Music Reviews

Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh (Century Media, 2004)

Rating: 10/10

When I heard that Mikael Åkerfeldt was no longer with BLOODBATH, I was worried. The reason I bought the first BLOODBATH record was because of his involvement, but I suppose one should never underestimate the power of a Swedish supergroup! Not only did they find someone to replace him, but they got talent in spades. Replacing Åkerfeldt is HYPOCRISY's own Peter Tägtren, and while his vocals aren't classic HYPOCRISY, they rule just the fucking same.

Another massive improvement on this record is the guitar tone. If you'll remember back to the initial release, you will remember that one of the guitars sounded like a kazoo.  It bugged me the whole time.  Well, no longer is this the case!!  Not a single kazoo on the whole album!

So onto what makes this album great. If you're unfamiliar with how BLOODBATH sounds, I'll harken you back to 1980s death metal. Think MORBID ANGEL, Covenant era.  That's about right. This album, while not an exact replica of Covenant by any means, is an excellent piece of old school, technical, mid-paced death metal and it couldn't come at a better time! When the scene is trying so hard to find the next big sound, while everything around is being slayed to death by being hashed and rehashed, and experimentation becomes more and more ridiculous, BLOODBATH are a shining light of awesome in the middle of it all.  Putting out awesome classic sounding death metal, while never sounding tired or cliche.

This is by far one of the best releases of 2004! If you don't like this album, you're just fucking stupid. - Jim Bob The Enforcer

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Anvil of Doom - Deathillusion (Xtreem Music, 2004)

Rating: 7/10

While the name ANVIL OF DOOM sounds like a bad "wrestling" move that someone would use on WWE, the music, fortunately, doesn't sound like the theme song of some overly beefed up guy in tights. You have no idea how grateful I am for that. In fact, the music sounds a bit more like IN FLAMES/AT THE GATES meets MONSTROSITY and DISINTER.

While the Swedish death metal sound is obviously overdone, as are most things these days, sometimes a band hits gold with it.  While I wouldn't say ANVIL have hit gold, I'd say they definitely hit some sort of semi-precious metal as this technical/melodic is highly entertaining. Obviously, given that I've refered to it as "Swedish," you can make some basic assumptions.  Primarily high/mid-ranged vocals, lots of guitar harmonies and catchy melodies. 

However, there are the more technical aspects as well. Many of the harmonies are running up and down chromatic scales, while the rhythmic aspects don't change as much as some bands, the melodic aspects do get pretty technical at times. The tendency to overdo technicality, however, is not one that ANVIL possesses. They seem to have a very clear sense of how to offset their technical stuff, with excellent rocking heavy metal.

If you get around to checking this band out, I doubt you'll be disappointed. With a relatively diverse approach to death metal, they're a little bit of freshness in an otherwise stale scene. - Jim Bob The Enforcer

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Chapter VIII - Your Halo Is My Noose (Self Released, 2004) www.chapterviii.com

Rating: 7/10

In light of some other records I've listened to recently, I'm so tempted to inflate the score on this.  But it wouldn't be fair to me, or the credibility of Unchain the Underground (you're welcome, Al).

CHAPTER VIII are doing a not so unique rendition of a relatively overdone style at the moment metalcore.  This is a bit unfortunate, because they seem like they're talented players.

Let's start witht he positive things about this record.  There is definitely a groove factor, which I believe every good metalcore band should find.  In order to get someone into your music it has to be two things--groovy and melodic--and both are met with expert precision on this record.  The songs aren't overly long and I spent most of the time bobbing my head to the beat. So, in a lot of ways I think this is one of the better records I reviewed this time.  Though they sound like IN FLAMES meets CROWBAR just like every other metalcore band that's out right now, and they're not entirely original, they're not bad at what they do. In fact, they're pretty good at it.

However, there are some negative things on this record.  The first, and most notable, is that the breakdown should die. Unless you are making tremendously interesting and/or technically awesome breakdowns, you should be banned from playing them.  The Executive Office of Hardcore should start licensing only those who have shown themselves capable of writing awesome breakdowns.  Take some lessons, guys, GOD FORBID or UNEARTH even KILLSWITCH ENGAGE all have good breakdowns.  Why?  Because they're doing more than just an "average" breakdown. You need to extend your view beyond a "chunk chunk" here and a "chuggity chug" there.

Secondly, while your vocalist may be a fantastic hardcore vocalist, he cannot sing.  If you go into a studio and you leave with vocal tracks that are flat, that means he should not be allowed to sing. So while I was amused and intrigued by their cover of White Wedding by BILLY IDOL, I was totally pissed off by the fact that the vocals are totally off key. C'mon. Be honest with yourself guys, he may be your friend, but you need to get someone who can sing if you want clean vocals.

All in all, give these guys a chance.  Their packaging is great, and it's self produced, so that means they're out there trying to promote themselves and the music that they've been making. I suspect that they're going to get better with time, especially when they realize that the style of music that they're making has saturated it's market, and it's time to change things up a bit. - Jim Bob The Enforcer

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Esoteric - Subconscious Dissolution into the Continuum (Season of Mist, 2004)
 
Rating: 8/10
 
ESOTERIC are absolutely a "love 'em or hate 'em" type of band. To those doom heads out there who can space out to songs sometimes exceeding 17 minutes, these guys are a goldmine. This being their first record in several years, I myself was a bit skeptical of what they could do that they haven't already done.  The answer is "not much." 

But the average ESOTERIC listener isn't likely to be looking for innovation.  They're looking for long funeral dirges that feel like slow sonic slaughter.  And while I do prefer their previous disc ever so slightly (titled, "Metamorphogenesis") I'd be inclined to think that fans will enjoy this. At the same time, anyone into the ultra slow tempos of ELECTRIC WIZARD, UNEARTHLY TRANCE, ASUNDER and KHANATE would do well to invest in ESOTERIC. Anyone else should stay far away as there's just no middle ground with this band. - Big Juan

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Farmakon - A Warm Glimpse (Elitist Records, 2004)

Rating: 8/10

So let's say we're in some sort of alternate universe OK?  C'mon, you're metalheads, you listen to IRON MAIDEN and play Dungeons & Dragons, just imagine for a moment. So wer're in this alternate universe, and suddenly you see OPETH on stage, but instead of it being the sound you're used to, it's OPETHy death metal, with.. jazz and funk breakdowns!?

Yeah, that's FARMAKON. And they're GREAT at it. I was listening to this album on the way to school, and when I got to class I had a riff of theirs stuck in my head for 3 hours. When played with such authority, a band can really work its way into your subconcious. 

Hailing from Germany, a lot of FARMAKON's sound is rooted in Scandanavian metal. However, it's not your typical Swedish Death sound. While there are certain things in common, for the most part it sounds like the very riffy, technical aspects of OPETH riffing. There's lots of 6/8, and the vocals are in that midrange of death metal, but not all the time.

When I said jazzy and funky breakdowns before, I wasn't kidding.  These guys break into jazz break downs in almost every song, and while the tone isn't bad, I still think the guitars could've been produced deeper.  However, the technical aspects are pretty cool, and relatively progressive for metal guys who are integrating this stuff into their death metal.

One of the things about this album that I didn't like, is the insistance on using some just plain mediocre clean vocals a lot.   While the guy can hit the notes, he just doesn't have a voice for rock n' roll.  It's not distinct enough. There's not enough edge to it, and it isn't soothing in the sort of OPETH, ANATHEMA, KATATONIA way that most metal-vocalists-who-don't-sound-like-metal- vocalists sound.  His vocals just do NOTHING for me, and I think that's worse than me straight up hating them.

In a lot of ways, these guys remind me of MR. BUNGLE, and there are some pretty obvious attempts at the sound, but for the most part it's avoided.  It just has that sort of random, sporadic sound that Patton is so well known for. Realistically, this is one of the better albums I've reviewed in a while. It's not perfect, but I can see this band continuing to improve on this sound in the future and really hitting on something cool. Until that happens, though, this'll do. - Jim Bob The Enforcer

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Funeral Age - Fistful of Christ (Thousand Funerals Music, 2004) www.funeralage.4t.com

Rating:  6.5/10

Let's talk about this Jesus motif, everyone. I mean, I know that the standard in death metal has been to not like Jesus.  I understand that people like a good Christ-hating song every now and again like the infamous Christ Crusher! But when MARDUK has stooped to sodomizing Jesus (homosexual sex is black metal?) it's time to start realizing that, frankly, it's overdone.

Unfortunately, FUNERAL AGE has a whole lot of "christ hating" blackened death metal on this record, but because the music is quality I can forgive the lyricist.

FUNERAL AGE is basically an amalgamation of modern death metal and modern black metal, mixed into a package of dominating riffing.  From the opening seconds this record is a thrash fest that'll make you long for the glory days of DEATH. In a lot of ways, while the guitar work isn't that original, I can't help but feeling the urge to rock out to these guys.

But lets face it, this record isn't fantastic. While short, it still feels repetitive and at times I just had to give it a rest to actually be able to listen to it all the way through.  There are some good melodies that pop up, and good energy, it just isn't enough.

This record is missing "it." Whatever "that" is... - Jim Bob The Enforcer

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God Among Insects - World Wide Death (Candlelight Records, 2004)
 
Rating: 7/10
 
The horrible cover art these guy chose immediately shattered all of my expectations.  But actually, this is some good old fashioned death metal, a welcome change of pace from the overly triggered and over produced death metal that saturates the market place today. GAI have the doom vibe of early period INCANTATION or AUTOPSY and can speed it up a bit where they evoke early VADER. And when they break out into a blast part like they do halfway though "Uhr-Nazuur" you can feel it in your testicles. The authenticity that is.

I'm not sure if this is a first full length for GOD AMONG INSECTS, but it's certainly a breathe of fresh air/nostalgia from a period when you could throw on a death metal record and NOT wonder if they had simply used a typewriter for the drum tracks. Recommended for the old fools from the old school.- Big Juan

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Hammers of Misfortune - S/T (Cruz Del Sur Music, 2004)

Rating: 8.345789/10

Bands, often times, are made or broken by their vocalist.  HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE is a little of both, on this new release. To get straight to the point, this record is a unique record in sort of a unique way.  While I don't think that the style is tremendously new or interesting, it's the texture and the composition that make it interesting.  For example, the vocalist and main song writer, just has a unique melodic structure. He doesn't follow the same patterns one would expect, and he doesn't necessarily even stick to strict patterns. He's more likely to go wandering off.  I don't know how to describe this appropriately, or with whom one can compare such a style.  It's just that he has a unique ear for music.

The music, while not fantastic, is definitely cool and has that same unique quality. It's thrashy, though technical at times, and definitely uses dynamics to reflect mood.  When the main male vocalist isn't singing, there's good use of female voice, but I'm not to keen on her voice.  It just, frankly, isn't made for heavy metal.

There are some standout features on this record. For one, the actual musicianship is phenomenal. While there aren't any classic wanky power metal solos, there are good melodic structures and I actually wanted to listen to this album several times because of the addicting and unpredictable melodies at some places. The production is sort of earthy, and so it has a real thick feeling to it, that sort of gets away from the sharp, cutting guitars that you hear on a lot of power metal albums these days.

This album twists in turns in many directions. While it can be called traditional heavy metal, I think you'd better just check it out for yourself if you're at all interested in that sort of metal.  You'll find that not everything is so easy to categorize, and I think that's one of the biggest compliments I can give this band. - Jim Bob The Enforcer

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Hateplow - Moshpit Murder (Arctic Music Group, 2004)

Rating:  8/10

How odd, a live album recorded back in 2000 is just NOW being released.  I could bitch endlessly about delays, or circumstances for this but I won't.  What I will do is tell you how good of a release this is. I'm just so happy its finally out and included along with the 10 live songs are the 1996 demo as well as a 1999 demo track. When it comes down to it, you can't really do much better for a live CD then include demo material and this stuff sounds excellent.

The sound on the live recording is superb, one of the best live death metal albums I've ever heard.  Sometimes they have this horribly bootleg sound but everything is very clear here, surprisingly the vocals aren't drowned out by drumming.

The demo tracks are such a great bonus on here, I do wish they would have touched them up a bit in the studio but I'm nitpicking.  At least their kickass 1996 demo can be heard by more people, and I can replace my ancient dub of it from way back.

If you like HATEPLOW, you'll eat this right up.  Good straight forward no bullshit death/grind. - Rick

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Hirax - The New Age of Terror (Mausoleum, 2004)

Rating: 9/10

I've heard about HIRAX quite a bit over the years, since I started Unchain the Underground back in 1989, but must admit that until I received a promo of The New Age of Terror a few weeks ago, I had never actually heard their music. I am fucking FLOORED. I am a thrash metal fanatic. Hands down, it is my favorite kind of music, and not this new vein of thrash. I am talking the old-school, dirty thrash metal, like RAZOR, BLOOD FEAST, DARK ANGEL, FORBIDDEN... you get the idea. HIRAX falls right in with the greats! Hell, they ARE one of the greats. The New Age of Terror is a pure, glorious, just-about perfect thrash album that sounds like it could have been written in the genre's golden era, yet does not sound dated. The songs are catchy and heavy, with a fine balance of groove and speed. Katon DePena's vocals are unique to the point of, at first listen, being a little unsettling because his sound is SO different, but after a few spins it sinks in and everything clicks. HIRAX are five guys that obviously live for this stuff, and you can hear their conviction and passion in the music. The New Age of Terror is an album I find myself wishing I was listening to at different times throughout the day. The songs are catchy to the point that I will be listening to another album and will hear something that reminds me of one of the songs off The New Age of Terror, and I will take out whatever album I have on and put this one in. It is THAT good.

HIRAX rules. Plain and simple. I pray that they tour the entire nation so I can catch them live, and that The New Age of Terror gets them the recognition they have deserved for so long, and that the interest is enough that the first two albums are re-released on CD because I need those fuckers bad and can't find them anywhere. - Al Kikuras

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Japanische Kampfhorspiele - Hardcore Aus Der Ersten Welt (Bastardized Recordings, 2004)
 
Rating: 6/10
 
OK, if you've made it down this far into the review then I applaud your ability to decipher the band name and album title.  Took me about 20 minutes to figure out where one ended and the other began. But on to the music.

This isn't too far removed from the other BASTARDIZED RECORDINGS disc reviewed in this issue.  In fact what you have here is a hardcore band who throw in some CRYPTOPSY for the sake of being technical. Not bad at all and like almost all bands of this style these guys are oozing with talent. But talent and oddball time changes do not equal interesting. This sound is being done to death in the US (THE RED CHORD, PREMONITIONS OF WAR) and it looks like it has a place in the heart of the German scene as well. Again I'd probably cut off one of my toes ("we wants the money Lebowski!") to have 25% of the technical ability of this drummer. Overall a solid release for anyone who just can't get enough death/grind/hardcore in their diet. - Big Juan

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Jorn - Out of Every Nation (AFM Records, 2004)

Rating: 1/10

I don't know who this JORN fellow is, or why he deserves a recording contract. This record certainly didn't prove to me that he deserves one. Scandic fellows trying to do "bluesy heavy metal" doesn't work for me.  Not only that but the song writing is tremendously bad. Every terrible cliche ever is used on this record.  What makes it even worse is that there's a video clip of the "hit" song Living With Wolves. This JORN fellow has corpse paint on, yet he sings in the most unblack metal, homosexual fashion imaginable.

Why can't the metal community as a whole let this crap die?  This is seriously the most dated sounding record that I've heard since WINGER.  The drums are slow and boring.  The guitar is chunky and stupid, while staying in blues scales and never varying. The vocals are absolutely terrible.  They're screechy in a sort of Ian Gillan way, but they suck in a way that Ian Gillan was never capable of.  This is the only record I've ever listened to, that made me long for That Guy From Sweden.

This record is an absolute pile of crap. Whoever signed this band should be fired posthaste. - Jim Bob The Enforcer

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Mictlantecuhtll - 2 song promo (self released, 2001) www.Mictlantecuhtll-tribe.com
 
Rating: 4/10
 
Think the name is difficult? Try reading the logo.  These guys may have won the award for "most illegible metal logo." But they definitely didn't win the award of becoming a fixture in my stereo.  These guys clearly are the sum of their influences (at least these two songs seem to indicate that).  I hear from Grand Belial's Key, some American Death Metal and Nordic Black Metal. There's not much else I can say here other than visit their site and try them out for yourself.  I could absolutely see this band evolving into something extremely vicious. Only time will tell. - Big Juan

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My Fate - Happiness is Fiction (Crash Music, 2004)

Rating:  0/10

Happiness is NOT fiction.  Happiness is this CD ending. - Rick

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Nargaroth - Prosatanica Shooting Angels (No Colours, 2004)

Rating: 8/10

A lot of folks weren't pleased with the last NARGAROTH release, Geliebte des Regens, the major gripe (and a legit one) being that it was so repetitious and slow (which is one of the things I liked about it). Apparently Kanwulf caught wind and decided to come out swinging on Prosatanica Shooting Angels, blazing full blast. This is a raw, ugly slab of black metal with very tinny and grating production. I hear pretty much NO bass. Prosatanica Shooting Angels sounds like KRIEG's Destruction Ritual if it was drowning in reverb. Track 3, "Satan Industries," in particular, is a big, glorious mess of echo... especially the vocals. As the promo language declares, "Brith guitars and screaming guts! Back to the roots!" Back to the roots, indeed, though I am not sure what "brith guitars" are. I looked up "brith" in the dictionary and got, "the Jewish rite of circumcision performed on a male child on the eighth day of his life." Something tells me that isn't what they mean, though I guess, in a twisted way, it could be appropriate.

Though there is a song on Prosatanica Shooting Angels called "Black and Blasphemous Death Metal," there is no question that this is black metal through and through. Kanwulf is certainly not trying to win over any death metal fans playing music like this. If you found Geliebte des Regens to be too repetitious and slow, Prosatanica Shooting Angels will certainly more than make up for that as it is a return to the form of Black Metal Ist Kreig, but with much crappier production which, in its way, increases the appeal of music that is supposed to be harsh and ugly anyway. Some songs just blow by, others like the aforementioned "Black and Blasphemous..." have some great writing (check out the guitar passage about 4 minutes in) and, on the whole, Prosatanica Shooting Angels is a solid album that NARGAROTH fans old and new will enjoy. - Al Kikuras

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Nyktalgia - self titled (No Colours, 2004)
 
Rating: 4/10
 
BURZUM cloning is a risky endeavor for any band. And the irony of this band's name wasn't lost on me. Some bands can pull it off and sound entirely unique in their plagiarism, such as WEAKLING. Other just seem to fall flat on their faces, like WIGRID. NYKTALGIA really do neither. Instead they fall somewhere in between leaning ever so slightly to the WIGRID side. BURZUM's brilliance was in Varg's ability to take his own emotional torment and translate it into music that pulled you in o far that you felt like you were sharing a jail cell with the man. Trying to recapture that mood is where most of these bands go horribly wrong. The attempt to deliver "bloodcurdling balls in a vice" vocals over depressive soundscapes rarely reaches the level of legend being sought. But NYKTALGIA do have an uncanny knack for writing some memorable riffs that shouldn't be discounted. While I see this project as a whole to be a predictable BURZUM tribute, I also see room for them to lose their vocalist and move in a direction that uses their mood evoking song structure to decimate listeners. - Big Juan

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