Pauzu -"Iron Tyrant"
Demo
This tape was ordered from Cursed
Productions and promised eight cuts of
evil,
classic sounding witching metal. It
actually turned out to be a very raw
rehearsal. This probably would have been
okay had there been some competent
riff composition and vocals that were
audible. This tape is layered with
boring
riffs and monotonous drums, not to
mention the hopeless incompetent out of
tune
bass hacking. All I was hoping for was
a raw Mayhem or even Darkthrone clone.
Alas, what we have here are some under
rehearsed song ideas that display little
regard to the listeners enjoyment or
intelligence. Perhaps with lots of
practice
they might be able to play these songs
convincingly. Should their integrity
stand the test of time, I expect them to
prove me wrong and live up to the
claims inferred by such titles as "Trend
Kill" and "True Witching Metal". -Plague
Bearer
Mayhem-"Wolf's Lair Abyss"
Misanthropy
The old masters, Venom, may have spawned
the first black metal but no band has
epitomized the true darkness of that
genre more than the mighty Mayhem.
Formed
in 1984, Mayhem has survived numerous
line up changes, the suicide of their
most
popular vocalist, Dead, in 1991 and the
murder of guitarist Euronymous by their
former bassist (current Burzum
mastermind) Varg Vikernes in 1994.
Throughout
Mayhem's 13 year career, each of their
releases starting with "Pure Fucking
Armageddon" to their classic LP "De
Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" have invoked
hatred and black evil. Now, four years
after the murder of Euronymous, Mayhem
return with the devastating "Wolf's Lair
Abyss" which continues in the classic
Mayhem tradition by creating a landscape
of hell on earth. Each track explodes
with ultra-speed blasts of metallic fury
held together perfectly through the
magnificent work of drummer Hellhammer,
while vocalist Maniac spews
forth razorwire screeches of demon
speak. You can forget about any other
band
from the current crop of black metal
because Mayhem are the purest and truest
that there is. Waste no time in
purchasing this release and any other
Mayhem you
can find, you won't be disappointed.
-Ron G.
Enslaved -"Eld"
Osmose
Here's an album I just can't get enough
of. Great intro, great songs, great
recording. Every song is full of true
Norwegian black metal. What stands out
the
most on this, is the drumming by Trym
Torson. Even though he is no longer in
the band, his talent adds the elements
required to make this album one of the
great black metal releases out there.
The drums have a whole new sound and
style
; almost a hard-core sound instead of
the fast blasphemy grinding. This
release
contains tons of movement, creativity,
and emotions.
-Caleb
Amorphis -"My Kantele"
Relapse
Great EP from these Finish folk lords.
Five tracks which include "My Kantele"
from the previous LP "Elegy", two
unreleased tracks, and two covers (one
from
Hawkwind and the other from Kingston
Wall). Anyone who is unfamiliar with
Amorphis, be warned, they are not your
typical band. This is best described as
atmospheric, psychedelic, folk metal.
Every song contains lots of emotions and
feelings. There's a touch of
rock-n-roll, but Amorphis add their
death style
vocals to let us know where their roots
are. I look forward to their full length
. -Caleb
Necrophobic
-"Darkside"
Black Mark
Only one original member remains in
Necrophobic, drummer Joakim Sterner, yet
Necrophobic still holds strong with
their second full length "Darkside".
Having
gotten a taste of the original
Necrophobic with their previous EP
"Spawned By
Evil", Necrophobic looked promising, and
sure enough they have pulled it off.
With guitarist David Parland, or known
now as "Blackmoon Departing" ,
Necrophobic
still holds on to their powerful catchy
songs. With their anti-Christian views
they hold true with the title track,
"Satan, take my soul". Sporadic guitars
and
fast as hell, this has got to be in your
collection. -Caleb
Sacramentum -"The
Coming Of Chaos"
Century Media
According to the Century Media press
release, Sacramentum, by literal
definition, is Satan's oath of
allegiance rendered in crimson script. I
can get
behind that and Sacramentum the band
definitely do. The bands third release,
"The Coming of Chaos" blasts forth with
ungodly metal in the finest Euro
traditions of intricate speed and
thundering heaviness. Excellent
production on this record can be
credited to King Diamond guitarist Andy
LaRocque, who polished Sacramentum into
one of the finest
examples of modern Black Metal. Vocally,
and somewhat musically, this reminds me
heavily of Possessed "Seven Churches"
which only makes me enjoy this release
more.
-Ron G.
Slayer -"Diabolus In
Musica"
American
Dark Funeral -"Vobiscum
Satanas"
No Fashion
May I say that this is by far my
favorite Blackmetal band. Dark Funeral
is one
of the brutalist, sickest bands ever.
Every song is fast and pure satanic.
Lord
Ahrimam knows what he's doing by
bringing in a new singer and bassist
"Emperor
Magus Caligula". Song titles include
"Enriched By Evil" and "Evil Prevail".
Man,
you can't go wrong with that. This CD
is only about 30 minutes long but
consists
of some of the evilist songs ever. I
had the opportunity to interview Lord
Ahrimam and you can check it out here
.
If for some reason you haven't heard
Dark
Funeral, yet you better check this out.
-Caleb
Lobotomy -"Kill"
No Fashion
This is some of the best death metal
I've heard in years. Lobotomy reigns
from
the ever so popular Sweden, and the
music is laden with the classic European
sound. This shit is fucking heavy. It
sounds something like you would expect
Grave or Entombed to sound like if they
keep their brutality. I highly recommend
this CD, and have no doubts it will be
considered a classic in a few years.
There are some really cool catchy riffs
and rememberable parts. The first song
is so fucking brutal; fast in your face
aggression. Who said death metal is
dead? You must pick this up. -Caleb
Kurb Saatus - Demo 1995
It's not black metal...it's not death
metal...what the hell is it? It is Kurb
Saatus. This bands music bridges the
gap between death and black with mostly
mid-tempo crushing guitar riffs, while
the vocals are in a black metal style.
These four songs are well done, each
with riffs that grab you and make you
want more. The only draw back is when
the guitars go into a slow, higher
octave piece, then it sounds as if the
intonation may be off. However these
parts are few and far between so they
don't detract from the listening
experience much. I highly recommend
checking this out.
Contact: Kurb Saatus, c/o Erica Buizert, Ncolaas Beetsstraat 446, 2951 XR Alblasserdam, Holland
Email: kurbsaatus@hotmail.com
Homepage: Kurb Saatus
-Mike
Old Man's Child -Ill Natured
Spiritual Invasion
Century Media
Galder brings us yet another phenomenal
Old Man's Child album. With the
drums done by Gene Hogland, you can only
expect the best. This album
contains some of the best thrashy riffs
I've heard in quite
sometime. The music is very melodic and
fast, yet still has that Old
Man's Child sound. I almost want to say
that this is better than the
last two releases, which are favorites
that I can't stop listening to.
Pyosisified - Advance Track
'97
Pure death metal done the Mexican way.
These guys don't take a second to come
up for air. Chock full of intense
drumming and guitars that love to do
pick harmonics, I only wish the
recording was better quality. If you're
a devout death metal fan and you haven't
heard these guys, write and get your
copy.
Contact: Pyosisified, P.O. Box 432350, San Ysidro, CA, 92143
Email: pyosisinblood@usa.net
-Mike
Drawn and Quartered - Demo
'98
Death metal from the scene in Seattle!
No one around here does death metal
better than Drawn and Quartered. These
guys get better every time I see them
play. The music is more mature than the
previous demos from years past, and the
recording is excellent. This tape
offers four songs straight from Satan's
top ten play list!
Contact: Drawn and Quartered, P.O. Box 58642, Seattle, WA, 98138
-Mike
Hellstorm - Promo '98
Contact : Bryan White, RR5 Box 7290, Middle Road, Augusta, Maine, 04330
-Mike
Ethereal Sin - The Cocoon and
Ebony Thorns
This black metal outfit reigns from
Japan. I'm not familiar with any
other metal bands from Japan, but I'm
willing to bet that this is some of
the better stuff coming out of there.
The tape starts off with the classic
(if not somewhat cliché) piano intro,
which is done excellently.
Following this is a strange guitar part,
which I'm not to fond of. This
part doesn't last long, and soon the
listener is blasted with sounds of
blasphemy. Original material with nice
riffs, vocals have well done layers in
parts, and there are keyboards that know
when to come in...and when to
quit. Female vocals add nice accents in
places to top off this release.
Once the music gets going, it doesn't
slow down. I suggest you check out
their web page and get your copy.
Unfortunately, these guys just lost
their drummer. Too bad since he's
tighter than a freakin' drum machine.
Contact: Akihiro Yamane, 1-6-1-215 Minamibefu, Nishi-ku Kobecity, Hyogo 651-2116, Japan
Email: yama666@alles.or.jp
Homepage: Ethereal Sin
-Mike
The
Suffering
This 5 song demo is from a mexican death
metal outfit. This is good stuff...the
songs keep moving and the material is
some of the more original sounding stuff
I've heard while still staying true to
the scene. A nice acoustic
guitar piece brings the tape to a close.
An interesting note about this band :
This outfit has seen it's share of excellent musicians coming and going (A mexican death metal super-group?). The recording features the drumming of Antonio Leon, who left the band to join THE CHASM. His replacement is Oscar Clorio from the now defunct CENOTAPH. The majority of the music was written by guitarists' Samuel and Rotoplas. However, Rotoplas left THE SUFFERING to join PYOSISIFIED (see review above), and left Samuel to do all the guitar recording and some of the bass tracks!! Hopefully THE SUFFERING has a stable line up now and can get another demo out soon!
Once again, the only thing lacking is
the way the tape actually "sounds". The
guitars are a bit hollow, and the bass
is practically non-existent. Had this
tape been something with killer
production, huge crushing guitars, and a
strong bass/drum presence, I'd probably
have banged my head to death. Killer riffage.
I look forward to hearing more of this
band.
Contact : Samuel O. , Begonias 24-A ,
Fracc. Las Margaritas , Tlalnepantla
Edo. Mex. , 54050 Mexico
-Mike
