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THE NEW YEAR'S EVIL EDITION IV
CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, January 15, 2000, Issue #45
http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com
Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti <mailto:gino@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley <mailto:adrian@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Copy Ed./Contrib.: Pedro Azevedo <mailto:pedro@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Asst. Copy Editor: John Weathers <mailto:john@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Alain M. Gaudrault <mailto:alain@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Brian Meloon <mailto:brian@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk <mailto:adam@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Paul Schwarz <mailto:paul@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Aaron McKay <mailto:aaron@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: David Rocher <mailto:david@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Gabriel Sanchez <mailto:gabriel@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Alex Cantwell <mailto:alex@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
Contributor: Matthias Noll <mailto:matthias@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>
NOTE: You may unsubscribe from Chronicles of Chaos at any time by
sending a blank email to <Unsubscribe@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>.
For more Chronicles of Chaos information, check out the
'Details' section at the end of this issue.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Issue #45 Contents, 1/15/00
---------------------------
- Editorial
- Loud Letters
- Deadly Dialogues
-- Aeternus: And From the Night Came... Shadows of Old?
-- Satyricon: ...And Thus Spake the Dark Half
-- Autumn Tears: Dark Autumnal Symphonies
-- Amon Amarth: Keeping Metal Simple
-- Forest of Impaled: Coppice of Corpses
-- earthtone9: Evolving Their Noise
-- Vomit Remnants: The Remnants of a Dying Fetus
-- Various - _A Tribute to Accept_
-- Adramelech - _Pure Blood Doom_
-- Aeternus - _Shadows of Old_
-- Aion - _Aion_
-- Artillery - _B.A.C.K._
-- Centurian - _Chornzonic Chaos Gods_
-- Cryogenic - _Celephais_
-- Dead Silent Slumber - _Entombed in the Midnight Hour_
-- Defleshed - _Fast Forward_
-- Devilyn - _Reborn in Pain_
-- Dichotic - _Lowest Common Denominator_
-- Dream Into Dust - _The World We Have Lost_
-- Dreck Sau - _Schmerz_
-- Emperor - _Emperial Live Ceremony_ [video]
-- Finntroll - _Midnattens Widunder_
-- Fleshgrind - _Destined for Defilement_
-- Gorbalrog - _Untergang_
-- Limbonic Art - _Ad Noctum - Dynasty of Death_
-- Necrophagia - _Black Blood Vomitorium_
-- Night Conquers Day - _Rebellion Is the Art of Survival_
-- Pitboss 2000 - _Everyone's a Winner_
-- Primordial - _The Burning Season_
-- Rakoth - _Planeshift_
-- Rapture - _Futile_
-- Rebaelliun - _Burn the Promised Land_
-- Runemagick - _Enter the Realm of Death_
-- Scheitan - _Nemesis_
-- Sodom - _Code Red_
-- Sonata Arctica - _Ecliptica_
-- Sun of the Sleepless - _Poems to the Wretches' Hearts_
-- Swordmaster - _Moribund Transgoria_
-- T666 - _Troops of Satan_
-- Tankard - _Disco Destroyer_
-- The Chasm - _Procession to the Infraworld_
-- Various - _To Magic..._
-- Tristania - _Beyond the Veil_
-- True to Form - _New Generation of Aggression_
-- Unida - _Coping With the Urban Coyote_
-- Vassago - _Knights From Hell_
-- Vision of Disorder - _For the Bleeders_
-- Vital Remains - _Dawn of the Apocalypse_
-- Vomit Remnants - _Supreme Entity_
-- Willow Wisp - _Delusion of Grandeur:(A Gathering of Heretics)_
-- Wolverine - _Fervent Dream_
-- Cranial Torment - _Death Is Rising_
-- Enchanted Silence - _Anthropobhobia_
-- Two Corpses, One God and No Flesh: Cannibal Corpse with Marduk
-- Night of the Living Corpses: Marduk, Angel Corpse and Enthroned
- What We Have Cranked, Best Releases Since the Crucifixion
- Details
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/ /) , , /)
)__ _(/ _/_ _____ _ //
/ (_(__(_(__(_)/ (__(_(_(_(/_
(_____)
by: Gino Filicetti
So, we made it!! Looks like the world didn't end as expected at
the stroke of midnight on December 31st. I guess the shotgun and 100
cans of Campbell's soup I bought are gonna go to waste, damn!
We here at Chronicles of Chaos have been very busy since our
last issue, and we have more than a few surprises in store for you.
First, I'd like to introduce our brand new,
redesigned-from-scratch, ass kicking website. Many thanks go to Pedro
for all the hard work he put in HTML coding the new site; without
him, it would have been many months before the same job could've been
accomplished. Along with our new website, we have a new URL to
introduce, we can now be found at our very own site:
http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com
With the registration of this new domain, we have set up email
boxes for every staff member. Email addresses are simply the writer's
first name @ChroniclesOfChaos.com. Also, we've made subscribing and
unsubscribing a lot easier: each is achieved with a simple email to
either <mailto:Subscribe@ChroniclesOfChaos.com> or
<mailto:Unsubscribe@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>, respectively. Back issues
can now be requested by emailing
<mailto:BackIssues@ChroniclesOfChaos.com> and including the issue
number you want in the message's subject line. Loud Letters can now
be sent to <mailto:LoudLetters@ChroniclesOfChaos.com> as well.
Our new website features some new goodies including the
following:
- an HTMLized version of the current issue for online browsing
- easy subscribing and unsubscribing
- a link exchange form which can be filled in by people who want
to exchange links with us
- a form to request back issue delivery by email
- new and updated staff photos and biographies
- beautiful graphics
Coming soon, we will also be featuring a search engine to search
through our entire back issue archive for keywords.
Also, we want everyone to know that we are ALWAYS looking for
excellent writers. We believe that no matter how big the CoC staff
becomes, there is always room for outstanding writers who can prove
themselves to be head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd. We
are looking for individuals that have access to new releases; whether
they come from labels or are personally bought makes no difference to
us, but we can not supply any new writers with material. If you think
you have what it takes, email us at:
<mailto:Auditions@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>.
Another new thing here at Chronicles of Chaos is our decision to
support demos and albums that exist completely on digital media. That
means if you're a band that can' t afford to send us your demo
material by postal mail, we will gladly review your material if you
provide us with an MP3 version of your ENTIRE album and a bio as
usual. We've come to the conclusion that the bulk of music
distribution in the future will consist of digital media being
exchanged over the internet. Our stance will be to support this
paradigm shift and encourage bands to submit their new material to us
in digital format. We must, however, impose a few restrictions on
this practice. First of all, we will require that you submit your
entire demo to us, and not just an excerpt of it. We will not review
any material that does not consist of a coherent, full album or demo
of music. As always, we will require a bio with your submission. I
hope our new stance will help to ring in a new era of cheap and easy
music distribution. To submit a demo as a set of MP3 files, simply
email <mailto:Demos@ChroniclesOfChaos.com> and give us the location
of a website from which we can download the entire set of MP3 files.
DO NOT send the actual MP3 files to this address as they are too
large to be properly handled by our email clients. Good luck and
happy recording!
Now to our issue, this is the FOURTH New Year's Evil Edition of
Chronicles of Chaos. As usual, we've jam packed this issue with a
plethora of interviews, record reviews and concert reviews. We've
also pre-empted our "What We Have Cranked" section to bring you our
staff's choice of the Best Releases Since the Crucifixion.
I hope you all enjoy our first issue of 2000. With our new
website and revived spirits, Chronicles of Chaos will be leading the
pack for many moons to come.
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M""MMMMMMMM dP
M MMMMMMMM 88
M MMMMMMMM .d8888b. dP dP .d888b88
M MMMMMMMM 88' `88 88 88 88' `88
M MMMMMMMM 88. .88 88. .88 88. .88
M M `88888P' `88888P' `88888P8
MMMMMMMMMMM
M""MMMMMMMM dP dP
M MMMMMMMM 88 88
M MMMMMMMM .d8888b. d8888P d8888P .d8888b. 88d888b. .d8888b.
M MMMMMMMM 88ooood8 88 88 88ooood8 88' `88 Y8ooooo.
M MMMMMMMM 88. ... 88 88 88. ... 88 88
M M `88888P' dP dP `88888P' dP `88888P'
MMMMMMMMMMM
This is the column where we print those lovely letters our readers
decide so graciously to write us. Whether they be positive, negative,
ignorant or just plain spelled wrong, you can rest assured that
they'll be here in their original form. If you'd like to see your own
letter here, e-mail it to <mailto:LoudLetters@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>.
All letters received will be featured in upcoming issues of
Chronicles of Chaos.
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999
From: "alla xul" <thydeath@hotmail.com>
Subject: christian metal
Hi...
Regarding christian metal. I dont see how any sentinent being can
defend christianity in any form. Christianity being a religion
manifactured to control the lives of the weaker humans... METAL is
about freedom through brutal power. Christianity is about weakness
and restriction. METAL is the reaction of the sick society that
christianity and similar doctrines are the root of. METAL is the
power to break free from all that try to control us... To glorify the
degenerated parasite paedophile god called Jhave Is the LAST thing
that a true metalhead would ever do.
Norman Doll writes
"I can hook you up with some 'true' Christian metal"
that is impossibile. To a true christian METAL would be utter
blasphemy. How someone can draw paralells between metal and
christianity is laughable.
And dont answer with something like 'everyone can have thier opinion
on things' because that is what i allso belive and by attacking all
powers that restrict peoples potential i will make it so!
hail satan!
/ax
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999
From: Christian Flaaten <christian.flaaten@online.no>
Subject: Re: Chronicles Of Chaos #44 (2/5)
S: Yeah. Absolutely correct. I mean, the thing is I like working with
metaphors a lot, you know, and it's always... I like, in a way,
the middle way -- sometimes a tree is a tree, you know, and it
shouldn't be called anything more than a tree. But, you know,
other times you could go a little bit further and... there is an
expression in Norwegian called <goruns greten>, which means adding
Hi,
just thought I should let you know that <goruns greten> isn't a
Norwegian expression. I think what he said was "ga rundt groten"
which translates into "go around the porridge". I think there's an
English expression that means the same which goes "beating around the
bush" or something like that.
Later on you printed "<'o'ther d'o'de>", but I have no idea of what
this is supposed to be...
Later on in the The Kovenant interview you say Psy Coma plays
bass/vocals and that Sverd is in Dimmu Borgir. Both incorrect...
But where are my manners? I should give you some praise too... The
Opeth review contained my thoughts exactly and was an interesting
read. I thought I was alone to hold MAYH as Opeth's best... Also, it
is of course a wonderful thing you have going with interviews of
interesting bands dumping into the mailbox absolutely free. Keep it
up!
Christian
Date: Fri, 10 Dec 1999
From: DER TODESKIN <splattergod@yahoo.com>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters
666 Hails to you
First, let me commend you on your excellent e-zine.I find the
interviews/reviews to be infomative and entertaining. Who can ask for
more? I would like to respond to some comments that I have noticed in
past issues (I've been unable to respond as I am revamping my site).
1) Black Sabbath was not ( at first, anyway) a Satanic band. They
started as a catholic/christian band and slowly evolved into a dark
satanic/pagan lyrically based band. Doubt this? Listen to songs such
as WAR PIGS (anti war/ anti satan) and AFTER FOREVER (...God is the
only way to love...). Don't get me wrong, I love Sabbath, but they
didn't start out "evil".
2) I agree with the comments concerning critiques of certain
releases. Offer up some valid reasons why the particular release is
"a piece of crap". It lends more credibility to the writer of the
review and gives the readers the information needed to decide whether
to invest their money on the cd in question.
3) Experiments in music is great but I'm getting tired of "black
metal" bands totally reinventing themselves in order to sell a few
more cds. 99% of the time, they end up a parody of their former
selves and alienate their true fans yet get very few new ones. I'm
still trying to digest "Kovenant", "Satyricon", "Burzum" and "Black
Funeral"'s more recent releases. They could at least change their
names and start anew in their newly chosen style. I like dark ambient
et al, but I love black and death metal which is unadulterated and
raw.
4) I remember, not so long ago, when Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir
were praised in the black metal circles. Now that they are selling
more cds and signed to larger labels, they are ostrisized. Their
music has changed little (perhaps evolved is a better term), and they
put on a hell of a show and are really fan friendly.....perfect for
the scene. And I consider them the marijuana of black metal. You
start with them then progress to the "heroin" bands like Mayhem,
Judas Iscariot, Marduk, etc. Support the scene, don't try to divide
it.
5) lastly, some recomendations of earlier releases which helped forge
the way:Celtic Frost-Morbid Tales, Venom-At War With Satan,
Witchfynde, Coven(the 70's band, first to include satanic rituals on
their album).
Thanks for letting me sound off. Keep up the good work. I would also
like to offer up my condolences for the passing of "Grim" of
Borknagor, and the demise of Acheron. AVE SATANAS, Splattergod
Splattergod's Dark Domain
........ah, the children of the night
They make such beautiful music.........
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999
From: cabezudo_me@tsm.es
Subject: 'Attention Loud Letters'
11/11/99 05:15 PM
(subscript: Maria Elisa Cabezudo Pazo@TSM)
Hi to everyone;
I've been reading for so long The Chronicles of Caos, it's a good
zine, but I realized that you guys are talking about important bands
forgetting that there are tons of groups which deserve to be talked
about.
Since I've been listening to this kind of "Metal" should I say,
that from Norway and Finland come out the best black and doom metal
bands, but I have to say that here in Spain, there are a lot of bands
who plays as good or even better than bands from the north. Such is
the case of a spanish band called "The Heretic", they made an album
called "the book of fate" not long ago, and they are editing a new
job in January 2000, Their style is similar, or very close to what
cradle of filth plays, and I invite everyone to listen to them. I
already did, like two years ago, and this last time which was last
week. Talking to "Emilio", the one who plays the keyboard, he told me
that he was furios with the spanish shops who promote international
bands instead of promoting the spanish ones, believe me, he was very
mad at them, and that made me think if I could help them in any way,
so I'm writing this.
This is just a critical letter to those who think the same way as
I do. We need to promote them, cause they deserve it. I'm not their
manager, or sister, or mother or anything from any of the band, I'm
just a fan Who thinks they play very good.
Thanx to all.
Date: Thu, 07 Oct 1999
From: "Roberto Martinelli" <giorgio75@hotmail.com>
Subject: Chronicles of Chaos
I would like to say again how high a quality "publication" CoC is.
I'm not just gushing for no reason. Recently a friend of mine lent me
a stack of his metal magazines. Amongst them were SOD (a magazine I'd
always wanted to check out but couldn't because it's always
shrink-wrappd and costs 10 bucks in Japan) , Pit, and Metal Maniacs.
I couldn't believe how crappy the writing is in these mags!
Especially SOD and Pit. I won't go into word for word details, but
these magazines are replete with awful metaphors and similies that
made me laugh. The mags read like one big shitty press release
touting a band's new album. Also, I didn't see a single review in SOD
that didn't get less than a 8 1/2 out of 10. Where's the objectivity?
What a ripoff! SOD also seems to enjoy ripping on their readers who
write in. Like I'm EVER going to buy that magazine....
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999
From: "Voors, Mike" <mvoors@uhh.gak.nl>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters
Pedro Azavedo: 'Into the Macabre" by Necrodeath sounds a little
dated? Has't brought anything new to the thrashmetal genre? That's
because the fucking record was made in 1987!! This record helped
define thrashmetal as we know it today! Know your classics, dude!
Same goes for Obscurity's "Damnation Pride"; You think they play
retro-thrash? This CD contains the two demo's they made in 1986 en
1987. Retro my ass, this is the real stuff! Mike
[If you are interested in knowing my thoughts about all that, then
read my answer to a letter regarding the same subject in CoC #44. If
you are interested in knowing how to spell my name, then read the
zine's header. --Pedro]
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999
From: gutterBoy <we3kings@rtd.com>
Subject: Attention Loud Letters
Re: Chronicles of Chaos #42 and #41
I was reading the Loud Letters section of #43 when I saw someone
responding to a response to my original letter in #41. I guess I
missed Spinoza Ray's "reply" in #42 to my letter. I would like to
clear something up.
1. I was not requesting more reviews of Christian metal releases.
to quote my letter, "The reason I am writing is to comment on a your
treatment of releases by bands who embrace Christianity." (I even
left in my typo).
I was commenting on how only one person seemed to be covering these
particular releases, and questioning why the others typically do not.
I never requested more of those releases to be covered, or even for
those releases to be reviewed by other writers. It was an observation
and a question.
2. Regarding the following quote from SRP's letter, "i've debated
gutterboy on these points before, and he has conceded every time by
withdrawing from logical debate."
I have rarely joined in to the goats senseless rambling matches on
Usenet. When I was a Usenet baby I started to, but I quickly realized
it was a senseless exercise in futility. To clarify, this futility is
not based on the futility of either side of the argument, it is based
on SRP's desire to debate this point for the sheer joy of debating
this point. He is not seeking to learn and grow, he seeks to argue. I
see this as futile and a waste of time. I have since then on occasion
replied with illogical stupidity, just for fun. You see, that is the
only valid argument for his rantings...responding in kind. I have not
seriously joined in a discussion of his for at least a couple of
years.
SRP's views are his views and he can have them. He is not changing
the world and neither are those who argue with him. I will listen to
what I want, CoC will review what they want, and life will continue.
chris
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999
From: "Gordon Bancroft" <gbancroft@hotmail.com>
Subject: Attn: Loud Letters
I'm not going to waste my time scrolling back to find out what this
idiot's name was, but I had to respond to his message about grindcore
fans kicking his ass for dissing Cannibal Corpse. If that wasn't
enough, he made reference to Soilent Green as an "alt-rock" band.
It's clear to me that this guy is clueless, or just extremely stoned.
Do you even know what grindcore is? By definition, I can assure you
that it is quite different from what CC are doing (or have ever
done). Do yourself a favor and pick up some CDs or vinyl by bands
like Hellnation, Assuck, and Regurgitate before you make a fool out
of yourself again. I'm not even going to respond to the Soilent Green
comment, because it is the most ridiculous and asinine example of
trying to define genres when one clearly has no grasp on what he's
talking about. Dude, you should categorize music for Columbia House
or BMG. Ever seen the ads where they define metal as White Lion and
Warrant?
Gordon
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AND FROM THE NIGHT CAME... SHADOWS OF OLD?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC chats with Ares of Aeternus
by: Paul Schwarz
After the first wave of good, innovative albums that initially
emerges to establish any new style, there tends to be a second wave
of inconsequential rubbish which gets signed on the commercial
potential which the genre's almost inevitable status as a "trend"
tends to produce. After this there is generally a period where many
second-wave bands are purged. Thereafter, a few remain from this
second wave: those who have through some miracle (though not
necessarily a miracle that is "of God") found their way into the
hearts of listeners despite their questionable originality or
quality, and those who can be generally regarded as "worthy".
Aeternus are applicable to this second category, and I for one am
thankful that they have been able to continue for long enough to
bring their art to the point that it is at now, which is certainly
their peak thus far, and bestow upon the extreme metal world the work
of violent black metal magic which is _Shadows of Old_, their third
album. I had a pleasant chat with singer, guitarist and primary
songwriter Ares to discuss the ins and outs of this new opus, and the
band's origins and status. So, get comfy, set _Shadows of Old_ up on
the old stereo to pleasantly massacre your ears, and enjoy.
CoC: On _SoO_ you seem to have focused your music more sharply than
on previous albums, and I also detect an element of death metal
style playing that has been incorporated. Would you agree with
this assessment of _SoO_?
Ares: Yeah, that's exactly what we did. We felt we needed to do some
changes, because in many ways the second and the first album
are very similar, you know, but then again different. But this
time we wanted to make a really good difference in all kinds of
areas. So we changed the sound: I think we managed to do it a
lot better; we cleaned it up a lot. We only used two guitars
instead of three. We tuned up our guitars a little bit and we
added the death metal element to the songs to make a little
change. We did it very carefully, because we really don't want
to be labelled as a death metal band -- we aren't a death metal
band, so we didn't want to do too much of that, but I think we
just did enough to give a very positive... breath kind of thing
throughout the whole album.
CoC: So you'd still call it "true dark metal", despite the changes?
A: Yeah, we call it dark metal still. I think the changes are just on
a kind of atmospherical (sic) and emotional level for me, you
know. It's always kind of hard to explain, but I think the
experimenting and the brutality in the songs with these death
metal themes and the thrashy kind of thing that we used here and
there is making everything easier to listen to, and also smashing
to the face a little bit more. It's faster and you don't have to
listen to it so much to get into it.
CoC: Is this new stuff easier to play live, then? Because I recall
when you played in London with Deicide [CoC #38] you did it
without the keyboard parts.
A: It is easier to do the songs from _SoO_ live because they are more
suitable live not only because of the length but also because
everything has been put together in a much better way. Everything
is more catchy and we have just been working more strategically
with everything. It is very hard for us to figure out which old
songs to play when we go on tour. We always argue about it because
those songs are long and some of us want to shorten out some
riffs, some of us don't, and it becomes difficult to decide what
you take out of a song and what you leave in a song. I think that
was also in my head way back when I wrote the [new] songs: make
them a little bit easier to do live. But you can't only play new
songs live, you have to play some old songs. I think in the future
we're going to do the same thing and try to step away from those
eight minute, nine minute long songs.
CoC: You've certainly done that.
A: Yeah, we're down to four minutes on one of the songs, and that's
really not Aeternus, but I think it is a good thing for us.
CoC: And this time the record comes smashing straight in, whereas
previously you tended to have long intros.
A: Yeah, because at that time we concentrated on these very long,
very slow and deep, deep atmospheres. We created very long songs
and very much a wall of sound effect with three guitars and a lot
of reverb on them. This time we just cleaned up all that. In a
way, we did kind of an opposite thing, if you talk about the
songs' atmosphere. That was the whole idea of the album. The first
song smacks off with the big bang, and that's something which is
really cool, because on the previous albums you had these intros,
like the piano intro and the synthesiser intro which went into the
first song on _...And So the Night Became_. But this time we just
put that fast song first.
CoC: It certainly is really in your face from the get-go...
A: I think that's good, because I know a lot of people who were
expecting, you know, it's going to come in with this cool intro
and shit, so we decided not to do it.
CoC: Does the album have a lyrical concept, and if so is it based
around the music?
A: I can see that there is a pattern [on the album], but I didn't
really go for that. When "The Prophecy of the Elder Reign" comes,
which is more of like a special song, and then the bagpipe thing,
it gave a really good closer to the whole CD. Lyrically, it was
just dealing with dark atmospheres in the same way as the music
does. We just write about things that we define as dark in our own
way. But we've tried to write about some stuff that we haven't
written about before because in the past we have, in different
ways, maybe repeated ourselves with song lyrics. It is very easy
to write about nature and elements and wars and battles, because
it is very appealing. But we tried to set that aside and Morrigan
did a lot of the lyrics on this album, which was very good because
I thought that I was repeating myself a lot, so I figured I should
step aside from the lyrics this time. She did a lot of lyrics and
that was really good for me, because her lyrics are very inspiring
for me when I compose. But basically the lyrics are just about
dark atmospheres and things which appeal to us personally, but I
think the people who buy the CDs also find the lyrics appealing,
and they're not really so deep, you can really get a hang on what
it's about. The title of the CD is just a suitable title for our
musical style: bringing the elder shadows of the past up from the
deep, you know? "The Summoning of Shadows" is the song that goes
with the title, I just didn't want to use that "title cut" thing.
CoC: What made you decide to include the bagpipe outro, "The Sunset's
Glory"?
A: One of the things was that on all of the other albums we have used
a lot of acoustic instruments: flutes and harps and all kinds of
shit. And this time I wanted to change that as well. One idea was
not to do an instrumental this time, but I was the one who really
didn't want to back down when it came to that, so we decided to
have a very short bagpipe instrumental as a closer. At the
Edinburgh thing, they always end the show or the whole concert
with that particular song, and it actually has another title; we
put another title on it because the actual title is not really
metal.
CoC: What is the actual title of the song?
A: It's called "Sleep, Deary, Sleep". So we used that and it's almost
like in contrast to the other instrumentals that we've got, and
you picture something much more primitive than the others. The
other instrumentals had so much that you could imagine and
fantasise. But this is more to the point with the bagpipes, I mean
you just picture William Wallace standing there gazing at
Scotland, and that's what I wanted: very simple. I think it really
worked out.
CoC: A lot of black metal bands (e.g. Immortal, Enslaved) have
recently chosen to leave the traditional Grieghallen studio
(where such classics as _Pure Holocaust_, _Frost_, _In the
Nightside Eclipse_ and _De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas_ were
recorded) and move to Sweden's Abyss. However, you have opted
once again to record at Grieghallen and use Pytten as a
producer. Why have you stuck with Grieghallen when so many bands
have left?
A: Well, we were actually among those bands who were going to try
another studio, but everything got fucked up there, and we just
had to record the CD. So we went to Grieghallen and we knew that
it was going to be really hard to make such a big change in the
same studio with the same producer. But I think we succeeded and I
guess we were lucky as well, because it was a lot of hard work but
a lot of shit was just happening without us actually really
knowing what we were doing. I mean, we sat there and worked a lot
with the different things and we didn't know how it was going to
turn out. Then, we were done and we listened to it, and ah, fuck,
we got it!
CoC: It's interesting, because I like the traditional production of
Grieghallen, but it usually lacks clarity and punch, both of
which you -have- captured well on _SoO_. Would you say
Grieghallen offers options for different productions?
A: Well, Immortal are a good example, because they've done three CDs
that sound completely different at Grieghallen. But I know Abbath
really doesn't like Grieghallen, he says that it is not a good
place for metal recordings and all that, but it is the same guy
who did _Pure Holocaust_ with his band there, and that is still
their best CD. In different ways, _Pure Holocaust_ is better than
_At the Heart of Winter_. I feel that also _SoO_ shows that that
studio is still a potential studio for making a very good metal
album. I think that you just have to work really hard and really
take your time with Pytten and have a lot of things ready before
you go into the studio, because I think there are a lot of people
who went to that studio and thought Grieghallen, and this and
that, and Mayhem, and maybe they think Pytten is a magician or
something. He can't push a button and then deliver a product, you
know? Well, of course other studios are easier to work in and I
guess Pytten is not a super producer, but he is not a very bad
producer either: he is a damn good one. And I guess doing two
albums with him, talking to him and knowing him also helped a lot.
I don't think we would've managed to do this kind of album the way
it turned out if we didn't know anything about Pytten or
Grieghallen. We personally know the guy: we've been in his place
drinking coffee and shit. We see him everyday and that has a lot
to do with things. This time we had a lot of discussions and a lot
of meetings with him before we went to the studio; we knew exactly
how many tracks we needed for everything. We didn't do that
before, we just went in, recorded and that was it.
CoC: Do you find the history that Grieghallen has inspires when you
record and work there?
A: I think it's cool. I'm really proud of walking around now and
saying that _SoO_ was -actually- done at Grieghallen. Because the
big studio now is the Abyss studio in Sweden and people think
Grieghallen is from the old days which are over now, and I just
walk around and say "Check out our CD". It's still possible to do
it, you just have to go there with a really focused mind on what
you want. Then it is very possible to get it. I think it is really
cool knowing that I have done this third CD in Grieghallen,
actually.
CoC: You are latecomers to the black metal scene. What would you say
is your purpose? Why are you needed in this burgeoning scene?
A: We try really hard to have our own style and I think that we have
succeeded. I think what people really like in our music is that we
successfully manage to mix a lot of Norse folk music and Irish and
Scottish folk music in the metal. We have a lot of catchy
melodies. I think we use riffs and music mixed in with all those
usual brutal and extreme metal riffs in a way that no other band
does. I think that is what people like about it. A lot of people
say what Aeternus deliver is a very deep, deep, deep pounding kind
of thing, and they don't mean that we play really slow all the
time or growl really low, it's just that the atmosphere over the
whole thing is really deep and really dark. When people say that,
I feel really good, because that's exactly what we're trying to
do. We're not trying to be the fastest band or the most brutal
band, we're just trying to do an extremely deep and dark thing. To
express all kinds of really dark emotions through music. It's like
Abbath said, "Aeternus is the only band that comes from the
abyss", and I thought it was really cool when he said that,
because that's exactly what it is. If you look down into the caves
and into the deep, that's where you'll find Aeternus, you know. We
just do our thing. We never walk around saying this is how things
are, we don't give messages to people through our lyrics and music
and all that. We just create really, really powerful emotions.
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. . . A N D T H U S S P A K E T H E D A R K H A L F
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC talks to Frost of Satyricon
by: David Rocher
The logical follow-up to Satyr's two appearances in Chronicles
of Chaos [interviews perpetrated by Paul in issues #38 and #44], this
twenty-minute conversation with Satyricon's "dark half", namely the
calm and mildly taciturn drummer Frost, will hopefully enlighten
listeners further as to what the Norwegian duo intended to inject
into their music with the release of the very provocative _Rebel
Extravaganza_ [CoC #43]. This insight into Frost's mind was obtained
just 24 hours after I had received the promo copy from Nuclear Blast,
and therefore is essentially based on first impressions of what the
anno 1999 Satyricon opus had to offer.
CoC: So, how's everything going?
Frost: I think things are going very well for us. Up to now, we have
been receiving a lot of great reviews, and we are very pleased
to see that the album is finally out.
CoC: How does _Rebel Extravaganza_ compare with your previous album,
_Nemesis Divina_, and earlier Satyricon releases?
F: I would say we've been taking everything a step further, and also
bringing a lot of new elements to our music; I think that we have
created something that is really harder and blacker, and even more
eerie and bizarre than we have ever done so far. And I'm really
satisfied with the direction of the music!
CoC: I guess the first surprising point of the album to me was the
distinctly un-black metal title...
F: Hmm... not necessarily, I would say -- it's very symptomatic of
Satyricon, it's like almost a trademark -- and it pretty much
describes Satyricon, in a nutshell. It's not a very "difficult"
title anyway -- it just jumped into Satyr's head one day, and he
knew that that would be the title of the album. There was actually
no deep meaning behind the title, we just thought it was very
descriptive of the band's attitude now, and it also [fitted] the
music on the record.
CoC: It seems to me there are quite a lot of new "rock" influences in
_Rebel Extravaganza_...
F: Yes, there's actually more rock 'n' roll thrown into the music,
without it actually being rock 'n' roll. It's something that could
make one suspicious, but actually I think it works more than well.
Yeah, I'm very pleased with the way it works out.
CoC: You just said that to you, _Rebel Extravaganza_ sounds blacker
than what Satyricon played before...
F: Yes, I think so. The feelings in our music are even blacker now
than they have ever been before, and even the music is more
hard-hitting.
CoC: Don't you think that _The Shadowthrone_, for instance, had a
more "occult" atmosphere to it? As a concept, _Rebel
Extravaganza_ does seem blacker, but rather less occult?
F: No, I don't think so. I think we have concentrated all those
feelings and atmospheres that are typical to black metal, and I'm
speaking here about the darkness, coldness and harshness of the
music. I think all those "old" elements are taken even further on
our new album, even with all those new elements we bring into the
music -- at least, that's the feelings I get when I listen to it!
CoC: Well, precisely, talking about the "rock" tones of _Rebel
Extravaganza_ -- what bands are you into at the moment?
F: As always, I'm very much into Darkthrone, Mayhem, old Bathory
stuff, old Celtic Frost and Hellhammer, and also obscure stuff
like Diamanda Galas and Klaus Schulze, you know? But I mostly
listen to old black metal bands. [Which, in a bit of retrospect,
doesn't enlighten me in the slightest as to the "rocking" tones of
_Rebel Extravaganza_! --David]
CoC: And have any recent black metal releases caught your attention?
F: Well, I think the new Dodheimsgard album is actually very good,
even if I had to listen to it for some time before I got into the
music. And I also like the releases from Aura Noir and Inferno.
CoC: You just mentioned Mayhem -- as they were pretty emblematic of
black metal at one time, what do you think of the way they've
turned out since the death of Euronymous?
F: I think that musically, at least, all the stuff by Mayhem rules --
everything from the _Pure Fucking Armageddon_ demo to _Wolf's Lair
Abyss_ -- and I have huge expectations for _A Grand Declaration of
War_, their forthcoming album. And of course I was a little bit
wary about what the new Mayhem would become after the departure
and death of Euronymous, but they showed the metal world that they
still have something really big going on.
CoC: Getting back to your album, how have the lyrics evolved with
regard to the music? There are no Norwegian songs on _Rebel
Extravaganza_...
F: No, no -- they came around better in English this time. Satyr is
our lyricist, and as a poet, he has grown quite a lot over the
years; and I think his poetry, that is his lyrics, have become a
lot more direct and in your face now than they were earlier, even
when being more poetic, you know? They are written in a very
poetic manner, I think, but still the message comes across more
directly than was the case earlier. There are very different
topics on the album; some are to be looked upon as messages to the
listener and to the reader of the lyrics, and then again, some
lyrics are more like... hysterical aggression. <chuckles>
CoC: And there's something with the visual appearance of _Rebel
Extravaganza_ -- for instance, your new make-up seems to
overshoot the traditional visual black metal "thing".
F: Yes, you might say so, because that's actually how I feel myself.
It's as black as black metal should be, but even then there's more
to it; we have taken the style a bit further with this new album
-- and those are quite big words, but I think we can stand behind
them.
CoC: What was the new appearance designed to reflect?
F: We didn't strive to have a sombre feeling to this. What it meant
for us was to try out a couple of ideas that we had, and the main
idea for _Rebel Extravaganza_ was to make something very extreme,
very sick and very hysterical... and I think we succeeded, and
that's also the reason why we want to keep it that way.
CoC: _Nemesis Divina_ was released back in 1996, and _Rebel
Extravaganza_ was actually a much-awaited album, so what was the
pressure on you like before the release?
F: The pressure was enormous, and Satyr, as the songwriter, of course
felt the pressure most. He felt that it was a -necessity- to make
this album top what we had done so far, and I think that we have
to conclude that we succeeded. The reason why _Rebel Extravaganza_
took so long to write was that the creative process was very hard
work. We had to throw a lot of the material away, because we were
very selective, and this had to be the absolute best -- and that
takes time to do.
CoC: We were talking about the visual "codes" of black metal; back at
the time of Satyricon's earlier works, Emperor's _In the
Nightside Eclipse_, Immortal's _Pure Holocaust_, the stance and
attitude of black metal musicians always had me wondering what
their thought patterns could really be -- can you tell me more
about this?
F: Well, I can only speak for myself, of course, because Satyr is
evolving in a different way, and maybe he has "individual thought
patterns", to use a Death title there -- but I'm still mostly
listening to quality black metal stuff, living the black metal
way, doing that kind of style, while Satyr is someone who always
likes to explore new things. That's a bigger part of his life than
of mine; I try to just go further on from where I started, and get
deeper into it.
CoC: Exactly -- what does "living the black metal way" represent to
you?
F: Well, you have the thing with clothing and stuff, the interest in
music, and the dark ideology that lies behind -- which is a topic
which would need a book for it to be explained thoroughly. It's
the music, the style, the image and the ideology [combined] which
can be seen as the basis for this style.
CoC: Concerning the ideology, what do you think of the way how things
got out of hand a few years back, with the stories of Mayhem and
Burzum, the church fires...?
F: You know, the scene at that time couldn't handle all this media
attention, and a lot of the guys into the black metal scene didn't
actually -feel- so much about the ideology that they represented.
So, of course, when confronted with extremists, they blacked out
and couldn't stand the extremity of some of the most involved
persons -- and it's been like that all the time. The black metal
ideology is quite extreme, and only very few people really have
it, and that's how it's been all the time. But in the beginning,
it seemed that a lot of people were into the ideology, when in
fact only maybe ten or twenty people had a really heartfelt thing
going on there. And that's still the situation today: a lot of
people like the music, but only a few people are actually into the
ideology of the music.
CoC: I personally view the black metal ideology as being something
extremely misanthropic...
F: Yes, of course!
CoC: How then do you feel about black metal bands playing live,
before an audience?
F: I see your point, of course. I would still say that doing concerts
shouldn't be a problem for a band, because there is still a huge
gap between the performer and the audience, and we are expressing
a visual side of the band; and performing live, in addition to the
music, of course, is not only meant to please our audience --
which we of course would like to do -- but it's also meant to
please ourselves and help the band out, so that powers everything,
I think. And I also would like to point out that being
misanthropic doesn't necessarily mean you hate -all- people, but
you hate, or are against, people -in general-.
CoC: So you view it like sticking with your kinfolk, I guess?
F: Exactly! That's the point.
CoC: The massive black metal upheaval a couple of years ago has now
completely receded, and many bands have simply vanished from the
scene, leaving only "reliable" bands like Marduk, Satyricon,
Immortal...
F: That's exactly what you would expect, isn't it? It was the same
thing with death metal -- a lot of people started playing death
metal because it was up-and-growing metal, and I guess a lot of
them also saw potential money earnings. Then it would become
boring to them, and their dedication to the style wasn't that big,
so... and it was -exactly- the same with black metal. A lot of
bands playing death metal turned towards black metal because they
couldn't get the attention they wanted when playing death metal.
So some bands just started using corpsepaint, spikes, leather and
stuff, and turned their music into black metal, just to get more
attention. But of course, later on, they would see that they
weren't that much into black metal either, and that their music
was actually really boring, so then they just gave up.
CoC: Now that _Rebel Extravaganza_ has been released, will Satyricon
be shooting any videos for it?
F: Yes, we will; it's planned, and we already have lots of ideas.
CoC: For what song?
F: We don't know yet, that's still to be decided.
CoC: Any ideas about a storyboard?
F: Nothing that I should tell you about now <chuckles> -- if I
revealed it before we did the video, I would destroy a lot of the
shock effect that may be there. <chuckles again>
CoC: Okay... any last words to conclude, Frost?
F: I usually don't give any last words... thanks, and good luck with
your magazine.
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D A R K A U T U M N A L S Y M P H O N I E S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Ted and Erika of Autumn Tears
by: Pedro Azevedo
Two years have passed since the release of _The Garden of
Crystalline Dreams_ [CoC #23], second act of the "Love Poems for
Dying Children" series. During this period, Autumn Tears re-released
their debut _Love Poems for Dying Children_ [CoC #37] with renewed
production, new artwork and a new song. Now they have decided to fill
the gap between _The Garden of Crystalline Dreams_ and their
forthcoming third act _Winter and the Broken Angel_ with an MCD:
_Absolution_ [CoC #43]. For the second time [the first can be found
in CoC #23], I have interviewed Ted and Erika in order to find out
more about Autumn Tears -- who now have a third element, singer
Jennifer LeeAnna -- and also their own label Dark Symphonies, which
promises to become very active in the year 2000.
CoC: What has happened during this time leading to the release of the
_Absolution_ MCD? More specifically, what is the story behind
Erika's near departure from Autumn Tears and her subsequent
return?
Erika: After finishing the recording of _LPfDC Act II_, we were both
quite tired of Autumn Tears, especially me. The entire process
of creating that album was fraught with tension. Ted and I
both are fairly headstrong people and we had a lot of
conflicts over what the music should sound like. Because he
writes nearly all of it, he felt he should have the last say
on what got used and what didn't, but at the time I wasn't
having any of that, so we fought quite a bit. The idea of
having to go through all that negativity again on the third
album was what made me decide to quit. I didn't feel I could
be involved in Autumn Tears without having input with regards
to both the music and the vocals. It wasn't a near departure
-- I was officially out of the band for about a year. 1997 was
very busy for Dark Symphonies once _LPfDC Act II_ came out. I
got really busy handling all the paperwork, and Ted was
stretched very thin between handling the daily business
activities. Shortly thereafter they [Ted and new vocalist
Jennifer LeeAnna] wrote and recorded "The Intermission", which
appeared on the repress of _LPfDC Act I_. Business took a turn
for the worse in '98 [for Dark Symphonies], when we
encountered some explosive competition. That made it very
difficult, because Ted and Jen were working on the music, but
there really wasn't enough money to pay for recording as well
as release the Blood Fire Death label stuff (Krieg and
Centuries of Deception). Those weren't as successful as Ted
had planned, either, so we didn't recoup the production costs
very quickly. Nevertheless, Ted kept churning out the music.
Of course, since I was involved in Dark Symphonies on a daily
basis, I couldn't help but hear how advanced and lovely the
new material was. It made me feel pretty sad and left out to
not be a part of it, but the bad taste left in my mouth from
_LPfDC Act II_ still hadn't faded. Late '98, Ted was asked to
write a track for a compilation themed around the Tarot deck.
The song, "The Absolution of What Once Was", was written for
the Death card. Ted kindly asked if I would like to come back
as a session member and do the vocals. I said yes, because I
did miss writing and recording. Working on that song brought
the itch back in my veins again. I rejoined, and things have
been moving forward ever since. Ted and I have a better trust
and understanding for each other as musicians now. We both did
quite a bit of growing up in the time between mid-'96 and
late-'98. There's none of that tension from before. Dark
Symphonies has also been extremely successful in '99, and the
new CD, _LPfDC Act III: Winter and the Broken Angel_, is
planned for release in late January.
CoC: Could you give us more details on the novel you are writing?
What is it about, when and where it will be available, etc.?
Erika: Ah yes, my infamous novel. I feel badly that everyone got all
excited about it and then it fell through like so many other
projects one reads about. I had an agent for a while but she
sucked and didn't do any work for me. She never even read the
book. Plus, while I was waiting for this woman to do something
with my story, I had a change of heart. I really began taking
a cold, hard look at what popular writers are writing today,
and realized that if I wanted a chance at getting published by
a big name publisher I'd have to slash my story to about a
third of its length, swallow all my ideals, and basically sell
out totally. To do that, given my very strong stance on
selling out in music, would have been the ultimate hypocrisy.
Basically, the book is still a viable idea, and I did start
writing a little bit of it over, but it's not going anywhere
anytime soon. I also have another book that's about a third
complete and is much more likely to see the light of day than
the first story. I'm debating whether I should distribute it
through Dark Symphonies when it's done. I feel I would reach a
far more appropriate audience that way than through
traditional publishing. However, that's on hold, too: most of
my creativity is being put towards finishing _LPfDC Act III_,
and also in my solo project, Chaliss.
CoC: Regarding Autumn Tears' new vocalist Jennifer LeeAnna, what will
be her role and your own in the future of Autumn Tears?
Erika: Jen and I share vocal duties about 50/50. She has her songs, I
have mine, and we sing together on a couple. Jen also has
written a song, but due to the fact that we want to release
the CD in January, that song will be something people will
find on a compilation CD, should we be asked to participate in
one. Ted, of course, is the main man for music! There would be
no Autumn Tears without Ted, especially since the vision is
solely his. For _LPfDC Act III_, he's singing a lot more than
before, and it's working out great. We're all very happy with
our roles.
CoC: The _Absolution_ MCD seems to be unrelated to the "Love Poems
for Dying Children" series and instead seems like more of a
collection of also more or less unrelated material. What were
the reasons that made you want to release this MCD and choose
each of its three songs?
Erika: _Absolution_ came about because we knew _LPfDC Act III_ was
going to take a lot longer than we had anticipated. It was a
way of saying to the fans: "Hey, we didn't forget you and
appreciate your waiting for _LPfDC Act III_, so here's a
little something to tide you over." It's been met with
absolutely fantastic enthusiasm, which is quite heartening,
since the music is different from the previous releases. "The
Never" is the only song that pertains to the story established
in the first acts. As I mentioned before, "The Absolution of
What Once Was" was meant for a compilation, but there had been
significant delays and we decided to put that song on the mini
so people would get to hear it. "The Dance" is Ted's
experiment. It's one of those love/hate songs. I wasn't
involved with the writing of that at all, so the first time I
heard it, after it had been completely recorded, I was like,
"Ted, what the fuck are you thinking?" But now I think it's a
great song. No, it's not traditional Autumn Tears. It's there
to show that we can do and are interested in other things.
People have responded very well to the mini.
CoC: What were the events that lead to the lyrical contribution on
"The Absolution of What Once Was" by Claudia Lingstadt-Kukulka?
Will that happen again in the future?
Ted: Claudia has been a close friend of mine since August 1997 and
even since that time I had been extremely impressed with her
writing style and vision. Originally from Germany, and having
English as a second language, she has adapted incredibly with
her use of the language and its meaning. Based on my fondness
for her deep, emotional work, I asked her to participate on this
particular track, which she gratefully agreed to do. She also
has written the lyrics to our epic 14 minute track on _LPfDC Act
III_ entitled "Winter's Warning", which will beautifully
illustrate the native seasons as characters in a way never done
before by Autumn Tears. I find it both refreshing and powerful.
She will also participate in my own project, entitled Pandora,
which I will be involved with next year and which will include
Peter and Ida from Arcana.
CoC: The other two songs on _Absolution_ feature some percussion and
rhythmic sections, especially "The Dance", which is rather
different from what Autumn Tears has produced so far -- an
experiment. Do you intend to use such rhythmic elements often in
the future? What made you want to experiment in that area?
Ted: No, that was one of the points I was trying to illustrate with
the MCD: it was only -experimentation- and did -not- reflect the
progression of Autumn Tears. I did it so I could try something
different and satisfy the urge in such a way, rather than
completely change the direction and sound of the band as so many
others have done in the past. I may choose to experiment from
time to time, but the focus and direction of the band will
always remain.
CoC: What else can you unveil concerning the upcoming third chapter
of the "Love Poems for Dying Children" series?
Ted: I can assure everyone that it will be the finest, most elaborate
and darkest work we have ever done, and will most definitely be
a progression, yet will not stray too far from what we have
accomplished thus far.
CoC: What do you expect the future of Autumn Tears to be like after
that third full-length album is released?
Ted: Perhaps another MCD with some experimental songs to get it out
of my system, and then we will return with a fourth album so
grand that I cannot even conceive it at this time!
CoC: And what have been the developments regarding your label, Dark
Symphonies?
Ted: We have recently opened our doors to signing bands of integrity
and excellence. Our upcoming roster includes Maudlin of the
Well, Rain Fell Within, Corvus Corax and Long Winters' Stare,
which will be released between now and May 2000! Stay tuned
until then.
CoC: Final words?
Ted: My deepest apologies for the lateness of this interview and my
sincerest gratitude for this opportunity, Pedro. Thank you
again.
Contact: mailto:darksympho@aol.com
http://www.borg.com/~lordxul/tears.htm
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K E E P I N G M E T A L S I M P L E
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Johan Hegg of Amon Amarth
by: Adrian Bromley
Swedish death metal quintet Amon Amarth are a little disgruntled
right now at the metal music scene. At least singer Johan Hegg is.
"There is a lot of metal music out there that is trying to go along
this path of being all intricate and using a lot of keyboards and
samples, and we don't want or need that in what we do", he says in
reference to his band's latest offering _The Avenger_ [CoC #44]. "We
didn't have a plan going into this record, but we did know that we
wanted to make it a lot more simple for us to play. We wanted the
music more straightforward and a much angrier and more aggressive
attitude. I think we achieved both."
Talking more about the metal scene, Hegg says: "I think it's
been rather boring, especially for death metal music like ours. Black
metal has been the big thing over the last few years. The scene
exploded for them, releasing a bunch of crap and drowning out the
really good bands. That made the scene totally uninteresting. A lot
of people who loved the music from the start really got sick of all
the crap. Sure bands like Marduk, Dark Funeral and Emperor survived
this scene explosion, but the general level of black music went down
to this very low standard, unfortunately."
"As for now, I think the death metal scene is growing and that
is cool", he adds. "We're just glad to be a part of it and the
response has been very good for us, even better than the last
record." Unlike the band's debut for Metal Blade last year (_Once
Sent From the Golden Hall_ [CoC #29]), their new disc _The Avenger_,
while a bit more simplistic in its approach, definitely shows a much
stronger and more finely-tuned band. The band (rounded out by
guitarists Johan Soderberg and Olavi Mikkonen, drummer Fredrik
Anderson and bassist Ted Lundstrom) has definitely grown accustomed
to the whole recording process. "In a sense I think the songs are a
lot more professional this time out", notes Hegg, who writes all of
the band's lyrics. "There isn't a lot of unnecessary stuff on this
record. I think a lot of the lyrics and the riffs we chose for the
particular songs work well off one another."
"When we are working on material for the record we find
ourselves highly influenced by things that are happening around us
and not focusing on what bands who are selling records are doing, as
some may think. We don't follow trends. We just focus on things in
our lives to inspire the material we write."
"When we started out, we were into bands like Mercyful Fate,
Megadeth, Slayer and D.R.I., but when you put on our music you don't
hear any of those influences. We don't rip off our influences, rather
we take the passion that those bands had back then and see where it
takes us."
One thing that seems to have gone right this time is their
studio time. Hegg explains: "We were much better prepared this time
around when we arrived at the studio. We had recorded the previous
album at Sunlight Studios, but it turned out to be a big mess.
Nothing sounded right. We were not going to release the first record.
We managed to get in touch with Peter Tagtgren at the Abyss studios
and he squeezed us in for three weeks. The record came out good. When
it was time for this record, we decided not to mess around and
recorded at the Abyss studios, because we know Peter and are very
comfortable with the space there. We produced the new record. He just
added a really strong sound -- something he is very, very good at
doing."
And why does Johan play metal music? "I play this music because
of the aggression", says Hegg. "We like to play the music we enjoy
listening to. Not to say that we only listen to death metal, but it
just turns out that we are all into metal and that makes it even more
enjoyable. When you are really into doing something it's bound to
turn out good."
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C O P P I C E O F C O R P S E S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews Forest of Impaled
by: Aaron McKay
After listening to Forest of Impaled's new release on Red
Stream, _Demonvoid_ [CoC #44], more times than I care to recount, I
couldn't resist the opportunity to seek out some of the vitals behind
the band through an interview. After requesting some time from Mark
Trela, one of Forest of Impaled's guitarists, I was granted an e-mail
exchange with Adrian Adamus, FoI's other axe-wizard. I was thrilled
with the candor displayed by Mr. Adamus and intrigued by the band's
music as a whole. As they did me, let Adrian's words enlighten you!
CoC: Well, Adrian, some interesting things have happened with Forest
of Impaled since forming in 1992, correct?
Adrian Adamus: Yes, many things have changed both musically and
structurally. At first the band was focused on
creating melodic and atmospheric music that was still
extreme, but had an almost majestic undertone. As our
influences changed and our musical capability
improved, we started to write more from an extreme
point of view, yet still managing to keep the melodic
side of our music. "The Seventh Dominion" captures
both the movement to a more original direction of
extreme black metal and some aspects of death are also
apparent; overall the album is our best material to
date and hopefully will be accepted favorably into the
underground scene.
CoC: You guys started out as a four-piece, right?
AA: Originally we were under the name of Nocturnal Serenity. The band
was greatly influenced by early At the Gates and Amorphis
material. The original and founding members back then are still
here: Dan Prawica (vocals), Mark Trela (guitar), Andy Rusin
(percussion) and myself also playing guitar. For the _Mortis Dei_
MCD we also added the talents of Chris Bulkowski on the keyboard
to enhance the overall mood of the material. Although in the
beginning our songs weren't that technical, back then it still
helped us to develop our skills and a foundation of melodic song
structures.
CoC: Then you added a keyboardist before recording the demo, _The
Seventh Dominion_.
AA: Yes, Mike Zielinski joined the horde, proving to be a great
contribution to the extreme yet symphonic song structures and
melodies.
CoC: Do you think this move increased your songwriting range to
include more of a symphonic texture than, let's say, from the
work on _The Dark Wilderness_?
AA: Actually, when we're writing material we mainly focus on the
guitar and drums; after these two parts are complete, we try to
incorporate keyboards into certain parts. Usually we see what
Mike comes up with and then decide if we should use it or not.
Everyone in the band contributes and naturally has their own
opinion about what sounds good and what doesn't, and this adds to
the originality of the band itself. _The Dark Wilderness_ had
some keyboard parts, but those were very basic; with the addition
of Mike, his experience as a keyboardist proves to be noteworthy
and adds great atmosphere to our music.
CoC: How is the new material being received? I understand that you
guys had -quite- a following even back so far as with _Mortis
Dei_!
AA: Well, we have no idea how it's being received, since it has only
been out for a week. According to our record company, Red Stream,
they have received many comments from underground zines such as
yours and from other people which are positive, and we think the
record will be a surprise to most of our fans who may be
expecting something similar to _Mortis Dei_. Hopefully
_Demonvoid_ will mark a new era for the band and for our loyal
listeners.
CoC: I want to concentrate for a moment on how absolutely heavy as
-fuck- Forest of Impaled's sound comes across without loosing an
ounce of the chaotic black metal feel. Will you attempt to "top"
the heaviness of _Demonvoid_ with the next album?
AA: Yeah, the sound of _Demonvoid_ is very impressive and we are very
satisfied with our producer Jason Walsh. Actually, we had done
three final mixes of the material, which gave us some options for
the sound of the album, but overall it captures the essence of
Forest of Impaled in its present state, which is hostile and
aggressive in nature. This album is basically our stab at
creating something a bit more catchy and rhythmic while still
keeping the majestic nature and power of black metal in general.
Our next album will surely be an all out attack of power and
chaos, as hinted by some of the songs on _Demonvoid_.
CoC: In my review of the _Demonvoid_ album, I singled out
"Metamorphosis (Birth of the Seventh)" as having a some
incredible riffs. What are your thoughts on that? What pulled
the band in that direction?
AA: Well, "Metamorphosis" is a fairly old song -- I believe we wrote
it about a year and a half ago --, but it still has a great vibe
and mood to it. It tries to incorporate a more methodical
approach to writing and composing metal music. One may say that
it has many aspects of traditional black metal, but at the same
time it features a more rhythmic centered guitar work. Basically,
we were trying to create music that is both original and contains
memorable riffs that are catchy yet still otherworldly and
melodic. This has been the main goal of ours since the start, and
_Demonvoid_ proves to be a work of this type.
CoC: How do you pull off recording what can only be described as a
thick, corpulent black metal gateway to an unspoiled expanse of
entropy?
AA: The heavy sound has always been something we have been striving
to achieve. Unlike many bands who focus on high pitched guitar
riffs, we try to compromise with one guitar playing a lower
octave of the same riff or a deeper harmony, but still
incorporated into the overall song as an important contribution.
Also, on the final mixes we decided to turn the bass up a notch,
just enough to balance the sometimes trebly guitar. We also thank
our producer for giving us input and his thoughts on the sound,
which helped us make some important decisions during recording.
CoC: In my opinion, the mid-west could use more bands like Forest of
Impaled. How is the area -- Chicago, specifically -- treating
you?
AA: In my opinion, the Chicago scene is good and thriving in that it
possesses a lot of talented bands, such as Gorgasm, Scepter,
Cianide, Usurper, Disinter, Fleshgrind and a lot of other bands
that give rise to the scene. The only problem is that most of the
local shows are often attended by people who are already doing
something in the scene, such as band members, zine writers and
merchandisers. It's not that there aren't that many fans of
extreme metal, it's just that most of these people will only show
up if a national or big act is playing. At that point they
suddenly appear, but where were they last week when the local
bands were playing? In general, we have a good loyal following
that comes to our shows and just supports the onslaught of mayhem
in Chicago.
CoC: Is there anyone around you guys there in the "Windy City" that
you know personally, or have played with, that might be of
interest to the Chronicles of Chaos readers, possibly, paying
particular attention to more "underground" bands?
AA: One band that has been in the scene since the early days and has
proven to be a big name in the scene is Gorgasm. We have played
many shows with them and respect their brutal death / grind style
that is almost a hallmark of the Chicago sound. Recently, they
have recruited Dave Culross (ex-Suffocation drummer) to record
their follow-up to _Stabwound Intercourse_, a most excellent
album that incorporates the best of the grind/death style but
also a melodic aspect. Anyone into technical death metal should
definitely check this band out.
CoC: Who are you listening to currently? Any major influences?
AA: Currently I just picked up the new Kovenant album and am very
surprised by the way they changed into an almost mainstream
techno/metal band, except for the voice. The album is still very
well played and arranged and I must say it is a masterpiece of
new age black metal. Other stuff I'm listening to is the new
Satyricon _Rebel Extravaganza_, Samael's _Eternal_, The Haunted,
Abigor and the new Deeds of Flesh album. As for influences, I
guess all the above can be accounted for as influences since
anything that one listens to leaves some kind of impression on
your thoughts -- even though you may not be aware of it at the
time, it may show up while writing your next song... who knows?
CoC: Where does, in your opinion, Forest of Impaled see itself in the
black metal scene?
AA: Forest of Impaled is a band that constantly evolves and changes
direction while still keeping its black metal roots. We feel that
originality is the key for the future of black metal. In a world
of countless bands, Forest of Impaled tries to deliver this new
form on _Demonvoid_ and we will continue to strive for extreme
chaos and devastation in our future releases.
CoC: From a marketing standpoint, and as a fan of music, as I'm sure
you are, what would you say the group's most valuable asset
would be, musically speaking?
AA: Forest of Impaled's most valuable asset is that we compose music
that can appeal to both death and black metal enthusiasts. We
also spend a lot of time contemplating the structure of our music
and must say we are very selective in our arrangements of riffs
and drumming. In the end, we try to put out music that satisfies
our creative needs but still is very well thought out and
composed for the listener.
CoC: In conclusion, I want to thank you -very- much for everything
Forest of Impaled has accomplished in its seven years and its
contribution to metal thus far!
AA: Thanks for the interview and hail to all our fans, "For Ours is
the Kingdom and we shall forever Desecrate the Heavens."
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E V O L V I N G T H E I R N O I S E
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC interviews earthtone9
by: Adrian Bromley
The great thing about earthtone9 (et9) is their ability to
create music that is not only mesmerizing but also truly powerful in
its onslaught on our senses and psyche. The experience is worth it.
To get more in depth about the material, I'd have to say the
music of et9 is a rabid flailing of sonic realms and mystifying
passages (nestled nicely between Tool and Neurosis, though more
hardcore fuelled) that cradle within your mind. With power and might,
the music ends up causing a temporary breakdown in all things real,
thus taking you on a whirlwind experience of aggression and music
wizardry.
"The music of et9 just comes together so well, the ideas and the
sounds manage to bind as one when we are in the studio", starts
guitarist Owen down the line from Nottingham, England about the new
disc, _Off Kilter Enhancement_ [CoC #42]. "But to be honest with you,
the last two records we have put out (_OKE_ and last year's
_lo-def(inition) discord_ [CoC #35]) were kind of rushed. We had to
go in the studio and come out with something. We're glad it all
worked out, but to be honest, more time would have helped. We're
hoping next time out we can spend a bit more time working out all the
glitches in our music and make it much stronger than what it already
is."
"We want to boost up all the things that excite us about our
music", he quips. "When you go out on the road and tour and play all
the songs live you really start to get a feeling of what you think
needs to be added to your music. We started to hear and/or see some
things that might have been neglected while it went through the
studio process. These are things we will bring back with us when we
work on record number three."
While the band has done some extensive touring over the last few
years with their two releases, Owen states that the band (rounded out
by vocalist Karl, guitarist Joe, bassist Gray and drummer Si) doesn't
slack off in the song writing department when they are on the road.
"That has never been the case. Writing comes very easy for us. It
always has. We already have a big chunk of the third record set to
go. It's just a matter of when we get off the road and when we find
time to hit the studio."
"It seems like forever that we have been out on the road", he
says. "God! It seems like forever. We play with anybody. Anybody that
comes along we take. We just enjoy performing."
From start to finish, _OKE_ is ten times more vibrant than the
music found on _ldd_, not to say it is much better, it just seems
that the band has managed to find their groove. A feat that not many
bands achieve this early in their careers, or, in some cases, never
find at all.
"Like most bands and with us, as time goes along your musical
identity becomes a lot clearer. What was weird for us was that the
first album was completely financed and when it was released we were
going to split up. We had all been doing this for years in other
bands and had never gotten anywhere. But with this album things
started looking very good for us and we got some great responses.
That persuaded us to continue and it was funny, because we already
had the second album almost done and we were almost going to call it
quits. We stuck around, put out the second record and here we are.
Sure both records had been assembled at about the same time, as we
were waiting for things to happen, but there was a sense of
progression there. I can see it."
He adds: "The thing with bands is that through natural
progression of material you learn to really scope out what you are
all about and if you can venture further from the first record then
you are doing something right. We obviously were going in the right
direction with _OKE_."
On the subject of today's music scene, he comments: "I don't
really like to point figures at people, but it is definitely an
interesting time for music at the moment. Extreme music has managed
to somehow work its way into mainstream music these days and it has
made it a bit more interesting than what it has been like in the
past. That is also something very difficult to handle as well,
because bands that really try to do something different aren't
guaranteed to sell loads of records compared to those bands that
stick to a popular style. I don't like many bands nowadays, to tell
you the truth. I find it a very boring time. But if I had to pick a
few bands out there that are keeping me interested, I'd have to say
Tool, a great UK band called Floor and Korn."
Korn?, I ask.
"Yeah, not that they affect what we do at all -- they don't --,
it's just that they brought a really unique sound and approach to
music when they came onto the scene and it allowed a lot of bands to
mix up their sound. But unfortunately the repercussions from that
were tremendous. All these bands out there wanted to be like them.
They didn't and still don't get it. It wasn't about following them,
it was about exploring music like they did. Take a chance. Be
creative. That's the way it has always been with us."
On defining just where they sit with their own sound, Owen
responds: "I think we have been very lucky with what we do. I think
we are a perennial, unfashionable type of band. We don't live in
London or in the right music circles. We existed in a vacuum kind of
existence, I think. And because we have done things on a smaller
scale working with an indie label [Copro Records] and because we have
no expectations of what we were doing, we really didn't have a reason
to incorporate any popular styles into what we do."
"To be honest with you, I don't think we could ever be contrived
about what we do", notes Owen. "It just always turns out the way we
always meant it to come out. If we tried to insert something
artificially, I think it would stand out quite noticeably."
He finishes: "There are a lot of things that come along with
being in a band, a lot of problems and frustrations, but I get so
much enjoyment from being in a band... it just feels like it has a
real valid purpose above and beyond just work. I don't think we have
some huge political or sociological message that we are trying to
push across to anyone. We just play real heavy music. Being in a band
has been very cathartic for the five of us and it has been a good way
of maintaining a strong relationship with a great group of people.
Most people don't ever experience that, and I'm glad I have it."
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T H E R E M N A N T S O F A D Y I N G F E T U S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CoC talks to Keisuke of Vomit Remnants
by: Paul Schwarz
The influence of certain bands, and often it is the better ones,
can reach far across the globe, and this certainly seems to have been
the case in terms of the impact the USA's suffocatingly brutal death
metal act Dying Fetus have had on Vomit Remnants, the Japanese act
who this interview concerns. Having received their CD through loyal
CoC reader Roberto Martinelli, and finding it an enjoyable, if not
wholly original, musical product, I felt they were worthy of this
exposure. Through broken English, somewhat hyperbolic language and
the fact that his answers were e-mailed through his phone, this was
what I got out of drummer Keisuke.
CoC: There is a very distinct, and acknowledged, Dying Fetus
influence in the music you play. How important are DF to your
musical ideas, and why them rather than any other band?
Keisuke: We try real violence [and] brutality to be new death metal
but not totally typical. I don't think we are the most
original band playing brutal death. Of course Dying Fetus
influences [the] music we play. But say what you guys like,
they are gods! They play best way in mixed style between
blast and groove. It's kicked our fucking goddamn asses!!
CoC: Your presentation, lyrics and music all seem very to the point.
What impression do you hope to make on people with _Supreme
Entity_ musically, lyrically, visually, etc.?
K: Fuck humanity! Totally full of violence.
CoC: Who are Soils of Fate, and why did you choose to cover one of
their songs on this record?
K: They are [an] underground brutal act from Sweden. I just wanted to
make bonds of friendly ship on the album 'cause we are good
friends since I started the band. He is coolest!!
CoC: Japan is not renowned for its death metal scene. Could you tell
the North American public what the situation is in Japan with
metal and specifically death metal, and mention any particularly
note-worthy bands emerging from Japan or the Far East at the
moment?
K: Um... Japanese death metal scene is quite poor. There are
extremely few bands, no zines, only a label/distro (Macabre
Mementos), no shows... We also fucking hate this situation and
Japanese culture. I think [it's] very difficult to play death
metal in Japan. Defiled and Distemper are good bands from Japan.
But we've never heard more brutaler than us or same brutality as
us from Asia.
CoC: Though your music has some unusual structures and unexpected
changes, for the most part you are producing death metal derived
from a tried and tested formula. In the future, do you aim to
stick to being merely brutal and to-the-point or do you feel
that you want to push yourselves to innovate or revolutionise
the scene?
K: Thanks for the very kind words! We want to revolutionise the scene
for way of stick to being brutal in the scene of global death
metal underground. No fucking compromise!
CoC: You've recently been touring around Japan; do you have plans to
do a full tour in either the US or Europe? If so, with whom?
K: We will go to Europe for tour with Fleshless and maybe Godless
Truth in June/July of 2000. Maybe we will play in Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Germany, Holland and Belgium. That would be sick!
Hopefully, we want [to] go to [the] USA again (we went [to] Ohio,
New York in May '99).
CoC: You have some interesting and amusing samples on the album. Why
did you decide to use samples and why these particular ones?
K: The samples feel just funny, but the conversations are sick! We
liked their gap. It's taken from [a] famous hip hop group. Do you
know [which]?
CoC: No, which one?
K: We [have] taken all of the samples from Cypress Hill.
CoC: Apart from Dying Fetus, what bands would you cite as your
biggest influences?
K: Suffocation. Internal Bleeding. Pyrexia. Mortal Decay. Our today's
favorites are: Deeds of Flesh, Gorgasm, Disgorge (US), Devourment,
Entorturement, Dehumanized, Skinless... I can't stop.
CoC: Finally, anything you'd like to say about your music, scene,
opinions, etc., do so now.
K: Thank you man, and thank you all for supporting brutal death
metal. You all better pick up Vomit Remnants' _Supreme Entity_,
you can either get it through your favorite underground distro or
through us -- just send US$16. Our next material [is] coming soon
on Extremities Prod.!
[See the Vomit Remnants review for contact information.]
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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!
Various - _A Tribute to Accept_ (Nuclear Blast, 1999)
by: Matthias Noll (2 out of 10)
So let's ask ourselves again: what's the purpose of tribute albums?
To honour important and influential bands and make some easy money.
Judging by the increasing amount of tributes released in the last
couple of years, at least the money-making aspect of such albums
seems to work perfectly. The honour aspect is also okay with me if
the band deserves it, and in the case of Accept a tribute is
justified. But what about the covers themselves? Should the goal be
to cover a song as closely to the original as possible, or try to
make it better, to bring forth hidden qualities and/or make it your
own song and bring in your own trademarks? Personally, I opt for the
latter, because I simply see no point in recording an 120% identical
version. Unfortunately, the majority of the bands on this tribute
album come from the true or power metal genre and apparently prefer
the 120% approach without even attempting to go for a minor
improvement -- like, for example, better/heavier sound. This is not
very surprising to me, because in my opinion most of their so-called
"own" material is nothing more than the exact rehash of things that
have been done countless times before and basically nothing but a
bunch of covers. Considering Accept's influential status in the early
'80s, especially with regard to the Bay Area thrash metal scene, it's
a shame that this tribute leaves the impression that their work was
only important for some of the cheesiest and most obsolete bands
around today. The usual suspects, all guilty of the 120% approach,
are: Sinner - "Metal Heart", Pegazus - "Restless and Wild", Axxis -
"Flash Rockin' Man", HammerFall - "Head Over Heels", Primal Fear -
"Breaker", Steel Prophet - "Fast as a Shark", Gravedigger -
"Starlight", Seven Witches - "Monsterman", Sacred Steel - "Fight it
Back" and New Eden - "China Lady". Well, guys, the good thing is that
when your career is over you will all qualify for the weekend slot
for cover bands in the pub next door. One of the biggest
disappointments is the appearance of former progressive metal legends
Watchtower. The only "idea" with which they come up is a couple of
drum breaks underneath the solo section in "Run If You Can". Besides
that, what do we have here that at least slightly offers something
more than pure reproduction? Tankard do "Son of a Bitch" in an
uptempo version, with singer Gerre attempting to make the listener
believe he really wants the corporate bloodsuckers to kiss his arse
-- okay, but nothing more. Next in line are Sodom doing the rock 'n'
roll-ish "I'm a Rebel". Unfortunately it sounds like Onkel Tom and
his idiotic booze metal versions of German "Schlager" instead of
Sodom. Atrocity rape Accept's anthem to the art of headbanging,
"Shake Your Heads", with the extensive use of EBM music elements.
Sounds like a third rate copy of Rammstein and all the power the
original had is gone. German hardcore veterans Rykers give "London
Leatherboys" a special treatment and transform it into something
which could have been on an early Biohazard album. While I give them
credit for trying something really different, it sounds like a
parody. Therion do "The King" mainly with piano and female vocals --
forgettable. Finally, we have Dimmu Borgir and "Metal Heart", which
had already been released on their _Godless Savage Garden_ EP [CoC
#35]. The amazing (I should say "sad" instead) thing is that it
sounded rather boring and uninspired on _GSG_, while amongst the
other stuff on this tribute it nearly defines the maximum of
rearrangements and changes in comparison to the original. So what's
the verdict? If you are: a) the world's biggest Accept fan with the
desire to buy everything related to your heroes; b) a die hard
supporter of the "new" true, power, whatever revival -- then get this
record. Everybody else: avoid it.
Adramelech - _Pure Blood Doom_ (Severe Music, December 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo (7 out of 10)
Finland hasn't produced much death metal lately -- at least not that
I know of --, but Adramelech seem very determined to change that.
Having formed a label of their own, they now release this _Pure Blood
Doom_ and state their intentions of producing quality Finnish death
metal. They have succeeded in doing so with _PBD_, though not
brilliantly nor through great innovation. _Pure Blood Doom_ is well
written, performed and produced. Adramelech generally keep the songs
varied in pace and approach, with good riffs and rhythm and also
competent (though somewhat unremarkable) vocals. A few highlights
scattered throughout the album help them gain the extra mark --
namely "Centuries of Murder", "Thingstead" and "Spawn of the
Suffering". The rest of the album clearly isn't unremarkable enough
to virtually turn this into a three-song EP; the rest of the material
is generally a bit more standard, but still quite competent,
enjoyable and varied enough. It's good to see a band determined in
playing and releasing the music they like (and doing it well) even
though the genre's local scene has been rather forsaken, as the band
states and as indeed appears to be the case.
Contact: Severe Music, PL 96, 32201 Loimaa, Finland
http://www.severemusic.com
Aeternus - _Shadows of Old_ (Hammerheart, November 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (8.5 out of 10)
Aeternus' last album, _...And So the Night Became_, though an
impressive show of the band's talents, was somewhat ponderous and a
little rough around the edges. By comparison, _Shadows of Old_ is a
far more convincing and polished work. Its production (which is
testament to the fact that Pytten, working at Grieghallen, can still
produce brilliant metal records) focuses the band's creative skill
and aggressive energy and, when combined with the tightly focused
compositions, results in an album which is truly destructive while
also diverse and dynamic; though Aeternus forthrightly go for the
jugular, they have been careful not to lose their dynamic edge. The
soothing melodic plucking of an acoustic guitar or a gentle wash of
keyboard soundscapes still provide sudden and subtle breaks from the
cascading mounds of intense riffage, and are also intertwined into
them at points (e.g. the sitar on "Prophecy of the Elder Reign").
With a bagpipe outro ("The Sunset's Glory") moving out of the pitch
black shadow of the rest of the album, I am left highly impressed
though not unequivocally converted to Aeternus' cause.
Aion - _Aion_ (<Independent>, 1999)
by: Alex Cantwell (3 out of 10)
With the opening minute or so of this CD I thought I was in for a
good arse kicking, but that first bit of music is deceptive. For the
duration of the disc, the guitars and drums are very powerful indeed,
but unfortunately these nine songs are littered with awful keyboards
that reduce the available power of Aion to that of, say, Human
League. The situation worsens when the singer opens his mouth,
spewing forth grunts that sound akin to Iced Earth's vocalist chasing
pigs. If the members who form the foundation of this band -- meaning
the drummer, guitarists, and bassist -- would ditch the vocalist and
the keyboardist/programmer, the results would be great, I'm sure; but
until then they will be kept far away from -my- CD players.
Contact: Michal Litewka, Ul. Kopanina 5, 60-105, Poznan, Poland
mailto:aionband@friko6.onct.pl
Artillery - _B.A.C.K._ (Diehard, November 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (7 out of 10)
Artillery are yet another "pioneering" thrash metal band who have
been conspicuously forgotten since their mid-eighties heyday and have
chosen the late-nineties to re-emerge into the dubious "thrash metal"
scene of today, which is composed of a polarisation of cheeky but
hugely gratifying nostalgia, and hideously awful rehashes of what in
the past were glories. Artillery may have come back to win over a new
audience with their distinctly nineties production sheen, and even
hints of nineties playing styles, but it seems far more likely they
have returned for the sake and at the behest of the more dedicated of
their fans. With recognisable names from both the Danish and
international metal scene (Andy Sneap, Bo Lund, Tue Madsen and Anders
Lundermark) assisting in the production of this comeback, it is no
surprise that the result is no crusty, misplaced nostalgia trip, but
rather a refreshingly hungry and heavy modern-sounding thrash record,
though one with very distinctly old roots and little sway to the
commercial viability of the mosh-core or true metal(tm) fraternities.
_B.A.C.K._ is nonetheless no album of the year and, though enjoyable
and convincing, merely proves that comeback records don't -have- to
make a band sound idiotic if they do us the service of taking account
of the seven or more years in music and development in production
that has taken place since they last graced us with a release.
Centurian - _Chornzonic Chaos Gods_ (Full Moon Productions, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay (8.5 out of 10)
Boiled down to its bare essence, Centurian is about as underground,
straightforward, blast-infested, carnage-laden, feverishly-paced
metal as you could ever conceptualize. No fully rhythmic passages
here. As it turns out, this might only distract the listener, to be
honest. Centurian has quite some experience with music in this vein.
Formed by ex-Inquisitor bandmates, Centurian put out a demo on Full
Moon in the Spring of last year. From all accounts I have uncovered,
the demo, _Of Purest Fire_, was so well received, even without a full
band line-up at the time, that Centurian wasted little time getting
the full CD out for mass consumption. Back to the music, I will point
out that as fast as Centurian are, the band -does-, however,
"thin-out" a song here and there to allow some skilful bass playing
and drumming blast-beats to ebb through. Such is the case with my
favorite track, six, on _Chornzonic Chaos Gods_ entitled "Blood for
Satan". The last couple of songs on this hellishly performed release,
"Cross of Fury" and "In the Name of Chaos", by the same token,
exhibits the arrant guitar prowess of the group. Not as fast in
places and enshrouding in its own majestic right. I won't hide the
fact that I prefer my metal -- black, death or otherwise -- a little
more rhythmic and groove aligned, but I couldn't deduct points away
from Centurian for this, now, could I? Especially when they do what
they do so well. Oh yeah, the cover art was created in a pool of the
band's own blood. Interested yet?
Cryogenic - _Celephais_ (Solistitium, 1999)
by: Alex Cantwell (8.5 out of 10)
I am very impressed with this band, but have no bio, pictures or
lyrics to give me an idea of whom I am writing about. Whoever they
are, Cryogenic are accomplished musicians within the black metal
style, and every instrument gets a moment in the spotlight within the
ten songs. The band does nothing to set itself apart from countless
others; their use of keyboards and acoustic guitars is similar in
style to Norway's Twin Obscenity, but without the heavy folk
leanings. The keyboard work also brings to mind Bal-Sagoth, only not
as happy sounding. The guitar work is razor sharp, and when the
keyboards are not creating thick layers of atmosphere or laying down
smooth piano lines, the aggression goes full tilt and the band grinds
out one underground masterpiece after another at a frantic pace. I
would like to know where these guys came from (all of the song titles
are in a foreign language), and what they plan to do in the future
with all of the talent that is displayed on _Celephais_. In closing,
all I can say is that Cryogenic play black metal, and they play it
well.
Contact: Solistitium, PO Box 1210, 26802, Moormerland, Germany
Dead Silent Slumber - _Entombed in the Midnight Hour_
by: Adrian Bromley (7.5 out of 10) (Hammerheart, December 1999)
Naglfar singer Jens Ryden has ventured out from the vicious onslaught
of Naglfar to a much more sonic-pleasing solo project called Dead
Silent Slumber. The music of DSS is a mixture of melody, keyboards,
razor-sharp guitar work and equally powerful vocals. This is a
one-man show worth of noting, as it doesn't come across as too
pompous or too sissy-like. DSS's debut release shines with brilliance
and dedication. On top of the exceptional solo work assembling the
music here, the production on _EitMH_ is to die for. The vocals never
falter and the keyboard work that lines each song sounds so blissful.
My only problem with DSS on this release (though numbers like "In the
Glare of the Moon" and "Smell the Incense" kick ass) is the very
similar sound running throughout the disc. Variety is achieved here,
but not enough, even though Ryden does his best to alter vocals
throughout. Still worthy of blasting from your boombox.
Defleshed - _Fast Forward_ (War Records, 1999)
by: Matthias Noll (8 out of 10)
Wasn't I the one who complained about retro metal in exactly this
issue? Yet I give 8 points to Defleshed, a band that has this
confrontational word stamped on their foreheads. But I'm not making a
difference between retro thrash and retro power metal here. There's
another difference, the one which actually matters. Basically,
Defleshed's music is based on classic thrash metal riffing. Think of
a fusion of Destruction, _Infernal Overkill_ era, with top notch
mid-eighties Bay Area thrash. A fast and furious guitar dominates
this record and shreds through all the songs without ever stopping
its relentless barrage of pure amplified aggression. While now and
then riffs do indeed sound familiar, there's a whole load of
brilliant moments and surprising twists and turns that will leave
every thrash metal addict gasp for air before continuing with insane
headbanging. The rhythm section supports the violence with a mixture
of blast speed passages and straight high speed drumming, reminiscent
of the early death/thrash hybrids like Malevolent Creation. The
overall production is excellent and while the snare drum is a tiny
bit too hollow, the devastating six string sound more than
compensates that. The vocals, you might have guessed it, come across
like Mille with rabies and are my first point of criticism. Quite
often do they sound repetitive, formulaic and even pretentious. Yeah,
they work well and completely fit the music, but with a better
singer, one with more personality, this record would haven been
better. The other gripe I have is a certain lack of variety. All
songs are performed at breakneck speed or faster and do not sound too
different from each other. The album length of 30 minutes (the _Reign
in Blood_ benchmark) works in favor of the overall impression, but I
still feel that the addition of two high quality mid-tempo tracks
would have made this record a 9 instead of 8 out of 10. This aside,
_Fast Forward_ is a prime example of how music can of course be
"retro" without being an annoying imitation. Take the best from the
past, play it faster, more aggressively and better than the
originators, add a minimum of up to date ingredients (blast speed
parts, production) and, if done well, what you get is a record which
every self-respecting thrasher, no matter if she or he is born in the
'60s, '70s or '80s, should add to his collection. Thrash or die!
Devilyn - _Reborn in Pain_ (Listenable Records, 1999)
by: David Rocher (6 out of 10)
Devilyn's first album, 1997's _Anger_, had introduced this Polish
band as technically competent purveyors of unfortunately deja-vu
death metal in the veins of Morbid Angel and Deicide, which just
tended to lack personality; additionally, I didn't feel that Devilyn
succeeded in delivering the evilness or the unhallowed atmospheres
that an album like _Covenant_ exudes. Their second release, _Reborn
in Pain_, despite boasting more intricate, mature compositions and
musicianship, sadly falls into the same sort of trap -- sure, _Reborn
in Pain_ is a good, extreme death metal album, but its energy fails
to smack me in the face the way bands like Vader, Cryptopsy or
Deranged do, and their music just doesn't strike me as being as dark
as they would like it to be. Devilyn are indeed skilled musicians,
extreme composers, and probably live their death metal to the very
end of their toenails, but they don't provoke the massive and
addictive rush of adrenaline that some referential bands tapping the
same musical vein as them, such as the aforementioned Morbid Angel or
Vader, unfailingly deliver. Despite these unconvinced observations,
_Reborn in Pain_ nonetheless represents a vast improvement on
_Anger_, and since Devilyn are far from being as overrated or
big-headed as Deicide, it is more than likely that they will evolve
to spawn a fine release in their future career.
Dichotic - _Lowest Common Denominator_
by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10) (Discorporate Music, December 1999)
Well, well, well. The beast from the East returns. As if their
pummelling last record _Collapse Into Despair_ [CoC #37] wasn't
enough brutality for us Canucks to handle, Halifax, Nova Scotia
heavies Dichotic return before the millennium with a totally barbaric
assault of death metal madness. While equally as abrasive as _CID_,
_LCD_ is ten times more violent, with bottom of the barrel vocals
meshed with razor-sharp riffs and tuned-down production encouraging
this release to rip us apart. The band shows no remorse for what they
end up doing to you with this harmful record. If you're craving
brutal death metal, then this is the ticket. Yet again another great
unknown band from Canada -- hopefully not for long.
Contact: mailto:dichotic@hotmail.com
http://home.istar.ca/~discm/dichotic
Dream Into Dust - _The World We Have Lost_ (Elfenblut, 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo (7 out of 10)
Soundscapes of desolate fields and shattered lives left behind by the
battles of an all-encompassing war -- this is the best description I
can think of for what Dream Into Dust try to achieve with _The World
We Have Lost_. The music consists of a mix of dark ambient,
occasionally some simple and generally unobtrusive industrial/warlike
background percussion, mostly keyboard-generated string instruments
such as violin and cello together with some guitar, and usually
sombre clean vocals on top. The elements used by Dream Into Dust tend
to vary somewhat from track to track, but they are generally part of
the list above; however, this variety isn't always good. Sometimes a
bit too melodic (usually vocal-wise), more often relying excessively
on barren atmospheric passages, Dream Into Dust have some difficulty
achieving the right mix during _The World We Have Lost_ -- which they
do often enough to keep the album interesting, though occasionally
just barely. Plenty of tracks contain fine moments, though,
particularly "Cross the Abyss" and "Not Above But Apart" -- a song
which reminded me a bit of At the Gates' superb acoustic track "And
the World Returned" from _Terminal Spirit Disease_. Add to this some
very interesting and highly adequate misanthropic lyrics and
well-chosen artwork, and the resulting dark, desolate atmosphere that
enshrouds _The World We Have Lost_ is certainly a very good reason
for me to feel like listening to it despite the fact that the music
tends to wander off a bit too much for my taste.
Contact: http://www.chthonicstreams.com
Dreck Sau - _Schmerz_ (Nuclear Blast, November 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (6 out of 10)
Labelling Dreck Sau as "Machine Head wannabes" would be more than an
exercise in lazy journalism, it would be a mistake. For much as the
bolshy, simplistic riffs slam down like so many Ten Ton Hammers
(sic), the abrasive chops and percussive thumps of Dreck Sau don't
embody the same from-the-streets attitude. The oppressive feel
surrounding the repetitive pounding, the name ("Filthy Pig"), the
album title ("Pain") and song titles of a similar depressive and
negative nature give Dreck Sau a more stark character and puts them
more in alignment with the industrial contingent, and that's not even
mentioning the fact that their sound has closer similarities to
Sinister than Skinlab. Unfortunately, however, much as I can
differentiate Dreck Sau from any one specific stereotype, the fact
remains that what they produce musically is rather uninventive and
also rather unexciting.
Emperor - _Emperial Live Ceremony_ [video]
by: Pedro Azevedo (10 out of 10) (Candlelight, November 1999)
With _Emperial Live Ceremony_, Emperor have released a superb video
testimony to their live excellence; but I hesitated before
attributing full marks to _Emperial Live Ceremony_, however. The live
section is only about 45 minutes long (plus a video clip), so it
could have been longer, and it doesn't include "The Loss and Curse of
Reverence" (only featured as a video clip to end the tape) nor
"Decrystallizing Reason", for example. But that's it as far as
complaints are concerned, and those arguments against giving _ELC_
full marks really fall apart when one considers its sheer quality.
Very good song selection overall, despite what I mentioned above --
of course I would have wanted a few more tracks from their first two
full-length albums to be present, but they generally made excellent
choices and avoided the less brilliant tracks found on _IX
Equilibrium_. The image quality is very good (except for the rather
clumsy "fast-forward" effect during the faster section of "With
Strength I Burn"), while the sound is simply excellent. But what
really blew me away was how tightly Emperor can play live and how
they manage to add that to the outstanding intensity inherent to
their music. Emperor's black metal is usually complex and fast; live,
everything seems to somehow flow effortlessly, from the incredibly
precise drumming to the perfectionist guitar playing. Contrary to
some black metal bands I've seen live, virtually every riff and
guitar melody is there, as well as the keyboards. Ihsahn also
performs very competent live vocals. Track listing: "Curse You All
Men!", "Thus Spake the Nightspirit", "I Am the Black Wizards", "An
Elegy of Icaros", "With Strength I Burn", "Sworn", "Night of the
Graveless Souls", "Inno a Satana", "Ye Entrancemperium" and "The Loss
and Curse of Reverence" (video clip). All the tracks are great and
brilliantly performed, but for me "I Am the Black Wizards" and "With
Strength I Burn" stand out. During "With Strength I Burn", the moment
when the song climaxes before collapsing monumentally with the
spine-chilling "hear my call" sequence is underlined with a pause:
the band inserted a few seconds of silence precisely in the middle of
this song's particularly outstanding climax, in an attempt to magnify
even more the huge energy release that follows it with the "hear my
call" line. I personally like the original continuous version better,
but still the intensity they achieve with this pause live is truly
impressive. Having said all this, I can only advise you to purchase
this video tape and witness the stunning live band that Emperor is in
addition to their already outstanding studio skills.
Finntroll - _Midnattens Widunder_ (Spikefarm Records, December 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
For the thirty minutes that this nine-song release played on, I
couldn't help but think of what I was going to write. I mean, the
music found here was a bizarre arrangement of flutes, keyboards,
abstract guitar plucking and a real trollish-like feel. After all,
the label claims in the bio (get this, ehehehehe) that Finntroll do
"trollish metal no one else."; I wonder if Arkanum has been contacted
about this -- he might be pissed. Anyway, the trollish sounds of
Finntroll are rather exciting; a little odd, yes, but for the most
part creative due to their use of folkish instruments and keyboards.
I laugh with each listen of this at what I wrote about in my In
Extremo review [CoC #42]. If In Extremo had been talented and not
drunk on their asses (it sure sounded that way), then the results
could have been somewhat worthy of repeated listens. The music of
Finntroll is definitely worthy of it, though it does come across as
cheesy sometimes. Worthy of a chance, I say. Note: contains members
of Barathrum, Rapture and Moonsorrow.
Fleshgrind - _Destined for Defilement_ (Pavement, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay (9.5 out of 10)
Extremely impressive. Fleshgrind is breaking some severe ground with
_Destined for Defilement_. I can only liken this work of celebrated
eminence to the near unblemished sound of Dying Fetus. We only have
about half an hour playtime on this release, but Fleshgrind uses
-every- minute to the fullest. For sure nothing out of the ordinary,
but Rich Lipscomb's vocals on _DfD_ are, frankly, some of the most
truly honest, gut-twisting and all-around finest vocal strokes since
Chris Barnes on 1991's _Butchered at Birth_ -- particularly "Vomit
the Soul", which was, naturally, accentuated by Glen Benton of
Deicide. All said and done, Rick's vocal prowess is definitely more
guttural, but spectacularly executed on _DfD_. Choppy riffs the way I
like 'em and a fast-paced, feeding-frenzy of staggering guitar riff
after riff -- ominous and formidable, to not belabour the point!
Listen in particular to "Lurid Impurity". Hear the Broken Hope
influences? Hear the awesome bass work on "Rape Culture"? So do I.
Perfect assimilation of outside factors into Fleshgrind's own sound.
"Chamber of Obscurity" holds my personal intense interest. Brutal and
soul-slicing with its inflexible rectitude precision chops. Wicked!
Pick this newest release by Chicago's own. While I -patiently- await
Martyr Music to present yours truly with the much anticipated newest
Broken Hope effort, Fleshgrind -more- than pacify!
Gorbalrog - _Untergang_ (Solistitium, 1999)
by: Alex Cantwell (7 out of 10)
Germany's Gorbalrog is made up of two former members of Veil of
Winter and have recorded three demos prior to their debut full length
_Untergang_. In my opinion, Gorbalrog draw not from the rich thrash
history of their homeland for influence, but instead have looked
northward to Norway. The result is bombastic black metal with only a
touch of thrash influence, keyboards for texture and clean guitar
parts for mood; not far removed from the sound of Mork Gryning. Most
of the songs on _Untergang_ range from six to eight minutes in
length, and in that duration these two gentlemen have a healthy mix
of fast and slow, using the combination of both brutality and beauty
to a good end result; the vocals are equally as varied. Producer
Harris Johns has caught all of this, making this release a well put
together underground treasure that is worth seeking out. All of the
lyrics are in German, and were not included with my promo copy, but
according to their bio, the conceptual background of this release is
based upon "hatred for the existing world and the stupidity and
ignorance of mankind", which tells me that the lyrics are most likely
somewhat intelligent, and although I can relate to what they are
attempting to get across, I could do without the misanthropy, please.
I'm sure that this band will prove to be a wise signing for
Solistitium, as their sound and musical ability, as well as their
creativity in songsmithing, is comparable to many well known bands in
the genre.
Contact: Solistitium, PO Box 1210, 26802, Moormerland, Germany
Limbonic Art - _Ad Noctum - Dynasty of Death_
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10) (Nocturnal Art, October 1999)
Limbonic Art have delivered a third opus (not counting the demo
re-recordings album, _Epitome of Illusions_ [CoC #36]) which is, on
one hand, remarkably intense and especially -fast-, but on the other
hand lacks some of the symphonic brilliance of its predecessors. I'll
have to keep saving their 10 out of 10 for the day when Limbonic Art
manage to blend the extraordinary atmosphere of _Moon in the Scorpio_
[CoC #18], the outstanding keyboard work of both _MitS_ and _In
Abhorrence Dementia_ [CoC #28] and the kind of aggression and
intensity they achieve on _Ad Noctum_. This may come as a surprise to
many, but on _Ad Noctum_ the guitar work is actually predominant and
the keyboards tend to be low in the mix and seldom take the lead.
Limbonic Art are more outstanding keyboard-wise, but they are also
able to create some very good riffs; _Ad Noctum_ is certainly not
keyboard-less or anything either, and the extra guitar sound and
increased drum machine speed give it other interesting
characteristics. Things get especially great during the highly
intense and supersonic "Pits of the Cold Beyond", but sometimes the
guitar work is less remarkable and the relative lack of keyboards
becomes much more noticeable. Still, this is another excellent record
from Limbonic Art; maybe next time they will achieve the blend I
mentioned before.
Necrophagia - _Black Blood Vomitorium_ (Red Stream, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay (10 out of 10)
MORE, DAMNIT -- MORE! I can't be at all happy with this 15 minute MCD
bullshit! The problem with getting a little of exactly what you like
is you inherently -need- more! I use the word "need" because these
four tracks fashioning Necrophagia's brand-spanking new venture
snakes itself through your psyche like some childhood trauma. More of
a full sound than on _Holocausto de la Morte_ [CoC #38], but an
extravagantly forceful progression at the same time. Favorite track,
you ask? Well, if I have to tell, "It Lives in the Woods" is
-supreme-! Almost like -nothing- you've ever heard before...
Necrophagia is the hollowed-out communication with living carnage
through music. They have yet to disappoint and _Black Blood
Vomitorium_ attests to the fact that they reign majestic upon the
hallucinatory death/black metal throne of gore!
Night Conquers Day - _Rebellion Is the Art of Survival_
By: Adrian Bromley (7.5 out of 10) (Hammerheart, December 1999)
If you think you have enough metal know-how to stomach a blackened
thrash 'n' doom version of King Diamond, then listen up. If you can't
stomach it, go put on any of the King's numerous solo outings. So
what the hell has New York State-based metal ensemble Night Conquers
Day been toying with here? I am not so sure, but as some of us are
aware, it is sometimes hard to explain just how things work out. They
just do. While the total Kind Diamond-style vocals surface throughout
this record, it's the black metal snarls and stirring guitar work
that keeps this project in focus. Basking in a stellar array of song
structure, NCD aim to please us with _RItAoS_ even if their music has
a few bleak moments. Choice cuts? Title track and "Mirror Gazing".
Some black metal fans might find this a bit too much (I mean corpse
paint is bad enough to digest!?) but some may find some salvation in
the unique experiences that seem to have some form of a grip on NCD's
work.
Contact: Night Conquers Day, 34 Peck Road, Hilton, NY 14468, USA
mailto:mikael@frontiernet.net
Pitboss 2000 - _Everyone's a Winner_
by: Adrian Bromley (2 out of 10) (I Scream Records, December 1999)
I don't know about you people, but I am just getting real tired of
coming in contact with music (be it metal, hardcore, or ambient) that
just seems to be assembled for the sheer pleasure of trying to raise
an eyebrow or garner attention. Pitboss 2000 is the perfect example
of this. These hardcore fuckos just seem to stroll into each song
with a huge chip on their shoulders, ripping on anyone who holds a
grudge against them and making notion that they are as badass as
badass can be. Let me tell you something, PB 2000: S.O.D. did it
better thirteen years ago and continue to do it better (having seen
them a few weeks ago live) than you and your hardcore pose could ever
do. Go back to your parents' basement and watch some Jerry Springer.
I'm tired of your music and your attitude. I'm sure almost anyone who
hears your disc will agree with me. It is true what they say: every
profession has its share of assholes.
Primordial - _The Burning Season_ (Hammerheart, November 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)
While _A Journey's End_ [CoC #33] was one of 1998's finest and most
surprising releases for me, 1999 comes to an end without the release
of a new full-length from Primordial, which is a shame. But with the
band now signed to Hammerheart after the end of Misanthropy Records,
_The Burning Season_ is an MCD intended to fill the gap between _A
Journey's End_ and the next Primordial full-length. It contains two
new songs and two re-recordings. "The Calling", which is basically an
excellent long kind of intro, and "The Burning Season" are the
novelties. The title track, which is therefore the main highlight as
far as new material is concerned, is what might be called expectable
(in a good way) after _A Journey's End_: not very different, but
still excellent. The progressive blackening of Alan's voice towards
the end of the song is especially remarkable. "Among the Lazarae" is
a seven year old song from their _Dark Romanticism_ demo tape, but
this re-recording turned out to be a highly enjoyable track for me as
well. (Not knowing the original, I cannot compare the two versions.)
Very slow and doomy start, followed by a spoken section, and then out
of nowhere comes a blackened fast part with matching vocal delivery
and great, subtle guitar melody. It then becomes slower again and
eventually ends with another spoken part. Finally, closing track "Let
the Sun Set on Life Forever" (quite an evocative song title as well)
is a re-recording from their debut _Imrama_ [CoC #8]. Another slow
and doomy start leading to a highly effective blackened attack which
then slows down again, but despite the similar description the song
is quite different from "Among the Lazarae". Personally, I find this
new version of "Let the Sun Set on Life Forever" superior to the
original one from _Imrama_, and it's not simply a direct re-recording
just to get a different production on the same song. Primordial have
again achieved a superb blend of dark emotion, atmosphere and music
with this half-hour long MCD, which wasn't easy considering it
includes two re-recordings. I can hardly wait for their next
full-length.
Rakoth - _Planeshift_ (Code666, December 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8 out of 10)
As this release comes from a new Italian label and an unknown Russian
band, it will probably end up being overlooked by many, but unfairly
so: _Planeshift_ has enough quality to deserve attention. The style
that Rakoth play can be described as something like dark fantasy
metal, if that makes any sense. They basically play a kind of
blackened metal with plenty of (not necessarily very dark) melody and
clean vocals upon fantasy-related lyrics -- they generally avoid the
"happy" sounds of Bal-Sagoth, though. Rakoth use a drum machine for
some basic but generally effective rhythm, as well as flute and
acoustic guitar, while the keyboards are especially well handled. The
only song that doesn't quite fit the description above is the doomier
"The Unquiet Grave", which turns out to be my favourite track. The
rest of the songs are all quite good as well, however, and overall
this is a consistent album: the dynamic songwriting guides the
listener through plenty of interesting sections and fine melodies
throughout the album. The fact that you will find black-like fast
sections as well as very melodic ones and plenty others in between
guarantees considerable variety, which the band generally uses to
their advantage. While many records out there are rather pretentious
and lack contents, _Planeshift_ seems quite modest, but has plenty of
quality and creativity inside -- which is what really counts.
Contact: Code666, c/o Emiliano Lanzoni, Via Billi 2,
40026 Imola (BO), Italy
mailto:code666@imola.queen.it
http://www.code666.cjb.net
Rapture - _Futile_ (Spikefarm, December 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
As if the work of Katatonia and Opeth -- the two marvellous poets of
emotionally sombre metal music currently winning over critics and
fans worldwide -- wasn't enough, we now are forced to fall victim to
the passion-filled numbers of Finnish act Rapture. A little more
aggressive than the two aforementioned acts, but equally as diverse
and as tremendously talented, Rapture do their best on their debut
eight-song release. The rough snarls of singer Petri Eskelinen are
among the strongest elements here, coating the symphonic and harmonic
numbers with a venomous attack. Listeners will no doubt get drawn
into the gripping work found on "This Is Where I Am" or "Someone I
(Don't) Know". Intended for those who like their music with ample
amounts of passion, but still metal sounding. A strong debut.
Rebaelliun - _Burn the Promised Land_ (Hammerheart, December 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10)
Opening with a hail of gunfire, Rebaelliun sets the tone of this
record with the shit-kicking death metal scowl calling itself "At
War". This is a crushing war machine of death metal and any metal
music lover that should not go along with the marching orders shall
be crushed. While the Brazilian quartet showcase their Morbid Angel /
Slayer influences proudly, it is quite obvious through their sheer
dedication and lots of blood and sweat (tears are for pussies!),
these crazy fuckers have managed to proudly showcase an appealing
death metal release. From opener "At War" to "Killing for the Domain"
and the title track, Rebaelliun mean business. May God have mercy on
the souls who cross their path. On with the battle!
Runemagick - _Enter the Realm of Death_ (Century Media, 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (5 out of 10)
If there is any artist who has masterminded and/or played on as many
releases as Niklas "Terror" Rudolfson has in such a short a period of
time in metal history, I want to know who it is. However, if their
outputs are as overlong and thin on the ground in terms of quality, I
really wonder whether I want to -hear- who it is. God damn it, this
guy plays on two albums reviewed this -month-! What is then perhaps
surprising about _EtRoD_ is that it is not wholly bad. It is
seriously overlong, clocking in at a whopping 54 minutes, and doesn't
warrant this exceptional playing time, but the riffs have a bit of
kick and their backing in parts by subtle keyboards -- in a _The
Fourth Dimension_-reminiscent Hypocrisy style -- puts them a good
distance above the pathetic retro-ramblings of Rudolfson's Deathwitch
project. If you really dig this guy's stuff, then I guess this one is
for you, as it has most of his trademarks, swaying on the simple side
of his tendencies in a similar though superior fashion to Deathwitch.
However, for the section of the human race who realise that this has
all been done before in at least a -slightly- better -- if not -much-
better -- format, give _EtRoD_ a miss; it really isn't worth your
time.
Scheitan - _Nemesis_ (Century Media, September 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (5 out of 10)
Combining a gothic feel, rasping black metal vocals and, in the
guitar department, a vague death-rock leaning has never in my
experience produced a record worthy of my sustained attention.
Scheitan's latest is no exception. Sentenced have an exuberance and
pure metal punch accompanying their gothicisms; Amorphis, My Dying
Bride or Anathema have mysterious, almost chilling atmospheres.
Scheitan, on the other hand, occupy an ill-furnished half-way house
with no charm or character worth calling their own. They never get
heavy, intense or fast enough, and they never go slow, heady or
melodic enough to pull the strings of one's emotions as a record of
this kind must to be worth taking time over. "Emergency" and "Forgive
Me" respectively go some way towards trying to attain these powerful
extremes, but Scheitan's best, if this is it, is by no means good
enough to even hold my attention for 34 minutes, let alone compete
with the more experienced and accomplished names in the business.
Sodom - _Code Red_ (Drakkar Records, 1999)
by: Matthias Noll (6 out of 10)
The years go by and Tom Angelripper still keeps going. He might not
have many other choices than that and unfortunately that's a bit how
this records sounds. I read a couple of posts on the net where people
were praising _Code Red_ as one of the thrash records of 1999. Thrash
metal it is, definitely, but if you are looking for anything which
has not been done at least 30 times before you won't find it here.
This might not surprise anyone, because Sodom, while still benefiting
from their legendary status, never really have been an innovative
band. Logically, what you get is the usual mix of the obvious mid and
fast paced slabs of simple thrash metal together with Sodom's biggest
trademark, Angelripper's unique gruff vocals with the broad German
accent. Fortunately, there are also some positive things about this
record. First of all, the sound is decent. More important than that,
the material is among the fastest and heaviest Sodom have ever
written and some of the songs do indeed sound confident and
enthusiastic, a fact which partially neutralizes the outdated nature
of their style and song structures. On the other hand, judging this
record in the context of 1999, a year that spawned albums like
_Conquering the Throne_ by Hate Eternal [CoC #43] or _The Inexorable_
by Angel Corpse [CoC #44] (and these didn't even receive 9 or 10
ratings), I'm not impressed at all. I have been thinking for quite a
long time about how many points this release deserves. It's quite
possible that I have bought too many great death and thrash metal CDs
in the last couple of months so that it's just the wrong moment in
time for _Code Red_ to "click", but today I don't want to give it
more than 6 out of 10. In case you have been a Sodom supporter for
years or an old school thrash lunatic, then go ahead and turn the 6
upside down. If you need further proof that all reviews are of a very
subjective nature, my CoC metal brother Aaron wants me to tell you
that he thinks _Code Red_ is "pretty fucking spectacular".
Sonata Arctica - _Ecliptica_ (Spinefarm Records, 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)
First off, a little too "happy and all smiles" for me, folks. I like
metal music with some melody and good cheer, but straight off the bat
Sonata Arctica's keyboard-driven melodic power metal comes off
sounding like a crazed mental patient all souped up on lithium. Tone
it down, boys, geesh! What can be said about this Finnish four-piece?
Well, these guys have no doubt done their homework, as the band's
work and production are top notch. Crystal clear keyboards radiate
throughout the release as singer Tony Kakko belts out each number
with sincerity. And the guitar work? To die for. Seriously. Killer
guitar riffs are all over this release. Check out "8th Commandment"
-- you'll be blown away. I have to say this is one of the strongest
power metal records I have heard in a while. Fans of Stratovarious,
Rhapsody and even HammerFall will already have knowledge of this
band. If you don't, then you should scope this out, because here
comes another band you can play air-guitar to.
Sun of the Sleepless - _Poems to the Wretches' Hearts_
by: Pedro Azevedo (10 out of 10) (Prophecy Productions, 1999)
Having become simply enthralled by the Sun of the Sleepless track on
Prophecy Productions' _To Magic..._ compilation [also reviewed in
this issue] the very first time I listened to it, I just -had- to
seek this MCD of theirs. Sun of the Sleepless is Schwadorf's
(Empyrium) black metal solo project and _Poems to the Wretches'
Hearts_ is the very adequately titled debut MCD. It did not
disappoint me. Prophecy's description of the music contained herein
is very accurate when they use the expression "grimme, yet dirgelike
black metal". No fancy production here; cold and harsh, but still
very intense instead of simply dirty. Superb sad guitar melodies and
riffs in (generally fast) black metal format, with excellent
anguished vox and very good lyrics as well. The grim, emotional,
heartfelt music on this MCD captures most of the feelings and sounds
I seek in black metal, especially with opener "Thou, Whose Face Hath
Felt the Winter's Wind", which reminded me of a better produced
"Transylvanian Hunger" (Darkthrone). The track that I had initially
heard in the Prophecy compilation was the brilliant remix of this
already superb song that opens the MCD, a remix which will be part of
a forthcoming SotS 7" EP. The two other tracks on _Poems to the
Wretches' Hearts_, "Grimme Pain" and the slightly more Empyrium-like
"Nebelmond", are both equally superb. This MCD is only 15 minutes
long, but in my opinion virtually every minute of it is worth a 10
out of 10 -- if you can truly -feel- the music and essence of Sun of
the Sleepless, that is; otherwise, you're unlikely to find anything
really special here. I know I will be repeatedly listening to _Poems
to the Wretches' Hearts_ many times while hoping for a SotS
full-length of similar ilk to be released.
Contact: http://sots.black.art.pl
Swordmaster - _Moribund Transgoria_ (Osmose, October 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (7.5 out of 10)
Swordmaster have improved their production, playing and songwriting
since last I heard from them on 1997's _Postmortem Tales_. This time
out the vocals are less restrained, having not been pushed
unceremoniously behind a wall of distortion and all-too-regular
percussion. Additionally, _Moribund Transgoria_'s melodic flirtations
are far more convincing and with the production's clarity these
sections help to make _Moribund Transgoria_ a far more dynamic record
than its predecessor. However, there is still a residual lack of
originality in most of my favourite bits (the melodic Dissection lead
on "Sulphur Skelethrones" is a particular anti-highlight in this
sense) and in any case Swordmaster still display an overall lack of
brilliance in terms of songwriting. They do their
post-thrash/death/black thing very competently and with significantly
more style than most, but there are other acts doing very similar
things, and doing them at least a little better. On the other hand,
it's the best release featuring Niklas "Terror" Rudolfson which I
have yet heard.
T666 - _Troops of Satan_ (T666 Death Metal Co., December 1999)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)
With only three songs to get their message across loud and clear,
T666 do just that. All three songs ("Comrades in Slaughter," "Execute
All Christians" and "Smash the Cross") are executed with a truly
sincere sinister, rampaging sense of madness. Blistering guitar riffs
and totally Armageddon-like blast beats help spur on this total
Christian-hating quartet. As the band crushes through ten minutes of
metal mayhem, the anger within becomes so real and the music is a
massive force to be reckoned with. Looking forward to more
expeditions by these boys from "Down Under" in their crusade against
all things Christian. Burn the cross, throw the disc on and as Paul
Hogan (aka "Crocodile" Dundee) once said, "throw a shrimp on the
barbie". This fucker smokes!
Contact: http://www.t666.com
Tankard - _Disco Destroyer_ (Century Media, 1999)
by: Matthias Noll (3 out of 10)
Oh my god, what happened to German thrash metal? It seems it died
long ago. Tankard, from my hometown Frankfurt, have been one of the
most unique bands in the German scene. They were the band with the
least obvious US influences and the silliest image (alcoholic metal),
and they were also one of the best and most energetic German live
bands in the mid eighties. Personally, I still love their first two
records and maybe that's the reason why _Disco Destroyer_ is not my
piece of cake. I still remember them as a thrashing, fast, heavy,
entertaining and enthusiastic band, but not a single one of these
attributes relates to _Disco Destroyer_. This record plods along
aimlessly and is not even heavy. One reason is the powerless
production from Harris Johns, who, like Tankard, seems to have left
his best days long behind. A band with such simple songs needs at
least a considerable amount of heaviness. The second reason is the
songwriting. Tankard always suffered a bit from their limited style
and -- like Sodom, for example -- have never been a technical band.
Unlike others, they have not chosen to go into the more extreme
direction, but on a couple of songs add more melody to their
choruses. Melody itself is not a bad thing, but it should be good and
not some third rate fun punk singalong crap. Even if my heart bleeds,
I have to say that this record is shit and the only reason why I give
them three points is for the inclusion of the demo classic "Death by
Whips" and the song "Queen of Hearts". Sorry, guys, but I think it's
time to end the fight for pure beer.
The Chasm - _Procession to the Infraworld_ (Dwell, April 2000)
by: Paul Schwarz (9 out of 10)
I knew they could do it, and they have. _PttI_ fulfils the seeds of
expectation sown by The Chasm's recent demo [CoC #43] and 1998's
_Deathcult for Eternity: The Triumph_ album [CoC #40]. It is an
improvement musically on the latter, and has been tweaked perfectly
to assure a far superior production to the former, a production which
brings out all of The Chasm's various aspects in powerful balanced
harmony. What makes The Chasm special in this age of Gothenburg
over-melody and American anti-melodic stalwartism is their talent for
creating death metal of the brutal variety which doesn't forsake
melody and, most importantly, retains the dark atmospheres so
important to the genius of great death metal works, from Autopsy to
early Entombed. Opening with the gathering storm of an introduction,
"The Spectral Sons of the Mictlan", _PttI_ runs through a number of
good tracks before coming to its crowning achievement, "Return of the
Banished". This track is a perfect example of all of The Chasm's
strengths interacting dynamically to form a crushing and moving whole
of a song. The Chasm are one of the few bands able to thrash the
listener mercilessly and darkly while not forsaking melody. Their
occasional bouts of Dismember-like (think "Dreaming in Red"
particularly) solos with melodiously dark atmospheric power and their
use of subtle acoustics, minor scales and Daniel Corchado's (he of
Incantation's _Diabolical Conquest_) despair-ridden vocals all add up
to a crushing and haunting piece of modern death metal, and a great
record to start the new year, century and millennium.
Various - _To Magic..._ (Prophecy Productions, 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8 out of 10)
As far as compilations go, Prophecy Productions have put together a
highly interesting release which shows that their roster is growing
rapidly and incorporating plenty of quality. The compilation is
organized in such a way that the even-numbered songs are generally
acoustic, with only one exception (track eight, which ended up being
my favourite). Plenty of variety here, but mostly kept within an
unifying spirit. The first three bands on the compilation are
probably the most well-known: In the Woods..., Empyrium and
Bethlehem. ItW, who recently signed to Prophecy after the demise of
Misanthropy Records, are represented with "Karmakosmik" from their
new _Epitaph_ 7" EP (the third and last of their 7" EP series). This
doesn't really subtract much from the interest of the EP, which is
mainly intended for collectors anyway, and does increase the
interest of the compilation. It's a long, emotional and melancholic
song, and somehow pretty much what I expected to find here from ItW.
Apparently this fine track was recorded in the _Omnio_ [CoC #25] era.
Empyrium are perhaps the band that ended up more poorly represented,
as the chosen track was taken from their acoustic album _Where at
Night the Wood Grouse Plays_ [CoC #42]. A good song, but hardly a
great example of Empyrium's music; so why not a normal track from
_Songs of Moors & Misty Fields_ [CoC #30]? That would have been far
more representative of their music. Next is Bethlehem, another new
band on Prophecy's roster, but their new material sounds very
mediocre to me. Vastly different from the music found on past
releases, "Von Bittersuessem Suizid" features clean singing, some
easy guitar and vocal lines and generally makes me think of goth
rock. Get the picture? Clearly the worst track here, and also the
most disappointing one if this really is their new style (which
apparently is the case). Tenhi follow with their dark folk: acoustic
guitars, clean male vocals, percussion and what appears to be a
distant background keyboard. Quite good, but somewhat repetitive.
Blazing Eternity increase the interest level again, though.
Reminiscent of _Brave Murder Day_-era Katatonia, but able to mix
those influences with other elements, their contribution promises a
very interesting full-length if they can keep up the quality level.
Next is possibly the strangest band on the compilation: Coven. Often
fast and mostly repetitive acoustic guitar in the background, some
percussion and -intense- vocals. The man speaks, sings, screams,
weeps... the image left on my mind is of someone locked up in a room,
inside an asylum, with a wintry landscape on the window, feverishly
walking around, talking to himself, surrounded by ghosts who are
taking away the remains of his sanity. Autumnblaze take us back to
metal, more specifically melodic doom, not too far from Paragon of
Beauty (another Prophecy band). Both harsh and doomy clean vocals,
good sad melodies and attempts at variety; their album may well be
interesting. What comes next is the gem of this compilation: Sun of
the Sleepless. This -really- impressed me -- so much that I
immediately sought their _Poems to the Wretches' Hearts_ MCD [also
reviewed in this issue]. This particular song is a remix of the
opening track from that MCD, and it is quite simply the first remix
ever to blow me away. This is a sad, melancholic black metal dirge of
the highest quality. Schwadorf masterfully transformed the original
fast track into a -much- slower and atmospheric song, literally
dripping with black sadness, alternating between deeply melancholic
passages and slow, painful, dirgeful, yet harsh black sections. Only
lyrics and the essence of certain passages remain from the original.
This specific track is not part of the aforementioned MCD, however;
instead, it will be featured in a forthcoming 7" EP. Well,
practically any track after this one would be rather hopeless, but
the Drawn song is actually rather poor by itself, despite
contribution of Jan Svithjod, the In the Woods... vocalist. Very
standard, unremarkable metal until halfway through the song, which
then tries to sound like ItW. Inconsistent and uninteresting. Next,
Naervaer, who are rather hard to label, but with acoustics (including
what appears to be a cello) and both male and female vocals, they
create an excellent emotional dark atmosphere. Both vocalists tend to
remind me of In the Woods..., and the atmosphere isn't very far from
ItW, either; very good. Nox Mortis play very decent, though not
especially innovative or remarkable, doom/death. Gods Tower follow
with a track that sounds more like an intro than anything else.
Finally, Paragon of Beauty end this fine compilation with "To My
Unfading Sorrow", taken from their forthcoming MCD. A very good song,
actually doomier than their previous material; melodic, sorrowful and
overall more interesting than before. _To Magic..._ therefore
contains plenty of quality material, half a dozen really good songs,
a couple of tracks from 7" EPs, some unreleased material and quite a
few tracks from new or unknown bands. As usual with compilations, _To
Magic..._ also contains some weaker tracks, which prevents a higher
rating, but it will apparently be available for quite a low price,
making it even more interesting.
Contact: Prophecy Productions, Kurfuerstenstrasse 5,
54492 Zeltingen-Rachtig, Deutschland
mailto:info@prophecyproductions.de
http://www.prophecyproductions.de
Tristania - _Beyond the Veil_ (Napalm Records, October 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)
Tristania's debut full-length _Widow's Weeds_ [CoC #30] impressed me
with its mix of fine melodies and bombastic passages, and it is
through the talented blending of those two fundamental elements that
their second full-length effort, _Beyond the Veil_, keeps up their
quality level. A very varied record, _BtV_ frequently alternates
between angelic choirs and thundering death vox, charming violins and
aggressive guitars, and in general soft passages and stronger ones.
Tristania were able to do this again without really repeating the
formula of their debut too much, as the music itself includes plenty
of new elements and details. This doesn't make _BtV_ a necessarily
superior album to its somewhat simpler, but equally effective,
predecessor; just different, even though the similarities are
obvious, and fortunately Tristania did -not- soften up on this one.
The variety of vocal styles used serves to illustrate the album's own
variety: female vox, male and female choirs, death and blackened
vocals, clean male singing... The guest male singer who performs
clean vocals on a few tracks has a bit of a gothic tinge, but
actually does a decent job and avoids sounding excessively misplaced
within Tristania's metallic symphonies. The female vocals remain
superb and the male vox highly effective; the keyboard work is also
very good and the occasional violin touches are very welcome. The
production is excellent. Main highlights for me: "Aphelion", "Angina"
and "Heretique". Overall, _BtV_'s qualities may eventually take a
while longer to fully appreciate than _WW_'s (at least that's what
happened in my case), but _BtV_ is definitely a quality follow-up
from this talented band who does have a remarkable grasp of this
musical genre.
True to Form - _New Generation of Aggression_
by: Adrian Bromley (6 out of 10) (<Independent>, December 1999)
While there seems to be a lot of really good ideas flowing within
this seven-song release and the aggression is there, the music of
True to Form just seems to end up surfacing as an amalgamation of
many music styles commonly found within '90s metal music. Mesh
together the ways of Sepultura, Prong, Stuck Mojo, Korn and Skinlab,
for example, and I guarantee you'll find some resemblance here within
this act's offering. It's not bad to show respect and be influenced,
but this whole music business is set upon making a name for yourself
rather than going along with certain sounds or styles. I'm sure they
have a solid live show, as their song "What Is the Way" must destroy
live, but on disc it all starts to go in one ear and out the other
with repeated listens. Maybe things will change down the road --
maybe not.
Contact: http://www.truetoform.com
Unida - _Coping With the Urban Coyote_ (Man's Ruin, 1999)
by: Matthias Noll (9 out of 10)
John Garcia is back again. For those of you not familiar with the
man: John Garcia is the singer of disbanded stoner rock / desert
metal kings Kyuss, who, after a short intermezzo with the band
Slo-Burn, now has reappeared. Given the closeness of Slo-Burn's
single output to Kyuss, the main question here seems to be: are Unida
just a Kyuss revival band or do they have something different to
offer? Sound-wise, _Coping With the Urban Coyote_ does of course use
ingredients similar to Kyuss: a bass laden, heavily distorted wall of
guitar and bass in the slow to uptempo range. The first thing to
notice is that the production work is amazing. Heavy but crisper and
with a better definition of each instrument than on any other
Garcia-related output. Besides this improvement, a difference
fortunately also shows in the songwriting. Though two out of the
eight songs, the straight uptempo tracks "Black Woman" and "Dwarf
It", could have been among the best on Kyuss' _Welcome to Sky
Valley_, in general Unida are far less trippy and psychedelic than
Kyuss. They are straighter, more rock 'n' roll and blues based and
catchier. Garcia himself shows his best work to date on this record.
He sounds clearer and more powerful than ever, he's not buried in the
mix like on _And the Circus Leaves Town_ and is obviously attempting
to go for his limits in style and range. It's simply amazing how his
voice twists and turns around the melody lines, like a Spitfire in
the Battle of Britain, and I admire his unique ability to offer
something different each time he does a chorus or repeats parts of
the lyrics. To sum it up: this record is on par with Kyuss' best
efforts and highly recommended to all stoner rock fans.
Vassago - _Knights From Hell_ (No Fashion Records, November 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (6 out of 10)
Though they're "ready to fight the world" (and ripping off Manowar is
no way to get ahead in my view) and may not "deal with any romantic
bullshit", Vassago have certainly not produced the "fastest, rawest
metal album so far". Bold claims generally ride on the back of rather
inadequate musical achievements, and Vassago prove the rule, rather
than provide an exception to it. They are better than War and that
-is- something to be thankful for, but let's face it, that is also
not a difficult achievement. Arming themselves heavily with a barrage
of basic and traditional death metal riffs and screeching
Satanic-centred war cries in stereotyped black metal tradition,
Vassago proceed to pound out thirty odd minutes of furious metal
closely akin to Deathwitch and their regressively minded peers. It's
intense and even impressively so at very brief points, but what
little I get out of Vassago I can get out of Possessed or Slayer,
multiplied by tenfold, in half the time, and with some captivating
atmosphere thrown in free of charge. If you're still looking for
balls-out metal based solidly around the effects of speed and good
drum production (and let's face it, with releases of the quality of
Angel Corpse's _The Inexorable_ [CoC #44] and Hate Eternal's
_Conquering the Throne_ [CoC #43] emerging in this year alone, you
shouldn't be), you may want to check out Vassago; if not, I'd suggest
keeping your distance.
Vision of Disorder - _For the Bleeders_ (Go Kart, November 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (8.5 out of 10)
Despite being short, at barely half an hour, and ninety percent
re-recorded demo tracks, _For the Bleeders_ is still a great little
release, especially if you're a salivating VoD fan who just can't
hold on until they release a new album to get your satisfaction. As
usual, the band rage, groove and ultimately rock with a degree of
style denied to most bands. Melody and emotions other than pure rage
punctuate the vocal barrages of Tim Williams, while Baumbach and
Kennedy's guitars cut with near-chainsaw fury. Definitely one for
fans, certainly obsessed but also less dedicated, and a kick-ass
release of its own right.
Vital Remains - _Dawn of the Apocalypse_ (Osmose, 1999)
by: Aaron McKay (10 out of 10)
No question about it! One of the -finest- releases of this year, and
quite possibly of the last decade. Vital Remains has perfected a
sound all their own, as I hear it, emphasizing and molding only the
finest points from Malevolent Creation, Morbid Angel, Vader, and
Incantation, and even a smidgen of Sinister, I do believe. Citing
these groups can only provide you with a ball-park idea of what VR
has set forth on this completely and utterly paralyzing effort. _Dawn
of the Apocalypse_ has something for everyone, as I think Joe Lewis
communicated so very well in our interview in CoC #44. As powerful as
_DotA_ is, I could not help but listen in awe at the total supreme
beauty the album yielded forth. As I write this review, my only
concern is that I may fail in conveying the refinement-laden
inhumanity set forth on this newest Vital Remains effort. To be
honest, I wouldn't hesitate to issue an eleven out of ten in its
favor for many reasons, not the least of which is their original
emotion invoking passages forced together with completely blinding
ferocity like the unstoppable force meeting the unmovable object.
Allow me to tell you this: for the most part, title tracks do little
to peak my interest, but VR put theirs as track three and words fail
me; I can't say enough about this song. Perfect in every regard!
Also, let the uncompromisingly heavy riffs of "Sanctity in
Blasphemous Ruin" devastate your existence. All told, this
nine-track, near hour incursion is, as I see it, an absolute -must-
for any fan of _Forever Underground_ [CoC #20]. This release is sure
to impress. Now the only trick will be to see how my boys in Vital
Remains attempt to out-do this release -next time- around.
Vomit Remnants - _Supreme Entity_ (Macabre Mementos, June 1999)
By: Paul Schwarz (7 out of 10)
It seems that there are some outside North America who realised what
a truly crushing force Dying Fetus are. Though not embarrassing
themselves by wholly ripping off the kings of crushing-but-catchy
death metal devastation, Vomit Remnants have pretty much grounded
their entire musical identity as entirely on the aforementioned as is
humanly possible. This is not a wholly bad thing as not only does
_Supreme Entity_ do a meagre few things which Vomit Remnants might
call their own, but the other 90% of the time they play their little
Dying Fetus-infatuated hearts out, showcasing technical precision and
a tight, crushingly efficient production along the way. "Original" is
certainly not a word applicable to this release, but "listenable" is,
and if there is any more satiating way to wait for a new Dying Fetus
record, I'm waiting to hear it. Additionally, with this harsh little
beast as a starting point, Vomit Remnants could conceivably head off
in their own direction in the future. For now, they've given us
nothing new, but something more than worth its twenty-eight minute
playing time.
Contact: Keisuke Tsuboi, 4-7-26#201 Izumi-Cho, Hoya-City,
Tokyo 202-0011, Japan
Macabre Mementos, c/o Tadishi Minemoto,
2-15-23 Mikageyamate, Higashinagada-ku,
Kobe Hyogo 658-0065, Japan
mailto:death@bc.mbn.or.jp
Willow Wisp - _Delusion of Grandeur:(A Gathering of Heretics)_
by: Aaron McKay (7.5 out of 10) (Full Moon Productions, 1999)
For starters, a rather unusual choice for Full Moon to go with here,
but not uncharacteristic for the label by any means. We have in
Willow Wisp's release _Delusion of Grandeur:(A Gathering of
Heretics)_ the Satanic (or at least a strong agnostic disposition)
prerequisite most definitely present. What constitutes the singular
significant preoccupation in Willow Wisp's music is their
symphonizing of so very many angles of metal into what they call
their own. I'm not saying this has never been done before, but WW
certainly provides their own flavor to the musical soup. At times, I
hear the serpentine vocals associated with Epoch of Unlight; other
times I might swear that I was listening to an old Bauhaus or Cure
record. The opening of track seven, "Copulation in thy Paranormal
Forest", is truly one to hold up to comparison to Dimmu Borgir or
Cradle of Filth. Willow Wisp's song titles are also a relatively
large selling point for me as well. For instance, "Cruel, Despicable,
Non-Caring Breed" and "Time: A Journey to Failure". Nothing
particularly insightful in these titles, but they -do- communicate
the dark direction of the band. More than sixty-seven minutes of
music on twelve tracks are offered to the listener on _Delusion of
Grandeur:(A Gathering of Heretics)_. If you are close-minded, you
might be better advised to avoid this, but for the rest of us, Willow
Wisp opens a rather nice diversion into some aspects of metal not yet
exploited.
Wolverine - _Fervent Dream_ (Zizania, December 1999)
by: Pedro Azevedo (7 out of 10)
While progmetal was never one of my favourite genres, Wolverine's
approach to that style certainly ended up becoming quite enjoyable
for me. Mixing somewhat Amorphis-like clean vocals and death grunts
isn't what I expect from a progmetal band, but it works very well for
Wolverine. The clean singing is varied, but not harmful to the music,
with the partial exception of some of "Echoes". Instrumentally, the
band is both skilled and creative, and -- despite the occasional
somewhat excessive guitar solo -- keeps the songs flowing quite well
during their average seven minute length. The production is very good
as well, and the MCD totals over 30 minutes. The Heden String Quartet
also participates in this MCD, but their presence is overall rather
brief; an increased participation from them seems advisable for the
band's upcoming full-length album (which can be expected in October
2000, according to them). This is a rather interesting appetiser.
Contact: Rene Janssen, Vergelt 5a, 5991 PJ Baarlo, The Netherlands
Fax: +31 77 4778310
mailto:wolverine@dprp.vuurwerk.nl
http://www.dprp.vuurwerk.nl/bands/wolverine/
(Price: $7,50 / f15 / DM15, including P&P)
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If you have a band, don't forget to send us your demo, including a
bio, if you want to be reviewed. We accept demos either on
traditional media or MP3 format. Email us at
<mailto:Demos@ChroniclesOfChaos.com> to know which is the most
appropriate postal address for you to send your CD or tape, or to
indicate the location of a website from which we can download the MP3
files of your entire demo (DO NOT send any files attached to your
email).
Scoring: ***** -- A flawless demo
**** -- Great piece of work
*** -- Good effort
** -- A major overhaul is in order
* -- A career change is advisable
Cranial Torment - _Death Is Rising_ (4-song demo)
by: Adrian Bromley (***--)
Ahhh -- the lovely sounds of brutal, gargle-like death metal, chock
full of bashing drums and down-tuned guitars. Greek outfit Cranial
Torment give it all on this totally crushing state of death metal.
The vocals are so damn heavy that they just take the music deeper
into the bowels of Hell. It's sick 'n' brutal if you ask me, but
still fans who crave metal music outside of this genre might
appreciate where these guys are coming from. I think Cranial Torment
have a strong sound, it's just that I can see some death metal fans
saying that Cannibal Corpse do it better. It's tough to get by when
you're starting out, but these Greek metalheads have a good start
under their demonic wings. My favorite track: "Thoughts of a
Graverobber".
Contact: Cranial Torment, c/o Bill Benakis,
32 Paradison St. Peristeri, 121 36 Athens, Greece
Enchanted Silence - _Anthropobhobia_ (4-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo (***--)
This Norwegian/Finnish band plays some decent keyboard-laden
doom/death; their main problem seems to be that the quality of the
clean vocals is rather unstable. Sometimes they are kept at an
acceptable level, some other times (especially during "The Colorist")
they degenerate into rather mediocre and very misplaced goth-like
vocals. I don't mean that the band should necessarily get rid of the
clean vocals, though that might be a solution, but at the very least
they need to make a much better selection of what to use and what to
leave out and improve the overall quality of the clean vox. Apart
from that, good production and playing and reasonable songwriting;
some passages indicate that the band may have an interesting future
if they can make the right choices.
Contact: mailto:enchanted.silence@as.online.no
http://welcome.to/enchanted.silence
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\ \ \/_/_ / __`\ /' _ `\ /'___\ /'__`\/\`'__\ \ \/ /',__\
\ \ \L\ \/\ \L\ \/\ \/\ \/\ \__//\ __/\ \ \/ \ \ \_/\__, `\
\ \____/\ \____/\ \_\ \_\ \____\ \____\\ \_\ \ \__\/\____/
\/___/ \/___/ \/_/\/_/\/____/\/____/ \/_/ \/__/\/___/
TWO CORPSES, ONE GOD AND NO FLESH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cannibal Corpse, Marduk, Angel Corpse, Aeternus and Defleshed
at the Hafenbahn, Offenbach, Germany
November 6, 1999
by: Matthias Noll
Call me dumbass. Once again I missed the first band of a killer
package, this time Darkane, and so the show did start with Defleshed.
I think their new record, _Fast Forward_ [reviewed in this issue], is
fantastic, but the impression I got from their gig was that they are
one of those bands that shouldn't leave the studio or the basement
where they probably practice. Their singer / bass player fucked up
the first three songs in a row with constant timing problems and
throughout the whole set the band acted very static and seemed to be
painfully under-rehearsed. Although I have nothing positive to say
about their live performance, I highly recommend their new album.
Aeternus also failed to deliver anything better than average.
Partially, it might not have been their fault, because the sound was
so bass laden that it was impossible to hear much besides the
constant double bass drumming and snippets from Ares' vocals. What
was audible sounded OK, but that was it.
From make up time to killing time: Angel Corpse were simply
phenomenal and only after this show I was able to really appreciate
their new record _The Inexorable_ [CoC #44]. Not only does the band
look dangerous, they mutate to manic beasts on stage and their
_Altars of Madness_ on adrenaline style completely blew me and the
majority of the audience away. Unlike their two predecessors, Angel
Corpse benefited from a good sound, but this alone didn't explain the
greatness of their performance. Seldom before have I heard something
similarly rabid. "Stormgods Unbound", "Smoldering in Exile" and
"Wolflust" are total killer songs and tonight they sounded like they
should -- a spiralling ultra-brutal madness which left all witnesses
breathless. One snippet from the "Wolflust" lyrics brings it to the
point: "Eat, fuck, die!". One last word: do me a favor, guys, and
look for a new producer -- Scott Burns is just not capable of giving
you the sound you deserve.
True black metallers Marduk were the unofficial headliners for a
huge part of the audience. I hadn't seen the band before, but both
_Nightwing_ and _Panzer Division Marduk_ are pretty impressive
records from my point of view, so I expected at least a good amount
of violence from these Swedish grunts. Unfortunately, what happened
on stage was rather a defensive battle fought by a tired "Volkssturm"
battalion than an assault by a Panzer Division (for hate mail see my
e-mail address above). Rather than pulverizing me with grinding slabs
of black metal, Marduk sounded powerless and simply average. I admit,
fast they were, but it was neither brutal nor heavy, but formulaic,
exhausted, pretentious speed for the sake of speed instead. Produced
by Tagtgren, a kindergarten melody played on a gazillion beats per
minute can have a devastating effect, but tonight the band was trying
to catch up with the intensity of their recorded material and, in my
opinion, lost the race. In the process their weaknesses became
painfully obvious. Legion is definitely the worst and most monotonous
vocalist I have ever seen. Excessive posing doesn't make it any
better and I wonder how long he has trained the silly "two arms form
an inverted cross, one hand shows the devil's sign while the other
flips the bird" move. Try learning a second note instead. The guitar
totally failed to crunch and/or sound powerful while the bass work
was at least looking impressive -- but hardly audible. The drummer's
speed was amazing, but on slower parts he unveiled a major lack of
feeling for groove (maybe that's only a black music thing) and failed
to add the necessary drive to such simple songs as "Dreams of Blood
and Iron" from _Nightwing_. The black metal part of the audience was
completely freaking out and chanting for "Christ Raping Metal" in
between every song, but for me Marduk were a major disappointment.
Death metal veterans Cannibal Corpse followed shortly after and,
like Angel Corpse, ruled completely. Sound, stage acting and
musicianship were nothing but perfect and the band's back catalogue
does contain enough killer material to play for hours -- even if the
band's first three records are banned in Germany and they aren't even
allowed to play anything from those albums live. Astoundingly for me,
CC unleashed such power that even material that's rather average by
their own standards (a couple of songs off _Vile_ and _Gallery of
Suicide_) sounded absolutely killer. Vocalist Corpsegrinder, like the
rest of the band, was in top form and entertained the crowd with
humorous announcements like "This is for all the women in the
audience... "Fucked With a Knife"!" My personal faves this evening
were "Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead", "Unleashing the
Bloodthirsty" and their final gem "Hammer Smashed Face", which the
audience had been demanding from the beginning. With this show (and I
think their new album does likewise), CC have proven that they still
belong in the premium league of death metal and can easily stand
their ground against all newer or younger contenders for the throne.
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N I G H T O F T H E L I V I N G C O R P S E S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marduk, Angel Corpse and Enthroned
at the Hard Club, Gaia, Portugal
October 20, 1999
by: Pedro Azevedo
I was driving to the Hard Club on this wednesday night,
following my usual route, which was rather deserted on that
particular midweek night. It was already time for the concert to
start as I descended towards the riverside and the Hard Club. That
was when I saw parts of the empty road before me torn asunder... as
if there were open graves in the pavement. But no, I did -not- end up
having to fight off any recently unearthed undead cadavers; just some
measly road works that made me take a half-hour long detour. I
therefore missed the first two bands of the night: Goldenpyre and
Firstborn Evil, both Portuguese.
It was only when I arrived at the Hard Club that the "corpses"
started to appear almost everywhere: two most likely corpse-painted
black metal bands and also Angel Corpse were scheduled to play; some
of the attendants also wore corpse-paint (as one should expect); and
after the concert I saw an announcement which stated that Cannibal
Corpse would be playing at the Hard Club the following month.
The Belgian Enthroned ended up being the first band I saw that
night. Not being familiar with any of their records, I was also
unimpressed with their live performance and therefore felt no desire
to seek their work on CD. Not that their show was especially poor,
but they just played some rather unremarkable black metal, without
any outstanding brutal or artistic elements.
Despite the presence of Marduk, the band I was looking forward
to the most was Angel Corpse, and they did not disappoint. Having
listened to their _The Inexorable_ record [CoC #44] quite a lot
during the days that preceded the concert, I knew they could play
some very intense and enjoyable death metal and had a feeling they
might be able to make it work live. And they did. Their live show is
quite close to the original songs, and they managed to incorporate
some major energy in their performance and made an impression on most
of the crowd. "Stormgods Unbound" and "Begotten (Through Blood and
Flame)" -- my favourite songs on the CD -- were especially
outstanding live, as I expected. Fine performance; for me, they were
the best band of the night.
Finally, an almost god-like reception for Marduk from the crowd
(a very significant part of which had to travel north all the way
from the Lisbon area, since Marduk only played in the Hard Club). As
their latest effort _Panzer Division Marduk_ (which I hadn't had a
chance to fully analyse yet) was considered by many as a masterpiece
in black metal brutality, I was looking forward to seeing what they
could do live as well. The result was a mild disappointment -- a bit
similar to what happened with Dark Funeral [CoC #39]. Marduk's live
performance was brutal and effective, but lacked the ability to be
anything more than that -- it didn't captivate me. The level of their
brutality didn't blow me away, neither did the quality of their live
riffs or vocals. Not that any of those elements weren't decent --
they just didn't live up to my expectations. Vocalist Legion's
delight with the crowd's "Marduk, Marduk" chants was rather
exaggerated and his reactions further subtracted from what could have
been a dense black metal atmosphere, but which they never were fully
able to create (despite Legion's firebreathing show). Entertaining,
but overall not as good as I expected.
When the concert was over, I was already thinking about the
Cannibal Corpse show scheduled for November, especially since
Aeternus were the main support band. However, I ended up missing that
show (but at least CC didn't play my favourite song of theirs, "Blood
Drenched Execution") and also Primordial's Iberian tour in early
December, which I -really- wanted to see. All this due to -very-
poorly timed illness, which lasted for less than a month but still
made me miss both concerts. And over here months usually pass
-without- any interesting concerts whatsoever...
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W H A T W E H A V E C R A N K E D ! ! !
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best Releases Since the Crucifixion
Gino's Top 10 + 1 [alphabetically ordered]
_. Absu - _The Sun of Tiphareth_
_. Black Sabbath - _Paranoid_
_. Brutal Truth - _Need To Control_
_. Carcass - _Necroticism - Descanting The Insalubrious_
_. Entombed - _Clandestine_
_. Metallica - _Master of Puppets_
_. Napalm Death - _Fear, Emptiness, Despair_
_. Obituary - _World Demise_
_. Pan-Thy-Monium - _Khaooohs & Kon-fus-ion_
_. Slayer - _Reign In Blood_
_. Venom - _The Best of Venom: In Memorium_
Adrian's Top 10 [alphabetically ordered]
_. Burzum - "Hermodr a Helferd"
_. Christ's cries on the cross
_. Def Leppard - _Pyromania_
_. E-mail sound when I have new e-mail
_. Ear ringing sound after loud show
_. In Flames - _The Jester Race_
_. Iron Maiden - _Piece of Mind_
_. Opera piece: "Ride of the Valkyries"
_. Pitchshifter - _www.pitchshifter.com_
_. Theme song from "Three's Company"
Alain's Top 10 + 1 [chronologically ordered]
1. Black Sabbath - _Black Sabbath_
2. Alice Cooper - _Killer_
3. Pink Floyd - _Dark Side of the Moon_
4. Judas Priest - _Sad Wings of Destiny_
5. AC/DC - _Back in Black_
6. Ozzy Osbourne - _Diary of a Madman_
7. Metallica - _Ride the Lightning_
8. Mercyful Fate - _Don't Break the Oath_
9. Slayer - _Reign in Blood_
10. Dream Theater - _Images and Words_
11. Cryptopsy - _None So Vile_
Adam's Top 10 [alphabetically ordered]
_. Amorphis - _Tales From The Thousand Lakes_
_. Burzum - _Hvis Lyset Tar Oss_
_. Darkthrone - _Transylvanian Hunger_
_. Darkthrone - _Panzerfaust_
_. Emperor - _Into the Nightside Eclipse_
_. Morbid Angel - _Altars of Madness_
_. Pan-Thy-Monium - _Khaooohs & Kon-fus-ion_
_. Satyricon - _Dark Medieval Times_
_. Samael - _Ceremony of Opposites_
_. Type O Negative - _Origin of the Feces_
Pedro's Top 10 + 1 [alphabetically ordered]
_. Anathema - _Serenades_, _The Silent Enigma_
_. At the Gates - _Slaughter of the Soul_
_. Dark Tranquillity - _The Gallery_
_. Emperor - _Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk_
_. Empyrium - _Songs of Moors & Misty Fields_
_. Enslaved - _Blodhemn_
_. Katatonia - _Dance of December Souls_
_. My Dying Bride - _Turn Loose the Swans_
_. Opeth - _My Arms, Your Hearse_
_. Summoning - _Stronghold_
Aaron's Top 10 + 1
1. W.A.S.P. - _The Last Command_
2. Nasty Savage - _Penetration Point_
3. Death - _Scream Bloody Gore_
4. Death Angel - _Frolic Through the Park_
5. Kiss - _Alive_
=. Violence - _Eternal Nightmare_
6. Angel Witch - _Frontal Assault_
7. Crumbsuckers - _Beast on My Back_
8. Sacrifice - _Soldiers of Misfortune_
9. Nuclear Assault - _The Plague_
10. Slayer - _Reign in Blood_
David's Top 10
1. Metallica - _Master of Puppets_
2. Slayer - _Decade of Aggression_
3. Sepultura - _Beneath the Remains_
4. Iron Maiden - _Somewhere in Time_
5. Gorefest - _False_
6. Death - _Leprosy_
7. Emperor - _In the Nightside Eclipse_
8. In Flames - _Subterranean_
9. Hypocrisy - _Abducted_
10. Mayhem - _De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas_
Matthias' Top 10
1. Slayer - _Reign in Blood_
2. AC/DC - _Let There Be Rock_
3. Judas Priest - _Unleashed in the East_
4. Metallica - _Kill 'em All_
5. The Beatles - _White Album_
6. Massive Attack - _Protection_
7. Possessed - _Seven Churches_
8. Overkill - _Taking Over_
9. Danzig - _Lucifuge_
10. Exodus - _Bonded by Blood_
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Homepage: http://www.ChroniclesOfChaos.com
FTP Archive: ftp://ftp.etext.org/pub/Zines/ChroniclesOfChaos
--> Interested in being reviewed? Send us your demo and bio to:
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CHRONICLES OF CHAOS
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Downsview Ont.
M3M-1M6, Canada
Fax: (416) 693-5240 Voice: (416) 693-9517
e-mail: gino@ChroniclesOfChaos.com
----
Our European Office can be reached at:
CHRONICLES OF CHAOS (Europe)
Urb. Souto n.20
4500-117 Anta, PORTUGAL
e-mail: pedro@ChroniclesOfChaos.com
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DESCRIPTION
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chronicles of Chaos is a FREE monthly magazine electronically
distributed worldwide via the Internet. Seemingly endless interviews,
album reviews and concert reviews encompass the pages of Chronicles
of Chaos. Chronicles of Chaos stringently emphasizes all varieties of
chaotic music ranging from black metal to electronic/noise to dark,
doom and ambient forms. Chronicles of Chaos is dedicated to the
underground and as such we feature demo reviews from all indie bands
who send us material, as well as interviews with a select number of
independent acts. Join our mailing list to receive a free copy of
Chronicles of Chaos every month.
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You may subscribe to Chronicles of Chaos at any time by sending an
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blank email to <mailto:Unsubscribe@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>.
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 <mailto:BackIssues@ChroniclesOfChaos.com>. The
'Subject:' field of your message should contain the issue number that
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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #45
All contents copyright 2000 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.