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BEHEADED
Recounts Of Disembodiment (Forever Underground)
While Malta’s Beheaded may not be well known in North Americas
right now, that could change if this album gets the right push and
right coverage. The new album, Recounts of Disembodiment, is a strong
brutal death metal album that could easily be lumped in with solid
albums this year by Cannibal Corpse, Misery Index and numerous others
who continue to mold and strengthen the genre. Tight musicianship
and some dynamic production help reinforce their aggressive charge
that this quintet dishes out here. Singer Lawrence Joyce has some
truly powerful guttural growls. Choice cuts include: "Horde
Of The Stolen Sun," "Compelling Derangement" and
"Disdain," and check out the killer guitar solo on "Fed
Upon Odium." Nice! Beheaded mean business in 2002. Watch your
head! <A. Bromley> -7-
BERZERKER
Dissimulate (Earache)
Some think GWAR are the ones who will bring the apocalypse to mankind.
Not bloody likely, as long as Australia's Berzerker are around.
These guys are poised to bring mass destruction and chaos to this
world once their new album 'Dissimulate' is released. From opening
track "Disregard" to vicious masterpieces like "Death
Reveals" and "Painless," Berzerker lets loose a fury
of noise and industrial mayhem that'll have many listeners' ears
bleeding. The band even finds time in their arsenal to cover Carcass'
classic "Corporal Jigsaw Quandary." Nice! It’s a
no-brainer when I say that if you got the first album by the band
and dug it, you'll be all over this like flies on shit, and if you
hated the band, run for cover because these Aussie noise tyrants
are here to stay. Much heavier than their self-titled debut. <Adrian
Bromley> -7.5-
BLOOD STORM
Ancient Wraith of Ku (Metal War Productions)
Blood Storm's last release, ‘Pestilence From the Dragonstar,’
was an awesome platter. Truly, in the realm of North American black
metal, it should have taken its place among the elite with Absu.
Crafted with razor-sharp riffs, mace-like thundering, and a penchant
for the old school, including Celtic Frost worship, Blood Storm
had a good raw mix of old and new to please the most discerning
extreme black fan. So, how does ‘Ancient Wraith of Ku’
hold up? Just as good, to be honest. To levy a fair criticism, Blood
Storm haven't traveled any new paths, or even really expanded on
their old ones (other than getting a new bass player). However,
they have honed their playing skills, evidenced by more diverse
time changes, and have kept the core of their sound intact, an accomplishment
in today's ever-changing trend scene. ‘The Ancient Wraith Of
Ku’ is a battering ram of black metal on angel dust, hammering
home any point made with authority. It's brutal and excessive, in
a good way, in every aspect, and how can you not like a band that
uses weird time changes and guitar tones that are akin to the mighty
Frost? The Rumpelstiltskin of U.S. black metal, Blood Storm weaves
straw into gold. <Alex Ristic> -8-
BLUT AUS NORD
The Mystical Beast of Rebellion (Oaken Shield)
Vindsval has surely come a long way since the "Ultima Thule"
days of Blut Aus Nord. Having been so heavily influenced by Burzum
in the beginning, and then producing the slightly more original
‘Fathers of the Icy Age,’ he’s made a fantastic comeback
with ‘The Mystical Beast of Rebellion,’ his best work
to date. It’s been five years since the last album and if the
‘Beast’ is any indication, he’s just been getting
more and more pissed off over time. The pace of this streaming blackness
almost never slows down, and Vindsval’s vocals sound like he’s
literally getting the life squeezed right out of him. Total pain,
in other words—grim as your mother-in-law in the early morning.
It’s too bad about the drum machine, though. On the one side,
it gives the material a bit of originality, but on the other, it
sounds so lame in comparison to Vindsval’s vocals and the raging
guitars that you have to wonder how much better this might have
been with a real drummer. But, putting that aside, the music is
great and the concept is pretty interesting in itself—six tracks,
all titled "The Fall," and a booklet of just blank, black
pages. This is not the sort of thing one comes across often in this
genre, so it definitely adds to the charm. A powerful comeback for
one of France’s best black metal bands, all in all. <Yury
Arkadin> -8-
CEMETERY
OF SCREAM
Prelude To a Sentimental Journey (Hammer Muzik)
Take a doomy background, add light doses of death and black metal,
and a lot of atmosphere, and you have Cemetery of Scream's sound.
This is a cool and original outing from the first note till the
last, rounded out by some great production. Taking a sound comparable
to 'Clouds'-era Tiamat and adding their own flair makes for a totally
varied affair. The album is a concept album composed of three parts;
"Time Is Shadow," which draws you into the symphonic qualities
of the band and gives you a good understanding of what you're getting
yourself into, "The Chess At the Foot of the Mountain"
draws you into its harmonious gothic/folky quality and even adds
some electronic passages in its last section, "The Hourglass,"
and "Towards To The Final Consciousness" offers textured
melodies and turns up the death just a little more to close out
a great album of music. It's cool when a band can add so many different
styles to make a sound that's their own. CoS have done this with
a flawless approach and with great attention to detail. This is
something definitely new and different to check out.
<Liam Savage> - 8.5-
CRADLE
OF FILTH
Lovecraft & Witch Hearts (KOCH / Music For Nations)
Well, there are two ways you can look at this disc, and I’ll
discuss both, because Cradle of Filth is one of those bands always
deserving proper attention. Upon initial inspection of this two-CD
set, I immediately felt that in order to do a proper "Best
Of" for Cradle, it must be at least two CDs, as they possess
that much decent material (most of which is epic-length). But then
common sense clicked in. While the first disc does indeed capture
many of the band’s finer moments, disc two is an amalgam of
rare tracks and remixes designed specifically for the core fans
(who MFN assumed hadn’t already tracked them down). This immediately
screamed "financial ploy" to me, which seems appropriate,
since every label that ever had anything to do with Cradle is apparently
trying to cash in on the band’s possible forthcoming mainstream
success, as they’ve recently signed with Sony/Epic Records.
On the flip side, as I previously mentioned, disc one is an appropriate
introduction for the skeptical would-be CoF fan. The collection
captures most of the band’s creative genius from the Music
For Nations years (tracks from ‘The Principle of Evil Made
Flesh’ and ‘Vempire’ were not included because of
another label’s ruse at pinching some profits from the band—Cacophonous
is keeping those recordings under wraps, which is sad, because those
albums still haven’t received a North American release), but
if MFN really wanted to make the fanboys slobber, they should have
replaced the atrocious dancehall mixes of "Twisting Further
Nails" and "Dance Macabre" (which really screw up
the budding CoF fan’s appreciation for the band’s art)
and included such rarities as "Nocturnal Supremacy ’96"
(from the digipack version of ‘Dusk…and Her Embrace’),
their cover version of Venom’s "Black Metal" (from
the two-CD version of ‘Cruelty and the Beast’), and "Pervert’s
Church" (from the European version of ‘From the Cradle
To Enslave’)—you know, material that really is difficult
to come by. In a nutshell, for anyone who is not familiar with Cradle
of Filth’s work, the band’s brand of imaginative and complex
dark metal is the sonic abortion from the union of the Hammer Horror
films and Hellraiser. At the end of the day, CoF are the true masters
of sophisticated morbid romance, and the world has every right to
desire a piece of their brilliance. <Mark Morton> -6-
DARK SANCTUARY
Vie Ephemere (Wounded Love Records)
Immaculately beautiful. These are the words I would use to describe
the sound that France’s Dark Sanctuary produces. In two marvelous
tracks, ‘Vie Ephemere’ has taken my heart, ripped it from
my chest and fed it back to me through my mouth...with the most
sublime ruthlessness! Seldom have I heard music as emotional and
honest as this in the past several years, and I would be dumb to
say that the outstanding musicianship does not enhance this feeling.
Dark Sanctuary, which one should not confuse with Dark Tranquillity,
Dark Reality or any of the other "Dark" bands out there,
are a rare species nearly on the brink of extinction in our sick
and spiritless world today and, if this short recording is any indication,
I would deign to say one of the best of the lot. This single consists
of two tracks—the title song, which floats along with delicate
female vocals sung in an operatic style with acoustic guitars producing
the bulk of the harmony, summoning visions of ancient and gothic
landscapes; and the second track, a more brooding and gloomier piece,
with a piano segment running through the middle that, perhaps unintentionally,
brings the Phantasm score to mind. I’m reminded of Arcana after
listening to this, too; both bands sharing a similar atmosphere.
Some things are hard to avoid, I suppose. But Dark Sanctuary has
succeeded after only 12 minutes in converting me to their religion
of never-ending sorrow. I now look forward to their upcoming release,
‘L’etre las—l’enver du miroir’ with marked
anticipation. Did I also mention that it was produced by Marcus
Stock (Empyrium) in the Klangschmeide Studio E? <Yury Arkadin>
-8.5-
DEMONS
Stockholm Slump (Gearhead)
From the same vat of rock n’ roll that brought us The Hellacopters
and The Cumshots comes Stockholm’s renegade rockers Demon,
all greased up and ready to rock. With a definitive 70s hard rock/punk
rock vibe circulating throughout the album, ‘Stockholm Slump’
has character for the most part but slowly starts to lose its edge
as the album continues on. Too much of the same style/sound drenches
the songs, over-saturating them with squealing guitars, manic vocals
and a one-two step. There is very little variety on ‘Stockholm
Slump.’ I must say this does rock when it needs be ("Devil
In Me" and "Undertaker’s Lament") but in this
day an age you need to do your best to keep people coming back for
me and I am not sure if I’ll be one of those coming back to
Demon. Maybe. <Adrian Bromley> -5-
DELIGHT
The Fading Tale (Metal Mind)
Poland’s Delight is indeed that—a delight. Managing to
incorporate a sound and style reminiscent to of, say The Gathering,
Lacuna Coil, Beseech and Tristania, the sextet steamrolls through
an impressive set of keyboard heavy numbers that rely on its fast
pace and harmonies to keep it from going off course and/or sound
repetitive. Sure we have heard numerous bands like this before,
but there seems to be a touch of intensity in the flow of Delight’s
music, as if they are kind of pushing their sound/style too much
and that at a second’s notice it could all crumble into a million
pieces. In the end, this is pretty good and worth a listen, especially
for the cool cover of WHAM!’s "Careless Whisper."
Come on, you know the words! <Adrian Bromley> -7-
DISCHARGE
s/t (Sanctuary)
Some 25 years after their formation, Discharge is back at it again,
this time with their entire original lineup. With two extremely
weak, disappointing releases preceding this eponymous effort –
‘Massacre Divine’ and ‘Shooting Up The World’
– loyal discharge fans have every right to be suspicious of
this offering. Finally, they deliver. Reverting back to the blistering
punk sound they originated, this CD is 13 tracks of extremely heavy
music. Cal’s voice, at one time very distinguishable for it’s
high-pitched whine, is back to the growl he used to use on the band’s
earlier releases. While it’s difficult to say whether these
songs will stand the test of time the way "The Nightmare Continues"
and "State Violence/State Control" have, it’s nice
to see that this time Discharge are doing it right. <Paul
Silbiger> -7.5-
DORO
Fight (SPV)
With ‘Fight,’ Ms. Pesch has created the most inspired
and diverse collection of material she’s released in years.
While many are quick to pass the disc off as the same old Doro—and
in some respects they are right—there is absolutely NO woman
in the heavy metal scene with as much dedication and enthusiasm
for the art than Doro Pesch. It is obvious within each song that
she is passionate and puts every ounce of her soul into her work.
Fist-pumping anthems like "Fight" and "Always Live
To Win," fervent power ballads like "Wild Heart"
and "Hoffnung," and the sobering "Fight By Your Side"
are ample proof that Doro is a woman on a mission. For her hardcore
fans (or the techno-geeks of the world), a limited edition digipak
configuration of ‘Fight’ was pressed, featuring a bonus
acoustic track, "Song For Me" (which eerily echoes Savatage’s
"When The Crowds Are Gone"), two live videos, a photo
gallery (drool...), bio info, and other Web-related goodies. All
in all, ‘Fight’ is extremely focused and offers ample
evidence of one woman’s unyielding will to survive (and thrive)
in the age-old, clichéd boys’ club known as heavy metal.
<M. Morton> -8-
DRILLER KILLER
Cold, Cheap & Disconnected (Osmose)
When Sweden’s crusty/punk/hardcore rock act Driller Killer
put out their Osmose Productions debut ‘Fuck The World’
in 1997 I was into the band. It was raw, ruthless and uncompromising.
Fast forward five years and the band is still messing with the same
formula, rarely moving into any new territory over the last few
releases. Sure it is a little more abrasive, but the band is still
dishing out the same formula and it is getting tiresome. ‘Cold,
Cheap & Disconnected’ is an okay album but after a few
spins it all begins to sound old and rehashed. No real fire burning
within, just ideas and emotions that do little to ignite any excitement
in the listener. An overhaul might be required should Driller Killer
want to stick around for a few more years. <Adrian Bromley>
-3.5-
ENCHANT
Blink Of An Eye (Inside Out)
Progressive hard rock outfit Enchant have made quite a name for
themselves in said genre. Having not heard this band before, I wasn’t
sure if I was going to expect the regular fare of prog rock, or
something dynamic and innovative. With this being their 5th album,
they have created a very warm and expansive sound. Where most prog
bands will try to throw as much as they can into the allotted time
frame of a song, Enchant works at a mid-pace level of drawing you
into the overall sound. They’re kind of comparable to Porcupine
Tree in that way. This definitely works in making the album a great
listening experience from beginning to end. One of my only problems
with the album, albeit a minor one, is when they break it down into
slower passages, like on the songs "Follow The Sun" and
"Ultimate Gift", they tend to keep it going a little too
long. But then again, maybe I’m just impatient. However, the
nice groove and fluidity of "Seeds Of Hate," "Flat
Line" and "Despicable" show off their great song-writing
style. <Liam Savage> -8-
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