___ _ _ ____ _____ _ _ ____ ___ __ ____ ___ / __)( )_( )( _ \( _ )( \( )(_ _)/ __)( ) ( ___)/ __) ( (__ ) _ ( ) / )(_)( ) ( _)(_( (__ )(__ )__) \__ \ \___)(_) (_)(_)\_)(_____)(_)\_)(____)\___)(____)(____)(___/ _____ ____ ( _ )( ___) )(_)( )__) (_____)(__) ___ _ _ __ _____ ___ / __)( )_( ) /__\ ( _ )/ __) ( (__ ) _ ( /(__)\ )(_)( \__ \ \___)(_) (_)(__)(__)(_____)(___/ CHRONICLES OF CHAOS E-Zine, June 9, 1996, Issue #11 Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti <_DeaTH_ on #metal> Coordinator: Adrian Bromley Assistant Editor: Alain M. Gaudrault Web Page Manager: Brian Meloon Contributor: Steve Hoeltzel Contributor: Adam Wasylyk Mailing List provided by: The University of Colorado at Boulder --> Interested in being reviewed? Send us your demo and bio to: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CHRONICLES OF CHAOS 57 Lexfield Ave Downsview Ont. M3M-1M6, Canada Fax: (416) 693-5240 Voice: (416) 693-9517 e-mail: ginof@io.org -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= DESCRIPTION ~~~~~~~~~~~ Chronicles of Chaos is a monthly magazine electronically distributed worldwide via the Internet. Chronicles of Chaos focuses on all forms of brutal music; from thrash to death to black metal, we have it all. Each issue will feature interviews with your favorite bands, written from the perspective of a true fan. Each issue will also include record reviews and previews, concert reviews and tour dates, as well as various happenings in the metal scene worldwide. We here at Chronicles of Chaos also believe in reader participation, so we encourage you to submit any material you may have to Gino Filicetti . HOW TO SUBSCRIBE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You may subscribe to Chronicles of Chaos at any time by sending a message with "coc subscribe " in the SUBJECT of your message to . Please note that this command must NOT be sent to the list address . WORLD WIDE WEB SITE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are currently in the process of constructing a website for Chronicles of Chaos. You can check it out by pointing your web browser to http://www.io.org/~ginof/coc.html. If you have any comments or suggestions, please e-mail Brian Meloon . AUTOMATIC FILESERVER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All back issues and various other CoC related files are available for automatic retrieval through our e-mail fileserver. All you have to do is send a message to us at . The 'Subject:' field of your message must read: "send file X" where 'X' is the name of the requested file. Back issues are named 'coc-n', where 'n' is the issue number. For a description of all files available through this fileserver, request 'list'. Remember to use lowercase letters for all file names. If you experience any problems or are having difficulty, feel free to e-mail us the usual way at . >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Issue #11 Contents, 6/9/96 -------------------------- * Editorial * Loud Letters * Ferocious Features -- Amorphis: The Alteration of All Norms -- Chum: Attacking from the Appalachians * Chaotic Chat Sessions -- Morbid Angel: Eyes to Read, Ears to Listen -- Obliveon: A New Beginning for Canadian Hellions -- Decoryah: Melancholic Madness -- Wicked Innocence: No Rest for the Wicked Innocent * Independent Interrogations -- Spiral Architect: Spiralling Towards Success * Record Revelations -- Slayer - _Undisputed Attitude_ -- Pantera - _The Great Southern Trendkill_ -- Cradle of Filth - _Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein_ -- Malevolent Creation - _Joe Black_ -- Various - _Nordic Metal: A Tribute to Euronymous_ -- Accursed - _Meditations Among the Tombs_ -- Asphyx - _God Cries_ -- Bathory - _Blood on Ice_ -- Bewitched - _Diabolical Desecration_ -- Beyond - _Reassemble_ -- Don Caballero - _Don Caballero II_ -- Candiria - _Surrealistic Madness_ -- Cathedral - _Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)_ -- Decoryah - _Fall-Dark Waters_ -- Doughnuts - _Equalize Nature_ -- Grave - _Hating Life_ -- Grotus - _Mass_ -- Mysticum - _In the Streams of Inferno_ -- Naglfar - _Vittra_ -- Obliveon - _Cybervoid_ -- Prong - _Rude Awakening_ -- Ramp - _Intersection_ -- Testify - _Mmmyaooo_ * New Noise -- Blood of Christ - _The Lonely Flowers of Autumn_ -- 7th Gate - _The Funeral Delight_ -- Red Sun Project - _Red Sun Project_ -- Vicious Crowd - _Vicious Crowd_ -- Obscene Crisis - _Silence of the Mind_ * Chaotic Concerts -- Heavy Metal Novelty Night: Gwar with Brutal Juice and the Meatmen -- Overkilling The Masses: Overkill in Raleigh, NC -- Gasping for Air: Suffocation in London, Ont. * Tours of Torture * What We Have Cranked * The Final Word =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= E D I T O R I A L ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by: Gino Filicetti Here we are with issue eleven. Once again, cheers go out to every one of you who's offered to contribute your time and energy to make CoC a better magazine. Our readership level has been pretty constant over the last two issues, hovering around 650 people worldwide. Remember the days when CoC used to grow by 100 with each issue? Well, I guess everything's got its limit, but I'm sure there aren't only 650 "Extreme Music Enthusiasts" on this entire Internet. What I'd like to see is our readers going out and recruiting people and "showing them the light" that is Chronicles of Chaos. Wherever you hang out on the 'net, give mention of our magazine, whether it be on your favorite IRC channel, or Usenet newsgroup. You can even request a copy of our ad from our auto fileserver (coc-ad). Or if you can't figure out what to do, just simply e-mail me with the addresses of anyone you want me to add, and I'll do it for you. Let's see if we can bring CoC to 750 by our next issue! As a lot of you probably already know, the Milwaukee Metal Fest #10 is taking place this year on July 26th and 27th. This year's Fest features A SHITLOAD of amazing bands sure to please everyone. They are aiming at having 100 bands play but I can't list them all here now If you want more info, keep an eye on the alt.rock-n-roll.metal newsgroup for all the latest. Four of the six CoC staff members will be attending this year's fest. Adrian, Adam, Steve and myself will all be at the shows handing out CoC flyers and partying it up! We hope some of you guys make it down to the show, and say hi if you bump into us. Also, Adrian and I are still looking for a ride down to Milwaukee so if anyone has any extra room in their vehicle and are looking to have a couple of really cool dudes ride down with them, please e-mail me. We are desperate! :) Also, I want to forewarn everyone that our next issue, CoC #12, may be just a little delayed seeing as Adrian and I will be in Pittsburgh from the 19th to the 23rd of June partying it up with our good buddy Buzzy Beck of Filthboy. Buzzy's getting married on the 22nd of June, so why don't you all take a little time and e-mail him at and give him your best wishes for his new life of eternal agony and suffering. Now here's a little piece of advice for all of you. It would be beneficial to you to carefully read this entire issue as fast as possible and try and soak in some of the details. That's all for now folks, 'Nuff said! :) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Now a note from Alain: Congratulations to the winner of last month's Naphobia CD giveaway. The lucky entry was submitted by Ernest Crvich who answered "Chuck Schuldiner and Gene Hoglan." Enjoy the CD, Ernest, and to all our readers, stay tuned for more free giveaways. Be sure to check out Ernest's very first review submission to CoC in Chaotic Concerts. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= M""MMMMMMMM dP M MMMMMMMM 88 M MMMMMMMM .d8888b. dP dP .d888b88 M MMMMMMMM 88' `88 88 88 88' `88 M MMMMMMMM 88. .88 88. .88 88. .88 M M `88888P' `88888P' `88888P8 MMMMMMMMMMM M""MMMMMMMM dP dP M MMMMMMMM 88 88 M MMMMMMMM .d8888b. d8888P d8888P .d8888b. 88d888b. .d8888b. M MMMMMMMM 88ooood8 88 88 88ooood8 88' `88 Y8ooooo. M MMMMMMMM 88. ... 88 88 88. ... 88 88 M M `88888P' dP dP `88888P' dP `88888P' MMMMMMMMMMM This is the column where we print those lovely letters our readers decide so graciously to write us. Whether they be positive, negative, ignorant or just plain spelled wrong, you can rest assured that they'll be here in their original form. If you'd like to see your own letter here, e-mail it to and enter 'Attention Loud Letters' in the subject field. Hopefully all letters received will be featured in upcoming issues of Chronicles of Chaos. Date: Fri, 10 May 1996 From: Napalm Records America Subject: Re: Chronicles of Chaos #10 (1/3) gino, thanks again for the new issue. I'm truly amazed how you guys keep cranking them out so fast. The writing is top class. I like how each interview has a theme to it, not just the usual questions, and this is usually accented very nice with the headlines. Also, for just being in ascii, the format and layout is very impressive too. I've been meaning to ask you: Do you have a program that comes up with the cool ascii logos, or do you do all that manually? Take Care, eRiK Napalm Records America Date: 07 May 1996 From: Tim Wadzinski Subject: Re: (U) I requested issue 7 from your auto-mailer this morning so I could read the review of Helloween's MASTER OF THE RINGS. Once again, I'm totally impressed with your mag. You really got your shit together. I'll admit when you first contacted me I thought, "Oh boy, a death metal freak", and I expected the mag to be just a bunch of hardcore death heads screaming out about how everything else sucks. BOY, was I wrong! In fact, even though I don't get into too many of the bands you cover, I'll probably end up subscribing just because I really enjoy what you're doing. (Also, I can read album reviews for hours and hours without getting bored.) Anyway, I'm rambling. I'll finish up that little blurb on CoC for SFK and get it to you soon. Tim Date: Sat, 11 May 96 From: wolfe@achilles.net Subject: Attention Loud Letters Hey guys! I just did a bunch of catching up, going thru COC 9&10. Those were fuckin' busy issues! I had to keep my notepad handy for those two, I got info on no less than seven releases to pursue. I mustn't have the right channels around here or something, cuz I never hear about this stuff, so I'm really glad COC is around. I'd really like to see an improvement on the concert listings tho. Get Alain to add some of the dates for bands he knows of in the Toronto area, hopefully the info will include dates in Montreal and Ottawa. Anyways, great work great reviews. I was real happy to see the info on Slayer's vid, on Amorphis, and to see that Adrian listed my fave Megadeth disc RIP in his top ten. I think the addition of the auto file server is great too, it'll allow me to get COC5 to compare what Chris Barnes had to say from SFU as compared to what Cannibal Corpse says about him now (two sides to every story right). I don't think much of band members cutting up formers, lookit the Mustaine/Metallica saga, but gossip will always be interesting right, just like a good car wreck. Keep it up! --- I traded my burdens for habits I can't cure...... --- I need their love and attention | I'm a dog without a leash Like I need lead in my head | A jigsaw puzzle --- Fight | Lookin' for a piece | --- Dangerous Toys -wolfe@achilles.net- Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 From: "-wintermute- (Kluver-Bucy the wikid sick minkey spanky love dog)" Subject: Re: Chronicles of Chaos JOIN NOW! Anyway, the mag rules! I've been with ya since issue 2, and as soon as I got it, I downloaded issue 1. You guys have gotten better exponentially, and I guess your subscriptions have increased that way too. Congrats, and keep it up! Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 From: Mitch Coken Reply-To: mitch@ifu.net Subject: Deicide@thewave review, COC #10 _Death_: I had a pretty good opinion of your zine 'til i saw the review of the Deicide show by that numbnuts singh. I was at that show and can tell you that things were definitely NOT as reported. Will you publish me if I submit a review of Santa Claus live from the dark side of the moon? 1. Mortician DID play, they were on the bill as advertised. Deathrune & Candiria were never on the bill. N.B. Deathrune's guitar player played with Incantation that night. Mortician sounded much better at this show with their new drummer than I have ever heard them sound. They played a pretty long set, with a lot of new stuff from House by the Cemetery. 2. Will Rahmer (Mortician's front man and also the original vocalist for Incantation) fronted Incantation at this show. This was a completely different lineup for Incantation and sounded better than any previous versions of the band. They did all old (Golgatha) songs, probably because Will didn't know the new stuff. The sound at the wave is terrible, I couldn't catch the names of all the fill-in players (the whole band?!) for Incantation, but the guitarist was borrowed from Deathrune. 3. Fallen Christ sucked. The front man was like a wannabe-Dave Mustaine, Jr., their new drummer sounded like he was bowling with trashcans for pins, and the guitar sound was so bad that you couldn't make out any of the riffs. Anybody who liked their track on the World Domination comp (Osmose), fugetta'bout it. They lost their drummer (Alex, ex-Disassociate, now in Immolation) a long time ago. 4. Deicide put on a ass-kickin professional show. No frills, straight ahead, in your face death metal, tight as a gnat's ass. Here's a band that has to finance their own tours because their label is a fucking parasite; haven't slept in 30 hours, and they're out there throwin down. They also played 2 other shows in the NYC area that week, the wave show was not the 'only area appearance' as the promoter would like you to believe. 5. IMMOLATION KICKED ASS. Numbnuts was right about that. _Death_: maybe your writers should stick to 'reviewing' rather than 'reporting'. You owe me a dollar; I'm giving it to numbnuts to buy a clue. Smoke'em if ya got'em __} _Insaniak_ Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 19:17:03 +0200 From: Panos Agoros Subject: Re: Question? thanx 4 getting back to me. yesterday i printed your issue#10, and man i am quite impressed. it's very interesting and well written. no ass kissin!!! it'll be a source of inspiration for me and chaotik... ok, stay in touch, c-ya soon! :) panos aka nahitfol (Editor, Chaotik Webzine) nahitfol@warka.univ-paris8.fr or panos@bocal.cs.univ-paris8.fr http://www.univ-paris8.fr/~nahitfol Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 From: Dan & Elaine Lepage Subject: Loud Letters Attention Loud Letters I love your 'zine! It kicks serious ass. This is the only source that keeps me up to date with what's happening in the metal/death scene. Toronto has really let me down over the past couple of years. A city of over 2 million people and there are no bars left that play anything heavier than Bryan Adams! Everything has turned to that Alternative crap! Even radio stations around here that used to rock have given in to Alternative garbage. And the biggest letdown, my subscription to M.E.A.T. magazine, (the source for metal happenings, similar to COC), has changed its name to A.R.M. for Alternative Rock Monthly...they might as well call it A.R.C. for Alternative Rock Crap!!!! I'm still waiting for my refund!...Adrian, since you write for A.R.M., think you could look into this for me? (no offense for the A.R.C. wisecrack!) Anyway, I hope I can always count on you guys. Keep up the excellent work. By the way, one suggestion might be to add a section to your 'zine informing us as to future CD releases. For example, the new Pantera which came out on May 7th, the new Slayer due out later this month and the new Metallica on June 4th, so we can race to the record stores on the release dates and blow our minds! Thanks. Dan Lepage =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ___________ .__ \_ _____/__________ ____ ____ |__| ____ __ __ ______ | __)/ __ \_ __ \/ _ \_/ ___\| |/ _ \| | \/ ___/ | \\ ___/| | \( <_> ) \___| ( <_> ) | /\___ \ \___ / \___ >__| \____/ \___ >__|\____/|____//____ > \/ \/ \/ \/ ___________ __ \_ _____/___ _____ _/ |_ __ _________ ____ ______ | __)/ __ \\__ \\ __\ | \_ __ \_/ __ \ / ___/ | \\ ___/ / __ \| | | | /| | \/\ ___/ \___ \ \___ / \___ >____ /__| |____/ |__| \___ >____ > \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ The meat of the matter lies here. Read on for the juiciest morsels on bands ranging from the reknowned to the obscure. No fat, no gristle, just blood-soaked slabs served hot and ready. Dig in, readers. T H E A L T E R A T I O N O F A L L N O R M S ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An interview with Amorphis by: Gino Filicetti "In Finland there are some parts where it's dark for 24 hours in the winter, so Finnish people are usually a very depressed people" -- Esa Holopainen (guitarist/creative center) 1990 saw the creation of what was to become one of the most stunning and impressive bands Finland has ever had to offer the rest of the world. It was in this year that guitarist Esa Holopainen had the vision of creating a band to shatter everyone's perception of what a metal band should be. Although the band started as a typical death metal outfit, Amorphis soon grew to realize that they had a higher purpose. In keeping with the definition of the word from which they derived their name, amorphous, the band is a 'constantly changing entity with no fixed shape or form.' In 1994 Amorphis released an album that has yet to be matched in its intricacy and utter stunningness. _Tales from the Thousand Lakes_ was the launching pad from which Amorphis separated themselves from all the cliches of the death metal world. The album won them critical acclaim the world over, and is still looked upon (by myself especially) as one of the most memorable metal releases of all time. Two years later, this formidable musical entity has come out with the newest fruits of their labor. _Elegy_ is an album that holds a great deal of surprises for the average Amorphis fan and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this band has definitely chosen the right name for themselves. Amorphis' music is not the only thing that has changed since 1994. Added to their lineup are three new personalities that have had a lot to do with the Amorphis sound. Kim Rantala (keyboards), Pekka Kasari (drums) and Pasi Koskinen (clean vocalist), have joined ranks with the 'veteran' Amorphis crew, Esa Holopainen (guitars), Olli Pekka-Laine (bass) and Tomi Koivusaari (growls/guitars). The fusion, according to Esa, has been a smooth one; "It's gone very good. Kim was the first one of them to join and he has brought so many new elements to our music, it's unbelievable. And Pekka our new drummer plays very tight and he's a really good drummer. It's easier for us to play when you know the drummer is keeping the right tempo. And the new vocalist, Pasi, has also done an amazing job for us. These three members have contributed a large part of the music." And have these new members brought anything new to Amorphis? "Well, we're all listening to the same stuff that we've always been listening to, but I think this time our influences come out of the music more easily than they did before. The music's got much more folk melodies and the production of the sound is much better than the last time, it's much more what *we* wanted it to sound like. It's not the typical death metal product, it's got an 'old' sound to it. There isn't much 'hi-tech' stuff on this album." Two years is quite a gap between albums for a band that is so young, but Esa explains that the band did not want an album that sounded rushed, instead one that came from their hearts. "Straight away after we recorded [_Tales from the Thousand Lakes_] we started to compose new songs and it took quite a while to finish each track. It was about a year's process putting all the songs together." He continues on how the music was arranged; "We've arranged everything as a band, all of us together. Basically, it's always been like that, I mean, sometimes one of us might do some stuff at home. But during rehearsal, we all get involved in the arrangement of the songs and everyone does their part." Also different on _Elegy_ is the vocal element of Amorphis' music. To my ultimate dismay, I discovered that the band has pre-empted their previous growled vocals, and chose to blend in clean vox with the growls taking the obvious back seat. To pull this off however, the band recruited a separate vocalist, Pasi Koskinen. But does Tomi (the growler) feel overshadowed in any way by Pasi? "I don't think he feels like that. As a matter of fact, he's here next to me if you want to ask him . No, I don't think he feels very badly. Me, Tomi and Olli are very pleased with the new members and with how the album turned out. We still like the growling parts though, and I don't think we'll ever drop them. Pasi has a big part in our stageshow, he's the ultimate vocalist." Also changed to distance themselves from the death metal norm is the band's logo, "We changed it because we didn't want to use the old logo anymore because the music also changed. It was just too death metal for us. Relapse did this logo for us, it's just a typical font but it's really cool." Perhaps most noticeable in the music of Amorphis is their extensive use of folk melodies, something that is certainly not typical in this genre. Esa explains, "Well, the whole thing started in like 1992 when we first got interested in old Finnish folklore and culture. After that we started to get into the folk music from all over Scandinavia, we respect it a lot because there are a lot of good melodies in folk music and we started to get influences from that sort of music." Another unique aspect of Amorphis is their use of traditional Finnish ballads and poems as the lyrics to their songs. These lyrics were taken from The Kanteletar, a traditional Finnish text. "Basically its just a collection of poems and lyrics that haven't been used in hundreds of years. It was an interesting area to use because this stuff includes old philosophical and mythological meanings. The book itself talks about every day life and it has a lot of interesting stories. And because they were just lyrics and no music, we decided to compose music for the lyrics." He continues about the difficulties of translation; "We used this guy to translate the stuff and he was really good. Originally, the book is in the old Finnish language which is really hard to translate. It's not translated word for word but it still has its meaning." In keeping with the traditional theme of _Elegy_, Amorphis elected to use old Finnish symbols and artwork for their cover and liner notes. Esa describes what each symbol means; "Ok, the symbol in the middle of the album sleeve, the big circle, that's an old symbol of Helsinki. The little one on the north, east, south and west sides are old symbols from the eastern part of Finland. The symbols beside these are from northern Finland and the Lap Lands. The symbol that encircles everything was pretty much Kristain's idea (Kristain Wahlin has done artwork for the likes of Tiamat, Dissection and At the Gates). It's like a little map of Finland right in your hands. In the booklet too are symbols behind the lyrics, for example the one behind "Against Widows" describes a world that's a snake with a sun in the middle. Everything has its own meaning, but we don't know everything's entire meaning. It's just something to make this booklet interesting." He continues describing the hammer symbol from their last album; "That describes the creation of the world. There is a ring on the top of the hammer and that represents the sun. Then there are two paths were two gods walk down, one going one way and the other going in the other direction. Good and evil." The production of _Elegy_, as compared with Amorphis' previous efforts, is ten times as superb. What was different with the production this time around? "It was much more professional this time. The recording process was in three parts. First we recorded all the electric guitars and drums in (the newly rebuilt) Sunlight Studios (with Tomas Skogsberg), then we recorded the bass and acoustic guitars and vocals in Finland and finally we mixed the album in Liverpool, England (at Parr Street Studios with Pete 'Pee Wee' Coleman). It was a cool experience, but next time, we want to just concentrate in one studio." Amorphis' tours following the release of _Tales from the Thousand Lakes_ were successful, to say the least. Having toured Europe many times with Paradise Lost, Tiamat and others, late 1994 saw them take to North America, opening for Sweden's Entombed. Esa details their tour plans this time around; "First off, we have a bunch of festival gigs we are playing. We'll probably play at Dynamo, and at the big festival in Denmark. Also a few festivals in Germany and a few in Finland. Altogether, that's about ten festivals. Then in September we are planning to headline in Europe. We have dates confirmed for that. That's going to be one and a half months with a lot of good venues and good dates, so that should be great. We are searching for supporting bands now. There was a rumor that Therion would go out with us, but I don't know, it's pretty much up to the booking agency. Also we are looking to do a US tour at the end of this year. We've been there before with Entombed. It wasn't anything special, just a club tour, but we had a really good time. It was pretty rough for us touring with seven people in the band, but from that we've learned how to live in tour busses. You can compare it to living in a hotel ." Being from Finland, there is no doubt that Esa thinks Americans are different; "I'm not sure if it's right to say the people think in different ways, but they do have a different mood. In Finland, there are some parts where it's dark for 24 hours in the winter, so Finnish people are usually very depressed people and they don't smile much on the street and don't talk very much. But when you come here you see all the people smiling and being polite. [!?! Are we talking about the same United States here? :) -- Gino] It makes you wonder if they are just putting on a mask for you by being polite. Finnish nature is quite depressing but when the summer comes everyone starts to smile and have a good time. And Finns also consume a lot of alcohol, that's another part of Finnish nature. We are shy and don't talk until you give us a couple shots of Vodka, then watch out! " =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= A T T A C K I N G F R O M T H E A P P A L A C H I A N ' S ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An interview with Chum by: Adrian Bromley Huntington, West Virginia isn't exactly the first city you think of when you mention hard music. But to some, Huntington's loudest export, Chum, may be the next hard-grooved outfit to watch out for. Speaking from his home in Huntington, singer/guitarist John Lancaster is a bit nervous about the interview, seeing that this is the first interview he has ever done. Ever. The topic: The band's much anticipated debut album on Century Media, _Dead to the World_. Begins the twenty-three year old with a small sense of humour and in the process cautioning the interviewer, "This is my first interview I have done, so if I sound stupid, it's because this is my first interview." The initial jitters he has of the interview subside and Lancaster opens up about the intensity and hard work that went into the emotionally strong and well-balanced groove of _DttW_. "We wanted to be able to go into the studio and make an emotionally full and musically tight record. A sonically good album that showed off the emotions and moods of every song. We achieved that with _DttW_. I think throughout the whole record we have a driving mood of realism and the lyrics that I mostly write are personal about my life," states Lancaster. "I think throughout the record the mood stays the same level and that makes the record sound strong and focused. Having that same feeling throughout the record makes the record seem true to life." The record was produced by longtime friend Dave Barrick, who also produced the band's two earlier demos. But before Barrick was chosen to produce _DttW_, the band had been approached by King X's Doug Pinnick and Ross Robinson (Korn, Sepultura) to produce the debut. About the sound of the band and the interest in the band they had created, Lancaster says, "We've been told we have a different sound but it is hard to look at it this way. We never tried to be different. I listen to a lot of different types of music, both heavy shit and I also love a good melody in a song, you know? Stuff that will either move you musically or lyrically. It was basically bringing those two things as one, but wasn't really an effort to do so. Maybe that is why those people were interested? Maybe some of these people think the music is somewhat different to what is out there." An interesting story about the band, other than the fact that they come from such a small, unknown town is the method they went to getting signed to Century Media. Accounts Lancaster, "We played a showcase in New York and we had some people come out to see us. Monty Connor (president) of Roadrunner was there and I guess he wasn't interested in us for Roadrunner but he is good friends with the A&R guy from Century Media and he recommended us to the label. They checked us out and we went from there. From what I understand," finishes off Lancaster, "that is the same way Stuck Mojo got signed to Century Media too." The band is comprised of longtime friends Mac Walker on guitar, Chris Tackett on bass and new drummer (since February) Elliot Hoffman. Since the band's inception a few years back, the band has formed a small fanbase with their live shows. "The earliest formation of the band dates back to 1992 and 1993," starts Lancaster about the early days of the band. "I used to jam with the bass player and the other guitar player in another band when we were 14 or so. I hadn't heard from them in a while and then they called to say that they were jamming with this drummer and they needed a singer. I played guitar and asked them if I could play guitar too. So I joined. Then in 1994 we got a new drummer and then our style started to show and it became quite apparent where we were headed. "When we first started to write songs (on the early demos) it wasn't focused and we were whipping out songs. Our material was just there, nothing special. But once we got the new drummer it started to form into what Chum was to become with our music." Talking more about the overall sound of the band he notes, "I love a band that can incorporate heaviness and intensity and have that combined with good melody. Singers that can mix it up a little bit, a good example being Faith No More. Mike Patton (singer of FNM) can sing with a soulful voice and have an intensity as well. It is great to see how he uses his voice as an instrument and how he can transform his voice to suit a song. As for our sound, we just brought together all the music we were listening to and any other contributions." Listening to the harmonic power of _DttW_, many of the album's tracks have their own character. There is the sheer intensity of "Stepping On Crack" or "Kindling Kind" and the melodic stance taken by "Angels In The Snow" and "Untouchable". One song that does stand out is the album closer, a cover of Prince's (The Artist Formerly Known As Prince) "Darling Nikki". "We always played that song live, it was usually the show closer and while in the studio we decided to record it. When we heard it in the studio we wanted it so bad on the record and the record company people liked it a lot so we included it. It made us happy to see it make it onto the record." Another thing that would make the band happy right now would be to tour the United States in support of their debut. The band has only been able to do small amounts of touring in the last little while, with stops in New York City, bits and pieces of the East Coast and some of the surrounding states of West Virginia. Lancaster is asked: Are you worried about touring? No! I am worried about not touring. This guy was to book us for a few weeks solid and then just backed out on us. Just like that... gone! We are still trying to get something together in regards to touring. We are kicking around a few ideas here and there but nothing concrete yet. In some shape or form we need to go out and play. As far as I am concerned, touring is the biggest part of promotion for a band. We want to do this and do it now." Seeing that this is their debut album, has the band experienced the 'give and take' ideology of the music business yet? "I heard all this stuff about the music business so I guess I was ready for it. I mean we haven't experienced much yet but we also haven't been involved with it too long. I'm prepared to do this and this is something I have always wanted to do and I am finally doing it. I tell people this is like a big rollercoaster ride. You get excited about it and then something bad happens and then something good will happen after that and keep you high on that for a bit, etc... It goes up and down and I guess I got to get used to it?" About success and growing with the industry and doing things their own way without having to compromise too much, he says, "I don't want to get to a point where the music is not real. I always want to keep it real. Whatever happens happens and I just want to make sure our music isn't changed by people telling us what to do. You gotta have fun doing this while you can 'cause it isn't forever." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= _______ __ _ _______ __ / ___/ / ___ ____ / /_(_)___ / ___/ / ___ _/ /_ / /__/ _ \/ _ `/ _ \/ __/ / __/ / /__/ _ \/ _ `/ __/ \___/_//_/\_,_/\___/\__/_/\__/ \___/_//_/\_,_/\__/ ____ _ / __/__ ___ ___ (_)__ ___ ___ _\ \/ -_|_-<(_- Quite possible in the future I guess. Perhaps after the next album or so. CoC: And why not with this album? Why are you not sure about touring with this effort? ML: On our album, there are many people involved with making it, so if we want it to sound even remotely similar to what is on the album we would have to have all those people on tour. It would cost a lot of money and I am not sure if we would have that financial support. CoC: Do you find that, seeing as you may not tour with this album, it hurts the band in regards to exposure and record sales? ML: Well it doesn't bother me that much. I guess it would be nice to promote the album with touring but hopefully we will be able to tour our record in the future. Or just wait till the next one. CoC: What kind of press is the band doing to promote this album? Video? Radio? Magazines? ML: We have only done magazine press right now but we may do a video. We are planning to do one but again we'll see. It costs a lot of money to make videos as you know. CoC: With the work that you did with _FDW_, how is this album different from what you had done with _WF_? ML: There is a lot more variety with this record. I think this record has a much different sound than the poor production we did with _WF_. This record is moodier and there is definitely more variation with this album. I liked _WF_ but it was too much of the same style of music. CoC: And you were all pretty young too? ML: Yeah. We were all like seventeen years old when we recorded the first album. I'm nineteen now, so is Jani and Jukka is twenty now. Both Jani and I will be twenty by the end of the summer. We are still very young. CoC: Do you think being young makes a difference with your music? Do you think you will be able to grow with your music? ML: I think it is a great benefit that we are so young and made such a unique sound. And I hope as we get older our music can progress too. CoC: How old were you when you started to play? ML: I was twelve when I started to play music. Both Jukka and Jani were around the same time too. We were all in the same class in school. I was the first to buy an instrument. I bought drums and pretty soon they bought guitars and we started to play and we got together as a band. It was very simple to get this started. CoC: How important is it for the mood of the album to come across as opposed to just the music? ML: Atmosphere is the most important thing in all of art and not just music. In our music both atmosphere and mood are a priority for me. They are extremely important. If the music is powerful then that is great but we want to deliver a powerful mood to the person listening to our music. CoC: Do you bring about any of your homeland's heritage into your music? ML: Maybe a bit in the mood but we never tried to do so. Coming from Finland, a lot of the music is melancholic and soft, maybe that is what finds its way into our music. There are a lot of bands that like to incorporate their heritage or upbringing styles or even mythology into their music like Amorphis (see interview in this issue), but we just don't do that or include it. We are not against doing so but we just stay away from it. I'm proud to be Finnish and there is great heritage and culture here but we don't set out to put that into our music. CoC: How have the reactions been for the record seeing that the debut was such a popular release? ML: We have only heard the reactions from those that have interviewed us so far and they have all liked it. If they didn't like us then why would they want to interview us? I hope that the album will do as well as _WF_. CoC: What do you like about this record, aside from the maturity you believe it shows off or the better production? ML: Like I said before, I think the atmosphere says it all about the record. We really discovered something within our music and ourselves with this record. CoC: The music that you create seems to be very hardworked and well thought out with the classical pieces and the themes. Does it come naturally? How does the band Decoryah create the music they play? ML: It comes quite naturally. Jukka will come up with a riff and we jam and that is how it comes together. Most of the arrangements come out of working within the studio, seeing that while we are in there we have all these ideas and visions of what it is that we want to get out of our music with that specific song. We thought of where to put the woman's vocals or the cello or violins while we were in the studio. The music changes a lot coming from a rehearsal jam and into the studio and onto the record, but 'YES' to answer your question, it is quite easy for us to write material. It is easy so far. CoC: Do you find your lyrics to be very personal or about everything out there that people can understand too? ML: I don't know. Jukka writes all the music and I can't say if they are personal to me. I can say that they are personal to Jukka. They are added to the music to create atmosphere. If the music is melancholic than we look into writing melancholic lyrics to match the music so they can work off the music and once again set up the atmosphere of the band. CoC: Did you ever think that when you started you'd be where you were today, working with a label like Metal Blade and already with your second album at such an early age? ML: No we didn't. When we started we didn't know about 'underground music' or demos and stuff. We just played and never thought of recording anything. But after recording our demo tape we got quite a few good responses from some small labels. We started to believe that we might then be able to get some records out. And we eventually did. CoC: How is the band's reaction to working with a label? ML: Everything has gone well so far with Metal Blade. We have a free hand to do whatever we like with our music. So far there have been no complaints and I am sure that they know that we are quite a different band to be working with. So far I think it has been a good combination for both of us. CoC: As for any new recordings, what is the game plan for Decoryah seeing that this record just came out and you are already thinking of a new release? Will there be material on the next record much more different than what you did with _WF_ and _FDW_? ML: I guess it will be somewhat different but not much more different. It'll be along the lines of both releases. I don't think _WF_ and _FDW_ are that different from one another, only that _FDW_ shows our maturity more. I hope the next record captures once again our maturity and people can recognize the sounds of Decoryah and at the same time bring in new elements. CoC: And the where does the name of the band come from? ML: Basically nothing. When we started off realizing we were serious about this and we were in the 'underground', we were looking for a name and we were fed up with bands with names with 'Blood' or 'Death' in them. We decided to go for a name that doesn't mean anything but brings an association of a music style with a particular band. CoC: So you were trying to stay clear of being seen as just a band inspired by death and blood right? ML: When you have death or something like that within your music than that is okay, but our music has nothing to do with that. That would have placed the band as one style of music in which we were not part of. We didn't want that. We wanted to be somewhere else other than with those bands. We have always strived to be different and original. CoC: Seeing that this is your second release and you have been around for a few years in the music industry, is there anything important that you have learned in the last little while? ML: Yeah, you have to earn money for the labels so that they can keep you on their roster. That's it. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= N O R E S T F O R T H E W I C K E D I N N O C E N T ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CoC chats with the new proponents of technical brutality by: Steve Hoeltzel Wicked Innocence is a band that stands out from the current extreme metal field in quite a few ways. First among these is their impressive fusion of highly technical musical experimentation with the kind of uncompromising aggression usually associated with only the most extreme death metal outfits. (Imagine Cannibal Corpse ripping through material much crazier than anything from Kataklysm, and you'll have some idea of the style to be heard on _Omnipotence_, their recent debut from Napalm Records America.) Also worthy of note are drummer Travis Jiron's progressive lyrics, which intelligently treat major, real-life topics much more pertinent than vampires, severed limbs, and all that. And finally, there's the intriguing fact that this truly brutal band hails from Salt Lake City, Utah - easily the most religious, most clean-cut big city in the States. Of course, I just had to ask Travis about this when he and I sat down to talk about the band. CoC: You probably have to field this question every time - but what's it like being in an extreme metal band in Salt Lake? Is there a supportive scene there? Travis Jiron: No, there isn't. I mean, we have an inner circle of close friends that hang out, and have dedicated their friendships to helping us out. But the scene here? There's no support. There's not one all-age club here. And it's funny, because no one's ever heard of any band from Utah, ever. And now that we're breaking out, every interview we do, that's the question. We're in the most religious state in the country, so that sucks, because we're not into being Mormons. We're an environmental band; we're into the environment. But it does suck here. People don't even like black metal here, or death metal or grindcore or speed metal. I mean, it's just unheard of. And there's three or four bands that do it here. And we all have to rent warehouses and shit to do it, and I've been doing it for seven years, and I've just made it happen. And no matter what people have done, I've just tried to keep it going. CoC: Do you have to put up with a lot of crap over the whole religion issue? I mean, do people there just assume "Okay, they're extreme metal-heads; therefore, they must be Satanists," or things like that? TJ: Oh yeah, oh yeah. A lot of people can't understand what Lorin [Cook, vocalist] says, and they don't know what the lyrics are about, so they automatically think that we're death metal, and we're gonna go slaughter someone's cat, you know? If you look weird here, like an extremist like we are, with long hair and all, you're an average Joe in a different state. But here, people think you're a bum, and they lock their doors when you go by 'em. It's just a joke, man. And then every time we leave the state, people are like "Are you guys Mormons?" and we're like "Fuck no we're not, man! We're more man than you'll ever think about being!" We have to make jokes about it, you know, because people always fucking harass us, and think that we're the Mormon band. CoC: So what have you guys been up to since you recorded the album? TJ: We've just been trying to promote it and do a lot of touring. Right now, Erik [Stenflo, of Napalm Records America] does all of our distro, and everything else but booking shows. So since he's put out the disk and put all his money into everything for us, it's been up to us to go out and do our own shows and promote it. So we've just been touring a lot of the close, surrounding states, but now we're getting out there with some bands that have been getting to know us. CoC: How does your stuff go over live? Because I would think that people who've never heard it before are just gonna be standing out there saying "What the -fuck- is this?" when they hear the crazier stuff. TJ: Yeah, yeah, they do. They trip out. Some people don't know what to do, they just stand there. One guy asked me in an interview, "Can you guys play this stuff note for note live?" And I said "Hell, yeah, we can! We wrote it, so fuck yeah, we can." I mean, the shit's pretty intricate, but live, we come off aggressive. It's not like we're some ITT dudes trying to play technical and just standing there going with our feet locked on the stage. We get out there and fucking slam and get all into it. We're a live band. We're a lot better live than a lot of the bigger bands out there. We feed off the energy of the crowd. We want the crowd to have a good time, so we're as into it as we can be. And then when they feed off us and get into it, then we just get into it more. CoC: Have you been writing new stuff, or recording anything new? TJ: We've got six or seven songs written for the new disk, and Erik asked us at one time if we wanted to go record again, but we said no, because we lost our bass player. Tom Cloward quit the band. So we haven't recorded, but we've got a new bass player named Zack, and we've just been getting ready to do that now. We've got him worked in. We did Sacred Reich in Salt Lake with him, and went to Denver, so we've just been breaking him in with some shows. We're gonna go into the studio within the next couple months, I'm sure. CoC: So what's the new stuff sound like? TJ: The new stuff's way cool. It's not gonna get all mellow. It's gonna be heavy, but it's gonna have some complete clean vocals on there, it's got some tribal stuff... It's just gonna be really original, and some of the blast beats are just gonna be fucking ungodly. I mean, people are gonna trip out. It's gonna be really original, just like _Omnipotence_. CoC: It sounds like the new stuff is going to continue in the same insane vein as _Omnipotence_. Or do you think you're pushing your sound into even crazier territory? TJ: Oh yeah, yeah. If people think that we're really weird now... We're gonna be experimenting with stuff that we've never experimented with before. We can go from three-chord punk to extreme fucking death to the coolest, jazziest, bad bass lines you've ever heard, with some blues... People are gonna freak on the new stuff, because we're really stretching our limits right now. It's like I said on the _Omnipotence_ J-card: I feed off people's negativity. So everybody out there putting us down, giving us bad reviews, saying "We can't accept this," or "The vocals are too fucking low," well, we're just gonna go out there and do stuff to piss those people off and be better. CoC: Do you think there are any limits to how far you can push your style? TJ: No, I really don't. I think it's just a matter of fatiguing out on your band, you know, whether the guys get sick of each other. And I don't think that we're gonna get to that point. We're doing good, and everybody gets along, so I don't think there'll be any limits to what we can do and what directions we can go. Everybody's got such different backgrounds and different styles that they're influenced by that it's just cool, man. It's like, we're in between, I don't know, some of the newer industrial music and some of the brutal death metal. I don't know, it's hard to classify us. People can't just throw in the disk and say "Sounds like so-and-so; fucking heard it." You've gotta hear it a few times. CoC: Another thing that sets you guys apart is the depth and intelligence of your lyrics. Did you make a conscious decision to steer away from all the gore bullshit and all the satanic stuff, or did it just come out that way naturally? TJ: The mountains in Utah are just beautiful, and we really take pride in what nature has given us. We're really into the environment, so the lyrics have always been inspired by the beauty of these things. When you get sick of society here, you can just leave, and in 15 minutes, you're away from everything. I've always been into that. And when I first started writing lyrics, I was thinking, do I want to write about stuff that I don't believe in? Do I want to write about butchering someone, or do I want to write about this axe murderer, you know? It just wasn't me, so I basically decided to stay away from that stuff, and try to heighten people's awareness. That's what our band's about. CoC: Yeah. I mean, I really like a lot of the brutal stuff that's out there, and a lot of the black metal, but it's so conformist. All the bands play by this one set of rules, and it just gets tiresome after a while. TJ: It does. It's just like a gangster, you know? They've gotta stick up for their street, but once they go off that street, they're gonna fucking be in trouble, and they know it. And what they've done is boxed themselves in. It's just like everybody in life: humanity boxes [itself] in. "Well, we need to have a home, and a car, and a boat, and this and this and this, and all this stuff so we can be better and we can feel comfortable." But you just fucking put a fence up around yourself and no one can talk to you, you know? Everybody's just into getting too much stuff. CoC: Any last words for us? TJ: To everybody out there who reads this, follow your dreams, and don't let anybody tell you what to do. If you're into it, do it, and don't ever turn your head. Because once you start achieving what you want, you've got the positive energy there, and things happen, and there's nothing better. Believe in yourself, man, and do what's right. That's all I can say. Travis encourages anyone interested in the band to contact him at: 2131 West 4260 South, Theckston Rd. Salt Lake City, UT, 84119,USA =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ::::::| :| :| :| ::| :::\ :':| :~~/ :::\ :~~/ :::\ :':| :~~/ :::\ :::| ::::::|:|:| :::| :::, :::/ :::, :|:| :::| :::, :|:| :| :| ::::::| :| :| ++ ::| :::\ :::| :~~/ :::| :::| ,::\ .::\ /::| :::| :| ,::\ :::\ <::< ::::::|:|:| :| :::, :| :| `::/ `::| \::| :| :| `::/ :|:| >::> ,.:/ Here is where CoC gets the inside story on up-and-coming bands. Check out this column for a variety of fresh, brutal groups. Should you be an aspiring band on your way to super-stardom, send us your demo and bio; our address is included in the zine's header. S P I R A L L I N G T O W A R D S U C C E S S ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An interview with Spiral Architect by: Brian Meloon "Spiral Architect is also the title of a Black Sabbath song. The fact that some may assume there's a link also musically was something we took into consideration when deciding to use that name for our band. However, being certain that this illusion will shatter as soon as our music is heard, we didn't -- and still don't -- see this as a problem. We chose that name as we think it visually has a lot of potential, and also in a way gives a good description of the music we perform." -- Lars K. Norberg (bass) Having formed from the ashes of Anesthesia, Spiral Architect began in early 1993. While Anesthesia was heavily influenced by the likes of Iron Maiden, Helloween, and Metallica, Spiral Architect have taken a more progressive route. Lars cites as their main influence "whatever we consider good music," but says that the band members "share a mutual interest in the more innovative bands of the heavy metal genre." Their influences include Psychotic Waltz, Cynic, WatchTower, Queensryche, Death, Fates Warning, Rush, and Dream Theater. The result is a sound which Lars describes as "some kind of a hard, technical/progressive metal with quite original yet melodic melodies on top. On several occasions we've been told that our music is in an odd way catchy, something I believe to be true, at least after being given time to grow. When written out, however, you'll see that it's fairly complex with key, time and tempo changes all over the place." Retaining the nucleus of Anesthesia has kept the band's lineup stable for the band's three-year career. Anesthesia members Asgeir Mickelson (drums), Kaj Gornitzka (guitars, vocals), and Lars K. Norberg (bass), along with ex-King's Quest guitarist Steinar Gundersen have been together since the band's inception. However, filling the lead vocalist spot has been a problem for them. As Kaj wrote most of the vocal lines and sang on gigs with Anesthesia, he was given the vocalist spot. However, the band continued to search for a lead vocalist, auditioning many prospective frontmen, and finally settling on Oeyvind Haegeland, formerly of the (now defunct) Norwegian progmetal band Manitou. As the band was without a permanent vocalist when asked to contribute two songs to the _A Gathering..._ compilation (reviewed in CoC #10), the band called in session vocalist Leif J. Knashaug. Leif was already familiar to the band, as he did the vocals for the two songs Anesthesia contributed to the _Norway Rocks_ compilation in 1988. _A Gathering..._ was released in September, 1995, and the band released their first demo (consisting of the same two tracks) in February, 1996 (reviewed in CoC #9). The songs are the culmination of years of work, as Lars notes that "Purpose" was "written in stages within a time frame of six years! I don't think the average listener will notice, but for us -- being aware of which parts were written at which time -- listening to that song is like taking a journey through the band's progression. Although being a fine tune, we're feeling somewhat alienated towards some of that stuff. 'Fountainhead', on the other hand, was pieced together in a relatively hurried fashion under a lot of strain, which again triggered heated arguments during the rehearsals. Anyway, the end result is something we're quite proud of." Praise for the band's demo has come from far and wide, as it has garnered rave reviews in zines across the world (including this one). Lars comments that the band is "really encouraged and appreciative of all the great support we've been receiving. We've just recently started promoting our material towards record companies, so we're still waiting for most of them to reply. A couple of offers have come our way nevertheless, and we're now in the process of negotiating a deal with what you may consider a major independent label." (Can you guess which one? ;) ) Never content to rest on their laurels, the band is hoping to release another demo in September, 1996 and a debut album in early 1997, for which they are currently writing material. "Right now, we're working on four new tunes," Lars explains, "and we have ideas for at least another four songs. Obviously there's also some older tunes and hours of idea tapes floating around, but since we've progressed way beyond what's in general the style on these, we'll probably just leave that material to rest in its obscurity." Their sound continues to expand, incorporating elements of technical death metal as well as jazz/fusion. Lars says the band plans to "include these elements to our sound without necessarily excluding others - I mean... that's something we've always been doing, working on and making adjustments to our sound, and I'm certain that this also will be our policy in the future. Whatever the music in the end is labeled as is something we're less concerned about. We'll be happy as long as the music is interesting and enjoyable to play, and our beliefs aren't being compromised with." Eventually, the band plans to tour Norway, hopefully in the autumn or winter, after their next demo is released. Along with their new material, they plan to play some covers, such as WatchTower's "Mayday In Kiev" (which Lars calls "amusing and fun to play") and Fates Warning's "Anarchy Divine". While Norway is better known for its black metal scene, a prog scene does exist there, as evidenced by the compilation _A Gathering..._. According to Lars, there are "many talented musicians but very few good bands coming out of Norway. Central Europe is the 'hot spot' when it comes to prog metal, or at least that's what we've been told. Nevertheless, if you ask me, all the leading bands of this genre tend to spring out of the USA." Looking into the future is always a difficult proposition. For now, Lars says that the band "would rather like not to make any predictions, but just keep our focus on making the best of things right here and now." While they're doing that, check out their homepage (see below), listen to the soundclips of their music, and make up your own mind about what their future holds. Contact: SPIRAL ARCHITECT, Chr. Krohgsgt. 30, N-0186 Oslo, NORWAY WWW: http://www.gi.no/Spiral/ e-mail: asgeir@gi.no =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ______ __ | __ \.-----.----.-----.----.--| | | <| -__| __| _ | _| _ | |___|__||_____|____|_____|__| |_____| ______ __ __ __ | __ \.-----.--.--.-----.| |.---.-.| |_|__|.-----.-----.-----. | <| -__| | | -__|| || _ || _| || _ | |__ --| |___|__||_____|\___/|_____||__||___._||____|__||_____|__|__|_____| This is where we rant, rave, and rip apart albums. Check this column every month for the scoop on the latest in heavy hand-outs. Scoring: 10 out of 10 -- If there was ever a perfect CD, this is it! 8 out of 10 -- A great piece of metallic mayhem 6 out of 10 -- Not too bad of an album 4 out of 10 -- You are treading in dangerous waters 2 out of 10 -- If you like this, you are fucked! 0 out of 10 -- My shit can put out better music than this! Slayer - _Undisputed Attitude_ (American Recordings, May 1996) by: Gino Filicetti (7 out of 10) Slayer doing punk. I don't know about you, but to me something in that sentence just doesn't click. But regardless of what you or I think, that's just what this seminal thrash band has gone and done. _Undisputed Attitude_ is Slayer's 10th release and is full of nothing but punk covers (with one original song thrown in for good measure). The idea behind making this album seems to mainly stem from guitarist Jeff Hanneman who's comments on each song appear most frequently in the liner notes. Unfortunately, yours truly is NOT the biggest punk fan on earth, so the fact that Slayer neglected to mention which bands they were covering in the liner notes left me pretty much clueless. They did however mention that three songs were Minor Threat covers, "Guilty of Being White," "I Hate You" and "Filler/I Don't Want To Hear It." Frankly, most of the music on this album just doesn't sound natural coming from Slayer. All of Slayer's tell-tale characteristics such as Araya's vocals and their own unique guitar signatures are still intact making the music sound more like thrash and less like punk. Some of my favorite tracks are "Mr. Freeze", which sort of sounds like something the band would write, "I'm Gonna Be Your God", which is a pretty nasty love song sung with wild vocal effects. And finally my absolute favorite track from this record, "Gemini", which is the one original, complete with lyrics in the liners. The music is slow and evil, the lyrics are expertly written and the song ends with heavier than hell riffs just chugging away. Suffice it to say that "Gemini" alone brought my rating of this album up at least two points. Pantera - _The Great Southern Trendkill_ (EastWest, May 1996) by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10) Few bands, especially the metallic-oriented ones, have been able to match the success that these Texan boys have achieved in such a short period of time (that is if we overlook the time of their glam rock days). Ever since the raw and chaotic frenzy spewed forth by their stunning 'metal reincarnation' of _Cowboys from Hell_ (1990), Pantera have been a runaway train, plowing over every band in its path and made them a force to be reckoned with within the mainstream. The band's last two offerings, 1992's _Vulgar Display of Power_ and 1994's _Far Beyond Driven_ took the band deeper into the roots of a hard-grooving metallic outfit, providing not only some killer riffs by Dimebag Darrell but monstrous intensity shared by singer Phil Anselmo's screams and the strong backing of the potentially dangerous rhythm section of drummer Vinnie Paul and bassist Rex. Onto their latest, _The Great Southern Trendkill_, a somewhat departure from the hard-based grooves of the past few releases (though not dissolved of them) and back to a very solid metal feel to the record. Rawer and harsher at times (death metal would be a better adjective at times!), _TGSTK_ still sounds like Pantera, but some characteristics have been changed and that is not a bad thing. With some extensive touring behind them with _FBD_ and Anselmo's other project Down, this album seems as though the band aimed to get back to their 'roots' of being a metal band - and many will not be disappointed. Opener title track (aided by screams of Anal Cunt's singer Seth Putnam) is enough to pique any metal fan's curiosity. Dig deeper into the record and find crunchers like "Suicide Note Pt. II", "War Nerve" and "Floods" doing some serious damage to our ears. Loud and aggressive, these "Cowboys From Hell" are on the verge of burying every metal act still trying to salvage some respect from the music industry. Cradle of Filth - _Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein_ by: Brian Meloon (8 out of 10) (Cacophonous, March 1996) The second release from these blasphemous English blokes shows them moving toward a more gothic, death metal sound. The production gives them a more professional sound, being thicker, heavier, and having a much better drum sound (including a tight bass drum sound), but less prominent keys and vocals. Dani's vocals are the same eerie shrieks mixed with the occasional guttural death metal belch. Unfortunately, he's mixed too low at times, making it difficult to hear (let alone understand) what he's saying, and he continues his (bad) habit of singing extremely fast, which for some reason reminds me of Ross Perot. (?) They've also incorporated some sections with female voices... which I like, though they aren't terribly original. The guitar work is essentially death metal, with some black metal influences, similar to their previous style. The keys are once again very prominent, although their new keyboard player isn't as good as their previous one. The pipe organ sound is gone, replaced by more gothic tones... synth violins and such. The drumming is much improved, with some fast double bass work (helping to give this its death metal feel), and some interesting and varied playing. Unfortunately, there are only six tracks, of which one is a cover of a song on _TPoEMF_ ("The Forest Whispers My Name"), one is an all keyboard gothic instrumental (which is a little boring and rambling, but otherwise okay), and four real tracks. Overall, this is a step backward I think, but still very good. Malevolent Creation - _Joe Black_ (Pavement, April 1996) by: Steve Hoeltzel (7 out of 10) This CD is a mixed bag of material: three new songs, three wild re-mixes, and some pretty obscure earlier stuff. Brand new opener "Joe Black" rages, racing crazily back and forth in trademark Malevolent style between power chord barrages, insane blast beats, and galloping jackhammer riffs. The other new songs are enjoyable too, but I don't think they're as strong as the best material on their latest full-length, _Eternal_. Also included is the '93 demo version of "Genetic Affliction", which, for my money, absolutely smokes the _Stillborn_ version. The three-track '90 demo which eventually got the band signed is also represented here, and "Remnants of Withered Decay" just rocks. Then there's a cover (recorded by the _Stillborn_ lineup) of Slayer's "Raining Blood", but I think it's awfully weak, especially considering that these are the guys who crushed _Reign in Blood_ beneath the pulverizing weight of _Retribution_. Finally, though, what compilation would be complete without three TECHNO (!!) re-mixes of tracks from the latest album?! That's right: -techno- mixes of Malevolent Creation songs. I can't stand techno, but you know, I think these tracks are pretty damn cool. Each is propelled by a driving programmed backbeat beneath scorching riffs, with looped samples and weird electronics piled up on top. Catchy, rhythmic, and uniquely wicked. Beyond that, I can't really describe these tracks, but hey, they came out heavy enough that the band decided to release them. Considering who we're talking about here, that ought to tell you something. Various - _Nordic Metal: A Tribute to Euronymous_ by: Steve Hoeltzel (7 out of 10) (Necropolis Records, March 1996) Long before he was murdered, Mayhem founder Euronymous (together with Paul Thind of Necropolis records) planned to release a compilation album showcasing the still-emerging Norwegian black metal scene. Now, almost three full years after his death, the spark which Euronymous first gave to this movement has exploded into a blaze which has spread like wildfire through the underground, and the compilation which he planned has finally been released as his own posthumous tribute. The album contains 15 tracks by 11 bands (many of whom were Euronymous' good friends), and clocks in at just under 74 minutes. Included is a 24-page booklet loaded with interesting photos, band bios, and testimonials from those who knew Euronymous well and revere his memory still. Musically, too, _Nordic Metal_ is packed with interesting stuff. Here's what I thought of the most notable inclusions: MAYHEM - Their first track is a version of "Freezing Moon" featuring vocals by Euronymous' brother in posthumous infamy: Dead. As this track shows, _De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas_ would have been even more chilling if Dead had lived long enough to record his ultra-grim rasp for it. "Pagan Fears" is an unreleased rehearsal track recorded by the 1996 Mayhem lineup. Neither track has quality sound, but both really show off Hellhammer's amazing drumming. EMPEROR - "Moon Over Kara-Shehr" is an unreleased rehearsal track with rather murky sound. Recorded in early '94, it's weaker than anything on _In the Nightside Eclipse_, but it still has that epic Emperor feel. "The Ancient Queen" is taken from their 7-inch _As the Shadows Rise_, a by-product of the '92 recording sessions for Emperor's excellent split with Enslaved. DISSECTION - "Where Dead Angels Lie" is a great track, somber and darkly atmospheric. "Elizabeth Bathori" is much more simplistic and has a pronounced 80's metal feel. Both tracks are taken from the Wrong Again Records _W.A.R. Compilation_. OPTHALAMIA - Their cover of Mayhem's demo track "Deathcrush" rocks. Most of the remaining tracks are probably of greater interest to diehard fans than to anyone who likes a few of the bigger black metal bands but isn't very seriously interested in the scene. Besides easy-to-find tracks from Marduk and Enslaved, this is rather obscure and often very raw sounding stuff from: Abruptum (good scary ambient), Mysticum (unimpressive), Thorns (slow and dirge-like), Arcturus (like an easy-listening version of Emperor), and Mortiis (very unimpressive). Accursed - _Meditations Among the Tombs_ by: Steve Hoeltzel (8 out of 10) (Visceral Prod., November 1995) I only know two things about this band: first, its three members hail from Wisconsin, and second, they have produced an extremely impressive debut of blackened avant-garde metal. "The Last Sunrise" opens the album in epic fashion, twisting and turning through venomous black cacophonies and pounding doom riffs backed by pealing bells. "Land of Whispers" is -weird- sounding black metal, and "Where Icicles Form" is genuinely creepy, and once again pretty strange. But the Accursed sound isn't just constant aggression: every song contains all kinds of fluid changes of tempo and feel. Like many a black metal band, they've also peppered their album with hypnotic musical interludes, usually featuring synthesizers. But unlike most, these guys actually use keyboards as a -lead- instrument on a couple of non-intro tracks. On "Oceans of Time" and the all-instrumental title track, this works surprisingly well. Even though there are some weak moments on the album, at their best Accursed sound like a more adventurous version of _Hordane's Land_-era Enslaved. In other words, this is a killer release, by a band with immense potential. Asphyx - _God Cries_ (Century Media, May 1996) by: Adam Wasylyk (7 out of 10) Rising from the ashes of breaking up a year after the release of their self-titled album, the Dutch band Asphyx have come to life with their new album, _God Cries_. Reuniting with two-thirds of the original line-up, they put in a very solid 9-song effort. Songs like the title track, "My Beloved Enemy", "Died Yesterday" and "Slaughtered in Sodom" utilize slow to mid-paced speed, and concentrate on guitar intricacy rather than blinding speed (which some bands these days find necessary). Worthy of note is that _God Cries_ is a little more than half the length of their debut album with each song on averaging about three and a half minutes compared to their self-titled album where the average length is nearly six minutes (I guess on this album they took the "shorter but sweeter" approach). Not many surprises, but some good music nonetheless. Bathory - _Blood on Ice_ (Black Mark, May 1996) by: Adam Wasylyk (9 out of 10) After listening to this for the first time I was surprised at how much I liked it! _Blood on Ice_ being Bathory's eleventh album, was recorded from February '88 to June '89 between the albums _Blood Fire Death_ and _Hammerheart_. Of the eleven songs, I particularly liked "Man of Iron", "One Eyed Old Man", "The Sword", "The Woodwoman" and "The Lake". Some of the songs are enhanced with choir-like backing vocals, greatly adding to the sound and atmosphere. The album also includes a 32-page booklet, detailing the recording of _Blood on Ice_ and some of the history of Bathory, along with the lyrics with a written intro to each song. So reading the intros and lyrics, it's as if one was reading a story. Even the cover art is fantastic! The only fault here is the weak production in some parts, due to the age of the recording. In the bio it says _Blood on Ice_ is "... an hour of true epic metal..." This doesn't even begin to explain how truly great this is. Bewitched - _Diabolical Desecration_ (Osmose Prod., April 1996) by: Steve Hoeltzel (5 out of 10) According to their bio, Bewitched's variety of "evil speed-rockin' Hell metal" could just as well have been done in '83. One thing's for sure: if I had discovered this album back then, when I was 14, I definitely would have played it often and loud. See, Bewitched have two basic goals: "to focus on old pioneering metal from the early eighties" and "to maintain genuine feelings of dirty and evil ROCK 'N' ROLL." I guess they do that pretty well, coming off as a pretty rocking cross between vintage Mercyful Fate and old Judas Priest. But these guys are cheesier: check out song titles like "Burnin' Paradise" and "Hard as Steel (Hot as Hell)". Still, the guitars sound great, and this CD showcases some pretty cool old-school metal riffs. The vocals, on the other hand, are annoyingly screechy, and they're not exactly blessed with the greatest lyrics either. In the end, I just can't get into this style. But big fans of early Mercyful Fate and similar-sounding bands might want to search these guys out. Beyond - _Reassemble_ (Pavement/Cargo, May 1996) by: Adrian Bromley (6 out of 10) Chicago's Beyond are somewhat connoisseurs of metallic mayhem and an industrial/mechanical tinged sound, something felt quite vividly with their music. Much like the works of Ministry, Beyond's music on their debut _Reassemble_ (the band was formerly known as Demented Ted) is a quick lashing of riffs and walls of noise. The vocals of singer Ron Janis exhibit a solid death metal-ish growl though at times downscaled to a solid exertion of anger as every song goes upon its course. Musically, the music of Beyond is rather bland, no real attribute pops out, but I must say one thing though: this band has got a real groove going when it does take shape, especially with songs like "Monument" and the title track. "Machined" rolls hard and heavy as does opener "Pure" and "Limbless". Metallic and thrashing out in a frenzy at times, Beyond's debut is a good listen most of the time. Don Caballero - _Don Caballero 2_ (Touch & Go, September 1995) by: Brian Meloon (7 out of 10) Don Caballero are a semi-mysterious band (not a guy) from Pennsylvania. The packaging of this disc resembles the music, being minimal: all that is listed in the liner notes are song titles, band members, a contact address, and some production credits. The music is probably best described as "an instrumental Neurosis crossed with Primus and touches of Voivod." This description is a little misleading, as the bass playing is definitely not the focal point, though it is solid. Their overall sound is reminiscent of Neurosis, with similar guitar tones, long songs (4 of the 8 songs clock in at around 10 minutes), simplistic guitar riffs, and repetitive and slow-moving compositions. The music is occasionally heavier, more metallic, and more dissonant than Neurosis, bringing to mind the most recent offering by Voivod. The songs feature a similar weirdness to Primus, as do the song titles, such as "please tokio, please THIS IS TOKIO", "P,P,P antless", and "Dick Suffers Is Furious With You". The guitar work is similar to what you'd expect from Primus with two guitar players, though not as noodley. The playing is not very precise, usually pretty loose and sloppy, and at times sounds out of tune. The production doesn't help this either, as it is rather noisy, and not too flattering. The drumming is the highlight of this album. This guy gives new meaning to the term "overplaying." He sounds for long stretches as if he's soloing, keeping the music interesting as the guitars play the same monotonous, minimalistic riffs. Parts of this are excellent, but some parts really drag (some bordering on noise). This is at least original and refreshing, though it still has room for improvement. Candiria - _Surrealistic Madness_ (Too Damn Hype, December 1995) by: Brian Meloon (8 out of 10) Candiria are a NY band exploring the fertile territory of jazz-metal. This has a fresh sound, as it's only vaguely similar to the other bands who've incorporated jazz into metal (Atheist, Cynic, Pestilence, Spastic Ink, Naked City/John Zorn, Alex Masi). Their style is roughly death metal crossed with jazz. There are sections of pure jazz, sections of pure (though not extremely heavy) death metal, and sections of mixtures of the two. The death sections are sometimes straightforward, but the jazz influence creeps in both rhythmically and tonally, ranging from very dissonant and strange to pretty technical. Vocals are shouted and not very guttural, but distorted, and fit the music well. Guitar and bass work are solid, and the drumming is excellent: really moving some of the sections along. It's usually dense and varied, with some occasionally fast double bass work. The album as a whole has a little too much jazz for me, as approximately half of the (45-minute) disc are taken up by pure jazz (including the last 10 minutes of the last track), but a lot of the metallic parts are excellent. Cathedral - _Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)_ by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10) (Earache Records, May 1996) So, Cathedral releases this limited EP, _Hopkins: The Witchfinder General_, a grouping of four newly recorded songs and one of the better Sabbath-laced tracks of their brilliant 1995 release _The Carnival Bizarre_, and at the same time presents their fans with scare tactics... sort of. Starting off with the movie trailer/spoken intro of late, great actor Vincent Price saying "I am Matthew Hopkins, witchfinder...", this 5-song EP kicks off with the title track and then from that point on the album switches gears, dilly dallying between multiple music styles, everything from jazz/funk ("The Devil's Summit"), an 80s rock styled number (the slowly hypnotic "Purple Wonderland") and even a cover of Crazy World of Arthur Brown's psychedelic song "Fire". But don't be alarmed though, Cathedral fans. The record company bio (paraphrased) says this desire by the band to play this music does not suggest this to be the band's musical direction in the future. Experimentation is the name of this game here with Dorrian and his gang of metallic henchmen, and like most albums' material, some things work and some don't (most notably "The Devil's Summit") but the need to branch out sometimes is the best remedy to keep things fresh within a band. Good call Lee. Decoryah - _Fall-Dark Waters_ (Metal Blade, May 1996) by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10) Finland's Decoryah's sophomore effort, _Fall-Dark Waters_, flows with a captivating essence throughout, rarely losing the listener and always releasing bitter-sweet bursts of classically balanced guitar, violin and cello orchestrations that piece together quite the collection of material. More focused and better produced than their debut album for Metal Blade, 1995's _Wisdom Floats_, _FDW_ is 9-song ride into the world and visions of this three-piece. Classical death metal (much like Orphanage) may be the best assessment of the material found on their latest LP with the musical interludes, the use of angelic female vocalist/singers and strong songwriting. Standouts include title track, "Gloria Absurdiah" and "Some Drops Beyond the Essence". A recommended listen for those that enjoy long intricate atmospheric metallic numbers. Doughnuts - _Equalize Nature_ (Victory/Cargo, May 1996) by: Adrian Bromley (6 out of 10) If you like hardcore music (in the same vein as Snapcase), L7 attitude/style of music and bands with female musicians in them, then this four-piece from Umea, Sweden are exactly what you need. With just five songs on this release, these four lasses kick out some heavy hardcore-based numbers like "Spread It", "Agony" and "Windows" - a sure-fire source of energy in any mosh pit. Roughly shaped and sculpted, _EN_, does the job for the 13:30 that it plays and that is good enough for me. Grave - _Hating Life_ (Century Media, May 1996) by: Adam Wasylyk (6 out of 10) Suffering the loss of bassist/vocalist Jorgen Sandstrom who left to play in Entombed, listening to _Hating Life_, I had mixed feelings as to whether it was a mixed blessing or not. Guitarist Ola Lindgren has taken over vocal duties (who was the vocalist of Grave in the band's beginning stages), but doesn't capture the vocal ferocity that Jorgen had. Musically, I did enjoy it a lot more than their prior release _Soulless_ because _Hating Life_ is more catchy and aggressive. Recorded at Sunlight Studios by Tomas Skogsberg (who has produced bands like Entombed and Amorphis), this greatly adds to the sound as the production on here is very clean. Exactly 33 minutes long, the tracks "Worth the Wait", "Restrained", "Snowfilled Moon" and "Harvest Day" were good, but not much else was very different or even worthy of mention. Most of the songs are done in the same sort of way; it did get stale at times to hear. A little more experimentation is recommended. Grotus - _Mass_ (London Records, Late 1995) by: Gino Filicetti (8 out of 10) Never heard the name Grotus before? Well, unless you are into the industrial/techno "vibe" going on, then it's no wonder. Grotus has been around for the last five years, and started off their careers as nothing more than another copy cat band ripping off the industrial beats of the era. However, this band - lead by Lars Fox - has evolved into an entity that is truly unique. _Mass_ is Grotus' debut full length with London Records, and marks a significant change for the band. With this release, Grotus elected to take on a more human approach to their music. Wishing to distance themselves from the hordes of mechanical industrial monsters dominating the scene, the band brought in a flesh and blood drummer replacing their previous drum machine, and changed their sound to a more down to earth approach. Some of the lyrics on _Mass_ are pure genius, like _Collect 'Em All_ which is about the workings of a psychotic mind or _The Bottom Line_ which shows how everyone in our world is hypnotized by the mass media (such as evil electronic publications like Chronicles of Chaos!). The music on this release is hard to describe; it dances the fine line between techno, rock and grindy industrial. Experimentation is a high priority on Grotus' list, and the band never ceases to captivate the listener. This album is definitely something different, but interesting nonetheless. Mysticum - _In the Streams of Inferno_ by: Steve Hoeltzel (4 out of 10) (Full Moon Prod., February 1996) There are quite a few black metal bands whose sound really grows on you over time, once you've become used to their bleak, savage, and typically under-produced style. After giving the debut from Mysticum its fair share of spins, though, I'd put these guys in the class of bands who just get slightly less annoying. The main reason is their reliance on a drum machine which produces about as much sonic power as a typewriter can. Plus, the guitar sound is incredibly high and thin, and the vocalist sounds like he's really been hitting the helium too. Still it's not really their squeaky recording that holds these guys back. As we all know, it takes a lot more than crappy sound to keep a good black metal band down! No, the problem is that Mysticum's songs are simply monotonous. There is a huge shortage of engaging riffs and interesting changes in tempo, and whatever atmosphere the band manages to create with keyboards rapidly becomes stale. If your idea of a great black metal jam is to repeatedly blast Emperor's most one-dimensional songs with the bass turned all the way down and the treble cranked, then these guys are for you. Otherwise, look elsewhere. Naglfar - _Vittra_ (Wrong Again Records, 1995) by: Brian Meloon (7 out of 10) Within any genre, there are the inventors, the innovators, and the clones. These guys fall into the last category, sounding almost exactly like Dissection. The playing is good (although the drumming is average... he could be a little more interesting), the vocals are fine, the guitar and bass work are precise, and the songs are good, but these guys don't really add anything new to the genre. The songs are a little "catchier" than Dawn (see CoC #8), but not quite as catchy as Dissection. They have a few neat tricks, such as the intro to "Emerging from Her Weepings", which is acoustic guitar with double bass drums under it (yeah, it's been done before, but it's still pretty cool) and some keyboards for atmosphere, but it's a sound you've heard before. I even feel that some of the melodies seemed a little too familiar, as if I'd heard them before, but couldn't quite figure out where. Still, with the excellent production and relative youth of the death/black genre, this is worth getting. Those of you who can't get enough of Dissection won't be disappointed. Obliveon - _Cybervoid_ (A.S.A./Cargo, March 1996) by: Alain M. Gaudrault (10 out of 10) A friend of mine made the astute observation that Obliveon want to be Voivod. Now that may very well be so, but in my opinion, they're doing a damn fine job of making phenomenal music in the process. _Cybervoid_ is the third outing from these Montreal technical-deathsters-come-cyber/groove-metallers, and may well become my top pick of 1996. Sure, there are heavier albums out there, and I love them as well, but Obliveon seem to have found the perfect blend of aggression, technicality, and groove, combined with a harsh, yet mechanically melodic vocal deliver thanks to newcomer Bruno Bernier. The production, thanks to guitarist Pierre Remillard, is thick yet clear, and very guitar-heavy, with ambient electronic bits used often as a percussive element. The drumming is solid and diverse, hardly boring, but the massive guitar riffs so excellently crafted and molded into cohesive structures simply flatten me. I've had an advance copy of this album for a number of months, and I've recently come back to it to write this review. It still blows me away. A word of warning to old fans of the band, though. Obliveon is not pursuing death metal any longer, as is evident in their choice of new vocalist, who seems to be coming from a death background while adding a sense of melody uncommon to the average death vocalist. If you're expecting brutal death metal, or even technical death, you might be disappointed, although perhaps not if you aren't averse to a healthy infusion of speed metal and groove. My favourite cuts off the album are "Sombre Phase" and "Biomecanique", both of which would make good choices as potential singles, although the latter's inclusion of French lyrics might prevent it from being so. All in all, _Cybervoid_ is heavy, and has enough originality to impress the cynic in me. If you're able to sample this album in your favourite music store, do so. Then buy it. Prong - _Rude Awakening_ (Epic/Sony, May 1996) by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10) Much more focused and straightforward than their last effort, _Cleansing_ (1993), New York City hard-grooved metal trio return with a story and sound, revealed and emphasized through the sounds emerging from their new LP, _Rude Awakening_. The music here is not hidden behind screams of rage or loud crashes of music. It's rather raw and virgin-like, assembled slightly with a feeling of uniqueness in sound and lyrical content. The obvious changes of the band are shown through the sound and direction of the band. While less bombastic than previous efforts such as _Beg To Differ_ (1990) and 1991's breakthrough LP _Prove You Wrong_, the music of _RA_ stills breathes of heaviness. Sampler and keyboardist Charlie Clauser (of NIN fame) adds his own blend of trippiness and oddity into the rough vocals of singer/guitarist Tommy Victor and the tight riffs and strides of power provided by the band. From start to finish, the 13 track's of Prong's latest glides nicely with numbers like "Controller", "Innocence Gone", "Face Value" and the title track. Though some of the material sounds very similar at times (take note and you'll hear it after a few listens), this album deserves to be taken as masterpiece of performance by a band that for years has shapeshifted and tried so hard to perfect their sound. No need to work at it any more as _RA_ can finally claim fame to a unique sound that can only call Prong's guidance and deliverance home. Ramp - _Intersection_ (Uniao Lisboa Edicoes, 1995) by: Gino Filicetti (5 out of 10) This Portugese quintet aren't newcomers to the scene. Ramp has been in existence since 1989, but a multitude of unlucky setbacks has keep this band in the shadows since that time. The only other Ramp release that has seen the light of day was the _Thoughts Was Released_ EP which came out through Polygram. However, the band was never satisfied with the unfriendly and commercial feel of the label, so they decided to part ways and join up with a young upstart Portugese label, Uniao Lisboa Edicoes. The result: _Intersection_, an album that has all the power and musicianship any band could hope for, but one that came just a little too late to matter. On _Intersection_, Ramp seem hopelessly buried in the early 90's thrash sound. The vocals on this release are clean but lack that certain touch that would make them memorable. The music is superbly executed and the various guitar solos are top notch. But like I said, this album already sounds dated, and I think Ramp should look forward to the future and use their talents to pursue greener pastures. Testify - _Mmmyaooo_ (Van Richter Records, May 1996) by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10) First the band sounded a lot like NIN with their 1994 debut _01_ and their remix album, _Ballroom Killer_, and now with their sophomore record, _Mmmyaooo_ (great name eh?), they sound like Ministry. What's next down the line of industrial bands to imitate? But hold on... hold on. The axe ain't gonna fall too quickly on Testify, not this time at least. Beyond my negative points of this record stands strong a solid, hard-hitting dose of fierce industrial music. From the get-go of opener "Pink Goblin" onto "Head of Compassion" and "Block in the Eye", Testify rarely slows it down, bit by bit breaking the listener into a heaping pile of human flesh. Samples, loud bangs, screams and solid riffs pour out of this rather surprisingly enjoyable second outing. Also, the help of co-producer Adam Grossman (singer/guitarist of Skrew) helped strengthen many of the band's flaws off the first album. _Mmmyaooo_ radiates industrial music and channelled noise to the best of their ability. Good effort. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= __ __ _ /\ \ \_____ __ /\ \ \___ (_)___ ___ / \/ / _ \ \ /\ / / / \/ / _ \| / __|/ _ \ / /\ / __/\ V V / / /\ / (_) | \__ \ __/ \_\ \/ \___| \_/\_/ \_\ \/ \___/|_|___/\___| Your best source of information on the newest of the new, and the deepest of the underground, New Noise is the place to read about all the coolest shit you never thought existed! And if you have a band, don't forget to send us your demo with a bio if you want to be reviewed; our address is included in the zine's header. Scoring: ***** -- I see a record deal in the future **** -- Great piece of work *** -- Good effort ** -- A major overhaul is in order * -- A career change is advisable Blood of Christ - _The Lonely Flowers of Autumn_ (4-song demo) by: Adam Wasylyk (*****) In the fine tradition of other Canadian death metal bands such as Kataklysm and Cryptopsy, Blood of Christ, with this professionally laid-out four-song demo (with songs "Autumn's Twilight", "In the Distance", "Moonshroud... the Cresent Glow" and "As the Roses Wither"), demonstrate they have the talent to continue successfully in their footsteps. Combining death, black and doom (along with intelligent lyrics), Blood of Christ deliver a rich, unique sound through great production and talented playing. Acoustic and organ passages accentuate the music nicely. This will satisfy many, as there are some blast beats along with nice melodic parts. A very impressive release to say the least. With not only great music but with great layout, this is about as good as demos can get. Contact: BLOOD OF CHRIST, c/o Jeff Longo 27 Century Place, London, Ontario, Canada, N6H-4W9 (send $5 US for a copy) 7th Gate - _The Funeral Delight_ (8-track demo) by: Alain M. Gaudrault (*****) This is one of the best demos I've heard. Ever. Granted, the production isn't great. In fact, according to the liner notes, "[this] tape was done without: fuckin' effects..., fuckin' overdubs, fuckin' mastering, simply no studio, just live playing." And play they do. 7th Gate have created an interesting combination of brutal American-style death, with plenty of European-style melody, and the occasional grindcore vocal to boot. The musicianship is pretty tight, and the sound uncommonly clear for this type of recording. I'll admit that my first impressions were mixed. While the packaging is excellent for a DiY job, the song titles threw me off, particularly "Mutilation of a Pregnant Bitch", which sounded downright insipid. My first listen left me a bit flat, but it's upon repeated listenings that I grew to love this tape. It hasn't left the deck for a week. There's just so much cool stuff happening here, that it's worth hearing over and over again. The highlight of the demo, for me, has to be "Open Crypt" with its various tempo and texture changes as well as the almost trance-like state it induces. This comes highly recommended to those who love good grinding technical death metal. Hailing from Austria, these guys need all the encouragement they can get, so I urge everyone to contact them and get a copy of this wonderful release. Contact: 7TH GATE, Rainer Zimmermann, Bergerweb 5 A-4400 Steyr, Austria, Voice: +43(0)7252/53143 e-mail: rainer.zimmermann@telecom.at Red Sun Project - _Red Sun Project_ (4-track demo) by: Alain M. Gaudrault (***--) Red Sun Project is actually 7th Gate (see review in this issue) in disguise. Fronted by a different vocalist, the band plays a decidedly more mainstream style of metal. While still retaining a thick, crunching sound, this demo incorporates elements more commonly found in heavy alternative acts, without the uni-dimensional simplistic playing displayed by said bands. And again, as with 7th Gate, the demo was recorded without the aid of effects, overdubbing, etc, "just live playing." Unfortunately, the weak link in Red Sun Project has to be their vocalist. While his singing voice is decent in places, his screams are beyond annoying, and his rap has to go, although it could be argued that it fits the music. I would readily disagree. In any case, this is a pretty cool showcasing of talent, and certainly displays the diversity of the musicians, particularly after having sampled their alter-ego, 7th Gate. If you were thinking about ordering the latter's demo, consider Red Sun Project's as well, if only to hear the breadth of their writing abilities. Contact: RED SUN PROJECT, Rainer Zimmermann, Bergerweb 5 A-4400 Steyr, Austria, Voice: +43(0)7252/53143 e-mail: rainer.zimmermann@telecom.at Vicious Crowd - _Vicious Crowd_ (11-track demo) by: Alain M. Gaudrault (**---) First off, this is metal with strong hard rock tendencies, which isn't an inherently bad thing, mind you, but overly susceptible to cheesiness. While that isn't the case with Vicious Crowd, other problems abound. The first few spins of this CD weren't too favourable. A few of the songs hit the mark with a good vocal line and a handful of excellent riffs, but the rest of the songs are either too samey, or the riffs become downright annoying halfway through the song. The musicianship is another sore point; sloppiness is readily apparent, and given the lack of density of the music, it shows considerably more. The guitar in particular seems in places overly simple, although solos are usually clean and tasteful. The vocals set this release apart from other bands of this genre with its quasi-hardcore flavour, tinged with hard rock melody. Personally, I feel the band should concentrate on fewer songs in order to develop them further, to give them their own distinct personalities, instead of producing a full-length album's worth of mediocre tunes as they have done. Contact: Vicious Crowd c/o Jean-Christophe Marchal 1147 Chaussee de Louvain, Bruxelles 1200 WSL, Belgium e-mail: jean@hpuxit96.brussels.hp.com Obscene Crisis - _Silence of the Mind_ (9-track demo) by: Alain M. Gaudrault (*****) Succinctly put, this demo gives the listener a 25-minute barrage of chainsaw guitars. I half expected a generic offering of bland death metal, despite being quite impressed with their live set, opening for Suffocation in London, Ontario. Luckily for me, Obscene Crisis deliver the goods with this independently produced CD. The twin guitars of brothers Stephane and Jean-Pierre Cote shred, combining a heavy speed metal influence with death metal structures. Granted, it took me awhile to really learn to appreciate their music, but after repeated listenings, I was floored. The rhythms are complex, and the musicians are of high enough caliber to pull everything off beautifully. While their sound most closely resembles the North American death genre, there's a subtle sense of melody that just creeps up on you once you've familiarized yourself with the songs, keeping you coming back for more. Of course, there's the occasional sloppy moment, and the very mildly muddy production, but this is one damn fine listen. Eric Fiset's vocals vary from gurgling death growls to high grind screams, both occasionally multi-tracked together, offering both extremes simultaneously. And lo and behold, I can actually hear the *bassist* (Chrystian Boyer) running interesting lines throughout the tracks. I was particularly impressed by the drummer's live performance; Stephane Chartrand does not disappoint in the studio, as the flurry of rolls and double-bass clearly show. Montreal just seems to consistently ooze quality metal, and Obscene Crisis are further proof of this. Given more time in the studio and a bigger budget, they could very easily, in my opinion, become major contenders in metal realms. Already garnering acclaim in Europe, according to the band, this is one group to keep an eye and ear out for. Do yourself a favour and seek out a copy of this mini-album. Contact: OBSCENE CRISIS, c/o Eric Fiset (enclose 1 IRC for reply) 9230 Lajeunesse #2, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2M 1S2 e-mail: frphnet@vir.com WWW: http://www.vir.com/~frphnet/obscene/index.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ____ __ __ /\ _`\ /\ \ /\ \__ __ \ \ \/\_\\ \ \___ __ ___\ \ ,_\/\_\ ___ \ \ \/_/_\ \ _ `\ /'__`\ / __`\ \ \/\/\ \ /'___\ \ \ \L\ \\ \ \ \ \/\ \L\.\_/\ \L\ \ \ \_\ \ \/\ \__/ \ \____/ \ \_\ \_\ \__/.\_\ \____/\ \__\\ \_\ \____\ \/___/ \/_/\/_/\/__/\/_/\/___/ \/__/ \/_/\/____/ ____ __ /\ _`\ /\ \__ \ \ \/\_\ ___ ___ ___ __ _ __\ \ ,_\ ____ \ \ \/_/_ / __`\ /' _ `\ /'___\ /'__`\/\`'__\ \ \/ /',__\ \ \ \L\ \/\ \L\ \/\ \/\ \/\ \__//\ __/\ \ \/ \ \ \_/\__, `\ \ \____/\ \____/\ \_\ \_\ \____\ \____\\ \_\ \ \__\/\____/ \/___/ \/___/ \/_/\/_/\/____/\/____/ \/_/ \/__/\/___/ Here is where Chronicles of Chaos gives you the lowdown on the latest shows coming your way. Check out Chaotic Concerts every month for the scoop on the bands brutalizing the masses with their own form of terror. H E A V Y M E T A L N O V E L T Y N I G H T ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gwar, The Meatmen, and Brutal Juice At the Big Dog's in Cedar Rapids, IA, May 4, 1996 by: Steve Hoeltzel A big fan of the Meatmen from way back in their mid-80s days of snot-encrusted glory, I went to this event thinking that it had been quite some time since Iowa had hosted any really great displays of brutal music--since Morbid Angel's _Covenant_ tour stopped in Cedar Rapids, to be exact. Unfortunately, I guess I left this show thinking pretty much the same thing--and I'm certain that I'll never waste my time on a Gwar performance again. I must say, though, that openers Brutal Juice, whom I had never heard before, impressed the hell out of me. This band's creative, potent style is practically impossible to describe. I wouldn't exactly call them a metal band, since their polyrhythmic and darkly dreamy sound derives equally from edgier "alternative" bands like Jane's Addiction and perhaps from some more artful punk bands as well. Anyway, one thing I -definitely- wouldn't call these guys is wimpy. No, they rocked, no question about it, and they had a great sound, too. By turns they were steamroller heavy, witch-doctor creepy, and rattlesnake vicious, with lots of great-sounding leads, killer percussion, and catchy vocal phrasings. Musically speaking, I think these guys basically stole the show. But I was there to see the Meatmen, having (mis)spent many an adolescent hour cranking up their obnoxious punk/metal and doubling over in laughter at main meat honcho Tesco Vee's hilarious hardcore diatribes against everything and everybody. I haven't really kept up with their more recent stuff, but this was no problem, as their set was chock full of old chestnuts like "True Grit", "Abba, God, and Me", and of course "We're the Meatmen and You Suck". But, oh, Tesco--where were "Come On Over to Mah Crib" and "War of the Superbikes"?! The 1996 Meatmen lineup definitely rocks pretty hard, and newer numbers like "Morrissey Must Die" sounded great. And Tesco still projects as much attitude as ever, manically prowling the stage decked out in white fur pants, dangling earrings, and a carrot-colored jarhead buzz cut. I was a bit disappointed, though, to hear him recycling old stage banter between songs (references to "your puckered starfish," "diesel flab glaciers," and all that). Actually, I felt a bit let down by these guys in general. They did play a solid, really hard-rocking set, but the overall insanity level just wasn't quite what I'd come to expect from Tesco and the boys. Of course, in-concert insanity is supposed to be the specialty of headliners Gwar. And I guess they lived up to that reputation on this night--but really I found Gwar to be a great deal more annoying than entertaining. Although they definitely performed it with skill, their music has never done anything for me at all. In fact, I don't like them. Still, I thought it would be fun to check out their stage show, and it was--for about five minutes. See, the novelty of watching geysers of fake body fluids spurt all over the audience from fake latex necks, cocks, and so on, wears off pretty fast. Of course, Gwar try to make up for this by building up their set around a story line involving various monster-suited characters and their misadventures. But the problem is that the mentality level of this whole production is so astonishingly low that it rapidly becomes nothing more than obnoxious, and in the worst fifth-grade-humor-level kind of way. If you crack up over guys in rubber suits telling lame jokes about AIDS, abortion, and child molestation, and if your idea of hilarity includes gags that are really demeaning to women, then you'll bust a gut over Gwar. Otherwise, if you go see them, prepare to have your intelligence insulted--and a lot more than just your intelligence, if you happen to be a woman. Yeah, okay, I know: the whole Gwar thing is supposed to be a big joke. But if you ask me, this joke sucked. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= O V E R K I L L I N G T H E M A S S E S ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Overkill at Player's Nightclub in Raleigh, NC, May 10, 1996 with guests Life of Agony by: Ernest Crvich Sometime ago, around 1987, your friend and humble narrator had the fortune of hearing a song called "Wrecking Crew" on a compilation (_Power Chords_, if I'm not mistaken) obtained through a record club. Overkill's album _Taking Over_ soon found itself in my collection, followed over the years by all of their other releases, from _Feel The Fire_ to _The Killing Kind_. You could say I was hooked. Almost a decade later, with _The Killing Kind_ as the newest disc on the shelf, the wrecking crew is still hard at work, albeit with only two of its original members remaining. After all this time, I'd never had the opportunity to see them live. I had, of course, heard their two live recordings (_!!!Fuck You!!!_ and _Wrecking Your Neck_), but that surely couldn't compare to the real thing, right? Finally, on May 10th, 1996, Player's Nightclub in North Carolina's capital city of Raleigh hosted Overkill, along with opening act Life Of Agony. It was a night to remember for local Overkill fans; impressive for most and disappointing to only a few. Due to a somewhat late arrival, I apparently missed two local bands who performed before Life Of Agony. My apologies to both bands for my lack of coverage here. When Brooklyn's Life Of Agony hit the stage, the small crowd (anywhere from 50 to 100 people) was visibly excited. A tiny and rather tame pit instantly began in front of the stage, but died down soon after. The band simply wasn't fast enough or violent enough to give most of the crowd what they needed. The clean, crooning vocals certainly didn't help the situation. Although the band played well, the sound quality was good, and the guitarist was enthusiastic, their musical style just wasn't heavy enough to incite mayhem. Another disappointment was the lighting; after the first song, the typical display of flashing colors ceased, leaving a few on, unchanging, for the rest of the set. No one appeared concerned or interested in fixing them (one of the bright white lights shone into the crowd, resulting in dozens of people squinting or otherwise trying to avoid the glare). Applause was sparse between each song, but at the end of their 30-minute set, a more respectable ovation was given. No shouts of "Encore!," but no insults were heard either. The crowd was then treated to over a half an hour of waiting while roadies prepared for Blitz, Verni, Mallare, Comeau, and Marino. Very little of this time was spent doing sound checks; it was primarily for making sure everything was in its place: drum kit, guitar stands, picks, mic stands, videocams, etc. Near the end, the lights were tested (fortunately, they were now working properly) and a smoke pump fired a few times. The lights went out, and Overkill's intro theme thundered through the small arena (the identical one as can be heard on their live album _Wrecking Your Neck_). Tim Mallare could be seen walking on stage, waving to the cheering crowd before he took his position behind the drums. And suddenly the song "Battle" roared to life and the lights were ablaze. The pit pretty much went crazy instantly, the people on the perimeter banging their heads violently while the center was a torrent of flailing body parts. From there it was one fast song after another, with a only a couple of slow or mid-paced songs thrown in for a breather. For me, it was nearly perfect. I've always favored Overkill's speedier, energetic songs, and that's almost all they played that night. The song list featured: "Battle", "Where It Hurts", "God-Like", "Coma", "Bold Face Pagan Stomp", "Hello From the Gutter", "Elimination", "Supersonic Hate", "Spiritual Void", the medley of "Wrecking Crew" and "Powersurge", "Burn You Down/To Ashes", "Gasoline Dream", and finally, "Thanx For Nothin'". Over an hour of pure thrashing satisfaction. The band played very tightly, with very few (and very minor) mistakes. Blitz's voice was in good shape, assuming of course you're one of those that likes his style (I personally couldn't imagine Overkill without it, but there are some who don't agree). Guitarist Sebastian Marino seemed quite disappointed in his acoustic outro on "Gasoline Dream", but that was mostly because he was a bit out of tune (he tried valiantly to re-tune while playing). I don't think most people even noticed. The only disappointed reactions I witnessed were two separate complaints that no songs from _Feel the Fire_ were performed (one guy kept yelling "play some old stuff" between songs, and another muttered "thanks for nothing" afterwards in a very disgusted manner). That these fellows expect the band to rehash stuff from ten years ago, when they've just released a new album, is ridiculous. If they don't like any of the newer albums, why do they even bother coming to the show? I guess you just can't please all the people all of the time... For the rest of us, Overkill was a blast. It's really impressive that they bothered coming to a relatively small area in a tiny nightclub with an even smaller metal community. Tickets were only ten dollars, and with such a small turn-out it's likely they barely made enough to even buy a beer afterwards. Cheers to the band for giving us a great show! They definitely wrecked my neck! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= G A S P I N G F O R A I R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Suffocation at The Embassy in London, Ont., May 24, 1996 with Fleshgrind, Obscene Crisis and Rotting by: Alain M. Gaudrault When I'd originally heard that Suffocation were to be playing at The Embassy in London, Ontario (check out their web site for more info at www.shmooze.net/~embassy), the word was out that lead vocalist Frank Mullen had left the group and had since been replaced. A few days before the show, I'd heard that Mullen was back in the band, which was relief as the band just wouldn't be as convincing, I felt, without the original vocalist at the helm. The evening went started off with Newmarket, Ontario's Rotting (featured in CoC #1) who put on a solid set of their uncompromising music. A decent set, albeit nothing particularly spectacular. Obscene Crisis, hailing from Canada's metal haven, Montreal, put on what was easily the second-most impressive set of the night, after Suffocation, of course. Their brand of grinding/hardcore/death was expertly delivered, very tight, and very convincing (see New Noise this month for a review of their demo CD, _Silence of the Mind_). While the overall mix really sucked, the musicianship shone, as did Eric Fiset's insane vocal delivery. Next up was Fleshgrind, a band whom I had written off as a run-of-the-mill, generic death/grind act from the sound of the first few songs. Slowly, though, I started to appreciate a bit more what they were doing, and the general gist of where they were coming from. While their delivery was quite good, I couldn't help but be annoyed at the constant abuse the lead vocalist directed towards the crowd who weren't showing as much enthusiasm as he would have liked. Methinks everybody were simply waiting for the masters of mayhem to emerge. Good set, and had any of the members made themselves available for fans/press to speak to them, I might even have had a demo of their to review. Suffocation then took the stage. Now they are truly a class act. Not only could the members be seen roaming about the floor with the fans before their set, but a few of them were also behind the merchandise display, selling their wares to the fans and willing to chat! I'm told that a new EP should be released around September, so be on the lookout. They've also been dropped from RoadRunner (what is this world *coming* to?), so it's currently unclear under which label future material will be released. As for their set, the band was unstoppable, delivering the goods with the utmost in musicianship, tight as all Hell, and true to their recordings. From classics such as "Infecting the Crypts" and "Suspended in Tribulation", to several cuts from their latest offering _Pierced from Within_, all were delivered with precision and unending brutality. They are an act to behold. Seems they've also acquired a new drummer, and if memory serves, it's Mark Simpson, originally in Malevolent Creation circa _The Ten Commandments_, but don't hold me to that. As I'd said earlier, Frank Mullen is back as Suffocation's frontman, although minus the hair. Frank's going for a new look, which meant shaving off those golden locks in favour of a skin job. I was told by Terrence Hobbs (guitar) that he done it for "personal reasons." Whatever that may be, it hasn't proven to be a Samson-like curse; his ferocity remains intact. While the night was successful for those who attended, I must admit that the turnout left much to be desired. There were perhaps 100 people in attendance in a bar that could easily hold two or three times that many. Part of it is certainly due to lack of promotion, but a lot of has to do with general inertia on the part of metal fans, I feel. The Embassy plans on bringing in more death metal acts over the next few coming months. Kataklysm have already been booked for June 15th (CD release party, be there!), and gigs featuring Incantation and Cannibal Corpse are in the works. Be sure to check out The Embassy's WWW page on a regular basis to get more info. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ________ ________ ___ __/_________ ________________ _________ __/ __ / _ __ \ / / /_ ___/_ ___/ _ __ \_ /_ _ / / /_/ / /_/ /_ / _(__ ) / /_/ / __/ /_/ \____/\__,_/ /_/ /____/ \____//_/ ________ _____ ___ __/______________ /____ _____________ __ / _ __ \_ ___/ __/ / / /_ ___/ _ \ _ / / /_/ / / / /_ / /_/ /_ / / __/ /_/ \____//_/ \__/ \__,_/ /_/ \___/ Welcome to Chronicles of Chaos' tour listing column. Check out Tours of Torture every month for the scoop on who's coming to town and where to catch your favorite bands. If you have any information about upcoming tours, we'd be more than happy to hear about it. Contact us at . Obliveon ~~~~~~~~ Jun 15 - (w/ guests Mundane) The Spectrum, Montreal, Quebec Anthropophagus/Burning Moon/Fearsight ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jun 10 - The Generator, Toronto Ontario Pantera/White Zombie ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aug 16 - Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= W H A T W E H A V E C R A N K E D ! ! ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gino's Top 5 1. Cradle of Filth - _Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein_ 2. Malevolent Creation - _Joe Black_ 3. Korn - _Korn_ 4. Impaled Nazarene - _Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz_ 5. Pitchshifter - _Infotainment?_ Adrian's Top 5 1. Pitchshifter - _Infotainment?_ 2. Pantera - _The Great Southern Trendkill_ 3. Only Living Witness - _Innocents_ 4. Prong - _Rude Awakening_ 5. Neurosis - _Through Silver In Blood_ Brian's Top 5 1. Cradle of Filth - _Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein_ 2. Candiria - _Surrealistic Madness_ 3. Sieges Even - _Sophisticated_ 4. Don Caballero - _Don Caballero II_ 5. Mourning Sign - _Mourning Sign_ Alain's Top 5 1. Slayer - _Undisputed Attitude_ 2. Obliveon - _Cybervoid_ 3. Obscene Crisis - _Silence of the Mind_ (demo) 4. Prong - _Rude Awakening_ 5. At the Gates - _Slaughter of the Soul_ Steve's Top 5 1. Black Funeral - _Vampyr - Throne of the Beast_ 2. Accursed - _Meditations Among the Tombs_ 3. Mayhem - _De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas_ 4. Malevolent Creation - _Joe Black_ 5. Only Living Witness - _Innocents_ Adam's Top 5 1. Bathory - _Blood on Ice_ 2. Impaled Nazarene - _Latex Cult_ 3. Amorphis - _Elegy_ 4. Necromantia - _Scarlet Evil, Witching Black_ 5. Blood of Christ - _The Lonely Flowers of Autumn_ (demo) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= T H E F I N A L W O R D ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, here we are at the end of another fine issue of Chronicles of Chaos. Did you read this fucker just as fast as you could? Good then, you should have no problem answering this little trivia question: Q: Name former the vocalists of Grave, Obliveon, Malevolent Creation, Morbid Angel and Asphyx. Yep, that's right folks, it's time for another Chronicles of Chaos giveaway contest!! This time we are picking five winners, you all have until June 17, 1996 to e-mail with the correct answer to the above question. On June 18, 1996 we will be picking five random winners from everyone who mailed us with the correct answer. Each winner will win their own personal prize-pak from hell courtesy of Relapse, Earache, Cargo and Black Mark. Each prize-pak will be different, but we have shit from Pitchshifter, Neurosis, Grim Skunk, Amorphis, Bathory and Cathedral to give away. Good luck everyone, our lucky winners will be announced in CoC #12. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #11