Australian band Abominator get down to business and play dirty with a heavy arsenal of venomous riffs and torturous blasts with The Eternal Conflagration. The style more or less sounds like a thrashy jumble of randomness, and is raw at best. To get the idea, put a dab of ground beef into a blender and let at it for nearly an hour. What you get is a bloody mess.

The vintage sounding production makes the music much more authentic in terms of sounding evil, but also makes it hard to dissect the music and embrace it. Speed is everything here, and there’s quite a bit of passion in the playing, but what is lacking is the concentration of the music itself. It just goes in one ear and out the other, bummer!

Aside from the criticism, this should be directed toward diehard fans of vinyl collecting, South American blackened death thrash bands. Sarcofago could very well roll over in their graves for this type of shit; some Mutilator fans could also go for this stuff if they’re not that busy worshiping. (5/10)

Abysmal Dawn's brand of melodic death is common enough: clean production, crisp growls and double-bass-heavy drums combine with thrashy guitar grooves to result in (insert band name here)'s style. But Abysmal Dawn's performance is above-average, and the group's lean style of playing is sure to attract disillusioned death-heads who are sick of atmospheric synthesizers and female vocals.

Abysmal Dawn's formula is extremely groove-heavy, but it works for the group as the lines change frequently and are interrupted often enough with quality soloing and hard verses. Terry Barajas's drumming is excellent; he varies his playing and often adds intricacies that help to make From Ashes a satisfying listen. The guitars are also well-manned, resulting in generally creative riffing and some surprisingly good solos.

Abysmal Dawn hasn't broken far from its predecessors (or cohabitants), but From Ashes lacks any real weaknesses and should propel the band into a firm spot in American metal's ranks. The album is a great listen as a whole, and any fan of modern death should find it satisfactory. (8/10)

On Maelstrom's previous issue, an odd album by an odd band had been reviewed (in case you're wondering, it was the ridiculously stupid Everlovely Lightningheart's Cusp album) and the conclusion was that Hydra Head Records is releasing unnecessary (if to use a kind word) albums that do not contain anything near real music. The "new" Agoraphobic Nosebleed is a fine example to another such album. Apparently, Agoraphobic Nosebleed had released a 6" inch vinyl, somewhere in the end of the ‘90s, containing 10 tracks revolving around seven minutes of playing time in total, and Hydra Head Records thought it would be such a rare and quality product that they had pressed the material onto a CD, and then asked some artists (Vidna Obmana, James Plotkin, Merzbow, Justin Broadrick are the most famous of the lot) to remix the already awful, soulless, passionless, pointless, noisy, redundant "hyper-grind" of Agoraphobic Nosebleed. (turning your drum machine to a million BPMs does not make you grindcore).

The outcome: a double CD offering, one of which contains the above mentioned seven minutes of Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s "legendary" PCP Torpedo that is nothing more than senseless, chaotic, pseudo-grindcore. The other CD contains the remixes and is called ANBRX (as in "Agoraphobic NoseBleed RemiXes," how sophisticated…): more then an hour of electronica, some of which is pretty entertaining and interesting, some of which is almost danceable, and some is just noise for the sake of noise.

The irony is that the CD containing the remixes is not only much more worthwhile than the original material from a consumer's point of view (meaning it gives a real worth and value to the money paid for the album), but it is more interesting, varied and original. It is a good (and rare) occasion to see some of the best noise / electronica / industrial / techno artists assemble to create and give their own interpretation to the uninspired music of Agoraphobic Nosebleed.

The big question is why Hydra Head chose to release this oddity as a double album, whereas the promotional version contains all the musical material just on one CD? (4/10 for ANBRX,, 1/10 for PCP Torpedo)

Right from the start, Decrowning, by Finnish death metallers Amoral, will grab your attention. Sounding not too far removed from fellow countrymen Mors Principium Est in sheer grandeur, Amoral have managed to make a very interesting sophomore album that pleases on many levels.

Cheesieness aside, Amoral's latest album is the kind of album that every melodic death metal fan waits for. Just as it is very melodic, the album has a polar side that's very unrelenting and technical. It's almost classy in the aspect that this band is sophisticated enough to forego the aesthetics of brutal and melodic death and manage to homegrow something that, although done before, still sounds unique. This is evident right from the opener of "Showdown." Throughout the song's progression, moods swing and change without adhering to any sort of structuring formula.

The diversity achieved here is astounding, though. It'll be rare that you hear a band this musically refined to so cleverly define themselves without losing their identities amongst a sea of melodic death impersonators. That means that when Amoral come out with a third album, you'll be able to say to yourself, "Yeah, I know this is Amoral." Decrowning is not only a unique album, but it's one that pleases on every possible level imaginable, from songwriting to technicality. Ignoring it would be a very big loss for '06. (9/10)

Call me a sucker for the smarter breed of metal music, be it ‘core or not. What’s there not to like about bands that have a knack for being spastic? It’s a true work of musicianship if the right notes are played. Apiary’s Lost in Focus goes ape shit and takes some hints from similar sounding artists such as Ion Dissonance and Into the Moat.

Lost in Focus aptly refers to the album’s listening experience; it’s all around and about. It’s pretty great, but not as great as other, top bands in the same league. (7/10)

There are two parts to this group: the musical talents of the songwriter and performer, and the depressive crooning of the female vocalist and lyric writer.

Unfortunately, the above statement is somewhat true when regarding In Ecstasy and Sorrow. The skill of the musician is mediocre at best. Most of the talent seems to be in the keyboard elements, which sound as though they could have been programmed. The percussion also sounds as if it has been programmed! The guitar work is very basic, consisting of mainly simple, slow-paced notes. There is the occasional chugging of a few different powerchords, or a pentatonic scale, but nothing too impressive or above beginner-level guitar... The bass is fairly well-played, with plenty of slides to give it some feeling, and a good but quiet sound.

The female, gothic vocals are often moaned or sang without any vibrato. However, the way that they completely ruin the recordings is how they sound as though they were recorded too loud into the microphone, resulting in plenty of white noise. Also, they are too high in the mix, which exposes a bit more of this scratchy sonic quality. Performance-wise, it’s not much better, as the vocalist seems to go off key a LOT.

Overall, this self-released album is pretty bad. There is a catchy part here and there, but nothing with the power to save this album. It sounds like an effortless home demo. A better mixing and mastering job by the musician could have helped, or even a professional hand – plus a decent studio microphone couldn't hurt. (2.5/10)

New sounds from the Profound Lore Records stables. Well, not exactly, as this debut release from Canada’s black thrash combo Arctic Circle is nigh on two years old, being recorded in June 2004. It has taken ages to get mixed and to this day the band is struggling with line-up changes. However, this trouble doesn’t keep Profound Lore from claiming that Arctic Circle are "Canada's most promising and unique black-thrash unit."

Forcing the Astral consists of 11 tracks, including two short interludes, all within the 30-minute mark. These Manitobans aim to chill you to the bone with their creations that even move the very rocks and trees of the prairies. These worshipers of Voivod (the album is even dedicated to their guitarist) lack nothing short of fire and freeze-burning qualities: guitarist Jean Vermentor screeches in a meritous Horna tradition while Jon’s thumping is a tight and vicious attack on the eardrums, with a snare drum setting that is so aggressive and urgent that it’s even close to superceding Vermentor’s output.

The first few tracks are really fast, but some, like the song "Horrible, Impossible" also feature slow and dragging sections with spacious, continuous guitar waverings, reminiscent of bands like Beatrik or Weakling, whose music reek of despair.

The following may suggest that Arctic Circle might be doing so in order to upset the lemmings, but as familiar as the above seems, the album also features two short interludes played on classical guitar, the spooky "A Little Bit of Climate" and the nebulous "Arctic Fevers." Being about a minute’s length each, they seem to be gone within the blink of an eye, but they show Arctic Circle’s experimental side.

Speaking of which, Profound Lore claims on their site that Arctic Circle is "influenced by such aesthetics that surround bands like My Bloody Valentine." I don’t quite see it. (My Bloody Valentine was a British band in the late ’80s-early ‘90s who defined the so-called shoegazer scene).

Examples of these soundscapes are much more evident when one visits Arctic Circle’s own website. It’s a little confusing, because at this point it’s not yet completely clear where Arctic Circle are at. The aggressiveness of most of the tracks works ("Storm of Sand" being the thrashiest), but perhaps Arctic Circle should either merge their environmental side more with their black / thrash side, or just concentrate on either of them for continuity’s sake. It’s the difference between the artistic and the conventional. There’s nothing wrong with either of them, but when unequally mixed it might affect the overall impact. If this debut is an indication of what Arctic Circle are capable of, Forcing the Astral is a nice and varied release. Still, I have yet to be convinced of the "Canada’s most promising unit" claim. Meanwhile, a four-song EP for a split with Winnipeg's black tyrants Of Human Bondage is in the pipeline and we may soon find out what the status is of Arctic Circle’s icecaps in 2006. (6/10)

Atakhama suffers from what would be referred to as "the Bloodthorn syndrome" for playing and recording an album which is as devoid of personality, as is the newest effort by the aforementioned (aren’t all their records like that? – ed). While both bands had the talent, the skills and the opportunity to record something decent and worthwhile, they both have chosen to follow a path that leads only to oblivion: the bands' great musical graveyard.

In music – especially in the fringe of the spectrum, identified as the "extreme" – faster is not always better, and heavier does not always mean a genuine heaviness. This young and very enthusiastic Finnish band would have to learn that in due time.

Meanwhile, Atakhama offers via Existence Indifferent, relentless, hyper-speed death metal that is so blast-beat happy that it would have verged on being death / grind (or plainly grindcore due to its lack of real melodicism), had the vocalist's voice been a bit more cookie-monster-ish in nature; grinding music, exhilarated to maximum, almost absent of any real melody, emotion or atmosphere. It shreds, blasts, crushes with no apparent aim or climax and without any originality or experimentation. It offers the same dogmatic sound, worn-out riffs, solos, leads and passages and a raspy, sort of black / death style of vocals; all in all, nothing that hasn't been heard before and better be forgotten, soon, for this style of metal is a corpse that even a thousand copycats trying to resuscitate it will bitterly fail.

This album is so much like the new Bloodthorn's, it is scary; it owns the same sound, same production, exactly the same aesthetics (or the lack of them). It is highly predictable, dispassionate, and gets old quickly enough to be erased from the individual or the collective memory. Eventually, the Atakhama lads would realize that adopting the sound, style and approach of other less-than-mediocre bands such as Bloodthorn and its dreadful Genocide is not such a wise move… (2/10)

Keep Cool and Dry should be titled "Whatthefuck? fest 2006." Seriously, this album is so incoherent it sometimes seems like a bad joke from a dadaist friend: lyrics as immature as they can be paired with uninspiring arrangements. And it's sad, because Atomic Ants’ technical side isn't so bad, but Keep Cool and Dry’s execution and compositions are just awful.

If you really, really wanted to categorize it, you could call it mainstream rock with nu metal and Faith no More / early Mr. Bungle influences. What boggles the mind is how Atomic Ants’ funky and jazzy parts are quite good (mainly when they let the bass take over) and yet their rock parts are so horrible. You can see they are talented musicians behind all the "sex, drugs & rock and roll" thing, but Atomic Ants don't fit the genre they are attempting to play at all.

The main technical problem is that Atomic Ants makes vocal-centered music, but the singer just can't keep up with that. While he's not bad, he's not more than mediocre, and sometimes he just doesn't fit, producing some really awkward passages. Normally, if the vocalist is at least original, you can just say it's an acquired taste, but in this case you just can't: it doesn't work no matter what. That, coupled with the horrendous, random mood changes, the serious flaws in the composition and the terrible simplicity in most of the "heavy" parts makes Keep Cool and Dry a disappointing album.

The first seven songs are downright terrible; the next six are not really good, but they have their moments. Magically, the last song, "Shitman," is pretty good. If all the tracks were like "Shitman," we'd be talking about Keep Cool and Dry in a different way. The difference of this song with the rest? Ignoring the title: maturity.

It's not a lack of potential. What Atomic Ants needs, above all, is to drop all the comedy and get serious, maybe even release a funky jazz album or something like that. Keep Cool and Dry is NOT cool. (2.9/10)

Bal-Sagoth is here with a new release that proves that the best black metal doesn't always come from Norway... The Chthonic Chronicles begins with a spooky anthem, like something you would hear in a haunted house, or on a Danny Elfman soundtrack. Some passionately spoken dialogue in a very low voice beckons the music to spring forth, and amongst intense, jungle-type percussive beats, the album spreads out in all directions for your listening pleasure.

Chaotic orchestration, with a touch of "Flight of the Bumblebee" breaks out into the mix, while haunting operatic vocalizations smothered in reverberation softly slide through. This pleasantness doesn't last for long, however, as the rest of the album isn't quite so easy-listening. The album is extremely diverse and contains some things that weren't so common in black metal previously, like the low spoken dialogue during the songs (let's call it a narration). The screams are of a lower pitch than the usual, and are more emphatic of the syllables. One experienced with screams can tell that they come from deeper within the throat rather than straight from the back.

Ok, so the low narrative voice isn't always so great, in fact, some times it is very annoying. At other times, utterly intolerable, like the vampire impressions that sound like the stereotypical Dracula. However, the symphonic element is extraordinarily powerful, with a great presence and almost constant orchestration throughout the whole album! It's like a real black metal opera of sorts.

Memorable hooks, unique vocals, and exhilarating performances are just a few things that will draw you back to this release! Complete krieg. (8.5/10)

The songs themselves are complicated and aggressive but still quite static, with stop-and-go breaks that don't bring any excitement but instead just sound like – well, stop-and-go breaks. Occasional grooves and Swedish-styled riffs are nothing we haven't heard a thousand times before. Annoying are the slow and thrashy parts where the drummer seemingly doesn't know what to do. There are a couple of solos and ALL of them are played through the wah pedal and pushed somewhere to the background.

Most of the songs sound the same with a couple of exceptions such as clean singing on the last song and a sample from Hitler's speech on "Industrial Killing." Track number eight is named "Parasight" but has nothing to do with Entombed. The vocals are your usual metalcore screams with little variation, save for occasional choir growling. The sound doesn't do them a favour either – usually overproduced, sterile guitars and drums, the bass guitar is very hard to hear and the cymbals are thin and silent.

Einherjer was a unique band but this will simply drown in the sea of new metalcore bands and third-league ‘80s thrash band reunions. (4.2/10)

I'm using all the restraint I have to not make a snarky quip about the name of this band or the title of this album, just for the record. This nu-metal / rap-metal hybrid reeks of commercialized hard rock whose only purpose is to wank on stage in front of musically retarded high-school kids. It's a wonder they haven't been signed.

That said, Beyond Agony skirts the full-on wanker status (but just barely) through keeping the guitars and vocals heavy enough to scare off some of said high-schoolers. And to be fair, the aforementioned "rap-metal" description may not be entirely warranted, as the growling is steady throughout, but the simplistic hip-hop rhythms the vocals often take are abhorrent enough to deserve warning.

The production is crisp, and the playing is tight. But the tempos don't venture far from "moderate" in either direction. The vocals are undistinguished from any other band of this ilk, and the instrumentation is amateurish. Repetitious grooves abound, and boredom doesn't take long to creep in. I'm not sure who this music will appeal to, but I would be disappointed if any reader of Maelstrom didn't try to find better. (4/10)

Beyond Sensory Experience is one of those bands that's pretty much unknown to "outsiders," but that almost all the people into ambient respect and love. They are on Cold Meat Industry, which is the dream team of dark ambient and related genres; so you should be expecting a lot.

If black metal-influenced dark ambient is the soundtrack to the destruction of the Catholic Church (or something absurd like that), or the second coming of pagan religions, then The Dull Routine of Existence is the soundtrack to the early 1800s – to the industrial revolution. For once, we're not talking about industrial as "just a different kind of electronica," but about an actual, industrial-sounding dark ambient branch. And for once, we aren't talking about a sex-centered Beyond Sensory Experience album.

The Dull Routine of Existence is, as the title says, based on routine, repetitive rhythms. Drum machines have a central role here, mostly distorted, and that's where the industrial fits in: they really do sound like machines. It seems just like inside those big factories where they manufacture car-related things.

The other central aspect in the album is the keyboard work. Ok, we have to admit it, it gets cheesy sometimes. Regardless, it's quite good and atmospheric.

But anyway, it's dark ambient, so atmosphere is what counts, right? And that's what The Dull Routine of Existence excels at. It's hypnotic and complex in a good way, without getting invasive like many "black metal" ambient bands. And again, it doesn't even try to be medieval or anything like that, so it's different from most dark ambient out there. As for its genre, it surely deserves the "dark" title.

Overall, it certainly deserves to be one of the "big" artists of dark ambient. The composition, production and execution are top-notch throughout.

Yet another outstanding Beyond Sensory Experience release. Will they ever get bored of releasing good stuff? I sure hope they don't. (8.8/10)

Big Boy Pete (real name: Pete Miller) is a British, underground, psychedelic legend who has earned his degree by delivering some adventurous songs in the ‘60s, but has been active ever since as both a performer and a producer. However, little of the hallucinogenic, layered characteristics that Big Boy Pete is renowned for are present on this release, The Perennial Enigma.

Served with lots of humor and moderate jams, the mischievous songs that are found here appeal in their underground nature, as they are basically four- and eight-track selections culled from Miller’s first U.S. recordings in the early ‘70s; as such they manage to evoke engaging, vintage charm in spite of being rather basic rock songs that mix power psychedelia with reggae and early rock and roll ala Elvis.

The people at Angel Air did a wonderful job supplying us these recordings in authentic sound and with an impressive booklet. (6.5/10)

Kings of Damnation is hoggish product. Released proximally to Black Label Society’s debut on Artemis (Mafia), this release is mostly about Spitfire trying to suck the last drop of blood out of the BLS brand.

The music, of course, is the last thing to think about when considering the purchase of this collection. As with most collections, it would be better and wiser to approach Zakk Wylde’s studio releases in their original forms, with no abbreviations. Such an approach would also allow you to focus on the more substantial, early BLS material.

One of the most peculiar things about this release, which indicates "98 04" on its front sleeve, is the inclusion of two tracks from each of the two Wylde releases (Pride and Glory and Book of Shadows) that predated the BLS 1999 debut. Again, these two masterpieces are not only exotic to the nature of BLS, but should also be absorbed in full capacity. Their inclusion here is degrading, and the guys at Spitfire should have selected alternative tracks from the unrepresented Alcohol Fueled Brewtality Live +5 (or better yet, include the entire studio portion of that release here and save people the need to buy it as an addendum to a hardcore live portion).

As is the case with nearly every money milking release, two previously unreleased tracks are here, for the sake of those who already have the entire BLS catalog, but cannot afford themselves to miss a single song. Since there is no real insight into the tracks, no detailed track by track information or any minimal form of liner notes, it is hard to tell when exactly these new tracks were recorded, but judging by what I hear I would say the latter Spitfire days of the band (probably around The Blessed Hellride). "Doomsday Inc" is a standard, almost automatic BLS song, lacking the gut feel of the band’s early material, while "SDMF" is in fact a gripping, forcefully realized cut with monstrous, swirling guitar. (5/10 only because there are some killer songs here... but remember, you can find most of them elsewhere)

Bleeding Kansas are out of the hardcore stereotypes. If you like Soilent Green, then here is your band.

Groovy is about the only word that can describe Dead Under Decor. The rhythms are completely midpaced without that standard dissonance most hardcore bands initiate into their music. Bleeding Kansas are well aware of their momentum, and use that tool to transform rhythms into either massively crushing passages or ferocious, punky verses, which automatically separates them apart from their contemporaries.

The riffs are here in spades, and it's clear that Bleeding Kansas is built to entertain live audiences (they're on Abacus recordings, so that should be obvious by now), but their studio work still retains a lot of the band's energy.

The best thing about Bleeding Kansas though, is that you can tell this band is confident. While, most people don't see that in a band, Bleeding Kansas aren't new to their music. They're making music that's compliant with something that the standard metalhead wants to hear, and they do a damn fine job of writing songs. It's even apparent in the slight referral to "Carry on, My Wayward Son."

Ultimately, Bleeding Kansas are a band that's built to entertain on all fronts. They do that and more. (8/10)

Bricks For Shoulders emits a feeling that's very Black Flag, but at the same time, very avant-garde. You Are, Therefore I Am... starts out very angry, and the vocals even have that angsty, off-key sound that characterizes Henry Rollins' voice.

All the songs are short and feature a very hardcore vibe to them, though the two-man band likes to wear that Black Flag influence out there. There's a lot of punky rhythms sandwiched between groovy verses where Stevie D. likes to expound on his anger. Song titles like "Art and Narcissism" and "You Should Treat Your Kids as Well as Your Cars" hint at the subject matter of You Are, Therefore I Am..., and the music does a very fine job of enhancing the feeling.

The only real problem with this album is that the song writing is really lacking, and it's a sad thing, because like any Black Flag or Henry Rollins fan, you really, really want to like them. (5/10)

While this 1982 album maintains a lot of the characteristics of the The Edgar Broughton Band’s previous release, Parlez-Vous English?, Superchip: the Final Silicon Solution? derives its uniqueness from being a conceptual work about a behavior-modifying chip, and reshaping the band’s sound to fit along with it.

The main comparison to be made is with Frank Zappa’s 1979 Joe’s Garage: The mixture of a narrated storyline with humoristic songwriting is carried with a futuristic vision (plus, some of the vocals are reminiscent of the wacky Terry Bozzio vocals that are found on some of Zappa’s work of that period). However, while Zappa’s statement was influenced by the American way of life, the socially aware Broughton Band understandably emerge from its native ground and blend it with a more sci-fi approach, emphasized, most of all, by the electronic keyboards and computerized vocals.

Some nice bits of jazz also surface here and there, as The Broughtons prove themselves to be more intelligent and capable than the average new wave rockers of those past days.

Rob Broughton is quoted in the liner notes saying: "Looking back on our music, if you listen carefully, the little messages are there. They may not have been articulate, but they were certainly passionate." Indeed, the album retains its charm even as the storyline gets less coherent towards its end ("Goodbye Ancient Homeland" is a strong testimony to that). If you think you would like a British adaptation of Joe’s Garage this is the album to get!

This Eclectic Discs reissue keeps "The Virus," a lengthy, trippy, electronic track from 1995 that relates to the original album, and appeared on its previous CD issue. (8/10 for Joe’s Garage enthusiasts, 6.75/10 for the rest)

The Broughtons is in fact The Edgar Broughton Band, a British band that emerged as a blues rock outfit in the late ‘60s. By the time of this album’s original release, however, the band’s blues roots were (almost) completely neglected.

On Parlez-Vous English?, the band’s 1979 album, glam/art rock and punk join forces, sounding like a hybrid of Roxy Music and Talking Heads.

"Waiting for You" features an invigorating Bryan Ferry-like performance. "April in England" brings an Al Stewart folk theme into the new-wave sound. "Revelations One" is a maniacal assault that incorporates progressive rock glimpses, while "Anthem" serves its march with funk rhythms. "Rentasong" sounds like late ‘70s Whitesnake with its arrogant, big sound, and the existence of "Young Boys" would have surely been questioned had it not been for Bowie’s "All the Young Dudes" (hell, even the title suggests it).

All this variety could have been confusing had it not been so professionally realized, with a consistent sound and a dedicated performance. The socially aware band serves its poignant, short songs in a dense, bursting and somewhat disturbing manner that grabs your attention. It’s not always successful, and one such example is "Drivin’ to Nowhere," which, with its slide guitar, sounds like a boring punk version of Lynyrd Skynyrd; but when it works, it is amusing and even thrilling! (7.5/10)

Come for the show; stay for what goes on behind the scenes. It’s a curious trend as far as multi-disk DVD packages focusing on metal bands is concerned. We saw it recently with Sodom and Sear Bliss, and this is no less the case with Candlemass’ two-disk DVD set, The Curse of Candlemass.

Disk one is a 13-song performance in Stockholm, Sweden. Technically, the performance is spot-on. The songs are played perfectly and the sound is beyond reproach. The camera work is just fine, as well, giving more than satisfactory shots of all the members and the audience in an appropriately lit environment. The material comes exclusively from the band’s first four albums. Those who liked the self-titled, comeback album will be disappointed to find it is entirely neglected, as is of course any post-Messiah Marcolin-fronted songs. Most curious is how Ancient Dreams’ material gets a lot attention, considering the band seems to take more time slagging that album off in interviews every chance they get.

Artistically, though, Candlemass don’t come across quite the same way "live" on this video as this reviewer seems to remember them in his mind’s eye when he was totally enamored by the band’s first few albums, way back when. For one, the band looks like a bunch of goofs. Let’s qualify that: Goofs that are either over the hill and enjoying their second go at being musically ageless even more than their first time, or over the hill and utterly oblivious to it. We think it’s a little of both.

*THAT’S* "doom dancing"? After years of listening to various live shows on CD, and hearing vocalist Messiah Marcolin’s ubiquitous invitation for a would-be spin on the dance floor, we’ve decided we’ll pass. Stomping around like an extreme exaggeration of someone in a barrel full of grapes doesn’t sound like our idea of fun.

Augmenting the multitude of applications of the sense of the generational gap surrounding this band is the rude contrast between what’s happening on stage and off it. The main attraction: a bunch of middle-aged metallers continuing to live a dream. The audience: seemingly a bunch of boys and a couple girls (ok, maybe just one, but the camera understandably loves her) who most certainly weren’t alive when the albums whose songs Candlemass play in this performance were released.

And that’s cool. The renewal of a fan base is certainly a good thing. But look more closely and you’ll see all the old, crusty, dim metallers clearly behind the wall of bright-eyed youth, as if the old guard were swept under the rug of innocence and inexperience for the sake of this video. It seems kind of dodgy.

Yeah, Candlemass is about halfway to the point of where the Rolling Stones are at in terms of trying to move like spry young men, but not being convincing. But most of the silliness is no doubt because of the larger-than-life stage presence of front man Messiah Marcolin, who’s live career seems to be largely staked on vociferously saying "hey" about 25 percent of the time. That, and screaming "Stockholm." But the man seems genuinely into it, and you gotta love him. It’s all the more baffling why the rest of the group thought it was a good move to get him to change style / kick him out in the early ‘90s.

All the insight into such topics are gone into with engaging detail on disk two, whose main feature is a 55-minute interview with Marcolin, bassist Leif Edling and guitarist Mappe Bjorkman. The interview is in Swedish, which on one hand gives you more of a true flavor of the band, although you get the funny suspicion that the subtitling isn’t giving you the whole scoop. Regardless, the second disk is truly where The Curse of Candlemass’ true worth lies.

Even if you’ve heard the extensive interviews on the Powerage Candlemass re-issues from around 2002, you’ll still have a lot to dig into here. The band’s history is recounted, punctuated by several very funny anecdotes and candid, heartfelt recollections and admissions – Marcolin still becomes introspectively somber when recounting his experience of leaving the band nearly 15 years prior. Here, the image from disk one of band’s goofy image akin to adults lingering in Neverland is given a more human aspect, revealing men that, thanks to experience and perspective, seem to be enjoying and appreciating their ride all the more the second time around. (7/10)

PS: Also included on the second disk are three Candlemass performances from their ‘80s heyday. These feature the band at their most energetic, which goes better with the unabashed, rabid goofiness. The sound isn’t nearly as good as the main event, but it’s cool to check out, nonetheless.

When metalcore is done right, it's fantastic (see: Between the Buried and Me, Darkest Hour, Bleeding Through, Dead to Fall, et all). When it's done wrong, it's just flat out boring – except for a $5 live show, in which case don't even bother buying the album. Cast From Eden aren't doing anything amazing.

If you like metal, you've heard Cast From Eden before. I'm sure you've heard Enforsaken, At the Gates, In Flames, Soilwork, Shadow's Fall, Trivium, Darkest Hour, Killswitch Engage, Within Y, Gardenian, Lamb of God...

Essentially, Cast From Eden's debut, The Deafened Art of Bleeding Secrets Automated on Deadlines (what the fuck, man?) is a collection of tributes to all those above-mentioned bands. Pentatonic guitar harmonies that are overly-abused, breakdowns that just aren't heavy, vocals that have no structure or defining quality... Their debut is just not that appealing.

However, there is one thing that Cast From Eden can boast. Here and there are moments of intense energy, or moments of harmonized introspection that might just hint towards a brighter future for this band. They have a sense of atmosphere, and at moments they will have you moving your head. The only problem is that these moments are too few and far between to warrant repeated listens. Yeah, I'll bet that this band could kill live, but on the studio album, you won't be listening to it for much longer until another band puts out almost the exact same album. (5/10)

Cerberus from Germany give us their follow-up to the debut Chapters of Blackness. Klagelieder-Grabesgesang, meaning "songs of sorrow – sung from the grave" demonstrates what they consider to be what black metal is all about.

A title such as this urges the unsuspecting to be braced for something incredibly melancholic, heartwrenching and suffocating. Something so sad, as if Xasthur wouldn’t have an audience left because all sought refuge into suicide, trying to escape from life’s futility and emptiness.

But what does fill me with sorrow is that I can't get that happy with what Cerberus are doing. Indeed, the album's first track, ""Blackend," has a somewhat promising start with a sinister waltz rhythm that points to a place that doesn’t bode well. Attention is drawn towards the clear production and Beleth’s vocals, which initially sound atypically distant and deathy. As soon as one is used to this, Cerebus hit more familiar grounds and quickly change gear with an up-tempo pace and the well-known, nasty screaming. This track exemplifies the two-sided nature of Cerberus. Sinister and slow vs. speedy and screeching. It’s a playful approach but some may deem it indecisive.

Nothing too bad so far, but things don’t improve as halfway through the second track, "If Frozen Fire Falls," one gets treated to a rather simplistic guitar pattern that is repeated no fewer than 23 times (yes, I’ve counted them), which raises an eyebrow with regard to Cerberus’s level of inspiration.

Klagelieder... is a bit of a mishmash of familiar black metal elements with a touch of death metal. It’s as coherent as a lump of dough short on butter, and apart from a few jolly "action-bits," these songs of sorrow are not likely to get you into the mode of recreational depression. This is also due to the production, which favors clarity at the expense of heaviness and (infernal) depth. The melodic and dramatic elements are too much scattered around in order to establish that sound of pure darkness.

Anything positive after all this? Yes, still. Perhaps Cerberus should try and delve deeper into the realms of blood and ice. Because when they play lots faster (like on "Siegestanz") several of the aforementioned shortcomings get covered up a bit. Hence, Klagelieder serves as a snapshot of a band in a developmental stage. If you look at it that way, you’ll have an album that is just on the better side of the edge of the average, but only just. (5.1/10)

Chuck Norris works out to the Chuck Norris Experiment. After you finish laughing at the band name, get ready to rock out to some of the most fantastic rock and roll produced in the last decade. The Chuck Norris Experiment's debut album is something that gets your head nodding immediately, something standard rock and roll hasn't done for ages now.

Decribing Chuck Norris Experiment's music is relatively easy. You see, this album isn't filled to the brim with unexplainable fusion, nor technicality that would make Ron Jarzombek say, "wow, these guys are good." Chuck Norris Experiment's music is rock and roll the way it hasn't been for awhile now. It's playful, energetic, unpretentious and direct. There's a lot of raw, punky rhythms and mid-paced grooves that are actually groovy. The tone they use sounds very close to Queens of the Stone Age, and some of the rhythms sound pretty damn close, too, but there's no stoner element here.

It's like perfect cruising music. Songs like "Lookout (Senorita)" and "Fire" provide choruses and verses that are extremely condusive to speeding, while maintaining a brevity that keeps the sound from growing stale. There's humor and the standard pedestrian rock and roll aesthetics of chicks! All the members' stage names begin with Chuck (Chuck Baker – drums, Chuck Reynolds – bass, Chuck Ransom – vocals, Chuck Lee Riot – rhythm guitar, Chuck Rooster – lead guitar). All of the songs are short and to-the-point, except for "Radioshadow," which extends to seven minutes, but even then, the clap-able rhythm makes for a listen that refuses to grow stale. Not a single song on this album is filler or a throwaway,

The only possible way this album could be anything less than a modern rock and roll gem would be that you'd come searching for something that's not here, like extreme speed or technicality. This album isn't breaking any boundaries, but in the end, it's just extremely fun, and it's going to be something you listen to more than once. Whether you want to or not. (9/10)

Clawfinger are a rap-metal band. You pretty much know where this is going.

Pseudo-intellectual and political lyrics determined to make you "think," but just usually end up being retarded. The music, while not completely nu-metal, sounds very stale and uninspired apart from the occasional verse.

But this album is just not good. It's doing nothing new, nothing interesting, or anything decent for that matter. It's the definition of average music with completely shitty and trend-intellectual lyrics. Ignore unless bored. (3.5/10)

What we have here is Somewhere Along the Highway, the new, fourth album from the already well-known Swedish band Cult of Luna. If you haven't heard them, it's pointless to describe or label them and the usual comparisons aren't really close – sure they have the same range of tempos and dynamics as Neurosis or Isis – but with more ambience AND more malevolence than both of them – and they are simply more enjoyable.

The 65-minute album consists of an intro and six literally massive and passionate songs full of irresistible energy. Five of them consist of slow, atmospheric parts where you don't know if you're being threatened or comforted; morphing into cataclysmic outbursts of Earth-moving riffs that will make you want to play a 10-foot long air guitar along with them.

The best expression would be shamanic, as Cult of Luna take you on a journey where concepts such as time, light, darkness, joy or depression are relative. One exception is the melancholic fourth track, "And With Her Came the Birds," which has apparently been recorded in one take, and with the lights out – really, it could have just as well been named "Sear Me, MMVI" and placed on a My Dying Bride album, and it would fit perfectly there.

On a purely technical level, the instruments have a very natural, "live and loud" sound that will have you believing that you are with Cult of Luna in the abovementioned barn, witnessing their ways of creating whatever nightmare landscape they wanted. Especially notable are the downtuned guitars which will suck you in with a raw yet warm sound, where every reverberation and detail simply demand your attention.

Listen to Somewhere Along the Highway loud and your counterpart – that's the guy living on the opposite side of the planet – will feel it. Just don't blame us for the tsunamis. Blame Sweden. (9.5/10)

It takes a lot for bands to be able to pull off a lasting industrial groove sound. Names that come to mind are bands like Sybreed, Technocracy, Mnemic and Red Harvest. Well, with the release of What Hell Is All About, you can add France's Dagoba to that list.

Most bands of this type usually try to mix Meshuggah's aesthetics with industrial, and the sterile ambience and calculating polyrhythms usually provide an ample palette to work off of. But Dagoba take a different route. They don't draw their influence from Fear Factory, but instead bring a sound that's closer to Pantera's heavy groove than anything, and it's probably their strongest selling point. That and the fucking fantastic drummer.

Dagoba keep things in a relatively nice equilibrium by using keys and synth for most of the melody, except for in songs like "Cancer," which nods to fellow industrial-metallers Kryoburn. Although they're technically groove, the death metal tone on the guitar and raw, bassy power of the drums makes for a very tight rhythm section, something that most industrial metal bands lack.

All in all, What Hell Is All About may not be a groundbreaking release, but it is enjoyable, and I'd recommend it several times over. (8/10)

Windir’s demise at the death of its leader, Valfar, has now been pretty well romanticized and documented. At least the band bowed out at the possible height of their creativity, no doubt further whetting the collective appetites of Windir-supporters for someone else to take on the Viking metal mantle.

As far as carrying on the torch of the now-defunct Windir, Vreid just isn’t working out. Sorry. Even in its own right, that band’s material is far too one-dimensional and half-baked for its or anyone else’s lasting good.

Let there be another. Cor Scorpii is definitely a more worthy choice. Made up of Windir’s keyboardist, lead guitarist and drummer (who’s also in Vreid), along with three guys who have had no connection to Windir until now.

The skinny is that the four-song Attergangar demo is essentially a continuation of Windir’s work, 100 percent. Ok, sure, you can nitpick here and there, like saying that the keyboards sometimes take on a more romantic or even Gothic flair now and again, and that the arrangements aren’t quite as good as Windir’s, but it’s the same animal: the same style of melodic chord progressions, the same sort of "Heathen pride" approach to the application of classical scales and harmonies, the same penchant for long melodies and songs, and the same flavor of interplay between harsh vocals and choral clean sections.

The existence of the triumvirate of Windir-related bands is fraught with irony. For one, the band that should be satiating bereft Windir fans is schlepping its music through CDR demos, and the band that isn’t cutting it is signed to Candlelight Records and has pro production, which is is certainly the biggest chasm between Cor Scorpii and Windir.

The even more curious aspect about Cor Scorpii is that, for all of its undeniable similarity to Windir’s last album, Likferd, no one in the Cor Scorpii lineup is credited with having written any of Likferd’s material, which was co-written by Windir’s bass player, who is in... yeah, Vreid. Weird.

So be it. If you wish there were more Windir albums, fully embrace Cor Scorpii. That’s one of two benefits this band presents. However, it’s best if you don’t even try to differentiate the two – it’ll just lead to feeling like you’re listening to a clone, which isn’t necessarily fair. Is this is the music these Norwegians have in their hearts, then let ‘em run wild. The other benefit? You can stop trying to like Vreid. (7.5/10)

Davy Jones’ Locker is slick with big, thick melodic hooks, big, gratifying transitions that feel like a Mac truck maneuvered into nimble lane changes in heavy traffic. The staccato piano and guitar parts control the sound and help define the pop style. There have certainly been other bands this good with a similar sound, however, Davy Jones’ Locker has a subtle and refined direction.

The songs are placed correctly for recovery of auditory fatigue. There are just enough small changes to keep interest and they are just talented enough and diverse enough to give them good traction with this project.

The mix is monochromatic: a big electric wall abuzz with parts and vocal lines that are all in the background. Nothing comes forward and it somehow allows you to actually listen to it at low volume. This works as a little background music for a movie soundtrack or maybe as mood music for nights of low-volume disobedience. (7/10)

Swallow the Sun have been a name to watch out for in doom metal. Their fusion of doom and melodic death was very potent and turned a lot of heads, so it's natural that more bands would come along and emulate their material. However, it's doubtful that anyone will see Daylight Dies coming.

Dismantling Devotion is an album that recalls the sound of earlier Katatonia; it's very melodic and very depressing. While these North Caroliners definitely bear resemblance to Swallow the Sun, their formula sounds a lot less centered toward death, and more on the dismal impact of doom. These melodies are down-right odious at times, and draw a lot of atmospheric techniques from Anders Nystrom / Blakkheim. Ghost notes are found here and there, constantly adding very spectral textures to the music.

The tone sounds very close to In Flames' earlier work (we’re talking amplifier tone), very distorted, but perfect for the often discordant sound in the rhythm guitars that Daylight Dies love to use to create melody. "A Life Less Lived" gives a very early example of this. You can hear it just in the first few minutes.

Dismantling Devotion's strongest winning factor, though, is the songwriting. These guys have really done their homework when it comes to melodic death of this caliber. It sounds like it belongs in Gothenburg, circa 1995, but only slightly crispier. The melodies and atmosphere are incredibly dismal and heart-wrenching, proving that Daylight Dies is a band that knows full well what they're trying to accomplish. Dismantling Devotion is something that's going to win a lot of listeners over. Pick it up immediately. (9/10)

The Deviant's 2005 release, Ravenous Deathworship, is synonymous with the number one problem of black metal: mindless, blasting repetition.

Are there even any more drumbeats on this disc than the standard two black metal rhythms? Ravenous Deathworship is by no means bad. Sure, there's the occasional catchy riff here and there, but otherwise most of it is just filler. "Merciless," as a song, is pretty much useless. Then, you have songs like "Serpent" that provide enough of a dissonant and apprehensive melody in order to bring you along a polar trip with this album... not emotionally, economically: "It was worth buying. It wasn't worth buying. Wait.... No."

That's pretty much the entire sentiment going on here. Mindlessly blasting, standard riffs will more than likely generate a catchy song here and there. But ultimately, Ravenous Deathworship is a mixed bag with more misses than hits. (4/10)

Swedish legends Dismember dig deeper into their older roots to create a triumphant return to their fast, no frills trademark sound. The God That Never Was takes a leap toward in the right direction with most of the fat trimmed and everything else set to "destroy." You just don’t see many "old" bands giving their fans what they want these days.

Aside from "Into the Temple of Humiliations," the songs on The God that Never Was don’t surpass the four-minute mark. Dismember still continue their distinct, crunchy, sub-woofer-induced guitar sound with cranked up melodies that bring back the good old times of Scandinavian death metal. Man, how long ago that seems. The bellowed, raspy vocals still sound as great as they have ever been since the early ‘90s.

In this package, you’ll find something to fall in love with, be it the instrumental "Phantoms" to the album’s Massive Killing Capacity-like track, "Feel the Darkness." There is something here for every Dismember fan. If you thought Where Iron Crosses Grow was great, then wait ‘till you hear this.

The God That Never Was is over before you even knew what hit you. One thing I like about condensed albums like this is that it never gets boring and each listen brings more enjoyment and excitement. This is a great example of that.

Dismember are the fucking gods of Swedish death metal, ‘nuff said! (9/10)

Dissection’s comeback album could be the most anticipated, hyped, debated, scorned and endless discussion-provoking album to be released in recent years. Yes, all that while being so with no substantial reason other than for gossip's sake.

Dissection has never been an impressive band and safely said it has surely not broken any ground with its previous albums; it has always been a mediocre band, at best.

Not going into those murky waters of comparisons and pseudo-academic studies on the subject of: Dissection – past, present and future (or the lack of), the reviewer wishes to disregard Dissection's past activities and concentrate on this album – Reinkaos – alone.

Reinkaos is one of the most linear albums ever to be recorded. You just know exactly where the music is headed, and you need not be equipped with a special precognition talent to do so. Dissection has recorded such a safe, calculated, dogmatic album – without any sense of novelty, adventure, originality – that most likely the first listening experience for most metal enthusiasts will also be the last.

There is nothing, nothing on this album that hasn't been played, tried and repeated over and over again throughout the short history of metal music by a multitude of other bands that had, after all, done a much better job in formulating and executing their music than Dissection does here.

Take all the cheesy melodies out there; add one-dimensional, monotonous drum-work, an ultra clean guitar sound and production, a bit of latter-day Carcass (in the overall style and sound. It may also be vocally reminiscent, but Jeff Walker's vocals were much, much more hateful and convincing); a bit of Susperia and basically any Scandinavian post-black, quasi-thrash metal group (or super-group) who's turned either "industrial" or Goth (Kovenant, Deathstars and other groups along the line of these jokes) and there it is: the utmost in conformist, conventional, tedious, boring, uninspired, commercial album that has been recorded in recent years, within the context of Dissection's history, or free from it.

This album is an embarrassment to itself, its creators and anything metal music should stand or should have stood for: dare, vision, balls and non-conformity.

There is, however, a single redeeming factor throughout this unfortunate, miserable recording, and that is the intro: a dark, almost sinister, semi-militaristic, militant and harsh opening with shredding guitars and menacing drums that act as lone witnesses to the wasteland ahead of them. (1/10)

PS: With Reinkaos, the metal hordes (and the releasing and promoting labels of this album) have proved once again they are a bunch of amoral, unethical, virtual gathering of old ladies with no scruples and no sense of right and wrong. After all, we're dealing here with a convicted murderer fronting this disposable assembly called Dissection. You do not hail a murderer; do not talk about him, praise or write endless words about him or his efforts, be they musical or otherwise and you definitely do not release albums and promote them for the aforementioned; if you do, at least make known your resentment towards his actions.

This writer is no tree-hugger, but he knows his rights and his wrongs and regardless of whether Reinkaos is a great album or not, he strongly feels his resentment should at least be mentioned.

Ugh, Killswitch Engage #34864. That's right, if you thought the wave of clones was over, you were wrong, and here's Dryline to point at you and mock whilst proclaiming how extreme they are before grabbing some extreme Doritos and a Mellow Yellow!

Reaching for the Surface at this point almost seems like a joke – an audio version of At the Gates for Dummies. This band sounds exactly like Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall: the same simplistic riffs and structures, the same contrasting vocals, all of it is exactly the same. This pop-metal bullshit is really starting to wear thin.

Nothing on this album will move you. Avoid at all costs. (-13/10)

Harmony of Lies maintains some bright areas, but the light flickers and dissipates after a few listens. Eden’s Fall has some great ideas here and there, including the combination of straight-up, traditional metal (the entire musical package) and aggressive growls almost death metal in nature.

The musicianship isn’t as sharp as a sword, but the technical moments spread throughout speed up the pace of the music and really make for a nice treat. Even the slower, calming breaks tend to bring things down in a good way. Variety is always recommended, but the music doesn’t really capture the mood or the moment.

One other thing that bothers me the most when dealing with this traditional vocal metal styling is how it’s sung. Pitch seems to be everything. Not to rag on the singer, but much better could have been done in that department. If only there was more passion put into making the music. (5/10)

Elvenking’s got a pretty weird history. It started with a really powerful demo, featuring some brilliant songs. Then, with their first full length, Heathenreel, they released one of the best power metal albums ever. The album was full of catchy riffs and vocal lines that made every composition a classic. After Heathenreel came probably the biggest letdown in the whole power metal genre: Wyrd. It was a terribly inconsistent, stupidly generic power metal album with none of early Elvenking's good points. Pretty much everyone came to expect nothing out of the band anymore. But Damnagoras returned, and what do we have here? A new album. And it’s great.

Alright, The Winter Wake isn't that much of a match for Heathenreel, but it's a strong release, and an unexpected one. The folk influences are back for good, and the folky (as opposed to the "hammer to the balls" power metal) singer is present again.

Technically, The Winter Wake is much more complex than Heathenreel, and much more consistent than Wyrd. It is, however, lacking a bit in the catchiness department.

The three most important aspects in the album are the clean vocals, the folky riffs and the usage of violins. The vocals, Damnagoras', are the perfect power metal vocals: high-pitched enough, and really varied. He has no problems sounding both power metal-like at times, and Mustaine-like at others.

While the violins or other folk instruments are never central, they are quite important to set up the atmosphere (kind of like an Italian Mago de Oz).

The guitar work has developed quite a lot in just some years, especially in the acoustic parts, of which there are many throughout the whole CD. While we can't call the album a tech power metal one, there are many moments where it all sounds quite complex.

The compositions are good enough, most containing twists or mood changes, interludes, preludes or so, and that's why Elvenking is no generic power metal anymore.

Elvenking's got a bright future. As long as they don't lose Damnagoras, the next releases should be at least as good as The Winter Wake. (8.3/10)

This 33-minute sophomore release by Enablers is a masterfully executed poetrock (or in other words: poetry-based post rock). Pete Simonelli reads out his poems with a dry yet convincing diction. His writing is both narrative and impressionistic, and he cleverly leaves its incitation to be picked up by the instruments, while he himself is carrying them as burden, in a firm, almost monotonic voice that evokes bitterness and admonition.

The other band members are fed from the realistic words, and provide an attentive setting for them. The humble lineup of drums and dual guitar lineup (and delicate, hardly felt Hammond touches) build evolving scenery against the narration, at times holding back so as not to bury it. It is a thin-lined flirt between crescendo and fallback that maintains a high, vague tension throughout, keeping the listener alerted; it sometimes explodes and sometimes just retreats, but it is always engaging, both musically and lyrically. (8.5/10)

One look at Deadstar Assembly’s lineup and the first thought to pop in your mind will be somewhat along the lines of "Marilyn Manson clones." However, don't let their over the top appearances fool you, Deadstar Assembly are five rockers whose music is vibrant and appealing, a mix between Korn Follow the Leader and Marilyn Manson while managing to remain a unique blend of modern and industrial rock

The lyrical content can go from pissed off to heartfelt, and is definitely Manson-inspired, blasting everything from religion to mainstream society, aided by equally angry and inspired vocals. However, this is where the similarities end, as Deadstar Assembly shows it is more than capable of producing its own brand of rock, with heavy guitars and lively drums calling forth trippy beats and merciless riffs that can be catchy as hell.

The other high point of this album is Deadstar Assembly’s vocalist’s ability to actually sing well, a rare commodity among this band’s breed. Of course, where would industrial rock be without the ever present, trippy techno quirks that are a staple of the genre? When successfully employed, these elements contribute to the album as a whole and generally make it twice as better than if they weren't there at all. This happens to be the case, as they are placed with care throughout the album, and enhance every song, every time.

Although the songs are well done, the uniformity of the material starts to become too much around track 10, but all in all, Deadstar Assembly's Unsaved is a ferocious offering of uncompromising hard and furious rock backed by a lineup that is bound to scare overly religious parents witless and throw their followers into frenzy and rebellion. (7.5/10)

Enforsaken's fourth and latest release is a strong one. Touting a simple but effective melodic death style along with their unfortunate band name, the members of Enforsaken blasts through their album at a quick pace and with powerful, thick vocals and grooves. The band doesn't digress from established death tradition, but its performance and songwriting are both solid, and Sinner's Intuition is an enjoyable listen all the way through.

Taken as a whole, Enforsaken's sound is substantial, with dense production, layered vocals and enough double-bass lines to thoroughly pummel the deeper recesses of a listener's brain. Melodic soloing and harmonized riffs make the "melodic" prefix necessary, but the group's overall sound has a sharp edge. Throaty yells dominate the tracks, and the drums and guitars mainly consist of percussive verses and driving, aggressive grooves. Enforsaken's musicianship is tight, even when the speeds get excessive, and repetition is avoided on all fronts via frequent thematic shifts and interesting flourishes at each turn. Enforsaken is a skillful group, if not a particularly experimental one, and death-heads should get a kick out of Sinner's Intuition. (7/10)

The Black Church is hilarious. It is sort of a parody about music, about black metal; hell, it could even be an unintentional self-parody. Everything on this recording is laughable: the vocals, the arrangements, the Viking-style choir on one of the tracks, some of the spoken short parts (the narration at the end of the third track sent me rolling with heart-tearing laughter) – and the worst of all things is that these Finns kind of take all this charade seriously and in a very unconscious way. The outcome is ridiculous.

Don't be misled into thinking that The Black Church is some kind of an occult-ish, sinister and oh-so-dark black metal masterpiece. It is neither this nor that and it is definitely not black metal, not by a long shot.

Judging from Enochian Crescent’s past activities and albums, mainly the brilliant and impressive dark, melodic, black metal display on Telocvovim, Babalon Patralx de Telocvovim and Omega Telocvovim, one cannot help but develop high expectations towards anything new offered by the Finnish masters of occult, twisted, exquisite black metal, given the fact they have been silent for some five years since their last album, until this parody emerged.

There is nothing black in the metal of Enochian Crescent's The Black Church (and throwing the name Lucifer into the air does not bring it any closer to being black metal, either), other than maybe the cover art. The album is virtually ambiance-free, emotionless (or more accurately put: fails to generate emotions), and rather than be a black metal album, it is, in the end, banal and cliched, lacking that certain feel music must own in order for one to be able to sympathize with, to internalize, to call one's own.

This album has got no heart, no vision and almost no ideas. It sounds like a worn out, second-tier thrash metal piece. The level of musicianship is very simple and basic, the melodies are repetitive and banal, the vocals plainly preposterous and the whole effort sounds more like a bastard son of a very good and promising band, then anything a high caliber outfit such as Enochian Crescent could have ever possibly recorded. Unfortunately, what could have been the next Enochian Crescent masterpiece has become an album that the band would eventually like to forget about. This reviewer knows he would. (2/10)

Ruun is a continuation of Enslaved's work in the psychedelic / progressive / Viking direction they took with Below the Lights, Monumension, and Isa. This time they have chosen to record it in Amper Studios, which resulted in a sound that is very clear and sharp but also not as warm, natural and charmingly rough as the sound they were getting in Grieghallen Studios. Simply, for Enslaved’s pagan intentions – it doesn't cut it. Most of the time they are playing minor chords with lots of repetition, and with this kind of polished and balanced sound and no big differences between the strokes it becomes boring in some places. The same thing applies to the drums and bass, while the vocals are a bit low in the mix but so poisonous that they fit perfectly.

One thing we can always expect from Enslaved is high-quality songwriting. Here this is true, but just because of that expected quality there are parts of the album that leave us wanting. The opener, "Entroper," is a combination of brilliant, simple and memorable riffs but just when you start thinking of how simple this is you realize that you haven't noticed how they have built up into a whirlwind and you have been sucked in... "Path to Vanir" begins with a Viking funeral march riff and changes into a black metal part where the drummer tries to play like a dance drum machine and ruins it. The clean part that sounds like it's from a different song by a different band calms it down for a while until the black metal part comes again.

"Fusion of Sense and Earth" begins with something that could easily have been on Vikingligr Veldi – but too clear-sounding to be exciting – and ends with another Viking march, but this time ruined by an unnecessary solo. The title track brings us back to perfection with a slow, pulsating opening accompanied by Eastern melodies, and turns into epic, sweeping black metal with keyboards adding another layer of monumentality. It includes a clean part that this time does belong in the song, especially because the clean voice has some of Quorthon's insecurity (read: Viking by default).

"Tides of Chaos" is a nearly perfect story-telling song with screams over a layer of slow, odd-rhythm black metal guitars altering with Bathory-worshipping parts resembling "Father to Son." "Essence" is another wall of black metal noise, screams, Bathory-type vocals and an evocative chorus gradually ascending towards a simply massive ending.

"Api-vat" has a straightforward thrash theme and then turns into a not-so-good copy of Moonsorrow's "Pimea" (from Verisaekeet, released a year ago), especially the part around the guitar solo. The closing track, "Heir to the Cosmic Seed," is a space-rock atmospheric piece with a wailing guitar above odd staccato rhythms, making you feel like you're standing on a Norwegian mountain and watching the sea somewhere in the distance.

If you're an Enslaved fan, you can't go wrong with this and there are details you won't notice until you've listened to this for a number of times. If you're into anything related to Vikings (like yours truly), parts of this CD will sound like a soundtrack to the creation of Asgaard. But still there's something suspicious about it. (8/10)

While Project: X-Katon’s craft isn't up the caliber of Ram-Zet, it's... interesting. Ensoph are a gothic band from Italy, avant-garde in the respect that you don't really fully understand what they are, exactly. It would be best to remember that when listening to this confusingly cascading album.

You could call Project: X-Katon gothic in the respect that it's relatively dismal, and influenced by standard trance and electronica sounds. Well, they're no Moonspell, if you're looking for one. This band draws its weirdness from the likes of Kovenant – stuff that just sounds awkward. No one's going to argue that it's diverse, but there's one major error this band commits: it's too focused on being weird, and not enough on making good music.

There's nothing inherently wrong with Project: X-Katon, but its problem is that underneath the gothic, electronic, and avant-garde flair, the music is just average. It's nothing that's going to stick with you, apart from thinking to yourself, "Oh yeah, that's that one weird band from Venice." After you theorize about Leonardo Da Vinci and the mechanics of a floating city, you realize you spent the last seven minutes not talking about Ensoph.

If generally weird music does something for you, then you might find some pleasure in this album. If you're the standard metalhead, avoid. No real aesthetic value other than the avant-garde one. (5/10)

Naked on the Black Floor is a very lightweight, almost colorless effort that tries to be progressive but lacks authentic progressiveness. Albeit the guitars are distorted enough to be regarded as metal, the whole attitude is tame and over-nice; the vocals are inadequate at times and the melodies too sweet and corny.

The general feel is too cheerful (but then again, perhaps all heavy metal bands sound too happy for their own sake?) and although the band really tried to execute a form of heavy metal, this album is neither metal nor heavy. There are some sparks of ability; a potent usage of keyboards, some great riffs and a song or two that echo other, greater bands from the past (Iron Maiden, mainly and scarcely, due to the semi-epic feel of some of the songs and the vocalist's efforts to occasionally sound like Bruce Dickinson), but the overall impression is, at best, bland.

This band, that album, are a classic case of "almost": they have almost recorded a good album; the album is almost progressive, almost heavy and almost metal. However, too many "almosts" interfere with acknowledging a decent album here, which Naked on the Black Floor is surely not. (3.5/10)

Evermoore sounds like a hardcore band trying to play some sort of slowed down, goth-inspired power metal without the flamboyant riffs or operatic vocals that usually goes hand in hand with the genre.

The guitars are stock tones with uninspiring riffs, the majority of which are either palm-muted runs or blatant hardcore rips. Not that there's anything wrong with either, it's just that it gets annoying when it happens every song.

Deadly boring solos also do not help the guitarists' credibility, as they're more geared towards showing off how well they can pitch bend and use the tremolo bar than they are to actually soloing, and what little speed there is in the soloing is often overlapped with stupid guitar tricks that don't make it anything more than a jumbled up mess. As far as the rhythm section goes, the band is very well off, just as long as their bassist comes out of his little hole and thickens up that puny tone of his.

The female vocals continually weave in and out of key in a drunken manner at critical moments during buildup and climax of the songs, and pack no punch whatsoever. It's as if the chick used a bottle of sherry instead of water during her vocal sessions. This is especially exemplified on "Progeny of Fear," which sounds more like a severely drunken carnival tune, aided by the goth guitar riff from hell. The only track where the female vocals are able to do any justice is "Loath(e)." It's a pity that their growler has taken second stage in the band, because he seems to know what he's doing.

The Dawn of Decay demo is passive, almost lazy goth metal. If Evermoore is to move on to bigger and better things, the band as a whole will need to start showing a lot more passion. (3.5/10)

This is some swaggering rock and roll with some of the glam sensibilities ala David Bowie while double dipping with a little Lou Reed (except that it’s in tune and not sloppy drunk.) The instrumental parts, the beat, even the vocal phrasing is somewhat of a throw back.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Alright, alright, alright. Glam rock was sexy. What sex? Didn’t matter. It’s those boundary crossing, three-way, five- and seven-ways that stop your heart and blow your mind. This is emotional, "can you feel yourself," life driven, good, then bad, "some blind intoxication, baby" rock and roll. There is a sense of looseness to Pink Sticky Lies without being at all out of control. It’s tough and rockin’ and I can hear all the parts and all the lyrics. The singer has great range, strength and swagger appeal.

Pink Sticky Lies is mixed like a funk album. Everything has a separate place in the mix with space around the parts for your imaginative listening pleasure.

I’m suspecting that the prepubescent girl on the cover blowing bubble gum is somehow just nasty and possibly erotic? Otherwise I’m not sure why not put your own picture on the cover. You all look hip. When you flip the CD cover it’s almost a freak how much the broken bubble in the girls mouth makes her look like a blow-up doll. I find myself looking at it over and over for some kind of oral insight. (8/10)

Let's make a really quick tour through Justin Broadrick's history. From 1985 to 1987, he worked on Napalm Death, the biggest influence, if not creator, of grindcore as a whole. Both Napalm Death's best works (the From Enslavement to Obliteration, demo version, and Scum) were made with him. After exiting Napalm Death, With Head of David he starts what would later become Godflesh. Without a doubt, Godflesh is one of the biggest influences for all metal, from sludge to modern industrial metal, releasing classics such as Songs of Love and Hate and Hymns. After that, he moves on to start Jesu and releases (so far) three masterpieces of melodic drone. As a kind of a side-project, he worked for years on an even more avant-garde album, and this is what we have here, Final 3.

3 is pretty much a summary of noise and avant-garde music in general. With 27 songs, it covers almost every single little sub-genre of weird music out there. They all share one trait, though: minimality. But it's good: orchestration wouldn't help here, nor would making it all complex. That's where 3's main virtue comes in. The album's simple... so simple it's beautiful. And we're not talking about effortless simplicity, it's "finding the right synth and reverb for that melody"-simplicity.

Every song found in Final's first album is a concept in itself. So much so that every single composition could have been a full-length album. From the terribly, well, cute (no other way to describe them) "Golden" and "After," to the psychological "Negative Youth" and the grand "Confusion," all of the tracks could have conceivably been stretched out to an hour.

Structurally, many of the tracks present the same layout: display of a theme and an evolution of it. For example, the guitar rhythm in "Long Lost" starts cleanly, but is gradually distorted by various effects until it's indiscernible.

Atmospherically, 3 is not so different from Jesu's latest release, Silver. In fact, many times you'll find yourself thinking you're just listening to a disassembled Silver (which, of course, only makes it better). The biggest example for this is found in "Trees," a song that could easily be turned into a Jesu song with just some more metal elements.

Why is it that everything Justin Broadrick touches turns into gold? While I don't think we'll ever find out, we'll certainly enjoy whatever he decides to make. (9.7/10)

Most cybergrind bands just don't get it. Sure, some people will like five minutes of cheesy, atonal synths with some guy barking like a dog over it, but you have to do way more than that to impress. And with so many bands attempting to play the genre, it's hard for the good bands to get recognized at all. Fortunately, Fucksaw got it.

Addicted to Analingus sounds like an hybrid between old Gut and old Libido Airbag, with slightly longer songs. While we can't certainly say it's as good as those two "gods" of grind, we have to say that Fucksaw is one of the best Gut-worship bands out there.

Addicted to Analingus’ main difference with Fucksaw’s previous demo, Vaginoplasty, is that the heavy parts aren't as catchy anymore. In Vaginoplasty, the groove was present in the real guitars, which sounded a lot like Cock and Ball Torture. Now, the groove is mostly left to the MIDI-sounding guitars, and the sheer brutality to the distorted ones.

Instead of the usual 15-second grind songs, here we get mostly three-minute ones with actual compositions and progressions. The real guitar parts are well done, sounding aggressive and raw, and the MIDI ones are almost as good as the ones in Libido Airbag or Nunwhore Commando 666.

Sure, the way the MIDI interludes are intertwined makes Addicted to Analingus sound a bit formulaic, but 99.9% of the bands in the genre are, so we'll let that one slip.

A crucial aspect of modern grind is the fun factor, and Fucksaw's got a bunch of it. It's not serious (though you should already know that, based on the album's title), and definitely not mature.

The only real bad part is the samples. They are not used for atmosphere like in Impetigo, or for fun like in Whore (and even there, they were kind of tiring). Basically, you get about eight annoying samples well distributed just to annoy you whenever the song gets good. (7.5/10)

These Australian ambassadors of black metal really blaze in this 2004 debut. After an extended intro, the trio gets right to the point, barraging listeners with fast-picked riffs and blast beats set to the sound of Disaster's throaty screams, before slowing for the last track, "Invisible Paths." The production is crisp and the lines are mixed well, so that no instrumentation is lost and even the high-speed guitar lines can be heard clearly.

The Furor isn't unlike a lot of the black / death-crossed music you've heard already, but the band does a better-than-average job on all fronts: The vocals are absolutely sinister and are dynamic enough to avoid monotony, the guitars are tight and varied and their riffs creative, and the drums don't simply amount to a sea of blast beats.

Invert Absolute is a prime example of extreme metal – harsh, pounding instrumentation chugging through well-arranged songs, hardly slowing to build atmosphere, and accompanied by solid, throat-ripping vocals. Albums like this may not be hard to find, but it's always heartening to hear a band that gets all of the basic elements right and can pull off corpse paint and spiked armbands to boot. (7.5/10)

Despite deeper vocals and distortion, Advance Australia Warfare isn't a far cry from The Furor's first full-length release, Invert Absolute. Both albums are pummeling, unrelenting, and mix black and death influences smoothly. Both mainly feature Disaster's raspy vocals, fast-picked guitar riffs from Warlock and accurate blast beats from Kill Machine.

But on listening closer, Advance Australia Warfare is a more dynamic offering. The rhythms from both the drums and guitars are more varied, which carries with it a much more satisfying listen once the album is over. The tempos are also more diverse, though The Furor still hovers at the high end in that regard.

The sound is still a simple one, as the trio plays extreme metal as fast as its arms and vocals chords will agree to, but this is certainly not a bad thing. With all the overproduced, keyboard-heavy stuff that's been coming out, it's refreshing to hear a band go back to the basic elements of guitars, drums and a guy screaming.

The album's main downside is an eight-minute-long section called "Hell" that lies squarely in the middle of the chaos. As it is easy enough to skip, I won't spend too much time on it. But for a band whose main strength is throwing fuel on the fire, an anti-climactic gap seems both unnecessary and out-of-character.

Advance Australia Warfare features The Furor's top-shelf ability to play extreme riffs extremely well. The band mixes solid songwriting with the ability to play with both speed and technicality. I would recommend this album to any fan of black / death hybrids; the only thing it lacks is a few sludgy grooves, and they probably wouldn't even sound right amidst the turmoil that engulfs the rest of the CD. (8/10)

Dear Goat, what have we here? Belgian old school black death? Before we carry on... The booklet’s front design is a drawing in which a victorious Duke Nukem-type figure stands behind a ceremonial table in what appears to be the remains of a church or abbey. This figure with a goat’s head (with a Kiss-style paint of paint) wears arms, a pentagram and the inverted cross. Familiar stuff, hmm? Oh, yeah, and on the background we can see a WW2-type of tank with, again, the appropriate symbols of the anti-Christ. Corniness aside, it’s not that badly drawn, but this kind of sleeve artwork is horrible and adolescent.

Once in a while, I come across black or death metal with those flirtations with Nazi imagery. It may symbolize the "yeah, genocide is cool" concept, but Satanism and Nazism together are somewhat of a paradox. Fascism as such is anti-free thought and not at all compatible with individualism or Satanism. Not that I want to lecture about ideology, but I basically can’t stand displays of stupidity like these. And that title: "Satan Jugend." Good grief! Another cheap shock gimmick based on the HitlerJugend movement. That is so 1977! Fortunately, the booklet artwork is better and offers a different range of artistic pictures. The nice nude lady with tattoos hints at a missed chance in that sense.

Goat Holocaust, a project with music by Mr. LeathergoatSSkull (aka Lord Genocide) and his accomplice, NunSSlutgoat on (as they put it) "possessed ritual vokillz." They describe their style as old school black death (Subordinating Goat Worshipping etc.etc.), with a nod to Beherit, Von and Venom (funny detail: the runes on the drawn table say "In Nomine Satanas," geddit?).

It’s a relief to point out that the music isn’t as bad as the artwork, but there are two major points to remark. Firstly, the recording is pretty rough and makes the album sound like some kind of demo. The 35 minutes of 10 chaotic compositions are well enough entertaining with plenty of alienating point / counterpoint riffing and sudden breaks and tempo changes (which often seems a result of smart copy and paste work, but who cares right now?). Slow, very fast, it’s all there.

It’s nothing new, but there is far worse.

The second point is the fact that the band don’t sound particulary tight, which makes me think that this is a studio run-through of the songs after which Lord Genocide decided to abandon the option of producing definitive takes. This carelessness can be charming, but regulary things get so loose and sloppy that the fun gets an edge of embarrassment. The most painful experience comes with the quiet, two-minute intro of "Butchered Christ," (with a really bad hint to the Cure’s "17 seconds" I suspect) when the drummer is literally stumbling over his own ideas and bassdrum, treating you to a serious anti-homerun.

As terrible as they may be, if you are willing to turn a blind eye to these clumsy mishaps, Satan Jugend does deserve a spin or two. These chaotic bad taste black metal ditties have, as I indicated before, a certain 1977 punk attitude. They obviously contain some creativity while not being very proficient in execution. But with a shaky hand and with a drunken goosestep, the banner is held up in the name of sincerity to the black metal genre. Meanwhile, another Goat Holocaust release has appeared as a split with another project with Lord Genocide. He’ll might get better if his output remains steady. Perhaps in time he will emerge as the Belgian Burzum, who knows? Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well don’t get too excited just yet... (5/10)

This blackmetal.com-released split features two black metal projects, Gromm and Endless Blizzard. Gromm hails from the Ukraine while Endless Blizzard is USBM. They are very distinct in sound from one another and bring forth respectively, highly individualized styles.

This release starts with three tracks (in Russian) from Gromm. The production is raw, yet not lacking clarity. The drums are drenched in reverb and sound like they are played in the recesses of some cave. The guitars are actually quite unusual in that – besides the buzzsaw sound of the electrics’ abundant gain and distortion – there appears, on occasion, a clean guitar lending a small dose of melody, and an acoustic guitar at one point, played alongside the electrics. The riffs are creative, the rhythmic patterns distinct and cohesive. Lead guitar is infrequent, but when it is presented in the sonic structure it is tasteful and lends to the compositions without distracting from the skillful songwriting. The vocals bring to mind early Ihsahn stylistically, without suggesting plagiarism. The overall effect is a highly original piece of black metal.

Endless Blizzard’s part of the split features ten tracks. It begins with an intro entitled "Beyond the Frozen Gates," which moves to the track "Trenchant Dawn Elated" swiftly. As the riffing and understated drumming come through the speakers, I am instantly moved to conclude this "Bathory worship." Indeed, the rough and raw riff the track opens with contains many elements present on the first two Bathory records.

However, after a brief time, the song moves to a riff that is speed metal tinged with a hint of death metal. The track is quick, and soon it is over. Next is "Blood of the Elders," which is mid tempo, features a VERY raw sounding guitar that is soaked in distortion.

One can grow weary of the hundreds and hundreds of existing Gothenburg sound-influenced bands, whom all seem to sound so similar to each other. How do you weed out the worthwhile groups from the mundane in such a cluttered scene?

If Hatesphere’s titles are anything to go by, there is nothing too new or interesting on The Sickness Within – same Gothenburg sound, same Gothenburg concepts... Taking a less melodic direction, this group seems to rely more on heavy thrashing than any overly catchy section. The songwriting is fairly basic, usually falling back upon the powerchord-smothered breakdowns imposed by metalcore/hardcore groups.

Sure, the playing is tight, the percussion is mighty, and the vocals are very well-performed and thick, but where is the creativity? This group shines as a Gothenburg clone, and for this will probably receive much praise from fans of the scene, but for those who want a bit of originality in their Gothenburg metal, it's probably best to stick with the classics and pioneers of the scene.

Hatesphere’s music is very flat, as the majority of time spent throughout the album is just that heavy, downtuned powerchord over and over. The lead guitars make no impression upon the music because the bass section is still playing the basic low note throughout, and not changing the tone of the music. It's a shame: the seemingly energetic performances and rough, gritty vocals are brought down by the plain songwriting and overused Gothenburg elements. (4.5/10)

Murder Nature’s opener, "Baby Blue," is a fine declaration of Head Control System’s intent, and is in fact one of the strongest tracks on this album. It unfolds the Tool-inspired music, both in production and experimentation, as its mid-section brings some extreme metal flavored double bass drum kicks into the rough, reverberating song-backbone, while adding gentle piano sounds.

The album continues in a similar manner, using dense textures on top of hard rocking, alternative metal-styled songs. Unfortunately, I have probably played this album two dozen times or so, and yet I fail to see the point behind Daniel Cardoso (Sirius / Re:aktor) and Kristoffer Garm Rygg’s (Ulver) creation. I had trouble deciphering the lyrics of most of the songs or the logic behind their flow, and consequently, they failed to emote.

So yes, Murder Nature is quite a disturbed release, filled with slashing guitars, dynamic, explosive drumming, and some aspiring, at times even reflective ambitions as the mysterious and slightly hypnotic, backwards played "Kill Me" demonstrates. In fact, the album is even bizarre enough to fit into The End Records’ catalog; but there are certain points in which the album’s density transforms into unhooking monotony, and eventually tires the listener. (6/10)

Ostroleka, Poland’s Hellveto is composed, performed, and recorded entirely by L.O.N. (also of Blakagir, Sarkel, and Winds of Garden). Hellveto commands tremendous respect in the black metal underground, and understandably so. Zmierzch (which means "dusk" in Polish) is the perfect introduction for the unfamiliar with this artist’s tremendous gift of composition and orchestration. This is the valid continuance of projects like Summoning.

Although my affinity for symphonic black metal became soured by the redundancy of Dimmu and Cradle, Hellveto rekindles that flame. The pagan elements of this release are penetrating, sweeping through an endless battlefield of accomplished musicianship and spirited execution. There is nary a bone of cliche nor of pomposity in L.O.N.’s body.

At first, the symphonic emphasis amidst so much battle metal adornment sounds peculiar. For those not tapped into the most elite metal underground listenership, synth elements belong to the territory of interludes. But Hellveto is consistent throughout Zmierzch, backing his metal with huge orchestration, and vice versa. It is a formidable technique, totally evocative of pagan ancestry and its mandate, which envelops this bystander and takes her beyond the realms of Christian tyranny. I loathe the arrival back, completely and utterly. (8/10)

Although the info sheet proclaims Horned Almighty being the best black metal band in Denmark, it is safe to say that Horned Almighty do not play black metal on this album at all, but rather a sort of a metallized, sped-up punk rock coupled with raspy vocals. The Devil's Music has got all the punk characteristics, the bass lines, the rhythms, the way the guitars are played, even the vibes and attitude familiar with punk music.

Regardless of that, The Devil’s Music is devoid of atmosphere, the black metal ambiance, the virtual curtain of darkness and sadness so exclusively recognized with good, genuine black metal; and this album, like it or not, lacks on all the aforementioned elements. Tedious and repetitive, accompanied by a generic rasp, a heavy bass sound that sometimes overshadows even the guitars, the album drags to its conclusion with no real impression left other then a few catchy riffs here and there.

Horned Almighty might have been the best black metal band in Denmark, had it played black metal… For a punk-ish metal album or a metallic punk-rock, the score would be then... (5/10)

Yes, The Adversary does sound like Emperor. And, yes, it is good. There. This is all you really wanted to know, right?

But there is so much more to this for those who want to explore. After reviewing Zyklon's DisIntegrate in this same issue, once again we are reminded who the real creative force behind Emperor was. And this could easily be an Emperor album even when it is trying NOT to sound like Emperor – after all, Emperor have always been known for their will to progress and this one is not an exception – even more elements that you wouldn't think of being suitable for a black metal album – but they work.

Emperor's last work, Prometheus: the Discipline of Fire and Demise, was a brilliant album. But, while it did engage you (and then some) on an intellectual level it was lacking something purely on a physical, gut-level. Simply, it didn't crush all that much. Ihsahn himself has later admitted that, while paying all the possible attention to the detail, he was losing sight of the general picture. Deciding not to repeat that mistake, this time he has willfully restricted himself to having only three to four guitars (Hey, on Prometheus there were twice as many!) and less complicated (which still doesn't mean simple) song structures. However, one restriction has gone – this time he didn't have to write the songs strictly and purposefully for Emperor and it made him free to do whateved he wanted – which was to make a metal abum incorporating all of his influences as a music fan and experiences as a member of Emperor.

You might argue that Ihsahn's been doing that while he was in Emperor anyway, and you'd be right to an extent, but, remember, there was a frame within which he had to work. This time around, the frame didn't – and doesn't – exist.

"Invocation" starts with a riff that could easily have been on IX Equilibrium: one of those riffs that you will like while you are listening to it, but it will somehow re-appear in your head while you'll be doing something else. Ihsahn's voice and signature guitar leads are as strong as ever and when you hear him screaming "Come suffering, Apocalypse, release the fires of Hell, I call upon destruction and despair..." you realise that the wings he's wearing on the cover aren't there without a reason. A blastbeat follows and you can also notice that his screams have never been longer. Then the song calms down into a clean part with clean vocals and strings, but atmosphere-wise reminding you of the outro to "Twilight of the Gods" by Bathory, only to return to the initial riff with a King Diamond-esque falsetto. Yes, he does use those again, and quite often at that, but if you have problems with that – listen to the album VERY LOUD and you'll hear the reason why.

"Called by the Fire" begins with a Judas Priest riff that apparently doesn't have anything to do with black metal, but... the next time it appears, it makes sense. Then The Adversary takes a turn to progressive metal with melodic vocals and wailing solos with a nice clean part that actually reminds you of fire flickering.

"Citizen" brings us back to extreme territory with a poisonous riff made out of chords and natural harmonics competing against a strong, symphonic, double bass drum part. A false ending with a silent piano brings some relief – only to scare you with even more fury in the end. Lyrically, the song is about the halfhearted majority of society "crucifying those whose voices burn..." Clear enough.

On "Homecoming," Garm (Arcturus/Ulver) takes over the vocal duties. Surprisingly, it sets out with one of those "Dream Theater" parts you thought only they can think of. Wrong. It's then interwoven with pieces of yearning atmosphere, airy solos and Garm's voice floating over them into a soundtrack for the "...return to the Heart and Self," disappointed, but with a new perspective.

"Astera Ton Proinon" ("Morning Star") is, shortly, a small Gothic Luciferian symphony. A combination of strings, piano and Ihsahn taking the role of Lucifer (or: Prometheus, himself) gently leads you to a crushingly slow riff, Ihsahn's screaming above it and a choir accentuating him. Impressive and poignant at the same time.

"Panem Et Circences" (Bread and Games) will have you half-expecting Charlton Heston to appear on a chariot before you, ready for the final race, and includes a ludicrous, battling blastbeat that Bal-Sagoth would kill for. Lyrically, it is just a reminder that things haven't really changed that much since ancient Rome.

The blastbeat and a whirlwind of who-knows-how-many guitars opening "And He Shall Walk in Empty Places" will blast you right back to the old church-burning, fire-breathing days (ah, memories) and then for a while, the marching guitars will be thrashing you into submission until... well, if at 03:55 your eyes are still dry, just forget it. You don't deserve to be listening to this.

"Will You Love Me Now?" Yes, really, that's the title. But don't worry, it's just Ihsahn mocking your conceptions of what "true" is. "Will you love me now / you, who cling to a heart so fragile even your gods must suffer for you / could you love truth?" Musically, it's the most typical latter-day Emperor song on the album.

Ten minutes long, but "The Pain is Still Mine" still seems too short. Another symphony of contrasts, piano, strings, staccato riffing, powerful themes and clean singing brings this CD to a dignified end... with a falsetto.

All songs have been written, performed and produced by Ihsahn himself except for the drums – played by Asgeir Mickelson (Borknagar / Spiral Architect) who did a stellar job. From simple beats to hyperprogressive fooling around with cymbals and toms, from stuttering to fluidity – everything is here and in the right places. And you just have to love the typical "true Norwegian" parts with crashes where you didn't expect them and no crashes where you DID expect them. The drums have a somewhat dry sound, especially the kick drum, where you can hear the low component of the sound only during clean parts, but after the sound grows on you, you realize that any other drum sound wouldn't have done them justice. The sound as a whole is clear and sharp with some power sacrificed for the sake of hearing all the details and instruments.

The Adversary proves that you can take Ihsahn out of Emperor – but you can't take Emperor out of Ihsahn. What else do you need? (9.9/10)

It took a trip to Morocco to appreciate the black metal stylings of Inquinok, an American band from Seattle, Washington. Go figure.

There I was in Rabat, one hot afternoon, resting on the hotel bed with a mineral water bottle, observing the masses passing by the grand old city walls of Rabat (which were built by Andalusian slaves centuries ago). I was listening to Bal-Sagoth’s latest album while reading about the nearby Necropolis of Chellah. Suddenly, a revelation.

When considering Inquinok, thin Bal-Sagoth’s A Dark Moon Broods Over Lemuria. Even the sleeve design depicting the silhouette of a castle against the background of a sinister moon fits the comparison. So now the question is, of course: are Inquinok trying to mimic Bal-Sagoth? No, but they seem a good point of reference. Comparisons seem in place for the dominance of misty, atmospheric keyboards and the epic character of the music, which features harmonious slow sections, as well as little feasts of the frantic and the furious.

Naturally, vocalist Crolian doesn’t have the wonderful narrative zombierama style of Bal-Sagoth’s Lord Byron. Crolian alternates between a slightly vicious snarl and a more deathy sort of grunt. Very soon, the listener will notice that Crolian’s contribution isn’t quite as prolific, but it’s a clear reminder that we’re dealing with black metal here. He fits in so snugly, that at some point you’d almost forget noticing he’s there at all!

The keyboards in Inquinok are also of great importance in buiding atmospheres, be it not as a virtuoso presence, but most of the time in-between the serene and the mournful.

The six-string department is quite capable, but its contributions are a mixed affair. At times Krelian and Mordred’s parts are somewhat passive and simply follow the keyboard patterns. But there are also better moments when they come to the foreground for some more manic bits. You’ll have some occasionally familiar twin guitaring here and there; and past the middle of track three, "Fields of Mourning," you’ll even get a bit of a flash and proggy solo. Even the keyboards have a little go at it in the following track, but don’t expect Rick "Yes" Wakeman. Perhaps the forthcoming keyboardist may be like one, as sadly the constant line-up changes still haven’t resulted into something permanent.

But what really holds the lot together is the simply phenomenal drumming of Cedron, a man with impeccable timing and great devotion to his ride cymbal. The subtle variations and quick shifts in his playing add greatly to the band’s dynamics. This display of musicianship will surely not stay unnoticed for long. (7/10)

Null is what makes metal worth listening to. Yes, there's the splendor of Iron Maiden, the vintage sound of Black Sabbath, the harmonic satisfaction of At the Gates, and all that. Then, you have bands like Meshuggah, every band signed on Neurot's label, and now, Intronaut. Featuring members of Uphill Battle and Anubis Rising, Intronaut’s debut EP is a statement of individuality amongst most of their peers.

At first, Null sounds like a standard death metal disc. It's bludgeoning and thick, very crunchy. It caters to every need for that violent rhythm to get your neck working and your hands flying, but then something happens. A sound somewhere between Neurosis and Cynic kicks in. Jazzy, but still dirty. Delightfully mad, in a way. It's extremely polar, but follows a sort of momentous flow, not just breaking into some unfit rhythm of clean jazz from a death romp.

As the music progresses towards the end of each song, Intronaut begin to show more emotion and introspection. Still waters run deep, and in Intronaut's case, the music gets deeper as it grows calmer, thus the Neurosis (and Red Sparowes, ISIS, and Old Man Gloom...) reference.

Much like Meshuggah, as well, the time signatures and tempos are a bit awkward, and the riffs are more like statements than actual phrases. They're not meant to be observed as a single riff, but rather a part of a bigger picture, not contributing necessarily towards a likable sound, but more like emotive manipulation. Starting off dissonant, and slowly progressing into actual structure before making the softer plunge.

Intronaut's Null is something that needs to be heard immediately, and it would do many people well to listen and watch this band's career. They'll be going places. (9/10)

When a release such as this comes along, every once in a blue moon, it’s difficult to ward off the pangs of envy. This reviewer is all too aware as a musician and absolute, devoted victim of black and pagan metal of how nebulous and evasive the composition process can be. A sense of what came before balances on the tip of a sword with aversion of duplicating, even as homage, the patterns laid down by the forefathers. Kampfar not only solved this problem on Kvass, they fucking NAILED it.

Darkthrone meets Enslaved in Kampfar, but the resemblance only skims the surface of this absolute sublimity. The band’s forging of melodic, mournful pagan anthem with shrieking black metal violence is well-covered territory. Indeed, it is a line that extends around numerous city blocks. However, what sets Kampfar apart from their peers is the flawless execution of principle: the songs gallop through hostile valleys, screaming with assertion and confidence, while maintaining a degree of classical influence that brands enduring melodic themes into the ears.

The individual can judge transcendence for his of herself, however. I simply herald what this work accomplished after repeated attempts to identify any flaws in its armor. There are none.

The production on Kvass is upfront and meaty, placing every instrument at congruent points in the mix. But most importantly, the songs are contagious as hell. Have you ever caught yourself tapping your foot while headbanging? Or whistled a melody to yourself when its sound source was miles away from you at the time? It’s not something that the true fan of our beloved metal should lament.

Kvass is truly a classic of the canon, one that is list-worthy, principled, full of awareness, and miles above reproach. HIGHEST HAILS! (9.5/10)

Kiila is one of the few bands to have a unique atmosphere. And it's weird, because it goes from absolute nonsense (see the song "Heartcore") to cuteness ("Fireburnfoot"), old school ("Contemporaries") and just improvisational (most of "Verbranntes Land"). What's even weirder is that every single thing in Heartcore is brilliant, from the first noises and looping in the first song, to the last ride cymbal in "Crystal Fields."

Heartcore has a deep feeling of not being bound to the laws of time. Take the song "Contemporaries" as an example. It starts with sounds like Sachiko M's less noisy work, then turns all pre-1960 jazz with a whole lot of sampling, and finally both ‘80s synths and futuristic alien-like noises enter.

Right after that, "Fireburnfoot" hits us with a really silly melody with some vocals like in Daft Punk's "Teachers," and folky guitar work. "Holy Melancholy" contains something sung like cavemen over hypnotic rhythms.

The whole album is an aesthetical journey. Instead of focusing in something specific, Kiila chose to go all around and well, that's what makes the album so special. It travels from genre to genre, outstanding song after outstanding song.

As weird as it might seem, there are even Finnish folk and noise influences among all the avantgarde and jazz, as well as rock and more western neo-folk. Yet Kiila are as good as to be able to port their own style to all the different kinds of music. Yes, the way they sound is different in every single composition, but you still recognize a unifying thread.

Be sure that you haven't heard anything like this. Kiila took nine concepts and completely recycled and remade them. It really worked. (9.2/10)

Experimental testing is not always good, especially in Lab Eleven’s case. Beginning with verses that slither angrily from the vocalist's tongue, the dialogue prepares the listener for the low-grade crud that is soon to follow on this four-track, self-released demo.

The guitars sound as though they have been slightly downtuned, or at least played in drop D tuning. The rhythms, although heavy and massive, are extremely simple. They don't change often, either, so that single powerchord that repeats may only be replaced for a few seconds occasionally throughout the song. The bass just follows the rhythm guitars, and is not very audible. The percussion is the only thing that saves this demo from the recycle bin: Technically-induced thrash and galloping double bass set a good punch to an otherwise weak demo.

The vocalist has not exactly figured out how to growl properly. Most of the "growls" here are like lower yells with a small bit of distortion on them. The actual growl is hidden deep below the low voice, which sounds, for lack of a better word, retarded. The pronunciation technique is usually used in death metal to add a bit of punch to the growls, but here the growls are pretty much vacant.

Lifeless and lacking any apparent feeling or emotion, Lab Eleven is like nu-metal manufactured on a low budget. (2/10)

You'll more than likely spend more time trying to figure out what The Ladies are, considering how strange and relatively short They Mean Us is. The promo sheets reads it as an amalgam of pop, metal, noise,

stoner, free jazz, classic rock, and black metal. Their drummer, Zach Hill, even played for the Deftones side-project Team Sleep. Yeah, but The Ladies are nothing like that.

This album radiates aural weirdness. They bring to mind the garage feel of The Mass, with the absurdist point of view that characterizes most grindcore bands, but they retain a fairly large sense of melody. At first listen, you're going to ask yourself the mandatory "what the fuck is this noise?!", but a close listen will reveal a lot about The Ladies that makes this quaint sound so enjoyable – especially to tech-heads, strangely.

For instance, one thing that's awe-inspiring about this album is Zach Hill. This man is a maniac on the kit, but at first the only thing you will hear is congested noise. Actually, he's pulling off intense poly-rhythms and free jazz-based patterns that are amazingly fast and complicated, but completely controlled.

Even more intriguing is the incredibly strange and awkward melodies that are featured on They Mean Us. Rob Crow is a very versatile, but incredibly spastic and demented songwriter. There are free jazz rhythms layered on top of indie guitar lines. Awkward, almost Incubus (the one with Brandon Boyd, not the metal band)-sounding melodies, like what's featured in "Non-threatening."

They Mean Us is a head trip, daringly challenging those who can comprehend it to listen. At first, you'll think it's all a joke, and it looks and sounds like one. The depth of They Mean Us is incredible, however. (9/10)

Logar’s Diary’s Book II: Parlainth is an extremely thick fantasy story, introduced in the opening track by a few minutes of spoken dialogue that does little but succeed fairly well at losing your attention while you stare into space, mouth agape. The second track wakes you up quite fervently with screeching falsetto and a swift, power-metal-esque opening.

Like a role-playing game soundtrack merged with power metal, Book II: Parlainth takes you on a journey filled with violins, flutes, trumpets, and the like. Each song enters with its own distinct features, with only a handful of changes for each track, which last for about the power metal industry standard four to five minutes.

When the music box breaks out, you know you're in for a treat. Often alone, or accompanied by a violin played in staccato, it creates a sound that is very soft, pleasing, and undisruptive. Don't think that because of the large amount of folk instruments and the fantasy template that you will not hear any good guitar work in this album. On the contrary, this album features some of the best guitar work one could ask for from folk metal. (It blows Elvenking out of the water, among others!) It can be described as a mixture of power metal, medieval, and folk, as well as a little bit of thrash.

The vocals may take a couple minutes to get used to, but they are not bad at all. At first, one may think the vibrato is a bit strong, but it certainly fits the music. There are some layered operatic vocals as well throughout Parlainth. They are performed spectacularly, and the mix and production on them is overwhelming. The percussion is very precise and has a great, powerful sound: the double-bass flows as smoothly as a stream, with the cymbals and hi-hat being the proverbial fish – all deliciously placed.

Get ready for a deep fantasy experience with exciting movements and energetic performances. (8.6/10)

With atmospheres that rise to power and falter ever so calmly, The Burning Circle and Then Dust (apparently originally released in 1995) will be an album to remember: extremely melancholic, with an occasional glorious harmony that will make you feel like you are drowning in an ocean of cosmic understanding; a wall of sound that has such a great effect upon the listener as to bring tears to the eye.

In all seriousness, the often mystical audio of this album is surpassed only by its tendency to pass into an even more brooding section. The audio is severely saturated in reverberation and delay, which causes a thicker, smoother – but less clear – sound. This makes changes harder to pick out throughout the songs. A lot of the rhythms consist of both an acoustic strumming, and a distorted electric along with it. The rhythms are not particularly technical, and a lot of the music is pretty down-tempo. The rhythm guitars also become difficult to hear when the massive keyboard elements break into the mix. They encompass all aspects of the stereo – left, right, and center – and possibly may even be expanded beyond that.

Sometimes soft, sometimes gruff, the vocals are a great match to the music, bringing about their own unique impressions. They barely penetrate the sound – just enough to be heard, and nothing more, but it is so effective in being so inaudible! The mortal lines of the low-ranged vocalist add to the atmosphere with a touch of humanity. In a word, this album is simply spellbinding. (9/10)

The debut self-release of Finland’s Machina is a 20-minute affair of metal songs that flirt between traditional heavy metal and power metal.

The songs are quite focused and round, with dominating choruses, catchy hooks and unsparing rhythms. The singing has a slight operatic tendency that manages to be impressive, but rather artificial. The end result is an essence of fast and engaging, melodic, yet non flamboyant power metal that should appeal to those who are willing to overlook the band’s lack of originality that generally comes with the genre.

Given that this release is as strong as it is, it’s a shame the band did not follow with a full-length release. (6.5/10)

Be warned. These guys look like something that dwells in a forest cabin, has a moonshine distillery, shoots trespassers and is just getting ready to bury one. Scary? Wait until you've heard them.

This album was actually released in 2002, but due to extremely limited quantity it was largely unknown until it was unearthed again by Samoth (Zyklon/Emperor) and brought to the general public. You might need to invent a new category to properly describe what these Norwegians have done – maybe "drunken, grave-robbing math-core" would do? Or you could dissect it to pieces and say "this is death, then prog, hardcore, rock, speed..."

Whatever you call it, it attacks from everywhere, with all available weapons and it fights dirty – from blastbeats to drunken jazz parts and then to highspeed distorted rock in 10 seconds. The totally unpredictable riffing is angular and mathematic at one moment, and insanely thrashy the other. Bands like The Locust or The Dillinger Escape Plan spring to mind. All kinds of guitar torture are present, and apparently there's even a 12-string bass guitar. The vocals are somewhere between Slayer and Meshuggah’s maniacal shouts with screams thrown in for good measure, except for "Gravgang," which features guest vocal appearance by Grutle Kjellson of Enslaved.

The lyrics, based on William Faulkner's works, are not what you usually meet either: the cut "Take one of his ears, in case his kin is near, it's easier to pay – when only part of him's away" from "Into the Quagmire," should be graphic enough for you.

At only 30 minutes, this is a short album, but then you can always press "play" and listen to it again. It will not be pleasant, but you will like it. You will HAVE TO like it. "2 + 2 = 3.14. Whatever you say, sir, just please put that hatchet down, will you?"

Insane stuff. (8/10)

Matadors is a pretty new band that was formed after Ridge's disbanding, so the stoner rock background should tell you something. Surprisingly, it contains Murder Corporation members as well, though the influences aren't there.

If you feel like seriously analyzing the album, you'll find out that it's lacking in many aspects. Poor song development, or none at all, monotonous backgrounds, way too amateur-sounding vocals and unoriginal guitar rhythms. Really, the whole album is amateur-sounding.

As mentioned above, there's nothing extreme or groundbreaking here, so the more liberal music listeners will probably find it bland. And don't forget the old school production: anyone not into that will find it horrible.

Now, which one's right? The answer depends. It's all about your mood. (8/10 if you feel like partying, 4/10 if not)

Germany’s Neaera, originally called The Ninth Gate, exploit some hardcore sensibility into a heavily Swedish death metal-influenced sound. Let the Tempest Come is made complete with a twin guitar attack and, you guessed it, breakdowns.

This can be described as Europe’s answer to The Black Dahlia Murder (which is America’s answer to European melodic death... Is anyone else laughing at the irony? – ed); however, there are some slight differences when both are compared. Neaera takes things one step at a time with melodies and add an occasional chuggy riff or two. There’s definitely an At the Gates vibe layered with a slight Dark Tranquillity influence around the edges. The vocals are high pitched, coarse, and the guttural / bellowed vocals breathe new life into the music.

Let the Tempest Come’s sound is crisp. The twin guitars are nicely put and performed. (8/10)

Remixed is a ticket to nostalgia, to adolescence, to years of innocence and the enormous drive to explore – the years of thrash metal. Back then, the kings and the awe inspirers were Slayer, Overkill, Metallica, Kreator and Sodom. But last, and yet not least, were the unknown and excellent Oblivion, who had toured and played with the biggest names of that era, if to judge by the assembly of old flyers displayed within the album's booklet.

Remixed is a 78-minute excursion into the past, containing mostly digitalized demos and a couple of live songs from the last happy days of the ‘80s, courtesy of this excellent – and very underground – band Oblivion, an American thrash metal outfit that brings us a taste of its powerful, dynamic and enjoyable music from the times when this type of stripped down, macho, in-your-face thrashing metal was very popular amongst the masses of metal heads. It's the stuff head-banging and moshing were made for, and what made youngsters almost addicted, not to mention fanatical, towards this extremely, then-harsh (albeit fulfilling) type of music.

Remixed is a fabulous opportunity to listen to an excellent thrash metal band who has not released a single album during its existence and a chance for the older enthusiasts – and anyone else who wishes to learn – what great magic old-school American thrash metal possessed back then. A recommended listen, if only for nostalgic purposes. (7/10)

First Degree Suicide from Finnish band Obscurant may lack some originality in spite of their distinct mid-period Hypocrisy sound, but they throw some of their own ideas into this collective mix to create a balanced, well performed outing.

First Degree Suicide doesn’t feature the spatial, alien-themed lyrics that you would find on, say, Hypocrisy’s Abducted or The Final Chapter, but would be perfect if it were wedged in between. You wouldn’t even notice the difference. Personal lyrics of love, hate, and suicide fuel the fire as the moody, mid-paced riffs swallow the flames and conduct an emotional thrill ride.

The vocals are the only thing that would slightly set them apart from Peter Tagtgren’s, as they are a bit hoarse at times. Sometimes the vocals sound like they’re restrained from the rest of the music. If only they were a little big higher in the mix. The singing parts are icing to the cake, though.

Carbon copy or not, fans of Peter Tagtgren and the gang will get a big kick out of Obscurant. "The Redemption" and "Light From Above" are the stand outs. However, new listeners should be sure to check out Hypocrisy first. (7/10)

Of Graves and Gods, one of the newest bands on Candlelight Records, have given the label something to boast about. If you miss metal that's vicious, metal that's unrelenting and angry, then these Mexican heroes are going to redefine all of that.

Yes, they're technically metalcore. But What Of Graves and Gods have done on Slitthroat Andromeda returns metalcore back to its roots without the clean-singing, melody-saturated bullshit bands liked Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall have bastardized it into. They're bringing back that Dying Fetus ferocity that made the genre so worthy in the first place.

Yes, there's melody, but it works in conjunction with the term "metal." Nothing overly majestic, but something that works to create the epic feeling that made melody so great in the first place. While not overly technical, the band is ruthless in their deliverance of music that satiates all the prime aesthetics that makes a metalhead appreciate work. The songwriting is absolutely flawless, there's no boring riff on the album.

Even the times of slow and groovy breakdowns are done-away with by the band, as they rarely drop below a thrashy tempo. Of Graves and Gods have a very bright future ahead of them, and here's to hoping that this phenomenon is picked back up on. (8.5/10)

Research says Patchuli Sexy Lounge is a collaboration between Moonstone Records and the Patchuli Lounge / Bar located in Israel. Even while the artists are all from different genres, most of them share some qualities. All are ambient, all the tracks are more or less drug-influenced, and almost all of them show a union between modern electronica and traditional Israeli / Middle Eastern music. While the concept is kind of wacky, I'm sure everyone will be surprised with the quality of the compilation. Here’s a blow by blow of the bands found therein.

Digital Samsara – "7 AM" Starts with atmospherical sounds, then gradually gets more and more "modern," even jazzy and Egyptian. Improvisational sounding at times, "7AM" is a really good way to start the album.

Ultimax – "Amanita Muscaria" seems like the soundtrack to a futuristic or post-apocalyptical anime or game. Only in the ending it sounds electronica-ish. Quite atmospheric, a really impressive song.

Mike A – "Sued Avatihim" sounds like what would happen if Beetlejuice went to the Middle-East. Sometimes good, sometimes way too funny, sometimes creepy, it's not a hit but not a miss either. And too damn long.

Zion – "Arise": A really trippy track consisting mostly of synths. It doesn't really fit the album, but it's a good track, anyway. The bits of good percussion make it all much better.

Dao – "Isqh" is one of Patchuli Sexy Lounge's standouts. It contains lots of vocals and regional instruments making quite a mysterious atmosphere. Even if it's 6:35 long, it could have been 20 minutes with absolutely no problem.

Ma Faiza & Veet Sandeh – "What?": Another trippy song, but this time feeling much more regional to Israel, with some really fitting guitar and flute parts, and particular vocals. Another strong track.

Capsula – "Dendrimers & Dreamers": Quite slow to get going, but when it does, it has some of the best-sounding synths in the compilation, plus some wicked DJ scratches and good sound manipulation.

Plan B – "Mr. Wave": Easily the most rave-like song in here. Good themes are displayed in the leads, while weird drum programming in the background gives it an electronica edge. Quite cool.

Visual Paradox – "Gayo": Although short when compared to other tracks, it drags on for way too long for its own good, with just one good theme repeated over and over again over small changes. Definitely Patchuli Sexy Lounge's lowest point.

Ultravoice – "Children of Earth": Another track that is slow to get going, but this time to the music’s benefit. Noisy synths, atmospherical backgrounds, weird drum programming, even a deep twist in the mood to make it seem like two tracks. The best song on here, no contest, although one of the less Israeli sounding. Amazing ending as well.

Vibe Tribe – "Adish" contains the best drum programming on Patchuli Sexy Lounge, with some really loud cymbal sounds. While not completely trance, the leads are trance-like and quite well produced. The piano at the end is brilliant and the best way to end an already brilliant song.

Overall, Patchuli Sexy Lounge is an addictive and fun compilation, with lots of variation and different instrumentation, but with some low points as well as some unfitting tracks. Still, it's perfect to break routine when you don't feel like listening to anything even remotely rock-related. (8.1/10)

Phoenix Mourning, a conceptual band title, or just a snappy jumble of words? One need not mourn for the death of a phoenix, for life begins anew from the ashes. Can so much be said about this band? Read on...

First impressions are strong for this group, with their impressively bright and colorful CD artwork, to their impressively bright and exciting audio. However, the very things that make Phoenix Mourning exceptionally fun are the things that also bring them down. The music is riddled with hardcore breakdowns, flat clean vocals with extremely harshly pronounced consonants, and hardcore screams. The screams, however similar to other metalcore acts, are possibly the greatest asset to this release apart from the guitar leads and major-key progressions.

Speaking of the major-key progressions, the guitars featured on the album are mostly distorted. For the most part, pummeling powerchords and breakdowns fill out a lot of the choruses and song sections, but there are occasionally chord-style heavy rhythms and lead guitars with a hefty delay to bring more melody to the album... The melody here is very overwhelming, as one would expect the thrashing of a hardcore group here alone yet are treated to some exceptionally good melodies, leads, and even clean vocal layers at times. Sometimes the screams go hand-in-hand with the breakdowns to work in a percussive way, not only adding to the intensity of the music, but the feel and depth of the riffs.

The percussion is very precise and has a fantastic sound, with a peculiar punch to the bass drum. It sounds more like a clean, live setting kit, as opposed to the general strongly processed sound used by most metalcore groups. There is a lot of originality amongst this group, without leaning TOO hard upon other similar bands. Sure, Phoenix Mourning could do with less breakdowns, but the ones present on the album don't necessarily take away from the experience at all. A highly polished debut release by a hardcore group that will surely hit it big. (7/10)

It's Raunchy. You know all those Fear Factory and Machine Head bands? Yeah, the incredibly common comparison amongst reviewers is truest for these Danes. So, just to preface, if you dig originality over songwriting, then you're probably not going to be sold on Death Pop Romance at all, so don't bother.

The band Orgy described themselves as death pop awhile ago, something that was pretty funny. It kinda stuck, though. With Raunchy, the name fits even more. The band manages to keep a metal sound at their core while exploiting every pop melody they can throw in. Y'know, like Killswitch Engage, except out of the closet. Much like Fear Factory, though, instead of making every song complete melody, Raunchy find a nice balance between fine, heavy rhythms and synthed-out melodies that will stay in your head for days.

The only real problem with Death Pop Romance is that along with the relative lack of depth, there's a lack of lasting power. All these songs are very good, and especially the opener, which features a very lasting chorus melody. But at the core, Raunchy aren't anything that a couple of other similar bands can't give you.

Other than that, though, Death Pop Romance is an album that would satiate someone who was looking for memorable songwriting. Outside of that, though, the album falters a good bit. (7/10)

RazorDog is a one man project by Chris Menta (a proud member of the Church of Satan, as he declares proudly on his myspace page), and quite a mysterious one. Menta offers his all around musical eccentricities in a subterfuge of a self-produced, concept album about an electronic chip. However, those who thought The Edgar Broughton Band’s Superchip (reviewed in this issue) wasn’t exactly articulate on the subject, will find this release unbearable in its vagueness; quite frankly, there’s not a lot on the lyrical plane to get your attention.

And yet, the obscurity, in addition to the diversity, is what actually raises Lucy Fairy’s Club above its semi-professional production and playing – as well as above plain bizarre.

Opened by a pompous intro, you might be fooled into believing this is a progressive or power metal release, but soon enough the industrial Tiamat nature of this abstract release unfolds. The songs may rage for one moment, with half-baked chord chains, and float around the next one with whispering vocals; for a brief second the electronic atmosphere suspends, only to be followed by an attack of dense, sampled sounds and upbeat, programmed drums.

In contrary to the much more skilled, though monotonous Head Control System’s Murder Nature, which I also had the trouble of deciphering this month (see the review), Lucy Fairy’s Club is vivid and intriguing in its mystery. (6.66/10)

Hear the distortion? Yeah, it's hardcore.

Seriously, this is not even amusing anymore. Rise and Fall are pretty much the standard hardcore unit. They take punk, downgrade the tempo and keep the exact same drum pattern until the breakdown comes in, exemplifying the core selling-point of hardcore: rhythm. You can not know how to play an instrument at all, but if you have a decent rhythm you're going to be able to sell, because that's what the standard music-lover goes for.

Don't misinterpret, Rise and Fall have a very competent guitarist, but it's nowhere near enough to make any of this spectacular. It would take putting the volume on overdrive, a couple of cans of Full Throttle (just to get you in the mood), and something to destroy.

In the end, it's just best to skip out on this album. The leads are nice and fun, but not worth the selling price. Stick with Watch Them Die, it’s much more rewarding and violent. (3/10)

Metal has poked its grim little head into even the holiest of mainstream Christian rock, with a scream here, a bit of distorted riffing there... And yes, there have been some great Christian metal groups like Holy Blood, among others. Revelation Project – currently on an extended hiatus – is a Christian's perspective on progressive metal, and a rather original one at that! Revelation Project is a 75-minute epic based on the Biblical book of Revelation, which is a breath of fresh air in a genre that basically consists of hymn-like rock songs even worse than the most generic of rock manufactured in the United States.

Let's remember that this is a concept album, and with concepts come spoken dialogue (speaking be damned. It doesn’t have to be so. – ed)! The majority of the first track is all spoken, with some acoustic strumming that leads into the first real song – an instrumental. Although somewhat by-the-book prog, it's a good opener to the album. It also makes the shock of the vocals even harder when they finally enter on the third song. It's a shock simply because the vocals are mixed way too high, and because of this, the music must be turned down. The volume doesn't match, so you will likely turn the disc down and basically just listen to the vocals with the music barely audible, unless you can stand exceedingly loud vocals at high volumes.

The vocal performance isn't too shabby, though at such a volume one can easily pick out the subtle faults of the performance. The vocalist's range isn't too high, but he tries to reach a level he can't do so easily, thus resulting in occasional off-key croons, and a weak, untimely vibrato.

Despite the prog tag, the musical performances are not extremely technical – with the exception of one small area half way through the album that breaks into a solo war between the keys and guitar reminiscent of that Dream Theater sound. As per stereotype, this group has a female keyboardist, though the lead guitarist is also credited for keyboard work on the album. We will never know what parts were played by whom, but it is probably safe to assume the credited keyboardist played most of it, or at least the rhythm sections. The keyboard rhythms consist mainly of church organs – which work well in black metal – but apparently they work better in the way they were originally intended for use, in Christian music! There are some basic strings as well, and the occasional slow square wave usually used more often in progressive rock.

Revelation Project’s guitars seem to be a result of not having heard too large of an amount of progressive metal. Nevertheless, some of the rhythms are a bit unusual, mixing some prog metal with a bit of rock 'n' roll. However, a lot of the rhythms are also pretty plain. They aren't so easy to notice, however, due to the church organ – and let's not forget – the very loud vocals mixed on top of the music. It's safe to say this is a decent debut release from this Christian progressive metal group. (5/10)

The Composer’s Cut put the composer side of Ray Russell in the spotlight. True, it’s not that the compositional sense of this musicians’ musician had not been proven in various other releases (such as Why Not Now, reviewed in issue #28), but for the first time the emphasis is purely from a compositional aspect, as this release compiles the original recordings of Russell’s critically acclaimed scores for various TV shows and films (so those who are interested in sampling his guitar playing should look elsewhere).

The compositions date from 1982 to 2005, and surprisingly, although taken from various sources and eras, they manage to maintain a cohesive flow – that is, in itself, an implied compliment to Russell as it is a testimony to his individual character.

The album comprises mostly instrumental tracks of highly orchestrated music. A few of the tracks actually do get too airy and hint at new age music ("Precious Blood Suite"), but these are negligible when they appear in the stream of the other marvelous tracks, the majority of which combines classical music and jazz influences into subtle, gentle movements; one is plainly witty ("A Bit of a Do"); and a few others, such as the bluesy "The Blue Room," provide a wider glance into Russell’s all-around musical territories.

While it won’t be wrong to classify this release as quality easy listening music, one should always bear in mind the words of one Oscar Wilde: "Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault." (7/10)

Sadus are still a fine band, even today, 16 years after the release of the classics Illusions / Chemical Exposure way back in the ‘80s.

Even today, Sadus have not shed their identity, refuse to mingle in the figurative crowd, and lose what makes them an exquisite group of talented, musical thinkers. They have grown, indeed, offering a much tamed, calculated and mature album; a slower version of the band's furious and relentless past efforts. They are less angry, and have translated this old anger into a more "musical" entity, making Out for Blood one of the most progressive efforts in the band's discography.

On Out for Blood, the right of speech is mostly offered to the guitar section; long instrumental parts of thrashing excellence are introduced, while the human voice – the Sadus-style, patented vocals – are some of the time absent, again, for letting the instruments alone speak for themselves.

Even though the Sadus boys are older than the average metal musician of today, they are as aggressive and vile as ever; dynamic, vitriolic and sort of hateful, but as above mentioned, there is an overall aura of maturity that's been introduced there – no, not selling-out (far from it), just taking things more seriously, focusing more on song writing, song-structures and keeping it flowing and original.

A very strong album showcases a rare tour de force of musicianship and power by a threesome of veterans with at least as much metal spirit left in them as they are talented. A recommended recording for anyone who wants to step out for a second of the mire of faceless, talent-less metal of today and dwell within an album which is the brainchild of a couple of decades of musical excellence. (8/10)

We had reviewed and interviewed this relatively unknown band from Spain in issue #13 when they had just released a MCD. Now, almost three years later, Scent of Death have found a label wise enough to release their debut full-length.

These Spaniards seem to have understood the meaning of the word "evolution" just about perfectly. From their four-song MCD, Entangled in Hate, which served up rather raw and furious technical death metal, they have evolved into a very mature-sounding outfit with more emphasis on solid songwriting rather than speed.

The speed factor is still something Scent of Death handle pretty well, but the overall atmosphere is generally very reminiscent of Immolation, from the deep menacing vocals to the use of harmonics in the riffs. For instance, the fifth song, "A Thorn in the Forehead of God," is something Immolation would love to have on any of their recent releases. But also quite evident is a heavy nod towards Morbid Angel, as a few songs (especially the title song) descend into sludgy pits that remind me of Morbid Angel's "Where The Slime Live."

There are many bands who try and clone the dark sound of Immolation, but there are very few who can match them in terms of musical proficiency and songwriting, and it's most definitely a feather in the cap of Scent of Death who have managed to pull it off so well. This album makes me happy. Very happy. (9.5/10)

If Down, Corrosion of Conformity, and Sixty-Watt Shaman are your idea of a brewed-up night of southen-fried groovin', then Scissorfight should be in your cataologue by now. If they're not, then here's Jaggernaut to inspire them.

Coming straight out of a soundscaped environment not unlike an audible

equivalent to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," Scissorfight is southern, but loaded with as much malevolent violence as can be packed into an album.

Opener "Dynamite" is an excellent overview of the album and band. The groove is extremely thick, not unlike Pantera, but the vocal trade-off goes from growling to some deep, near-bluesy bass vocals. However, Scissorfight separate themselves from their slightly more well-known contemporaries by keeping a much less introspective feel. There's no Corrosion of Conformity-esque political criticism here – it's all about the essential rebel point of view, brew, and the standard day-to-day life of the average, knuckle-draggin' American citizen. As primitive as the music is, it's hard not to throw your fists up and turn your head into a mass of hair.

Jaggernaut is at its core an aesthetically pleasing album with little pushing of boundaries. Come for what it is, a chance to release angst, and you'll leave happy. (8/10)

Certain moments (most notably the first cuts) on this reissue of Secret Oyster’s second, 1974 release (featuring three bonus tracks) sounded very familiar. At first, I assumed it is this memorable feature of the well structured, instrumental jazz rock pieces found here that makes it sound so domestic, but deeper investigation was needed.

The album certainly has glimpses of Mahavishnu Orchestra in it, but the feel is that the music has a more ethereal vibe to it; and is less flashy altogether.

And then it hit me. The mid ‘70s days of Soft Machine. In fact, Sea Son has much of a Karl Jenkins-styled compositional sense to evoke familiarities with Soft Machine tracks. This, however, does not derogate one bit off the Danish Secret Oyster, as Sea Son preceded Soft Machine’s comparable albums (Bundles, Softs) by a year or so.

There’s one reservation to the above: you will not find any ultra fast axe playing a la Holdsworth or Etheridge here (although it does get close with some single note, automatic firings). There is a whole lot of wah-affected sounds that ripple through the tight, elegantly interchanging, melodic voices (including keyboards, guitars and other stringed instruments). This reissue also sounds way better compared to the rather old (and I suspect out of print) CD pressings of the Soft Machine albums mentioned above.

The original album’s last track, "Paella," features a more tribal, electronic treatment and fine trumpet reinforcement, reminiscent of the electric Miles Davis and Weather Report.

The pieces are all performed with wild, at times even edgy, energy, and would definitely appeal to rock fans more than it would to jazz fans, contrasted to the aforementioned alternatives. Every fan of mid ‘70s and later Soft Machine should check this album out, as well as any instrumental rock fan who is interested in broadening his musical scope. (8.25/10)

Listen to My Shapes is the California Bay Area-based Sensations debut release. From members of The Mother Hips and Cake, the Sensations offer this unique collection of songs as an alternative to the digitally crazed world of mixing.

Masterfully recorded in tight quarters on an old, haunted eight-track, these rich sounding tunes take a modern approach to the open phrasing and rhyming style of the ‘60s British invasion. The songs of Greg Loiacono, Paul Hoaglin and Todd Roper seem so simple, yet they are incredibly, harmonically sophisticated.

Like the Beatles, the Kinks, or Simon and Garfunkel, the tunes are often indescribably beautiful, exploring "psychedelic" sensitivities and lighthearted but heady emotional twists. While listening to the "shapes" of these tunes, you can juxtapose the angular rock and roll shape with the gentle sine wave of a delicate acoustic ballad. Every tune holds a little surprise in the pocket and by the end of the CD you really like these guys. I honor the chutzpah and the confidence it takes these days for a guy to thoughtfully develop these far-out harmonies and sing a really sweet (not sappy) song. (7.5/10)

The latest Shadows Fall release is just that: an album that sounds like Shadows Fall, nothing new brought to the table, not much taken away.

Since the release of The Art of Balance, Shadows Fall seems to have released more ballad-type material – more radio friendly and commercial songs. After the massive success, and the many singles of The War Within, we have yet another release sure to hit the shelves of your local Wal Mart.

The only quality of Shadows Fall that truthfully remains intact is Brian Fair's definitive vocal performance. It's still that very forceful scream, with a lot of pressure being pushed outwards... but the music, although extremely similar to what they've done before, has a few minor changes. First off, there were many great solos featured on The Art of Balance, but solos seem to be an after-thought on Fallout From the War... sparse, and not very impressive.

Secondly, it's quite obvious that Shadows Fall has dumbed down their material for the mainstream masses. Consider this: the rhythms are simpler. There are fewer leads. There are a lot more clean vocals, which are not so great themselves and are recorded emotionlessly, and the percussive performance is even more reproachable! The Art of Balance had some good performances, though The War Within had some even more impressive percussion... so why has it all been forsaken on this release?

Analysis aside, Fallout From the War will probably please current Shadows Fall and metalcore fans, as well as garner some new listeners... Alas, the group is on a one-way road to mediocrity where it only gets worse, and worse. (5/10)

Hailing from Brazil (well, most of the band, anyway), Shining Star offers a mixture of classic heavy metal with some Yngwie Malmsteen and Dream Theater inspired guitar passages that almost tempt you to classify it as neoclassical metal (and on some cases, such as on "From Now on," it actually deserves the label).

The songs are generally based on rhythm guitar playing, which sounds rather dull in the mix, and from which fast fretboard runs emerge; these might be rather attractive, but they are at the same time quite standard, and when one discovers the same tricks are being pulled throughout the album, their appreciation is doubtful.

The vocals, by Lance King, sound a bit too whiny. It might be something with their echo or the way they are enhanced by overdubs. This kind of strikes out another one of the two designated main attractions of the album, even though it is clear that King is a capable vocalist.

The rhythm section is nothing out of the ordinary, and the atmospheric keyboard work is pompous. The thinner, more primitive and intimate keyboard phrases that appear occasionally are more appealing, but other than that, the whole thing sounds unnatural... even digitized.

However, although a derivative of routine heavy metal maneuvers, Shining Star manages to transform these into a tight, engaging outcome, and those who are not too strict (and this includes me) will find the songs highly enjoyable and memorable, despite their shortcomings on the microscopic scale. (6/10)

After being in the Dutch death metal scene for more than 16 years, Sinister decided to call it quits in early 2004 after their disappointing Savage or Grace album was released. However, the band reformed nearly two years later, revamped with a new vocalist and ready to set the world on fire once again.

Afterburner puts Savage or Grace to shame. The major improvement lies within its vocal aspect. The obvious choice in pleasing its fans was to ditch the female vocalist and recruit a person with an appropriate style that would best fit the band’s classic death / thrash sound. The new vocalist sports a dry, throaty growl that would definitely spark some interest with Sinister’s loyal fan base.

The band’s hard and heavy sound is still intact with infuriating blasts and thrashing skank beats. They have always stuck to their roots, but with the obvious member change, Afterburner sounds massively brutal, like the good old days. (7/10)

Starkweather’s bizarre yet attractive Croatoan breaks down the barriers of your typical metal fare. There is lots of effort being put into the music to create its mystical yet spooky experience. Each pouring second will devour your ears and leave you dumbfounded. The most interesting thing overall is that it’s an entirely accessible album to pick up and start from anywhere you so desire.

The vocal work here is on a level all its own. It’s emotionally empowered and creates quite the buzz while you’re trying to figure out what on Earth is going on. Whether if you’re into more of a droning, wailing vocal style, or crave a very highly pitched, harsh and throaty vocal direction, it’s all in here for your amusement. Embrace it. Starkweather does is beautifully.

The music on Croatoan is phenomenal from the very start to the last second. It leaves a long lasting impact as it features many movements within songs, from soft, eclectic moments to very heavy outings. On a progressive level, there are plenty of changes throughout. Each track has something unique and tastefully done to offer, and without a single dull moment.

Get this album and indulge yourself into one unique listening experience. Croatoan is a classic. (10/10)

Just by looking at Free of Charge’s packaging, you can tell there's something different about Storm the Castle! You definitely get an indie vibe from them, but listening to the Free of Charge demo makes it that much more enigmatic.

Ok, Meads of Asphodel. Medieval black metal. Now, keep that in context when you listen to Storm the Castle. The song titles range from the mysterious "Where's My Crossbow?" to the Pyrrhic "Victory... but at What Cost?" As much as this band sounds like a complete joke, there's something about the music that's strangely addictive. That indie vibe?

The music sounds more rock-ish than everything, but it's more in the vein of Iron Maiden. Guitar-harmonies a plenty. Seriously, the guitar here is enough to please any tech geek, and definitely sets Storm the Castle! apart from the rest of their contemporary whatever-they-are-ers.

The vocals, though? Completely off-putting and ridiculous. While it works in the realm or radio-rock, these Howard Jones (minus the screaming, minus the growling) clean vocals get extremely unnerving after a little while.

Storm the Castle! are at their very least an intriguing band, but there's some work to be done. (7/10)

Putting a label on Strapping Young Lad is impossible. Throughout his career, Devin Townsend has left a noticeable impression on music because his own music is so weird. His solo efforts are amongst the most beautiful albums you can hear even beyond the spectrum of metal, so it's safe to say that Strapping Young Lad can be one of the most polar, violent listens you could have. With this release, Alien, SYL have crafted a gem alongside City as the most volatile album in their catalogue.

To start off. you can hear a few remarkable differences. One of the strongest is in structuring and progression, and that's largely in part due to the fact that Devin Townsend comes into contact with many walks of metal. With City, the riffs sounded more along the lines of thrash, and the progressions followed in the same respect. With Alien, Strapping

Young Lad adhere more to a death philosophy, which is immediately audible within the first few seconds of the opener, "Imperial." "Skeksis" is its sister track, and one of the most violent songs of '05. This is when you can hear the biggest progression in Strapping Young Lad, as it's more melodically calculated than songs like "Oh, My Fucking God" were. You can also hear the humor (xylophones, anyone?). Things seem to keep along the SYL standard until about the four-minute mark, then it's just a massive rush of high energy, accented by Gene Hoglan's ever-godly drumming.

It is safe to say, though, that Alien is probably the most mature album that SYL have put out. Yeah, there's still the standard satirical heavy metal aesthetics here ("Shitstorm"? "We Ride"? It'd be insulting if it were real), but there's also a lot of personal and musical progression for Townsend and company.

Alien seems to slightly bridge the gap between the Devin Townsend Band and Strapping Young Lad, because this album has a center focus on melody and occasional lyrical focus on... having children. Seems like someone's ready to become a father, and he makes it

noticeable in music. I mean, he's even got a children's choir singing backup vocals on "Possessions," a song about making space to have children being something very important to him personally. There's also "Love?" a song about a false sense of such. That's right, the Lad wrote a love-song. Musically, it's actually reminiscent of Fear Factory, the chorus melody progresses along some standard lines common to that band.

All in all, Alien is musical evolution for the wanderer that is Devin Townsend. While not aimless, his music seems to cover as many emotions in the spectrum as beautifully as one could possibly imagine. Alien is just as potent as anything else he's ever produced, but completely essential in the sense that it's a new entity apart from anything else he's written. Hell, it's just essential listening. (10/10)

Christ beheaders for Satan, bass sodomizers, and hellraping vomit. What’s not to love?

This Thai trio of old school black metal hell-worshippers has been making extensive rounds over the past few years, and it is really cool to see their first full-length since 2001 put out by From Beyond. Surrender of Divinity congeals their vitriolic racket from the early Impiety, Bathory, and Celtic Frost (right down to the "death grunts"). This fucker is a remorseless, ferocious, and quite dangerous scrape of rawness.

Quite true to form, guitars seethe with treble and hyperactive chromatic riffing (Whathayakorn – 666 Strings of the Goatlord). The bass is discreet for the sake of this unit’s primitive ends (Avaejee – 4 Strings Horns of Blasphemy and Infernal Vomits). Finally, the drums are one of the most violent and noteworthy aspects of Surrender’s battle against the lamb (Xulaynus – Conqueror of the Necro Battery). Note these black metal names for your future pets!

Tracks such as "Consecration of the Heathen Messiah" and "Deglorification of the Dogs" tend to take the listener on a spiritual journey of frenzied blastmort and elaborate stop / start arrangements. "Prophetic Tales of Armageddon" starts slower, but like any good old AC/DC track, you know what to expect by the time the teeth find you: infectious, metallic violence. "Satanic Storm" bleeds into "Rise of the Possessed Ones," and both are tributes to the old school. "Apocalyptic Catharsis" at Track 66 bellows with total Hellhammer worship, and if you’re so inclined, the CD contains a bonus videoclip of the band playing Christmas Day, 2004 in Bangkok, Thailand. On the following day, December 26, 2004, the Indian Ocean Tsunami paid a little visit to the region. A lot of people you see in the audience of this video may be deceased.

The ferocity with which these songs are executed is almost like watching nature’s indifferent fury. Don’t expect anything new or revelatory from this release. Just revel in its magnificent profanity. (7.77/10)

Posthumous Silence, Sylvan’s new album, sounds like a mishmash of Porcupine Tree’s entire catalog: it mixes the psychedelic vortexes of Porcupine Tree’s early material, with the spacey, extended Pink Floyd modern adaptations of The Sky Moves Sideways, and pours them into more compactly structured songs that have the innocence and softness of Stupid Dream as well as the balls of In Absentia.

The above already indicates the targeted audience of this release, and although some would surely miss the more engaging songwriting of Steven Wilson, the amalgamation of the different Porcupine Tree eras might be perceived almost as being entirely fresh.

There are some more elements to be found on this conceptual release that tells the story of a father discovering his child’s diary: The accentuation on the harder tracks, in particular, is very American in its firm, direct impact, bringing to mind a crossover between neo-prog and alternative metal (such is the frustration that emerges from "The Last Embrace"); the symphonic elements are more evident than on any Porcupine Tree release, and they live side-by-side with the other aspects ("Questions" is a fine representative of that). The playing is extremely colorful and unsparing when it comes to using the right effect in order to produce the thoughtfully desired tone (German musicians were often acclaimed for doing so in the ‘70s).

Posthumous Silence is a moving album ("Message from the Past," with its touching cello and keyboard interplay is especially noteworthy for that), flowing naturally and dynamically throughout its 70 minutes. Highly recommended! (8.25/10)

A Triggering Myth’s sixth release finds the fundamental keyboardist duo augmented by McGill Manring Stevens (and a guest performance by KBB’s violinist, Akihisa Tsuboy).

There’s a paradox at the heart of The Remedy of Abstraction. On the one hand, one cannot deny the colorful tones that sprout from the jazz rock pieces. These sonic palettes are evocative of Mahavishnu Orchestra, only with a more modern edge.

On the other hand, though, the release suffers from exhaustion. It seems everything is stuck in second gear, and there’s nothing that would deter the average jazz rock fan more than slow tempo pieces!

The rhythms remain pretty basic, as the bed of keyboards and drums is rather uniform and stagnated. Consequently, the entire offering seems to be chained to the uninspired grounds, and fails to deliver much of the sought after flares or passion.

In short, the beautiful melodic playing comes off as rather passive and unmotivated. I really wish that someone would have pulled the trigger… (3.75/10)

The Wake (not to be confused with an American band of the same name) were formed in 1998 and their debut, Ode to My Misery, was released in 2003. Now, looking at the press material, this didn't sound very promising: young-looking band, Finland, second album, modern, melodic death metal influenced by Children of Bodom, In Flames, Arch Enemy, Shadows Fall, and so on... what, another one? Do we really need this? Well, in this case the answer would be YES!

Just listen to it: the opener, "Suicide Manual," begins with an electronic introduction sounding like a modern day Slaughter of the Soul intro. Thirty-five seconds later, without warning, the band kicks in with a wild In Flames-school riff that soon breaks into a pure Slayer riff with guitars seemingly wanting to jump out of the speakers. Then it's The Haunted and early double bass drum-powered Arch Enemy – and that's only the first two minutes.

Granted, the influences are clear but still the result has in most places even surpassed them. How? With passion, energy and pure youthful enthusiasm combined with adept technical abilities and songwriting talent to effortlessly seam all the bits together. And all the while just having plain fun.

You have to admire The Wake’s maniacal refusal to become boring. Not happy with just having good solos, they had to put vicious headbanging rhythm guitars beneath them. If a riff seems too obvious – wait a couple of seconds and the next time you hear it, it will be modified or spiced with a change in drumming. When you start thinking they are going to overdo it – here are a couple of simple and groovy powerchords. Even when the band wanders into metalcore territory you don't really care because the other guitar is simultaneously playing a melody. Breaks, short, clean parts, guitar fillers and licks are wherever they are necessary and the same can be said about the vocals. They are executed in a screaming, metalcore fashion but unlike most 'core singers, this guy knows when to get in or out, alters the rhythm often enough, changes the pitch and intensity according to the music and sometimes punishes his lungs so hard that it scares you.

To sum this up, this is a highly recommendable album especially if you're a fan of the abovementioned bands or "new wave of Swedish death metal" in general. The sound is modern, full and sharp enough to convey all the things flying around on this CD, but seeing them live should be a remarkable experience. If they get the kind of media exposure that comparatively far inferior bands of this direction get – posters of this band shall be hanging in teenagers' rooms alongside with Children of Bodom. (8/10)

Well, we’re not too crazy about you, either.

Heh, in seriousness, this is actually a decent sludge / punk outfit well fed with the Southern Lord menu. At turns slow and Grief-y, otherwise groove-aggressive in the vein of Monster Magnet, Corrosion of Conformity, and even good old Venom.

This is dirty, reeking, nasty dirge metal that your friends will hate. What it lacks in originality it makes up for with a post-adolescent, twisted glee. My only suggestion to the band would be to snag a Thesaurus, or at least a library card. (5/10)

Biomechanical released a very interesting and nonlinear progressive metal album when Empires of the World came out. It showed a band expanding upon different aesthetics to go about achieving the progressive sound by borrowing from bands like Pantera. Well, UncrosseD have the same philosophy, but here's the kicker: DELetio is four years old.

UncrosseD are a progressive metal band from Russia, and much like Biomechanical, they borrow their structuring and theoretical hints from bands that aren't necessarily in the standard scope of progressive metal the way most of its die-hard fans know it. UncrosseD have learned not to sever the abrasive edge of their music, but to use it as a springboard to involve other genres into their progression, mainly by taking cues from two central bands – Atheist and Meshuggah. The odd time changes and drill sergeant vocals that Meshuggah comprised, along with the eerieness of Atheist's often groove-grind awkwardness make for a listen that's appealing on a psychedelic and metallic level.

UncrosseD are a band on the verge of garnering attention the way Cynic did in the ‘90s, sounding much like a bridge between them and their correlating, seminal jazz-metallers Atheist. Their perfected sound will take UncrosseD far, but they've got a few gaps in arrangements to make before they finally break on through. (8/10)

Unreathly Trance are signed to Relapse Records. That means that the band will be amazing, even if it is amazingly horrible. It’s going to be interesting, either way (Today Is the Day, anyone?)

Unearthly Trance’s latest release, however, is actually something that's going to garner attention in the doom fanbase, though. Hell, it might even extend into black metal territory.

Being a relatively newly-nurtured genre, doom has seen a growth in bands committing to the genre because of what large a spectrum of sound it can cover. You have drone doom like Hyatari and SunnO))), stoner doom like Om and Wall of Sleep, and then you have bands like Unearthly Trance, which meld together black and doom. The end result is fucking fantastic. The Trident is one of the most evil-sounding and malevolent albums you'll hear this year.

Unearthly Trance sound like they've taken their cues from Celtic Frost and bands like Minsk and Neurosis (Neurosis only in the tone and occasional structuring like "Decrepitude"). Regardless of genre or inlfuence, this album is just inherently evil.

The bassy overtones and energetic shifts into black metal progressions and tempos make for a listen that keeps you on a very polar position. At one moment, the music's telling you to crawl into a fetal postision. The next, it has you up on your feet, beating whatever you can find to shake off the rhythmic energy, and they shift between the two flawlessly. Yeah, they're not the first, but they're one of the best at making the formula work.

The Trident is something that's going to be turning a lot of people on to Unearthly Trance, and rightly at that. There's something going on with this album that's going to start a cult following very soon. (9/10)

This mysterious black / ambient project hails from Oregon, and that is about the extent of verifiable information you are likely to find. Indeed, Velvet Cacoon circulates so much misinformation about itself, one might suggest that they have taken up the torch passed by Quorthon (who also reveled in half-truths). The unknown darkness taunts the inquisitive.

A colleague of mine recommended this strange music as "black metal vapor," which turned out to be an apt portrayal for this extremely subterranean, all-encompassing drone. Velvet Cacoon brims with a peculiar amalgamation of folk, Burzum-ic buzzblast, muted samples, hoarse goblin croaks, and marijuana fumes.

Northsuite is a perfect follow-up to last year’s "official" Velvet Cacoon debut, Genevieve (also available from Full Moon Productions). This one is actually a compilation of various demos that the project set to tape (or cylinder, God help us) from 2001 to 2003. As a result, Northsuite sounds even darker than Genevieve, in sound and style. Some of the songs spirit along with panoramic ghosting and minimal vocals. Others are like water torture – repeated motifs, distant swells, and vomited plasma shove the black metal listener into a coffin of utter, suffocating darkness.

So what makes Velvet Cacoon so effective? How does the surgical fusion of Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins with Burzum and Xasthur transcend our expectations? Is the mystery surrounding the project intended to darken the material even more, to soak and smother it in a shroud of rain? Is the band even human?

Whoever unleashed this black plate of worms and spiders fully intends to asphyxiate and overwhelm us. Penetrate this soundscape at your own risk. The forests of the Pacific Northwest are old, ruthless, watchful, and patient. (9/10)

Black metal can easily get boring, and so can death. That's why you have to appreciate the crossover bands like France's Vorkreist. Sure, it's not a new concept, but sometimes it can mean a very rewarding listen in the near future.

Such is the case of Vorkreist's sophomore album, Sublimation XXIXA (29A for the uninitiated). This band made a name for themselves with the release of their debut album, which suffered mainly from under-production. But hey, not every band can afford Devin

Townsend, right? Anyway, they cured all of that with the release of this new disc, delivering the same blitzkreig they did originally. It's evil, it's ominous, it's groovy. It's everything you need to have 43 and a half minutes of mosh time to yourself.

Granted, it's not expanding upon any new philosophy or breaking any new ground. But for what it is, it's golden. Sublimation XXIXA quenches a thirst for nothing but mindlessly violent music, much in the same sense Krisiun do, but with a bit less repetition. There's a little bit more concentration on bringing out that apprehensive atmosphere other than by means of sheer brutality; Vorkreist aren't afraid to throw in a fat groove or a third harmony, and they do so without compromising any momentum at all.

Vorkreist's latest album may not be the lost gem of this century, but it's a damn good release. Something that you'll be listening to again, no doubt. (7.5/10)

The Norwegian black/Viking metal band Windir could no longer continue after the untimely death of its frontman and guitarist, Valfar. Born from those ashes arose Vreid, one of the offshoots of the now defunct Windir. Unfortunately, Vreid is not up to the standard that Windir was. Blame it on the lack of Valfar, or simply a purposely different musical direction... Either way, the sophomore release by Vreid is not very entertaining.

That's not to say the album is entirely bad. It's just overly stuffed with the same basic black metal formula we've been exposed to for so very long – from the raw, overly distorted guitar tones, to the unchanging percussive performance.

There are a few original moments here and there, and a small bit of experimentation, but mostly it's just black metal thrashing. The rhythm section varies only a small amount as well, leading to uninteresting song structure that lacks creative dynamics. For the other small section of the audio, there are twin guitars playing a tremolo harmony in each channel of the stereo, though they are slow and mediocre.

With that said, there seems to be more rock influence within the music than on Vreid’s previous release, Kraft. Arguably, the best track on Kraft was "Helvete." Vreid have struck again with an exceedingly similar track, "Hengebjorki," with the same basic outline. Also odd (but not surprising) is how most of the experimentation is done during the last few tracks, where a very audible square wave will break into the song with a synth-like set of strings to create a space-like vibe, or different effects are employed for the purpose of crafting a "spooky," or ambient sound. Pitch Black Brigade is hopefully just a bump in Vreid’s career, where much improvement is needed! (5/10)

Warmachine is the definition of average. It's not good enough to make you at least headbang, but not bad enough to make you suffer for an hour. The album is... just there. You know, nothing special or remarkable about it at all (except the song "Forgotten Demise," but we'll get to that later).

The Beginning of the End is mostly a clash of old-school hard rock / heavy metal with some thrash and post-thrash elements. Basically, that means dual guitars, solos and trying-hard-to-be-catchy vocals. However, it also means one-dimensional composition, typical structuring and aesthetics, and a total lack of originality.

Warmachine’s main problem, however, isn't lack of potential, it's just the fact that they try so hard so infuse their music with modern metal. Their melodic stuff is passable, but when they start playing downtuned post-thrash, it gets bad. Really fast. Take the title track as an example: the downtuned parts are horrible, but the harmonized guitar leads are catchy. Even the thrashy song "Taunted Souls" is way too tame and controlled to really work in context.

We have to give credit where it's due. The technical work is tight as hell, without a single audible mistake or compositional error. Even the complex parts sound perfectly clean, as if rehearsed to the point of passing out. Still, with a limited concept that's been done quite a lot of times, you can't do that much. The Beginning of the End suffers from a deep lack of ambition.

On to "Forgotten Demise." It's the only song where we actually see Warmachine's potential. The guitar work is outstanding, and even the modern riffs are fitting. The vocals seem far more power metal than in the rest of the album, and it's much better that way. And most of all, the chorus is really strong and catchy. This is just how the rest of The Beginning of the End should have sounded.

Regardless, one song isn't enough to save the whole release from mediocrity. In fact, it only makes you wonder why Warmachine decided to make such an average album if they could have done much better.

Oh well, just another album that's doomed to go unnoticed. Unless you feel like listening to an uninteresting album, The Beginning of the End is not for you. Or maybe just stick "Forgotten Demise" on repeat. (5/10)

There’s no denying that a Whitesnake DVD is first of all about entertainment. It is in this aspect that Live in the Still of the Night fully lives up to the expectation. Finally, one could experience the energetic David Coverdale and his flock (I’m talking about the ones onstage as well as those in the audience) in full power within the boundaries of his living room.

The director, Hamish Hamilton, does everything necessary to emphasize the showy Whitesnake live performance that rapidly shifts amongst a multitude of camera angles, almost like it’s a music video. However, unlike that awful Ozzy Osbourne "Live & Loud" video, this one benefits from documenting a single show (at the Hammersmith Apollo, London) in its true form. The black and white effects are used a bit too often, but other than that, the footage definitely complements the dynamics of the band, which runs wild throughout.

As for the musical content, and here comes the real surprise (especially when considering Coverdale and drummer Tommy Aldridge are the only ones to have actually appeared on a Whitesnake album), Whitesnake is as strong and tight as ever! David Coverdale still maintains his trademark voice (not to mention his stage moves), even when he approaches his singing duties with his slick shouts, which were largely absent from his recent studio material.

Guitarist Doug Aldrich blends quite smoothly with the Whitesnake songbook, and he solos more aptly than he did when I saw him play on the recent Dio tour; he just feels like a natural part of Whitesnake. His colleague, Reb Beach, is less impressive, delivering some generic tricks on his solos.

The rhythm section blasts appropriately, while keyboardist Timothy Drury does a terrific job in keeping everything together.

The setlist features songs ranging from the landmark Deep Purple "Burn" to early Whitesnake material ("Take Me With You") and onto the late ‘80s hits and power ballads. Some of the songs, most notably "Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City," do stretch to exaggerated dimensions, but apart from that the show holds a real pleasure for Whitesnake fans.

The bonus CD that accompanies the special collector’s edition features over an hour of selected tracks off the same concert, and it is noteworthy for its sound quality, which marks it as a powerful candidate for replacing most of the band’s CD catalogue, which simply lacks a spark (and I truly hope that the newly released re-masters correct this to some extent). (9/10 for Whitesnake fans, big or small.)

In the Woods'…epic Heart of the Ages and A Return to the Isle of Men; Weakling's timeless Dead as Dreams; Negura Bunget's wonderful N' Crugu Bradului; and now this, Diadem of 12 Stars by a completely unheralded band called Wolves in the Throne Room.

Wow.

Occasionally, once in a few years, emerges an album that redefines the verges of musical expression and pushes the boundaries a little farther into uncharted regions of human musical endeavor, where only the brave tread and those with vision and profound understanding of the human soul dare walk.

Diadem of 12 Stars is very much along the lines of Weakling's aforementioned Dead as Dreams' aesthetical likeness; epically long tracks, a sea of relentless, harmonious guitars interchanging with a harsher, sharper, searing tone of endless distortion upon distortion, and presiding overall heart tearing, lung crushing, suicidally demonic shrieks.

Occasionally, you'll hear an acoustic passage here and there, a wailing, lamented female's celestial voice, but most of the time the music is just bewitching guitar harmonies, layer on top of layer on top of layer; a thick veil of distortion and eerie, melodious craftsmanship. This music is apparently very simple and lacks any progressiveness, experimentation or virtuosity, but these wise musicians know how to convey melodies into one's heart in the most direct and chilling way possible. One cannot be left indifferent towards these sounds, for they capture the essence of what it's like to be human: faulty, fearful, fragile – then force-feed you with all that poison.

Diadem of 12 Stars is so intense that one can hardly sit through the whole hour continuously; it hammers the inside of the skull, it turns the innards, it makes the listener small and insignificant due to its abilities to embody the universe, the stars, nature itself, where we humans, do not always fit, or matter.

Diatem of 12 stars is what music – any music, metal music, black metal in particular – should be all about; refined emotion, transcendental and pure atmosphere. If these three infrastructural components appear, we can safely state that the assembly of sounds ahead – is music; music, as in muse, the spirit of invention, creation and aesthetical beauty.

This album is really a gem. It holds many treasures within, it strums on the spiritual strings in us all, and maybe, just maybe, puts us in our right place, in the right proportion within the great scheme of creation, deflating our enormous ego and self-esteem to nothingness in comparison to the vastness out there.

Diatem of 12 Stars is easily one of the best black metal releases of the year 2006. (9.5/10)

note by Roberto Martinelli: It’s the truth, and more. Not since Weakling (check out the review waaaayyy back in issue #1) has there been anything so... well, like Weakling. (Although I had forgotten about N Crugu Bradului). Black metal in general hasn’t been too relevant or worthwhile around Maelstrom HQ since the turn of the millennia, but Wolves in the Throne Room is the very rare exception to that rule. Oh, and by the way, Diadem... is light years better than the band’s demo CD that was in circulation around San Francisco for a little while. Good work! See ya at the "best of" list for 2006.

If there ever was an intimidating band then surely it must be Zyklon. Just look at all the facts – named after a certain genocidal gas substance, one member a church arsonist, another one a living machine gun of a drummer and their lyrics are written by a guy who killed someone simply to see what's it like – and wore a "just do it" jacket on his court appearances. And they like to have pictures of them being taken while pointing a gun at you. Frightening enough? Actually, much like their music, only at first sight.

The opener, "In Hindsight," is impressive enough, with hyperspeed drumming, angry growl-to-shout vocals, descending opening guitars and a slightly surreal riff as a highlight. Track two, "Disintegrate," tries to sound like Morbid Angel, but ends up being a boring copy of Behemoth. "Ways of the World" has a chorus imaginatively consisting of repeating the title a couple of times and more attempts at being a Swedish version of Behemoth (yes, I know Zyklon is not from Sweden).

"Subversive Faith" has a chorus consisting of repeating the title a couple of times and sounds like a Swedish version of Beh... erm, okay, do I need to continue? On track number six, "Vile Ritual", things improve – blistering speed, dizzy riffing and more surreal parts that could wake the dead even if played at low volume. After that, the quality tends to improve slightly but only "Skinned and Endangered," the last track, draws your attention with a slow, crunching riff, some spacy electronic effects and painful atmosphere.

Actually, I could have simply copied the review of the previous album, "Aeon," from issue #15, and just changed the names but I was afraid Roberto would do horrible things to me. And also one important thing has changed – Emperor have sort of reformed. Which is fabulous. And, guess what? Samoth says that now Zyklon is his main band and Emperor a project... is this guy for real? Come on! You have a wife and kids to feed if nothing else – and guess which one can sell more? Huh.

Nevertheless, DisIntegrate is an OK album if you want an undemanding blast – and I'm still keeping their poster on my wall. They at least look intimidating. (5.3/10)

Isn't it great when a band completely destroys the image you perceive in your head and paints a great new bold picture for you? Day Without Dawn is like that, with jazzy clean sections that go well with heavy breakdowns reminiscent of Dredg.

The music is a fresh breath into uncharted waters for the indie scene as a whole, as it is both envelopes and separates from hard rock roots to bring a lively jazz aura to inspired and fresh licks and beats. The vocals are well done and fit nicely, although could be found to be a bit overdone and off key at times, but at no real cost to the whole, and if anything, actually added an element to the music. The only other complaint that can really be made is that there aren't more songs.

This is an excellent example of a band who aspires for more than what any genre can supply, as they weave in and out of multiple genres to create a sound that is, well, music to the ears. (8/10)

I once auditioned for the bass spot in a screamo band. I got the position immediately after the audition, then was immediately replaced because they realized they didn't like the fact that I didn't dress like the rest of them. Six months later the band folded, and four bands popped up from the ashes. Each one used different songs in their new bands taken from the old band. The funny thing was that everybody thought they were brand new songs, even their old fans. Case in point: same shit, different packaging.

There really isn't anything special about Versus the Mirror. Just like every other screamo band in existence, it's basically just an emo band with screamed vocals. This is one of those albums that you'd expect to hear at a local music hall while bands set up and the drunk kids in the corner burned shit and giggled at the apparent hilarity that burning bits of lint and paper causes. As expected, the vocals become tiresome three songs in, as does the repetitive music, setting no distinct mark between this album and any other in the same genre.

It's really neither good or bad in that sense, it's just about how much you're willing to endure before turning your stereo off with a golf club. (4/10)

When a storm arrives, one can usually list off the elements that it brings: dark clouds, rain, thunder and lightning. Heavier storms bring thundering booms, torrential sheets of rain and tremendous flashes of lightning. In essence, this heavier package is what Storm brings us, yet severely lacks any aspect of interest.

The music in general is generic heavy metal that is more repetitive than a broken record. Each song consists of basically one or two riffs, each one uninspired and boring, with the only solo being right at the end of the final track – seemingly a last-minute choice because it runs right into everything else in a horrible fashion. Even the presence of ex-Malevolent Creation drummer Dave Culross in the lineup couldn't save this demo, which is pretty disappointing considering he does a damn good job.

The vocals are the final coup de grace to the album, as they sound like a Black Album James Hetfield trying to sing Nevermore and completely overdoing it. To add to the problem, the music does not fit the presented vocal style at all. Not to say that this guy doesn't have talent, as his vocals are very well done, it's just that the entire sound is a bastard child spawned from an unsuccessful union of two different styles.

Storm delivers an uninspiring performance, which will most likely have you searching for asprin instead of headbanging along to this four track atrocity. (2/10)

Roberto, Maelstrom’s once and future king, in his infinite wisdom – or absent-mindedness – supplied only the disc for review of this here CD. (Sucker! – Roberto) No track listing, artwork, booklet, bio or dental plan. Nuthin.’ Zip. Nada. Rien. Not a problem. I’m the resourceful type. iTunes took care of the track listing. Artwork/booklet? Pishaw! Who needs it? Bio? Does it matter? And the dental plan? I floss everyday, bitches.

But. But, but, but, but. After listening to Step One, a nagging curiosity took hold. Just who created this turgid stew and what do they look like? I predict: torn and faded jeans, black band t-shirts and/or sweatshirts, tattoos a-plenty, a piercing or two, varying degrees of facial scruffiness, a dash of eyeliner and expertly mussed, dyed, black hair. Pardon me while I Google…

I am so good.

And they’re Italian. Who knew? With this knowledge, I’d rescind the dyed, black hair supposition, but the Figure Six crew hails from the Romagna region in northern Italy, and the northerners tend to be fairer of skin and hair than their southern counterparts.

Let’s get the good stuff out in the open first. Step One is well produced, the playing is tight, an overabundance of ideas flows from the album’s 12 tracks, and there’s an earnestness about the whole thing that can’t be faked.

The only thing stopping it from turning heads is that it’s 2006 and not 2000. You guessed it, Step One is a nu metal morass rife with faux-rapping, put-your-hands-in-the-air bounce, gratuitous DJ scratching, chunky guitars, slamming snare shots and rhythms that seethe with hop-along groove, all wrapped up in a Linkin Park sheen of accessibility.

A worthy (commercial) aspiration, perhaps, but this sort of business is awfully moldy at this point, having ceded the MTV throne to emo-core, whose viability, in turn, is already starting to get some green fuzz around the edges.

To their credit though, Figure of Six have some potential if they can harness their talent and considerable energy and point it in other directions. Scattered throughout the album are intriguing glimpses of possibility. Electronic burps and gurgles that glide beneath bass heavy rhythms, atmospherics that commingle dreamy passages with prickly guitar intrusions, thrash metal drum signatures offset by a chorus lifted from early ‘80s Yes, nods to Tool, and prominent usage of flute(!) on a couple of tracks.

Get rid of the boy-band crooning and saccharine choruses, check the hip-hop aspirations at the door, add in a riff or dozen and Figure of Six could have the scaffolding to prop up their more left-field ideas. Can they do it? Certainly. Do they want to? Anybody’s guess. (4/10)

A great band name or an insufferably stupid one?

Peruse the liner notes to learn the myth of said Sloth. Throw the CD into the player with this mythic imagery in mind and grab hold of a solid, immovable object. At the first chord you’ll opt for the "great name" category. By the final de-tuned note you’ll make it your life’s mission to never, EVER, cross paths with a sloth, abominable or otherwise – such is the impression made here. This is one destructive, ill-tempered, son of a bitch.

Massive, impenetrable, down-tuned and monolithic in every respect, The Abominable Iron Sloth – band / album / deity – is unstoppable, each bulldozing song certain in its inexorable path of carnage and ruin. The band is slave to the riff, and when they lock into one with all the sludgy, low-end malfeasance they can muster, it’s a marrow-dissolving exercise in sonic obliteration. And if this was they all they had to offer, it’d still be one the better albums of this breed in recent memory. But when they step out of their mid-tempo, fuzzed-out comfort zone with shading and flourishes, the aftermath is all the more devastating.

Add in breaks that veer, but don’t quite crash into the realm of the melodic, circular bass lines, post rock guitar strains, rhythms that have all the subtly of a temper tantrum, percussive depth charges and, ultimately, a visit to a jazz bar located at the corner of 10th and Hell, what was, on first impression, a fine-tuned killing machine becomes an extremely compelling one.

Witness the deliberate march of "A Hot Pink Shell of My Former Self" detonate into a chaotic middle section that pieces itself back together during a trudge of plodding doom. Or tremble before the monstrous groove and rumble that drives "Paris Hilton and Other Flaws Inherent to Wealth."

And when every trick the Sloth can conjure up coalesces on "Climax of a Nightmare," there’s really no choice but to fall on your own sword in acknowledgment of your defeat: angry-giant down-beats, a vicious hammerheaded riff, see-sawing rhythmic paces and vox wrenched from the thorax via meathooks meld into a whole that has all the stability of a beaker of nitroglycerine held by someone in the grip of an epileptic seizure.

In a word: vicious. Best to stay on The Abominable Iron Sloth’s good side. (7.5/10)

editor’s note: With Joshua being Maelstrom’s first and foremost professional wrestlingologist (he once swore that the story lines and plot developments in the WWF and GLOW were along the lines of Shakespeare), it was clear that he was clearly the staffer best qualified to review The Smackdown. We left him in his office, as he pulled out his Wrestlemania XIX folding chair – one of his favorite such mementos that he took from the yearly Super Bowl of immense men in speedos rolling around in a ring.

review by: Joshua

With their affection for professional wrestling – art work, photos, the simple fact that their name derives from a WWE television show – one’s assumption of The Smackdown’s sound would lean towards a brawny, pummeling, soup-bone fisted punk rock primer or a beer swilling, bar-brawlin’ barrel-chested slice of southern metal. But no, it’s more like short attention span theater – five kids off their Ritalin whose brains will implode if they concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds.

You have to give The Smackdown’s quintet of head cases all the credit in the world for hailing from Gothenburg and not being the umpteenth millionth band to rip off At the Gates. Rest assured, they pilfer from plenty of other sources, but they’ve steadfastly refused a ticket aboard the metalcore boat.

What are they, then? Garagey hardcore that’s chaotic, sloppy, trashy and snotty. Each track careening spasmodically, not so much out of control as ignorant of the very concept, spilling over every edge and seeping between the cracks. They slurp the backwash left over from the likes of The Locust, Some Girls and Horse the Band, have copped their bass tone from Big Black and lift elements of grind and thrash when it suits them. For kicks, The Smackdown add in some gonzo surf guitar, mosh parts so brief you’ll barely raise a knee, and breaks that exist only to allow misfired synapses to realign. Their very special world view even enables them to channel Ennio Morricone; albeit Morricone drenched in LSD with a string of firecrackers shoved up his ass.

With 13 tracks spanned over a mere 21 minutes, no song is really capable of overstaying its welcome. And if one takes the album as one longish, no-hands-on-the-steering-wheel plummet down a mountain road rather than a series of flailing 25 yard sprints, its exhaustive cry for attention works quite well, indeed. (6/10)

Shred Earthship starts promisingly enough with track one, a hyper, super-intense, four-minute blast of noodly guitar freakout coupled with rolling, not-stopping-for-nothin’ drum action. Sounding like an excerpt from a sax-less Naked City or Painkiller jam, it’s anti-music, devoid of structure, no beginning or end, pure virtuosity for its own sake. A good start, to be sure.

Then tracks two kicks in, and it’s more of the same. As is track three, four, five, all the way through 19. Shred Earthship isn’t so much an album as an endurance test... and not a very enjoyable one, at that.

Hill and Barr can play the shit out of their instruments. Without a doubt, I guarantee that if one was to slip Shred Earthship on the house stereo at any Guitar Center across the country, all of the staff and at least half the customers would sprint to the bathroom to masturbate furiously at its instrumental prowess. But all of Shred Earthship’s technical dexterity is wasted in a monochromatic blur as each track fades into the next with barely any deviation in texture, tempo or approach; even track lengths are superfluous – the six- or nine-minute tracks are as one-dimensional as the two- and three-minute ones.

So what exactly is the motivation behind the album’s release? Its mission statement is loud and clear after the first few minutes; everything that follows a carbon copy of that initial salvo. Is it an indie rock bout of irony? If so, any satirical edge is lost by the sheer amount of overkill on display. Perhaps the idea was to flip the whole drone metal genre on its head, taking the slow motion minimalism born with Earth’s Earth 2 and made a career of by Sunn O))), and going to the opposite extreme by cramming as many notes and drum hits in as possible. Not a bad notion. But where the drawn out chords and notes of drone (metal) lend an evocative air to its composition, where subtle tonal shifts carry weight and meaning, there’s not much variance to be found in a lightning fast guitar solo that, in effect, goes on for over an hour while the drummer spends that same time / space continuum doing laps around his kit.

Whatever the motivation(s) behind the creation of Shred Earthship, there lurks one inextricable fact that no amount of skill can cover up: it’s an utter bore. (2.5/10)

For the first time in memory, we at Maelstrom are highly recommending an album based on the work’s packaging and care in putting it together.

The AL 100^th Anniversary is a 2CD compilation of dark ambient bands (separated into "songs" and "electronix / experimental" disks). The impetus for this release is the 100^th anniversary of a significant even in the history of Aleister Crowley, the patron saint of the occult.

The CDs come packaged in a black cardboard box with the artwork shown at left (the same art on the booklet). The CDs are in their own double sleeve, each side featuring with each one’s specific art. You also get a fold out poster of the fetching art work. The booklet is the same size as the box, approximately 10" x 6". The track listing, like every other visually stunning aspect of this work, is carefully and professionally laid out.

Before we continue, a disclaimer: as far as dark ambient goes, I am little more than a dilettante. And by that, I mean I’m a casual, disinterested party, mostly keeping up with it through the ardor of ambient-loving staff. But it is with strong conviction that we can say that this compilation is a must have for any enthusiast of dark ambient music.

For one, the track listing. Names like The Soil Bleeds Black, Atrium Carceri, Musterion, Chaos as Shelter, and Za Frumi are no strangers to positive reviews in our pages. And while compilation albums have become entirely worthless in general due to the advent of Myspace.com, this 100^th Anniversary collection works as all the tracks were made specifically for this album.

You can complain about how many of the tracks feature way too much theatrical talking (well, you can make a case that any is too much), and that the album’s sinister proceedings can often err on the side of the cheesy. But that goes along with the genre’s territory, and bemoaning it would be like pointing out a power metal album is bad because it had high vocals. Besides, the whole compelling mystique that surrounds Crowley is pretty cheesy anyway, so this album is indeed an apt musical mirror of that.

What is apparently positive about the album is that much of the material is indeed musical, with frequent occurences of singing and melody. Even the experimental disk features tracks that have indications of arrangements and originality from one another. That disk is unexpectedly the best of the two overall, as it generally weaves a consistently effective web of plodding, misty, occult atmosphere.

Although you can make the case that dark ambient as a genre is artistically suspect as it relies far too heavily on plagiarism (if you hear an orchestral arrangement in a dark ambient album, you can be sure it’s lifted from an old, obscure LP), again, it goes with the territory.

Is this the best dark ambient music you can find? Possibly not, but it is in all likelihood one of the choicest additions you could make to your dark ambient loving collection. Hell, even I couldn’t give it away to my staff. (gorgeous/10)

This much can be told from a Bostonian’s perspective: by 1989, our live music scene migrated from ferocious thrash metal like Wargasm, Executioner, and Formicide to anemic, sensitive artist rock like O Positive, Bulkhead, and Dumptruck. Granted, such polarity is true with any music scene at any time of the post-industrial revolution. Boston’s own cultural history offsets frothing hardcore with the sentient pop success of The Cars or even Aerosmith. But for college freshman hunger, the Boston scene of 1989 had devolved into a weeping weakness.

Minnesota’s Bastards helped change some of that. This Midwestern import of searing noise hatred inspired Boston bands like Red Bliss, Kudgel, Madbox, and The Tulips to forsake subtlety in their music and aim straight for the testicles.

Apart from a few singles, Bastards’ Monticello is the band’s only full-length. Guitarist/vocalist Joachim Breuer used an icy, chorus-laden distortion offset by his menacing and confrontational singing style. When the man screamed, his head would tilt back like Lemmy and his mouth would open so wide, it would appear to split his head in two.

Bassist Anthony Martin also reveled in dirty volume, tuning his bass down to the lowest possible depths his intonation would allow, picking the notes with destructive zeal. Tommy Rey’s drumming is Nick Mason-minimalist, but cavernous and Godflesh-y. The pure sound-kill of this record comes from Butch Vig, who later went on to produce breakthroughs for Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and Sonic Youth.

Monticello takes noise rock to a inspiring level. Arguably the only known runners-up to Bastards at the time were Unsane, Steel Pole Bathtub, The Cows, and Monstertruck 005.

The album opener, "Hole," is the perfect map of what to expect from the rest of the album. Rabid power chords (bass included) dominate the song and structure a simple, punk binary equation. The title "Hole" itself seethes with irony: after the demise of Bastards, Joachim Breuer formed Janitor Joe with the talented, lithe, classically trained distorto-bassist Kristen Pfaff, only to have the latter scooped up by Courtney Love in 1993. Pfaff died the following year of a heroin overdose in Seattle, a few months after Kurt Cobain’s suicide.

The words in "Hole" make The Dwarves, Mentors, and even Meat Shits sound like radical left-wing feminists: "Slide my arm around your waist / I’m gonna punch your guts, slap your face / Stick a knife into your hole / I’m gonna cut you of your self control..."

Although "Hole" is without equivocation lyrically, it is brief and understated compared to the rest of the album.

"Razor" is much slower, but somehow more threatening. Breuer starts in with a rumbling growl that rises into a venomous shriek, telling the story of how he used to believe in the fallacies of life until he realized that scarring his own face and neck with his razor brought the truth out. Creepy.

"Don’t Know Much" sets, in concrete, the sittin’ on the stool, Delta Blues quality of this band (except that they happen to be playing at threshold volume). Simple major chord ascent accompanied by pounding, monomaniacal drums are so primal, one feels compelled to sing along. Good luck figuring out the lyrics: "What condiment am I?" That can SOOOO not be it...

Ah, "Joy of Gardening." If you can only spare two minutes for Bastards Monticello, make it this one. Glass breaking, cruel bass with all open strings at the same time, and repeated mantra with vocals that make Satan sound like a girl: "Yeah / Wow / Yeah / You’re always laying in to someone / You’re always laying in to someone / You never gave a shit for no one / You’re always cutting in to someone." This one doesn’t need to tell the whole story: anger LACED WITH CONVICTION is the beginning, middle, and end of it. The song is fucking sublime.

"Drunk" really lays on the heaviness, with a sweeping tantrum that glorifies the numbing defilement of being so inebriated, the world is all stink and folly.

"Big Waste" is not one of the strongest cuts on the record, but the overdubbed vocals are menacing and a decent enough rewind.

"Neighbor" starts off the second side of the record with a really cool riff and chorus that sound almost post-industrial in their catchiness. Breuer’s screams on this cut could castrate a charging bull. The story about violence against busybody neighbors is something we can all relate to.

"Bo Diddley" is one of the faster, UN-bluesy ditties, involving a basic, rolling drum pattern that when paired with the chord bludgeon, makes everything sound heavier. I myself never thought of Bo Diddley in sexual terms, but that won’t hinder the suggestion that "Bo Diddley go to the Chicken Place / But that ain’t to say he got no class / Bo Diddley stick a dick in your ass / Bo Diddley stick a dick in your ass." It’s awesome that these Bastards sing the most odious lines TWICE.

"Drive My Car" is actually "Tease my cock…(life gets dry)." Just sit back, and let the laughs reign as Breuer screams "’Cos she’s SO TIGHT, SO TIGHT, SO TIGHT" for about a minute. One of the best songs ever.

"Lithium" is doomy and foreboding, a linear tantrum of repudiation and scorn that is not meant to cheer anyone up.

The closing, title track to Monticello may be the winner of the entire vitriolic slab, hands down. Where else are you going to hear a song that COMMANDS you to kill yourself, in so many words?

"There’s only one way to break free… Put over an example, kids in the car… yeah, you’ve got to kill yourself, KILL YOURSELF, relax… relax…"

Along with the two-chord limitation, trudging advance, and downright terrifying violence, this song confirms what we’ve suspected all along, the Bastards Monticello is INTENDED to injure, to harm, and traumatize. Can terrorism be made to feel quaint by audio hatred?

See, part of what makes music so awesome is the emotion it broadcasts. Effectiveness hinges on the techniques, innovation, and repudiation of cliche. Now, let’s take this to the apocalyptic extreme.

Bastards Monticello is most assuredly NOT a metal album. This record has heavy elements to it, but its method of execution is very divergent from even Motorhead’s blues attack. This classic actually redefines anger as a menacing but also proactive leisure activity.

So good luck finding this, the fucker’s been out of print for many years.

Since its first studio-recorded albums in the early ‘90s, Sigh has grown to become one of the most innovative black metal groups. Ghastly Funeral Theatre, which came out in 1997, shows the roots of this innovation, yet in a more unrefined form.

The production is similar – or maybe even better – than that of their 2005 release, Gallows Gallery. One big difference is how the vocals are not smothered in reverberation and are mainly black metal screams instead of the Gallows Gallery’s cleans. Sigh has a great sense of melody that can be experienced through their rock 'n' roll solos, atmospheric piano, and even the occasional saxophone harmony.

The songs, however, are a lot less spontaneous-sounding than those of say, 2001's Imaginary Sonicscape. The compositions are much more straight-forward, yet in this arrangement it is possible for the group to enhance on its melodies and bring it to a mighty climax. An acoustic guitar accompanied by a flute creates a medieval sound while more instrumental harmonies break onto the scene... suddenly halted by a mass of a chaotic keyboard chords with a cello barking menacingly in the background. There are a lot of sections of Ghastly Funeral Theatre that really stick out and are extremely memorable, yet for every great part, there is a straight-forward hard rock part covered with the vocalist's manly grunt.

It is very easy to see how Sigh’s sound has evolved over the years. The new material has a great bit of experimentation, of course... but the older compositions of Sigh – including Ghastly Funeral Theatre – were a bit more risky... hit or miss. Luckily for these guys, they have a history of hitting right on target. Let's hope their 2006 release, Hangman's Hymn, can live up to the legacy.