Rebaelliun would be as popular/known as the band is now? Do
you expect Rebaelliun's popularity and notoriety to grow? Does
popularity really matter to you, or are you more concerned about
people being seriously into the band, and you being able to make
music and present it to people?
FP: After the first time in Europe we were really positive about the
way things turned out for us; before going to Belgium, Rebaelliun
was not known even in Brazil, and after those three months over
there we had played nineteen concerts in three countries and we
had got signed to Hammerheart. So we came back to Brazil really
happy about the results from that trip. We knew that that had been
the first step in the whole way, and that from that moment on we
had to work much more to achieve new results. We had several plans
in mind right after that trip, and fortunately most of them have
become reality on these last years. About popularity, I think that
it's important in every sense for a band. We are aware about the
music we play and we don't expect to get a lot of money or be
really famous in the music business -- like Aerosmith, for example
-- but we know that it's possible to build a good structure
playing death metal and live from the music. We play death metal
and we love music, so it's pretty natural that we wanna live from
the music, and this will depend on the popularity Rebaelliun will
achieve in the metal scene. We think our music can reach other
fans beside the extreme metal fans; we are not making noise, we
play music and we wanna be recognized for that.
CoC: When Marcello Marzari left Rebaelliun [in late 2000 -- Paul] did
you seriously contemplate just giving up?
FP: Not at all, we knew that that was a hard moment for Rebaelliun and
we had to be really patient in finding the right replacement for
him. I and Sandro [Moreira, Rebaelliun drummer] rehearsed without
the others for a couple of weeks and in the end it was very
important for us to see that we were two guys and we were able to
play the same music in the rehearsals. I mean, everyone can be
replaced in a band; Marcello was important one day for us
but we knew that Rebaelliun would survive without him -- and
_Annihilation_ is the proof that we were right...
CoC: How do you feel about the strength of Rebaelliun as a band within
itself and a musical force in the extreme metal scene now, with
Lohy Fabiano in the band?
FP: I feel that people are taking Rebaelliun more seriously now; we
are not a "promising band" anymore. Rebaelliun has done a lot
since the beginning and _Annihilation_ is in my opinion a great
death metal album, which differs a lot from most of the nowadays
death metal bands. Of course we are still developing our own
style; this is just our second album, and though we have already
reached a good level we know that we still have a long way and we
will be able to record better albums in a near future. We are
getting more and more involved with the music we play and Lohy is
getting as involved as the rest of Rebaelliun -- I'm sure he's the
right frontman for the band and I just hope things keep like this
in coming years.
CoC: What lyrical themes are followed in the songs on _Annihilation_?
Is there a common thread running between all of them? Are the
kinds of topics radically different from those covered on
_Burn..._? How much difference has it made that Lohy Fabiano has
taken over as singer/bassist?
FP: The lyrical conception of _Annihilation_ is very clear: the
extermination of the human race over this planet. All the lyrics
are linked in this album, they can have a different approach, but
they talk about the same theme. The lyrics are not different from
the lyrics on _Burn..._; I could say that the way to write
them was developed since then and this makes the lyrics on
_Annihilation_ maybe a bit different from the ones on _Burn..._,
but it's for the development of the structure at all. This time we
tried to use more "strong words" in the lyrics, then we worked
with different sounds of Lohy's voice -- high screams mixed with
low screams for example -- to give to these words the right
meaning in the lyrics and in the music itself. This is hard
to explain, but if you read the lyrics while listenning to
_Annihilation_, you will realize that they fit very well with the
music and the way Lohy sang the lyrics in each song really means
what we wanted to say with the texts.
CoC: This is your chance to add anything you may want to, especially
any crucial fact or factor I missed out. The floor is yours...
FP: I would like to say that we are going to Europe in April for a
big tour. It's not 100% fixed yet, but this tour to promote
_Annihilation_ will happen sooner or later, and we just hope to
meet all our friends once again. Be sure that you will see a
strong show in every sense.
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C R E A T I O N T H R O U G H E V O L U T I O N
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Matte Andersson of Godgory
by: Adrian Bromley
Godgory vocalist Matte Andersson likes to see change with each
Godgory album. So far his vision has managed to work successfully for
the last three albums, as well as for their latest offering, _Way
Beyond_ [for a different opinion, see review in this issue].
"We are just one of those bands [the duo is rounded out by
drummer/keyboardist Erik Andersson -- Adrian] that likes to change
things up each album. To take our music to the next level. We just
want to improve things as we go along and I think we have done a good
job with these last four albums", he says down the line from his home
in Sweden. "But now knowing what we have done with our music over
these four albums, for our fifth album we will look back and try to
take our music to another area, to be influenced by other ideas. We
already have some new material written, so the wheels are in motion."
What kind of ideas is he planning to bring to the music of
Godgory?
"We just want to develop our sound. The gothic / death metal feel
of our music is great, but there is a lot more we can do. I know there
is."
The latest album by Godgory (recorded at Studio Fredman with
Fredrik Nordstrom) is a solid album that is very atmospheric and dark.
Gothic overtones clash vividly with the death metal, and some of the
keyboard work is stunning. While at first the album may be hard to
take in (such was the case with yours truly), a few spins of _Way
Beyond_ will have you enthralled with the music this duo creates.
"I love everything about this record, especially the atmosphere.
It is great", says Andersson of the music found on _Way Beyond_.
"There are a lot of good ideas on this disc and a lot of them work
well with each other."
"This is the first time we have ever done pre-production for one
of our albums", the singer reveals. "We have a home studio and that
allowed us to really concentrate on getting the songs right before we
went into the studio to do the final recording. We were prepared and
knew exactly how things had to be assembled and played. We will
definitely do pre-production again next time around."
And seeing that this is the band's fourth album, has songwriting
become any easier over the years, or is it still a challenge?
"It still takes time to write material, but not as long as one
would expect. Erik writes a lot of the lyrics, so he has a good idea
of what we should do and knows what we have done in the past -- so
when it comes time to record, our ideas come together pretty quickly."
One listen of _Way Beyond_ and metal fans will notice that the
longest song, "Final Journey" (8:34), opens the album. What was the
decision behind that?
"We were so pleased with that song, and it came out great. It
really offers a great atmosphere and brings the listener into the
song", he says. "I like the fact that if some kid who doesn't know
Godgory goes in the record store and listens to our album, when he
hears the first track he will hear quality and a song that truly
represents what Godgory is all about."
"A lot of our fans tell us that they like us because we just
do things differently. Our sound is unique and we just approach
songwriting a lot differently from most acts", he states. "I know they
appreciate that we have cool atmosphere, slow parts mixed with brutal
parts and some great guitar work. A lot of our fans have stuck with us
since the early days and I totally understand why they still follow
us."
"There are a lot of great songs on this album", the singer notes.
"I like "Final Journey" and "Caressed by Flames". I already said why I
like "Final Journey", but "Caressed by Flames" is also a very cool
song. There are some great melodies that really make it an enjoyable
listen." He adds, "I think our band's music really takes a lot of
getting used to. I can see how some music fans that hear our album
might not like it the first or second listen. But if they take the
time to play the record and give it a chance, the music will stay in
their head and they will become closer to the music."
What about the meaning of the album title _Way Beyond_?
"It actually comes from the Nicholas Cage movie "8mm"", Andersson
explains. "There is a scene in the movie [which deals with snuff films
-- Adrian] where Nicholas Cage is walking through a basement looking
at several categories of movies being sold; one of the sections is
titled "Way Beyond". We thought it was a great title for the new
Godgory album. There really is no real meaning for the album title
other than we liked the sound of it. If there is a meaning to it, it
is up to the listener to decide for themselves."
The topic shifts to the music business and how many young bands
want to make it beg come the first album. Godgory has been around
since 1992, but didn't put out their debut disc _Sea of Dreams_ (on
Invasion Records) till 1996. The band's growth and success has been in
stages. How does Andersson feel about all of these young bands wanting
to break out big early on?
He responds, "It would have been great if we had seen success
with our first record, but it just didn't end up that way. If we had
toured for that album things would have been better for us, possibly,
and we might have more recognition."
So you don't tour at all?
"No we don't. We will try to tour for this album, but with two
people in the band, it would be kind of hard to pull it off. We will
try to get on the road this year. We want to recruit our session
guitar player [Mikael Dahlqvist] to go, but he is busy with other
bands. We'd like to see this happen. It is time to tour with Godgory.
This record deserves a tour because it is a great album and people
should hear the music in a live environment. I love playing this music
'cause of the way it makes me feel. I want people to experience that
as well."
He ends, "I know if we toured, we'd have more fans, but at this
point in time people who like us continue to buy our discs. Who knows?
This tour may or may not happen. If that is the case, we will go back
to the same way things have been for the band: we write records,
record them and put them out. Then we start all over again and we are
okay with that. Making music is the most important thing for Godgory
and I think it shows."
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UNSTOPPABLE PROGRESSIVE METAL MACHINE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with Mark Briody of Jag Panzer
by: Adrian Bromley
A few years back, Colorado progressive metal act Jag Panzer were
but a distant memory in the metal lore books with their classic album
_Ample Destruction_ (1984) serving as a collector's item for metal
fans.
Then in 1997, things changed. The band re-grouped, signed
to Century Media Records, released the well-received _The Fourth
Judgement_, and they haven't looked back since, releasing _The Age of
Mastery_ in 1998, _Thane to the Throne_ in 2000 and now their latest
effort in 2001, titled _Mechanized Warfare_. Does it ever stop? What
is the secret to this resurgence in making music for the band?
It is Jag Panzer guitarist Mark Briody down the line from his
home in Colorado who will answer CoC's questions.
He begins: "We always figure that the best time to put out a
record -- when you know it is time to do so -- is when all the songs
are written and in place. We don't get any pressure from the record
label and we try not to put any on ourselves as well", he says.
"Making records has become a lot easier for us because there are less
and less obstacles with every release. Nowadays we know the label is
going to be behind it, and we know what kind of budget we'll be
getting. We also are really comfortable with our producer, as well as
we have had the same line-up [completed by bassist John Tetley, singer
Harry "The Tyrant" Conklin, drummer Rikard Stjernquist and guitarist
Chris Broderick -- Adrian] for the last little while. It is getting
easier to write songs in this environment and I think that shows up in
the material we are currently doing."
What was the recording experience like for the band this time
around?
"It was really exciting. It is getting to the point that
everything I hear in my head we can get down on CD. It is getting to
the point that if I want a giant choir to sound a certain way, we can
make it happen", says Briody with excitement in his voice. "Even with
the electric or acoustic guitar, I know I can try certain sounds and
ideas and be able to capture that idea on record. It used to be a real
strain in the past to not be able to get certain things down because
of lack of experience or what have you. Now it is all working out
great."
"Making a record is a fun thing for us, but it is a lot of hard
work", says Briody about the creativity that went into the new
disc. "The songs on this record are here because of a process of
elimination. I usually throw out about 90% of the material I am
working on. I just toss it all out. I bring the ideas to Harry
[singer] and we discuss, and sometimes he throws it out if he thinks
it doesn't work. Once both of us have settled on a sound or idea that
will work for us, we introduce it to the rest of the band. Rarely, but
occasionally, they'll toss out ideas. By the time we get to the ten or
eleven songs that will appear on the new record, it has been through
the hands of five people who looked it over and made comments and felt
that it was worthy of being on the new disc."
He continues, "After all of that, we usually bring the ideas to
Jim Morris [producer] and he offers up some suggestions of what we can
do with the music. His expertise really helps make our music look
better than it already is."
About the new recording, Briody comments, "I think as a whole
this is by far our best record. I think there is so much variety on
this record. A lot of people have pointed out to me that there is so
much more variety on this record than past Jag Panzer albums. Both
Harry and I have discussed all of these new harmonies and melodies for
this record and how we wanted to let new ideas in. I think the whole
variety, within the solid framework of a heavy metal album, makes this
a great disc and really shows our progression as a band."
The topic shifts to the album title, _Mechanized Warfare_ -- an
unusual title seeing that Jag Panzer seems to have always dabbled into
a fantasy title or theme. Is the band becoming more modern?
He responds, "There really is no reason at all. We wanted to do
something completely different from _Thane to the Throne_, which
was so conceptual-filled, that we decided that this would be the
anti-concept. So we purposely decided to come up with a title that had
nothing to do with the songs and nothing to do with the album cover.
We just assembled two different phrases that some people had used to
describe out live show. One person said that our music sounds so tight
that it sounds mechanized, while someone else said "you kicked my ass
live, it was audio warfare". So that was the basis behind the title,
really. It was something far different from what was inside."
And Travis Smith (Nevermore, Opeth) did the cover artwork. It
looks cool and creepy.
"Yeah, he did a great job. I really like the cover a lot. I never
want to be one of those bands where you can predict what the next
album will sound like or what the next album cover will look like.
There are a lot of heavy metal bands out there that I like that I look
at their album cover and I know what the album will be like. I don't
want that with Jag Panzer."
Briody and his band mates know that they are very lucky to be in
this situation: a record deal and a growing fan base. What does he
credit the band's success to, especially over the last five years?
"It is very exciting to know that our fan base is growing and to
see all of these young kids so into our band. I know a lot of people
may not know our music, but they know the name. Every album we are
getting more fans, both young and old, coming to our shows and
supporting what we do. It feels great to see all of this happening
before our eyes."
"I think we have just been very fortunate as a band. We got a
second chance and we went for it", adds the guitar player. "We are
also very lucky that there is no fighting amongst band members. We
have made an effort to avoid in-house fighting and make sure the music
is the main focus with what Jag Panzer does."
"I feel very lucky to be in this situation, being able to make
music and tour and what have you. This is a great thing to be a part
of. I think for me personally, the ability for me to be able to throw
ideas has allowed me to stay in this business for so long. I know,
when I am making music, if it sounds too close to what I have done
already I throw it away. I write all the time. I also enjoy recording
a lot and enjoy working with new technology. That keeps me interested
too. I like being able to try new ideas and see what we can do as a
band."
"The way you record music now is very different from how I did
when I was a teenager", explains Briody. "It is still really exciting
for me to work with a digital recorder. I am like a kid in the candy
store with all of the new technology being brought into the studio for
us to work with."
He ends, "Every record is so fun because we have so much at our
disposal. There is so much we can do to help make Jag Panzer a better
sounding band. Right now I don't think I could be any more excited."
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H O T B A N D P U T S U S " I N T O S U B M I S S I O N "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Daniel Anghede of Astroqueen
by: Adrian Bromley
There are very few bands out there nowadays like Sweden's
Astroqueen. Y'know? Bands that can rock out, hit a groove and sail
into the wee hours of the morning on a constant buzz of energy and
tight musicianship.
Not since the early days of Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu and Kyuss
has stoner / hard rock sounded this good. Being mentioned in the same
sentence as those three bands is indeed a high honor, but when you
rock as hard as these Swedes do, you deserve all the praise you get --
and then some.
"This record is made up of some old material from an EP that we
put out just for our friends a year ago and some new material", starts
singer/guitarist Daniel Anghede. "We really didn't have a theme for
this record. It was just us choosing the songs that we thought best
suited what we wanted to do with this debut record [_Into Submission_]
for Pavement."
And hooking up with guitar player and producer Andy La Rocque?
How did that come about?
"A lot of it had to do with the fact that his studio [Los Angered
Studios] is about half hour away from us. The label also suggested
that he might be the right person to work with", he says. "We were
interested in working with him because he has never really worked with
any stoner rock before; more progressive metal and hard rock bands. He
has this really clear heavy metal sound and we wanted that to be a
part of what we were doing. We are huge fans of heavy metal. Heavy
metal is a huge influence for us all, bands like Cannibal Corpse,
Slayer and Black Sabbath. Almost everything heavy we like."
"Working with Andy was great. We got a great sound with him",
continues the singer. "He really was a great thing for us. I think we
really dared to explore our heavy metal side and not just have this
whole retro sound. I think this record sounds very current and modern,
but still with a '70s-style music sound."
I hear a lot of Kyuss in what Astroqueen plays. Does Anghede?
"Yeah, oh yeah. I can hear that in what we do. I think you can
also hear Cathedral, Spirit Caravan and Electric Wizard. We really
like Electric Wizard, though they are doom, but still heavy."
In today's music scene there are a lot of bands that fall into
stagnant waters. Bands that once roared with originality have now
succumbed to mediocre album offerings and less creative passages. How
has Anghede and the band (rounded out by bassist Mattias Wester,
guitarist Daniel Tolergard and drummer Johan Backman) kept their sound
and direction from becoming stagnant?
"The main thing that we try to focus on, so that we don't fall
into the trap of sounding like all of the other bands playing this
style of music, is to focus on sounding more metal than everyone else.
I think a lot of bands are afraid to explore. Bands that play stoner
rock are always trying to be like Kyuss and play it safe. We don't. We
don't care if it is a stoner riff or a heavy metal riff. If it works
for us and we like it, we add it to our music and go with it. A lot of
bands out there need to understand that you have got to explore and
try new things. We have no rules to follow. We do what we want to do."
So has the sound changed much since their inception?
"I don't think it has changed much. We are still the same guys
jamming since we started this band in 1995. In 1998 we really made an
effort of this band and called ourselves Astroqueen and started to
push this band. We are still pursuing the same ideas with this band.
Nothing much has changed. We all know each other so well that making
music is not a job at all. It doesn't even seem like work. It is just
a group of friends writing riffs and having a good time."
"I love everything about this band and the way it has taken
shape. Not many bands that have been playing for so long can say that
they still are excited about what they do. Each day is something new
for us."
Seeing that the album just came out this summer, how will 2001 be
a successful year for the band, in Anghede's mind?
"We just want to go out on the road and tour. We want to tour
with a big band and just follow them around all over the place and
play as many cities as we can. We hope that Pavement has the money to
bring us over to North America to play our music."
I think Astroqueen would do very well playing in North America.
"I do too. We have been getting a lot of mail from fans asking us
"when are you coming over to play?", so we have to come over and play
now."
Where in the U.S. would Anghede like to play a show and/or visit?
"There are a few places I want to go. California, Texas..."
What about Disneyland? Everyone who comes to the U.S. wants to go
to Disneyland?
"No, not really", states the singer. "I just want to get in a van
and tour all over North America for several months."
Aside from a day job working at a cookie factory (an easy access
to cookies when you got the "munchies", I'd assume), Anghede says the
band makes an effort to practice three times a week to keep their
chops up. Summer has slowed things down a bit, but the band still
makes an effort to keep things focused.
Says the singer, "Our rehearsal room is in my parent's garage, so
it is very easy for us to get together and jam."
That sounds pretty fucking convenient for the band...
He ends, "Oh, it is. It makes it all the easier to roll out of
bed and just jam when I want to. I love it."
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C R O S S I N G B O U N D A R I E S A N D H A V I N G F U N
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with Cory White of Shocore
by: Adrian Bromley
I am not going to lie to all of you metalheads and say
Vancouver's Shocore is a metal band. They aren't. More of a
crossover-type band that blends hard rocking riffs, hardcore
aggression and punk rock DIY mentality.
Having been a big fan of singer Cory White's previous band (which
he was booted from) called DDT, and the fact that they are a Canadian
band, gave me more of an initiative to track down the goateed singer
to chat about their new album titled _Devil Rock Disco_ (on Linus
Entertainment).
"I am excited about what I am doing right now with Shocore",
starts White down the line from Vancouver. "I thought that DDT got a
little too poppy for me and that wasn't really my taste. I loved the
first DDT record, but when it came time to work on the second record I
really wasn't involved too much with the writing and I didn't like the
direction it was going. This Shocore record has a lot more balls. It
is definitely a lot heavier."
"Things keep changing as the years go on for me", he says. "I
don't really have a grand master plan of what is going to go on. After
I got kicked out of DDT, Terry "Sho" Murray called me up and asked me
if I wanted to come down to the studio and work on stuff. We had
worked before in the past on some stuff and it was lots of fun to just
be in the studio doing this stuff. When we were in the studio, every
week we'd have a keg of beer and our friends would come by and play
stuff. There really seemed like there was no pressure working on this
disc. When I had recorded with DDT, there was this whole crazy
pressure with people coming into the studio and it just added a ton of
pressure onto you. This was very low-key, as if you were just hanging
with some of your friends and writing/recording music. We [the band is
rounded out by Chon Chikara, Andy Simpson, Paul Floyd and Stevie
Ericson -- Adrian] just made a record that we wanted to make."
White has seen a lot of ups and downs in his career so far. His
ex-band DDT had seen success in the early to mid-'90s with their EP
_Living Off the Generosity of Other People_ and eventually signed
to Metallica's Lars Ulrich's imprint label TMC (which worked in
conjunction with Elektra Records) to release _Urban Observer_. And
then came the departure from DDT, with White cast out to the musical
world, and soon after that, DDT broke up. What inspires him to keep
creating music? Is it the only thing he is good at?
"This is definitely one of the only things I can really do", he
laughs. "Being in a band and creating music is just a great outlet for
me. I love to travel and I like to create and perform and entertain. I
am not a rocket scientist. I don't plan on changing the world. I am
not political. I just like to have a good time. I know if I go to see
a band play for $10, I want to be entertained. That is what I put into
all of this with Shocore. I am not a rocket scientist at all, I just
like to rock!"
Talking about the new disc, he says, "I like all of the songs. My
favourite songs on the record change from day to day, really. I have
been living with the record for a year now. There are a lot of songs I
like to perform live, songs like "High School Punk" or "Legendary
Camaro"."
"I have been through so much so far in this music business, and
seen a lot of stuff happen, and I am just glad and excited about what
we did with this record. We made something that we really love and it
just came out of us. It wasn't forced. We weren't trying to be a
certain sound. It just happened. And it just keeps going with us. We
are already working on the second record for Shocore."
Shocore are not afraid to try a lot of new ideas and bring them
into the fold, though a lot of other bands sometimes bring too much
variety and ideas to their music, causing some to lose interest.
"When I first listened to this record, I kind of felt there was a
real '70s rock feel to it", he reveals. "I grew up listening to
records like that with my parents. Not to say we sound like that, but
there was that rock feeling inside. When we worked on the disc and
were looking for samples and sounds to fit what we were doing, I
noticed that we made sure we took in ideas that would enhance our
music and sound cool and draw the listener in."
"The music scene in Canada has always been tough for young bands
to get noticed", answers White when asked about the Canadian music
scene. "You have to be pretty straight head rock to make it here. And
all the power to bands like that playing in Canada, but to me that is
just music that is playing it safe. Not that we are jumping through
circles of fire, but I think that we are playing our music the way we
want to and not worried about playing it too safe." He laughs. "Making
music has always been fun for me. That is why I enjoy doing this. This
isn't easy at all -- vans breaking down, living homeless, which I have
done -- but it is a lot of fun as well, fun that most people never get
to experience. This is real riot and you amass such a vast amount of
experience from being in a band."
The final question goes out to Shocore's frontman: how does he
feel about working within the music industry?
"I like the corporate engine working for you, but I don't like it
taking over what you are doing", he states. "I have been in that
situation before [with DDT] and I don't want to have that again."
He finishes off, "I like what Linus is doing for us and I think
they really believe in what we are doing. They are good people. We
both want this band to be a success."
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_____ .__ ___.
/ _ \ | |\_ |__ __ __ _____
/ /_\ \| | | __ \| | \/ \
/ | \ |_| \_\ \ | / Y Y \
\____|__ /____/___ /____/|__|_| /
\/ \/ \/
_____ .__
/ _ \ _________.__.| | __ __ _____
/ /_\ \ / ___< | || | | | \/ \
/ | \\___ \ \___ || |_| | / Y Y \
\____|__ /____ >/ ____||____/____/|__|_| /
\/ \/ \/ \/
Scoring: 10 out of 10 -- A masterpiece indeed
9 out of 10 -- Highly recommended
7 out of 10 -- Has some redeeming qualities
5 out of 10 -- You are treading in dangerous waters
3 out of 10 -- Nothing here worth looking into
0 out of 10 -- An atrocious album, avoid at all costs!
Anathema - _A Fine Day to Exit_ (Music for Nations, October 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo (7.5 out of 10)
_Judgement_ [CoC #41] was a superb album, another excellent release by
this unique and immensely gifted band -- but still I felt their best
was yet to come. Ever since Anathema had found their new path with
_Eternity_, they had been gradually becoming more consistent, and
always able to distill their emotion into the music they created. Gone
were the days of _Serenades_ and _The Silent Enigma_, but this band
was becoming something else, leaving in its wake a collection of
remarkable albums. I therefore had a feeling _Judgement_'s successor
would be their greatest achievement ever, perhaps even the culmination
of all their potential; but sadly, I was wrong. This is again the
product of a more mature band than before, something that has been
apparent with each successive album they've made. But in spite of
that, this time they have produced a comparatively bland effort,
lacking the necessary intensity to accentuate the emotion and passion
in Anathema's music. It isn't just a matter of sounding too soft,
which it does; the distorted guitar sections also fail to stir much
inside of me. Compared to the heartbreaking guitar work the Cavanaghs
used to come up with, this is almost unbelievable. This time we either
get mostly unremarkable acoustic guitars, or guitar work that tends to
sound like the vaguely sloppy product of a simple rock band, failing
to add anything truly significant to the vocal efforts. Vincent's
vocals are again in great form -- had it been someone else singing and
the album would have surely received a much lower rating from
me --, but why all the excessively mellow, repetitive sing-along
sections and all the annoying layering of backing vocals? Not to
mention the lengthy, odd ending Anathema decided to slap on the
album. Furthermore, knowing it had been Travis Smith to create
that poor commercial excuse for an album cover was all the more
distressing. Unfortunately, most of what lies inside is also a
strangely watered-down version of what Anathema used to be -- not just
in terms of "heaviness" and absence of "metal", but also because it
lacks the intensity and depth that made the emotion in their music
truly stand out in previous records. Make no mistake, however: there
are still a handful of superb emotional moments in the album. Still,
most of the time the tracks just flow by nicely, unremarkably and
strangely unaffectingly for Anathema songs, due to the changes in the
guitar work and, to a lesser extent, songwriting. Overall, they have
done so much better in the past that I cannot seem to enjoy this
album, because of all that I find missing from it. I wish they would
have taken three or four tracks from _AFDtE_, made an EP with them,
forgotten about the rest, and then written the real follow-up to
_Judgement_. Vincent's vocals alone keep this album afloat, but in the
end, _A Fine Day to Exit_ leaves me mostly indifferent compared to its
predecessors -- just wondering whether Anathema will ever get back on
track and fulfill their huge potential.
Arch Enemy - _Wages of Sin_ (Dream On, August 2001)
by: Chris Flaaten (8.5 out of 10)
Arch Enemy have been on a steady course for three albums in a row,
defining their musical style and -- at least in my opinion --
improving with each step they take. Since the release of the eminent
_Burning Bridges_ [CoC #41], however, things have not been going very
smoothly for the band. They have changed vocalist and their latest
album still has no release date in Europe or the US -- _Wages of Sin_
is only available in Southeast Asia at the moment. Hopefully this will
change soon, because this is a great album! With previous Arch Enemy
albums, the only thing I wished for was more intense vocals. Liiva's
shouting style of vocals never sat well with me, even though he
improved a lot for _Burning Bridges_. Apparently, the band felt the
same way as I did and found what they needed in Angela Gossow from
Germany. Yes, that is a feminine name. Yes, she is a female. Yes, I
was as curious as you are now when I played the disc for the first
time. The album opens with forty seconds of quiet piano and then
glides over in hammering riffs and drums; then a short fury of
poweresque guitar harmonies before Angela unleashes vocals of extreme
intensity! The music is unmistakably Arch Enemy, with the weaving of
power metal and melodic death metal elements they are well known for.
Yet again they have achieved a wonderful balance between melody and
brutality, but they sound slightly darker and angrier on _Wages of
Sin_ than on their previous albums -- especially the song "Savage
Messiah", which features a dark, slow and melody-stripped heaviness
unprecedented for Arch Enemy. The album has their best production to
date and variety is abundant. My only remaining problem regarding Arch
Enemy is that I can't seem to keep my interest up through all of the
eleven songs. Listening to either half gives me the same impression of
quality, though, so this is due to my taste regarding the genre and
not the music itself. Arch Enemy shouldn't disappoint anyone with this
album.
Averse Sefira - _Battle's Clarion_ (Lost Disciple, 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8 out of 10)
Fast and hateful, Averse Sefira thrust their warlike black metal at
the listener with considerable potency. Do not expect nice keyboard
embellishments here. Instead, it is the addition of some good
atmospheric effects, akin to some of Enslaved's recent work, that
allows the band to give their intense attack some breathing space.
This serves a dual purpose: to enhance the atmosphere that surrounds
the music itself, and to help them avoid creating a continuous
sequence of similar-sounding tracks. These Americans do come up with
several enjoyable mid- to fast-paced riffs, and are able to imbue
their music with a good deal of venom as well -- and all this is then
enhanced by their smart manipulation of the aforementioned sound
effects. Sometimes bringing to mind Sweden's excellent In Battle [CoC
#23, #33], _Battle's Clarion_ turned out to be a very pleasant and
enjoyable surprise for me. Averse Sefira seem to have what it takes to
avoid disappearing amidst the mass of black metal bands populating the
metal market these days, at least judging by _Battle's Clarion_.
Awakening - _An Eves Nightmare_ (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (6 out of 10)
From Australia comes the bizarre metal outfit calling itself
Awakening. Not really a full-blown metal act, Awakening find
themselves hovering between a creepy, atmospheric metal act and
melodic metal, paying lots of attention to haunting segues and unique
musical passages. With a really dream-like sequence of ideas, _An Eves
Nightmare_ is very effective as it draws the listener in with some
impressive ambient features, not to mention dark vocal ideas and
hypnotic guitar work. The keyboard work by singer/guitarist James
Steed, for example on the track "Introduction to Obscurity," is also
worthy of note. No doubt the twelve songs on _An Eves Nightmare_ are
meant to be taken in all at the same time and would surely lose the
appeal should they be heard out of sequence. A gothic stench of
moodiness descends upon the music of Awakening as it trudges along,
deeper into a nightmare of ghastly sounds and creepy emotions. Not as
good as it could have been, but effective nonetheless.
Contact: mailto:awakening28@hotmail.com
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/awakening/
Bastard Noise - _Analysis of Self Destruction_
by: Gabriel Sanchez (9 out of 10) (Alien8 Recordings, 2000)
This has been sitting in my "to review" pile for ages now. After
giving it a virgin run on my CD player upon initial receipt, I backed
off making a detailed assessment out the realization that given my
overall views of noise at the time, my commentary would be overly
biased and perhaps largely uninteresting. To clear the air on another
issue, let it be said Bastard Noise will never take the gold, silver,
or bronze in the "harshness" or "dynamics" competitions. It would be
foolish for a listener to expect such triumphs from an act which
deliberately fails to compete in those areas. Bastard Noise is all
about meshing a darkness in tone with minimalism of sound. Sometimes
they drift in, other times they float about. They order their sounds
to achieve their ends of conceptualizing the bleakness of existence
through an artistic medium seldom few ever attach a shred of meaning
to. There is a cold emptiness in the works of Bastard Noise that may
be longing in there (somewhere) for a ray of hope... of warmth. The
group seems decidedly set on offering none, however. Nihilistic, the
world drifts through time without meaning; more pain in a day than
pleasure in a lifetime. Bastard Noise knows this. It may never escape
their minds that humanity is capable of such good and beauty, their
eyes and ears are ever transfixed on the rot we so gleefully bathe in.
For a noise group... any group to offer such bleakness in their sounds
alone does not happen often. Few have the courage to peel back the
layers, abstract their socially constructed ordered thinking patterns,
and come to grips with sound what life around them really is. Bastard
Noise has done that before, and for the sake of a humanity that could
care even less about their message than they do the implications of
it, they do it yet again.
Contact: http://www.alien8recordings.com
Various - _Beauty in Darkness 5_ (Nuclear Blast, July 2001)
by: Quentin Kalis (7.5 out of 10)
The latest instalment in Nuclear Blast's vaguely monikered "Dark
Music" series can be better described as a gothic music sampler
-- though even this description is inadequate, as a number of
featured bands (such as Dimmu Borgir and Nevermore) do not sit
comfortably within this category. Highlights include Theatre of
Tragedy's contribution, the exquisite "Image" -- which Liv Kristine
sings in French, her ethereal vocals adding an extra dimension of
sensuality to the song, something which was missing from the English
version. Mandragora Scream are a new gothic band from Italy and they
offer "Cryin' Clouds" off their debut album. It sounds as if a woman
is singing, but apparently it is a man providing the vocals.
Irrespective of whether it's a man or woman singing, the androgynous
vocals are a refreshing change from the plethora of female vocals and
Eldritch-esque vocals that plague goth-inspired acts. Of course there
are also bad tracks, most notably Dimmu Borgir's "Puritania" -- a
noisy meandering piece of neo-industrial garbage. Not to mention
Crematory's feeble gothic metal contribution. But the album's major
flaw is a lack of metal in comparison to earlier _BiD_ releases. Many
established bands which have contributed to previous _BiD_ releases
have mellowed considerably -- such as Therion and Theatre of Tragedy
--, creating a softer overall feel to the album. Another four tracks
are by bands who are not and never have been metal. One of these
tracks does not even so much as feature a guitar. Despite a few bad
selections, this is a pretty good album. But even after repeated
listenings one cannot help but think that this is a compilation of
goth songs with metal elements rather then a compilation of metal
songs with goth elements.
Benediction - _Organized Chaos_ (Nuclear Blast, October 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
I have always had this love-hate relationship with Benediction. I like
their earlier stuff (_Subconscious Terror_ and _The Grand Leveller_),
tolerate some of their mid-era albums (_Transcend the Rubicon_) and
was really unimpressed with the last few discs (_The Dreams You Dread_
and _Grind Bastard_). But with the band's new album, _Controlled
Chaos_, I once again plan to show support for Benediction. While far
from being mind-blowing, the new album finds Benediction back in
familiar territory, playing some strong old school death metal with
lots of conviction. Singer Dave Hunt (who replaced longtime singer
Dave Ingram, now in Bolt Thrower) sounds in control here, as the
chaotic frenzy begins with "Suicide Rebellion" onto "The Temple of
Set" and "Easy Way to Die". Tight, fast, grinding death metal that
shows no mercy as it unfolds into metal madness. Good to see these
grind bastards back in good form. Let the chaos begin!
Bernd Steidl - _Paganiniana_ (Shrapnel, 2001)
by: Brian Meloon (7 out of 10)
This is the American release of Steidl's long-awaited follow-up to his
1991 debut, _Psycho Acoustic Overture_. This album is similar in
style, but at the same time, shows many differences. His core sound is
a metal shred guitar style played on acoustic guitar, accompanied by
gothic- and classically-inspired keyboards. It's a very original and
unique sound, and Steidl definitely has the chops to make it
interesting. His technique and style hasn't changed much in the last
ten years, but what has changed is the nature of the accompaniment.
The keyboards on this album are generally less gothic, and there are
long sections which sound like a movie soundtrack. In fact, there are
many sections where Steidl's guitar takes the back seat and the
keyboards (which Steidl also plays) dominate the music. Classical
themes are very prevalent on the album. In fact, a full one-third
of the tracks are classically themed, including two based upon
Paganini violin caprices, one based upon Albinoni's famous "Adagio",
and one based upon Scriabin's "Piano Etude #8 Op. 12". A rather
unfortunate addition to Steidl's style comes in the way of dance beats
in a couple of the songs, which are eerily reminiscent of the
classical-set-to-dance-music albums of the mid-to-late 80's. But for
the most part, this is an enjoyable release. While it isn't the
groundbreaking release that _Psycho Acoustic Overture_ was, fans of
that album should enjoy this one as well. Note that the European
release -- _Burnt Steel_ (on KDC Records) -- features three extra
tracks: "Cobra" (a remake of "Cobra Negra" from his debut), "The
Bunker" and "Odyssey". Luckily, their omission on this release isn't
much of a loss, as while they're good songs, they aren't better than
the ones that are here.
Brick Bath - _I Won't Live the Lie_ (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (5 out of 10)
In their bio, California metal quartet Brick Bath likens their sound
to a "combination of Pantera and Testament on steroids". As far as
accurate descriptions go, Brick Bath pretty much hits the nail on the
head. Fans of Pantera and the aggressive hard rock movement will no
doubt be pumping their fists as _I Won't Live the Lie_ rages on. While
there are a good variety of heavy and ambitious songs on this record,
most notably "Sick of You", the powerful "So Wrong" or "Erased", I
couldn't help but feel a little upset about just how much they sound
like Pantera. From the vicious bass lines and drumming styles to the
screeching guitar riffs and heavy-set vocals, Brick Bath could pass as
a Pantera cover band. I kid you not. In all, this is good, heavy music
to play loud, but if you metalheads are looking for something original
sounding, Brick Bath can only offer up second rate Pantera to digest.
If you're craving anything more than that, then you need to look
elsewhere.
Contact: J.W.M. Productions, 610 Country Club Lane, Suite 90,
Escondido, CA 92026, USA
mailto:joelspy@aol.com
Celestia / Goatfire -
_Darkness Enfold the Sky / Black Slaughterization_ split 7"
by: Alvin Wee (7 out of 10) (End All Life, 2001)
Elusive French outfit Celestia seem to have taken on a darker, more
infernal shade since we last heard from them on the long-deleted _Cave
Full of Bats_ EP. Core member Noctu spits forth his vitriolic
war-words with far more low-end venom than ever before, and fans
familiar with the clean, high-pitched Swedish sound that characterized
their Drakkar days might do a double-take at their newfound
rawness on this record. Melody is downplayed in favor of hellish
atmospheres; listening to the twisted blackness on this track almost
brings the stench of burning sulphur to one's nostrils. Nothing
particularly earthshaking, but certainly a nice slab of pure evil far
less derivative than their MCD material, and that, despite its
primitiveness, remains impressively memorable in true Celestia style.
Goatfire struggle somewhat to keep up with Celestia's diabolical
sorcery, coming across a tad messy and rehearsal-like in their black
metal meanderings. However, to dismiss these Italians this early would
be a grave mistake; "Black Slaughterization" has an inexplicable,
barbarous charm to it transcending the band's apparent lack of
cohesion in the studio. Evocative of the old Swedish underground in
the demo days, Goatfire manage to recreate the unschooled fire of
cult acts like Sorhin in the early nineties. All in all a nice
collaboration that's pleasantly satisfying, if nothing essential.
Limited to 300 copies as usual.
Contact: mailto:EAL@wanadoo.fr
Death - _Live in LA - Death and Raw_ (Nuclear Blast, October 2001)
by: Chris Flaaten (10 out of 10)
I am not very keen on live albums. They are usually just a "best of",
routine-like and overproduced. Rarely do they capture the actual feel
of the concert. I can think of a few exceptions, however, and this
record is the best of them all! The title is highly appropriate: this
is Death at their rawest, and the live feeling is maintained to the
fullest. Unpolished and almost flawlessly executed, their performance
is truly awesome. Drummer Richard Christy deserves extra credit --
filling the shoes of both Gene Hoglan and Sean Reinert as well as he
does here is quite the feat. The live album contains thirteen songs,
taken from every Death album except _Spiritual Healing_. The emphasis
is on the last two albums, with a combined total of seven songs. Of
course there are other songs I wish were on it, but it is hard fitting
seven albums worth of solid material in a live album. Buy this album
ASAP and help out Chuck at the same time -- that's a win-win situation
if I ever saw one.
Delirium Endeavor - _Flight of the Imagination_
by: Brian Meloon (8 out of 10) (<Independent>, 1998)
I realize this is a bit older than the albums we usually review for
CoC, but the guys sent it to me, so I'm going to review it, dammit!
Delirium Endeavor hail from Rochester, NY, and are an all-instrumental
trio. This is their first full-length offering, after an earlier demo
which was released under the name Manic [CoC #22]. They describe their
music as "a series of 'busy' instrumentals created for indulgent
musicians and music listeners who love detail". That sums up this
recording pretty well, though the word "busy" might be misconstrued by
some. This is not overly technical music. Rather, I'd use the word
"complex", to signify that the music isn't particularly difficult to
play, but it is organized in a way that requires several listens
to fully comprehend. The songs meander through several different
styles and tempos, generally without telegraphing their next steps.
In addition to non-conventional song structures, they offer some
interesting and unique textures. The band I'm most reminded of while
listening to their music is Sieges Even. In fact, the style of this
album is roughly halfway between _Life Cycle_ and _Steps_ (thankfully
without the distinctive vocals of Franz Herde). The heavy parts have
the manic thrash sound of _Life Cycle_, but aren't as chaotic, and the
clean guitar parts (especially with the chorus effect) sound much
like those on _Steps_, but not quite as smooth. In addition, the
musicianship isn't quite up to the standards set by Sieges Even. In
particular, the guitar work is slightly sloppy throughout. It's not
overly annoying, but the album doesn't have the tight feel to it that
bands like Zero Hour [also reviewed this issue] do. Overall, this is
an interesting offering, and the band's target audience (which
probably includes Sieges Even fans) should enjoy it.
Depraved - _Decadence & Lust_ (Warpath Records, 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo (5 out of 10)
Twelve tracks of brutal death metal packed into less than half an hour
is what Depraved present us with here. Death grunts are complemented
by grindcore screams, which are typically used whenever the music
speeds up, making it all annoyingly predictable after a short while.
Depraved remind me of a kind of fast, punkish, grindcore-influenced
death metal not far from what pioneers like Brutal Truth and Napalm
Death once created. Production is adequate, but doesn't save this
French band from coming across as a very derivative member of a
much-explored genre. These guys probably have lots of fun playing this
material live, but there's a limit to how much you can repeat the
simplistic chopping riff with growls, followed by the blastbeat that
starts with the grindcore scream -- especially if all your riffs and
vocals are basically going to sound the same throughout the record.
Depraved are reasonably adept at what they do given one specific
track, but then they make the same thing last for the entire half-hour
without even trying to develop it any further. Within the realm of
death metal, what Depraved are doing is hardly relevant or refreshing
at all, given everything that has been done before in the genre. I
would therefore recommend this record exclusively to die-hard fans of
the genre who just cannot get enough of the same thing. And by the
way, regarding the album's imagery: personally, I couldn't care less
about the band members' sexual traumas, and Depraved are really
pushing the subject like there's nothing else in their world.
Devin Townsend - _Terria_ (InsideOut, October 2001)
by: Chris Flaaten (8 out of 10)
HevyDevy is back and his presence on this album is almost
overwhelming. A bold conclusion would be that he has managed to put
his soul and mind on tape. I am assuming a lot here, as I do not know
his soul, nor his mind, but it just seems like the obvious observation
to make when listening to the music. It is quite apparent that he has
written the music he burns for, not following directions from any
labels or trends. From that point of view, one could compare this
album to _Infinity_ [CoC #36]. Still, the music on _Terria_ is calmer,
smoother and more melodic. The same could perhaps be said about the
composer himself? The album starts with an appropriately weird
instrumental and then leads into the thundering, doom-like opening of
"Mountain". Enter Townsend's vocals and you have the combination of
heaviness and beauty that he is so renowned for. The songs glides
smoothly through soft, hard and even punkish elements (leftover
inspiration from the time with The Wildhearts?), yet they maintain
their identity as songs. Townsend is playful and experimental, but
never loses grasp of the melody. Musically, this is indeed closer to
his Ocean Machine project. He even keeps the nature focus intact with
songs like "Olives", the aforementioned "Mountain" and "Earthday".
Expect to spend a few listens before the music really makes sense.
Fans of either _Infinity_ or Ocean Machine should have a field day on
this. Those who do not know those projects but think 72 minutes of
melody and different metal could be interesting should also check this
out.
Divina Enema - _At the Conclave_ (Eldritch Music, 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo (5 out of 10)
The wintry front cover chosen by this band from Belarus for their
album sparked considerable interest in me -- the desolate yet majestic
ruins amidst the dark, frozen landscape. As it turns out, the band
uses violin, cello and piano to augment their progressive, theatrical,
symphonic metal sound quite well, and the whole thing might have
worked... had it not been for most of the vocals. I simply cannot hear
past the incredibly annoying, jarring, high-pitched male singing that
accompanies the very decent Garm-influenced vocals. Even if I could,
the extremely poor death grunts and blackened vocals are lurking right
behind the next corner to render the whole thing unenjoyable. I simply
cannot recall having heard worse death vocals than these, or more
intolerable clean singing than these eunuch-like theatrical vocals.
Fortunately, there is enough vocal variety to avoid having these
particular vocals on all the time -- but they still show up far too
frequently, all courtesy of the same person. For six lengthy tracks,
Divina Enema show lots of ambition and several good ideas, even if
they often bring to mind Devil Doll and Angizia, for instance. Several
acoustic string passages and piano sections prove the potential this
band does have, only to be ruined by the aforementioned insufferable
vocals (e.g., the opening of the second track). The quality of
the musical arrangements tends to vary somewhat, but the band is
instrumentally competent and full of drive to build intricate musical
and lyrical structures. They really should have done a lot better when
choosing the appropriate people for some of the types of vocals they
use; this way the music keeps changing abruptly from interesting
to infuriating -- hence my rating. Hopefully Divina Enema will
significantly improve their vocal section for their next release. As
it is, however, this metallic "Bohemian Rhapsody" of sorts doesn't
even get off the ground, despite all the potential it did have.
Contact: mailto:dzianis@eldritch-music.com (Europe)
mailto:tsimafei@eldritch-music.com (USA)
http://www.eldritch-music.com
Dornenreich - _Her Von Welken Nachten_ (Prophecy Productions, 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8.5 out of 10)
Your average band Dornenreich most certainly are not. These Austrians
manage to build an obscure atmosphere around their music, one of
genius combined with a good pinch of insanity, that keeps the listener
wondering what will come next. Not only can their riffing go from
blackened to something with a gothic flavour, they often add violin,
and occasionally piano and cello, into the mix. In addition to this,
their vocalist sings and screams, whispers and whimpers along in an
unpredictable manner (all in German, by the way). The songs vary from
subdued pieces based on various acoustic strings and tortured, mostly
whispered vocals, to songs full of catchy riffs, choruses and
melodies, and to passages that borrow from the blacker or doomier side
of the spectrum. The tortuous, dark, yet silky acoustic pieces aren't
any less important than the harsher sections, as evidenced about
midway through the record. Instrumental prowess, compositional madness
and brilliance, and often unexpected yet interesting vocals combine
with the strong sound (courtesy of Markus Stock, of Empyrium fame) and
the lush, sad violin and cello passages to create a very unique
record. Some of the German sung goth-like vocals get on my nerves,
however, and on a couple of occasions the band also uses them in
rather repetitive choruses to tiresome effect. A few of the riffs are
somewhat upbeat and seem inconsistent with the dark atmosphere that
pervades most of the record -- which is the downside of the album's
otherwise enjoyable variety --, but they do not occur too frequently.
Still, I would have gotten rid of a couple of passages in this
hour-long album -- i.e., most of the third and seventh tracks.
Nevertheless, _Her Von Welken Nachten_ reeks of individuality and
talent, and is at the very least worthy of a good number of listens
before passing judgement. Personally, I find most of the record quite
brilliant -- in a slightly insane sort of way.
Ebony Tears - _Evil as Hell_ (Black Sun, July 2001)
by: David Rocher (7 out of 10)
Ebony Tears' evolution is an intriguing one indeed. After
their 1997 debut effort _Tortura Insomniae_ [CoC #30] saw them
sharing the grounds with the ever-increasing plethora of prolific
Gothenburg-tinged death metal acts such as In Flames, their second
release, the cryptically-titled _A Handful of Nothing_ [CoC #42], saw
Ebony Tears, by then reduced to vocalist Johnny Wranning and axeman
Conny Johnson plus two session musicians, veer west towards the Bay
Area's thrashing tones. The nice, melodic violin, which was pretty
much a golden facade tentatively embellishing some rather tame riffing
on _Tortura Insomniae_, was now only to be heard on the weird,
squeaky track "Erised". And now, behold! Two years after _A Handful
of Nothing_, Ebony Tears are back again, meaner than ever, and
_Evil as Hell_ itself! The Swedes have obviously beaten their
former violin player up with his instrument, thus getting rid of
both these whimsical elements, leaving them free to concentrate on
all-out, totally cathartic thrashing songwriting. While the now four
distinctly tearless ebony thrashers don't actually display the same
groundbreaking songwriting genius as Meshuggah on _Destroy, Erase,
Improve_ or Fear Factory on _Demanufacture_, they prove to be
remarkably effective when it boils down to dishing out a raucous
mixture of thick, chunky rhythms and distinctly-not-nice, tortuous and
aggressive material, which is somewhat reminiscent to me of a band
such as Wicked World signees Corporation 187, or Wranning and
Johnsson's former thrashcore project Dog Faced Gods. Although _Evil as
Hell_ does suffer from a form of sameness syndrome in the long run
(which, incidentally, can also be said about _Corporation 187's debut
_Subliminal Fear_), the individual tracks are catchy as hell, and
stand out enough to be both entertaining (the opener "Deviation" is
guaranteed to get the virtuoso air-guitar meister in you riffing away)
and memorable. All in all, despite some flaws in the "variety"
department, this raging forty-minute chunk of meanness is well worth a
listen, but fans of Gothenburg trademark melodies and aesthetic,
violin-driven death metal should definitely proceed with caution!
[Brian Meloon: "Ebony Tears have joined the ranks of the bands who had
a great debut album and then went downhill into banal mediocrity.
Imagine Darkane minus their melodic and interesting sections, and you
have this album. Sure, this is a good album technically: it's got
good playing, good production, blah blah blah, but underneath, it's a
bunch of boring, uninspired crap."]
Emperor - _Prometheus - The Discipline of Fire and Demise_
by: Chris Flaaten (7 out of 10) (Candlelight, October 2001)
This is it, the last Emperor album ever. _IX Equillibrium_
disappointed both critics and some fans, so there was quite some
pressure on them for making this an excellent album. Ihsahn composed
everything this time. So what is the result? The album is very
guitar-oriented, even more so than _IX Equillibrium_. There is great
variation in tempo, vocals, riffing and arrangements. It all sounds
good, doesn't it? Still, I can't seem to love it. In fact, I get in a
bad mood every time I listen to the album. It is really hard to
explain why, though. I have listened to it in its entirety dozens of
times now and there is no explanation in sight. The problem lies in
the essence of the term "musical taste". On paper, so to speak, this
album -should- appeal to me; but it really doesn't. Why not? It's the
reviewer's nightmare -- it's very hard for me to objectively point out
the reason why this album just isn't that good. I have to try, though,
so I'll go through a few issues. The first track, "The Eruption",
starts with a classical, Bach-influenced intro, and then bursts into
heavy riffs and blast beats. The drums sound awful, as I think they
always do when recorded in Akkerhaugen studios. In fact, Akkerhaugen
delivers an utterly mood-deprived production and strips away any magic
that lies in the compositions themselves. Another fact that is quite
apparent is that Ihsahn uses overtone and other high-pitched effects
in his guitar work much too often. The structure of most of the songs
also seems -too- complex. I am not normally intimidated by complexity
-- Spastic Ink and Spiral Architect's latest albums are two of my
favorites --, but here everything is just too fragmented, causing the
songs to lack identity. Luckily, there are three exceptions: "Empty",
the third track, which starts very aggressively, then moves into some
classical passages where violin (synth) glides into lead guitar
harmonies and then turns back into a brutal drive; "In the Worldless
Chamber", the sixth and by far the strongest track, with hypnotizing
synth/riff arrangements, crushing groove and a truly majestic feel;
and finally "Thorns on my Grave", the final and fastest track on the
album, which features a slight _In the Nightside Eclipse_ feel. These
three songs save this album a great deal, but one still gets the
impression that the composer wasn't truly inspired and motivated when
writing this album. Writing out of duty and not out of passion has its
consequences, even with the talent of a professional of Ihsahn's
caliber.
Entombed - _Morning Star_ (Music for Nations, 2001)
by: Matthias Noll (8 out of 10)
"Why wait for another mediocre Slayer record?" -- this must have been
Entombed's motto while writing some of the songs for _Morning Star_.
Overall, this record if far less noisy, Motorhead etc. influenced
death rock than anything Entombed have released since _Wolverine
Blues_. Listening to some of the obvious Slayer worship that happens
during songs like "About to Die", this is probably more metal in a
traditional sense than anything Entombed have ever done. Sound-wise,
the laws of heavy metal are strictly followed as well, and _Morning
Star_ features the most professional production of any Entombed album
so far. Entombed's latest sounds absolutely killer: broad, loud and
crisp, metallic and with increased clarity and depth in comparison to
_Uprising_ and _To Ride..._ -- and fortunately the overall heaviness
is not compromised. The record starts brilliantly with the pumping,
anthemic "Chief Rebel Angel", with a dramatic background choir section
underneath the chorus, and continues with the crushing "I For an Eye",
where the second, faster half showcases the first bit of Slayer-style
riffing on the album. "Bringer of Light" is slightly less powerful and
followed by the almost thrashy "Ensemble of the Restless", which may
well be the fastest track Entombed have ever recorded. From there on,
unfortunately, it's a rollercoaster ride between good, heavily Slayer
influenced tracks, and a couple of far less impressive, almost boring
numbers -- like the abysmal "Out of Heaven", which must be the lamest
Entombed track ever recorded. While Entombed have reached a late
metallic peak, the quality of the songwriting is inconsistent on this
record. If everything on _Morning Star_ was on the same level as the
killer songs, it would be a 9 out of 10 or even better. The fact that
three out the of twelve songs are average at best in comparison to the
rest is a shame. Nevertheless, this is a record with a good number of
severely crushing highlights, and for those who started to dislike
Entombed after _Wolverine Blues_, this might come as a nice surprise
and a highly recommended purchase. Others, like me, who enjoyed
everything they did except _Same Difference_, will get and love it
anyhow.
Eternal Majesty / Temple of Baal -
_Unholy Chants of Darkness / Faces of the Void_ split LP
by: Alvin Wee (9 out of 10) (End All Life, 2001)
Yet another thorn in the side of commercial black metal courtesy of
the burgeoning French scene, coming in the guise of a split LP
on the ever trustworthy End All Life label. After an obligatory
intro, Eternal Majesty storm in mightily with "Le Christ Roi",
sounding uncannily like _Opus Nocturne_-era Marduk, instantly proving
themselves the copycat rivals -- if not the equals -- of their Swedish
counterparts. Dead-set on working their neo-Swedish similarities to
the hilt, the Parisian quartet continue pretty much in a _Panzer
Division Marduk_ vein, pulling off icy blizzards to rival even
Marduk's finest. While the band's play-as-fast-as-you-can sentiment
might wear short on a longer album, the three tracks here blaze with
an intensity and conviction to set even the most frigid misanthrope's
blood seething. More than can be said for Dark Funeral or latter-day
Setherial, both of which suffer from the sterility of over-production
that a label like EAL shuns. Temple of Baal stand themselves in no
worse stead, wasting no time in blasting forth with the vitriolic
"Satanic Dominators", boasting a highly compressed guitar sound
reminiscent of Swordmaster's early days. Which, coupled with the
band's raw and passionate delivery, makes for extremely compelling
listening. Keeping up the levels set by their A-side compatriots is no
easy task, but ToB manage to slow things down (minimally) to a more
sinister level, throwing off the previous intensity for a twisted
blackness with so much flair and conviction it's almost scary to
watch. Three long songs that leave one drained yet begging for more,
and I've no doubt that this is one of the underground's more important
releases this year. Limited to 300 on vinyl, and you can still ask
around mailorders if EAL themselves run out of copies.
Contact: mailto:EAL@wanadoo.fr
Evergrey - _In Search of Truth_ (InsideOut, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (9.5 out of 10)
I cannot begin to tell all you CoC readers how much I -LOVE- this new
album by Evergrey. I have not stopped playing this album since I got
it. Honestly. Sure I'll throw on other CDs to review them or just to
break away from _In Search of Truth_ for a while, but after a few
hours or at the latest by the end of the day when I am finishing up my
nightly e-mails, I have the album cranked again. Playing what
could only be described as "impressive progressive metal" music,
Sweden's Evergrey just dazzle us with their musicianship here (as
they have done with past works like _The Dark Discovery_ and
_Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy_). The talent, the production (by Andy
LaRocque) and the song structures just blow me away with each listen.
Singer/guitarist Tom S. Englund sounds in fine form here, delivering
vocal lines with passion and intensity as this concept-based album
unfolds. And the piano/keyboard work found here? To die for. From
eloquent to haunting, the keyboard definitely adds another level to
the material, as do the occasional female vocals. Nicely blended and
not overdone. Fans of Nevermore and older era Queensryche will no
doubt want to pick this baby up, as it delivers the perfect sound and
style that should be associated with good progressive metal -- not
wanker guitar work that seems to be flooding the genre of late.
Die-hard fans of the band probably already have this disc and are in
the same exact frenzy I am. Am I right, people? _In Search of Truth_
is hard, heavy and truly one of 2001's most memorable discs. Everyone
should own this.
Fireball Ministry - _FMEP_ (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
Stoner rock squadron Fireball Ministry have got a lot of charisma. The
dynamic trio also have a lot of rock power. They're on a roll
right off the bat, aren't they? Just listen to their five-song
_FMEP_ release and you'll be rocking out in no time to songs like
opener "King" and "Choker". Sounding like a cross between Fu Manchu
(a somewhat more sedated version) and Corrosion of Conformity,
Reverend James A. Rota II leads his disciples through five impressive
numbers, slowly dishing out distorted guitars, echoing vocal passages
and a hypnotic rhythm section. While not as rocking as Sweden
act Astroqueen's debut disc _Into Submission_, Fireball Ministry's
latest is an interesting ride to take. Not too intense, not too
cliche-sounding. A good core sound also helps bring the talent of the
band to the surface for us all to enjoy each time out.
Contact: Fireball Ministry, P.O. Box 375, 2110 Artesia Blvd.,
Redondo Beach, CA 90278-3069, USA
mailto:thereverend@fireballministry.com
http://www.fireballministry.com
Fleshitized - _Here Among Thorns_ (Mighty Music, September 2001)
by: David Rocher (6 out of 10)
This American brutal death metal three-piece is a band whose case
seems to be rather recurrent in today's metal scene. Fleshitized
studied hard at Ye Olde College of Death Metal, fared decently in
Morbid Angel, proved to be above well above-average in Cannibal
Corpse, graduated with honours in Malevolent Creation and Suffocation,
but fell short of success on their "Compelling Songwriting and Catchy
Riffage" test. Don't get me wrong: Fleshitized aren't bad; they're
unpretentious, technically proficient and extremely efficient, but
even after many a listen, the material on _Here Among Thorns_ just
fails to bury enough rusty hooks in my flesh for me to want to
spin it over and over again. The closing track, a decent cover
of Morbid Angel's "Rapture", is very revealing as to what is
wrong -- or maybe simply perfectible -- about Fleshitized on _Here
Among Thorns_; the track is played flawlessly, and even the insane
intricacies of Azagthoth's trademark leads are decently rendered.
However, Fleshitized have missed out on one important point: there's a
lot more to Morbid Angel's death metal than just all-out aggression --
namely that sombre, mean, dissonant twist, which is precisely what I
believe Fleshitized actually fail to display on this second album.
Graced with a nice, powerful sound courtesy of Danish fame Jacob
Hansen, _Here Among Thorns_ will be a definite turn-on for intense
death metal fans who are sooner seduced by a maelstrom of blasting
aggressiveness than by the actual atmosphere of their music.
Ginger Leigh - _From Artesia With Love_ (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
I reviewed Ginger Leigh's _Broken by the World_ back in CoC #51,
an interesting disc that offered the listener a unique blend of
industrial beats and bizarre ideas rolled into one. While not really
metal for the most part, Ginger Leigh offered the metal masses a
solid realm of heaviness that consisted of electronic snippets and
distortion. While less electronic based that the past work, Ginger
Leigh's new disc scopes out a very atmospheric soundscape, led by a
lot of percussion work and a sitar. Interesting enough, these ideas
only take up a portion of the record, with a good enough portion
focusing on the industrial drive (Godflesh, Nine Inch Nails) that
encompassed the first outing. While different from the last record, it
is quite evident that Ginger Leigh likes to explore new ideas and
keep the door wide open, never really pigeon-holing the sound and
direction. The work of Ginger Leigh is far from done. There will be
more.
Contact: Ginger Leigh, P.O. Box 863 Artesia, CA 90702-0683, USA
http://www.gingerleigh.com
Godgory - _Way Beyond_ (Nuclear Blast, September 2001)
by: Chris Flaaten (6 out of 10)
The bass drum following deep, pounding guitars... The opening riff
leaves no doubt about who we are dealing with. Godgory mixes
death metal sounding guitars with both gothic and almost industrial
atmospheres, leaving them a true metal bastard. _Way Beyond_ continues
much in the same vein as _Resurrection_ [CoC #42]. Apart from the
Swano / Moontower synths on the second track, which is by far the
strongest one, this is just repeating a formula that already had its
flaws. Sure, it is a nice listen at times, but it doesn't -do-
anything. Looking at pretty horsies can be time well spent, but it's
not an experience until you ride them.
Imagika - _And So It Burns_ (WWIII, July 2001)
by: Aaron McKay (2 out of 10)
This band has a song called "Fade Away", ironically one of their best
on this effort. Put in a different context, I wish Imagika -would-
fade away, but then again you have to actually -be- something to begin
to recede. Blah, blah, blah and on the ten original tracks go. Where
can one hang their indigent interest amidst this dismal vestibule of
horror Imagika calls music? I understand that this outfit has enjoyed
some overseas success. All I can say to that is maybe they should
enjoy foreign accomplishments -exclusively- instead of subjecting us
to this substandard retro "Bay Area thrash scene" drivel; this coming
from a principal fan of the S.F. scene, too. Imagika's two points come
almost exclusively from track twelve, "When". That cut is certainly
well put together, minus the Brian Vollmer of Helix covering Morgana
Lefay vocals that seem to pervade even the bonus tracks supplied at
the conclusion of _And So It Burns_. Also, the third unreleased song,
"Unheard", has its moments with specific melody and desirable,
interwoven patterns of developed drumming and dove-tailed guitar/bass
work, but again those vocals are regrettable and nearly painful --
like a fruit bat in heat. Unless you have a flaming desire to undo the
natural course of events and purchase _And So It Burns_ as to not let
it go up in smoke, I'd redirect my magnifying glass elsewhere.
In Aeternum - _Past and Present Sins_ (Necropolis Records, 2001)
by: Aaron McKay (9 out of 10)
Going back away, I remember reviewing In Aeternum's _The Pestilent
Plague_ [CoC #49] and giving it a score of 6. Obviously a lot of time
went into that review, and in reading over it again for some
background to work up a piece for _Past and Present Sins_, I don't
think I would change so much as a word. Now, however, I am presented a
brilliant and inspired melange of In Aeternum's material going back to
1995, culminating with live cuts from the Plague Across Europe Tour
2001. Beginning with the newest offering on this CD, In Aeternum
cracks things wide open with "Cursed Legions" driving proficiently and
with celebrated guest vocals by Schmier of Destruction. A cut is taken
from the _Demon Possession_ 7", "Witches Spell" and my favorite,
"The Arrival of the Horde", fall into place exceptionally well
with super-heated aggression tempered with limitless head-thrashing
grooves. Powerful. "The Pale Black Death", "Black Moon Attraction",
"Defeat Life" and "The Storm of Triumph" furnish a skilled, but harsh
subjugation of current In Aeternum offerings. These songs enforce a
wicked standard early on in an aura of coarse, earthy vocal and guitar
tones. Very convincing. There are two extremely well done remakes on
_PaPS_: Venom's "Countess Bathory" and King Diamond's "Abigail".
Losing little to nothing in a live setting, IA bust off four callous
and raspy tracks, "Wolves Blood", "Revelation of Hell", "Ultimate
Warfare" (all from _The Pestilent Plague_) and a severely great
performance of "When the Vultures Left". From the elaborate and
complex cover artwork to the range of material In Aeternum packs onto
_Past and Present Sins_, I can see no other option; buy this!
In Flames - _The Tokyo Showdown_ (Nuclear Blast, 2001)
by: Matthias Noll (3 out of 10)
Oh my god, this is such a lame album, it almost hurts. Especially when
I think about _Clayman_ [CoC #48], one of my top albums for 2000, and
the fact that I kept listening to and enjoying this record constantly
since the Four MusCoCteers met in Rennes over a year ago. Things
become even more painful when I remember two of the three In Flames
shows from the _Clayman_ tour that I had the pleasure to witness.
These gigs belonged to the "exceptional" category, the 11 out of 10
points kind of shows that do not happen frequently. Besides the
incredible positive vibe brought across by the Swedes, their energetic
performances also satisfied my appetite for upfront, crunching guitar
riffing, a good frontman, tasteful guitar solos, and, in general, a
very tight performance with a superb and heavy sound and a good
selection of songs that made whole venues go berserk from the front to
the very back. Yes, the very, very back where people usually sip their
beer and try to look as cool as possible. _The Tokyo Showdown_
features the same band I saw live and a similar setlist with a
slightly different running order, but simply none of the atmosphere
and energy I experienced when I was in the audience. Where live albums
like Judas Priest's _Unleashed in the East_, although allegedly
recorded live in the studio, almost burst out of their CD cases
because of their mesmerizing, energetic content, _TTS_ is suited to
put even melodic metal fans to sleep -- so sterile and lifeless is
the recording, featuring tight but clean and harmless sounding
reproductions of a greatest hits selection. Where the hell did, for
example, the incredible dynamics of the opening track "Bullet Ride"
get lost? While I remember Anders Friden as a witty and entertaining
frontman, on _TTS_ we get song announcements like "this is a song that
I wrote when I had a difficult time in my life". This is so pathetic
that I'm laughing every time I hear it. At least his vocals sound
better than I expected. When listening to this record I'm plagued by
images of a band sitting in comfortable armchairs while playing,
shedding not a single drop of sweat. They're watched by an audience
which is slightly more lively than a soulless corpse, and in between
the two parties there is a barrier which separates them some ten miles
(about the same distance one got blown away by the Possessed demo in
'85). For those who have been waiting for an In Flames greatest hits
collection, there is one available now. Just don't think that this
is even remotely close to seeing one of their shows. What a
disappointment!
Levl - _Controlled by Time_ (Punctured Records, October 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (5 out of 10)
For a record that was produced by a talented musician (guitarist Jeff
Waters of Annihilator fame), the debut disc of Levl sounds a little
weak. It is quite obvious that Levl is a band full of heavy metal /
thrash power and might, but with the way things have ended up via the
production, the momentum of the band seems a little restrained.
I could easily see songs like "Don't Leave Me", "Chronic Pain"
and "Mesmerized" ripping my face off with the solid groove and
face-peeling guitar solos, but it doesn't. Instead I am left with a
disc that downplays the intense vibe, keeping it controlled and below
par when it should be raging like a bull. Levl are good, but I think
their disc needs some re-working. I like to see bands emerging from
Canada (they hail from Victoria, B.C.), but if they want to make a
mark they need to have stronger produced material to back it up.
Contact: Punctured Records, 110-174 Wilson Street,
Victoria, B.C. V9A 7N7, Canada
http://www.puncturedrecords.com
Mannhai - _The Sons Of..._ (Spinefarm, October 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
After Finland's Xysma disappeared from the face of the planet,
something in my metal heart was gone. I missed their weird-ass rock
style and cool vibe. I never thought I'd hear anything else by them
again. When I found out that ex-Xysma singer Joanitor was singing on
the debut disc by hard rock / stoner rock / groove rock act Mannhai, I
ran into the streets screaming in excitement. Okay, I made that last
part up, but oh was I excited to hear Joanitor's raspy growl lead the
hard rock flow of Mannhai. Songs like "No Need to Follow", "Gazers of
the Red-Hot Stones" and "Lowbrow" just reek of coolness. There are
also some cool sedated numbers that just shout "Chill out! Stay for a
while." At times I can hear a bit of Kyuss in Mannhai -- and that is
always a good thing. In closing, all I have to say is this: if there
are some Xysma fans out there you should look into Mannhai's music.
They just might get your foot tapping and fists pumping like Xysma
did. If I can't have Xysma, at least Mannhai is there to keep me
company.
Mastodon - _Lifesblood_ (Relapse, 2001)
by: Brian Meloon (6 out of 10)
Mastodon is a relatively new band from Atlanta, GA, featuring drummer
Brann Dailor and guitarist Bill Kelliher formerly of Lethargy [CoC #4,
#14, #51] and Today Is the Day. They're joined by Social Infestation
bassist Troy Sanders and guitarist Brent Hines. As you'd expect from
such a group of experienced musicians on a label like Relapse, this is
a high-quality release, with good production and solid playing.
Unfortunately, the music isn't anything particularly special. It's
straightforward industrial- and death metal-tinged thrash, not overly
technical, brutal or original. In other words, it fits perfectly into
Relapse's roster. This is another technically good release, but
ultimately, it is rather average material.
Merzbow - _Collapse Twelve Floors_ (OHM, 2001)
by: Gabriel Sanchez (7 out of 10)
What good would be returning sporadically to do noise reviews if I
didn't have some more Merzbow to offer? Keeping in line with his
newfound desire to keep trying something new (or fairly new),
Akita-san makes use of nothing other than an Apple computer for an
effort that, while lacking in the intensity department, still manages
to come together as an overall enjoyable listen. Much of the noise is
kept under control through what is likely careful computer editing.
Adding it the addition of theremin and his usual bag of electronic
tricks, the sounds themselves resemble those largely boasted on his
other works in recent years. The computer does manage to serve as more
than an elaborate editing mechanism, as clearly the influence of
reworked sound bites and mixed over layers of noise make their
presence known throughout the recording. While I am the last person to
slight any noise artist for trying to venture off into new territory,
it seems that more and more Merzbow is fighting to "stay alive" in a
sea of new talent by forcing itself to do something it hasn't done
before. What is lacking is a distinct formula for excellence which
Akita appeared to have captured on many of his releases between 1994
and 1996. Those days of harsh walls of sound mixed in with Akita's own
fine-tuned ear for subtle dynamics seem to be over. The new days are
far more directionless, and hence do not work towards establishing a
body of work that any one listener may be able to point to as
"satisfying". Certainly none of this will prevent me from tracking
down any Merzbow albums that catch my fancy; it may just yet diminish
the legacy of one of the true legends of the avant garde.
Meshuggah - _Raretrax_ (Nuclear Blast, September 2001)
by: Chris Flaaten (5 out of 10)
"This album contains old recordings, demos, MPEG videoclips and the
first mini-LP _Psykisk testbild_ from '89". I am not a fan of this
kind of release. Unused (read "unworthy of studio album") material
sold at full price... can't they release something good instead?
Anyway, there are actually a couple of interesting songs in this
album. The opener, "War", is their heaviest song yet. Firmly placed in
the realms of death metal, it shows a side of the band that I hope
they will explore further. The next three tracks are from their first
mini-LP. For hardcore fans, I am sure this is nice to have, but both
the music and production are way below par. Tracks five and six are
previously unreleased material; nothing exciting and nothing they
haven't done several times already. Following them are two demo
versions of songs off _Contradictions Collapse_. The ninth track is a
remix of _Chaosphere_'s opening track. The tempo is much slower than
the original, giving it a nice, heavy feel. Along with "War", these
songs are the only reason to buy this album, in my opinion. The disc
finishes with a crazy, noisy and totally unnecessary track. Included
are also three MPEG videoclips. The video of "New Millenium Suicide
Christ" is basically the band without instruments in a tour bus
mimicking the song. Humorous. The live recording of "Elastic" is
decent, but the quality is below average and the cameraman should have
been closer to the stage. The final videoclip consists of random
craziness shot on tour and in the studio. "Completely irrelevant
material", it says on the album. I agree... all too much.
Morbid - _Deathexecution_ picture 7" (Reaper, 2001)
by: Alvin Wee (6 out of 10)
Yet another piece of black metal history from the Belgian label
hell-bent on deifying the memory of Dead's legendary death metal
troop. Given that all the handful of songs the band ever wrote has
already been bootlegged to death in various formats, this (admittedly)
beautiful picture 7" rendition of Morbid's live performance in 1988
comes as nothing refreshing. Three tracks we've all heard before:
"Disgusting Semla", "Deathexecution" and "From the Dark", in a
surprisingly sharp live recording that puts the numerous Mayhem
bootlegs to shame. If you haven't already heard Morbid's old-school
death metal grindings, then you probably don't need to either; on the
other hand, I face the wrath of many a "true" black metaller for
dismissing this overrated act's music as such. Scandinavian death
metal has been better served by acts such as Cadaver and Hetsheads, so
to me, Morbid's material (like Darkthrone's equally overrated demos)
can only be labelled as being of historical interest, nothing
more. Still, it's an impressive package with full-color artwork and
remarkable production values, and the hefty price this already-scarce
piece of vinyl (333 copies) is already fetching on the market makes it
of interest to collectors and fanatics alike.
Morgue Supplier - _Not Dead Enough_ (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
Ah, nothing like sick and demented death metal to really get me going
on a Sunday night (when I am writing this review). In just over twelve
minutes, Chicago's Morgue Supplier manages to cram as much brutally,
horrific sounding death metal growls, razor sharp guitar riffs
and drum bashings into this four-song EP. The violent "Convulsive
Reoccurrence" starts things off nastily, as the band just explodes
into a maniacal frenzy with "Jugular Appetizer" and "Morgue Supplier".
And just when you think you have been bashed over the head numerous
times, they bring out the big guns: the title track. Sounding as if
there was a fucking wild boar loose in the studio as they recorded the
song, Morgue Supplier perform the final death blow on us with this
devastating offering. If you want something that'll scare the bejezus
out of you parents and have you wetting your pants in excitement over
its sheer brutality, then Morgue Supplier is here to supply your sick
fantasies.
Contact: Morgue Supplier, P.O. Box 577767 Chicago, IL 60657, USA
mailto:msupplier@aol.com
http://www.morguesupplier.com
Mortiis - _The Smell of Rain_ (Earache, October 2001)
by: Aaron McKay (6.5 out of 10)
No matter how prepared I thought I was for the release of this album,
I could not have been more astonished if Mortiis would have shaved his
head and announced he was filling in on bass for the now absent Jason
Newsted in Metallica. I will tell you this, I respect any artist so
confident that they can explore a change so utterly complete as _The
Smell of Rain_ without fear or trepidation. Forget Emperor. Forget
Vond and Fata Morgana. All have gone the way of the dodo bird.
Emerging from the primordial ooze is a darkened electronic techo
fledgling; Mortiis's newest undertaking. As I discovered for myself in
CoC #44 during my interview with the Norwegian troll, Mortiis defies
classification and challenges all preconceived notions. He does this
all with a profound visual aspect to this musical universe; his
appearance proves that and his book, "Secrets of My Kingdom", further
strengthens the point. Think of a less complicated KMFDM / This Mortal
Coil / Laibach assortment funneled through a persona like that of
Mortiis. All vocals completely done by the troll himself with only
some sparse backing support in that area. A less that Circean ballad
called "Everyone Leaves in the End" bitterly torments this effort
without remorse. I found much of the lyrics on _The Smell of
Rain_ to be infantile and rather embarrassing. The forth track,
titled "Monolith", snared my interest. I later discovered why: its
lyrics were written pre-_The Stargate_. "Monolith" possesses molded
subterranean beat that, I think, would have been better suited to
release on Mortiis's last effort. It now serves as one of the brighter
lights on _TSoR_ and adding to the album's score consequently. Time
will tell if this newest effort by Mortiis pulls more into favor with
me or pivots away with more conviction. As of this moment, I think I
will spin _Fodt Til A Herske_ for the helluva it.
My Dying Bride - _The Dreadful Hours_ (Peaceville, October 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)
It certainly is a great feeling when one of your favourite bands
has returned from the mire in fine form. In this case, My Dying Bride,
who were reborn with the fine _The Light at the End of the World_ [CoC
#44] and now improve upon it with a darker, deeper album that
showcases much of the band's history while adding renewed freshness
and intensity to their craft. _The Dreadful Hours_ shows clear traces
of all its predecessors since day one, while showcasing the band's
finely honed skills in a renewed sound, and at times also a subtly
different approach.
Aaron Stainthorpe's clean vocals were already quite unique, but
when added to his thunderous death vocals and his newfound penchant
for harsh blackened roars, the result is successively broken-hearted,
cavernous and demonic -- outstanding. Few vocalists can excel in any
one of these categories; Aaron currently excels in all three of them.
My promo copy doesn't have a lyrics sheet, but Aaron's lyrics seem to
range from potentially interesting to rather pedestrian this time.
Aided by the skilled and very appropriate drum work, the guitarists
prove themselves equally adept at slow mournful melodies and crushing
doom/death riffs: Andrew Craighan's talent has been known for many
years with MDB, whilst Hamish Glencross seems a very successful
replacement for Calvin Robertshaw, and bassist Adrian Jackson is as
usual a brooding background presence. The keyboard work belies the
fact that Yasmin Ahmid is just a session keyboardist; dark and
haunting, mostly subdued, but very effective.
The venom in My Dying Bride's music has been much increased
recently, and the doom kept intact -- a contrast that works wonders.
The opening title track exemplifies the way My Dying Bride are growing
within the sound that is their own: opening with a smart combination
of a slow acoustic guitar and a second mournful guitar upon a
soundscape of rainfall, the song then develops into a guitar and
violin-like synth dirge with Aaron's sorrowful vocals. Chillingly
atmospheric and emotional, the song temporarily goes back to the
opening combination only to make way for a strong riff and Aaron's
combination of deep and screamed growls; majestic keyboards briefly
augment this in the background... Suddenly, five minutes are gone in
what seemed like an instant, before the song moves onto another,
equally engaging section, and culminates with the sound of thunder
before it dies away like it started. This is _The Dreadful Hours_ at
its best: flowing gracefully from one excellent passage into another,
drenched with atmosphere, masterfully transmitting sorrow and wrath.
The second track, "The Raven and the Rose", continues the album in
equally remarkable fashion, mixing slow doom, an excellent blastbeat
passage and a mournful piano sequence towards the end, all accompanied
by a varied and superb vocal performance. It is then followed by "Le
Figlie Della Tempesta", a more tranquil song that brings to mind the
hypnotic structure of "The Cry of Mankind". Fourth track "Black Heart
Romance" has a melancholic beginning with alternating whispered and
clean deep vocals, and after a short but effective atmospheric passage
mutates into a harsher mid-paced piece, before briefly returning to
the opening sequence again. "A Cruel Taste of Winter" again begins in
a melancholic, romantic way, and so it stays until its superbly
baleful mid-section; most of this song tends to drag somewhat, though,
and it practically repeats itself after that mid-section. Sixth track
"My Hope, the Destroyer" has a strong _Like Gods of the Sun_ feel,
until it yet again evolves into a harsher beast altogether midway
through; instead of simply repeating itself, however, it then goes
into some nice guitar melodies accompanied by the rather pedestrian
lyrics I mentioned before. For a change, "The Deepest of All Hearts"
has a harsh beginning and then moves along carried by an impressive
sequence of doomy guitar leads and sombre vocals. This eight track, 70
minute album ends with a 14 minute reworking of "Return of the
Beautiful" from MDB's debut full-length -- and a very worthwhile
effort it is, adding much to this fine doom/death epic.
Clearly, not all of the album is quite as outstanding as the
opening couple of tracks (which would have been worth a 10 out of 10
on their own), but the variety is considerable and the next moment of
inspiration is never too far away. I was delighted with the direction
the band took with _The Light at the End of the World_; but _The
Dreadful Hours_ is a stronger, more impressive effort that builds on
its predecessor's qualities to become a superb slab of darkly romantic
doom/death and one of the very best doom metal albums in several
years.
Mystifier - _The Fourth Evil Calling From the Abyss_
by: Pedro Azevedo (6 out of 10) (Eldritch Music, 2001)
This disc actually arrived in the same package as Divina Enema
[reviewed above], and what a peculiar companion it is for that
Belarussian theatrical metal album -- even though they are also
on Eldritch Music from Belarus (and having previously been on
Osmose), Mystifier are actually a Brazilian band playing thrashy death
metal. One of the first things you are likely to notice is the
prominent and involved bass work. Varied arrangements, plenty of
guitar soloing and occasional keyboard touches are also to be found,
with cavernous grunts and blackened rasps completing the picture.
Mystifier's mid-paced music is reasonably technical and decently
produced -- that is until midway through the record, where it goes
into demo-tape-thrown-onto-CD mode. The material on this second half
is apparently from a 1989 demo tape. The sound quality becomes very
low (tape hiss included), and the music sounds muffled and frankly
uninteresting after the more recent recordings that fill the first
half of the disc. The first half contains a 1999 MCD, two cover
songs (Sarcofago and Poison) and two new tracks. Totaling one hour
of material, the album may be a reasonable purchase if you are
particularly keen on the genre, even if you aren't interested in the
demo material that makes up its second half. There are some good
passages during the rather competent first half, but I feel both the
percentage and total amount of interesting material here is likely to
prove a bit low overall for the average listener.
Contact: mailto:dzianis@eldritch-music.com (Europe)
mailto:tsimafei@eldritch-music.com (USA)
http://www.eldritch-music.com
Pig Destroyer - _Prowler in the Yard_ (Relapse, 2001)
by: Aaron McKay (9.5 out of 10)
Seeing these fuckers at the Milwaukee MetalFest this past August
more-or-less saved the weekend from being a complete musical fiasco. I
haven't bought a concert shirt for years, but I tell you sure as I am
typing these words -- I BOUGHT A PIG DESTROYER "T". The black shirt
with white lettering spelling out the name of the band was painfully
simple, but truly effective -- like the band itself. My first listen
to _38 Counts of Battery_ [CoC #52] told me this East coast
three-piece (no bassist) was something to be taken very seriously,
kinda like Dying Fetus. Unlike DF, however, Pig Destroyer forcibly
works the listener over with songs varying in length from thirty-five
seconds to as much as seven minutes and fifty-seven seconds with
mostly Soilent Green / Burnt by the Sun / Discordance Axis-like vocal
work by the gifted J.R. Hayes. Truth be told, "Mapplethorpe Grey"
(about the one minute and twenty-one second) and "Naked Trees" have
every necessary ingredient to be my favorite on _PitY_. The astounding
riff (thank you, Scott Hull!) on "Trojan Whore", about the forty-three
second mark, however, is far too hard to ignore as is wildly alluring
guitar work on "Sheet Metal Girls". The drums on track nineteen,
"Hyperviolet", compliments of Brian Harvey, solidified _Prowler in the
Yard_ as one of my top picks for 2001, people. This effort was
engrossing to me from the word GO! If you don't grab yourself a copy
of _PitY_, I sincerely PITY you.
Contact: http://www.loudnet.com/pigdestroyer/
Porn (The Men Of) - _Experiments in Feedback_
by: Adrian Bromley (8.5 out of 10) (Small Stone, October 2001)
Who'd have thought there would be a band as fucked up (or nearly as
fucked up) as Old Man Gloom, but here they are: Porn (The Men Of). For
their debut offering on Small Stone (they used to be on now defunct
label Man's Ruin), the band goes all out trying new sounds, vocal
styles, guitar riffs and, of course, feedback. From three different
versions of Motorhead's "I'll Be Your Sister" to a bizarre cover of
Pink Floyd's "One of These Days" (parts assembled from four different
versions) onto various tracks of pure feedback, singer/guitarist Tim
Moss leads his band of sonic enthusiasts through some of the most
creative spasms of feedback and chaos that has surfaced this year.
Sure _Experiments in Feedback_ is out there in the most intense wild
way -- as is OMG's stunning double offerings of _Seminar II: The Holy
Rites of Primitivism Regression_ and _Seminar III: Zozobra_ -- but for
those of us out there who dig bands like OMG, Keelhaul, Neurosis, and
even Clutch, this is some good shit. Not everyone will be into what
Porn (The Men Of) do musically, and I think that suits the band just
fine. They obviously enjoy what they do and could care less about
anyone who dislikes their expeditions into feedback. One of the most
bizarre one-hour musical experiences you'll sit through in 2001.
Contact: Small Stone Records, P.O. Box 02007 Detroit, MI 48202, USA
mailto:sstone@smallstone.com
http://www.smallstone.com
Profanum - _Musaeum Esotericum_ (Koch, 2001)
by: Brian Meloon (9 out of 10)
Poland's Profanum return from the dead with their third release,
following on the heels of their black metal debut _Flowers of Our
Black Misanthropy_ and their brilliant black-metal-without-guitars
follow-up _Profanum Aeternum: Eminence of Satanic Imperial Art_. This
release has much the same style as their second album, but shows them
developing and expanding their ideas and incorporating some industrial
elements. It features two epic-length tracks, which total 38 minutes.
The songs generally consist of layered keyboards and/or drums, and
feature a wide variety of tempos and styles. The vocals are generally
either distorted or spoken (in Latin?). The music runs the gamut from
soothing to bombastic and everywhere in between, flowing smoothly
throughout the album. The heaviest sections feature pounding drums and
distorted, screamed vocals, with aggressive keyboard parts that would
sound right at home in a black metal song. While this isn't a metal
album, it certainly is intended for a metal audience. The only band
I've heard doing a similar style is Elend, but Profanum's music is
much less gothic, and generally more aggressive and involved. This is
highly recommended for fans of the avant-garde black metal.
Prophet - _Broken Promise_ (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10)
If there was one band in this issue of Chronicles of Chaos that really
threw a curve ball at me when it came to tackling reviews, it would
most definitely be Finland's very own Prophet. I was unsure what to
expect with the band, though I was impressed right away with the
elaborate digipak format of _Broken Promise_. Would they be a death
metal band? How about a really gothic black metal band like Cradle of
Filth? I eventually got to the disc in my review pile and threw it on.
To my amazement, it sounded nothing like I had expected. That was
indeed a good feeling. The trio, a hybrid mixture of gothic, doom and
hard rock, have assembled a vibrant four-song offering titled _Broken
Promise_ that flies through a varied assortment of sounds and ideas.
It is quite obvious to hear on _Broken Promise_ how the band pays
homage to their influences (Black Sabbath, Anathema, My Dying Bride
and Type O Negative), as well as showcasing their delicate touches to
metal music, especially on "Are We Through?" and the title track
closer. The passionate vocals of singer/bassist Aleksi Ahokas are just
the perfect touch to the melodic texture of the dark music they play.
Had his vocals been heavier (i.e. death growls), it would have ruined
the flow of things, though H. Villberg (of Diablerie) adds effective
growls on "I Kiss and Let You Die". Fans of newer incarnations of
Katatonia and Anathema will definitely want to track this band down,
as they offer a similar emotionally soul-draining musical experience
that could easily match some of the works of those bands. This is well
thought out music that is intense on a whole number of levels. These
guys have worked hard over the years to craft their music and it
shows, so hopefully this time someone will sign them.
[Pedro Azevedo: "Prophet are one of those unsigned bands who are
clearly well beyond the need to release more demos. Their music will
require a couple of adjustments before their commercial debut, but
these should come naturally with experience. There is still a certain
naivety about some aspects of Prophet's music, but the much stronger
second half of this EP proves that they are a very promising young
band with a potentially bright future ahead of them."]
Contact: Prophet, c/o Viljatie 7 C 56, 00700 Helsinki, Finland
mailto:prophets@iobox.com
http://www.brokenpromise.cjb.net
Sadistic Intent - _Resurrection of the Ancient Black Earth_
by: Alvin Wee (9 out of 10) (Iron Pegasus, 2000)
By no means a new release, this superb re-edition of Sadistic Intent's
two MCDs on vinyl by German guarantee-of-quality label Iron Pegasus
still deserves a few kind words considering its relative obscurity up
till now. Like their Polish cousins Vader, pretty much every drop of
old-school death these boys spill turns to gold in the hands of their
cult followers. 1994's _Resurrection_ fills side A with a monumentally
heavy, bone-chilling darkness, easily putting the entire death metal
boom of 1992/3 to shame. Jump forward to 1997, and strangely enough,
_Ancient Black Earth_'s looser, more primitive assault chucks the band
firmly back to the eighties, and in true Ulver style throws anyone
expecting any progression since '94 quite decisively off their feet.
Still immensely enjoyable in the face of increasing commercialism in
the death metal arena back then, _ABE_ brims with a raw, primal evil
that remains terrifyingly convincing despite the looseness of playing
and understated production values. Two live tracks wrap up the
ceremonies, unremarkable in terms of sound but nevertheless showcasing
the band's formidable live presence well on "Ancient Black Earth".
Superb layout by Iron Pegasus makes this an essential in any
self-respecting death metal freak's collection. Picture vinyl may be
sold out, but limited copies of two different vinyl colors still
available from the label.
Contact: Iron Pegasus, P.O. Box 1462, 56804 Cochem / Mosel, Germany
Shape of Despair - _Angels of Distress_ (Spikefarm, September 2001)
by: Chris Flaaten (8 out of 10)
Slooooooow. Dooooooom. That sums it up right there, but due to my
strong sense of duty, I will elaborate. Shape of Despair's debut album
_Shades Of..._ was not that great -- apart from the monumental
"Down Into the Stream", it lacked consistent quality. This has
improved greatly on _Angels of Distress_. Amorphis vocalist P.K. (Pasi
Koskinen) and siren songstress N.S. deliver great performances on top
of Shape of Despair's melancholic and beautiful music. This is music
for those who find My Dying Bride a tad cheerful, those who like
soothing melodies played at 0.03 mph, and those who want sheer
depression shot right into their system. I am one of those. Featuring
five songs (averaging eleven minutes each), Shape of Despair use
violins, synths and the aforementioned siren song to create an
enchanting mix of melody and variation. This album is the melancholic
highlight of the year for me thus far, but I haven't heard the new My
Dying Bride album yet.
Soilent Green - _A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down_
by: Aaron McKay (7.5 out of 10) (Relapse, September 2001)
This is a key release to one of the more important bands on the scene
today. While the phrase "there is something for everyone" has the
reputation for being abused in press circles, in the case of _A
Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down_ -- it is the gospel truth, I
believe. This New Orleans five piece, muscling around since the very
late 1980s/early 1990s, is unquestionably undaunted in their quest to
consume everything in their path musically and expel it back in a
fashion all their own. Starting off perfectly with one of the finer
contributions to the disc, "Hand Me Downs", Soilent Green instantly
instills a fine sense of vigilante correctness in a topsy-turvy world.
This band has a sound that they've pioneered, where their intricate
manner is nearly preoccupied with drawing the listener into a web of
molten beats, hoarse vocals and harsh reality -- for example, "Last
One in the Noose". "Afterthought of a Genius", a.k.a. track four, is
surreal and dynamic in stark contrast to "Swallowhole". With an
absence of the sludge aspect, "AoaG" works ya over with a power
not unlike of Cathedral's _Ethereal Mirror_, specifically "Midnight
Mountain", set to a Dillinger Escape Plan apocalyptic pace. Always
flaunting a dichotomous flavor to their style, Soilent Green struts
among the proudest peacocks in the bunch, with good reason. Fast,
heavy, and groove-laden, _A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down_ has
a little something for everyone, if "everyone" refers to characters in
an early Quentin Tarantino film.
Solefald - _Pills Against the Ageless Ills_ (Century Media, 2001)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8 out of 10)
Regardless of whether you ever happened upon either of Solefald's
previous outputs, I advise you to have a look at www.solefald.org
before proceeding, in order to gain some insight into their madness.
Well, yes, madness; sorry boys, but I do think there has to be some
sort of insanity ravaging your poor minds. The strange thing is, much
like I mentioned in my Dornenreich review above, this insanity is able
to somehow produce some musical and conceptual brilliance. At least it
did on Solefald's debut _The Linear Scaffold_ [CoC #29]; I was -much-
less impressed by their irritating follow-up _Neonism_ [CoC #43].
_Pills Against the Ageless Ills_ is fortunately a fine return to form
for Solefald -- say, I wonder how hard the duo would laugh if they
read that sentence. (If you don't know what I mean, then surely you
haven't yet followed my advice and visited their website. You
horrible person, you.) Lyrically, _Pills Against the Ageless Ills_ is
a philosophically deranged concept centered around two miserable
brothers: Pornographer Cain and Philosopher Fuck (which enables them
to have such cute song titles as "Fuck Talks"). Musically, Solefald no
longer go into classically influenced piano sections or flamenco
passages like they did on _The Linear Scaffold_, nor do they go into
the all-out weirdness of _Neonism_ (no more silly beats or those
insufferable, admittedly rap-like vocals). Comparatively, _PAtAI_ is
more straightforward and uniform -- technical blackened metal fused
with plenty other guitar influences and keyboard effects ranging from
violins to organs and various electronics. The strong, guitar-driven
sound is complemented not only by the keyboards, but also the voices
of Cain and Fuck themselves (i.e. simultaneously Cornelius and Lazare,
the duo behind Solefald), which include thick black snarls, superb
anguished screaming, and various types of well-performed clean singing
and spoken vocals. The excellent opener "Hyperhuman" begins to show
Solefald's dynamic and talented combination of the aforementioned
elements, giving me the pleasant feeling that the excellent _The
Linear Scaffold_-era Solefald might very well be back. Overall, while
not quite as impressively affecting and full of flowing flair as
_TLS_, _PAtAI_ stands as a great improvement upon its predecessor
_Neonism_ in terms of sheer listenability and enjoyability. It's still
adventurous, darkly humorous and insane enough to be a Solefald
record, but this time they've used more of their very considerable
talent to make it enjoyable for the listener -- much like _The Linear
Scaffold_ was. Welcome back, Solefald.
Contact: http://www.solefald.org
Sonata Arctica - _Silence_ (Century Media, October 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
There are a lot of bands out there in the metal world that claim they
know how to play melodic metal. Y'know the type of band, right? The
type of band that wails away on the guitar, have vocals that sound
like their singer's pants are too tight, while acting all pompous and
full of themselves as the music cruises along. Yeah, I hate those
bands too. Hmm... Children of Bodom, anyone? Finland's Sonata Arctica
are a great example of a melodic metal band that plays their music
with enough conviction and passion that you get swept up in it all.
Some might classify them as one of those bands I described, but look
deeper into the work of Sonata Arctica, and pretty soon you'll change
your mind about them. _Silence_ is a great record. The vocals are
incredible, the music masterful and the production is top notch. The
band couldn't have asked for a better follow-up to 1999's stellar
_Ecliptica_. Melodic metal it may be, but Sonata Arctica gather up a
lot of steam on this record, showcasing that not only can they write
good songs but they can speed it up too. Interesting tracks include
"False News Travels Fast", "Land of the Free" and "Black Sheep". Ten
times better than Children of Bodom and easily surpassing the last two
discs from HammerFall (who?), Sonata Arctica are the real deal for
fans who want good, wholesome melodic metal done right. Stunning.
Splattered Cadaver - _Merciless Butchery_
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10) (United Guttural, October 2001)
For anyone out there in the know, you can pretty much guess what you
are going to get with a new release from United Guttural Records:
sick, brutal death metal. Joining the ranks of Rotting, Lividity and
Malignancy, Splattered Cadaver cram 34+ minutes of violently charged
death metal into _Merciless Butchery_, stocked to the hilt with sharp
death metal riffs and intense vocals. While far from original,
Splattered Cadaver play their music with intensity and might, turning
what could have been generic song structures into mammoth doses of
death metal destruction. Favourite tracks: "Complete Carnage", the
title track and the smashing "Embalmed Alive". Like it sick and
brutal? Spend your money on Splattered Cadaver.
Contact: 1111 S. 117th St, Milwaukee, WI 53214, USA
http://www.splatteredcadaver.com
Suppression w/ Crank Sturgeon / Misopsychia - _Split_
by: Gabriel Sanchez (6.5 out of 10) (Nat Records, 2001)
This is the second Suppression EP I've uncovered that features a
hookup with a more readily "known" noise artist. While I've never been
a particularly big fan of Crank Sturgeon outside of his live
performance, his obnoxious noise styling compliments Suppression's
inane minimalist outbursts well. Much in the same vein as older Man
Is the Bastard noise recordings, Suppression overlay their noise
with howling vocals that express the group's typically raucous
anti-Americana message. With harsh criticisms of a media-fed American
culture on "Amerikkkan T.V. Dinner" to ridiculous one liners like "If
god could have an erection...", there's something here for the whole
family to enjoy. Unfortunately, Misopsychia's side to this 7" really
hauls in the suck. With a style largely reminiscent of throw-away
screamin' and growlin' doom-wannabe crust, I find it difficult to take
their work seriously. They do manage to join in with the social
criticisms however, taking some more poignant shots at American life
and the general uselessness of the current macrostructure as it
relates to human happiness. Truly this is a timely listen in a culture
pumped up to the max on jingoistic fervor. In short: buy it for the
noise, stay for the anti-flag waving.
System of a Down - _Toxicity_ (Def American, 2001)
by: Matthias Noll (9.5 out of 10)
I despise nu-metal. I couldn't care less if any of those so-called
singers had parents who didn't want to buy him a second TV set at the
age of seven and therefore traumatized him for life. I'm sick and
tired of hearing them trying to exorcise their made-up demons during a
rapped verse and a catchy chorus that always seems to happen over
the same three chord riff that makes all those baggy-trousered
middle-class kids "fuck da shit up" or "jump da fuck around". I think
it was Scott Ian who called all these Linkin Parks, Papa Roaches, etc.
out there "Backstreet Boys with guitars", and I couldn't agree more.
Calling them metal is blasphemy, a disgrace! However, hidden in this
stinking brown mass, there is a diamond called System of a Down. On
_Toxicity_, their second album, they unleash a unique mixture of
vicious, hectic metal riffing (metal, not nu-metal), sometimes almost
thrashy in style, insane rhythmic shifts between quiet and raging
parts, and throw in a dose of oriental scales and melody lines.
Intensity-wise, this record is not a letdown even if I listen to it in
between grindcore and necro black metal. Almost miraculously, the band
manages to blend all their ingredients into songs that actually work.
In addition to great musicianship and songwriting skill, System of a
Down's main strength lies in their singer. He shifts between dozens of
always appropriate styles, occasional death grunts, proclamations,
almost slapstick-like parts and great, clean singing, while his
voice always maintains a hypnotic quality that equals Jello Biafra.
Actually, I find quite some similarities between early Dead Kennedys
and System of a Down when it comes to the unconventional nature of
their material, although SoaD are far heavier, more metallic and, in
general, more insane. Amongst all the madness, chaos and heaviness,
this album features some of the most heartbreaking melodies I've heard
in quite a long time, brought across with a dedication which,
strangely enough, reminds me of Manowar's Eric Adams in tunes like
"Bridge of Death" or Messiah Marcolin on _Nightfall_. Forget your
prejudices; don't give a fuck if jerks like Pantera or Fear Factory
like this band or if they look nu-metal. SoaD have set the benchmark
for innovative, heavy, breathtakingly great music in the year 2001.
And no, they don't rap, neither Fred Durst nor Corey from Slipknot
make guest appearances, and they didn't even invite Max Cavalera to
contribute any of his moronic lyrics.
Tristania - _World of Glass_ (Napalm, October 2001)
by: Chris Flaaten (8 out of 10)
I thoroughly enjoyed Tristania's debut [CoC #30], but I wasn't as
impressed by their follow-up, _Beyond the Veil_ [CoC #45]. Therefore,
my expectations for their new album were not very high. I am glad to
say Tristania exceeded them. While still sounding like Tristania,
they managed to rewrite their musical formula again, thus avoiding
repeating themselves. Of course, when you pack such a vast number of
components as this band does, you have a lot of options to choose
from: clean and harsh male vocals, female soprano, both male and
female choirs, violin and synth on top of the usual metal ensemble.
They have also successfully implemented a few electronic effects, like
the synthetic beat behind the choirs halfway through "Lost". The album
has another unusual feature: the second half is clearly stronger than
the first one. After four songs, the vision of a 6-ish rating was
spinning in my head, but the album made me maintain and actually
increase my interest as it progressed. The melodies just made more
sense and were much more enchanting on the slightly softer second
half. This album lacks the melancholy of their debut, but apart from
that, old fans should not be disappointed.
Ulver - _Silence Teaches You How To Sing_ (Jester, 2001)
by: Alvin Wee (8.5 out of 10)
Musical shapeshifters Ulver finally manage a not-too-shocking release
this time round with (relatively) minimal departure from 2000's
_Perdition City_. Trickster G and Co. seem to have found their footing
since moving over to their personal label Jester Records, and the
spate of high quality releases since _William Blake..._ attests quite
conclusively to that fact. Despite talk of this MCD having been
recorded during the _Perdition City_ sessions, the material here is
decidedly less song-oriented dancefloor than the album, turning in a
more ethereal-ambient direction instead. Minimalist and sparsely
beautiful, the single twenty-minute track gradually sweeps forward
with near-inaudible drones and subtle statics, occasionally throwing
glowing sparks of light into the sombreness with higher-end metallic
resonances. All of which leads to a surprising outpouring by the fifth
minute, warming things up with rich, dulcet piano passages. What's
unsettling is the music's ability to retain its icy core while pouring
forth warmer organic tones: the aura of desolation and despair becomes
apparent not long into the disc, and never releases its chilly grip on
the soul for a moment. Garm's surreal, twisted vocals and soft,
insect-like scrapes and screeches never cease to remind one of the
potential depravity lurking behind the chimerical beauty of this
music. Limited to 2000 copies and already fetching healthy prices on
auctions, it's one that open-minded listeners won't want to miss. This
is sugar-coated depression at its best.
Unexpect - _Utopia_ (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
To sound somewhat corny, I didn't know what to expect from Unexpect.
Hailing from Quebec, Canada, this talented seven-piece band play some
truly jaw-dropping symphonic/epic metal music, coated with sharp,
demonic vocal cries and harsh guitar riffs, but at the same time
offering up enchanting vocals (provided quite nicely by singer Elda)
and some really memorable melodies. This is an epic album that doesn't
come off too grandiose or pompous, but still strong enough to push us
back a bit as the epic songs unfold into beautifully mastered numbers.
From start to finish _Utopia_ has you hooked, reminiscent somewhat of
the effect that Therion's _Theli_ drew in listeners, but not as tight
or dazzling as Christofer Johnsson's Therion. In time this band will
find the right tools to bring their music to the next level. All we
can do now is enjoy what they offer us at this point in time.
Contact: http://www.unexpect.org
VLE - _Book of Illusions: Chapter 1_ (<Independent>, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10)
VLE has got to be one of the most dazzling, brave and impressive
independent offerings I have received in sometime. Adventurous and
downright creative, the eclectic, dark and imaginative VLE tosses
out its musical ideas into many different directions on _Book of
Illusions: Chapter 1_, not really focusing on certain sounds, but
rather on the final results. Inspired by "ocean sunsets, darkness and
silence", this one man project hovers in a world of beautiful
compositions (i.e. _3 in 5_, _Kano_ and _Stark_), each one bringing
its own texture and substance to this seven-song release. And while
the music of VLE could be easily classified as experimental and
atmospheric, there is a definite progressive rock feel to the music as
well. I'm picking up the same kind of vibes I did with Dan Swano's
third Nightingale release, _I_. Vocals play a very small but effective
role on this VLE release, used more as an instrument ("Timeless")
rather than a main ingredient of song passages. In the end, VLE makes
the listener really pay attention to the sounds and ideas going on,
because if you don't pay attention you'll no doubt be lost until the
next song starts up. In a world all its own, VLE are onto something
good. Can't wait to hear Chapter II.
Contact: VLE, 455 West 34th Street Apt.14C, New York, NY 10001, USA
mailto:vle25@hotmail.com
http://www.mp3.com/vle/
Zero Hour - _The Towers of Avarice_ (Sensory, 2001)
by: Brian Meloon (7 out of 10)
This is the second album from Texans Zero Hour, and it is very similar
to the Dream Theater-inspired progmetal of their eponymous 1997 debut.
Their sound is very tight and metallic, much like Dream Theater's
heaviest moments on _Images and Words_, such as "Pull Me Under" and
"Under a Glass Moon". The production is excellent, with a crystal
clear sound. The playing is rock solid, and even technical and flashy
at times. Their riffs -- while not particularly great -- are at least
original; unlike most Dream Theater-inspired bands, I don't get the
feeling that I've heard them all before. Unfortunately, Zero Hour seem
to be afflicted with "perpetual RSN (Real Soon Now) syndrome", as in
"real soon now, the song will really take off" or "real soon now,
something interesting will happen", but it never does. The songs don't
build to a climax, they just seem to perpetually tread water until
they just end. Perhaps their "no beginning, no end" songwriting style
has some deep connection with their lyrics, but I'm guessing not.
These guys have a great and very professional sound, but they need
some serious help on their songwriting to make their songs interesting
and memorable. While this is a good album technically, it's not
something that I'll listen to very much.
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/ \/ / _ \ \ /\ / / / \/ / _ \| / __|/ _ \
/ /\ / __/\ V V / / /\ / (_) | \__ \ __/
\_\ \/ \___| \_/\_/ \_\ \/ \___/|_|___/\___|
If you have a band, don't forget to send us your demo, including a
bio, if you want to be reviewed. We accept demos either on
traditional media or MP3 format. E-mail us at
<mailto:Demos@ChroniclesOfChaos.com> to know which is the most
appropriate postal address for you to send your CD or tape, in case
you are sending one, or to indicate the location of a website from
which we can download the MP3 files of your entire demo (but do
NOT send any files attached to your e-mail).
Scoring: ***** -- A flawless demo
**** -- Great piece of work
*** -- Good effort
** -- A major overhaul is in order
* -- A career change is advisable
Bisclaveret - _Aegri Somnias_ (3-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (***--)
Lasting what seemed like a lifetime, the ambient passages of Polish
duo Bisclaveret drew me into a world full of creepy sound effects,
spoken segues and distorted sonic explosions. For me personally, I
find the music to be a wonderful assortment of ideas, especially
interesting for those out there that have grown fond of works by
creative bands like Ordo Equilibrio, Puissance and others of that ilk.
Fans of extreme music that have little care for acts of that genre
will find the music of Bisclaveret disjointed and perhaps boring. But
for those of you out there taking time to listen to the material
provided here, especially the lengthy title track (9+ minutes),
Bisclaveret show more than just a band create atmospheric music. There
is a lot of strong components that enrich the music on _Aegri
Somnias_. The mystique that wraps around the vocals really enhances
the music of this band, strengthened by some really dark keyboard
work. In time and with some real studio support, Bisclaveret could
really make a name for themselves if they stay focused. Interesting
work here that'll no doubt get richer and more experimental as the
years go on. I'll be watching.
Contact: $3 U.S. to: Maciej Mehring, Ul. Rejtana 3/7,
84-200 Wejherow, Poland
mailto:ldthorn@wp.pl
Deathguy - _The Secondary Quest_ (8-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (**---)
I'll give Deathguy credit -- they have a really tight sound. Too bad
the music isn't all that original or inspiring. Sounding at times like
a rehashed version of almost any aggressive black metal band that has
come out in recent years, Deathguy seems to just go through the
motions of making their music sound like everyone else. Isn't it every
band's plan to try to sound different? Guess not. But as much as I
make negative statements about this Thailand act, there are a few
bright spots on this demo. One worthy of mentioning is that the band
does manage to successfully add a jazzed-up progressive metal sound
into the fold, enhanced by keyboards and some nice guitar work. But
that is only short-lived, really, breaking back into the uninspired,
unoriginal sounds they manage to coat their music with for most of
this eight-track demo. Bands like Deathguy sit and play in garages or
small clubs for years trying to make a name for themselves and they
wonder why no one is giving them a break. Maybe this review will help
them decide to create something more original sounding. As far as I
see it, there still is some hope for Deathguy. It is up to them on how
they want to approach the situation.
Contact: Thanit Thepsitrakorn, 21/2 Soi Suanoi, 1 Samsen Road Dusit,
Bangkok 10300, Thailand
mailto:thepsitrakorn@hotmail.com
Effluvium - _Genesis of Our Conquest_ (3-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (**---)
Once you get past the absolutely atrocious sound quality of this
three-song demo, the music of Effluvium isn't all that bad. The band,
a mixture of black metal masters Emperor, vintage Black Sabbath and
the heavy metal charge of Iron Maiden, manage to find some stride with
their sound -- but with almost no real production finesse to
aid the material here, the music goes nowhere. While there are
several long guitar solos peppered throughout that add some likeable
characteristics to their bland dark metal approach, Effluvium lack
substance to keep us interested. I hear some potential, but when the
music is weighted down by production like this, it is hard to imagine
doing anything else other than turning it off.
Contact: Willie Desamero, #3M Fule Sahagun St., San Pablo City,
Laguna 4000, Philippines
Exhibition - _Mind Explosion_ (5-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo (***--)
"Odd name for a band" was pretty much the first thought going through
my mind when I saw this demo CD. The second concerned the fact that
they used the same distinctive font throughout the package as Dark
Tranquillity did on _The Mind's I_ (notice the similar titles as
well). When I analysed the music on this Greek band's half-hour demo,
what I found was mid-paced, thrash-influenced metal. Even though the
vocals seem too upfront, overall the production is decent and does not
significantly hamper the band's musical showcase on this lengthy demo.
The band seems ambitious and reasonably skilled, even though not
always very tight. Their song material still lacks some consistency
and strength to take it further and make more of an impression,
though. This causes my withholding of an eventual fourth mark in my
rating; for now, Exhibition still need some time before it is
advisable for them to think of a commercial release. However, I see no
reason why they shouldn't eventually get there if they keep improving.
Contact: mailto:devastator_gr@yahoo.com
Holochaust - _Valley of Misery_ (3-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo (****-)
The computer-generated woman wearing a skimpy bikini on this disc's
front cover is hardly Lara Croft's better-looking sister... and
Holochaust are hardly Sentenced's more talented countrymates. This
doesn't mean that _Valley of Misery_ is a mediocre demo, however,
nor that Holochaust are complete copycats, despite the occasional
similarities. The gruff sung vocals and rocking metal attitude
successively bring to my mind Metallica and especially Sentenced
throughout the demo, which features a mellow ballady track and two
more dynamic ones. Although Holochaust are obviously no match for the
talent and personality of the highly effective Sentenced, they have
nonetheless managed to create a nicely flowing, rocking demo CD. The
band is technically proficient and tight, and the demo is surprisingly
well produced -- well above average for a demo band on both counts.
Style-wise, this mostly upbeat kind of rock/metal is not quite my
cup of tea; I definitely prefer Sentenced's darker "suicide rock"
approach, and at times Holochaust sound like they could use some
more originality (the end of the title track chorus is just like
Sentenced's "With Bitterness and Joy"). Nevertheless, this a good
effort, well above average for a demo, and the band deserves credit
for it.
Contact: mailto:holochaust@sinisetsie.net
http://go.to/holochaust/
Human Abstrakt - _Human Abstrakt_ (2-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (**---)
Technical blackened heavy metal? Blackened technical power metal?
Technical death metal with blackened qualities? I am just as confused
as I was taking my Managing Money final exam in 11th grade when it
comes to describing the music of this four-piece from Atlanta,
Georgia. Whatever you want to call this act, you cannot ignore the
technical style and sound the band showcases on this two-song demo.
The band does their best to offer up interesting technical numbers --
enough to keep us interested, but not enough to really show us what
they are all about. The music here is good (I liked the opener
"Vice"), but for all I know the rest of their set list when they play
live could be weak as shit. I don't know what else they have to offer.
Another problem I have with this band is the name: Human Abstrakt. It
just doesn't seem to fit the music they play. It sounds too "death
metal"-like. In the end, these two songs are interesting, but not
enough to keep me coming back for more. Onto the next demo...
Contact: mailto:humanabstrakt@lycos.com
http://human-abstrakt.8m.net
Phantasmagory - _Odd Sounds_ (7-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (****-)
With much, much better sound quality than the two previous demos I
had to sit through this issue (Deathguy and Effluvium), Ukraine's
Phantasmagory are an impressive progressive death metal band. Tight,
well-structured songs make up this seven-song release, a definite
ear-pleaser to fans of technical death metal in the vein of Pestilence
and Cynic. There are a lot of bands out there who make an effort to
really shine and showcase their talent and Phantasmagory are one of
those bands. Production here, especially for a demo, is top notch and
the band really captured their best work. One thing that really
impressed me about this demo from Phantasmagory is the variety that
the seven-song demo offers: everything from technical death metal
to thrash metal heaviness, heavy metal guitar solos and black
metal-inspired screams. This demo is all over the place, but not in a
bad way. Like the album title suggests, "odd sounds" indeed. I have
heard a lot about this band over the years, having read numerous
articles about them, and it's nice to finally put music to what I know
about them. Easily the gem of my New Noise pile this issue.
Contact: Edward Miroshnichenko, P.O. Box 7488, 83062 Donetsk-62,
Ukraine
Renazcore - _Veritas Vincit_ (8-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (***--)
There are a lot of bands out there in the world that claim to be real
fans of metal music. Fans of metal that would never really compromise
their sound and style, rather willing to bleed for their music before
they change sounds and ideas to fit any corporate mold. Which brings
me to Virginia act Renazcore. If I had to use a word to describe the
music of Renazcore, I would most definitely use the word "metal". This
is a band that definitely loves what they do musically, whether it be
the Nevermore-like stomp of one song or the blistering death metal
attack of another, or even a slow musical passage to change things up.
These are all metal ideas working off one another, the most effective
ones being "The Yearning", "Augmented Travels" and "Wicked Winds of
Fate". While not the best metal act out there, Renazcore show true
honor with what they provide with us musically and that means more to
me than slick production or metal superstars in a band. These values
should make something out of Renazcore some day. Only time will tell.
Contact: 15042, Unit D, Warwick Blvd, Newport News, VA 23608, USA
mailto:renazcore420@home.com
Serpent Eclipse - _Thy Bleeding Heavens_ (6-track demo)
by: Alvin Wee (****-)
American black metal has taken a turn for the better since bands like
Judas Iscariot and Krieg have made their presence felt, and Serpent
Eclipse certainly bear the much-maligned American torch capably
enough. Evoking fond memories of early Norse black metal, _Thy
Bleeding Heavens_ rips forth with mind-numbing conviction, twisted
riffs and sweeping keys conjuring up mountains of madness and oceans
of insanity. Fundamentally old-school, yet unashamedly technological,
SE dredge up a Mysticum-like coldness sadly missing from much of the
neo-black metal scene today. Comparisons might even be made to
_Declarations..._-era Mayhem, with disharmonic riffs and chilling,
robotic percussion, but I prefer to draw on the similarities between
the twistedness of early Emperor's oft-overlooked background riffing
and SE's equally atmospheric guitarwork. And despite the band's lack
of a human drummer, the drum-machine actually adds to the recording's
already-inhuman coldness. This is material worthy of an official
release, so keep your eyes peeled for the band's upcoming MCD. Or
simply order this killer promo for $5.
Contact: Void Sector Recordings, P.O. Box 1384, Salem, NH 03079, USA
Spiritus Mortis - _Demo 2000_ (3-track demo)
by: Chris Flaaten (***--)
Last issue I reviewed Spiritus Mortis' most recent demo. Apparently,
they have now got a record deal, but this deal came from an old demo
-- the one in question here. In this demo, Spiritus Mortis are clearly
darker in their expression, playing old school doom in the vein of
Black Sabbath. Although everything is well played and decently
produced, I can't seem to like these ten minutes worth as much as
their newer material. It lacks the flair and the subtle humouristic
approach that made the _Forward to the Battle_ demo stand out. Still,
this music should be easier to market and they're still more metal
than 90% of everything else out there.
Contact: mailto:vesa.lampi@pp.inet.fi
http://www.metalprovider.com/spiritusmortis/
Summer Dying - _Summer Dying_ (3-track demo)
by: Aaron McKay (****-)
It has been a really bad week and I am in a shit mood right now, but
these motherfuckers still impress me. I say "still" because I caught
their performance originally at the Milwaukee MetalFest this last
August. Much like now, I spent most of the two days far less than
enthused, but Summer Dying was a bright spot at an otherwise dismal
two-day affair. This five piece from Lansing, Michigan (also home to
one of my preferred black metal outfits, Summon) has a great concept
of music for the masses -- that being KEEP THINGS INTRIGUING! Summer
Dying moves this demo along with conviction and poisonous veracity.
Six minutes and seven seconds is the shortest of the cuts on this
self-titled offering -- changing vocal style and tempo like I change
air in my lungs. Moving from the heavily chaotic rhythms to peaceful
passages worthy of Anathema spontaneity, nothing here is typical. The
intensity of the bass separation in "Forever Lost" make that track my
favorite on the demo... well, that and the guitar solo about the four
and a half minute mark; in a weaker moment, I might think a younger,
hungrier Kirk Hammett was persuaded to lay down that solo. A
significant offering. Keep up the good work.
Contact: Goddess Death Promotions, Jamie Cripe, P.O. Box 27263,
Lansing, MI 48909, USA
mailto:jamsie@excite.com
http://summerdying.tripod.com
Triton - _Darkroot_ (2-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (**---)
Was there not enough money to assemble a three-song or four-song demo?
I'm just asking, as I can't believe a band submitted a two-song demo
to review. Anyway, Massachusetts melodic death metal act Triton sound
pretty tight and effective on this demo, but is it really enough to
pass judgement on the band? I don't think so. With just over eight
minutes of material and two very similar sounding songs, Triton does
not sound original or creative enough to have my head spinning and my
fists pumping in the air. Pretty generic, if you ask me. Hmm, which of
the two songs do I like better? Tough call. I'd have to say the song
"Burden", with its cool acoustic guitar breakdown following an intense
first two minutes. I'm not ragging on Triton for putting together a
two-song demo, I'm just saying that if you want to really make a good
first impression, wait until you have a good substantial amount of
songs to record with and then submit more material to show off the
band's talent. It's guaranteed to get a better response than they did
here with a two-song release.
Contact: Triton, 91 Hillside St. #3, Roxbury, MA 02120, USA
http://www.tritonmetal.com
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\/___/ \/_/\/_/\/__/\/_/\/___/ \/__/ \/_/\/____/
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\ \ \/_/_ / __`\ /' _ `\ /'___\ /'__`\/\`'__\ \ \/ /',__\
\ \ \L\ \/\ \L\ \/\ \/\ \/\ \__//\ __/\ \ \/ \ \ \_/\__, `\
\ \____/\ \____/\ \_\ \_\ \____\ \____\\ \_\ \ \__\/\____/
\/___/ \/___/ \/_/\/_/\/____/\/____/ \/_/ \/__/\/___/
I LOVE THE SMELL OF NAPALM IN THE EVENING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wacken Open Air
Wacken, Germany, 3-4 August 2001
by: Matthias Noll
Tips
~~~~
Let me start with some hopefully useful information.
- Try to arrive on the day before the festival starts.
- Exchange your ticket for a wristband as early as possible to avoid
queues.
- It will be better for you if you only feel the need to take a dump
at night.
- Money: there were no cash machines on the festival area; don't
forget there's the Metal Market and many merchandise and CD booths --
you might need more than you think.
- Bring an electric torch.
- Better have solid shoes.
- Bring a printout of the running order available on the Wacken
website with you.
- Don't forget toilet paper and enough water to brush your teeth and
wash your hands. The latter applies only if you're a wimp like me.
- Ear plugs: two days of constant metal barrage might be too much for
such delicate organs. Don't forget you've only got two of them.
- A cape in case it rains, and sunblock in case it doesn't.
- Find a good meeting point early on.
- Be at the stages in time -- no bands will be late.
- Wacken is approximately one hour north of Hamburg. 90% of that
distance is on a highway.
- Once you park your car, find some landmarks to help you find your
way back in the dark.
- Once in the parking area, you won't get out until countless others
leave. This means you won't get out in the evening to stay in a hotel.
(The backstage area might be a slightly different story.) The further
away you are from the entrance, the earlier you will be able to leave
on Sunday.
- Aspirin and alcohol, or vice versa.
- Downtown Wacken is approximately twenty minutes away from the
entrance by foot. The few shops that exist have extended opening hours
during the festival (until 8pm as far as I can remember).
- Careful with drugs -- the police blocked the whole highway, directed
everybody through a resting area and searched many cars when we left.
The previous years they searched people on their way to the festival.
- Avoid bringing a rucksack to the festival area or it'll be searched
every time you go in.
- Entrance controls are strict. Not even water in plastic bottles will
get in.
Prices in 2001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Ticket: 99,- DM
- Camping area: 30,- DM per car
- Fries with ketchup or mayonnaise: 4,- DM
- Grilled sausage and bread: 4,- / 5,- DM
- Beer: 4,- DM plus 2,- for the cup (which you'll get back when you
return it)
- Noodles: 5,- DM
- CDs: 25,- DM or cheaper
Thursday
~~~~~~~~
Since Paul and I were seeing most of the bands together, there's
really not that much to add to his report [CoC #54]. I will try to
focus a bit more on the event itself and comment wherever I think I
have something to say that may add some detail or a different opinion.
If you feel you already got a sufficient amount of Wacken info from
the last issue, then don't bother with this article.
Being at the meeting point at Frankfurt airport on the same day
as Paul came as a surprise, as well as a relief [see CoC #51]. We went
straight to my place, readied our belongings for the trip, got my
friend and neighbour Daniel into the car and left on schedule.
Fortunately, we didn't forget to buy twelve bottles of mineral water
for various wimpy purposes: washing, brushing teeth, drinking, etc.
The six hour trip went quite well and at approximately 9pm we arrived
at Wacken.
Wacken is a small town of approximately 2000 souls, many of which
gathered in the street or in their gardens at this late hour and,
sitting on comfortable chairs, watched the long queue straight from
the entrance into Wacken all the way to the festival area on the other
side of the town. I'm still surprised at the relaxed and friendly way
these people reacted to the constant flow of dangerous-looking metal
maniacs invading their home town. We even exchanged a couple of jokes
with the people watching us and returned the waving of children as we
slowly made our way to the festival grounds.
It took us another hour until we finally parked the car in the
parking area most remote from the actual entrance. Immediately our
vehicle was surrounded by other cars and tents, and only by some
device straight out of James Bond's arsenal would it have been
possible to move the car from where it was parked. After we all helped
setting up Daniel's tent in the dark -- which would have been almost
impossible without the miner's light Paul had fortunately brought with
him -- we headed towards the entrance, where we were supposed to meet
Dave Rocher. The path turned out to be a bit rough, because the
different camping grounds we had to cross were separated by trenches
filled with either water, barbed wire, or both. We safely made our way
to the entrance, and baptized the last part of the path "Road of Piss"
on the very first night, because of the horrible stench emanating from
countless metallers' urine in that area.
As we arrived at the entrance, we heard W.A.S.P. playing "Fuck
Like a Beast" from afar and had a first look at the options for buying
food and drink. There were many booths and also the "Metal Market" --
a huge tent with merchants selling used and new CDs -- in front of
which people started to queue up as early as 9am (the tent itself
would only open at 10am, with an entrance fee of 4,- DM). To the right
of the entrance there was the "Wet stage", a tent outside the "real"
festival area in which bands also played on both days.
In order to enter the festival area, we had to exchange our
tickets for wristbands. Close to the entrance, we finally met Dave. As
no one was interested in seeing W.A.S.P., we then went to the
backstage entrance (approximately a twenty minute walk), where I
picked up my wristband. Everything went well, we walked back, had a
few beers, chatted and temporarily parted ways with Dave -- we were
supposed to meet him again the following day.
We made our way back to the car through the vast camping grounds,
seeing some quite interesting tent constructions on the way (like for
example a parachute, and even an old-fashioned fire brigade car used
for transportation by some metalheads). With a good dose of luck we
found our car again. I slept surprisingly well and the metallic
neighbourhood remained relatively calm; the same also applies to the
two nights that followed.
Friday
~~~~~~
Deceased were on at 10am. Paul had set his alarm clock, but due
to the sunshine the temperatures inside the car climbed into the 30s
and we woke up at 8:30. After some very basic hygiene-improving
activities like brushing teeth and washing face and hands, we headed
towards the festival area, which we then saw during daylight for the
first time. Once through the entrance, where Paul had to leave the
mineral water plastic bottle, we decided to take a brief look and then
head towards the stage.
Directly to the left of the entrance were many huts and booths
selling clothes, leather, spikes, CDs old and new, food, etc. Straight
ahead, a five minute walk away, the two big stages were located side
by side. On the left hand side -- maybe another five minutes away from
the main stages -- was the Party stage, which would feature most of
the bands we wanted to see. As we would later find out, unfortunately
the Party stage was so close to the main stages that, unless you got
really close to the PA, you had to endure some of the sound from the
main stages, augmented by almost constant wind from that direction.
Every band at Wacken played a minimum of 45 minutes; semi-headliners
like In Flames or Helloween for 60 to 75; and Saxon and Motorhead for
90 minutes.
For Deceased we went very close to the main stage, because there
were only about 300 to 400 people awake that early who were interested
in seeing the band -- meanwhile, many others walked around on the
festival area to shop or just get accustomed with the area and its
attractions. Personally, I wasn't overly impressed with Deceased.
Their Kreator cover "Tormentor" triggered raised fists and devil horns
everywhere, but besides that, Deceased didn't really convince me. I
haven't gotten their point yet, and the experience felt like watching
a second rate outfit which would better remain either in their garage
or in very, very small clubs.
Carnal Forge were proof that competent thrash metal requires as
much control and precision as it does aggression and speed. Their
blasting style is just too over-the-top to really work, and what
should have had approximately the same impact as a medium-sized atom
bomb became just a harmless fizzle.
Soilwork were next on the Party stage. I expected the Swedes to
be very static on stage, but they came across quite well, despite some
rockstar posing and cliche announcements in between songs. The recent
touring seems to have secured them a surprisingly large fanbase, and
the band went down impressively well, playing 45 minutes of material
from the last two records. What turned out to be really annoying,
especially during Opeth's gig on the following day, was the sound from
the main stage -- which was far too close to the Party stage. The only
place where one was able to hear only one band at a time was in front
of the PA on the left hand side of the Party stage, which was farthest
away from the main stage.
Then I watched the reformed Holy Moses, playing on one of the
main stages. The band did well and received an enthusiastic welcome
from a considerable crowd. I especially enjoyed "Current of Death" and
"Finished With the Dogs" from the band's second album. Sabina Classen
was in top form and her voice sounded more inhuman than ever.
Seriously: forget Karyn Crisis when it comes to the most un-female
vocals in metal. Things got a bit cheesy when Holy Moses were joined
by Germany's Metal Barbie Doll, Doro Pesch, for a mediocre cover
version of the Dead Kennedys' "Too drunk to Fuck". I'm not too sure
whether the new album is really going to be worthwhile, but the good
news is that _Finished With the Dogs_, a minor German thrash metal
classic, is going to get re-released.
Napalm Death were next, and their sound was gone with the hefty
wind in front of the right main stage. Energetic action on stage
didn't help me recognize more than one or two songs, and the band's
performance was rendered powerless by the forces of nature.
We then decided to take a walk around the festival area, buy CDs
and have a look at the selection of food available. When I returned to
the main stage, Exciter were already 1/3 into their set. A couple of
old classics like "Pounding Metal", "Violence and Force", "Rising of
the Dead", etc. almost managed to summon the spirit of the early '80s.
Although their new singer's voice has strong similarities with a young
Rob Halford, his extremely predictable usage of normal and high pitch
turned out to be quite annoying after a couple of tracks. Exciter
received decent crowd reaction, and as with their latest record _Blood
of Tyrants_ [CoC #48], they were a lot more convincing than 90% of the
horrible true/power metal crap which we were forced to endure from a
distance later on.
Speaking of (German) power metal, we had our first exposure to
this style when Primal Fear entered the main stage on the right hand
side and Ralf Scheepers got a chance to do his "Judas Priest didn't
want me and now I'm going to record Painkiller II without them" thing.
After listening to a couple of versions of the fast double bass track
with melodic chorus followed by slight variations of the stomping
bang-your-head-and-shake-your-fist song, we headed to the Party stage
to see Nasum. They turned out to be the first real surprise at Wacken
due to their epileptic stage acting and great songs. The band seemed
to be surprised that so many people had come to see them in spite of
the power metal barrage, which was audible at the Party stage.
Remaining in a really good mood due to the unexpectedly good crowd
response, they unleashed one of the best performances of the whole two
days.
Nasum were then followed by Exhumed, whom I checked out for wenty
tminutes. Exhumed were surprisingly good initially, but started o get
tboring after the first ten minutes (which included my favourite rack
t"Necromaniac" from _Gore Metal_). I had a good laugh when the wo
tguitarists and the bass player lifted their guitars to show that hey
thad used some duct tape to write "Gore", "Fucking" and "Metal" on he
tbacks of the three instruments.
Thinking something along the lines of "always leave when things
are at their best", I left to see Nevermore, who were far better than
with Dimmu Borgir in Stuttgart [CoC #53]. Warrel Dane's vocals were in
top form, the songs sounded fresher and more energetic, and the huge,
cheering and singing audience loved every minute of it. My only gripe
was that although they did play a Sanctuary track, it was the cover
version "White Rabbit" from the debut _Refuge Denied_. This, in my
opinion, is the weakest track on this classic album.
Even though I was not very interested in seeing Overkill for
approximately the tenth time in my life, we nevertheless stayed at the
main stage, and surprisingly Overkill put on one hell of a show.
Starting with one of my all-time favourites, "Deny the Cross" from
_Taking Over_, everybody around us, including the incredibly fat
Tankard singer Gerre (who was standing right behind us), was freaking
out and heads were banging everywhere. Blitz is still a thrash metal
frontman in a league of his own, with his agile movements and
well sought-out conversations with the crowd. Overkill even played
"Hammerhead" from _Feel the Fire_ (which I hadn't heard them play
live since 1987) plus "Hello From the Gutter", "Evil Never Dies",
"Elimination", "In Battle" and a couple of less impressive newer
tracks. After everybody in the audience had the chance to sing "In
Union" and "Fuck You", Overkill came back for an encore and played
"Bastard Nation", which again had everybody singing along the chorus.
An exciting show from these veterans, whose appeal seemed to have gone
a bit stale after more than a decade with at least yearly tours in
Europe.
After Overkill we decided to watch Mortician, who were slightly
less brutal than a Stan and Ollie movie, but equally funny. Too tired
to walk away again, we also stayed for Desaster -- who weren't lame at
all in their corpsepaint, leather and spikes outfit, but musically
sounded like another one of those bands who come across as a slightly
black metallish second rate copy of second tier bands from the '80s.
After seeing The Haunted supporting Nile in Vienna early this
year, my expectations were almost impossible to meet. Guess what
happened: The Haunted were even better this time. Getting a comment
such as "This is like Exodus" from my friend, metal dinosaur Daniel
(which happened during the second song, "Bury Your Dead"), is the
metal equivalent of being given saintly status by the Vatican. If
there's one new band who plays thrash metal on the same intensity
level as Exodus, Forbidden, Legacy, Testament, Vio-lence, etc. did in
the '80s, then it is The Haunted. From opening track "Dark Intentions"
to the last one, "Hate Song", their gig was perfect. In retrospect, to
me Wacken was The Haunted's festival and from now on riffmaster Jensen
is considered god.
Exumer, in my opinion, had one of the most unfortunate time slots
of the whole festival. They had to play at 1am, after The Haunted and
at the same time as Saxon. Having practiced for three months but
played only one gig in Frankfurt before Wacken, it seemed likely that
the show would not be very good. Fortunately, that was not the case.
Exumer had a good to very good sound, and a decent amount of thrash
metal zombies -- clad in jeans covered with patches -- had gathered to
see the reunion gig. I should have known that the band was not
completely forgotten despite disbanding thirteen years ago, because
the last offer from a fan for my tour shirt from '87 had been "I'll
cover it with money bills" in the early morning. I refused. The band
started with "Fallen Saint" and played all tracks from _Possessed by
Fire_ with the exception of "Reign of Sadness" and "Silent Death", one
crap so-called "new" song and a superfluous Black Sabbath cover. Their
own material sounded great and surprisingly tight after all these
years -- especially "Winds of Death" (the only track from _Rising From
the Sea_), with its crushing slower sections, was killer, just like
three days earlier in Frankfurt. Except for original front man Mem,
who moved around more than three normal singers at the same time and
came across very energetic and convincing, everybody on stage was very
static and non-metal looking. The music was good enough to compensate
for a certain lack of stage presence, though, and if these guys just
did not feel like sucking up to their fans by wearing wigs, spikes and
metal shirts, then so be it. The time tunnel has spewed out
Destruction already. Overall, it was a very worthy reunion gig
from these German veterans. And, for a change, this is not a
permanent reunion and we're not running the risk of having to endure
disappointing new records. On an Exumer related topic: anyone with an
interest in thrash metal should check out singer Mem's new band at
www.sundescends.com.
Paul and I left after the gig and Daniel went to check out Dimmu
Borgir. After the boring performance on their last tour, I just didn't
have enough energy left to endure another hour on the festival area.
The fact that during our fifteen minute walk to the car all we heard
was keyboards (leaving me with the impression that Jean Michel Jarre
was filling in for Dimmu Borgir) seemed to indicate that leaving was a
clever decision.
Before we went to sleep, I was in for the only bad experience I
had during the four days. It consisted of the sight that unfolded when
I opened the door to the next toilet. Shit was piling up on top of
what normally would be the seat. I took my toilet paper, jumped over
trenches and barbed wire in true World War I assault style, and
disappeared into the foggy, fortunately dark night. To all you
potential Wacken tourists: never assume there will be a usable toilet
when you need one.
Saturday
~~~~~~~~
Saturday began with sunshine and Warhammer. Warhammer are German
Hellhammer worshippers, and their sound and songs are of a kind which
could easily have been on Hellhammer's _Apocalyptic Raids_ EP. It's
100% well done Hellhammer worship and absolutely nothing else.
Cryptopsy went on stage at 11am, and I've got little to add to
Paul's Wacken report [CoC #54]. From my perspective, they were a bit
less impressive than during my last encounter with them in 1999, and I
felt that the new tracks didn't work as well live as older material
up to _Whisper Supremacy_. As expected, the band's technicality
(especially the drumming) was breathtaking and Mike DiSalvo put on an
impressive last performance with the band.
Dark Tranquillity were the next interesting band to play.
However, I'm getting the impression that either I've seen them on a
bad day twice or they are rather mediocre musicians. Once again,
everything they played from up to _The Mind's I_ sounded extremely
sloppy, and Mikael Stanne's vocals were simply horrible. On record the
guy has a really cool, distinguishable voice, but on stage he sounded
like some below average growler filling in for the real singer. With
the old material not sounding overly good, there were only _Projector_
and _Haven_ songs left to save the day. Although I really like those
two albums, Dark Tranquillity came across as a rather boring act.
After a long break, during which we had to endure power metal
wailing from various stages, we checked out Krisiun. Having achieved
an average status through permanent touring and three good records,
the Brazilians turned out to be as exciting as Dark Tranquillity. More
than ever before, I had the impression that Krisiun only have one
track: it's the hyperspeed one, where the cascading riff is repeated
over and over again in different scales, and about 2/3 into the song
the guitarist does as many trills as possible in the shortest period
of time. I definitely prefer listening to _Black Force Domain_ on my
home stereo, rather than the unimpressive live versions of their
material that Krisiun offered today. It's about time the Brazilians
get a second idea of what to do with their outstanding technical
skills.
Tankard's singer Gerre constantly flaunted Europe's fattest beer
gut shortly after Paul had left, and his performance was the only good
thing about Tankard's gig. I'd been wondering why later Tankard
material sounded so lame, and I thought that Harris Johns was to blame
for that. The fact is that the band itself has got a shit sound that
is not at all comparable to their heyday in the mid-'80s anymore.
Their new material came across as sub-par funpunk bullshit, and even
old classics like "Maniac Forces", "Chemical Invasion" or "Empty
Tankard" sounded like second rate cover versions of the originals.
Hadn't it been for Gerre -- who is still one of the funniest and
craziest frontmen in German metal --, this would have been 100% utter
crap. From my point of view, Tankard have become a parody of
themselves. The fact that they can still attract and entertain quite a
lot of people only shows how good they once were and how good a
frontman Gerre is.
In Flames were entertaining, but never reached the intensity of
their recent club gigs, and so we had to wait until Opeth appeared on
stage before we were blown away again. Despite miserable conditions
caused by HammerFall's main stage sound mixing with Opeth's acoustic
sections, this was an awesome show. Band and audience seemed to
connect immediately, and even if Mikael Akerfeldt stayed calm and
quiet in between songs, he seemed to be deeply moved by the
enthusiastic cheering and clapping from the crowd. "Demon of the Fall"
was absolutely breathtaking with its heavy beginning, and all my
doubts that a band that relies as much on atmosphere as Opeth does
could be convincing live had disappeared. The musicians were in top
form, the vocals never faltered (be it in normal or growling voice)
and the gig, despite the fact that Opeth only played four songs, was
stunning.
After Opeth had finished their set, we walked towards the main
stage. From a distance I saw the skinny HammerFall guitarist running
around on the stage. He wore a batman cape that almost touched the
stage and also an armor that reflected the light from the lighting
rig. They performed the Accept metal ballet and the Manowar clash of
guitars held with outstretched arms; they ran around with torches; and
they also did some black metal style fire breathing. Next time they'll
probably have Dio's plastic dragon on stage. Disgust is probably
a word which isn't strong enough to describe my feelings about
HammerFall. I don't fully understand why the band makes me react in
such an overblown negative way, and maybe I should just chill out and
see them as a joke -- but I really can't. During this almost
physically painful experience, Daniel and I were imagining Motorhead
coming on stage and kicking all the poser asses up there, taking over
the instruments and playing "Ace of Spades". As our frustration was
growing, we envisioned the Motorhead bomber stage set taking off
and dropping napalm on HammerFall and their fans, so bad was
the experience. Unfortunately that didn't happen, but this gig
strengthened my opinion that HammerFall and their music represent
almost everything that's crap in metal. Buy _Keeper of the Seven Keys
Part I_, _Battle Hymns_ and _Restless and Wild_. Buy two, three or
four copies of each if you must, but why anything by HammerFall? I'd
rather step barefoot into dog shit than see something like this again.
Paul had hoped that Motorhead would say something about
HammerFall, but Lemmy seemed to have spared himself the sight and
sound of them. Had he witnessed their circus, I'm sure he wouldn't
have kept quiet. Motorhead's set began in very energetic fashion, with
a very good, full sound and amazing drumming, and stayed exciting
until after the sixth song, "Shoot You in the Back", from the immortal
_Ace of Spades_. The Sex Pistols cover that followed was the lamest
thing I've ever heard done to a Pistols song, and somehow Motorhead
never recovered from that low point. The audience was there in masses
but completely lifeless, which made for a very strange atmosphere, and
Lemmy's jokes about the lack of response also failed to break the ice.
I left with Daniel, hearing "Killed by Death" on my way to the car,
while Paul stayed to see the bomber.
Sunday
~~~~~~
At 8am the first few people started to move. Now the fact that we
were parked so far away from the entrance would pay off. Miraculously,
everyone who was blocking our path left, and we were out of the
festival area within a couple of minutes. As far as I heard, Dave and
his friends were trapped inside for another couple of hours. We made
our way to the highway, only to get directed to a parking area by the
police after ten clicks. They looked at every car and the people
inside and searched some of them. Only a short distance from this
first bottleneck, a car was lying on its roof in the middle of the
dual carriageway. Fortunately, this had happened only seconds before
we arrived, and we managed to avoid the traffic jam which was
definitely about to develop immediately after. We had another very
positive encounter with a middle-aged German in Itzehoe, where we
asked for directions from the gas station to the highway. Despite the
fact that it was a bunch of dirty, smelly metallers talking to him,
our newfound friend led the way in his own car.
Overall, Wacken was a very well organized, outstanding event. I
recommend the festival to everyone, no matter where he/she might come
from.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
N O R E S T F O R T H E W E A R Y
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC at the 15th annual Milwaukee MetalFest
by: Aaron McKay
I was going to call this review A Caravel in Chaos or something
to that effect, but even chaos by definition is, if nothing else,
interesting -- this year's MMF was not. If I had an arsenal full of
weapons of mass boredom, the largest would be the Milwaukee MetalFest
XV.
Okay, I am somewhat responsible for a spiritless review of this
year's event. Putting off writing it for far too long wasn't the
brightest notion I have ever had, but as I told my editor, I had major
difficulty finding the inspiration to pound out the letters for this
piece. Why? A lack of any real headlining band was most of it, I
think. Some disappointments in the band schedule was another chunk, as
was a stark absence of enthusiasm by the attendees, which made the
whole two day affair musically as boring as Destruction's last
release. I'll get to all that in due time...
I should have known that things were off to a bad start from the
very first day. Kathy, my fiancee, and I were due to leave on a
Wednesday afternoon to have as many full days in Milwaukee as
possible. As it happens, the evening before I withdrew some money for
the trip and forgot to retrieve my ATM card from the blasted machine.
It, of course, was irretrievable the next day when I discovered it was
missing at the gas station leaving my home town for the show.
After taking care of the prerequisite bullshit caused my
ignorance, we left the following morning and arrived for the last
Miller brewery tour of the day. WHEW! Things were looking up.
After dropping some hard earned money in the brewery's gift shop,
we were off to the hotel. Getting all checked in and squared away,
Kathy and I cleaned up and headed out to our favorite haunt, the Water
Street Brewery in Delafield, WI. A good hot meal and some beer made
things all that more enjoyable. Sleeping in anticipating a -very- long
Friday of metal, we made our way to what they were calling the US
Cellular arena this year, which, in all actuality, is the same place
it was last year: the Milwaukee Auditorium.
Friday
~~~~~~
Arriving about 2pm or so, Kathy and I said hello to one of the
most kind and helpful people in the world: Debbie Sellnow of Mazur
Public Relations. Heading into the show, one would find it nearly the
same as any other year, but with noticeably less vendors. Even the
labels were under-represented by a fair degree. Something was afoot.
Making a few rounds to look over the lay of the land, I noted the
main stage last year was called KNAC.COM and this year went by
the Snakenet Radio stage. The two smaller, less open, but highly
effective Nightfall and Digital Metal (formerly Necropolis) stages
were (obviously) positioned as they were a year ago. Again, these last
two halls were where most of the bands I saw preformed. Relapse,
naturally, had the most comfortable spot: upstairs with carpet and
padded chairs -- sponsorship has its rewards.
About this time, my fiancee pointed out that we were without a
schedule of bands. Good point there. After scouring the area, Relapse
clued us in on the fact that they were being copied off as we spoke.
Fair enough. We scurried off for Rise on the Digital Metal stage until
they got printed.
Rise sure is an impressive outfit of which I know very little.
As best as I could tell, Rise's style was satisfactorily heavy,
incorporating a nice keyboard effect and noteworthy vocals fostering a
kinda goth-y feel. I made it a point to contact them via the Internet
and came to learn that they were represented (at least in August) by
Brutal Sound Productions & Management. To date, I haven't received
anything further about Rise, but I sincerely hope to. They were an
excellent band to begin the MetalFest with. If only things would have
stayed that positive.
Catching some of New Jersey's Chaos Theory on the Relapse stage,
I came to the resolve that CT has only a minor stage presence
consisting mostly of the lead vocalist acting as strange as possible,
and not strange in a good way. Despite some solid riff, Chaos Theory
is one of those groups that I could take 'em or leave 'em. In this
case, I left 'em.
We soon found ourselves back downstairs for Summon. Nothing truly
notable about this black metal outfit from Michigan other than I enjoy
their fast-paced tempo and thick rhythms. The vocals, at times, seemed
screechy, but that could have been any number of things ranging from
the room to the equipment. If the shrillness was intentional at the
show, the recorded vocals didn't strike me as that piercingly
prominent.
Again wondering around the label vending area, I came upon one of
the few, but very welcomed highlights of the event: Andreas Katsambas
of The End Records. Andreas was there for only one day (Friday) before
making his way to the benefit concert for the two Chucks (Billy
and Schuldiner) in California. Andreas is an extremely intelligent
colleague (see my interview with Mr. Katsambas in the last issue) and
a fellow I am certainly honored to know. Kathy, Andreas and I had some
beers and shot the shit all the while hearing Command Presence in the
background on the Snakenet Radio stage.
Summer Dying was next on the main stage and I was glad I was in
the room when they started, because they were not on my list of bands
I had marked to see. I am sure glad I caught their show, nevertheless,
and snagged one of the demos they were passing out (see my review in
this issue).
-Now- we got cookin' with gas: Epoch of Unlight on the Nightfall
stage was up next. Being on The End Records, I was sure to stand near
Andreas for some of their set until he switched with Sergey to allow
Sergey (also with The End) to bear witness to EoU's last few songs.
With flawless precision, Epoch of Unlight seared through their set of
mostly new material all the while breaking in a new guitarist to the
band: Josh Braddock of Incineration The whole set was a fantastic
experience and the new songs sounded impeccable.
Only catching one of the songs from Blood Stained Dusk on the
Relapse stage, it took no time at all to surmise they were sounding as
black as ever; I wished I would have been able to see more. I decided
then and there I needed food. Kathy and I scampered down to snack
area, grabbed something to supplement our beef jerky contraband and
headed for the main hall for Wykked Wytch -- what a mistake that
was...
If I would have had any concept of the sheer horror (not in a
good way) that I was in for, I would not have brought food to eat. I
nearly lost my appetite. I've come to understand WW hail from Florida
(a state with which I am infinitely familiar, especially where metal
is concerned), plus having been around for more than ten years, why
was this the first I had heard of Wykked Wytch? What's more, why was
Jason Blachowicz -ever- associated with this atrocity of a band?
Believe me, I will do everything I can to never hear this outfit
again, but I still had to keep my dinner down, so, needless to say, we
left.
About this point, things got off schedule a little bit and I was
saddened by missing Fog, but I was otherwise occupied with Macabre in
the Digital Metal room -- and boy, I was NOT ALONE. Well more than a
quarter of the people attending Friday were in that space and
Corporate Death, Dennis the Menace, and Nefarious put on one helluva
great show. Covering some tracks like "Vampire of Dusseldorf" and "Dog
Guts", the entire vicinity in font of the stage and the larger room in
general was bouncing and thrashing in flawless time. A fantastic
performance from one of the MMF's sanctioned and essential standbys.
Kathy and I bounced around until Catastrophic hit the Nightfall
stage. I was biding my time in anticipation of seeing Trevor Peres of
Obituary and his new band. Being a fan of their release _The
Cleansing_, I stood patiently waiting and found myself rewarded
appropriately. They worked through a fantastic set and sounded only
somewhat distant in the small room, but it was, nonetheless, good to
see Trevor again in fine musical form. As an aside, Trevor showed up
last year to the MMF after the Slayer concert earlier that night in
Milwaukee; it was exactly the same room, only we were watching Dying
Fetus tear it up and not Catastrophic. Strange how things happen...
I wanted to catch Psypheria especially because of Lyle
Livingston's participation in Dragonlord in the worst kinda way, but
instead wound up cooling my heals with Killjoy from Necrophagia
waiting for him to go on with the guys from Ravenous. It was an
investment of time that I felt pretty good about, as I truly
appreciate their _Assembled in Blasphemy_ material; seeing this band
always puts me in better spirits despite the uninspired and drab
happenings at the concert thus far.
To finish off Friday, Kathy and I stayed put and awaited the
arrival of Gorgoroth; a main reason for me going to this year's MMF.
On the Snakenet Radio stage, Anathema was beginning, but we both saw
them once previous here at the MetalFest. Truth be known, I was mostly
tired, but also frustrated by a lackluster crowd all day long, but at
this last performance, as well. However, Gorgoroth, a virtual black
metal supergroup breeding-ground, did not disappoint any of us, I
don't think. Covering substantive material and sounding brutally
nefarious throughout, I was pleased, in my own mind, with a set done
to near perfection. I would have liked to have seen them earlier in
the evening with more material from _Destroyer_ and _Pentagram_, so
that I might have soaked in their presence and finer work with less
filtration through fatigued ears.
Saturday
~~~~~~~~
Another day -- fresh hope. My optimism didn't last for long.
Looking over the schedule for the day, Kathy and I didn't like it was
necessary to get to the show much before 2pm. Missing the first batch
of morning and early afternoon acts wasn't worth jeopardizing the
longevity of our stamina for the evening bands. The one thing I failed
to notice until too late was Avernus at 12:10 -- what a fucked up time
slot they were given.
Very shortly after arriving at Milwaukee Auditorium, we happened
across a good friend: Steve Murray of Fleshgrind. Also playing with
Avernus, he dropped the boom by confronting me with the harsh reality
that they had already played (of course). SHIT! Oh, well -- what about
Fleshgrind, then? Here is where things got royally screwed up. Steve
told me something that he heard about the MMF "invoking the two year
rule". Unfamiliar with this, I pressed him for some insight. Mr.
Murray told me that it was his understanding that if you played
consecutively two years previous, you were "asked" not to preform
again. Is this what happened to Fleshgrind and Mortician, another
notable MMF staples not playing this year? If that is the case, what
about Macabre -- were they here back to back years? I'm not saying
that this "two year rule" and being "asked" not to preform was
actually what came to pass to ultimately botch up the host of killer
bands that usually play the MMF, but if it -does- happen to be the
case, I have never heard of something so shit-all stupid, blind,
ignorant, and foolish in all my life!
Noctuary played the Digital Metal stage to a warm and receptive
crowd, but my interest really was in seeing Averse Sefira. Having done
an e-mail interview with both Wrath and Sanguine, this Lost Disciple
outfit was high on my agenda to see; they did not disappoint. After
taking care of some trouble with the bass sound, Wrath spewed forth a
host of the most blackened wickedness seen at the show. The room
showed positive signs of familiarization with Averse Sefira's material
and, consequently, enjoyed themselves as much as the band seemed to.
In full corpse paint, AS no doubt drew more than a couple of fans into
their fold that day.
Time to bust ass upstairs to the Relapse stage for Pig Destroyer.
The stage was running a bit late and we caught two songs by Phobia. I
began looking almost frantically around the room for Carl Schultz from
Relapse and noticed him walking in moments before PD went on. We had
arranged earlier yesterday to watch the performance together and I
think that I can safely say, Carl and I both were overwhelmed with the
unbridled power Pig Destroyer displayed. Fans were yelling out names
of songs and J.R., Brain (had some trouble with his right cymbal) and
Scott even blessed us with a reworked version of "Birthday Suicide".
Mastodon came up next in the comfortable Relapse stage area.
Taking into consideration two of the members' roots in Today Is the
Day, it is easily understood why both my fiancee and I appreciated
their hard-hitting and certainly bass-heavy approach as much as we
did.
Einherjer's Viking metal set was something I needed to see. Their
stage presence and smooth change-ups played the audience like one of
their battle-scarred instruments. In a sea of mediocrity, I am happy I
witnessed Einherjer's havoc play out upon the Digital Metal stage.
Over to see what was going on with Soilwork. I can say this, they
drew a big crowd for reasons unknown to me. That not withstanding, the
main hall was nearly filled to capacity with people.
That in mind, is it any wonder we moved back toward the Nightfall
stage? There we set ourselves up for a massive disappointment. That
being the fact that Acheron wasn't going to show. Fucking great! Next
to Gorgoroth, Acheron was a major reason for me attending.
Having seen Immolation at last year's MMF, and who was now
playing instead of Acheron, Kathy and I both reached the mutual
decision to relocate to the Snakenet Radio stage until it came time
for Novembers Doom. We made our way through the vendors' area up to
nearly the front of the stage. Great overall vocals, but to my
surprise, the female contributions on songs they played on stage
seemed to detract somewhat more in a live setting that I would have
previously gathered from such a wonderfully ambient band. They ended
with a great live interpretation of "Dawn Breaks", a personal
favorite!
The last band there I really cared to see again was Dying Fetus.
They went on almost exactly on time at 11:25 on the Nightfall stage.
Here is another band that confused me as to their presence at the show
if the "two year rule" -was- in effect. I was glad to have -some-
stability, no matter how slight or in what form, at the 'Fest. This
was my first time seeing the reformed band without Jason Netherton on
bass/vocals. John Gallagher was in fine musical form, but failed to
connect with the crowd -- including me, and I treasure DF like gold
bouillon from Fort Knox. Joined on stage by Robert Vigna of Immolation
(guitar), Dying Fetus seemed disconnected from their audience with a
lot less groove-oriented tunes on their set list to get the crowd
whipped up into a frenzy. I guess every band has an off show now and
again, plus they may have been going through a difficult period with
new members and all. Only getting to see John and the boys generally
once a year here at the MMF (for less than an hour, mind you), if
absolutely necessary, I wish they could have had their "bad day"
another time...
Wanting to see Limbonic Art, but not feeling the need to
experience any more surprises, disappointments, or blemishes during an
already less than average MetalFest, Kathy and I exited the show.
Yawn... zzzzzzzzzzz <snort> Oh! Sorry -- must have dozed off. Even
remembering the MMF and regurgitating it back for your reading
"enjoyment" must induce drowsiness, apparently.
Before I stretch out for a nap, allow me to say this: God
willing, I WILL ATTEND NEXT YEAR for the Milwaukee MetalFest XVI, on
July 26 and 27; even the best of the best happen upon a slump every
now and again. I've told myself that it can only get better.
Rectifying some of the issues is probably an absolute imperative, like
keeping the asshole "scabs" out of the venue (once again this year).
Definition of "scabs": loser, unwashed teenie-boppers who derive
pleasure from mooching beer and stinkin' up the joint by choice and
generally dumb-shit assholes. Also, removing the "two year rule", if
that does indeed turn out to be what was actually going on this year,
plus securing a stronger, more inspiring line-up of headlining bands
would all be huge pluses for the Milwaukee MetalFest in years to come.
Something that I noticed this year, while I am in the
hypercritical mood, is that some lesser known bands, by design or
otherwise, enjoy some pretty choice times on the schedule, while other
more well-known outfits have bizarre slots. For instance, Tarcid (just
to name one -- no offense to the band intended) at 10:20pm on Saturday
night and Avernus getting stuck with the 12:10 in the afternoon or
earlier, if I remember hearing correctly from Steve Murray --
inexcusable. While I realize it must be a major headache to put
all these bands on a program that flows, somehow it still seems
ineffectual and certainly inappropriate.
Good night, everyone. I know that most of you are asleep right
now anyway if you are still reading this... If you made it through --
congratulations! For me, coming up with this review, painful for me to
say as it is, was like shaving with a rusty straight-edge -- it gets
the job done, but the tetanus shot is -far- less than amusing. Lastly,
I want to say to the people I was able to hang out with again, the
bands I wanted to catch live in concert, and the town of Milwaukee
were points I choose to recall fondly; I AM GRATEFUL. Here is to the
promise of a better MMF 2002!
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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. Pig Destroyer - _Prowler in the Yard_
2. Carcass - _Symphonies of Sickness_
3. Soilent Green - _A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down_
4. Fu Manchu - _The Action Is Go_
5. Absu - _Tara_
Adrian's Top 5
1. Evergrey - _In Search of Truth_
2. Slayer - _God Hates Us All_
3. Porn (The Men Of) - _Experiments in Feedback_
4. Necrodeath - _Black as Pitch_
5. Godflesh - _Hymns_
Brian's Top 5
1. Necrophagist - _Onset of Putrefaction_
2. Profanum - _Musaeum Esotericum_
3. Sceptic - _Pathetic Being_
4. Ephel Duath - _Phormula_
5. Diabolical Masquerade - _Death's Design_
Alain's Top 5
1. Akercocke - _Goat of Mendes_
2. Darkest Hour - _The Mark of the Judas_
3. Darkest Hour - _So Sedated, So Secure_
4. Cadaver Inc. - _Discipline_
5. Deeds of Flesh - _Mark of the Legion_
Adam's Top 5
1. My Dying Bride - _The Dreadful Hours_
2. Der Blutharsch - _When All Else Fails..._
3. Nargaroth - _Black Metal ist Krieg_
4. Neurosis - _A Sun That Never Sets_
5. Unreal Tournament v4.36
Pedro's Top 5
1. My Dying Bride - _The Dreadful Hours_
2. Dornenreich - _Her Von Welken Nacthen_
3. Absu - _Tara_
4. Svartsyn - _His Majesty_
5. Solefald - _Pills Against the Ageless Ills_
Paul's Top 5
1. The Chasm - _Reaching the Veil of Death_
2. Pungent Stench - _Masters of Moral Servants of Sin_
3. AC/DC - _Live at the BBC_ (bootleg)
4. Motorhead - _Overkill_
5. Fantomas - _The Directors Cut_
Aaron's Top 5
1. Edguy - _Mandrake_
2. Hypocrisy - _Ten Years of Chaos & Confusion_
3. In Aeternum - _Past and Present Sins_
4. Scholomance - _The Immortality Murder_
5. Pro-Pain - _Round 6_
David's Top 5
1. Arch Enemy - _Wages of Sin_
2. Sanctuary - _Refuge Denied_
3. The Crown - _Deathrace King_
4. Iced Earth - _Horror Show_
5. Aborted - _Engineering the Dead_
Matthias' Top 5
1. System of a Down - _Toxicity_
2. Pig Destroyer - _Prowler in the Yard_
3. Svartsyn - _His Majesty_
4. Entombed - _Morning Star_
5. Jello Biafra and DOA - _Last Screams of the Missing Neighbours_
Alvin's Top 5
1. Eternal Majesty / Temple of Baal -
_Unholy Chants of Darkness / Faces of the Void_
2. Serpent Eclipse - _Thy Bleeding Heavens_ demo
3. Biomechanical - _Distorted_ demo
4. Various - _Within This Infinite Ocean_ (Projekt sampler)
5. Death in June - _DISCriminate_
Gabriel's Top 5
1. New Order - _The John Peel Sessions_
2. Weezer - _Pinkerton_
3. Ben Folds - _Rockin' the Suburbs_
4. U.S. Maple - _Long Hair in Three Stages_
5. Tori Amos - _Strange Little Girls_
Chris' Top 5
1. Death - _Live in L.A. - Death and Raw_
2. My Dying Bride - _The Dreadful Hours_
3. Shape of Despair - _Angels of Distress_
4. Devin Townsend - _Terria_
5. Nevermore - _Dead Heart in a Dead World_
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Chronicles of Chaos is a FREE monthly magazine electronically
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album reviews and concert reviews encompass the pages of Chronicles
of Chaos. Chronicles of Chaos stringently emphasizes all varieties of
chaotic music ranging from black and death metal to electronic/noise
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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #55
All contents copyright 2001 by individual creators of included work.
All opinions expressed herein are those of the individuals expressing
them, and do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone else.
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