___ _ _ _ __ / __\ |__ _ __ ___ _ __ (_) ___| | ___ ___ ___ / _| / / | '_ \| '__/ _ \| '_ \| |/ __| |/ _ \/ __| / _ \| |_ / /___| | | | | | (_) | | | | | (__| | __/\__ \ | (_) | _| \____/|_| |_|_| \___/|_| |_|_|\___|_|\___||___/ \___/|_| ___ _ / __\ |__ __ _ ___ ___ / / | '_ \ / _` |/ _ \/ __| / /___| | | | (_| | (_) \__ \ \____/|_| |_|\__,_|\___/|___/ CHRONICLES OF CHAOS e-Zine, October 1, 1998, Issue #34 http://www.interlog.com/~ginof/coc.html Editor-in-Chief: Gino Filicetti Coordinator: Adrian Bromley Contributor/Copy Editor: Pedro Azevedo Assistant Copy Editor: John Weathers Contributor: Andrew Lewandowski Contributor: Alain M. Gaudrault Contributor: Brian Meloon Contributor: Adam Wasylyk Contributor: Paul Schwarz 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 #34 Contents, 10/1/98 --------------------------- * Editorial * Loud Letters * Deadly Dialogues -- Death: Vision of the Anointed -- Sepultura: Slowed Down, But Not For Long -- Sentenced: Never to Be Freed -- Bruce Dickinson: Bruce Don't Bullshit -- Lesser Known: Who Knew? * Album Asylum -- Adnauseum - _Desire, Aspire, Inspire, Expire_ -- Various - _Amduscias_ -- Arkh'aam - _The Blue Beyond the Black_ -- Ataraxia - _Historiae_ -- Barrit - _Smiles Upon the Stroke That Murders Me_ -- Blood Ritual - _At the Mountains of Madness_ -- Bolt Thrower - _Mercenary_ -- Bruce Dickinson - _The Chemical Wedding_ -- Cage - _Unveiled_ -- Castrum - _Black Silhouette Enfolded in Sunrise_ -- Cemetary - _Sweetest Tragedies_ -- Various - _Cry Now, Cry Later -- Vols. 3 & 4_ -- Cryptopsy - _Whisper Supremacy_ -- Days of Mourning - _Reborn as the Enemy_ -- Death List - _Severed_ -- Deuteronomium - _Street Corner Queen_ -- Dying Fetus - _Killing on Adrenaline_ -- Excruciating Terror - _Divided We Fall_ -- Exumer - _Possessed by Fire_ / _Rising From the Sea_ -- Godkiller - _The End of the World_ -- HammerFall - _Legacy of Kings_ -- The Haunted - _The Haunted_ -- H-Bomb - _Coup de Metal_ / _Attaque_ -- HIM - _Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666_ -- Impending Doom - _Signum of Hate_ -- In Ruins - _For Seasons of Grey_ -- Kataklysm - _Victims of This Fallen World_ -- Lycanthropic - _Obey the Moon_ -- Lycia - _Estrella_ -- Manegarm - _Nordstjarnans Tildsalder_ -- Mental Home - _Black Art_ -- Mercury Rising - _Building Rome_ -- Necromanicide - _Hate Regime_ -- Nembryonic - _Incomplete_ -- Nox Intempesta - _Damnanus Dominus_ -- Oathean - _The Eyes of Tremendous Sorrow_ -- Poetry - _Catharsis_ -- Satariel - _Lady Lust Lilith_ -- Skepticism - _Lead and Aether_ -- Soilwork - _Steel Bath Suicide_ -- Various - _Songs From the Penalty Box: Volume 2_ -- Sortilege - _Sortilege_ / _Metamorphose_ -- Spineshank - _Strictly Diesel_ -- Sutcliffe Jugend - _When Pornography Is No Longer Enough _ -- System of a Down - _System of a Down_ -- Theatre Of Tragedy - _Aegis_ -- Transport League - _Superevil_ -- Turkknifes Pope - _Performance Crippling Data Restriction_ -- Ultraspank - _Ultraspank_ -- Zao - _Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest_ * New Noise -- Bihor Massif - _Gateway to the Fifth Dimension_ -- Cephalectomy - _Dark Waters Rise_ -- Ghoulunatics - _Carving Into You_ -- Graven Image - _Black Lung Cathedral_ -- Immortal Souls -_ Reflections of Doom_ -- Manifestium -_ The Dawn of Domination_ * Chaotic Concerts -- Obscure and Violent Canadian Supremacy: Gorguts with Cryptopsy -- Doom Descends Upon Deutschland: Cradle of Filth, Einherjer, etc. * What We Have Cranked * Details =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= _____) / /) , , /) )__ _(/ _/_ _____ _ // / (_(__(_(__(_)/ (__(_(_(_(/_ (_____) by: Gino Filicetti Greetings loyal subjects. Once again, CoC descends upon the earth to strike terror in the hearts of the weak, and glory in the hearts of the initiated. The reason I've included an editorial in this issue is to introduce to you another group of new writers on trial here at Chronicles of Chaos. Firstly, there is Jody Webb, who is the metal director at WVKR, Vassar College Radio, and has been a part of the scene for his fair share of time. Secondly, we have Alex Cantwell, who is a writer for The Ultimatum Metal Mag. And lastly, we have David Rocher, who is a good friend of Paul Schwarz and has offered a hand in doing some reviews. I hope you all enjoy the work of our new writers as well as our long time veteran writers. Lest we forget our veterans, for without them, where would we be? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= M""MMMMMMMM dP M MMMMMMMM 88 M MMMMMMMM .d8888b. dP dP .d888b88 M MMMMMMMM 88' `88 88 88 88' `88 M MMMMMMMM 88. .88 88. .88 88. .88 M M `88888P' `88888P' `88888P8 MMMMMMMMMMM M""MMMMMMMM dP dP M MMMMMMMM 88 88 M MMMMMMMM .d8888b. d8888P d8888P .d8888b. 88d888b. .d8888b. M MMMMMMMM 88ooood8 88 88 88ooood8 88' `88 Y8ooooo. M MMMMMMMM 88. ... 88 88 88. ... 88 88 M M `88888P' dP dP `88888P' dP `88888P' MMMMMMMMMMM This is the column where we print those lovely letters our readers decide so graciously to write us. Whether they be positive, negative, ignorant or just plain spelled wrong, you can rest assured that they'll be here in their original form. If you'd like to see your own letter here, e-mail it to and enter 'Attention Loud Letters' in the subject field. Hopefully all letters received will be featured in upcoming issues of Chronicles of Chaos. Date: Sat, 05 Sep 1998 From: Blackk Soul Subject: Attention Loud Letters Dear CoC, I was very disappointed at reading your 33rd issue. Why? Because of the review of Sepultura. Sepultura is ,I think, a trendy and a bad metal band. It might be a good Dance band but not metal. I used to be a big fan of theirs when I first listened to 'Morbid Visions'. It is in fact one of the best,and pioneering,Death Metal realeases ever. Other albums until Arise are also not bad, but since the release of 'Chaos AD' they have given a huge blow to the faces of fans like myself. From a very good Death Metal band, they transformed into a pop/metal band. 'Roots' and this new album are even worse. The reviewer of the new album has given it a 9 out of 10. I had thought that CoC was a good zine, but it seems to me that CoC, too, has bowed down to trends and since Sepultura is a very popular band, they have given it a 9. Do you people at CoC really consider the new Sepultura a good metal band? CoC is a very high standard ezine. Although everything written on is not up to my liking, I still consider it to be one of the best zines. As a dedicated reader I urge you not to fall into trends. Please do not review bad and shitty bands like Sepultura. There are other thousands of magazines reviewing those pop metallers. Besides you can do without them, don't you? And since you guys are so much dedicated to metal, why waste your space on a band that is a shame to metal (which they truly are not). Readers who agree/disagree with me send love/hate mails to CoC or myself. Sunil 'Blacksoul' [I do really like the new Sepultura and I don't bow down to trends. I think that if CoC didn't cover bands on the grounds that they are suitably heavy and competent (categories which I think Sepultura fall into easily) and not on the basis that they are "underground enough", we would be guilty of snobbery and conforming to a sort of trend based on non-success instead of musical suitability. -- Paul] Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 From: Dmitry Dyomin Subject: Attention Loud Letters Hi there. I'm not subscriber of CoC, but I've read some numbers of this fuckin' great 'zine. I think this one is the best in the world. But in the No.31 I've read the article 'bout Ukrainian Black metal band 'Nocturnal Mortum'... and ... what I'm reading?: 'Hail from the frozen Ukrainian tundra!'. I forgot who wrote it, but that mother-fucker doesn't know anythin' 'bout Ukraine. There is no fuckin' tundra there. So, fuck ya, man. Best wishes. Old One. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= __ \ | | | | _ \ _` | _` | | | | | | __/ ( | ( | | | | ____/ \___|\__,_|\__,_|_|\__, | ____/ __ \ _) | | | | _` | | _ \ _` | | | _ \ __| | | | ( | | ( | ( | | | __/\__ \ ____/ _|\__,_|_|\___/ \__, |\__,_|\___|____/ |___/ V I S I O N O F T H E A N O I N T E D ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CoC interviews Death by: Aaron McKay Through the course of a thirty minute dialogue with a true metal icon, Chuck Schuldiner of Death, I had reaffirmed for myself what I already knew to be accurate. You see, I have been a massive fan of Death for many years. Growing up in Florida, Mr. Schuldiner and various members of the band would surface at concerts at which I was in attendance. Never, not once, did he or any of Death's rank-and-file ever not have a moment to sign an autograph or take a moment to bullshit with a fan. I always have found this type of fan loyalty to be extremely admirable. This sterling personality trait of Mr. Schuldiner's came flooding back to me during our discussion. My phone interview with Death's founding member revealed, once again, a grateful and articulate gentleman. A true and honest pleasure to converse with. If I came away from the interview with anything at all, it was Chuck Schuldiner's message to the listening public stems from the recognition that no lasting solution to the problem of mediocrity in music can be brought about with a brief reality check. Through Death's new masterpiece, _The Sound of Perseverance_, Schuldiner and Death collectively manifest a new standard by which all metal will now be judged. Let me share with you some of the passion and enlightenment of one of metal's greats! CoC: I've noticed that a lot of bands seem to be relocating to the "Sunshine State", like Cannibal Corpse and, recently, Pro-Pain. What draw do you feel Florida has, outside of hurricane season, of course? Chuck Schuldiner: Good question. I think, for one thing, I know personally, survival-wise, it is very economical. You can get a house down here for what people up North are paying for an efficiency apartment. That, I think, is a really big part of it. Honestly, in Florida, the only bands coming out of here now are Matchbox 20 and that type of stuff. For metal, Florida has had a little boom in Tampa for a while, with a lot of the bands getting picked up. Florida has never really been a big place for a lot of the big bands to come out of. [Death being the OBVIOUS exception! -- Aaron] Bigger bands in Florida are like Tom Petty from Gainesville... CoC: Buffett plays there quite a little bit! CS: Yeah! And Pat Travors! Florida is just a very weird place. I think, more than anything, if I was going to move down here, it'd be, for one thing, awesome beaches and the economical side of it. As a musician, money does not come in all the time and it's hard. This is the only way to be able to have a decent house and survive. CoC: How is the scene there in Florida? I know that you mentioned a few bands that couldn't even be construed as metal, but, other than that, how is the scene for bands like Death? CS: We never play around here. It is pretty lame. Orlando and the club scene is pretty pathetic. Basically, it has always been bad. Ever since 1983, when I formed the band, it has always been bad. It has always been behind the times. We have the House of Blues now which has been doing, like, Megadeth gigs; the more mainstream metal type of stuff, which is cool. It's funny, to tell you the truth, I don't even look at [Florida] as a place for a scene. I look at Florida as a place where I've lived most of my life and there has been a little scene bubble up here and there, but it dies back down real quick. It is an odd place for the music scene, compared to places like New York that have such an established reputation. CoC: When I was growing up there, I remember seeing bands like Nasty Savage and Rich Elliott's Blackout performing at Masquerade and J. J. Casino and Lounge. How do you think that kind of atmosphere affected Death and its development? CS: Nasty Savage was a big inspiration to me in the beginning, because they were a real band. I remember still being in high school and I saw them play and I remember them being so professional, heavy, and those are some -real- special times. I still look back on those with a -lot- of cool memories. It was definitely a major influence to see Nasty Savage. They had this killer demo out, _The Way to Mayhem_ [I think I heard the name of this demo correctly... -- Aaron]. I just remember looking up to them as being so professional and inspirational, as well. I remember thinking that they were going to be massive. I remember, honestly, telling my friend that they are going to be as big as Priest, one day. I thought they would be... [At this point Mr. Schuldiner cleared up for me a forlorn notion of mine that, once, at a club in Ybor City, Florida, a buddy of mine and I thought we saw him take the lead guitar duties for Obituary when Obituary opened for Morbid Angel. I then asked him about the relationship between Morbid Angel and Death. -- Aaron] CoC: Is there any animosity between the bands? CS: Not that I know of. They have had some really odd statements about our band. I don't know why. CoC: Struck me as funny... CS: I have no idea. Real good question, actually. CoC: Speaking of that, I have always viewed Death as a group that has a real good positive vibe -- pointing out ills in society and things that you could make right. "Overactive Imagination" comes to mind here. Is this a conscious effort on the part of Death? CS: It definitely is [about] things that trouble me. I'm a pretty simple person. Basically, the way I live life is with good people around me. I love animals. I love normal things. Love going to the beach. Everything normal. It troubles me that there are so many people out in the world that want to see people fall flat on their face and not do well in life. It is weird to me because I, personally, don't -ever- have the time to sit around and dwell on other people's lives. It is amazing how many people out there do nothing -but- that. [They] start rumors, say bad things about people; I'm just not into this whole negative thing. CoC: Along those lines, I wanted to ask you, in the liner notes of _Human_, you stated that this album was more than an album to you; it was revenge. CS: Exactly. A lot of people tried to ruin my career, ruin my name, ruin my integrity. I'm just a musician. I'm here to make music. I guess that troubles some people. CoC: Gene Hoglan, in the liner notes on _Individual Thought Patterns_, called you the best cook in death metal. What did he mean by that? CS: I enjoy cooking. Definitely. When Gene was down, whenever he would come down to rehearse, we'd always barbecue and do some cooking. CoC: I think I remember reading that he really benefited, weight-wise, from your cooking... CS: I try to help. I thought it was really cool how he was trying to keep that strong will-power to do good and loose weight. I was just cooking a lot on the grill. Just a lot of light stuff. CoC: I remember going to a "Death for Life" benefit for B.E.T.A. and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. A kind of record release party for _Symbolic_. CS: RIGHT! CoC: Is there any unofficial release party scheduled for _The Sound of Perseverance_? CS: Not really, no. Probably just have a party at my house or something. You know, just a few friends. Nothing major. I'd like to do some benefits in the future for, like, the Humane Society. I love dogs and cats. I think that they are basically a lot better than people, most times. CoC: I want to give a great deal of credit here to Nuclear Blast. They really seem to have come behind Death 110%, giving you guys some much deserved attention. I know Death had to have been pursued by any number of labels, so why Nuclear Blast? CS: There were several labels that were interested [in Death], but I've seen Nuclear Blast, for one thing, grow so rapidly over the past couple of years, as a label, that it's insane. It is because of good decisions that they have made by signing good bands. They have a lot of good bands on their label right now. They are a label that, unlike most other labels out there, stuck their necks out and signed all this metal. It has paid off because now they are -the- label! I saw that, believe me. As a fan, I recognize that, and, as a musician in a band that is suffering from -lack- of proper decision making from other labels; I saw them making a lot of good decisions. We started talking to each other and had several really good conversations about things. They know where I was coming from and I talked in great length about where the band has been, where it could go, and where it could have gone with the proper support from [Death's previous] labels. Nuclear Blast shared my viewpoints and we struck a deal. That was that. It just made perfect sense. I feel it is the making of a really good relationship. CoC: When listening to _The Sound of Perseverance_, it sounds so multi-layered, dramatically heavy, and complex. Even more so than _Individual Thought Patterns_. How do you do it? CS: Funny you should mention _Individual Thought Patterns_. This record kinda reminds me of the spirit of that, in a way, while I was moving into a fresh territory, as well. It kinda has that attitude of when I started writing for this record, I, for one thing, had my home studio set up and was able to do a lot of recording and experimenting with different leads, ideas, harmonies, playing the two guitars off of one another, and have two different guitar parts going on, as opposed to have them always doing the exact same thing. This opens up the possibilities for so many more melodies. It was a matter of just really experimenting with the material. We re-did the whole record two times before we even entered the studio with Jim Morris, so by the time we were at Morrisound, it was the most prepared I have ever been in my life. CoC: Fantastic! CS: Yeah! It paid off. We went in wanting to keep this [album] fresh. We know what we are doing, we know what we want do to. We worked with Jim Morris on _Symbolic_, so I knew exactly what to expect, which was nothing but good things. We recorded and mixed the album in three weeks, which is kinda really unheard of in the industry. CoC: WOW! CS: It was cool. It felt great. I wanted to capture that "real vibe". CoC: It definitely came across that way. When I listen to _The Sound of Perseverance_, it kinda feels like a musical excursion, like an adventure, clocking in at 56 minutes and change -- by far Death's longest release. Was there sometime you were trying to communicate with its length and get across to the listener? CS: I had a lot of stuff to get out musically! When I started writing this material, the songs, in general, were a lot longer. Like "Flesh and the Power it Holds", [which] is over eight minutes long. CoC: That song is brilliant! CS: That is my favorite song on the record, personally. You used that word "adventure". I like to use that [word] for music. I think that music -should- be an adventure. For me, these songs turned in to these adventures more than any other record, I think. It is a very natural thing for me; when I start writing, I write and whatever comes out -- comes out. I think [_TSoP_] is a good album to come out at this time. The state of metal now is so twisted in America. People take the easy way out musically and everyone is copying each other and I think this is a good album to kinda throw in the middle of everyone and say, "Here, take this!" CoC: Exactly. I think that Scott [Clendenin], Shannon [Hamm], and Richard [Christy] had some enormous footsteps to follow in, because the stream of talented musicians that has come through Death has been cataclysmic. They all have really risen to the occasion. What an excellent line-up you have now. CS: I feel very good about it. We all do. I have basically been performing with Scott and Shannon for over two years now, so we've had a really good relationship established, and Richard came in and just sounded killer. CoC: It just clicked. CS: Yeah. CoC: I know that you personally tip your hat to Mercyful Fate, Venom, Hellhammer, and the like... CS: Oh, yeah. CoC: I feel that the argument can be made, even by me, on occasion, that Death is kinda the pioneer of the entire field. What kind of obligation does that place on Death? CS: I don't know. Several people have mentioned that and, it might sound weird, but I never really think about it like that. It is kinda like, I just go my own way and do my own thing and hope whatever comes out makes people happy. I feel, as a fan, not even as a musician, but as a metal fan, that I -do- have a responsibility to keep metal going and alive and do whatever I can do. That is the fan side of me more than the musician. It is an intertwined thing because I am -such- a fan still, and I think that people might forget that. A lot of people in bands stop becoming fans. You can tell, listening to certain records by the bigger bands, that they have stopped being a fan of metal. They are no longer intrigued by it or care especially; when you see bands like Metallica saying that they are no longer a metal band and don't want to be called a metal band, yet they got huge off of being metal. CoC: I think that is very well put. CS: It is sad. It makes me sad, as a fan, to see bands turn people onto great music then whatever... It is kinda like [Metallica] are old; they are not that much older than me, really. I'm 31 and they have to be in their mid-thirties; upper-thirties, at the most. CoC: You mentioned that you were a fan and every time that I've seen Death you have always been very supportive other groups. The band that comes immediately to mind is Sadus. CS: Oh, yeah. CoC: You have often gone out of your way to support other acts that have followed in your wake. I think that you deserve a tremendous amount of credit for that. CS: It is like I've said before, I'm just trying to keep things going and whatever I can do anytime, I will do it. I am lucky to have some friends in some really cool bands like Sadus, who are such great people and they are such a great band. I saw them at the Milwaukee Metal Fest. CoC: Thank you, by the way, for performing at that show, too. CS: I had a really great time. It was really hectic, though, man, 'cause those shows are not put on well. Getting on stage and the equipment being total crap. Richard is one of the greatest drummers in metal and he had a horrible drum set to play on. His snare kept falling; he only had two toms and he usually plays five. It was just a mess, but after the third song, everything just clicked and the audience was so killer. It was very uplifting to be a part of that show and look out there and see all these people there for metal when supposedly metal is dead in America. CoC: No way. Not after -that- show. CS: That show really sent some shockwaves through corporate America. I thought Mercyful Fate was incredible and Sadus was awesome. I was honored to sit there in front of Steve [DiGiorgio] and watch him play. They were just really great. CoC: I wanted to ask you about the vocal style on _The Sound of Perseverance_. I've noticed in recent interviews that you said it was the most limiting style to the genre that Death is in. CS: It is. That is why I had a lot of fun doing "Painkiller". That was my chance to do something different that I enjoy doing. [The vocal style] is basically why I have Control Denied ready to go after the Death tours are done. Control Denied is the extension of Death. CoC: I am excited about it! CS: I am, too. It has so much potential, because I have been very blessed by people embracing the music of Death, and when they hear Control Denied it will be exactly what they are embracing Death for, only more. It is that next, fifth element, which is the vocals, that are, honestly, holding this thing back inside of me. I've grown so much, as the music has; I'm outgrowing it. It is like a shoe that is getting really tight and you have to switch to another pair and let things grow and breathe. The music for Control Denied is all about that. It is about not giving in, it is not about anything but what the name of the band says. I don't like to be controlled or limited, and, with music, the worst thing to do is stay in the same spot when you know there could be more and better things. CoC: I personally believe that your fans are growing with you. CS: I do, too. I think the greatest thing is that everyone is really embracing the progress. CoC: How do you feel about your upcoming tour with your label-mates HammerFall? CS: It is going to be great. I'm looking forward to it very much. They are a killer metal band and I think America is going to enjoy that tour! CoC: Back to the Milwaukee Metal Fest for a moment, I noticed that Brian Griffin of Broken Hope was twisting the knobs on the soundboard for Death's performance. Was that something that was planned? CS: Actually, our sound man didn't show up. The bus broke down. The sound man for Cannibal Corpse is also our sound man, sometimes. He was going to run our sound at that show, but the bus broke down, so I was freakin' out. We had to go on in an hour and we had no sound man; our guitar tech didn't show up, our drum tech didn't show up. It was a nightmare. I mean, honestly, really, it was one of the most nightmare-ish like shows leading up to the performance that I have ever had. CoC: How was the Dynamo Open Air Festival with Pantera? CS: Great! Really great response. 35000 people. Insane. Kinda like a dream looking out and seeing all those people. Really cool, man! Overwhelming in a really great way. The most organized concert event that I have ever been a part of. It was so professionally done and it was just killer. I thought it was a breakthrough for us to be a part of something like that. CoC: I noticed there is a lot of groups touring right now. Do you think that will, in any way, discourage some bands from touring now that a juggernaut like Death is going to be on the road? CS: Some people have mentioned that there are a lot of bands on tour and they are kinda worried that people aren't going to have enough money to come out to our show. Basically, I think that it is up to the fans to balance their money wisely. CoC: I've noticed in the music industry things seem to be extremely hectic and chaotic. Death, however, never seemed to get swept up into that. Did the name of the new record come from the struggle a band like Death must endure to keep on keepin' on? CS: That is exactly where the whole name was spawned from. For this record, I felt like it definitely is the most impressionable and important record that this band has ever done. That is why the title really had to say something and that it had to make people realize that it -was- saying something. CoC: Thank you, Mr. Schuldiner, for all of your time and for the very impressive _The Sound of Perseverance_ release. Please, end the interview anyway you would like. CS: God! I appreciate everyone's support and patience. REAL METAL DOES LIVE! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= S L O W E D D O W N , B U T N O T F O R L O N G ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CoC chats with Igor Cavalera of Sepultura by: Paul Schwarz From their beginnings as what can be vaguely described as a black metal band, at least in as much as Venom were/are a black metal band, to their rise through the ranks of death metal and finally their elevation to the very pinnacle of the metal genre's popularity, alongside such bands as Pantera and Slayer, Sepultura have always strived. Early on they strived to simply become one of the many, but by the time _Beneath the Remains_ was released, their battle was to become alone, something special. Though some fans left them in their transition from _Arise_'s death/thrash to _Chaos A.D._'s catchy, powerful and less technical style, overall it was _Chaos A.D._ which brought to Sepultura a mass metal audience. 1996 saw the band's popularity soar with a Top 20 UK single and eventual gold status for that year's album, _Roots_. For that year it was almost impossible to escape the band, as they grabbed magazine covers and metal club play left and right. Though gaining many fans at the end of this year, Sepultura lost founding member, vocalist and (at that time) media focal-point Max Cavalera, in what was at the time widely viewed as a split, over the contract renewal of Gloria Cavalera (who was then their manager), which would finish the band. As this interview's mere presence indicates, Sepultura were not finished. Though Max (who went on to form Soulfly) has bemoaned the band's retention of the name, it was their right to keep it both legally and, at least in my opinion, musically speaking. Sepultura recruited Derrick Green as their new vocalist and continued striving. With new album _Against_ set to be unleashed on the world on October 6th, I had a very pleasant talk with Igor about the new record and the band's current line-up and situation past and present. I start with the new album. CoC: I feel there is a strong hardcore and punk influence running through the new album, _Against_; would you agree? Igor Cavalera: Yeah, at the end I do, you know. When we were doing it we didn't really feel that way; we were just writing and writing, putting shit down without even noticing those kinds of details. Today, when I sit down and listen to the CD, I can totally see that. That is very clear; the whole hardcore [thing] influenced this album a lot and the way I really see it, it is a very strong album, very passionate. That's how we wrote it and somehow it was very influenced by a lot of hardcore bands, which makes me very proud. CoC: I also feel that it is, in a strange way, darker or more brooding than _Roots_. I personally think it has a deeper sound -- I don't know why, it is just my impression it seems to have more struggle in it. Would you agree, and, if so, could you explain how that change came about? IC: Yeah, to a certain point I agree, the whole struggling point [the way] that you put it. We really felt a lot of pressure from Max departing the band and for us to continue [with] this there is a lot of struggle there. At the same time, I just think that a lot of feelings are really transparent, very clear when I listen to the CD, and that's [made it] become a little darker than _Roots_. I think _Roots_ was a very conceptual album where every song really had something to do with the other and with the whole Brazilian roots and a lot of percussive things in the middle of it; this album is a little more open. It is not really conceptual or anything like that; it's just a bunch of songs that we felt it was right to write at that time, we wrote it and it felt good, and that is what is on the CD. CoC: With the songs written by single people, did people come in with full songs, or were they more sort of jammed out by the band? IC: That's one thing that we tried to keep very straight. Sepultura has always been about jammed out. It is always about four people really thinking or four people really fighting for a riff or for a lyric or for anything, so that is something we all felt [is] really strong today, that band feeling, where before, on _Roots_, we really felt that Max was really getting all the credit for something that we really wrote together. We didn't feel that was right, we didn't feel that was fair, because it was never different with Sepultura. It was always about four people locked up in a room, pouring their sweat together. CoC: Were the lyrics written in a group or were they more of an independent thing for the bandmembers? IC: They're very different in the context of Andreas and me writing most of the lyrics on this album and them always being a little different from Max's way of writing; Andreas leaves it a little more open to different opinions and, you know, different people can have a different idea of what he is singing. Max's were a lot more straightforward; though I like it both ways, I can't really pick and say I like one [approach] better than the other. It is just different in a way that one is a little darker. CoC: You used Howard Benson as a producer for the album, which was a difference, it was a change because I haven't known you to use him before. What influenced you to use him as opposed to either Ross Robinson, Scott Burns or Andy Wallace? IC: Well, the whole thing with Howard Benson was [that] we did like a pre-production tape with him with a lot of new songs and he was actually the one that approached us really wanting to do this project. So it was different from the start already -- it was like "alright, let's see what he's got". From what we'd heard of his earlier stuff with Motorhead and Body Count we wouldn't really have picked him, because we thought [what he did with those bands] was really average. But he proved us wrong when we did the tape. It was totally different for us, it was like, "damn, he's really got something to put together", and plus we didn't want to repeat ourselves by working with Ross. It is a different case [with Andy Wallace], because Andy Wallace has always been a very good mixer, so we might even have ended up working with Andy -- that's something we put [to the side]: at the end we always need someone to put all the madness together and Andy is very good at that. CoC: How was it working with the Kodo drummers from Japan which you did on "Kamaitachi"? IC: That was something very special, especially for me as a drummer, man. That was almost like a dream coming true. I have always been a very strong fan of Kodo; the style they put on their drums, the energy. I [have] always been a drummer very involved on the energy factor, a lot more than the technical and all that stuff that goes around the drumming. If I can hear that a person is really putting energy into every single hit, that for me is what it takes to be a great drummer. So, for me to work with them, to be right in front of those drums and feel the energy, it was very special. CoC: You've covered a song called "F.O.E.", by James L. Bowen; I don't know the artist, I am curious... IC: We didn't know [him] either! CoC: So what is it exactly, the song, or the cover, or whatever? IC: Yeah, it is just like... it was a TV show in Brazil that has been going on for like over ten years and the opening song for this TV show is exactly that "F.O.E." song, and we always listened to that and we always thought like "man, this is such a killer song", but we never knew who wrote it or anything about it; we just knew it was from that TV show. But then I was in Sao Paulo and I found an old vinyl with that song on it, which was like a soundtrack for an old 70s movie called "Vanishing Point", and I was like "fuck, this is the song". So it was like, "let's go over that". And we just said "alright, fuck it, let's do it". We didn't even know the band, or that person, or anything about it. CoC: That's really cool. IC: Yeah. CoC: There's also the question of the last track on the album which is, I think, pretty different from any other way you've ended an album before. It's got some similarities to some of things you've done in the past, like "Kaiowas", maybe, or the acoustic parts on _Roots_. What were the ideas behind all this strange noise, and the much quieter, not angry, ending. In the past you've ended with "Primitive Future", "Clenched Fist", so... IC: Yeah, I know it is weird. We felt that that song just really fitted at the end of the album. Then again, this album we also started with a song which was very different from _Chaos A.D._, where we started with a catchier, more mid-tempo kind of song with "Refuse/Resist", and _Roots_. Then with this album we started with a song that was a lot faster than the usual that we've been doing, so why not finish also in a different way? And it is a very interesting song, because we recorded actually the first half of it in my home in San Diego just with a little DAT machine. Me, Andreas and Paulo, we were fucking around with acoustic instruments, actually, as we were watching a football game on TV, and we were just jamming around like looking at the TV. And later on, Andreas listened to it and he was like "man!". 'Cause at the time we thought that it was cool, but that there was really nothing to it, and then Andreas was like "you got to listen to this shit we recorded the other night, I think it is really cool". So I listened to it and I was like "wow, this is really fun!" and then we're like "let's finish it up in the studio". So the first half, it was done all very crappy, and then right after that it goes into something a lot more professional; I don't know what you wanna call it, we just felt it was cool. Also with the cello, which is an instrument which we really love and it can fit pretty good with something like that. CoC: What I found was good about it was that it surprised me, the cello part really surprised me, which I think was a good thing for it; good way to end the album, in my view anyway. You've had two people to do lead vocals and guitars and stuff on various tracks, Jason Newsted and Joao Gordo. How did these collaborations come about and was there a reason for it, or did it just happen? IC: Pretty much the same way Jello Biafra worked with us. It always takes this crazy idea of one of us and one phone call: "you wanna do it?", and that person going like "fuck yeah!" or "Oh, I don't know if I have the time if I am on tour"... you know. It is not like contacting any managers or going through any bullshit. it is just like really friendship and [when] you have that person on the album it means a lot more to us having a really good friend working with us rather than someone music-wise that we respect. Especially with Gordo, he comes from a very different background, the whole like hardcore scene of Brazil, they [RDP] started way before Sepultura and it feels very good to have someone like him on the album and also have Jason [Newsted, Metallica] who is also a very good friend, and a very big Sepultura fan, which is very inspiring for us, when he talks a lot about Sepultura on most of the interviews he does. A lot of mutual respect, that's the main thing for us. CoC: How do you feel about _Roots_, looking back on it two years after it came out? Because it brought you, success-wise, a lot further than you'd come before. How do you feel about the album now and what it did for you? IC: I don't know, man. The more I listen to _Roots_, the harder it is for me to understand what we were doing. Like, at first I thought the same way I think about [_Against_] right now: we just throw a bunch of ideas and put it out and then we'll see what happens. And now, when I listen back to _Roots_, it is hard to understand how people really got into that album. To a certain point, it was like, "damn", 'cause I don't think it is that easy, it is not that catchy, you know what I mean, for me it was like, "fuck". It is very weird, there is like a noisy factor to it, like everything is very noisy and the whole vibe on the album was very different from anything we'd done before and the whole concept of how we recorded and everything. It just surprised me that a lot of people got into it. CoC: It is not like Metallica's black album, where you could kind of see how it was more accessible than _... And Justice for All_. IC: Yeah, you can totally pick out all the catchy stuff on different albums, but on _Roots_ it's like "fuck". CoC: Yeah, it's interesting, it seems a mystery and it remains a mystery. [Though maybe it is explained by the trend-oriented popularity of the "Korn sound" and _Roots_' similarity to that sound, which saw Korn's _Follow the Leader_ debut at number 1 in the States. -- Paul] IC: It will always be the same mystery as to why some bands work and some bands don't, and sometimes they have very similar sounds. It is the same thing behind anything you do involving music, it is always very good timing with different factors. CoC: Down to a lot of things other than music, I think. The band, you personally perhaps, have been very adamant over the last year and a half, since Sepultura split, not to use the press as a weapon against Max; you've more or less kept quiet. I do feel, though, that "Rumours", along, possibly, with other songs, has a sort of similarity to some of the songs on the Soulfly record -- "Rumours" sounds like it was about the split and a lot of the songs on the Soulfly record are about the split. Are these songs about the split and, if so, did you -have- to get some of your feelings out about that? IC: In a way, they deal with a lot of things that went on, not actually about the split; but a song like "Rumours" is really something about being pissed off with a lot of things you read that sometimes are not true, including the whole thing between Max and the band. So it is hard for me to really compare it to any of the songs on the Soulfly album like you put it, but at the same time there is definitely a lot to do with it, with this whole year and a half that we have been through and "Rumours" is one of the songs that really deals with that. But not only that but something that could also be in the past of the band. CoC: This is a hypothetical question. If Max disbanded Soulfly, agreed that he was wrong or whatever and having Gloria as a manager was wrong... and he wanted to rejoin Sepultura... would Sepultura take him back at this point? IC: I would. I would have him and Derrick. CoC: You'd have both of them? IC: Yeah, I think it would be... For me, I am not talking about the band or the other guys in the band, but for me, I would. I know they could work together, 'cause he is my blood. If those terms, as you put it, if they were actually true, for me, as a brother, I would take him in a minute. CoC: Do you think that Max's departure and Derrick's addition to the band will be the last change in Sepultura's line-up? IC: Oh, that's impossible to answer... I would never have imagined any change in Sepultura since our first guitar player, Jairo, left the band, and I never imagined that -he- would leave the band. So I don't know. There is too much going on in each mind to try to figure out. CoC: But you don't -expect- another change, you feel the band is particularly united at present? IC: Yeah, I don't really expect anything like that. I just feel very strong as a band today. After we've been fighting a few years with our management that we wanted to be portrayed as a band, and today I have that band feeling. That feels really, really good. CoC: Do you think your fans will accept this album and the band as it is now? IC: It's hard to tell. But one thing that it's really easy for me to see is how when you do something that you really put 100% of your feelings into and you really [are] very comfortable with, it is a lot easier to accept success or even failure. When you know you gave it everything you've got, whatever happens next is much easier to accept rather than if you try to please anyone. CoC: Do you feel that you have almost gone back, to a certain [extent], via Max's leaving, or do you feel that you can carry on musically and success-wise from where _Roots_ left off? IC: I don't know, man. It has always been really about breaking a lot of barriers and that is the feeling I have always had with Sepultura, from day one. Men that came out of Brazil and really break that circle of European and American bands. That's something that I am so proud of. That itself is something that keeps me going; when I see the fans from Indonesia, from Brazil, from South Africa. They talk to us and say "you guys represent something that is very important for us, not only musically, but [for] showing people in those circles that it can be done by people like us from other places in the world." CoC: On live performances, how is Derrick Green and what is the difference with doing old songs by Sepultura? Does he attempt to mimic the old vocal style or does he do it in a different style? IC: Yeah, it is a different approach. We did a couple of shows with Derrick and we totally felt that the approach he put on the old songs was really not about trying to copy Max in any way. That was something that he always [made] very clear to us and we always respected that -- that he's got his own ideas. He really respects Max for what he has done with Sepultura, but at the same time he doesn't have the intention of copying him in any way, so when he [sings] the old songs he puts a lot of his own feelings and also a lot of his own interpretation of things that he is screaming out. So I really see it as a very positive thing. CoC: You were talking about being very proud that the band was from Brazil and that was your particular point of origin. Do you think it made any difference to the band that Derrick wasn't Brazilian, originally? IC: No, that's what I was talking about. We're such a band that it is very universal, in a way. So when we opened our doors we really felt like "it doesn't matter where this person is from, this person has got to be the right person to be with us", and that could mean a Brazilian, an American, Japanese: anything. We totally felt that we had to have a really open mind for this and a lot of people pressured us, like "man, how are you guys going to continue with someone who is not Brazilian?". Sepultura is not about being Brazilian; it is about being what we are. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= N E V E R T O B E F R E E D ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CoC interviews Sentenced by: Adrian Bromley It's said that through time, we work things out. That is true when many think of the career of Sentenced, Finland's depression ambassadors. It has been a career of working things out. Like the darkened tales they tell, the music of Sentenced is intriguing and effective for the most part. It has always been that way, brooding emotions within its vocal arrangements, detonating powerful riffs and rhythms that deliver a stellar drive of emotions for us all to digest. Their current music, though a far cry from the early death metal days of the band's beginnings, is extremely effective, with its memorable choruses and well-orchestrated song structures. The band's latest effort, _Frozen_, continues where the band left off with the last great recording, _Down_. With new singer Ville Laihiala, Sentenced steams forward, digging deep into the blackened sorrows of depression as they did with earlier efforts like _North From Here_ (1992) or _Amok_ (1994), yet yielding to the creative energy that allows the band to change over time. On the phone is singer Ville Laihiala, calling to talk to Chronicles of Chaos about the band's new effort: "Right now, Sentenced is more of a band than it has been in years," he starts. "Everything seems to be working out great right now. We tried a lot of different song ideas and material to work on this record. It was a great learning experience for us all. Like most of the past Sentenced work and _Down_, the most important aspect of Sentenced was for the music and the lyrics to go hand in hand. To be able to work together. This time we really wanted to concentrate on working the sound, aiming to make the sound of the music sound a lot stronger. There was a lot of effort from all band members to make this record come out a success sonically." He adds, "This record feels very current for the band. Right up to speed with where we are headed as a band. You can hear on the record that we had a fun time working the songs. Everybody gave 200% while making this record and it shows up in a big way. There is nothing I would change with the end result of _Frozen_." And how have things been with Laihiala as lead singer? Everything all right in the Sentenced camp? "There was never really any doubt for the guys in the band [who are guitarists Miika Tenkula and Sami Lopakka, bassist Sami Kukkohovi and drummer Vesa Ranta] that I couldn't do the job. They believed in me and what I would be able to do as singer for the band. With me joining the band, Sentenced has lost some stuff, but also gained some new ideas for what the band is about. The reactions from the fans have been great. I was very surprised on how I was received when I joined the band. I thought I was in for some kind of trouble, but it's worked out great." He adds, "It was a great time doing this record, this being my second time around with the band. When I started out with working with the band on _Down_ I had only been in the band for three weeks. For me, I was just in the phase of getting to know them and sing the songs. I was worried about just doing my job. Now I have been in the band for a while and going into album number two for me I felt very at home, 'cause I had known everyone and had become a definite part of the band." Building upon their sound from years back, Sentenced has managed to strengthen their musicianship over the years. It only seems fitting that a band that has worked as hard as they have to be able to do stuff like the material found on _Frozen_ in their sleep. It's built on character and a willingness to exceed at what you do. Where does Laihiala and the rest of the band believe Sentenced fits into the fold as a metal band nowadays? "We never really aim to try to fit into a certain category when we were making this record, the last record or their older stuff. Sentenced has always been about doing what you believe in and being creative. I think we fall under the category of gothic/rock or maybe suicide rock. It's hard to say where Sentenced has fit in over the years, seeing how much they have changed. I think with the next record, the follow-up to this, you'll see a definite change in where Sentenced goes. It doesn't sound anything like you have heard from Sentenced before." Does Laihiala see Sentenced as a successful band? What is success for him? "I think album by album it has been increasing, but realistically it's not about putting out records that sell. It's about putting out records and being happy with them. That's success. Ask any musician, putting out a record is great accomplishment. It feels good. The reaction of the fans also adds to how we feel. It's hard to judge the ways of success, but being able to do this for so long does mean the band has been successful to some degree." Labelled by many as suicide rock, the music of Sentenced has been known to be very dark, damaging and downright blunt. It holds no punches. This is the dark depths of depression for people to be witness to. Why would Ville want to be a part of this band of musicians who mask their metal music with terrible doses of depression? "I dunno, man. It's a tough issue, what we do. I think this is a definite form of therapy for myself or the other guys in the band. We deal with serious issues and instead of carrying them out, we write them down and work them into songs. It's very personal and allows us to get off a lot of steam." Doing press before a tour starts up, I ask Laihiala about touring. He responds. "Touring is very fun for us. Tiring but a great time for us to get out and expose the band to many people. Playing live is what it is all about. It has always been. But we do have problems on tour. Drinking problems always seem to arise. Not drinking problems for us in the band, just the fact that people take our liquor. We put our foot down and really come down hard on people taking our stuff. Sure we make enemies, but we earned that liquor. It's ours. We're not assholes. We're musicians and in this business you take what you can get as your career goes along..." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= B R U C E D O N ' T B U L L S H I T ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CoC interviews Bruce Dickinson by: Adrian Bromley "Going into this record, we wanted to make it heavier than the last few records. It had to be heavy both lyrically and musically," starts heavy metal icon/screamer Bruce Dickinson over the phone about his latest metal masterpiece, _The Chemical Wedding_. "This is a brilliant record," continues Dickinson about his sixth solo effort, one of a long list of releases the ex-singer of Iron Maiden has delivered since leaving that band in 1993. "This album is a mixture of all the styles of music I have done up to this point. It has elements of Maiden and the solo stuff that I have done, but I also think it takes what I have done a bit further in terms of the sound. It is a much deeper record than [anything] I have done before. For me, this record really digs down deep." "This record turned out better than I had imagined or planned it, too. I think the reason for that is that when I went into the studio I was a little apprehensive about making the record sound this heavy. I didn't think I could do it. It just got heavier and heavier and I was a bit worried that it was too heavy. Then I decided to go with it and it all turned out for the better." For Dickinson, leaving Iron Maiden after many years seemed like the kiss of death. Why would he leave such a pioneering metal outfit? Many solo artists fail after leaving a prominent band. It has been the complete opposite for Dickinson. While Iron Maiden has recruited new singer Blayze Bailey to do the singing for them, their ship slowly sinks in mediocrity; Dickinson's ship is sailing strong, masts out and with no end in sight. While his past solo records (i.e., 1994's _Balls to Picasso_ and 1996's _Skunkworks_) haven't done as well as 1997's _Accident of Birth_, he kept his momentum strong early on, which allowed him to get to this point. What creative energy or ambition within him keeps things going after all these years? "I think I have come to the conclusion that this metal thing within me runs deep. It is a true and sincere part of me. That's why I keep doing this, rather than go off and do a jazz band or something like that. The challenge for me is to approach the music I play differently each time out. Being a solo artist and doing that is a lot easier than it is to do when you are part of a band. When bands get an identity or style all their own, you sometimes become a prisoner of that style and it's hard to break away from that." Once again, as with the brilliant last outing _Accident of Birth_, ex-Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith once again collaborates and plays on the record. What was it like to work with Adrian Smith again? "Working with Adrian again was brilliant. Working with him has been such a great pleasure. Stuff really works when we get together. We write three songs together for the last record, and two for this one. All the rest was written with the other guitarist, Roy Z." What about the success of working with Roy? "Most of the work for where each album is headed is done in my head. But working with Roy is great. It's very easy to work together with him. We basically work on our own with the music and lyrics and then bring it together. It works out better that way 'cause I don't have to dictate to him I want things this way or that way. We both have just that added initiative to please each other with stuff we work on. Like I said before, a lot of the ideas go on in my head and all I am trying to do is make sense of it all and make it work well for the band's sake." [Note: Bassist Eddie Casillas and drummer Dave Ingraham round out the five-piece band. -- Adrian] To many who have heard this effort, _The Chemical Wedding_ is Dickinson's masterpiece. He has not gone wrong here. It seems as though as the years have gone on, Dickinson's banging and clanging of musical ideas has shaped his music into a sound to behold. With vintage storytelling (heavily based on the works of poet William Blake), heavy riffs and a flare for old Iron Maiden sensibility, _The Chemical Wedding_ is a masterful array of Dickinson's good old fashion know-how and his brilliance rolled into one. "This is one of those really heavy records. It's very dark and a definite evolution of what we did in the last effort. It also has a strong poetic theme to it. Very heavy poetry and that runs very deep within the music. We worked hard with adding flavors and odd guitar sounds to this effort. We tweaked things around in the studio. Out of all the things we focused on with this record, the guitars were a priority. This record has a lot of guitar work on it. We went to town with this record to make sure the production and the guitar work showed up predominantly. There are a lot of things going on with this record like distorted vocals, noises, keyboards, but in all it's shaped into a good piece of work." While Dickinson is no stranger to putting out records and touring, he admits he is always worried when a new record is to be released to the masses. "I dunno. I just get worried about all the records I do. But when records come out, or leading up to their release, hearing what people say about them is very inspiring and keeps me calm. Especially if they really are into it. Every artist faces the worries of what people will think when their record comes out, but it's something you have to ignore. If not, it'll get the better of you and the creativity of what you are doing will be lost." "When we hit hard with _Accident of Birth_ and people were talking about it, it was a great time for us to be out on the road and doing press. It was a very instant record for us, in terms of putting it together and the feedback we got. This record, after two or three listens you really can see and hear the depth of what we did here. I'm hoping for some great feedback with this one. I'm tremendously proud of this record." In closing, I ask Dickinson about his ex-band's current work. Two albums with new lead singer Blayze Bailey and the metal machine of Iron Maiden seems to be running on empty, especially with the absolutely horrific new LP _Virtual XI_ (1994's _The X-Factor_ being the debut of Bailey on vocals). Not prying too deep on his feelings about the band, I ask, "What do you think about the current direction of the band?" "I don't know where it's going with them. While I am not part of them anymore, I still have an attachment to them. I still talk to the band. I always seem to put it this way: 'We may be divorced or separated, but we still share the same bathroom.' I don't want to see them disappear down the tubes or anything like that. It would just be a shame to see all the past work be washed aside if people don't like the new stuff." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= W H O K N E W ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CoC interrogates Canada's Lesser Known by: Adrian Bromley It's always a great feeling when you discover a great new band to be into. Such was the case with a couple of listens of the sophomore effort _Inner Beast_ from Lesser Known. The Windsor, Ontario quartet (comprised of singer Spaz, drummer Paul Turgeon, guitarist Cory Chauvin and bassist Roger Beaudry) play some of the coolest (as they call it) "border-city-groove-core" out there right now in the independent circle. While influences of many metal / hard rock acts run through the make-up of Lesser Known, it's the band's undying love of abstract weirdness and gritty rock 'n roll punch that makes this an enjoyable listen. Not to mention the band are hard workers at promoting themselves, putting blood, sweat and tears into making this band a success. Chronicles of Chaos caught up with lead singer Mike "Spaz" Davidson via e-mail to shoot the shit about the band, song writing and the Canadian metal music scene. Here goes: CoC: Most bands nowadays feel that they have to play a certain style of hard rock / metal music to fit into the music scene. The music of Lesser Known, while spirited with hard rockin' grooves and heaviness, is different from most bands out there. Do you hear or see that? Spaz: Definitely, I see that. That's what we are trying to do. Our biggest thing is not being pigeon holed into being a certain type of band. Like certain styles are right cool, death metal, cross-over, thrash -- whatever, but the thing is they've been done to death! Only the very first bands playing that stuff were cool in my books, because they were leaders. That's the path Lesser Known is taking, to create our own image, style and career. You don't have to play blast beats and tune your guitars so the strings are hanging like spaghetti to be heavy. Songs on our records are all over the place and our fans just say, "Lesser Known is heavy, man". CoC: What in your mind is the hardest aspect of being an independent band? Spaz: Time and money. To be a manager, agent, publicist, accountant, record company, work 40 hours a week to pay the bills, plus having to show up at every gig and perform to the utmost of our ability. And sure, we make good money playing and selling our merchandise, but the total volume of our overhead is just barely getting covered by our earnings. On the other hand, being in an indie band is great, because we have total control over our careers in every aspect. At this stage in the game, we've been in this band seven years now, we have developed to the point where we are seeking to assemble a professional team to maximize our collective careers and our net worth. So any industry big wigs out there reading this, call our office if you want to cash in. CoC: Going into the sophomore record, was there concern to top the first record? What production/writing changes occurred the second time out? Spaz: In my eyes, _Inner Beast_ smokes _Bring an Open Mind_. Two major changes happened along the road to releasing _Inner Beast_. The first was our second guitar player was excused from the band. After over five years of being with the guy, we came to a point where we realized that he wasn't on the same wavelength as us, he didn't have the same goals and objectives. Lesser Known has always been a family thing, with the same original members. People were dying to get their shot at being in the band, but we decided against it because we couldn't see having someone new in our inner circle. We call it "the gang", it's like if you're not in the gang you don't know what's going on in here. So right there, the sound and writing was stripped down to a more single guitar driven in-your-face approach. The second major thing was the recording. _Bring an Open Mind_ was recorded at Metal Works Studios in Toronto in about three weeks. It was way too anal and uptight, for me anyway. Excellent production, and a professional environment, but it seemed constricted. On _Inner Beast_, our veteran producer Ron Skinner ("The Man, The Myth, The Legend") again came to our rescue by getting the best gear and setting up sessions in a farm house in rural southern Ontario. It was a way more laid back, relaxed atmosphere to lay the beds down in. All in all, from my view point, _Inner Beast_, from its production, songwriting and packaging, is what a second full length is supposed to be. CoC: What do you think about the Canadian hard rock / metal scene in general? How is the scene there in Southern Ontario? Spaz: For some reason, from the public up to the music industry, people have this impression of Canadian bands as being these melodic, tree-hugging, acoustic guitar strumming flakes. The Canadian scene is rocking! From London, to Toronto, to Ottawa, to the killer Quebec scene, all the way to the far East coast, then back across to Thunder Bay, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton and right into Vancouver. Canadian metal is alive and shredding just like everywhere else in the world. Metal mutates, but it does not die. Hell, Lesser Known draws from 300 up to 750 all ages fans to our hall shows down here in southern Ontario, so no one can tell me that there's no metal scene in Canada! CoC: In regards to the many influences running through the music of Lesser Known, what band or bands have been an inspiration (influence) for the band? Spaz: I'll start with the biggest thing that binds Lesser Known, the influence that Metallica has had on us. For all these fools out there trying to diss them, go lie down. They were the ones that brought metal to the world on a large scale and opened the doors for countless bands to follow. Show some respect here; even if you don't like their new stuff, there's no way that you can cut down _Kill 'Em All_, _Ride the Lightning_ or _Master of Puppets_! For our band, we don't scam them or want to be them, we just really respect what they've done, what they've become and the whole mystique with them. As for other stuff, I'll just throw a bunch of band names together that I know the guys and I listen to or have been inspired by. Bands like Rush, Slayer, Death, Faith No More, The Cure, RHCP, Discharge, Misfits, Anthrax/SOD, The Accused, GBH, Minor Threat, Ice T, Public Enemy, NWA, Sepultura/Soulfly, Alice In Chains / Jerry Cantrell, Primus... the list goes on and on and on. We are music lovers who create music for music lovers. As long as you bring an open mind, there's gonna be something on a Lesser Known album that grabs you by the balls. CoC: Having not seen the band live yet, how does the band differ from record and live? Spaz: Lesser Known -is- a live band. There is no comparison. Sure it's great to sit back and throw in our disc and be enveloped in good production and textured songwriting, but the live show is where Lesser Known dominates. I grew up being in Detroit almost every weekend to see gigs at all the small scummy clubs there. The guys and I have seen countless concerts and that carries over into our live show. If you are a fan of an aggressive, non-stop, pounding, sweating, thrashing, head banging, stage diving, head walking show, then come to a Lesser Known gig the next time we are in town. Personally, I get right off being on stage. Sometimes when we walk off after the set, I look at someone and say, "Fuck me, that was better than sex". CoC: How often does the band write material? Is the band eager to put new material out soon, or will you work this material into the ground before recording again? Spaz: We worked really hard to put _Inner Beast_ together, so we want to push it to the limits before laying it into the catalogue. It came out this spring, so we will push it until the end of next year. I want to have ample time between writing so that we can come up with a totally different third LP. That's the great thing about Lesser Known. Fans are always wondering, "What the Hell are they gonna do next?", instead of "Yeah, great, another LK record". Sure, the guys are dying to bang some new stuff out in the rehearsal room, but I keep them back and want to hold in all the creative juices until we just explode on the next album. Actually, we already have the name for it, I have a few sets of lyrics I am working on, and Cory, our guitar player / partner in slime, has some riffs laid down on the Fostex. Sorry I can't tell you any more, but I'd have to kill you if I told you! CoC: People out there assume musicians are in their own little world for the most part? Do you think it takes a certain person to be a musician, to tour, write music, etc.? Spaz: You have to be certifiably insane to the core to be a musician. No, but seriously, there are two ways that you can look at it. Sure, it takes a certain type of person to do it, just like a brain surgeon, or a cop or a teacher, whatever. But in the same respect, it is a job like any other. You have to work hard at it to ensure that you are successful and it takes determination, skills and persistence. That's one of the biggest mistakes that bands just starting out make, not separating and understanding the words in the phrase "music business". Sure, it's great to get out there with your buddies and jam, and say, "Ya, we're gonna be famous", but it's a totally different story to actually become a professional musician. A blurb of lyrics from the opening track on _Inner Beast_, "Hate List", totally sums up this struggle: "It ain't hard to say, but it's hard to see, this doesn't bother me". CoC: Most bands have a great tour or show story... any good ones? Spaz: Oh, man, Lesser Known is like a walking comedy show. We create new skits every time we get together. Probably about the best time we've ever had on-stage was when we drew 750 fans to a headlining gig in Chatham, Ontario, a while back. We were all having stomach ulcers thinking we were gonna lose our shirts on the gig, but then just streams and streams of kids came. We nearly lost our minds! So we had to oblige the mass of screaming Lesser Known fans by ripping into a devastating set. We had kids singing along to the lyrics, stage diving, and the pit was like a whirling cauldron of death! Remember that thing I said about performing being better than sex? I think I shot my wad in my shorts that night on stage. CoC: What does success mean to you? Having an LP out? Playing live? How does Lesser Known determine success? Spaz: Well, we've been down in the trenches for seven years now. Lesser Known is not taking "no" for an answer. We've been to Hell and back five times, even stopped for a couple cold ones with the Devil! It's all made up of minor successes every day, you know, like this album release, our last show in Ottawa, THIS INTERVIEW. Our big thing is having masses of people enjoy our music as much as we enjoy creating it. The way we measure success is the day that I get to shake these guys' hands and walk on stage at something like the Castle Donnington or the Dynamo Festival and begin the decimation. We are determined to do everything in our power to get there as a unit and we're not going to stop 'til we have it in our hands. Oh, and by the way, the fans in the front row that day had better have rain coats on 'cause I'm gonna explode. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= _____ .__ ___. / _ \ | |\_ |__ __ __ _____ / /_\ \| | | __ \| | \/ \ / | \ |_| \_\ \ | / 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! Adnauseum - _Desire, Aspire, Inspire, Expire_ by: Paul Schwarz (2 out of 10) (Sickness/Horror Shop, August 1998) Desire: to play brutal death metal. Aspire: to be Cannibal Corpse. Inspire: listeners with ears to turn off their stereos. Expire: soon, please... Various - _Amduscias_ (Zenflesh, September 1998) by: Paul Schwarz (8 out of 10) If you don't follow the procedure I am about to describe when listening to this bizarre compilation, then you can halve the mark I have given this CD. Trying to listen to this 74 minute compilation in isolation (musically speaking) is painful and, for myself at least, unrewarding. What I find makes this collection of abstract, absurd and downright bizarre tracks really cool, and eminently more listenable, is to allow the sounds of the modern urban world to invade your listening of it and thereby create a new experience each time you play it. Sit on a high rise balcony or walk through a busy city street and you'll find, I think, that the strange constructions, which are about as far from "real songs" as you can get, meld well with random sounds of the modern urban world. I must confess that I can't see myself dumping this into my walkman to indulge in this experience too often, but all the same it is an interesting and rather original way in which this compilation, in isolation from most others, can be experienced to the end of making it more enjoyable rather than less so. Contact: Zenflesh Records, PO Box 252065 Los Angeles, CA, 90025, USA WWW: www.zenflesh.com/ mailto:panic@zenflesh.com Arkh'aam - _The Blue Beyond the Black_ (, August 1998) by: David Rocher (7 out of 10) Hailing from the Celtic lands of Brittany, this duo demonstrates a sharp sense for unconventionally approaching "the black metal question". Cleverly mixing conventional black metal elements with further metal, gothic, or somewhat "folksy" influences, they have succeeded in creating a single half-hour track which is interesting, unusual and, to some extent, rather compelling. The music and the atmospheres Arkh'aam generate are completely different from what is usually hulled in the black metal concept, and this is partly the strength, and partly also the weakness of this CD. Why the weakness? Simply because not all elements always combine as well as they could, and the atmospheres Arkh'aam seem to wish to produce don't always come out to be as evil, mystical or occult as what they seem intended to be -- as far as I can tell, anyway. This said, however, the Bretons pull it off thanks to their nearly progressive approach -- not meaning hysterical guitar solos all over the place, but literally -stunning- breaks set in at regular, frequent intervals -- as well as some genuinely great ideas, such as the inverted speech in the middle of the track, or the alternating scheme of chanting/screaming vocals. The sound is clear, though not revealing as much guitar as I would have liked (the guitar tone is very similar to that of early works from Norwegian acts such as Satyricon, Emperor, Dodheimsgard, etc.), but all instruments are very audible; so, on the whole, _TBBtB_ is an intriguing and interesting experience to witness, in terms of black metal. Contact: ARKH'AAM, Residence des Cotiais, Ave. De la Bouvardiere, 35650, Le Rheu, FRANCE Ataraxia - _Historiae_ (Cold Meat Industry, September 1998) by: Paul Schwarz (6 out of 10) As seems to be their trade, and I presume joy, Cold Meat Industry bestow upon the world another band who are anything but just another (insert music style of latest trend here) band. Ataraxia, who -- according to my press release -- churned out no less than 4 full length albums and one 10" between 1994 and 1996. Now they present us, after a two year break, with a full CD worth of tracks in the style of "ballads from the Middle Ages". Recorded 2/3s in the studio (in the "Autumn Equinox") and 1/3 live at a Medieval Court (in the "Spring Equinox"), _Historiae_ clocks in at nearly 40 minutes and contains 7 out of 9 tracks which are 'original' compositions (the remaining two being "covers" taken from Carl Orff's choral masterpiece _Carmina Burana_). "'Original'", as opposed to "original", because these tracks are, fully admittedly, "based" on "ballads from the Middle Ages", meaning there is no way for a person as uninformed about the music of the Middle Ages as I am to know how much originality the band have injected into these compositions. Suffice to say it is all new to me, and lyrically totally unintelligible being sung in a language (or languages) I am quite unfamiliar with. _Historiae_ has been well composed and produced, and also performed by musicians who are obviously talented. Where the band fail is not in their instrumental skill, but in their inability to break the barrier of my personal taste. Put simply, _Historiae_ is not something I would put on at home out of choice. Barrit - _Smiles Upon the Stroke That Murders Me_ by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10) (Ellington, September 1998) This band gets thumbs up first and foremost for collaborating with Steve Austin (of Today Is the Day fame) for the production work here. Austin, to me, is one of the finest new entries into wicked innovators of the extreme / metal music scene. Enough praising of Austin, let's get down to the matter here: Barrit. Barrit fluctuates between eerie black metal sounding riffage (though they are not even black metal) and abstract noise ensembles. Severe hardcore/noise elements bring forth a powerful groove here (i.e., "Transient", "Mouthman" and "A Planet Wide") as the band disbands any regard for proper song writing and rages on in a fist of fury from the get go, stomping on those who get in their way. This is some pretty bizarre shit and comes highly recommended, should you want a little bid of oddness in your hard music / metal diet. Contact: BARRIT, P.O. Box 173 North Hampton, MA USA 01060 Blood Ritual - _At the Mountains of Madness_ (Moribund Records, 1997) by: Aaron McKay (8.5 out of 10) Some pretty incredible music has come across my path in recent months, and Blood Ritual's _At the Mountains of Madness_ is no exception. I was pretty taken with the title of the album. It wasn't mindless and it immediately created an image of strife and disturbance. In a nutshell, it communicated to me what was in store. The next to catch my attention was the disc cover; smooth-featured ladies fronting an unnervingly deprave background; more foreshadowing, methinks. Upon my first spin, I was duly invigorated by the potent viciousness of the music, as it chunks along in places then systematically rips straight through to your core in others. Musically, this bad boy would easily have been a 9 maybe, even a 9.5, but here comes my sticking point: lyrical content. It gets a touch repetitive and obtuse. Now that this has been aired, I -honestly- don't mind the way Blood Ritual incorporates their ideology into _AtMoM_. As a matter of personal opinion, I think that BR accomplish fusing their chosen philosophy with the raw power of this music better than anyone, including Deicide, Morbid Angel, (insert band here). Because I give them this much credit, I only had heart enough to appropriate a half to a full point from the rating of _AtMoM_. Please do not let this detract you from this purchase, because any negatives are more than compensated for by the dynamism of the music. Highlights on _AtMoM_ come immediately at the disc's genesis with "Invocation". A morbidly crushing juggernaut of a song, beginning with an excerpt from one of the "Hellraiser" movies (I believe). Clocking in at seven plus minutes, a complex tune and, as it turns out, my favorite on _AtMoM_. "Ancient Rites" is another beautifully worked piece. Choppier and crunchier than "Invocation", this song slides into a rush of guitar power showing BR's mastery of their domain. To a large extent, track seven, "Sweet Suffering", is the true powerhouse of this release; very weighty in the vocals, but the slow pummelling of the riffs are punctuated so perfectly with a solo about half way through the song that it is simply mind-blowing! The release ends with my second favorite track, "Cruciform Antithesis". The beginning and ending tracks are, candidly, completely equal, acting as bookends for a complete library of well-executed mayhem in between. My only justification for liking one better than the other is the fact that I was exposed to "Invocation" first. See what you think! Bolt Thrower - _Mercenary_ (Metal Blade / Attic, November 1998) by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10) Having been big a fan of the band's earlier years (i.e, _Realm of Chaos_ and _War Master_ LPs), I was eagerly awaiting this release, hoping that somehow or some way the band would manage to shift into gear and put a strong LP, something the band hadn't done in some time (since 1994's great _... For Victory_). Did they do it? The answer is yes and no. While the latest LP by England's Bolt Thrower is somewhat "safe sounding", meaning the band didn't really venture out too much in the material, the band still manages to concoct some killer riffs and intense playing scattered throughout the LP. Most notable numbers include opener "Zeroed" and the heavy-laden "Return From Chaos". While I am giving this a mediocre rating by Bolt Thrower standards, it's good to see this band back in the spotlight after a long three year gap. Karl Willetts' vocals sound pretty strong here, coating the material with angst and anger and allowing it to enhance into a full-armored machine when needed be. Some good stuff here. So, Bolt Thrower has returned, my friends; grab some ale and mead and make a toast and enjoy the heavy assault. Bruce Dickinson - _The Chemical Wedding_ (CMC/BMG, September 1998) by: Adrian Bromley (9.5 out of 10) Every one and their mother was talking about Bruce Dickinson's _Accident at Birth_ LP when it came out last year. Bruce had once again joined up with ex-Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith, and, combined with an excellent band (including guitar whiz Roy Z.), had put out one of the year's best LPs. Well, the time has come again for Bruce Dickinson to return to the fold with new material, and my, is it good. _Chemical Wedding_ is a ballsy, thick n' heavy LP that shines with unbelievable aggression and triumphant song writing. Look no further than the title track, "The Tower" or "Gates of Urizen" to see the detailed work that Dickinson and Co. have put into this LP. It's a truly masterful record and once again one of the year's best. Dickinson has put out a lot of solo LPs this decade and still his music sounds fresh, though some will say he failed with _Skunkworks_ in 1995 -- I disagree, though. Anyway, kids, this LP is definitely worth a few hundred listens. Dickinson is the man once again. Cage - _Unveiled_ (Chainsaw, August 1998) by: Paul Schwarz (7 out of 10) Well, Cage are definitely heavy metal: of that there can be no doubt. Cage owe most to Birmingham's second great gift to metal (after Black Sabbath), Judas Priest. They don't push themselves into the corner of becoming a rip-off band, but I think it is fair to say that _Unveiled_ could easily have been the new Judas Priest album in place of last year's _Jugulator_. It ain't as good, though. This doesn't mean Cage are bad: nice guitar riffs, decent solos, nicely performed Halford-esque vocals and a tight rhythm section combine to make _Unveiled_ a good album for the band to be debuting with. Additionally, the respect they've garnered from the Priest camp and their prestigious live appearances with both the aforementioned and other metal legends such as Dio assures Cage a good base to begin building from. The solid and distinctively metal album which _Unveiled_ is provides ample raw materials for this task. Castrum - _Black Silhouette Enfolded in Sunrise_ by: Paul Schwarz (8 out of 10) (Folter/Warfare, August 1998) Oh my God -- or is that Lord Satan? Well, since I am an atheist, the expression has no personal significance either way, but the linguistic implication of either is significant and requires explanation. Castrum are a true surprise. Though not a black metal revolution, the quality of the eight tracks, spanning nearly an hour, which comprise _BSEiS_ is exceptional. Yes, you can hear the influence of black metal's finest, but what's important is that you can hear the -influence- instead of the band just ripping off their "heroes". Production is astounding and instrumentation very impressive, altogether not for the weak, faint at heart or those obsessed with brutality alone. That the band claim to be "a clan of Croatian vampires" and have a press release challenging Holland in the cheese stakes is excusable only because their music is exceptional, and therefore I haven't let it affect my mark. Cemetary - _Sweetest Tragedies_ (Black Mark, June 1998) by: Adam Wasylyk (8 out of 10) Very rarely do I care if a band breaks up, although in some cases it's truly a loss to the metal community. I cared when At the Gates broke up. I cared when Suffocation broke up. I cared when Pungent Stench broke up. I even cared when the relatively small band (although highly underrated) Human Remains broke up. In Cemetary's case, the band didn't actually break up (at least not the last time I heard). But honestly, they might as well have broken up when longtime vocalist Mathias Lodmalm left to form his own band called Sundown. Speaking of Lodmalm's band, Sundown was also the name of Cemetary's fourth album, an album I consider to be one of the best in my record collection. Balls-out rock melodies meets prog metal qualities -- it's just a fucking amazing album. Getting back to what's being reviewed, _Sweetest Tragedies_ is a retrospective of sorts, featuring material from prior records up to the band's last one, the somewhat disappointing _Last Confessions_. Starting off with "Last Transmission" (the BEST Cemetary song ever recorded), additional highlights include "Scarecrow", "Ophidian", "Sweet Tragedy", "Elysia" and "Sundown". The theory rings true, you don't miss something until it's gone. Bands come and go (or just turn to shit), but it's a tragedy when it's a band you care about. Various - _Cry Now, Cry Later -- Vols. 3 & 4_ by: Paul Schwarz (7 out of 10) (Pessimiser, August 1998) This is two of the double 7" comps in the _Cry Now, Cry Later_ series from Pessimiser. 30 tracks in all, put onto one CD for your ease and listening pleasure. Over 50 minutes of grindcore from some of the underground's nastiest acts (mostly relatively new, but also the occasional old soldier). Tracks from Relapse signees Soilent Green and Agoraphobic Nosebleed feature along with talented and little known acts such as Spazz, Crom (extensively), Man Is the Bastard and Carol. I would split bands on this compilation into two types: obscure grind (e.g. Crom, Man Is the Bastard) and all-out grind (e.g. Excruciating Terror, Agathocles). Either breed of grindcore is generally suited for a pretty select audience, although really no more select than the audience for last year's amazing _Sounds of the Animal Kingdom_ record which Brutal Truth chose to expel, and only those with open minds and a taste for the truly twisted need apply. The selection can be patchy, and having so many bands in the same style on one CD does hurt some of the bands who appear late on the compilation, but overall this is a good taster of what is there in the "real" or "true" underground for those without a record player and a lot of patience for both finding and playing their music. Contact: PESSIMISER, POB 1070, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254, USA Cryptopsy - _Whisper Supremacy_ (Century Media, September 1998) by: Paul Schwarz (10 out of 10) If you are content to know this CD is amazing and want to hear it without prior intrusion, stop reading -- now! Virtual silence, some few, low notes usher forth from a bass guitar, a tinny clatter of drums and a virtually inaudible shout which is suddenly reduced to a loud whisper. Then: total armageddon. Such is the beginning of Cryptopsy's third album _Whisper Supremacy_. Though this first track "Emaciate" is a brutal barrage of truly frightening proportions, its interesting and lightning fast time changes are far from the heights of _WS_'s greatness. Second track "Cold Hate, Warm Blood" immediately picks up the thread with an underlying bass riff and some gentle acoustic guitar, then a thunderous barrage of DiSalvo's vocals, Mounier's ever-insane drumming and the full Levasseur/Roy guitar assault backed by Langlois' bass. The acoustic theme is returned to a number of times to amazing dynamic effect within this one track. As _Whisper Supremacy_ continues, touches like the aforementioned acoustic one crop up all over the place, be they complex, syncopated timings, sudden stops and starts, maniacally twisted guitar riffs, catchy percussive passages, sudden string bends throwing off the harmony lines or any other manner of different touch; the thick layer of icing on the cake. Cryptopsy's brutal backbone is as strong and prominent as their inventive streak. Pierre Remillard's production once again does them proud bringing out thick guitar tones, multi-faceted vocals, a subtle bass sound and of course those incredible drums. Each member's individual technical prowess is, as ever, flawless and virtually unchallengeable. "White Worms" and "Flame to the Surface" do stand out as being, in parts, a shade less technical than the rest of the album and, though I don't think intentionally, may more easily grasp an audience not used to Cryptopsy's usual super-technical assault. The solos, which this time are all-but-one by Jon Levasseur, have always been important in rounding out a Cryptopsy album and _Whisper Supremacy_ is no exception. Though in general a little shorter and with more pronounced backing guitars, the solos are excellent and fit as well or better into the songs this time around. Mike DiSalvo deserves an individual mention here, mostly because there has been a lot of speculation among Cryptopsy fans as to whether he was the right choice for a replacement in terms of both image and singing style. Whatever the speculation over his somewhat hardcore-influenced background, I will go on record as saying that he is one of the things which allows _WS_ to get its full 10 out of 10. Much as Lord Worm's vocals made _None So Vile_ an amazing record to behold, the same guttural style on this new album would have brought it down. Some of DiSalvo's stylings remind one distinctly of Brett Hoffman's finest moments with Malevolent Creation, but this is only a small facet of his vocal character, which has a number of other faces (more than Lord Worm, I think) and certainly a different overall delivery, which makes the record no less brutal but does make it eminently different. Some bands just can't seem to get it right; Cryptopsy is one of the select few whose "problem" seems to be getting it -wrong-. A top 3 contender for this year's number 1 album. Days of Mourning - _Reborn as the Enemy_ by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10) (Upheaval Records, September 1998) From the ashes of the hard working hard core outfit Dirge comes the blistering, head-down, grindcore/hardcore outfit Days of Mourning. Intense is putting this mildly. From the get go, these psycho mutha-fuckers kick out the grooves with a killer assortment of brutally potent numbers that could easily decapitate an unsuspecting listener. While the production is mediocre (I had the same problem with Dirge's debut disc _Hazing Ritual_), the band forges forward and picks up steam and momentum with such hard-hitters as opener "Breathe Life Into a Dying Day", "Purity of Life" and "Submission 786". Great live band, too. If you can handle the vicious grooves and downright lethal vocals, then Days of Mourning needs to be in your record collection. Ace job here. Contact: DAYS OF MOURNING, 2-558 Upper Gage Ave. Suite 110 Hamilton, Ont. CANADA L8V-4J6 Death List - _Severed_ (Cross Rhythms Music, 1998) by: Alex Cantwell (8 out of 10) This is a release which does not require a long review. I believe that I can sum up this CD with simplicity and conciseness, that will provide you, the reader, with a clear image of the music. It might be irresponsible and unprofessional (which, of course, I am) of me to write such a short review and then simply compare Death List (formerly known as Obliteration) to other bands, assuming it would suffice to explain to you what this sounds like. However, if my saying that _Severed_ sounds like equal parts of Fear Factory, Sepultura, and Napalm Death, and you don't get a clear image, then a clear image you shall never obtain (sounds like a Yoda proverb, eh?). Let me add that a real photo of a girl being severed at the neck is in extremely bad taste, although not without a message (martyrdom). Contact: DEATH LIST, P.O. Box 01248, Choctaw, OK 73020, USA mailto:deathlist@theshop.net Deuteronomium - _Street Corner Queen_ (Little Rose Productions, 1998) by: Alex Cantwell (6 out of 10) Spine-chilling black metal, rock, rap, reggae, all on one CD? Is this a Relapse sampler? No, it's the first full-length from Finland's Cornucopia of Musical Styles, Deuteronomium. At first listen, this is an extremely unfocused effort combining all of the aforementioned styles, sometimes in the context of one song, which proves to be messy and undesirable. Let me state loud and clear that these guys are unashamedly metal, but in an effort to be (overly) original goop everything up. The clean vocals, both male and female, have got to go, as well as all of the cover artwork. And the title?!?! Not the best, despite the implication/storyline behind it. Overall, there is a prevalent mix of black metal, Detritus-like vocals, and a Xysma-like rock attitude. Let me also say that this is original, creative, and all the rest of it, but man, if I want to hear rap and reggae, I sure don't want to hear it from some white guy in Finland, know what I'm sayin'? Very mixed emotions from this one. If they could put out a focused black metal release it would be godly, because they do it exceedingly well. Congratulations are in order to Manu Lehtinen for finally assembling a full band. Contact: Little Rose Productions Ky, PO Box 533 40101 Jyvaskyla, FINLAND mailto:manule@hotmail.com Dying Fetus - _Killing on Adrenaline_ (Morbid Records, 1998) by: Aaron McKay (9 out of 10) To borrow a phrase from Devin Townsend, the new Dying Fetus is unquestionably heavy as a really (fuckin') heavy thing. I had _Killing on Adrenaline_ wedged in my Chevy S-10's disc spinner for the first time not long ago. For the entire thirty-four minute running time of the album, I honestly fought down an uncontrollable urge to stop the damn truck and THRASH about it. Completely compulsive and utterly crushing is this release. If DF's sound was any more weighty, I'm -sure- the sound couldn't be conveyed through normal speaker equipment. This four piece outfit delivers its ferocity from the Atlantic region of Maryland. An excellent locale for DF, due to the close proximity to the New York and Washington DC underground. Both of which DF prosper heavily in. _KoA_ is the third release for this uncompromising foursome. The first, _Infatuation With Malevolence_, was a brutal combination of both demos of the original/founding members, John Gallagher (guitar/vocals) and Jason Netherton (bass/vocals), released on Wild Rags. The next DF effort, _Purification Through Violence_, saw a impressively dramatic maturation in style, presence and musicianship. This feat in the band's development was second only to DF's growth into the powerful slash/groove force of _Killing on Adrenaline_. _KoA_ will no doubt separate this group even further for the ever increasing fold of the death metal genre. The style of this music you have no doubt heard, but not done like this in DF style. -Not- typical DF style, mind you, because I maintain that the band has gone out of their way to innovate themselves and overhaul the sound into a creation that begs to be experienced truly only in a live concert setting. In addition to the highlight of the album for this reviewer, "Absolute Defiance" (a fuckin' killer cut, gentlemen), _KoA_ includes a cover of Integrity's "Judgement Day", placed well as track seven before ending with "Intentional Manslaughter". I encourage any listener yearning to experience a death metal outfit that stops at nothing to dip into the fist-wielding whirlpool of _Killing on Adrenaline_. Kudos, gentlemen! Excruciating Terror - _Divided We Fall_ (Pessimiser, July 1998) by: Paul Schwarz (8 out of 10) This is speedy grindcore with the traditional mixture of raw guitars, plenty of blasting and lyrically inaudible vocal screams. In some ways this reminds me of the Hateplow CD [CoC #33], in that its greatest asset is its virtually unrelenting speed and viciousness. Musically, though, Excruciating Terror definitely lean towards grindcore's tendency to emanate punk rather than to be indiscernible from some death metal. Some great drum rhythms and simply crushing speed assure that Excruciating Terror's first strike is devastating; it is the aftermath which they need to work on. What so many grindcore albums lack is longevity, and Excruciating Terror doesn't break the mold in this respect. Where an album like _Sounds of the Animal Kingdom_ throws in plenty to mix things up and keep them interesting and an album like _World Downfall_ is quite simply classic, _Divided We Fall_ is impressively hard-hitting, but leaves a far-from-deep impression in the mind. Contact: EXCRUCIATING TERROR, c/o Jerry 4323 Griffin Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90031, USA Exumer - _Possessed by Fire_ / _Rising From the Sea_ by: Matthias Noll (9 out of 10 / 6 out of 10) (Rock Machine, 1998) The German trash metal attack of the mid eighties was spearheaded by legendary bands like Destruction, Kreator and Sodom. Hard on the heels of these highly influential bands came a second wave of bands like Assassin, Darkness, Deathrow and Exumer. While from today's perspective most of these later bands failed to create any worthy output and usually suffered from a poor singer and uninspired song material, that's not the case with the first Exumer album, _Possessed by Fire_. Produced by Harris Johns (Kreator, Pestilence, Sodom, etc.) and originally released in 1986, this album still is an outstanding example of 80's quality thrash metal. Exumer's style is mostly fast, aggressive and hard hitting, with memorable choruses, impressive breaks and supported by another great production from Mr. Johns. Vocalist Mem also manages to set this album apart from others with his intense vocal style, which sometimes reminds me of Paul Bailoff, and fortunately doesn't sound too "German". While being not as over the top and raw as Kreator's _Pleasure to Kill_, this album is one of Germany's finest moments. Featured on the same CD is Exumer's second output _Rising From the Sea_, which saw the band returning without vocalist Mem, who had been kicked out of the band in the meantime. Unfortunately, the band seems to have listened too much to Slayer's _Reign in Blood_ between the two records (not that it's a bad thing listening to the best record ever). New vocalist, native Hawaiian Paul Arakaki, who was now fronting the band, just sounded like another Araya clone and also gone was part of the originality and quality of their song material with only the opener "Winds of Death" and the title track coming close to the standards the first record had set. Still, this is enjoyable stuff, but also leaves me wondering what Exumer could have achieved with the original line up. If you're into 80's thrash metal, check this out! Extol -_ Burial_ (Endtime Productions, 1998) by: Alex Cantwell (10 out of 10) The place to which this music takes me cannot be described in any English words that I know of. If only I knew Norwegian! Within the context of the metal world, this CD, to me, embodies the fullness of musical brilliance, a mastery of the given instruments, and a highly satisfactory listening experience. Everything that you could possibly want from a metal album is contained here. In following Extol since their initial recordings (four songs on the_ Northern Lights_ compilation), and loving them immediately, I could never have been prepared for the giant step into the level of excellence such as they are currently performing. Their 1996 _Embraced_ demo flattened their previous efforts, replacing groove laden song structures with ultra-creative riffs that intertwined with a complexity akin to Carcass and other technical wizards. Luckily, two songs from that demo also appear on _Burial_, only now they are crowned with awesome, authoritative production. A big part of Extol's increased learning curve must be attributed to the joining of Ole Borud to their ranks on guitar. Ole was the creative force behind the now out-of-print _Schaliach_ album, and his mark is very noticeable amongst the Extol compositions -- especially on "Superior", which would not have been out of place on the aforementioned _Schaliach_ album. Ole also contributes his trained voice in the way of clean vocals on several tracks, bringing about another change for this band. The groove structures from their early days are not entirely gone either, surfacing in monstrous fashion on "Innbydelse". Peter Espevoll's vocals are totally shrill and raspy, only making deep growls to properly accentuate the music, or sometimes to boldly proclaim his point amongst the abstractness of the lyrics. Without writing a book here, let me say that I have not been so moved by music since the very first time I heard _Master of Puppets_, and that is how big of a mark _Burial_ has left on me. Forever changed. Contact: EXTOL, Bjerkelundsveien 99, 1340 Beckestua, NORWAY mailto:endtime@durling.com Godkiller - _The End of the World_ (Wounded Love, July 1998) by: Paul Schwarz (6 out of 10) If any of you reading this are hoping for a sequel to Godkiller's 1996 _Rebirth of the Middle Ages_, then you're all out of luck. Near enough nothing of the Burzum/Emperor-esque sound of _RotMA_ makes its way onto _TEotW_. Not that, at least in my view, this is a bad thing: that CD was not greatly to my liking. However, the band who keeps cropping up when I try to liken _tEotW_ to something I have heard before is Samael. Godkiller's likeness is not as great as some others' (who shall remain nameless), but it is still a likeness which is damaging to what is actually a good album and enhancing change of sound for the band. Simple power chord riffs combined with thumping drums, interspersed with such things as chants and keyboards and topped off by rasping and harsh vocals evoke visions of _Ceremony of Opposites_ immediately, and even though "Down Under Ground" features some interesting use of breakbeat drumming, it does not go far enough to escape Samael's wide berth. The fact that Godkiller previously sounded almost nothing like this increases the likelihood that the band decided to cash in on a sound which has brought certain Swiss persons a lot of commercial success and critical acclaim, and hence decreases the aesthetic worth of this otherwise positive change of sound. Contact: WOUNDED LOVE, Voice: +39 2 89408677; Fax: +39 2 89408688 HammerFall - _Legacy of Kings_ (Nuclear Blast, September 1998) by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10) I'd be lying to you if I said this record was amazing. It's better than amazing. It's fuckin' awesome. The sophomore effort by retro/speed metal meisters HammerFall called _Legacy of Kings_ (a follow-up to 1997's hugely successful _Glory to the Brave_) is a non-stop rockin' machine. From opener "Heeding the Call" to the mindblowing melodic dose of "Stronger Than All" or "Dreamland" (the LPs best track), HammerFall continue providing the listener with crafty guitar work, memorable choruses and total fun. The band follows the same groundwork as they did with their debut, but this record showcases a definite growth in their songwriting. Much more creative and fuller in sound, _Legacy of Kings_ needs to be heard by all that fancy powerful melodic metal and good retro guitar work. In closing, this may be cheesy to some, but the point is with each listen HammerFall have you pumping your fists and chanting for more. What more do you want? The Haunted - _The Haunted_ (Earache, September 1998) by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10) Hands down, this has to be one of the most violent and most anticipated releases (up there with Sepultura, Bruce Dickinson and Death) that has surfaced in 1998. From the ashes of At the Gates comes The Haunted, made up of ex-AtG members, guitarist Jensen from Seance and screamer Peter Dolving (ex-Mary Beats Jane). The result? To quote ex-CoC writer Steve Hoeltzel: "Sick and brutal music." This is the shit, kids. A non-stop rush of momentum and hatred within the band spurs forward some totally out of control musical moments, blistering us with an onslaught of brash vocals and rip' roarin speed/thrash metal guitar work. Having had this record for a few months (the release date had been pushed back several times), I have grown very attached to what The Haunted do. I'm just blown away by the precision of the guitar work and just the overall craziness spewing forth from each track. This IS that good. Whether it be "Hate Song", "In Vein", the much loved "Undead" or "Shattered", The Haunted deliver the goods in such a big way. It's gonna be hard for any band for the remainder of 1998 to top the intensity of this LP. I just hope they tour North America now. H-Bomb - _Coup de Metal_ / _Attaque_ (Axe Killers, 1998) by: Matthias Noll (8 out of 10 / 7 out of 10) Europe, 1984. Not only the German metal scene was flourishing these days. France also had its share of fine bands, even if only four come to mind: Trust, Warning, Sortilege and finally H-Bomb. While Warning and and Sortilege featured a more traditional heavy metal style, H-Bomb took the full speed double bass attack of Motorhead and mixed it with clean, high vocals. Songs like "H-Bomb" and "Chasseur de Frime" from _Coup de Metal_, the debut six song mini LP, prove how effective this can be. Singer Didier Izard is something of a "love it or hate it" affair, while the music always stays simple but powerful -- and most of the time fast. Don't expect anything extraordinary from this band in a technical sense -- just power, speed and some good melodies. Unfortunately, instead of releasing both albums on a single CD, _Coup de Metal_ got some shitty bonus tracks from a period after singer Didier had left and the band had completely changed their style -- it's better to ignore these tracks. Despite the band sounding a bit tamer in comparison to _Coup de Metal_, the second album _Attaque_ is also a decent metal album. Songs like the fast paced "Exterminateurs" or "Double Bang" don't sound different from their great first effort and, even if I was a bit disappointed at first, I have played this record quite a lot in the last 13 years. HIM - _Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666_ (Supersonic, 1998) by: Matthias Noll (7 out of 10) Need a shower that unfortunately will wash away the corpse paint? Tired of wearing 50 kg chains, spikes and leather? Looking for a record your girlfriend might be able to enjoy? Well, if you can stand a vocalist that sounds more like U2's Bono than like Fenriz and songs that mostly are just a bit heavier than Paradise Lost on _One Second_, then _Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666_ by HIM from Finland might be something for you. Now for the minority that hasn't already stopped reading this review: There are a couple of mellow songs, but this record definitely has its heavy moments too. Like the slow and doomy "Our Diabolical Rapture", with brutal, downtuned but original sounding guitar riffing. There are also some heavy uptempo songs with great melancholic melody lines. The guitars dominate the sound most of the time, while keyboards stay in the background, with female vocals supporting singer Valo on two songs. This album mostly features verse/chorus/verse/chorus standard song structures, but still doesn't get repetitive due to the diversity of songs. Surprisingly, a cover version like BOC's "Don't Fear the Reaper" sounds pretty good and is hard to identify as not being original HIM material. This is a decent album if you ever have the desire to chill out -- don't worry, sometimes it's OK to be a wimp. Impending Doom - _Signum of Hate_ (, September 1998) by: Paul Schwarz (8.5 out of 10) What first caught my attention about Impending Doom was their astounding ability (or luck) in managing to give their debut (I am pretty sure it is their debut) a production which is as clear and deadly as a glacier in the face. It then dawned upon me, after repeated listens to _Signum of Hate_, that the band are also talented musicians and writers. What astounds me is their ability to mix different metal influences within single tracks to produce good music, a skill such masters as Celtic Frost were noted for, and their daring in placing upon _SoH_ a selection of tracks with real variety. Though "Armageddon Tales" and "Hellhammer" could easily pass for lost compositions of the latter's band namesake or the early period of the metal phenomenon which grew out it, "Metal to the Metals" evokes classic Sodom and owes nothing in feel or sound to Celtic Frost or Hellhammer. "Land of Burning Coffins" instead nods towards Destruction. Then, just when you thought all they were going to do was sound like the classic thrash bands who pre-empted 90s black metal, you hear "Demon-(Mon)archy" or "Forward to Golgotha". Though utilizing technical twin guitar work which can be found elsewhere on the album, the significant difference is that these two tracks in particular capitalize on melody -- not just guitar melody; tuneful vocal melody and decent keyboards. The range on offer on _SoH_ is great, greater than I have seen for a long time. As writing single tracks go, the band is talented, both in imitating their elders and composing material, with some originality, which very listenable. As writing and constructing an album goes, the band needs some help. _SoH_ doesn't, to my mind, fit together well at all. Instead, it sounds like a compilation of the cobbled-together-without-thought sort. Unlike most compilations, there is little itch to skip tracks, but like most there is no real benefit or enjoyment in listening to the CD chronologically. As a result, _SoH_ is a disappointingly disjointed album, but one which showcases a band with serious raw potential. Contact: IMPENDING DOOM, c/o Andy Kaufmann Dorffelstrasse 1, 07570 Weida, GERMANY In Ruins - _For Seasons of Grey_ (Metal Blade/Attic, September 1998) by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10) The thing that works for me with this record is the harsh vocals and the violent overtones emitted from the rampaging music. Very much old school metal sounding (i.e., Venom) at times, In Ruins manage to also break away from a stereotypical (and sometimes boring) metal mood and break out, capturing a very solid metal sound, placing high interest in flamboyant guitar riffs and a heart-pounding groove. Throw in medieval times' ideals and this is a powerhouse to contend with. While many metal fans out there might give this LP a listen for the sake of it, only fans that appreciate hard work and sweat will understand what kind of effort has been put into this LP. Great songs, including "Nocturne" and "Black Thorns". Another solid release from Metal Blade this year, along with Beseech, King Diamond, God Dethroned and Amon Amarth. Kataklysm - _Victims of This Fallen World_ (Hypnotic, July 1998) by: Paul Schwarz (6.5 out of 10) I am really stuck with how to rate this release. I actually like it more than other Kataklysm releases I have checked out, but in many cases for the wrong reasons. An older release like _The Mystical Gate of Reincarnation_ is an expression of hyper-brutal and fast death-grind which I just happen not to be into. _VoTFW_, however, actually has quite a number of riffs, sections and even whole songs which I like. The problem is that when I analyze carefully what it is I like about these songs, it is their similarity to certain other artists which I find appealing, and not their own individual sound. This applies to "As the World Burns" and "Imminent Downfall", which are -very- Extreme Noise Terror (a la _Damage 381_); "(God)Head", "Embracing Europa" and "I Remember", all of which contain sections which bare -more- than a passing resemblance to (mostly old) At the Gates; "Courage Through Hope" which could -be- on Hypocrisy's _The Fourth Dimension_; and other bits and bobs throughout the album's 52 minutes. The twist which Kataklysm seem to have newly introduced is a groove-metal / Biohazard-type attitude with riffs and lyrics to boot. "Feared Resistance" and "Caged In" suffer most from this invasion of what is oft referred to as bro-metal within the CoC camp. These stylings lead the lyric "ain't nobody gonna save your ass" to appear on "Caged In" and, as a result, their presence is quite inexcusable, though sometimes providing amusement. Overall patchy and certainly not for the _TMGoR_ fans. Contact: Hypnotic Records, 86 Main Street Suite 401, Town Centre Plaza Dundas, Ontario, Canada, L9H 2R1 Lycanthropic - _Obey the Moon_ (September 1998) by: Paul Schwarz (7 out of 10) "Christian, I have no choice but to kill you." It sounds like a line from a Marduk or Deicide album, doesn't it? It in fact issues forth from the collective lyrical mouth of Milwaukee's own Lycanthropic, who are the subject of this review. Though Christian-bashing, seemingly in both senses of the word, appears to be on Lycanthropic's agenda, their attack is neither in the style of the American brutal death trappings of Deicide or the blast-snare black metal of Marduk. Instead, Lycanthropic have chosen a sound similar to Centinex or Amon Amarth: melodic-yet-brutal Swedish death. Their greatest asset at present in preaching their word lies in their vocalist, whose powerful throat assures that _Obey the Moon_ has a well rounded attack as opposed to an over emphasis on non-vocal instruments, as some other albums of this kind tend towards. Overall, the band play their chosen style pretty well on this demo-to-CD, with nice leads and riffs (the most interesting being the irregular and unpredictable strumming of a single chord). It's let down in points by a production with a small range, but hey, it's a demo recording. NOTE: I don't have a label or address for this band because I misplaced the press release and the tape I was sent was unmarked. If the band, or someone close to them, could contact CoC with an address and label, we will feature them next issue. Lycia - _Estrella_ (Projekt/Mazur, June 1998) by: Adam Wasylyk (8 out of 10) The duo that comprise this darkwave/gothic/ambient act have really done something special here. Although having created some cool music in the past, Lycia have released an album that should serve as its apex. Estrella contains swirling emotions which delicately interweave with graceful keyboards that with each passing get better and more pronounced. High praise, you say? Damn right! Tracks like the intro "Clouds in the Southern Sky", "Tainted", "Tongues" and the title track don't come off in any way as pretentious or egocentric, but rather emotionally-heartfelt and genuine. The first half of this album could go toe to toe with any of the better albums of this year, especially the new Katatonia album, where some parallels exist. Estrella isn't for everyone -- if you crave an adrenaline rush then Lycia are simply not for you. But for those who seek a different experience, to be rendered into a state of awe from overwhelming dark ambiance, then this comes highly recommended. Manegarm - _Nordstjarnans Tildsalder_ (Displeased Records, 1997) by: Aaron McKay (10 out of 10) I fuckin' love this! I, as a rule, play the particular disc that I am reviewing as I write to keep the release fresh in my mind and maintain the thoughts that I want to convey as close to the forefront of my memory as possible. On the second time through _Nordstjarnans Tildsalder_, I decided that I should begin to tell the CoC readers about what I am hearing. -Certainly- Swedish black metal, one cannot deny that, but much beyond that, everything becomes elusive. The music becomes as hard to define as the lyrics (in a foreign language, mind you) are for me to understand. I can't help but get personally charged in spirit by Manegarm. Whoever at Displeased signed this act had a stroke of sheer genius that day. Flawless -- and I do mean flawless -- black metal with a miraculous female vocalist, Vmer Mossige-Norheim (only used sparingly) and then, only in appropriate passages, affecting strong folk direction. These points are evidenced in the track "Vmer", of which I have trouble articulating its beauty. I could not be more satisfied with _NT_ if Manegarm came to me for advice on the release. I could talk Manegarm, and particularly _NT_, to death, but I could not give you even a fair working knowledge of what is going on even now, as I bathe in the acumen of such a gifted band. Truly taking the scene as their own; no holds barred. A spiritual union of souls comprise Manegarm's ranks: two guttural male vocalists, in addition to Vmer (one of the gentlemen also doubles as the drummer), two guitar scholars, and a bassist with "jewsharp" responsibilities. All this superiority manifesting itself as the album known as _NT_ -- plus it is a computer CD extra, too. If you are not familiar with Displeased Records ranks -- Sadist (hell yeah!), Cryptopsy, Infernal Majesty, etc. --, this CD extra by Displeased could be just what the doctor ordered. God knows Manegarm is the shot in the arm black metal needed! Needless to say, I'm impressed, Manegarm! Mental Home - _Black Art_ (The End, September 1998) by: Brian Meloon (8.5 out of 10) This is an excellent doom album. The band dubs themselves "atmospheric dark doom metal", and that's pretty accurate, though they're not really that "dark". This is their fourth album, and the second released by The End records. This time around, the Muscovites have left behind the Tiamat-styled doom of their previous album _Vale_ [CoC #29] and have developed their own sound, which is more varied and innovative. It's heavily orchestrated, with a good use of keyboards to enhance guitar-driven sections, and to drive the music at others. The music is generally slow-to-mid paced, but the tones, textures, and styles that the band employs vary quite a bit, keeping the music interesting. A few parts have a gothic tinge (a la Cradle of Filth, complete with scream), but these aren't the majority of the album. The vocals are grunted some of the time and half-clean at other times. The playing is very good on all counts, and the parts are pretty complex for the type of music. The production is excellent: everything is clear and sharp. Overall, this is an excellent album, and fans of melodic, atmospheric doom should enjoy it. As a bonus, the CD also includes a claymation video for the song "Pagan Freedom". Mercury Rising - _Building Rome_ (Dominion Records, 1998) by: Aaron McKay (9 out of 10) This isn't really my forte, musically speaking, but I cannot help but be blown away by this work of art from Mercury Rising. A magnum opus. I strongly dislike to draw comparisons between groups (unless it cries out to be done; does anyone remember Kingdom Come?) because each, for the most part, struggle for their own individuality in and of their own right. So, with the utmost reverence and respect to Mercury Rising, I would argue that there are evident traces of Queensryche and Fates Warning here, with a warm nod toward Rush in the vocal department, and a diplomatic power-riff interpretation, a la Iron Maiden. The instrument separation is fantastic. Each is clear, distinct and uniform so that, it would appear, the listener has no occasion to miss a note of this album. The formation of MR took place in 1991, followed by a five song demo released 1993. In 1994, MR's first full length was unleashed, _Upon Deaf Ears_. Four years passed until _Building Rome_ made its way to the public, but -damn- was the wait definitely worth it. _BR_'s track four, "A Narrow Door", is astounding. The beginning lulls you into a golden dreamscape with multi-textured imagination, then drops the hammer into some of the most intense metal riffing. It truly needs to be heard to be believed. Lyrically, this band is a breath of late Autumn air. Maybe it is my constant exposure to dark, black, or otherwise macabre material, but MR has a stark intellectual feel and intelligent manor to their writing. A welcome change, I admit. _BR_ is truly a journey that, I think, can be viewed in many lights and on many levels to be interpreted by the listener; each person hearing what is relevant to them individually. Only a handful of groups can pull this off with Chuck and Death (FUCKING AWESOME!) being the undisputed trailblazers of the musical adventure. Chris Brush (bass), Mike Evans (guitar), Jeff Moos (drums), Clarence Osbourne (vocals), and Judd Rizzo (guitar) pull together on the truly astonishing _BR_ to release a power metal effort that I can only say I will have trouble waiting to see performed live. Necromanicide - _Hate Regime_ (Pony Canyon Music, 1998) by: Alex Cantwell (6 out of 10) This is my first exposure to Malaysian metal, and, from what I can tell, this CD is the product of many different styles of metal and hardcore from around the world falling upon the ears of five young men in Malaysia. Every song has a slightly different sound, the common thread through them being a modern thrash/metalcore kind of style. Whichever guitarist plays the leads seems to have quite a handle on soloing, which serves as a definite plus for the band. The riffs are interesting enough, and the production is great. The vocals are a strained shout, with the occasional low-end and high-end growl. The exception is the title track, which is sung by the spawn of Ernie, Kermit, and Cookie Monster, obviously the love child of the three (and a female donor?) resulting from a frisky night at Sesame Street. Think I'm joking? Try to listen to it and keep a straight face. Contact: Pony Canyon Music, Lot 1.1 and 1.2, 7th Floor Kompleks Pernas Soqo, 190, Jalan Abdul Rahman 50100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia mailto:necro@usa.net Nembryonic - _Incomplete_ (Displeased, July 1998) by: Paul Schwarz (7.5 out of 10) Here is a recipe for mayhem. Begin with some of the intense Slayer-esque stylings of The Haunted, combine with the kind of precise blast snares that would almost make the likes of Benumb proud, then season with a liberal dose of _Wolverine Blues_-era Entombed. You've pretty much made Nembryonic's _Incomplete_ -- for their Dutch fans there is also 14 minutes of their drunk antics which has within it a two minute "bonus" track. Though not as great as the sum of the above parts, _Incomplete_ is a fine representation of Nembryonic's talents. Nembryonic have that all-out feel which makes Entombed and The Haunted a wake up a call comparable to being injected with caffeine. Not up there with the best, but certainly a cut above the rest. Nox Intempesta - _Damnanus Dominus_ (Folter Records, 1998) by: Aaron McKay (8 out of 10) The four members of Germany's Nox Intempesta -- Coldstone (guitar), Thrann (guitar/vocals), Monastiir (bass), and Holocaust (drums) -- call their particular brand of musical conundrum "pure black/death metal adoration". I can go along with that. Blended well are the two styles that it (dare I say it?) creates, more-or-less, a sub-genre tailored to NI particularly. Original? Yes, in a lot of ways, but with regards to aggression and NI's brutal conveyance of their music, I would say it was typical. Typical with regard to the expectations a metal fan would come to have from a group hailing from the black and death metal realms. Integrated with a purposeful touch, NI also exhibits a fine understanding of layered sound and appropriate interludes. This is evidenced in a lot of ways on the song "Coldstone Sacrificial". Enthralling vocals that pour into the diverse and engrossing musical accompaniment like so much wet cement. I also find much more than a little enjoyment in the title, as well as the last track, "Speculum Spaghria Satana". Both are uncompromisingly relentless and crafted well as to make it difficult to decipher whether or not you have purchased a death or black metal album. If I had to cite a criticism of NI, it would have to be the style of writing on _DD_'s excellent packaging job. The font is hard to read and unclear to the eye not trained in forms of calligraphy. That said, what an infinitely small grip to mention in conjunction with such a fantastic release. I am thusly mighty impressed with NI's newest effort and with Folter Records for maintaining their ranks with a great band like Nox Intempesta. Oathean - _The Eyes of Tremendous Sorrow_ by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10) (, September 1998) While I am not the biggest black metal fan out there, I do occasionally enjoy trudging through this genre's music style and listening to blackened wails of anguish, crushed beneath sinister black metal riffs and detonating blast beats. This Korean quartet outfit manage to hold their own here, playing some really top notch stuff, while still bringing some interesting ideas into the traditional black metal sound (i.e., superb guitar work throughout), which makes it all the more enjoyable to listen to. While a good portion of the record works off of the guitar's emotions, the wails of anger surely light things up around here, pushing forth a tremendous dose of aggression as the record goes along. This record has a definite momentum working behind it. Something different here is the tranquil sounds / guitars worked into such a harsh sounding record, allowing diversity for certain areas of the record. It's not all heads down, rippin' black metal, and that makes this all the more enjoyable. Choice cuts from these black metal lads: "In Fear With Shiver" and "Frigid Space". Contact: OATHEAN, http://www.shinbiro.com/~oathean mailto:oathean@sinbiro.com Poetry - _Catharsis_ (Arise Records, 1998) by: Pedro Azevedo (7 out of 10) Autumn has arrived, and these next few months of sorrowful bleak beauty are indeed most adequate for doom metal. _Catharsis_ is the first doom release to reach my ears in this year's grey Autumn, and the work it displays from this simplistically named Spanish doom/death band Poetry is overall quite acceptable. The word "overall" is important here, because a few of the album's passages are below average. Apart from those exceptions, the instrumental component is good enough, whereas the vocals could be better: the vocalist's English skills are low, which can become annoying, but at least his vocal delivery is generally reasonable. The production is acceptable, although irregular and occasionally rather patchy, suggesting a low budget that highlights the band's effort to produce quality doom/death. _Catharsis_ is definitely not a hymn to technical perfection, and it isn't as good as a lot of the doom/death I've been reviewing lately (Sculpture, Desire, Novembers Doom, Long Winters' Stare), but it can still be an enjoyable doom/death album with several good moments. Satariel - _Lady Lust Lilith_ (Pulverized, 1998) by: Brian Meloon (7 out of 10) Not to be confused with Setherial [CoC #12 and #28], Satariel play post-At the Gates melodic Swedish death metal, similar in style to A Canorous Quintet [CoC #20 and #33], Arch Enemy [CoC #32], et al. For the most part, the album is straightforward melodic death metal: potent, but not terribly original. Unfortunately, therein lies their greatest weakness; there's not a lot to differentiate this from others doing the same style. They do add the occasional atmospheric touch, some subtle keyboards, and a few melodic sections which remind me of Borknagar's _The Olden Domain_, but most of the album is pretty standard. The vocals mostly vary between grunted and half-screamed. There are a few sections with clean vocals, but they're a weak point, as the vocals are a little flat, and they're sung over-dramatically. Luckily, they aren't overused, so they don't detract too much from the overall sound of the band. Other than those parts, it's very well done: the playing is great, with some very good drumming, and the production (done at Sunlight) is excellent. One final note to make is that they include a cover of Eucharist's "Greeting Immortality". Overall, this is a very good album, and fans of this style will surely enjoy it, but these guys are definitely not breaking any new ground with this album. Skepticism - _Lead and Aether_ (Red Stream, 1998) by: Alex Cantwell (6 out of 10) I try not to believe too much of the hype and descriptive adjectives that labels often use to describe their bands. Thankfully, in the metal world, they are actually relevant from time to time. When I read the ad for _Lead and Aether_, it was described as being "primitive funeral doom", and I'm thinking "well, what the heck is that?" Then I put the CD in and understood completely -- this is not metal, it's musical accompaniment to a funeral for a czar or something. Every track is total funeral dirge, but not without emotion ("The March and the Stream"). The lyrics are poetic and are actually kind of "nice", but often expounding upon loneliness as a theme. The whole CD seems to be dominated by a pipe organ, but yes, a guitar is in the mix too, sometimes. Layers of keyboards create a stirring presence, and it's immediately obvious that the drums were not played on a rock kit, opting instead for kettle drums and crashing symbols. This is my first exposure to Skepticism, and from reading a review of _Stormcrow Fleet_ I was under the impression that they were doom metal, which this is definitely not, with the exception of hints of doom on a few tracks. Although it is doomy, it's appeal will be to those who are into dark/ambient. Soilwork - _Steel Bath Suicide_ (Listenable, August 1998) by: David Rocher (9 out of 10) Unleashed from the distant shores of Sweden, a mighty, raging, melodic thrash assault is about to wash over unsuspecting metal audiences -- ladies and gentlemen, Soilwork! Kicking off in sheer style with the brilliant instrumental "Entering the Angel Diabolique", _SBS_ proves its creators to be an act apart -- and above -- the writhing, hairy mass of Swedish deathsters. Laying their songs down on thrash (rather than death) metal structures, relying on the high number of lightning-speed breaks, razor-sharp riffs and mouth-dropping guitar leads in each of their tunes to keel you over, Soilwork can hardly be forced to fit in the usual Swedish metal frames. Imagine a very mean hybrid of At the Gates (for the hysterical vocals and the heavier-than-thou riffing), Judas Priest or Accept (heavy guitar solos rule!) and late Death (for astounding technicality and a sharp sense of aggression made music), and you're nearly half-way there! Soilwork are fast, intense and melodic, and show an unusually acute sense of complexity, power and catchiness, thus making _SBS_ a refreshing, vindictive response to the now worn out satanic-death / black / doom-thing-with-female-vocals-from-Norway. Classy stuff! Various - _Songs From the Penalty Box: Volume 2_ by: Alex Cantwell (7 out of 10) (Tooth and Nail Records, 1998) If you thought Ghoti Hook was stupid before, wait till you hear their version of "I Love Rock and Roll". This track from their new covers LP is the first track on this latest edition of T&N's finest. The bulk of the material is hardcore, in all of its various manifestations, ranging from metalcore (Zao, Training for Utopia, Living Sacrifice), to indie-rock-core (Frodus, Roadside Monument). Punk is present in Slick Shoes, Craig's Brother, Outer Circle, and The Cootees. Rounded off by many bands who are hard to define, such as Stavesacre and 90 Lb Wuss, this serves as your basic yearly Tooth and Nail compilation. Tedious because of the lack of non-album material to loyal devotees, but very much worth the $6 to the newly initiated, and if that is you, and you've never heard any of these bands before, this could be mindblowing. Contact: Tooth and Nail Records, P O Box 12698, Seattle WA 98111-4698 Sortilege - _Sortilege_ / _Metamorphose_ (Axe Killers, 1998) by: Matthias Noll (both 9 out of 10) Even a greater delight than the release of the H-Bomb albums is the two CD re-release edition of the first two Sortilege records. Featuring an exciting, original sounding lead guitarist plus a brilliant lead singer with the talents equal to Rob Halford's finest moments, Sortilege were capable of writing great heavy metal hymns like "Sortilege", as well as up tempo, heavy riffing material or classic semi ballads in the vein of Priest's "Beyond the Realms of Death". Be assured, music-wise this is no lightweight stuff! On the other hand, French lyrics might definitely not be everybody's piece of cake, but in this case they really work and make Sortilege's style even more unique. English song versions that are used to bolster up the length of both re-releases also sound good, but melodies written for French lyrics sometimes don't seem to sound right when sung in English. The production on both albums is good and guitar oriented, and everybody that enjoys bands like Iced Earth or retro metallers HammerFall or Pegazus should definitely think about buying something from one of the originators. Spineshank - _Strictly Diesel_ (Roadrunner, 1998) by: Jody Webb (7 out of 10) Roadrunner is betting on Spineshank to be their next big act, to follow in the footsteps of Coal Chamber and Vision of Disorder. I don't expect to see it happen, but hey; I would never have guessed the success that Coal Chamber has seen -- I just don't like it! Anyways, I think the best way to summarize _Strictly Diesel_ would be to mix a glass of Deftones with a shot of Fear Factory. It has all the trademarks of the Deftones, like aggressive verses and melodic chorus; just throw in some sparing use of electronic effects on the guitars and a bit of Fear Factory style shouting. I like more than half of the thirteen cuts, but I don't feel there is anything killer on here. Burton Bell from Fear Factory does some throat on "Start the Machine". Dino Cazares is a big fan, too, as a sticker on the case says, so expect to see Spineshank open for FF when they headline a tour later this year. Sutcliffe Jugend - _When Pornography Is No Longer Enough _ by: Adrian Bromley (6 out of 10) (Death Factory, September 1998) Real fucked up shit that involves a lot of screaming and just sonic mayhem all around. This'll really send you to the loonie bin if it comes too addictive. Anyone know Merzbow or Blunt Force Trauma? This is for you, then. Truly venom for the mind. 'Nuff said. Contact: SUTCLIFFE JUGEND, Box 1881 -- 581 Linkoping, Sweden FAX: +46 13 10 39 06 WWW: http://www.coldmeat.se System of a Down - _System of a Down_ (Columbia-American, 1998) by: Jody Webb (8 out of 10) Most of my friends in the metal industry would choose this for the debut act of 1998, but I'd reserve that enthusiasm for Ultraspank. I am willing to grant System a #2 in my book, though, primarily due to the original writing, non-formulaic structures, and effective vocals. Overall, I suppose one could describe this as thrash, but the tracks on this disc hit most of the tempos seen in modern music, from a crawl to a high-speed chug, although there is no blast beat here. A few cuts are written in a verse/pre-chorus/chorus arrangement, but, in general, the band does some innovative things with different parts. They manage to touch a bit of folk and polka too, but not for more than a moment. Serge, the vocalist, likes to change up from a spoken word to a throaty death voice to breaking into song, and he does this in most of the right places. The net effect is twelve quality tracks. I can put this disc on a random spin and enjoy it the whole way through. My only qualms here are the political agenda that serves as lyrical content, because I just wanna rock, but the music makes up in a big way. This debut shows more quality tracks than Ultraspank, but lacks the killer singles. Theatre of Tragedy - _Aegis_ (Century Media, September 1998) by: Adrian Bromley (5 out of 10) I dunno about this band. I have never really been a big fan of what Theatre of Tragedy has been about. I mean, I can get into the whole gothic/metal overtone and the soft, beautiful vocals accompanying the sounds of the band, but something within the band's musical agenda doesn't sit well with me. I know the band has a large fan base, I just don't get it. With _Aegis_, the band has managed to capture a pretty tranquil environment, melding passionate displays of songwriting with soft-spoken vocals and gothic guitar work. While some of the work here is pretty memorable as the record goes along, it just doesn't sit in your head too long afterwards. It's kinda boring, if you ask me; all the fancy coated song structures seem uninspired at times. The only salvageable material in my mind on this eight-song effort is the ultra-cool "Siren". Never really been my cup of tea, and I can see much more why now. Transport League - _Superevil_ (The Music Cartel, August 1998) by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10) Mix the ways of Danzig, Entombed, Meshuggah and even Finland's Xysma and you've got the fucked up, hard-hitting groove of Transport League. While similar to their debut disc, the sophomore effort manages to travel down the road of variety a bit more. Lots of the material here, while in a hard-groovin' state, seems to stand out all their own. And while heavy as fuck at times, they're catchy to boot. The elements of Transport League that shine are the use of samples / sound effects and the tuned down guitar approach. Throw in the harsh vocals of Tony Julien Jelencovich and it's a winner from start to finish. Transport League aren't afraid to mesh rock n' roll with heavy rock either, a feature that comes up quite often here as well. Turkknifes Pope - _Performance Crippling Data Restriction_ by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10) (Zenflesh Records, September 1998) This odd and eccentric outfit seems to come across as very sedated, standing still, but still pushing outwards to us riddled compositions of noise and abstract ideas. At times the musical ideas here are slowly rumbling towards a dreamlike soundscape to rest within. Most of this seems drawn out, but that's the idea. A lot happens and it takes time to build up to it. Powerful ideas and great song structures based on noises and chaotic paranoia make this quite the experience to hear. Not much else to say other than get your hands on this and see how you feel after a few long listens. Powerful stuff. Contact: Zenflesh Records, P.O. Box 25205 Los Angeles, CA USA 90025 WWW: http://www.zenflesh.com/ mailto:panic@zenflesh.com Ultraspank - _Ultraspank_ (Epic / Immortal, 1998) by: Jody Webb (8 out of 10) This disc is my vote for debut of 1998, and though we have three months to go, I don't expect to be swayed. This stuff can get my head nodding even five months after its release. Ultraspank mixes guitars and a drumkit with some synthesized sounds and programmed drums. They focus on making tracks you can dance to, and we're talking either moshing or breakdancing, though it's not so hip hop or groove oriented as the new Korn disc or Limp Bizkit, nor is it so brutal as Napalm Death or Slayer. The vocalist can croon a haunting note, which he does to good effect in some places, and this can sound similar to Tool's Maynard James Keenan. Yet there is no shortage of the barking that heavy music fans have come to expect. For some head bobbing fun, try "5" or "Butter"; to fire up the pit, try "Slip" or "Fired"; and for simple listening pleasure, try "Suck". Zao - _Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest_ (Solid State, 1998) by: Alex Cantwell (9 out of 10) This is the most brutal hardcore ever. Period. Yes, I know about Acme and Coalesce, and still my statement stands. But let's forget about the term "hardcore" for a minute, and set your brains to the "metal" mode, because although the song structures of this CD are hardcore in nature, metal influences prevail in a big way. The music is a sweeping experience of aggressiveness, downtuned and mean; absolutely brilliant in form and execution. Along with the metal influence is an extremely energized and chaotic post-modern slant, of which all of this is probably due to an entire line-up change barring founder/drummer Jesse Smith. This record should set a new standard for new-skool hardcore, but for now the shrill vocals and the pummelling rhythms that make up the structure of the new Zao will be the soundtrack for many a worship session. Although their last outing infused quite a bit of death-metal influences as well, their debut being straight-ahead Midwest hardcore, no one could have expected a masterpiece like this. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= __ __ _ /\ \ \_____ __ /\ \ \___ (_)___ ___ / \/ / _ \ \ /\ / / / \/ / _ \| / __|/ _ \ / /\ / __/\ 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 Bihor Massif - _Gateway to the Fifth Dimension_ (4-track demo) by: Paul Schwarz (***--) Listening to this demo of very raw self-confessed "black metal", one can see how much the style owes to Hellhammer, Destruction, Sodom and countless other 80s thrash bands who trod the thin line between extreme and extremely sloppy every time they sat down to lay down a guitar riff. What is so great about all these early thrash releases, though, is that the sloppiness only adds to the "raw" feel of recordings, like "Obsessed by Cruelty", "Sentence of Death" or "Apocalyptic Raids", and somehow makes them more extreme. Bihor Massif sounds "raw" like these early releases and it doesn't even just sound downright bad like so many ultra-raw-black-metal releases, especially on demo, have the tendency to. What is funny is the opening, and main, riff to first track "Spectres of Souls" actually sounds like Cathedral, and good Cathedral. Overall, this release is nothing special, but uses that time-honored rawness to pinpoint a dark atmosphere which so many black metal bands overlook, however good their production is. At present, that atmosphere is the best thing going for Bihor Massif, but atmosphere is more than half the battle when you are trying to create great black metal. Contact: TYR, 4121 Dayton Ave. N. #201, Seattle, Washington 98103, USA mailto: bilug@u.washington.edu $3/demo or trade Cephalectomy - _Dark Waters Rise_ (5-track demo) by: Adrian Bromley (***--) While the music comes across brutal for all to hear, the production of this band's material (now on CD format) still lacks something. Much like the weak production on their three-song _Gateway to the Gods, _Dark Waters Rise_ loses a bit of appeal with the weak production, though the music and its wickedly violent pace soon dissolves that dilemma. From the get-go, the music of Cephalectomy flows with intensity and anger, lashing out at us with a wicked sneer, crushing us beneath the weight of the band's multi-styled playing. Influenced heavily by bands like Brutal Truth and Internal Bleeding, Cephalectomy rarely slows the pace down, shoving heavy riff and growls into our face as much as they can. It's intense and quite good. Snag yourselves a copy by contacting the band (see contact below) and support the Canadian metal scene. Contact: Corey Andrews, RR#1 Brookfield, Col. Co N.S., B0N-1C0, CANADA mailto:cephalectomy@hotmail.com Ghoulunatics - _Carving Into You_ (10-track demo) by: Adrian Bromley (***--) ARGHH!!!!! The production on this 10-song record sucks. It is so poor sounding, the fuckin' drums sound like they're hitting trash cans and the guitars sound like muffled metal pipes being clanked together. But why is this so good? I'll tell you why: attitude. This four-piece from Quebec kick out the jams, and it's no holds barred where their playing is concerned. Kind of like a Boy Scout in the woods with no food. You make with what you got in your surroundings and you get by. I dunno why the band has such little help getting solid production here, 'cause they play their instruments like trained veterans, pounding away at the music with sincere dedication. This is what it's all about, people. Making music sound good, no matter what obstacles (in this case the production) are in your way. Vicious and definitely grinding through numbers with slight grind meets hard core tendencies, Ghoulunatics are crazy mofos and you know that after each and every listen. Contact: GHOULUNATICS, P.O. Box 47574 Montreal, Quebec, CANADA, H2H 2S8 Ghoul Hotline: (514) 990-3553 Graven Image - _Black Lung Cathedral_ (12-track demo) by: Adrian Bromley (**---) Residing in a techno-tinged gothic world, Graven Image do their thing just many other acts of the gothic genre have done. It's chalk full of atmosphere, saddened sounds of darkened imagery and eerily pushed forth by a repetitious electronic beat for the most part. Sounds a tad bit like Nine Inch Nails at times, too. Like I've said before, and I'll say it again, it's all been done before. While I enjoyed this for the most part, after several listens my interest for the band wandered off. Primarily for goth fans only. Contact: GRAVEN IMAGE, P.O. Box 771269 Lakewood, OH USA 44107 WWW: http://www.bge.net/gravenimage mailto:lassen@ameritech.net Immortal Souls -_ Reflections of Doom_ (8-track demo) by: Alex Cantwell (**---) Half good, half not-so-good, I don't know. I think the overall demo would be rated as less than average by most folks. The vocal performance is very weak throughout, with the exception of "Hate Sender", which is surprisingly aggressive. The music is slow to mid-paced death (rock) with some doom elements, but all too often the guitars are seemingly not tuned to each other. Interestingly, there is quite a bit of acoustic guitar, sometimes playing right along with the main riff. All that said, methinks these guys have tremendous potential, and there is an obvious Einherjer influence in the title track and in "I Am Me", that could definitely be developed further. Contact: Aki Sarkioja, Jalustinkatu 2 D 50, 20880 Turku, Finland Manifestium -_ The Dawn of Domination_ (8-track demo) by: Alex Cantwell (***--) A vast improvement has been made since their previous demo, on all counts, but there is a brilliance in this band that remains so far untapped. The cheesy elements of the first demo have been abolished by this work, making way for good song structures and good playing. Not great; good. The Amorphis influence is great throughout, and, after all, what better musical footsteps to follow for a young Finnish band than the champions of Finnish metal themselves? Also of note is the use of a wah-wah which serves to really draw you into the songs -- it's too bad that the guitars are not always quite in-tune with each other. Oversight, I guess, because I believe that Manifestium has gone to great lengths to improve, and improve they shall. Contact: Juha Luomala, Lillvisinkuja 4, 62100 Lapua, Finland mailto:ossi@finlink.net =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ____ __ __ /\ _`\ /\ \ /\ \__ __ \ \ \/\_\\ \ \___ __ ___\ \ ,_\/\_\ ___ \ \ \/_/_\ \ _ `\ /'__`\ / __`\ \ \/\/\ \ /'___\ \ \ \L\ \\ \ \ \ \/\ \L\.\_/\ \L\ \ \ \_\ \ \/\ \__/ \ \____/ \ \_\ \_\ \__/.\_\ \____/\ \__\\ \_\ \____\ \/___/ \/_/\/_/\/__/\/_/\/___/ \/__/ \/_/\/____/ ____ __ /\ _`\ /\ \__ \ \ \/\_\ ___ ___ ___ __ _ __\ \ ,_\ ____ \ \ \/_/_ / __`\ /' _ `\ /'___\ /'__`\/\`'__\ \ \/ /',__\ \ \ \L\ \/\ \L\ \/\ \/\ \/\ \__//\ __/\ \ \/ \ \ \_/\__, `\ \ \____/\ \____/\ \_\ \_\ \____\ \____\\ \_\ \ \__\/\____/ \/___/ \/___/ \/_/\/_/\/____/\/____/ \/_/ \/__/\/___/ OBSCURE AND VIOLENT CANADIAN SUPREMACY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CoC reviews Death Across America Featuring Gorguts, Oppressor, Cryptopsy, Days of Mourning and Endless At the El Mocambo in Toronto, Ontario, September 10, 1998 by: Paul Schwarz Well, yeah. There is bad news to this story: Nile were supposed to be on this bill. But, thanks to criminal records, cash shortages and borders, Canada was deprived, just as the CoC crew who made it to Metalfest was, of seeing Nile. Fuck. Maybe some other time in some other country; we'll see. Tonight began with two Toronto acts. Endless were first and their mix of death and doom wasn't bad. They interestingly switched lead vocals and showcased some decent live presentation and playing. The sound, which I though was exceptionally good this evening, showcased competently written, though not particularly stand-out, songs. They filled time, although, to be honest, with the stereo blaring such classics as Terrorizer and Nocturnus, I'm not sure whether it would have been more pleasantly filled without them. Days of Mourning showcased a more interesting sound composed, as I heard it, of hardcore, grind and death metal. Not leaning -too- far to any one sound proved to be to the band's advantage and kept their set more interesting than the previous one. A band whose music on CD I would be curious to hear. Cryptopsy time. Whatever dick stuck these home grown and, quite honestly, supreme death band on -before- Oppressor (an average-as-hell Morbid Angel-esque death four-piece) deserves to be tied down, have his balls cut off (or, be it a woman... you can imagine) by a rusty knife wielded by Grandpa from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Cryptopsy were Cryptopsy: amazing. The sound allowed me to hear every note of every solo and the playing was phenomenal. Mike DiSalvo looked like he'd been possessed by some of the demons that also evidently got into the band's new album, _Whisper Supremacy_ (see review this issue). Classics like "Defenstration", "Slit Your Guts" and "Crown of Horns" were aired along with brilliant new tracks "White Worms" and "Flame to the Surface". Though there was a little crowd derision to Mike -- one person saying "Lord Worm is the king", to which Mike, in true Cryptopsy style and humor, responded "Lord Worm is dead" --, it was unwarranted and the performance obviously made someone's mind up with "Nah, you're better than Lord Worm" being a comment that came near the end. There was one problem: 30 minute set. Oppressor got 40 minutes. Well, I could do with a rest from the crowd and standing, so I went and talked to fellow CoC-ers and other friends. Oppressors were competent but boring: it is shameful that a two-album boring band can be placed after a three-album amazing band, but I guess that's the advantage of touring with Cannibal Corpse. So it was time for the actual and rightful headliners, Gorguts, to take the stage. Hailing from the same city as Cryptopsy (Montreal), Gorguts are yet more proof, if any were needed, of the quality of music Canada has to offer. They were first, though -- when Cryptopsy were still making demos, Gorguts were making albums which would later fall into the tomes of death metal history. However, virtually none of Gorguts' hour long set was drawn from either of their first two releases and was therefore composed nearly entirely from their new _Obscura_ album. No problem, musically, here, though; as you may be aware, I was astounded by how original and how amazing that album is, and I also am not too familiar with their older material. After a number of excellent songs from _Obscura_ and a few old songs, including the title track, Gorguts closed their set with "Illuminatum", the album's excruciating closer. A truly gripping end to a night filled with almost total perfection and near total disappointment -- the contrasts were as brutal as the music. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= D O O M D E S C E N D S U P O N D E U T S C H L A N D ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Einherjer, Old Man's Child, Gorgoroth, Cradle of Filth At Zeche Carl in Essen, Germany on May 7, 1998 by: Matthias Noll The Zeche Carl is a former coal mine in the German "Ruhrgebiet". Its towers and brick wall buildings provide a very special atmosphere that completely fitted that night's unholy musical onslaught. The place was packed with about 800 people eagerly waiting for the show to begin. First up on stage were Einherjer, a band which is supposed to portray some kind of Viking image. On stage, the four-piece looked more like devotees of the alcoholic metal style of Tankard fame. Compared to their frontman, not wearing a sword, horned skull cap and leather armor as one might expect, but a green bomber jacket and ultra tight grey jeans, my mother seemed to look like mighty Thor himself. The band's rather traditional, medium paced metal with vocals in a clear and midranged, but poor and limited, style left a lot to be desired as well. Most of the awkward choruses, during which the singer was constantly trying to conduct the crowd with a bottle of beer, seemed to come straight from a "Best of Drunken Soccer Fans" compilation. Furthermore, they suffered from a miserable sound. The fact that their only guitar player missed several breaks and riffs towards the end of their set because of a fit in his left arm (I would understand if that happens to Yngwie Malmsteen once in a while) made the group's amateurish approach even more obvious. This gig left me wondering why the hell Odin (he owns us all, according to Einherjer) didn't send some undead viking hordes to take revenge. Next band was Old Man's Child, promoting their new album _Ill-Natured Spiritual Invasion_ on this tour. In comparison to Einherjer, at least their outfit was quite impressive, with all members wearing corpsepaint, spikes and more of the usual black metal stage gear. I had hoped that drum god Gene Hoglan would play on this tour as on the album, but, to my disappointment, he was nowhere to be seen. This band also suffered from an extremely poor sound and I had a hard time figuring out what they were playing. Nevertheless, their complex (compared to Einherjer) song material was delivered in a tight fashion. OMC's songs feature a lot of trash riffing that would have been a lot more effective if only their sound had been better. On the other hand, frontman Balder was doing his best to win the "black metal poser of the day" contest by displaying his capabilities in evil grimacing only when a certain photographer in the front row was ready to take a picture. The bass player also tried hard to entertain the crowd. The guy was definitely fighting his way through the Forest of Equilibrium, being so drunk that he constantly was in danger of falling into the drumkit. To my disappointment, he always managed to avoid collapsing and continued to stumble across the stage. Despite my criticism, OMC's performance achieved a rather good response from the crowd, but, in my opinion, totally failed to deliver heaviness and aggression. Gorgoroth, with the new album _Destroyer_ under their belts, entered the stage cloaked, spiked and painted. Again, the sound was horrible, but reached new peaks in volume. Gorgoroth hammered their way through various (on that day) indistinguishable songs, creating the most violent aural assault I have ever witnessed. Song structures, guitar melody lines, rhythm and choruses just didn't seem to matter and they kept on blasting through their simplistic and raw material. After about 30 infernal minutes, technical problems with one of their guitars became serious and they had to leave the stage. If you were in the mood (which I was that night) to enjoy the sound of bypassing high speed trains, Gorgoroth kicked ass that night and were the first band to deliver the goods. Finally, Cradle of Filth entered the stage. The first thing to mention was the now brilliant sound. Starting the set with "Dusk and Her Embrace", drummer Nicholas had some timing problems through the first fast parts, but immediately recovered from that and played the rest of the material in ultra tight and faster than on record style (unbelievable but true in the case of song material like "Beneath the Howling Stars"). The whole band's appearance was highly professional and tight, and especially screamer Dani energetically ruled the stage and delivered an unbelievable vocal onslaught. I always wonder how much blood this guy spits after each gig. As they didn't bring any female singers on this tour, he had to do his own interpretation of the female vocal parts, which wasn't as awkward as you might expect (nevertheless, I would have preferred samples). The set list was the expected mix of old and new material: "To Eve the Art of Witchcraft" and "The Black Goddess Rises", the fantastic and brutally heavy sounding "The Forest Whispers My Name", three songs from _Cruelty and the Beast_ and some material from _Dusk... and Her Embrace_. Briefly: A great show by a great band that doesn't need any hype to prove that they are unique and groundbreaking. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= W H A T W E H A V E C R A N K E D ! ! ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gino's Top 5 1. Various - _The World Domination II_ 2. Pungent Stench - _Praise the Names of the Musical Assassins_ 3. Dark Funeral - _The Secrets of the Black Arts_ 4. Proscriptor - _The Venus Bellona_ 5. Biohazard - _Urban Discipline_ Adrian's Top 5 1. Bruce Dickinson - _The Chemical Wedding_ 2. Cryptopsy - _Whisper Supremacy_ 3. Sepultura - _Against_ 4. Bolt Thrower - _Mercenary_ 5. Days of Mourning - _Reborn as the Enemy_ Brian's Top 5 1. Spaceboy - _Getting Warm on the Trail of Heat_ 2. Mental Home - _Black Art_ 3. Satariel - _Lady Lust Lilith_ 4. Labyrinth - _Return to Heaven Denied_ 5. Michael Harris - _Ego Decimation Profile_ Alain's Top 5 1. Today Is the Day - _Temple of the Morning Star_ 2. Suffocation - _Despise the Sun_ 3. A Canorous Quintet - _The Only Pure Hate_ 4. Death - _The Sound of Perseverance_ 5. In Ruins - _Four Seasons of Grey_ Adam's Top 5 1. Cemetary - _Sundown_ 2. Lycia - _Estrella_ 3. Fear Factory - _Obsolete_ 4. Flesh Parade - _Kill Whitey_ 5. Type O Negative - _The Origin of the Feces_ Pedro's Top 5 1. Sculpture - _Like a Dead Flower_ 2. Dawn - _Slaughtersun (Crown of the Triarchy)_ 3. Carcass - _Heartwork_ 4. Unholy - _Rapture_ 5. My Dying Bride - _Trinity_ Paul's Top 5 1. Cryptopsy - _Whisper Supremacy_ 2. Manowar - _Battle Hymns_ 3. Rush - _2112_ 4. The Haunted - _The Haunted_ 5. Bolt Thrower - _Mercenary_ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= _____ __ __ __ | \.-----.| |_.---.-.|__| |.-----. | -- | -__|| _| _ || | ||__ --| |_____/|_____||____|___._||__|__||_____| 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: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CHRONICLES OF CHAOS 57 Lexfield Ave Downsview Ont. M3M-1M6, Canada Fax: (416) 693-5240 Voice: (416) 693-9517 e-mail: ginof@interlog.com ---- Our European Office can be reached at: CHRONICLES OF CHAOS (Europe) Urb. Souto n.20 Anta 4500 Espinho, PORTUGAL -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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 " in the SUBJECT of your message to . Please note that this command must NOT be sent to the list address . AUTOMATIC FILESERVER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All back issues and various other CoC related files are available for automatic retrieval through our e-mail fileserver. All you have to do is send a message to us at . The 'Subject:' field of your message must read: "send file X" where 'X' is the name of the requested file (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. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= End Chronicles of Chaos, Issue #34 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.