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CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, March 10, 1998, Issue #29
http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html
Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley <mailto:energizr@interlog.com>
Cont./Editor: Steve Hoeltzel <mailto:hoeltzel@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Contributor/Editor: Andrew Lewandowski <mailto:kmvb73c@prodigy.com>
Contributor/Editor: Pedro Azevedo <mailto:ei94048@tom.fe.up.pt>
Contributor: Alain M. Gaudrault <mailto:alain@gaudrault.net>
Contributor: Brian Meloon <mailto:bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk <mailto:macabre@interlog.com>
Contributor: Drew Schinzel <mailto:drew@magpage.com>
Contributor: Paul Schwarz <mailto:saul@mcmail.com>
Mailing List provided by: The University of Colorado at Boulder
NOTE: For more Chronicles of Chaos information, check out the
'Details' section at the end of this issue.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Issue #29 Contents, 3/10/98
----------------------------
- Editorial
- Loud Letters
- Deadly Dialogues
-- King Diamond: The Curse of the King
-- Morbid Angel: Hellspawn Reborn
-- In Flames: The Flame of Ingenuity
-- Abigor - _Supreme Immortal Art_
-- Ablaze My Sorrow - _The Plague_
-- Alio Die - _The Hidden Spring_
-- Amon Amarth - _Once Sent from the Golden Hall_
-- Various Artists - _Area 51_
-- Black Funeral - _Empire of Blood_
-- Bongzilla - _Methods For Attaining Extreme Attitudes_
-- Dawn - _Slaughtersun (Crown of the Triarchy)_
-- Defleshed - _Under the Blade_
-- Demonic - _The Empire of Agony_
-- Diaboli - _Towards Damnation_
-- The Everdawn - _Poems - Burn the Past_
-- Guillotine - _Under the Guillotine_
-- Indungeon - _Machinegunnery of Doom_
-- Keep of Kalessin - _Through Times of War_
-- Lux Occulta - _Dionysos_
-- Maeror Tri - _Emotional Engramm_
-- Mental Home - _Vale_
-- Various Artists - _A Mercyful Fate Tribute_
-- Midvinter - _At the Sight of the Apocalypse Dragon_
-- Mithotyn - _In the Sign of the Ravens_
-- Moonspell - _Sin/Pecado_
-- Nagelfar - _Hunengrab im Herbst_
-- Nebula - _Let It Burn_
-- Nightstick - _Ultimatum_
-- Officium Triste - _Ne Vivam_
-- Otyg - _Alvefard_
-- Pro-Pain - _Pro-Pain_
-- Pungent Stench - _Praise the Names of the Musical Assassins_
-- Sadness - _Evangelion_
-- Sentenced - _Story: A Recollection_
-- Social Degeneration of Poets - _Martyrdom_
-- Solefald - _The Linear Scaffold_
-- Stuck Mojo - _Rising_
-- Tura Satana - _Relief Through Release_
-- Uncreation - _Uncreation_
-- Unnatural - _Throne of Anguish_
-- Unsane - _Occupational Hazard_
-- War - _Total War_
-- Coarse - _Downwards_
-- Destroyer - _demo_
-- Gandalf - _Snakebite_
-- Kekal - _Beyond the Glimpse of Dreams_
-- Kormoss - _Screams From Night-Mary_
-- Kronos - _Outrance_
-- Oathean - _demo_
-- Shadows Fall - _Shadows Fall_
-- Vorpal Bunny - _Reign Of The Lupus_
-- Entombed's Not Egregious: Entombed at Coney Island High
- What We Have Cranked
- Details
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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.
Subject: The Ancient review in CoC...
Date: Thu, 05 Feb 1998 23:44:03 PST
From: "Steven Cannon" <vibrationsofdoom@hotmail.com>
To: ginof@interlog.com
Hey dude! Steven Cannon here from Vibrations of Doom Magazine. Have
to say NICE work on yer latest issue, that Razor interview was VERY
thorough! You actually beat US to the punch, we were going to try and
get a Razor interview (Their "Violent Restitution" is truly a brutal
masterpiece!) but we haven't heard from them yet! We ARE going to try
and do an Exciter interview very soon, since we know how to get in
touch with them! One gripe I had was with the review of Ancient's
"Mad Grandiose Bloodfiends." WHY OH WHY did this album HAVE to be a
zero? It sounds like the only thing the reviewer had in mind was
their lyrical stance? What about the MUSIC, which I thought was very
well composed! And a few songs had some rather interesting fantasy
topics as well, it wasn't the usual "Christianity sucks, Lucifer is
god" spiel we've all had to endure from countless black metal acts. I
mean, let's face it, if Venom had released their "Black Metal" album
today, people would be griping about the song "Teacher's Pet" for
god's sakes! Or they'd probably say that Venom's lyrics weren't
satanic enough! SHeesh! While we're at it we just want all our
readers to know that we DO have a new web site address, and this site
will be featuring RealVideo clips from various concerts we have
filmed, another first that only Vibrations of Doom will offer for its
readers! Thanks so much for putting out great issues, and I'll always
be a fan! Our new web site address is:
http://www.doom.org/vod/index.shtml... It won't totally replace the
old kmf.org address, but it WILL be linked up so you can still use
the old address, but the new site will be the one that updates will
be done to FIRST...
Subject: Re: Chronicles of Chaos #28
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 1998 13:44:18 -0800
From: "A.N.U.S." <admin@anus.com>
To: ginof@interlog.com
howdy,
it was with great delight that i opened a new CoC in my mailbox. my
complaints are none with the publication and my commendations are
hefty for once again offering a great service to the metal
underground.
i have a virulent disagreement with one of the petitioners in your
"loud letters" section, however; his assertion follows:
> No diatribes other than one for the 1-HAND WONDER who cups his
> thesaurus into a masturbation aid.This returning and perverse image
> coupled with this person's ridiculously inappropriate poetic
> ramblings, makes it impossible for me to read past the album title
> and his long name without laughing at him. Slay thyself,Andrew. The
> time is ripe. Keep on PULLING through guys. Great e-mag.Wotan sends
> his blessings.
To this (fellow) reader i would only note: what is easily mistaken
for masturbation is an innovation in the precision of language,
which, despite its seemingly high overhead of memorization and
textual processing provides a protocol through which a reviewer can
have a more enlightened and useful dialogue with the reader, granting
to said reader a more informed ability to make choices. this seems
trivial until you consider the sheer number of releases, the high
percentage that are worthless, and the damage done to metal every
year by misinformed fans promoting musically inferior or
compositionally derivative bands.
my congratulations to CoC for making a decision to pursue a more
complex and more rewarding technique of reviewing rather than a
simpler but less-useful commonly accepted substitute.
take care,
EVIL GOAT
]-------------------------------------------------------[
] The Dark Legions Archive / Death and Black Metal [
] <http://www.anus.com/metal/> [
] Brought to you by the Oration of Disorder [
] Friday 10-midnight on KSPC, 88.7 FM in Los Angeles [
]-------------------------------------------------------[
Subject: Impaled Nazarene in Monterrey N.L. Mexico
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 19:49:49 -0600 (CST)
From: Alvarez Castillo David Edwin <al588397@mail.mty.itesm.mx>
To: ginof@interlog.com
Greetings.
First of all i have to congratulate you for your great electronical
magazine, which i personally consider the best one, and i believe it
can be compared to other long time magazines like metal maniacs and
terrorizer. Well, this is not the first time i write to you. I have
been reading the magazine since its beginning. I was one of the lucky
persons who got the World Domination II Promotonial CD. Well, the aim
of this email is inform you that this February 21st Impaled Nazarene
will be landing here on Monterrey Nuevo Leon. Some local bands will
be openers and there will be chaos and destruction. I offer myself to
interview them if you want to know something about them. All you have
to tell me is what to ask them. I also offer myself to write a
document about the concert. I wanna do this because i consider some
local bands play great and they deserve to be known. Well if you
decide to send me the questions i will do my best to interview them.
For now its all, i will be waiting for your next number of CoC.
Subject: Attention Loud letters
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 15:57:25 EST
From: "VODENITCHAROV,GUEORGUI A,MR" <B4D3@MUSICB.MCGILL.CA>
To: <ginof@interlog.com>
Hi All,
First of all - great e-zine. I'm just writing in response to the
letter you guys got from some stupid Cryptopsy fan that wants a
better looking zine.Doesn't that person realise that it's all
volunteer work and he benefits from it every month? I think it's more
important to support the scene by spreading the word rather than
spending time on fancy design and shit... And Cryptopsy are soon
going to be filling up the bargain CD bins at HMV, hehehe... Thanks.
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T H E C U R S E O F T H E K I N G
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with King Diamond
by: Adrian Bromley
Talking to King Diamond was quite a thrill for me. Not only has
King Diamond and his bands (via his solo career and with Mercyful
Fate) help shape the sound of metal music during the 1980's and into
the 1990's, but also brought a threatrical and storytelling twist
(concept albums) to metal music -- a trait few bands have
successfully accomplished. King Diamond's tales of evil, death and
the occult has fascinated us for almost two decades and it seems
fitting that as we head into the year 2000 his latest release
_Voodoo_ is probably his best work to date.
Sure it might be hard to top such classics as _Abigail_ (1987),
_Them_ (1988) or _Fatal Portrait_ (1986), but _Voodoo_ lays claim to
some of the best musical arrangement in years and is a truly eerie
and quite scary story. The story, set in 1932 Louisiana, revolves
around David Lafayette and his pregnant wife Sarah, along with
grandpa, moving into a house north of Baton Rouge. They soon discover
they are in the heart of Voodooville with cults, exorcists and spells
everywhere they turn. King Diamond has presented us with a tale
that'll tear at your inner psyche and bring out your biggest fears.
This is priceless King Diamond storytelling.
So, the phone call comes in from King Diamond at 5:30pm on
Friday the 13th and the chat begins. For once, someone has talked
more than I have during an interview. I can hardly keep up with King
Diamond as he talks about his tales and the creation process of his
music. It was an interesting chat, please read on:
CoC: Being in Dallas, Texas (having recorded at the Nomad Studios),
have you ever done any kind of research or study into the 'Day
of the Dead' culture that is a very integral part of the Mexican
culture? I lived there (in Mexico City) for ten years and found
it quite fascinating, but scary at the same time. Seeing that
you live in Texas and are right there near Mexico, and part of a
community with a lot of Mexican people, have you ever opted to
explore that idea for a record?
King Diamond: I have only been to Mexico City once for a Mercyful
Fate show and it was basically in and out for me. Some
of the guys in the band stayed behind a couple of days
and saw the pyramids. I would love to do that if we
ever get there again. As for that theme to come into an
album idea, you never know. I guess it depends on how
it strikes me when I started reading about it and
getting ideas going...
CoC: ... there are a lot of things going on within that culture, and
many people don't really understand what is going on in that
phenomenon under the surface. It is a very spiritual thing for
the people to take part in. It's quite fascinating, but, as I
said before, scary as well.
KD: I know what you mean. The whole idea of the 'Day of the Dead' is
fascinating, but, as I mentioned, I have not really done much
study into it.
CoC: Let's talk about _Voodoo_. In terms of song writing, opposed to
what you had done with last year's _The Graveyard_ and other
past efforts, what was the approach to this record? Obviously,
the story line is different as is the setting, but what is it
about this time period and part of the United States that
fascinated you to write _Voodoo_?
KD: I have always had a fascination with voodoo, but I never really
knew much about it. Voodoo, to me, had always been about pins in
dolls, zombies and people acting all crazy and stuff. I never
really knew about it. I hadn't really known much. So this all
happened last year when our bass player was doing some work at a
university nearby and I asked him to grab me some books on voodoo
from the library. Reading up on voodoo really surprised me on how
deep it was. It was truly amazing to read and learn about the
spiritual side of voodoo and its unwritten laws. Learning about
curses and all that other fascinating stuff. I was like 'Wow!,' I
thought to myself that this would really make a good story and
that was pretty much it. That is where the basis of the album
started. From that reading I took into account a fact that turns
out to be a problem for those in the story. The fact that people
who believe in voodoo believe that you have to feed the dead. In
many voodoo cemeteries, you will find food and wine by the
tombstones. They really believe that if you don't feed the dead
they are gonna come after you. That is also a part of the
unwritten law that if you own a piece of land with a voodoo
burial ground on it you should exclude the burial segment from
the sale so that people can still come to it and respect the
dead. And those facts became part of the story. I had a lot of
ideas that I wanted to bring to the story. I started out with the
idea for this record by drawing a map of the area and then
started creating people in the story, giving them life. From
there, the story of _Voodoo_ pretty much took off by itself. As I
went along writing the story, I had to create more people to go
along with it. And I didn't even have an ending to the story, it
just all fell into place for me.
CoC: A lot of people have always mentioned that the work of King
Diamond is not just elaborate in the storytelling, but equally
in the music. How do you scope out what sounds and/or vocal
arrangements you will use for a certain song or concept record?
KD: It is just like a big puzzle. One thing that King Diamond always
makes an emphasis in using is a lot of mood and emotion
throughout the record. Of course, the music sometimes seems to
have a role in what a song will be about with the mood it
radiates. I had written the music for _Voodoo_ before the ideas
were to be added to it. It had that kind of feel to it. It has
real tribal, voodoo-like feel to the music and that also helps
bring out other different ideas when song writing. Like I said,
the music of King Diamond is full of different ideas and
emotions, but in the end it all comes together as one big puzzle.
I have the music ideas flowing and then I write the story. When I
do write the story, I constantly have the music on my mind. When
the story is written, I then divide it up in many different
chapters as needed and then I will find what chapters will suit
what music. I try to team them up to the best of my ability. It
takes time to do this, but it helps make the story an interesting
one to hear as well as follow.
CoC: Now I know you did some research on voodoo with books; did you
by chance go to Louisiana to do some in-person research for the
LP?
KD: I had been there before. I mean, I have never attended a voodoo
ritual, but I would love to. I didn't really have to go there and
research. I had been there before with tours and I remember the
whole atmosphere and the crickets chirping in the night. I
remember the hot, damp summer feeling that radiated from there.
CoC: So I guess from having been there before and experiencing the
feel of the territory, you knew what you wanted to express with
this LP and the story?
KD: You get a better feel for the atmosphere if you have been there
before. I mean, you can get that feeling from a book as well, but
it just ain't the same. It is not like I packed up and went down
there to do research when I started writing this album. I didn't
do that. I just had a good background and feel to what Louisiana
was all about.
CoC: You have written some very memorable records with great story
lines. Very elaborate and descriptive tales of evil and the
occult. This seems to be very easy for you. Is it? Do you ever
get writer's block? If so, how do you get past that writer's
block?
KD: It rarely happens when I am writing the story or lyrics; it
happens quite a bit when I am writing the music for an album. I
can sit down and work on the music for a song and just get to a
point where I am not in the mood any more. At that point I just
stop and try to start back another day working on the material.
It happens, though. I don't just sit down and say, 'Okay, I am
going to write all the music for the record now.' No. If I am in
the mood, I will sit down and write with my guitar or keyboard.
I'm just jamming and if ideas come from that jam session then I
will try to put them into arrangements. It might just be an intro
and a verse and no more. But that is where it all starts at that
time. I also have gotten to know by now that if it all seems to
be going nowhere to just stop and go watch some TV or something.
I'll come back to it later on. But sometimes I will work three
days back to back and that will happen 'cause I am in the mood
and right frame of mind to create.
CoC: How long does the process take for King Diamond to get the ideas
in your head and into a finished product? What is the time
frame?
KD: It varies so much from album to album. Sometimes I record or
write down stuff that won't be used at all, or just put away till
the end of a recording session. I have a box of tapes with all of
these ideas in my basement with all these choruses or verses.
They are on those tapes put away because I really didn't feel the
need to continue on and pursue something at that point in time.
Sometimes I will take those tapes out and just give them a listen
to what is on there and I get a real feeling of excitement when I
play back that stuff and hear the ideas I created. It's great to
dabble into unfinished material sometimes. Actually, I think
three guitar riffs from _The Graveyard_ are from this stack of
demo tapes I have, material that dates back to 1987. I picked up
the tape and wondered what was on it and it was me just playing
guitar in my apartment in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was one guitar.
I listened carefully and I heard the intro to "Abigail", another
riff and then part of the song "Welcome Home" on one tape. I was
ecstatic. I wondered how I had never used this riff in the
middle. I just started jamming and a lot of new stuff appeared
around that one riff. I don't know what it turned into, but it
became part of my newer material. It is really hard to say how
long it takes to do a record, 'cause there is research involved
and you need to be in a mood too. Ideas need to be floating
around before you can start on a piece. This has so much to do
with an inner mood. _Abigail_, for instance, was almost all
written in one night. I wrote 90% of that record in one night. I
woke up during a thunderstorm and I had so many ideas. I started
to write it all down. I decided I should go back and lie down but
I couldn't do so. Ideas just kept popping up out of my brain. I
wanted to go back to sleep... but I couldn't. I needed to get all
of that out onto paper. And you know what? That has never
happened since then.
CoC: There is a lot of use of the macabre, the occult and evil spread
throughout the material of King Diamond -- does stuff you create
scare you?
KD: Mostly when we are recording the music, I am totally into the
mood for creating the music and bringing out emotions in what we
are working on. Later on, when I do play back my material, it
doesn't affect me much. I know what I need to do certain
arrangements and creating the mood. When I play back _Abigail_
today I don't think about the actual feel of the record, because
I was part of the actual creation of the record. I get much more
into looking at a photo album of the band and the career we have
done. I start remembering all of the places I have been and how I
felt then at a certain period of time. I remember about the
making of the records and all the stuff that was a part of my
life then at that time period. I can remember so many things.
Stuff like who I would hang out with, what bars I went to, what
car I drove. All these things pop up and affect me when I look at
photos. I don't get any feelings generally from albums. It's just
the way it is. I wish I wasn't a part of this band so I could put
on a record and experience it for myself, without having had a
hand in on the making of the record. I will never experience
that. You know what it is like? It is like when we play shows, I
have no idea what it looks like. Even if people record the show
with a video camera, it never gives the true recollection of
standing at the show and watching it. It is just a weird thing
for me to deal with...
CoC: ... unless of course you have an outer body experience, right?
KD: Yeah... <laughs>... I guess that would be the only way to
experience it.
CoC: Maybe that could be a theme idea for the next King Diamond
record?
KD: <laughs again> Maybe so... maybe I should get out my guitar right
now and start jamming.
CoC: You have been living in the United States for over six years
now; how has that change in environment (from native Denmark to
Texas) affected your ways as a person or a musician?
KD: I have always been able to easily adapt to other cultures and
customs. Living in Los Angeles was not really my cup of tea
'cause everything was too strange to what I was used to in
Denmark. Texas is very laid-back and the attitude of the people
is very similar to what I was used to back home.
CoC: Are you a celebrity in Texas? Do people pick you out at the mall
or something?
KD: It happens to me, but I see it as no problem.
CoC: How do you feel about censorship in today's music?
KD: I usually just hear about what is going on, 'cause we as a band
never really experienced it much. I think it all comes to the
fact that parents have no real idea of what their kids are all
about. I think they don't spend time talking to their kids or
asking them why they listen to bands like Marilyn Manson or King
Diamond. Why not learn about the music they listen to and find
out there is just nothing wrong or dangerous with it? I think
parents are too busy making the big bucks and buying a new car to
care about their kids. They don't care about their kids. They
feel that they have to make all of their decisions for kids in
respect to what they should listen to and/or like. 'Hello!...'
this is a different generation, people. The world is far
different compared to when those parents grew up. All of the
values are different. This is a whole new ball game. I think
parents should find out what kids are into and what they like and
why, instead of forbidding them from listening to all of this
stuff. Give them more credit than what you provide them with
already, folks.
CoC: A lot of people who I have talked to about _Voodoo_ have said
this is one of your best works in ten years. How do you feel
about that assumption? Do you agree?
KD: I understand 100% what people are saying about _Voodoo_. I don't
think it is a matter of whether an album is really good or bad, I
mean, we always put our best effort into every LP. I know what
they mean, though. I have come to the same conclusion that is
being talked about _Voodoo_. People are talking about the
attitude of the album. This is the same attitude that was part of
King Diamond from the 80's. This is the same quality of stuff
that _Abigail_ had, an aggressive approach with stronger
arrangements, far different from what was found on _The
Graveyard_ or _Spider's Lullabye_. The arrangements and guitar
solos and the vocal arrangements are much more elaborate and
stronger than past efforts.
CoC: And why do you think that is?
KD: A lot has to do with us getting a new drummer. John (Luke
Hebert), who is from Louisiana, filled in for Darrin Anthony when
he left the band. Darrin had been involved in a bad car accident
and wasn't able to drum for us. We found John and when we started
rehearsing for the European tour last Spring. He just played the
songs exactly like they are on the record, which is something
Darrin wasn't able to do. And hearing that sound of old material
played so well brought back many memories. I heard that song that
was written in 1987 sound exactly like we were back in that time
frame, but played in 1997. It was incredible. A great feeling
came over me. And all the old stuff we played brought out the
same feeling in me over and over. Suddenly everything became
genuine again.
CoC: I guess the whole feeling inspired you to bring that sound and
feeling back into the King Diamond record?
KD: Yeah. And being on tour and playing those numbers live once again
was bringing back all of that again. Bringing back memories of
touring Europe in the back of a van. Coming off that recent tour
and just going into the writing, it seems so natural to get back
to that era of King Diamond. I didn't even question the writing
at the time, it just flowed out with the attitude of old Diamond.
The fact that we also changed studios this time around also
played a part in bringing back emotion to the King Diamond
material. We changed studios from the Dallas Sound Lab Studios,
which was like a small studio in a huge complex, to Nomad
Recording Studios, which is one studio. You are there alone with
no one to bother you. It has a very intimate feel to it. It has
this real metal quality to the studio. It was kind of like
walking into the same kind of studio as _Fatal Portrait_ and
_Abigail_. They were done in some smaller studios in Denmark.
Even Andy [La Rocque, guitar] said so the first time he stepped
in there. When Andy set foot in the studio, he was like, 'God,
man this reminds me so much of Denmark.' When you record in a
space that has that kind of atmosphere, it just brings out
something in you that might not come out most of the time. It's
not like you tried any harder, it just may have been a different
level of concentration subconsciously. All of what comes out of
you comes from deep within you. The inspiration flows from your
surroundings and it does come out in the work. All of those
points I made before have a lot to do with this album being a lot
more King Diamond than there has been in sometime. I haven't done
anything different with the past few albums. I am just sensing
these feelings that I should have. I recognize this feeling of
what my music should be like in a very big way. This is exactly
the direction I want to take my music. It feels great. It's like,
'Oh yeah! I'm home again...'
CoC: Was _Voodoo_ always the working title for this record or was
there another name being thrown around?
KD: There was another one. The very first thing I tried to write
about was the plague. But every time I got into writing the
material, I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. The record idea
I had was a difficult one to do and would have to have been
approached a different way than this time around. I wouldn't
exclude the idea of starting up again and doing a album called
The Plague, but who knows?
CoC: You said you break down the story into chapters before adding
the music to it and putting it into the final product. How much
of the story you had written changed during recording?
KD: Nothing really was taken away from the story. I would say more
was added than taken out while recording the LP.
CoC: On the topic of song writing and making LPs, you do double-duty
in both your own band as well as Mercyful Fate. How do you
juggle both bands?
KD: I see an extreme difference between the two very clearly. For me,
as the songwriter and being involved in everything, I see such a
clear line. They act as two different entities for me. I have
been very fortunate to work with both bands, both styles and I
enjoy the ability to do so. It takes a lot of work but by God it
is very rewarding.
CoC: Last question. How would you describe _Voodoo_ to longtime fans
of King Diamond, as well as to new fans who may want to pick
this up? How would you describe the record?
KD: Before I answer, I want to add this. For the first time I
mastered both the King Diamond and Mercyful Fate LPs and that
allowed me to know about the procedure that goes into mastering
the LP and I noticed they really like to compress the shit out of
the music. This record is a very clean one, with very little
compression. It sounds good, better than past King Diamond
records. Now... to get to your question: what do I think about
the record? Well, the _Voodoo_ record is a lot scarier of a story
than _The Graveyard_ and _Spider's Lullabye_. I think it is the
scariest of all the stories I have been a part of writing. At the
same time, the packaging you are going to get with this record is
very elaborate. You will see a map of the area where this takes
place as well as drawings of the characters on tarot cards. For
the first time you will know exactly what these people look like
when you hear their names called on the record. I am very
satisfied with the way the packaging has turned out. Also, the
music has a lot more vocals and solos. There is pretty much a lot
more of everything with _Voodoo_ and that is a first for any King
Diamond record in a long time. And the most important thing: this
record is genuinely done.
CoC: It's just as people say, 'If you are happy doing something it
shows,' and obviously you are happy making the music and telling
the story of _Voodoo_. Am I right?
KD: That is so true, Adrian. We really, really love what we do and I
know it shows with our records.
Note: Roadrunner Record has recently issued a 'REMASTERED' series of
both Kind Diamond and Mercyful Fate albums. They are digitally
remastered gold discs, with new photos, liner notes, full lyrics and
bonus tracks. Here are the LPs being reissued:
KING DIAMOND (available now)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
- _Fatal Portrait_ - features the tracks "No Presents For Christmas"
and "The Lake"
- _Abigail_ - features rough mixes of "A Mansion In Darkness", "The
Family Ghost" and "The Posession"
- _Conspiracy_ - features "At the Graves" (alternative mix) and a
live version of "Cremation"
- _The Eye_ - Remastered only
- _Them_ - features a rehearsal versions of "The Invisible Ghosts"
and "Bye, Bye Missy"
- _Live In Concert '87_ - Remastered only
MERCYFUL FATE (available in the summer of 1998)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- _The Beginning_ - features the track "Black Funeral"
- _Melissa_ - Remastered only
- _Don't Break The Oath_ - features the demo of "Death Kiss"
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
H E L L S P A W N R E B O R N
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Pete Sandoval of Morbid Angel
by: Paul Schwarz
Does Morbid Angel really need an introduction? Well, I suppose there
might be some new extreme music fans out there or just people who've
been dead for the last 9 years who don't know who they are. Morbid
Angel are, in my humble opinion, one of the finest and most
consistent death metal bands ever. From the originality and brutality
of their (official) _Altars of Madness_ debut through classics like
_Blessed Are the Sick_ and _Covenant_ and now with the much praised
_Formulas Fatal to the Flesh_, Morbid Angel have always been one step
ahead of the competition and are never afraid to add something new
and different into their melting pot of musical creativity. _Formulas
Fatal to the Flesh_ is set to be released onto an expecting, but
still only mortal, world, and Morbid Angel are ready to claim their
throne once again. With Morbid Angel keeping a low profile throughout
1997 and new vocalist/bassist Steve Tucker having to fill the size 12
boots David Vincent left behind, is the new Morbid Angel better than
ever and ready to crush the mediocre, or just a shadow of its former
glory? I talked to legendary human drum machine Pete 'Commando'
Sandoval (also a part of the grindcore legend that was Terrorizer)
about the new album and other matters both Morbid and otherwise to
give those of you in doubt a helping hand. (And if you read Adam's
short interview (issue #27) with Trey and, after this, are still not
satisfied, pick up a copy of _FFttF_: I have a feeling you won't be
disappointed.)
CoC: Morbid Angel have always led and not followed in the death metal
scene: does _FFttF_ continue in this tradition?
Pete Sandoval: Yeah, I believe so, I believe our new album delivers
all those points in those areas and a lot more. This
new album is, I think, one of the strongest ones we've
ever done -- I think it is going to do really well.
It's got a lot of good things.
CoC: About the production: Trey's been saying that it's more live and
less processed than _Domination_ was; do you think that applies
[overall] and how do you think that applies to the way the drums
came out on _FFttF_?
PS: I believe the production on this new album is really good, I mean
you know there's always the thing when you do something, you do a
record, you wish you could have done something better. There's
always this kind of thing that happens. I think for the overall
thing this album has so much; there are so many things going on
in these songs, I think the production is good enough for the
songs because all the speed, all the chaos going on it's like so
hard to produce something to bring it as close to perfect as you
can, but I think the drums, they came out as good as they would
have come, I think the drums were good enough. Like I said, there
are things I could have done better but that's how we learn from
one album to another: we take it step by step.
CoC: What about the solo drum track which you wrote for the new
album? How did that come out?
PS: The solo drums? My tribal drum piece? It came out all right, but
I didn't have enough time to work on it in the studio because it
was one of the last things I was doing. It was going to be a
little bit longer, but unfortunately it didn't end up that way.
But I think it is good enough for its purpose, because the
purpose of it was to show the world what I can do, what is in me;
it is the Latin part of me, in my blood, my Spanish blood and
that is my representation right there of what I am, like a tribal
dance ritual, so I am very happy with that one even though it
wasn't as long as I expected it to [be], but there are other
times to overdo it again and add some more things, which I wanted
to in the beginning; I was going to add some voices as well, but
I think it was good the way it came out because it was just
different, so unique: it's just drums, just drums.
CoC: Considering this is the first thing that you've been credited
for on a Morbid Angel album, because usually Trey gets credited
for the music, do you think in the future you will play more of
a part in writing the music or do you think Trey will continue
to write nearly all of it?
PS: You mean the main music, the death metal, the hard music, the
music in general? Well Trey's been the one from the very
beginning, the first one, the one who started it all. So I have
no idea, we worked together on this new album, we started from
the very bottom me and him, just playing riffs and riffs and
coming up with songs with rhythms and putting them together and
just working and recording them day and day. I think as a team
right now it has worked pretty good, because Trey is a very smart
person, he's very intelligent and he is a very intelligent
writer: he writes such incredible music, but yes, I think this
will allow me to do more and want to do more in the future and
help out as far as the songs [go], it is an open way for me, and
I believe so, I would love to, and I will try to put more of my
part onto the songs for the future. Of course, this gives me a
motivation to want to do more than what I have done in the past,
so like you said, it is just the beginning, it is the first
record where I am credited for these couple of things and there's
always a beginning, a new beginning; so I assume, yeah. I will
work harder for the future, for the next record and see what I
can come up with for the music in general.
CoC: How do you feel about going on the road again and playing the
new songs live?
PS: I feel very excited, I can't wait man, because live is the way to
prove the songs; you write an album, and you have a new record
but you have to go and prove that you can do these songs live.
That alone is such a great excitement, and also the excitement of
being around the crowd who loves you, that cheers you up, and who
wanna hear you live; all that energy kind of gets in you and
[then] there's more energy and more excitement. So I can't wait
for this tour to start and go play these songs because they are
going to be really good live, they're gonna sound very powerful,
it's a point we're gonna prove, and I do want to prove myself,
live. Yeah, we're getting ready man.
CoC: Trey has talked quite a bit already about the ideas expressed in
the lyrics of the album, about the Living Continuum and the
Ancient Ones: do you share those beliefs?
PS: Yeah, I share those beliefs with him, I share those beliefs with
Morbid Angel 'cause Morbid Angel is a team, it is a unit. I am
with him in all that because if one of us is not on the same
track the whole unit would not be as powerful. Yes, I am with
Trey, with the Living Continuum and the Ancient Ones: they have
to do with the energy and the power of this band and it's
definitely in the beliefs.
CoC: And Steve fits into that well?
PS: Of course, of course. He has to sing all these songs. Yeah,
definitely, I believe so, he is very serious about it as well. I
think it is a very interesting philosophy, it is very genuine and
original and also very powerful in itself. If you believe that
and if you believe that we are the instruments of the Ancient
Ones, it's like an energy, it's like a good thing that you feel
inside when you write these songs and in the words, the meaning,
the messages of these songs it is much more positive and is much
more powerful than ever. That alone gives you more energy, more
power, you get more motivated to do these things with more
conviction. It is a very positive idea; as long as it is very
positive, in the winning positive, it's good. Why not, why not be
part of something that is positive, that is going to give us
success, that will give us new ideas in the future, that is going
to keep us going, getting ahead with our lives?
CoC: You said that the belief gives you some sort of energy. Along
with that, what sort of music inspired you to play originally
and what music still inspires you to carry on?
PS: What sort of music?
CoC: Yeah, you talked about your Spanish heritage for example.
PS: I listen to all kinds of music man, I listen to a lot of
classical music, a lot of jazz, I listen to some Spanish music of
course, I listen to some alternative techno music. Whatever is
inspiring and whatever is original, there are a lot of things out
there which are original and as long as it's original and it's
got something good in there [I listen to it]. I don't just like
one kind of music. I am into different types of music; whatever
sounds good to me I like and whatever has a good meaning of
course. I just listen to different kinds of things. Also
experiences in life influence you and get you in the mood of
writing. So all these things influence me in my life, in our
lives.
CoC: Why do you think Morbid Angel have lasted throughout the rise
and fall of death metal? A lot of bands who were around in the
early _Altars of Madness_ days have either changed or split up,
but you're still here; what do you think is the reason for this?
PS: The specific reason is that we have never given up, we have kept
on writing songs and material that is different [on each album].
We have just continued writing songs which are very powerful, I
believe and our belief just keeps us going, and our hard work,
because a lot of bands just give up when things are not happening
for them, and they probably stop working as hard as they should.
With Morbid Angel, especially with Trey and with us too, [it is]
that we keep on working hard every day writing songs and
believing that one day we were gonna record those songs and it
was gonna be a good album, but we had to work hard every day man,
just working on songs, just changing them every day, just
changing bars and it is definitely that belief in working hard,
not ever giving up and trying to write something that is not as
common, something that is original and that's the thing that sets
bands apart from others: their originality. A lot of bands, they
write one album, they a write a second album, third album and
it's kinda the same, it's kinda the same thing; not much change.
Every album we have tried to make something new, something
different, or add new things to it -- like on the new record,
we've added two pieces, Trey added two pieces of instrumental
keyboard [for avid Morbid Angel fans like myself wishing to
remind Pete of "Doomsday Celebration" on _Blessed Are the Sick_,
I think that the interludes on the new album have a different
feel, it is not just that they are played on keyboards that makes
them original --PS] and that gives the album more
characteristics, more things for the listener to explore. All of
these things have to do with that [the hard work] and also a
belief in yourself, that's a major thing -- you've gotta believe
that you can do it -- and that is our belief, the belief that we
already have fixed in our heads before anything is written down.
We can do it, because, like Trey says, "everyone has the
potential to be a winner" and I think it is just a matter of
wanting it and working hard for it and that's what it is man, it
[success] shows up for those who work hard: those are the ones
that get the prize, man, the medallion. We're gonna keep going
and hopefully Steve is gonna stick with us and be part of our
team and try to make it as powerful as possible, 'cause it's
gonna be his first tour and we'll see what happens, but we are
excited about it. Those are good things: the emotions, feelings,
excitement, wanting to do things, and wanting to change things,
wanting to make things of greatness, that's the big thing.
CoC: You've decided to stay with Earache as your record company; were
you ever thinking of changing record company?
PS: We were just trying to find the best contract, the best deal.
That's the best thing, there wasn't a specific company we wanted
to go to. We just tried to find whoever would give us the right
deal, the fairest deal for us, and that happened to be Earache.
Earache gave us the best deal overall, and that's who we stayed
with. So I am happy that we stayed with Earache and I hope that
they do a good job for us.
CoC: Are you taking Richard Brunelle out on tour with you?
PS: We are taking him out [with us], yes. We are currently practicing
with him every day.
CoC: How has that been?
PS: He's been doing great. We believe he is coming on the tour with
us so that's very positive right there, if he comes out with us
he'll do a good job of it, so I think he'll be on the tour.
CoC: Which bands will you be taking out with you?
PS: I believe for this European tour that the band Vader is gonna
open for us.
CoC: Really!
PS: And one band from Earache, Entwined or something. They're gonna
open up and Vader. That's the last thing I heard, for this
European tour that we're gonna do. I hope that it is a great
tour.
CoC: Do you think there will ever be a Terrorizer reunion?
PS: Terrorizer reunion? I have no idea man, because Jesse is doing
his own thing, he is in Napalm even though I spoke to him a few
times a couple a months ago. He still, you know, has this thing
in his mind that he would like to do another shot, and I wouldn't
mind to do another shot to it, but the thing is it's like Oscar
Garcia, the singer, he's married, and he's changed quite a bit so
he's not into the whole thing as much as he was. You never know,
you know what I mean, Jesse, as far as he is concerned, he's got
some songs written down, he's putting them on tape, he's gonna
send me a tape of the songs, and I'm gonna check it out and we'll
see what happens. You never know man, surprises happen, you never
know. That would be a good thing, it would be fun to do.
CoC: Black metal is now very popular; do you have an opinion on black
metal?
PS: Well, the thing is that black metal down here in the states is
not as popular, I don't hear much of it, I heard it is mostly in
Europe where black metal is big or hyped or whatever. All I see
is a magazine here or there and when I check a magazine I see a
lot of black metal bands and all of these bands have this makeup
and these evil looks and stuff, I just don't bother with it, it
doesn't affect my life at all at the moment; I play death metal,
I play what I play. There are a few bands out there, a few black
metal bands, who are pretty good and they have got a good thing
going and it is just a matter of these bands getting over here
and doing a tour or something because I have never see them
coming over here, probably it is hard for them because they don't
have a manager or the backup they deserve. It is much bigger in
Europe, that's why I don't have much to say about black metal,
but I don't have much idea about whether black metal is rising or
going down, what do you think?
CoC: I heard recently that it is starting to get into the States
because Cradle of Filth, the most popular band from the UK, they
just recently did their first tour of the US; Absu from Texas,
they're becoming more popular, and Usurper from Chicago as well
[to name but a few --PS], so I think it might start to get big
in the States.
PS: That's good.
CoC: What also might happen, which might not change anything [for
black metal], it looks like death metal might come back again
and be more popular.
PS: Death metal, yeah, that would be a great thing.
CoC: Vader and some other newer bands have become quite respected
playing death metal and then there is the new Morbid Angel album
coming out, and Cryptopsy are doing a new album. So we'll see
how it goes.
PS: Yeah, we'll see what happens man.
CoC: Do you have any last words for the readers of CoC?
PS: Yeah, I just hope that they pick our _FFttF_ record and that they
like it, and that they get the message and enjoy it a lot, and I
hope it is powerful enough for their ears, and I hope to see them
soon on the road. Where is this magazine from?
CoC: Originates in Canada but it's on the Internet, so you get it
anywhere in the world free, in Europe, the States, Japan: it's
your fans everywhere.
PS: I hope to see everyone soon on the road, and beware because this
is going to be a very powerful tour. We are going to come and
prove, ourselves, that we are the kings of death metal and we are
going to be very strong and very powerful live and very fast as
well, because we never lost that, that aspect. Peace.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
T H E F L A M E O F I N G E N U I T Y
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC Interviews In Flames
by: Adrian Bromley
"I think there is still a lot of creativity left still for In
Flames and the music we create," starts guitarist Jesper Stromblad
from the phone overseas when asked about their latest LP, _Whoracle_,
and future material. "I am very satisfied with the way this record
turned out. It is a great record. And it is good that people are
getting into this record 'cause that is what we want. For people to
grow with us as we get to be better musicians. At this point right
now, we are thinking how we are going to top this record. How are we
going to do ten or more songs better than the material on _Whoracle_?
I mean, something has to happen with the music now. You can't repeat
yourself. In terms of new material, we have written a couple of new
songs and I think one of them is the best song we have ever written.
It sounds like "Moonshield Part 2" or "Gyroscope Part 2". It is a
very good song."
He continues on, "What we plan to focus on more with the new LP
is the production. We want to make it very fresh in some way. We want
to add some ideas. Ninety percent of the material will sound like In
Flames, but we'll throw in some samples, drum loops or maybe some
more keyboards. We want to maybe try a bit more clearer vocals. Not
in the same vein as Amorphis, because I think if you can't sing
normal then don't do it 'cause it sounds pathetic. This is something
we will try. We already tried it on _Whoracle_ with the clear vocals
dubbed over the screaming vocals on "Everything Counts". It worked to
some degree. Right now I am writing many guitar riffs where I put
simple clear vocals on and demo it. Then we go into the studio and
try to add many alternatives to the song like keyboards, etc... If it
works, we will keep it. I mean, we want to progress as a band and
bring new ideas into In Flames."
In Flames -- which includes vocalist Anders Friden, bassist
Johan Larsson, drummer Bjorn Gelotte and other guitarist Glenn
Ljungstrom -- worked hard to put out _Whoracle_. It was a much needed
sound and direction for the band to be able to continue on where they
left off with the dazzling 1996 effort _The Jester Race_, a much more
melodic death metal LP than their previous efforts _Lunar Strain_
(1993) and the _Subterranean_ EP in 1994. _TJR_ opened up In Flames
to a lot of music fans who were captivated by harsh vocals on top of
seductive and quite memorable choruses and riffs. In Flames captured
a slick quality to melodic death metal -- putting themselves in a
category with such acts as Dark Tranquillity -- and felt _Whoracle_
needed to attain that same quality (production/songwriting) somewhat,
as Jesper had stated, to move on. What is it about _Whoracle_ that
Stromblad finds appealing?
"I like the whole feel of this record, but as most musicians
will point out about their efforts, I am not 100% happy with the
production. It was good, but could have been better. It was just a
great feeling to have some fresh material out for people to hear.
With _TJR_, we recorded it in 1995 but it didn't see the light of day
'till a year later in 1996, when it was released. The music then felt
old to us. This record was recorded quickly and released right away.
This stuff seems so new to me that I can enjoy it moreso than when
_TJR_ came out."
Getting more in-depth about the production of _Whoracle_,
Stromblad says, "This was a very quick record for us to assemble. But
there were problems first off. I had a writing block for sometime and
I didn't know what we were going to do. No ideas were coming to me
and I was worried. I didn't write for almost a whole year, though I
had written the song "Episode 666" (off _Whoracle_). Then at the
start of 1997 I had started to write material and then it all just
poured out. To go from total blackness to a new album in less than
four weeks. It just came out all at once."
Since Jesper is one of the main songwriters for In Flames, I ask
him about the initial song idea and how it takes shape on record.
Does it change much from initial idea to production and recording of
the material for the LP? He responds, "When I have a song idea in my
head, I pretty much know how it will end up after we record it and
work on it in the studio. I know what has to be done. But song
writing this time out was much more relaxed. We had time to work on
songs. _TJR_ was recorded in just eleven days, but we really had
thirteen days in the studio. We recorded the LP and then had to
re-record half the record, so we had to do it exactly as we had
rehearsed. This time, with _Whoracle_, we could take as much time as
possible to finish it up. We left a lot of parts open to work on in
the studio, stuff like melodies and guitar leads. It was great as we
could record some stuff and when we grew tired of studio time go
home, relax, come back tomorrow and go back to work. It wasn't like
that for _TJR_. This time was a much more pleasant experience for
us."
On his goal as a musician and songwriter, Stromblad has a lot of
ideas he wishes to see happen in the next little while for his band.
He believes in In Flames and himself, living out a dream of touring
and making music for as long as he possibly can. "Music has always
been an important part of my life. Ever since I learned to walk,
basically. I knew from the beginning I wanted to do this. I stuck by
that dream all through school and look where I am at. This is a
full-time business for me. I think about music twenty four hours a
day. All the time. This is the only thing I can do and the only thing
I want to do."
And such is the case with Stromblad also having helped (both
through writing and playing) on the Hammerfall debut LP, _Glory to
the Brave_, an 80s-tinged metal outfit in the vein of Helloween and
Iron Maiden. So how does Stromblad work the time out between
Hammerfall and In Flames? Jesper quickly explains, "I am not in
Hammerfall. They are a real band now and I have no part in the band.
They had real problems with people thinking it was a side-project of
In Flames. Some even thought it was my band and that I write for
them. I mean, I did help them out with their debut record but they
have a solid lineup now and all I do is help them out a bit. If I am
home when they begin recording their follow-up LP, I may help them
engineer the vocals because I helped them do that last time and the
vocalist (Joacim Cans) was very comfortable working with me. I'd like
to help them out but in no way am I in the band. I just wanted to get
that straight."
_Whoracle_, next to such early releases as _Lunar Strain_ or
_Subterranean_, seems to have such a magnific production quality and
to be bursting with top notch musicianship. The growth of the band
has been a gradual one, seeing each LP strengthen them as a band and
fully adapt their ideas so effortlessly into the evolution of In
Flames' material. Has the evolution been an easy transition for the
band to evolve?
"I never really think about us trying to take our music to a
certain place. This all falls into place very naturally. The only
time I ever think about where we should take the music is if I draw a
blank while writing and need to use our old material as a reference
and [choose] where to take it. I don't think the direction of In
Flames has ever been planned. I think it has taken a long time for us
to find our identity. It is like when you grow up, it takes you a
long time to find your identity. You have to grow with the people in
the band as well as with your music through numerous releases. It
takes a while to find a particular sound that represents our band and
I think we are slowly getting there. Our sound is being given shape
right now."
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_____ .__ ___.
/ _ \ | |\_ |__ __ __ _____
/ /_\ \| | | __ \| | \/ \
/ | \ |_| \_\ \ | / Y Y \
\____|__ /____/___ /____/|__|_| /
\/ \/ \/
_____ .__
/ _ \ _________.__.| | __ __ _____
/ /_\ \ / ___< | || | | | \/ \
/ | \\___ \ \___ || |_| | / Y Y \
\____|__ /____ >/ ____||____/____/|__|_| /
\/ \/ \/ \/
Scoring: 10 out of 10 -- A masterpiece indeed
9 out of 10 -- Highly recommended
7 out of 10 -- Has some redeeming qualities
5 out of 10 -- You are treading in dangerous waters
3 out of 10 -- Nothing here worth looking into
0 out of 10 -- An atrocious album, avoid at all costs!
Abigor - _Supreme Immortal Art_ (Napalm Records, February 1998)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (8.5 out of 10)
With so many grimly nicknamed clones and "majestic black metal art"
fakes clamoring after our coin these days, it's cool that there are
still some bands like Abigor who seriously explore the possibilities
of the black metal aesthetic, yet without stagnating or incorporating
more commercial elements. (For another truly worthy act, check out
the Black Funeral review below.) _Supreme Immortal Art_ is definitely
the band's most finely textured work yet, retaining Abigor's wounded,
wrathful, alien tone, but striving to give those impulses a more
multifaceted expression. In lieu of the medieval romanticism of
_Nachthymnen_, the fever-dream aura of _Opus IV_, or the unadorned
blackness of _Apokalypse_, this one evokes a phantasmagoric array of
different but consistently weird and eerie aural feels. (The
shrieking vocals are back, by the way.) The closest comparison from
the band's back catalog would probably be _Nachthymnen_, but _Supreme
Immortal Art_ seems more ambitious and accomplished. Complex song
structures tie together manifold well-arranged segments, while
constantly shifting synthesizer settings and vocal nuances drape
different shades of creepiness over the spiky metallic skeleton of
each track. Sampling is employed occasionally, too. Good production
balances everything nicely in a clear, detailed mix. Plenty of
hyper-speed bursts pepper the tracks, but on the whole this seems
more subdued than earlier stuff: Ambience, not aggression, is the
principal focus this time. I wasn't exactly blown away by this, and I
still prefer _Opus IV_ and the magnificent _Orkblut_, but _Supreme
Immortal Art_ has continually grown on me as more and more detail
emerges with every listen. Still... I think the essential black metal
vibe tends to get lost in compositions as complex as these. But be
that as it may, there's real musical quality on display here; no
doubt about that. You decide.
Ablaze My Sorrow - _The Plague_ (No Fashion, 1998)
by: Drew Schinzel (6 out of 10)
Ablaze My Sorrow are finally back with a new album, but,
unfortunately, I can't say that it has been worth the wait at all.
Their debut album, _If Emotions Still Burn_, was promising; a solid
album of a bit harsher variety of Swedish melodic death, but it
suffered from poor vocals and some loose playing. This time around,
the playing is a little tighter, but as a whole the album isn't any
sizable improvement over _IESB_; in fact, I'd say it's of a somewhat
lower quality. The melody is still there, though in lowered amounts,
but it seems as if the band has forsaken the unique melodic approach
heard on the first album for a more traditional Swedish sound.
Luckily, the band's distinctive penchant to switch tempos and/or
riffs every ten seconds or so remains intact, definitely keeping the
listener on his or her toes, but that's nowhere near enough to
salvage _The Plague_ from mediocrity. I was hoping that Ablaze My
Sorrow would try to elevate themselves above the other faceless No
Fashion bands, but although they remain unique in some respects,
their music is just not unique enough to be considered anything
fantastic, and when added to the fact that it's simply not great on
any sort of musical level anyway, this makes it another average
release.
Alio Die - _The Hidden Spring_ (Crowd Control Activities, 1998)
by: Andrew Lewandowski (6 out of 10)
Even if ambient artists don't have to rely on the nasty formulaic
song structures of rock-derived genres, ambient bands can easily fall
prey to that form of impotence which has turned many a handsome young
man into an Alio Die. Despite one or two noteworthy tracks, _THS_
contains few distinction nuances. Instead, AD rely on the same basic
pattern -- repetitive, forlorn drones with miscellaneous shards of
ambiance strewn about -- which Brian Eno beat into the grown twenty
years ago. AD's predecessors have already come damn close to
perfecting most of this album's best moments; the simplicity of
"Amniotic Pot", the best representation of the album's sound, tries
to embrace the sublime, yet lacks the substance of more evolved
artists, while the slightly incongruous "Internal Top", easily the
most developed and disorienting track, sounds suspiciously similar to
a hybrid of Maeror Tri (Stephan Knappe from the band plays gong on
the track) and the ethno-ambience of Alio Die. Also, many of the
tracks feature annoying sound bites, such as rushing water or bird
chirps, which sound like an anemic attempt at invoking an ethnic
ambiance. Also, the tracks come across condensed and, as a whole, the
album is fragmented -- not surprising since the album was recorded
over a four-year period and six tracks have been released on previous
albums or compilations.
Amon Amarth - _Once Sent from the Golden Hall_ (Metal Blade, 1998)
by: Drew Schinzel (7 out of 10)
I really loved Amon Amarth's debut MCD on Pulverized Records, _Sorrow
Throughout the Nine Worlds_; the album's mix of harmony with death
and black metal was a seamless integration. However, on their new
release for Metal Blade, Amon Amarth take a turn further towards
death metal as this album is -much- heavier than _STtNW_, although
not quite as good. The melodic riffing is still there, creating a
sense of urgency in the songs and framing the rest of the elements
nicely, but something is occasionally missing. Whereas the MCD had a
tremendous musical impact and was truly excellent in many respects,
_OSftGH_ lacks the consistency of its predecessor. The best songs on
the MCD were totally epic, not in length but in feeling, but on this
most recent album that sense seems to be gone, and the best songs on
_OSftGH_ can't really compare at all to the MCD. This isn't a total
condemnation of the album (in fact, it's quite good), but it's really
just not up to the standard set by _Sorrow Throughout the Nine
Worlds_. _Once Sent from the Golden Hall_ is a quality album, but
it's simply not Amon Amarth's best work.
Various Artists - _Area 51_ (Victory Records, 1998)
by: Zena Tsarfin (8 out of 10)
While I won't pretend to understand what the connection between the
Area 51 alien conspiracy and hardcore is, I can tell you that the
rambunctious blend of European and American bands found on this
54-track, double-CD compilation would scare off any extraterrestrial
that made it through our airspace. Although virtually all the
included bands' tracks have been released elsewhere, the practicality
of _Area 51_ stems from the fact that all of them were released on
�ber-indie, hard-to-find labels (and imports in the case of the
Euros), making this set a good sampler for anyone interested in the
groups that are only found in the pages of In Effect 'Zine and Ian
Glasper's columns in Terrorizer. Although _Area 51_ has its share of
filler (Next Step Up, Stigmata), contributions by Deviate, Fahrenheit
451, 59 Times the Pain, Warzone, Will Haven, Despair, Breach and so
many others makes it well worthwhile.
Black Funeral - _Empire of Blood_ (Full Moon Prod., February 1998)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (9 out of 10)
AACCKK!! Yes!! This is easily some of the BEST really raw and
ultra-ghastly black metal that I have ever heard. I like this better
than the mighty Sort Vokter (!!), better than Ildjarn, better even
than the Legions Noires bands from France. This band's style is
guaranteed to totally alienate the vast majority of listeners, but if
you have a taste for the uniquely creepy ambience which severely
unrefined black metal can dredge up, then I encourage you to track
this down. It's wild music, atmospherically pregnant with the void;
you listen to this and marvel that human beings produced something
that sounds so far gone. In addition to the sheer weirdness of it
all, listening is especially enjoyable on two levels. The most
immediately apparent factor is the basement-quality sound. As
evidenced by the highly boring nature of all the "sophisticated"
style-pirates who play a polished-up version of black metal, highly
impure production is by far the superior vehicle for this style, and
Black Funeral does a great job with it. (Think of the production on
the Emperor/Enslaved split for a good comparison.) But far more
important in the long run are the songs themselves -- unformulaic,
unearthly constructions crawling with all these weirdly sinister
little melodies that irresistibly worm their way into your brain. But
be warned!! The songs will sound awfully familiar if you've got the
first Black Funeral CD, because six of the tracks on _Empire of
Blood_ are re-recorded versions of songs from the debut, though the
titles and lyrics have been changed. (I only have a promo version of
the CD, so I don't know if the full packaging indicates this or not.)
Anyway, I always thought those old songs were cool, and I think the
new versions offer enough enhancement to make the repetition quite
worthwhile. The sound this time is more spacious, hazier, and
stranger, with incredibly abstracted, distorted howling vocals -- so
while the debut was a classic of grim, raw black metal, this
re-recording is a classic of very ambient grim, raw black metal. Also
included are three demo tracks from 1993 -- not quite as good as the
new material, but pleasantly ripping all the same. Check out the
artwork, too: the calligraphy is just amazing. Killer all around.
This should be destined for serious cult status.
Bongzilla - _Methods For Attaining Extreme Attitudes_
by: Adrian Bromley (5 out of 10) (Relapse, February 1998)
By the name of the band alone you should have a good idea what kind
of music this quartet plays. That's right, pot smokers, here is
another band to smoke up to. _MfAEA_ is a small dose (3-song EP) of
pot-influenced songs about (what else?) Marijuana. Just look at the
song titles -- "MELOVESPOT", "High Like A Dog" and "Smoke / I Love
MaryJane" -- and you get a pretty good idea how Bongzilla spend most
of their free time. While the songs may be heavy as fuck, overflowing
with distortion and odd musical arrangements, it pretty much lacks in
the creative department. Think of this as a second rate
Neurosis/Melvins band. The only thing creative about Bongzilla are
the band member names (Killer Kola Killer, The Big "Bud" Man, Magma
Mota and Sensi Spanky) and even that may be a stretch. Potheads
unite. All others may want to sample this, but might be better off
going to the other side of the room.
Dawn - _Slaughtersun (Crown of the Triarchy)_ (Necropolis, 1998)
by: Drew Schinzel (9 out of 10)
The much anticipated, and much delayed, second Dawn full length is
now released, and let me be one of the first to declare that it was
completely worth the wait. Expanding on their already solid
foundation of epic length, high-speed, melodic blackened death metal,
Dawn have upped most of the song times to around the eight to ten
minute mark, with nary a boring moment filling in the almost one hour
of music which constitutes _SCotT_. Commencing with the monumentally
fantastic opener "The Knell and the World", _SCotT_ flows along
infallibly, achieving a magnificent mixture of extremely high
velocity aggression with slower, more sedate passages, though with
the former dominating the latter. Dawn excel at composing songs of
eminent maturity with more than just a hint of originality as the six
works present here will prove; their best asset, the unparalleled way
that Dawn combine searing speed and aggression with the perfect
amount of melody, never overpowers the song, seems out of place, nor
situates the band in the ranks of more melodic groups such as
Dissection or Sacramentum. Couple their compositional skills with the
tortured, yet subdued, vocals of Henke Forss, one of the best black
or death vocalists around, and the improved drumming courtesy of new
addition Jocke Petersson (Niden Div 187), and Dawn have produced
simply a tremendous album. One of 1998's finest thus far.
Defleshed - _Under the Blade_ (Metal Blade, 1998)
by: Drew Schinzel (6 out of 10)
"Solid metal" is what Defleshed claim to play, and though I'm not
sure whether they mean it's merely solid in the 'good' sense, or if
they've spawned a whole new genre here, "solid metal" sounds a whole
lot like 80s thrash/speed-inspired death metal to me. Producing a
pretty fat sound for just a three piece band, Defleshed utilize a
great raw guitar sound along with some manic drumming to create the
harsh tones found on _UtB_. Alternating from blasting death metal
sections with pretty standard components into the definitely cooler
thrashier material, the problem with _UtB_ is that it's just too
intensely divided for its own good. Without hardly any transition at
all, the band goes from a Testament "Curse of The Legions of
Death"-sounding riff straight into insane death metal, leaving the
album sounding totally disjointed, unable to follow up on which sound
to go with. This wouldn't be so bad if at least the respective thrash
and death parts were particularly -good-, but once one gets past the
painful song arrangements, one realizes that none of the riffs,
drumming, or vocals are really that great anyway. Plus,
unfortunately, when they're not busy deciding on which style to go on
to next, Defleshed tend to be downright repetitive, which adds insult
to injury. _UtB_ may satisfy those looking for immediate death/thrash
gratification, but once you dig down past the surface the album
suffers.
Demonic - _The Empire of Agony_ (Necropolis Records, February 1998)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (6.5 out of 10)
Expecting to be led down a well-worn path through some fairly generic
Norse blackness, I find myself entering some unexpected (if not
exactly uncharted) terrain. This is black metal first and foremost,
of course: there's a gratuitous keyboard intro and so on, and the
lyrics, from what I can make out, do not deviate one iota from the
standard repertoire. Yet this band sounds a bit distinctive in that
they give off a conspicuously grinding vibe. The Grieghallen
production is surprisingly warm, with more mid-range and bottom end
than the typical Norwegian black metal sound. Also, the drums are
recorded and mixed with unusual clarity (again, by black metal
standards!), with the result that the faster parts have this weird
"Nordic tribal thunder grind" feel. This feel is sort of enhanced by
the song structures, too; for black metal, the songs are quite short
(several around three minutes apiece), and they're mostly built up
from alternating slower sections and buzz-saw blasts. The problem is
that too many of the riffs on the album just seem rather flat -- so
once the novelty of the grinding vibe wears off, I seem to be left
with a couple of standout tracks and not much else of lasting
interest. Still, this is not a bad album, really -- more a case of
potential that doesn't get fulfilled. I think these guys could make a
real tough record if they just got stronger in the riffing
department. From the promo sleeve: "Release Date: February 14, 1998."
Isn't that sweet?
Diaboli - _Towards Damnation_ (Full Moon Productions, February 1998)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (7 out of 10)
I was glad to see that this guy (formerly "Lord Pete", now just
"Pete") made a second Diaboli record, because I really enjoyed the
first one, _Mesmerized by Darkness_. I bet you'd enjoy that album
too, if a blasting mix of early Bathory, old Impaled Nazarene, and
just a hint of Darkthrone sounds enticing. This follow-up release is
more of the same. Well, actually, in a sense it's a bit -less- of the
same, because _Towards Damnation_ is not quite as ferocious or as
dark as the Diaboli debut. Don't get me wrong, though: this is pretty
cool; it just doesn't hammer you into the ground quite like the first
record did. Still, all these little gripes of mine tend to evaporate
pretty damn rapidly as I crank this up. A clear, hearty mix dominated
by great guitar sound spotlights Pete's uncanny knack for crafting
riffs which, no matter how oft-repeated, never get dull, thanks to
the subtle rhythmic hooks woven within. The songs can be repetitious,
yes, but they're also (and appropriately) mesmerizing -- and I think
the slow, pounding sections of Diaboli songs are among the very best
slow segments in the black metal genre. Why not give this a higher
score, then? Well, as I said, I like the debut a bit better; plus,
this contains only five new songs, in addition to one re-recorded
track and two disposable keyboard pieces. As I say, though, on the
whole this is cool stuff from a band that deserves to be more widely
known.
The Everdawn - _Poems - Burn the Past_ (Metal Blade, 1998)
by: Drew Schinzel (5 out of 10)
Licensed from Germany's Invasion Records by Metal Blade, The
Everdawn's debut full length album _Poems - Burn the Past_ is a
pretty thorough rip-off of the final two At The Gates releases,
_Terminal Spirit Disease_ and _Slaughter of the Soul_. Similar mix of
death, speed, and melody, same screamed vocals, same drum patterns --
The Everdawn have concocted an album virtually vacant of any sense of
originality whatsoever. Plus, it's not even a particularly -good-
rip-off; whereas Lindberg's vocals were an acquired taste, they were
still a perfect match and totally satisfying; The Everdawn's are
obviously strained and overproduced. Add this sad fact to other
musical caveats, and you've got an all-around disappointing effort.
As such, it's very difficult to swallow paying good money for _PBtP_
when you've got a vastly superior alternative in either _TSD_ or the
now almost classic _SoTS_.
Guillotine - _Under the Guillotine_ (Necropolis, 1998)
by: Drew Schinzel (8.5 out of 10)
Taking the now hopefully waning 80's metal resurgence to its highest
degree of musical debauchery, Guillotine have basically completely
ripped off all that is Kreator and Sodom. Now here's the funny part:
_Under the Guillotine_ totally thrashes. Without an ounce of
originality or creativity whatsoever, Guillotine scythe through ten
tracks of pure 80's German thrash played, of course, by Swedes in the
late 90's. Who would have it any other way? With songs such as the
ingeniously titled "Violence" and "Total Mayhem", Guillotine aren't
out to prove anything other than the fact that they are
unquestionably adept at playing 80s thrash with a sound so obviously
ripped from all the early Kreator albums and Sodom's _Persecution
Mania_ that the album just screams out "THRASH" through and through.
So, if it is such a blatant plagiarism, how can it be so good? Let's
get this straight: _UtG_ is great -because- it is such a blatant
plagiarism. Since Sodom isn't around anymore (thank God), and Kreator
aren't putting out albums like they used to, Guillotine fit precisely
into the remaining niche. Lovers of German thrash rejoice, your album
for 1998 has arrived.
Indungeon - _Machinegunnery of Doom_ (Full Moon Productions, 1998)
by: Drew Schinzel (7.5 out of 10)
I think we should just start with some sort of "assumed retro" rule
around here: unless stated otherwise in the first two lines of a
review, all albums reviewed from a certain few labels (you should
know which) should be assumed to be retro. On a tangent here, if this
continues, will their really even -be- a "retro" sound anymore? Won't
the sound have become so predominant as to become current as well?
Anyway, that said, Indungeon is another in the seemingly unending
stream of 80s retro releases, and is pretty good at sewing together
very thrash-oriented songs with black vocals and all around competent
playing, better than a lot of the other completely crap releases of
late. The album, from what I've gathered thus far, follows an
innovative "war" theme, and the complex plot is integrated into such
songs as "Mayhemic Destruction" (someone give these bands a
thesaurus, -please-) and more than just assonant "Desolation
Creation". As mentioned, the album actually -is- a cut above the
rest, as at least this band recycled -good- riffs from the 80s, and
the guitars have a great raw, sharp sound, complemented nicely by
vocals of the same nature and production. The songs are fairly basic
exercises in thrash; the only thing that'll catch you off guard is
the occasional explosion thrown into the middle of a song for good
measure. So, _MoD_ is a good, worthwhile album, but is that really
enough to truly separate it from any of the others?
Keep of Kalessin - _Through Times of War_ (Avantgarde, 1998)
by: Drew Schinzel (7 out of 10)
Although the name bears no meaning to me (I can guess), Keep of
Kalessin definitely surprised me with their brand of harsh black
metal, rather similar to a combination of Setherial (minus the epic
length songs) and Marduk, coupled with a noticeable dose of distinct
heaviness rarely seen in black metal. Most of the time kicking away
in typical black metal speeds, Keep of Kalessin offer a very
effective foray into the now much less densely populated area of
fast, strident blackness. Tossing in some sporadic, "whirry"
keyboards here and there, the band forges a high quality forty-seven
minute opus, but one which really has no unique characteristics or
special features to separate it from all the rest out there. That
said, _Through Times of War_ is good, but there are plenty of albums
out there just like it, or better.
Lux Occulta - _Dionysos_ (Pagan Records, December 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)
After having impressed me with their _Forever Alone. Immortal._ [CoC
#18], Lux Occulta have now released another brilliant piece of epic,
doomy, symphonic black metal. Changes in the balance between
desolation and grandeur have occurred, though, as some of the doom
has been forsaken in exchange for more rapturous symphonies that
often reach excellent quality (as before) and elevation levels.
Perhaps an increase in pace has happened as well, but this doesn't
mean that _Dionysos_ is more of a 'pure' black metal album than its
mostly mid-paced predecessor; as a matter of fact, perhaps the
opposite is actually true, due to the greater rawness of _FA.I._.
Ultimately, though, Lux Occulta have kept the basis of their own
distinctive style (whatever name should it have) intact, all changes
having been of superficial nature. Perhaps the most significant
changes occurred outside the musical domain, concerning the graphical
and lyrical direction. Even though both have again been well taken
care of, I'm not especially fond of their new subjects (especially
when compared to those in _Forever Alone. Immortal._). The production
is much better in _Dionysos_, resulting in a far stronger sound, and
the guitar work is also better than usual in most keyboard-based
black metal albums. Like in _FA.I._, Lux Occulta have done an
outstanding triumphant ending for this album, which is indeed full of
highlights.
Maeror Tri - _Emotional Engramm_ (Iris Light, 1997)
by: Andrew Lewandowski (9 out of 10)
Once one of the most potent and distinctive ambient groups, Maeror
Tri has broken up, and _EE_ captures their dying breathes. While it
contains more movement and a greater variety of soundscapes than much
of their previous output, _EE_ retains the desolate, melody-based
aesthetic characteristic of the MT sound. Former MT albums --
particularly _Mort Aux Vaches_, my favorite -- could delude the
apathetic listener into believing that the music was sterile or
static, but _EE_'s chaos is explicit and inexorable. Although this
album rarely attains the vicious climaxes produced by the buildups
with which MT can enthrall the listener, MT's soundscapes still
disconcert and, in fact, are more imaginative than ever. As their
final effort proves, MT, one of the few ambient artists by whom
everyone should own at least one album, has proven that they
disintegrated at the height of their talent.
Mental Home - _Vale_ (The End, 1997)
by: Adam Wasylyk (5 out of 10)
After concluding two or so listens to _Vale_, I could honestly say
that what had entered my ears left them in a real hurry! Having a
mostly doom sound (a slight comparison could be made to Napalm act
Visceral Evisceration), it's combined with black metal vocals (used
only occasionally) and second-rate My Dying Bride lyric/music
influences and comes off sounding disjointed with no real flow or
hooks to latch on to. It sounds as if Mental Home just took a bunch
of influences and threw them together, which can result in something
sounding different but it can also come out sounding jumbled and
plain confusing. You wanna buy quality doom? There are many great
albums waiting in your nearby store or mail order catalog, but it
certainly isn't in the form of _Vale_.
Various Artists - _A Mercyful Fate Tribute_
by: Paul Schwarz (8 out of 10) (Listenable, December 1997)
Although I have never heard Mercyful Fate, this compilation provided
very interesting, not to mention quite good, listening. Production on
every track is excellent. It is obvious from listening to this
album's 13 bands and 68 minutes of music that each band has injected
a little, or a lot, of their own style into the original Mercyful
Fate song. The only other thing that could be the case is that
Mercyful Fate were 1) 10 years ahead of the norm, or 2) 8 bands in
one. What this compilation is, is a collection of very well written
songs performed by some of my favourite independant label bands
(Deceased, Dark Tranquillity, Emperor, and more, all feature). What I
am undecided on is whether this compilation is a good representation
of Mercyful Fate and whether it is a good introduction to the band's
music. Only a couple of tracks capture the classic 80s feel and
attempt King Diamond's eunuch like vocals. Most of the album,
although mostly quality music, does not sound like Mercyful Fate but
like a new song by the band performing. Gardenian's "A Dangerous
Meeting" sounds like a taster of their forthcoming album while
Immolation sound like they've dug up one of their old demo tapes to
give us "Satan's Fall". Gardenian's track is extremely good and
Immolation's is far from shabby, but most of this CD sounds a little
too, well, 90s. The pros of this are that it sees bands injecting new
and different energy into old songs; the drawback is that it doesn't
capture the 80s atmosphere in which the originals were written and
recorded. A great value compilation of bands but probably not one for
Mercyful Fate fans still stuck firmly in the 80s and rejecting the
90s.
Midvinter - _At the Sight of the Apocalypse Dragon_
by: Drew Schinzel (4 out of 10) (Metal Blade, 1998)
Considering all of the turmoil that Midvinter went through prior to
releasing this record, maybe it would've been better if they'd just
broken up instead. _At the Sight of the Apocalypse Dragon_ is a
generic album of standard black metal that tries to be majestic, but
just ends up being merely forgettable instead. As the band churns out
their eight minute "epic" songs, it's pretty easy to see right
through their efforts to be "mature" and "atmospheric", and realize
that they actually just "suck." I guess you could describe their
music as resembling a mix of early Satyricon and Mayhem, with a
little more melody thrown into some parts; but don't expect anything
remotely as good, because Midvinter aren't really capable of
executing anything worthy of remembrance on _AtSotAD_. Not one of my
favorites.
Mithotyn - _In the Sign of the Ravens_ (Metal Blade, 1998)
by: Drew Schinzel (9 out of 10)
Refill your pint of ale and put down your oars, it's time for another
extremely solid album of heavily Viking tinged black metal, this time
courtesy of the debut album _In the Sign of the Ravens_ from Sweden's
Mithotyn. Taking a much more melodic approach than most of their ilk
(Falkenbach, Enslaved, etc.), yet still retaining the occasional high
speed passages and black vocals (the only thing keeping them in the
realm of black metal are these two factors), Mithotyn are without a
doubt among the top merchants of their trade. With an unparalleled
emphasis on overt, drawn out melodies, these aren't buried deep in
the mix as is often to be heard, and perfect placement of keyboards
when needed, the band plows through eleven tracks of excellently
composed, beautifully executed, heavily melodic and often epic Viking
black metal. While incorporating many things common to their style,
for example the typical manly chanting, Mithotyn also take upon
themselves to include some unique elements, such as the occasional
orchestra hit, harpsichord part (prediction: more bands will use
harpsichord in the future), and some very cool stop-time
arrangements, deftly elevating themselves above the norm in the
process. I also feel obligated to point out that the band has as its
drummer Karsten, formerly of Dawn, and he of the fluffy blonde
Swede-Afro. Simply stated, those looking for a venture into
melody-dominated metal with all the northern trap pings should begin
praising Odin and snatch up _In the Sign of the Ravens_ immediately.
Moonspell - _Sin/Pecado_ (Century Media, February 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo (6 out of 10)
"Sell me out, sell me out... Everyone has a price, everything has a
price." This is a quote from "V.C. (Gloria Domini)", track 7 of
_Sin_, a song about society ("V.C." meaning "Vulture Culture") and
"buying" people. Whether these same lyrics can be applied to
Moonspell and their new album itself may be an interesting question
for those who choose to waste their time with it; whether Moonspell
were aware of that when they wrote it is perhaps the real question
here. But the fact is that Century Media really hit the jackpot when
they signed Moonspell a few years ago. Back then, they signed a very
interesting average-selling metal band, and now they have a rather
uninteresting, yet highly profitable, pseudo-metal/goth band. Maybe
I'm being a bit too harsh here, because "Handmade God", "Abysmo" and
"Let the Children Cum to Me" (yes, I did spell that right) are all
acceptable tracks (even the very mellow "The Hanged Man" is
reasonable too -- for a very mellow song, that is). However,
"Eurotica" made me laugh like I did when I listened to the ridiculous
Fear Factory remixes in _Remanufacture_, and the problem is that
besides the three exceptions I mentioned above, the album is either
average or sometimes even mediocre -- most of it is simply bland,
lacks strength and fails to capture attention. Yet, like I just
noted, there are a few tracks which avoid a rating that could
otherwise have been lower, but _Sin_ never rises above what can be
labeled as 'acceptable'. I can say that I 'saw' this album shortly
after listening to _Irreligious_, as I'm quite sure many others did;
so this isn't even a disappointing outcome, because I more than
expected it to be this way. Let's say that Moonspell started by using
ingredient X in _Wolfheart_ then kept 50% of X and added 50% of a new
Y ingredient in _Irreligious_; now only traces of X are left, while Y
rises to nearly 100%. By the way, if you liked the sort of rhythms
and sampled sounds found in "Subversion" from _Irreligious_, then
there's plenty of that in _Sin_ for you to enjoy -- I definitely do
not. As a matter of fact, strengthening the idea stated above,
samples abound throughout the recording and play a very important
role in _Sin_. Now I would just like to quote Moonspell from an
interview I heard, in which their vocalist stated that the listener
must be "intelligent enough" to understand the album and the changes
in their sound. Fortunately, I couldn't possibly care less about
their opinion on anyone's intelligence (much less my own). Anyway,
one might even say that _Sin_ is an attempt at avoiding stagnancy;
then again, that by itself was never enough to make an album better
nor to justify the direction that has been chosen. As _Sin_ ends, one
can hear a sample of someone saying "We were happy to have you with
us tonight and hope you will come back often." As far as I'm
concerned, you can keep on hoping.
Nagelfar - _Hunengrab im Herbst_ (Kettenhund Records, November 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)
First of all, one thing should be taken out of the way: as far as I
know, this is not Naglfar, the band that was reviewed in CoC #11.
Nagelfar (notice the extra "e") is a very Norwegian-sounding German
band; CoC #11's Naglfar sounds like Dissection, whereas this German
Nagelfar only retains the technicality and speed of Dissection.
Venomous fast sections with high quality drumming and very tight
guitar playing merge with some slower passages into lengthy tracks
(sometimes over 10 minutes long) of very emotional, fast, technical
and somewhat melodic music. Melody is provided when necessary, but
quite harsh sequences are also to be found, and an overall feeling of
well-controlled harshness pervades the whole album. The vocals are
varied as well, from Abigor-like screams to more standard black
vocals and some clean chanting. There's occasional (and effective)
use of keyboards, usually during the slower sections, whereas all the
rest of the album (by far most of it) is guitar-based. However, the
guitar work is of enough quality to guarantee that the need for
melodic or atmospheric enhancement through the use of keyboards is
hardly ever felt. Through an unpretentious, low-profile album cover
and general attitude, Nagelfar make it clear that _Hunengrab im
Herbst_ is an album which relies exclusively upon its musical
qualities -- and it definitely has plenty.
Nebula - _Let It Burn_ (Tee Pee Records, 1998)
by: Zena Tsarfin (7 out of 10)
Nebula's relationship to Fu Manchu is what Slo Burn's was to Kyuss: a
carbon-copy of the original unit they were spawned from. Featuring
ex-Fu members Eddie Glass and Ruben Romano, plus bassist Mark
Abshire, the band pummels through six stoner rockin', dirty-guitar
riff wailing and garage-esque ditties that are guaranteed to get Fu
Manchu and Clutch fans' heads bopping along after leaning back from a
hearty bong hit. Perhaps the biggest similarity between Fu and Nebula
is Glass' vocal performance, which mimics Scott Hill's drawl
significantly with its echo effect. Despite my abhorrence for blatant
-- not to mention overtly executed -- ripoffs, I am a Fu fan, and
inasmuch found some redemption in this EP, particularly in "Vulcan
Bomber" and the title track.
Nightstick - _Ultimatum_ (Relapse, February 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
It has been twelve issues since we first featured Nightstick (review
in CoC #17; story #18)? It seemed like only yesterday that I was
listening to _Blotter_ (their Relapse debut) and trying to decipher
the odd ideas and warped samples sewn into the distorted feedback of
this Weymouth, Massachusetts band. I still haven't figured out what
they are all about, and I don't think I want to. Too hard to explain;
snag a copy of _Blotter_ and you'll see what I mean. Onto LP #2 and
_Ultimatum_ is a much more powerful and raw sounding record. While
still chock-full of epic distorted destruction, _Ultimatum_ also
dwells within a truly dark environment. While _Blotter_ was very
free-flowing and oddly assembled, the intensity of _Ultimatum_ has
been coursed out, a strike that successfully propels itself under our
skin and into our psyche. The band has not only crafted and honed in
on their ability of creepy song ideas, but magnified their powerful
sonic assault. This is noise -- pure noise -- but served up so well
that coming back for seconds seems like the only right thing to do.
Officium Triste - _Ne Vivam_ (Teutonic Existence, 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo (6 out of 10)
Depressive, slow, occasionally melodic doom/death is perhaps an
appropriate description for _Ne Vivam_. However, despite the very
strong drum sound (the drumming is well performed, too), deep grunts
and frequently dirge-like guitars, that description unfortunately
fails to portray the whole album. Whereas many slow (but not
ultra-slow) passages and reasonably competent doomy melodies can be
found, some more conventional guitar solos and less-than-doomy parts
(especially in tracks 6 and 8) tend to degrade the album's atmosphere
of doom and desolation. My inner darkness dislikes that; here, light
hurts, and those moments are glimpses of direct sunlight that aren't
welcome at all. In doom metal, when one shows a glimpse of sunlight,
he must be very careful to adequately enshroud it in bleakness --
otherwise the results may be disastrous. And while "Frozen Tears",
"One With the Sea", "Psyche Nullification" and, especially,
"Lonesome" (which features some excellent sorrowful melodies during
the first couple of minutes) are very worthy, the rest of this album
is mostly rather unremarkable, and often even harmful to its doomier
parts. As a result, the greatest problem in _Ne Vivam_ is that it
suffers from a clear lack of consistent direction, which is
especially annoying when one considers its best moments.
Otyg - _Alvefard_ (Napalm, 1998)
by: Drew Schinzel (8 out of 10)
Hey, here's a novel idea: take some folk songs from your country and
spice those tired old things up with some metal, damnit! OK, so Storm
might've gotten to the concept first, but Otyg is by no means any
sort of Storm clone; if anything, they're a more evolved, more folk
oriented variant. The music, based on violin with a melodic guitar
accompaniment and brought up by a powerful backbone of pounding,
mid-paced drumming, is a bit more harmonious than Storm, and
obviously is a little more complex, taking the idea much further than
simply "heavy metal folk." The vocals are totally clean, with both
the male and female vocals being very similar to those in Storm.
Something Storm -doesn't- have, however, is someone jamming away on
the oft overlooked mouth-harp, granting the band immediate
originality points. Overall, the combination of the totally apt
violin, guitars cranking out the obviously northern sounding
melodies, well done vocals, and just plain rocking pace of the whole
thing forms an excellent album, to be appreciated by fans of Storm
and lovers of plain good music in general.
Pro-Pain - _Pro-Pain_ (Mayhem Records, 1998)
by: Zena Tsarfin (5 out of 10)
You've got to hand it to those stubborn New Yorkers in Pro-Pain for
maintaining their consistent -- if not slightly redundant -- sound
for so many years. That's not to say that they haven't changed since
their acclaimed hardcore/crossover debut, _Foul Taste of Freedom_;
new songs like "Don't Kill Yourself to Live", "Mark My Words" and "My
Time Will Come" are driving, spirited and downright catchy. Still, it
seems that the boys are using the same 'If it ain't broke, don't fix
it' approach to songwriting as Deicide, and both bands' respective
fans seem to enjoy it. While Pro-Pain are not likely to win over new
fans with this latest release, it'll surely appease their current
following.
Pungent Stench - _Praise the Names of the Musical Assassins_
by: Adam Wasylyk (9 out of 10) (Nuclear Blast, January 1998)
I've always liked Pungent Stench, who to me were one of the best
death metal bands to combine brutality (both musically and visually)
with groove. _PtNotMA_ is comprised of hard-to-find, rare and
compilation tracks to serve almost as a "best of," a quality
remembrance to one of Nuclear Blast's better bands. Starting out with
five tracks which appeared on a split LP with fellow N.B. band
Disharmonic Orchestra, these tracks alone are worth the price of this
CD (special packaging and all) due to the sheer aggression and
violence they spew forth. It's music to kill or torture someone to.
Also worthy of mention are tracks from Pungent Stench's 7" _Extreme
Deformity_, three tracks that appeared on different compilations (the
better ones being _Death Is Just the Beginning 2_'s "Daddy Cruel" and
_DIJtB 3_'s "Tony"). Almost 2/3's into the album, the listener is
confronted with "Madcatmachopsychoromantik", a complete turnabout
from the prior 13 tracks, featuring crooning with a backdrop which
could resemble (well, at least the first half of the song) a mangled,
acid drenched metal version of something Quebec pop star Mitsou would
create! When the confusion subsides, we are treated to five remaining
tracks that appeared on a rehearsal demo the band did in 1988. Just
saying "rehearsal demo" should testify to their recording quality,
but it's a great chance to see Pungent's beginnings as a band and to
hear how the band have evolved over the years. As mentioned earlier,
the CD comes in special packaging which consists of a black box which
holds the CD and a 24-page booklet containing all of Pungent Stench's
releases (rare and all), live shows and photos of the band that were
taken from around the world. Nuclear Blast went all out to release
this worthy send-off to Pungent Stench, and I think fans of Pungent
or fans of great death metal will agree with me.
Sadness - _Evangelion_ (Mystic Production, 1998)
by: Andrew Lewandowski (5 out of 10)
Although the result is schizophrenic, Sadness deserves credit for
their ability to throw virtually every single gothic metal cliche
into a two and a half minute song. By the end of the first track,
"Mr. Faust", the listener has heard (and I may have missed a nuance
or two) effeminate orgasmic moans, ludicrous male clean vocals (akin
to a less restrained Tom G. Warrior on "Mesmerized"), screams altered
by studio trickery to augment the cheesiness, the word "sex" repeated
constantly (I heard the line "I am a sex machine"), an ineffectual
synth intro, various other synth-generated ambient moments, and
rudimentary piano sections. What purpose does all this serve?
Although Sadness goes through great lengths to combat the listener's
ennui, this doesn't obscure the monotonous riffs and poor song
structure. Yet, as is evident in the album's more sedate moments,
they need to create a structural mishmash in order to prevent
boredom. After three tracks performed in the aforementioned style,
_Evangelion_ features three old songs and a synth track which
attempts to invoke a medieval ambiance, yet fails since it's
obviously played on a cheap Casio. The next track, "Tears of Sorrow",
proves that Sadness can create a melancholic atmosphere, but it
suffers from silly vocal trickery and drags for ten minutes. Despite
its lugubrious melodrama, "Danteferno" is probably the best track,
while "Red Script" is a prosaic moment from a 1990 demo. Even with
the schizophrenia of the first three tracks, this is a thoroughly
forgettable album.
Sentenced - _Story: A Recollection_ (Century Media, February 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
It took me while to really get into this band. And while the band has
changed its style tremendously since their early days, their
brilliant musical career has nonetheless been an interesting ride.
_Story: A Recollection_ is in fact a 'Best of...' package by this
popular Finnish death metal (now more a metal/rock) act from 1991's
_Shadows of the Past_ onto last year's superb _Down_ LP. All the
band's popular and/or fan faves are here: "Nepenthe" and "New Age
Messiah" (from 1995's _Amok_), "My Sky Is Darker Than Thine" and
"Awaiting the Winter Frost" (from 1993's classic LP _North From
Here_). Plus there are eleven more numbers including their cool Iron
Maiden cover song "The Trooper" and the previously unreleased "No
Tomorrow". Like a "story", this collection accurately chronicles the
various time periods of Sentenced, allowing the listener to be
captivated by strong melodies, well-thought out arrangements and some
classic melodic/death metal. An LP fans will no doubt scope out.
Social Degeneration of Poets - _Martyrdom_
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10) (Independent, February 1998)
The name of the band had me assuming this was gonna be some kind of a
reckless bar band, out to play the numbers with mediocre musicianship
and some bad harmonies. _Martyrdom_ is nowhere near the lame-ass
attempts of what a shitty bar band would put down on record -- this
band is the complete opposite of that. First off, Social Degeneration
of Poets (SDP) play a really bad-ass bluesy rock/metal sound (throw
in a bit of progressiveness) that has an easy flowing stride to it.
The songs are strong and well-written and the music is memorable for
the most part. Singer Shawn Shuart has a really powerful voice,
easily parading himself throught the band's many styles. My only
setbacks to the band is the rather poor production of some of the
material and the guitar work that finds its way onto several tracks.
Not all the guitar work needs help, just some of it. I'm thinking the
production hampered it, as some songs (most notably "Kick Up the
Soul" and "Prey") come across in top notch form. Little problems that
can easily be deleted and/or fixed come album #2. A good indie band
that'll hopefully have a future.
Contact: SOCIAL DEGENERATION, P.O. Box 10, Owosso, MI 48867, USA
Solefald - _The Linear Scaffold_ (Avantgarde, November 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)
After a well-worded overview of their musical philosophy, Solefald
(Norwegian for "sunset") describe their own work as "red music with
black edges" -- and, after listening to _The Linear Scaffold_ enough,
that description proves to be quite adequate. "Weird" is perhaps an
euphemistic description for some parts of this album; still, the
whole of it manages to avoid sounding weird -- it all makes sense
when put together as it changes from strangeness into brilliance.
However, think not of Sigh's _Hail Horror Hail_, for things are
-very- different here, not to mention much better. In fact, I'm not
enthusiastic about musical weirdness just by itself, but _TLS_ is
excellent, regardless of that. The album is comprised essentially of
contrasts. Fast sections abound, their body composed more of keyboard
than guitar sound, with vocals ranging from very blackened shrieks to
deeper voices, clean vocals, and spoken parts. Between those faster
sections, which are unusual on their own, Solefald include even more
unusual passages, which, like I said, manage to sound in place in a
surprisingly natural way. Considering the music contained here, 40
minutes is hardly enough for all that could have been done in this
CD, but a -lot- has already happened after the first minute or two
expires and, fortunately, every track in this record is highly worthy
of its time. I must also mention the superb keyboard passages with
both spoken vocals and ripping shrieks of anguish; the album ends
with an extraordinary sequence of the latter kind in a remarkable
combination of suffering and melody. In fact, the start and end of
_TLS_, while extremely different, are two fine examples of the
outstanding intensity Solefald reach in _The Linear Scaffold_.
Stuck Mojo - _Rising_ (Century Media, February 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley (9.5 out of 10)
It seems so fitting that a monstrous force from the Southern United
States (Atlanta, Georgia to be exact) is destined to give us metal
heads a whooping of a lifetime. The band in question is Stuck Mojo
and the item knocking us to floor and kicking the shit out of us is
the quartet's latest long player, _Rising_. I was not prepared for
this and I reckon those who pick this up will be pummeled equally.
Fans of the band have come to expect a sudden surge of mighty riffs
and in-yer-face attitude with years of progression from Stuck Mojo,
but this is just mind boggling. The band's growth in experience and
intensity has been well-chronicled since their debut _Snappin' Necks_
in 1994 and their continuous growth into 1996's brilliantly
hard-hitting _Pigwalk_, which was one of my fave records the year it
surfaced thanks in part to Stuck Mojo's reckless attitude and Devin
Townsend (of Strapping Young Lad) and Daniel Bergstrand's (Meshuggah
producer) production efforts. From the current-themed ideas about
U.S. President Bill Clinton on "Crooked Figurehead", the perils of
society one must face ("Trick" or "Rising") or racial
stereotypes/issues within the rap-styled "Suburban Ranger",
hardcore/rap/metal outfit Stuck Mojo deliver the goods in a big way.
Like a gun shoved in your mouth by a hostage taker, Stuck Mojo has
you at its mercy for 46+ minutes, never letting you go until their
full-agenda is digested into you brain. While still loud, obnoxious
and completely volatile, _Rising_ has lost its precision production,
aiming for a more raw and live feel. But that isn't a bad thing
either. With the help of producer Andy Sheap (Exodus, Skinlab), the
downscaling of production value is not a deterrent for the band's
music to prosper in many other ways. Singer/rapper Bonz has never
sounded so angry and Rich Ward's guitar playing and song writing has
enhanced tremendously since the early days. And now, without such a
slick coating, we hear and feel this moreso this time than ever
before. Thick riffs laced with melodic hard core groove flow with
ease as Bonz rants and rants till the cows come home. I didn't think
they could top _Pigwalk_, but they proved me wrong. Non-believers run
for your life, 'cuz the Mojo is rising!
Tura Satana - _Relief Through Release_ (Noise Records, January 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley (10 out of 10)
I can't explain to you how much I *love* this record. There is just
something about Tura Satana (the band formerly known as Manhole) that
fascinates me. I just can't get enough. There is a really dark and
emotional charm that singer Tairrie B. has on the listener. Her
voice, so dark and brooding, letting emotions snarl and snap without
warning. Her tongue and words acting like a sharp sword cutting
through us with every verse. While somewhat in the same vein as the
Manhole record (1996's _All Is Not Well_), Tura Satana has lost a bit
of that L.A. hardcore/rap/metal feel with _Relief Trough Release_ and
delved deep into a truly stunning display of emotionally charged dark
hard rock / metal, shrouded with a vibrant reality and slight gothic
overtones. This is the real deal folks. No bullshit. No falsehoods as
this band speaks from the heart. The opening of the LP states: "...
Welcome to violence. This time it comes in female form..." What a
fitting intro to the world of singer/screamer Tairrie B. Should we be
alarmed? Oh YES! She is a devil-like vixen with many tales to weave.
Her take on life and reality is like a fist to the face, a rampaging
seductress on the loose. The violence and carnage is overbearing at
times and we, the listener, take some serious verbal beatings from
Tura Satana. Every song on this record (13 songs plus CD-ROM) is
brilliant. Powerful, dark and delivering an over the top performance
by a band that shifted their sound a bit to represent their musical
deliverance. Think a pissed off (and heavier) Concrete Blonde mixed
with Crisis and a bone-crushing groove. _RTR_ has some prime choice
cuts: "Luna", "Relapse", "Venus Diablo" and the ultra-cool Nirvana
cover song "Negative Creep". This is a great band that should do some
real damage in the coming months.
Uncreation - _Uncreation_ (Black Dragon / Repulse, October 1997)
by: Paul Schwarz (4 out of 10)
Uncreation are yet another band playing brutal-as-fuck NY style death
metal. Don't get me wrong, I like this style, but a) they are not the
best at it by a long shot and b) it doesn't really provide that wide
a berth for variation and by not altering the formula set down by
bands like Suffocation and Immolation one bit, Unnatural build
themselves a solid lead balloon. Only a strange rant at the end of
_Uncreation_ (where it sounds like Phil Anselmo has waltzed into the
studio and spilled forth his irritations) provides any surprises.
Bands need to either push boundaries or play the original so well it
sounds new in a style like brutal death metal. If bands don't do one
or the other, we might as well just have them releasing bad
Suffocation tribute albums and there really would be no point in
doing that.
Unnatural - _Throne of Anguish_ (Qabalah, July 1997)
by: Paul Schwarz (6 out of 10)
Unnatural have a good MCD here. They play death metal in the vein of
the mighty (and now sadly deceased) Carcass and, although only
capturing this band's brilliance in fleeting moments, still create a
solid, well produced MCD. _ToA_ has everything you need out of a
death metal release: agression, poise, heavy production. What
Unnatural really lack, and desperately need, is something else. In
death metal's heydey, this MCD might have been on par with good
bands, but, quite frankly, this has all been done before either as
well as or better than Unnatural do it on _ToA_. With many bands
(Cryptopsy, Vader, Deceased to name but a few) still producing
riveting stuff, Unnatural will need to catch up -and- jump ahead if
they want to justify their existence.
Unsane - _Occupational Hazard_ (Relapse, January 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
Noise-mongers Unsane have been dishing out their dirty, fuzz-filled
garage rock for the past ten years. _Occupational Hazard_ continues
on in the same vain as their past efforts, masking melody with
distortion and signaling out groove with humongous riffs. Batten down
the hatches kids, as there is some serious noise battles going on
here with _OH_. Hostility pours from the harsh vocals of Chris
Spencer as Unsane let loose a mixed bag of goodies. Though repetitive
at times, this LP makes a good point of keeping things simple but
remarkably heavy. This is like a brick to the head most of the time.
As for the future of these veterans, this band (possibly unknown to
the younger music audience) will surely do well amongst the crowd
that have been drawn in by such acts as The Melvins, Neurosis and
even Entombed. Noise-filled garage rock never sounded so good.
War - _Total War_ (Necropolis Records, February 1998)
by: Steve Hoeltzel (5 out of 10)
According to the typically bombastic Necropolis publicity sheet, this
is "the ULTIMATE Black Metal recording" from "one of the finest bands
in years." Well, lah dee dah. I think that's just a tad generous. In
fact, if I had to pick an adjective to pin on this "all-star" outfit,
it would be "mediocre". Their music -- all 17 whopping minutes of it
-- is undistinguished and unatmospheric; ergo, uninteresting. Not
that I don't enjoy simplistic, raw, primitive black metal. Quite the
contrary, as long as it's got some atmosphere and imagination. The
music of War, however, seriously lacks those qualities -- unless
"contrived" counts as some kind of atmosphere. Still, this does
contain a few cool moments in which the chainsaw repeato-riffing and
steady snare-drum strikes coalesce into a good snarling blast or
catchy cyclonic attack. The way in which these guys plug simple,
cyclical riffs into short, standard song structures makes "black
moshing metal" a fairly apt description of their sound, methinks.
("Euronymosh", anyone?) In the end, though, this is just way too
repetitive to succeed, both because the songs are utterly simplistic
and repetitious, and because all the imagery and whatnot is the same
junk you've seen and heard hundreds of times before. I suspect that
Von is a big influence on this project, but Von destroys this band if
you ask me.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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/\ \ \_____ __ /\ \ \___ (_)___ ___
/ \/ / _ \ \ /\ / / / \/ / _ \| / __|/ _ \
/ /\ / __/\ V V / / /\ / (_) | \__ \ __/
\_\ \/ \___| \_/\_/ \_\ \/ \___/|_|___/\___|
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: ***** -- A flawless demo
**** -- Great piece of work
*** -- Good effort
** -- A major overhaul is in order
* -- A career change is advisable
Coarse - _Downwards_ (5-track demo)
by: Adam Wasylyk (*----)
The opening riff to track #1 on _Downwards_ just SCREAMS In Flames,
but when the vocals kick in, you wonder "why did the band go out and
do that??" Vocalist Nico just ruined any potential enjoyment I could
have got from this band; he sings so plainly that I found myself
reaching for the stop button almost a minute into the first song! You
can most certainly hear the In Flames influence in the guitars (and
perhaps some Iron Maiden as well), but it's the only aspect of Coarse
that I found appealing. I don't care who disagrees, but you can't
like a band based on music alone. Vocals are vital; they are not only
the backbone but they represent the personality of the band. You ask,
"what is the personality of Coarse?" "Who cares," I answer, "get back
to listening to REAL metal and stop asking stupid questions!".
Contact (if you must): COARSE, c/o Sami Vauhkonen
Rapakivenkuja 2 E 41, 00710 Helsinki, FINLAND
Destroyer - _demo_ (2-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (**---)
Mediocre metal (in the vein of Kreator) that comes to CoC all the way
from Transylvania. Four guys trying their damnedest to get their
music out of their homeland of Romania and to the masses. Gentlemen,
this two-song demo may not be the answer. The songs are rather
simple, similar sounding and by no means creative. I felt the
production of the demo only hampered the band's quest at creating a
raw, hard-hitting metal based sound. It sounds muffled and too
compressed at times. The only redeeming quality of the demo tape are
the vocals: strong growling vocals but coherent and suitable to the
musical style played. From judging the band on this 2-song demo (with
a bonus song) and not having heard their debut LP, available only in
Romania, called _Raw_, I'm hoping the band gets better production
next time out and really sorts through the blandness of their music
and spice it up a bit. Then maybe they'll see some interest outside
of Romania.
Contact: OP. 1, C.P. 196 Iasi, 6600, Romania
Voice: +40-32-144448
mailto:destroyer@mail.dntis.ro
WWW: http://home.dntis.ro/~destroy
Gandalf - _Snakebite_ (3-track demo)
by: Adam Wasylyk (***--)
Another band that use In Flames as an influence (see Coarse demo
review), the difference between Gandalf and the aforementioned band
is that Gandalf is actually listenable. Effectively using twin
guitars to their advantage to create some cool melodies, they create
some excitement since the drummer, for the most part, is lackluster
and doesn't do a great job in mixing up the beats. The leads are
quite well done, and Jari Hurskainen's vocals do a lot for the band
and are in the screeching range of (who else?) In Flames! When coming
up with a mark, I settled on only a 3. I don't see any reason to give
it anything higher that that. Yes, the musicians are talented, and
yes, the music is cool. But why buy something that sounds like In
Flames when you can go out and ACTUALLY BUY In Flames!!??!! You'll
get much more out of _The Jester Race_ or the newly released
_Whoracle_ than you will out of _Snakebite_. Also worthy of note is
that this demo was released in 1996, so Gandalf may now sound like a
completely different band!
Contact: GANDALF, P.O. Box 52, 00941 Helsinki, FINLAND
Kekal - _Beyond the Glimpse of Dreams_ (10-track demo)
by: Adam Wasylyk (****-)
Indonesia's Kekal have released a pretty cool demo which features
Norwegian-influenced black metal shrieks and some menacing, powerful
guitars with some seriously stomping drums keeping up the beat. This
quartet know how to mix it up: blast beats are thrown in between more
melodic moments and the vocals go from spoken to shrieking to
growling. "Rotting Youth" serves as a powerful lead-off to the demo
as it effectively demonstrates the energy Kekal possess, with tracks
like "Armageddon", "Deceived Minds" and "Reality" not far behind.
Production is more than adequate, allowing everything (including the
keyboards) to be heard clearly, lending all the more power to this
band. Ten tracks in total, you receive both quality and quantity in
the material featured. However, after I read the lyrics on the demo,
I realized that Kekal are actually a "life" metal band, praising
Jesus and showing the downfalls of Satan. They could have been
perfect! I'll admit I hate lyrics that come off as preachy (which
Kekal could be accused of), but I guess that means that I won't read
them on future listens. I do hope to hear more from this band in the
future as they have something here worth listening to.
Contact: KENKAL, P.O. Box 1496, JKB 11014, Jakarta, INDONESIA
mailto:kekal@hotmail.com
WWW: http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/6404/kekal.html
Kormoss - _Screams From Night-Mary_ (6-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo (****-)
Kormoss make very good, yet unobtrusive, use of keyboards, which
remind me of Samael's remarkable _Passage_ (especially during the
piano-like parts that sound great with the riffs). However, there's a
human drummer here (as opposed to _Passage_), and the riffs lean more
towards death metal, with the vocals falling somewhere between death
and raspy thrash. The keyboards are also occasionally used for a more
atmospheric background work and generally provide more variety in the
songs, which also usually feature enough tempo changes. The sound
quality is quite high, and the band behaves very well, always tight,
while the music also remains interesting throughout the demo. Another
promising band from Portugal, this time from the Northern city of
Guimaraes.
Contact: Nuno Araujo, Rua da Boucinha, Creixomil
4800 Guimaraes, PORTUGAL
Kronos - _Outrance_ (7-track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz (****-)
Although this is a 7-track demo, it only has 4 true songs, with an
intro, an outro, and a 3-second grindcore blast being the other
tracks. This demo tape is Kronos' first and it has to be said this is
pretty damn impressive for a first demo. After a 'demonic' spoken
intro, Kronos reveal themselves as a brutal death metal band with
real aggression and potential. A lot of bands have played the brutal
death style, but it is still possible to make good music in this
framework and this Kronos has, on a small scale, achieved. Although
the first song, "Sadistik Retribution", was a good relentlessly
brutal death metal song, my fear was that the rest of the demo would
be indivisible from this one song. Kronos has not fallen into that
trap, however. "Enslaved by the Madness" has a thrash metal-esque
riff that would do Kreator proud, and later songs have different
idiosyncrasies which keep the demo varied, as well as good, and
prevent the tracks from merging into one-another. Well worth getting,
this is definitely a band who could go a whole lot further.
Oathean - _demo_ (3-track demo)
by: Adam Wasylyk (***--)
Ah, what a nice, soothing intro, but I suspect it won't last long. My
suspicions proved correct as, within a second, the band starts
blasting away... ah, what a nice kick to the gut! It turns out that
there's much more coming out of South Korea than (find encyclopedia
and place country's main export *here*), since Oathean has turned out
some above average melodic death/black metal, falling in lines with
the genre's sound but with no band in particular. Female vocals are
utilized (although not very well), something the band should think
about removing in future recordings. With only three tracks, I'd like
to see the band release something (perhaps an indie CD) with a few
more tracks before I can recommend sending your money for so little
material. Allow my mark to represent potential, and perhaps something
worth putting money into at a later date.
Contact: Dosoo Kim, 537-9, Yonhi-Dong Seodaemoon -Gu
Seoul 120-110, SOUTH KOREA
mailto:mooniing@hitel.net
Shadows Fall - _Shadows Fall_ (2-track demo)
by: Brian Meloon (****-)
Shadows Fall is a death metal band from Massachusetts. Their style is
mostly melodic American death metal (with few blast beats), but
filled with enough new ideas to stand out from the crowd. The band
uses a combination of standard death metal and clean melodic vocals.
The unique aspect of the vocals is that they often have the death and
melodic vocalists sing in unison. While the melodic vocals aren't
great, the combination with the death vocals works well. The music is
generally good: fast moving stuff that doesn't get old. It is
melodic, similar to the Gothenburg sound in places, but the band is
far from being an In Flames clone. Their sound isn't reliant upon
catchy 'hooks', but is more riff-based. They display a good variety
of styles and enough fresh ideas to keep it interesting. The playing
is tight, and the production is great. This is an impressive
offering; the only fault I can find is that it's simply too short. I
look forward to their debut CD, which should be out shortly.
Contact: SHADOWS FALL, P.O. Box 10312, Holyoke, MA 01041, USA
mailto:shadfall@aol.com
Vorpal Bunny - _Reign Of The Lupus_ (6-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (****-)
Oh, the mayhem! Oh, the madness! Not since my last encounter with
anyone of Bill Sannwald's projects (Amish Mafia, Thought Masticator,
etc...) have I been so intensely into a demo tape. This shit is
warped beyond belief. A mixture of all types of music all rolled into
one huge, massive noisefest. A two-man outfit (Jeff Phillips and
Brian Heubner), Vorpal Bunny goes for the jugular with its sadistic
onslaught of music anarchy. Imagine, if you will, a demo tape that
successfully blends together black metal, grindcore, gabba techno
music and death metal into a 6-song demo tape. Believe me, I was in
disbelief too, but thoroughly pleased with the end results. Slap onto
that musical heap a large amount of movie clip sound bites and the
music from Vorpal Bunny grows moreso into an out of control freakoid
machine. The only setback of this recording, and it actually doesn't
affect the tape much, is the 4-track production. But I guess you
gotta start somewhere, right? Also, I'm wondering if this
"bunny/hare" theme will run out of ideas should this band get
somewhere. I mean, you can only spend so much time writing songs
titled "Fluffy's Revenge", "Reign of the Lupus" and "Beaten Is the
Hare". This demo reads like a bad B-movie but ends up winning my
respect.
CONTACT: Lord Fur Productions,
PO Box 21428 Columbia Heights, MN 55421, USA
mailto:twitme@waste.org
WWW: http://www.waste.org/~twitme/
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E N T O M B E D ' S N O T E G R E G I O U S
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Entombed at Coney Island High, New York, Feburary 13, 1998
by: Zena Tsarfin
A lot has changed since Sweden's Entombed last visited the North
American shores and it was quite evident at their February 13th
appearance at NY's Coney Island High. The venue was smaller, none of
their hardcore opening acts had the suffix "-ion" attached to their
names and some of its members even sported buzz cuts. Despite all
this, Entombed's one constant remained -- the same one that helped
them survive the early '90s metal backlash: their ability to tear it
up live.
Storming onto the stage amid smoke and green lights, Entombed
exhibited their go-for-the-jugular performance strategy with stellar
versions of "Eyemaster", "Out of Hand" and the title track of their
latest album, "To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth". Lead
vocalist L.G. Petrov frolicked onstage like a madman, his long hair
stringing over his face like a fisherman's net while he dug into the
Entombed discography with vintage tracks like "Crawl" and "Left Hand
Path". Unlike many groups who compose their set lists from their last
two records, Entombed mixed enough gems with later material to
satisfy the crowded masses. Overall, the band lived up to their
well-earned reputation as a force to be reckoned with and showed us
Yankees just how it should be done.
Entombed certainly had reason to hone their chops as opening act
Hatebreed gave them a run for their money. After listening to their
blazing Victory debut _Satisfaction is the Death of Desire_, I pegged
them 'Entombed Jr.' as vocalist Jamie Jasta sounds eerily like Petrov
and their hardcore sound is ingrained heartily with an obvious metal
influence. Pile-ons, sing-alongs and overall mayhem were the order of
the evening as the band plowed through songs like "Last Breath",
"Driven by Suffering" and the hit single "Kill an Addict".
Having experienced both the older legends and the new
sensations, my metal experience on Friday the 13th was the perfect
blend of nostalgia, exuberance and aggression. In other words, it
fuckin' rocked!
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W H A T W E H A V E C R A N K E D ! ! !
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Gino's Top 5
1. Absu - _The Third Storm of Cythraul
2. Proscriptor - _The Venus Bellona_
3. Entombed - _Left Hand Path_
4. Crystal Method - _Vegas_
5. Marduk - _Opus Nocturne_
Adrian's Top 5
1. Tura Satana - _Relief Through Release_
2. Stuck Mojo - _Rising_
3. King Diamond - _Voodoo_
4. Guillotine - _Under The Guillotine_
5. Face Down - _The Twisted Rule the Wicked_
Brian's Top 5
1. Sacrilege - _The Fifth Season_
2. Ebony Tears - _Tortura Insomniae_
3. Mithotyn - _In the Sign of the Ravens_
4. Setherial - _Lords of the Nightrealm_
5. Shadows Fall - _Shadows Fall_
Alain's Top 5
1. Mayhem - _Wolf's Lair Abyss_
2. Motorhead - _Snake Bite Love_
3. Razor - _Decibels_
4. Sarcophagus - _For We... Who Are Consumed by the Darkness..._
5. Sinister - _Hate_
Steve's Top 5
1. Black Funeral - _Empire of Blood_
2. Assuck - _Anticapital_
3. Setherial - _Lords of the Nightrealm_
4. Disfear - _Everyday Slaughter_
5. Sacreligium - _Sleeptime_
Adam's Top 5
1. Morbid Angel - _Formulas Fatal to the Flesh_
2. Pungent Stench - _Praise the Names of the Musical Assassins_
3. Entombed - _To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth!_
4. Mayhem - _Wolf's Lair Abyss_ EP
5. Defleshed - _Under the Blade_
Drew's Top 5
1. Rush - _Permanent Waves_
2. Skyclad - _Wayward Sons of the Mother Earth_
3. Rush - _Fly By Night_
4. Jethro Tull - _The Original Masters_
5. Rush - _All The World's A Stage_
Andrew's Top 5
1. Autechre - _Chiastic Slide_
2. MSBR - _Collapseland_
3. Maeror Tri - _Emotional Engramm_
4. Suffocation - _Pierced From Within_
5. Can - _Future Days_
Pedro's Top 5
1. Solefald - _The Linear Scaffold_
2. Lux Occulta - _Dionysos_
3. Nagelfar - _Hunengrab im Herbst_
4. At the Gates - _Slaughter of the Soul_
5. Cryptopsy - _None So Vile_
Paul's Top 5
1. Cryptopsy - _Blasphemy Made Flesh_
2. Suffocation - _Effigy of the Forgotten_
3. Terrorizer - _World Domination_
4. Kreator - _Extreme Agression_
5. Judas Priest - _Jugulator_
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Homepage: http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html
FTP Archive: ftp://ftp.etext.org/pub/Zines/ChroniclesOfChaos
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e-mail: ginof@interlog.com
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DESCRIPTION
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chronicles of Chaos is a monthly magazine electronically distributed
worldwide via the Internet. Chronicles of Chaos focuses on all forms
of chaotic music including black, death and doom metal, dark/ambient,
industrial and electronic/noise as well as classic and progressive
metal. Each issue will feature a plethora of album reviews from a
wide range of bands, as well as interviews with some of the
underground's best acts. Also included in each issue are demo reviews
and indie band interviews.
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>.
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 (do not include the quotes). Back
issues are named 'coc-n', where 'n' is the issue number. For a
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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #29
All contents copyright 1998 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.