APOCALYPTIC RAIDS
Only Death Is Real...
(Demise Records)
39:00min

I already told you my detailed opinion about Brazil's APOCALYPTIC RAIDS in the other review which is featured somewhere else on this page, so I can keep it short this time. "Only Death Is Real" is the band's first full length album and it features ¾ of the songs that already appeared on the band's 1999 Reh.Demo. Compared to their earlier material, they managed to evolve into a little more unique direction after all, even though every die hard fan will pretty easily still recognize all those recycled old HELLHAMMER and CELTIC FROST riffs and song structures throughout the 39 minutes. But due to APOCALYPTIC RAIDS' more brutal vocal approach these days, they already managed to get away a little more from that comparison. A wise decision, cause they definitely have the right feeling for brutal Oldschool Metal. They even recorded and mixed the album analogically with 80's equipment in order to re-create the same atmosphere of the classic releases! So, if you're bored by all the faceless bands that are popping up around the world each day and that only jump on the next bandwagon in order to cash in on a current trend within brutal music, give these guys a listen. You might be positively surprised. And if they should furthermore manage to get rid off those wellknown riffs next time, they will also completely impress me as well. Contact: Demise Records, P.O. Box 325, Timoteo / MG, 35180-000 – Brazil, www.demiserecords.com

Frank Stöver

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APOCALYPTIC VISIONS
Leave None Living
(self-financed)
56:51min

What APOCALYPTIC VISIONS have done on this, their second album, is what I would have expected DEICIDE to do. That is, retain enough Death Metal to remain associated with the genre, but simultaneously give a wider and wider berth to Black Metal à la ENTHRONED. I'm sure the comparison between this band and DEICIDE may sound strange, but consider the deep, almost watery lead vocals, and the higher syllablic voice that sounds nothing so much like a pestilential ghoul perched in a dark corner of Notre Dame's belltower. It sounds exciting, to be sure, and if DEICIDE had indeed released this album, it would probably receive more favorable reviews simply because it beats the ever loving pus out of everything DEICIDE did between 1995-2006, especially the last albums on Roadrunner. But, alas, because DEICIDE did not write this album, and there are pieces of music on it that Glen Benton would never in a million years use, we are obligated to cast favoritism aside, and grade this album properly. That is to say, it should be viewed with some skepticism for it isn't oustanding. www.myspace.com/apocalypticvisions

Nat Shapiro

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APOKALYPTIC RAIDS
The Return Of The Satanic Rites
(Dark Sun Records)
37:33min

"The Return Of The Satanic Rites" is APOKALYPTIC RAIDS' second full length album (the first with a "k" instead of a "c" in the band's name though) and exactly continues on where its predecessor "Only Death Is Real" left off. Which means, fans of the classic "Satanic Rites" / "Apocalyptic Raids" HELLHAMMER era as well as worshippers of early CELTIC FROST ("Morbid Tales" / "Emperor's Return") will easily freak out on this. While I still complained about the fact that they "recycle" a lot of the old riffs in my previous reviews, I don't mind that any longer as I noticed that this seems to be an important part of their musical concept. And you'll get a lot of that again on this ten tracker. The album as a whole turned out rather speedy this time, yet always maintains the doomy and apocalyptic guitar sound that made HELLHAMMER so unique in their heydays. Vocals and drumming differ a lot from the Swiss masters though. While the vocals are always very aggressive and often even recall the classic Becerra style (fitting the band very well though!), the drumming is everything else but played in the simple HELLHAMMER / FROST manner. There's quite a lot going on behind the kit, but never to the extend that they end up sounding technical (which APOKALYPTIC RAIDS is definitely not!). 'The Impaler' (with its rather 'Circle Of The Tyrants' like middle section) should already be familiar to followers of the band's career, as it already appeared on their 1999 demo. 'The Atheist' also recalls 'Circle Of The Tyrants', but overall in a more HELLHAMMER-ish fashion, 'The Way Of The Warrior' kicks off with a typical 'The Usurper' riffing and the more midpaced / doomy 'Emperor's Return' has a 'Return To The Eve' type middle section. As already mentioned, the rest of the songs is basically in a very uptempo vein, with the exception of the opening of 'Skullcrusher', which is a drum solo (!). As a kind of bonus you're also getting a highly impressive cover of HELLHAMMER's 'The Third Of The Storms (Evoked Damnation)' at the end of the disc (which is only mentioned in dark and very small letters on the sleeve). While Germany's WARHAMMER (R.I.P.) were focusing on HELLHAMMER's "Satanic Rites" / "Apocalyptic Raids" era exclusively, APOKALYPTIC RAIDS have a lot more releases to choose from and therefore offer a lot more variation in their writing. Album- and songtitles as well as the whole design / packaging is of course also connected to HELLHAMMER / FROST and done very tastefully, while the analog production stays very true to the original releases. You're even getting classic record player / vinyl noises at the beginning of 'The Impaler' (which opens "Side Metal") on a CD, which is a very cool idea indeed. So, all in all I really enjoyed this record and the band's cool attitude a lot! For more info check out www.geocities.com/apokalyptic_raids or contact the band at apokalyptic_raids@yahoo.com

Frank Stöver

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APOKALYPTIC RAIDS
The Third Storm – World War III
(Dark Sun Records)
36:51min

Along with APOKALYPTIC RAIDS' second album "The Return Of The Satanic Rites", the band also sent us an adv. CD-R of their third full length "The Third Storm – World War III", which musically marks a little change compared to their previous efforts. But don't worry too much, the overall style is stil very much addressed to die hard HELLHAMMER maniacs in the first place, maybe even more than ever now. It's just that their CELTIC FROST influences got dropped completely now and were replaced by various "Death Fiend" / "Triumph Of Death" era elements, which means you're about to experience even more traditional and older HELLHAMMER - style stuff instead. The album's opener (and also closer) 'I'm A Metal Head' for instance exactly recaptures the vibe of 'Hammerhead', while there's some additional punky elements in their native tongue sung 'Manifesto Politicamente Incorreto (Ou Um Dia De Fúria)'... and yes, they surprisingly DO fit into the whole concept! The musical core of the album is nevertheless again 100% HELLHAMMER of course, with the typical tuning and feel of their classic era (one of the riffs for instance immediately reminded me on 'Massacra', while a doomer part brings 'Triumph Of Death' up right away etc). You'll even get another HELLAMMER cover this time (a killer version of 'Revelations Of Doom'), which for some reason (again) isn't mentioned in the tracklist though. Considering the fact that "The Third Storm..." feeling- and tempowise consists of a whole lot of different songs, it could easily be said that it's the band's most diverse release so far. But even though this is for sure another very cool and dedicated record, my personal favorite (so far) will remain "The Return Of The Satanic Rites", for the simple fact that I always enjoyed HELLHAMMER's "Satanic Rites" / "Apocalyptic Raids" and early CELTIC FROST period the most. Band contact: www.geocities.com/apokalyptic_raids, apokalyptic_raids@yahoo.com

Frank Stöver

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DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER
All You Need Is Love
(Hammerheart Records)
51:01min

If I have to be really honest, I must admit that I was never that impressed by the first two albums of DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER. They were always a rather experimental band, but the way they explore the boundaries of all the different kinds of Metal on "All You Need Is Love" is really impressive this time! It’s rather hard to find a decent description of their music: the more extreme styles (Black / Thrash / Death Metal) are the most present but the band is not afraid to build for example some quiet piano-parts in their songs as well. The production (done by Andy Classen) is very well done, because besides all the brutality, you can still follow and hear very clear what’s going on. One other very important factor which makes this album so catchy is that besides the many experiments which are going on, the album remains very catchy. I mean, you don’t have to listen to it ten times before you get the clue behind everything, a track like for example 'Unter Der Asche' or 'Reitermania' already rules from the very first time you listen to it. Another important factor is that the band doesn’t take everything too seriously, just take a look at Abbath, the Reiterdog in the CD-booklet, if that one doesn’t make you grin, well… To sum it up: "All You Need Is Love" is a very well played / produced Metal album for those who dare to try out something different. Very well done! On sale here.

Steven Willems

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APOPHIS
I Am Your Blindness
(Supreme Chaos Records)
31:49min

Finally, some new material from German Death heads APOPHIS. A bit short, but in contrast to other bands, APOPHIS insist on selling "I Am Your Blindness" for a special price. I saw these guys live at the Protzen Open Air a couple of years ago (review still online under "Specials") and was quite impressed. Brutal stuff with a melodic touch to it. Really oldschool. After severe line-up problems the band didn't give up and this CD is the result. The new singer rocks – at least on CD. Heavy, professional, deep. For my taste it lacks some aggression, especially whenever the keyboards starts sticking. Fortunately, this doesn't happen too often. To cut a long story short: this is solid Death Metal and the band even manages to sound recognisable – they've been around for quite some time, you know. But somehow I don't get too excited about this release right now. But their attitude deserves to be praised. Be sure to check 'em out live in case they happen to come to town! www.apophis-music.de. You can order a copy here.

Ramon Claassen

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APOSTHATE
First Born Evil (MCD)
(TAF Productions)
24:00min

After DEVASTER and HELLWRATH, here is another excellent surprise coming out from Italy. This young act formed in 2004 offers a rather pleasant form of blasphemous Death / Thrash (no trace of Black Metal despite the band’s claim), certainly lacking in originality but generous in energy and conviction. Also, the tracks present an old flavour which is certainly a good point. The vocals, courtesy of Orias, emerge as one of the strongest elements on this MCD, expect a raw and raspy performance far away of the usual atonal growls offered by the majority of the brutal vocalists of today. The two guitarists teamed up here (Azmeroth and Midgard) deliver the goods OK, even if some trade-offs need more refinement, they have to gain more confidence in the solo department I suppose. The sound on “First Born Evil” is clean, yet it is too bad the drums come out too dry and trebly for comfort, also the guitars should have been better put higher in the mix, especially considering their very raw sound which add a lot to the savour of the music. This is the composition skills of the APOSTHATE warriors that can be praised the more here: even if this MCD is rather short, one could get the impression to hold a true full length, so much the seven tracks offered on “First Born Evil” (I don’t count the intro, sampled from the “Evil Dead” movie I think) are carefully written and thought about. This element alone separates APOSTHATE from the legion of wannabes storming across the Metal world these days, and made “First Born Evil” a record worth checking out. To get some supplementary info, visit the band website at: www.thyanthemfades.com/aposthate. Thumbs up!

Edouard Vergriete

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APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE
Sincerest Misery
(Northern Silence / Eyes Like Snow)
70:49min

The Doom Metal roots are part of the 70s and for sure can make some father talk more precisely about the origin of this music than their own sons. By keeping this fact in mind it’s no surprise that for the next Doom generation the old goods are more than just a source of inspiration. APOSTEL OF SOLITUDE are no exception to this rule by traveling back in time and reawakening this old Doom feeling. The American band has released two demos since their founding in 2004 ("Apostle Of Solitude" and "Embraced By The Black") before they finally recorded their debut “Sincerest Misery”. Think you can enjoy the 4 years of practice with every song because the band knows how to create this essential feeling. Think Doom Metal stands and falls with the convincing atmosphere and APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE is without doubt a band which is more than capable of these standards. Especially by supporting the album with two great instrumentals they can easily build a bridge to BLACK SABBATH and their generation. That’s maybe the only minor problem because the vocals are clearly more Rock than Metal so don’t expect some shouts or growls - “Sincerest Misery” is a 100 % tribute to these days and can’t be compared to releases of for example bands like the Norwegian SAGH. I’m really convinced that after listening to songs likes 'Last Tears' or 'The Messenger' you will buy this album without hesitation and maybe the limited vinyl version with nearly 100 minutes playing time (2 bonus tracks from the second demo) as a Christmas present for the vinyl collection of your dad. www.apostleofsolitude.com, www.northern-silence.de

Matthias Auch

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APOSTOLUM 
Anedonia (MCD)
(Moribund Cult)
34:00min

Hailing from Cremona, Italy here we have Apostolum a very young band along the lines of late ANATHEMA / KATATONIA and just a little bit of early SAMAEL which translated to simple words portrays a band wandering somewhere in the Black / Doom realm. This MCD starts with a promising mood with the song 'Dark Deep Waters' which is basically the only worthy track on the whole disc. Things start going really awful as soon as you jump into the second song 'Anxiety Attack' with those attempts to a BURZUM impersonation which in fact wiped away the "depressive" touch and replaced that with a burst of laughter that I almost needed some oxigen assistance in order to recover. The rest of the songs on the disc... Well... pretty much forgetable slow stuff that really does not click with me and ruined again by the somewhat lame growl of the vocalist. The guys seem to put some effort in the compositions / production department but they are kind of doomed if there are not a drastic change on the vocals. I guess the other band members were really busy with the lipstick while the vocalist was "performing" in the studio. My hope is to find a good use for this CD, I'm already thinking as a freesbie for my son or rip someone off of his / her money and use it to buy beer and continue laughing my ass off the second song. Contact them at: www.myspace.com/apostolum.

Mario Cubero

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APOTHEOSIS
Farthest From The Sun
(Nocturnal Art Productions)
50:59min

Somehow I always knew that Sauron didn't die in Mordor in ancient times. Now there is evidence that he went to Malta. As the one ring was destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom, Sauron founded a symphonic Black Metal project in 1993 called APOTHEOSIS and this time his attempt to spread evil all over the world might be more successful. Instead of a magic ring he uses an indeed magic CD called "Farthest From The Sun" to gather our souls (and in darkness bind them). There are four tracks on here, all of them fairly long. A considerable amount of playing time is reserved for rather bombastic acoustic parts and especially the opening track called 'Victory' sounds like a good epic movie soundtrack. The Black Metal elements in general are quite melodic, yet fast and aggressive. The speed on track 2, 'The Maimed God', sometimes makes me dizzy although it's not that fast - I guess it's the contrast with the bombastic parts. I can't help but stand in amazement: in APOTHEOSIS there is high musicianship combined with great creativity in the songwriting department. This record is a floating unit, nothing sounds artificial. If you like (symphonic, progressive) Black Metal: this one's definitely for you! One record to rule them all, one record to find them, one record to bring them all and in the darkness bind them in the land of Malta where the shadows lie. (I think it's really time for your medicine again, Ramon... - Frank). Order it here.

Ramon Claassen

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APRIL ETHEREAL
Advent
(Conquer Records)
47:00min

I have been fooled by the band name and the album cover art in the first place, because I thought I was dealing with a gothic / ambient outfit. Well, the reality is more complex than that. If you can find some gothic elements in “Advent”, these are mixed with some Black and Death metal vibes, and the result is rather strange and somewhat difficult to describe. APRIL ETHEREAL are a Polish three piece (the recording line-up being only  two guys), and I don’t know at all what they have done before. As I said, the music on offer here shows lot of influences, from folk Black Metal a la ULVER to Swedish melodic Death, the whole being played at pedestrian pace most of the time, three tracks (the better ones) being really fast. I can’t say I was convinced at once by the result, albeit subsequent hearings proved that “Advent” has its moments, even if we are far from perfection here. The production in particular is of the amateurish kind, maybe the band lacked proper means in the studio, I don’t know. To give you an rough idea on what is going on here, I could say that APRIL ETHEREAL sound like a second rate OPETH, mainly because the obvious concern to mix various atmospheres, but minus the delicacy and the progressive elements of the Swedish band. The very brutal vocals are somewhat irritating, sometimes they seem not to fit properly with the music; I suppose this problem is solved now, as the band recruited a vocalist. The lyrics are of the introspective kind, and there is no blank space between songs, so you can see “Advent” as a concept album. I can only advise you to give the band a fair chance by listening to this, because there is obviously a lot of potential on display here. Let’s say it is good for a first try, but APRIL ETHEREAL have to make a lot of progress next time to be a winner.

Edouard Vergriete

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ARATHORN
Treue & Verrat
(Folter Records)
37:52min

With the release of the MENHIR mini album “Buchonia” a more or less new genre was born and for the worldwide Metal community it could seem that within the last five years every German tree had become the stronghold of at least one Pagan Metal band. The German scene veteran ARATHORN is for sure not a newcomer in this genre and their debut “Niemals krönender als was einst war“ is still - even after all these years - a highly ranked underground release. Their new creation after a break of over 10 years is dedicated to the Nibelungen saga and based on this topic it’s not a surprise that “Treue & Verrat” has more in common with the MENHIR and ODROERIR cosmos than their own Black Metal roots. The second ARATHORN album is offering some nice atmospheric parts but in total it’s everything else than an essential release. The main reasons are the weak sound and the lack of new / fresh ideas. Furthermore are the German vocals a very delicate issue - the majority of the vocals must be labeled as spoken passages and not as real vocals and the German lyrics are definitely a matter of love or hate. The use of this old tale as lyrical source deserves my deep respect but ARATHORN latest release is from the musical point of view not in the position to win any battle even with a dragon slayer on their side. www.folter666.de

Matthias Auch

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ARCH ENEMY
Burning Japan - Live 1999 (Jap.Import)
(Toy's Factory)
48:47min

Some people might wonder that ARCH ENEMY already decided to release an official live-album after only three regular studio records and seemingly not too much live-presence in the Metal circuit. Then again the story starts to make sense if you consider that ARCH ENEMY are the probably biggest extreme (Death) Metal band these days in the land of the rising sun in sales and they have already toured there plenty of times. "Burning Japan - Live 1999" indeed is a Japan-only release so far, so it might be a little difficult to purchase over here but in case you are into ARCH ENEMY, this is a very recommendable compilation of a beautifully packaged (16 pages photo booklet, poster, lyrics in Japanese, liner notes and extra card-box surrounding the CD case), well recorded, still raw and pure live performance with a tracklist that goes like this: 'The Immortal', 'Dark Insanity', 'Dead Inside', 'Diva Satanica', 'Pilgrim', 'Silverwing', 'Beast Of Man', 'Bass Intro/Tears Of The Dead', 'Bridge Of Destiny', 'Transmigration Macabre' and 'Angelclaw'. The sound quality probably went through some re-mixing but then again never sounds too fake and it's always cool to hear the Japanese audience scream out before a guitar lead takes place. ARCH ENEMY is surely on of the handful best melodic Death Metal bands out there these days and among those definitely the most underrated one if you consider the ever-present instrumental ability and outstanding songwriting on all releases so far. Let's hope they will be achieving the final worldwide breakthrough soon... and by the way ARCH ENEMY are currently in the studio finalizing recordings for their fourth studio album that will feature a yet not announced new vocalist. Watch out for another (soon to become) masterpiece... On sale here.

Leif Jensen

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ARCH ENEMY
Wages Of Sin (DoCD)
(Century Media Records)
48:44min (CD1)
26:06min (CD2)

Sometimes life can still be full of surprises... For example the fact that someone you kind of lost out of sight and never heard from in years, all of a sudden turns up in one of your fave bands! This was the case with the new (not soooo 'new' anymore in the meantime) ARCH ENEMY vocalist Angela Gossow. I still remember the days very well when I traded demos (BEYOND BELIEF, DESULTORY...) and went to gigs (KREATOR...) with her or saw her promoting her first band ASMODINA. The times they are changing… Anyway, "Wages Of Sin", ARCH ENEMY's latest album (after a huge delay) is finally out in Europe. Many (European and American) fans probably already have this album in their collection for several months and bought it as an expensive Japanese import (just as I did...) as the album was released in Japan about one year ago. In order to make the purchase of "Wages Of Sin" still attractive, Century Media decided to release the album over here with some additional bonus-stuff like one unreleased track (‘Lament Of A Mortal Soul’) and the videoclip of ‘Ravenous’. There’s also an additional second disc filled with rare and hard to find ARCH ENEMY material which are mainly the bonus tracks of the Japanese pressings of earlier ARCH ENEMY albums, all featuring original ARCH ENEMY vocalist Johan Liiva (in details it features the following material: ‘Starbreaker’ - previously unreleased JUDAS PRIEST cover, ‘Aces High’ - IRON MAIDEN cover, previously only available on a Japanese tribute album, ‘Scream Of Anger’ - EUROPE cover, previously only available as Japanese bonus track, ‘Diva Satanica’, ‘Fields Of Desolation '99’, ‘Damnations Way’, ‘Hydra’ - all four previously only available as Japanese bonus tracks and ‘The Immortal’ - enhanced video clip. The CD furthermore comes with an extensive booklet including liner notes by Michael Amott himself - Frank). Angela's very aggressive vocals totally fit the ARCH ENEMY material and to my humble opinion she totally blows away original vocalist Johan Liiva. It's very hard to compare her vocals to anybody out there in the scene. She does remind me a bit on good old CARCASS mainman Bill Steer though. When listening to the material on "Wages Of Sin", you still easily recognize some of the CARCASS sound through the great leads and solo's of guitarwizard Michael Ammott which are more melodic than after before (the CARCASS classic "Heartwork" often came to my mind...). "Wages Of Sin" is to my opinion without any doubt the best ARCH ENEMY album so far and totally blows away most of all the mediocre releases out there. Songs like the opener ‘Enemy Within’, the raging ‘Ravenous’ (just listen to the leads in the beginning, if that part doesn't make you want to tear down your livingroom, well...), the frightening doomy ‘Savage Messiah’ and the very brutal ‘Dead Bury Their Dead’ simply shred!!! The very powerful production (which was laying the capable hands of Andy Sneap) makes "Wages Of Sin" sound extremely powerful, aggressive and very clear at the same time and. Also the artwork is really nice to my opinion. "Wages Of Sin" already was one of my fave releases of 2001 and even after many months, it still doesn't bore me a second. Lets cross our fingers and hope that ARCH ENEMY will tour over Europe soon and we will get to see this unique band again (as their first gig with Angela which was scheduled at Wacken last year unfortunately fell through). Together with DIABOLIC's "Vengeance Ascending", this is about the best melodic AND aggressive Death Metal album that you can get for your money. BUY!!!!!!!!!! You will find it here.

Steven Willems

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ARCH ENEMY
Anthems Of Rebellion
(Century Media Records)
43:26min

.

Dave Rotten

(this review originally got published by Xtreem Music)

ARCH ENEMY
Doomsday Machine
(Century Media)
49:02min

My problem with ARCH ENEMY has always been the fact of the cheesy Mallcore / Ozzfest mentality that this band has had surrounding it for years now, like a terrible fart, that just won’t die away. Corroding what cool and promising potential they could offer to the real Metal world and seemingly settling instead on just being a noteworthy festival act - a few clicks above THE HAUNTED and sandwiched somewhere in between the likes of WITCHERY, THE CROWN and MACHINE HEAD. ARCH ENEMY’s albums I will agree are unmistakable in the semi-wicked riff department, however, their overall song writing is uncannily similar CD to CD, like another IRON MAIDEN. And at the very same time each disc has some of the best production values that money can buy, yet you can be sure each record of theirs will fall flat on actual substance. A queer duality or would that be quad-ality (if there was such a term)? The point is, that I am trying to make here, is that no matter how much I would like to be a fan of this band, I find more and more reasons to dislike them and to riddle this group with .50 caliber bullet holes. The attention given to riffs and to the production won’t carry a band more than twenty feet. The rest of it has to mesh together and has to grab the balls of its intended listener for it to work, standard Metal knowledge 101.Herein with this record though, I hear just a mish-mash of goings on, that not only bore me in the end, but the songs ultimately fail to capture my attention for more than a few seconds or a few sections of each track. Add to this strategic failure, the pathetic Death Metal growling attempts, considered by many as pure torture, made here by mistress Angela, in my opinion totally clip the wings of each song’s desire to fly. Failing to convince, at any given instance, that she is the best candidate for the microphone. Not only this, yet as well her lame vocals delivery just kills what could be some of the best material – riff wise – that I have heard yet from the brothers Amott, and all the while Angela simply and effectively does not have what it takes, the command or the technique, if you will, to (affectionately) hold my balls. Contact: www.archenemy.net or www.myspace.com/archenemy or www.centurymedia.com

Wes Rhodes

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ARCHAIC
The Time Has Come To Envy The Dead
(Vic Records)
40:28min

There are albums which need a long introduction and there are albums which only need one word to summarize the essentials – SLAYER, SLAYER, and again SLAYER. The Hungarian band ARCHAIC recorded with “The Time Has…” an album on a technical unbelievable high level especially if you keep in mind that we are only talking about their second official release. The album will blow the air our of your lungs – technical perfectly timed Thrash Metal just between the traditional Bay Area sector - the band just returned from a tour with TESTAMENT - and the almighty SLAYER. And they never loose control over their high speed monster they easily contribute one great solo after another to make the wild ride worthwhile. I don’t want to add anything further – a new beast from the east has left his cave – just listen to 'Cornu' or 'Eternal War' and be prepared for the coming storm. This is the way modern Thrash Metal should sound and I’m really looking forward for a coming live battle. www.vicrecords.com, www.myspace.com/Thearchaic

Matthias Auch

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ARCKANUM / SVARTSYN
Kaos Svarta Mar / Skinning The Lambs Split CD
(Carnal Records)
40:01min

The rather small yet upcoming underground label Carnal Records which also released e.g. the last ARCKANUM 7" and the split EP with CONTAMINO brings us its first CD release and wow... it is nothing less than an excellent debut! Featuring two long-time active Black Metal hordes from Sweden the chances for a success of this release could not be better… ARCKANUM deliver five new tracks sounding straighter and more traditional compared to the aggressive yet pretty weird wood troll music they did before. The songs are shorter and the tempo got reduced making the still existent riff melodies a little more catchy. I like it, but honestly spoken I had expected a bit more darkness, intensity and hate, ARCKANUM are a bit “tame” on “Kaos Svarta Mar” and fail to musically capture the sinister atmosphere the album’s excellent artwork exhales. The strange “hoi”-shout in one song is even slightly ridiculous and puts ARCKANUM too much into that Pagan Metal department, which they certainly don’t belong to you, right? “Kaos Svarta Mar” has its highs and lows, but due to the fantastic SVARTSYN side one has to buy this anyway… The songs offered here are among the best the band has ever released, the fast violent opener, the diversified mid-tempo track ‘Furnace In Purgatory’ and the almighty titletrack containing one of the greatest BURZUM-style riffs I’ve ever heard have a perfect sound (even the bass guitar is present), perfect atmosphere and are nothing but impressive Swedish Black Metal! The material is said to be recorded prior to “Destruction Of Man” (2003) and it is definitely stronger than what actually made it onto the album, the vocals sound more powerful and distinct and the apparent musical skills of SVARTSYN are adequately captured in an improved Necromorbus production. These songs are the real highlights of the split and you should not miss it, maybe you have to get warm with the ARCKANUM side, but you can not continue living without having heard that ‘Skinning The Lambs’ song… www.carnalrecords.se

Stefan Franke

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ARES KINGDOM
Return To Dust (2 track promo CD-R)
(self-financed)
13:57min

Ever since the split-up of ORDER FROM CHAOS, guitarist Chuck Keller was keeping himself quite busy. Apart from writing music and / or lyrics for other bands (PENTACLE, BARBATOS etc.), contributing reviews to our zine and working on his own project VULPECULA, him and ORDER FROM CHAOS drummer Mike Miller also got ARES KINGDOM off the ground. For some strange reason he nevertheless had to struggle a lot more than his former bandmate Pete Helmkamp, who gained himself a quite massive international following while he was involved in ANGEL CORPSE. Anyway, ANGEL CORPSE is history by now while ARES KINGDOM got signed for a full length album by Nuclear War Now! Productions, so things might be ready for a change pretty soon. This two-track promo CD-R is already a taste of things to come, as it features two rough mix versions of songs that'll appear on the album "A Dream of Armageddon", due out in early 2006. 'Failsafe' is a straight ahead fast thrashing oldschool Metal tune with an extremely hateful blackend Death / Thrashin' vocal delivery and a rough, razorsharp guitarsound, somehow a little similar to the classic ORDER FROM CHAOS recordings (yet musically a lot more on the aggressive Thrash side of things). The second tune on here is the title track of the album, an 8:28min long midpaced crusher with a cool groovy riffing, maybe a little too long, but definitely destined to bang your heads to in the frontrow. If the entire album will live up to these two songs (which already sound really promising to me and are without a doubt the best they've written thus far), ARES KINGDOM will easily be able to establish themselves as soon as the album gets released. We'll keep you posted! For more info check out www.ares-kingdom.com or http://nwnprod.fateback.com/

Frank Stöver

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ARES KINGDOM
Return To Dust
(Nuclear War Now Productions)
42:28min

When you read my review on the ARES KINGDOM 2 track promo CD-R, you might be confused a little, as I had announced back then that the band's debut full length would be entitled "A Dream Of Armageddon"... Well, in the end the ARES KINGDOM guys obviously decided to go for something else as "Return To Dust" is exactly the album in question, just entitled a little differently... So, don't worry – you haven't missed out on anything yet and as planned both tracks off that promo ('Failsafe' and 'Return To Dust') are also still on here. So, does the full length live up to its expectations then? Yes, it certainly does! Even though it's a different band, you easily notice Chuck Keller's rather typical way of writing and (intentional or not) the old ORDER FROM CHAOS vibe is still very much present throughout the whole disc. The overall ARES KINGDOM style is also very rough and the vocals (courtesy of Alex Blume) always harsh and full of anger. But what I probably appreciated the most is the fact that the band luckily avoided many of today's most common "mistakes"... Instead of playing full speed ahead the whole time or focus on their technical abilities, they instead base each song on crushing and very effective riffs, no matter if it's slow, groovy or fast and the songs benfit from that a lot! "Return To Dust" is by no means a monotonous record which is brutal just for the sake of it! There's a lot of variety to be found in the writing which results in a very honest and 100% pure deathrashin' oldschool Metal offering! The whole production doesn't have this annoying digital / perfect feel to it, but instead comes across very natural and live sounding, while the layout of the CD's booklet is also based on 80s classics (with a cool picture collage in the middle). My only little complaining is addressed to the fact that among the album's tracks there's two instrumentals ('None Escape' and 'Sins Of The Father', both in a row), so that in total only six "real" songs are to be found on here. Don't get me wrong – those instrumentals aren't bad or anything, but could at least have been given a different running order on the album... But anyway, all in all "Return To Dust" should manage to establish ARES KINGDOM within the worldwide underground pretty easily and give Chuck's former bandmate Pete Helmkamp a hard time to come up with something of a similar (or even superior) quality. For more info head to www.ares-kingdom.com. The label can be contacted here: www.nwnprod.com

Frank Stöver

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ARES KINGDOM
Incendiary
(Nuclear War Now Productions)
49:09min

If you hail the long-defunct cult U.S. Death / Black powerhouse ORDER FROM CHAOS, but (somehow?) remain an ARES KINGDOM uninitiate, you will find those ORDER FROM CHAOS elements (production deficiencies and Helmkamp’s acidic vocals notwithstanding) that you treasure in this thunderous act featuring former ORDER FROM CHAOS members Chuck Keller on guitar and Mike Miller on drums. And if you are an iconoclastic headbanger who maybe heard ORDER FROM CHAOS before and thought them too noisy or too uncompromising - or perhaps you never heard them at all - I entreat you:  Consider ARES KINGDOM and their second full-length album “Incendiary” as the salve to anoint your raw Metal soul with the purest of what it needs to survive and thrive.  For herein this excellent offering, guitarist and mastermind Chuck Keller effectively refines the disorder of ORDER FROM CHAOS’s ultra-bass heavy grinding sound, so raw and uncontrolled, while still harkening to its essence to achieve a fascinating capstone to his prior band’s legacy and chest-pounding Metal record.  What certified my opinion of this album from the first listen was the second track, 'Descent Of Man', with double-bass drums charging forward into a pumping break-beat groove, then building to a triumphant, ascending melody line that repeats before finally soaring into awe-inspiring rounds of dueling-aces guitar solos.  This is truly an irresistible, glorious-sounding song that cannot miss its mark straight through the heart of a true Metalhead. At times, I thought of BOLT THROWER.  At others, peak METALLICA.  But most of all, it reminds me of ORDER FROM CHAOS, albeit with a much clearer production!  Here are substantial influences from the ‘80s Speed Metal sounds - the speed setting throughout this opus invites headbanging, as pounding Thrash rhythms steamroll onward like MOTÖRHEAD before breaking into half-time Thrash dances.  The songs abound with infectious, carefully and intuitively refined riffs, yet the drums are the engine to the indomitable feel of momentum which makes for great songs that rock the house.  There are also darkly felt instrumental pieces.  'Consigning To The Ages' is very illustrative of what I mean, with its death-affirming, chorused-to-shimmering-glass, clean electric guitar sounds.  Then comes the track 'Abandon In Place', and its lingering outro which might just be the closest anyone will ever come to capturing the feel of John Christ’s work on "How The Gods Kill".  Personally, I love those types of pieces in contrast to the aggression, as they add feel and texture and lend sumptuous complexity to an album, as is the case here.  Taste is manifold in the many guitar solos.  Prominent in every song, they never wear out their welcome, but instead bring something more to the songs without ever detracting.  These solos demonstrate technique without indulgence in wankery - a true lesson!  Probably the most important thing about ARES KINGDOM (besides that they bring the rock) is that the music feels meaningful.  It is executed with absolute sincerity and it speaks to truths (whichever these are remain open to personal interpretation, yet I think it is simply the truth of what differentiates powerful, real Metal from all that which is false Metal) - call this Truth Metal! For further information online or to buy a copy from the band, go to www.ares-kingdom.com, or visit the website of their label, www.nwnprod.com.

Leonard Likas

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ARGHOSLENT
Incorrigible Bigotry
(Drakkar Productions)
38:02min

I never had heard much of this band before, until a friend gave me this CD and told it is great. And well he was right about that – “Incorrigble Bigotry”, ARGHOSLENT’s second full-length album besides numerous demos and EP releases is really good, raw, diabolical Death / Black Metal with lots of traditional Metal influences. The band is allied with such controversial, but musically fantastic acts like CRUCIFIER or GRAND BELIAL’s KEY (“Judeobeast Assasination” rules!). Especially productionwise ARGHOSLENT do not differ from the latter, because “Incorrigible Bigotry” has a comparable clean and powerful sound, that fortunately is far from sounding polished and so preserves enough raw feeling. The melodic parts and classic Metal riffs ARGHOSLENT weave into their music are not used excessively, what keeps them light years away from sounding like all those Swedish Melodic Death fucks. Driving material like the opener ‘Flogging The Cargo’ or ‘Heirs To Perdition’ will make you bang your head at instant and should be absolutely great when performed on stage. When the tempo is reduced even epic moments appear, like for example in ‘In The Purging Fires Of War’. The overall songwriting is full of variety and surprising enough to make “Incorrigible Bigotry” a release that is definitely worth your hard-earned money, check it out! www.arghoslent.cjb.net

Stefan Franke

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ARGHOSLENT
Galloping Through The Battleruins
(Hellflame / Buio Omega)
54:26min

I don’t know if you have read my review of "Incorrigble Bigotry" ARGHOSLENT’s 2002 release, because then you should already know what this band is about. The US horde plays a rousing, driving mixture of raw Death Metal and traditional Heavy Metal à la MAIDEN, NWOBHM, but doesn’t drift into those awful melodic Death regions that we know sufficiently from Scandinavia. "Galloping…" is ARGHOSLENT’s debut CD (originally released in 1998) that now gets reissued on limited vinyl by the wellknown Italian underground label Hellflame. If you do not already own this release be fucking sure to get it now, because in my opinion "Galloping…" is even better than ARGHOSLENT’s Drakkar debut "Incorrigble Bigotry". Numerous killing riffs, raw and aggressive vocals (no scream vocals, as a side not for all those who despise that Melodic Death boredom), technical advanced yet memorable song structures and even a bit of a dirty Punk feeling make ARGHOSLENT’s first album an absolutely valuable release. Especially on black gold "Galloping Through The Battleruins" should enrich every serious Metal collection with the musical starting point of highly talented and individual sounding act. For more information surf to: www.buio-omega.it You can reach ARGHOSLENT personally via the following email address: arghoslent@hotmail.com. You can order it here.

Stefan Franke

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ARGHOSLENT / STARGAZER
Bastard Son Of One Thousand Whores - Mob Of The Howling / Magikkian (Split 7")
(Hellflame Productions)
approx. 11:40min

A feedback noise leads us to the sad and slow tune of the beginng of ARGHOSLENT's contribution to this split that turns into raw uptempo Death Metal with various riff changes and spiced with some traditional Metal elements, evident for example in the soloing. Check out the reviews of both albums here, then you will know about their style. Productionwise the sound is absolutely fitting as although being raw and unpolished it is rather clear.Contact: ARGHOSLENT, P. O. Box, 393, Oakton, VA 22124, USA. Email: arghoslent@hotmail.com. Homepage: www.arghoslent.cjb.net. I have been anticipating something new from STARGAZER after the split CD (review also to be found here) as drummer Phonix Chrysalis left the band. This duty has been taken over by The Serpent Inquisitor (gyttaar, voyce and verse) who did an excellent job, being accompanied by The Great Righteous Destroyer (bass gyttaar, voice). Although the material is not as ferocious as before they know to convince with the new song 'Magikkian'. Their style still comprises elements of Death and Thrash and a somehow progressive edge with vocals alternating between a harsh Black Metal voice and a dark throat. 'Amidst Fireflies And Haunted Trees' is a beautiful moody accoustic pice written in 1994. Contact STARGAZER: PO Box 182, Ingle Farm, 5098, South Australia. Email: LotusFaction@hotmail.com, website: http://embark.to/lotusfaction. This piece of black vinyl has been released by HELLFLAME PRODUCTIONs (now BUIO OMEGO) and might be sold out already but perhaps some copies are available via smaller mailorders as for exampmle Iron Pegasus or just check www.buio-omega.it.

Ulrich Kreienbrink

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ARISE
The Godly Work Of Art
(Spinefarm Records)
42:16min

Sweden - at least I suggest that these four guys derive from Sweden although I actually don't know where Sävelund is and more information is not to be taken from the infosheet - and what to be expected from Sweden? Of course Swedish Death Metal. Even if I didn't know anything about this band I'd thought they come from Sweden. The question that remains is nonetheless if we really need another band that is somewhere between AT THE GATES and HYPOCRISY tuned into a modern way - I think some parts could also easily fit to those Neo-Thrash-bands like MACHINE HEAD. Didn't we have the possibillity to buy enough albums of bands that sounded the same? If you can answer both the questions with a definite "no" - I'd suggest to buy that album. There's nothing wrong with that album: well-produced, well-played, well-composed but you always think that you have heard this somewhere else already - especially the beginning of 'Delusion Of Life' has a lot of HYPOCRISY -reminiscences and the vocals are very much like those that Tägtgren used although less powerful. Perhaps I have simply heard too much of this stuff. Actually the packaging is the outstanding point on this album - which should say enough. www.ariseonline.com. On sale here.

Nhashi

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ARKHON INFAUSTUS
Hell Injection
(Osmose Productions)
43:54min

The release of this album was delayed due to the extreme cover and booklet inlay concept, centered around satanized sadistic and drug related themes. But in the end, only the music matters and unfortunately ARKHON INFAUSTUS fail to offer something new in this domain. If you own the ABOMINATOR album "Damnation's Prophecy" or anything from BESTIAL WARLUST already, it is your choice to spare or spent your money as ARKHON INFAUSTUS deliver this kind of stuff by the book. It is not to say this first album is bad, but it is nothing special for sure. The band created quite a stir in their hometown - Paris - due to some blasphemous performances, when half naked leatherclad "dominatresses" were showcased on stage; but I am sorry, this cannot account for musical originality. "Hell Injection" offers nine tracks of decently played Death / Black metal, nothing more, nothing less. Note that the production sounds very raw and that the drums lack power, even if the overall sound dynamic is satisfying. ARKHON INFAUSTUS is an example of what happens when image supersedes music, and the band should be better inspired to produce something more original next time. The CD is available here.

Edouard Vergriete

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ARKHON INFAUSTUS
Filth Catalyst
(Osmose Productions)
42:03min

I did a lukewarm review of this French outfit first effort and I am afraid it goes worse with this one.  I don’t know what happened exactly in the life of the band since “Hell Injection”, except that they are now a four piece and that they had the drummer of the awful CONQUEROR within their ranks for quite some time. I saw them live thrice, and each time I was somewhat disappointed by their performance. Well, as soon as the music flows out the speakers, it is obvious “Filth Catalyst” is plagued by a wrong production, very compressed and favoring low tone drones, with vocals totally buried in the mix. I heard through the grapevines that the musicians wanted the sound just like that, if it is true it is not a mark of good taste. Instead of actually listen to some music (how extreme the music can be) we are facing a barrage of noise very similar to what bands like CONQUEROR and now REVENGE are fond of. I know the ARKHON INFAUSTUS guys will take this comparison as a compliment, but be sure it is not, coming from me. You simply can’t build a solid track with a single idea, and a whole album with the same track repeated eight times. Maybe it is fun to play, I don’t know, but it is certainly not an exciting listening experience, it may even become painful. It is strange to experiment an attack of boredom while listening to such a brutal release, and you know what, I even felt an urgent need to sleep. The prospect of listening  to this album another time (to maybe catch some elements of interest I could have missed in the  first place) was so bleak that I humbly beg the band and our readers to pardon me for having abandoned this idea very fast. While being obsessed to keep the right attitude  (whatever such an attitude could be), ARKHON INFAUSTUS deliver a very artificial release, devoid of any touch of class. Avoid this one and buy the latest, fantastic EXMORTEM release instead on the same label to know how real brutality may sound. "Filth Catalyst" is available here.

Edouard Vergriete

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ARKHON INFAUSTUS
Perdition Insanabilis
(Osmose Productions)
41:36min

This band has made so much progresses that at first I barely recognized them. I don’t like their two first full lengths at all, but now it is an entirely different story. What ARKHON INFAUSTUS have achieved here confines the domain of the unbelievable and of the more than human. They have reached a new level with this album which could place them at the forefront of the international Death / Black Metal elite. On “Perdition Insanabilis” this French four-piece has chosen the path of hard work (it shows, believe me) and somehow redefined their approach of composing music from scratch. Think of the “new” Norwegian Death Metal practiced by ZYKLON or MYRKSKOG (on their “Deathmachine” album) and you will be not far from what ARKHON INFAUSTUS are about today, for the better to say the least. The musicianship of these guys can be now labelled as purely and simply stellar, and it is well served by a luxury powerful production, the tracks are carefully crafted, with lot of twists to keep the listener’s interest intact throughout the entire duration of the album. The annoying Death and Black voices combination is a little toned down on this, and when used, used properly. The Black Metal overtones are clearly prominent I must add, in a very sophisticated way that reminds me on the Swedish band / project MUTANT. Lyric wise, ARKHON INFAUSTUS seem (I don’t have the lyrics, so I am only guessing from the title of the tracks) to have departed from their rather silly bondage fantasies to accede to a more original way of writing, oriented toward a sort of cosmic dark occultism (don’t quote me on that, but yet I think that titles like ‘Saturn Motion Theology’ or ‘Absurd Omega Revelation’ could sum the overall ambiance of the disc). I don’t think that ARKHON INFAUSTUS are cynics and opportunists who jump on a new trend. The music on this album is the proof that their evolution and maturation are genuine, you can’t fake talent. I am sure they were too enthusiastic and impatient when they begun their career to conveniently channel their considerable abilities then. Now, at last, it is done, and ARKHON INFAUSTUS are here to stay, trust me on that! A phenomenal album by a phenomenal band! Thumbs up! On sale here.

Edouard Vergriete

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ARKHON INFAUSTUS
Orthodoxyn
(Osmose Productions)
49:09min

The effect that a label like Norma Evangelium Diaboli has especially on the French scene never ceases to amaze. Even a band like ARKHON INFAUSTUS, which in the past enlightened the scene with works such as "Dead Cunt Maniac" all of a sudden come up with heavily contorted religious titles and artwork. Trend-hopping of the more positive kind me thinks. And while still not up to the enormous standard of said label's recording artists the music on offer here is a decent enough offer for sure. Comparisons with New York Death Metal gods IMMOLATION are inevitable, just listen to the massive 'When They Have Called' on their Myspace domain (in case you shouldn't be too true to use such despisable instruments of mass-manipulation). Twisted, distorted riffs and creepy soundscapes are the order of the day, and they pull it off with conviction and class without getting lost in pretentious wannabe-avantgardism (new MAYHEM / ABIGOR anyone?). Well done! www.osmoseproductions.com. On sale here.

Torsten Gründig

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ARKONA
Goi, Rode, Goi
(Napalm Records)
79:59min

During the last couple of years I’ve reviewed dozens of Pagan Metal albums – with a lot of shadows and few highlights - but if it comes to the best releases of this genre the Russian ARKONA are still bearing the top positions (together with the German FINSTERFORST). The band perfectly incorporates the Folk universe in their Metal creations and the band is releasing one masterpiece after another. After reviewing nearly the whole band discography I must admit that I became a huge ARKONA fan and the expectations concerning album number five had been really high. But “Goi, Rode, Goi” will not disappoint any Pagan Maniac – the band focuses again on their trademarks, meaning the passionate vocals by band leader Scream and the full spectrum of Folk instruments influenced by the traditional music of their home country. The critics will advise that progress is missing but songs like 'Na Moey Zemle' (In my Land) – a 15 minutes opus and the heart and soul of this release – with three guest singer from HEIDEVOLK, MANEGARM and MENHIR (in some way the Pagan “Metalized Blood” version) are the best prove that a fixed musical genre doesn’t mean in any way boring music. The album is again offering over an hour of Pagan art with an uncountable amount of guest musicians and even if 'Na Moey Zemle' remains the most remarkable song there are more than a handful of future classics on “Goi, Rode, Goi”. The Metal year 2009 has offered really good Pagan releases but ARKONA proving again their status with a release full of heart blood and dedication which gives them without doubt the right to claim once more the Pagan throne for Mother Russia. www.arkona-russia.com, www.myspace.com/arkonarussia, www.napalmrecords.com

Matthias Auch

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ARMAGEDDA
The Final War Approaching
(Merciless / Breath Of Night Records)
40:30min

It happens pretty rarely these days that a band that uses corpsepaint and claims to play Black Metal still manages to set free the true essence of evil through their music at the same time. The big commercial sellout and too many mainstream releases unfortunately have turned a whole movement into something completely ridiculous. Countless pseudo Black Metal bands are either wasting most of their time in professional photo studios, putting on their silly looking make-up or caring a lot more about so-called professional, yet rather faceless productions in expensive studios or with the selection of naked chicks to be featured on their stupid album sleeves. Keyboards only get used in order to create some nice'n'poppy melodies instead of an eerie atmosphere and the big common goal for everyone seems to become the next CRADLE OF FILTH, DIMMU BORGIR, MARDUK or DARK FUNERAL. The term "true Black Metal" got a totally new meaning because of all that and ARMAGEDDA is a very convincing representative, luckily still practicing this musical art with its original feeling. The eight songs on their debut album "The Final War Approaching" are all totally raw and sinister sounding, with very grim and hateful vocals and an overall songwriting that basically lives off its simplicity and kinda evil atmosphere (created without keyboards of course!). The band hails from Sweden, originally started out as VOLKERMORD and released one demo in 2000, followed by the namechange and a split-CD with Svarthymn one year later... If I wouldn't be aware of all that, I would most certainly have guessed that they are hailing from Norway as they deliver music which is kinda close to DARKTHRONE, old BATHORY, CARPATHIAN FOREST, ULVER ("Nattens Madrigal" album), ISVIND or early SATYRICON. So, all in all a very promising debut of a band that hopefully will manage to re-establish Black Metal in its original format again! All hail ARMAGEDDA! 

Frank Stöver

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ARMAGEDDA
Only True Believers
(Agonia Records)
44:06min

I was really looking forward to this album as ARMAGEDDA's Breath Of Night debut full length "The Final War Approaching" really managed to impress me a lot! And my expectations were even surpassed with "Only True Believers"! For some strange reason it wasn't released by Drakkar Productions (as originally anounced), but Poland's Agonia Records. Well, I couldn't care less as it's of course always the quality of the music that matters and not the label that's trying to sell it. You luckily won't find any drastic changes in style here and as the logical result the eight new tracks exactly continue on where ARMAGEDDA left off on their first offering. Which means you once again can expect a very cool, straight ahead oldschool Black Metal inferno here. The band has heavily matured as songwriters though and their new material comes across a lot more devastating than ever before, while the icing on the cake is definitelys Graav's vocals, which sound stronger than ever before! To me he's actually one of the rare remaining people who perfectly represent what nordic Black Metal is all about! The biggest difference between "Only True Believers" and "The Final War Approaching" is probably the production which has become a lot more crushing and powerful and could only be considered as perfect for a raw Black Metal release such as this! In a way this album even makes the band's debut sound like a demo as everything's to be so goddamn perfect now! So, all in all this is a really big step forward for the Swedish horde and another proof of how healthy real Black Metal has become again in Scandinavia ever since the big sellout is over. Label contact: www.agoniarecords.dm.net.pl. The CD is on sale here.

Frank Stöver

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ARMAGEDON
Death Then Nothing
(Mystic Production)
32:30min

ARMAGEDON’s 1991 demo “Dead Condemnation” was one of my favourite demos back in the early nineties and I wondered why this band didn’t succeed like e. g. their country mates of VADER or BEHEMOTH. In these early years, when BEHEMOTH were founded as a Black Metal band ARMAGEDON already convinced the fans and critics with the above mentioned demotape which had everything a professional demo needs to have: a printed cover and booklet, a fantastic sound and above all 6 great songs of Death Metal with slight MORBID ANGEL influences. But who wasn’t influenced by them at these days? ARMAGEDON were from my point of view one of the best Polish Death Metal bands and apparently tried to take off with their debut album “Invincible Circle” in 1993 through Carnage Records. If I remember correct this album was supposed to be released through Peaceville Records, but time showed that it was only released on tape via Polish Carnage Records. “Invincible Circle” was a great album, but didn’t help the band to gain the ground they deserved and therefore it was in the hands of other Polish bands to prove that Death Metal from Poland has much to offer. You know the names. Now, 16 years later we write the year 2009 and ARMAGEDON are back with their 2nd official album release called “Death Then Nothing” and with almost tears in my eyes and shivering fingers I put this CD in my player and heard the Death Metal I remember from those early days. Fuck, they didn’t change their style that much, but improved when talking about songwriting and song quality. This CD is everything else than an ordinary “comeback” recording from an old band, this is a CD which you expect as a follow up to their previous recordings. Damn, I expected a good album but not such a killer recording. To be honest, if ARMAGEDON were as active as BEHEMOTH and VADER during the years I’m sure that they would stand in the same line as them. “Death Then Nothing” is the perfect example of a modern Death Metal recording with an oldschool approach. Worth any support. Check out www.armagedon.net.pl or www.mystic.pl to order this great CD. Unfortunately both pages are only available in Polish, but if you write them an email you will get an answer immediately. I hope this CD will be available in many mailorder-catalogues as it really deserves your attention. (Update: The album is available from May 17, 2010 in Europe. You will find a list of the distributors on ARMAGEDON's myspace site www.myspace.com/armagedonofficial).

Thomas Ehrmann

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ARMISTICE 
Roots Of Evil
(Bad Land Records)
40:01min

Well, how should I begin? Frank sent me the promo of these Munich based Thrashers and I have listened to this album again and again and again and really tried to make my mind clear... but to be honest, this is one of the most boring Thrash Metal albums I've been listening to for the last years. To describe the music: mid-tempo based Thrash Metal with a hoarse shouting voice. But why is it so boring, why? The riffs are nothing new, if you are into extreme music you've heard these riffs like ten thousand times... to make it even worse they picked the uninteresting ones. If they would have copied the masters of Thrash Metal like SLAYER or DEFELESHED or (add your fave here) then I could write they copy them, but so? The production is also mediocre. It doesn't sound like a DARKTHRONE rehearsal tape, that not. But there is no energy, just sterile atmosphere. The musicians know to handle their instruments, no 16 year old kiddies playing here, but somehow the band didn't manage to play good songs. Not to play and record, but in addition the songwriting lacks of inspiration, too. I really expected more from ARMISTICE. Haven't heard or listened to them before, but the band-history goes back to 1992, five CD-productions and 130 live shows. The promo I got is really great with videos, mp3, info in different language etc., so I wonder why the music isn't on that level. On the promo is a live-video from an older song, that one song is better than the whole "Roots Of Evil" CD. So maybe they changed their style or for the next time in the studio ARMISTICE should try to get the live atmosphere and energy taped. I think they can do much better than on "Roots Of Evil". www.armistice.de. You can order it here.

Mirco Szymyslik

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ARMOUR
Sonichouse Tape
(Area Death Productions)
33:00min

Well, maybe not the typical album for Voices From The Darkside. So, if you are “just” into Death, Black or whatever else extreme Metal, jump over to another review. What we have got here is pure eighties influenced Metal / Hardrock. The band claims to be influenced by bands like SAXON, DOKKEN, JUDAS PRIEST, DEEP PURPLE, SCORPIONS to name just a few. Honestly, those bands have never been my favourite ones, all the more I was surprised how often I listened to this release during the last weeks. Especially the raw and dirty sound is providing a great atmosphere, no clinical and sterile high-end production, just plain and simple Metal straight into the listeners face, so to say. The “Sonichouse Tape” is the first demo by the band, recorded back in December 2006, although they have been formed back in 2002. The version released by Area Death Productions is limited to (of course) 666 copies, which contains four live bonus songs. Sadly this release is already sold out, but I guess a full-length album is already on schedule, so watch out. www.myspace.com/metalarmour

Mirco Szymyslik

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ARMOUR
Armour
(Hells Headbangers Records)
39:23min

Hardrock made by Black Metallers. That would be easy huh? Well, although this is true, there is quite lot more to it. If you never experienced the 80s Hardrock / Glam Metal thing, you probably will not understand this. Otherwise, welcome to one quite entertaining record. ARMOUR will do nothing different or original, but then again this kind of music is not for that. This was made for having fun. And regarding that matter, it does accomplish its mission. The style of ARMOUR is based on Hardrock and Heavy Metal. On their previous release “The Sonichouse Tapes” they were a mixture of W.A.S.P. early MÖTLEY CRÜE, RATT and some few IRON MAIDEN. Nothing has been changed for this self-titled full length album. Maybe I hear the production to be a bit more polished, but that’s it. Easy riffs, good choruses, and add to all a spicy of early Speed Metal to it. Vocals by Vince (SATANIC WARMASTER) are a love or hate thing, sounding like a bastard breed of Blackie Lawless, Cronos and Brian Johnson. In fact, I think that the vocals are giving this one an identity, and I find them to be a good part of the sound. The guitar playing is easy going, with simple yet very catchy riffs. And yes, there are some ballad sounding songs, and yes the lyrics are all in the “party all time, girls and alcohol”. So take it as that, as a record to have some fun, while driving a sport car, while the sun shine and you are wearing sunglasses. I must add that me, being the brutal blasphemer maniac high-speed blackened Death Metaller, find this band quite enjoyable, and no, it won’t lower your level of testosterone, manhood or metalheadness, if you enjoy it too. It sounds quite heavy and demented, and on the other hand this might even attract girls. So for once, leave the blood, sword and pentagram behind; try some hairspray and rock hard.  Oh, yeah, Hardrockers of all ages will surely worship this one, so tell your pals that like CRASHDIET to look on for this new band. www.myspace.com/metalarmour, www.hellsheadbangers.com

Julián Núñez

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ARMY OF DARKNESS
Four Days In Hell (Demo)
(self-financed)
19:08min

From the pits of San Bernardino / Los Angeles area it's ARMY OF DARKNESS! I like this band and that they have a firm grasp in the late '80s Death / Speed / Thrash styles that made bands like INSANITY (SF), POSSESSED, DARK ANGEL, SLAYER etc. household names. The track list on this demo is as follows: 'Possessed', 'Trauma', 'Army Of Darkness' and 'Torture'. Four songs of raging devil fire mayhem absolutely worthy of your attention and your support. The only drawbacks of this demo here is the backseat the lead guitar work and the vocals have taken to this recording. Often buried completely in the mix. Sickening in some points too 'cuz the leads just rip and to have them fade in and out during each song just makes my stomach turn. The other issue with this demo are strong clear shouted vocals. That in my opinion really make this demo stand out on its own, and definitely cooler than many others who attempt this style and who would opt to bark into the mic instead. These clear vocals on "Four Days In Hell " should be heard! And they are virtually non-existent! Contact: metaldude666714@aol.com or www.myspace.com/armyofdarkness

Wes Rhodes

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ARPHAXAT
Loudun La Maudite
(Hells Headbangers)
36:20min

Whaaat?! Where am I? I can swear I was in a civilised world a few minutes ago, but now... I am happy I can still write sensible words. I dig into my memory – there I was, in my living room putting some music on. After this - only barbarity, only animal senses working, no brain to guide me through this abomination. I want to undress myself and cover with the blood eating raw flesh. This is the effect of listening to ARPHAXAT, a band hailing from France, consisting of only two members, one of them the ex - DEATHSPELL OMEGA founder. Although, this could lead readers to a wrong track. The music on 'Loudun La Maudite“ is diametrically different from the aforementioned band. There is no intellect here, no reason, no future for anything fragile and sophisticated. This is Black Metal of the most primitive kind that reminds me, at least in spirit, to inhumans called CULT OF DAATH. Influences cited by the band are VON, old BATHORY and S.V.E.S.T., but don't follow too near – this is some original stuff. The Metal here is played without guitar, with only two bass guitars and drums drilling holes in your humanity. Vocal attack is cavernous and spacy in some strange way. We have some melody also, melody almost epic in a primitive way. So if you are a sensible person you will gather from all that I have said that this is good music and by doing so you will be right. This is the sound you would listen to in reality if you steal someone's time travelling machine and find yourself in the deep past that no history book ever mentions because it is just not right. Just not right. Recommended! Go and buy this record! But first listen at http://arphaxat.hellsheadbangers.com. 

Branko Matijaševic

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ARS DIAVOLI
The Absence Of Light (Demo)
(Debemur Morti Productions)
22:18min

The last one from the three Debemur Morti Productions demo releases is the one man band ARS DIAVOLI from Portugal. And I have problems with this tape because the sound is worst. The only thing besides the sick screaming of the mastermind is the guitar distortion. And I think this is wanted, so it should show the incarnation of jingly riffs. But it only stretches my nerves and my ears and makes it hard to listen to. The songs are all midtempo without much variation of this speed. The voice is brutal screaming and I heard of people who noticed some melodies through the wall of sound. In the third song 'Human Mass Suicide' the distortion finds its climax before the demo ends with the instrumental 'Horizontes Perdidos' and a heavenly silence for my ears. No guitar only some sounds. This is only for people with good ears or great nerves. Nothing for me, sorry. But also only 300 copies available. www.debemur-morti.com

Stefan Hagmayer

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ARSEBREED
Munching The Rotten
(Neurotic Records)
30:46min

The history of ARSEBREED goes back to the year 2000, when they were founded under the name BLOODCUM. But after releasing the "Arsestabbers" demo in the following year, the band split up in 2002 and is now, after different line-up changes, back under the name ARSEBREED. When listening to this CD my first thought was DEICIDE - "Legion". The same kind of brutal Death Metal. But ARSEBREED are not just a simple clone, they manage to play a really enjoyable mixture of extreme Death Metal and Grindcore. The song structures remind me of the above mentioned DEICIDE and SEVERE TORTURE or BRODEQUIN, but sometimes they tip over into complex, yet melodic grinding madness, which is obviously influenced by CRYPTOPSY. The vocals are as deep growled as possible, but almost all songs feature background vocals, so it does not get too boring. The production - for me - is absolutely suitable. The short playing time is as always a little bit controversy, but I guess all of you are competent enough to make your own opinion about that issue. For myself thirty minutes is just the perfect running time for such an album. So if you like Death Metal the brutal way you should not miss this one! www.bloodcum.nl On sale here.

Mirco Szymyslik

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ARTILLERY
When Death Comes
(Metal Mind Productions)
53:15min

There is an old saying that on old “horses” you really learn to ride and the new ARTILLERY album “When Death Comes” is the perfect example for this statement. I think everybody who calls himself a Thrash Metal fan will at least own one of the demos or official releases of this Danish cult act which are an essential part of the European scene since their founding in 1982. The new release is in some way their second “return from the grave” album even if their last attempt in 1999 – with their “B.A.C.K.” album – was not really an enormous success. The retro movement has cooled down slightly and it’s so refreshing to listen to a band which is just playing their kind of “beer” without trying at all costs to sound like somebody else. The album is offering several killer tracks and the songs are full of energy - even if some of the band members have reached a holy age if it comes to the terms of Metal musicians – and one riff is following each other without nearly any moment of rest. But please don’t connect ARTILLERY with the last Black / Thrash developments – the band is following the classic Thrash Metal way of life – meaning that the band has for sure far more in common with “pure” Metal cult acts like MEGADETH than for example the Norwegian Thrashers AURA NOIR (especially the “Rust In Peace” album could be mentioned as a rough guideline). It’s a pity that not all of the songs can offer the same high potential – some of the presented songs ( ‘Sandbox Philosopsy’ and / or “Not A Nightmare’)  are lacking in the special moment - otherwise we would talk about a hot candidate for the album of the year. Nevertheless an extremely impressive release - the title track alone is worth buying this album already – which shows again that you should never underestimate the old horses. www.metalmind.com.pl, www.artillery.dk.You can order a copy here.

Matthias Auch

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ARTISIAN
Seargte Le Reothadh
(Infernux Rex)
29:03min

ARTISIAN is a pretty young Southampton, UK based Death / Black Metal band led by the guiding hand of Infernus Rex (Netherlands based label) which has within their ranks acts like NOSVROLOK, HORNED ALMIGHTY, GOATHOLOCAUST among some others. By listening to their early stuff (including their demo and 2 albums) I did not have any high expectations given my dislike for what I heard. Luckily, their newest release may diminish the negative impact the other recordings had on my first impression of the band but I just don't see it of any help to attract the attention of any listener looking for some really exciting Death / Black Metal. It is admirable the progression they have shown up to the present day but I'm afraid to say their compositions still lack that violent edge Death / Black Metal should be distinguished for. They are smart enough to keep their compositions short to not bore the listeners but that does not save this album to end up taking space on someone's CD shelf after just one listen. Their weakest point is without any doubt the vocals, specifically the Black Metal type which towards the end of this album becomes unbearable to say the least. Additionally, on the last few songs the drums are completely different to the rest of the album (drum machine?) which makes me suspect they are part of a different recording session. Contact them at: www.myspace.com/artisianmetal.

Mario Cubero

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ARUM
Fierce Everlasting Tempest
(Demise Records)
36:43min

This Brazilian five piece originally used to be called GRUUNKS, but they luckily decided to change their moniker into ARUM in 2000... I wise decision, even though I won't necessarily consider ARUM the perfect choice either. But anyway, musically there's hardly anything to complain about. The band delivers a furious and raw mixture of Black and Death Metal with strong guitarwork, impressive melodies and some effectively incorporated acoustic parts. Never too melodic, but always composed interesting and brutal enough to keep your attention. Unfortunately the whole album suffers from a very poor mix, which means the vocals often pretty much get lost in the overall recording. The result is a kinda messy and partly even noisy sound. And because of that it can turn into a real pain in the ass to listen to "Fierce Everlasting Tempest" in its entirety. So, if the band should either get the opportunity to do a remix of this album or otherwise to exterminate this problem on their next release, the future is definitely wide open for them. Cause all in all they're definitely a promising act to keep an eye on. Contact: Demise Records, P.O. Box 325, Timoteo / MG, 35180-000 – Brazil, www.demiserecords.com

Frank Stöver

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ASCENDED
Temple Of Dark Offerings (EP tape)
(Detest Records)
23:31min

In my humble opinion, Death-Doom is a criminally underrated sub-genre in Metal. It is just incredible how great bands committed to the style never got the attention and respect they deserved. Some of them are personal faves such as SORROW (USA), AS SERENITY FADES (FIN), SPINA BIFIDA (NED), THERGOTHON (FIN) and WINTER (USA). ASCENDED could be easily included in that list, based on their sound. But nowadays, I think they will get a lot of well deserved attention! "Temple Of Dark Offerings" embraces you with its overall gloomy, depressive and heavy as hell atmosphere. These 4 tracks, clocking 23 minutes, just leave you wanting more. Guitar-wise, they achieved a brilliant combination of background sludgy riffing with constant melodic lines of the lead guitar, giving some of the songs an "epic" feel. Yet, there are acoustic passages neatly placed to add texture and variety, two very important aspects in ASCENDED's brand of Metal savagery. The rhythm section is somewhat basic, but flawless and powerful in execution. And last, but not least, the vocal delivery of Mr. Tommi Sookari, whose growls and shrieks fit in perfectly, is flawless and full of hate! He reminds me of Mr. Jukka Kolehmainen himself. This EP is a great listening experience. It just crawls into you slowly and painfully, as it was intended to do so. ASCENDED managed a great release that stands as proof of their intelligent hateful brand of Doom-Death Metal. A band to look out for. According to their myspace page, "Enucleation Records is out of the picture", so there is no set date for the vinyl version. They still have CD copies of "Temple Of Dark Offerings" and Detest Records just released a limited run of 200 tapes, so get them while you can! www.myspace.com/ascendedmetal, www.detestrecords.com

Alfonso Perez

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ASCENSION
Ascension
(self-financed)
49:00min

Here we go… I didn’t have the faintest idea what kind of style this formation would present. The band’s logo somewhat struck me as a Death Metal-related one, which didn’t prove to be totally incorrect. Nevertheless, ASCENSION do not play conventional "well … let’s blast a bit ‘cause that’s what we’re best at" Death Metal. No – this surely isn’t the case. The information sheet the guys enclosed when sending their promo provides the interested listener with some hints at apparent influences that formed the style of ASCENSION. Well… I could have told… it’s acts such as CYNIC, CARCASS, DEATH, (this album is even dedicated to the memory of Chuck Schuldiner!!!). I personally would add such madmen like WATCHTOWER, MESHUGGAH, a bit of ATHEIST to the list of bands that seem to have taken some influence on ASCENSION’s sound. You name it. So, the ten compositions these ambitioned guys present here are relatively technical, varying, enhanced with loads of colourful facets. ASCENSION sound like a combination of the aforementioned WATCHTOWER (which definitely has something to do with their sound I reckon… but still, the way the drums are woven in the tracks reminds me of my old prog-faves – that’s quite clear) and DEATH in their "Human" phase (note: ASCENSION’S vocal work is more brutal though). Personally, I am not that deadkean on such music anymore ‘cause sometimes I just have this feeling that open-minded Death Metal freaks should consider themselves a bit more profoundly with Jazz / Fusion cadences / compositional processes before they dive into this dimension of creating music. Otherwise, the result sounds kind of dilettantish, which definitely is not the case with ASCENSION – but there are certain parts that just don’t sound right / don’t make sense in certain combinations with other ideas. I mean CYNIC combined their heavy sounds with Jazz-Fusion – and it sounded magnificent! You could hear in every note that all made sense. With ASCENSION I sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable ‘cause I have this impression they weren’t conscious of the meaning of some of their incorporated ideas. Anyway… on the whole, this debut CD is far above average, offers solid musician-ship, an ok-ish production (self-produced… congratulations – good result, folks… nevertheless, you shouldn’t trigger the snare ‘cause that’s not really necessary when you have a drummer who plays rather mid-tempo based patterns… trigger-sounds just don’t have any dynamics whatsoever!!!). One can kind of sense that ASCENSION are really dedicated musicians who prefer intelligent music rather than shallow high-speed non-sense. Maybe a bit of polishing - that is, improvement - of the elements I stated above… if I may say so. This album deserves to be listened to – so contact these weirdo’s via: carcass@ascension-music.com

F. Cthulhu E.

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ASGAROTH
Red Shift
(Peacville Records)
58:05min

This album has one problem many of the so called orginial or innovative Black / Death / Dark Metal acts have, they mix too much instruments, samples and vocal styles into one sonic inferno, which is definitely demanding and unusual, but often not very entertaining and live absolutely unimaginable. In ASGAROTH’s case the mass of instruments playing at the same time (guitars, drums, samples, keyboards and of course the vocals) are simply too much and stay contrary to each other instead of creating one soundscape together. Without the massive electronics ASGAROTH’s third full-length CD “Red Shift” would be much better, because the songs themselves are not bad at all and have at least some comprehensible structures, intense gloomy and spacy moods, that surface when the keyboards are a bit reduced and the melodious but heavy riffing moves in the foreground. “Red Shift” is one of those albums, that will not get boring just because there are so much musical elements in each song, that every time you listen to them you think they are new, not very memorable stuff! If you like complex stuff, that is partly Industrial, partly Dark Metal, partly Black Metal, partly Gothic, partly Space Metal etc you might love this, I just don’t get it, I’m too stupid for this type of music, but maybe somewhere there is someone who likes this stuff, I don’t know? Check out www.peaceville.com for more information about this band. The CD is on sale here.

Stefan Franke

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ASHDAUTAS
Where The Sun Is Silent (MCD)
(Full Moon Productions)
25:14min

If there is a band that more effectively captures the majesty of chaos in its music, I have not heard it. ASHDAUTAS are masters at the cultivation of disorder. Throughout the 25 minutes of this MCD (which to my mind, far surpasses “Shadowplays Of Grief And Pain”), they weave together a universe that is uncomfortable and yet highly alluring playing a style of Black Metal that truly resembles no other. There are, it seems, four songs on this CD; however, the CD only contains one track forcing the listener to take in the entire collection. This is fitting though, because the songs are played live in a single take and there is no downtime between them. In fact, without knowing otherwise, the listener would probably be inclined to assume the work to be one long composition rather than a collection of discrete songs. The beauty of ASHDAUTAS is the way the listener is guided as the band summons intricate form from the ashes of entropy. At times the music is dense and one must struggle to find an intact thread to follow, and then when the dissonance seems to be waxing to its highest point, the cracks in the surface open and the structure of the song rushes forth to fill the void. All of the instruments work together to achieve this effect, but it is the guitars that at once create and destroy the form of the songs. The vocals, suicidal and bleak, are well-placed within the music and accentuate the effect of the recording far better than on the band’s previous album. A casual listener may dismiss ASHDAUTAS as undisciplined and unoriginal. Nothing is further from the truth, however. The riffs employed here are as complex as any I have heard and operate on myriad levels with the composition of the song. As one listens closely one can hear the brilliance with which the guitars shimmer golden amid the densely crafted fabric of chaos and decay. This is Black Metal of the highest order - unique and individualized. Especially when viewed in the context of the U.S. Black Metal scene, “Where The Sun Is Silent…” stands high above most of what has been released in recent years. www.fmp666.com

Jason Campbell

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AS I LAY DYING
Frail Words Collapse
(Metal Blade Records)
41:33min

Fans of SHADOWS FALL, GOD FORBID or SOILWORK watch out, because AS I LAY DYING might be an excellent addition to your collection. On "Frail Words Collapse" the Californian five-piece blends melodic Death Metal elements with the aggression and emotional intensity of modern Hardcore and creates twelve powerful tracks that undoubtedly can enter the competition with their aforementioned concurrence. Rousing grooves, driving melodies, a variable guitar work, original song ideas (just listen to my personal highlight ‘Behind Me Lies Another Fallen Soldier’) and an unstoppable screaming, growling and singing vocalist – to sum it up: all essential elements of a good modern Metal record – are existent on "Frail Words Collapse" and united by an excellent production. To make a long story short, if you like contemporary soul-driven Metal sounds, get this CD and indulge in sheer delight. For more information and sound clips surf to www.asilaydying.com or www.metalblade.com. You can order it here.

Stefan Franke

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AS IT BURNS
Mortal Dusk
(Cold Blood Industries)
41:53min

This is Groningen's AS IT BURNS third album release and I think it is possible that they might access a larger audience with their well-balanced mixture of Thrash / Death / Black Metal. The range of guitar riffing varies from dark melodies to rocking parts to fast, Death and Thrash orientated attacks. AS IT BURNS are not afraid of using a keyboard, but only in an unintrusive relation to the rest of the music, most of the time it operates in the background and gives atmospheric support. The guitars dominate the keyboard and not the other way around. The vocals are both Death and Black influenced and absolutely fit to the instrumental efforts. To give an abstract comparison, imagine Without Temptation were a real Metal band, haha, with a brutal male shouter,  AS IT BURNS would be their much, much harder and faster brothers. To sum it up, AS IT BURNS do not invent some new kind of genre but they mix many interesting influences and offer a good album. Band webpage: www.asitburns.nl. On sale here.

Christoph Göbel

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AS LIGHT DIES
A Step Through The Reflection
(Mondongo Canibale Records)
66:59min

AS LIGHT DIES, is a band that is indeed skilled in their use of their instruments, song arrangements / compositions, yet seem to be blighted with the disease called A.D.D. or Attention Deficit Disorder. Too many weird, twisting paths of riffing and writing, odd choices of symphonic inclusions and / oor vocal patterns make each track on this 13 song CD almost an egregious attempt of audio assault on my psyche.. Obviously this disc is not my cup of blood, moreover, AS LIGHT DIES is for those fans that are into the more progressive and atmospheric fields of Death, Black, Doom, Folk/Gothic, and even Jazz Metal. Strictly speaking bands as ANATHEMA, PARADISE LOST ( "Icon" and beyond), ORPHANAGE, OPETH, TRISTANIA, CYNIC, the dreaded and reviled VED BUENS ENDE, BORKNAGAR, and of course ARCTURUS. Professionally recorded, mixed, and packaged. The very first album release that I have seen / heard from this record company, that at least these aspects of this CD have my attention and admiration, even if your label act here eats away at my sanity! Contact: aslightdies@hotmail.com or www.mondongocanibale.com or Mondongo Canibale Records, P.O. Box 27106, 28080 Madrid, Spain.  

Wes Rhodes

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ASMEGIN
Arv
(Napalm Records)
42:17min

In former times the word folklore wasn’t automatically connected to drunken Finnish trolls - these times the mixture of extreme Metal and traditional folklore is considered as a dangerous experiment by the majority of the extreme Metal scene. The Norwegian ASMEGIN are building a bridge to the mid 90s and hopefully there are still enough Voices readers which can appreciate an album which is worth to be mentioned in one sentence with the cult act STORM. The second ASMEGIN release “Arv” has been recorded under extreme time pressure but the band is releasing an impressive album by successfully fusing the dark side of folklore with rough mid-tempo (Black) Metal. The first 2 songs are not completely representative for the whole album - because they are more than just ‘touched’ by the above mentioned STORM - but “Arv” as whole is offering a lot more and it’s really a pleasure to listen to the album several times and still discover further layers. The album has its best moments when the band connects their basis musical structure with Advantgarde influences (‘Gengangeren’) and parallels to SOLEFALD are becoming obvious. I really hope that we don’t have to wait too long for further ASMEGIN material because “Arv” is one of the rare Metal albums with folklore influences and not the other way around. www.napalmrecords.com, www.asmegin.com

Matthias Auch

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ASMODEUS
Imperium Damnatum
(Twilight)
41:08min

After beholding the promo-pic of ASMODEUS there is no misunderstanding possible - three human (?) beings, corpse painted and armed. Black Metal from the very depths of Austria. Never recognized ASMODEUS before, I did not know what to expect. Another mediocre Black Metal outfit, totally dispensable? But no, they really impressed me! I can hardly remember a band surprising me that much by performing such furious, well-played Black Metal. In fact, they can be even compared to Austria’s finest Black / Death Metal act, namely BELPHEGOR, especially the early BELPHEGOR, more Black Metal style outputs like “Necrodaemon - Terrorsathan” or “Blutsabbath”. But back to ASMODEUS. First of all is to mention the impressive production, really tight sounding. Since they have been active for years (their first demo dates back to 1998) and have been supporting bands like SATYRICON or BEHEMOTH they know to handle their instruments and that knowledge is most evident. Notably the superior drum performance, also I do not know if they cheated in the studio, but on the other hand which band is nowadays recording their drums without using the “trigger”-technique? Concerning the song-structure, each song features the whole variety from slow to fast, providing a dark, yet aggressive atmosphere. The vocals are deep, gravelly grunted, fitting clearly better to the music than a shrieking voice would do. Sometimes they manage to smuggle a number of fine sounding, melodic riffs into their hateful inferno, making the songs more variable and avoiding any boredom. So all in all ASMODEUS manage to refresh the traditional Black Metal without using any modern elements (keyboards, female voices, etc.) and without performing just a lame copy of a classic Black Metal album. “Imperium Damnatum” clearly shows that it is anno 2006 still possible to play genuine Black Metal in a supreme way. www.asmodeus.at. You may order it here.

Mirco Szymyslik

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ASOMVEL
Kamikaze
(The Miskatonic Foundation)
37:54min

You may recall that on some of their records, SODOM played MOTÖRHEAD-inspired songs like 'Ausgebombt', or indeed, played MOTÖRHEAD covers like 'Iron Fist'. ASOMVEL is the United Kingdom's MOTÖRHEAD-inspired sodomites. This record has an abundance of energy. If ASOMVEL ever take to the road, they'll have to play all the songs they have in their discography. Interestingly, songs such as the second track, 'No Twist Of Fate', have the requisite Rock'n'Roll energy, but just as the chords gear up for another verse, something darker rears its head, but only for a moment. It's moments like these, and more, that make this debut one of the most entertaining and concert worthy I've heard in a long, long time. www.myspace.com/asomvel

Nat Shapiro

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ASPHYX
Death... The Brutal Way (7"EP)
(Iron Pegasus)
8:46min

What can one say about mighty ASPHYX that hasn't been said already? This band is like the epitome of crushing, slow, ancient Death Metal. "Reviewing" anything by this godly act is useless because everything that they ever produced is over the top quality material and personally I worship even their "God Cries" album. If you don't already own their entire discography then you are missing some of the best Death Metal jewels ever produced by a band from the European Death Metal scene. I guess everybody knows by now that ASPHYX have reformed in order to perform a couple of live shows and there are even chances that these Dutch masters will come up with a brand new full-length album! In the mean time the band has "conspired" with none other than Costa Stoios (of Iron Pegasus fame) to release a killer 7inch entitled "Death... The Brutal Way" which contains a brand new composition and a fresh cover song. The brand new, self-titled track ('Death... The Brutal Way') is a fast paced song with some - characteristic - slow, doomy parts. This is a megaton of straight-to-the-point brutality that proves that ASPHYX are still able to write some killer tunes! After listening to this I am growing impatient for a brand new, full-length album. On the B-side we have a CELTIC FROST cover of 'Os Abysmi Vel Daath' (from their "Monotheist" album) which turned out really cool and performed in the distinctive ASPHYX style (or to quote Costa, it has been "ASPHYX-iated"). I think that this will also be part of a Century Media compilation where each Century Media band will cover another one from the label's roster. I guess at first it seems like a "weird" choice considering the musical differences between the ASPHYX material and the avantgarde approach of the "Monotheist" album but I guess everybody in ASPHYX worships CELTIC FROST… but who we are kidding, I am sure Wannes is totally responsible for that. I mean this guy is the absolute CELTIC FROST worshipper. The 7inch is also visually impressive. Hosted in a thick lyric sheet and a glossy, cool-looking red sleeve, the 7inch looks killer (with the first 100 copies on splatter red / black vinyl). This will soon be one sought after gem and trust me, if you are seriously into ASPHYX, or real Death Metal in general, you don't want to miss this! www.iron-pegasus.de

Manolis A.

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ASPHYX
Death...The Brutal Way
(Century Media)
49:27min

"Death...The Brutal Way" is the first album from Dutch Death Metal stalwarts ASPHYX since their 2000 reunion. As with all first albums, fans will be asking themselves, “Should they have stayed disbanded?”, “Can they still cut it?”, etc but fear not; this album marks a furious return to form for ASPHYX... it’s a comeback... the brutal way! Most of the songs, though played at a mid tempo chug, will have heads banging all around and guitarist Paul Baayens shows that he’s got quite an arsenal of riffs up his sleeve, as heard on ‘Cape Horn’, ‘Scorbutics’ and the title track ‘Death...The Brutal Way’.  Many of the songs also are excellent at creating a very bleak, doom-ish atmosphere, as ‘Asphyx 2...They Died As They Lived’ proves. The title track is, in my opinion, the stand out track on the album, showing how capable ASPHYX are at switching from machine gun tremolo picked riffs to chuggy, instant headbangers, much in the same vein as GRAVE. Martin van Drunen’s vocals are quite similar to John Tardy’s of OBITUARY, almost entirely intelligible and sounding like a person regurgitating, and may not be to everyone’s taste, however, I found they do grow on you as the album progresses. There's also a limited edition of the album with a special slip case cover and a bonus DVD featuring the band's brilliant reunion gig at 2007 Party.San festival in Bad Berka, Germany. Overall, while nothing mind blowingly original is on display here this is a quality release from a band who are back to cement their place in the hearts of Death Metal and are out to do so in a brutal way. Definitely worth a listen. For more on ASPHYX check out www.myspace.com/officialasphyx or www.centurymedia.com

Norman McCann

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ASPHYX
Abomination Echoes (7" Boxset)
(Century Media Records)
94:54min

I wouldn't be surprised if this strictly limited ASPHYX 7" box would partly already be sold out by the time some of you are reading this... Even though there's 5 different versions of it (500 picture discs, 100 copies on white vinyl, 200 on clear vinyl, 200 on clear/red vinyl and 500 copies on black vinyl), the whole boxset was done with so much dedication that every true ASPHYX fan simply has to own one... So, what we got here is a great looking box that features amazing artwork by Timo Ketola (WATAIN, TEITANBLOOD, DEATHSPELL OMEGA etc.) as well as six vinyl 7" EPs. Each EP has its own heavy cardboard sleeve with individual artwork as well as an additional innersleeve and they all come up with vintage ASPHYX recordings. You want more details? Ok, here's a little overview of the stuff that is included... EP 1: "Enter The Domain" demo 1988, EP 2: "Crush The Cenotaph" demo 1989, EP 3: Rehearsals (tracklist: 'Countess Bathory', 'The Sickened Dwell', 'Cadaver Camp', 'Embrace The Death' and the previously unreleased track 'Priest Of Mendes'), EP 4: "Mutilating Process" EP 1989 (next to the two wellknown versions this edition also features the rough mixes of both songs), EP 5: Promo '91 (tracklist: 'The Sickened Dwell', 'Conjuration Of Chrononzon' and 'Diabolical Existence') and EP 6: Live in Zwolle, Hedon 1989 (tracklist: 'The Sickened Dwell', 'Crush The Cenotaph', 'Rite Of Shades' and 'Thoughts Of An Atheist'). The black vinyl edition also includes a pro-printed tape with a glossy black/white cover that has 20 of the songs from the EPs on it again (so you can listen to them all at once), plus (and that is even more exciting) 'Carnage Remains' and 'Rectified Sludge', both from the band's very first release ever, the "Carnage Remains" rehearsal tape from 1988 - exclusively available on this tape only! A 20-pages fat booklet, with a very cool looking oldschool layout, lyrics, covers, etc. plus liner notes by the band members complete the picture. So, my personal advice is: don't waste any more time on this review and order yourself a copy instead, wherever it still may be on sale... Great one! More info at: www.myspace.com/officialasphyx, www.asphyx.nl, www.centurymedia.com

Frank Stöver

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ASPHYX
Live Death Doom (Boxset)
(Century Media Records)
225:44min (DVD)
109:12min (DoCD)

2009 and 2010 have been fantastic years for the Dutch Death Metal masters ASPHYX and their loyal fanbase... First of all there was of course the great new album "Death... The Brutal Way", then the re-releases of their old classics (with lots of bonus tracks), the incredible "Abomination Echoes" 7" EP boxset and now the icing on the cake: the "Live Death Doom" double live album / DVD! Centerpoint of "Live Death Doom" is the band's over 2 hours (!!) lasting crushing live-show that was professionally recorded at the completely sold out Turock club in Essen / Germany on July 04, 2009 where ASPHYX celebrated the release of "Death... The Brutal Way" together with DESASTER and NECROS CHRISTOS. And believe me, I haven't been this much impressed by a live show for ages as it showcases a band that truly lives for this type of music (which is unfortunately not really typical anymore these days). The performance is so full of energy, with lots of headbanging, friendly communication with the totally enthusiastic crowd and a perfect setlist that covers songs from their demo days up till "Death... The Brutal Way" that it's nothing but a real pleasure to watch it! It is available as an audio double CD (even featuring one additional song - 'Diabolical Existence' - that isn't included on the DVD version) and DVD seperately or in a limited edition boxset. Next to the already absolutely fantastic show, you also get an over one hour, in-depth band-documentary. Original members Bob Bagchus (drums), Eric Daniels (guitar) and Martin van Drunen (vocals), but also Wannes Gubbels (bass) and "new" guitarist Paul Baayens comment on the most important parts in the ASPHYX history (from the demo days up till the joining of new bass player Adwin Zuur in 2010). The bonus stuff consists of several bootleg clips (mostly in surprisingly good quality) from various German ASPHYX shows: Hammer Of Doom Festival 2010, With Full Force Festival 2009, Göppingen 1990 (classic stuff still with Theo on vocals!), Bischofswerda 1991, Braunschweig 2009 (love your shirt at that show, Martin!) as well as the Maryland Deathfest in the US (2009). A promo clip for the song 'Death... The Brutal Way' and short video greetings from NECROS CHRISTOS and DESASTER complete the total playing time of approximately 225 minutes!! If this would have been released in an ordinary plastic bag only, I would have advised you to buy it at all costs already, but the whole packaging furthermore lives up to the high standards as well! It is on sale as a deluxe digipack with an additional slipcase and features fantastic oldschool artwork by Axel Hermann (who had previously been responsible for the artwork of the band’s classic releases from the 90s), while the liveshow was mixed and mastered by Mr. Dan Swanö! If all those facts didn't make you buy "Live Death Doom", you are probably reading the wrong magazine. An essential release!! More info at: www.myspace.com/officialasphyx, www.centurymedia.com

Frank Stöver

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ASSASSIN
The Club
(AGD Records)
54:52min

Seventeen long years after the release of "Interstellar Experience" Düsseldorf's Thrashers ASSASSIN finally return to the scene with a brand new album. Except for bassplayer Markus "Lulle" Ludwig, who got replaced by a guy named Ufo Walter, the current line-up only consists of members that already used to play on the band's two full length albums, namely Robert Gonnella (vocals), Frank "Scholli" Scholz (guitar), Frank Nellen (drums) and Michael Hoffmann (guitar). Unlike the majority of Metal fans, I personally always preferred "Interstellar Experience" over "The Upcoming Terror" for its razorsharp, uncompromising riffing, sheer intensity and power. So, I was hoping that the band would somehow continue on from there. But just like all the other reunited 80s (Thrash) bands, also ASSASSIN sadly failed to live up to their overmighty musical legacy... I hate to say this, but none of the eleven new ASSASSIN tunes on "The Club" comes any close to their classic material. I suppose the Thrash Metal lifestyle that many bands of the 80s used to live and breath (to the max) simply got lost somewhere on the way... And hey, it's pretty natural! You grow older, maybe start up a family life and as a result you calm down sooner or later, listen to different types of music and of course also improve as a musician... All that is perfectly reflected in material that gets written after so many years. Don't get me wrong. It's not that ASSASSIN anno 2005 have totally changed, jumped on any bandwaggon or can't be associated with Thrash Metal anymore... it's actually still very raw and aggressive stuff. But to me it often sounds too average (either the music, the vocals or some annoying melodylines), overall too uninspired or simply lacks the old straight ahead fuck off attitude. It may sound a little stupid, but to me the guys obviously tried too much to mix up a whole bunch of new ideas as opposed to stick to the straight from the heart outbursts of their early days. I mean, on one hand they incorporate a short, typical SLAYER riff ('South Of Heaven') in the album's title track, then there's the opening of the song 'The Price Of Power', which reminds me on 'Lullaby' by THE CURE and all of a sudden there's even a THIN LIZZY cover ('Thunder And Lightning'), which seems a bit out of place on the album anyway (Paul Speckmann did the same mistake on an older MASTER record). I was ready to give up on the record already, but after I had listened to "The Club" over and over again I tracked down at least one song, which has a little bit of the old magic in it and that's 'Real Friends'. It's a fast and pretty straight ASSASSIN crusher. Not exactly of the same class as their old stuff, but still pretty enjoyable. All in all not enough to convince a narrow minded Thrash Metal fan though and definitely not enough to compete with (for example) fellow Thrashers KREATOR who still deliver top notch quality, even today! Contact: www.assassin-online.de

Frank Stöver

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ASSAULT
Nuclear Death Thrash
(Old Cemetery Records)
28:48min

I'd heard Thrash this and that about ASSAULT from Chile, and was afraid it would be something weak like... well, let's just say bands who sing about ninja turtles and shit like that, but I shoulda fuckin' known better coz ASSAULT is from South America and you know they don't fuck around over there (except maybe for those ladies in ANGRA)! This is not their proper debut album if you will, but a collection of songs off of 3 of their demos. So, you'll get varying levels of sound and recording, but every thrashing second can be heard quite well considering they are demos and were recorded in very primitive conditions, I'm sure. Sorry to seem lazy here but the band and title are correct: this is a nuclear Death Thrash assault of the rawest kind! Of course it's not quite pure Thrash as there's a slight Death touch and some blasting moments peppered here and there that add to the variety. As I said raw, crude and cruel but well played yet still primitive! This is definitely a 'Terrorist Aggression' that leaves 'Atomic Desolation' as these song titles attest! 'Hail Black War' indeed! www.oldcemetery.tk, www.myspace.com/ocr666

Luis M.L. Sallard

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ASSAULTER
Salvation Like Destruction
(Pulverised Records)
40:01min

Without a doubt we are currently facing the dawn of a new Thrash era with young bands from all over the world sounding like their / our old (German) Thrash idols. This revival – as all Metal movements of the last 15 years – is again a phenomenon because within a very short period the labels had hunted down every potential Thrash band – with good, but also very bad examples. But there are also bands which never followed any kind of trend – they just play the music they like. The Australian ASSAULTER are exactly such a band and their debut is a fine example for a fucking great Metal album. With their debut “Salvation Like Destruction” the band is maybe not presenting a pure Thrash album – think that at least half of the songs could also be summarized under the lovely term Speed Metal – but the playing time of 40 minutes is like a trip to long forgotten times. But ASSAULTER are in the position to offer a more updated version somehow. Simon Berserker (ex - DESTROYER 666) has done a terrific job and this debut is the perfect bloody piece of meat for the coming head banging season. ASSAULTER furthermore just released a limited vinyl EP via Iron Bonehead – so also check this release – this band is for sure worth all efforts. www.pulverised.net, www.myspace.com/burningfront

Matthias Auch

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