 Bloodshed Divine Demo of the Month |  December Wolves Album of the Month |
Lungbrush | Emperor | Exhumed | Horna | Burzum | Diabolic | Rhapsody | Solitude Aeternus | Hypocrisy | Nervo Chaos | Criminal | Sacred Steel | Undertakers | Solstice | Napalm Death | Memory Garden | Iron Savior | In The Woods | Pro Pain
Rating: 9.5/10
Tracks: Echoes of the Abyss, ...Summoned, Inverted Nazarene, Bloodshed Divine (War In Heaven)
Troy LeBlanc leads me to believe that he is a man possessed. The debut demo from his one-man project, Bloodshed Divine, is absolutely teeming with malevolence. Mr. LeBlanc has unleashed 4 demons of extreme darkness and total hatred in the form of the songs that compise Summoned.
"Echoes of the Abyss" is a brief arrangement of multilayered vocal tracks that sets the mood for the rest of the release. This is what one might hear on the pathway to hell... the tormented cries of anguished souls launguishing in flames. From there, the demo tears into the title track, my personal favorite song on this release. From the opening pounding of "Summoned" through the demo's closing track, "Bloodshed Divine (War In Heaven)" the listener is infused with a sense of despair that can come only from the songwriting of someone with a keen ear for balancing atmosphere and unbridled aggression. Songwriting is the key to this demo's success. The songs are memorable without sacrificing any of the ugliness or brutality that are earmarks of the genre.
Le Blanc's vocal performance ranges from piercing screams ala Marduk's Legion to the deepest of guttural death metal growls. He is obviously adept at each instrument, and as a result the overall product sounds more like the work of a full band than a one-man project. Often in such cases, there is at least one area lacking (in my experience, it is usually the drums) but such is definitely not the case here. The only thing lacking slightly, which leads to the half-point deduction, is the production. It could stand to be a bit more powerful and cleaner.
This is a very well-executed, grim, dark debut release of brutal black metal that comes off sounding both tortured and sadistic. Summoned is the first fatal wound to be inflicted by the cruel blade known as Bloodshed Divine. We can only hope that this is the beginning of a long and murderous career!! - Al Kikuras
Rating: 10/10
Tracks: Conditioned By The Thoughts That I Transmit To You, Completely Dehumanized, We Are Everywhere, Time Flies When You Wish You Were Dead, Friday The 13th, The Gard Division, My Bible, Not With Tainted Blood, To Kill Without Emotion
Before hearing Completely Dehumanized for myself, it had been described to me as "violently hateful and intense."
Right on. This is the stuff nightmares are made of. December Wolves have managed to make black metal accessible without compromising a shred of brutality. They've merely made it memorable, catchy, and completely infectious to the ears. From the opening blast and scream of the title track, Completely Dehumanized is 31 minutes and 8 seconds of absolute mindfuck. The drums and riffing are incomprehensibly fast and heavy. The vocals are delivered with a dose of venom so potent they'll make your nuts crawl back up into your stomach.
This is it, people. December Wolves are the future of extreme music. As the sample in the title track claims, they "came to wreck everything, and ruin your life." You had may as well stick your ass between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye. When the assault is this heavy, there is nothing you can do but lay down and die with honor, but what a way to go... - Al Kikuras
Lungbrush - Old School, New School (Pavement Music '99)
Rating: 8.5/10
Tracks: Urban Tribes, Lost, Sometimes, Exit, Bound, For A Minute, Heroin Suicide, Hindsight, Corporate Bullshit, Clozaril, Janie, Synthetic, I Quit, Soiled
Hardcore fans everywhere I have a sick album for you guys to check out. I'm not a big hardcore fan, but this is really good. The band's name is Lungbrush they are from Chicago. The title of the album is true... these boys bring the old school and new school to the plate, coming off as a mix of old Crumsuckers and D.R.I. with Machine Head.
The vocals scream of aggressive hardcore. This album has alot of groove and power and the quality is top knotch. One of my favorite songs is "Corporate Bullshit." It talks about alot of bands that lost there originality and like Lungbrush said they are "test tube bands," which makes alot of sense... you have to write what is true to you. If you like hardcore you have to pick this album up. - DEATH DEALER
Emperor - IX Equilibrium (Century Media, '99)
Rating: 9/10
Tracks: Curse You All Men, Decrystallizing Reason, An Elegy Of Icaros, The Source of Icon E, Sworn, Nonus Aequilibrium, The Warriors of Modern Death, Of Blindness & Subsequent Seers
Over the past month or so, I have heard much debate about the new Emperor album. Undoubtedly one of the most anticipated releases of the year, it has been both scorned and praised by fans of the band's earlier works. IX Equilibrium's decidedly "death metal" flavor has alienated some former supporters, while others praise Emperor for having the balls to break away from the black metal aesthetics. In my opinion, most of the elements indicative of black metal are still intact here, but there have been some major changes, the vocals perhaps most noticeable. Ishan's Diamond-ish falsetto has some squirming, while his BM screeches have definitely dropped a register. Bottom line... this album RAGES!!! The musicianship is phenomenal, the arrangements intricate yet memorable, the production is very full and clean. IX Equilibrium will undoubtedly attract new listeners and has already alientated some old ones. Have they sold out? If straying from pure black metal constitutes selling out, paint these boys U.S. Dollar Green. In my opinion, this album is as extreme as anything they have done in the past... they have just opened the doors a bit and let other influences creep in.The radio and MTV won't touch it, it is way too extreme for your average KORN fan and it'll still make mom and dad leave the room. It is still METAL, and damn good metal at that. - Al Kikuras
Exhumed - Gore Metal (Relapse, '99)
Rating: 9/10
Tracks: Necromaniac, Open the Abscess, Postmortem Procedures, Limb From Limb, Enucleation, Casketcrusher, Deathmask, In My Human Slaughternouse, Sepulchural Slaughter, Vagitarian 2, Blazing Corpse, Deadest of the Dead, Sodomy and Lust
Picture Carcass' Reek of Putrefaction with much better production and a gutload of old school-metal influence thrown into the meat grinder and you have Exhumed. The 13 gloriously bloodsoaked tracks (including an excellent rendition of Sodom's "Sodomy and Lust") that make up Gore Metal will have any death metal/grind enthusiast with a taste for the sanguinal absolutely drooling. Since I am among those ranks, this is a disc I have been finding myself listening to at least twice daily. I cannot get enough, or recommend this highly enough to anyone with similar tastes. Most delectable!!! - Al Kikuras
Horna - Hiidentorni (Solistitium, '98)
Rating: 9/10
Tracks: Avaus/Kun Ltomme Junalan Kodin Liekkenheim, Ikuisesti Kalpeina Kuoleman Muistoina, Hiidentorni Huokui Usvansa, and 5 more similarly-titled songs
Yeah, so I fudged it. The song titles on this album are very long and completely indecipherable to me. What really matters here is the music, and Horna are dishing up some raw, delightful black metal that calls to the most abrasive days of Darkthrone coupled with Immortal's Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism. If someone came to me and asked "what does that black metal stuff sound like?" I'd probably just throw this album on and let them get audially beaten and abused for 40 minutes or so.
Yup, this is the stuff black metal dreams are made of. All ye purists that scorn Cradle of Filth for their pomp and polish, take this one and shove it. It's raw and straightforward as it comes! I LOVE this album. It is the elements that make up this music that attracted me to black metal in the first place.
Horna provide a constant reminder throughout Hiidentorni that all is NOT well with the world. The birds aren't chirping, the sun isn't shining, babies are dying, someone's house and worldly possessions are, at this moment, burning down to the ground. God is NOT watching, but Horna are and they've provided the soundtrack to all the chaos that makes the world the cespool of violence and malevolence that it is. - Al Kikuras
Solistitium
P.O. Box 1210
26802 Moormerland
Germany
Burzum - Hlidskajalf (Misanthropy, '99)
Rating: 9/10
Tracks: Tuistos Herz, Der Tod Wuotans, Ausuzgardaraituo, Die Liebe Nerpus, Das einsame Trauern von Frijo, Die Kraft des Mitgefuhls, Frijos goldene Tranen, Der weinende Hadnur
I am sure you are aware of the varied opinions the last Burzum release generated. Hell, I am sure you hold one of your own. One of, if not the most influential figures in black metal completely abandons metal altogether after he winds up behind bars. The question in my mind was did Varg trade up (and outright denounce) the guitar for a synth and computer by choice or necessity? Although I did enjoy Daudi Balders, I couldn't help but feel that this was a dark raven with his wings clipped. It is an interesting listen, but nothing overly inspiring.
Well, that seems to have changed. Either Varg just plain got better at buttons or his sincerity in composing synth pieces has evolved greatly. I would guess the latter. The sounds on Hlidskajalf are much fuller, much richer... they paint a picture in melody and mood, telling the story of the death of the Norse god Wotan. The material on this album is much more intricate and subtle than of its predecessor. It comes off sounding less like a synth piece and more like actual instruments. The production has improved tenfold and the material is much stronger than any of the synth pieces on his previous, even pre-incarceration albums.
Varg's voice is again as valid as it was when Det Som Engang Var was released and my ears rejoice it's return. - Al Kikuras
Diabolic - Supreme Evil(Conquest, '99)
Rating: 8.5/10
Tracks: Insacred, Sacrament of Fiends, Ancient Hatred, Treacherous Scriptures, Grave Warnings, Rack of Torment, View With Abhorrence, Dwelling Spirits, Wicked Inclination, Supreme Evil
This is death metal. Plain and simple. No bullshit, no fucking around. This is the kind of material thst lends the genre its notoriety, and deservingly so. Diabolic have unleased an album of caustic, heavy, dark and foreboding music that gives Devilyn's Anger a run for the money when it comes to breathing new life and energy into a genre that has been veritably fucked in every possible orifice since the early 90's when its popularity skyrocketed. There are other bands that have accomplished the same by bringing something new to the fold, such as Gorguts and Nile, but the thing that ties Devilyn and Diabolic together is that neither really break any new ground, but manage to go for the throat with such ferocity that they come off sounding inspired and as exciting as Morbid Angel did back on Altars of Madness.
Diabolic come off sounding like veterans on Supreme Evil, a debut slab that is sure to leave a very deep scar on the underground scene. The musicianship is impeccable, the songwriting strong, the vocals are spewed with venomous spite and complete conviction. This is death metal at it's highest level of evolution without sailing off into experimental waters, and what the beast has evolved into is a remorseless, barbaric killing machine. Put on your splash goggles, ladies and gentlemen. Blood is going to fly... - Al Kikuras
Rhapsody - Symphony of Enchanted Lands (LMP '99)
Rating: 9.5/10
Tracks: Epicus Furor, Emerald Sword, Wisdom of the Kings, Heroes of the Lost Valley, Eternal Glory, Beyond the Gates of Infinity, Wings of Destiny, The Dark Tower of Abyss, Riding the Wings of Eternity, Symphony of Enchanted Lands
Rhapsody's previous release, Legendary Tales, is an absolutely majestic, soaring, uplifting example of grandiose power metal done right. Well, they've gone and done it again. Symphony of Enchanted Lands takes the majesty and sense of the epic to the next level. Rhapsody have captured the spirit of the genre that has been sorely lacking since Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II. To be honest, I don't think another band has pulled it off that well since. Until now...
Yeah, so, the narrations are a bit melodramatic, but who cares?? THIS is the kind of stuff that metal dreams are made of!! The vocals soar, the guitars intertwine to describe battles and adventures of epic proportions, the drums pound and crack the sky, and keyboards interlaced throughout bring the feel of the symphonic. The use of traditional baroque instruments such as the lute and oboe, stringed instruments like the violin and viola, coupled with frequent choral passages set the mood, transporting the listener back to the time when dragons walked the earth. The drums really are key in this all working so well and not coming off as just plain dated or cheesy. Drummer Daniele Carbonera has very fast, steady feet. Matching the fast picking with double bass serves to increase the powerful, driving feeling tenfold and it is VERY effective in elevating Rhapsody above the slew of bands that have jumped on deck of the power metal resurgence of late. Of course, the songwriting is also key here. The songs are memorable, the arrangements are tasty and the production is absoutely impeccable. Symphony of Enchanted Lands blows Helloween's Better Than Raw out of the water and is definitely one of the top epic power metal releases of the year. HIGHLY recommended! - Al Kikuras
Solitude Aeturnus - Adagio (Olympic, '98)
Rating: 10/10
Tracks: My Endtime, Days of Prayer, Believe, Never, Idis, Personal God, Mental Pictures, Insanity's Circles, The Fall, Lament, Empty Faith, Spiral Descent, Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath cover)
One of the biggest pioneering doom bands in metal, Texas' Solitude Aeturnus have proven time and time again that sadness is indeed a true artform. Simply put, Adagio, the band's fifth full length record to date, is the kind of doom record that instantly grips
you in its cold embrace and leaves you with an overwhelming feeling of numbness and despair. Furthermore, in my opinion, what I've always felt to be the reason why this band has stood out so much is because unlike some of its peers (i.e. My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, Evoken [I have to vehemently disagree with you on this one - Al], etc.) the music itself has never relied so much on cheesy, goth-tinged keyboards or such elaborate and dramatic songwriting in order to come across as incredibly powerful. Instead, by taking the rudimentary elements of early Sabbath, St. Vitus, Solitude Aeturnus makes for a much more enjoyable listen with its simplistic but yet sinister backdrop. Add to that, the haunting vocals of frontman Robert Lowe, and there my friends, you have a masterpiece of majestic grandeur. Upon listen to the first two tracks alone, 'Days of Prayer' and 'Believe' you can detect the sort of interplay within the guitars perfected by the likes of veteran axe grinders, Michael Denner and Hank Sherman during the Don't Break the Oath days of Mercyful Fate. Basically, you can expect, more or less, the same vibe throughout. Other highlights, however, include songs such as 'Personal God', 'Insanity's Circles', and 'Lament' which all happen to showcase a number of mournful harmonies and crunchy midpaced riffs that often remind one of an even darker and more heavier sounding Trouble (think back to 'Run To the Light'). Overall, a very impressive effort which highly deserves your attention. Buy this or die!! 'nuff said. - Envenomed
Hypocrisy - Hypocrisy Destroys Wacken (Nuclear Blast, '99)
Rating: 8.5/10
Tracks: Roswell-47, Inseminated Adoption, A Coming Race, Apocalypse, Obsculum Obscenum, Buried, Left To Rot, The Fourth Dimension, Pleasure of Molestation, Killing Art, The Final Chapter, Time Warp, Until The End, Fuck U, Beginning of the End
Having seen Hypocrisy live at the March Metal Meltdown '99, I can attest to the strength of their live performance, and it is well-represented here. The material spans their discography, from songs such as "Left To Rot" through the title track to The Final Chapter. The sound is great, the band is in top form. An excellent live performance captured well on disc.
What is really of interest here is the 4 previously unreleased studio tracks. "Time Warp" reminds me very much of Slayer's "Dittohead." The opening vocal arrangement, the vocals themselves are Araya-ish throughout the tune, and the solo is a bonafied Slayer wailer. A good tune, but not distinctive Hypocrisy by any means and it shows a step away from Tagtren's death vocals. It would be a shame if he continued down that path, as the man's voice is sick. "Until The End" sounds like it was lifted right from the phenomenal The Final Chapter. While this song also shows a departure from the gruffer vocal department, it is TOTAL Hypocrisy. Well-written and memorable, with a thick, droning atmosphere. It actually reminds me very much of early Bloodstar material (their first album is GREAT!!).
"Fuck U" falls into the "Time Warp" category. Again, not a bad song, but the punkish feel just doesn't seem up to par with the standard of greatness Hypocrisy has set on their past two albums. Do we really need another song that proclaims "Fuck the System?" The boys have the right to stretch out into less serious areas (both lyrically AND musically, in this case), but again, I can only hope that this is just that... a stretch as opposed to "growth" into these less fertile areas.
The final track, "Beginning of the End," sounds like classic Hypocrisy, Inferior Devoties era. A strong song... straightforward, evil, and heavy. This is the stuff that gained Hypocrisy their notoriety in the beginning and it is good to hear they still have a bit of this demon in them. - Al Kikuras
Nervo Chaos - Pay Back Time (Muvuca Records '99)
Rating: 8.5/10
Tracks: Just the Truth, I Hate Your God, Revolt, No Self-respect, Mighty Justice, Pain Haze, Bastard Pig, Traitor, Rotten Flesh, Hate Face, Liar, Loser, The Way To Pay, Nervochaos
SICK!! Brazil's Nervo Chaos take the grinding tendencies of Terrorizer and mesh it with golden-era Sepultura, churning out a hardcore-tinged assault of catchy, brutal deathcore that gets my primal blood boiling every time I listen to it. The production is excellent! The wall-of-sound guitars and bass and thunderous drums are tempered with a triple vocal attack, resulting in non-stop chaos from stop to finish. The songs are catchy, the arrangements never boring. This is a VERY strong debut release from a band that is already bringing us great things. I predict their next release will absolutely KILL, as Pay Back Time does a tremendous job of beating the listener beyond recognition. - Al Kikuras
Criminal - Dead Soul(Metal Blade Records (under license from BMG Chile), '99)
Rating: 3/10
Tracks: Denial, Scapegoat, Collide, Terror, Life is Agony, No Salvation, Victimized, S.S.S., Hijos de la Miseria, Slave master, Nation of Hate, Guilt
Dead Soul is not quite the right name for this album; my vote goes to No Soul. I always like it when an album's title reflects the music on it.
Vocalist/guitarist Anton Reisenegger says, "...I feel that the mere fact of being from South America makes us different and we have something to offer that American or European bands don't have." Last I checked, Anton, being from South America doesn't mean you have to sound like Sepultura.
For an idea of what this album sounds like, listen to Sepultura's Chaos A.D. God knows that Criminal did. Dead Soul is entirely based on that album, albiet with no originality and about a quarter of the talent of the boys from Brazil. Reisengger's vocals are a complete parody of Max Cavelera, and Rodrigo Contreras couldn't have tuned his guitar to sound more like Andreas Kisser's if he had tried (which I'm sure he did).
There isn't much I can say about this monument to mediocrity. It is an exercise in boring sameness and imitation. It is truly a chore to force yourself to sit through these thirty five excruciating minutes. I only give it a 3 out of 10 because it does sound like Sepultura, and that was obviously their aim. I'm writing my Congressman to suggest on embargo on Chile so no more of this crap can get through. - Markoff 5
Sacred Steel - Wargods Of Metal (Metal Blade, '99)
Rating: 8.5/10
Tracks: Blessed By The Gods, Wargods Of Metal, Tonight The Witches Ride, Iron Legions, Carnage Rules The Fields Of Death, Army Of Metalheads, Battle Cry, Dethrone The Tyrant King, By Steel We Rule, Crusaders Of The Metal Blade, Empire Of Steel, Declaration Of War, Heavy Metal To The End
This is a hard review to write. I want these guys to be good so badly. Their first album, Reborn In Steel, was a disgrace to metal. An amateurish effort, by an amateurish band. The lead singer, Gerrit P. Mutz, sounded like Rob Halford being raped by 25 steel dildos with barbed wire wrapped around them. It was terrible. Their heart was in the right place, the talent just wasn't there yet. Wargods Of Metal sees a noticeable advancement in musicianship. These guys can now play their interments, which is a big improvement, but Gerrit still comes off as if his voice was recorded at the wrong speed on warped tape. At times these guys come off sounding like the "Wargods" they claim to be, but at other times they just sound like a joke. On songs without "metal" in the title, "Tonight The Witches Ride", "Iron Legions", Carnage RulesŠ", and "Declaration Of War", the band and Gerrit seem to have more freedom to explore their craft and sound like a great (that's right I said great) band, but on the songs with "metal" in the title they sound like a parody of "true metal warriors", sounding more like Nasty Disaster than Manowar. I have hope though, this is about a 500% improvement over their first album so who knows maybe the next album will be a masterpiece. Until then, just give me my Manowar and go the fuck away. - Piston Rod
Undertakers - Suffering Within (Cryptic Soul Productions, '97)
Rating: 8/10
Tracks: Immortal Invocation, Inquisition, Human Decline, KillingMachine, Eternal Punishment, Pathalogical Maniac, Beyond the Dreams, Seed
Let's not mince words here. This is death metal. Plain and simple. And it is the good stuff, no less. Undertakers don't branch off into any new areas. They break no new ground. But they do rip you a new, bleeding, gaping asshole by taking the brutality and vocal approach of Deicide and meshing it with the dirtiness and groove of early Internal Bleeding. The vocals are ferocious, the music sways between crushing grooves and frantic blasting. The songs although not entirely memorable, are well-executed and convincing.
This is not one for those mornings where you are feeling dangerously close to taking a bat to someone. It just might push you over the edge. - Al Kikuras
Solstice - New Dark Age (Misanthropy, '98)
Rating: 3/10
Tracks: New Dark Age, The Sleeping Tyrant, Cimmerian Codex, Alchemiculte, Hammer of Damnation, The Anguine Rose, Blackthorne, The Keep, Cromlech, New Dark Age II, Legion XIII
This is terrible. I just hate metal like this. Half-assed, no balls, a whiney vocalist that can't really sing... the avenue Amophis and many others have travelled recently. To their credit, the songs aren't that bad, but the vocals are so awful that it just kills the album. Pass on this one... it is a shame you can't easily record over CDs! - Al Kikuras
Napalm Death - Words From The Exit Wound (Earache, '99)
Rating: 10/10
Tracks: The Infiltraitor, Repression Out Of Uniform, Next Of Kin To Chaos, Trio-Degradable/Affixed By Disconcern, Cleanse Impure, Devouring Depraved, Ulterior Exterior, None The Wiser?, Clutching At Barbs, Incendiary Incoming, Thrown Down A Rope, Sceptic In Perspective
I recently saw these guys in concert at the MARCH METAL MELTDOWN in New Jersey. It was the first time I saw them live. What a show! They were great ! Next time you get a chance to see them Napalm Death in concert, go. You will never forget this show. It is pure chaos.
I'm speechless. This album is amazing!!! There are tons of heavy riffs and plus a lot more groove than previous efforts. Barney does some clean singing just a little, but his roaring vocals are still just as sick. It is hard to say which songs are my favorites, because the whole album is fucking amazing!
If you like live stuff, I have a treat for you. This cd includes three hidden bonus tracks. The songs are "Hung," "Greed" and the greatest song Napalm Death ever wroteŠ "SUFFER THE CHILDREN." The quality of the live songs is not too bad, but the rest of the album sounds great. This album is a must! Get it now !!!! - DEATH DEALER
Memory Garden - Verdict Of Posterity (Metal Blade, '99)
Rating: 8.2/10
Tracks: Carved In Stone, Awkward Tale, Shadow Season, Tragic Kingdom, The Sum Of All Fear, Split Image, Outward Passage, Wasteland Foretold, Amen
Take a touch of doom metal music, add a dash of power metal vocals, mix, puree, and serve. That is the directions for a Memory Garden Smoothy. If this sounds appetizing, then perhaps you will like the taste of this delicacy, but then again maybe not. I found myself interested in the concept, but lost on the execution. My main problem was the intensity. With a sound like this you need really powerful music behind the power metal vocals or you just get curdled milk, and no one likes that. I find this release very boring. If the band turned up the intensity a notch or two, and sped up their music here and there, then it would add more fire to the furnace and more depth to the musicŠand isn't that we are all looking for... depth. - Piston Rod
Iron Savior - Unification (Noise, '99)
Rating: 7.9/10
Tracks: Coming Home, Starborn, Deadly Sleep, Forces Of Rage, Captain's Log, Brothers (Of The Past), Eye To Eye, Mind Over Matter, Prisoner Of The Void, The Battle, Unchained, Forevermore, Gorgar (vers. 98), Neon Knights, Dragonslayer
Power Metal is a tricky thing. Bad power metal is one of the worst things on the planet (Evergrey, New Eden, Narnia), but good power metal (and sometimes great power metal) is one of life's true gifts. Abraxas, Blind Guardian, Nevermore, Dream Child, and Gamma Ray are a few bands that are responsible in the last year or so for putting out some really great power metal albums. Gamma Ray, in my opinion, being the torch barer for the genre in the last few years, taking up the slack left by the now lame bands Iron Maiden and Helloween. Gamma Ray's last two albums, Land Of The Free and Somewhere Out In Space, are two true masterpieces of power metal, and personally two of my favorites as well. So, when I found out that Kai Hansen, lead singer/guitarist of Gamma Ray, had another band I literally wet my pants with anticipation. Finally the album arrived and I got the chance to review it. Well, here's how it wentŠ
Iron Savior has a grittier and rawer sound than Gamma Ray (that's good), and the musicianship is sure there (that's good), but every song sounds the same (that's bad). The first time I listened to the album I was bored out of my skull. The second time I listened to it the first two songs really got to me. I thought to myself, "OK, I'm starting to like this," but by the fourth song I realized why I was bored the first time through. Ever song starts off with an interesting drum or guitar intro and then dissolves into a typical mid-tempo power metal song. The stale riffs and uninspired choruses really make this sound like and old band. I don't know what happened. Good bands, in any genre, should really try to make each song sound different. To have them all stand on their own. This way a person doesn't get bored listening to the album. Every new song is an adventure. What will the next song sound like; will it be a speedy thrash song, a melodic power metal song, or a heavy metal anthem? With Unification, however, you can basically predict what the next song will sound likeŠthat's right, the song right before it. That is just LAME, LAME, LAME. There are a lot of redeeming qualities to the album, but on the whole it just isn't an entertaining listen. Sorry, boys! - Piston Rod
In The Woods - Strange In Stereo (Misanthropy, '98)
Rating: 8/10
Tracks: Closing In, Cell, Vanish In The Absense of Virtue, Basement Corridors, Ion, Generally More Worried Than Married, Path of the Righteous, Dead Man's Creek, Titan Transcendence, Shelter, By The Balls of Pandemonium
At first listen, I thought I was going to hate this one. I had expected In The Woods to be a black metal band, and perhaps they once were. In the wake of the terrible Solstice album that Misanthropy sent along with this one, I was prepared for another clunker. This is actually very cool stuff!! In The Woods sound like a cross between David Bowie ("Ziggy Stardust" era), Devin Townsend's Ocean Machine and Peter Gabriel with an underlying darkness and feel for the somber.
I've found that most metal-bands-turned-symphonic outfits come off as just plain pretentious and bad. In The Woods actually manage to pull this off. Female vocals are interspersed throughout the album, never too annoying or overdone. There are very rich moods created throughout these 11 tracks that rival Celtic Frost's brilliant Into the Pandemonium, althougth the material here is not as varied. This comes off more as quality, dark synthpop than anything metallic. A nice surprise! - Al Kikuras
Pro-Pain - Act of God (Nuclear Blast, '99)
Rating: 8/10
Tracks: Stand Tall, In For the Kill, Act of God, On Parade, I remain, Time Will Tell, Pride, Love and War, Hopeless?, Burn, All Fall Down, F.S.D.
Pro-Pain have come a long way from the annoying hip-hop influences of their early days. When I saw them opening for Testament in '92, they were another Biohazard clone jumping around the stage. Hell, they even kind of looked like Biohazard.
Seven years and 4 albums later, Pro-Pain are gods of groovy, addictively catchy, fist pumping, metallic deathcore. Act of God continues in the style of the last two albums, keeping the songs around three minutes and filled with hooks and short but stellar lead guitar solos. This is not a big change from past efforts, but if it ain't broke...
Things start out with the killer shout-along chorus of "Stand Tall," and continue with such instant anthems as "On Parade," "Time Will Tell," and closer "F.S.U. (Fuck Shit Up)." Once again, Pro-Pain have kept the album concise at just under forty minutes, the perfect length for something this hardcore influenced.
While I really like this album, my rating is a bit lower because of the simple nature of the music and the similarities to previous albums. This album won't be a critical favorite or impress anyone with it's technical prowess, but it is still a great listen and I recommend it. - Markoff5
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