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FATAL
Retrospective From Hell
(Necroharmonic Productions)
61:53min
Here's another excellent collection of classic 90s Death / Thrash Metal material,
compiled by Necroharmonic Productions for the listening pleasure of all you
historical interested extreme Metalheads... This time Detroit's FATAL was chosen
in order to immortalize their three demos and EP onto a single CD. The recording
quality of the 17 featured tracks is incredibly good, especially if you consider
their years of origin (1988 – 1990). You gotta remember that back in those
days the main concern of almost every young band was first of all to put out
music as opposed to worry about packaging or a professional studio sound. FATAL
managed to deliver a very timeless quality nevertheless, yeah even the sound of
their 1988 debut demo "Guts For Dinner" (which was simply recorded
live with a 2-track recorder!) turned out way better than on most other tapes
from that period of time. Musically this three-piece evolved from an extreme
Thrash act with rather deathly vocals into an impressive, technical unity over
the years. Especially the band's 1990s farewell EP on Thrash Records ("A
Somber Evocation Of Nihilism"), whose three tunes are impressively kicking
this disc off, is a fine example of a technically skilled songwriting within the
boundaries of extreme Metal. Those songs actually remind me a bit on a mixture
of New Jersey's REVENANT (especially when it comes to the vocals) with the
complexity and love for little details of Switzerland's CORONER. FATAL's older
stuff was still a bit more intense and right into your face and should easily
appeal to all those of you who are pretty much sick and tired of what's been
going on in the underground scene the last couple of years. Apart from the
already mentioned EP and debut demo, the disc also offers FATAL's "Molested
Slaughter" and "Soul Burns" demos from 1988 and '89 respectively.
The booklet features a short band history (written by original member Mark
Nowakowski) as well as all the demo / EP covers and some vintage FATAL pictures.
I just wished the band's unreleased fourth tune from the EP recording sessions
would be featured on here as well. That would have given the whole project an
even more exclusive touch. But anyway, "Retrospective From Hell" is
still a great compilation that you shouldn't miss out on. For ordering
information and all further details contact www.necroharmonic.com
Frank Stöver
BACK
FINGERNAILS
Fingernails / Hell'n'Back
(Old Metal / Maniacal Records)
69:36min
Even though I checked out quite a lot of obscure vinyl back in the 80s, there's
still several bands that I never ever heard of. That also goes for Italy's 3
piece FINGERNAILS, who got together in late 1981 and released their one and only
self-titled 8 song debut full length in 1988 via Cobra Records. Musically the
band could easily be associated with acts like KILLER (Belgium), TANK (UK) and
of course MOTÖRHEAD, because they also delivered a mostly very doublebass
driven, raw form of rockin' Metal, with lots of obvious inspiration from Lemmy
and his gang (leads, vocals etc.). FINGERNAILS nevertheless had a charme on its
own so that it's still quite enjoyable to listen to the material after so many
years now. Unfortunately I can't say that about the stuff that completes this
re-release. While the band's contribution to 1988's "Lethal Noise"
compilation ('Acid: Shadow Of The Blade') is still of a similar class as the
album tunes, the unreleased studio track of the same year ('Magic Lady Ass') as
well as the reunion material from 2005 doesn't convince me at all. Especially
the new material (which features new vocalist Anthony Drago and new drummer
Fabrizio Lucidi) turned out really annoying. With the more melodic vocal style
and the overall rather sleazy Rock'n'Roll sound the chances of the band have
gone down to zero these days in my opinion. Only in the song 'Aids' there's a
little bit of the old class shining through again (I suppose that it's original
vocalist Maurizio 'Angus Bidoli singing here). For all further info check out www.angusfingernails.com.
Label contact: maniacalrecords@aol.com
Frank Stöver
BACK
FINGERNAILS
Destroy Western World (LP)
57:24min
Hell'n'Back (LP)
(High-Roller-Records)
I got these two LPs from the Italian band FINGERNAILS about two weeks ago and
after listening to them I decided that one review for both records is enough.
FINGERNAILS are a band from Rome, Italia that was originally founded in 1981 but
is still active. These two records are re-releases. "Destroy Western
World" was originally released in 2007 by Old Metal Records and the songs
from "Hell‘n’Back" were recorded in 2005. I looked on tried to
find some information about the band on Metal Archives, but the music
description as Thrash Metal is totally crap. To be honest I really don’t
understand these records. The music is a mixture between Punkrock, Rock'n’Roll
and Metal but all played very trashy. The sound and production isn’t very
good, also very raw and trashy. I didn’t have much fun to listen to this
stuff. Some songs or parts / riffs are not too bad and you can listen to it. The
best parts are the guitar solos. They are well played and the guy knows what he
is doing. A big compliment goes out to High Roller Records because the records
are done really nice. Each one has a nice stable paperboard cover, an inlay with
lyrics and pictures and the vinyl is 150g and both are limited to 500 copies. www.myspace.com/fingernailsmetalcore,
www.high-roller-records.de
Stefan Hagmayer
BACK
FIST
Back With A Vengeance – The Fist Anthology (DoCD)
(Castle Music / Sanctuary)
128:41min
FIST was a part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement that spawned big
names like IRON MAIDEN and DEF LEPPARD but unfortunately FIST’s career success
failed to match with these bands by far. Originally formed in 1978 under the
moniker AXE with the line up of vocalist / guitarist Keith Satchfield, guitarist
Dave Irwin, bassist Dave Durey (soon to be replaced by John Wylie) and drummer
Harry “Hiroshima” they recorded their first single, entitled ‘S.S. Gyro’
in September of the same year (btw: this version of the song opens up this
double CD compilation). In 1979 – after a short break up - the band resurfaced
with the new name FIST (and the aforementioned new bassist). FIST’s first
single "Name, Rank And Serial Number" (coverart by VENOM’s Cronos
aka Conrad Lant) from 1980 was their first release on the legendary NWOBHM label
Neat Records. Enthused by the success of the single MCA signed FIST as part of a
three band package deal with Neat - labelmates TYGERS OF PAN TANG and WHITE
SPIRIT. Another single called "Forever Amber" was released before FIST
delivered their full-length debut “Turn The Hell On”. Unfortunately the
album was not received well by fans and critics and so MCA decided to drop the
band from their rooster. FIST returned to Neat Records and made a drastic change
in their line up replacing frontman Keith Satchfield with former HOLLOW GROUND
singer Glenn Coates and rhythm guitarist John Roach (ex - MYTHRA). Apart from
that new bassist Joe Appleby was added. The line up change also had a major
input on FIST's second album “Back With A Vengeance”, since it was much
cleaner and more melodic than its predecessor. Unfortunately their fans did not
appreciate the style change and so FIST’s last single was a cover of DION's 'The
Wanderer', but since they didn’t manage to achieve any success with this
desperate attempt, the band soon after called it quits. “Back With A Vengeance
- The FIST Anthology” consists of every song the band ever recorded (many of
them in alternate versions) along with a great booklet, many photos, a history
and a discography this double CD package pays perfect tribute to one of the more
overlooked NWOBHM icons. Another great Castle reissue well worth spending your
hard earned cash on. If you were impressed by FIST’s comeback concert at
Germany’s Headbangers Open Air Festival in 2004 - this is the album to get.
Available
here .
Martin Brandt
BACK
FLEGETHON
Behind A Side Of Times
(March Funebre Productions / Stygian Crypt Productions)
79:42min
The Funeral Doom world must be a very desolated place otherwise such dark
offerings like the presented release of the Russian Funeral Doom fanatics
FLEGETHON are lacking in every explanation. Since their origin in 1999 the band
has released a couple of more or less interesting CDs but Stygian Crypt
Productions has given this band a chance to reach a wider audience by
re-releasing their sixth album – originally recorded in 2005 – via their
side label March Funebre Productions. The band name has been very well chosen
because as one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld nobody will expect
anything else than the musical transformation of pure abyssal darkness. And the
four overtime songs – nearly all of them are exciding the 20 minutes mark –
are really an extreme trip for all suicidal souls out there. So far, so good -
but what makes this release so interesting - because I normally love my life and
the Doom cosmos is not my most preferred musical place to stay – are the
incorporated “flicker of light” which are used to avoid 20 minutes cycles of
pure despair. Especially the opener ‘Return From Condition Of A Deep
Amnesia’ is in the position - after 10 minutes of pure suicidal Doom – to
grip the listener with such a remarkable counterpoint that it will find
a way directly into your ear like a reminder of the last sad loss of your
life. This album definitely needs enough time from every listener so please
invite darkness via following links www.flegethon.narod.ru,
www.stygiancrypt.com
Matthias
Auch
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FORBIDDEN
Forbidden Evil
(Century Media Records)
62:32min
The second wave of American Thrash Metal. Back in 1988, some of the milestones
of this music style have been released a couple of years ago…and although
there were more Thrash Metal bands than the “big four”, many newcomers were
pressing really hard. Among those was the young band from San Francisco
FORBIDDEN EVIL. With some demo tapes going around and many live presentations,
they gained the attention of the once mighty Metal label Combat Records. They
just shortened their name to FORBIDDEN and used their previous name as the title
for their debut album. Back in the day, a very important part of any band was
the cover art. In fact, many Metal heads back then, in lack of any Internet,
were driven to buy an album for the cover art mainly. Yes, it does sound weird,
but believe me, many times it did wonders…so, here we are with want I consider
one of the best cover arts for Heavy Metal ever…two flying skulls crashing in
mid air, one red, the other blue, with the red one resembling more a demos skull
than anything else…so, I thought, will the music be in the same league as the
magnificent Kent Mathieu’s cover? FORBIDDEN style is a mixed balance between
Speed Metal, which is encompassed by fast guitar riffs, and pounding Thrash
Metal tones, were a more pounding rhythmic section was setting the path. Of
course, their traditional Heavy Metal roots and also some Punk / Hardcore sound
are found in there. Do not get confused: all Thrash Metal is founded on the
speed and aggression of early Punk / Hardcore bands. The opening act 'Chalice of
Blood' starts in dynamic mid-tempo with some weird arrangements, and showcases a
very prominent duo of guitar players and the very good melodic voice of Russ
Anderson. His vocal tone is melodic, yes, but he also takes a lot of semi-spoken
passages still sounding good and adding a bit of raspy voice sounding to me a
bit to “Zetrodus” Souza only Russ is a much better vocalist, with a touch of
Lemmy. 'Off The Edge' goes into a faster thrashier affair, yet they still fall a
bit short in creating memorable riffs. But things start turning into a different
beast when songs like 'Through Eyes Of Glass' and 'Forbidden Evil' sets in,
showcasing a band searching for its own style, with some really catchy-melodic
yet heavy hooks. From then on, it is a deadly 'March Into Fire'. It seems that
they wanted to give a short break by adding a more mid-tempo song like 'Feel No
Pain' to then return again into a more active mode in 'As Good As Dead' and
closing the album with the macabre sounding 'Follow Me', with a main riff that
invokes like a funeral chant. The production on this recording is very good,
taking in count that it was a debut album, but what was more interesting was the
fact that although they might have some similar sound (TESTAMENT being probably
the closest in sound) the band was developing their own style. Another thing is
the fact that few bands, and especially younger ones, were capable of reuniting
musicians of a very high calibre, yet no one tries to go over the other.
Although I would not say this was the best debut album from the second wave of
American Thrash (in my eyes, that goes to VIO-LENCE, me the speed freak) it is
still one of the best releases from that era, and nowadays it can be remembered
as what a young band formed of very gifted musicians is capable of doing. Still,
up to this day, I sense the same: with the momentum this album is going to give
them, they were on the verge of creating something that will surely surpass many
of their early brethren. And I know I was right. This re-release, comes in a
deluxe presentation, with the awesome cover art, and the logo presented on a
transparent card, with all the lyrics (missing in the original edition) in a 24
page booklet and 4 live bonus songs tracks ('Feel No Pain', 'As Good As Dead',
'Through Eyes Of Glass' and 'Chalice Of Blood' -
from a show in Philadelphia, October 23rd, 1988) taken form their video
performance of the “Ultimate Revenge II”. This is more than a reason to buy
this one for a second time. www.centurymedia.com You can
order a copy
here.
Julian Nuñez
BACK
FORBIDDEN
Twisted Into Form
(Century Media Records)
67:14min
This second album
from this quintet from San Francisco was expected with a lot of anxiety by the
fans and media. Their debut album “Forbidden Evil” was a magnificent debut,
albeit with very few minor details, but with a very promising future ahead. By
this time, lots of live presentations, a live MLP (which was quite strange for
such a young band) and some advance recordings were foretellers of great things
to come. At first I was really disappointed by the cover art. I mean, after
releasing one of the best Metal covers of all time, you were expecting something
along the same lines. But no, the cover art was disappointing, and now to be
honest, after many years, I can appreciate the meaning behind it, it is just
that the execution is not up to what the band really deserved. Back in the day,
most of the Thrash bands have some of the simplest logos you could ever imagine,
so it was almost mandatory to have a decent cover art. Ok, enough with the cover
art. Let’s go to the music. Once the accoustic intro goes, the powerful, rich
and full guitar sound productions sets in. This is a vast improvement over an
already good production. The guitars sound way too thick to be true. At that
time, this kind of sound - which later on becomes a sort of norm -, was not too
easy to achieve. It is a pleasure to find that the band went in almost the
evolution stage that everybody was expecting; keeping their primal sound intact,
yet revealing a more mature musicianship, with fewer “experimental” rhythm
changes sometimes found in their debut and just sticking to a straight forward
attack. In fact in this album, the general tempo is higher, faster than the
debut. While not all the songs are just fast thrashers, they keep the intensity
level up, even at the more mid-paced songs. Russ Anderson's vocals have
developed in such a great way; he becomes now a vital part of the FORBIDDEN
sound. He has the ability to sing, no doubt, but he also has the ability to go
through songs in almost a spoken way, but injecting it with some subtle melody
and aggression at the same time, up to the point you don’t differ him from
singing or just speaking words with venom, but fitting with deadly precision all
the time. Both guitar players Craig Locicero and Tim Calvert, have achieved a
fantastic way of creating riffs after riffs without sounding boring, creating
solos in a great way without sounding too pretentious. And there is a powerful
rhythmic section to spice things up. Well, here I find my first, let’s say
“complain”. The drumming on this album is very precise, yet…I don’t
know, it just sounds way too simple for its own good. After listening to it on
repeated occasions now I realize that it is a fault in the mix, as the cymbals
are barely audible here, and that takes away some power of the drummer. I mean,
there is a reason why Paul Bostaph went on later to play with SLAYER, but due to
that omission on the mix, you could hardly guess he was such a talented drummer.
Oh, well. What the band created here is without doubt the best Thrash / Speed
Metal album of what is called the second wave of Thrash Metal (among other bands
were DEATH ANGEL, VIO-LENCE, TESTAMENT and so on). You see, it was easy to make
a difference between the Thrash Metal of the US of A (more complex, with the use
of more melodic vocals) rather than the European one (which most of the time was
rawer, with more growled vocals). My second and last “complain” is that I
feel that 'Step By Step' and 'Tossed Away' are not as strong (probably a b it
more “commercial” orientated) compared to such skull-crushing hymns like the
opener 'Infinite', the fast 'R.I.P.', the sinister 'Twisted Into Form' and the
decadent 'One Foot In Hell', which although all of them in the melodic line of
Metal, keeps deep inside a dark dreadful sound few bands can create without
sounding like a joke. Gone are most comparisons with many other bands, if
probably they follow a similar path bands like METALLICA did in “Master Of
Puppets” (I kind of sense a similar “vibe” if you ask me). At that time,
Speed Metal bands were crowning their career at their third album…you know
“Reign In Blood”, “Among The Living”, “Agent Orange”…but history
proved wrong in here. What happened after this effort goes beyond me…bad
management, personal differences, label things, whatever…FORBIDDEN was never
again the same, no matter how they tried. Such a shame, as I know that they were
capable at least another masterpiece of Speed / Thrash Metal….but no, they
were not able to do so. I now realize that this album was their top moment, and
it was supposed to be like that, they didn’t want to keep it for their third
strike…and for that I am thankful. Now, for the newer generations, go and grab
this one, which has been re-mastered (which is in fact not that different sound
from the original one) with a 20 page booklet and a new layout, and includes a
collector’s transparent o-card that seperates the logo, album title and part
of the artwork from the actual album art and the aforementioned MLP “Raw Evil
– Live At The Dynamo” as bonus. Learn why this one, is a milestone in the
history of Metal. www.centurymedia.com It's on
sale
here.
Julian Nuñez
BACK
FORMICIDE
Formicide
(Due Process)
58:21min
FORMICIDE were a Massassuchets based band who did manage to receive a good
amount of coverage during the late 80s via the three demo tapes they had
released between 1987 and 1989. Many observers at the time had bet that they
would get signed sooner or later with the type of material they were offering.
In the end nothing happened to them and the band broke up during mid 1989 after
the addition of a second guitarist, Craig Silverman. Now the newly launched
label, Due Process, decided to do justice to that long forgotten band by
releasing a CD featuring those three demos plus three unreleased tunes recorded
with Craig during early 1989. The first four track 1987 demo sounded very
average as they were playing stuff that was basically listenable but forgettable
Thrash Metal. Their next four song tape from 1988 showed a definitive
improvement as the band had adopted a somewhat Bay Area sound, trying very hard
to come up with sharp razor riffing à la EXODUS, VIO-LENCE and the likes. And
they did succeed to a certain level but the several included somewhat ‘mosh’
parts (can you be more boring than on 'Dead Man'?!) coupled with the rather
unimpressive and boring vocals courtesy of Steve Reppucci (I guess he better
should have fronted a Crossover act) prevented them to enter the “killer
acts” league. Out of all the material featured here this recording was
certainly the standout one. Then comes the 1989 four song demo, not only the
poor sound doesn’t help them but materialwise the band had nothing to offer
anymore. The riffing was particularly poor and insipid, again with that moshing
aspect being predominant (reminiscent of some VIO-LENCE “Oppressing The
Masses” material). Nothing really memorable that you’d be forced to stand up
and take notice for, something I did wish it could have been the case
considering that 16 years had passed and I wasn’t familiar with their material
anymore. Out of he three remaining numbers, two appeared on the third demo but
with different guitar work and the last one is just another FORMICIDE song,
nothing to bang your head against the wall with. Impressive musicianship for
sure but once again this aspect is not sufficient to pen effective material. A
real letdown here because I had always seen FORMICIDE as the Eastcoast answer to
the Bay Area wave and with what I’ve heard here they were just comparable to 4th
rate Bay Area acts such as EPIDEMIC, COMTEMPT and the likes. Label website: www.dueprocess.aversiononline.com
Laurent Ramadier
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FUNEBRE
Children Of The Scorn
(Xtreem Music)
74:40min
Talking
about some classic or at least nearly classic Death Metal albums, in my opinion
it's rightfully to claim that Finland's FUNEBRE's “Children Of The Scorn”
album – originally being released in 1991 already through Finnish Spinefarm
Records – is such an album. Just like many other Death Metal bands coming from
European Death Metal territory in the late of the 80s, FUNEBRE's absorbed most
of their influences from the Swedish Death Metal scene back then, letting such
bands as NIHILIST / ENTOMBED, CARNAGE, DISMEMBER, GRAVE and the likes, be the
strongest influences for the band musically. They managed to leave two demos
(“Cranial Torment” in '89 and 3-song “Demo '90") and only one album
behind them before they split up for good 1991. However, FUNEBRE's reputation to
the whole Finnish Death Metal scene was remarkable and they were undeniably a
very influential Death Metal band for many extreme Metal bands that popped up in
the Finnish Metal scene during the 90s since the band was formed – and even
after when they ceased to exist. Unquestionably they influenced more new Death
Metal bands here in Finland back in the day than one could possibly imagine in
the first place. Along with such Death Metal bands as ABHORRENCE / AMORPHIS,
XYSMA, DISGRACE, CONVULSE, SENTENCED, MORDICUS, CARTILAGE, DEMIGOD, PHLEGETHON,
DEMILICH and a few other bands, FUNEBRE was probably the one which gained most
of the attention due to the guys' own activity and enthusiasm with the global
underground Death Metal scene back in those days. It's great to see that some 'die-hard
scenesters', who have actually lived through the 80s Metal scene and even
survived up to this day, are still determined enough to dig up some of these old
"gems" back to the daylight once again and re-release them, well,
let's just put it this way, "in the name of the past glories & fame".
Dave Rotten from the Spanish Xtreem Music has always been closely yet strongly
been involved with the extreme Metal scene and obviously has sharp ears for some
classic, vintage Death Metal releases. He bought rights from Spinefarm Records
for FUNEBRE's “Children Of The Scorn” album almost recently and re-released
it with both of the bands two demos on it as a bonus under Xtreem Music's
so-called 'Classic Series'. Now call that a big favor to everyone who has always
been curious to check FUNEBRE out, but haven't got a potential chance for it
because the band's only album has already been long out-of-print and their demos
are surely even harder to track down nowadays. The production on the original
pressing honestly sounds rather horrendous; it's thin and not heavy enough to
fully support FUNEBRE's brutal, but surprisingly melodic Death Metal (thanks to
Timo Tolkki's poor producer's skills back then…) and I'm not quite sure what
Dave and co. have actually meant by stating in the info kit of the album that
this newly released version has an 'enhanced' sound because I honestly couldn't
make any drastic difference as far as a sound polity on these two releases are
concerned? Nevertheless, “Children Of The Scorn” as a wholeness, is a very
solid, well-crafted package of the early 90s Swedish - tinged Death Metal with a
relatively crispy, but unfortunately not heavy enough sound. Anyway, the album
has stood the test of time better than many other albums that were released back
in those days. Such songs as 'Sinner's Eve', 'Congenital Defeat' and 'Walls That
Held Screams' were absolutely some of the best tunes the guys in FUNEBRE churned
out ever. Like I stated earlier, it's just a pity that the awful production
doesn't do much justice for them, and there's nothing you can do for it any
longer. What a screaming shame really. “Children Of The Scorn” also has a
new, reduced cover artwork as well that has luckily stayed somewhat loyal to the
painting of the original artwork that in fact, can also be found from the same
package. Even in that sense, the entire re-release of this FUNEBRE's classic
Death Metal record seems to be a carefully thought-out thing from start to
finish, so it's highly appreciated that Dave has done such a magnificent and
important move in order to get this long lost (but certainly not forgotten by
any means!) gem available again for anyone who wants to feel a great smell of
old, open graves regarding a fine oldschool Death Metal. I firmly believe if you
just have ever digging the early Swedish (or Stockholm?) Death Metal sound and
possibly haven't been in this privileged bunch to check Finland's FUNEBRE out
earlier, then I gotta assume you won't wanna miss this great opportunity for the
second time. Do you? www.xtreemmusic.com
Luxi Lahtinen
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FURBOWL
Those Shredded Dreams (DoCD)
(Vic Records)
72:25min
Have you ever heard about a band from Växjö, Sweden called FURBOWL? Some of you might have and some of you don´t. But I am sure that all the readers of Voices From The Darkside can handle the term Death'n'Roll, right? The majority of people might have ENTOMBED on their mind. Of course these guys were to most successful band sailing under the flag of Death'n'Roll during the mid 90s. But did they invented this kind of music? No, they didn´t. So which band came up with this funky music? Who played Swedish Death Metal in the early 90s and mixed it up with ingredients like Hardcore, Punk, Rock'n'Roll and Gothic? Now it would make sense to know the name FURBOWL. Alrighty. Enough bla bla by the old man talking wise! Here are the facts for those of you who decided to continue reading this CD review written by a prejudiced diehard fan of this band! Originally FURBOWL released their debut CD "Those Shredded Dreams" in 1992 via Step One Records. Co-produced by Michael Amott (back then in CARCASS), this guy also delivered guitar solos for a few songs. This fine re-release here features the debut album and 2 video clips on CD1 (in the live clip from Uppsala 1993 you see young Tompa of AT THE GATES banging his dreadlocks to a song called 'Razorblades'). All re-mastered. All sounding very honest, original, raw and still fresh. That´s the way brutal music has to sound in my ears. Natural recorded on 8-track tape. No digital fixing and wangling at all. The real deal. All natural by mother nature. You will hear immediately, that these guys wanted to be different, creative and independent back in the days. This is unique stuff. Probably the birth of Death'n'Roll music. Absolutely no boundaries here. Very risky if you ask me for those days. Because back then it was popular to be true in the vein of the traditional Stockholm Death Metal sound. Drifting away could be commercial suicide for bands and their record sells. But FURBOWL always stood for the music itself and not for fucking sales. CD 2 (the bonus disc) contains a bunch of extra stuff like early demos, unreleased songs, live versions, a VENOM cover song, etc.! All very charming and worth to call your own. The booklet features very funny and interesting liner notes by the main actors, namely Johan Liiva (vox, bass & guitars), Max Thornell (drums, keys) and Michael Amott (lead guitar). So you little boys and girls out there. Get up and go out for some CD shopping. This fine re-release of a legendary album by a legendary band is a must have for all Death Metal maniacs out there!!! One of the real few milestones!!! By the way: this re-release also should be available on double gatefold vinyl very soon. Hmmm…delicious!!!
www.myspace.com/furbowl,
www.vicrecords.com
Marc Lehmann
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GAMMACIDE
Victims Of Science
(Marquee Records)
66:41min
GAMMACIDE strikes back after many years of being buried and forgotten by the underground media.
Even, back in the day when they released their sophomore "Victims Of Science" it kind of
drifted into obscurity for a simple reason: the early 90s Death Metal boom. The funny thing
is that now that they have regrouped they are facing the same situation many other second-coming
Thrash-veterans are facing, which is the resurgence of a style that once was their
doom: Death Metal! Playing on the safe side this band is offering their debut album
(remastered and reissued on CD in 2005) for the youger generations to discover what
Thrash Metal was about and also re-introduce the old dinosaurs that still may have their old,
trashed vinyl copy laying somewhere between the classics of that era. GAMMACIDE's delivery on this CD never falls short of pummeling, punishing
and actually with a little bit of deathy-beat to the whole thing. For many of us their aggressive
Thrash Metal was a perfect introduction to the coming trend back in the day but oddly enough listening that
today does not wash away its historic value. This is a mandatory album for any decent
Thrash Metal fan into old SLAYER, DARK ANGEL, EXODUS, EXHORDER and similar cult acts of the genre.
Really worth to mention is the fact that the package included all four songs from the rare and
ultra brutal 1991 demo (way more brutal than the album) plus two tracks that were written
sometime in 1992, but never recorded up to now (very promising if this is in the vein
of a new album to follow). Contact them at:
www.gammacide.com.
Mario Cubero
BACK
THE GAULT
Even As All Before Us
(Amortout)
73:31min
This is the re-release of the only record ever recorded by this group featuring
members of underground luminaries such as WEAKLING or AMBER ASYLUM. If you’re
familiar with those acts you already know what to expect: misery deluxe. “Even
As All Before Us” contains 6 (very long) journeys into the realm of
depression, sadness and dismay. The monotony and bleakness in here creates a
disturbing atmosphere reminiscent of JOY DIVISION or early BEYOND DAWN.
Desperate howls over a sparse instrumentation, no glimmer of hope insight…This
is the real thing, far above all the ‘Suicide Black Metal’ tomfoolery. Now
if you can manage to get your trembling fingers to behave, why don’t you try
unwrapping a stainless steel razor blade? www.amortout.com
Torsten Gründig
BACK
GOATLORD
Distorted Birth: The Demos (DoCD)
(From Beyond Productions)
95:12min
I really wonder who actually used
to worship GOATLORD's material back when the band was still around (in the late
80s, early 90s), because all the oldschool people that I offered the possibility
of reviewing this DoCD were either making fun of the band, considered them total
crap or never cared at all! Personally I don't really understand the cult status
(?) of GOATLORD either and the fact that I can't even recall a single song off
their one and only full length album "Reflections Of The Solstice"
(which came out on the infamous Turbo Records label in 1991) also doesn't
necessarily speak for their qualities (?). But Roman of Holland's underground
cult label From Beyond Records obviously views things differently as he took the
risk to release two of GOATLORD's official demos and a 2 track promo tape onto a
double CD / 3 LP (!!) set! Liner notes were written be NUNSLAUGHTER's Don Of The
Dead and the artwork was supplied by no one else than Chris Moyen. All those
elements combined are obviously reason enough to at least check out what
GOATLORD were really all about musically, before they did the album (with NAPALM
DEATH / RIGHTEOUS PIGS' Mitch Harris on vocals). And you know what? Their 1988
demo "Sodomize The Goat", which is featured on disc one, really has
its moments! The twelve tracks, which come up with an impressive, total playing
time of 69:40 minutes, are probably the best tunes the band ever wrote. Not all
of them, but a few selected ones are fine examples of raw, uncompromising Doom /
Death with a killer vocal performance courtesy of Ace Stills. This guy delivered
a similar sinister feeling as like-minded underground frontmen such as Mike
Smith (SATHANAS / ACHERON), Don Of The Dead (NUNSLAUGHTER) and the likes. He
actually must have been the most important member of the band as the quality of
the material stands and falls with his performance. Unfortunately he left the
band in 1991 to form DOOM SNAKE CULT (another highly underrated act by the way)
and GOATLORD never managed to reach this level again. Disc number two (which
features "Demo '87" and the aformentioned 1991 promo tape) is pure
crap though and could be the reason why so many people considered GOATLORD as a
superfluous bunch of talentless blokes, so I won't get into it more detailed
here. Besides the cool cover art and already mentioned liner notes,
"Distorted Birth: The Demos" features all the lyrics, as well as the
band's hilarious old demo covers... So, now it's up to you to decide whether
this is another must have item for your collection or not. Contact: www.displeasedrecords.com/frombeyond.
The CD is on sale here.
Frank Stöver
BACK
GOATLORD
Reflections
Of
The
Solstice
(Nuclear War Now! Productions)
54:17min
It was about time that someone decided to re-issue GOATLORD's cult debut album
"Reflections Of The Solstice"- initially released back in 1991.
Although they have released only two full-length albums the band is
nowadays considered responsible for what is characterized as "Doom /
Death", a style that for some reason never managed to become widely popular
within the scene. GOATLORD had a very unique "cryptic", suffocating,
almost catacomb-like sound that was (and still is) hard to digest, being mostly
mid-tempo Death Metal but with some slow, really dark / doom parts in it.
Unfortunately the band had some weak points that didn’t help a lot - if you
ask me - with the first being the somehow naive lyrics and image of the band.
Especially in their demo days when they had this whole “goat-perversion”
thing (to quote IMPALED NAZARENE, heh) that although serves as a sarcastic
mocking to Catholic Christianity, it turns out - to a certain extend -
irritating and more precisely... silly. The same goes to some pictures of the
band that somehow ruined to a great extend their image that music-wise is dark.
I guess the fact that they were from the States where the MISFITS-influence was
dominant in lots of 80s extreme acts proves why the incorporate the
dark-provocative-humor kind of thing. Hopefully they have chosen a great title
for their debut (when compared to the "Sodomize The Goat" demo title)
and the classic Chris Moyen cover artwork is a perfect replacement to their –
on my opinion - awful demo covers. Still some song-titles and lyrics are in the
goat-worship spirit (some of them being compositions from the demo days) but
hopefully the music is good. Back to the re-issue now, Nuclear War Now!
Productions did an incredible re-release in both CD and LP format. First of all,
I want to praise the efforts of the label in doing such extraordinary, quality
re-releases. I mean, I have never before been that impressed by a label, you
have to see the incredible LP versions they prepare including a very thick
jacket, huge posters and lots of goodies like vinyl-size booklets with photos
and even die-hard versions with patches, stickers, bonus 7" etc! We are
talking about real value for money here! And the CD re-releases come with great
booklets in nice, clear printings and in a very low price to top it all!
"Reflections Of The Solstice" is no exception to the above “rule”:
I even prefer the black/white cover of the re-release than the original colored
cover (and the same goes to the original logo that looks great with the b/w
cover)! To conclude, I guess that if you are a late 80s/early 90s completist or
you simply want to discover one underrated, yet obscure band from the dark past
then you have to reserve your copy. www.nwnprod.com
Manolis
A.
BACK
GODDEFIED
Abysmal Grief (10” EP)
(Blood Harvest Records)
16:48min
“Abysmal Grief” was already released a few times before (on tape, 7” EP
and MCD if I’m correct informed), now in 2009 Blood Harvest Records released
it on 10”. So what makes GODDEFIED and this 10”EP in general that special to
get honoured with another re-release? It’s clearly not the bands originality
as this is a this recording almost non-existing. They sound in several moments
as a rip off of ENTOMBED back at “Clandestine” - times. Still one fact is
undeniable: they do this with class. In the early nineties this would be a
perfect example of what to call “Sunlight-clone”! Now in 2009 these “Tomas
Skogsberg-recordings” are still special and unreached in the Death Metal world
and this makes this release another must-have for you as a Death Metal fan. Old
underground maniacs already have wet pants because of this vinyl-release,
newcomers of the oldschool movement will get that after listening to this
recording, haha! The 6 songs here are simply in the vein all of us wanted to
have ENTOMBED sound also after “Clandestine”, starting with the shredding
guitars to the breaklasting drumstyle and to the typical Swedish sounding Death
Metal vocals. It’s Death Metal par excellence here and a must have for all
oldschool Death Metal fans out there. Full stop! Available at www.bloodharvest.se.
Check out the band’s page at www.goddefied.com.
Thomas
Ehrmann
BACK
GODLESS RISING
Rising Hatred
(Moribund Cult)
46:31min
I am not really sure whether "Rising Hatred" (initially released in 2006 by Pathos
Records in 2000 copies) is hard to obtain nowadays but in any case, Moribund Cult decided to re-release GODLESS RISING's great debut album including two brand new bonus tracks. To be honest, I didn't have the chance to check this release out up until now, but judging from their crushing second album "Battle Lords" I didn't expect anything less from the band. GODLESS RISING perform Death Metal with spirit and outmost dedication to the 90s VITAL REMAINS tradition: huge, crushing and blasphemous to the core! By now, I admit that I have turned out to become a fan of the band. Whereas VITAL REMAINS have turned out to become more "mainstream" so to speak, GODLESS RISING maintained the good old "The Black
Mass" / "Let Us Pray" / "Into Cold Darkness" underground Death Metal feeling. Great, huge-sounding guitars, "bulldozing" rhythm section (in the typical GODLESS
RISING / VITAL REMAINS manner), solid song-structures, diversity, some really good guitar solos (when was the last you heard anyone play
good Death Metal solos?) and of course some of the best Death Metal vocals you can get these days (and not only!). Add to this the typical Moyen-worshipping layout (Chris designed the band's logo by the
way) and you get the picture. The only objection I have is that I would perhaps prefer to have some brand new tracks instead of re-recordings of old tunes or even some unreleased material from the band's archives, but I guess that's the only "negative" point so to speak.
www.myspace.com/godlessrising
Manolis A.
BACK
GOD
MACABRE
The Winterlong (LP)
(Blood Harvest Records)
37:16min
How to start a review for a release like this? To be honest I should say that
when talking about a classic, and that’s what I consider “The Winterlong”,
everything should be said, but, damn, that’s not the case for GOD MACABRE.
They had and still have a huge name in the underground, but I have my doubts
that everyone who’s talking about GOD MACABRE or MACABRE END really owe one
original release from them. The MACABRE END demo was released in about 100
copies, the 7”EP “Consumed By Darkness” (still one of the best 7”EPs
ever) probably in 1000 copies, the original release of GOD MACABRE’s “The
Winterlong…” (recognize the slightly different name here) through MBR
Records might probably not reach 1000 pieces and I’m not sure if the
re-release through Relapse Records was printed in more than 1000 copies either.
So how the fuck can so many people say that they know GOD MACABRE, after all you
have to subtract one copy each as it’s me who owns them, haha (ok ok, I
don’t have the original demo tape in my collection, fuck!!)! No serious, for
sure tape trading helped them a lot to spread their name around and knowing 2 of
the guys (Ola and Jonas) a little bit now I’m more than sure that they can
deal pretty well with it. They most probably never saw one single cent for their
releases and I’m aware of the fact that this first-time-ever vinyl release
won’t change that, still I’m sure the guys behind GOD MACABRE are very proud
of this version of this classic. And yes, they can be very proud and Rodrigo
from Blood Harvest should be proud, too, as finally someone took care of this
gem of early Swedish Death Metal history to end what began with the recording of
these songs in Studio Sunlight the 18th, 19th and 27th of December 1991 (29th of
September 1990 if we are talking about the added bonus tracks from their 7”EP
“Consumed By Darkness”). As I said in the beginning, this is a true classic,
a classic in the history of Death Metal if you ask me. I implicate this record
with records as “Left Hand Path”, “Dark Recollection” or “Like An Ever
Flowing Stream” and without a doubt it’s the only way to say this record is
essential to know for each Death Metal fan out there. The Sunlight sound
captured the true spirit of their brand of Swedish Death Metal in a magnificent
way. The songs, typical Swedish Death Metal on one hand, but nevertheless far
too outstanding to compare with the likes of ENTOMBED or DISMEMBER. The musical
direction might be more or less equal, some the riffs could be from one of their
records, too, but adding this gloomy atmosphere with hints of PARADISE LOST,
these fantastic, hardly heard before melodic guitar solos and these brutal
vocals which only Swedes can create made them outstanding and unique up to this
very day. This Blood Harvest release is the vinyl version of the re-release
through Relapse Records, which means that we are talking about the remixed
recordings at Speed Ball Studio the 5th and 6th of December 2000 were the
keyboards of the original release got replaced and played with a mellotron. The
songs overall are the same as on the Relapse release, which means that you find
here the remixed 5 songs including the 2 instrumentals ‘Teardrops’ and
‘Lamentations’ of the original MCD through Mangled Beyond Recognition
Records and the 3 songs from the “Consumed By Darkness” 7”EP released
through French Corpse Grinder Records. The layout is still the same as on the CD
versions and more or less equal to the Relapse release, but finally the cover
painting got the size it deserves. A pity that this guy called Mark Franson
hasn’t done any other paintings for Metal recordings as far as I know. Of
biggest importance is for sure the music and there are no negative things to
tell here either. I think there is no importance to write about each song as all
of them, also (some could call “especially”) the demo tracks, are without
doubts among the best you can get from a Swedish Death Metal band EVER. To pick
out some songs I could choose to talk about the groovy tunes in ‘Ashes Of
Mourning Life’ (does anybody remember VOMITORY’s cover version?) or the
amazing ‘Spawn Of Flesh’ which are totally outstanding and would suit bands
as DISMEMBER just perfect in their discographies, too. Talking about the
original recording the best is yet to come and that’s ‘In Grief’ which I
would consider as one of the most outstanding Death Metal songs ever released.
Again we have the brand of Swedish Death Metal with awesome riffs, dark and
brutal vocals here and a perfect ending perhaps a little bit similar to ‘Left
Hand Path’, but a question to all of you who already know this song: have you
ever heard a more beautiful guitar solo on a Death Metal song than in this song?
The last 3 tracks on this vinyl are from their “Consumed By Darkness” 7”EP
and not less outstanding than the songs which you could hear before. ‘Consumed
By Darkness’ might be one of the gloomiest and most dark songs ever recorded.
Hm, this review turned out far too long if you ask me, one sentence should have
been enough: buy this piece of vinyl as long as it is available, otherwise you
will regret it. Available from www.bloodharvest.se.
Thomas Ehrmann
BACK
GOJIRA
The Link
(Listenable Records)
47:07min
Grooahhyeahh. Shit, these guys come with a huge broom and wipe the dust from my
poor little ears which many booooooring Death Metal acts left there during
the past two years. Originally released in 2003 by Gabriel Editions
only in France Listenable remastered “The Link” and brought it to the
European market. If I had not bought this CD 2 years ago I would have kissed
Listenable for that, but now YOU have the chance to get a piece of this
high-quality and fucking talented Death-machine. The band originally formed in
1996 under the name GODZILLA and later changed the monicker into its japanese
translation. Being a huge Godzilla fan (the Asian one) the name immediately
caught my attention. So I got a friend to buy the CD first which is not a bad
thing to do and was completely blown away by its creativity and potential.
“The Link” starts with Digeridoos, MORBID ANGEL like slimy swamp riffs,
gripping grooves with a slight MESHUGGAH touch, cool melodies, great oldschool
Death Metal vocals with a deep Hardcore touch all bathed in a smooth production.
The whole music sounds very light and easy, as if it wasn't a problem at
all to write stuff like that. GOJIRA is pretty much of a in-between-band. The
opener 'The Link' comes really easy and aggressive at the same time, 'Death Of
Me' is very strange and beautiful, 'Indians' is very much of a Deathgroove dance
song and with 'Embrace The World' they just tear your washed out DEICIDE-shirt
from your body and cover you with hot wax with Madonna and William Dafoe kicking
your ass with diamond-decorated high-heels. This is just amazing! And it even
gets better to the end of the whole album! 11 songs to forget everything around.
You simply have to hear it by yourself. The last time I enjoyed a totally
original band like that was when GORGUTS released their masterpiece
“Obscura” – you just think you have found a long time buried treasure and
nobody knows because you just want to keep it by yourself and tell nobody, hihi.
“The Link” comes with a bonus DVD with excerpts from the new released “The
Link Alive” DVD. Check out their homepage to get a look on a clip from that
DVD. GOJIRA seems to be really big in France and I do not see any reason why
they should become huge elsewhere as well. Go for original stuff! www.gojira-music.com,
www.listenable.net.
You can order the CD
here.
Tim Klöcker
BACK
GOREFEST
The Ultimate Collection Part 1 – Mindloss & Demos (DoCD)
(Nuclear Blast Records)
79:57min
Usually I would say there's no need to re-issue GOREFEST's debut from 1991 as
you can easily still find it almost everywhere these days. But if you're a fan
of the band or generally worship straight ahead oldschool Death Metal you should
get your hands on this version nevertheless. As the title already reveals,
"The Ultimate Collection" is far more than just another cheap new
edition of "Mindloss", but an enhanced double CD set that (besides an
impressive booklet) also features both of the band's demos "Tangled In Gore"
and "Horrors In A Retarded Mind" from 1989 and 1990 respectively.
"Mindloss" is pretty much these two demos combined (plus the at the
time new track 'Mental Misery' and the album's intro) as all of the eight demo
tracks got re-recorded for that purpose. But of course it's always cool to
listen to the rawer, more primitive originals and in GOREFEST's case the band
really used to be a damn brutal unit back in their early stages. While "Tangled
In Gore" still showcases a band that lacks a bit of the necessary
experiences and therefore focuses on sheer brutality instead, "Horrors In A
Retarded Mind" offers classic Death Metal the way it was meant to be
performed. From today's point of view both demos had a pretty cool sound already,
considering the noisy stuff that some other big names used to kick their careers
off with at the time. No wonder that the band secured a record deal with
Foundation 2000 pretty quickly and went on to fame and fortune via Nuclear Blast
in the years to come. The aforementioned booklet features lots of vintage pics,
flyers, demo covers, tickets and stuff and some historical liner notes (but
unfortunately the lyrics are missing this time). So, all in all this is a nice
re-issue for all GOREFEST die hards or historical interested Death Metal
lunatics. If you're still missing some other GOREFEST releases, make sure to
check out www.nuclearblast.de
as the entire back catalogue was re-released in this series. You can order the
disc directly here.
More GOREFEST info
at www.gorefest.nl
Frank Stöver
BACK
GOREMENT
Darkness Of The Dead 90 – 96
(Necroharmonic Productions)
79:46min
Back in 1992, when GOREMENT's classic "Into Shadows" EP originally
came out on Germany's Poserslaughter Records I certainly considered them as
another typical (yet extremely cool!) Swedish Death Metal act in the tradition
of everything that had been put down to tape at the famous Sunlight Studio
previously at the time. Two years later, on their one and only full length
("The Ending Quest") the band already had progressed into a far more
unique direction. When I listen to the stuff again nowadays, I even detect
various elements of early AMORPHIS mixed with old PARADISE LOST ("Gothic"
period), yet still performed in the wellknown SweDeath manner. Too bad that they
never really made it bigger, but I suppose the guys really suffered from the big
number of similar sounding acts, the lack of support from Crypta Records (is
there really one single person who seriously remembers that obscure German label?)
and the unstoppable Black Metal trend. As the original version of "The
Ending Quest" is extremely hard to find on CD nowadays (I personally had
paid a fortune for a copy recently), not to mention all the pre-album recordings,
it's nothing but a brilliant idea from Necroharmonic Productions to compile
everything onto one disc and give it a well deserved re-issue now! So, "Darkness
Of The Dead 90 - 96" features (almost) everything that GOREMENT ever
recorded in their short-lived history: their demos "Human Relic" (from
1991 – which still sounded extremely brutal and featured a totally deep,
inhuman vocal delivery!) and "Obsequies" (also from 1991, which got
re-released as a 7"EP one year later), the aforementioned "Into
Shadows" EP and the full length album. To round things up there's also one
previously unreleased track ('Profound Harmony') from a 3 song 1995 promo tape
included, which is far more melodic (due to a "lighter" vocal
performance) than their older stuff. Not really a progression that I personally
do appreciate, but the quality of the rest of the disc easily makes up for it!
So, all in all this turned into another essential Necroharmonic release! Label
contact: www.necroharmonic.com
Frank Stöver
BACK
GORGOROTH
Bergen 1996 (MCD)
(Regain Records)
6:44min
Hmm... this EP is a rather controversial one... just have a look at its playing time and you already know that the two featured live tracks 'Revelation Of Doom' (the opening track off "Under The Sign Of Hell") and 'Ritual' (from GORGOROTH's debut full length "Pentagram") would've better been saved as bonus material for an upcoming GORGOROTH CD someday... They originally were released as the limited edition (666 copies) vinyl 7"EP "The Last Tormentor", recorded live in Bergen / Norway on May 23, 1996 with the old GORGOROTH line-up Ares (bass), Pest (vocals), Grim (drums) and Infernus (guitar). On the musical side of things let me tell you that the recording quality is pretty raw (which of course shouldn't be a problem for a Black Metal act), but it's also easily recognizable that GORGOROTH were still rather immature players back then, especially the drumming sounds rather sloppy and I can't help myself thinking that Pest didn't really deliver actual lyrics here... So, unless you are a die hard fan of the band, you may as well ignore this release (it comes as a digipack CD, basically all in black with two live pictures included inside).
www.regainrecords.com
Frank Stöver
BACK
GORGOROTH
Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam
(Regain Records)
31:51min (CD)
11:05min (DVD)
As the original release of this album was already reviewed by Mario somewhere else on these pages, and I more or less agree with what he wrote, I won't waste too much of your (probably rather limited) time on the musical side of this re-release anymore. Just let me tell you that I'm heavily impressed by the evolution that GORGOROTH went through over the years, from a rather immature and quite sloppy sounding grim Black Metal horde to an established force, that still sticks to their grim roots, yet knows how to execute their material way better nowadays. "Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam" is an album that many other Norwegian Black Metal acts most certainly would never ever have recorded anymore at this point of their career... you may blame it on "musical progression" or something. But GORGOROTH prove that you can easily become better musicians without leaving your original musical path and still succeed with it! This re-release comes as a digipack with a dark green, better recognizable version of the coverartwork, Frost is mentioned as the session drummer in the booklet this time and most important of all: there's a bonus DVD with the band's first video for 'Carving A Giant' (plus the making of it) included. I highly appreciate this decision as the label could easily have decided for the easier way, by adding the video part to the regular CD, which would have resulted in the fact that you could only watch it on your PC. The video itself perfectly captures the grim dark attitude of the band, with lots of blood, fire, nudity and overall blashemy (based on their rather "controversial" live show in Poland a couple of years ago) and by no means comes across ridiculous (as opposed to many other Black Metal videos these days). The "making of" features short interviews with Ghaal, King and the producer of the video, so all in all pretty entertaining. If you haven't bought the regular version of "Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam" yet (or consider yourself a die hard GORGOROTH fan), make sure to go for it! Great one!
www.regainrecords.com
Frank Stöver
BACK
GRAVE
Into The Grave
(Century Media Records)
65:59min
When I think of GRAVE there is one thing that comes to my mind: lava! Okay,
they're kinda faster but they surely destroy everything in their way! This reissue
should be more interesting for soon-to-be GRAVE maniacs because the old fans
might already have most of the bonus tracks on the "In The Eyes Of Death
1" compilation and the "Tremendous Pain" 7" EP. Only two
previously unreleased versions of "Inhuman" and "Day Of Mourning"
plus a demo version of "Obscure Infinity". Can't tell you about the
"Soulless" video clip as it's not included on my promo copy. What
remains is a classic Death Metal album with a strong production - so if you're
into sickness and don't have this one yet, you know what to do and for those
who already have the original: decide upon yourselves whether you need the bonus
tracks or not. On sale
here.
Ramon Claassen
BACK
GRAVEHILL
Rites Of The Pentagram
(Ibex Moon Records)
58:20min
“No fruity keyboards, no emo or fake guttural vocals, no triggered drumming,
no lame sub-par AT THE GATES wannabe riffs, no association with the word 'core'
or a band name that is a sentence long and no cramming 5,000 riffs with
political-themed lyrics." That is the way these Californian deathmongers
reveal. It is a direct attack upon the masses of mediocre releases done today…
where sheer aggression, musicianship and dedication to the Metal of Death is
quite forgotten. On other hands, these words could mean a bluff… but if the
execution is deadly, then it is a statement of war. This is the case here.
GRAVEHILL is no newcomer, they have been lurking deep in the shadows since 2001,
and some of their members have been active way back to the early 90s. So it
shows a maturity that only comes through hard battles, dedication and anger in
the heart. For an American band to come with this sound, I must add it is also a
big and destructive great surprise. Their influences range from AUTOPSY, CELTIC
FROST, early DEATH, BATHORY, SODOM, KREATOR, SLAYER and the big list can go
on… but then again this can give you an indication of the storm which is
imminent. And more important, these angry warriors know how to write killer
songs, know how to do killer riff after riff aural essence, and perform their
instrument with a deadly precision only seen in rare occasions. I can assume
they do their recordings following the rules of the elders, and yet the
production is heavy, full, and unleashes the ultimate power. The only minor, and
I might state that is minor, is that the vocals tend to sound the same, and need
more variation (a variation that, by the way, is used more in the bonus tracks
of this release from a former recording).
Although I already mentioned their main influences, their blackened style
of thrashy Death Metal with screamy vocals are surely to be enjoyed by any
respectable Death, Black or extreme Thrash Metal fan. They do a perfect mixture
of dark American Death Metal, with the more obscure Swedish sound, and spice it
with both early and more recent Black Metal touches, and fantastic Heavy Metal
influenced solos. This re-release includes their debut album originally done by
Enucleation Records and their EP “Metal Of death”. Ibex Moon has done a
right choice to let this monster of an album to be available in a more open
basis, and it seems they are also handling a special vinyl edition, that yours
truly is looking forward with deadly passion.
On these times where dark jewels are few and far between, GRAVEHILL
offers the ultimate rite, in 14 bloody sacrifices to the pentagram. Great
release. www.myspace.com/gravehill666,
www.ibexmoonrecords.com
Julián Núñez
BACK
GRENOUER
Border Of Misty Times
(Metalism Records)
34:35min
Heavy technical Death Metal from the Ural mountain range, reminiscent of the
glory days of Euro Death Metal. Bands like PESTILENCE ("Testimony"
era), LOUDBLAST, FLESHCRAWL and similar acts. Mixing these assaults together
with inspired melodic pieces interwoven throughout that Chuck Schuldiner
(R.I.P.) of DEATH might even nod his decayed head in agreement too at the
perplexity and precision in delivery of, from his casket. "Border Of Misty
Times" has with it one of the strongest recordings music-wise, a truly
astounding level of production. Several beers should be bought for Arkady of
Navahohul Studios for his skills in salvaging what he could behind the mixer of
this band's original 1996 recording, redone in 2004. My only complaint within
this CD is the actual recording of the vocals, they are way too low in the mix,
a complaint that may be lodged at the original recording engineer, as in every
song you can just barely hear what all is going on and the vocals rarely get
past the audible stage. A real shame, as vocalist Andrey Ind has one of the
better voices within this style, a real distinct and memorable set of lungs and
a mind to know how to use them. Exceptional guitar work, drumming and bass
playing accompany these great vocals, as well as intelligent lyrics, written in
English and that span the gambit of creativity. A real crime that GRENOUER had
to come from the Ural mountains and not from somewhere more Western friendly. As
to have such musical professionalism in a band, at that time and with song
structures that are as excellent as they are here and strong, and have them
completely wasted on an unknown company by the name of Metal Agen Records, the
original company who put this disc out, now that is a fucking travesty! GRENOUER
ought to have been picked up by a major label with a multi-album deal when this
CD was new! Hello Nuclear Blast. Can you hear me? Contact: grenouer@gmail.com
or www.grenouer.com
Wes Rhodes
BACK
HANGMAN
Anti-Disco Graphy 2002-2006
(Israhellbanger Records)
33:06min
My knowledge of the Israeli Metal scene is quite limited, to be perfectly honest
with you... and from the top of my head I can only name seven bands that I'm
more or less aware of: SALEM, ORPHANED LAND, MELECHESH (nowadays located in the
Netherlands), BISHOP OF HEXEN, NAIL WITHIN, DAGOR DAGORATH and ENOCHIAN KEY (and
I wouldn't even say that I really LISTENED to all of them)... Well, thanks to
Sergei of Evil's Best zine / Israhellbanger I can add another name to that list
now: HANGMAN! The band got together back in 2002, released two very impressive
demo tapes and their debut full length album "Thrash Onslaught" was
even supposed to come out on Germany's Witches Brew... But unfortunately that
never turned into reality as the band decided to throw in the towel shortly
before it could finally happen. Of course you could easily argue about the
choice of their moniker (which to me simply sucked), but musically this five
piece definitely delivered a very impressive sounding mixture of various forms
of raw oldschool Thrash Metal. While their earlier stuff musically reminds me a
bit of SEPULTURA's "Morbid Visions" / "Schizophrenia" era
(with a vocal delivery that is extremely close to the one of Jeff Becerra on
POSSESSED's "Beyond The Gates" album), they later obviously became
more obsessed by old German Thrash as well as the more violent American acts of
the early to mid 80s. Great stuff for sure! Diabolical Conquest webzine once
summed it up pretty good, when they described HANGMAN's style as "reckless,
savage, ruthless, violent, utterly disdainful of established conventions of
speed and volume." This tape release here is a compilation of all the stuff
that HANGMAN ever recorded throughout their rather shortlived career, so it is a
good opportunity to check out this great band, if you weren't aware of them
before (like me)! Side "Thrash" features the 5 tracks from their 2003
debut demo "Sinners Of Sodom", while side "Metal" has the 3
tracks off the 2005 demo "Thrash From The Dead" on offer (both demos
originally were released on CD only, so this is actually the first time they get
released on tape), enhanced with
the band's contribution to the "Thrash Metal Blitzkrieg Vol.II" split
7" EP, the VENOM cover 'Raise The Dead' (original mix, with better sound
quality than on the "Gods Of Goats" VENOM tribute CD by Metalrulez
Productions) and a cool cover of DARK ANGEL's 'We Have Arrived' (recorded live
in Jerusalem on October 17, 2005 and never released before). Each tape comes on a pro-printed cassette,
the front-cover features great artwork and inside you'll get individual live
pics of the members (from 2003 and 2006), as well as all the covers and info to
their releases. All copies furthermore include an additional lyric-sheet and a
free 1" HANGMAN logo pin. Value for money for sure, so if you consider
yourself a fan of classic Thrash Metal the violent way, you are really advised
to invest 4 Euro / 6$ here. Available from www.israhellbanger.com.
Frank Stöver
BACK
HAVOHEJ
Dethrone The Son Of God
(Hells Headbangers)
25:48min
Amazing to me, that after all the time that has passed since this initial album was released on Candlelight Records back in
1993, that the quality of music that is present here has withstood the trials and tribulations of a feeble run organization as Candlelight once was. Coupled with an unacceptable first edition run, that was never promoted properly or had another pressing afterwards that I know of until 2004 by Supreme Arts Productions, and now again some three seasons later by the U.S. horde at Hells Headbangers. Sick, maniacal, Black / Death music that rivals bands such as ORDER FROM CHAOS, NEPENTHE / LIGEIA, and of course the more commercially known Christian desecrators of
INCANTATION (of whom the creator of this band, Paul Ledney, once drummed). Blasphemic Metal that has outlived the passage of time, when only pure Death Metal meant more to the U.S. underground scene and its enthusiasts than anything. Quality Metal emoted with so much bile and utter disgust for of all that is holy and that which is posthumously hailed as
righteous and spiritually good within the spectrum of religious orthodox. Quality Satanic Metal that unfortunately was ignored and bypassed by this writer as being just more average Black Metal stock that could easily be shoveled into the cut-out bin or the fireplace to keep the home-fires burning on a cold winter’s eve. Metal that should have been buried and forgotten and yet now has sparked a fever in my blood that can and will not be remedied.
Contact:
www.myspace.com/hav666 or
www.hellsheadbangers.com
Wes Rhodes
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HEADHUNTER
D.C.
...And The Sky Turns To Black... (The Dark Age Has Come)
(Dying Music)
60:44min
Ever since
their 1989 debut demo "Hell Is Here" Brazil's HEADHUNTER D.C. have
built up a strong worldwide underground following. The overall great response on
that tape quickly secured them a deal with legendary Cogumelo Records (home of
SEPULTURA and SARCOFAGO in their early days) and as a result two full length
albums were about to follow in 1991 ("Born... Suffer... Die") and 1993
("Punishment At Dawn"). It took them quite a while to return to the
scene after that with their third album "...And The Sky Turns To Black...
(The Dark Age Has Come)", which finally came out in 2000 on the rather
small company Mutilation Records. Considering the impressive quality of the
record, it was no big surprise that about a year later it was already
re-released by the (at the time) uprising American WWIII / Mercenary Musik
label, with two bonus tracks added to it (covers of POSSESSED's 'Twisted Minds'
and SPULTURA's 'Morbid Visions'). But for some strange reason also that company
didn't manage to survive, so that (a.o.) HEADHUNTER D.C. had to look for a new
option in order to regain the album's availability on the market. Enter: Dying
Music. This young company from Brazil (responsible for a.o. the cool SANCTIFIER
debut) recently took over the project and put out what could be seen as the
ultimate version of it. The CD gets delivered in an additional slipcase, the
booklet was enhanced with a couple more pictures and most important of all this
time you're about to get no less than five really cool cover tunes! Next to the
already known POSSESSED track, this edition also offers extremely cool versions
of 'Flag Of Hate' (KREATOR), 'Sodomy And Lust' (SODOM), 'Blessed Are The Sick' /
'Desolate Ways' (MORBID ANGEL) and 'Álcool' (DORSAL
ATLÂNTICA). Too bad that the SEPULTURA track is missing now as HEADHUNER
D.C.'s incorporation of Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana' masterpiece into the
opening part of it turned out really amazing... Anyway, musically HEADHUNTER
D.C. are by no means along the lines of what's going on in Brazil at the moment,
so don't expect another KRISIUN soundalike here. Instead be prepared for some
really intense oldschool Death Metal, very emotional, very brutal and a.o.
obviously inspired by the aforementioned bands that they have paid tribute to.
The entire disc comes across very professional (production, packaging etc.), so
if you have missed out on its previous versions, this is your (last?) chance to
finally go for it now! Great record, great band! I just hope Cogumelo Records
will re-release "Punishment At Dawn" on CD format sometime in the near
future as well. The band's website seems to be offline at the moment, but you
can check out the label site at www.dyingmusic.com
Frank Stöver
BACK
HEADHUNTER D.C.
Born... Suffer... Die
(Cogumelo Records)
67:33min
HEADHUNTER D.C. is without a doubt one of the most underrated bands ever to emerge from the
Death / Thrash Metal underground. Formed in 1987, they have released 3 full-length albums thus far (a new full-length album is anticipated entitled "God's
Spreading Cancer"). Here we have the reissue of their debut
"Born... Suffer... Die" that (on my opinion) is an early-90s underground gem. More specifically, the album was released in 1991 and is nothing but a lesson in violence, aggression and intensity. HEADHUNTER D.C. deliver rough, traditional Death Metal with loads of Thrash elements in it. It is more than apparent that HEADHUNTER D.C. have been influenced to a great extend by the
80s early-Death Metal as well as their country-mates SARCOFAGO. Still they have a strong identity of their own without copying any of their influences. Although HEADHUNTER D.C. have a rough, intense sound they are also technically skilled thus differentiating themselves from other acts of their time. To celebrate the ultimate reissue of this underground classic,
Cogumelo included their "Hell Is Here" demo from 1989, three tracks from the "Promo Tape 90" plus some live tracks as a bonus. I admit that the sound of the bonus material is not that good (completely understandable if you consider that the bonus tracks originate from tapes) but I guess they serve their cause as archive material that simply enhance this reissue. I am not quite sure how many people still exist out there who still praises the early
Death / Thrash scene, but for those still loyal to the spirit this reissue is essential.
Manolis A.
BACK
HEADHUNTER
D.C.
God's Spreading Cancer
(Ibex Moon Records)
71:01min
They're back! HEADHUNTER D.C. is a band that will never let you down
when you're a fan of evil and intense (oldschool) Death Metal! This
release on Ibex Moon Records is a re-release of their 2007
marvellous "Gods's Spreading Cancer" and offers 4 bonus
tracks apart from the original tracklist. There's a limited LP
edition with bonus 7", released by Evil Spell Records /
Undercover (in 2008) and these EP-tracks are featured on this as
well. Formed in 1987, this unholy cult band from Brazil will be the
last one that needs introduction. Still, I believe they don't get
the recognition they truelly deserve. Not in the underground of
course! For those who aren't familiar with them, they're far from
the Brazilian hurricane Death like KRISIUN, ABHORRENCE. More
something like (old) ACHERON, SUMMON and likes to give you a hint.
This or whatever comparison doesn't estimate how great it is! It's
Death Metal from a golden age. Still here are trademarks like the
lovely old Thrash riffs (and leads!) and the superb evil vocals of
Sergio 'Baloff' Borges. Some well suited keyboard parts encourage
atmospheres. The heavy production finally complete to make this a
perfect record! Flawless in every aspect, well-structured and just
as intense now as it is over 2 decades. The 4 (or three on how you
see it) bonus tracks 'And The Sky Turns To Black', 'Death Vomit' and
'Am I Crazy?' are live recordings (as well as the NECROVORE cover 'Slaughtered
Remains' in a studio recording - Frank) with a fair execution and
definitely prove what a great vocalist Sergio is! If I could pick an
all-star line-up he would most likely handle the mic. This their
strongest album yet and one of Brazil's most precious minerals. Get
this gem! Don't know any price but check: www.myspace.com/headhunterdc,
www.ibexmoonrecords.com
Michael Tak
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HEATHEN
Breaking The Silence
(Century Media
Records)
73:14min
MEGADETH's "Rust In Peace" was astonishing for two reasons: one, it
was, and is, a damn fine slab of American Thrash, and two, it did well despite
its extremely dated songs. Disregarding his present day commitments to religion,
Dave Mustaine demonstrated like so many other Thrash Metal greats, that if done
right, it never really gets old. The same may be said for HEATHEN.
Both of their albums, "Breaking The Silence" and "Victims Of
Deception", roared in on the tail end of Thrash Metal and did well because
the albums were genuinely good, not because Thrash was popular at the time.
"Breaking The Silence" offers nothing short of clean, polished Metal
with standard IRON MAIDEN chops and an all around Power Metal-like vibe that
thankfully does not border on the ridiculous. The only other band I can think of
that walked a road similar to HEATHEN's
is New York's TOXIK. Perhaps HEATHEN
weren't the most original band, but that does not mean "Breaking The
Silence" is not a classic. Timing is everything, and "Breaking The
Silence" debuted just late enough to be somewhat of a breath of fresh air,
at least for fans of clear cut and level headed Metal. There is not a single
minute on the album that is not excellently executed. This re-release got
remastered, comes in a limited edition digipack and features a 12 page booklet
with new layout and all lyrics plus four bonus tracks, that were taken from the
"Pray For Death" demo. www.myspace.com/heathenmetal,
www.heathenmetal.com,
www.centurymedia.com.
Available
here.
Nat Shapiro
BACK
HELD
UNDER / DISCOVERY
Anthology (DoCD)
(Stormspell Records)
149:44min
This ain't a split-album of two different bands, but an anthology release of
Seattle's HELD UNDER who originally started out under the name DISCOVERY in
1884, but changed their moniker along the way because of various line-up
changes. Even though they did a whole bunch of very promising sounding
recordings (including a full length album "Dying Breed" in 1991)
nothing major really came out of it internationally (I personally had never
heard of them prior to this double CD). It simply must've been a matter of bad
timing as Grunge was of course the big thing at the time and no label willing to
sign a traditional Metal act. Really a pity, cause musically these guys had
quite a lot to offer. Their rather epic sounding melodic Metal perfectly fits in
among other acts from that area / era and if you listen carefully you partly
even may detect elements of LEATHERWOLF's Michael Olivieri and HEIR APPARENT's
Paul Davidson in the exceptional vocal delivery. The overall songwriting- and
playing-abilities were first class, but unfortunately didn't seem to help them
on the long run nevertheless. As a whole the band simply wasn't really blessed
with luck anyway and decided to split-up for the first time after drummer Steve
Oliver was facing a heart attack during a rehearsal in 1992. They did reform in
1997, but weren't able to continue on for too long anymore as singer Michael
Stevens was involved in a terrible car accident in 1998 so that he couldn't sing
anymore afterwards. This pretty much sealed the band's fate. A couple years
later California's Stormspell Records finally did notice the band's qualities
and compiled all their studio recordings on this double CD set (29 tracks in
total). Disc one features HELD UNDER's "Dying Breed" album, including
their cover of JUDAS PRIEST's 'Tyrant', plus five demo bonus tracks (from 1995
– 1997), while disc two had various DISCOVERY demo recordings from 1986 - 1989
on offer. The whole release is limited to 1.000 copies and highly recommended to
lovers of traditional, yet melodic 80s Metal. More info at: www.stormspell.com
Frank Stöver
BACK
HELLHAMMER
Demon Entrails (2 CD Digibook)
(Prowlin' Death Records / Century Media)
102:11min
This
was definitely a long overdue re-issue and the timing for it
couldn't be any better as 2008 not only will see the release of Tom
G. Warrior's new book about HELLHAMMER ("Only death is real -
The illustrated history of HELLHAMMER and early CELTIC FROST"),
it also marks the 25th anniversary of the release of HELLHAMMER's
three demo classics "Death Fiend", "Triumph Of
Death" and "Satanic Rites"! In those 25 years all of
the tapes have been bootlegged a whole bunch of times in all kinds
of formats (tapes, vinyl, picture discs, CDs...), but never really
in a proper way. Ok, I gotta admit that I personally own one bootleg
(a double CD set), that was done extremely well already, yet it
still can't compete with this official one here! "Demon
Entrails" (the title is based upon a previously unreleased
HELLHAMMER track) has been released in three different formats: a 3
LP vinyl box, a regular CD edition and this deluxe CD book edition
here. So, what can you expect from it? Well, first of all there's of
course the 2 CDs: disc 1 features the ten tracks (+ intro and outro)
of the "Satanic Rites" demo, that was recorded way back in
December 1983, while disc 2 comes up with the "Death
Fiend" / "Triumph Of Death" material from June 1983
(17 tracks in total). In case you shouldn't know this yet,
"Death Fiend" was never officially released before and as
a result the songs ended up on the "Triumph Of Death" demo
again... So, combining them on a single disc seems just natural.
Even though the entire HELLHAMMER cult has snowballed into a big
underground phenomenom throughout the years, it's pretty obvious
that it was basically the "Satanic Rites" demo, that first
and foremost was responsible for their loyal and dedicated fanbase.
That tape not only showcased a very big musical progression from the
still very amateurish "Death Fiend" / "Triumph Of
Death" sessions, it is also the first release that came up with
the wellknown, unique HELLHAMMER sound and style, that you can also
hear on the two "Death Metal" compilation tracks and
"Apocalyptic Raids" EP. The packaging of this book edition
looks extremely impressive. While the whole "book" is more
or less an A5 sized deluxe digipack, the entire release furthermore
gets delivered in a heavy b/w slipcase, visually rather close to the
old demo artworks (the cover art of the vinyl version is included as
a small poster as well!). The 36-pages fat booklet itself offers all
of the lyrics (except for the track 'Metallic Storm'), lots of
classic pictures, the original three demo covers (in- and outside),
liner-notes by Tom (basically excerpts of the upcoming book), a
bunch of the old Prowling Death Management promo flyers (including
the very first HELLHAMMER flyer EVER!) and an unused artwork sketch
from Martin Ain, from 1984! Of course you don't really recognize the
fact that the entire material was re-mastered for this release, but
at least the band members made sure you get the best possible
quality of these legendary recordings now! So, I guess it's needless
to say that every diehard HELLHAMMER maniac definitely has to go for
a copy, no matter which format you should decide on! For more info
check out www.myspace.com/hellhammerband.
All formats are on sale here.
Frank Stöver
BACK
HELLWITCH
Syzygial Miscreancy
(Displeased Records)
72:39min
An unsung classic, to be sure, "Syzygial Miscreancy" was
among the less well known fore-runners of the second generation of
Morrisound produced Death Metal. If it had been released three years
earlier, there's no reason to doubt HELLWITCH would have made a
bigger name for themselves. Thankfully their well deserved
recognition may yet come. This re-release collects the inaugural
first album, and the demos which preceded it: "Nosferatu"
(1984), "Transgressive Sentience" (1986),
"Mordirivial Disemanation" as well as a 3 song rehearsal
from 1989. Both the demos and the album are more Thrash inspired
than anything else, with noticeable hints of early KREATOR and SADUS
scatterd all over. Everything about this record bears a striking
similarity to the through and through percussiveness of the extreme
Thrash bands, particularly the two aforementioned bands: KREATOR and
SADUS. These HELLWITCH songs, when they're not busy jack-hammering,
stop for the briefest of instances to let off a tiny bit of
momentum, only to begin again with renewed vigor. That is, more or
less, how SADUS played on "Chemical Exposure", and how
KREATOR played on "Pleasure To Kill". Such Thrash albums
were, and remain, so savage that it would probably be better to
think of them as early Death Metal albums. In the case of HELLWITCH,
with its schizophrenic riff barrage, Death Metal seems the
appropriate heading. The booklet of this re-release features liner
notes by HELLWITCH's guitarist / vocalist Pat Ranieri, lyrics, old
pictures and flyers as well as the HELLWITCH comic that was already
featured in the original "Syzygial
Miscreancy" album. www.myspace.com/hellwitch,
www.displeasedrecords.com
Nat Shapiro
BACK
HELRUNAR
Grátr
(Lupus Lounge)
42:00min
Due to near nonexistent promotion when it was originally released in 2003, the "Grátr" album by German band HELRUNAR is being re-released by Lupus Lounge now. This time around, the band's name and music should gain much more widespread attention. Beginning with a light guitar intro, accompanied by deep, spoken word German, the album shoots into the woods as it were. What endears the Pagan Black Metal sub genre to its fans is the simple fact that Pagan Black Metal is, essentially, Folk Metal but without the often times embarassing music. Its Folk Metal played to Black Metal. Bands like TAAKE and WINDIR are sturdy examples, both having released highly unique, and individualized albums. HELRUNAR do what those two bands did, and they do it well. The speed, the synchronous death rattle vocal, and folk melodies set to Black Metal speeds are what make HELRUNAR, like so many other bands of their kind, typically successful with their target audiences. Good stuff, and the box is probably cool, too.
www.helrunar.com,
www.myspace.com/helrunarhorde
Nat Shapiro
BACK
HIRAX
Barrage Of Noise (MCD)
22:18min
El Diablo Negro (MCD)
7:37min
Blasted In Bangkok (MCD)
17:12min
(Deep Six Records)
By now everyone into oldschool
Thrash should've heard about the HIRAX reunion as Katon and the guys
seem to be more motivated and dedicated than ever before nowadays,
promoting themselves like crazy! Their first
new musical sign was the "El Diablo Negro" EP, which
Laurent already reviewed when it was issued as a 7" vinyl picture
disc not too long ago. The CD version features the same 3 songs and
I still totally agree with his opinion - it is not necessarily the
best stuff that HIRAX could've come up with. Luckily their newest
MCD "Barrage Of Noise" turned out way more convincing,
as it comes up with 8 tracks in the wellknown raw and uncompromising,
old HIRAX tradition, still mixing extreme Thrash Metal with the aggression
of early Hardcore / Crossover. Katon's unique vocals are still a huge
trademark of the band, even though he partly has become a little more
angry sounding nowadays, which is completely fine with me as it gives
the whole material a lot more intensity. "Blasted In Bangkok"
is a re-release of the band's 3-song EP from 1987 and kinda like
the missing link between the new material and their alltime classics
"Raging Violence" and "Hate Fear And Power".
The CD version comes up with the original 1984 version of 'Bombs
Of Death' as a bonus. In connection with the other releases this
is a good proof that HIRAX haven't changed too much ever since those
glorious days! All these very well packaged items, as well as a CD
version of PHANTASM's "Wreckage"demo (with 9 additional
live bonus tracks!), are available directly from Deep Six Records,
P.O. Box 6911, Burbank, CA 91510, USA. No
prices mentioned, but feel free to ask at www.DeepSixRecords.com.
For all further HIRAX info check out www.HIRAX.org
Frank Stöver
BACK
HIRAX
Not Dead Yet
(Thrash Corner Records)
47:15min (+3min video)
"Not Dead Yet" is not a new HIRAX album, but a re-release
of the first two classic HIRAX albums "Raging Violence"
(from 1985, tracks 1-14) and 1986's follow-up "Hate, Fear And
Power" (tracks 15 – 22) plus 'Demon's Evil Forces' as a bonus
live (yet rather bootleg type) video clip from the 80s.
When "Raging
Violence" originally got released it suprised quite a few
people, due to the band's massively increased speed, intensity and
aggression ever since the band's first 4 song demo from 1984
(which still showcased a more traditional / Power Metal type style).
Those who heard the track 'Bombs
Of Death', that previously was featured on the "Metal Massacre
IV" compilation from Metal Blade Records, saw it coming as it
already represented the "new" HIRAX perfectly. The once
rather traditional Metal style had been replaced by short and to the
point, fast and ferocious material! HIRAX had impressively
developed into a furious Thrash Metal act with obvious influences
from the Hardcore movement as well, so that they were associated
with the growing crossover scene almost as often as with regular
Metal acts. This was also pretty good reflected in their lyrics and
a lot of the bands that HIRAX shared the stage with at the time
(C.O.C., D.R.I., CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER etc.). The
only thing that still reminded on the early days was vocalist Katon
W. De Pena's clear vocal delivery, which was pretty unusual for such
a raw Thrash act at the time. On the other hand, this unique
trademark also turned a lot of people off. Listening to the stuff
twenty years later again, I come to the conclusion that it wasn't so
much his voice in general, but the fact that his vocal lines were
extremely repetitive back then and also way too much upfront in the
mix. Nowadays I even feel reminded on a cleaner version of Steve
'Zetro' Sousa (ex – EXODUS) from time to time... The production
itself was ok for the time, but doesn't live up to today's standards
of course. The follow-up "Hate, Fear And Power" was
musically kinda close to "Raging Violence", while the
songs became even shorter (the title track is only 32 seconds long,
while the longest tune – 'The Last War' - is about two and a half
minutes), so that I always used to consider that release as an EP
instead of a full length. The guitar sound turned out a little
better and the fact that drummer John Tabares got replaced by Eric
Brecht was also a big plus for the band. So, to sum things up: even
though HIRAX certainly weren't perfect, they definitely created a
totally unique style on their own, not compareable to any other
Thrash act around, even after so many years now. This CD re-issue
also features a bunch of vintage pictures as well as all the lyrics
and both cover artworks. And for those of you who die for some
trivia: the "Raging Violence" art was created by legendary
artist Pushead, while CELTIC FROST's Tom G. Warrior is responsible
for the wellknown HIRAX logo. For more info check out www.hirax.org,
www.thrashcorner.com
Frank Stöver
BACK
HOBBS ANGEL OF DEATH
Hobbs' Satans Crusade
(Modern Invasion Records)
47:49min
If you read our interview with HOBBS ANGEL OF DEATH mastermind Peter Hobbs, you
will already have been aware of the plans for the release of this CD. But now
it's finally here, and it turned out even greater as expected! Well ok,
"Hobbs' Satan's Crusade" unfortunately ain't a new album by one of
Australia's finest Thrash exports yet, but a very cool compilation of both the
band's classic demo tapes "Virgin Metal Invasion From Downunder" (from
1988) and "Hobbs Angel Of Death" (1987). Eight of the eleven featured
tracks also made it onto the (CD version of the) band's self-titled Steamhammer
Records debut album later on, while 'Chainsaw Massacre', 'Liar' and 'Satanic
Overture' remained unreleased on CD up till now. Which means that all the die
hard fans of the band (who missed out on those demos back then or only own poor
copied versions) not only get some "new" material to freak out on, but
also hear the classic tunes in their original versions. The production / sound
on both tapes had already been pretty good back then (remember that these are
"only" demos!!), but even got remastered for this release here. HOBBS
ANGEL OF DEATH musically could be labeled as a cool mixture of vintage SLAYER
with lots of influences from the Thrash invasion that took place over here in
Germany in the early to mid 80s (old SODOM, DESTRUCTION etc.), but always unique
and technically matured enough to stand out on their own. This CD comes with all
the lyrics, a couple of cool old pictures, a band history and an excellent
coverart (obviously based on the debut album's idea), courtesy of SADISTIK
EXEKUTION's Rev Kriss Hades. So, all in all this is a very cool release that no
die hard Thrash Metal maniac should miss out on. Contact: Modern Invasion
Records, P.O. Box 7100, Brighton Melbourne, Australia 3186, www.moderninvasionmusic.com
Frank Stöver
BACK
HOBBS ANGEL OF DEATH
Hobbs Angel Of Death
(Modern Invasion Records)
43:56min
Huge. Right, that’s the word I was looking for to stick to while
making this little piece of review. The album to suffer it, the
self-titled debut of Australian Thrashers HOBBS ANGEL OF DEATH
originally released in 1988 by SPV / Steamhammer, was born to be
huge. Every little bit of it is just screaming about the fact.
Besides, do you think anyone would undertake a trip of such an
impressive length, all the way from Australia to Germany to lay down
on tape 10 songs of theirs not being 101% sure that stuff is
destined to become classic? Why it didn’t become so huge as it had
been supposed to remains one of the greatest mysteries of the Metal
business for me. It may not be a record to make some revolution in
music or break any borders and rules of the genre, but it’s
definitely a kind of record to break your neck in some hellish
headbanging session. Simply because it’s classic Thrash of the
highest standard which makes you fuckin’ move! It’s the flawless
effort indeed. Nothing is lost in the mix, every single instrument
is easily distinguishable being right in its place, all ten songs
put together, arranged, played, recorded, mixed, mastered (and
whatever else it takes a song to reach our ears in the end) just
perfectly. Then maybe that’s exactly where its problem is hidden?
You see, there are many albums with a cult status which have
something that couldn’t be accepted easily by the crowd. You know,
like vocals of Dan Beehler and Thorsten Bergmann, for example, or
the ultimate heaviness of HELLHAMMER, or the monk’s habit of a
certain Messiah, all that makes a cult but at the same time prevents
from becoming a public hero of the day. But here, on the HOBBS debut
effort, everything seems to be too well-done for its own good.
Strange, isn’t it? Harris Johns seem to have done the best he
could to make it sound as perfect as possible and perhaps as German
as possible, so such vague substance as some exotic coloring is non
existent here, be it for better or for worse. Of course, some SLAYER
(as well as SODOM and a couple more) allusions and influences are
simply natural, even unavoidable here and there, but on the other
hand – who could avoid them playing traditional Thrash? Even
SLAYER themselves on their 90’s albums couldn’t, if you know
what I mean. If I was about to ask for more, then I’d ask for more
aggression coming out of Peter Hobbs’ throat in some tracks,
though that’s probably the only thing I could find any fault with
if I wanted to. Strange thing is that I don’t feel like doing it.
I love this album. It was a pleasure indeed to give it such a
thorough listen again while writing this. But there's no need for
you to waste a ridiculous amount of money on the original CD version
any longer as Modern Invasion Records finally made it available
again. Their CD re-release not only features the two extra tracks
off the original CD version (remember that the vinyl only had eight
HOBBS classics), it also comes with a more attractive booklet, that
has all the lyrics and a couple of cool pictures. Unfortunately
Sebastian Krüger's excellent coverart turned out a little bit too
dark this time, (probably because the label was lacking in the
original?), but that's already my only complain about this legendary
album. Instead of PS: most of the old Thrashers I’ve been honored
to be in touch with turned out to be very modest, down to earth
people without any traces of star fever or anything like that. And
there were quite the names in Thrash Metal scene among them, take my
word for it! But with Peter Hobbs, at least judging by a couple of
his recent interviews, it seems a bit… ehhhm, different. Nothing
that serious, of course, but still a bit unusual of 80’s Thrashers
to speak more in the vein of modern Black Metal heroes. Still, it
has absolutely nothing to do with music itself, therefore let’s
take it easy. Especially as the man really has one hell of a talent
to back up his words. Can’t wait his upcoming new effort. Contact: Modern Invasion
Records, P.O. Box 7100, Brighton Melbourne, Australia 3186, www.moderninvasionmusic.com
Timothy Dovgy / Frank Stöver
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HOMSELVAREG
Homselvareg
(De Tenebrarum Principio)
46:05min
The coming months are offering several releases from old and new Italian Bands
(STORMLORD, ADVERSAM, MELENCOLIA ESTATICA) and maybe one of these bands is in
the position to achieve the underground cult status of
bands like MORTUARY DRAPE. With HOMSELVAREG a further band from
Europe’s down under is bringing armageddon to Europe and honestly speaking the
re-release of their 2006 concept album is bringing back some lost Black Metal
feeling from the dark past. The 8 songs from the original album are telling the
story of the Homselvareg an old nature beast / creature living in the Alps
hunted by modern civilisation. The album offer’s traditional Black Metal in
the vein of GORGOROTH ("Antichrist" era) means pure aggression with
some folklore parts and points of rest (accoustic intro, accoustic interlude)
and HOMSELVAREG are doing a fine job because the lyrical and musical side are
fitting together so the raging beast can be nearly touched musical wise.
Furthermore the band added to the regular release three demo tracks which are
soundwise not on the same level but interesting for seeing the development of
the horde from Italy. To cut a long story short HOMSELVAREG are a real
interesting newcomer with potential to re-establish what once been lost in the
Italian scene.
www.detenebrarumprincipio.eu,
www.myspace.com/homselvaregitaly
Matthias Auch
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HORRID
Rising From The Hidden Spheres
(Xtreem Music)
49:38min
Xtreem
obviously decided to release this record on a larger scale after the band put
out “Rising From The Hidden Spheres” on their own little label… and
enthusiasts of the early 90s Swedish Death Metal sound should be thankful for
that. Admittedly, HORRID don't sound innovative a single bit but use all their
force to deliver their contemporary homage to the sound of Stockholm some 15
years ago. I wouldn't really compare this Italian lot to GRAVE or CARNAGE as
their approach is not that much focused on pure chords and effective dark
brutality. Instead, names like DISMEMBER (from the second LP on) and newer
FLESHCRAWL describe HORRID's crunchy sound a tad bit better in my opinion. As
already mentioned in the review of the first edition of this record (can be
found on these pages as well) the production absolutely sounds like the Sunlight
Studio in its heydays. As far as I can make it out, the artwork looks like a
take on HYPOCRISY's “Penetralia” artwork (Seagrave and Giger shine through
in general) so the inspiration is present on several levels. Even though the
record loses a bit of impact towards the end, “Rising From The Hidden Spheres”
offers cool and catchy songs in the classic Swedish style, so in case you still
wait for ENTOMBED to return to Death Metal and cannot get enough of that mixture
of crunchy chords, melody and pounding heaviness then this should be on your
list. I could live without some lighter moments on this disc but this doesn't
really smother HORRID's qualities. Make up your mind by checking out the
soundfile on the band's homepage. www.horrid.it
Ulrich
Kreienbrink
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