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       CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, April 13, 1998, Issue #30
               http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html

Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>
Coordinator: Adrian Bromley <mailto:energizr@interlog.com>
Contributor/Copy Editor: Pedro Azevedo <mailto:ei94048@tom.fe.up.pt>
Contributor: Steve Hoeltzel <mailto:hoeltzel@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Contributor: Andrew Lewandowski <mailto:kmvb73c@prodigy.com>
Contributor: Alain M. Gaudrault <mailto:alain@gaudrault.net>
Contributor: Brian Meloon <mailto:bmeloon@math.cornell.edu>
Contributor: Adam Wasylyk <mailto:macabre@interlog.com>
Contributor: Drew Schinzel <mailto:drew@magpage.com>
Contributor: Paul Schwarz <mailto:saul@mcmail.com>
Mailing List provided by: The University of Colorado at Boulder

NOTE: For  more  Chronicles  of  Chaos  information,  check  out  the
      'Details' section at the end of this issue.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Issue #30 Contents, 04/13/98
----------------------------
* Editorial
* Loud Letters
* Deadly Dialogues
-- Cryptopsy: Blasphemous, Vile and Now Supreme
-- Ancient Ceremony: Tales of Vampyric Romanticism
-- Guillotine: Let Them Eat Cake
-- Officium Triste: Living A Lonesome Life
-- Sanctum: Momentum Through Emotion
-- Solefald: Unifying The Musical Extremes
* Album Asylum
-- Agoraphobic Nosebleed - _Honkey Reduction_
-- Amestigon - _Hollentanz_
-- Ancient Ceremony - _Under Moonlight We Kiss_
-- Arcturus - _La Masquerade Infernale_
-- Beyond Dawn - _Revelry_
-- Blood Duster - _Str8 Outta Northcote_
-- Captor - _Dogface_
-- Covenant - _Nexus Polaris_
-- Dellamorte - _Uglier and More Disgusting_
-- Desire - _Pentacrow_
-- Dirge / Grift - _Guilty by Association_ Split EP
-- Disfear - _Everyday Slaughter_
-- Domine - _Champion Eternal_
-- Ebony Tears - _Tortura Insomniae_
-- Elegeion - _Odyssey Into Darkness_
-- Empyrium - _Songs of Moors & Misty Fields_
-- His Hero Is Gone - _Monuments to Thieves_
-- Krieg - _Rise of the Imperial Hordes_
-- Marduk - _Nightwing_
-- Mortician - _Zombie Apocalypse_
-- Necromortis - _Burning Priest_
-- Nefarious - _Global Warning_
-- October Tide - _Rain Without End_
-- Primal Fear - _Primal Fear_
-- Running Wild - _The Rivalry_
-- Sacramentary Abolishment - _The Distracting Stone_
-- Sculpture - _Like a Dead Flower_
-- Self - _The Sinister Urge_
-- Soulfly - _Soulfly_
-- Tribes of Neurot & Walking Time Bombs - _Static Migration_
-- Tristania - _Widow's Weeds_
-- Type O Negative - _After Dark_ <video>
-- W.A.S.P. - _Double Live Assassins_
-- Wicked Angel - _Heads Will Roll_
* New Noise
-- Agathodaimon - _Near Dark_
-- Odium - _Factor of Tantrum_
-- Soulstorm - _<demo>_
-- Tandus - _Logan Maut_
-- The Royal Blood - _Incantation of the Queen_
-- The Vein - _Under the Circumstance_
* Chaotic Concerts
-- Impaling Them Burritos: Impaled Nazarene Play Mexico
* What We Have Cranked
* Details

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                      _____)
                    /       /) ,            ,      /)
                    )__   _(/   _/_ _____     _   //
                  /      (_(__(_(__(_)/ (__(_(_(_(/_
                 (_____)

                          by: Gino Filicetti


     Greetings rabid readers. Here's a quick note from me apologizing
for the tardiness of this issue. I know it's something you've come to
expect from us, but there is still no  excuse,  right?  Well,  things
have been very hectic for everyone here at CoC and  it  is  for  this
reason that regret to inform you that we will not  be  releasing  our
next issue at the same time next month. We've chosen to take a  month
off to give everyone a bit of breathing room and to  settle  on  some
changes to the magazine.
     Therefore, please do not fret during our extended  absence  over
the next month. We will be hard at work bringing you a  killer  issue
hopefully no later than May 1st.
     Thanks to everyone for continuing the CoC legacy by reading  and
sending us your thoughts. Until next time...

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

                 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  <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>  and  enter
'Attention Loud Letters' in the subject field. Hopefully all  letters
received will be featured in upcoming issues of Chronicles of Chaos.


[Seems for the first time in the history of Loud Letters, we  haven't
received a single letter to print! Please  don't  forget  about  this
forum we have for our readers. This is your space, do with it as thou
wilt. -- Gino]

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  B L A S P H E M O U S ,   V I L E   A N D   N O W   S U P R E M E
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              CoC chats with Jon Levasseur of Cryptopsy
                           by: Paul Schwarz

There was a point when people said that death metal had met with  its
own 'death'. Two things were supposed to prove this: 1) The trend had
become oversaturated and was destined to implode and disappear; 2) In
a very Spinal  Tap-ish  way  people  felt  justified  in  posing  the
question "Where can you go from there? Where?" and came up  with  the
answer "nowhere, exactly" in terms of extremity. The old death  bands
could change but they couldn't maintain  or  intensify  their  sound.
Well, if any 'amp-that-goes-up-to-eleven' example need be given there
is probably none better (nor viler) than that of Canada's  Cryptopsy,
who have not only consistently come out with new and  original  ideas
but have also  consistently  refined  their,  at  first,  'hyperblast
grindcore' sound to make it more intense, faster and more 'annoying'.
With their new  album  out  by  the  end  of  summer,  guitarist  Jon
Levasseur gave me the lowdown on the new material as well as  various
other blasphemous lumps of flesh. Here is what transpired.

CoC: How's everything going?

Jon Levasseur: Everything is going fine; we're just concentrating  on
               the new album. We still have a month before we go into
               the studio, so we're just  practising  and  practising
               and practising some more. That's all we're doing.

CoC: How's it going, how are the practises?

JL: It's going fine. It's always like that. Before  we  go  into  the
    studio the jams get more and more intense and now we're up to the
    point where we're filtering for all  the  little  details,  minor
    things that we wanna make sure are perfect on the  album.  That's
    what we're doing, we're just practising, trying to speed them up,
    also, a bit. Flo [Mounier, drums] is trying to go a  bit  faster,
    but it's not like blade raging faster; because  how  much  faster
    can you get? He's aiming for a bit faster and, at the speed  were
    going, there is a lot more unexpected stuff in the  songs.  We're
    trying to be different once again. We experimented a lot. Two  or
    three songs on the album are kind of experimental and then  maybe
    two more are pretty basic, well basic: it's more  like  _None  So
    Vile_. A bit similar.

CoC: Basic on your terms.

JL: Exactly. Basically the difference between _Blasphemy Made  Flesh_
    and _None So Vile_ will be the same difference [as] between _None
    So Vile_ and this next album.

CoC: That's what it says in the  _Blasphemy  Made  Flesh_  re-release
     booklet.

JL: We just reached an understanding with  Displeased,  because  they
    were printing the CD illegally, but it wasn't really their fault.
    Our  previous  label,  Invasion  Records,  sold  the   stuff   to
    Displeased by lying, saying the  rights  were  theirs  when  that
    wasn't true, but it's cool because Displeased is compensating for
    all the royalties. We're very happy about that, now  the  problem
    is that we're having trouble getting _None So Vile_ CDs,  because
    we distribute them ourselves, the best we can, in  North  America
    and for _NSV_ we're exclusive in Canada: we supply all the HMVs.

CoC: Don't Wrong Again have any?

JL: Well, the thing is that  Wrong  Again  split  a  while  ago.  Wes
    started another label, WAR music, and Pear  started  Regain.  The
    contract with Wrong Again records is finished, but now  it's  not
    clear who will get the stuff back and who will print the CDs.

CoC: Do you guys write a lot of songs and then  a  lot  of  them  get
     thrown out, or do you get a certain amount  of  songs  down  and
     then work on those songs?

JL: Well, it really depends. We don't write a whole  bunch  of  songs
    and then take the ones we like, 'cause we want each  song  to  be
    very distinct, very apart from all the others. Even though  there
    are a few songs that, maybe, sound like a -bit- like  a  song  on
    _None So Vile_. It's gonna be different. Each song is  different.
    We're slow writers, we take two years per album and the reason is
    simple: we don't want to write two songs within  two  months  [of
    each other] because the chances are that  those  two  songs  will
    resemble each other a  bit,  they  will  be  going  in  the  same
    direction,  while  if  you  wait  another  three  months  [that's
    better]. We write one song per two, or three or even four  months
    just because; we get a song finished, we give ourselves  time  to
    listen to more music, because we don't just listen to death metal
    -- we listen to all kinds of stuff, and we just search for a  few
    months for ideas, for new stuff, for things no one never heard in
    death metal. The main songwriters are me and Flo;  for  _None  So
    Vile_ that was very true, I wrote like 85% of the guitar and  Flo
    would obviously help me out structuring and  everything  and  the
    other 15% came form our ex-guitarist Steve  [Thibault],  but  now
    with our new guitarist Miguel [Roy] and  Eric  [Langlois,  bass],
    well, Eric was on _NSV_, but for the next album coming out he had
    a lot more input just because he got used to our way of  writing.
    It's just like me, when I got in Cryptopsy  for  _Blasphemy  Made
    Flesh_ I was  really  influenced  [by]  Malevolent  Creation  and
    Suffocation, so obviously I would come  in  and  try  to  imitate
    them, but they [the band] slapped me back  to  reality  and  said
    "Look, buddy, this is not Suffocation,  this  is  not  Malevolent
    Creation, this is Cryptopsy; you  have  to  blend  in  with  what
    Cryptopsy wants to hear" and it took  me  a  while  to  adapt.  I
    adapted for _NSV_ and Eric is adapting now. What's really cool is
    that Miguel adapted very quick. He doesn't write major  parts  of
    the songs but he has some really weird ideas which go really well
    with what the band always wanted to  be.  It's  a  long  process.
    There was one song we started to write for the third album  which
    we totally scrapped, 'cause the song was going nowhere. Basically
    that's pretty much how it works: when we have good ideas we stick
    to them, try to evolve with them; if we have  the  feeling  we're
    not going anywhere [with a song], we scratch it but usually  when
    we start dishing out ideas and putting  riffs  together  [in  the
    studio] we keep everything. For each five riffs that  I'll  write
    at home we'll maybe take two of those -- which is good, 'cause we
    don't wanna sound like anything else. When  we  write  songs,  we
    think [about] what people will expect and then do something else,
    we like playing with peoples' minds so people can listen  and  be
    totally surprised. When you listen to an album you want something
    that's different and that'll please your ear.

CoC: What record company are you with now?

JL: I am not supposed to tell you, but everybody knows, so if I  just
    say 'C' and 'M'...

CoC: Germany?

JL: US, but it's Century Media anyway. They're also  supposed  to  be
    opening up offices  in  Japan  and  Australia,  which  is  -very-
    interesting. The real contract isn't  signed  yet,  but  we  sign
    ahead of agreement -- that's a brief contract and  everything  in
    there was -very- -very- acceptable. If we get the actual contract
    and everything meets what the ahead of agreement said, we'll sign
    with them. The way we see it, Century Media is looking for a band
    that wants to work their ass off. Cryptopsy has always worked  on
    its own to get their name in the underground; Invasion did a  bit
    but not very much, Wrong Again records did a fairly good  job  --
    well, a good job getting the name out  there  --,  we  were  very
    pleased. But we still booked our own shows, toured, and did other
    merchandise than our CD, sold through mail-order and  stuff  like
    that. Labels these days are really looking for a band that  wants
    to work, that wants to go on tour, not a band that'll  just  want
    to do albums, not tour, sit at home and drink beer all day.  They
    told us, they said "If you guys want  to  work  seriously,  we're
    gonna get Cryptopsy somewhere." That's what  I  have  been  doing
    from day one, I do all the merchandise, mailing  and  everything,
    and it's for a  good  reason:  I  know  that  Cryptopsy  has  the
    potential, and what I find cool is that finally major labels  are
    admitting the fact that perhaps we could  have  been  signed  two
    albums ago. But you know, back then death metal was shaky, nobody
    wanted to risk to take a band but we said "Fuck it, we'll just do
    what we believe in, we'll do what we wanna do," and gladly we see
    the results of it.

CoC: When do you expect the new album to be out?

JL: We're gonna be in the studio this April and mid-summer, I  guess,
    will be the release, although I hope for mid-July; but we'll have
    to see, with delays and everything.

CoC: Do you have a track run-down for it so far?

JL: Well, the album title is not decided for sure  yet  but  it  will
    very probably be called _Whisper Supremacy_.  We  didn't  want  a
    title which was typically death metal, like _None So Vile_;  what
    we liked about _NSV_ was that it was three  small  words  but  it
    meant everything. We don't want a really long, complicated title.

CoC: Like Suffocation?

JL: Well, for them that's great, but it doesn't suit us. Cryptopsy is
    pretty sick of the Satanism. We're not  religious  but  we  don't
    believe in Satan either, because realistically if you believe  in
    God, you believe in Satan  and  if  you  believe  in  Satan,  you
    believe in God. We're sick of that whole image thing of blood and
    bones and guts and flesh all over the place.

CoC: The black metal trend?

JL: Well no, even a lot of brutal death metal bands have that  image.
    We don't relate to that, basically we're all musicians  who  love
    music, as much death metal as any other type of music and we just
    do music because we like it and I think it  shows  on  _NSV_  and
    will show even more on the third album. We just try to bring  the
    music style that one step further because we feel, maybe  two  or
    three years ago, the same music was getting remixed  and  remixed
    and was pretty much the same. Nothing  was  really  evolving  and
    that's really what we're trying to do, even though  sometimes  we
    have ideas which are not death metal at all. On _NSV_,  the  riff
    for "Lichmistress" is a blues riff, but once you  put  distortion
    to it and a proper beat, it sounds brutal. But the successions of
    notes are a blues scale. We like to experiment.

CoC: Who's  writing  the  lyrics  for  the  new  album?  [Lord  Worm,
     ex-vocalist, used to write the lyrics -- Paul]

JL: Lord Worm wrote 2 songs on the new album: "White Worm" and  "Cold
    Hate and Warm Blood". The six other ones are written by  our  new
    vocalist Mike DiSalvo.

CoC: Has this altered the direction of the lyrics?

JL: Yes, Lord Worm was passioned [inspired? -- Paul] by  real  fucked
    up people: serial killers, serial rapists. That's what  he  wrote
    about and it's not that he's all for  that;  it's  just  that  he
    tried to explain the mental and physical  procedures  of  a  sick
    person like that. What he would go  through  before  doing  that,
    because he studied in Psychology in University. Lord Worm, a  lot
    of people find him a fucked up person, but  he's  an  intelligent
    man. He's really well educated, he knows what he's talking about.
    Mike's vocals [lyrics? -- Paul] are not really political but more
    personal, more emotional, some feelings that everyone  can  feel,
    not just those serial rapists and murders. Some  downs  and  lows
    that anyone  can  live,  depression  and  stuff  like  that,  how
    dangerous depression can be and what it can bring you to do. What
    somebody who is really depressed might do,  he  doesn't  want  to
    kill himself but he will kill his wife and  two  kids  before  he
    kills himself. His voice alone is more powerful than Lord Worm's.
    It's really in your face and he takes a lot of room on  stage  he
    moves a lot. We've done ten or fifteen shows with  him  including
    the Milwaukee Metalfest and I think my feet are still  sore  from
    him stepping on them. He moves all  over  the  place,  you  gotta
    watch out for him.

CoC: On _None So Vile_ there was a classical  art  influence  on  the
     packaging [the cover is Herodias with the head John the  Baptist
     by Elizabeth Sirani -- Paul]; who had that idea?

JL: The one who came up with the idea for the cover picture was  Flo,
    because he's really good with art; he studied  in  communications
    and marketing and stuff like that, and he came up with  that  and
    we looked at that and it all clicked right away. The cover is  so
    brutal because when you think of what really happened to John the
    Baptist, it's so brutal -- how he died and for what he  died.  He
    died for a dance, the daughter danced and then he  got  his  head
    chopped off, that's vile, it's "none  so  vile",  because  nobody
    these days would do a dance  for  somebody's  head.  Even  though
    there is no blood and guts on the cover, it's  classy,  it  looks
    good, but it's still very brutal. That's how we like to think  of
    ourselves: we're really brutal but we try to do it in a good way,
    with good taste and originality. That cover took a lot of  people
    by surprise.

CoC: I think that album also looks a lot  better.  All  the  Cannibal
     Corpse albums are really sick, but -I- prefer covers like Morbid
     Angel's _Blessed Are the Sick_ -- it's an  amazing  picture.  It
     can be better to have a 'real' picture than gore art.

JL: Something that doesn't suggest blood, guts and everything because
    we're personally sick of that. Cannibal Corpse,  *at  the  time*,
    when they brought out _Butchered at Birth_,  people  were  pretty
    surprised and said '-this- is a  brutal  cover.'  Everyone  stole
    that idea and re-did it. Since we try musically  to  be  distinct
    from everyone else, sometimes because  of  the  speed,  sometimes
    because of how well try to make a riff sound  totally  weird  and
    -annoying-, because to be honest there are a few parts on the new
    album which people will find -annoying-.  It's  really  annoying,
    it's Cryptopsy, don't get me wrong, but God is  it  annoying.  It
    sounds circular. It's not nice and classical, it's  annoying  but
    it's different.

CoC: I think it's where bands should go now and are going.

[I chat briefly to Jon about the new Morbid  Angel  album,  which  he
hasn't got yet, and point out that it ends with a strange  electronic
sounding track which Jon sees nothing wrong with but points out]

JL: We'll have a few samples and stuff but we really try to  keep  it
    natural, because Cryptopsy wants to be as  natural  as  possible:
    the bass, two guitars, the drums. If you look at _None So  Vile_,
    there's a lot of stuff we could have put in, for instance I could
    have put a lot more harmony in my solos. But, our motto is, if we
    can't do it live, we won't do it on album, because we want to let
    people know we're natural -- what you hear on the album  is  what
    you hear live. There will definitely be a few  samples  here  and
    there but, with our instruments, we really tried to go beyond  --
    getting some strange ideas, and with Miguel, our  new  guitarist,
    he had some strange ideas which was very cool. I can't wait  till
    people actually hear it, I hope they like it. We were scared  for
    _NSV_, we thought it would be too much. At first we did not  have
    that good  a  response.  People  were  expecting  something  like
    _Blasphemy Made Flesh_, but if we'd done that people  would  have
    loved it -- the two first weeks, but after they would  have  said
    it's the same thing. You have to, in some way, give  what  people
    want to hear, but we're trying to give it in another  way.  We're
    trying to be as brutal and even more if we can. I think  it  will
    be more, it depends on how people see the concept of  the  songs.
    When _NSV_ came out, people  didn't  like  it  right  away.  Four
    months after _NSV_'s release everyone liked it, but the two first
    months people weren't sure because it didn't  sound  like  _BMF_.
    That's okay, 'cause we expect that for the third album as well.

CoC: Do you have any touring plans?

JL: We're supposed to go on tour in the  US  with  Dying  Fetus  this
    summer. For Europe, the plan with Century Media is that we'll  do
    one tour in '98: North America; and we really, really hope to  go
    to Europe before the end of '98. It's still possible  but,  worst
    case scenario, Century Media is really looking forward to  making
    us tour again in 1999: the US and Europe, -finally-.  For  _BMF_,
    Europe was a lot better [than the US] and then for _NSV_  it  was
    the contrary. I know that in Europe people are dying to see us. I
    can't wait to go to Europe, I've never been. We can't wait to  go
    to Europe, period; we can't wait to play  there  'cause  we  know
    that people want to see us.

CoC: Do you place more emphasis on the  live  performances  [of  your
     songs]? Which are more definitive for you?

JL: The emphasis is the same. First of  all,  especially,  our  third
    album and _None So Vile_ was pretty demanding for us. We have  to
    be as ready for a show and the feeling is the same as the  studio
    as we get closer to the tour. We know that on tour we'll  have  a
    great time and we have to have the songs as good as in a  studio.
    In a studio there is even more concentration because of  all  the
    little details in the  new  songs.  The  new  songs  don't  stop,
    they're like a speeding train which is going to smack you in  the
    face and run over you and won't stop until the  last  wagon  goes
    by. There are a few pauses, but it's really  in  your  face.  The
    feeling that we get before  going  into  the  studio  and  before
    playing live is pretty much the same.  I  know  that  some  bands
    record an album, stop jamming for a month or two and just live on
    the road. I don't know how they can do that because,  maybe  it's
    us being Cryptopsy, but, I swear to you that after two weeks,  if
    we were to come in and jam, it wouldn't be as good.  We  practice
    four times a week steady, all year round and  it  has  been  like
    that for four years and it's so demanding that we can't afford to
    take a break before going on tour. The longest break  we'll  take
    is when we come back from a tour, maybe a week off. We value  our
    studio -and- live performances a lot. Flo is the  master  of  the
    live performance. If Flo is in a good shape  that  night  and  he
    says "OK guys, I'm gonna play faster  tonight,"  well,  we  don't
    have a choice but follow him. He did that in Milwaukee,  he  said
    "OK guys, I'm pumped for this show, watch out"  and  often  we'll
    play even faster live.

CoC: Have you been happy with your previous releases?

JL: Yeah, we were really satisfied.  _Blasphemy  Made  Flesh_  pretty
    much said to the world 'this is what Cryptopsy is gonna be doing'
    but we promised then, in doing that, that we were  gonna  try  to
    evolve as much as we could and that's what we did.  _BMF_  had  a
    very good response. We were able to tour Canada entirely off that
    album and people were very supportive. The  only  misfortune  was
    that we signed with Invasion records and they screwed us big time
    with the money and everything, but at the time we  didn't  really
    mind because at least _BMF_ was printed on CDs and  people  could
    [get to] know the songs. At that time we knew that  we  were  far
    from making money and we're still far from making money.

CoC: Bands always make this  point.  Entombed  had  to  work  between
     Wolverine Blues and this new record and people think bands don't
     have to do that sort of thing.

JL: We toured a bit with Morbid Angel, we know that those guys  don't
    work. Well, maybe now.

CoC: No, I don't think they do, 'cause they're the only  death  metal
     band who've retained their appeal. They still  get  featured  in
     the mainstream metal press. They were very  lucky  to  get  that
     level of success [and I don't mean they  were  -just-  lucky,  I
     think MA are also one of the best and most hardworking bands  in
     death metal -- Paul].

JL: Morbid Angel stayed true throughout.

CoC: Absolutely.

JL: They said: "we're brutal and were going to stay brutal  --  until
    the death of Morbid Angel." That's what they have been doing  and
    that's admirable.

CoC: They don't have to work, but Pete and Trey practise  every  day.
     It's exactly the same as what you  were  saying:  it  seems  the
     bands that work -are- the  bands  who  find  success  [bandwagon
     jumpers, but that doesn't apply here -- Paul].

JL: We try not to be lazy. Say we get a bit  of  money,  often  bands
    take their profit and have a huge party, but if you do  that  you
    lose the chance to invest that money in more. We're not expecting
    to make any money, the only thing we expect is that when we go on
    tour we have a decent life. We all work. Then again, we  said  to
    ourselves that in reality Cryptopsy was what we wanted it to  be,
    Cryptopsy is a trip. The way we saw it was that  if  we're  gonna
    play this style of music we're gonna play it to the metal, to the
    god damn extreme and that's how we think and  like  to  think  of
    ourselves and how we work on songs. I think it shows in the songs
    that we like music; we really like to bring out  everything  that
    has been made or even new stuff in our music,  even  though  it's
    not [necessarily] death metal. We do this for fun,  it's  obvious
    when we play live and in the studio, when we have to work on  the
    details and make this album perfect we want to,  we  really  want
    to: fast, intense, tight and everything.

CoC: What music originally influenced you personally and the band  as
     a whole?

JL: Well, in '92 we were all huge death  metal  fans:  Napalm  Death,
    Suffocation,  Cannibal  Corpse,  Morbid  Angel,   old   Entombed,
    Dismember, everything that was brutal, Malevolent  Creation.  For
    me, personally, the two best death metal albums  that  have  ever
    been made are _Effigy of  the  Forgotten_  from  Suffocation  and
    Malevolent Creation's _Retribution_.

CoC: The technicality of _Effigy of the Forgotten_ is crazy.

JL: Oh yeah! For the time in '92  when  I  heard  'dun  dun  dun  dun
    tata-tata-tata-tata' I thought 'jeez  what  the  hell  is  this!'
    Suffocation made a huge impact and to say that Suffocation had no
    impact on Cryptopsy would be lying. I don't think any young death
    metal band; ourselves, Internal  Bleeding,  Dying  Fetus,  Autumn
    Leaves can say that _EotF_ had no influence  on  their  music,  I
    don't  believe  that.  Other  than  that,  I'll  listen  to  some
    Alsylyola 'cause I love great  guitar  playing  --  my  favourite
    guitarist is Yngwie Malmsteen.  I  listen  to  Dream  Theatre,  I
    worship them. Those guys are gods. Primus.  Sometimes  Cradle  of
    Filth,  sometimes  Kenny  G,  I  like  everything  that's  really
    technical,  regardless  of  the  instrument.  But  I  don't  like
    commercial music. Eric listens to some Primus, to Pastorius;  the
    bassist that died a while ago, he was a fucking amazing  bassist.
    And Miguel, our new guitarist, he's still more into really brutal
    death metal, but he will listen to other types of music which are
    really annoying, which makes him bring in a  lot  of  interesting
    ideas for the new songs. Mike likes brutal stuff, he likes  stuff
    like, well we all like... what's their name, they're huge...

[It takes a whole minute before I say]

CoC: Dead Can Dance?

JL: Dead Can Dance!!! Yeah, we worship them.  Those  guys  are  gods.
    Musically; they take every music style that has ever existed  and
    just incorporate it perfectly. If you like  music,  you  have  to
    like Dead Can Dance and  if  you  don't  you  have  to  at  least
    appreciate the fact that these guys know how  to  get  some  very
    interesting music out there. Mike listens to a  lot  of  hardcore
    and brutal music. Flo has  a  huge  bagload  of  music  from  Led
    Zeppelin, to Bjork, to Jeff Buckley, to brutal music, to  Primus,
    to Dream Theatre, to Dennis Chambers, to Dave  Weckles,  whatever
    he likes. We like what we  like;  if  it's  not  death  metal  it
    doesn't mean we won't like it. In any style not  all  the  albums
    are good, but the ones that are good we appreciate. I love  Dream
    Theatre, they have the talent to put really aggressive stuff with
    technical stuff that you wouldn't believe  and  that  I  wouldn't
    even try playing. It's the hardest  question  to  answer  because
    there are just so many bands that we listen  to,  but,  in  death
    metal, everything that was brutal, we loved; and The Gathering.

CoC: Any other mediums that have influenced you? Film, books, etc.?

JL: Lord Worm, yes, by  horror  movies  and  the  writings  of  Clive
    Barker; but the rest of us, not really. Our whole  lives  evolved
    around music and, until I die, music will be the main thing in my
    life. It's funny, we all had the same  history  of  listening  to
    music from the day we were born until now,  we're  all  four  the
    same. Mike is like that.  Lord  Worm  explored  a  lot  of  other
    artistic things like movies and books.

CoC: What's the scene like in Canada?

JL: The scene, as touring goes, is a lot healthier than people think.
    We toured Canada twice and both times were worthwhile.  Band-wise
    it's incredible. There's us, Oblivion, Gorguts -- who  are  going
    to dish out a new album that's so twisted you will not believe, I
    can't wait until the  album  comes  out  --,  Kataklysm,  Obscene
    Crisis, Cro-Vadis, Demount. These bands all kick ass. In Ontario,
    you have this very sarcastically  named  band  called  Summertime
    Daisies, and it's brutal death. In Saskatchewan, Pericardium, who
    are very brutal and experimental... Musically, being a very proud
    Canadian, I am very flattered. That we got our  asses  kicked  in
    ice hockey, that I have not stomached yet. I nearly cried when we
    lost. Because the religion in Canada is  ice  hockey,  fuck  God,
    it's ice hockey.

CoC: I think in Europe it's the former Soviet block  countries  which
     are producing the greatest volume of good, brutal  music.  Bands
     like Vader.

JL: Poland is a godly country for the underground. Our ultimate dream
    would be to tour Europe opening up for Vader. It would be unreal.
    We have the highest respect for those guys, 'cause, like us, they
    have stayed brutal but on each album there is  something  new  to
    listen to and you never get sick of it.

[I mention Vader's touring slot with Morbid Angel]

JL: We did some shows with them when they  were  in  Canada.  To  our
    surprise, Morbid Angel were the coolest guys, as are Suffocation.
    We weren't sure we'd make it home -- we partied so hard... When a
    band is as big as Morbid Angel, you say  to  yourself  "we  won't
    bother them," but no, Pete and Dave came right up to us and  they
    were really great guys.

CoC: Some bands just get reputations. With  Deicide  everyone  thinks
     they're fucked up and apparently that's untrue.

JL: We've never actually spoken to Deicide and I'll admit  to  you  I
    have also heard that they have this rockstar  attitude.  I  heard
    the same thing about Morbid Angel and that was completely  wrong,
    'cause they were super-cool with  us.  When  you  get  that  big,
    people start rumours. One thing  that  we  have  to  admit  about
    Deicide, though, is that they never  altered  their  ideas,  they
    always stuck to what they wanted to do. I read an interview  with
    Glen recently and he said "Well, we're Deicide,  we  started  off
    doing this music and we'll continue doing this music, and  anyone
    who expects to have classical guitar or some chick singing on our
    next record, well, they can listen to someone else."  Personally,
    with the chick thing, I don't really find that brutal,  we  won't
    do it. But then again we'll have some classical  guitar  on  this
    next album. I can't tell you too much 'cause it will take out the
    punch.

CoC: Is the album longer than usual?

JL: It's a tad longer than _None So Vile_... a few minutes.

CoC: You had two samples, one at the beginning and one at the end, of
     _NSV_...

JL: Lord Worm came up with the first one. Flo came up with  the  last
    one and to us it's more funny than sarcastic and when  you  first
    listen to the album you don't really expect it. People who  heard
    that for the first time were dying  with  laughter.  We're  gonna
    have something on the end of the new album  which  will  be  even
    more funny, but I -can't- say.

CoC: Don't tell me, I want the surprise.

JL: You're gonna laugh, especially if you know where it comes from.

CoC: Anything more you wanna say to the readers of CoC?

JL: Well, we hope, the next album will rocket us through  the  world,
    because we're hungry to play the rest of  the  world.  We  really
    want to get out there and  play  for  all  the  people  who  have
    supported us since 1993, it's  been  a  while  and  we  have  had
    constant  support.  We  really  hope  this  next  album  will  be
    something different and that people will like it, 'cause we do. I
    hope we'll be able to play for every Cryptopsy fan in  the  world
    soon. I know that a lot of people have been waiting for us and  I
    just want to say keep it sick, keep  the  underground  alive  and
    Cryptopsy are doing their best so this underground has  something
    new.  We,  and  many  other  bands,  are  trying  to  make   this
    underground as strong as it was before, even though  it  will  be
    hard. The new album will be brutal but still different and  maybe
    the first listen will be pretty  hard  and  people  won't  really
    realise what's happening.  With  the  underground,  you  have  to
    surprise people to keep them interested and we're  not  the  only
    ones doing that.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

      T A L E S   O F   V A M P Y R I C   R O M A N T I C I S M
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
         CoC interviews Christian Anderle of Ancient Ceremony
                          by: Pedro Azevedo

The metal scene is made of many love-or-hate situations;  be  it  for
extreme  doom,  black  or  death  metal,  traditional  heavy   metal,
you-name-it metal, the use of classical instruments or female  voices
in metal... or vampyric themes being used in metal. Now this is where
Ancient Ceremony step in. How many of you are indifferent  to  having
vampyrism mixed in your music? Some love it,  some  hate  it,  but  I
don't know many who stay indifferent. It was a  significant  part  of
what made Cradle of Filth what they are now (and it sure has  sold  a
huge amount of t-shirts and such for them). This became  one  of  the
topics in my  e-mail  conversation  with  Ancient  Ceremony  vocalist
Christian Anderle. Both Ancient  Ceremony  guitarists  have  recently
left the band and are now being replaced, as a new album is prepared;
this and a better production may turn the follow-up to  their  _Under
Moonlight We Kiss_ (reviewed in this issue) into something  stronger.
Read on to find out more about all this and Anderle's views on  metal
and vampyrism.

CoC: How would you describe the music and atmosphere to be  found  in
     your _Under Moonlight We Kiss_?

Christian  Anderle:  Unique  symphonic   darkness   evokes   romantic
                   scenarios of gothic vampyre horror!

CoC: I know your band has been around for several years  now,  and  I
     think vampyrism has become quite a trend in extreme metal during
     this period. Does that bother you?

CA:  Each  trend  starts  getting  on  one's  nerves  some  day   and
    unfortunately we have to witness this magnificent  vampyre  theme
    getting abused by too many weak fakes, currently.  Most  of  them
    simply are unable to suck out the immense power  this  bewitching
    combination of different darkened facets offers --  posers  like,
    for example, Nastrond, Mystic Circle or Black Funeral,  who  know
    absolutely nothing about the background,  the  emotions  and  the
    essential focus of vampyrism -- they are nothing more than  silly
    trend monkeys. It is especially this fact that makes me  furious,
    but to my delight there are also  some  bands  that  spread  this
    majestic phenomenon the way it deserves to be presented.

CoC: How tired are you of being compared to your  current  labelmates
     Cradle of Filth because of your vampyric / dark romantic themes?

CA: At a certain point, I was a bit afraid there might perhaps be too
    many cries of plagiarism. Some parallels  are  obvious  (and  the
    fact we got signed up by Cacophonous did not make it easier,  but
    should we have denied their great offer for such a reason?!)  and
    are caused by similar  influences,  similar  spirit  and  similar
    reflection. In the meanwhile, the situation has calmed down a lot
    as most people could read our arguments in interviews.  Moreover,
    we have found our  rather  unique,  individual  musical  identity
    through _Under Moonlight We Kiss_ and thus an  increasing  number
    of  black  souls   experience   that   we   are   definitely   no
    Cradle-clones. One aspect is that the story on the actual opus is
    a lyrical concept and the decision to do so was sealed back under
    the Winter moon of 1994/95, a time when this vampyre-trend (which
    was mainly caused by the tremendous success of CoF -- and by  the
    way they've earned it in my opinion, for they  have  an  original
    style and are very talented in composing and performing) had  not
    started at all. The main argument is in any case the  title  song
    of our "Cemetary Visions" MCD, which was  unleashed  in  February
    1994. I wrote the poetry for this already in  late  1993  and  it
    deals with a vamypric love in  the  tragic,  romantic,  lovelorn,
    erotic and highly dark way. Hence we can state with  it  to  have
    adapted this stuff  even  at  a  time  when  this  normally  more
    gothic-based theme  was  almost  virgin-like  to  the  genres  of
    extreme metal!

CoC: How much do vampyrism and dark romanticism really mean  to  you,
     on a more personal basis?

CA: On the throne of  my  individual  superior  existence  there  are
    sitting two aspects: on the one hand my  innermost  true  Satanic
    philosophy; on the other hand dark music as my leading medium  of
    expression. As guiding seraphims I had to  name  vampyrism,  dark
    romanticism, dark eroticism... anyway,  I  feed  my  mighty  soul
    mainly with all that implies the divine embrace of darkness!

CoC: What do you think of that  use  of  vampyrism  in  black  metal,
     compared to how you use it yourselves?

CA: As already said before, this high number of silly idiots who only
    (ab)use it as a trend-theme pisses me off. But there  is  also  a
    small number of bands that know how to evoke the deeper  mood  of
    it, of course Ancient Ceremony is amongst those  supreme  artists
    in my opinion. Nevertheless, my poetry on our next strike _Fallen
    Angel's Symphony_ shall deal  also  with  several  other  themes,
    rather than only vampyrism,  such  as  Satanism,  gothic  horror,
    mythology or angelology.

CoC: In your opinion, why does Satanism and vampyrism  appear  linked
     to each other in extreme metal so frequently?

CA: There is mostly a common spirit to  be  found  in  the  fans  and
    consumers  of  extreme  metal  (extreme  music   in   general?!),
    consisting of a certain feeling of rebellion, of being  different
    from the masses, combined  with  aspects  of  the  darkside  (new
    generation of black metal, for instance)  or  aggression  (brutal
    death metal, grind...). This logically finds  its  reflection  in
    the musical taste and, as a  consequence,  also  in  the  lyrical
    illumination. Moreover, each metal musician who wants to  earn  a
    certain success has to sell his/her soul to Satan, haha!

CoC: What are your main musical and lyrical influences nowadays?

CA: We aim to create our individual Ancient Ceremony style  and  have
    managed to do so better than ever on _Under Moonlight  We  Kiss_.
    Our music is a rather unique mixture of elements such  as  death,
    dark,  black,  doom,  heavy,  gothic  combined   with   darkwave,
    classical music and (horror-)soundtracks. My lyrics might be seen
    as a tribute  to  such  masters  as  Byron,  Nietzsche,  Crowley,
    LeFanu, Poe, Goethe, Stoker, de Sade... presenting mainly  gothic
    horror, vampyres and ghosts.  Furthermore,  I  have  to  name  as
    influences  works  on  Satanism,   black   magic(k),   mythology,
    angels..., dark photo-books (Marsden, Axelrod) and of course  all
    music  that   offers   a   certain   dark   avantgarde   feeling,
    horror-soundtracks  ("Omen",  "Dracula",  "Interview   with   the
    Vampyre", "Frankenstein", a.o.) and movies as  well  as  darkness
    (the central source which combines all those cited here!), dreams
    or visions. My  poetry  is  highly  individual  and  thus  it  is
    presented as a personal reflection of the dark  illumination  the
    above named grant to me!

CoC: Your band is from Germany, a country which is currently  perhaps
     the largest consumer of metal in Europe. What are your  feelings
     about that? Does it help Ancient Ceremony?

CA: Market and scene here are very vast indeed, which causes  certain
    advantages as well as some fuck ups. It is definitely  cool  when
    it comes to gigs or tours, as most  of  the  live  activities  in
    European territory are performed in Germany, moreover almost  all
    shirts, CDs, etc. are available  here.  Nevertheless,  there  are
    lots of trendies and  the  commercialisation  is  increasing  too
    much, business gets more and more dominant. Like  at  most  other
    places trendy and  silly,  quantity  seems  to  drown  innovative
    quality, though there are regularly some good bands arising.  The
    money  to  earn  with  a  release  possibly  has  a  much  higher
    importance than the passion for the music, but  this  is  also  a
    more global development, especially in the age of the  CD,  which
    means lower costs and higher profit. Being from Germany helps  us
    when it comes to the booking situation  (we  started  cooperating
    with a professional agency a few  weeks  ago),  moreover  I  know
    several people working for bigger publications, which makes it  a
    bit  easier  to  get  presented  there  through   interviews   or
    something... but of course the competition here is harder than in
    most other countries and thus the German  market  can  be  really
    tough and full of lies.

CoC: How do you view the impact of bands such as  Paradise  Lost  and
     Moonspell in Germany through the release of much more commercial
     albums (_One Second_ and  _Sin  /  Pecado_,  respectively)  that
     retain some dark/goth influences?

CA: I like [Paradise Lost's] _Gothic_ as well  as  Moonspell's  first
    MCD [_Under the Moonspell_] and of course the  great  _Wolfheart_
    album, but the other releases of both acts do not  affect  me  at
    all -- especially the later ones that are the ultimate commercial
    crap without identity, without soul and without passion. Paradise
    Lost try to sound like the newer Metallica and Moonspell get more
    and more ridiculous through transforming into a weak Type O-copy.
    Well, the dark-goth influences get increasingly  lost,  for  both
    formations have unfortunately developed into feeble poser  bands.
    Nevertheless, we'll probably (hopefully) perform a  festival  gig
    in July with, a.o.,  Moonspell  and  the  (German)  chartbreakers
    Dimmu Borgir... I do not see a problem here, "bigger" bands bring
    a wider audience; they shall perform their show and we'll do
    ours.

CoC: If you could choose any place in the world to play  live,  where
     would it be? And at what time of the day (or night)?

CA: Here I have to name several places to answer this cool  question:
    Carfax Abbey or one of Dracula's castles would be lovely, as well
    as a concert in a pyramid of ancient Egypt.  But  in  general  it
    would be greater than great to perform  in  cemetaries,  castles,
    Victorian  /  gothic   villas,   ruins,   churches,   cathedrals,
    temples... all such places. Of course the show had to take  place
    when dusk ascends or under the purity of the nightsky,  dominated
    by our lunar empress and Her dancing children, the stars.

CoC: Please describe your view of what the perfect  Ancient  Ceremony
     concert would look like and what you would like to see performed
     on stage.

CA: The gig would be at one of the  places  named  before,  a  gloomy
    candlelight scenario is presented  whilst  the  dismal  tunes  of
    "Symphoni  Satani"  (a  track  from  the  upcoming   album   with
    reminiscences of Orff's "Carmina Burana" and  Goldsmith's  "Omen"
    soundtrack) embrace all the present dark souls as an overture.  A
    coffin is brought on stage and a sinister girl  wearing  a  black
    cape approaches with crimson fire in  Her  bewitching  eyes.  She
    opens the coffin and kisses me (for it is me who lies in  there).
    I ascend and we start playing our superior compositions.  I  take
    Her cape away and everybody can witness her  iconic  beauty,  the
    long black hair, the ivory skin, the crimson lips. She is wearing
    skirt and bra made of latex as well as  high  leather  boots  and
    presents some dance  performance  during  our  songs.  Later  she
    throws black roses into the audience and some other lovely  girls
    are dancing all around, dressed as erotic  angels  with  a  white
    thin shroud. On the right, there is standing a statue of Baphomet
    made of ivory, on the left the same in ebony... well, I decide to
    stop here, though there are lots of  further  ideas  for  a  dark
    choreography in me...

CoC: What musical changes can we expect for the forthcoming album?

CA: We'll start with the recording  session  for  the  upcoming  opus
    _Fallen Angel's Symphony_ in late May together with G. Magin  who
    already worked for acts such as  Crematory  (ultimate  pussies!!)
    and Theatre of Tragedy. We are currently busy with composing  the
    final missing track and then we'll  do  some  final  arrangments.
    There are  some  small  changes  to  be  expected  as  the  songs
    themselves are a bit straighter in their structure and the mix of
    different genres here goes more between the songs. Hence it is  a
    bit more "inter" than "intra" in comparison to  _Under  Moonlight
    We Kiss_, but do not worry, it will definitely be an album  which
    presents the individual, rather unique style of Ancient Ceremony!
    Some songs will appear a bit  softer  with  more  goth-influence,
    whilst most compositions are a bit rougher... all in all they are
    again of a certain symphonic darkness. Creations such  as  "Death
    in  Desire's  Masquerade",  "Devil's  Paradise"  or  "Vampyresque
    Weddingnight" should turn out as some ultimate highlights.  There
    will be a new female chantress (the other one was fantastic,  but
    her behaviour besides the singing was unacceptable) and  we  also
    want a small choir to sing some passages; let's  hope  this  will
    finally happen. Now with a new producer and  new  guitarists  the
    discreet sound problems of _Under Moonlight We  Kiss_  should  be
    overthrown. Besides, I  am  currently  busy  with  the  aesthetic
    concept for the booklet and cover -- if some of my visions turned
    out as reality, the artwork for _Fallen Angel's Symphony_ will be
    definitely over the top. Time will tell...

CoC: Will your lyrical and atmospheric inspirations remain  the  same
     in the near future, or do  you  feel  new  sources  of  interest
     arising?

CA: _Under Moonlight We Kiss_ was a concept story and thus the lyrics
    remained mostly in the genre of this  "gothic  vampyre",  but  as
    already said, the next  album  will  feature  different  poetical
    themes as the facets of the illumination of mine are vast indeed.
    I named some titles before, others  like  "Babalon  Descends"  or
    "The Tragedy of Forsaken Angel's" should state my words.

CoC: What is your main wish for the future of Ancient Ceremony?

CA: To reach an even wider audience without changing  the  music,  to
    become bigger without  betrayal  of  the  own  roots  and  spirit
    (unlike so many other acts). The  cooperation  with  the  booking
    agency will hopefully grant  us  an  increasing  number  of  live
    performances and the upcoming opus _Fallen Angel's Symphony_  has
    to become as divine as possible when it comes to the  trinity  of
    compositions, artwork and poetry. All in all, we aim at spreading
    our dark superior creations to  as  many  lunatics  as  possible,
    perhaps we might reach a place as seraphim next to the throne  of
    extreme metal within the following years.

CoC: Engrave a suitable epitaph  for  this  interview  here,  if  you
     wish...

CA: Thanx for this really impressive interview and best luck for  you
    and your publication. The last  copies  of  our  _Where  Serpents
    Reign_ demo are available for  6$,  the  MCD  _Cemetary  Visions_
    costs 10$. Those who can  not  find  _Under  Moonlight  We  Kiss_
    elsewhere should feel free to order it at the band's address  for
    16$ (all  prices  include  p&p).  Merchandise  of  us  should  be
    available in late Spring, Cacophonous will  do  some  longsleeves
    whilst we manufacture our own t-shirt "Seducing even  Angels"  --
    watch out for  those.  All  darkened  souls  are  recommended  to
    embrace with  the  ardent  aura  of  our  majestic  homepage  at:
    http://www.grave.com/~mega/AncientCeremony/index.html

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                  L E T   T H E M   E A T   C A K E
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  CoC interviews Sweden's Guillotine
                          by Adrian Bromley

     Play it loud! Fuck shit up! Run around like  a  madman,  playing
metallic riffs heavy enough to make your ears bleed and  an  attitude
that'll leave them running for cover. This is it, man!  Thrash  metal
for the 90s with an 80s approach.
     The thrash metal band in question is Swedish trio Guillotine and
their  debut  album  for  Necropolis  Records   called   _Under   the
Guillotine_ is a manic return to the days when  German-styled  thrash
metal gods Kreator ruled the metal scene. Back then, sharp notes  and
deafening screams of anguish filled the scene  as  thrash  metal  was
then a staple part of a healthy metal scene.  Fast  forward  to  1998
and, while thrash metal may not be a common style practiced  by  many
bands nowadays, some bands are kicking out the tunes  'retro'  style,
Guillotine being one of them. They  won't  deny  it.  Guillotine  are
'retro' and thrash metal, but most importantly they dish it  out  big
time with their debut and they do it oh-so well.
     "We have always been into this  kind  of  music  since  we  were
kids," says bassist Snake over the phone from Sweden. "I think  first
this was a dedication and celebration to all of the great bands  that
we listened to when we were growing up and are  still  listening  to.
But then when we heard the album  and  the  end  results  we  started
taking this a bit more seriously and decided to go all the  way  with
this sound and style. I think this is a great album."
     Seeing that Guillotine hail  from  Sweden  and  their  label  is
located in Fremont, California, I ask, "How did you hook up  with  an
American label for the debut?" He answers, "When we made the demo  we
didn't think many labels would be into us 'cause  when  we  made  the
demo, back in 1995, this whole 'retro' thing hadn't started and there
were no other bands playing this style. We sent out the material to a
few select labels that we thought would be  into  our  music.  Labels
like Necropolis, Osmose and Malicious  Records  in  Germany.  We  had
tremendous feedback from all the labels we had shipped our  stuff  to
and everyone wanted to have us. We negotiated with  several  of  them
but Necropolis came up with the best deal, so we signed with them."
     On the topic of recording the album, Snake  (along  with  fellow
Guillotine-ers Spider on vocals/guitar and drummer Cobra) admits that
all of the ideas were ready to go before heading into the  studio  to
record the debut. "We had all the ideas going into  the  studio.  But
y'know  what?  It's  funny  how  you  always  hear  how  songs  shape
themselves when they are recorded properly. We experienced that  too.
We have demoed a lot of the material but they sounded really poor. It
was great that we were able to do some good studio  work  to  enhance
the sound rather than have muffled demo versions on the LP."
     Getting  more  in-depth  about  the  material  on   _Under   the
Guillotine_, Snake comments, "We spent a lot of  focus  on  both  the
song writing aspect and the  production  of  this  record.  Both  are
equally important for us and to maintain a strong  Guillotine  sound.
All of us in the band are real studio freaks  and  love  to  work  on
songs and all that shit. It's a lot of  fun  for  us  to  be  in  the
studio. We are currently building our own studio to have to  work  on
future recordings. I mean, we are really into  this  whole  thing  of
making music and recording songs. It's what we do. We have for  years
recorded all of our material and styles we have worked on.  It's  all
kept on tape. We already have all of these riffs  and  ideas  in  our
heads for the next record. The next record should go by pretty quick,
much faster than this one, 'cause we are eager to get  in  there  and
get this stuff out. The thing about us and recording is that we  have
been doing this for a long time and it comes fast  to  us.  We  don't
like to spend time fixing things up in the studio. We  like  to  keep
the material of Guillotine raw."
     He adds, "Playing music is what we do and we  wouldn't  have  it
any other way. It's our passion. I mean music is  constantly  in  our
lives. If we aren't writing music, we are  listening  to  it.  If  we
aren't listening to it, we are recording it. We try to keep our lives
focused around music because that is what we love to do. So we try to
keep this a 24-hour job as much as possible."
     Obviously knee-deep into the  whole  'retro/thrash'  thing,  how
does Guillotine feel about all of these bands paying homage to thrash
metal in 1998? Is it a rip-off of a sound and style or is it  genuine
interest in that style of music? "This whole 'retro' thing is  coming
back and I know we are a part of that. All of these metal  riffs  and
speed metal sounds seem to be coming back and that is a  good  thing,
but we've had this plan to play this music for a  long  time,"  notes
Snake. "We had delayed this whole idea and style of Guillotine for  a
while 'cause we had a lot of other things we had to finish up  first.
I mean, we are part of this whole retro thing, we  acknowledge  that,
and are proud to be playing this style of music."
     He continues, "It's great to see a lot of bands  going  back  to
this style, but this whole 'retro' thing is getting out of  hand  and
going trendy on us. And that bugs me. A lot of these new  bands  come
out and play that style. Bands are formed to play 'retro'  'cause  it
is the IN thing to play now. They make one album and then  you  never
hear from them again. The same is happening  with  black  metal  too.
Supposedly 9 out of 10 black metal bands are Satanists, but how  many
of them really are? It just frustrates me to see it all go this  way.
It's amazing to see how many bands are out there that aren't real and
put out one album and then fade away when the style has gone away."
     So then how does Guillotine get past the idea of people  calling
them 'trendy' and/or 'retro'?
     "We don't really care what people say about us.  We  are  pretty
realistic about what we are doing and why we are doing it. We do this
'cause it's really fun. I think as long as you keep it at this  level
then you won't have a problem. We do this for fun.  We  don't  really
have a message to carry across to our fans. We aim to have fun  while
doing this and that's it. We are a band that aims  at  being  a  good
band and that's it."

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             L I V I N G   A   L O N E S O M E   L I F E
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
          CoC interviews Pim Blankenstein of Officium Triste
                          by: Pedro Azevedo

Officium Triste seem to be trying to bring  Dutch  doom  back.  After
Celestial Season's excellent  doom/death  with  violins  in  _Forever
Scarlet Passion_ in 1993 and _Solar  Lovers_  in  1995,  the  current
Dutch doom scene is  essentially  made  of  melodic  bands  like  The
Gathering and Within  Temptation,  as  well  as  Orphanage,  to  some
extent. Not many more bands within that scene have risen in the  past
couple of years,  and  Officium  Triste  try  to  be  the  exception.
Existing for almost four  years  now,  their  debut  full-length  _Ne
Vivam_, which I reviewed in CoC #29, features  competent  doom/death.
Despite some faults, _Ne Vivam_ has very enjoyable parts and the band
showed  potential,  so  I  proceeded  to   interview   vocalist   Pim
Blankenstein through e-mail.

CoC: What's the story of Officium Triste so far?

Pim Blankenstein: Okay, here we go. Officium Triste  was  founded  in
                  March/April 1994. We  had  been  together  under  a
                  different name and with different line-ups. Anyway,
                  we weren't  happy  with  what  we  were  doing  and
                  decided to start all over again as Officium Triste.
                  We recorded a demo in the summer of 1994 and  a  7"
                  EP _Mountains of Depressiveness_ in  1995.  Due  to
                  some circumstances, we released it in 1996. Then we
                  got an offer to release a CD on Teutonic  Existence
                  Records, which we did. _Ne Vivam_ was  released  in
                  April 1997. Just recently we've recorded  some  new
                  tracks which we will release as a  split  MCD  with
                  Cold Mourning (USA).

CoC: Please tell us more  about  the  name  of  your  band,  Officium
     Triste, and this album's title, _Ne Vivam_.

PB: As I already told you in the first question, we came to  a  point
    on which we restarted in 1994 and Johan, our guitar player,  came
    up with the name Officium Triste. We all  felt  it  sounded  very
    cool and it's quite original as well. He dug it up from  a  latin
    dictionary and it means something like "a last gesture of  honour
    to a dead person." _Ne Vivam_ was part of the lyrics to the intro
    of our demo, and it means something like "I may die." We feel  it
    says everything about the atmosphere of the songs on the  CD,  so
    it fits as an album title.

CoC: _Ne Vivam_ has a quite  simple,  yet  very  effective,  booklet,
     based upon a black marble background and few embellishments. How
     important was it for you to have a package like this?

PB: We wanted something very sober as a cover. The idea behind it  is
    a headstone, but we didn't want to use a real  headstone,  so  we
    came up with the black marble background with  golden  lettering,
    which of course can be related  to  our  band's  name  and  album
    title. Because of this soberness, we stand out between the  usual
    metal covers, which is exactly what we want.

CoC: Being a doom band, Officium Triste  also  have  several  lighter
     moments (or at least not as doomy), especially in "Stardust" and
     "The Happy Forest", which, in my opinion,  don't  fit  the  mood
     created by the rest of the songs very well. Why did  you  choose
     to include these lighter parts?

PB: I can see what you mean. I  think  "Stardust"  fits  the  overall
    feeling of the album, especially lyrically.  Musically  it's  not
    that different either, perhaps only the opening riff. "The  Happy
    Forest" is a totally different story, though; we know it  differs
    a lot. Therefore, we decided to put it on the album as  the  last
    song. We had a discussion about it -- whether we should put it on
    the album or not, but the reactions to the  song  were  so  great
    when we played it live that we decided to put it  on  the  album.
    You should see it this way: it's a song to put you back on  earth
    after listening to the album. We don't want our listeners  to  be
    totally depressive after listening to our music. It also seems to
    be a song people love or hate.

CoC: Holland has seen its share of excellent  metal  bands,  and  one
     doom metal band  was  remarkable  a  few  years  ago:  Celestial
     Season, of whom, unfortunately, only the name remains,  for  the
     quality  violin-filled  doom/death  found  in  _Forever  Scarlet
     Passion_ and _Solar Lovers_ now belongs to  the  past.  What  is
     your opinion about this? Was this Dutch band an influence to
     you?

PB: It's cool that they have that success. If they can open doors for
    other bands then that's okay. Hopefully we can  follow  in  their
    footsteps. I agree their first two albums are  excellent.  But  I
    can enjoy their newer stuff as well, although you should see them
    as a totally different band of which, indeed, only the name stays
    the same. I wouldn't consider them as an  influence,  because  at
    the time we started I was the only person in the  band  that  had
    heard of them. The other guys got to know them a bit later.

CoC: I would risk saying that there are slight  traces  of  My  Dying
     Bride, Anathema and perhaps even Katatonia in your music,  mixed
     with your own style. Do you agree? What bands would you  mention
     as most influential for Officium Triste?

PB: Well, you answered this question yourself. Those are the bands we
     love. Old Paradise Lost  and  Chorus  of  Ruin  have  also  been
     influential to us.

CoC: About your lyrics, you attempt something that isn't very  common
     nowadays (at least not in my experience), as you frequently  use
     rhymes in your verses. Why?

PB: I don't know. That's the way I write lyrics.  I  haven't  thought
    about it, really; it's just the way I do it. I guess it's just  a
    natural thing to me. I've got no further explanation. I know  I'm
    not trying to copy anyone.

CoC: Your lyrics seem quite personal, especially in  tracks  such  as
     the excellent "Lonesome" and "One With the Sea". Would you  like
     to tell us more about the music and lyrics found  in  those  two
     tracks?

PB: I think there are some personal traces to  be  found  within  the
    lyrics, but in  general  I  write  from  the  perspective  of  an
    imaginary person.  I  know  for  sure  "Lonesome"  definitely  is
    personal, but I'd rather keep that for myself, if you don't mind.
    "One With the Sea" is about someone who can't cope with  life  in
    modern society and finally commits suicide, which I  would  never
    do. So that song is less personal. I always try to  write  lyrics
    that have the same feeling as the music -- you know it  would  be
    silly to sing about parties on the music we make.

CoC: In "Psyche Nullification", you repeatedly refer  to  suicide  in
     several ways. What are your feelings on that subject?

PB: As I said in the previous  question,  I  mostly  write  from  the
    perspective of someone else. This  particular  song  is  about  a
    person who has voices inside his head. He cannot deal with it and
    tries to kill himself. My personal view towards suicide is that I
    find it a very interesting subject to think about. I  mean,  what
    drives certain people to the point where they decide to end their
    lives? Personally, I would never commit suicide, for I think that
    you should try to overwin your problems, no matter what.  I  also
    feel that there's a lot in life you still want to do or  see,  so
    that would hold me from commiting suicide.

CoC: _Ne Vivam_ has very heavy guitars, strong drums and deep vocals;
     many doom bands, however, have been going softer lately (some of
     them succeeding, like Anathema with their emotional _Eternity_).
     Do you plan to  become  instrumentally  or  emotionally  overall
     lighter in the future?

PB: No way. What other bands want to do is up to  them.  We  want  to
    stay as heavy as possible. Perhaps every now  and  then  we  will
    integrate some lighter parts within the songs, but we still  want
    to be as heavy as we can. Our  newest  songs  are  actually  more
    varied, with some uptempo parts, but it always will be heavy.

CoC: What are your plans for the near future? Is there  a  new  album
     being prepared yet?

PB: We've recorded three new songs, of which two  will  appear  on  a
    split MCD with Cold Mourning, as mentioned before. We don't  know
    what will happen to the third song at this time (it was  supposed
    to be on a compilation CD, but that has  been  cancelled.)  There
    are no plans for a new album at this  moment,  because  we  don't
    have a deal right now. We will keep writing new songs  and  we'll
    just have to see what happens.

CoC: Please add a final message, if you wish...

PB: First of all I have to thank you, Pedro, for this  interview  and
    your interest in Officium Triste. Anyone else interested  in  our
    music should get in touch. Doom on!!

Contact: Officium Triste, c/o Pim Blankenstein
         Belgischestraat 46 B
         3028 TH Rotterdam, HOLLAND
         mailto:Silk@ipr.nl

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           M O M E N T U M   T H R O U G H   E M O T I O N
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                        CoC chats with Sanctum
                          by: Adrian Bromley

     It takes a lot of talent  to  be  able  to  capture  a  specific
emotion in song writing, but to be able to capture a  multiple  array
of emotions, make them sonically appealing, and still manage to  keep
it interesting goes beyond talent. Few bands have this ability;  they
opt instead to stick to  formula.  But  Swedish  instrumental/ambient
outfit Sanctum is not like the rest of the  bands  out  there.  Their
emotionally  charged  debut  LP  _Lupus  in   Fabula_   (on   Swedish
ambient/extreme music label Cold Meat Industry) brings a sweet change
to ambient music, emphasizing long states of emotional  recklessness,
intricate ideas and passionate overtones.
     Presently, Sanctum -- comprised of ambient gurus Jan  Carleklev,
Lena Robert, Hakan Paulsson  and  Marika  Ljungberg  --  are  in  the
process of working on a follow-up  to  _Lupus  in  Fabula_,  but  Jan
Carleklev took time out to talk to  Chronicles  of  Chaos  by  e-mail
about the band, their music and future ideas for the band. Read on.

CoC: In terms of where Sanctum is headed musically or creatively,  do
     you think you  will  ever  reach  your  final  destination  with
     Sanctum? Or are the ideas constantly evolving the band  and  its
     music?

Jan Carleklev: I hope we never reach our  final  destination.  If  we
               feel that we don't have  anything  more  to  give  the
               band, we'd have to look somewhere else to refresh  our
               minds -- and that should be the  end  of  Sanctum.  At
               this  moment  I  can't  see  a  situation  like   that
               happening, as we have so much to give to the band. The
               fact that we all have other projects going on keeps us
               from being bored, and keeps our minds clear  to  focus
               on what we will achieve with Sanctum.

CoC: Do you find your music peaceful? If not,  how  does  your  music
     affect you?

JC: I have never used the word "peaceful" when I have  described  our
    music -- to me, it  has  too  many  penetrating  feelings  to  be
    peaceful. But someone  else  might  use  that  word  to  describe
    Sanctum. The impact our music  has  on  me  varies,  and  I  have
    noticed the impact varies on the listener as well. A tune that  I
    feel is beautiful and happy, a listener can experience in  a  sad
    and harsh way. Creating music is something  that  I  must  do  to
    survive. That may sound pompous, but it is true. It is a way  for
    me to express myself, and when  I'm  sitting  in  my  studio  and
    creating a tune it is like I am in a totally different  world.  I
    do this to satisfy myself, but knowing that people appreciate our
    music is great. It makes striving to reach new grounds worth it.

CoC: How has being on Cold Meat Industry helped the band? What  other
     bands on the label do you enjoy?

JC: Cold Meat Industry has made our music available for other people,
    and I'm really glad that we have the ability to work with CMI. So
    far we have had free hands to do what we want  to  do,  and  that
    freedom is something that we must have to be  able  to  carry  on
    with Sanctum. But, in a way, I think that being a  CMI  band  can
    prevent us from reaching other audiences, too.  Concerning  other
    bands on the label, I really  like  BDN,  Deutsch  Nepal,  Mental
    Destruction and Arcana, to mention some. But there  are  many  on
    the label that I don't like at all.

CoC: What influenced you to play this type  of  music?  Do  you  like
     other forms of music, or mostly atmospheric/ambient music?

JC: I/we have no intention of creating a  certain  "type"  of  music.
    Sanctum just uses the components that are necessary to reach  the
    feeling we are looking for. We do not try to sound industrial  or
    ambient or any other genre/style. And of  course  we  like  other
    forms of music! The band members' tastes vary -- everything  from
    country/western music to death  metal.  Speaking  for  myself,  I
    listen to a lot of classical and modern orchestral music. But  it
    varies. One moment I could be listening to  Portishead,  and  the
    next moment, Meshuggah. I find myself listening to other  ambient
    projects the least of all.

CoC: Do you think most bands lack emotion or powerful  expression  in
     their music nowadays? What I mean is, bands seem very formulated
     now, no emotion. Do you agree?

JC: If you refer to the mainstream genres, I  agree  fully.  I  don't
    think that  what  those  bands  create  is  music  --  it's  pure
    entertainment.  But  all  the  underground  music   scenes   have
    something else. There, everyone  wants  to  achieve  something...
    there are few copycats in the underground.

CoC: In the bio, you mention visuals, dancers, etc. Are those a  part
     of the Sanctum live show now? How does Sanctum differ live  from
     on record?

JC: It is hard for me to describe how Sanctum is live, but so far  we
    have gotten a very good response from the  audience.  We  try  to
    bring our expression further  with  some  visual  elements,  like
    video projections and dancers. We want to strengthen the feelings
    by bringing the music and the visual elements as  close  to  each
    other as possible, and that is very hard to achieve on a  record.
    We try hard to get the visual on the album cover  to  mirror  our
    music inside. Musically, we try to use as  many  traditional  and
    non-traditional  live  instruments  as  possible  to  generate  a
    genuine live feel to the music we are playing. Marika  plays  the
    cello, and I'm playing some hand drums and also  creating  sounds
    with specially-designed electric  instruments.  Lena  sings,  and
    Hakan sings and handles samples.

CoC: Do you feel very adept at creating music? Is it an easy  process
     amongst the rest of the band, or does it take  time  to  develop
     ideas?

JC: It is  hard  to  generalize  the  process  of  creating  a  tune.
    Sometimes I run into a wall trying to come  up  with  ideas,  and
    everything at that  point  goes  right  to  the  trash  can,  but
    fortunately that doesn't happen too often. For me,  the  obstacle
    is creating varied sounds that'll fit with one another. I'll  sit
    down for days -- even weeks -- with a couple of sounds, trying to
    make them fit. It is not  hard  to  get  ideas,  the  problem  is
    carrying them out and being able to reach the feeling that I want
    with that specific song.

Contact: Jan Carleklev, Norra Bogesundsgatan 3A, 1 554 73  Jonkoping,
         Sweden                            mailto:sanctum@coldmeat.se
         mailto:jan.carleklev@mbox200.swipnet.se                 WWW:
         http://home7.swipnet.se/~w-73354

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      U N I F Y I N G   T H E   M U S I C A L   E X T R E M E S
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                 CoC interviews Cornelius of Solefald
                          by: Pedro Azevedo

I must say that it is indeed remarkable how only two musicians manage
to make an album such as Solefald's _The Linear  Scaffold_  (or,  for
that matter, any of Limbonic  Art's  superb  symphonies).  These  two
highly talented individuals, Cornelius and Lazare, have put  together
music that is simultaneously unusual and brilliant  and  lyrics  that
show considerable effort. The result, _The Linear Scaffold_, was  one
of the main themes of my  very  interesting  snail-mail  conversation
with Cornelius, one which ended in a rather unusual way.  Enter  this
"abnormal chase" through this interview and _The Linear Scaffold_...

CoC: "Red music with  black  edges,"  in  your  own  words,  is  what
     Solefald  creates.  Would  you  like  to  tell  us  more   about
     Solefald's musical concept?

Cornelius: Our music began with cries of pain and booming blastbeats,
           mixed with other scopes of feeling. "Red music with  black
           edges" is an attempt to put something  red  into  all  the
           black that surrounds us,  particularly  in  the  world  of
           music. It is basically a revolt against what  we  feel  is
           existential injustice. The world order, so to speak. Maybe
           we can't change the whole, but we can change 39:21 minutes
           of somebody's personal life.

CoC: How close to black metal would you say you are?

C: Solefald and black metal are separated by a huge, larger-than-life
   size mirror: black metal tries to look outside itself and does not
   particularly like what appears in the mirror.  We  look  at  black
   metal from the outside, robbing it for its sublime tools,  without
   stagnating in the mirror hall.

CoC: I think your music is very related to the  creation  of  extreme
     contrast situations: you suddenly change from a quiet part  into
     a blasting black-like sequence, and back into a softer part. The
     same can be said about the vocals. Do you agree?

C: Yes, totally. Have you noticed this: [drawing  of  a  triangle  in
   which an arrow is embedded in each side  (all  of  equal  length),
   forming a clockwise path; this symbol can be found in _The  Linear
   Scaffold_'s booklet]? To me it represents all the changes  in  the
   music, changes that still belong to a wholeness. Stravinsky  talks
   about this, how  a  composer  must  strain  towards  unifying  the
   musical extremes.

CoC: I think the  keyboard-only  parts  with  blackened  screams  are
     exceptional, and a brilliant way to finish the album. Is there a
     specific meaning  behind  your  choice  of  ending  _The  Linear
     Scaffold_ that way?

C: This section was the last thing we did in the studio, a fact  that
   you can probably hear from the fatigue of my  voice.  It  was  the
   last sacrifice to complete the  effort  of  those  eight  days.  I
   normally smile when I listen to it.

CoC: What bands and what kind of music do you listen to nowadays?

C: Beethoven's nr. 9. Early  AC/DC  albums  (with  Don  Scott.)  Mono
   _Formica Blues_. Emperor _Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk_. Mi Solar
   _Paradisique_. Future Sound of London _Cascades_.

CoC: How do you view your label's other bands, namely  the  brilliant
     Katatonia?

C: Katatonia is a poetical band, classically inspired  in  words  and
   sounds. I like the guy's lyrics, poor soul,  he  could  need  some
   encouragement; maybe a Katatonia-Solefald soccer match in Milan?

CoC: _The Linear Scaffold_ presents a  rather  unusual  and  original
     musical and lyrical approach. What inspires you  to  write  such
     extraordinary material?

C: I think I have to pay my debts to the philosophical  tradition  by
   blaming the old  writers  for  many  weird  ideas.  Schopenhauer's
   "Wille zur Leben", in particular, and  many  Germans  like  Hegel,
   Fichte, Schelling, Nietzche, Kant, etc.  I  stress  this  so  much
   because philosophy gives you  such  a  complex  and  rich  way  of
   looking at things, it accustoms you to big thinking. A humble hail
   to "my masters of the past," as Crowley says it.

CoC: Your lyrical concept is bound to baffle  many,  in  my  opinion.
     Most of the tracks contain what seems to be a highly  metaphoric
     lyrical style. What do you aim to create with your lyrics?

C: Our lyrics can be divided into the intellectual and the  poetical.
   The first, like "The Macho Vehicle",  aims  at  clarifying  hidden
   connections, in this case  between  the  student  "revolution"  in
   Paris, 1968, and a new way of looking at sex roles,  paternalistic
   religion and the individual freedom.  It  may  seem  ambitious,  I
   know, but at the same time I feel like  stretching  myself  to  my
   analytical limit. As long as I know there are at least two persons
   out there who understand, we'll continue. The  second  type,  like
   "Countryside  Bohemians",  tries  more  to   convey   a   concrete
   experience: a weekend at  a  bizarre  cottage  inherited  from  my
   deceased, deeply religious grand-aunt. Situated on the  top  of  a
   mountain, with a tremendous view over  the  valley,  this  cottage
   sees you dead if you move more than five meters in  front  of  it.
   Lazare and myself nearly did so in the nighttime,  both  drunk  as
   drunk can be. We survived, the lyrics evolved.

CoC: In what way does the cover art relate to the album's concept?

C: "The Return of the Sun" depicts the grand cycle of everything that
   exists. Sunrise, sunset, day and night, life and death,  etc.  You
   can affect what happens to you to a certain extent,  but  in  most
   cases we greet life with excited facial expressions, like those in
   the picture, and accept what we get.

CoC: _The Linear Scaffold_ is "an abnormal chase for those who  still
     believe in a normal world," again in your own words.  Would  you
     like to expand on that idea?

C: Black metal's way of perceiving things is very abnormal, which  is
   what I love about it. No trace of any compromise, just sheer  will
   from A to Z. Black metal has already admitted  what  no  one  else
   dares, and is about to force you to do the same. I  reckon  that's
   why 97% of the genre  bands  share  the  same,  Biblical  imagery.
   "Under the sign of the Beast," etc. Just  the  same  scrapheap  of
   cheap literary cliches (yes, they do work very  well)  and  hardly
   ever any CLEAR THOUGHT.  Still,  it's  metal,  and  metal  doesn't
   always mean everything it says. In an attempt to widen  the  scope
   of music travel, we invite you to that abnormal chase.

CoC: Musically, how satisfied are you with _The Linear Scaffold_?

C: Very. I feel happy about it, and I'm sincerely proud  of  what  we
   have accomplished. Still, we know many things can be done  better.
   The sound is OK, but next time we'll find a more advanced studio.

CoC: Have you started planning a new album  yet?  If  so,  are  there
     already any changes that should be expected relatively  to  _The
     Linear Scaffold_?

C: Yes, we are now choosing from all the ideas we  have  gathered  in
   the last years, to make a Grand Mean follow-up to "the  Scaffold".
   The album will  include  France-beals,  some  flamenco  influence,
   heavily-worked-on lyrics, blistering riffs and more clear  vocals.
   We're both terribly excited about where we are heading.  The  hard
   will be harder, the passion will be more passionate, the  ecstatic
   more ecstatic.

CoC: What other words would you like to share with our readers?

C: I would like to say this: thank you very much for your  attention.
   Thank you for listening to our album, liking or not liking it.  We
   have had so many great people helping us and showing  interest  in
   the band. Next time [...? And here it ends. Right at the end of  a
   page; Cornelius misplaced the last page and thus the end  of  this
   interview shall remain a mistery... -- Pedro]

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

                   _____  .__ ___.
                  /  _  \ |  |\_ |__  __ __  _____
                 /  /_\  \|  | | __ \|  |  \/     \
                /    |    \  |_| \_\ \  |  /  Y Y  \
                \____|__  /____/___  /____/|__|_|  /
                        \/         \/            \/
              _____                 .__
             /  _  \   _________.__.|  |  __ __  _____
            /  /_\  \ /  ___<   |  ||  | |  |  \/     \
           /    |    \\___ \ \___  ||  |_|  |  /  Y Y  \
           \____|__  /____  >/ ____||____/____/|__|_|  /
                   \/     \/ \/                      \/

Scoring:  10 out of 10 -- A masterpiece indeed
           9 out of 10 -- Highly recommended
           7 out of 10 -- Has some redeeming qualities
           5 out of 10 -- You are treading in dangerous waters
           3 out of 10 -- Nothing here worth looking into
           0 out of 10 -- An atrocious album, avoid at all costs!


Agoraphobic Nosebleed - _Honkey Reduction_
by: Adam Wasylyk  (8 out of 10)  (Relapse, February 1998)

Grindcore is a lost art these  days.  I'd  like  to  see  bands  like
Agoraphobic  Nosebleed  become  the  focus  of  labels  rather   than
pathetic, fifth rate death metal bands. The  Relapse  bio  calls  the
band "manic grindcore" (who would  have  thought  a  bio  would  have
anything interesting to say?), a  good  term  to  describe  the  duo,
comprised of Scott Hull (ex-Anal Cunt) and  Jay  Randall.  There's  a
strong Enemy Soil  influence  in  the  drum  programming  (a  fitting
influence since the band at one time held an ex-Enemy  Soil  member),
and if you've heard Enemy Soil's _Casualties of Progress_ 7" you know
how savage  and  aggressive  this  is.  _Honkey  Reduction_  features
blazing drums, crazy vocals, heavy guitars and grinding bass... there
isn't one weak aspect in this band. Clocking  in  at  just  under  20
minutes (for 26 songs), you know you're in store for  some  grindcore
insanity... and to think this is only an EP with a full-length on its
way! Fuck the new Blood Duster record, this is where it's at.


Amestigon - _Hollentanz_  (Napalm Records, March 1998)
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (8 out of 10)

The arrival of this four-song, 22-minute MCD was a great and  welcome
surprise. I had been assuming that Amestigon were  no  more,  because
quite some time has passed since the release of their split  CD  with
Angizia. (It seems like ages  to  me,  anyway.)  But  I'm  glad  this
assumption was mistaken, because the  early  Amestigon  material  has
really grown on me in the intervening time, and this new MCD picks up
right where the band left off: black metal  as  it  should  be,  icy,
uncomplicated, and dark. I can't say  that  the  Amestigon  sound  is
especially unique. If you imagine Abigor's early music, stripped down
to its pained and melancholic core, then you have a fairly good  idea
of what Amestigon sounds like. But one thing I can say, emphatically,
is that this band still succeeds in being  chilly,  atmospheric,  and
evocative -without- sounding generic, overwrought, or contrived. It's
just good, unpretentious black  metal.  It  doesn't  sound  like  yet
another inauthentic knock-off, and  it's  free  of  all  the  melodic
boredom  and  "symphonic"  bombast  currently  being  fabricated   by
countless bandwagon-jumping,  popularity-seeking  bands.  Granted,  I
didn't give Amestigon's debut outing a very high score -- but believe
me, if I had known then what I know now about the way the  scene  was
going  to  develop,  I  would  have  held  up  that  release  as   an
under-appreciated frosty gem. That's definitely the  way  I  view  it
now. (It's too bad the Angizia portion of that split CD is so  lame.)
_Hollentanz_, which features session work by members of Abigor,  will
be the last official Amestigon release. And it strikes me as  a  damn
good way to make  an  exit:  record  some  truly  genuine,  decidedly
un-trendy, sincere-sounding black metal. Frankly, I'm willing to  bet
that the majority of so-called black metal bands putting  out  albums
in 1998 and beyond will never, ever manage to do the same thing.


Ancient Ceremony - _Under Moonlight We Kiss_
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)  (Cacophonous, September 1997)

Vampyric symphonic metal --  perhaps  that's  a  reasonably  accurate
description of what _Under Moonlight We Kiss_ sounds  like.  If  that
description reminds you  of  Cradle  of  Filth,  forget  about  that;
there's much less black metal here than in  CoF's  music  and  a  far
stronger emphasis  is  placed  on  dark  romanticism,  vampyrism  and
mid-paced keyboard-based melodies. Keyboards therefore play  a  major
role in Ancient Ceremony, and they're clearly the highlight in  their
music. The vocals (male, from black to spoken/whispered, and  female)
are also very good, and work  very  well  with  the  keyboard  sound.
However, despite these promising qualities, _Under Moonlight We Kiss_
is let down by a significant lack of  instrumental  strength  on  the
part of the drums and guitars. Both drum and  guitar  work  are  just
average, and sound rather weak most of the time. Still, despite being
somewhat let down by a less than  adequate  production,  the  melodic
side of _UMWK_ makes it an interesting album; and if you're attracted
to the subjects dealt with here, then you may  very  well  enjoy  the
atmosphere as well and the production faults mentioned above may seem
much less important.


Arcturus - _La Masquerade Infernale_
by: Paul Schwarz  (10 out of 10)  (Music For Nations, October 1997)

When a  band  produce  an  album  of  the  quality,  originality  and
sincerity of Arcturus' 1996 _Aspera Hiems Symfonia_,  the  pessimists
among us sigh with regret for so often this is the sign for a band to
slide. Arcturus are not submitting  to  that  particular  demon  with
their 2nd official album _La Masquerade Infernale_, although a repeat
performance is also not on the menu. _LMI_ takes Arcturus'  blend  of
black metal and classical symphony and distorts  it  into  an  almost
unrecognisable mass which, when examined, is influenced by  so  much,
and I suspect  far  more  than  just  music,  that  it  would  induce
hopelessness to try to pick each part individually -- and so one  can
only sit back and let the masquerade  go  round.  If  you  liked,  or
loved, _AHS_ or if you want  "metal"  music  with  true  emotion  and
atmosphere, don't read the rest of this review:  it  will  spoil  the
surprises and degrade the wonder of hearing _LMI_ with fresh ears. If
you're not convinced and you want to know more about _LMI_ I  have  a
few short words for you: metal, drum  n'  bass,  keyboards,  harmony,
clean vocals, unclean vocals, guitars, bass, drums, atmosphere + meat
grinder. Happy now?


Beyond Dawn - _Revelry_  (Misanthropy Records, March 1998)
by: Andrew Lewandowski  (3 out of 10)

Let's play a quick game of word association:  "Misanthropy  Records."
The inevitable response: "Boring  pretentious  schlock."  Immediately
upon hearing that Misanthropy has released a new non-Burzum album,  a
few -- to be precise, those who praised the last Arcturus,  Fleurety,
or Monumentum CDs as ingenious -- will start  salivating,  while  the
rest will simply know that the album is by a  former  mediocre  metal
band which now uses avant-garde stylings to compensate for  a  dearth
of creativity and transparent song structures. Such is the case  with
Beyond  Dawn.  Once  best  known  as  the  doom  metal  band  with  a
trombonist, Beyond Dawn are  now  a  moody,  nauseatingly  monotonous
gothic pop band with a trombonist. Although BD steal a few riffs from
the latest My Dying Bride album on the first two songs,  these  riffs
merely invoke a somber background for the lead singer's  deep  voice,
which sounds suspiciously similar to M. Gira's on  the  Swans'  later
work. Generally, BD don't even use their over-amplified, pseudo-metal
riffs unless they need to signify that it's time for a chorus (here's
a choice one: "You raped me on the first of July"). Although  neither
can save each of the predictable tracks, the use  of  ambient  sounds
and  a  trombone,  which  is  still  the  most  belch-like  of  brass
instruments, add Misanthropy's standard avant-garde  flair.  This  is
poop, yet it is poop that can't even emit a stench.


Blood Duster - _Str8 Outta Northcote_  (Relapse, February 1998)
by: Adam Wasylyk  (3 out of 10)

I can't express the anticipation I felt towards  Blood  Duster's  new
album, the follow-up to 1996's _Yeest_, which combined the  intensity
of death/grind with  plenty  'o  groove.  You  couldn't  picture  the
expression on my face after hearing _Str8 Outta  Northcote_  for  the
first time. I asked myself, 'WHAT THE FUCK  HAVE  THESE  GUYS  DONE?'
This album is a desecration to what Blood Duster  should  stand  for.
These guys have obviously been listening to  too  much  Kyuss  or  Fu
Manchu, what's with all of this stoner rock influence??!!?? It  seems
as though the guys in the band wanted to  get  away  from  the  early
Napalm  Death  /  early  Carcass  influences  and  embrace   a   more
groovy/rock 'n roll  sound.  What  a  huge  mistake.  There's  hardly
anything (musically) on this album that reminds  fans  of  what  made
_Yeest_ so great. The band have cut down on the blasting  (about  50%
less), the remaining speedy parts just sound weak compared  to  those
on their debut. What a huge disappointment.  _Str8  Outta  Northcote_
could have been one of the year's best releases. Face it,  guys,  you
fucked up. Big time.


Captor - _Dogface_  (Diehard, February 1997)
by: Paul Schwarz  (4 out of 10)

Hmm, who do this band sound like? Yeah, it's  another  Coal  Chamber,
Korn, Limp Bizkit, etc. clone band. However, what's  different  about
Captor is -- oh there isn't anything, well, not to worry. If you like
this sort of stuff this isn't too bad (for my money it's better  than
Coal Chamber's debut), but I really don't see that there is any  need
to possess more than about three albums in  this  style  and  for  my
money those album are Korn's debut, and both of The Deftones' albums.
However, if you're a  sucker  for  riff  heavy,  I-hate-my-life  type
dirge, you could go a lot more wrong than buying _Dogface_. One thing
though, these guys -boast- of not having any "tedious leads" (meaning
that leads -are- tedious, not that they only have leads which  aren't
tedious), which ironically is one thing that could have actually made
this album interesting.


Covenant - _Nexus Polaris_  (Nuclear Blast, January 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

Dimmu Borgir, Arcturus, Mayhem and even Cradle  of  Filth  --  strong
names to mention when one is trying to sell a metal CD, and  Covenant
allow Nuclear Blast to do just that. The result sounds like a mix  of
the two Arcturus albums released so far, _Aspera Hiems Symfonia_  and
a little bit of _La Masquerade Infernale_: only traces of black metal
are left and attempts are made to be innovative while using keyboards
in a peculiar way. Throw in the vocal performance of Nagash (who also
plays bass here), Hellhammer on drums, Sverd  on  keyboards,  Astennu
and Blackheart on guitars and Sarah performing backing chants (giving
Nuclear Blast the chance to somewhat questionably mention  Cradle  of
Filth as having participated in this project). Most of what  Covenant
is about is thus described. This is all fine  quality  music,  highly
listenable and with many interesting sequences, but it seems to  lack
spirit. The music itself, like I said, is very good and even somewhat
original (despite being strongly inspired  by  Arcturus),  played  by
skilled musicians and competently produced, but it just doesn't carry
much emotion. Of course, that  doesn't  ruin  the  musical  enjoyment
_Nexus Polaris_ provides, but it prevents  the  album  from  reaching
inside the listener. For that, and within this style, you should  get
Solefald's brilliant _The Linear Scaffold_ (see CoC #29) or  Limbonic
Art's excellent _Moon in the Scorpio_ and  _In  Abhorrence  Dementia_
(CoC #18 and #28) instead. Nevertheless, _Nexus Polaris_ will  surely
sell more than those three superior albums all together. Still,  this
album shouldn't disappoint Dimmu Borgir and Arcturus fans, as  it  is
musically worthy of its talented creators.


Dellamorte - _Uglier and More Disgusting_  (Kron-H, October 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (7 out of 10)

This album has been getting a lot of great press, and by the time the
first song has plowed over you,  it's  clear  why.  In  the  big  ol'
toolbox that is the "death'n'roll" genre, this record is the  jagged,
rusty ripsaw of the bunch -- never mind Entombed, whose latest effort
is but a big rubber mallet by comparison. While Entombed just kind of
plods along, lucky to land the occasional heavy blow, Dellamorte  rip
through the  timber  like  there's  no  tomorrow,  so  lock  up  your
saplings... To be honest, I'm not a fan of this style, but Dellamorte
definitely erupts with enough energy and attitude to stand  out  from
the d'n'r crowd, and without relying on a bunch of trendy mosh  parts
or kindred  macho  metal  cliches.  The  vocalist  puts  in  a  great
performance, too, belting out the lyrics  with  anger  and  edge  but
never really sounding forced or flat -- a  definite  rarity  in  this
corner of the scene. The album's clear, powerful mix is dominated  by
a  big,  fat  guitar  sound  and  topped  off  with  many  a   mighty
snake-rattle cymbal crash. If I felt like  describing  the  songs  in
more detail, I suppose I'd drop the toolbox analogy and start in with
the speedway talk: lots of burnin' rubber,  screamin'  engines  on  a
highway to hell -- you get the idea. In other words,  there's  a  lot
more "n'roll" than "death" to be heard here: for the most part,  this
is hard-driving, heavy rock sheathed in a full metal jacket of tuning
and amplification. But whatever; this is one heavy, boisterous record
no matter what.


Desire - _Pentacrow_  (Skyfall, March 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (7 out of 10)

Not quite an MCD, but not  really  a  full-length  album  either  and
almost as expensive as a normal full-length, _Pentacrow_ has one  new
song (over 18 minutes long), a track taken from their  1993  demo,  a
Candlemass cover and "A Ride in a Dream Crow", taken from their debut
_Infinity_. The new song presented here should not  disappoint  those
who liked _Infinity_, while it  also  shows  that  the  band's  style
hasn't changed much (fortunately, in my opinion).  Divided  in  three
tracks, it's more of Desire's very slow and  sorrowful  music,  still
with the very good and varied vocals (especially the  extremely  low,
slow, tortured death grunts and the backing female chants).  This  is
thus more of their symphonic doom/death, showing slight  improvements
in tightness. Slow music  isn't  necessarily  easy  to  play,  and  a
certain lack of that  tightness  was  my  only  reason  for  lowering
_Infinity_'s deserved 8 to a 7 back in CoC  #17  (which  I  shouldn't
have, as it did deserve a strong 8  despite  that  fault).  This  new
song, "When Sorrow Embraces my Heart", is therefore the highlight  of
this CD and keeps up with the quality found in _Infinity_.  So,  what
about the rest? Well, the first track, "A Ride in a Dream  Crow",  is
very good and one of the best songs on _Infinity_, but rather useless
for those who already own their debut  album.  The  Candlemass  cover
"Solitude", however, is a rare example of a worthy cover,  thanks  to
the  enhancements  made  in  the  vocals  together  with  a   quality
instrumental side. "Death Blessed by a God", the demo tape  song,  is
again questionable. After listening to it for a short while, I  found
myself reaching for the booklet to see if  this  wouldn't  happen  to
have been taken from a demo; and it was. That said, it's a good  song
for a demo tape, but far from the quality of the other  tracks  found
here. For those who are into doom but have never listened to  Desire,
I strongly advise you to get _Infinity_. Desire fans who already  own
their debut should consider buying this one as well, even  though  it
should have been financially more rewarding (i.e., sold at MCD  price
without "A Ride in a Dream Crow" and "Death Blessed by a God", rather
than including these and being sold almost at full-length price).


Dirge / Grift - _Guilty by Association_ Split EP
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)  (Deadly Venom, January 1998)

Now  this  is  the  shit.  Heavy  duty  deathcore/hardcore  from  two
up-and-coming Ontario, Canada outfits: Malton's Dirge and  Brampton's
Grift. While Malton four-piece Dirge  radiate  a  Brutal  Truth-esque
flow to their sound n' style, their hardcore roots  keep  the  groove
hard-hitting and intense. Their material  on  this  LP  shatters  any
preconceived notions that hard music is dead  in  Canada.  And  while
Dirge are packing heaviness, so are the maniacal  ensemble  known  as
Grift. Saturated beneath crushing grooves and a  definite  old-school
hardcore feel, Grift set things  a  light  with  "Rey  Mysterio"  and
"Blind". Having been my first  listen  of  Grift's  material,  I  was
highly impressed. Dirge's own material has strengthened  since  their
debut LP, the poorly produced _Hazing Rituals_ from 1995,  and  is  a
definite pleaser to see that the band's material has turned  for  the
better. Keeping things 'a rockin' here in Ontario, readers please  do
yourself a favor and/or either A) buy this release  and  support  the
bands and/or B) go see these bands live when you get a  chance.  This
surely kicked my ass.

Contact: Dirge, 7714 Netherwood Dr.
         Malton, Ont., L4T-2P1, Canada
         mailto:ci420@freenet.toronto.on.ca


Disfear - _Everyday Slaughter_  (Kron-H, October 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (9 out of 10)

Had I obtained this record much sooner, I probably would  never  have
gotten into my current habit of drinking five or six cups  of  strong
coffee every day. This 27-minute  platter  of  utterly  raging  crust
provides an even better jolt, and it won't stain my teeth or give  me
murky, brewed-bean breath! On the other hand, I doubt this  is  going
to be very good for my tinnitus, but  oh  well.  These  days  I  come
across very few new records that I end up wanting  to  crank  through
many repeated plays, but  this  is  one  such  disk,  absolutely.  Of
course, it's Dis-core all  the  way,  and  these  guys  never  really
deviate from the formula -- but this is such a masterpiece  of  sonic
abrasion and barely-controlled  rage  that  my  usual  carping  about
originality and  whatnot  shall  hereby  take  a  back  seat  to  the
declaration that in my opinion this CD totally rules.  (By  the  way,
it's also my opinion that these guys totally outperform similar  acts
like Disgust and Dischange.)  The  rhythm  section  rumbles  mightily
along like  some  nuclear-powered,  mutant  Motorhead;  loud,  crusty
guitars crank out some killer hammer-and-scour riffs; angry vox  spew
corrosive bile all over our century's rampaging militarism and police
state mentality. (Personally, I prefer this kind of lyrical criticism
to the typical defamatory screaming about  other  people's  religious
beliefs -- but to each his own.) Were my brain a geiger  counter,  it
would certainly  crackle  like  crazy  when  exposed  to  the  energy
unleashed by this band. It's not the most varied or demanding  style,
but these guys rip it up with incredible power  and  conviction,  and
the CD's bright, caustic production is excellent too. Recommended.


Domine - _Champion Eternal_  (Dragonheart, 1997)
by: Alvin Wee  (8.5 out of 10)

Whew! Just when I thought Omen had given  up  the  ghost  with  their
latest piss-take,  I  was  pleasantly  surprised  by  this  bunch  of
Omen-wannabes slashing their way out of Italy.  Bearing  nothing  but
the (often too heavy) flag of True Metal, Domine's  debut  10-tracker
reeks of nothing less than  Manowar,  Omen  and  Iron  Maiden.  Metal
enough to get  the  most  seasoned  headbanger's  feet  tapping,  the
anthems on parade boast incredible atmosphere and majesty, helped  in
part by the inspired use  of  of  keyboards  and  acoustic  passages,
elements oft neglected by  the  bands  of  old.  More  technical  and
innovative than other bands of the  genre  (Nocturnal  Rites,  Gothic
Knights, etc.), Domine combine elements of  thrash,  speed  and  even
Sabbath-style  bass-heavy  riffing  seamlessly,   managing   to   get
increasingly engaging with each  listen,  never  pounding  themselves
into repetitive obscurity like the abovementioned bands.  Comparisons
to Iced Earth are unavoidable, and fans of _ Night of the Stormrider_
need hesitate no further. Domine believe  in  leaving  the  best  for
last,  the  final  "Suite  in  7  Parts"  impressing  like  Manowar's
_Achilles_ epic. Shining with a dark operatic brilliance, this is one
track no fan of epic metal can ignore,  and  it's  representative  of
just about everything Domine stands for -- Metal, Metal and Metal!!!!


Ebony Tears - _Tortura Insomniae_  (Black Sun Records, December 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (8 out of 10)

Fans of Swedish melodic death metal, here's something  different  for
you to enjoy. Ebony Tears incorporate several new elements into  this
style on their _Tortura Insomniae_, the most  influential  being  the
frequent use of remarkably catchy violin melodies. Occasional  female
vox and acoustic guitars are also to be found here, as well as  a  10
minute long finishing track that blends some of Ebony  Tears'  normal
sound  with  perhaps   as-weird-as-Meshuggah   sequences.   This   is
definitely not a track to be enjoyed by everyone, but  if  you  think
you might really like such a song, you should probably add  an  extra
mark to my rating. If not, there's no need to worry either; the album
is about 53 minutes long, so it's still very  worthy  of  your  money
even if you  don't  like  the  last  track.  Indeed,  songs  such  as
"Moonlight",  "Freak  Jesus",  "Nectars  of  Eden",   "Opacity"   and
"Spoonbender" give Ebony Tears a place near In Flames,  which  should
say a lot about the quality of this album.


Elegeion - _Odyssey Into Darkness_  (Candlelight, March 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley  (6 out of 10)

Images of The Gathering and Within  Temptation  came  to  mind  after
numerous  listens  of  this  disc.  Comprised  of  doom-ladden   song
structures, yet sedated with solemn  soft-styled  choir  vocals,  the
music of Elegeion is nothing new to us metal fans. This is  music  we
have heard time after time, but something about this music  draws  us
in. The gems discovered within this somewhat  cliche  genre/style  of
music is  the  way  that  Elegeion  use  their  simplistic,  haunting
melodies and  the  enchanted/darkened  dreamlike  song  sequences  to
entice us to give this  a  second  go.  This  is  a  rather  soothing
experience to say the least. This 3-song,  24-minute  EP  could  have
been boring, had it not been  for  the  injection  of  creative  song
writing here and there. Good enough for me and a band to keep note
of.


Empyrium - _Songs of Moors & Misty Fields_
by: Pedro Azevedo  (10 out of 10)  (Prophecy Prod., October 1997)

Consider the songtitles in _Songs of Moors & Misty Fields_: "When the
Shadows Grow Longer", "The Blue Mists of Night", "Mourners", "Ode  to
Melancholy", "Lover's Grief" and "The Ensemble of Silence".  Now  try
to think of skillfully rendered music and  lyrics  that  consistently
suit these titles, and a picture of what  _Songs  of  Moors  &  Misty
Fields_ is about may be forming. If none of what I wrote above has at
least sparked your interest, forget about it -- it's  best  that  you
just skip to the next review right now,  because  this  album  wasn't
made for you. Still with me? If so, then you might want to  check  my
October Tide review below after you  finish  this  one,  because  the
ideas behind what I just wrote apply to them and to the work done  so
far by other sincere doom metal bands like Katatonia, My Dying  Bride
and Anathema (to name but  a  few).  Well,  back  to  Empyrium,  they
combine in _SoM&MF_ the expectable metallic elements and synths  with
piano, acoustic guitars, flute and cello; however, none of this  ever
seems to have been just 'thrown in', something which  bands  who  use
this kind  of  enhancements  to  their  metal  are  often  (sometimes
accurately, others needlessly)  accused  of.  Everything  fits  here;
everything has a purpose, and the musicianship  found  in  this  very
doomy, yet majestic album is truly remarkable. The deep, clean vocals
found in _SoM&MF_ may not be everyone's  favourite  style,  but  they
suit the music so well that it just doesn't matter. These  clean  vox
are quite varied too, and both  deep  spoken  and  various  kinds  of
chanted parts are to be found,  as  well  as  several  blackened  vox
sections. _Songs of Moors & Misty Fields_ is a major improvement upon
the very interesting _A Wintersunset..._ and an album to contend  for
best CD I heard in 1998. Extremely moody and superbly executed.


His Hero Is Gone - _Monuments to Thieves_  (Prank, Autumn 1997)
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (9 out of 10)

Here  we  have  another  specimen  from  the  crustier   stratum   of
subterranea. Unlike the Disfear record reviewed  up  above,  however,
this one stirs that scab-caked, abrasive vibe into a  molten  mixture
brimming with weighty chunks of heavy, intelligent hardcore and  very
adept grind. And the result is  no  dilution:  this  band  melds  the
strongest traits of all those styles, and a  good  bit  of  punishing
slo-core besides, into an utterly mighty, totally distinctive overall
sound. Much the same could be  said  of  their  earlier  releases  (a
self-titled 7-inch and the _Fifteen Counts  of  Arson_  full-length),
but _Monuments_ has a more articulate and individual  sound  --  it's
one very eloquent slab of brutality. The band's earlier releases  are
also incredibly powerful, but they come across (at least to me) as  a
bit of a stylistic patchwork. Now, on the other hand, the  sound  has
matured;  everything  congeals  into  a  crushing  storm  of   sound,
thundering with percussive weight and crackling with  killer  breaks,
precise stabs of grind, and  ragged  shards  of  anguished,  abstract
melody. You know,  I  get  the  feeling  that  I've  used  all  these
metaphors before, many  times  perhaps,  but  I've  written  so  many
reviews by now that I've lost all track...  Anyway,  you'll  find  no
tired  rehash  of  the  same  old  formulae  in  this  band's  music.
Seriously, even though it's only 25 minutes in length, this is one of
the most powerfully expressive yet  unrelentingly  brutal  recordings
I've ever had the pleasure to hear. Very strongly recommended.


Krieg - _Rise of the Imperial Hordes_  (Blood, Fire, Death, 1998)
by: Andrew Lewandowski  (8 out of 10)

For much of this album, Krieg create an inexorable cacophony  of  old
school black metal,  but  unfortunately,  four  ineffective  keyboard
tracks are strewn throught the album's 11 short tracks. They  disrupt
the album's merciless, nihilistic aesthetic, and once  combined  with
the Nietzschian lyrics and goofy demonic  spoken  word  vocals,  they
ensure  that  _Rise  of  the  Imperial  Hordes_  has  more  obtrusive
silliness than almost any intelligent black metal album since Impaled
Nazarene's _Tol Cormpt Norz  Norz  Norz_.  The  similarities  between
Krieg and primal Finnish  black  metal  do  not  end  there;  Krieg's
layering of grinding slabs of castrated melodies  on  top  of  steady
rhythms recalls early Impaled Nazarene, while  Krieg's  use  of  doom
riffs and stark melancholic passages is akin  to  Beherit's  _Drawing
Down the Moon_. During their most  potent  moments,  Krieg  can  also
match the brutality of Blasphemy with the former's injection  of  the
slashing melodies of grindcore and  breakneck,  occasionally  complex
drumming  patterns  into  a  deceptively  traditional   black   metal
structure. This may be somewhat more chaotic than original, yet  most
of _RotIH_ should satisfy anyone who wishes to hear  brutal  American
black metal which is produced well, besides a flat  drum  sound,  and
not directly influenced by Darkthrone, particularly if this potential
listener is a fan of Blasphemy.


Marduk - _Nightwing_  (Osmose Productions, March 1998)
by: Steve Hoeltzel  (7.5 out of 10)

Is it possible to blast along at hell's pace for the better  part  of
47 minutes without actually going anywhere? Yes.  This  album  proves
it. Granted, Marduk is one seriously ferocious band, which is cool --
but sonic ferocity isn't everything.  Musical  ideas  are  important,
too, but these days Marduk seems to be  running  low  on  those.  Oh,
wait, here's one! Come up with two or  three  riffs  and  go  through
them, generally at hyperspeed, over and over and over... If the riffs
are strong ones, interestingly arranged, then this formula can add up
to some kick-ass music. But most of the  riffs  on  _Nightwing_  seem
quite flavorless to me, and the song structures are really basic.  So
although the music is incredibly vehement... well, it basically  just
sits there being incredibly vehement, doing nothing else to  earn  or
sustain any interest. (By contrast, the  new  Setherial  album  shows
that it's possible to fold  more  depth  and  development  into  this
mega-blasting style.) Of course, sometimes  sheer  intensity  is  all
you're asking for, and Marduk certainly delivers on that score,  with
unbelievable drumming, wicked vocals, and  sharp,  tough  production.
But I think they did the same musical thing better  on  1994's  _Opus
Nocturne_. (That's my pick for Marduk's best. In retrospect, I  think
my praise for _Heaven Shall Burn_ was too generous. But  I  digress.)
One  intriguing  thing  about  _Nightwing_  is  its  inclusion  of  a
five-song cycle dealing with the real life and times of Vlad Tepes of
Wallachia. As usual, my promo copy contains no text,  so  I  have  no
idea how they've actually developed this theme lyrically, but I think
this Vlad-oriented section contains the album's best  songs.  Two  of
these tracks slow things down to create a  darker,  heavier  feeling;
also included is a re-recording of the blazing "Deme Quaden  Thyrane"
(originally from _Opus Nocturne_ and the  best  song  on  _Nightwing_
too, if you ask me). This is not a bad album overall,  but  it  seems
like a rather uninspired rehash of Marduk's earlier, better material.


Mortician - _Zombie Apocalypse_  (Relapse, February 1998)
by: Adam Wasylyk  (1 out of 10)

The release of _Zombie Apocalypse_ has proved one thing to me:  there
are still yahoos out there who buy this shit and enable Mortician  to
stay on Relapse. Who the fuck is still interested in this band? I got
some minute pleasure out of _Mortal Massacre_, but that was  back  in
'94!! And with the releases of _House by the Cemetary_ and _Hacked up
for Barbeque_, one tends to ask him or herself 'How can  a  band  get
away with making the same  record  over  and  over  again?'  On  this
_Zombie Apocalypse_ MCD  there  is  hardly  any  distinction  between
tracks, the drum machine is fucking lame, the sound clips grow old...
must I go on? It's surprising to me that two bands  like  Agoraphobic
Nosebleed (reviewed this issue) and Mortician can share  a  love  for
intensity and all-out brutality, but the intelligence level be  miles
apart. Includes covers of Slaughter and Repulsion, but after  hearing
them you wouldn't know it. I've heard some people try to say that the
haunting atmosphere that Mortician create is what makes this band  so
cool. But then again these people are of minimal intelligence anyway.
I've wasted enough time writing about this.


Necromortis - _Burning Priest_  (Independent, March 1998)
by: Adam Wasylyk  (2 out of 10)

It's cool that bands are trying to put CDs  out  rather  than  demos,
which I already have way too many of. Necromortis hope to give you  a
serious lesson on brutal death metal, but it turns out that it's just
a slap on the back. Yes, this is brutal, but so what? It  may  be  an
unfair comparison, but fellow Quebecers Cryptopsy do  a  much  better
job at this sort of thing. Their music crushes you,  both  on  record
and in a live situation (which 1997 Milwaukee Metal Fest participants
can attest to). But with Necromortis, their music doesn't  reach  out
and grab you. It just sorta sits there and picks its nose. The bright
spot on this recording? It would have to  be  the  movie  sound  clip
intro to "Occultherion" -- its horror sentiments could really set the
tone --, but the aforementioned track degenerates into a  death/grind
mess. Brutal death metal purists may find Necromortis  a  haven  from
the tons of melodic death metal bands out  now,  but  may  I  suggest
Cryptopsy, Suffocation or even Montreal band  Hidden  Pride  instead?
And guys, thanking Hitler on the back of your CD ain't gonna get  you
any new friends!

Contact: Necromortis, 110 rue Gaspar Sud, app. 08
         Joliette, QUE, J6E 3X5, Canada


Nefarious - _Global Warning_  (Independent, February 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley  (7 out of 10)

Overflowing with some heavy duty death metal  riffs  and  a  powerful
onslaught of harsh vocals (radiating a heavy, yet versatile  Cannibal
Corpse / Napalm Death sound), Gloucester, Ontario  natives  Nefarious
rip and tear at us with this solid 4-song offering. From the  opening
of the band's self-titled number onto the  wickedly  eerie  and  well
thought out "Global Warning", this quartet keeps the momentum  strong
and enjoyable. While  every  song  on  this  offering  radiates  good
production, there seems to be a raw, loose feel surfacing under that,
enabling the music to sound great but have a slight live edge to  it.
I had heard some of this band's  older  material  years  ago  on  the
_Sonic Obliteration Vol. 1_ compilation (put out  by  Utopian  Vision
Music) and it's great to see how far they come with their music. Sure
the music flows along the lines of standard death metal, but there is
more there for the most part that keeps the listener  interested.  In
comparison to their past material, this is stronger, more  adept  and
much heavier. I know I keep saying this, but it's good to see so many
Canadian bands (other outfits like Zaraza, Sub Version and PornoComa)
surfacing with potential and trying to make a name for themselves. It
makes a Canuck metal fan like myself proud.

Contact: J. Bourbonnier, 205-1993 Jasmine Cr.
         Cloucester, Ontario, K1J-7Z6, Canada
         mailto:nefarious@nefarious.net
         WWW: http://www.nefarious.net


October Tide - _Rain Without End_  (Vic Records, December 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

October Tide is very Katatonia-like  doom  played  by  two  Katatonia
members: Jonas Renske (vocals and drums) and Fredrik Norrman (guitars
and bass).  Seeing  that  Renske  would  perform  growled  vocals,  I
wondered how similar would this be to my  favorite  Katatonia  album,
the ever-awesome  _Dance  of  December  Souls_  (which  is  the  only
Katatonia full-length with Renske on vox). However, it turns out that
_Rain Without End_ is instrumentally rather  similar  to  Katatonia's
latest EP, _Sounds of Decay_, while Renske's superb vocals sound like
a mix  between  what  his  voice  was  on  _DoDS_  and  some  of  the
characteristics of Mikael  Akerfeldt's  voice  (Akerfeldt  being  the
Opeth vocalist who performed  vocals  on  the  two  latest  Katatonia
releases). This album is therefore a highly welcome surprise for  me,
considering the changes that are  to  happen  in  Katatonia's  sound.
Norrman shows some guitar skills that I  previously  believed  to  be
exclusive to Katatonia's brilliant Blackheim, and _Rain Without  End_
resembles the very  unique  kind  of  utterly  sorrowful  music  that
Blackheim creates in Katatonia. Unfortunately, the album is  somewhat
short (39 minutes) and no lyrics are included; if it  also  had  more
extensive use of violin, then the extra mark  would  have  been  well
earned. For any real Katatonia fan, this an absolute -must-. For  all
the others out there, my advice is that you give this a try  in  case
my words about Katatonia and October Tide were of any interest to you
-- _Rain Without End_ is almost as  good,  and  often  even  just  as
great, as what Katatonia have  done  so  far,  and  is  therefore  an
outstanding album.


Primal Fear - _Primal Fear_  (Nuclear Blast, 1998)
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)

I wouldn't be surprised if Nuclear Blast were to  give  up  on  black
metal entirely. Following the immense success of Hammerfall,  NB  has
finally gotten smart and cashed  in  on  the  German  obsession  with
melodic power metal by distributing acts like Narnia and Hollow (both
recommendable Swedish guitar-based prog-metal  bands).  The  freshest
addition to the NB stables comes in the form of German quartet Primal
Fear. Boasting the distinctive talents of Ralf Sheepers  (Gamma  Ray)
and Mat Sinner, this is one combo that's bound to hit the  charts  in
Germany and Japan. Their self-titled debut  is  somewhat  a  surprise
though, avoiding the usual Kai Hansen-worship (though it's inevitable
the  man  plays  guest  leads  here),   adopting   instead   a   more
groovy/bluesy sound evocative of 80's glam rock or British hard-rock.
Opener "Chainbreaker" reminds one of  Deep  Purple  (their  influence
evidenced by a cover of "Speedking" later  in  the  album)  or  riot,
while "Dollars" could have come straight out of a  Lionsheart  album.
Even American hard/glam rock isn't spared as Skid Row gets a  tribute
paid with "Running in the Dust". As you  can  see,  this  isn't  your
usual heap  of  cheesy  anthems  at  all,  in  fact,  the  myriad  of
influences makes this a fascinating experience for all but  the  most
narrow-minded of rockers.  If  you're  worrying  about  the  lack  of
Helloween-style melody, fear not,  these  die  hard  Germans  haven't
forgotten their roots: "Silver and Gold" and "Promised Land"  deserve
a place in any Helloween or Hammerfall  album,  and  if  Hammerfall's
_Glory to the Brave_ can make it to the charts, I don't see  why  the
latter track can't.


Running Wild - _The Rivalry_  (GUN, 1998)
by: Alvin Wee  (8 out of 10)

Any self-respecting Running Wild fan will surely realise  that  Cap'n
Rolf and crew have embarked on another phase in their  career.  As  a
die-hard  follower,  I've  always  maintained  that  the   band   has
progressed through three distinct phases since their debut  in  1982:
the first primitive and raw, the second kicking off with anthems like
"Black Winds of Death" and 'narratives' like  "Treasure  Island".  Of
late, RW has adopted a more aggresive  and  technical  approach  with
_Masquerade_, and _The Rivalry_ takes things one step further, almost
completely  shunning  the   traditional   beer-guzzling,   sing-along
choruses for a harder edged assault. Kinda disappointing really, when
you realise that "Rebel at Heart" could be the last RW anthem  you'll
ever hear... All is not lost though, "Return  of  the  Dragon"  still
boasts movie-soundtrack melodies,  while  "Ballad  of  William  Kidd"
continues the tradition of historical epics like  "Soleil  Royal"  or
"Treasure Island". Other than that, the other tracks are pretty  much
same-ish, a problem  that  was  becoming  apparent  on  _Masquerade_.
What's more die-hard one-eyed-jacks will be disappointed to note  the
Pirates' latest makeover;  their  scruffy  seadog  look  having  been
ditched for gleaming  white  and  gold  naval  uniforms.  It's  worth
mentioning too, that  the  privateers  have  scrapped  their  seaworn
vessel for a new hulk -- in the shape of GUN Records, in a mystifying
departure from long-time wardens Noise. "War And Peace" provides some
reassurance at least, closing the battle with a frolic, putting to an
end an album of blazing metal  that  no  ordinary  headbanger  should
avoid; if you're an old-timer seadog who yearns only for the pounding
"Chains And Leather" anthems of old, then be forewarned, don't expect
any "Prisoners of Our Time" on this new voyage.


Sacramentary Abolishment - _The Distracting Stone_
by: Adam Wasylyk  (5 out of 10)  (Catharsis, October 1997)

I was really expecting more from S.A. after hearing  their  debut  CD
_River of Corticone_, a CD which I definitely recommend.  However,  I
can't say the same for its follow up, _The Distracting Stone_. I have
to ask 'What the fuck happened to the vocals?' They really stick  out
like  a  sore  thumb.  Perhaps  the  band  were  going  for  a   more
unconventional style; if so, they really made  a  mistake.  Somewhere
between a scream and a yell, these black metal vocals are  among  the
worst I've heard. However, musically  Sacramentary  Abolishment  fare
better;  it's  brutally  fast  for  the  most   part   with   a   few
melodic/slower parts to fill in the gaps. The production  is  average
and in need of improvement, the guitars could be a lot more  powerful
and clearer, it should have been re-mixed at least once  more  before
the album's release. The tunes are definitely here,  but  the  vocals
come in and ruin them. I know these guys are capable of  more,  their
past material indicates this. I was even set to do an interview  with
the band for a couple of zines I write for  (including  CoC),  but  I
won't do it for this release. This Canadian band have potential to go
far, but they won't get there on the heels of _The Distracting
Stone_.

Contact: Catharsis Records, #21 10405 Jasper Ave., P.O. Box 539
         Edmonton, Alberta, T3J 3S2, Canada


Sculpture - _Like a Dead Flower_  (Art, January 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

The _Crestfallen_ EP and _Serenades_ saw the  bleak  sunlight  during
the years of 1992 and 1993, respectively, and  were  among  the  main
reasons why I started listening to  doom  metal  --  those  two,  and
especially _Serenades_, still mean very much to me today. Since then,
much has happened with their creators, Anathema, and  with  the  doom
metal scene. Those were the years of Katatonia's _Dance  of  December
Souls_ and My Dying Bride's _As the Flower Withers_ and  _Turn  Loose
the Swans_. But things did change for all these bands. Now, Sculpture
have produced an MCD of which the few parts that don't  sound  either
like  the  _Crestfallen_  EP  or  _Serenades_  tend  to  sound   like
Anathema's _Pentecost III_ EP. This  Portuguese  band  harvested  the
ideas found in Anathema's debut and, with a lot  of  merit  and  very
good production, managed to create an impressive MCD that I can  only
see as a tribute to Anathema, such is the extent of the similarities.
Every instrumental component is similar to early Anathema; so are the
vocals and the song structures and style. All  three  of  the  'main'
tracks on this MCD are indeed very good from start to finish,  but  I
have to mention the excellent  faster  part  in  "Autumn  Serenades",
which reminded me of "Under a Veil (of Black Lace)"  from  Anathema's
_Serenades_ -- a proof of how  enhanced  the  impact  of  a  fast(er)
section can be when surrounded by much slower music. The only thing I
really didn't like in _Like a Dead Flower_ were the rather  excessive
fade-outs found in most tracks. This is the highest rating I've  ever
given a Portuguese album in CoC -- in fact, _Like a Dead  Flower_  is
the best Portuguese doom metal album I've ever heard, slightly better
than even Desire's _Infinity_ (see my Desire review in  this  issue),
even though much less original. Then again, if  they  had  been  more
original then most likely  this  MCD  wouldn't  have  been  so  good.
Originality is hardly a problem when quality is so high and the sound
Sculpture explore still has much more to give.


Self - _The Sinister Urge_  (Scream Records, March 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley  (4 out of 10)

While Swedish hardcore/metal act Self could easily be tossed into the
realms of music stylings acquainted  by  Entombed  (newer  material),
Face Down and/or Dellamorte, the band's somewhat  subdued  aggression
and  lack  of  creativity  leaves  them  in  the  dust  behind  those
aforementioned acts. Self are good at what  they  do,  don't  get  me
wrong, it's just that a large majority of their aggressive riffs  and
hardcore-esque style seems rather cliche and  forced,  marring  their
music with standard sounds and ideas that have been used  many  times
over. Within the thirteen tracks on _The Sinister  Urge_,  Self  lays
claim to but a few standout (different) ideas that work: "Hyped"  and
"Rule Your Mind". While the band may have the momentum to  crank  the
music loud and violent in nature, their misuse of common  song  ideas
easily deflates their chance at world domination. There still is life
here; let's  hope  they  can  regroup  and  do  something  right  and
interesting, rather than rehashing old themes.


Soulfly - _Soulfly_  (Roadrunner, April 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

So... this is it? The new Max Cavalera record? Soulfly. Hmmm... let's
give this a spin. Okay, so we all know about the nasty public breakup
between Max Cavalera and the band Sepultura, a band which he  founded
and fronted for 15 years, but the breakup left fans wondering whether
both parties would continue. So  here  comes  the  debut  release  of
Cavalera's  new  band  Soulfly,  beating  the  remaining  members  of
Sepultura to the punch with a solid effort, months  before  the  band
issues something new to the metal  masses.  This  is  a  groove-dosed
assemblage of hardcore/metallic ideas that shake the very foundations
on which you stand upon, my friends. After several listens, it  isn't
hard to hear the influence of the  last  Sepultura  record  here,  as
Cavalera once again teamed up with producer Ross Robinson to help him
vent his anger  and  rhythmic  ideas  into  one  ball  of  fury.  The
self-titled LP somewhat takes off and continues where Max  ended  his
Sepultura career, music based upon  the  ideals  of  fusing  together
metallic riffs, hard core attitude and world beat  visions.  The  end
result? Stunning. While some fans of Sepultura (especially those  who
disliked _Roots_) will see some change here within the ways  Cavalera
presents his sounds, the intensity and real down-to-earth feel of his
music still shines. This isn't contrived ideas pushed  forth  by  the
growing music scene. These are  ideas  and  messages  vented  through
heavy-based music. Cavalera knows how to deliver  some  of  the  most
killer  grooves,  most  noted  with  Soulfly  numbers  like   "Fire",
"Prejudice"  (featuring  Benji  from   DubWar)   and   the   kick-ass
deliverance of "The Song Remains Insane". Rather than vent his  anger
at the split (though Cavalera does admit the song "Eye  for  an  Eye"
covers that topic), Soulfly pretty much strides  in  a  direction  of
mixed emotions and bombastic beats spurned on by the  ideals  of  the
Brazilian culture. In all honesty, this  is  a  great  record  and  a
deserved accomplishment by a musician who has  believed  so  much  in
himself and his goals for such a long time. Cavalera has  not  failed
his fans here with Soulfly and it seems like his future  is  destined
to be successful while his career as  a  performer  has  pretty  much
started from the ground up again. Soulfly delivers the goods as  most
fans would expect Cavalera to do so and that alone is  reason  enough
to get your hands on this.


Tribes of Neurot & Walking Time Bombs - _Static Migration_
by: Adrian Bromley  (7.5 out of 10)  (Release / Relapse, March 1998)

A far as side-projects go (or band  as  some  see  this),  Tribes  of
Neurot  --  featuring  members  of  Neurosis  and   countless   other
collaborators -- has to be one of the most versatile and  interesting
projects  going.   Burrowed   deep   beneath   harrowing   riffs   of
expressionism and downright lethal doses of ambient  excellence,  the
earlier sounds of Tribes  of  Neurot  echoed  brilliance  with  their
_Silver Blood Transmission_. It contained amazing song ideas, a  near
reflection of the ideals and dreamscapes created by those taking part
in this project. It served as an  extension  of  where  Neurosis  had
taken  their  music,  though  a  more  philosophical  and   spiritual
approach. The latest incarnation of Tribes  sees  fellow  sound/noise
purveyor Scott Avery (ex-Pain Teens / Walking Time  Bombs)  to  bring
into the fold his ideas and have the Tribes and himself  hammer  them
into sonic masterpieces. The collaboration seems to have  worked  for
the most part  as  _Static  Migration_  easily  dents  the  symphonic
ambient chants of the band with heat seeking intensity  and  darkened
fits of rage and uncertainty. Avery's ideas blend well into  the  use
of the band's musical agenda, shedding  light  on  some  entertaining
numbers like "Recurring Birth" and "Origin Unkown". While  the  music
here does hold itself accountable for  some  amazing  ideas,  a  good
portion of the material  on  _Static  Migration_  floats  within  the
standard genre of ambient material and can't seem to shake it. Not to
say that Avery's work here is unhelpful,  rather  uplifting  to  some
degree, but it ain't no groundbreaking material.  His  ideas  salvage
what could have been a bland ambient album (or  even  similar  Tribes
LP) and in return lays the prospect  of  future  collaborations  like
this to pop up more.


Tristania - _Widow's Weeds_  (Napalm Records, March 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (9 out of 10)

Rather than starting with the expectable "Yet another symphonic  doom
band with female vocals" kind of comment, I'll just say that, despite
the fact that this style is getting crowded, Tristania manage to rank
up there with the genre's very  best  bands.  Of  course  Theatre  of
Tragedy  and  Within  Temptation  come  to  mind  when  listening  to
Tristania, but there are enough personal elements to be found here to
keep this album from falling into  the  rip-off  category.  But  what
counts the most is that Tristania are a very talented band,  and  the
album shows just that; fine use  of  keyboards,  guitars  and  drums,
occasional violin  and  very  good  vocals.  Death  grunts  and  such
dominating throughout most of the album, Tristania  are  still,  like
any band in this genre, dependent  on  the  female  vocals'  quality.
Fortunately for them, Vibeke  Stene  has  a  superb  voice.  _Widow's
Weeds_ features re-recordings  of  two  tracks  originally  found  in
Tristania's self-titled debut MCD, but both are excellent and, in  my
opinion, including  them  was  an  acceptable  choice  --  they  take
advantage of the better production facilities, and  the  MCD  mustn't
have sold much anyway. Nevertheless, it's still a worthy  album  even
for those who do own their debut, since it is nearly 40 minutes  long
plus the two re-recordings (over 50 minutes total).  Except  for  the
slightly weaker "Angellore", the new tracks are  fortunately  similar
in style and quality  to  the  older  ones  ("Pale  Enchantress"  and
"Midwintertears"), with "Evenfall" and especially  "My  Lost  Lenore"
being the best. Highly recommended for  anyone  who's  into  romantic
doom metal.


Type O Negative - _After Dark_ <video>  (Roadrunner, March 1998)
by: Zena Tsarfin  (7 out of 10)

Just when I began to think this was some kind of "serious" home video
comprised of professionally-shot Type O  Negative  videos  from  both
their _October Rust_ and _Bloody Kisses_ records, the  Brooklyn  boys
with a penchant for green dispelled  any  delusions  of  grandeur  by
relentlessly mocking themselves -- and anyone  in  their  way  --  in
between clips. Tour mishaps with Pantera, tongue-in-cheek  interviews
and looming constipation have all been captured  as  visual  evidence
here, and with very few serious moments (such as  the  sweet  at-home
shots of guitarist Kenny  Hickey  reflecting  on  the  birth  of  his
adorable baby daughter, Megan), _After Dark_ shatters the  myth  that
TON are just posturing goth rockers. Of the six videos (including two
different  versions   of   "Christian   Woman"),   "My   Girlfriend's
Girlfriend"  is  probably  the  most  MTV  appealing,  complete  with
lipstick lesbians frolicking with each other and Pete Steele, spliced
between shots of  the  two  as  back-up  dancers  for  Type  O  on  a
psychedelic '60s soundstage. The other videos include  "Love  You  to
Death",  "Cinnamon  Girl"  and  the  hit  single   "Black   No.   1".
Surprisingly, all the clips were seemingly shot on  a  decent  budget
and, with few exceptions, failed to surpass any rock  video  cliches.
Since American MTV has an obvious aversion to hard rock  programming,
this might be your only chance to experience the TON  magical  misery
experience at home.


W.A.S.P. - _Double Live Assassins_  (CMC, February 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

What a great double-live record. This record captures the purity  and
rawness of one of metal's most worshipped bands: W.A.S.P. Aside  from
the industrial-tinged material from their last effort _Kill Fuck Die_
scattered throughout this release (after all this was recorded during
the _KFD_ album tour), the  remainder  of  the  material  is  vintage
W.A.S.P. and  bone-crushing.  Hate-filled  and  angst-ridden,  singer
Blackie Lawless delivers solid performances  with  each  number.  His
voice radiates a uniqueness unmatched  by  any  singer  today.  Dark,
broody emotions flow from this live scenario, painting  an  image  of
pure evil, an evil unmatched even by ten Marilyn Manson  performances
combined against one W.A.S.P. show. This is  evil,  Mr.  Manson.  The
adrenaline is pumping and this is one hell of a  ride.  Classic  cuts
like "Wild Child", "The Idol", "The Headless Children" and  "Chainsaw
Charlie" never sounded so ruthless.  Great  production  and  a  great
performance by W.A.S.P. in the end.


Wicked Angel - _Heads Will Roll_  (Noise Records, January 1998)
by: Adrian Bromley  (8 out of 10)

This is one of those rare records where I have a hard  time  deciding
what to write about. Is it good? Does it suck?  What  will  I  write?
Well, I tried my damnedest to sum this all up in as little  space  as
possible -- here goes. _Heads Will Roll_ by Wicked Angel  is  one  of
those records that you might only listen to  a  few  times  over  the
course of a year, but in every listen you're in for a treat. This  is
dirty, slimy rock n' roll (with metallic qualities) that  refuses  to
let go until it comes to an end. This band look  more  like  renegade
bikers than musicians, but looks can be deceiving, people. And  while
this LP may be chockfull of  roarin'  metal  riffs,  harsh  screaming
vocals, predictable one-liners and a real reckless attitude that some
might be turned off from, it's those attributes  that  also  seem  to
make this all the more enjoyable. This is a  bad-ass  bar  band  that
takes shit from nobody. You know how your parents  warned  you  about
bad people when growing up? Ahem... these are those people.  Look  no
further than Wicked Angel to satisfy your  hunger  for  raunchy,  bad
ass, skit-kickin' music. This is an out  of  control  tattooed  metal
machine that crushes the values of etiquette, respect  and  authority
beneath their biker boots. It's nasty, but oh so good, my friends.

Contact: Eye of an Angel c/o Death Dealer Productions
         5282 Redwood Road, Columbus, OH, 43229, USA

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            / /\  /  __/\ V  V /  / /\  / (_) | \__ \  __/
            \_\ \/ \___| \_/\_/   \_\ \/ \___/|_|___/\___|

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:   ***** -- A flawless demo
            **** -- Great piece of work
             *** -- Good effort
              ** -- A major overhaul is in order
               * -- A career change is advisable


Agathodaimon - _Near Dark_  (4 track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (*****)

Well, it really is a case of  "believe  the  hype:  it's  true"  with
Agathodaimon: they are a band to be  worshipped.  Although  on  first
listen my high expectations (5 out of 5  in  Terrorizer)  led  me  to
think, "Ah, it -is- just hype," after repeated listens (once you  get
to know what you're actually dealing with) _Near Dark_ really is both
extremely refreshing musically and extremely impressive  for  a  demo
recording -- not to mention being a great  piece  of  extreme  music.
Agathodaimon mix the best of extreme music, black and doom  cavorting
particularly  well,   and,   like   Arcturus,   use   keyboards   and
'symphonicness' (does this word even exist?) to achieve  a  brilliant
result. The second, and notably long (16:10), track "Near Dark" has a
similar structure to the movements of a Wagnerian opera and  an  epic
feel much more prominent  than  just  its  length.  I  recommend  you
purchase this and soon (it -might- be wise, their full-length due out
on Nuclear Blast later this  year,  -might-  not  be  as  good;  just
remember the tale of Cradle of Filth and _Total Fucking Darkness_).

Contact: Agathodaimon Management, c/o Martin Wickler
         Westring 18, 55120 Mainz, Germany
         or from Black Tears distro if you reside in the UK


Odium - _Factor of Tantrum_  (4-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (****-)

A fine demo made of Swedish death metal here. The  songs  work  well,
the band is technically competent and the demo is well produced. This
isn't quite the currently thriving  melodic,  more  technical  style,
though; Odium play a more 'classic' kind of  Swedish  death.  Need  I
mention names? Well, they remind me of early Edge of Sanity at times,
but I could mention several others. However, Odium don't really sound
like  any  particular  band;  rather,  what  causes  their   somewhat
'standard' Swedish death metal sound is that they just don't add much
to what's been done in that style before.  Lacking  innovation,  they
fortunately don't lack the ability to play quality death  metal,  and
that's what counts most here.

Contact: Chrille Ludvigsson, Vattugatan 15 b
         28131 Hassleholm, Sweden
         mailto:Odium666@hotmail.com


Soulstorm - _<demo>_  (3-track demo)
by: Adrian Bromley  (***--)

It has been a while since I have heard any new material from  Toronto
outfit Soulstorm, with the band going into hiatus some years ago  and
some members filling  positions  left  open  in  fellow  Toronto  act
Monster Voodoo Machine. But from the ashes of 'defunctness' comes the
raging industrial-tinged beast of Soulstorm --  though  in  different
shape and form. While not a big follower of the  band,  though  their
_Darkness Visible_ release is a great record chockfull  of  harrowing
riffs and monumental doses of electronic/industrial/metal anarchy,  I
did however have respect for the band. This band was doing  what  now
seems to be the 'in thing' years ago, using electronic  sounds  as  a
tool to spicen up their metallic material. Fast forward to  1998  and
we see a much more compact and gentler side to  Soulstorm  with  this
3-song EP. Still heavy on all accounts, just more visibly focused  on
attaining a  strong  radiant  groove  throughout.  The  new  material
("Wreck Your Shit", "Brand New  day"  and  "Sunday")  all  radiate  a
similar sound,  congruently  evolving  the  Soulstorm  machine  quite
clearly throughout the demo. Strong production pumps  this  baby  up.
Nothing here seems lacking -- 'cept maybe record label interest?  I'm
hoping the band's full release of new  material  captures  what  they
have here. This may be a three-song demo, but  packs  a  stellar  and
memorable wallop.

Contact: Soulstorm c/o Nick
         Voice: (416) 261-4013
         WWW: http://www.golden.net/~molotov/soul/index.htm


Tandus - _Logan Maut_  (4 track demo)
by: Paul Schwarz  (****-)

Another quality demo from Malaysia. Although it's not too hard to see
where Tandus get their influence from -- clothes: black jeans,  short
cut T-shirt sleeves, bulletbelts, evil  looks;  music:  early  Celtic
Frost, early Slayer, Venom etc. Yes, the 80s is being dragged out for
a sound kicking once again, but for a demo band  Tandus  are  dishing
out some pretty good  knocks.  The  first  three  tracks  are  pretty
straightforward thrashy numbers  with  very  nice  guitar  production
(plenty of crunch), but the vocals could use a little working on. The
last track (although instrumental) is what really raises Tandus  that
touch further. It has some nice harmonies and  rounds  off  the  demo
well. Whether Tandus -will- be big I don't know, but considering  how
much of the present Osmose roster are  making  their  living  out  of
listening to their old vinyl collection, I don't see a reason to vent
my spleen against a band who are actually doing it quite well.

Contact: Muzik Box Production, Peti Surat No.96, Pejabat Pos
         Majidice, s1110, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia


The Royal Blood - _Incantation of the Queen_  (5-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (**---)

How easy it is  to  perceive  the  highly  significant  (not  to  say
determinant) influence that Cradle of Filth have  in  everything  The
Royal Blood play. Vocals, guitars, keyboards, drums, all sound (well,
try to sound) like Cradle  of  Filth.  Had  they  succeeded  in  that
attempt, then this demo might even  have  been  interesting,  despite
never original (recall Hecate Enthroned); the problem is that most is
just poorly performed, to the extent that it  all  just  sounds  like
what it really is: a poor amateur  version  of  CoF.  The  very  poor
production doesn't help them at all either. The only thing  that  did
surprise me in this demo was the  vocalist:  he  managed  to  perform
Dani-like  high-pitched  vocals   better   than   I   expected   (but
monotonously and nowhere near the original), yet completely failed to
perform acceptable death grunts. A few reasonable  moments  save  The
Royal Blood from an even  lower  rating,  but  this  demo  is  simply
mediocre and they will have to  improve  very  significantly  in  the
future.

Contact: The Royal Blood, a/c Sergio Sousa
         Av. Antonio C. Moreira 525, 3o dto.
         4405 Valadares, Portugal


The Vein - _Under the Circumstance_  (8-track demo)
by: Pedro Azevedo  (***--)

This is a demo that shows a lot of  work,  due  to  its  considerable
length and to the instrumental quality and tightness found throughout
it. In  fact,  this  is  all  that  justifies  my  rating,  for  this
Portuguese band's demo _Under the  Circumstance_  is  definitely  not
'my'  kind  of  music.  The  Vein's  music  is  soft,   even   rather
mainstream-ish at times; their best  moments  occur  when  the  cello
comes in, adding a very different feel to their music and  taking  it
to a higher level. But moments like the "Oh baby, you and  I"  chorus
in track #3 really make it impossible for me to enjoy  this  kind  of
music, despite its good moments. If,  like  myself,  you  don't  feel
comfortable in the clarity that emanates from this kind of music  and
would rather remain in obscurity,  then  it's  highly  unlikely  that
you'd like  this.  However,  if  you  do  enjoy  the  kind  of  light
atmosphere and music found here, then this is a very worthy demo  for
you to check out.

Contact: The Vein management, Praceta de S. Jordao, 5-A
         7000 Evora, Portugal
         Voice: +066 742014

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        \ \ \/_/_\ \  _ `\  /'__`\   / __`\ \ \/\/\ \  /'___\
         \ \ \L\ \\ \ \ \ \/\ \L\.\_/\ \L\ \ \ \_\ \ \/\ \__/
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           \/___/   \/_/\/_/\/__/\/_/\/___/  \/__/ \/_/\/____/
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    /\  _`\                                       /\ \__
    \ \ \/\_\    ___     ___     ___     __   _ __\ \ ,_\   ____
     \ \ \/_/_  / __`\ /' _ `\  /'___\ /'__`\/\`'__\ \ \/  /',__\
      \ \ \L\ \/\ \L\ \/\ \/\ \/\ \__//\  __/\ \ \/ \ \ \_/\__, `\
       \ \____/\ \____/\ \_\ \_\ \____\ \____\\ \_\  \ \__\/\____/
        \/___/  \/___/  \/_/\/_/\/____/\/____/ \/_/   \/__/\/___/



             I M P A L I N G   T H E M   B U R R I T O S
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Impaled Nazarene play Monterrey, Mexico on February 21, 1998
            by: David E. Alvarez <al588397@mail.mty.itesm.mx>

     It was a cold day, it was in a place that  was  like  a  dancing
room, but it didn't matter -- the environment was great. Four hundred
people or so  were  there.  In  the  beginning  the  very  well-known
doom/death metal band Dream of Nebiros appeared and people  began  to
get closer to the stage. Songs like "Death's Doom"  and  "Journey  in
Autumn" transmited sorrow and brutality. With slow riffs followed  by
fast ones and excellent drumming, they make people go crazy.
     After one moment of calm, Belzabet rose and the  madness  began.
It was their debut. With songs like "Mistress of  Friday  Night"  and
"Into the Mist" people began to headbang. Bearing corpse paint,  this
four member band showed that what they  can  create:  melodic  brutal
darkness I could say, due to their fast blasting  drumming  and  deep
vocals, combined with fast guitar riffs.
     At 8:00 PM Impaled Nazarene  appeared  with  "I  Eat  Pussy  for
Dinner", followed by "Motor Penis" and "Crucify". They played fast as
hell and singer Miika was screming loud,  very  deep.  My  ears  were
hurting due to the high  sound  level,  but  I  was  too  stunned  to
complain. They played at least three songs from  each  one  of  their
albums. Miika was showing his tattoos and the bass player was bearing
a Cannibal Corpse shirt. The drumming was  excelent  and  the  guitar
riffs were as fast as I had never  heard.  They  played  about  three
hours. In the middle of the show, I got into the backstage and I  was
looking at all the disasters on the public. At the end I  spoke  with
all of them and they were gonna play next night in  other  places  of
the country. They were wondered about America, and they say they will
return. It was a great night, Impaled Nazarene did great.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

            W H A T   W E   H A V E   C R A N K E D ! ! !
            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gino's Top 5

1. Absu - _Third Storm of Cythraul_
2. Marduk - _Opus Nocturne_
3. Monster Magnet - _Superjudge_
4. Underworld - _Second Toughest in the Infants_
2. Absu - _The Sun of Tiphareth_

Adrian's Top 5

1. Mortician - _Zombie Apocalypse_
2. King Diamond - _Voodoo_
3. W.A.S.P. - _Double Live Assassins_
4. Stabbing Westward - _Darkest Days_
5. Monster Magnet - _25......Tab_

Brian's Top 5

1. Spooge - "demo 96" & "demo 94"
2. Tyrant - _Under the Dark Mystic Sky_
3. Dawn - _Slaughtersun_
4. Xenomorph - _Acardiacus_
5. Wallachia - _Wallachia_

Alain's Top 5

1. Motorhead - _Snake Bite Love_
2. Faith No More - _Album of the Year_
3. Pitch Shifter - _Infotainment?_
4. Extreme Noise Terror - _Damage 381_
5. Mayhem - _Wolf's Lair Abyss_

Steve's Top 5

1. Mercyful Fate - _Melissa_
2. Absu - _The Sun of Tiphareth_
3. Disfear - _Everyday Slaughter_
4. Amestigon - everything
5. Raven - _F.M._

Adam's Top 5

1. Falkenbach - _...Magni Blandinn ok Magintiri..._
2. Hecate Enthroned - _The Slaughter of Innocence..._
3. Dellamorte - _Uglier and More Disgusting_
4. Hateplow - _Everybody Dies_
5. His Hero is Gone/Assuck tape split (courtesy of CoC scribe Steve)

Andrew's Top 5

1. MSBR - _Collabodestructivists_
2. Vlad Tepes / Belketre - _March to the Black Holocaust_
3. Graveland - _Thousand Swords_
4. John Wall - _Alterstill_
5. Bolt Thrower - _Realm of Chaos_

Pedro's Top 5

1. Empyrium - _Songs of Moors & Misty Fields_
2. October Tide - _Rain Without End_
3. Limbonic Art - _Moon in the Scorpio_
4. Limbonic Art - _In Abhorrence Dementia_
5. Borknagar - _The Olden Domain_

Paul's Top 5

1. Morbid Angel - _Formulas Fatal to the Flesh_
2. Autopsy - _Mental Funeral_
3. Arcturus - _La Masquerade Infernale_
4. Bolt Thrower - _War Master_
5. Cradle of Filth - _Total Fucking Darkness_

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               |     \.-----.|  |_.---.-.|__|  |.-----.
               |  --  |  -__||   _|  _  ||  |  ||__ --|
               |_____/|_____||____|___._||__|__||_____|


Homepage: http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html
FTP Archive: ftp://ftp.etext.org/pub/Zines/ChroniclesOfChaos

--> Interested in being reviewed? Send us your demo and bio to:
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DESCRIPTION
~~~~~~~~~~~
Chronicles of Chaos is a monthly magazine electronically  distributed
worldwide via the Internet. Chronicles of Chaos focuses on all  forms
of chaotic music including black, death and doom metal, dark/ambient,
industrial and electronic/noise as well as  classic  and  progressive
metal. Each issue will feature a plethora of  album  reviews  from  a
wide range  of  bands,  as  well  as  interviews  with  some  of  the
underground's best acts. Also included in each issue are demo reviews
and indie band interviews.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may subscribe to Chronicles of Chaos at any  time  by  sending  a
message with "coc subscribe <your_name_here>" in the SUBJECT of  your
message to <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>. Please note that this command
must NOT be sent to the list address <coc-ezine@lists.colorado.edu>.

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   <mailto:ginof@interlog.com>.   The
'Subject:' field of your message must read: "send file X"  where  'X'
is the name of the requested file (do not include the  quotes).  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.

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End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #30

All contents copyright 1998 by individual creators of included work.
All opinions expressed herein are those of the individuals expressing
them, and do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone else.