Recipe: 40 Below Summer's The Last Dance.

This recipe will help you make your own 40 Below Summer clone, or any mediocre nu-metal album you can think of.

Difficulty: easy.

Ingredients:

- Two guitarists. One would be enough, but we need one to play drop-D powerchords and another one to uh... play drop-D powerchords too.

- A drummer. Doesn't need to be good, he just needs to keep a straight 4/4 and be able to do one or two tom rolls here and there.

- One bassist: we don't need it, but we'll add him because waving your hair while you play is _kewl_ and gets all the girls.

- A vocalist: this is the most important part. Your vocalist needs to be able to both shout like his girlfriend just left him, whine like his girlfriend just left him and sing like he's trying to get back the girlfriend that just left him. This is the only part that needs to have some actual technicality.

- (optional) A DJ or anyone who can make some noise or play samples.

Preparation:

- Compose at least one really angry song. Think about when your last girlfriend left you (and if you haven't had one, make sure you're good at imagining things). It needs to have at least one sludgy riff, or something to catch metalheads off-guard. This will be your first single.

- Compose at least one ballad that eventually gets heavier (that's where Best Buy nu-metal fans start "feeling your band" because they hate their parents or something). Think about how much you miss the girlfriend that just left you (or again, imagine). Remember, teens are your target audience.

- Compose seven or eight mid-paced songs with normal structuring (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-variation-chorus). Important: NO solos. No matter what, don't add leads or solos. Insert about as many clean arpeggios and danceable riffs as you want, but the most important part is to include lots of palm-muted drop-D riffs. Optional: make your longest track the last one (this wasn't used in our 40 Below Summer example).

- Let's make it commercial now. Add at least two breakdowns per song, and one calm wanna-be-introspective part every three songs.

- Now, for the visual part of the CD. You have two options for your cover: either a really sad or goth cover, or just some abstract symbol (doesn't need to mean anything). Either way will sell alright. For our example, we just ripped Soulfly's logo off.

- Before we produce the actual CD, we have to make sure the most important is working. Your band members need to look mean. It doesn't matter if it’s through piercings, photoshop or ball cutting, they need to look like they'll beat you if you steal their stuffed bunnies. If even after that your members don't look mean, make sure to buy new ones, or add masks to them. For our 40 Below Summer example, we're using dreadlocks, piercings and band shirts.

- Now you have everything recorded. First of all, your producer needs to be good, as he's the one that will make all this sound decent. Make the vocals central, then the guitars, then the scratches, then the drums. You can exclude the bassist's parts if you want. For our example, we just turned down his volume to 1. Make him distort the shouted vocals, just so they sound angry. Get Best Buy to sell it, no matter what. Pay as much as you need to. If possible, try to get your band into Ozzfest, for maximum efficiency. For our example, we didn't go that far, but The Last Dance is certainly able to do all that; just give it some time.

- To make it all better, add a DVD to your release. After all, everyone wants to see the band play their songs exactly like they do in studio, but with worse sound. Right.

Results:

The fifth album of Norwegian creeps Urgehal draws obvious influences from Mayhem, Immortal and Marduk. Right after hitting "play" any possible misunderstandings about this Goathead Torment are eradicated with a vicious snarl: "This is Satanic Black Metal!": fast, chaotic, sparse on melodies and as black as a thousand midnights.

Urgehal can be translated as "Primal Scream" but they have very little in common with those aging groove rockers from England. Urgehal stand for "True Norwegian Black Metal," as they say, suggesting there must be "Untrue" NBM as well. I for one do not care too much about the truth behind things, as long as it seems real to me.

And what is true about Goathead Torment is that it sounds very much like Carpathian Forest, I dare say in a much more convincing way than their recent Fuck You All!!! album, because there’s less black metal cabaret with Urgehal. Goatcraft Torment is darker because Urgehal don’t overshout themselves in their sentiments of hate (as displayed in Carpathian Forest’s hilarious and rather grotesque titles), if not for the fact that most lyrics are sung in Norwegian (most, but not all, so how truly Norwegian is that?)

Good, clear production and very good, fast drumming with strong double bassdrum action. The vocals are raspy and hateful throughout, yet the commanding line "Die For Satan!" on the title track doesn’t sound very tempting. The lyrics are not only antichristian, but also rub up against death metal themes, such as rape, brutal murder and necrophilia, making their kind of Satanism a lot more (inter)active.

The artwork is very tasteful and could make you think that they’d like to re-define black metal, to put it into this last half of this decade like Venom did in their day. The front design of Goathead Torment seems to echo Black Metal and the highly esthetic pseudo (anti-)biblical styled lyric pages remind of At War With Satan. Another possible hint/nod to it is the song "Gathered Under the Horns," which is strongly reminiscent of the theme in At War With Satan about the downfall of the Lord’s army of angels.

What I do regret is that many of the songs don’t have a very satisfactory ending, especially with the last song, "Et Steg Naermere Lucifer," in which the guitar solo is suddenly faded out at 7:00. It makes you wonder what kind of musical conclusion this is supposed to be. It should have swapped its position with the previous song, the short and furious "Sentiment of Chaos," which does end properly.

All things said, Goathead Torment is, despite its rather bland title, a pleasant journey through the darklands of deranged heathens. It won’t knock over those with high expectations for a blackness abysmal, but I find Goathead Torment a fairly decent product of indecency, and hence rate it as an adequate example of contemporary Norwegian black metal. (5.666/10)

The moment the music begins, an image of porn stars and naked women in a rock 'n roll setting forms in one's brain. It's somewhat difficult to categorise Allhelluja, seeing as the style corresponds to metal and heavy, stoner rock at the same time. The "dirty" rock sound is enjoyable, though, and their medley of speeds is interesting.

Hatesphere's Jacob Bredahl sings with a concocted voice that explodes at random instants throughout Pain is the Game. The lyrics are based around denouncing God and castigating religion, which perhaps is not as original. Nevertheless, Allhelluja strive to destroy and at the same time empower with their music. The simplicity of the music allows for it be easily absorbed.

However, at times, the energy that is present initially dissipates. Bredahl's singing is rather chaotic throughout the album, as he swims from one range to another. But then again, the music itself embraces a pandemonium, a mess of styles, which prevents it from being top-notch.

I would recommend this CD to those who like rock with a metal flair. (6/10)

Violence, sweet violence. How else do you call the music when the singer, after exhausting all the ways in which he can scream, takes it to the next level of brutality by... clean singing? Or, when the guitarist uses arpeggios as a form of noise? Call it nasty; call it shameless. Or call it Anaal Nathrakh — even though the name was invented, it's perfectly fitting.

Eschaton sees the usual suspects, singer V.I.T.R.I.O.L. and Michael Kenney (playing most of the instruments, and also playing in half the bands in the UK), bringing us another 35-minute blast of hyperfast, technical necro grind. This time their partners in crime are none other but Attila Csihar (Mayhem) appearing as a guest vocalist (if you can tell which vocals are his), and the Napalm Death bassist, Shane Embury (trust me, you CAN tell it's him).

For some reason, people tend to label the music of Anaal Nathrakh black metal / grindcore, but that can hardly be accurate. Yes, the sound resembles black metal — sharp, crunchy yet filthy guitars, misanthropic determination, blastbeats and screams... and more screams. But the key ingredient of black metal — the atmosphere — is missing, simply because with all the violence and armageddon on display here, there is no space left for such a gentle thing as "atmosphere." Or, can you say that the carnage actually IS the atmosphere? Whichever way it is, there's hardly time to think about it because the music is buzz-sawing around you and going through various stages of intensity too frequently.

Roughly described — there are blastbeats. Plenty of them. Then, the grind guitar grooves reinforced by more drum insanity. The breaks are added for more dynamics, and as simple as they might be, still distinctive. Some tremolo-picked inverted melodies, some thrashing and even a few solos. All kinds of extreme metal singing, from guttural to high-pitched. A little electronic noise. And then, all of this is almost played all at once — while one part might be hardly ending, one (or two) other components are already racing into the next one. Still, the nine songs are complete and relatively long, considering everything that has been shoved into them. Briefly — this is one of the LEAST boring albums you're ever going to hear. Even listened to at low volume, Eschaton leaves little space for breathing, it's just so intense.

Is all of this headache-inducing, ear-piercing Necrogeddon dizziness really necessary? Depends on how much you can endure. (8.9/10)

2000 Just to Destroy is a well-produced release that has a lot of energy packed into it. Biosystem55's aggression is palpable through a lot of the album, especially during build-ups when the vocals climb from a whisper to a scream and the riffing crescendos and becomes frantic. However, besides some latent emotion, this CD doesn't have a lot to offer a serious metal fan. The nu-metal feel, the predictable, overdone guitar lines, the uncreative drumming — all are valid strikes against Biosystem55's latest.

The most unfortunate element of this one, however, is the vocalist. He stretches himself to the limit, speaking, screaming, growling, and (ugh) singing. The sung sections are the worst: There's nothing more painful than an out-of-tune musician trying to sound serious. It doesn't come off well, especially alongside the cheesy piano lines in "Crystal." Not the way one wants to close an album.

Some of the grooves are creative and satisfactory, but the vast majority are unoriginal, repetitive and too-often marred by the mediocre singing. As a whole, there are simply too many weaknesses to recommend 2000 Just to Destroy. (4.5/10)

Blind Guardian’s eighth full length studio release, A Twist in the Myth, sees the band continuing in a direction similar to that of A Night at the Opera. Their style of heavy metal on this album is familiar at times, and a further departure at others. With each successive release, Blind Guardian seem to move more and more into the epic power metal song writing style and further from their thrashing heavy metal roots, but without abandoning it entirely. Their early years manifest their influence sporadically throughout the album.

The first track "This Will Never End," begins with a very thrashy riff that calls to mind earlier work, even Battalions or Follow the Blind. This quickly shifts to a more recent Blind Guardian styling complete with complex vocal harmonies and guitar driven melodicism within the framework of the song writing. The production is flawless, with the balance between guitar hugeness and a driving, clear drum sound, and Hansi’s vocal choirs.

Continued here are the lyrical topics pertaining to fantasy topics. The song titles include "Lionheart," "Skalds and Shadows," and "Straight Through the Mirror." Those who appreciate Blind Guardian’s apt ability to tell a good story with each song will not be disappointed lyrically.

Overall, this release meets the expectations held for a Blind Guardian release. The song writing is solid, the production is clear and the epic fantasy themes are present unfalteringly. The riffs drive and the melodies are catchy. This veteran German heavy metal act prove they have yet more creativity and excellent songs to bring to the metal world on A Twist in the Myth. (7.4/10)

review by: Brandon Strader

Blind Guardian is one of those bands that are easily recognized just from the album artwork. They've had the same guy for who knows how long, and his work has always been top-notch. The artwork for A Twist in the Myth is no different with its scary dragons and distinguished colors. Of course the artwork is great, but the album itself does not stand up to Blind Guardian's past work, like Nightfall in Middle Earth.

It's unsure at this point if they will EVER be able to release an album as good as that one, as they seem to be "recycling" the best aspects of certain songs or periods, and splicing them all together to make their new songs. Sure, the music is still extremely catchy in "traditional" Blind Guardian style, but they lack the more progressive elements we've come to expect from the band. It sounds like Auto-Tune is used heavily on the vocals and said vocals have become the main focus of the music with the most presence in the center channel, and layered choir vocals actually dominate EVERYTHING.

"This Will Never End" breaks through the gate with heavy metal riffs and percussive hits, and some obviously auto-tuned falsetto. The song is very enjoyable, and includes plenty of thrash-laden segments, but the same could be said about all of the songs with the exception of the couple of "ballads" we've got here. "Otherland" continues next, and features a chorus that sounds straight from a Vintersorg album.

The songwriting throughout A Twist in the Myth adheres more strictly to what has been dubbed the "Blind Guardian formula," which contains an introduction, verse, chorus, a possible distinct second verse and chorus, then a solo, and finishing up with another repetition of the second chorus, and then an ending. Sometimes the ending isn't present and it just fades out on the second chorus. Some songs like "Carry the Blessed Home" still use the formula, yet it features an "acoustic" passage for the introduction, and first verse. The song has a more basic verse / chorus arrangement without the second set, though it does have a trippy solo section with a sweet wah-wah effect on the lead guitar tone. Perhaps they thought people would pay less attention to the structure if they were being bombarded with massive, glorious layered vocals?

"Skalds and Shadows" simply blows all of the other songs on the album out of the water. It's one of their acoustic folky tunes, like "The Bard's Song," yet not quite enough to gain the cult status that is held by the aforementioned track. The only difference between this album version, and the one they released on the Fly single, is that they added some loud crashes, violins, and the oh-so-loved "wind chime" sound. I guess when they labeled the first as the acoustic version, they meant it didn't have hard crashes and intimidating violins! Great song, either way. A Twist in the Myth doesn't stand up to their past releases, however it is very enjoyable and if you're not an overly critical fanboy or a douchebag reviewer who tries to pick out the bad elements in everything, you might really love it. Even the orchestration and keyboard elements are dropped much more than on their past albums, yet this can be good as it provides more room and slightly more focus for the guitar work. It is worth buying, as there are a lot of grand moments throughout this adventurous disc, but don't hold your expectations too high. (7/10)

A female-fronted hardcore band is unique enough to be refreshing in itself, but this Michigan foursome's brand of metal is pretty strong, anyway.

Fast and slow tempos intermingle and are both done well: Bloodlined Calligraphy's sludgy riffs are particularly good, as their styles vary and the band does a great job of hanging on until the end of the beat in its syncopated sections. These usually break suddenly into a faster-paced verse, though often a satisfying middle ground is settled on, where interesting rhythms have a chance to come to the fore instead of simple, frantic guitar riffs.

The vocals are done in a percussive growl, which doesn't leave much room for variety or prowess, but it fits the style. The drumming and guitars are relatively strong, as well, and the quick verses are done on par with the more thrashy, groove-centered sections.

Overall, Ypsilanti isn't a memorable album, however. There isn't anything on it that you haven't heard before musically, and the lyrics are nothing to drool over. Although occasionally creative, none of the instrumentation is amazing, and the vocals, however uncommon, don't display much skill. Ypsilanti isn't one that you'll lose yourself in, and its general shallowness detracts from any replay value that it may have otherwise enjoyed. It's not a terrible listen, but this one isn't a recommended buy. (5/10)

This release of Dimmu / Emperor-influenced black metal is executed and produced admirably, but alas, just doesn’t form full ATTACK. Passages of mid-paced minors and crisp syncopation meander between alternating motifs of melody and dissonance. The instrumentation by main man Eldur (particularly the bass-vomit) holds all the elements of these songs together VERY well. However, it’s not as sick and mean as it could be. I expect STABWOUNDS from my metal. I walk from Slaughter of the Stars with perhaps a tickle welt.

The title track starts off promisingly with some good midpaced orc march, but after a minute or so, deja vu descends.

The low, melodic singing on track three, "Breeding with the Succubus," convinces me that Dracula is gay.

"Wheel of Torture" is a point of redemption. Its epic approach and above-par 3/4 bludgeon shifts gears at the proper times, but most importantly, it CONJURES the landscape.

But then later, "The Coming of the Storm," is the perfect embodiment of how Curse cum too soon. The track starts off homicidally, but halfway through cowers into some limbo of regularity that plagues the rest of the album. Not sure why this is so.

If any other band comes to mind, Curse remind me of Norway’s Khold (now apparently defunct, FYI). Whilst dark, the band’s songwriting and approach to that wide-open canvas of black metal is just too damned polite. (5.5/10)

I is an interesting collaboration between members of highly noted Norwegian metal bands, past and present: Demonaz (Immortal) writing the lyrics, Immortal frontman Abbath and Enslaved's Ice Dale (Arve Isdal) on guitars, Gorgoroth's T. C. King on bass and Armagedda (Immortal’s first drummer) on drums.

It is amazing how certain bands sound joyful and oh-so-happy in spite of their I-am-so-miserable lyrics. Emo bands are, in general, soulless. This is no exception. There is a juxtaposition of vocal styles, with both growling and whiny singing. While there are certain powerful moments throughout the guitar playing, but that turns to repetition and monotony. The songs are catchy, featuring themes that revolve around pain and at times, around women. There might be some great melodic instants in certain songs, but overall, it just does not add up. (4/10)

This EP by California’s punk rockers Ferona Vei features six standard songs, clocking in around thee minutes each. These relationship-centered, unromantic songs are up-tempo but hardly distinguishable from the rest of the pack. Occasionally, the distortion packed rumble is put on hold with a gentler interlude, but nothing can help the obvious verse-meets-chorus, Blink-182 patterned songs.

If that’s not enough to show the band’s bad taste, a hidden song is included after a pause. That song is a poor bluesy number, which has nothing to do with the rest of the album.

Drawing the conclusion from the band’s own degenerate declaration on the song "Chasin Doxies," Ferona Vei is hardly worth a one night stand. (3/10)

Music to fight to from a Portland quartet playing old skool hardcore punk with an edge of metal. The shouty vocals of Art Harding III seem to echo the band’s Slayer influences, though his voice is way hoarser and by far not as vicious as Tom Araya’s.

And though they apparently don’t feel like doing the anti-Christ fanfare, Free Ride seems to be about life from a not-so-elevating standpoint. These 13 songs are not so much protest songs, but more songs as seen from the perspective of someone having resigned into his trailer park life situation, where chances of change for the better are slender at best, judging from what seems to be their signature tune called "Broke Ass Is The Life I Lead."

At various points between songs there are telephone conversations that illustrate the depressing interaction between the main character and his half-baked friends. Even an effort to sort things out with a Help-Line counselor stalls woefully. Close to the album’s end he calls up his girlfriend, saying he’s leaving her for a rich girl. But the album’s closer, "Take It Away," doesn’t seem to be the soundtrack of a happy ending, as it drags along endlessly (for over 11 minutes), wallowing through a sentiment of frustration.

Perhaps it’s because a Free Ride stands for "something acquired without the ordinary effort or cost" that the message may be that by maintaining the lifestyle of a leech one won’t be able to break free from the vicious circle of low self-esteem.

This album’s concept reminds me a bit of the ideas behind 1978’s punk classic That’s Life by SHAM 69, with its (no-)working class realism and a storyline where empty thrills like cheap beers and Saturday night shags try to blur the lack of future prospects ("We drink, we fight, we fuck, we make our own bad luck" you can hear in the song "Can’t Dance").

Musically, Filthy White Trash are certainly not as hopeless as Art’s character is in the songs. The 13 songs that were recorded in just four days are tight, aggressive, and aim to kick the butts of all those pussy ass rockers. Lots of destructive, yet melodic guitar riffs. The opening track has a straightforwardness like with Motorhead’s "Ace of Spades," but different, more complex ideas are exemplified by the (really nice) intro on the anti-redneck tune "KMFAS."

In short, one could say that this album’s contents are downright negative but delivered in a very lively way. One can enjoy this album as action-filled beer-punk, but who looks closer into it can find a little story with a sort of moral as well.

The downside of things is that the quality of the lyrics can be pretty daft sometimes and that Art’s voice is not unique or even particularly good, and may become a bit one-dimensional, whereas the band obviously displays a deeper development of skills.

I hope that the whole white trash thing will not be the only trick up their sleeve (in fact, I think the band are better than their name suggests).

One sure thing is that Filthy White Trash are working on building their own recording studio in Portland, so we’ll most likely be hearing more of them later. Free Ride shows a band with potential and roughy-toughy street attitude. (7/10)

Clocking in over 75 minutes, Live At Montreux compiles songs from four concerts Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher played at the Montreux Festival chronologically (in the years 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1985). In a way, it’s a taster, showcasing different incarnations of Gallagher’s band.

Gallagher’s singing is direct and has a street-talk quality that lights him with much credibility. His guitar playing also supports his authenticity: borrowing a lot from the blues and mixing it with Hendrix-like rock attitude, Gallagher plays mercilessly yet sparingly --- he does not pull unnecessary tricks up his sleeve but rather focuses on delivering a tremendous drive, the type of drive that is bullshit-free and simply wins you over.

The numbers brought here are raw and energetic, and benefit from a capable rhythm section that not only nails the tunes but also blazes along to Gallagher’s guitar excursions; occasionally, some funky keyboards help to spice things up. Gallagher’s blues drenched, lyrical rock gets a more metallic twitch in the closing "Philby," possibly influenced by the NWOBHM.

If you crave for blues rock that is engaging and truthful throughout, you can’t go wrong with this one! (8/10)

Dedicated to "the Great Canadian Wilderness," this release by Saga’s keyboardist is indeed graced with descriptive lyrics relating to nature and optimism. The album comprises five songs alternating with five instrumental tracks (and one hidden track). Most of these, however, fail to lift above average neo-prog.

The emphasis is obvious: Gilmour’s keyboard playing. The keyboard lines are rather single minded, and yet Gilmour does manage to spin a web of sparkling, trippy sounds, even though these are quite conservative in their ‘80s prog-rock approach. Gilmour’s playfulness often raises a circus connotation; his playing has a bit of a mischievous touch, mostly due to a sustain treatment. Unsurprisingly, he also takes most of the solos on the album.

Unfortunately, there’s not much besides the keyboards to be found here: Gilmour is a rather monotonic singer, and often sounds like he has just woken up in the middle of a dream; his support players on drums and guitars give the material a harder edge, and while they manage to contrast the keyboards with their rocking rhythms (and as a result boost the album), they are uninteresting on their own. Above all, the instrumentals and the songs sound frighteningly similar one to another, and they simply go in one ear and out the other. The lack in creativity is perhaps most apparent on the piano improvisation (so it is described) "Carden Isle," on which a limited idea is executed and very little progression or thought are demonstrated.

So don’t expect Great Escape to take you anywhere or to offer a revelation. If you insist, however, you can enjoy its decent-though-traditional tunes and its good keyboards features. (5.2/10)

This release is a testament to the power of computers. Chris Brown of Tennessee and Ronald Wahle of the Netherlands met on an internet message board in 2004 and proceeded to play and produce a progressive rock album together, recording in their respective countries. Brown and Wahle both play guitars and keyboards, while Browm tackles the vocals and Wahle takes care of the drums. The result is a moody, overproduced, exceptionally wordy album that avoids all musical extremes.

The keyboards and electronic effects glue the other elements together: the slow, steady drums, the mellow guitar lines and Brown's underwhelming singing. The mixture taken together isn't too impressive, though the idea that two guys collaborating remotely put the whole thing together is worth a little something.

The guitars are by far the strongest point of Cycles. Some of the solos are outstanding, and both players do a great job of matching the album's moods and keeping the melodies moving along. The keyboard lines that seep in are also well-placed and add a lot to the mix. The formulas Ghost Circus employs are rather one-dimensional and predictable, and the execution is often sub-par. And the lyrics, though plentiful, aren't exactly inspiring, or even very interesting — their presentation doesn't help their case any, either.

Cycles is a worthy effort for two novice musician/producers, but the sound comes off as amateurish and frequently weak in the songwriting and instrumentation categories. There isn't any real experimentation, no chances taken, not even in the constantly dragging tempo. This isn't one I would recommend to anybody. (3.5/10)

For a band with a history of such immense lineup shifts and tumult, one would expect highly disjointed, inconsistent material from Incantation. Such is not the case at all, and this blackened death metal band continues to deliver what their fanbase expects: intense, not too technical, but ALWAYS fucking heavy death metal on their latest release, Primordial Domination.

The lineup, now consisting of John McEntee, Kyle Severn, and Joe Lombard, convey throughout the album what Incantation has come to mean to the death metal world. Primordial Domination begins with a slow, sinister slow death riff, that shifts to a more driving riff, which then becomes the framework for the death grunts provided by McEntee. The production on this record is clear, giving reign to the huge guitar sound and drums. The riffing and song structure throughout are solid, reflecting years of honed song writing on the part of McEntee. This approach is clear-cut and simplistic, and tends towards minimalism. But this is part of what Incantation has come to represent.

Like fellow veteran death metallers Bolt Thrower, Incantation deliver what their fans expect. They tend to not stray from what has become tried and true for them and favor this approach to the experimentalism of some fellow metal acts. They know where they stand and so do their fans and this is precisely what Primordial Domination is at its core: a real fuckin’ death metal album. (8/10)

Should Intestinal Disgorge be taken seriously? Labeled as grindcore, the band seems to be manifesting some form of black metal parody. The infantile screams are amusing, especially since one can picture an angry Liliputian elf running around in agony.

The music is good, even though it seems as though it is nothing more than collective noise at times. The songs are short, barely over a minute long --- with the exception of the last track, which is around twenty-two minutes of cold electronic sounds (which instantly goes back to the concept of a black metal parody).

The gore-inspired, abusive lyrics are another feature of the band that is sure to delight some, reminding one of pornography gone wrong. (4.5/10)

Roberto! When I asked for something refreshing I certainly did not mean this!

This audio visual, new media collage is both dizzying and shocking. Combining childlike drawings with pictures of better known figures, some amateurish 2D animation and sound effects to go along with it, this clip reminded me of my experiences with Autodesk Animation back when I was a kid.

This work is not innocent as I was, though. It is full of disgusting sexual acts and connotations, rarely managing to provoke a hint of a smile (especially as everything is so sped up), and most of the time it is purely irritating. Rest assure, there’s no artistic point being made, and even the "The End" procedure in the end extends endlessly and pointlessly, and showcases the unselective, childish attitude of aimlessly exploring nearly every possible effect.

The audio portion (which accompanies the horrible visual dimension) is filled with digitally treated vocals, poor electronic effects and lots of blows; the latter are highly accurate if one wishes to sum up this DVD release in a word. (Absolutely disgusting waste of time/10)

Part Cenobite dismemberment soundtrack, part incidental music for the terminal ward, but ALL darkness, Letum is not for the optimist (unless you pine for a balrog smecking at your throat).

Most of what brings this material through is the lack of a beat — lone artist Mattias Henrikssons’s modus operandi comprises rather of television snow, encompassing choral lament, rusty clanging, organ dirge, whispered missives, and winds that could shear the skin off of a Hell’s Angel.

It all culminates into a gnarled soundscape of immense dark ambient, the likes of which I’ve only witnessed in Gustaf Hildenbrand and the nether reaches of Krzysztof Penderecki. If Hell exists in audio waves, Letum leads by example. (9.5/10)

Once again, Guy Manning delivers us his blend of folk-based progressive rock. This time he built his album around seven distinct, presumably fictive characters that lived (or will live) in different eras, each receiving its own track. The diversity of the ages is an essential ingredient in Manning’s attempt to fuse past, present and future, in both musical and lyrical terms.

The harmonies are usually great. The instruments are tightly woven and interchange smoothly, as Manning and his supporters enrich the basic song structures with a wide variety of instruments: fiddles, flutes, saxes, mandolin, keyboards, electric, acoustic and classical guitars – most of which are played by Guy Manning himself. The richness of sounds gives the album pictorial qualities.

However, the rhythm department (also handled by Manning) is somewhat lacking in dynamics, which drags the album into mid tempo and a bit of mediocrity. Take for example the song "Jack Roberts (1699-1749)" – it just screams for some rhythmic complexity in order to boost the melody, but there’s none in sight!

The lyrics are a bit forced and lack lyricism at times, especially on "Prof. Adam Logan (2001-2094)." It’s a shame as his previous album (One Small Step…) actually showed that Manning is capable of being thought provoking in his writing. Also, one can certainly wonder what a song like "Joshua Logan (1990-2048)" does on the album, as it does not fit with the epic framework of the other songs.

Guy Manning’s vocals, which have a bit of Ian Anderson’s kinkiness and a bit of the Family Days’ goat-ness of Roger Chapman, tend towards drama. However, his limited range and style often prevent him from reflecting a significant emotional cargo upon the listener, as one can learn from his unsuccessful role-playing on the Spanish tinged "Diana Horden (1900-1922)."

The slightly eerie crescendo at the end of the album is one of the very few moments that evoke a sense of climax. Other noticeable achievements are found mostly on the album’s first three songs, telling the stories of an alleged witch, a loner and a coal miner.

As it is, Anser’s Tree is saved by its melodies and lush harmonies. Perhaps next time, a better attention to the songwriting and the dynamics would help to take things one step further from One Small Step… and not one back. (6/10)

The Deep and Dreamless Sleep is the sixh album by Boston power/thrash nmetal veterans Meliah Rage, and the follow-up to their2004 album, Barely Human, which was a well-received come-back after an eight year hiatus.

TheDeep and Dreamless Sleep’s sleeve is a bit misleading, as it comes in a typical black metal style, with sombre silhouettes of leafless trees. The same goes for the album title, as those unfamiliar with them may expect it to be something dark and ambient, perhaps something like Velvet Cacoon. But no, the album’s mood is rather life-affirming and extroverted, instead of morose or misanthropic.

Meliah Rage go back to a melodic and twin-guitar based ‘80s-ish tradition with themes like broken relationships, being pissed off with people and not wanting to be pissed upon.

Ex-Cactus Land singer Paul Souza is as flexible in the higher registers as much as he can jump to great heights as a Sports Performance Specialist, but he must be sick of hearing how much he sounds like James Hetfield, although he’d be pleased to hear that he at least can live up to expectations with Meliah Rage, while Metallica have merely improved in group therapy.

Of course, Meliah Rage is basically centered around guitarist and porn movie store owner Anthony Nichols, the mastermind and only constant member in the group. This album has a warm and vibrant feel and, while seldom pulling off anything at neckbreak speed, it balances energy with a mature sense of melody, as if they did feel that there was a new dawn rising for this particular branch of metal. This seems confirmed by the return of their original drummer, Stuart Dowie.

Meliah Rage’s early career was plagued by poodle metal and by grunge a few years later. Members having kids was not beneficient to their output, either. These days the tides seem favorable again and with a renewed morale they have another go for it (their next album already in the making and a DVD coming out next year), without necessarily wanting to innovate themselves.

See, when I tell you how tempting it is to shout "Master! Master!" along with the opening riffs of "Permanently Damaged," it rather illustrates the album’s accessibility… it’s evidently daylight darkness, not underground darkness.

The title track demonstrates Souza’s ability to sing both high and crystal clear as well as convincing low, solemn and angry. Mind you, he may well have been cast in this role for his intimidating looks. "Prepare to Die!" Souza shouts at some point and we’re getting very nervous, indeed.

"Undefeated" is also their album video and while being relatively light-weight, it’s bound to be picked up for future WWF matches --- I’ll be damned if it ain’t. "Twisted Wreck" would have been a better and more potent choice, because it has, unlike the title suggests, a very solid structure, a melancholic, yet smart riff and that kind of "you ain’t got nothing on me" type of gang chorus, which works very well.

However, the well-balanced sound doesn’t mean that the song structure is well-sorted. This is a bit the case in the song "(Living Is a) Curse," where Meliah Rage’s keen sense for tight riffs and breaks takes a rest. Some double bass action and a nice solo here and there don’t make things all waterproof, if you know what I mean. After "Twisted Wreck," the album seems a bit fragmented and sort of scraping the surface.

"Last of the Wanted" is another cool chorus-driven tune full of menace. Too bad that a bad-ass guy censors himself when singing "There’s a reason for my hate, it stems from all the sh*t I take," or does he imply that folks are giving him this, but dare not say it in full?

To summarize, the album is pretty straightforward and uncomplicated. Voice and melodic riffs are crucial. It’s also a pretty short album, exactly 36 minutes long. Put in on in your car on the way to work and you won’t need to worry to fall asleep behind the wheel. Nice melodic muscle metal (dude). (6/10)

And the Maggots Shall Inherit the Earth gets the crown for the most deceptive album cover ever made. If only because of the sheer amount of blood present, it seemed for sure that it'd be a brutal death or grind album. Hell, with that title alone it could have been a black metal album as well. Or maybe the Metallica-styled M in their name meant that it'd be a thrash album. Wrong. It's actually a melodic death album, with some brutal death and metalcore elements here and there.

The Murdered sounds and feels Gothenburg. Thankfully, we're talking about mid-period Gothenburg, that is, not the best At the Gates / In Flames stuff, but not nu-Gothenburg either. You know, the not-so-guitar-based kind, and far more traditional. Even if it's the standard nowadays to bash (logically or not) melodic death bands, I'll say it: The Murdered is a whole lot of fun.

Yes, it's almost completely one-dimensional. Song development isn't really something that The Murdered does a lot. The titles are cheesy. The breakdowns are often misplaced. Even like that, And the Maggots Shall Inherit the Earth is something you'll want to listen to more than once, especially since it's so short... and there are some reasons for it to be like that.

The guitars are incredibly sweet, kind of like Dark Tranquillity on speed. Then, the songs have a lot of energy, so even if you don't like them much, you'll be headbanging for most of their length. And most of all, the drums are just groovy. You know, the kind that make you airdrum like it's a jazz record. Also, the solo on the last song is incredible, so I wonder why The Murdered didn't include at least four more, at least to make their songs more cohesive.

They aren't afraid to experiment, as shown in the last song with the weird vocals... and they even did the breakdown there really well.

See, it has lots of lows, but it's so fresh it actually stands out from the whole melodeath crowd.

On the other side of things, And the Maggots Shall Inherit the Earth is just a fast version of a generic band. It doesn't have Dark Tranquillity's originality or In Flames' neoclassical guitar duels. Instead, it opts for some really good brutal death vocals and metalcore breakdowns. Nothing original, you see. But damn, is it a fun record. A really short, fun record, that is. It doesn't matter anyway how good this in particular is, since it shows quite a lot of talent, or at least the ability to make fun songs. (6.5/10)

I doubt I need to say much about My Dying Bride's history. They started as one of the most impressive bands in the British doom scene, and with their first two albums and all the demos they gave a new direction to a big part the doom/death genre, forming part of the so called Peaceville Three. Then, they decided to change their style for something far more gothic, and sometimes even experimental. Some fans hated it, some loved it, but almost no one said it was better than, say, Turn Loose the Swans. As virtually no doom artist can keep their style for more than five records, they recorded three tremendously disappointing albums: The Light at the End of the World, The Dreadful Hours, and Songs of Darkness ,Words of Light. So, while most of us were expecting yet another bland album, My Dying Bride came back with a hell of an album. No, I mean it.

You know those directionless songs that mainly consisted of random whining and even more random riffs? Gone. What we have here in A Line of Deathless Kings is, yes, actual composition. Hell, one song even has a standard chorus! My Dying Bride dropped all the incoherent stuff and recorded a consistent piece of gothic-influenced doom, just like Like Gods of the Sun. That doesn't mean, however, that they've dropped every single non-doom influence. "One of Beauty's Daughters," for example, has some techno-ish parts, sampling, and lots of gothic sounding sections. And that's without even talking about the completely gothic vocals that they've used forever, that are, thankfully, back to their usual quality level.

The technical part is as good as ever. They've never gone technical, but they've always had tight musicianship everywhere. Especially in the drums, where they've consistently had incredible drummers when compared to most of the doom bands (even if it's an accomplishment that they have an actual drummer instead of crappy Casio keyboards). There's a big difference in this aspect, though. Instead of uncalled for death growls in almost all songs, there are just some well-placed brutal segments, like the one that closes the album in "The Blood, The Wine, The Roses." It's still not really complex, though, being mostly based on power chords and dual-guitars. What sets it apart from their previous albums is the fact that the melodies are much stronger, about as much as in their song "Cry of Mankind." For example, the vocal melodies are catchy and elaborate, instead of the pointless mumbling of the previous albums.

A Line of Deathless Kings is a pleasant surprise. Coming from a band that seemed impossible to change anymore, they went back to something they were good at: atmospherically dense, slow, gothic influenced metal. Nothing more, nothing less. Believe me, I wish many other bands would go back like My Dying Bride did. (8.4/10)

Horizons combines nature field recordings, minimalist keyboard patter, subterranean droneloops, granular synthesis, Doppler-effected sounds, and SCRAPING. Yes, scraping.

Each landscape uses varied techniques but they all produce the desired effect: isolation, contemplation, and the power that most remote reaches of this world have on our minds, even from afar.

The CD contains a bonus video of "The Wilderness," during which you can see some of the actual Norwegian environs that inspire Northaunt. Also recommended: his website and Myspace, both of which contain Arctic landscape photography. (8.5/10)

Forsaking a Dead World is the rawest of the raw, reaping American suicidal black metal, with some excellent riffing and a good dose of intrinsic melodies interwoven into the harsh, memorable tunes of vitriolic — almost industrialized — double guitar sound and processed vocal duties. It’s endless fuzz, buzz, and hate-filled tunes in the tradition of acts such as Xasthur and Leviathan, with the predominant guitar sound that has become Xasthur's trademark of sorts (but sharper and more menacing); however, neither as sublime and dream-like, nor as devoid of any post-black metal elements; just hardcore, die-hard stuff abundant with epic tales of misery, despair and hatred.

A word about the packaging: Although exclusively self-released, Forsaking a dead world is both pressed professionally on a CD and has got a very simple yet intriguing graphic approach to the layout: black and white aesthetics, mystical symbols, occult-related quotes and profound lyricism. The album as a whole is highly worthy of your hard earned money, without even thinking twice.

The stuff nightmares are made of. (8.5/10)

Profundi is a new solo-project from former Naglfar vocalist, Jens Ryden, who handles everything himself in this wicked display of black metal. There are plenty of juicy symphonic arrangements as well, though they are extremely overshadowed by the outstanding riffs and screams flying viciously through the music. Put to particularly good use is the church organ sound, which definitely adds a whole dimension of darkness to the music.

It is quite impressive that Ryden alone recorded this whole piece as the percussion is brutal and kept in perfect time (drum machines are good at that – ed), and the energetic minor-scale guitar performances are spot on as well. The vocals are extremely well done, though they don't take any focus off of the actual music. Ryden spurts out some of the most brutal screams and growls you'll ever hear, and the layering of several vocal tracks just makes it all the more menacing. Everything can be heard in the mix, and it keeps the tenacity despite having such a grand production.

Songs like "Split-Tongued" are where Ryden really shines. The songwriting is superb and intense, and the chorus is incredibly epic with a progression similar to Viking metal that is heightened by the atmospheric keyboard performance and harmonious guitar leads. Ryden seems to have quite an affinity for blastbeats, as he uses them as often as he can. For those moments when the blastbeats aren't ripping through, he has anything from hardcore-sounding drum patterns to death metal stylings. Perhaps he could have varied the percussion a bit more to include more dynamics, yet if you're into black metal you probably don't have a problem with constant blastbeats.

One drawback on The Omega Rising is how minor chords are overused in the guitar performances. As you get farther and farther through the album, the guitar work is basically quick tremolo leads together with minor chords over and over again. There isn't anything overly experimental in the music, as it is pretty straightforward.

There have been a lot of great black metal releases this year, but The Omega Rising definitely stands at the top of the list. One-man studio projects usually are the most enjoyable of the bunch, simply due to the musical freedom and the ability to craft everything as it was intended by the person who wrote it. The last Naglfar album was fantastic as well, though it did not feature Ryden on vocals. Now because of Ryden's departure from Naglfar, we've got two great projects instead of just the one. (8/10)

Even if you love the Finnish metal scene, you just can't deny the fact that it's gotten way too repetitive. I don't even know if there are more bedroom Darkthrone clones or Sentenced clones anymore. Then we also have the whole "let's be a more metal HIM" wave. Rain Paint’s Disillusion of Purity is right in the middle of both tendencies, with some more elements thrown in just so it's not obvious. The thing is, it’s STILL obvious.

By "more elements," think bubblegum power metal influences and... Europe-sounding stuff. Yes, Europe, the band. So, by simple math: Sentenced + HIM + Katatonia + Sonata Arctica + Europe = Rain Paint. And the result isn't precisely moving, but it's not really bad. It's just that we've heard it countless times, and as much as they try to disguise it, it's just too clear.

It's quite sad that Rain Paint has Rapture members. Rapture was an incredible band, probably the best Katatonia-worship one ever, so seeing them turn into just a little bit better version of the standard Finnish band was quite a shock, at least for me. But again, Disillusion of Purity is not bad. In fact, it's much better than most HIM and Sentenced clones, but not by that much.

Disillusion of Purity doesn't demand much attention, it's atmospherical when it wants to be, and it doesn't make much use of extreme metal elements. It's technically correct, it doesn't have screamy solos... but don't expect to be amazed or anything. Some songs are good, then lots are just decent, and one or two are completely sub-par. The vocals are more The Cure and less Sentenced, but they are still used for melodramatic purposes. The guitars are more inventive than the genre's usual ones but still quite monotonous.

The problem isn't with anything mentioned in the last paragraph. It's with the composition. It's like they only have two modes: good but without cohesion, or bad and totally normal structuring. The first includes songs like "Purity": good, but needing a whole lot of polishing. That same song has some Cradle of Filth elements that seriously surpass the British band, but they are completely uncalled for here, so it doesn't help much. The second is stuff like "Give Me Back My Heart," which isn't a good enough idea to make a song. You could call it filler. And, to make it worse, only two or three songs are catchy, and that's one of the main points of Sentenced clones.

Rain Paint's unidimensionality is clearly evidenced in the Cure cover. Again, not technically bad, but, unless you're Orthrelm, six minutes of the same thing is a little bit too much. Even more when The Cure's style doesn't fit Rain Paint's much.

Rain Paint as a whole needs to mature as a project. So far, it's only an almost HIM, almost Sentenced band, and we have had enough of those in the last years. Hopefully the next album should be better. (5/10)

All of the modern death metal bands seem to be tapping into a common format, which has become trendy as hell. The constant blastbeats with bad timing, the low inhaled grunts, and the generic yet speedy riffs... Speaking of modernity, Resection has released only two demos in 2002 and 2004, and the full-length, Zenith, in 2006. Their sound is similar to Abysmal Torment (their last album reviewed in Maelstrom issue #44). The vocalist runs through the familiar vowel sounds, "ee" and "oo", which is all you will really be able to make out as far as language goes. He also grinds out the high inhaled grunts that sound like a frog croaking, which really sounds pretty funny about two and a half minutes through "The Manhattan Project". It's like a bunch of frogs sitting around a pond conversing with each other about flies, females, and other such trivial things.

The biggest disappointment with Zenith is the vocal volume. They are so loud (or the guitars are so low) that if you wanted to crank it up to really hear those groovy riffs, all you would be able to hear the vocalist's toad-like presence, and the vague trace of guitars. Sure, death metal bands usually crank the vocals up louder than the music, but it is done a bit too strongly on Zenith... Isn't death metal usually a platform to show off your chaotic and fast guitar "skillz"? The guitarists are definitely showing off here, with fast and chaotic work, but it is far too quiet. Other than those two problems, the album is really quite enjoyable. The songs are generic as heck, and each one sounds like the last, but they are still brutal death metal tracks of monolithic proportions regardless of originality. (7/10)

How many albums can you say were complete? Not perfect, but complete. In other words, how many times have you heard albums where it was obvious that the band cared about every single aspect and polished it a lot before releasing it? Collecting Shells at Lighthouse Hill is precisely that, not perfect, but obviously complete. Everything from the visual part and lyrics to everything music-related sounds as professional as it can sound.

As opposed at what the band name would suggest, Room with a View is not an Atheist worship band. It goes from Dredg's emotional / atmospheric rock, to newer Katatonia and Anathema, and sometimes even emo-ish stuff, but not the bad kind. The mix can seem kind of common, but Room with a View doesn't sound like they just aimlessly mixed genres or copied bands. And really, nowadays that's quite an achievement, with millions of bands saying, "Oh, we play emotional post emonuclearcore with bluegrass influences." Nope, this time it helps them achieve a really well produced sound, with no incoherency at all. Most of all, Room With a View seem to know really well what they are playing, as opposed to some bands who go all around trying to see just what people will like.

You know the weird part? Doubtlessly, the best compositions are the Dredg-y emotional songs, like "Friction" and "Sometimes Anywhere." It kind of makes you wonder why Room With a View try to be metal at times, even if they are really good at that too. However, everything they do is intrincate and well done, and not a single bad segment is present in Collecting Shells at Lighthouse Hill.

The part where Room With a View shine is the compositional one. Instead of going for the usual powerchords, they often use dual guitar chords, making for a guitar sound similar to Katatonia but much better and original. The correlation between all the instruments is perfectly crafted as well: the vocals usually complement the instrumental parts. Even the clean arpeggios are really original and are not the usual ones emo bands use and abuse. In fact, nothing in Collecting Shells at Lighthouse Hill is recycled. While the influences are obvious, they don't really steal anything from them.

Even the production is good, as well as everything visual: the cover, the video and the bonus stuff included in the CD. Even if you don't like the music, you won't feel like they ripped you off.

Overall, an incredible effort by Room With a View. They'll probably have a hard time to top it, though, but I'm sure they'll get better anyway. The world needs more Dredg-influenced bands. (8.9/10)

Scars of Tomorrow is yet another hardcore band crawling upwards with their sharp, little, lobster-like claws from deep within the gene pool. Unlike many of the other spawns, these guys have their own niche and do not stick to a strict hardcore protocol! Rather than dashing through verse, chorus, and breakdown like your usual hardcore group, Scars of Tomorrow play a more elongated style of melodic rhythms with an accompanying guitar lead. The breakdown does make an appearance though, like on the short "Broken Silence," though the melodic buildup following the breakdown really makes up for the momentary lack of songwriting... at least until the breakdown pops out again for the ending.

All of the songs are pretty short: most are less than three and a half minutes. This doesn't take away from the experience at all though, which is proven with such songs as "The Unwinding" and "Relive The Curse." Unfortunately, the songwriting begins to dwindle a bit as you get closer to the end of the album, yet it isn't too disastrous and the band still manages to slip a lot of great riffs and passages in occasionally.

With The Failure in Drowning, Scars of Tomorrow is definitely working towards a brighter future for the genre as a whole as they don't cling to overused formulas, yet it isn't a groundbreaking album despite being very enjoyable. (7.5/10)

If you like thrash, you will definitely like Scorngrain's brand of electronically lacerated cyber thrash. "The Code" begins suddenly with the low powerchord being struck hard (get used to it!) with some other powerchords tossed in there at the end of each bar. After 20 seconds, the electronics zap their way in, and the mixture of electronic squeals and heavy guitars done by the band is truly awe-inspiring. After 20 more seconds pass, the heavy guitars re-enter as the rhythm amongst the electronics (and is heavy as hell) and the screams finally enter in all of their distorted glory.

Although the distortion does hide the vocals a bit, they do sound quite good and very demented. The high screams are extremely well done and sound sort of like a screeching monkey, and the low guttural growls sound simply monolithic.

Scorngrain doesn't spend too much time thrashing, but when they do, they do it with an aggression and style that many thrash bands do not come by. By no means is Scorngrain traditional thrash, and they sound nothing like Kreator, Imagika, Testament, etc... as the vocal style is mainly brutal growls and screams.

Here's a thrash album that you will want to hear, and the documentary proves that even the most unfocused of loafers can make an incredible work of art. All that Playstation must have enhanced their hand / eye coordination. 0.05% is a departure from the traditional style of thrash, yet it is a breath of fresh air in a genre that could use a bit of exploration like this. Each song goes through a lot of movements and features plenty of tasty riffs and progressions, and the whole 40-minute behemoth is sure to please anyone who likes extreme metal. (9/10)

Spider Rockets is a hard rock band with a bit of a Goth tinge. It features all of the essential ingredients: a female vocalist with an amateur delivery, simplified guitar riffs, and an overly produced and weak sound. As there is no tuning on the vocals, they sound quite natural and often tend to dangle off-key. The reverb effect applied to the vocals on "Too Far" covers up the flaws a bit, although the music is very vocal-based and lean on that element more than any other. The catchy yet even more simplified "Simple" is very repetitive and uninteresting… at least until the spazzy solo near the end pops in.

There is a good bass performance, while the guitar work is decent at best. Unfortunately, the mix isn't done very well. The volume on the guitar tracks is way too low, and the vocals are way too high, as are the drums. A good mix with equal power from each instrument could have really helped Ever After sound like a much more polished, and enjoyable, album.

"Hate" continues in a more funky manner with hefty, sludge-laden riffs, but the vocal lines and lyrics are ridiculously corny. "Something More" draws in some influence from Hendrix, complete with squealing lead performances and moody rockin' riffs. The album as a whole is pretty tame, and the songwriting is fairly consistent, though the most enjoyable part of Ever After are the experimental arrangements, which are sadly in low quantities.

Spider Rockets display a range of influences from Iron Maiden, all the way to Metallica, and they even cooked up a Beatles cover, "Helter Skelter." Production and performance is what are keeping these guys from greatness. Hopefully the future will bring about some more polished work from Spider Rockets, as they do have the potential to get it done. (4.5/10)

After the Stackridge compilation (which we reviewed last month), comes the reissue of the band’s 1971 debut. This is not a cohesive album, alternating between whimsical songs and more elaborate compositions, telling stories of dragons, penguins, female explorers and the likes, all rich with imagination. Adhesion aside, the album features most, if not all, of the Stackridge trademarks (as we described those in our aforementioned review, and for the sake of not repeating ourselves it should suffice to say we’re dealing with an art rock evolution of The Beatles).

Two tracks are especially noteworthy. The first is "The Three Legged Table," which starts in a reflective, minor mood with a delicate interplay between guitar, flute and violin, only slightly threatened by a robust bass line; but three minutes and a half into the song it gets a rock n’ roll twist with more celebrated, major tones, and eventually receives an even greater boost with a dazzling arrangement of horns and slightly overdriven guitars.

The second, "Slark," is another brilliant lengthy song centered around a memorable melodic line that is passed between the instruments (guitars, bass, flute, violin). Each handles it majestically, either by itself or in accord with others, while a vivid musical backdrop enhances the imaginative variations. This is simply one of the most beautiful symphonic rock orchestrations ever, splendidly adapting the classical music concept of themes into rock music.

Each of these two songs alone is worth the price of admission, and since the rest is considerably, and at times even equally as good (check out "Essence Of Pophyry" for more of the magnificent orchestration), there’s no reason to let this lively release slip through the cracks, especially for those who are into ‘70s art rock. (9/10)

P.S.: This Angel Air reissue includes two wonderful bonus tracks: a violin centered jig (which evokes scents of East of Eden, like some of the other tracks here) and a re-recorded, single version of "Slark" from 1972 that carries its own subtleties (including some percussions and vocals not found on the album version). It’s just a shame that the booklet does not include the lyrics, and I hope the next Stackridge reissues will feature them.

For some reason, most bands formed after their previous band’s disbanding usually don't live up to their expectations. After Mood's The Fourth Ride of Doomanoids, two bands were formed: Wall of Sleep and Stereochrist. Stylistically, both were traditional doom, but Wall of Sleep's groovy approach to the genre was more noticeable than Stereochrist's more conventional and considerably less Black Sabbath-like one. Well, not only noticeable, it was more enjoyable as well. So can we say things have changed since then? Not at all, it's the same old.

Stereochrist shows a much more urban and down to earth approach. It uses even fewer groove riffs and drum patterns than their previous effort, Dead River Blues, instead going for a duller, downtuned, often chugga-chugga sound, with lots of tom work a la High on Fire. The thing is, the lack of groove doesn't help the album much and it occasionally ends up sounding too nu-metal for its own good.

Now, however, when Stereochrist play doom, they play it really well, and far better than most newer attempts. And it's especially good since the vocals are like a harsher Kirk Windstein (of Crowbar fame), and those sound really nice on slow or groovy backgrounds. The problem? They don't play as much doom as one would expect.

It's almost irritating, you know Stereochrist have the potential, but they often decide to include irrelevant faster parts instead of the pummeling doom ones you want to hear. So we can say that Live Like a Man (Die as a God) is divided in two halves: the incredible doom one, and the run of the mill non-doom one. And it's obvious that all they need is a lot more doom. I mean insane amounts of doom.

The technical work here is fitting. There's no Malmsteen stuff but the rhythms are complex enough to let you know that they've worked for hours on them. That can be said about the whole record: it's been worked on a lot. Maybe you won't like it, but it's a fact that it's not just a one-time thing. The production's really well done, putting the accent in the guitars, as it should be for this kind of album.

Unless you have a fetish for deep male voices, you'll find Live Like a Man (Die as a God) a little bit lacking, but a good effort nonetheless. Could we say that it's a record for women? (6/10)

We normally would not have blamed Tony Stevens, as he just plays bass. However, given that this is his solo 1998 release (previously unreleased out of the USA) and that he also wrote most of the numbers and sings them, we have no one better to blame.

Tony Stevens has been a member of the major blues rock bands Savoy Brown and Foghat, and amongst his other stints you can find Midnight Flyer (reviewed in Maelstrom #34) and Roger Chapman’s mid- to late-‘80s band.

This slickly produced album is composed of two sections, and despite the fact that each features different personnel (made up of some of Steven’s old collaborators, including sax player Nick Pentelow and guitarist Geoff Whitehorn), the two sound similar in style and flawlessly combine as a whole.

The material is well-crafted rock and roll of the easy listening type. Everything is polished, served with a clean, articulate and somewhat ‘80s production. This is the kind of music that probably won’t disturb anyone (unless he or she is fastidious about the music he listens to).

Nevertheless, the above raises the immortal question about the function of rock music. The unattractive, disco flavored cover of The Rolling Stones’ "Under My Thumb" makes the observation sharper as it leaves you apathetic instead of filling you with lust. (5/10)

Von Jackhelln definitely has some eccentric ideas. Black metal is still here, because the vocals can't be anything else. But the rest is not so easy classifiable. Let's say industrial Gothic — it is that, but without too excessive electronic add-ons. It's just the death metal-sounding guitars, metallic bass and loud drums (by Tsjuder's AntiChristian) playing simple hard rock and thrash grooves. Close one of your ears and it might be Rammstein with raspy vocals… or recent Samael.

Songwriting? Diverse enough, mostly mid-tempo rolling riffs and slow grooves with a blastbeat or two. As a background noise, quite efficient... and non-distracting. But how about Styggelse when you are paying attention to their music?

From a short introduction of death metal with plenty of brutal riffs and even some blastbeats, The Taste of Blood rips their way out like a vicious beast. "People Together at Night" is next, a mixture more similar to deathcore, yet there is even a section that sounds downright punky.

Their vocalist is really good at the low guttural growls, but the screams aren't brutal enough for the style of music. They're of a hardcore variety, and although the music has been labeled as such, it really isn't so. The band continues to unleash riff after riff of detuned brutality with a sound that is pretty similar to the band Despised Icon. The song titles are ridiculously long and nonsensical, unlike the actual songs. "I Guess That's Why They Make Safety Pins" pummels forth with layers of low grunts and screams amongst oddly timed riffs and even some jazz-inspired guitar leads.

"Signature Tattered Rags" continues in a more thrash-like direction with much of the emphasis of the song being placed on the crushing riffs that are capable of provoking a harsh mosh pit, while still building on the disharmonic melody that The Taste of Blood have all but perfected with Predator. "Milestones Reduced to Garbage" bursts open with some blastbeats as fast as a drumroll, and plummets into more thrashing riffs and screams.

When the band really gets into it, they can write some really awesome songs. "Incapable of Abstract Thought" almost has grind qualities to it, and fantastic musicianship.

Unfortunately, a lot of the passages — especially the heavy riffing thrashes — sound way too similar throughout the album. The palm-muted riffs with low guttural growls over them sound exactly the same every time the band does it, which can get a bit tiresome. As a whole, however, Predator is a pretty sturdy album and does provide the brutal high you need to make it through another day. (7/10)

Ten bucks to whoever can successfully explain the difference between hardcore, screamo and metalcore, because truthfully it all sounds the same. Reason being is that it's all just a triangle of repetitive plagiarism, unoriginality and rehashing. These three genres, however closely entwined, have been dragged to the mainstream of extreme music, assaulting us all with bad haircuts, guys that wear more makeup than most women, and thematic elements that can basically be categorized as so: killing the one you love; killing the one you hate who happened to be the one you loved in the past; killing the one you love / hate; and suicide.

I Killed The Prom Queen's newest might stir up something in the metalcore community simply because it's a new metalcore release. Honestly, it all sounds the same. The same panic riffs we've all heard, the fluid yelling of lyrics of the same theme as every other song in the genre with no unique rhythms or patterns, the occasional "heartfelt" sung chorus, the slow, spastic, heavy breakdowns, the disharmonic twitches within those breakdowns, uninteresting solos, etc.

In short, if you're looking for something unique and refreshing that sets itself apart from the current trends, this album is not for you. Sure there are a few new tricks, but nothing that anyone couldn't easily figure out in two minutes with a floor effects processor and a volume/wah pedal. All in all, a rather unremarkable album. (5/10)

Lupara's sound is ferocious, relentless and unforgiving: a mix of pure brutality and unrestrained hatred. The band has already made their name known on the tour circuit and has worked hard to promote their sound within the underground, reaching the ears of members of Deicide, Obituary and Slipknot just to name a few. Now with their self-titled debut hitting the shelves, they will be working harder than ever to promote their sound.

Although brutal and heavy, the album suffers greatly from repetitive faults. The guitars, while sounding like chainsaws, simply do nothing interesting: Most of the album consists of chaotic chording and detuned open lines that the bass basically follows happily behind. The drumming is rather repetitive, with uninteresting double bass and although the tom work is enjoyable, there's not enough of it to really register anything more than a passing glance.

As for solos, they're the ugly duckling of the entire album, being outrageously slow and dull in dead contrast to the rest of the album, effectively killing the energy of the songs. Vocally, the album is just plain annoying. Monotony is the name of the game, as frontman Noa Brady brings nothing new or enjoyable to the table.

The flow of the album is choppy, and several times the flow is completely lost. It seems like this would be a good release for those who don't care about musical integrity as much as they care about having something ferocious to mosh to. If Borknagar is the thinking man's metal, then Lupara would have to be the poor man's metal: this is the genre in it's most basic and rawest form, complete with uninspired riffing and not a lot of thought about the big picture in general. (5/10)

Allright! A new album by Italy’s Handful of Hate, which around here is endearingly known as Truckful of Hate.

Never has a band so understated their sound. Handful of Hate is nearly unrelenting black/death metal blastcore. As you might have guessed, the new album is more slickly produced than Vice Crown, their previous album.

The album is predominately ultra-precise, stop- and re-start-on-a-dime, spazzed out, nigh melodically obnoxious, evil, retarded nursery-rhyme on amphetamines, ADHD-afflicted guitar and drum assaults. We say definitely buy it if you’re an extreme blast whore who loves melody, too. (8/10)

Kayser bring to the table a realm of heavy metal that is equally furious, intelligent, melodic and brilliant in every way. With speed- driven passages underneath shouted yells and melodious singing, Kayser's sound is fresh and energized, with catchy melodies and proficient solos that fit perfectly within the mix. There are even a few jazzy parts that make perfect ballads, bringing the band's emotional side into the open. The tones on the album are amazing and compliment each other perfectly, a very important thing for twin guitar harmonies.

All in all, this release is sure to bring you heavy and ass kicking music with a fresh look on an old genre. (8/10)

Giant Squid is one of those bands that crosses the lines of genres, presenting a Sabbath-like doom sound and fusing it with angst ridden indie vocals along with soft melodies and angelic female vocals. Although this is their debut release on The End Records, this album is actually a re-recording of their first album on their previous label.

Dynamically, this album can go from the quietest whisper to the heaviest riff at the blink of an eye, with gentle keyboards transforming into lush, fuzzy rhythm guitars and bleak leads, leaving ample room for both headbanging and laid back listening. Song structures are invigorating at times, but can also be repetitive for the sake of heaviness, which works very well with their sound, although at times it gets to the point where you wonder when it will end, or if it will end. This is a fantastic release from a fantastic band and definitely worth your time. (8/10)

Italy has it good. The most luxurious cars, the finest foods, the best suits and the most beautiful women can easily be attributed to the Italians. It's time to again chalk up another point for Italy, as they are quickly becoming the capital of melodic music. With such phenomenal acts such as Novembre, Klimt 1918, Room With a View and Lacuna Coil garnering worldwide renown, En Declin has a lot to live up to.

Darkness and beauty is the name of the game with Trama, molding an absolutely wonderful sound into a touch of gloom to sink the listener into the calm aura of pure dark beauty. Perfect tone with emotional drumming and sympathetic but active bass lines define a world that could only be narrated by equally emotional and strong vocals.

The lyrics are mostly broken English, which are pretty funny to hear; but that aside, it is a wonderful lyrical experience. Tracks such as "1647" and "Isquosadmove" are phenomenal, showing a devout knowledge of music and a passion for writing it.

If you're a fan of Italian rock, you're going to love this album. Hell, if you're a fan of music, you'll love this album as well. (8.9/10)

Old school heavy / doom metal is a very hard genre to appreciate nowadays, as it is very restrictive of what is allowable without straying out of the genre. Dreaming is more or less a Sabbath-esque heavy metal act with all the classic necessities: overdriven guitars, distorted bass, slow, simple rock drumming, and odd vocals.

In truth, Dreaming sounds like a bunch of old guys who can't let go of their old rock and metal vinyls while trying to create a kickass metal band to supplement their mid-life crisis. The riffs are predictable and plain, with no real energy to be found anywhere in the album. There's slow paced doom, then there's just plain boring. There's nothing original going down on II and really nothing interesting or spectacular about this album. You want good classic doom? Get a Count Raven album. (3/10)

It is said by many that the hardest challenge a musician or band will ever face is making a sophomore album that equals or surpasses an internationally acclaimed and highly regarded debut (we should all be so lucky as to even have THAT blessing – ed). Disillusion happens to be in that same position with Gloria, their follow up to the wildly successful Back to Times of Splendor. From beginning to end, there is intense energy within every corner of this album.

The songs are wonderfully arranged, twisting and turning in every way possible, leaving no rough edges about it. The music itself is brilliant and flashy, yet laid back and cool without becoming cheesy. Excellent guitar and bass work spreads melody and innovative style over excellent drum work, while the many vocal styles and alterations produce a relaxed, confident vibe that is both shocking and pleasing.

This album molds so many genres together it would be impossible to classify. You will hear elements of black, death, heavy and doom metal mixed with rock, jazz, gospel, and much, much more.

This German trio's latest is both aggressive and brilliant, sure to please fans both old and new with a plethora of styles and genres melded into one amazing album. (9/10)

GMT is a three piece rock band bent on showing the world that they rock, and rock they do! Combining good ol' rock 'n roll with a nod towards heavy metal, Bitter & Twisted shows a balls out brand of up-tempo rock that hasn't been seen since the golden days.

Based on the strength of output alone, Keep of Kalessin should rightfully be as big as Marduk. Don’t believe it? Start RIGHT FUCKING HERE with Agnen: a Journey Through the Dark.

The sound ain’t polished. Rather, the album is all raw blaze from the get-go, with drumming and guitar chops that are as good as any in the black metal canon.

But Agnen is more than head-snapping speed — it boasts much originality and memorability. Every song has its own share of excellent riffs and melodies, which draw a fair amount of influence from the Nordic/Celtic-like pool of metal, but married with the blurry, biting black metal guitar tone, and sped up a million jillion. In this regard, Keep of Kalessin has been compared to a Swedish black metal band. It’s not out of the question — the approach to uncompromising speed is on par, but the Kalessins have got a sense of dynamics within their inhuman execution that is unique.

Every song is a highlight, but the highlight of highlights, of sorts, has got to be the last song, "Agnen." Like the ultimate song on Meshuggah’s Chaosphere, this track is like all album’s previous seven tracks’ intensity, somehow crammed into one, with an unyielding sense of buildup that has to be heard to be withstood.

Keep of Kalessin broke up for years. Before they came out with this year’s Armada, the Kalessin guitarist, Obsidian C (who was the touring guitarist for Satyricon) put out an EP with Frost on drums. Frost is one of the best, and that EP is essential. However, Kalessin’s regular drummer (interviewed in this issue, FYI), Vyl, is better. Vyl’s playing is tastier compared to Frost’s meat & potatoes unwavering brutality, as the former incorporates much more interesting elements into his patterns, fills, and cymbal work while at the same time gorging the listener with a hailstorm of notes.

Armada has got a WAY better production, the Kalessin sound is still unquestionably present, and there are some slick touches, like the sorta Spanish guitar segues. But in terms of material, it’s a far cry from Agnen. Anyway, there will no doubt be a fair share of black metal fans who will prefer Agnen’s rawer production. As far as I’m concerned, the fucking ride cymbal alone is worth the price of admission. Seek it out now, you fiends!