
Borknagar | Flotsam and Jetsam | Obliveon | Himinbjorg | Evoken | Dream Child | Jag Panzer | Soilwork | Sadistic Intent | Punisher | Divine Empire vs. Malevolent Creation
Rating: 10/10
Tracks: Ophidian, Beyond Within, The Death of Passion, I Am The Dog, Dreaming Neon, Black, Deconstruction, The Fault of the Flesh, The Lotus Eaters, Poison, Godmachine, All Play Dead, Cenotaph, No More Will, Forever
Power metal is a fickle beast. I've heard many releases over the past months that attemt to recall the former glory of the genre but end up falling flat on their face. I appreciate the sentiment and drive of the bands, but when it sucks, it sucks. Nevermore are veterans. All the rookies should turn an ear, humbly get down on your knees and learn from the pros. Dreaming Neon Black is an absolute masterpiece of music, against any standards... today or during the heyday of metal.
Nevermore have unleashed one of the only albums to successfully call back to Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime. Not so much in sound (although there are similarities), as Nevermore are a much heavier outfit overall, but in their complete success with what they set out to do in the writing and recording of the album. Pulling off a a concept album is a difficult task. For it to be at all effective, the musicians really have it convey the mood and atmosphere of the story, especially one as involved as both Dreaming Neon Black and the previously mentioned Queensryche classic. It takes true craftsmen, a discerning ear and phenomenal songwriting skills. Nevermore are blessed with each of these qualities, and it shows.
Dreaming Neon Black is a passionate piece of work. The music, vocals, lyrics... all converge to one aim: move the listener. You'll feel despair, aggression, fear, confusion. Nevermore play their audience like an instrument with the know-how and talent that is reserved only for the true masters of the genre. The album weaves the tale of a man that loses his true love to the grasp of a cult, and his mind is lost right along with her. You're taken through each step of his story, and if you read the lyrics along with the music, it has an almost cinematic effect. The music paints the pictures, Warrel Dane's voice expresses the mania and sorrow of the protagonist as he struggles against insanity.
Listen up. Get swept away in the story and the music. See where the future of metal lies: in the hands of Nevermore. - Al Kikuras
Borknagar - The Archaic Course Century Media, '98)
Rating: 8/10
Tracks: Oceans Rise, Universal, Witching Hour, The Black Token, Nocturnal Vision, Ad Noctum, Winter Millennium, Fields Of Long Gone Presence
After forming in 1995, Borknagar have done pretty good for themselves. The combine sheer brutality with atmosphere and texture. After releasing their self-titled debut on Malicious records in early '96, they burst into the upper ranks of Black Metal's current Elite. Most would recognize Borknagar by the vocals done by Garm (ex-Arcturus, Ulver, Falkenbach, etc), but not anymore. After the break-up of Arcturus, Garm has now gone to doing Ulver full-time.
At any rate, after hearing the new vocalist, one might not think of Borknagar right away. The voice sounds just like Simen's (the higher voice on Arcturus' "La Masquerade Infernale"), and it just might be his, but his credits on the album are "I.C.S. Vortex". The vocals are the strongpoint on this album, combining mostly atmospheric vocals (actual singing) with mid-to-high Black Metal screams. The atmospheric vocals are done very, very well, with the use of layering harmonies. They are done better than Garm has done in the past. The guitars still have the same tone, and played well, but nothing outstanding. There are actually a few parts where the guitar notes clash, producing a horrid sound. The bass and drums are done well with keeping everything in synch as well as the overall rhythm. The material on this one as a whole is much faster than the others, specifically with the drums. Its mostly quick double-kick, and mostly done well (minus a couple of off-time hits). The first song entitled "Oceans Rise" does well with combining all of Borknagar's strengths. There seem to be less synth parts, but that is due to the loss of Ivar Bj¿rnson of Enslaved, who left to persue Enslaved fulltime, as it appears.
The production on this album is also better. Everything meshes together well, and everything is set at the right levels. How interesting, considering Waldemar Sorychta (Moonspell, Grip Inc, etc) produced their last release called The Olden Domain. This time, with Matthias Klinkmann and themselves as producers, they seem to have done a much better job with The Archaic Course. This release is sure to solidify them as true genre leaders, while simultaneously adding another epic chapter in the young, notorious career of this band. - - Caine
Flotsam And Jetsam - Unnatural Selection (Metal Blade, '99)
Rating: 9/10
Tracks: Dream Scrape, Chemical Noose, Promise Keepers, Liquid Noose, Falling, Fuckers, Brain Dead, Way To Go, Win, Lose Or Dead, Welcome To The Bottom
Warning: Unnatural Selection is not a classic Flotsam And Jetsam album. Do not compare to Doomsday For The Deceiver or No Place For Disgrace. It will not hold up. You will turn it off right away. Eric A.K. can't (or doesn't) hit those really high notes anymore. If you are expecting them to be the band they were in the 80's you will be disappointed.
With that said, I love this album. I was able to completely take this album for itself and not compare it to Flotsam of old. Al Kikuras told me that he was able to get into the new Anthrax album because he was able to disassociate it with Anthrax of old. That is what you will have to do with Unnatural Selection or you will not be able to enjoy it. I was not able to disassociate Volume 8 with old Anthrax, so I couldn't get into it. Al as well couldn't get into Unnatural Selection. It's not that they are bad albums or that a metal band shouldn't change, it's just that when a band changes the essential elements that we come to associate them with and love them for, it's hard to fall in love with them all over again.
What was wonderful about Flotsam And Jetsam was their incredibly high vocals and wonderfully fluid song writing. Flotsam have changed. It's probably the reason they were able to survive the "metal boycott" that occurred in the early to mid 90's. They had to get rid of the high vocals to survive, but if Eric A.K. can still do it, I'd love to hear it. Their new music however is wonderful. Some of the best metal song writing I've heard in a long time. This is a real heavy slab of very good thrash metal. Unnatural Selection burns with an anger that wasn't present in the earlier Flotsam releases. The lyrics on this album are also more pointed than the earlier songs. "Chemical Noose" is a powerful song that rips and shreds it way through a tale of a guy completely lost in his own world of a drug haze.
Flotsam are back with one of the best albums of the year. They are not the Flotsam of old, and their high vocals are almost completely gone, but they still know how to kick ass. Unnatural Selection is a great album. With high vocals, a perfect 10 out of 10, but with the lower vocals it's still a solid 9 out of 10. Don't compare it to Doomsday or Disgrace, and you will have a very enjoyable listen. If you can't get over the fact that the Flotsam of old is gone, then it's too bad; for both Flotsam and you. - Piston Rod
Obliveon - Cybervoid (Cargo, '95)
Rating: 8.7/10
Tracks: Cybervoid, Downward, Perihelion, Android Succubus, Sequels, Subgod, Sombre Phase, Biomechanique, Call of Silence, Deus Ex Machina, Drift of the Spheres
This is the music I miss nowadays. Sure, a lot of retro bands are delving back into the vaults and resurrecting the classic thrash sound, but most are doing so tongue-in-cheek (Cranium, I am looking in your direction) which is all fine and well, but all it does is make you reminisce. Obliveon are 5 metalheads that never stopped playing the good old stuff. Rather, they took the thrash genre to its limits as far as class, prime musicianship and solid songwriting. Rather than merely causing the listener to reflect back on the glory of the olden-days, you are given a glimpse at the highest evolution of thrash.
The 11 tracks on Cybervoid display innovative, fresh ideas in a genre thought stale years and years ago. If Obliveon had received the recognition they gained when thrash was at its peak, the genre might not have gone the way of the dinosaurs as it pretty-much did, although Obliveon's perseverence as well as the recent work of bands like Punisher give me hope that thrash might be holding on to the strings of life yet...
Standout songs include the title track, "Periphelion," "Sequels," "Deus Ex Machina" and closer instrumental "Drift Of The Spheres," although all the tunes are strong. Bruno Bernier's vocals are of a lower register, reminding me somewhat of Carl Fulli of the now-defunct Epidemic. Actually, Epidemic is a good comparison to Obliveon's sound overall,although I believe Obliveon pre-dates any Epidemic stuff. Obliveon have a bit more to offer by way of creativity than the West Coast boys ever did, I must say, though I am an Epidemic fan.
It's been almost 4 years since this glorious metallic slab was released. Now I want a new album, and soon. - Al Kikuras
Himinbjorg - Where Ravens Fly (Red Stream Records, '98)
Rating: 3/10
Tracks: Lightning Of Blood, Conqueror, In the Haze Of the Summer Solstice's Fires, Journey Through the Nine Worlds, Nidhgger, Where Ravens Fly
Upon first seeing the packaging of the album (which managed to retain both a cartoonish and an 80s glam feel), I knew that Himinbjorg was going to be a good joke. And they did not fail me one bit; their album Where Ravens Fly is a non-stop album of pure degenerate black metal crap.
It is hard to find a place to start where this album truly goes wrong. Let's try the first opening seconds of the first track. There is a sound clip of a horse clopping on by, which is rather funny, and then the real music begins. This music is pretty much clich black metal from start to finish. The electric guitars are thinned out, uninspired, and tend to follow the same pattern repeatedly, the acoustic guitars are poorly executed for most of the album, the percussion is just blast beats mixed with slower, monotonous, and weak drumming, and the rhythm indistinctly follows the sound of the lead guitars. There is little real feeling to the sound. The aggressive parts are not very aggressive at all, and the more melodic parts are mostly boring as all hell.
While the screamed vocals are quite harsh and evil sounding, they are completely and entirely offset by the clean singing on this album. The only way to accurately reflect how this comes across is to tell you how hard I laughed when I first heard it. Flat, tuneless, and completely out of place are good description. The only saving this album from a 1 is track 5 (Nidhgger). It is a folk/black metal song reminiscent that retains the overall feeling of an Amorphis song, although even then the clean vocals tend to bring down the overall feeling of the song. Even the ambient/synth sections are uninspired and poorly done, leaving much to be desired.
This album is nothing I would ever pay money for. Bands like this give Viking/Black metal a bad name, and tend to do nothing to help the genre. Why is a French band singing songs of Odin and the Norsemen anyways? I don't know either, but I do have a suggestion: let stuff like this alone to bands like Enslaved, because you just can't cut it. -Drew "The Phroo" Warren III
Evoken - Embrace The Emptiness (Elegy, '98)
Rating: 9/10
Tracks: Intro, Tragedy Eternal, Chime The Centuries End, Lost Kingdom of Darkness, Ascend Into The Maelstrom, To Sleep Eternally, Curse the Sunrise
Let me level with you. I can't stand most of this really slow stuff. I liked Candlemass, but Skepticism bored the hell out of me and all I heard was people singing praise about them for months on end.
I like Evoken. They are slow. VERY slow, but there is a rage and hunger that is all the more furious because of the crawling pace the music holds. It's like a bear on tranquilizers. He's fucking PISSED but his roars are slurring, his movements sluggish... but fuck if he still doesn't scare the crap out of you. The fastest this stuff gets is on "Ascend Into The Maelstrom" when the chugging picks up to a double-bass driven Samael pace but, Evoken more than makes up for their lack of speed with an ocean of mood and atmosphere.
The production on Embrace the Emptiness is suffocating. The guitars are heavy, but with a very etherial sound to them. Keyboards are perfectly mixed and tastefully used, adding an additional element of that funereal ambience to music that is already dripping with it, rather than just doubling the guitars. The reverb-laden drums sound as if they were recorded in a granite tomb and pound within the music rather than behind it. The vocals range from and engulfing death roar ala Craig Pillard on Mortal Throne of Nazarene to an almost black-metal scream of a higher register (which retains the slow pace) and a Tom G. Warrior-ish spoken word. Unholy's classic Trip to Depressiv Autumn demo comes to mind when I listen to Embrace The Emptiness, although what Evoken plate up isa much more crushing but conservative fare overall.
There is a snag... the material gets to be a little redundant due to the lack of variety, but rather than boring the listener it has an almost hypnotic effect that many bands in a similar vein miss. I think the key to Evoken's absolute success in the death/doom genre is the interplay of instruments. No one musician relies on another... each brings something notable to the table and all controbute to the overall oppressive, draining feel the music has on the listener. This release is up there with Bethlehem's pheonomenal S.U.I.Z.I.D. (Red Stream) as some of the best music to kill yourself to. Or to sit in the dark with a solitary candle on a rainy night and just get depressed out of your gourd.
Oh, and the cover art is perfect, although the graphic of it above does not do it justice... one look and you know what you are in store for! - Al Kikuras
Dream Child - Reaching The Golden Gates (Metal Blade, '99)
Rating: 9/10
Tracks: To Our Dreams, Bells Of Nemesis, The Search, Alchemy, Fly Again, Kadesh Battle, Crystal Lady, Shade On Your Sun, Answers
Dream Child might just be the next Iron Maiden. They aren't yet, but have the potential to be. Their first album for Metal Blade Records (and their second full studio album - their first album, Torn Between Two Worlds, came out on NSR Records in 1996), Reaching The Golden Gates is fucking wonderful. The musicianship and feel of the band is completely old school, with wonderfully catchy guitar licks and very high vocals that make your ears bleed. I love it... I piss in my pants every time I listen to it!
The first song, "To Our Dreams," is 7 minutes of pure metal bliss. Screaming guitars, screaming vocals, and powerchords galore!!! The whole album spans the range of the heavy metal genre, great melodic tunes ("Fly Again"), heavy ax-grinders ("Bells Of Nemesis," "The Search"), and wonderful epic-battle type songs ("Kadesh Battle"). Any true metal fan should be thoroughly entertained by this release and proud that a band like this exists.
With more bands like Dream Child popping up more frequently, metal is once again reaching the level of musicianship and attitude that is was once possessed. Hopefully, Dream Child won't get lost in the shuffle like Abraxas and Gamma Ray... two bands that put out killer metal albums last year and were virtually ignored.
If Hammerfall made you cream your boxers, and the new Bruce Dickinson answered all your prayers, then Dream Child will have you shitting yourself. They had best get the recognition and support they deserve, because if I hear another Korn wanna-be described as a good metal band, I'm gonna kill someone. - Piston Rod
Jag Panzer - The Age Of Mastery (Century Media, '98)
Rating: 9.5/10
Tracks: Iron Eagle, Lustful And Free, Twilight Years, Sworn To Silence, False Messiah, The Age Of Mastery, Viper, Displacement, Chain Of Command, Take This Pain Away, Burning Heart, The Moors
How the fuck does this happen? One of the worst albums I had the misfortune of hearing last year was Jag Panzer's comeback album, The Fourth Judgment. The music was lame, the lyrics were corny, and the singer... well, the singer sucked. When The Age Of Mastery showed up and was assigned to my duty I was ready to hate it as well. It sat on my desk for a week before I put it on, but as soon as I did I was completely shocked. This was true metal. The singer was singing high notes, and singing well. He wasn't trying to be that "low-range metal singer", he was METAL. The music as well is True Metal, HEAVY FUCKING METAL!!!
Yeah, this is what metal is all about, but how the fuck does a band turn it around like that? One album is pure crap, while the next one is one of the best albums of the year. I think it's the fact that Jag Panzer are an old school band, they have been around for over fifteen years. They took a six year leave of absence while the metal community figured out what the fuck they really wanted. I think when they came back they were a little rusty. The Fourth Judgment has the feel of a band trying to find itself again. Not sure if they should keep the style that they had been playing, or update their sound to fit in with today's up and coming bands. The decision was made and The Age Of Mastery is a true metal opus. Rippling with 80's metal brilliance, but not stuck in the mud.
These guys have been around too long to put out two bad albums in a row. "Iron Eagle" starts off the album; true metal in the Iron Maiden, Helloween vein. "Sworn To Silence" is a straight ahead slash and burn type metal song, full of shredding axes and high vocals. "The Viper" is super heavy, blows your nuts off and doesn't apologize for it at all.
If you love true metal, get this album now. If you thought Jag Panzer were a lame band that is just trying to ride metal's return to popularity, or if you never heard Jag Panzer before, but want to fall in love with metal all over again, get The Age Of Mastery. True Metal lives! - Piston Rod
Soilwork - Steel Bath Suicide (Listenable, '98)
Rating: 8/10
Tracks: Entering The Angel Diabolique (inst), Sadistic Lullabye, Me Need, Skin After Skin, Wings Of Domain, Steelbath Suicide, In A Close Encounter, Centro De Predomino (inst), Razorlives, Demon In Veins, The Aardvark Trail
First, let me say that Soilwork is a stupid name. It sounds like an old lady planting fucking patunas, "They are in season this time of year." Each year my father would plant a garden with tomatoes and cucumbers, that's "soil work", and that's not metal at all, but lets move on.
Have you heard the band At The Gates? Well, so have Soilwork (I know I started off the same way for the Theater Of Tragedy review, but I got the same feelings while listening to Steel Bath Suicide). Why copy another band so closely that you are almost identical to them? Can't you come up with your own ideas?
Enough of that though, let's get down to the nitty-gritty, the band. Musically Soilwork really works. This is a brutal, fast, talented band that really shows their stuff. Soilwork are not afraid to expose their old-school roots, while killing you with the power and progressive ideas that they also possesses. The axework on Steel Bath Suicide really shreds, leaning more towards old school metal than At The Gates did. Their songs are catchy, they really get into you, especially the songs "My Need" and "Skin After Skin", both contain very well thought out rhythmic ideas.
The grating scream-growl singing of the lead singer works at times, the best example being on the song "Skin After Skin", but I think he tends to limit them musically. I just think that by adding a second singer to change up the sound of the vocals at times, or by having the lead singer sing more melodically at times, it would help to present a more complete package. You can still have the screaming/growling vocals, but add different vocal styles in different spots. Hit some high notes that break glass (it would work very well with the music they are putting forth), go for some death metal yells, get really ugly like Chuck from Death, etc. As it is though, the vocals and the At The Gates overall sound are the only areas with which I can find fault with Soilwork (oh yeah, and that stupid name). They are a bright light in the metal genre, and Steel Bath Suicide is an excellent debut CD.
I hate reviewing a band and comparing them to another band, as if they were two branches of the same tree, but Steel Bath Suicide forces me to. Soilwork do sound too much like At The Gates. I do however hold out much hope for these guys. If they are able to progress on their next album and move onto more of their own direction, then this could be one of the bands that helps create the future sound of heavy metal music. I am going to give this a high rating, because it is a good CD by a good band, but really guys get your own schtick. - Piston Rod
Sadistic Intent - Ancient Black Earth (Dark Realm Records, ??)
Rating: 9/10
Tracks: Resurrection, Asphyxiation, Conflict Within, Dark Predictions, Condemned in Misery, A Mass For Tortured Souls
I am sure you have heard the name. Sadistic Intent are all-but legendary in the underground. They have been a mainstay in the death metal scene for what must be over a decade now, and their veteran status shows on Ancient Black Earth. I liked the old Wild Rags release, Impending Doom. I also liked Resurrection, although it wasn't all I had expected. I found the vocals to be a little boring and generic, as was the music. Sadistic Intent's cover of "Return to the Eve" on the Celtic Frost tribute had my mouth agape... this was death metal!! The precursor to the venomous material found on Ancient Black Earth. Sadistic Intent have honed their skills to razor-sharp proficiency, maturing to and beyond my expectations. This is death metal in its purest form. It bleeds darkness and malevolence. The production is perfect, the vocals are spiteful and the music relentless. And, seeing how the material on here is a few years old itself, I shudder to think what their next release might hold, although at the rate they have been going thus far we may have to wait another 5 years or so before it hits the shelves, but I am sure the wait will be worth it. My only gripe... I want more. 16 minutes is way too short! Let's get moving with the long-awaited full-length. The underground is ripe with anticipation... - Al Kikuras
Punisher - Disillusioned (Confusion Records, '98)
Rating: 8.7/10
Tracks: Disillusioned, Beat Down, Realm Of Hatred, Spirit Of Vengeance, In Cold Blood, Introspect, Weapon X, Loser, Eternal Democracy, Punisher
Yes, we have a winner. Punisher arrive on the scene with a brutal slab of thrash metal fit for any king. Punisher have captured all that was good about thrash in the 80's. Super fast guitars, driving beats, a tight rhythm section, dirty scream/growling vocals, and no bullshit. Just straight ahead, ball grabbing, nut ripping, skull crushing metal. Don't get me wrong, Punisher are not stuck in the 80's not at all. They are a fresh, exciting, and hungry band; you can hear it in their playing. These guys have put in some serious hours sculpting their craft, and it shows. I love thrash. It gets me energized, it gets me pulverized, and that's the way I like it.
The first song on the album is a testament to true metal. Disillusioned shreds with the best of them. The bass and drums work perfectly together to build a catchy and heavy rhythm base for the guitarist/singer, Pat Toms, to work with. The drummer, Michael Wheeler, is an animal; fast and fierce. The second song "Beaten Down" has a very cool acoustic break in the middle of it that really works well. It breaks up the chaos and prepares the listener for what they know will be some really brutal shit coming up. My favorite song on the album is "Weapon X". Very heavy, catchy, and wonderfully brutal. A song you can take home to mother. The singer at times does drift into the Rob Zombie territory at times, and at those times I find him annoying. Most of the time however I really like his style of singing.
Punisher are a true find. This self-released album shows much potential, and I for one am very excited about their future. If these guys aren't picked up by a larger independent label soon, I'll be very surprised, especially with the 80's metal sound that is gaining popularity again. All in all, I'd say this is a wonderful release, a band to definitely keep an eye on in the future. - Piston Rod
Divine Empire - Redemption (Olympic, '98) vs. Malevolent Creation - The Fine Art Of Murder (Pavement, '98)
Rating (Divine Empire): 8/10
Rating (Malevolent Creation): 7/10
Tracks (Divine Empire): The Awakening (intro), Hidden Hatred, Out For Blood, Witness To Horror, Redepmtion, Silent Carnage, Induced Expulsion, Born Of Sin, Criminal Instinct, Draped In Black, Pray For Deliverance
Tracks (Malevolent Creation): To Die Is At Hand, Manic Demise, Instinct Evolved, Dissect The Eradicated, Mass Graves, The Fine Art Of Murder, Bone Exposed, Purge, Fracture, Rictus Surreal, Scorn, Day Of Lamentation, Scattered Flesh
It is inevitable that the new Divine Empire be compared to the latest Malevolent Creation disc. With the split of Jason Blachowicz from Malevolent and all the hubub surrounding it (wore a Nazi shirt onstage in Germany, got his ass kicked by Phil Fasciana, yadda yadda yadda) it seems that a rivalry between the two bands would be inherent. Far be it from me to interfere with fate, so I must compare the two. It's required of me.
Both albums are fast, and brutal. The race is certainly neck in neck when it comes to speed. Vocally, there is a large difference. Jason Blachowicz's vocals are of deeper than those of Brett Hoffman, sounding even more brutal than they did on the last few Malevolent albums. High-low overdubs ala Deicide are used frequently and effectively throughout Redemption. To his credit, Brett still has a hell of a snarl, but it doesn't carry the same conviction it did back on The Ten
Commandments. Neither of these tuneful songbirds deserve any accolades for breaking new ground in deathmetalvocalland... both are relatively monotone throughout with occasional screams interjected. Although I feel Hoffman actually gives the better performance, I prefer Blachowicz's voice. I'm just a fan of the lower register when it comes to the death metal voice.
Musically, like the vocals, Redemption has a lot more bottom-end, with a very traditional guttural and bass-heavy death metal approach, while The Fine Art Of Murder stretches into the boundaries of thrash and back again. The relentless (FAST) blast beats throughout the album keep its roots firmly planted in the soil of more death-laden lands, however.
There are faults with each release. Both Redemption and The Fine Art Of Murder fall prey to the confines of the genre; both are standard death metal... nothing more. To Malevolent Creation's credit, they do attempt to branch off into new territory with "Day Of Lamentation" - a dirge that, although a step away from the norm for Malevolent, breaks no real new ground; instead just coming off as a ballad with a death metal snarl. Undeniably, both albums are convincing... veteran status is evident. I must say that I prefer Redemption to The Fine Art... as there is just more to sink my teeth into. There are songs on The Fine Art... that are better than any on Redemption (the title track and "To Die Is At Hand" in particular), but the album drags on. The material is not varied enough to hold the listener's attention (at least THIS listener) for more the little less than an hour that the album goes on. The material meshes together after a spell, and altough my appreciation for the speed and stamina of the players does not waver, I find myself getting bored. Divine Empire saw it fit to keep Redemption below the 40 minute mark (33:55 to be exact), a trick Deicide learned long ago to keep the slab from weighing a bit too heavy.
In all, strong releases from both bands, but neither strong enough to warrant critical acclaim. - Al Kikuras
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