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CHRONICLES OF CHAOS E-Zine, June 7, 1997, Issue #21
Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley <mailto:energizr@interlog.com>
Assistant Editor: Alain M. Gaudrault <mailto:alain@mks.com>
Contributor: Brian Meloon <mailto:bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>
Contributor: Steve Hoeltzel <mailto:hoeltzel@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk <mailto:macabre@interlog.com>
Contributor: Drew Schinzel <mailto:drew@magpage.com>
Contributor: Andrew Lewandowski <mailto:kmvb73c@prodigy.com>
Contributor: Pedro Azevedo <mailto:leic97@tom.fe.up.pt>
Mailing List provided by: The University of Colorado at Boulder
--> Interested in being reviewed? Send us your demo and bio to:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
CHRONICLES OF CHAOS
57 Lexfield Ave
Downsview Ont.
M3M-1M6, Canada
Fax: (416) 693-5240 Voice: (416) 693-9517
e-mail: ginof@interlog.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
DESCRIPTION
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chronicles of Chaos is a monthly magazine electronically distributed
worldwide via the Internet. Chronicles of Chaos focuses on all forms
of brutal music; from thrash to death to black metal, we have it all.
Each issue will feature interviews with your favorite bands, written
from the perspective of a true fan. Each issue will also include
record reviews and previews, concert reviews and tour dates, as well
as various happenings in the metal scene worldwide. If you'd be
interested in writing for CoC, drop us a line at
mailto:ginof@interlog.com. Concert reviews are especially welcome,
but please bear in mind that we cannot accept every submission we
receive."
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may subscribe to Chronicles of Chaos at any time by sending a
message with "coc subscribe <your_name_here>" in the SUBJECT of your
message to <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>. Please note that this command
must NOT be sent to the list address <coc-ezine@lists.colorado.edu>.
WORLD WIDE WEB SITE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are currently in the process of constructing a website for
Chronicles of Chaos. You can check it out by pointing your web
browser to http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html. If you have any
comments or suggestions, please e-mail Brian Meloon
<mailto:bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>.
FTP ARCHIVE
~~~~~~~~~~~
All of our back issues and various other Chronicles of Chaos related
files are stored in the e-zine archive at ftp.etext.org. Connect to
this site using your favorite FTP program and chdir to
/pub/Zines/ChroniclesOfChaos. For a description of each file in the
archive, check out the README file. You can also reach this site
through a web browser by pointing it at:
ftp://ftp.etext.org/pub/Zines/ChroniclesOfChaos.
AUTOMATIC FILESERVER
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All back issues and various other CoC related files are available for
automatic retrieval through our e-mail fileserver. All you have to do
is send a message to us at <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>. The
'Subject:' field of your message must read: "send file X" where 'X'
is the name of the requested file. Back issues are named 'coc-n',
where 'n' is the issue number. For a description of all files
available through this fileserver, request 'list'. Remember to use
lowercase letters for all file names. If you experience any problems
or are having difficulty, feel free to e-mail us the usual way at
<mailto:ginof@interlog.com>.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Issue #21 Contents, 6/7/97
--------------------------
- Editorial
- Loud Letters
- Ferocious Features
-- Napalm Death: Jesse's Jive
-- Sentenced: The Changelings
-- December Wolves: December Destruction
-- Hammerfall: Hammering Out the Details
-- Kalisia: Progressing into the Future
-- Within Tempation: The Last Tempation
-- Phlebotomized: The More Things Change...
- Independent Interrogations
-- Bongwater: Hits from the Bong!
-- Allegiance - _Blodornsoffer_
-- Arckanum - _Kostogher_
-- Aura Noir - _Black Thrash Attack_
-- Brutality - _In Mourning_
-- Dark Reality - _Oh Precious Haze Pervade the Pain_
-- Dead by Dawn - _After I Eat Your Brains_
-- Filthboy - _Diverse Reality_
-- Flotsam and Jetsam - _High_
-- The Gathering - _Nighttime Birds_
-- Hanzel Und Gretyl - _Transmissions from Uranus_
-- Hell on Earth - _Biomechanical Ejaculations of the Damned_
-- Impiety - _Asateerul Awaleen_
-- Incapacitants - _Asset Without Liability_
-- Integrity - _Seasons in the Size of Days_
-- Kiss It Goodbye - _She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not_
-- Left Hand Solution - _Fevered_
-- Masonna - _Hyper Chaotic_
-- Morgul - _Lost in Shadows Grey_
-- Mundane - _Feeding on a Lower Spine_
-- My Dying Bride - _For Darkest Eyes_ <video>
-- Ninefinger - _Ninefingered_
-- Obituary - _Back from the Dead_
-- Ophthalamia - _To Elishia_
-- Various - _The Ozz-Fest: Live_
-- Pyogeneis - _Unpop_
-- Slo Burn - _Amusing the Amazing_
-- Stigmata - _Hymns for an Unknown God_
-- Tartaros - _The Grand Psychotic Castle_
-- Theatre of Tragedy - _A Rose for the Dead_
-- Tiamat - _A Deeper Kind of Slumber_
-- Ulver - _Nattens Madrigal_
-- Usurper - _Threshold of the Usurper_
-- As Night Fades/Thought Masticator - _Sound as a Medicinal_
-- Enthroned - _Gothic Disturbance_
-- Red Tide - _Hybrid_
-- Spun - _The Spun Experience_
-- Filth: Cradle of Filth in Porto, Portugal
- What We Have Cranked
- The Final Word
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
E D I T O R I A L
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by: Gino Filicetti
Hey everyone! Bet you never thought you'd see us again so soon!
Well, most of you must be muttering under your breath, "Damn
magazine, I haven't even finished reading the last 'un!" Ha! Anyways,
all joking aside, I'm glad that we're back to our usual first week of
the month release date, makes things more predictable this way.
Nothing much has changed with regards to the magazine, however,
we've been working hard coming up with ideas to make the magazine
better since we've basically been the same for all of these 21
issues. However, you won't see any of these changes until we're ready
to unveil them all to you in one massive shot.
Our reader's survey is still sitting around awaiting completion.
I know I've been promising to have it out for the longest time, but
I'll stop that now; it'll be out when it's ready.
The Milwaukee Metal Fest is fast approaching, and it now seems
that a good chunk of the CoC staff will be attending. We're all
excited about going to see the show, meet some of our readers and
cause a shambles partying our asses off! Make sure to make yourselves
known to us if you see a bunch of shit disturbers snaking around
handing out CoC propaganda.
Steve's Osmose giveaway went off without a hitch. We were
surprised at how FAST the 20 CDs went. Inside of a day we had more
than enough correct answers. Thanks to all those who participated,
and to those who won, congratulations!
Well, as you'll soon find out, I've finally gotten back to
writing a few reviews, as this is the first month that I've been
completely rid of school. Feels as if I've had to learn the skill all
over again, but hey, it's well worth it.
That's about it people, keep those Loud Letters flowing, and
I'll talk to you soon.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Putrid Mind Records is doing a compilation CD to be distributed
throughout North America. They are looking for 10
Death/Black/Goth/Doom/Prog/Industrial bands to appear on this disc.
To have you band considered, or for more information email:
hate@telerama.lm.com or call Putrid Mind Records at (412) 563-6399.
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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:ginof@interlog.com> and enter
'Attention Loud Letters' in the subject field. Hopefully all letters
received will be featured in upcoming issues of Chronicles of Chaos.
Date: Sat, 17 May 1997
From: Graeme Roberts <gramex@intmex.com>
Subject: Energizer's Dad in Mexico on CoC #20
Dear Gino,
This is a critique from Adrian B's young-old man, down in sunny,
exciting Mexico. Just had a half-hour read through your CROC-of
-shit, er COCK-up ... I mean CoC #20. Read the feedback, plus the
Energizer's shit ... and some of the other reviews, ratings,
crank-outs. Thought his WASP interview was neat ... could see Adrian
shitting his pants doing it! However, please profusely apologize to
your e-m subscribers/viewers for me. We never raised Adrian to spurt
out and write such bad words.
And I disclaim teaching him anything about ... oh, my gosh!!! ...
ANAL CUNT ????? :-O
You must be a real BAD influence on him. ;-)
Jostling aside, the zine's a cool read ... big FUCKING KUDOS to you
and the CoC gang!!!! Looks like all the "heavy-netties" out there
crave-and-rave about CoC (not COCK, you foul thinker!)
See you again, some time when we're in Toronto.
Regards,
Cybionic Dad (Graeme Roberts)
From: Rick Fusco <Richard_Fusco-G12943@email.mot.com>
Subject: Dio Review
Alain,
In regards to YOUR side of the Dio show--I don't think Tracy G.
deserved the slam you gave him. I saw Dio a few months ago and the
best part was Tracy's guitar solo during "Mistreated". You obviously
don't recognize the talent Tracy posesses. The guy is giving you
insight into his soul right there on the stage. You're able to
stomach Vinnie's drum solo just because of his status? Is Tracy G. a
nobody to you? I guess you never heard of Rags, Mankind or even World
WarIII....Tracy shreded in those bands. This guy has so much to show
you people it isn't even funny. Live in the raw is the best way to
witness this "legend in the making". Just wait until his solo album
"G-FACTORY" comes out this summer--it's going to make you reconsider
your remarks. It's too bad your hindsight is only limited to Ronnie
James Dio. He is a legend but there's more to Dio than just Ronnie or
Vinnie for that matter. I suggest you do more research on someone
before you deliver such a slam.
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997
From: Joe Borowiec <borowiec@interlog.com>
Subject: Re: ezine
Hey man,
the zines pretty cool, just don't commit to death like that guy said.
I don't like that stuff. I can't ask you to totally eliminate it cuz
I'm sure a lot of people dig it. It's just not for me.
Later,
Steve Borowiec
Date: Fri, 9 May 1997 16:57:46 -0500
From: Philip C Hinkle <infestdead@juno.com>
Subject: Dan Swano
Thanks a lot for the interview with Swano in CoC #19 (in fact the
whole issue kicked ass: Edge of Sanity, My Dying Bride, In Flames,
Peter Tagtgren...I experienced an enjoyable overload!) The UK mag
Terrorizer had an interview with Dan Swano in their April issue, but
CoC's kicked ass all over it! You guys rock. I was hoping that you
could give me Dan's e-mail address so I could fire off a few
questions of my own at The Man. Keep up the good work and keep us
posted on any Swano happenings in the future.
Until Eternity Ends, Phil
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997
From: "Matthew D. Landgren" <Matthew.D.Landgren-1@tc.umn.edu>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters
Hey, I have a comment and a question for you and your readers.
One thing I have noticed about your ezine is that black metal seems
to be favored, while I do not despise all black metal, I find 90% of
it lame.
My question is what ever happened to the band Phantasm (the best
unsigned death metal bands I've ever heard although I heard they had
a deal with metal blade that fell through) out of milwaukee,
appearently they broke up a while ago but does anyone know if the
members are in other band now, especially their drummer/singer Tony,
he really kicked some ass. Any info is appreciated.
p.s. I'll miss the fake blood they spew on the crowd at metalfest and
their performance too. Also anyone know the bands at metalfest this
year yet?
Matt Landgren
land0122@gold.tc.umn.edu
vlad@bbs.phantasy.com
[AMG: See for yourself at http://www.mia-records.com/metalfest/]
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| \\ ___/| | \( <_> ) \___| ( <_> ) | /\___ \
\___ / \___ >__| \____/ \___ >__|\____/|____//____ >
\/ \/ \/ \/
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\_ _____/___ _____ _/ |_ __ _________ ____ ______
| __)/ __ \\__ \\ __\ | \_ __ \_/ __ \ / ___/
| \\ ___/ / __ \| | | | /| | \/\ ___/ \___ \
\___ / \___ >____ /__| |____/ |__| \___ >____ >
\/ \/ \/ \/ \/
The meat of the matter lies here. Read on for the juiciest morsels on
bands ranging from the reknowned to the obscure. No fat, no gristle,
just blood-soaked slabs served hot and ready. Dig in, readers.
J E S S E ' S J I V E
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Napalm Death
by: Adrian Bromley
Two things seem to dominate the cross-Atlantic phone
conversation between myself in Toronto, Canada and Napalm Death
guitarist Jesse Pintado in Birmingham, England: the departure and
reinstatement of singer/growler Barney Greenway and the sound of the
new album, _Inside the Torn Apart_. Nothing wrong with that, as those
are the two first and foremost topics on my agenda to talk with
Pintado about.
Where to begin? Let's start with the soap opera, shall we? To
most fans of Napalm Death, or just fans of metal music in general,
the departure of longtime growler Greenway was a shock to us all.
Greenway and his band forged forward with their extreme take on metal
music, molding it over countless releases (seven up to now with new
LP _Inside the Torn Apart_) and years of touring. The band is a
legend.
But things happen and as Pintado explains, the loss of Barney
was not an easy thing to recover from. On Greenway's leaving, he
says, "It was not a good time for us. We had been touring for eight
months with the last record and it just seemed that Barney wasn't
really into what we were doing any more with the music. He just
didn't get into the music of the last album (1996's _Diatribes_). He
wanted to go back to school and do other stuff like that. He really
wasn't at all happy with the direction that the band was headed with
our music. I mean he slagged the record quite a bit in some of the
press he had done for the album. He told us he was leaving and that
was that. We weren't shocked, just had to figure out where we would
go from there and most importantly who would sing for us."
The band found hope in Extreme Noise Terror singer Phil Vane.
"It was cool. We have been friends with Phil for a longtime and
really felt that his voice would be perfect for singing with us. We
got together and brought him into the studio. We had all the shit
done. All the music was down. All we needed was the singer."
The drama continued as Greenway soon joined forces with Extreme
Noise Terror as the new lead singer. And to make things even go
further down the road of trouble, the future of Napalm Death was once
again up in the air with Vane not cutting it. Pintado explains.
"Things didn't work out with Phil singing. It just didn't work out in
the studio and we were left hanging. I suggested we give Barney a
call and see if he was into coming down and singing with us again. At
least to give it a try and see what he thought about the material we
had assembled for the new record." Things seemed to be on the up and
up from that encounter with ex-singer Greenway and Napalm Death
members. Greenway joined the band once again and as Pintado puts it,
"Barney was really into the music we had created. He really dug it.
He couldn't believe the sound and heaviness we had put together. He
felt that we would be going more towards a mainstream sound and was
taken aback by what we had for him. He actually said, 'Wow! I like
this,' which is something he has never really said before about any
of the stuff we have done before." NOTE: Greenway not only sings on
the new Napalm Death record, but also is the vocalist for new LP by
Extreme Noise Terror.
And what about this new album? Well, the new album by Napalm
Death (produced by Colin Richardson of Machine Head and Fear Factory
fame) is a clear change from the definite mainstream sound that had
been etched into last effort _Diatribes_ and the preceding (same
year) _Greed Killing_ EP. This time out, on _ItTA_, Napalm Death
reach out towards an extreme feel to the pounding rhythms of their
music. While not as brutal or grindcrushing as past releases _Scum_
(1986), _Utopia Banished_ (1992), or 1994's _Fear, Emptiness,
Despair_, _ItTA_ truly allows the band to get back into a real
diverse and experimental feel. "This is a very cold record," notes
Pintado. "I dunno. When I hear this record, I don't really hear a
heavy or mind blowing dose of heaviness. I feel and hear a really
dark and eerie record that truly captures our heaviness, but puts it
into a darkened form. It's creepy."
Does Pintado still feel that the band has kept it's extreme
roots with this LP? "Of course. We haven't lost any of our roots. We
may have molded over the years, I mean you can clearly see that with
every release that we have put out, but we have always had that
extreme element in our music. We are always aiming to be able to
acquire that characteristic into what we do. I think a lot of people
who try to discover or analyze music are dumb, too. I think people
who think you have to play loud and deafening music at break-neck
speeds are not with it. Who says that is extreme? You can play music
that is soft and simple and still be labeled extreme. Napalm Death
has always been about being full of extreme music and passion within
what we play. It hasn't changed so far."
So, the band has finally set aside their differences with each
other and the band is back together once again. I bet Pintado is
relieved? "Yeah... relieved that we were able to get this record out.
It was up in the air for a bit with Barney out and trying in the new
singer. I'm just glad that we have this to show for it, a good
record."
He adds, "It was hard to deal with all of this stuff at first
because Barney was out and we had to keep it quiet so that no one
would find out what was going on. We did our best but people started
realizing that Barney wasn't showing up to rehearsal anymore. We
could keep the secret no longer. It went crazy from there with people
asking us what went wrong and what was to happen to Napalm Death. We
told them we'd continue on - and we did - and it worked out in the
end didn't it?"
Relieved for sure, Pintado and the rest of Napalm Death -
Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, other guitarist Mitch Harris, and
drummer Danny Herrera - plan to tour extensively in North America
following the release of _ItTA_ in early June. "I'm excited to get
back onto the road again. We just played two shows here in England
and it was great. It seems like all the shit in the last few months
had never happened. I've forgotten about it already," says Pintado as
he laughs with some relief in his voice. "We're ready to tour some of
our best work to date and that distracts me from past problems. The
music just keeps me going."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
T H E C H A N G E L I N G S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Finland's Sentenced
by: Adrian Bromley
Change has come quite often for the music and sounds of Finnish
quartet Sentenced. Each of the band's releases - _Shadows of the
Past_ (1991), _North from Here_ (1993), _Amok_ (1995) - has seen the
band evolve and form their own style and direction. The band's
latest, _Down_, is a truly stunning assortment of aggressive rock and
tough attitude, a far cry from the death metal beginnings of the
band. As far as changes have come for the band, guitarist/songwriter
Sami Lopakka has been pleased with what has transpired over the
years. "We made a different record with _Down_. When compared to
previous Sentenced records, _Down_ is very different in many ways but
you can still recognize the band from what we had done earlier with
the band. On _Down_, we are concentrating more on melodies and
harmonies that are now included in the guitars and vocals. As well,
we have a new vocalist [Ville Laihala who replaced Taneli Jarva] and
of course it is a big difference then. We constantly are changing
with the changes we bring to the band with new band members. We have
never done two similar albums in a row and I don't think we ever
will."
He continues, "Before _Down_, we were looking for something
fresh for the Sentenced sound, and before we recorded _Down_, we went
to Germany to work at the studio with Waldemar Sorychta (Grip Inc.
guitarist, producer for Tiamat, Samael, Grip Inc.), which was the
first time we ever had a producer work with us, and now when we
listen to it and hear what came out of the studio work, we can all
really say that all the effort and hard work was definitely worth it.
The whole feeling of _Down_ is what we were looking for us as a band
(rounded out by Vesa Ranta and Miika Tenkula)." The topic turns to
the rock feel to _Down_. Lopakka feels very strongly that the band
captured a true 'rock n' roll' feel with their latest, an album that
he describes as, "general negativity, suicidal depression, and
aggressive hard rockin' metal." About the sound of the record, he
adds, "When our former singer Taneli left the band, we knew what we
were looking for with a new singer. We were looking for a vocalist
who could do aggressive stuff and still sing in tune and do a bit of
rockin'. I think we found that in Ville."
About bringing Ville Laihala, Lopakka mentions of the problems
to replace ex-singer Jarva early on. "We had difficulties finding the
right guy. We tried for two months and tried out ten singers but they
were not what we were looking for. Us finding Ville was based on
luck. Our drummer found him in a bar singing one night, got him drunk
and interested in coming to the rehearsal studio to try out for the
band. He came down the next day and tried out for us and we knew
right away that he was the guy for us because we got along with him
on a personal level. We aren't very social people but from the first
minute he came into the studio, we got along and we knew we could
tour with him and work in the studio with him without any problems.
From that point on, it was easy for us to get ready to record _Down_."
As effortlessly as the new styles mold into the music of the
band, Lopakka acknowledges that the songwriting has not suffered or
been stifled with all changes either. "It comes together pretty easy
for us. The song writing, creating, and rehearsing of the material
has been pretty much the same for us for the last six years," he
says, "The only difficulties we may have is trying to do something
really new and that sometimes causes problems because trying out new
ideas may sound stupid at first, but after working the ideas into the
music, it shapes itself quite well."
About the depressive nature of the songwriting, Lopakka says, "I
don't really like to talk much about the songwriting because it is
quite personal, but when I sit down and write, stuff happens, and it
comes out like a terror before me. Kind of like getting rid of all
these suicidal thoughts I have in my head. I have to say, though,
that not all our music is depressing or suicidal. There is some humor
amongst what we do. And why do we write material like this? I guess
you can say that we like heavy drinking and suicidal behavior."
One thing that the band has seen in the last little while is its
share of success in the European metal music scene. Like many other
bands, Sentenced are one of many bands who have shown lots of promise
in the last few years, helping shape the sound and direction of the
scene over there. Lopakka has his own views of music in Europe. He
says, "A lot of bands are taking metal to many new directions. There
are thousands of bands out there and maybe 95% of them are crap,
trying hard to make new musical trends. I think a lot of those bands
and what they do is shitty, and I am not fond of following what is in
or out in the music industry nowadays. I just don't care about what
is going on. I focus on what I do and what I like and what I have
been into over the last few years. To me, music is the important
thing and not the fashion or the trendiness of it."
And how have they avoided following trends? He responds,
"Whenever there is something new that comes around, we don't grab our
instruments and say, 'Let's do that!' We don't care about what people
are playing or incorporating into their music. If some band has
Celtic music in their music, we don't do that. We stick to being
Sentenced and that's it."
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/ ___/ / ___ ____ / /_(_)___ / ___/ / ___ _/ /_
/ /__/ _ \/ _ `/ _ \/ __/ / __/ / /__/ _ \/ _ `/ __/
\___/_//_/\_,_/\___/\__/_/\__/ \___/_//_/\_,_/\__/
____ _
/ __/__ ___ ___ (_)__ ___ ___
_\ \/ -_|_-<(_-</ / _ \/ _ \(_-<
/___/\__/___/___/_/\___/_//_/___/
This is the column where CoC sits down to have a face to face, no
holds barred conversation with your favorite bands, and get the
inside scoop into what's happening in their lives.
D E C E M B E R D E S T R U C T I O N
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews December Wolves
by: Drew Schinzel
Good American black metal bands are somewhat of a rarity these days,
as they always have been. With this in mind, it's reassuring to know
that there -is- a possibility for quality bands to exist in North
America, as proven by December Wolves. The Massachusetts act recently
put out an independently financed mini-CD entitled _We Are
Everywhere_, and, although it only clocks in at nine minutes and two
songs, it serves as a promising glimpse into the future. Vocalist
Devon gives us the lowdown.
CoC: Why do you think the U.S. scene has such a distinct lack of high
quality bands such as December Wolves and Absu?
Devon: To put it quite simply, Americans, for the most part, are
fucking idiots. The moral value of this country has been
placed in the garbage. I'm not talking about Christian morals
or any of that shit, because we couldn't care less about that,
but people here are just lazy. I understand that's common
knowledge around the world, and a lot of people think that
it's a bunch of BS, but it's not. In most of the European
countries, people are brought up to care for the things in the
world that they do. Whether it be music or art, business,
work, etc. They're taught at an early age to take pride in
their work. That's something that people are not brought up
with here. If we sound European, then I guess it's because we
were raised with similar standards.
CoC: December Wolves are slightly unique in that you use riffs that
are very folkish and almost Irish sounding. What do you think
influences the band in such a direction?
D: It would be hard to say what would influence us in such a
direction, because as far as I know, none of us are really into
anything Irish or any of that stuff. We don't dislike it, but
we're not into that stuff as a band. People like it, though, so I
guess it's cool.
CoC: Have you been satisfied with the success of December Wolves so
far? Is that even important to you?
D: Our success is fairly moderate, as far as I can tell. We've been
really lucky, though, to play with some really good bands like
Absu, Enslaved, and My Dying Bride. We've also got a lot of
friends, and fans all over the world. All in all, I'd have to say
that I'm reasonably pleased with our success, which is good
because it definitely is important to us. Things are changing now,
and I'm sure that our popularity will increase considerably in the
near future.
CoC: How has the band been received by the European audience?
D: As I said before, we've been very lucky to have a lot of friends
over in other areas of the world, who have helped us out with
distributing our demo and our album, and people seem to like our
music. Those who have heard it, that is. I visit friends over in
Europe every year and most of the people I meet with over there
know who we are.
CoC: How was the recent live show with My Dying Bride?
D: The show went fairly well, I guess. The crowd was a little lame,
but what can ya' do about it? I guess one could say that the kind
of music that we play is relatively new to the people in CT. We
had a good time, though. We met with some friends and made some
new friends there as well. My Dying Bride put on a great show, and
they were very cool guys to hang out with. Cheers to them!
CoC: Are there any plans for a tour in the near future?
D: We're definitely looking to tour in the future, but I don't think
we're ready for anything like that, yet. We just want to play some
more shows in the area, and then we'll see what happens when we do
another album. Hopefully, we'll be doing another album and have it
released by the end of the year, and then we'll see what happens
with a tour. First things first, you know what I mean?
CoC: Have you been approached by any labels since the release of
_'Til Ten Years_, and the subsequent MCD?
D: I think a lot of people think that we are signed with Hammerheart
Productions still, so people should realize that's absolutely not
the case. We signed with him for that one album, and that was that
with him. We kind of kept a low profile for awhile after the album
was released, and we've just been working on new material for the
next record. Any labels or zines or anybody should feel perfectly
free to contact us if they have questions or interests.
CoC: Were you satisfied with Hammerheart's handling of the
full-length's release?
D: We were satisfied with some things. It was packaged fairly well,
and he was a fair person to work with, but as soon as the record
was released, he wouldn't contact us anymore. We would fax him a
thousand times, and he wouldn't respond. We have no knowledge of
how the record is selling, where it's selling, what people think
of it, etc. We're all individually, heavily involved in the
underground scene and we don't know these things. To me, that says
that he's not advertising it the way he should be. That's not a
good way to deal with a label, or for a label to deal with a band,
for that matter. That is one thing that we are all very UNHAPPY
with. He wanted to sign us again for another album, because he
liked the first one so much and then when it was released, he
didn't seem to care what happened. His loss, I guess.
CoC: Why did the band move away from the keyboards, female vocals,
and acoustic sections of the debut? Will they be present on the
upcoming full-length?
D: I think we moved away from that kind of stuff because we shouldn't
have been doing it to begin with. When we started this band, we
wanted to do stuff like that because we wanted to make the band
sound good. We thought that would help with the message that we
wanted to put forth, and it took a long time, and a lot of
self-analysis, on the parts of all members, to realize that we're
not into that stuff, really, and this resulted in our music
becoming more personal. That's what did it, I think. I'm not
saying that our music will not have any atmosphere anymore, but
it's not going to be because of synth and all of that shit. Our
atmosphere is going to be a lot more demented than that. Years
ago, we became December Wolves, and it's taken a long time, but
now, December Wolves has become us! Our next album will be
atmospheric, but it's not going to make people dream of
landscapes, and woods, and trolls, and all of that shit, it's
probably just going to make you wish that you weren't alive.
CoC: What are some other American bands that you respect and listen
to, black metal or otherwise?
D: As far as bands that are affiliated with the black metal
underground, the only bands that we respect, or associate with, in
the United States are Sorrow Bequest (ex-Uller), Absu, Angel
Corpse (ex-Order from Chaos), and maybe one or two others. We also
listen to bands like Faith and the Muse, Mephisto Waltz, L.S.D.
I'd have to say that most of the music we listen to, though, comes
from overseas.
CoC: How do your parents and relatives feel about your music?
D: Personally, I try to keep my relatives out of it. They don't need
to know what I do with my time. They're really not a big part of
my life, and when the subject of my band comes up they'll act like
they're interested, and I don't need their bullshit. My mother is
pretty cool, though. She likes Anathema, Helloween, Ulver,
Testament, and some of the other bands that I listen to. She's the
only one, in my family at least, who could really give a good fuck
about December Wolves. I could care less about support from any
other relatives.
CoC: What's your relationship with Dark Symphonies?
D: Well, we're all good friends. We like to go over to Ted Tringo's
house, eat his junk food, and pick on him when he gets shitty
black metal CDs. Ha, ha! No, I'm just kidding (Well...). He does a
lot for us in the way of pushing our material, and advertising for
us, and stuff like that. He's been very supportive of us,
steadily, for a couple of years now, and I must say kudos to him
for being so cool on that end of things.
CoC: Is it difficult dealing with a label such as Hammerheart, which
is halfway across the globe, in Korea?
D: Yeah, that was a fucking hassle. It was hard because we would have
to fax him and then wait for another fax, and all this other
bullshit. It was a pain in the ass! We asked him if we could call
him or something to make things a little easier, and he said that
he wouldn't be able to do that because he couldn't speak English,
he could only write it. That sucked, because even his writing
ability was significantly impaired. We got through it, hard as it
was, but we hope that, in the future, we never have to play games
like that again. It's not like there were any established labels
around here or even closer to us, for that matter. If we signed
with someone else, it would probably be a European label, anyway.
It just would've been good if he spoke English. I can't possibly
emphasize how much we sat and tried to figure out what the fuck he
was talking about when he faxed us and told us what he wanted to
do with the packaging of the CD. It was fucking hard.
CoC: That looks like about all I can muster up for now. End the
interview with any words you wish. Good luck to the future of
December Wolves!
D: Thanks for the interview. Like I said before, we should be able to
do another album, and have it released by the end of the year, so
everyone should be on the lookout for that. It won't be like the
last album, it's going to be a lot heavier, and a lot faster, and,
all around, just more EXTREME! Cheers to you, Drew, and good luck
with the zine and all in the future.
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H A M M E R I N G O U T T H E D E T A I L S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with HammerFall's Oscar
by: Drew Schinzel
When HammerFall's debut album, _Glory to the Brave_, is released this
June, no one will be prepared to experience the epic masterpiece of
melodic, powerful, emotional, inspirational, magnificent pure -metal-
which will grace their ears. After almost four years in embrionic
form, with constant member changes and little advancement, the band
have suddenly gotten their act together and released one of the best
albums I have ever had the privilege of hearing. Seriously, people,
once you start listening to this album you will not be able to stop.
OK, I believe that I should stop raving about the band right now, and
just say that Chronicles of Chaos was lucky enough to do the first
ever interview with HammerFall. Here is what transpired.
CoC: Why did you and Jesper form HammerFall?
Oscar: It was back in 1993, when I began writing some heavy metal
songs and came up with the name. I had asked Jesper Stromblad
to join me, and we decided to go ahead, on a project level.
For the next three years we continued on that level, with
various members coming and going. But when we were offered a
record contract, we decided to bring the seriousness up a
notch or two. Today, Jesper is a passive member, in that he
only takes part in the song writing process. The current line
up is as follows: Joacim Cans (vocals), Stefan Elmgren
(guitars), Fredrik Larsson (bass guitar), Patrik Rafling
(drums), and myself on guitar as well.
CoC: What other bands are members of HammerFall currently in?
O: HammerFall is the number one priority for us all. In fact, it is
the -only- priority. That is why we have had so many member
changes over the years, because the involvement got more and more
serious by the day. Since it started out as a project, everyone
had another "main band" which came first, and had to drop
HammerFall when the wheels started rolling on their other thing.
Finally, it is our turn to head out to the highway.
CoC: How important is HammerFall to you guys? How serious are you
about it?
O: Everything has gone fast this year, and more is yet to come. I
have a feeling we only scratched the surface so far. We are all
dead serious to make this thing work, and are prepared to really
give it our all!
CoC: Right now, the whole retro-metal trend is going strong, with
'new' bands like Bewitched and Inferno popping up all over the
place. However, HammerFall formed in '93, before all of this.
What do you think of this new trend, and what is HammerFall's
place in it?
O: I think that a band such as Paradise Lost, that evolves from being
a death metal act to a heavy metal act, have a small chance of
surviving in the long run. They are so limited as to what their
singer can do that they may burn out. That's where HammerFall is
different. I am the only one who has had any death metal
experience, so basically HammerFall is a genuine heavy metal band.
True enough, we started out as a project, but the lineup has been
changed so much that it isn't even remotely the same as in the
beginning. As for the trend; metal has never been dead! Those who
think that had better think again. All these years, heavy metal
has been like an outcast form of music, practiced only by the
'old' legends like Manowar, Helloween, Accept, etc. No new bands
true to form have popped up. HammerFall is on the frontline in
this battle, and will lead the troops to victory when the time
comes to march off to war!
CoC: Are you pretty satisfied with the album you've recorded?
O: When we entered the studio, we had an idea as to how we wanted the
result to be like. The finished product, though, far exceeds even
our biggest expectations! Sometimes, I can't believe how satisfied
I am with the result! And what's even better, people around the
world seem to appreciate our music as much as we do, and that is
an absolutely fantastic feeling!
CoC: You must be pretty happy to be signed to Nuclear Blast, eh?
O: We have just signed a four-album deal with Nuclear Blast, and they
are also releasing our debut album "Glory to the Brave" on license
from the Dutch label Vic Records. It will be out in early June,
and there is talk that we will function as an opening act for
Noise Records touring package Gamma Ray and Stratovarius! This is
so exciting! We are happy to be signed to Nuclear Blast, to say
the least. It means that our albums will be released worldwide,
which is the most important thing for -any- band. Also, they have
promised us extensive promotion, and judging by the success of the
latest In Flames album (also released on license, from Wrong Again
Records), that means -extensive- promotion!
CoC: Any plans for touring in the near future?
O: Apart from the planned Gamma Ray/Stratovarius tour, we have
discussed going as support for a major tour this autumn, but the
details are sketchy at best. It will probably be only Europe,
though. But we would love to go to U.S.A. and Japan sometime, too!
CoC: You've got to be aware of how cheesy the lyrics on your album
are... was this a conscious effort? Or did it just come out that
way?
O: I'm sorry, but I really don't understand this question. We are
aware of how the lyrics sound, and I think, to a large extent, it
was a conscious effort on Joacim's part (he wrote most of it). The
lyrics should reflect the music, entertain, and be about something
interesting, and I feel that feat was accomplished [definitely! -
Drew]. The topics might be considering somewhat 'cheesy', but on a
whole, I think it complements the music beautifully. [I couldn't
agree more - Drew]
CoC: Did you have any problems writing the material?
O: No, actually I am surprised at how easy things worked out when me
and Jesper sat down with our guitars. Of course, a lot of the
riffs have been around for quite a while, but songs like "Stone
Cold", "Glory to the Brave" and "The Dragon Lies Bleeding" are all
freshly written during last summer. Sometimes we created the vocal
harmonies, sometimes we just gave a tape to Joacim, who then added
his part plus the lyrics. I think it was a very free flowing
process, and probably the most fun I have ever had writing music!
CoC: What are your main inspirations and influences for HammerFall?
O: We usually consider Helloween, Accept, Judas Priest, Warlord, and
Stormwitch as our main influences, but Gamma Ray, Dio, Riot, Iron
Maiden, and Running Wild deserve to be mentioned as well.
CoC: Have you written any material for the next album?
O: We are constantly working on new material, but with all that has
been going on over the last few months, the song writing has
suffered a bit. Two new titles are "Heeding the Call" and "Let the
Hammer Fall".
CoC: Has Joacim ever had any formal vocal training? His singing is
amazing.
Joacim: I started singing seriously at the age of 21, and two years
later enrolled in the vocal program at Musician's Institute
in Hollywood, California. The program lasted a year, and was
very beneficiary to me, as it helped me put the pieces
together and improve my vocal abilities. However, the program
felt a little bit underdeveloped to last an entire year. I
think they need more qualified teachers and a better thought
out curriculum. They also have to require more previous
knowledge on the part of the applying students, and not
accept people solely based on the fact that the more students
graduating, the more money they make. I mean, they have to
take more responsibility for their students, spending almost
their lifetime savings on attending the school. They need to
make sure that the students actually can benefit from the
program -before- they start. Even though the MI really helped
me a lot, I think the real foundation was built the classical
way, at home. There, I spent a large amount of time singing
along with my favorite albums with a pillow mounted on my
face. Plus, of course, hours and hours of hard work during
rehearsals.
CoC: What does the future hold for HammerFall?
O: I hope the future holds great things for us, but you never know.
Right now, we're waiting for _Glory to the Brave_ to be released
in June, hopefully followed by the Gamma Ray/Stratovarius deal. We
are really anxious to see how the album will be received by the
metal media. I am being told that we will be getting good reviews
in two of the largest metal magazines in Germany (Rock Hard and
Heavy...oder was?), and we will be featured with one track on the
Rock Hard free compilation CD enclosed with every copy of their
new edition. The mag has a circulation of almost 90,000 copies, so
it means great exposure for every band featured!
CoC: Is there anything you think those who haven't heard HammerFall
should know?
O: This is all you need to know: HammerFall plays metal the way it
was supposed to be played and the way you (and we) like it. Fast
and furious at times, soft and tender at others, but true heavy
metal through and through. And, in the end, that is all that
matters!
CoC: It's good to see a new metal band not relying on an 'evil' or
otherwise 'shocking' image, or a whole lot of hype to cover up
musical deficiencies. How do you feel about this issue?
O: I think image is a very important part of the music business.
There is nothing worse than a band who simply goes on stage and
play in their street clothes, without realizing that playing live
is something special. If a band is nothing special on stage, only
those who really like it will stay interested during the gig. If,
on the other hand, you give the audience something to look at
every once in a while - such as explosions, fire breathing, scene
costumes, etc. - their attention will constantly be recaptured,
resulting in a better show, thus the paying crowd will get their
money's worth. That having been said, I on the hand think that
playing down the musical or instrumental bit for the sake of
effects is atrocious. Therefore, we try to find the middle ground
between the two sides, and combine musical skills with something
to watch during the shows.
CoC: HammerFall is one type of metal that can go a long way in terms
of popularity (not that it's meant to be popular, it's just more
accessible than black metal, et al.). How large do you want to
see HammerFall get?
O: As any band, I imagine, we would like to be able to lead a
comfortable life, living off of what we are making on the music.
But that requires a major hit and a large number of records sold,
and it is not realistic to expect that. But, as you said, heavy
metal has a better chance of getting through to the mainstream
audience than, for example, black or death. I really feel that
heavy metal is once again becoming popular with the average
listener. HammerFall might be right on time to ride the wave of
success, who knows? Anyway, we would like to see this go as far as
it can. You know, shoot for the stars and land on the moon!
CoC: What was the deal with the crowd noise in "Stone Cold"? Not that
I minded it, but why did you put that in there?
O: We thought it would be a cool idea to insert that somewhere. The
part of the song is designed for a live audience, as it expects
them to sing along, so we just went ahead and did it. I figured
that if Ronnie James Dio could have crowd noise on a whole song
("King of Rock 'n' Roll" on _Sacred Heart_), we wouldn't be
lynched for half a minute. Besides, I have always wanted to do
that!
CoC: Alright Oscar, that is all my questions for now... end the
interview as you wish!
O: Thank you for the interview, Drew, it truly was a pleasure! This
was our first interview, and I hope it will be followed by many
more! Watch out for the imminent and unavoidable return of heavy
metal to national prominence! THE HAMMER WILL FALL ON YOU!!!
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P R O G R E S S I N G I N T O T H E F U T U R E
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with France's Kalisia
by: Drew Schinzel
Kalisia is a band that you can probably expect to hear a lot more
about in the near future. Extremely melodic, very progressive, yet
still with a definite death metal edge to their sound, this French
outfit, after recording a four-song demo tape in 1995, were almost
immediately signed to native label Adipocere for release of the demo
on CD as part of Adipocere's Demo Series. Although it took nearly a
year to come to fruition, the MCD was finally released last November,
and is quite a piece of work. When one thinks about the high quality
of this release in comparison to most others out there, and the fact
that it is, in essence, only a demo, the future could not be brighter
for Kalisia.
CoC: There has been quite a delay since the recording of _Skies_ and
the present time. What have you occupied yourself with since
then? Maybe writing some new material?
Brett: Well, that's right, _Skies_ was recorded in September 1995. We
are all students, so this takes us quite a lot of time.
Concerning the musical activity, we have done several gigs
(we've played with My Dying Bride, Eldritch, Samael, Sadist,
Misanthrope, The Blood Divine), prepared the re-release of
_Skies_ on CD, and of course worked on new material, on which
we are still at work!
CoC: How was the writing process for _Skies_?
B: It's hard to explain our method of composition since we haven't
defined it yet. In fact, our method of composition changes
according to the ideas that come to us. Each idea can't be
developed in the same way. That's why each song has a different
structure. When we start to compose a song, we are unable to
foretell how the result will sound. It looks like a jigsaw puzzle.
We stick the pieces that can be put together, and when several
parts are developed enough, we link all of them while trying to
get something coherent. That is how we composed "Tower of
Vanities" and "Chimera". The composition of "The Mental Frames"
and "Lost Soul" was a little more logical; that is to say starting
by the introduction and finishing by the end. Each member took
part in the construction of the pieces even if the main ideas came
from Loic, Laurent P., and Brett. In the band, everybody composes,
and [composes] for everybody. That is to say, a guitarist can
create a drum part, the keyboard can create a bass line, and so
on. We don't only create our own part, but also the ones of the
others. All our parts are the result of the work of five distinct
individuals, and not only of one. But there's nothing of a
dictatorship in this, each musician should compose for the band,
at the service of the music, not for him.
CoC: Were you satisfied with Adipocere's handling of its release?
B: Well, not really. We have very good contact with them, they are
really nice and we are good friends, but there were some problems
very annoying in their work. First, they are very slow! It took
them one year to re-release _Skies_ after asking us to. You can
ask them something, you won't have it before three months, if you
have it! I think that they are overwhelmed by work, they have
organization problems. For the cover, they were such in a hurry
that they pressed all the copies without checking if the result
was good. I spent about a hundred hours working on the cover, and
all my work has been fucked up because of that! The result is too
dark, you can't see anything! We were really angry!
CoC: Have you been approached by any other labels to release a
full-length album? Will you be staying with Adipocere?
B: For the moment, we don't worry about that. We want to concentrate
on the composition, and we will think about that only when our
album will be finished. But we are confident.
CoC: What is the meaning of the band's name?
B: Nothing, it is just the name of the band. It has no particular
meaning as we created this word. We were searching for a name for
the band that wasn't already used, that sounded good, not too
ridiculous (name of a disease or of a demon), and that could fit
with our music. We then created this word, Kalisia, which pleased
us immediately, so we kept it. It's strange: why should we always
use already existing words to refer to new things?
CoC: Kalisia definitely aren't very "destructive" or nihilistic death
metal, as in fact the lyrics are fairly spiritual. Where do you
see your place within the scene?
B: I don't know. The more important thing is where the audience sees
us. We consider us more a progressive band than a death metal one,
even if we certainly sound more like a death band than like a
progressive one.
CoC: It seems Kalisia has risen fairly quickly in the scene (not to
say you are "big" in any sense of the word), seeing as you only
recorded one demo and were immediately signed to have it
released on CD by Adipocere. Were you rather shocked at these
occurrences?
B: To be honest, not really. We were aware that for a first demo,
_Skies_ was a good product. I don't think that a lot of bands work
on their first demo as we did. We really worked hard on our songs,
and we are happy to see that people appreciate it.
CoC: Will you continue to write new material in the same style as the
_Skies_ MCD?
B: We will continue to evolve and to progress. There is a great
difference between "Chimera", the first song we composed, and
"Tower of Vanities", the last one on the demo. We write more
mature and more progressive music now. For some people, it will
appear to be the same style, but for us, it's really different.
There are many passages on the demo that we wouldn't include in
our songs nowadays. We are more fastidious, more perfectionist,
more difficult to please.
CoC: Obviously, at this point, Kalisia doesn't earn enough money to
provide for its members. What do you guys do for living?
B: No, Kalisia doesn't earn enough money to provide for us, and in
fact, Kalisia doesn't earn money at all! We are all students, and
almost all live with our parents, or at least with their money!
CoC: What kind of reaction have you received to _Skies_ from the
public?
B: It's very good. We have incredibly good reviews in magazines, and
the public also seems to love us a lot. We have been elected 10th
best French band in two great French music magazines, with bands
like Trust and Loudblast. In fact, we thought our music to be
quite anti-commercial: too violent for the progressive audience,
and too progressive for the death metal audience. But in fact,
everyone seem to like our music, seeing in it anything they want
to.
CoC: Certainly, there are some French death metal bands, but
definitely not as many as other European countries. How would
you explain this fact?
B: There are a lot of French bands, but very few of them are known.
Many of them are very good, but I think that the foreign audience
has a bad opinion about the French scene without knowing it. I
don't really know why. I hope that things will change.
CoC: How big a part of your life is Kalisia right now?
B: In our heart, I can tell that it represents about 95%. In our
time, it's very hard to tell, knowing that we have other
activities, but none of them as important as Kalisia.
CoC: This may seem an odd question, but no one ever seems to ask it,
even though I think a lot of people are curious. How do your
parents and relatives feel about your music?
B: Well, it's really an original question! What they think about our
music? Usually, they like it, but they don't understand why I sing
like that! Ha, ha! They are quite surprised. They don't know this
style of music. They are also surprised to hear some melodies in a
music they thought to be noisefull.
CoC: What are some of your major influences, musically?
B: We are influenced by a lot of bands, from different horizons. Our
major influences are Dream Theater (#1) and Cynic. But we are as
well influenced by death metal bands (Carcass, Death, Loudblast),
progressive bands (Magellan, Ivanhoe, Yes, Rush, Angra, Vanden
Plas, Eldritch, Symphony X, Toto), black metal bands (Cradle of
Filth, Emperor) and others (Paradise Lost, Edge of Sanity,
Coroner, Watchtower, Atheist, Amorphis, Dark Tranquility). Every
band we listen to inspires us in the sense that if we like what
they do, we try to understand why, and if we don't, we try not to
make the same mistakes.
CoC: When can a new Kalisia release be expected?
B: Not before one or two years! We are working on a concept album,
composed of a sole and unique song subdivided in many parts. It's
a very hard and very long work. We are very enthusiastic about it.
But for the moment, we are far from having finished it. It's very
hard! So if you have ideas, help us!
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T H E L A S T T E M P T A T I O N
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Within Temptation
by: Adrian Bromley
Passionate and powerful sextet Within Temptation are a fairly
new band (formed in June of 1996) but play like seasoned
professionals. Their debut disc, _Enter_ (for DSFA Records), is a
stunning collaboration of beauty and creativity, delivered powerfully
though epic-like song structures. In all, much like Orphanage or The
Gathering, the music soothes and captivates us, taking us to a
different state of mind upon each listen.
Comprised of Robert Westerholt (guitars and growls), Sharon den
Adel (vocals), Martijn Westerholt (synthesizers), Ivar De Graaf
(drums), Jeroen van Veen (bass), and guitarist Michiel Papenhove, the
band is turning heads overseas with their music as well as playing at
the annual Dynamo Festival in Holland this year (which will have
happened by the time this story is published).
By e-mail, guitarist Michiel Papenhove answers the questions
that Chronicles of Chaos asked about his extraordinary and talented
band.
CoC: Explain to me the songs and ideas that went into the making of
_Enter_? Were all the ideas the band had for the record captured
in the recording?
Michiel Papenhove: With this record, we tried to create an ambience
to which people can flee. All songs are in some
way related to the theme 'escaping to a dream
world.' But on the album, some songs try to point
out that fantasy isn't everything and that
'ordinary' life can be great, too. So you could
call _Enter_ an album that can take you away on
some sort of a musical journey. Before we went
into the studio there were eight finished songs.
All of these songs were put on the album, so there
were no others left.
CoC: Why do you think the beautiful harmonies and death growls work
for the band? Why was this style/sound chosen by the band to
pursue?
MP: We try to create a contrasting feel with our music. That's why
Sharon sings like an angel and Robert grunts like some creature
from Hell. And that's why we have very clear and distinctive
keyboard parts and D-tuned guitars as opposite. I think we found
a rather good way of expressing both sides, because it works for
our songs. When Within Temptation was founded, almost all of us
had been playing in similar bands (The Circle, Voyage), and
Robert (who started everything) already had a mental picture of
what the music should sound like. So it wasn't very hard to
decide what kind of music we were going to make.
CoC: Is songwriting difficult for the band? How do you prepare for it?
MP: For this album, it hasn't been very difficult. Robert had been
writing songs for a couple of years already, so when we got
together we took pieces of ideas and tried to create new songs.
In about six months, we wrote eight songs, so you can't say that
it has been very difficult. And we don't really prepare for
writing songs, we just try some ideas and see what works best.
CoC: Influences? What bands inspired you to play music? What new
bands do you like?
MP: Our influences and bands we like Clannad, Enya, Dead Can Dance,
Paradise Lost, Iron Maiden, Marillion, Fields of the Nephilim,
Enigma, Satanic Surfers, Bad Religion, Hole, Tori Amos, Kate
Bush, Orphanage, Elegy, Cynic, and Tom Waits. Pretty diverse as
you see. The last time we've been pretty busy, so we hadn't any
time to listen to new bands, except the ones on MTV or so, so I
can't give you any names now. But I'm sure there are a lot of
them out there.
CoC: How would you describe your music? And the album _Enter_?
MP: Well, most of the time people refer to it as atmospheric metal
with doomy influences, and why shouldn't I agree with that? It's
so hard to label your music, so I usually don't try to do so. But
when people read about you they want to know what kind of music
they're reading about, so labels are very necessary. Better would
be if people hear our music and make up their own mind on how to
label it. And about the album, I think it has become a nice
'listener's album'. You can't really party on our music, so you
could call it a relaxing album.
CoC: What is your take on the music industry having only been in it
as a band for such a short time? Any things that enrage you or
piss you off?
MP: There are very nice things and there are very rotten things. But
isn't that what life's about? The music industry is just another
business, in which a lot of people only want to make money as
soon as possible. Of course those things piss me off really bad,
but what can you do about it? But there are really nice things of
course. For example, DSFA has gotten us a lot of things we
thought we'd never have. A great album, an appearance on Dynamo,
and lots and lots more. That's a great thing about the music
industry.
CoC: Tell me about the upcoming Dynamo show. Is the band different
live than on record?
MP: We try to get the some atmosphere live as on the record. But
since we only played about five gigs (yeah, Dynamo's coming
up...), I can't really tell you if we're very different live,
because I just haven't had the time to listen to it yet. Been
more busy concentrating on everything going right.
CoC: Where does the name Within Temptation come from? Any story
behind the band name?
MP: Not a real story. We just sat around thinking about a name (the
usual, as happens with almost all bands) and after awhile,
someone came up with Within Temptation. We decided it fitted our
music and kept it. That's about it.
CoC: How long do you want to do this 'music lifestyle' for?
MP: For as long as it's here. We are very down to earth people, so we
realize that this isn't gonna take forever. We just wanna enjoy
ourselves as long as it's possible. Music is still something that
doesn't make you rich, so we'd have to keep looking for other
things than just music. That's why four of us also study. But in
my humble opinion, it doesn't have to stop very soon. <laughs>
CoC: Explain to me the European metal music market? How do you think
it is different from the metal market over here in North America?
MP: Well, one thing is very evident: in Europe, we pay more attention
to bands from Europe than people from the US would normally pay
attention to bands from Europe. But I don't think the markets
differ very much from each other. We are all people who like some
kind of music, and that's why we support certain bands. Same
everywhere. Personally, I think there are a lot of good bands
coming from Canada (not only the heavy ones).
CoC: Future plans for Within Temptation? How do you see the band
changing in the next few months or year or so? New ideas being
brought to the music, etc...
MP: We're just letting everything happen to us. We would like to do a
tour someday, but that's about it. Time will tell.
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T H E M O R E T H I N G S C H A N G E . . .
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CoC chats with Phlebotomized
by: Drew Schinzel
It's been more than two years, but Dutch sextet Phlebotomized have
finally returned with their follow-up to the fairly successful debut
full-length, _Immense, Intense, Suspense_. The material present on
_Skycontact_ ranges from the powerfully emotional, yet still heavy,
"Never Lose Hope", to spacier, experimental tracks like "Achin'", but
throughout the entire effort the feeling of continuity is always
unmistakably audible. Quite a change from the musically intense but
ideologically distant _IIS_, _Skycontact_ takes the band in a new
direction, ever upward into a hallowed, but scarcely populated region
known as Originality and Emotion. I spoke to vocalist Dennis Geestman
about _Skycontact_, and other things.
CoC: I guess you must be pretty pleased with _Skycontact_, eh?
Dennis Geestman: Yeah, we're very pleased with the album. I read in
your review that you are, too. We, ourselves,
believe the songs are much better and more diverse.
Also, the album's production is better. We mixed it
ourselves this time. It's like you said in the
review, we took absolute freedom in writing this
album. It is us who make the choices for our music.
There are no persons or standards that limit our
freedom towards that. And when, in the end, the
result sounds the way you wanted it to be, it's
logical to be pleased with it, yeah!
CoC: What brought about such a huge change in your sound? Your
previous album _Immense, Intense, Suspense_ was, in my opinion,
excellent atmospheric death/doom, and some people might think
you've "wimped out". Care to explain?
DG: We want to bring a diverse sort of music. _Immense...._, as you
say, brought death/doom. This time we wanted to go beyond those
borders. That's why the album is called _Skycontact_; it
expresses that limitless feeling. Looking beyond those borders
was completely natural to us, because we already seemed to have
developed more interest in other music than only death metal
about 4 years ago. Wimped out? Sure, some grind fanatics might
think that we sound too soft, but we're actually taking a lot of
risks with this new album. The way I see it, bands who bring the
same music every damn album are the ones that wimp out. They play
it safe, they don't take any artistic risks.
CoC: Do you think you'll get a backlash from your fans and the media
for such an alteration?
DG: Well, it takes some (not much) open-mindedness to like and to
understand _Skycontact_. It's very important to listen to it
without distraction. Only few people will like this album
instantly. Most won't like it right away, because it takes some
time to let the album grow into your mind. So, the reactions of
fans and media will depend on how often they bothered to listen
to it. There are actually some people who turned down an
interview, because they didn't like the album. Yet, two weeks
later, they phoned again to do the interview, because suddenly,
_Skycontact_ had grown to be one of the best albums they'd ever
heard. So, to the ones that are shocked by _Skycontact_ in a
negative way, I would suggest you'd either listen or smoke more.
Best results are obtained with headphones.
CoC: If, with _Skycontact_, you're putting your emotions to music,
playing whatever you feel like, what were you doing with your
previous work?
DG: Basically the same, because we have always played what we liked.
But, the last two years brought a certain emotional devotion
towards our music. We have all dealt with some pretty hard stuff
and I guess that those emotions found a way out through our
music. Our previous work dealt mostly with fictional stuff. This
time it's real, it's personal.
CoC: The final song on _Immense..._ seems to be more in the style of
your latest material: clean vocals, more emotional feeling, etc.
Did you feel when writing this song that it would be your new
direction?
DG: No, "Gone" happened spontaneously. Certainly, it does contain
clean vocals and more emotion, but one cannot possibly base a new
direction on only one riff. It might sound closer to _Skycontact_
because it was the final song we wrote for _Immense..._. It
didn't set the controls for the music on _Skycontact_, but maybe
the song helped us understand that open-mindedness could be
accepted, because a lot of metalheads (generally known for their
conservatism) liked "Gone".
CoC: _Skycontact_ still contains some of the heavier, guttural
sections, but they are rather sparse. Did you only include them
so as to not -completely- abandon your roots?
DG: Look, it's really not that we don't want to play death metal
anymore. We just don't feel like playing merely death metal. We
want to bring more than that. It would be entirely too silly to
abandon our roots, because that would be narrow-mindedness from
our side, wouldn't it? It would be fantastic if death metal fans
could open their eyes towards other music because of
_Skycontact_. But it would be as fantastic if non-death metal
fans would start liking death metal because of our album.
CoC: Why on Earth did you name song number 3 "I Lost My Cookies in
the Disco"?
DG: Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. There's a mix-up in the track listing on the
promo CDs. Song 3 is called "Sometimes" (an instrumental) and "I
Lost My Cookies in the Disco" is actually song 4. It's a metaphor
to say 'throwing up because of today's society', which is a
disco, really. We came up with the title, realized that it would
sound really silly, and so we decided to keep it. The title
therefore is a joke on the difficult song titles from a lot of
death metal bands, including ourselves, in the past. So, the
joke's on us, too, but that's typically Dutch, I believe.
CoC: After a release such as _Skycontact_, what can be next for
Phlebotomized?
DG: I don't know, we don't know, nobody knows. We're not planning on
playing a certain musical style. We never did. We like to
surprise you, but also ourselves. We'll see whatever we'll come
up with. We do plan on writing some shorter songs in the future,
that's a fact.
CoC: What occupies the time of the band members while not doing
things for Phlebotomized?
DG: Nothing, really. Phlebotomized occupies all my time. Sure, I go
to high school, but when I'm there, I'm still doing interviews
and all. I got a girlfriend, but when I'm there, I'm still
thinking about the band. Phlebotomized really got into my head,
and it is our mission to get that name into yours, too, and keep
it there.
CoC: Do the members still maintain their feelings towards
Christianity?
DG: Well, yes and no. We still think the same about the hypocrisy of
religion, but those frustrations have already been expressed on
our previous work. Mushroom trips showed me that there has to be
a higher being, a certain cosmic power. It's really too 'earthly'
to think of that higher being in terms of a God or a Satan or
anything else human-like. We're part of the universe, not the
center. If it would exist, it would be something far beyond our
imagination. As long as this force doesn't reveal itself to me, I
won't devote my life to it. I will stay fascinated, though.
CoC: What do you think of the Dutch metal scene right now?
DG: There are some other open-minded acts, like Celestial Season and
The Gathering. Yet, most bands try to fit the trend, playing
Korn/Machine Head-like music. I'm really worried about the future
of metal. Songs have to be short and catchy. Some bands don't
even include guitar solos anymore. The older Metallica and Iron
Maiden albums, that's my metal. It was a lot more creative than
most metal from the 90s.
CoC: Care to explain the cover artwork?
DG: It is done by a local artist, called Gabriel Gressi. We told him
the backgrounds of _Skycontact_, and this is what he came up
with. There are a lot of symbolic things in the cover. Have you
already noticed the cat? It's hidden somewhere. Which reminds me,
there is also a hidden track on the CD. Push 'Play' and then
rewind to -7:18. You're in for a surprise! You'll find a song
called "Dizz-tanze", at least an instrumental version of it. The
lyrics were too personal and therefore could not be spoken out in
the studio. We're able to bring it off well, now, so perhaps
we'll release it some time later. It just had to be on the album,
because its feel was a great influence for the other _Skycontact_
songs. So, we chose to hide it in this way.
CoC: How did the band members collaborate on such an eclectic and
diverse work? Was the process comparatively difficult for you?
DG: Well, our songs are never finished. At a certain moment in time,
you have to record a song, but it will develop further
afterwards. I don't really know if it was more difficult to write
the new songs. I suppose they were, but on the other hand, there
was much more fun in writing them. The older songs were all
written by Tom and Lawrence, but now Ben and I had much more
influence on arrangements, too. We all could bring more from
ourselves this time, which is why the album is more personal than
all previous releases.
CoC: How do you feel about all the copycating and cloning going on in
the death and black metal scenes today? Was this one of the
reasons you chose to go against all of the trends?
DG: Yeah, the cloning of today is very sad, but it's not just
happening in these scenes, there's a low rate of open-mindedness
in every scene nowadays. Think of all those 70s and 80s hits that
currently get fucked up by 'artists' with a drum computer, but
without soul. We would like to bring something new. That takes
some inspiration, some innovation. It might allow us to become
trend setters ourselves some day. That's what we're aiming for:
respect for the fact that we dare to bring this. Let me put it in
few words: music is art, but where's the art in cloning?
CoC: Alright, Dennis, that should do it. I appreciate the opportunity!
DG: Well, Drew, thanks very much for this interview. Good luck to you
and the Chronicles of Chaos magazine. For the people out there
who are interested in Phlebotomized, visit our own home-page:
http://www.et.tudelft.nl/~ben (info, merchandise and e-mail
addresses on location). Of course we can also be contacted by
snail mail:
Phlebotomized
PO Box 1230
3180 AE Rozenburg
The Netherlands
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,.:/
Here is where CoC gets the inside story on up-and-coming bands. Check
out this column for a variety of fresh, brutal groups. Should you be
an aspiring band on your way to super-stardom, send us your demo and
bio; our address is included in the zine's header.
H I T S F R O M T H E B O N G !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Newfoundland's Bongwater
by: Adrian Bromley
They may be from the small town of Bay Roberts, Newfoundland
(Canada), but indie band Bongwater has got a ball-busting sound
that'll spin your head faster than you can say, 'Turn It Down!' The
band's six-song debut demo tape _Pissed Off and... FUZZED OUT!!!_ is
ultra-heavy, with its thick-riffed, Kyuss/Fu Manchu/Black Sabbath
sludge sound that just pours from every seam. The demo blew my mind,
regardless of the shabby recording of the material. Every time, it
kicks my ass.
The quartet - guitarist Nedal Ayad, vocalist Fred French,
drummer Michael Badcock and bassist Brad Spencer - have worked hard
over the last little while trying to get exposure out in Eastern
Canada. Things are starting to happen as people are starting to
notice and get hooked on the fuzzy and deafening sounds of the band.
By e-mail, guitarist Ayad took time from school and work to
inform us about what makes Bongwater tick, and his love for heavy
music.
CoC: How would you describe your music?
NA: I was hoping you wouldn't ask that. Lo-fi, sludgy, groove-rock or
something.
CoC: Do you think it is hard for young Canadian bands to get noticed?
What are you doing to get noticed?
NA: Oh yeah. The only airplay new bands get around here is on the
University radio station (CHMR FM). They're really good about
playing new bands, especially if they're Canadian. The commercial
stations do their best to ignore anyone that doesn't have a deal.
I can probably count the number of times on one hand that I've
heard an indie band on the 'main' FM stations. The CBC doesn't
seem to be too bad. I don't know 'cause I hardly ever listen to
it. Actually, now that I think about it the heavier bands have
the most trouble. I guess that goes without saying, though. I
mean, look at Much Music (Canada's answer to MTV), they have the
'indie video spotlight', but all they play are horrible
'alternative' bands and these loser solo artists. The closest
thing I've to a heavy band I've ever seen on it was about a year
and a half ago when they played Tone a couple of times. I think
that they might have played a Kittens video too. Or look at the
time slot that "Loud" (show for heavy rock/metal band videos) is
on. One o'clock in the fucking morning here with a repeat at five
or something. Even then they don't play much Canadian stuff.
Actually, we didn't do that much to get noticed. I passed out a
few tapes around the radio station (CHMR). I DJ there when I'm in
school and I know most of the DJs that play heavy music. I sold
some at a local record store. We made some posters and stuff. The
best thing that I did was send some out to 'zines. I've gotten a
lot of letters from people that read our review here or in other
'zines. The 'net is pretty good, too. There's a place called
Demon's Disks that lets you advertise your demo for free.
CoC: How is the indie scene over there on the East Coast? Is it
supportive?
NA: The scene here in Newfoundland is pretty good. There are a lot of
good bands. The shows are usually pretty good, too, 'cause you
get a good mix of music. At one show you can see a death band,
playing with a punk band, playing with a blues band, opening for
a straight ahead metal band. The categorizations aren't really
strict. There is a bit of elitism in the scene, the 'top' bands
for the most part look down on everyone else. There's some
bullshit. Although on an individual level most of the people are
great. Ren from Sheavy has been really supportive, from playing
our tape to putting us in touch with 'zines and stuff. As far as
I know, After Forever, Sheavy, Oberon, and us make up the heavier
side of the musical spectrum on this side of the island.
CoC: Do you think in order for bands to be successful nowadays they
have to be marketed a certain way?
NA: Marilyn Manson, I Mother Earth, Age of Electric, Pantera, Korn...
do I have to go on? They're all image based. Everything now is
marketing. Everywhere you look there's somebody telling you how
to look, what to watch, how to act, what you like. Unfortunately
most people are morons and they buy into that shit. Look at all
these shitty techno bands that are following all the shitty
alterna/punk bands, that followed all the shitty hair bands, that
followed the shitty new wave bands, that followed... The music
industry seems to work like this... a good band comes out with
and original look and sound, right away the media gives it a
name: grunge, black metal, or whatever. Then the record companies
fall all over themselves to sign any band that remotely sounds
like the first band, no matter how homogenized and shitty they
are. Witness Nirvana replaced with Bush. Look at all those
'arrrrghh' bands like Korn and the Deftones. Alice In Chains?
Alternative Section? What a joke. They're about as metal as you
can get. Just listen to them.
CoC: Where do you draw your song ideas or visions from? Does it get
hard to create music? Any remedies to combat stale writing
sessions?
NA: I get ideas from all over the place. Books, friends, movies,
music, a whole bunch of places. The music itself is usually the
easy part. We get a riff and everything else sort of falls into
place. The lyrics are the hard part for me. Fred usually just
sings whatever's in his head when we're jamming to get a melody.
Then he goes home and writes some lyrics. Most of the time, I
don't know what the Hell he's singing about. I only write when
I'm in a bad mood. "Heroin Girl" came out of something that I had
written about women being like drugs. You feel empty so you go
out and try to get laid but it doesn't really help, you just want
more affection or something. My lyrics were a lot darker. Fred
just took a line "Heroin Girl, come and fuck my pain away" and
changed it to "Heroin Girl come and take my pain away", then he
rewrote the rest of the song around that. I think that it really
is about drugs now. "Anything" is a composite of two things I had
written. The verses are from a thing I wrote when I was sick of
everything. I didn't feel like playing, writing, talking to
anyone, or doing anything. The chorus came from something I wrote
about religious fundamentalists and their blind faith. The two
pieces fit together pretty well. I can't really say anything
about the other songs, the lyrics are Fred's and I'm not going to
try and interpret them. The only other song that I can talk about
is the instrumental piece. I wrote that while I was overdubbing
some stuff on "Leave Me Alone", it's just a tribute to a friend
of ours that died in a motorcycle accident several years ago. It
was totally jammed out in about 20 minutes.
CoC: What keeps you doing this - y'know, being a musician? What got
you into this profession?
NA: I do it because I like it. I don't consider it a profession, I
don't even consider myself a musician (wow, that was
pretentious). I'm just someone who likes to make noise and annoy
people. I don't really know what got me into it. It just kind of
happened. I played piano for a while when I was a kid and I hated
every second of it. I had a guitar lying around the house but I
didn't bother with it. One day when I was around 13 I was in a
music store with my mom. Out of nowhere she asked me if I wanted
to take guitar lessons. I said, 'Sure. Why not?' The guy that
ended up teaching me is named Roger Howse. He's an amazing blues
player and he showed me that you could focus anything through the
guitar. He's a great teacher and a really cool guy. He turned me
on to a lot of cool stuff. He showed me some blues tunes (which
I've forgotten) and helped me stumble my way through "Sweet
Leaf". That was it.
CoC: Future plans the band? How do you see the band changing in the
next few months or year or so? New ideas being brought to the
music, etc...
NA: We're kind of on hold for now. Brad and Fred are in Toronto
working. I think they're also jamming with some guys up there.
I'm going to school here for the summer. Mike's working and
getting ready to go to school. Right now, Bongwater is something
we do when everyone is around. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to
record some more stuff near the end of the summer. I'm constantly
writing stuff with Mike. We've got about five songs now that will
probably end up as Bongwater songs. The stuff is constantly
changing, I've been listening to Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
lately. That might creep into it, although probably not.
Basically, the way it works is that I keep most of the
groovy-sludge stuff for Bongwater, almost everything else I write
goes to Groundwire (his other band) which is noisier and even
more raw. Every time Brad, Fred, Mike and I get together it
sounds different, but the basis is in that down-tuned mid-tempo
vibe, although Brad and Fred are pushing for faster songs. We'll
see what happens.
CoC: How do you think the Internet can help musicians? Do you use it
quite often or rely on the postal service and word of mouth to
help out? (seeing that you heard about us - I assume - via the
Internet?)
NA: Actually I saw your ad in Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles (a hard
rock music magazine found at all HMV stores in Canada). Then I
was surfing around in the 'zine section of Mega's metal page and
saw the link. I checked it out and sent you guys a tape. I think
that the Internet is a great tool if you can get around all the
bullshit floating around. E-mail is great, it saves a lot of time
when you're trying to contact someone - like this interview for
example. Some of the mailing lists are good. Home pages are a
great way to help expose your band. The web is a great source of
information. Personally I use both the Internet and mail to get
the word around. Locally, they're aren't a whole lot of people
online so you have to use mail, posters, the phone, and word of
mouth to get people to check out your band. Nationally and
internationally, the 'net is an awesome means of communication.
We're getting played on a station in Mexico, 'cause I answered a
post on a mailing list. So yeah, the 'net is pretty useful.
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This is where we rant, rave, and rip apart albums. Check this column
every month for the scoop on the latest in heavy hand-outs.
Scoring: 10 out of 10 -- If there was ever a perfect CD, this is it!
8 out of 10 -- A great piece of metallic mayhem
6 out of 10 -- Not too bad of an album
4 out of 10 -- You are treading in dangerous waters
2 out of 10 -- If you like this, you are fucked!
0 out of 10 -- My shit can put out better music than this!
Allegiance - _Blodornsoffer_ (No Fashion, 1997)
by: Drew Schinzel (6 out of 10)
_Blodornsoffer_ is Allegiance's second offering on No Fashion
Records, and follows much the same path as its predecessor, _Hymn
Till Hangagud_. Specifically, Viking black/death with boring
songwriting and uninspiring execution. _Blodornsoffer_ is perhaps a
little more manic than _HTH_, and less melodic; in fact, at times its
sheer ferocity and brutality make _HTH_ sound like In Flames or
something, at least _HTH_ showed some glimpses of creativity, whereas
_Blodornsoffer_ is an exercise in total musical mayhem, oftentimes
coming off as a mish-mash of thrown together riffs. Sometimes, this
can be good, and actually there -are- a couple of decent tracks on
the album, but these are the ones that break away from the "mayhemic"
mold and are for the most part slower and more thought out. The
buzzsaw guitars and loose production don't help matters. I think if
you tried to listen to this with the volume turned up loud, you'd be
scraping your eardrums off the walls. The bottom line is that
Allegiance haven't changed in any dramatic fashion since their debut,
and since _Hymn Till Hangagud_ wasn't anything special, you know what
to expect with _Blodornsoffer_.
Arckanum - _Kostogher_ (Necropolis Records, 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (9 out of 10)
It seems quite fitting that I'm writing this shortly after watching
everything in sight get viciously pelted with hailstones almost as
big as baseballs. (That is no exaggeration!) For like the unrelenting
hailstorm which I just witnessed, the music of one-man forest metal
batallion Shamaatae just bombards you with a barrage of atmosphere
and aggression, fueled by nature's harsh, primal vibe. Like the debut
CD _Fran Marder_, this is straight-ahead, aggressive black metal with
an expansive guitar sound, catchy vocal phrasings, great drumming,
and heavy forest atmospheres. Ambience is built up not only through
the tasteful use of nocturnal wilderness sound effects, but also
through distortion-dripping guitar tones which somehow manage to
sound loud, clear, and faraway all at once - like an earth-shaking
roar, heard from over the horizon and through the trees. Turned up
loud, Arckanum has a thick, enveloping sound which benefits from a
good, live-sounding mix. Thankfully free of more mainstream metal
influences, this is unswerving aggressive black metal with underlying
catchiness and surprising power and weight. There's also a good
number of varied embellishments to the core sound. Shamaatae's voice
is pushed to its limit, and perhaps even beyond it, in places.
Chanting, uncaring female vocals are used sparingly but well on a
number of tracks, as is a violin. Or maybe it's a cello, or a viola.
Hell, I don't know. (I also don't know what the laughable screeching
which opens the first instrumental track is doing there.) Anyway,
even with the occasional weak spot, _Kostogher_ really succeeds when
regarded as it was clearly meant to be regarded: as an album-length
synthesis of creativity and true blackened harshness.
Aura Noir - _Black Thrash Attack_ (Malicious Records, 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (7 out of 10)
Ah, yes... another cigs, suds 'n' Satan eighties metal fest. This
two-man band's debut MCD, _Dreams Like Deserts_, was greatly enjoyed
around here, thanks to its faithful yet updated take on the old
school. MCD tracks like "Forlorn Blessings to the Dreamking" and the
excellent "Mirage" add to a solid old school basis with really catchy
vocal phrasings, sharper riffs, and quicker tempos - like Deathwitch,
but lots better (I rate _DLD_ an 8 out of 10). On this full-length
CD, by contrast, formula tends to triumph over creativity. Its
"Destructor" this, "Conqueror" that, and "Blasphemer" the other -
minus the nineties edge of the MCD material, and minus the superior
sonic dynamics of eighties greats like Kreator and Sodom. Of course,
Aura Noir do a great job of sounding like Kreator and Sodom whilst
blatantly copying Kreator and Sodom riffs, as they do on a couple of
tracks. They copy some Slayer riffs, too, and the album contains
other recognizable knock-offs whose band of origin I haven't bothered
to figure out. Still, these guys occasionally get the crusty old vibe
just right. And when they do, they sound pretty damn cool to this
living relic, especially on "Wretched Face of Evil" and "The Pest"
("You shall stand petrified by the fierce pest," we are warned).
Great, bottom-heavy production helps, and there are some cool riffs,
here too - alongside a few pretty limp ones, it must be said.
Nevertheless, as eighties retreads go, Aura Noir are easily the best
of the bunch. _Black Thrash Attack_ is not bad, but their first
release showed that they can do better.
Brutality - _In Mourning_ (Nuclear Blast, 1997)
by: Gregory Nalbandian (6 out of 10)
Consistency is a quality possessed by few death metal bands in
today's scene (with the exception of those that consistently suck).
It seems like bands start out strong, then around their third or
fourth album, the music begins to fade as it slowly atrophies into
weaker forms of music that just can't please the fans of early
releases. Bands like Obituary, Death, and Sepultura put out some of
the best early death around, yet only succeeded in disappointing us
with their last few albums. Unfortunately, Brutality can now be added
to the growing black list of those that once had 'it'. Much of the
cleverness appears to have vanished from their signature harmonic
style that once surprised listeners but now lulls them to
disinterest. _In Mourning_ is forty-seven minutes of heavy death that
feels underdeveloped and sometimes even stale, with riffs that repeat
five or six times when the songs naturally need a change. Even though
many of those riffs are creative and catchy, the intensity of the
songs is often lost in repetition and bland song structure that
creates an anti-climax. The vocals don't really help the situation
either as the singer barks out lyrics so cliche, they couldn't even
bring a tear to Tammy Faye's eyes. What's noteworthy are the number
and length of the guitar solos found throughout this recording. There
are often three to four per song, some of which are performed by
'special guest', Jerry Outlaw, who I feel is a tad better than the
band's own guitarists. It's a bit of a disappointment since he only
plays in two out of the nine tracks. However, despite all of its
faults, _In Mourning_ is an album worth considering if you are a
faithful fan of death metal.
Dark Reality - _Oh Precious Haze Pervade the Pain_ (WitchHunt, 1997)
by: Brian Meloon (6 out of 10)
The description '11 delightful songs and pieces for singers, guitars,
bass and drum machine, partly with historical woodwinds' appears on
my copy of this disc, and perhaps sums it up best. Billed as 'baroque
gothic art metal', this is a lot less metal than I was expecting.
Actually, it isn't at all what I was expecting. It sounds alternately
like folkish metal, (light) death metal, Simon and Garfunkel, rock
remakes of baroque pieces (with up-tempo drum beats), and
German/Scottish/Dutch drinking songs (somewhat like Moonspell's
"Trebraruna"). There really isn't that much metal here, as a lot of
it is acoustic guitars and flutes (all woodwinds sound like flutes to
me). Most of the metal sections aren't very heavy, usually about the
heaviness of Skyclad, who are about the only band to whom I can
compare these guys. The production adds to this feeling, as while
it's not bad, the guitar sound is thin and sounds faded in parts.
With a stronger, sharper guitar tone, this could sound powerful and
the contrast would be more effective. The playing can't be faulted,
but there really isn't anything too difficult on here. I guess I'll
give these guys credit for being original, since I can't say I've
ever heard anything quite like it, but a lot of parts either simply
don't work or are goofy, and even those that do aren't that
impressive. Notwithstanding these problems, this has grown on me, and
I'm enjoying it more than I did upon first listen.
Dead by Dawn - _After I Eat Your Brains_ (Independent, April 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (1 out of 10)
Oh my GOD! Could we not be more of a blatant rip-off of 'shock
rocker' Marilyn Manson, but with more of a 'cock-rock' hard rock edge
to it? Toronto four-piece Dead by Dawn are on a trip to nowhere with
their lame attempt to even strive to find any kind of originality
within their nasty/scary image and sound. Lame, lame, lame. The
gimmicks of being nasty and rude don't really do much to their
credibility of being reckless rebels or whatever they are trying to
be. The music? Well... let's just say they are in a class all of
their own. The lyrics? Next. Even the whole schtick of dressing up
all sinister (as seen in the liner sleeve photos) looks staged. Is it
Halloween? I dunno man, but someone has to draw the line here and
tell this band to get a new sound and style before they get more
reviews like this one. I would say 'sorry' but that would mean I
didn't really mean what I said and that ain't the case here.
Contact: Dead by Dawn, P.O. Box 90057, 1436 Queen St. West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6K 1M2
Filthboy - _Diverse Reality_ (None of the Above, May 1997)
by: Gino Filicetti (9 out of 10)
After almost a year since their last demo release, Pittsburgh's
premier indie band release the first CD of their career, entitled
_Diverse Reality_. Needless to say, I'd been anticipating this
digital release for a long time. I knew that once these boys got
their hands on some REAL studio equipment, the result would blow me
away. Well, _Diverse Reality_ is just that, a masterful recording
that showcases this band's immense talent without the annoying hiss
of a demo recording. Many things have changed since we last
encountered Buzzy and Kevin. For one, they have introduced a third
permanent member into their close-knit duo. One Scott Lewis, who I'm
sure many of you will recognize as Brutal Truth's ex-drummer,
however, Scott has given up the skins taking up bass duties instead.
Also, the band's sound has drastically changed as well. Now no longer
the hardcore/metal hybrid of days gone by, Filthboy have opted for a
fresh new sound which is beyond classification. After some bad
experiences with live drummers, the Filthboys have chosen to use a
drum machine from now on, which is definitely to their advantage as
most of these tracks sound at home with a machine. 10 tracks adorn
this CD, and range from some heavy riffing metallic sounds, to the
mechanized sound of industrial metal, to some danceable techno beats,
and closing the CD is "Alone", a nice mellow acoustic track with a
few surprises thrown in. The layout and artwork of this CD are all
care of Scott Lewis, artist extraordinaire who's sick art has graced
many an album, including Malformed Earthborn's _Defiance of the Ugly
by the Merely Repulsive_. Samples are plentiful on _Diverse Reality_,
one of my favorites is contained in "Hold Me", and goes something
like this: 'I can lay you out and fill your mouth with your mother's
feces.' All in all, I think this CD kicks arse, and is worth looking
into.
Contact: Filthboy c/o None of the Above
P.O. Box 654, Farmingville, NY, 11738, USA
mailto:hate@telerama.lm.com
http://www.lm.com/~hate
Flotsam and Jetsam - _High_ (Metal Blade, May 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
While a lot of the material on _High_ seems to dwell on the same
sound and style, it is the intensity and dedication that the band put
into the latest work that truly puts this record 'high' on my list of
recommendations. Simply put: it rocks! It has been a long time since
we last saw something good from F&J (1992's cool _Cuatro_ LP) and an
even longer time since their debut LP from eleven years ago,
_Doomsday for the Deceiver_. But I guess, like wine, musicians do age
and they either get better or go sour with what they are doing. This
time around, on _High_, the band has refreshed their sound,
incorporating a lot of their older styles of playing and some new
ideas. The mixture works well. Packed with powerful riffs, total
attitude and some great song writing, Flotsam and Jetsam's LP just
reeks of 'metal'. Even the band wants us to know this, as the CD
sleeve even says, 'IT'S METAL, SO FUCK OFF.' For those of you who
have a thirst for some real hard-hittin' and creative metal for 1997,
here's your pick.
The Gathering - _Nighttime Birds_ (Century Media, 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)
After what seemed like a very long time since the superb _Mandylion_,
The Gathering are back, seemingly unchanged. _Nighttime Birds_, their
newest, shows vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen in top shape, but
unfortunately only for less than 50 minutes, which leaves you wanting
more after it's over. The album starts off extremely well with "On
Most Surfaces", and, well, it proceeds extremely well all the way
till the end. My personal highlights for this album are on the first
track I mentioned above and also "The Earth Is My Witness" and the
last three songs. If you know _Mandylion_, _Nighttime Birds_ is
essentially more of the same (cheers), with a few tweaks here and
there and soft parts showing up more often. If you have never heard
their previous album, well, you don't know what you've been missing.
No, seriously, The Gathering are basically a melodic metal band based
upon a slight doomy edge, featuring the brilliant female vox of
Anneke and a very good instrumental side. I can't say much more about
this album, really, it's just the best album I've heard this year so
far (OK, we're still in June, but the point is that this is an
excellent album), and The Gathering have succeeded in making an album
that is at the same time similar and different enough from their
previous effort, something that I think is very difficult to achieve.
If you like melodic female voices, buy it -now-.
[Reviewer's note]:
There's also an EP out for a while now called _The May Song_, which
features precisely "The May Song" twice (one being the radio edit),
an edited version of "The Earth Is My Witness", and a live recording
of "Strange Machines" with an orchestra! In what concerns this live
recording, Anneke's voice is simply flawless live, you must hear it
to believe it, and it's a very clear recording, too; the orchestra
does some nice stuff here and there, but most of the time, it's not
an improvement over the original. If you already have _Nighttime
Birds_, then this is for fans only.
Hanzel Und Gretyl - _Transmissions from Uranus_
by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10) (Energy Records, May 1997)
I really like this band. Ever since I heard their 1995 debut disc,
_Ausgeflippt_, on Energy Records, I was hooked. It was full of weird,
demented samples and sounds dispersed within loud noises, industrial
riffs, and lyrics sung in German that caught my ear. I was eagerly
awaiting to hear the follow-up to their debut, hoping that as well as
continuing to be weird and all that, their music would be stronger
and more diverse. My prayers had been answered. The band's latest LP,
_Transmissions from Uranus_, is an amazing record. From the opening
transmission of "Black Forest Galaxy" onto the closing number of "Om
Zentrale Station" the band lays it all out on the line. Incorporating
such music styles as industrial, noise, ambient, techno, and metal
(the list could go on) _TfU_ kicks and screams with diverse sounds
and ideas throughout, sectioned off by intricate samples and sound
bites. In some sense, _TfU_ is like a bad B-movie sci-fi flick. There
are a lot of people out there who may not know of HUG, and that is
unfortunate, but I am *highly* recommending this record to anyone who
is into diverse sounds and obscure song styles all rolled into one
package. One of my fave records of 1997.
Hell on Earth - _Biomechanical Ejaculations of the Damned_
by: Adrian Bromley (5 out of 10) (Neptune Records, May 1997)
This is some serious, hateful shit here. But is it real or just
contrived as a gimmick? With songs like "I Hope You Catch A.I.D.S."
and ""Baptized In Semen", one has to wonder, but no matter, as HoE
deliver some serious and violent carnage that spew forth from this
16-song outing. It's a mixture of everything from death metal to hard
rock to industrial, with all of the material working itself around a
violent vision or idea. I liked this record for the sheer fact of its
brutal onslaught and destructive nature, but after multiple listens,
the record does get old fast, and while once the material seemed
fresh and rabid, the music ends up being another allotment of
hate-filled ideas worked into a song format. For all you sick,
hate-filled metalheads, you may want to give this a go. Others
proceed with caution.
Impiety - _Asateerul Awaleen_ (Shivadarshana Records, 1996)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (5 out of 10)
As Drew pointed out during a recent e-mail exchange, it seems like my
experience with the latest Gehennah album would've taught me that a
band's talent for humor doesn't necessarily translate into actual
musical prowess. But I guess I didn't learn my lesson from _King of
the Sidewalk_. So, when I recently read about the hilarious insults
which Impiety had heaped on the Norwegian black metal scene, I
decided I'd really like to hear their music. But now that I have, I
can't come up with anything very nice to say about it. It's chaotic
black metal which is lacking in anything special, except perhaps for
the outrageous song titles and the members' outlandish black metal
get-ups. I'm particularly fond of the outfit sported by Mister
Al-Markum Abyydos, who performs the "Hellharp of Witchbitchery."
There appear to be more nails decorating this guy's wardrobe than
there are holding up my house. Sadly, though, the band's performance
is far from Witch-bitch-errific. Boring riffs occupy most of the
album's playing time, and the songs generally don't have much
development or atmosphere. Powerless, overly-high-pitched vocals
don't help. I bet it would be pretty fun if lyrics were provided, but
they're not. It's too bad, too, because you've just got to want to
like an album with song titles like "Divine Humatahan Frostfuck".
Maybe next time. I'm not writing these guys off yet.
Incapacitants - _Asset Without Liability_ (Bulb, 1997)
by: Andrew Lewandowski (9 out of 10)
Recently, the Japanese noise scene has grown stagnant, despite once
deserving praise as the only scene producing music relevant to our
nihilistic, self-destructive, post-modern society. In the dying mecca
of noise, most Japanese artists have failed to explore the
possibilities of anti-music; only sonic homogeneity resounds. Even
the exalted king of noise, Masami Akita of Merzbow, began to simply
rehash the accepted Merzbow sound on each of his many recent
releases. Although never drastically diverging from the noise
patterns of their earlier releases, the Incapacitants are one of the
only noise artists to produce a continuous string of enticing albums.
_AWL_ continues this trend; once again, the patented Incapacitants
layered wall of static and screeches resonates throughout, yet the
wall has been cultivated a bit. Now, the Incapacitants have become a
bit more explicitly violent; the high-pitched background screeches of
the past are supplemented by more obese and schizophrenic power
electronics. The result is akin to the consumption of 110,000 Tokyo
businessman by an unyielding earthquake (as opposed to a few older
Incapacitants releases, in which death was achieved by insinuation),
and produces one of the more confrontational, yet still entertaining
throughout, noise albums of the past year.
Integrity - _Seasons in the Size of Days_ (Victory, June 1997)
by: Angel "Metalcore" Juarbe (9 out of 10)
The latest opus from the reigning kings of Cleveland evilcore sees
the band exploring deeper into lead vocalist Dwid's dark apocalyptic
visions, along with probing his fascination of man's inhumanity
toward man. Over the years, Integrity's sound has tightened and
matured while leaving the hardcore cliches behind and becoming the
full-on thrash band they've always hinted at. Sounding at many points
like Slayer, the record is loaded with fat riffs, harsh death-like
vocals and great breakdowns. The band is talented and Dwid's lyrics
will have Christians begging for salvation. My only problem with this
record is that it's too short and is barely a full-length, although
there is a long and eerie surprise rounding it out. So listen close
and remember that true evil lives in Cleveland. Screw Norway and
their elves, get this!
Kiss It Goodbye - _She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not_
by: Zena Tsarfin (9 out of 10) (Revelation, May 1997)
Imagine yourself inside the mind of a madman; eavesdropping on his
inner thoughts and self-examinations, bearing witness to his
precarious contemplations and angry bouts. Now imagine that voice had
a soundtrack filled with avant-jazz start/stop spurts of rage and
eeriness. Welcome to _She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not_, the debut
album from Kiss It Goodbye. The transplanted Seattlites have created
a cacophonous brew of hardcore, noise, and some old-school evil in
the style of Deadguy, which isn't surprising since both KIG's singer
and guitarist were members of the aforementioned band.
Narrative-style, angry-white-male lyrics only serve to give the
intense rhapsodies a personal touch, and for every contemplative
"Hartley" and "Ammunition" there's a ferocious "Helvetica" and
"Manthing". While this haunting noisecore record isn't for everyone,
for those voyeurs that can appreciate the dissonance of Neurosis and
the Unsane, _She Loves Me..._ will be a head trip they won't soon
forget.
Left Hand Solution - _Fevered_ (Nuclear Blast, 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8 out of 10)
LHS have been around for some time now, but this is their first
full-length album - and a worthy one too. This Swedish band lays
their music upon some dirge-like guitar playing, well backed by the
bass, with a very good drummer, Erik Barthold, who also happens to
write most of the music. On top of this, there's a very talented
female vocalist, Mariana Holmberg, who owns a melodic, varied, and
mostly very sorrowful voice, and is responsible for most of the
melodies. Comparing LHS to The Gathering is almost impossible to
avoid, but the two bands are actually quite different once you get to
know them: LHS are doomier, sadder, and slower, while The Gathering
rely more on the excellence of their melodies, the doom influences
being somewhat softer. Which one is better? That will depend mostly
on the listener, as both bands are very good, even though I consider
The Gathering as being a bit better. About _Fevered_, it's a must-buy
if you enjoy doomy, yet melodic, femme vox-based bands; however, this
is not a soft album at all, despite the female vocalist (or possibly
-because- of the female vocalist, at times), as both the atmosphere
and the sound itself are somber and heavy all the time, even though
they use some softer parts. An album that shows lots of personality
and very high quality.
Masonna - _Hyper Chaotic_ (V. Records, 1997)
by: Andrew Lewandowski (7 out of 10)
Granted, no one could praise Masonna for his variety or ingenuity,
but this noise does contain one virtue: it hurts. Once played at the
proper volumes (that is, louder than possible), each of these 19
orgasmic blasts of spastic noise bludgeon your ear canals, distort
your neurons, and alleviate all thought besides the pain resulting
from Masonna's sonic ejaculations. A menagerie of frequencies
fluctuated from both the high- and low-pitched ends of the sonic
spectrum smack into your skull at a nauseating pace, but move so
quickly that nothing can be grasped, and the entire thirty-minute
barrage melts into a wave of distortion and screams. Even so,
something still can be said for the sheer ferocity of Masonna, and
_Hyper Chaotic_ is an interesting listen for at least the first few
experiences until the novelty wears off.
Morgul - _Lost in Shadows Grey_ (Napalm Records, April 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (8.5 out of 10)
This five-track, 41-minute offering of Norse black metal may not be
notable for its originality, but it's extremely well-executed, and
it's admirably free of the slick accessibility now offered by many
once-fiercer Norse bands. Not that this sounds as animalistic as
Ildjarn or something. No, it's more comparable to early Satyricon,
but with less reliance on keyboards, more straight-ahead riffing, and
overall clearer production. Lengthy songs are skillfully broken up
into sections, but not so many of them that the song is impeded or
fragmented by excessive musical shifts. Instead, all of the songs
flow nicely through a variety of paces and moods, with some
especially well-done mellow interludes providing contrast with the
emotive, articulate black metal sections. (In this, they really
remind me of Limbonic Art - but Morgul's overall sound is much more
organic and guitar-heavy.) The haunting opening and interlude found
in "Hunger of the Immortals" are especially cool. Listen closely for
the baying of wolves amidst softly interwoven acoustic guitars and
(synthesized) violin... and prepare to be smacked by an explosion of
face-removing riffing and drum blasts. The opening to the excellent
"River of Princes" stands out in a similar way. (This song also
features a very well-recorded bit of acoustic soloing backed by black
metal rhythm guitar.) Vocals are raspy yet expressive, and the mix
and production are very good without being overly polished. Morgul
may not be doing anything especially novel, but _Lost in Shadows
Grey_ features such strong material, performed so well, that it
doesn't feel the least bit derivative or insincere.
Mundane - _Feeding on a Lower Spine_ (Hypnotic Records, May 1997)
by: Gino Filicetti (9 out of 10)
After more than four years since the release of their debut CD, the
Rebelo brothers and company are back to bludgeon our brains once
again. This album has been anticipated for more than a year and I can
personally vouch for how anxiously it's been awaited. True to form,
Mundane does not disappoint on _Feeding on a Lower Spine_. Compared
to their first CD, the production on this album is leagues above and
beyond _Seed_. Every song on this release is unique and showcases the
diversity and originality that embodies this band. The lead off track
is an intro to "Drowning in the Mainstream", a song that appeared on
Ed Balog's _Sonic Obliteration Vol I_. Following this track we get a
taste of some new Mundane material; "In This Life" starts with some
POUNDING double bass care of Mundane's new drummer, Scott MacIntyre,
and also features some cleaner vocals from Vitor for a change. Some
standout songs are "Sybil", a techno-ish affair that reminds me a lot
of Daft Punk, some tribal beats in "Like a Blur" and an acoustic
instrumental track entitled "La Na Rua" which is in memory of Joao
Rebelo and Jose David. Finally, the album closes with "An Ancient
Dance by Modern Terms" which I can only fathom to guess is a
Portuguese folk song redone in classic Mundane style. Once again,
Mundane proves that they are Toronto's leading band.
My Dying Bride - _For Darkest Eyes_ <video> (Peaceville, 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo (10 out of 10)
Starting in 1992 with "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" and
finishing with 1997's "For You", the first 30 minutes of this
videotape are dedicated to all six of MDB's video clips. Not much to
be said about them, the first four are quite lacking in the funds
department (even though the vid for "The Thrash of Naked Limbs" is
still quite interesting), and the latest two are the ones with the
professional look and the most powerful imagery; however, one thing
is common to all six of them: the music is just superb. After all
this comes the main dish, a live concert in Krakow (Poland) in March
1996. It's one hour and ten minutes long, the picture quality's very
good, and the sound is just as good as you could possibly expect it
to be for a live recording. 'What about the concert?', I hear you
ask. Well, first you might want to take a look at my review of MDB's
latest album, _Like Gods of the Sun_ [CoC #17]. As you can see, I
-really- like this band. However, there are no tracks from _LGotS_ in
this concert (it hadn't been released yet); the good thing is that I
happen to consider their previous albums as being even more brilliant
than their latest, especially when played live! For me, the track
listing for this concert was near perfect, and even though a couple
of tracks from _LGotS_ would have fit in nicely, one doesn't even
notice their absence, such is the quality of all the rest. There's
only one track from _As the Flower Withers_, their first album (maybe
another one would've been nice, but we can't have it all), and they
also play "The Thrash of Naked Limbs", all the rest being taken from
_Turn Loose the Swans_ and _The Angel and the Dark River_. The
opening's brilliant, with two songs in a row, non-stop,
breath-taking. As I explained before, the concert proceeds with
tracks from _TLtS_ and _TAatDR_, with Aaron shifting between his
normal voice and his death grunts (I consider him the best death
grunter I've ever heard) and ends with the brutal "The Forever
People" under excellent lighting effects. If you're a fan of this
band, get this at all cost. If you're not, well... my advice is that
you pick it up and give it a try, you might just like it.
Ninefinger - _Ninefingered_ (Chord, April 1997)
by: Gino Filicetti (6 out of 10)
After first hearing this band on their _Torque/Bad Wheel_ 7", I
thought the music was pretty cool, except for the lousy production
which hampered the power of their music. However, it seems that
Ninefinger isn't about 'power' or clean production. Being more of a
slow, sludgy band, Ninefinger stay true to the down home Louisiana
style, a la Eyehategod. Speaking of which, none other than Mike Dean
stars as this album's vocal maestro, however, he leaves much to be
desired as his vocals just don't cut it for me. Percussion duties are
once again taken up by Rich Hoak from Brutal Truth, however this
musical style pretty much restricts him from showing off his true
grind talent. Also included on the album are two covers, one of
Motley Crue's "Dr. Feelgood" which is down right hilarious, and "In
the Black" by Faith. Not bad as far as side projects go, but not the
greatest of the lot either.
Obituary - _Back from the Dead_ (Roadrunner, May 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
Obituary with hardcore elements? No? Really? Could this really be
happening? Well, metalheads, don't lose your respect for one of the
music scene's most beloved death metal outfits as they have surfaced
once again with the appropriately titled _Back from the Dead_ and the
results are good as Obituary come back to us with a modern feel to
their music. I, for one, had thought that the plug had been pulled on
Obituary after the somewhat unsuccessful last effort, _World Demise_,
but I guess they were spared one last chance. Will this be the last
effort? We'll see, but at this point in time, what the band has
provided us with is a cool, grooved (YES! groove) album that still
provides us with vintage Obituary slugs and screams, but coats it
with a definite 90s feel. Take the hardcore element (of grooves and
tempo) into account. As it may have been considered something that
would have detracted us away from Obituary's bludgeoning riffs and
morbid tales (I will admit I don't like the hardcore delivery of
"Bullituary" remix), it has only spiced up the flow of the material.
A bit stronger and far more in yer face than previous songs, but
still Obituary. John Tardy has always delivered solid song
writing/vocals and I'm hoping that we will see more of the band as we
near the year 2000. It would be a shame to lose another great band
like Obituary.
Ophthalamia - _To Elishia_ (Necropolis, 1997)
by: Drew Schinzel (8 out of 10)
As far as demo songs pressed onto CD are concerned, let's be honest:
they usually suck. Demo sound quality, demo song quality, and a
general lack of integrity prevails the majority of the time.
Ophthalamia's latest release of blackened doom/death, _To Elishia_,
however, is different. Yes, these are demo and rehearsal versions of
already released songs, and, indeed, the sound quality, for the most
part, does in fact leave much to be desired. But this latest offering
from Ophthalamia, the first in a couple of years, and to be followed
by two more in the months to come, has a couple of things going for
it. First, since Ophthalamia is such a superior band in the first
place, just about -any- version of their songs would blow 90% of what
is out there out of the water. When I say there is not a song created
by IT and company that has appeared on their two previous albums that
can be called bad, I mean it, and, as such, none of the songs on _To
Elishia_ are of low quality. Second, the bad production (which
varies; some songs have very high-end, trebly sound, others almost
album quality) sometimes actually helps the feel of the album,
creating a raw, edgy sound which fits some of the songs perfectly.
Sometimes the production hurts matters, however: one listen to the
cover of "Deathcrush" at a high volume is guaranteed to have your
ears bleeding, and the cover of "Sacrifice" by Bathory isn't much
better, either. Those two songs are the exception, though, as the
rest of the material present on _To Elishia_ is of typical
Ophthalamian quality, and should be enough to tide one over until the
release of some new material (finally) in the form of the upcoming
full-length, _Dominion_, this summer.
Various - _The Ozz-Fest: Live_ (Ozz Records/Red Ant, May 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
There really isn't much to say about this compilation other than its
great selection of bands and their material. Plus the production
rocks. How can one not like a collection that has the likes of
Slayer, Fear Factory, Ozzy Osbourne, and Sepultura playing live
tracks all in one packaging? It rocks. Great packaging to boot, with
a cool 3-D cover and awesome inner sleeve layout help make this a
worthwhile purchase for fans of Ozzy Osbourne or the idea behind the
Ozz-Fest. Surprisingly, the live version of Coal Chamber's "Loco" and
Earth Crisis' "Broken Foundation" sound good, both songs that I had
problems with on their respectable discs.
Pyogeneis - _Unpop_ (Nuclear Blast, May 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (4 out of 10)
Why can't I like this record? Why can't I like this band anymore?!
WHY? Damn... I really liked the last record, _Twinaleblood_ (1995),
and some earlier songs, but _Unpop_ just doesn't cut it. I hated the
EP (out last year, entitled _Love Nation Sugarhead_) and I am feeling
the same way about the alt/punk/pop feel of _Unpop_, a record that by
large has allowed Pyogenesis to abandon all of their harder
edge/metal roots. The album has a lot of samples, strong melodies,
and poppy riffs - they're everywhere on _Unpop_ - and while there are
a few good songs (the ever-amazing "Love Nation Sugarhead", "All the
Pills", and "Get Up") the record just drowns in cutesy, pop numbers,
no real intensity anywhere. But again, "Love Nation Sugarhead" rules,
so I guess that would be my only reason for getting people to hear
this LP.
Slo Burn - _Amusing the Amazing_ (Malicious Vinyl, May 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10)
Four songs, 15 minutes. That's it for our first listen of Slo Burn,
the new project fronted by ex-Kyuss lead singer John Garcia. And
while that may not be much to keep us happy, the music, with Garcia's
dynamic vocals supported by heavy, sluggish riffs, does its job and
definitely leaves us with a dry mouth and thirsty for more. I am a
huge Kyuss fan and while the music here is very similar to Kyuss (go
figure as Garcia sings), it does provide us with more melody and
grooves, something Garcia's previous band lacked at times. All four
tracks sound great but "Pilot the Dune" has got to be mentioned
because this is one of the coolest songs I have heard in a while. It
fuckin' smokes! Fans of Kyuss, Fu Manchu, or Sleep, pick this up and
you'll have more music to crank and smoke up to.
Stigmata - _Hymns for an Unknown God_ (Too Damn Hype, April 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (5 out of 10)
>From the get go, Stigmata blast out intense and abrasive
hardcore/metal. While the sludge and grind-groove of this
hardcore/metal hybrid act is downright lethal at times (reminiscent
of other HC/metal acts V.O.D. or Earth Crisis), there really is no
substance or variety to what they create or play. A lot of the
material sounds too similar at times, and while that may be part of
their plan or agenda, it quickly loses the listener's interest. I've
heard good things about this band and their live show, but on record
it seems rather, well, boring. Sounds bad saying that and all but
it's true. Only a few numbers ("Ignorant and Wired" and "Burning
Human") really stand out. Maybe better luck next time out?
Tartaros - _The Grand Psychotic Castle_ (Necropolis, 1997)
by: Drew Schinzel (7 out of 10)
Another Scandinavian one-man project, Tartaros emerge from Norway
with a debut mini-CD of extremely synth-reliant, eerie material, with
a distinct "Addam's Family" or B-movie flavour. Lone member Charmand
Grimloch has put forth four songs, all in a similar vein, and all
creating a dark, ominous atmosphere, although damaged somewhat by a
constantly intruding drum machine that does nothing to help the music
except overpower it. Tartaros is black metal with a flair for the
dramatic, as one might guess by looking at the picture of Mr.
Grimloch kicking back with a cigarette and bottle of wine, in his
favorite white suit and gloves in suite number thirteen. This is not
your typical run through the dark, evil forest: instead it's more
like a jaunt through a haunted mansion with the chandelier swinging
back and forth, about to break free and fall on the person -next- to
you. For all its good points, the escalating and descending keyboards
and the hollow, spooky atmosphere it creates, _TGPS_ is far from
perfect. As mentioned, the drum machine only serves to swallow the
rest of the sound during the faster sections. Plus, when you can hear
it, the guitar work is pretty feeble. Like most singular member
efforts, I think Tartaros would be better off with at least some
session members in the studio. As for the time being, however, this
debut is good, not great.
Theatre of Tragedy - _A Rose for the Dead_ (Massacre Records, 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo (7 out of 10)
I really feel bad rating such a good band as ToT 7 out of 10, but I
can't help it. _A Rose for the Dead_ is their newest EP, presented on
digi-pak, rather long (over 30 minutes), but also a tad overpriced
for an EP. So it's basically sort of a 'deluxe EP', even though the
artwork's quite simple. It features two new ToT songs, which are
responsible for most of this score; there's also a re-recording of
"Der Tanz der Schatten" from _Velvet Darkness They Fear_, now sung in
English and also with some improvements, which is nice. And that's
basically it for me. After these three, there's two remixes done by
Bruno Kramm of Das Ich, the second of which even starts out
reasonably well, but they just tend to wreck the originals (both
taken from _VDTF_) and seem to me totally useless. Finishing up,
there's a Joy Division song covered, "Decades", rather long, without
Liv Kristine's voice (now that's -bad-), due to 'some problems with
the studios'. I consider this song unremarkable - not bad, but not
really worth the extra money either - even though I believe their
original cover (-with- Liv) must be very interesting. Focusing back
on the two new songs, which for me is what's important here, both
were supposed to have been recorded for _VDTF_, but were left out due
to 'lack of time during the recording session'. The first one (the
title track) is an average mid-paced ToT song, not brilliant when
compared to some of what they've done before, just average for their
talent. The second one, "Der Spiegel" (yes, sung in German again),
starts off very well, but tends to lose some quality during its
second half. This is an EP for those who have no problem in forking
out some extra cash and get about 15 useful minutes, and for those
who think they'll enjoy the remixes and the cover. Still, it was nice
to hear Liv's voice again (she's my favourite female singer), and the
first three songs may make this EP worth it. I just can't help
wondering... wouldn't it be so much better if the two 'new' songs
would have just been included in _Velvet Darkness They Fear_?
Tiamat - _A Deeper Kind of Slumber_ (Century Media, 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo (5 out of 10)
This is one of those albums in which the 'politically correct'
attitude would be to value the 'heights of experimentation and
oh-so-near-mainstream' that Tiamat take us to, but (of course) that's
not what I'll do. Given, this is far from metal now, and I won't hack
at the album for that - it might still be musically good. And, as a
matter of fact, it is, for about half of its 60 minutes; the problem
is that the rest is simply worthless. Tiamat's newest is mostly made
of soft ballads, with rhythms similar to trip-hop(!) showing up quite
often. Once in a while, they show you what this album might have
been, what they could have done but -didn't- do. I've listened to
some albums with ups and downs, some albums that have good tracks and
bad tracks, but this is a bit too much. I'll go through all the
tracks just to illustrate the steepness of these ups and downs. Track
1 has an undeniably enjoyable and catchy guitar melody. The second is
regular Tiamat mellow song ('regular' meaning good, but nothing
special compared to _Wildhoney_). Tracks 3 and 4 witness the arrival
of trip hop and whatever else, and the departure of quality. At track
5, we are back to the average Tiamat song. Tracks 6 and 7 are the
second really good part of the album, both very good stuff, the sixth
being the follow-up I expected (and hoped for) from _Wildhoney_.
Tracks 8 and 9 go waaay down again, and back to trip hop and all,
track 9 being especially poor. Tracks 10 and 11 show some recovery,
and things get enjoyable again, after which the album enters a slow
finishing section. It's a strange experience trying to rate this
album, as it contains some very good tracks, while half of the time
it's just simply, er, crap. Be warned that some believe that this is
the best album of 1997, so if you think you'll like the sort of
experimentation Tiamat have done, try it. Personally, it failed to
impress me.
Ulver - _Nattens Madrigal_ (Head Not Found / Century Media, 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (8 out of 10)
The last year or so has seen some high-profile black metal bands
depart from their grim, harsh origins in search of a more glamourous
and polished style. Ulver is absolutely not one of them. In fact,
these guys have chosen to strip away all polish whatsoever from their
playing and production. Now, twinned guitars radiate a raw, roaring
buzz, as the band rips through track after track of straight-ahead,
light-speed material. Containing only one acoustic break and
featuring Garm's harshest vocal performance yet, this is strikingly
raw on the surface - yet the music is very well recorded. The vocals
are very raw and the guitars very distorted, but the mix balances
them out clearly, allowing Ulver to display the compositional talent
that makes them more than just one more band playing fast black
metal. Listen closely, and the blizzard of screaming string signals
resolves itself into two guitars playing separate, blazing lead and
rhythm lines, accompanied by the trademark slow-picked bass line,
propelled by vocal torment and a blasting beat. (The drums are rather
low in the mix.) Some of the riffs sound killer. Still, in my book,
when it comes to really harsh black metal, the colder, abrasive tones
of bands like Vondur and Sort Vokter set the standard. So I think I'd
like this album a bit more if the guitar sound weren't quite so warm
and buzzy. In addition, the material overall is somewhat lacking in
variation or experimentation (two elements, I might add, which also
make Sort Vokter and Vondur great). But _Nattens Madrigal_ still
comes highly recommended. At a point in time when many bands seem to
be acquiring a fondness for "black metal light," you won't find much
light in these eight songs.
Usurper - _Threshold of the Usurper_ (Necropolis Records, 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (7 out of 10)
Usurper make some very compelling music on this 35-minute MCD,
displaying real metallic talent and great potential. Ultimately,
though, _Threshold_ is kind of a hit-or-miss affair. Still, when
these guys hit, they do it in a major way, blending the crushing
weight and way-dark vibe of Celtic Frost with varied vocal styles and
ripping blasts of blackened grind. (We're talking tight, crisp
explosions of hyper-speed snare drum punishment - not shitty,
undifferentiated 'bowel-churning' grind.) This approach works
extremely well on the title track (this song rules), as well as on
"Necrocult Pt. I (The Metal War)". Also noteworthy is the more
experimental "The Dead of Winter", which layers weeping acoustics
over crawling doom, building up to a weird and effective passage of
blasting beats and anguished raspy vocals, still blanketed with slow
acoustic guitar. All in all, I greatly enjoy these three songs.
Still, the MCD as a whole has some failings. For one, Diabolical
Slaughter, who provides the 'vokills', spends too much time simply
impersonating Tom G. Warrior's unique vocal style. As a result, his
vocals often sound much more imitative than creative. More to the
point, the same thing is often true of the music: tracks like
"Slavehammer" and the untitled 'hidden' track just sound way too
derivative of Celtic Frost's singular style. (There's also a cover of
Mercyful Fate's "Black Funeral" which doesn't add much to the
original.) But when Usurper enhance their eighties influences with
more up-to-date elements and experimentation, they produce some
genuinely kick-ass stuff. I definitely look forward to hearing more
from this band.
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Your best source of information on the newest of the new, and the
deepest of the underground, New Noise is the place to read about all
the coolest shit you never thought existed! And if you have a band,
don't forget to send us your demo with a bio if you want to be
reviewed; our address is included in the zine's header.
Scoring: ***** -- I see a record deal in the future
**** -- Great piece of work
*** -- Good effort
** -- A major overhaul is in order
* -- A career change is advisable
As Night Fades/Thought Masticator - _Sound as a Medicinal_
by: Adrian Bromley (11 tracks/10 tracks) (****-)/(****-)
Another split demo from Bill Sannwald in California and, like past
demos submitted to CoC, it's got lots of weirdness floating
throughout this split demo. On one side we have the ambient outfit
called As Night Fades, a pretty strong dosage of emotionally charged
ambient music that moves slowly and cautiously with the sounds it
makes. The music (as Sannwald had informed me) is meant to be a
relaxant for going to sleep. To relax and ease the mind and allow a
soft and peaceful slumber to take place. I took his advice and found
the music very soothing, almost acting as a dream soundtrack. This is
heavy shit to sleep to. Side Two once again takes us to the realms of
the hard-hitting and abstract sounds of Thought Masticator, one of
Sannwald's elite side-projects. The music is primarily sound bites,
hardened by deafening noise effects and sounds. Thought Masticator's
new material sounds more gargantuan than the last split demo with
Ephemeron (CoC #19), and that is a good thing. The killer aspect of
this effort by Thought Masticator is the use of samples/sound bites
from the blockbuster movie _Independence Day_ in the first few
numbers, allowing Thought Masticator to distort and fuck the samples
up big time by layering thick, incoherent noise effects and loud
distortion on top. Totally cool.
Contact: Bill Sannwald, 3538 Paseo Salamoner, La Mesa
California, 91941, USA
Enthroned - _Gothic Disturbance_ (4-track demo)
by: Brian Meloon (****-)
Not to be confused with the Belgian black metallers (see CoC #9),
these guys (see CoC #1, #2, #7) are from California, and play a
technical style of death metal, with some gothic stylings similar to
those of Cradle of Filth. The music often reminds me of Nocturnus, as
the songs have an underlying sci-fi feeling and are very technical,
but is even more chaotic. Unfortunately, they don't quite have the
necessary musical prowess to pull it off flawlessly, as they
occasionally sound sloppy. There are a few places where they are
noticeably off, and this really takes away from the
mechanistic/cyborg feeling. The guitar solos could use some work too,
as they have that pick-fast-to-sound-like-you're-playing-fast (e.g.
Slayer) sound. The production is good, but a little raw, and the
packaging is extremely spartan: just a piece of paper with the band's
logo and the song titles; no 'glossy paper' here. The vocals are
pretty standard raspy death metal style, with little variation, but
they don't sing very often, as there are long instrumental passages
which usually include many style and/or tempo and time changes. The
instrumental "Toccata in Death Minor" (not to be confused with the
Great Kat's "Toccata in Blood Minor"), despite its cheesy name and
choppy songwriting is especially good. It's good to see that someone
is reviving the technical sci-fi death metal idiom, and this is an
impressive enough offering that someone ought to snatch these guys up
and sign them, even though they're not playing the flavor du jour
(i.e. black metal).
Contact: Enthroned, c/o John Oster, 909 Alvarado Ave #22
Davis CA, 95616, USA, (916) 758-5357, (916) 979-0368
mailto:joster@wheel.dcn.davis.ca.us
Red Tide - _Hybrid_ (5-track demo)
by: Brian Meloon (****-)
Red Tide return with a partially new demo, which is better than their
previous offering, but which still leaves room for improvement. The
big problem with their last demo, _Expressions_ (see CoC #3) was the
vocals, which thankfully have been fixed this time around. While the
last demo's vocals were flat and generally not thought out very well,
this demo has more standard hardcore-like vocals, which at least fit
the music better. They're even harmonized in one spot, which is an
interesting twist. Overall, this is heavier and less diverse than
their previous offering, and it appears they've moved in the
direction of Candiria (see CoC #11), which is a good thing. Their
material retains the Cynic-like jazz breaks, and the melodic
attitude, with some similarities to what's usually called
'progressive metal'. The playing is usually good, with some
impressive dense drumming, but there still are a few spots where
they're not as tight as they could be. The production is again fine.
Unfortunately, _Hybrid_ only includes three new tracks, as two of
them ("Truth Within" and "Absent from Sight") were on _Expressions_.
Contact: Red Tide, P.O. Box 1434, Avon, CT, 06001, USA
mailto:jwu@uhavax.hartford.edu
mailto:redtidefan@aol.com
Spun - _The Spun Experience_ (75-'track' demo)
by: Brian Meloon (-----)
This demo consists of the 33-song "The Caffeine Experience", the
10-song "Live @ the 10 Day Cafe", the 29-song "Caffeine Flashbacks",
and three bonus tracks from the "Napkin Sessions". Looking through
the J-card made me dread listening to this, and my intuition was
right: this is a high school AC ripoff band whose level of
intelligence makes Seth Putnam look like a musical genius. The songs
are an aimless collection of teenage humor, bad Beavis
impersonations, lots of screaming, and talentless playing. The only
redeeming things I found on this demo were the song "The Smurfs Theme
Song" (which is amusing, but completely unoriginal), and the titles
(not the songs, mind you, just the titles) "Poser Monkey", and
"Barbie Domination" (and only then because I know people named "the
Monkey" and Barbie). One notably pathetic thing about this demo is
that while each song starts off with a non-musical section (some
samples, some supposedly humorous clips that the band recorded), the
'production' is so bad that there's usually a second-long pause
before the music starts. I suppose that this is hilarious if you go
to the same high school as these guys (and maybe even know the chick
who got laid three times Saturday night in both of Melissa's beds),
but if not...
Contact: Spun, c/o Jay Smith, 28 Crooks Street, Stratford,
Ontario, N5A 1M8, Canada
mailto:molotov@golden.net
http://www.golden.net/~molotov/spun/spun.htm
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\ \ \/_/_ / __`\ /' _ `\ /'___\ /'__`\/\`'__\ \ \/ /',__\
\ \ \L\ \/\ \L\ \/\ \/\ \/\ \__//\ __/\ \ \/ \ \ \_/\__, `\
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\/___/ \/___/ \/_/\/_/\/____/\/____/ \/_/ \/__/\/___/
Here is where Chronicles of Chaos gives you the lowdown on the latest
shows coming your way. Check out Chaotic Concerts every month for the
scoop on the bands brutalizing the masses with their own form of
terror.
F I L T H
~~~~~~~~~
Cradle of Filth with In Velvet Clouds and Web
In Porto, Portugal, April 24, 1997
by: Pedro Azevedo
There is no good or evil. No absolute truth or lie. And when
something like this happens, there's always two sides to the story.
The truth is said to be just a lie the majority believes, but I won't
say that this is a matter of choosing which lie to believe - I won't
call anyone a liar, because maybe someone actually believes he's
telling the truth, but ultimately I don't care who's right and who's
wrong. I'll just tell both sides of this story, and I won't deny
myself the pleasure of exposing both versions' weaknesses. Cradle of
Filth were scheduled to play at Porto, Thursday, April the 24th,
1997. They didn't show up. Over 800 fans waiting for them, but no
Cradle of Filth. No matter who's fault it was, the band's or the
promoter's, all we got was two Portuguese bands trying their best, or
the possibility of a refund (that did happen for lots of people). To
make things worse, CoF have been playing for an hour and a half in
their latest concerts, and using a female backing vocalist lately -
two little details that made things even worse for us who couldn't
see them live. So let's hear both sides of the story, then. CoF
drummer Nicholas states that there wasn't enough electrical power for
the band to play and for the lights and fog. We would be happy to
listen to them without the lights and fog, if that would solve the
problem - maybe it wouldn't, I don't know. Anyway, the problem was
solved by a power upgrade 5 hours before CoF were scheduled to play,
states the promoter, the new problem was that they were gone by then.
Nick says that, and I quote, 'everything was bullshit'. I'm far from
understanding what he saw in my home city of Porto that was bullshit,
maybe he was talking about the place where the concert was held; then
again, I think it was a reasonable room. It's strange that it'd be
bullshit for them to play for a crowd of 800 instead of the usual
200. Nicholas also exclaims that their fans should 'ignore all the
bullshit', before he tells what happened. And then he states that the
people entered the concert not knowing that CoF wouldn't be there.
Wrong. Bullshit, as you'd call it, Nick. Everyone knew CoF weren't
there. No matter how heart-breaking this may be for CoF, over half of
-their- fans entered the concert anyway, thus losing the right to a
refund, and they all knew that CoF weren't there. Now for the other
side of the story - the promoter's. He recalls that CoF's last Porto
concert's promoter owed them money from that concert. That guy had
nothing to do with this one, though (as far as I know). Still, he
says that CoF were payed 50% in advance (CoF say this is normal), and
that they didn't play just out of revenge. He says that their whole
attitude was towards not playing, right from the beginning, and he
quotes Nicholas as having said that this was their day off in Porto.
He claims that they complained about everything (most of which for no
reason, he assures), and ultimately left before the electrical power
problem was solved. I think it's rather unbelievable that the
promoters didn't check on the power earlier, making sure there was
enough power for CoF. The concert started anyway, around 400 people
showing their support by paying to see the concert without CoF. Web
played 25 minutes of their Slayer-like thrash, ending their
performance with a cover of Slayer's "Raining Blood". In Velvet
Clouds took the stage for the next 50 minutes, and they played an
aggressive mix of Cradle of Filth and Brutal Truth. They feature two
vocalists (both doing only vocals): one's an excellent grunter, the
other screams like hell. A reasonable act, even though they're still
a very young band. So that was it. CoF say there wasn't power, the
promoter says there was enough power 5 hours before they were
supposed to play, and that they didn't play just for revenge for what
happened in the past with someone else. Who's right, who's wrong, who
cares? The ones who lost here were the fans. CoF seem to be trying to
show that they do have some respect for these fans, as they're
scheduled to come back in July and play in a festival together with
Moonspell and Megadeth. I sure hope the concert does happen this
time, and that everything goes well, because I'd sure want to see
them - they're one of the top five bands I'd like to see live. So I
also hope that I'll be back in the August issue telling everyone how
great that concert was.
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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. My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - _A Crime For All Seasons_
2. Chemical Brothers - _Dig Your Own Hole_
3. Mundane - _Feeding On A Lower Spine_
4. Fear Factory - _Remanufacture_
5. Filthboy - _Diverse Reality_
Adrian's Top 5
1. Hanzel Und Gretyl - _Transmissions From Uranus_
2. Fear Factory - _Remanufacture_
3. Within Temptation - _Enter_
4. Lake Of Tears - _A Crimson Cosmos_
5. Hell On Earth - _Biomechanical Ejaculations Of The Damned_
Brian's Top 5
1. Lethargy - _It's Hard to Write With a Little Hand_
2. Beauty - _Automatic Killfest_
3. Enthroned - _Gothic Disturbance_
4. Dark Reality - _Oh Precious Haze Pervade the Pain_
5. Waltari - _Big Bang_
Alain's Top 5
1. Blood of Christ - _... a dream to remember_
2. Tool - _Aenima_
3. A Canorous Quintet - _Silence of the World Beyond_
4. Cryptopsy - _None So Vile_
5. Grim Skunk - _Meltdown_
Steve's Top 5
1. Arckanum - _Kostogher_
2. Morgul - _Lost in Shadows Grey_
3. Hell-Born - _Hell-Born_
4. Summoning - _Nightshade Forests_
5. Ulver - _Nattens Madrigal_
Adam's Top 5
1. My Dying Bride - _Like Gods of the Sun_
2. Therion - _Theli_
3. Septic Flesh - _Ophidian Wheel_
4. V/A - _Death is Just the Beginning IV_
5. Incantation - _The Foresaken Mourning of Angelic Anguish_
Drew's Top 5
1. Iced Earth - _Night of the Stormrider_
2. In Flames - _The Jester Race_
3. Exodus - _Bonded By Blood_
4. Kalisia - _Skies_
5. Entombed - _Wolverine Blues_
Andrew's Top 5
1. Richard Wagner - _Tristan und Isolde_
2. Legendary Pink Dots - _9 Lives To Wonder_
3. Enslaved - _Eld_
4. Contagious Orgasm - _The Examination of Auditory Sense_
5. Incapacitants - _Asset Without Liability_
Pedro's Top 5
1. The Gathering -_Nighttime Birds_
2. Hypocrisy - _Abducted_
3. Cradle of Filth - _Vempire_
4. Left Hand Solution - _Fevered_
5. Samael - _Passage_
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T H E F I N A L W O R D
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Thanks a lot for reading another issue, loyal reader. We'll be back
soon with more CoC after these messages...
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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #21
All contents copyright 1997 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.