Uncle NecRo's HOUSE OF METAL!

CREATION OF DEATH - Purify Your Soul

2012-02-15T14:16:00.000-08:00

CREATION OF DEATH

Purify Your Soul

Under One Flag

1991

Once in a while, I come across a band that makes me think to myself, "Why in the world did they not manage to put out more records?" I mean, certainly I understand that extreme metal is a niche genre, especially when much of it remains firmly entrenched in the underground. And when we're talking about extreme metal put out by Christians, that demographic shrinks even more. But when you come across a band that's only put out one highly impressive album, you got to wonder why there wasn't more of a demand from ravenous metalheads the world over for more.

Creation Of Death sadly falls into that "One And Done" category. Coming out of Poland in 1991, and comprising of what looks like a bunch of ex members of the band Turbo (according to the Encyclopaedia Metallum), Creation Of Death released their one and only album Purify Your Soul and promptly disappeared into the metal ether. Massive pity, as this album is easily one of the best thrash metal with death metal leanings I've heard in a long, long time, Christian or otherwise.

The music is first and foremost thrash- heavy, fast and brutal. Mix in a generous dollop of the then emerging death metal genre, and you've got yourself something that could have gone neck-to-neck with the likes of Death, Slayer, Possessed and Testament without batting an eyelash. The production's a bit thin, but that's a minor issue. It still sounds great cranked and blaring out of my car stereo.

Again, it just surprises me that Creation Of Death, along with their only album, weren't picked up by one of the labels that specialized in metal. But, that was twenty years ago. Who knows what happened. Point is, Purify Your Soul is a disc of very excellent and brutal thrash metal to pound your senses. If you can find it, snag it. You shall not be sorry.

SMASH ALLEY UNDERGROUND - Rising From The Shadows

2012-02-14T19:01:00.000-08:00

SMASH ALLEY UNDERGROUND

Rising From The Shadows

CMI

1995

Way back in the mid 1990s, when I still had the mail subscription to Heaven's Metal magazine (can't recall if they made the change to HM by then, but that's beside the point), I do recall seeing an advert for this little-known band from North Carolina called Smash Alley Underground. My first thought, as I recall, was, "Wow, that's some impressive hair on those dudes." So, obviously I desired to get a copy of the album they were advertising, Rising From The Shadows. Unfortunately, since this was 1995, it appeared that the only way I would have been able to obtain said album was by way of mail order, which was not exactly a route I went about obtaining my Christian metal fix. Remember kids, there was actually a time when the internet wasn't as readily available to individuals, not to mention computers.

After a while, Smash Alley Underground and their CD faded from the forefront in my brain, coming back once in a great while when I ran into either a review of the album, or saw it in a "Personal Music Stash" list on someone's website (No Life Til Metal, for example). Could never find it in those specialty catalogs, and when I did it was out of print enough to command a pretty high price tag. Even when buying MP3 downloads came viable, that was never on the lists.

What I'm trying to say is, it's been almost 20 years since hearing about this band and their lone album, and being unable to obtain a copy for my own personal listening enjoyment. Until now, that is, when I actually found it for cheep at one of those out-of-the-way used CD shops.

Pointless story aside, here's the scoop: Rising From The Shadows was the only album released by Smash Alley Underground. I don't really count 2003's The Bush Tribute Campfire, as there is no official album, per se, just a bunch of recorded tracks that were posted onto their website for free download back in the day.

The general consensus from what other people have written about Rising From The Shadows is that it's a great Judas Priest-like metal album. I disagree. The music is much more doom-oriented, much closer to that of Black Sabbath or David Benson. I would call this more "stoner metal" than actual heavy metal, with the slower-paced chord progression and such. There are moments where the band lays in some good jams and such, but for the most part it's a nice layed back heavy feel. I do agree with the other assessment that the vocalist has a Vince Neil style going on, a nice gritty hard-rock style which goes nicely with the music being played.

Overall, though it wasn't at all what I was expecting, I found Rising From The Shadows a good enjoyable listen. Sounds great in my car stereo, when I want something a bit less speed-oriented and such. Worth a look-see...

ANTICIPATION - Anticipation

2012-02-13T14:58:00.000-08:00

ANTICIPATION

Anticipation

Independent

2003

One of the main drawbacks with being a Christian metalhead living in the left ventricle of the American Heartland in the early 2000s (commonly referred to by self-important hipsters as the "aughts") was that most of the domestic metal to be had really sucked. Really, by then I was of the opinion that, for the really good stuff you had to import the METAL. That mindset still permeates today, really. Oh, and a second drawback of the time? The internet wasn't as readily available or convenient for me as it is nowadays. Therefore, it was really easy to have a band like Germany's Anticipation slip by without me even noticing. I'm not even sure they were brought up in one of those Christian Metal message boards I was a member of at the time.

Regardless, what I was trying to get at with that paragraph of pointless filler is, I just now came across Anticipation's first self-titled full length album, released back in 2003, and I sit aghast at what I missed out on back in the day. Man, is this some heavy death metal. In a time where one had to put up with metalcore or even the dying gasps of the nu-metal movement to get their metal fix, Anticipation would have come in mighty handy to wash out the aftertaste from my ears. Blastbeats, shredding riffs and guttural vocals, all things about this CD gives me the warm tingly feelings, with its eight tracks of unadulterated brutality setting my head a-bangin'. For those of us old school death metal fiends out there, do yourselves a big favor and pick this CD up if you're able to find it. You shall not be disappointed, and it'll go to further your collection. Highly recommended.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Australian Metal Compilation II: Raise The Dead

2012-02-06T20:34:00.000-08:00

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Australian Metal Compilation II: Raise The Dead

Rowe Productions

1995

The second Australian Metal Compilation from Steve Rowe's Rowe Productions label, and easily my favorite of what would result in four compilations in total. Why is that, you ask? Well, aside from having perhaps the most METAL of all CD cover artwork I've ever seen (just look at it, bask in its METAL glory), this is the first one to feature more of a split CD style rather than a bunch of single cuts from several bands, like on the first compilation. More of a collection of demos and such, which is something I like. So, let's run down what we've got here, shall we?

First up, we have four cuts from Ethereal Scourge: "Death Of Hades", "Content To Rot", "Sudden Death" and "Tombthroat", all of which are exclusive to this release and don't appear on the full-length recorded after the fact. Which, in and of itself is a good reason to get this compilation. Ethereal Scourge is one of my favorite melodic death metal bands to ever have graced my CD player, and the four songs featured on here do NOT disappoint. More of a groove to the death metal here, with a classic Obituary feel to the heavy. All great cuts, but my favorite being "Tombthroat".

The next band featured, Screams Of Chaos, gives us a sort of mini industrial metal concept piece in three parts: "The Plague". Interesting storyline involving a post-apocalypse plague, time travel and somehow tying in the sacrifice of Jesus in with the weak will of man. I believe I saw this concept on an episode of the 90s version of The Outer Limits, but I digress. Two of the songs, "Part 1: Fighting For Breath" and "Part 3: Destroy The Plague" are the heavier of the three cuts. Not bad, and another glimpse of the project that would later release an awesome full-length.

Next up, there are three songs from Embodiment, not to be confused with the American band that uses a "y" in the spelling. Australia's Embodiment was a death metal band, up to until they changed their name to Embodiment 12:14 and went with a more metalcore sound. Here, the three songs included - "Loophole", "Reinstate", and "Incorporate Body" - are indeed heavy and brutal death metal with a distinct groove to them. Very good cuts, there.

And now we're here with Metanoia, with their entire Akeldama demo featured: "Akeldama", "Death Of The Innocent", "Valley Of Dry Bones" and "Eternal Destruction". The production's not as great as it was on the previously-released full length, but the songs still retain the gut-churning heavy death metal that made me an instant fan after hearing them on the first compilation.

The final cut is from Vomoth. There are rumors that this was just Steve Rowe doing a black metal cut, after his friend and former Mortification band member Jayson Sherlock did the Beheadoth cut on the first Australian Metal Compilation CD. But, I can't find anything that would substantiate this rumor, so we'll just leave it at that - a rumor. In any case, "Beyond The Gates" is a harsh old school black metal cut that, really, isn't that special. There's nothing else released by Vomoth, so this would be another rare exclusive.

So, overall, the Raise The Dead entry in the Australian Metal Compilation series is a good, solid slab of METAL from down under. This is the one that gets the most plays from yours truly. And since it's not just a rehash of stuff that you can get easily separately, I would say Raise The Dead is essential for you underground METAL collectors as well.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Argh!!!

2012-02-06T19:22:00.000-08:00

VARIOUS ARTISTS

ARGH!!! The Official R. E. X. Sampler

R. E. X. Records

1991

Y'know, it occurs to me that, after all this time being familiar with the R. E. X. label and many of the bands to have graced it through the years when it was active, I still have no idea what the R. E. X. stands for. It looks like an acronym, what with the periods in between the letters and all. But for the life of me, I can't find any information to indicate what they stand for, if at all. This is going to bug me. But I digress.

See, back in the early 1990s R. E. X. was establishing itself as a source of good, quality METAL (and also alternative, but who cares about that), with bands like Believer, Haven, Sacrament and Living Sacrifice ripping the face off of fans. Thing was, I don't believe the label ever really escaped the shadow of the far more popular home of Christian metal at the time, Intense Records. Still, it didn't stop them from releasing this compilation, aptly ARGH!!!, in 1991. Don't know if it's the label's first comp, but again that's not really important right now.* Let's dive into the music featured here, shall we?

HAVEN - "The Calling" (remix)

...great start, with a remixed cut from one of my favorite heavy power metal bands, this one culled from their Your Dying Day release. Mmmm, metal...

GREG MINIER - "Do Not Be Deceived" (remix)

...great crossover thrash from Greg Minier's debut solo album, the opening cut as a matter of fact. Great stuff, this...

NINA LLOPIS - "You Hold Your Heart"

...so, the former vocalist and bass player of crustcore metal act The Lead (the band that spawned Frank's Enemy) made an album of...well, nowadays this would be considered "contemporary alternative", what with the acoustic guitars, janglepop sensibilities, and fluffy vocals...wow, total 180, considering her roots there...skip...

The THROES - "Elisabeth"

...uh, more alternative. Not considerably horrendous, as this cut is early enough to find the band aping The Smiths, but not much else interests me about this cut...skip...

The LEAD - "The Empty Sepulchre"

...I admit, it's been a while since I listened to Burn This Record by The Lead. Mostly because I couldn't get into it at the time. But, listening to this crossover thrash cut from that album (one of the few that goes past the 2 minute mark), I may have to revisit it. Otherwise, good palate cleanser from the last two cuts...

PRIMITIVE DANCE TRIBE - "Too Tired To Tremble"

...what. The. Hairy heck? Gah, electronic 80s mope pop, not unlike Depeche Mode. Skip skip SKIP...

SACRAMENT - "Slave To Sin"

...ah, that's better. Much better now. A good thrash METAL colonic to wash out all that not-METAL badness out of my system. This cut comes from the band's classic opus Testimony Of Apocalypse, by the way...

LIVING SACRIFICE - "Progressive Change"

...and if there's only one reason for any metalhead to ever seek out this compilation, here it is. "Progressive Change" has, to date, never appeared on any proper Living Sacrifice release, or in CD form, except for here. Originally "Progressive Change" was featured on the band's three-song cassette-only demo Not Yielding To Ungodly, and as to why this song hasn't been recorded for their debut album is a mystery beyond that even I, the Metal Demigod, cannot comprehend. Here, it sounds great...

BELIEVER - "Vile Hypocrisy" (remix)

...interesting remix of the Believer cut, originally appearing on their fantastic debut Extraction From Mortality (if you don't already have that album, shame on you). Starts off with some...um, in-studio outtake wackiness, I guess? Then, thrash metal awesome...

NO LAUGHING MATTER - "Frustration"

...um, no. No no NO. Skip...

The THROES - "Dead End Street"

...really? The Throes, again? Of all the bands on the roster, it's The Throes that deserves a replay? Do I even need to explain how baffling this decision was? I will never understand record label executive decisions. SKIP...

And there you go. Overall, with six out of the eleven tracks worth listening to on this compilation, and with the exception of the Living Sacrifice cut, the majority of my fellow METALheads already have the albums the good cuts come from. Really, the so-called "remixed" cuts aren't that much different from the album cuts to warrant getting this CD, save for the Living Sacrifice rarity stuck on here. Otherwise, can't say much about ARGH!!!, other than the title is apt for my general surprise at the amount of sucky alternative bands intermingling with the superior METAL bands here. Eh, pass...

[* - turns out that, yes, this was R. E. X.'s first compilation release, discovered after the fact (thanks goes to the Dr. Industrial website); I was just too lazy to change the paragraph above... - NecRoSarX]

BOARDERS - The World Hates Me

2012-02-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

BOARDERS

The World Hates Me

Quam Libet Records / Retroactive Records

2007 / 2009

I first became aware of Italian band Boarders a few years back on Last.FM, when one of their tunes popped up on a "Christian Metal Radio" random mix they had going one evening in the confines of my dwelling area. Going to the band's page on the site, there was only three songs available for full streaming listening, but what I heard impressed me enough to seek out the album in full. Took a while, but I finally scored a copy of The World Hates Me.

First off, I want to mention that, despite the label of "Thrash Metal" on many of the metal sites I do research on is rather misleading. A good listen to The World Hates Me reveals that, while thrash is definitely an influence, the music contained herein shows inspiration from the likes of speed metal (there is a difference), power metal and traditional heavy metal styles that is melded together effortlessly from song to song. There are some really aggressive and infective guitar riffs, shredding up the songs like a boss, if I may indulge in a clichéd meme here. Songs like "Baptized With Fire", "Schmertzgarten", "Jump For Joy" and "For What It's Worth" will melt your face off. "Deliver You Back To Hell" sounds like it could have easily been written by Saint, just a good heavy, heavy metal song. The vocalist is one of the best I've heard, having a classic gritty metal voice that recalls the likes of Metal Church and Agent Steel, here.

Interesting fact: Boarders is also known as a pretty accomplished cover band, and prove it here with an excellent cover of the Megadeth classic "In My Darkest Hour". A quick look-up on Encyclopaedia Metallum shows that they did release a covers album back in 2001, and also a live Megadeth tribute in 2002. Might have to track those down sometime, if at all possible. I should also point out that there are a couple of ballads on The World Hates Me, "Never Alone" which features female vocalist Mariangelo Scafati and is easily the better of the two; and "Til Life Do Us Part", which is one I normally skip.

In the end, I found The World Hates me a very satisfying listen, heavy on the METAL and not at all ashamed with wearing their influences on their sleeves without coming off as hackneyed and derivative. For a while it was only available on the German label Quam Libet, but in 2009 was made available here in the States by way of Retroactive Records. I urge you all to check this thing out, and crank the sucker.

SACRIFICIUM - Cold Black Piece Of Flesh

2012-01-09T17:31:00.000-08:00

SACRIFICIUM

Cold Black Piece Of Flesh

Whirlwind Records

2002

Aw, yeah. The first full-length release of Germany's own Sacrificium is, without a doubt, one of the most enjoyable listens I've had recently. See, this is some good quality old-school style death metal, reminiscent of Obituary, Carcass and GROMS; a nice pummeling from the opening riffs to the end. Fantastic riffs and growling yet understandable vocals served up with the merciless blast of the drums. There's a bit of melody thrown in at times, but it serves to keep everything from becoming a sludgy mess, as good death metal knows to. Yeah, in this day and age, when it's getting harder and harder to find good quality death metal, finding something like this is always a pleasure. I was a fan already due to their second release, Escaping The Stupor, so trying to track down Cold Black Piece Of Flesh became a must. I'm glad I found it. Fans of heavy and brutal death metal must find this. Recommended. Now, excuse me while I go back to cranking this sucker...

BIOGENESIS - The Mark Bleeds Through

2012-01-07T16:04:00.000-08:00

BIOGENESIS

The Mark Bleeds Through

Rowe Productions

2001

Biogenesis is a band from Dayton, Ohio here in the States that, for what I could gather from my investigations on the Internet, is still active. They only released this one album of theirs - The Mark Bleeds Through - which was released on Rowe Productions, and thus-far there hasn't been much word on any more material being released in the near future.*

The music on The Mark Bleeds Through, I would describe as kind of a mid-paced thrash sound, almost a groove metal, post-thrash thing. Very plodding, doomy and heavy. There are some monster riffs going on here, which does get my head nodding along. The thing that sets the band apart, is the vocalist's ability to go from a deep baritone symphonic style, almost reminiscent of Saviour Machine's Eric Clayton, or even Virgin Black's style, to a thrash scream and growling when needed. This is definitely not cookie-cutter metal here.

Probably the biggest letdown while listening to this disc is the notable lack of guitar solos. Most of the music consists of heavy, downtuned riffing, with breaks that just scream for a good shredding solo. Apparently, again from my investigations on the interwebs (Google is awesome), the producer decided, for some reason, to cut out the solos in a misguided attempt to make the band sound more like Disturbed. That sucks. Why do producers do that? This would have really been a massive release had they just not tinkered with it to get a "sound-alike" band. But, regardless, The Mark Bleeds Through is a decent listen, pretty heavy and dark. It does suffer from that missing element to really push the music over the edge into awesomeness. Regardless, worth a look at.

[*NOTE: After typing this up, I came across information that, yes, they did happen to break up, with one of the members going on to join Jacob's Dream, with the material for what would have been their second release available online to check out; I was thrown by the Metal Archives site, which had their status listed as "active", which teaches me that I shouldn't always take the normally reliable site as gospel truth, there - Uncle NecRo]

GRAVE FORSAKEN - Fight To The Death

2012-01-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

GRAVE FORSAKEN

Fight To The Death

Soundmass

2010

Fight To The Death is Australian metal group Grave Forsaken's fourth full-length studio album, and coincidentally the first and only album of theirs I have. Picked it up recently, actually. Why wait so long, you ask? Mostly due to money issues (i. e. - the lack of therein), but also not really being all that impressed with the couple of cuts from previous albums that were featured on compilations in the past few years. But, since Fight To The Death seems to be the only Grave Forsaken album on eMusic, and it was only $5 for the entire album download, I went ahead and purchased the sucker.

Then I promptly got my face ripped off when I listened to it.

Wow, what have I been missing? This is a fantastic slab of thrash metal, heavy on the METAL. Chock full of monster riffs, heavy rhythms and a buzzsaw attack that will gut you and hang you out to dry. For the most part, Fight To The Death is a thrash metal extravaganza, bringing to mind comparisons with such previous luminaries as Sacrament, really early Living Sacrifice and Mortification - heavy without falling into the whole "speed for speed sake" rut, with vocals that are more of the classic throaty bark, and a very clear lyrical stance in their Christianity. I say, "for the most part", because the song "Call Me A Dreamer" is more of a, how do I put it...not a ballad, per se, but definitely not one that fits in too well with the rest of the material on here. Only a minor distraction, though, as the rest of the album more than makes up for that hiccup.

Fine. I now shall seek out the rest of this band's catalog. If only eMusic can make the rest of them available. Or something. In the meantime, if you love yourself some really tasty thrash, pick up a copy of Fight To The Death. And then crank that sucker.

CLEMENCY - Divine Legions At War

2011-12-29T13:58:00.000-08:00

CLEMENCY

Divine Legions At War

Extreme Records

2004

The second release from Brazilian death metal outfit Clemency is...decent. The music strives hard for that fast and brutal style that is reminiscent of such classic bands of the genre such as Dark Angel and Obituary. Strives very earnestly, in fact. It's got that lightning fast blast beat drumming going on, some heavy rhythms and speedy riffs, along with the guttural vocals firmly bringing up the heavy and brutal qualities I oh, so enjoy from death metal. The thing that seems to be keeping Divine Legions At War from being a truly great death metal release is that the music itself seems to be a bit sloppy. I know, I know, a lot of you not familiar with death metal might balk at that, claiming that all of it sounds like a sloppy mess. Well, I'm not talking to you mallcore posers right now, so let's let the adults talk amongst themselves, okay?

See, the afore mentioned drumming does suffer a bit from not being completely tight and on target from time to time, making things kind of disjointed at times. Also, the guitars and drums themselves seem to be a bit murkier in production, making the vocals seem a bit overladed on top of everything. Mind you, it's not a bad release by any means. It's just that Divine Legions At War could use some tightening up in places, and a little better production to really blow me away. Otherwise, Clemency seems to be a band that can really be a force in the death metal genre. Worth checking out.

VIKING - Man Of Straw

2011-12-23T06:15:00.001-08:00

VIKING

Man Of Straw

Metal Blade / Lost & Found

1989 / 2006

Viking was one of those obscure-ish brutal thrash metal bands from the 1980s that were sadly overshadowed by the likes of the Big Four (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax, in case you didn't already know), among other contemporaries. They released a debut album in 1988 on Metal Blade Records, which I don't have, then before they recorded their second album - Man Of Straw - a few of the band members became born again Christians, and a number of the songs were re-written to reflect that newfound faith of theirs.

And, of course, the general knee-jerk reaction would be, "Aw, they became Christers? I'll bet the music sucks now." STFU, n00b. Quit being stupid and listen up. Man Of Straw is one of the heaviest thrash metal albums I've heard from the classic era, and can easily go toe-to-toe with the likes of Dark Angel, Overkill, and Exodus...maybe even the likes of Slayer. I don't say that lightly. This stuff is brutal, fast, furious and doesn't let up.

For a while, Man Of Straw was out of print and highly sought after by metal collectors. In 2006, Lost & Found Records re-released the album, with remastered sound, four bonus tracks and an expanded booklet full of photos and song by song commentary. My advice, check out the L&F edition, as it sounds great. Bottom line: Great thrash, grab this and crank it.

DISCARNATED - Deus Misereatur

2011-12-14T20:34:00.000-08:00

DISCARNATED

Deus Misereatur

Independent

1993

Discarnated was one of those obscure metal bands I came to know about a while back due to the first Australian Metal Compilation that Rowe Productions put out back in 1994, the Godspeed compilation. The song that was featured on there was "William Melancholy", which, if I remember correctly, I wasn't all that impressed with at the time. Just kind of a ho-hum, mediocre doomy cut on a compilation that featured more mediocre cuts than good. But, I'm on a rabbit trail, let me get back on track.

Recently, I came across a copy of this, Deus Misereatur, the band's only full-length release before splitting up. Doing a bit of research, the band did have one promo demo before, and the vocalist went on to form one of my favorite Australian imports, Virgin Black, so there's that tie-in. But, what we're concerned about is this here disc, and whether or not it's worth my METAL listening time.

Despite my not-so-fond memories of the cut on the previously mentioned compilation CD, this independently released CD is, I must admit, a nice diamond in the rough type. Far from the sludgy doomy death metal represented with "William Melancholy" (something I theorize may have had more to do with the vocalist transitioning to the style), the METAL contained on Deus Misereatur is some fast and furious thrash metal with heavy death metal leanings. There are some serious guitar shreds, as well as blast beats and speedy rhythms galore. I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this CD, and personally am glad I uncovered the thing. The production is pretty raw, but for an independent release from the early 1990s, that is definitely not a big thing. Kind of enhances things, really.

Bottom line, if you like some rare blistering thrash / death metal, early 90s style, scope this disc out if you can. Well worth it. Kind of a bummer that Discarnated only released this, and didn't stay on the same metal path.

AVENGER OF BLOOD - Complete Annihilation

2011-11-26T09:12:00.001-08:00

AVENGER OF BLOOD

Complete Annihilation

JCM

2005

After a couple of demos, and growing from just a one-man project of former Vengeance Rising / Biogenesis drummer Shannon Frye to a full-fledged band, Avenger Of Blood released their first full-length in 2005. And what a sweet disc of classic, full-tilt and heavy thrash metal Complete Annihilation is.

The music on this disc obviously takes its inspiration from the greats of the genre, harking back to bands like Exodus, Kreator, and Sodom with its shredding riffs, heavy and fast drumming and vocals that sound like the vocalist gargled with cement earlier. In other words, pure unadulterated heavy thrash metal, in case you didn't catch on earlier in the review, here. The production is raw and a bit muddy, but as with a lot of metal, this works to the band's favor. Full-on headbanging shall ensue when one pops Complete Annihilation in. A very much welcome addition to my thrash collection.

BRUTAL SACRIFICE - Bruxos De Gardara

2011-11-26T08:24:00.001-08:00

BRUTAL SACRIFICE

Bruxos De Gardara

Independent

2006

Brutal Sacrifice is a Brazilian death metal band that I first encountered on the Brutal Love 2 compilation a while back. The title track to this album, Bruxos de Gardara, was the first track on that compilation, and as I recall I was rather impressed with that offering. Recently I got ahold of their first full-length (and second actual release, counting their previous four-song demo), and after giving it a good hard listen, I gotta say I'm diggin' on this disc of Brazilian brutality. Heavy, downtuned riffing with gut-churning rhythms, decent shreds and duel growl / shriek vocals. The lyrics are done in the band's native language, which is just fine with me, really. Brutality is brutality, and Bruxos de Gardara is one of the better discs to come from our Christian metal brothers from South America that I've heard. Great stuff. Recommended.

EARTH FROM ABOVE - Numbered With The Transgressors

2011-11-08T17:38:00.000-08:00

EARTH FROM ABOVE

Numbered With The Transgressors

Strike First Records

2009

Numbered With The Transgressors, by Southern California's Earth From Above, is another in what seems to be a long line of deathcore platters that have found their way onto my personal player, for one reason or another. And like the recent glut of metalcore and deathcore albums that I've heard in the past few years, Numbered With The Transgressors doesn't exactly rise above the rest in terms of uniqueness.

On the offset, Numbered With The Transgressors is definitely a deathcore scenester's dream: shear pummeling brutality in the same vein as Whitechapel and Carnifex, constant blast-beats and grinding guitars with guttural death and shrieking black vocals mixed throughout, and breakdowns aplenty. And if that's all you require in your music, here you go. For me, though, there's not much here to keep this disc on a constant listening cycle, though it does come in very handy for those quick brutality fixes. It's a good release, but not enough to keep my interest for very long beyond that.

MESSIAH PROPHET - Colors

2011-11-05T23:19:00.000-07:00

MESSIAH PROPHET

Colors

U.C.A.N.

1996

Throughout the band's history, Messiah Prophet has had its share of roster changes. In fact, the earliest incarnation - the Messiah Prophet Band - started in the late 1970s as an acoustic duo, before delving into the Jesus Rock scene in the early 1980s, and then into metal in the mid-80s. For the most part, it's the Master Of The Metal-era Messiah Prophet that is most remembered. And while I don't hold Messiah Prophet as near and dear to my heart as many others would, it's undeniable that Master Of The Metal made an impact in the Christian Metal realm.

Which is why, I believe, there was such a backlash against them when they suddenly released Colors ten years after the release of their well-loved "classic". See, after several false starts and finally calling it a day in the later '80s, Messiah Prophet reappeared, with a lineup formed around a one-time touring guitarist, and recorded and released an album that sounded nothing like the Master Of The Metal album.

While scouring the interwebs for any kind of background info on this album (and there wasn't a lot, there), seems the general consensus isn't very favorable. And that's putting it nicely. Opinions ranged from "It's different, but decent", to practically calling for the eradication of every single copy of Colors in existence. Kind of like George Lucas' personal feelings with the Star Wars Holiday Special fiasco.

Reactionary fanboy rage aside, I finally managed to give Colors a listen recently. And really...I don't know what the hubbub is. I was never really that big of a Messiah Prophet fan to begin with - I still consider 'em Stryper Lite - and I also know that I'm probably going to have everyone question the authenticity of my salvation by saying this, but...Colors is a decent hard rock album.

Yes, Colors sounds nothing like Master Of The Metal. But wasn't that the point? It was ten years later, in 1996, long after hair metal was pronounced uncool to be listening to.

And at least the final product wasn't a bunch of cheesy alternative rock, like a lot of 80s Christian metal bands were releasing around this time. Colors is guitar-driven rock, for the most part, with melodic harmonies, slick-sounding production and some pretty catchy tunes. There are a couple of gag-educing ballads stuck in here, though; but overall, Colors was a decent listen, and I can honestly say I enjoyed it a bit more than I expected. I'd say I liked it better than Master Of The Metal, but then I'd be opening myself up to not nice things from my Christian Metal brethren.

A couple of things I'd like to point out, here: 1) had Colors been released in-between the years of 1989 and 1991, it would have had a much more positive outcome, and 2) had it been released under an alternate band name, we would have maybe done without a lot of the whining that resulted. What I'm trying to say is, let's give this thing a second chance guys.

A HILL TO DIE UPON - Omens

2011-11-02T19:41:00.001-07:00

A HILL TO DIE UPON

Omens

Bombworks Records

2011

A Hill To Die Upon's second full-length release is, simply put, a full-on barrage of face-melting death metal that warrants enough power and brutality to put 'em on par with the likes of Behemoth. For a band like this to hail from the Heartland of America (Illinois, to be exact) and put out this kind of death metal that you normally can only find in the frozen confines of Europe is truly saying a lot.

There's a lot of variety in this death metal, here, which makes A Hill To Die Upon stand out from the glut of modern "death metal" bands out there. Yes, there's the furiously brutal guitar riffage and the gut-churning blast beats and rhythms, not to mention the pants-soiling guttural vocals. However, the band incorporates elements of melody and acoustic touches that really gives the metal a nice texture. Truly, Omens is a fantastic release of modern death metal, something that must be part of any enthusiast of the brutal side of metal. Recommended. Strongly.

KING JAMES - King James

2011-11-02T18:18:00.001-07:00

KING JAMES

King James

Star Song Records

1994

Back in the fall of 1994, I was co-hosting a Christian rock show at the college radio station KWSC-FM in Wayne, NE called The Peacemaker. Due to the restraints of our budget (i.e. - nothing), we made due with our personal collections, supplementing by writing to the various record labels out at the time, one of them being the Star Song label. It just happened that the label just released the debut album by King James, and it ended up being one of the promotional freebies they sent us.

King James was something of a Christian rock supergroup, having been formed by former Whitecross guitarist Rex Carroll and former Sacred Fire vocalist Jimi Bennett the year prior, and bringing in Stryper alumni Robert Sweet and Tim Gaines to handle the drums and bass, respectively.

Having recently revisited this album - believe me, I didn't think too much of it back in '94, having given it only a couple of listens before giving it away - my opinion of it has soften a bit, mostly due to the depending appreciation of all things METAL and hard rock, really. There are a few decent rockers on this disc, like the opener "Hard Road To Go", "Stand Up & Fight" and "Choices", but for the most part the album has a more of an AOR thing going, like with the Damn Yankees debut. The songs themselves are decently produced, yes, but seems stuck in the late 1980s, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just that, if this had been released in that time, I have no doubt King James would have been huge in the Christian hard rock and metal circuit. As it stands, this is a good hard rock ablum that maybe suffered from being released too late in the game.

JESUS WEPT - Show's Over

2011-10-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

JESUS WEPT

Show's Over

Strike First Records

2006

Jesus Wept's second release is a full-length collection of some of the most bombastic, heavy and passionate hardcore I've heard this side of Six Feet Deep. Heavy chugga-chugga guitar riffs, tight rhythms and driving hardcore vocals, with some melodic moments and punk and metal influences here and there make the songs an interesting mix, resulting in a very enjoyable listen. The lyrics are very passionate and forthcoming with the message of hope and faith, and I write that without an ounce of irony there. I wasn't expecting to thoroughly enjoy Show's Over or the band Jesus Wept as much as I do, but their sadly brief existence and two releases have really lodged themselves into my personal play list permanently. Show's Over is a great hardcore album, and a great listen. Those who miss the Spirit Filled Hardcore of the past should really look into this album.

Greg MINIER - Minier

2011-10-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

GREG MINIER

Minier

R. E. X. Records

1990

The guitarist of The Crucified's first solo album, released in 1990 on the R. E. X. label, is a seven-track mini-album of pretty choice crossover thrash that reflected the sound of the time from bands like D. R. I., Suicidal Tendencies and S. O. D., to name but a few. Lots of great riffs, lots of groove, and lots of heaviness here. This is another one that, since I didn't really discover Christian metal until a couple of years after this was released, it was pretty much out of print before I had a chance to sink my metaphorical teeth into this. And why this hasn't been given the re-release treatment by now is a mystery, as I completely dig this album. Every song is great mosh-time fodder...save for "The Price", which is more of a slower, brooding song; and "The Secret Song", which is nothing more really than a bluesy guitar instrumental jam thingie. They're not bad, but do tend to distract from the tasty METAL contained therein. Bottom line, Minier is a great little crossover thrash platter that's in danger of being forgotten. If you find this, snatch this up...

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Ultimate Rock 2

2011-10-22T08:49:00.001-07:00

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Ultimate Rock 2

Star Song

1990

Back in the later part of the 1980s, Star Song Records put out a series of compilations under the auspicious "Ultimate" banner, covering different genres int he CCM market at the time. I've already covered the two collections in the "metal" catagory, naturally. I can't recall just how or when I aquired Ultimate Rock 2, but I did, and thus the review.

To their credit, Star Song at least expanded the bands on these compilations to include those not on the label. Don't know exactly how involved the other labels were with loaning their roster to this, but that's not really of interest right now. Don't even know why I brought that up.

In any case, Ultimate Rock 2 features a pretty decent variety of 80s-era rock that, when this was released, was still relatively popular in CCM. The disc leads off with the commercial rock anthem "Boycott Hell" by DeGarmo & Key, Christian rock's answer to Bryan Adams. "I Get Down On My Knees" by Lively Stones is a peppy keyboard-heavy cut with mediocre vocals, which was typical of a lot of 80s radio rock, actually. Mylon & Broken Heart's "Denomination Demolition" surprised me, as I wrote them off as a Petra-Lite group, but here it's a good guitar-driven Billy Squire-like rocker. Might have to check out their back catalog.

Star Song darlings The Newsboys make their appearance with "In The End", which was made back when they were an actual rock band, before they blew up in the 1990s. Decent guitar-driven rocker, actually. The heaviest cut on this comes from One Bad Pig, whose "Frat Rat" is more crossover hardcore punk than general rock. Refreshing, nonetheless. Petra gets the obligatory nod, with "Get On Your Knees", a keyboard pop tune. Yeah, that says "ultimate rock" there. Weak.

The Choir's "Someone To Hold Onto" makes yet another compilation appearance here, making me wonder if they had a contract rider requiring this song to be overexposed or something. Yeah, not a fan of their brand of alterna-rock. The little-known The Holidays are featured, with their song "Tear The Curtain" having a decently gritty Altar Boys-like alterna-rock vibe. I remember actually owning a cassette copy of their only album years ago in 1995 before I lost it. Might have to look into getting another copy. But anyway, White Heart rounds out the compilation with "Let The Kingdom Come", one of the better cuts on here. I actually do like White Heart; they had a progressive edge than was found in a lot of CCM at the time.

Ultimate Rock 2 is a fairly decent collection of 80s-era CCM rock. Nowadays, this would be more of a nostalgia collection for anyone who remembers that era of Christian Rock. I wouldn't consider Ultimate Rock 2 to be a definitive retrospective, but it is a decent listen.

WHITECROSS - Hammer & Nail

2011-09-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

WHITECROSS

Hammer & Nail

Pure Metal / Star Song

1988

Whitecross' second full-length studio album is, in my not-so-humble opinion, probably the best album from their early years. With a little better production, the music is a near-solid slab of gritty, crunchy hard rock. Great guitar hooks courtesy of Rex Carroll, with songs that vary from mid-paced to slow burning to some good boogie rockers, Carroll's guitar work and Scott Wenzel's Stephen Pearcy-like vocals gel perfectly, making Hammer & Nail a great hard rocking album. There is the lone ballad "Walk With Me", which comes off as a Peter Cetera dity for some Adult Contemporary station. Stuck in the middle of the album, it detracts from the rest of the listening experience, but nothing a quick flick of the skip button won't cure.

Overall, with eight rockers, one smoking guitar solo and the afore mentioned skip button fodder, there's enough quality old school hard rock on Hammer & Nail to please anyone who remember the likes of Ratt and Kix back in the day.

The SHOWDOWN - Blood In The Gears

2011-09-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

The SHOWDOWN

Blood In The Gears

Solid State Records

2010

The Showdown's fourth full-length release takes the freaking heavy METAL of the previous Backbreaker album and continues pummeling everything that gets in their way with a heavy, brutal, melodic and slightly Southern-fried style that, I think keeps 'em sounding unique in an American metal scene that's mostly stale and tired.

Blood In The Gears showcases a band that seems comfortable in its skin, taking the best parts of METAL and hard rock, combines them and throws the switch, performing some kind of musical alchemy that ends up grabbing you by the scruff of the neck and dragging you across the asphalt for a few miles on their bike.

Seriously, since acquiring this album, every time I pop it in, I find it hard to take it out of the player for a few days. Great chugga-chugga riffs, hooks you snag a Great White with, gut-churning rhythms and tight drum beats that can go from restrained to handling insane blastbeats with the best of 'em. Then there's the vocals - going from angry shout to growls to melodic hard rock singing that results in some great shout-along moments. And before you start thinking I'm gushing about some crappy mallcore band by the description, let me take the time to assure you - Blood In The Gears is Heavy Freakin' METAL, jacked up on Super Soldier Serum. And possibly collard greens, I don't know. The Showdown continue to impress me. Acquire Blood In The Gears post-haste.

SHADOWS OF PARAGON - Fear Of Being Forever Lost

2011-07-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

SHADOWS OF PARAGON

Fear Of Being Forever Lost

Independent

2008

Shadows Of Paragon is a black metal band from Sweden. Like a lot of underground and obscure extreme Christian METAL in my personal collection, I came across this four track EP of theirs on the Blabber Jesus / Untombed network online, where they offered Fear Of Being Forever Lost as a free download. Since it was legal and with the band's consent, I of course leaped on a chance to check 'em out. And give 'em some free pub, at least.

The first three songs on Fear Of Being Forever Lost are no frills, no filler harsh old school black metal insanity. Skin-blistering fiery guitar riffs, blastbeats aplenty, and harsh deathy shriek vocals give rise to a deliciously dark atmospheric brutality that always makes my skin pleasantly tingle. The final track is a one minute long ambient piano track that, given the whole black metal aesthetic, isn't out of place - complements things, really - but certainly does put the EP into the "too short, want more" category. And that's just it; Fear Of Being Forever Lost is merely a taste, which makes me want more material from Shadows Of Paragon.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Six Bands & A Promise

2011-07-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Six Bands & A Promise

Independent

1996

As you can probably guess, this is a compilation CD that I got back in the period where I was trying to expand my listening variety for the benefit of others. Minor difference with this CD being that it featured artists and bands from the local Midwest area.

As the title states, Six Bands & A Promise features six bands, each contributing two songs for whatever demo release they had at the time. Most of the bands on here I've either haven't heard of outside of this comp, or I may have heard of but didn't care enough to remember. I'm pretty sure I listened to this comp once years ago, and then let it languish in my music vault. I recently dusted this thing off for the purpose of giving it a proper review before determining whether or not it deserves to remain taking up space.

So what we got here are twelve tracks of mostly mediocre alternative rock that range from the U2 wannabees to pretentious acoustic crap, and all points in-between. The Broken's two songs go for shoegazer with a bit of a sky flavor on the second song, with a singer that sounds completely bored and sleepy. Helpless Speech came off as commercial sounding alterna-pop rock, which is a genre I'm pretty sure I just now invented. Shepherd's Watch is some pretentious-sounding acoustic singer/songwriter suckage. If I never have to hear this band's music again, I would die a very happy man indeed. Someday Mission at least didn't try to put me to sleep; wasn't enough to make me care about their music.

The only two bands I considered to not suck were the female-fronted Common Ground, which is decent coffee house-style acoustic stuff; and Jacob's Well, a band I am very much familiar with, with a couple of early versions of songs that appeared later on their CD release. Neither one makes me want to try and find these cassette demos, though.

So, overall, Six Bands & A Promise worked as a showcase of local Midwest bands, for fans of the mediocre alternative from the 1990s. Anything to appear hip, I guess. With a couple of dim bright spots, mostly I couldn't get through this album fast enough. I found myself fighting off strong urges to hit the skip button on my MP3 player more often than not. If weak alternative "rock" is your thing, have at this. Personally, this is going to get purged, make room for more METAL.

AS HELL RETREATS - Acknowledgement

2011-07-31T19:42:00.001-07:00

AS HELL RETREATS

Acknowledgement

Independent

2008

Okay, first thing I want to ask before going totally into this review is, just what exactly is the proper title of this EP? I've seen it referred to as Catharsis and also Acknowledgement. Most sites I've researched this at have it listed as Catharsis, but the album cover clearly says Acknowledgement. So, until otherwise, I'm going to list this as Acknowledgement simply because it's what on the cover.

That aside, metalcore band As Hell Retreats, before getting signed to the Facedown label, released this five-song EP independently in 2008. Outside of a cut or two here and there, Acknowledgement is so far the only album of theirs I recently got ahold of. And I understand the inherent differences there might be between this and the label releases. As far as the EP goes, though, I'm not really that terribly impressed. It's five tracks of standard modern metalcore, cut-n-paste riffs, breakdowns and grunted growly vocals with little deviation from the pattern. Mind you, this isn't terrible; there are some decent riffs going on, the metalcore is definitely not sloppy and the production is decent. It's also nothing I haven't heard about a bazillian times before.

TOURNIQUET - Psycho Surgery

2011-07-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

TOURNIQUET

Psycho Surgery

Intense Records

1991

The follow-up to Tourniquet's legendary debut album, Stop The Bleeding, was Psycho Surgery, considered by many to be the band's best release out of everything. Debatable, but there is no denying that Psycho Surgery certainly is a classic in progressive thrash metal. Personally, Psycho Surgery ranks a very close second to Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance, to the point of almost overlapping a bit. And in case you were wondering, Psycho Surgery was the first Tourniquet album I bought, back in the fall of 1992.

Popping this thing in, the hapless listener is treated to some very tight and tasty speed metal, tenderized by Ted Kirkpatrick's insanely technical drumming and marinated with progressive riffs and time changes. My first copy of Psycho Surgery was on cassette, and you better believe I had that sucker worn out in less than a year, there.

Again, this is another album I still listen to regularly, as it held up pretty good over the years. Despite the cameo from rap group P. I. D. on the track "Spineless". In 2001, along with Pathogenic, Ted Kirkpatrick released a remastered edition of Psycho Surgery with bonus tracks. Again, I haven't picked up that one, for the same reason I gave in the Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance review. Regardless, Psycho Surgery is definitely a thrash metal classic, and needs to be in every serious METALhead's collection.

TEMPLE OF BLOOD - Prepare For The Judgement Of Mankind

2011-07-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

TEMPLE OF BLOOD

Prepare For The Judgement Of Mankind

Independent

2006

I'll start this review for Temple Of Blood's debut full-length by stating that normally I would be all over a CD like this like a hack writer on a cliche'. Heavy power metal that verges on speed metal, with blistering riffs and ear-damaging rhythms? Oh, yeah, Prepare For The Judgement Of Mankind has got them in spades. There is some serious heavy, heavy METAL going on here; production is a tad weak at times, but for an independent release it sounds great. Galloping riffs and tight drumming are the hallmarks of this CD. For the most part, Prepare For The Judgement Of Mankind is a fantastic METAL album.

But...the vocals just don't do it for me. They're decent, yes, but don't seem to have that...well, power to really go the distance. Get someone with the range and passion comparable to Rob Rock or Bruce Dickinson, and this CD would have been epic. As it stands, though, Temple Of Blood seems to be one of those bands that have what it takes to be a great METAL band, if not for that one element.

Would I recommend checking out Prepare For The Judgement Of Mankind? Yes, yes I would, if only to check out the great METAL played. Just don't go in expecting vocals of the same qualities. Like I said, with a little work, they can overcome that obstacle. That, and maybe a spell-check before printing off the cover (it's "Judgment"...the spell-checker on my computer is going nuts right now). Decent listen, though...

WYRMWOOD THE LEGACY - Strange Angels

2011-07-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

WYRMWOOD THE LEGACY

Strange Angels

Independent

2003

Wyrmwood The Legacy is one of those bands I discovered on Last.FM's "electronic industrial" radio setting, which is one of the ways I happen to discover new bands floating around, more often than not. Can't remember exactly what song came up on the streaming, but it was enough to make me acquire a copy of their album Strange Angels.

According to the CD Baby website, where I purchased this, Wyrmwood The Legacy started as a five-piece goth band, then over the years morphed, if that's the proper word to use, into a two-piece outfit that describes themselves as both darkwave and goth.

The music mixes techno beats, dark trance and ambient with dark female vocals, creating something dark, beautiful, infectious and atmospheric. Really diggin' on this CD, really good listening when I need something dark and electronic. Last I checked, this album is still available for purchase on CD Baby, as an MP3 album. Chances are, anyone who enjoys EBM and ambient will enjoy this album.

WORLDWIDE MESSAGE TRIBE - Jumping In The House Of God

2011-07-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

WORLDWIDE MESSAGE TRIBE

Jumping In The House Of God

Warner Alliance

1995

I can only assume that you're looking at this review with amusingly odd looks on your collective faces, so let me explain before you blow me and this blog off...

There was a period - a very brief, dark period - in the 1990s where I kinda-sorta was, shall we say, "expanding" my listening...something-something, my mind is seizing up just remembering back to this wasted decade. One of those styles happened to be of the techno-rave electronic dance music that popped up like fungus after a heavy rain in the 1990s. Looking back, the only real reason I can give for buying this is some rather misguided attempt at pleasing my fellow church-going chums. I don't particularly enjoy this kind of music; my opinion is that you really do need drugs to listen to this music all the time.

Not to say there isn't a place for the techno/dance/rave genre. Obviously, there are those who love this stuff. And as far as the Worldwide Message Tribe goes, from this one singular album of theirs that I bought, they're one of the better examples of this kind of music. They probably would be considered a praise-and-worship act for the rave set, with a lot of gospel and soul vocals set to techno dance. But, for the most part, I still look at this sitting in my collection and scratch my head, wondering what in the world I was thinking way back then. I only recently listened to the entire thing once, just for the purpose of reviewing everything in my collection, no matter how non-METAL it is. Yeah, I'm giving everyone a glimpse into what my past was like, before I became the uber-METAL head you know and love.

In short, Worldwide Message Tribe is a band that shall no longer haunt the dark recesses of my METAL vault, and Jumping In The House Of God was a complete waste of my money back then. Pass with extreme Elitist Disdain...

The FAMINE - The Raven And The Weaping

2011-07-03T18:58:00.001-07:00

The FAMINE

The Raven And The Reaping

Solid State Records

2008

After getting and totally digging on The Famine's The Architects Of Guilt, it was only a matter of time before I acquired a copy of the band's first full-length The Raven And The Reaping. And man, I am kicking myself for not jumping on this first thing. The Raven And The Reaping is some of the most intense and brutal modern death metal going. And yes, I used "modern death metal" instead of "deathcore". No fair lumping this in with the glut of deathcore acts out there. Big disservice that would be to the band; besides, I think the word "deathcore" is misused a lot anyway.

No, what we have with The Raven And The Reaping is death metal for the modern age; music that emerges from the very depths of your speakers, its very bowels if you will, grabs you by its big meaty fists and proceeds to smash and pummel your body into every obstacle it can find. What I'm saying is, this is some very satisfying and gut-churning brutality that, sadly, ends far too soon. Yes, The Famine has been a very satisfying find in a day and age when Christian-made death metal is just not readily available any longer. Do your collective selves a favor and pick this album up post-haste.

TOURNIQUET - Pathogenic Ocular Dissonence

2011-07-03T18:51:00.001-07:00

TOURNIQUET

Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance

Intense Records

1992

This is my third time reviewing this album. Third time. The first time was for my self-published 'zine STATIC back in 1993, before I started saving everything I wrote. Second time was ten years ago when I was staff writer for the Dead eZine. That went bye-bye, and while I could probably retrieve it from the Internet Archive site, I'm just going to let that stand as a snapshot of a time past in my pseudo journalistic endeavors.

No, that didn't sound pretentious at all, there.

Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance, Tourniquet's third studio album, stands as my favorite Tourniquet album overall. It's a brilliant thrash album - heavy, progressive, multi-faceted and experimental without losing any edge whatsoever. The music is just mind-blowing, some very tight riffs and rhythms that are definitely not the usual thrash metal. Everyone on this album are some of the best players in the genre, and here they were at their peak.

Sadly, this is the last album with the classic Tourniquet lineup, as vocalist Guy Ritter and guitarist Eric Mendez both left the group at this time. Metal Blade released this to the mainstream market, with a bonus track taken from the Intense Live Series. In 2001, main man Ted Kirkpatrick re-released this with a remastered sound and new album artwork and bonus tracks. I'm told it sound phenomenal. I personally haven't bought a copy of that one, so I can't attest to that as of yet. Maybe one day I will acquire the remastered version, but for now (and my budget), I'm quite content with my original Intense Records version. Besides, the new cover artwork is just...well, sub-par to the original artwork, methinks. Regardless, Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance is thrash metal that still holds up nearly twenty years later, and I believe to be required listening.

WYRICK - Mental Floss

2011-07-02T05:02:00.000-07:00

WYRICK

Mental Floss

Rugged Records

1998

Okay, it's taken quite some time, obviously, to get around to reviewing this album. See, I was given this CD back in 1998, by some kid I knew in the youth group, telling me this was probably more up my ally, said it was industrial metal or something like that. I had seen the advertisements in HM Magazine for this prior, yes, but didn't think it was one of those must-buy-at-this-very-moment type things. After listening to it a few times then, I didn't think too much about it, so I tried to give it back. Yeah, he didn't take it back, obviously. I have this sneaky feeling I was just given his castaway, there. Ah, well.

Years later, I've given it a few more listens, just to give it a chance. Once a year, at average, give or take. See, Mental Floss - dig the name, there - isn't so much industrial, more than it's mostly modern rock with industrial mixed in, leaning more towards comparisons to Stabbing Westward and Leaderdogs For The Blind rather than the Nine Inch Nails and Ministry comparisons I've read in the trade promotions. It's not bad, matter of fact I can think of way worse than this. The production is really good, and the music really is played well. The lyrics are straight forward and Christian, clearly in the reaching-to-the-lost style. The vocals are about the only real low point for me, as they don't seem to have that punch needed for this type of music.

Overall, I would say that if you enjoyed Skillet's Alien Youth or Hey You I Love Your Soul, you might dig on Mental Floss.

WHITECROSS - Flytrap

2011-07-02T04:51:00.001-07:00

WHITECROSS

Flytrap

R. E. X. Records

1996

Fly Trap is the eighth full-length studio album from Whitecross, and the third release on the R. E. X. label. Also, this was to be Whitecross' final album released, as the band dissolved more or less for good after this. There's been a couple of reunions with original guitarist and founder Rex Carroll, and of course the re-recording of the debut album since then, but nothing permanent as far as a solid reformation.

At this point in the life of Whitecross, when Flytrap was released, it was rather evident that there was really no intention of going back to the gritty hard rock and metal most remember the band for. Which is fine; if anything, bands need to stretch out and grow and not remain in a rut. But, here we find Whitecross releasing yet another album of the kind of modern rock that was getting pushed at the time. Not that I'm trying to insinuate anything, here.

Yeah, most of this album is guitar-based modern rock. I wouldn't really say guitar-driven, as there's a lower amount of rockers on Flytrap than one would expect. Essentially, what we've got is Whitecross trying to sound like Audio Adrenaline. It's not bad, production-wise, and I'm not trying to stomp on the toes of those who like this kind of radio-friendly modern rock from the 1990s (I'm not wearing my steel toe boots right now). Like with the later releases from Guardian, Holy Soldier and any other 80s rock and metal band that switched to this style when it became commercially viable (coincidence, I'm sure), Flytrap isn't my style. Pass.

VOXIS - Darkeworld

2011-06-27T17:44:00.001-07:00

VOXIS

Darkeworld

Flaming Fish Music

2006

Voxis has existed for some time in the electronic / industrial underground, mixing together futuristic pulsating synths, guitar riffs and dance beats, producing a techno industrial sound that immediately brings to mind Argyle Park and the Batman Beyond soundtrack for yours truly. After years of appearing on several compilations, their output culminated in releasing this full-length CD, Darkeworld, on Flaming Fish Music in 2006. It took me a while to pick up this CD. Believe me, I wanted to, mostly due to the cover artwork. Look at that thing. Eyeballs are creepy and cool. And with the blue filter effect, there was no way it wouldn't attract the eye of Uncle NecRo.

Anyway, once I had the funds to pick up a copy of Darkeworld (otherwise known as Darkeworld: Project One), I was immediately glad I did so. The music on this disc is, like I mentioned in the first paragraph of this self-indulgent review of mine, is a delicious mix of electronics, industrial and heaviness that blends together oh, so very well. Most of the tracks are instrumental, but that doesn't matter really. This is some very well-produced electro-industrial music that is infectious as it conjures up images of futuristic cityscapes and sensibilities. What I mean is, this is a great album than needs to be in your collection, alongside the likes of Argyle Park, Circle Of Dust, Under Midnight and Massivivid...

ZAO - The Splinter Shards The Birth Of Separation

2011-06-27T17:30:00.001-07:00

ZAO

The Splinter Shards The Birth Of Separation

Solid State Records

1997

The second album from Zao also happened to be the first full-length release on the Solid State label. The Splinter Shards... is straight-up 1990s hardcore, heavy and thick with urgent passion that's palpable. The guitar tone is a bit more down-tuned here than how it was on All Else Failed, which lends to the heavier feel. I don't know if that's generally better, really. I'm not a big fan of hardcore, but The Splinter Shards... did grow on me after a few spins over time. The production is pretty good, though things do seem a bit muddled and sludgy at times. There's a couple of songs from All Else Failed that have been re-recorded here. Personally, I do prefer the originals to the redux, but they're not bad. Lyrically, The Splinter Shards was recorded back when Zao still considered themselves one of the spirit-filled hardcore bands on the scene, and the music reflects this. I've read on other review sites and blogs from others much more involved and versed in the hardcore scenes that refer to this album as either mediocre thru to being one of the best going. Personally, I consider The Splinter Shards The Birth Of Separation as one of the better hardcore albums from the 90s. When the mood calls for it, you'll find it in my listening mix.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Songs To Slay The Dragons To

2011-06-27T17:24:00.001-07:00

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Songs To Slay The Dragons To

Indie Vision Music

2009

This is a free downloadable compilation that was compiled by the Indie Vision Music blog site to promote the heavier bands out there that, for the most part, aren't signed or dwell on a small label. Normally, with a Various Artists album, I would review each and every track on the set separately. However, on this comp, I'm giving more of a general description, as there are 30 tracks, most of which are of the "modern metal" variety. And by that, I mean what I refer to as "Mall Metal", the kind that scenester kids and youth pastors trying hard to be relevant to those kids in their group refer to as "br00tal" (the spelling Nazi in me just vomited a little in his mouth), but what boils down to is metalcore with whiny emo vocals. There are a scant couple of standouts hither and yon, but for me Songs To Slay The Dragons To doesn't do much for me. Something different, yes, but not much more. For those into this kind of metal, you'll find something to love, definitely. And for a free download, at least Indie Vision Music crammed a lot into the .zip file, which is always a good thing to do. And regardless of whether or not I like the music, I'm always down with supporting the underground METAL scenes. I'd say Songs To Slay The Dragons To is definitely worth the free download, if nothing more than to discover new bands and exposure to different styles. Or, in this case, a bunch of mostly the same style.

You can download it here:
http://www.indievisionmusic.com/2009/05/04/songs-to-slay-the-dragons-to/

SLEEPING GIANT - Dread Champions Of The Last Days

2011-06-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

SLEEPING GIANT

Dread Champions Of The Last Days

Facedown Records

2007

There's not really much I can say about Californian hardcore band Sleeping Giant beyond just "they're a Facedown Records band." Usually, when you mention Facedown Records, you know what you're going to get. And this being my first introduction to the band Sleeping Giant, the sentiment stands firm.

Their debut album, Dread champions Of The Last Days, is a rather decent collection of hardcore that is firmly rooted in the old school aesthetic of the spirit-filled hardcore movement from the 1990s. Comparisons to No Innocent Victim, Strongarm and Overcome immediately spring to mind, with the heavy and to-the-point rhythms and riffs, the shout vocals and gang shouting and relative brevity on most of the tracks. However, there are other styles mixed in here and there that keeps things from going stale - some deathcore here, the vocalist affecting a melodic Stavesacre style there; the track "King Of Kings" is the most experimental on the disc, with a dark, slow burn style not unlike stoner rock / metal. These guys gain points just for not being afraid to experiment like that.

Which brings us to the lyrics. Lyrically, this album is one of the most blatant and unashamed Jesus hardcore albums going. The last few songs on Dread Champions Of The Last Days are straight-up praise and worship tunes, and consequently the longest songs on the album as well.

Overall, Dread Champions Of The Last Days is one of the better hardcore albums I've heard in my nearly two decades of reviewing Christian rock and metal in all its forms and mutations. It offers up more than the same old same old, while not being shy with praising Jesus. Well done. Good listen. Recommended.

JERUSALEM - Dancing On The Head Of The Serpent

2011-06-27T06:08:00.000-07:00

JERUSALEM

Dancing On The Head Of The Serpent

JM Records / Refuge Records

1987 / 1988

Jerusalem is one of those classic Jesus rock bands that many hold in very high esteem, ranking up there with Petra and Resurrection Band as one of the pioneers and innovators in the Christian rock movement of the late 1970s and 1980s. Hailing from Sweden, they infused genuine hard rock with a very straight-forward message of the Gospel, garnering a lot of support and a lot of controversy at the same time. I remember the pastor of a church I used to go to had several of Jerusalem's albums on the original vinyl, and him and his wife talking fondly of the band and how they were instrumental in their faith. So, you'd think I would have jumped on collecting Jerusalm's albums long before now. Alas, I may lose massive C-Rocker points here, but...yeah, I just recently purchased this, the only Jerusalem album in my collection at this moment.

Dancing On The Head Of The Serpent is Jerusalem's fifth studio album, one that features in pretty much all of the record collections of Jesus Rock elders I know. Interesting history of this album: It was their first record to be done entirely in English (the others had Swedish versions in Europe). It was also re-recorded and tweaked a bit for the English release, mainly because apparently Ulf Christiansson (guitars, vocals, main guy) wasn't happy with the first recording. Also, the album artwork was extremely controversial over in Europe, featuring a demon getting stomped on by a pair of combat boots, resulting in the album getting either banned outright, or sold under the counter at Christian bookstores. The album artwork was tweaked a bit for the US release, but kept the general image while just changing some color hues and repositioning the logo and the font of the title.

The version of Dancing On The Head Of The Serpent is, as far as I understand, the re-recorded version used for the initial US release. I don't have a version of the original Swedish recording before Ulf re-recorded everything, so I don't have any comparison as far as that goes. Going strictly by the music on the album I have, Dancing On The Head Of The Serpent is really good 80s hard rock. Kind of poppy, mainly from the use of keyboards, but the base is some tasty hook-laden hard rock. If I had to make a contemporary comparison, I'd say Dancing On The Head of The Serpent has more in kind with Survivor and 80s-era Whitesnake rather than Bon Jovi. There is some good stuff on here, with the entire album a good solid listen. The lyrics deal a lot with the theme of war with Satan and darkness, along with the standard evangelistic give-your-life-to-Jesus Jerusalem is known for, all written straight-forward but not cheesy, which is one of the reasons why this album stood out from the rest of the Christian Rock albums of the time.

Overall, though I was familiar with maybe three Jerusalem songs from compilations, I found Dancing On The Head Of The Serpent a great collection of hard rock that still holds up nearly 25 years later. Yeah, I'm glad I purchased this. I would also recommend classic Jesus Rock collectors to check this one out if you haven't already.

GUARDIAN - First Watch

2011-06-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

GUARDIAN

First Watch

Enigma Records

1989

Depending on who you talk to, Guardian's first studio release is considered either a classic in the melodic metal / hard rock genre, or a good debut album, but not as good as the future releases. I don't think I've seen anyone really call this album a bad release from the band, come to think of it. As a Guardian album, albeit the first studio release (if you don't count the demo EPs that preceded this), First Watch is one of the better debuts in the melodic metal scene in the late 1980s.

First Watch features Paul Cawley on the vocals, and if you haven't heard this album compared to the later releases with the better-known Jamie Rowe on the vox, it is different. Not necessarily better or worse comparably, just...different. The hooks are a'plenty, it rocks pretty hard, and the vocals are pure smooth '80s metal style. There are the obligatory ballads, as was the expectation of many a hair metal album of the time, mainstream or Christian, it didn't matter. But, rest assured, the ratio of rocking tracks compared to the ballads leans heavily towards the rockin' side.

The original CD release back in 1989 featured a couple of bonus tracks that weren't on the vinyl and cassette version (and FYI, I originally bought this as a used cassette, found floating around the Used Cassettes bin at a now long-defunct record store, waaaaaaay back when places like those still bought back and resold used cassettes...man, I'm old). In 2009, Retroactive Records did a much-needed remaster treatment, and re-released First Watch with the 12 tracks, plus the two demo songs that were featured on the 1986 California Metal compilation, plus liner notes by bassist David Bach reminiscing about the recording of this album.

At first, way back when I bought the used cassette back in 1995, I didn't really think much of this. Now, after getting the remastered version of First Watch for completest purposes and giving it a relisten, I've found that the album has definitely grown on me. Perhaps it's my changed perspective, maybe it's the better sound quality in the remaster versus the warbly old cassette. Or maybe it's because of the music that's much more comparable to Dokken and Tesla than the cliche' hair metal acts at the time. All I can say is, if you're avoiding listening to First Watch for whatever reason (I'm guessing because it doesn't have Jamie Rowe on the vocals), you're doing yourself a disservice. Pick this one up and enjoy.

DANIEL BAND - Run From The Darkness

2011-06-27T05:53:00.000-07:00

DANIEL BAND

Run From The Darkness

Streetlight / Refuge

1984

When one brings up the subject of Christian rock and metal from the early 1980s, the two main bands looked at are, of course, Petra and Stryper, mainly due to their high popularity. Maybe even Resurrection Band, or Rez Band, or REZ...or whatever they're known as to the fan base at the time. Though they weren't the only ones pioneering hard rock and metal with Christian lyrics. Bands like Barnabas, Jerusalem, and of course Daniel Band were often overlooked at first here in America. Let's face it, back then Christianity was still trying to grasp the concept of Christian Rock without having their collective heads pop from the perceived contradiction.

Anyway, when it comes to the Canadian band Daniel Band, their sound was a bit more unique than that of Petra and Resurrection Band. Coming from the country that spawned the bands Rush and April Wine, Daniel Band had a bit more of a progressive streak running through its music, which helped differentiate Daniel Band from many of their contemporaries.

Run From The Darkness is the band's third full-length studio release, and the first full album I have from them. And, like a lot of classic Christian rock and metal bands from that time, it took me to now to actually purchase the studio releases, mainly because they have been out of print since I even became aware of the existence of Christian rock and metal. With Daniel Band, the first song of theirs I heard was on the Heaven's Metal Boxed Set from back in 1992, featuring the song "You're All I Need" which, admittedly, wasn't the best representation of the band's best stuff. After I bought a cheep cassette copy of their "best of", and noticed that they actually could rock pretty hard, I went ahead and bought Run From The Darkness years down the line. And really, I couldn't be happier with the purchase.

The music on Run From The Darkness is raw and heavy classic hard rock, complete with infectious hooks, solid rhythms and some prog touches to keep things interesting. Run From The Darkness is, flat out, solid hard rock, and is a good solid listen front to back. Quite frankly, I don't understand how these guys didn't gain the same level of popularity in the Christian market as Petra did, as these guys actually rocked without concern for getting CCM radio play. Wait, I think I just answered my own question, there. Never mind.

The original version of Run From The Darkness was released on the Streetlight label in Canada, while the US release was handled by Refuge / Benson Records. In 2003, it was re-released as a split CD with their previous album Straight Ahead on Retroactive Records, then re-released by itself on Retroactive as an enhanced CD which included the video for "Walk On The Water" and two unreleased bonus tracks. I would definitely urge anyone desiring straight up guitar-driven hard rock to pick up this classic.

BROKEN FLESH - Forever In Flames

2011-06-11T19:39:00.001-07:00

BROKEN FLESH

Forever In Flames

Sullen Records

2009

It warms my blackened little metal heart to hear that there are still bands that continue to keep the old school death metal alive and kicking. Take Oklahoma's Broken Flesh, for example. This, their debut album - Forever In Flames - is a brutal slab of the old school death goodness, something that has made itself a vicious contender for continual play time on my stereo and MP3 player in the short time it's been since purchasing it. Churning crunchy riffs, gut liquefying rhythms, death growls...just a fantastic 8-track collection of classic brutal goodness. If you're a classic death metal fan like yours truly, and tired of the dime-a-dozen deathcore bands trying to pass themselves off as "death metal", you really need to pick up this disc. The volume in the production mix seems a bit low, which does tend to sacrifice a little of the power this could potentially have emanating through your stereo speakers. But, overall, yeah...Forever In Flames is a good pick for death metal goodness. The version I have is the generally easier to find Sullen Records re-release from 2009. Otherwise, for the collectors, the independently released version from 2008 features the same album cover artwork. So, really, I'm fine with the Sullen release.

IN THE MIDST OF LIONS - Out Of Darkness

2011-06-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

IN THE MIDST OF LIONS

Out Of Darkness

Strike First Records

2009

The way I look at a lot of deathcore is that it takes the genre of death metal and strips it down to the basics while dispensing with much of the overlooked technicalities, boiling things down to the primitive brutality. It's a lot like taking out all of the marshmallow bits out of a box of Lucky Charms and leaving those oat bits. Still a good cereal, but it's missing what makes it awesome.

Kind of how I view this release from In The Midst Of Lions. Out Of Darkness is definitely straight-up and basic deathcore - heavy downtuned riffs, breakdowns and triggered blastbeats, with death growls and blackened vocals. And that's pretty much it. No actual guitar leads, just a lot of sweep picking and octave squeals. Not much inspired variety here, really. On the plus side, the production is above average, and it's definitely gut-churning heavy, and the music itself is pretty tight when it comes down to it.

Overall, I found Out Of Darkness to be simple, straight forward and serviceable deathcore. Good for a quick fix of heavy brutality, nothing that really makes this stick out from the bunch of other deathcore bands out there currently.

The SACRIFICED - 2012

2011-06-08T18:44:00.001-07:00

The SACRIFICED

2012

Roxx Records

2010

I first heard about The Sacrificed about a year ago, but didn't really listen to any of their material until I acquired the Deliverance tribute album earlier this year where they contributed their cover of "Slay The Wicked". I considered that to be a really good cut, more of a traditional heavy metal style going on, so I scoped out their full length album 2012 on eMusic and bought the download.

After giving it a few listens, I must say that the music on 2012 isn't what I really expected, compared to the "Slay The Wicked" cut (which is included on this album, by the way). The Sacrificed play a decent brand of melodic heavy metal, comparable to bands like Haven and Sacred Warrior in that respect. The music on 2012 especially reminds me of Haven's Your Dying Day album, with the decent heavy hooks, melodic higher octave vocals and very good guitar licks going on. There are a couple of ballads and filler instrumentals, and the acoustic guitar gets included on a song or two, the production decent and the lyrics the straight-forward Christian type that will definitely appeal to the old school METAL heads out there.

Overall, 2012 is a rather good album and should bring in fans of good melodic metal for The Sacrificed. For me, though, 2012 doesn't seem to click for me. A little too melodic for my tastes, and not enough metallic punch.

S. F. C. - Phase III

2011-06-05T06:26:00.001-07:00

S. F. C.

Phase III

Brainstorm Artists, Int.

1992

When it comes to old school Holy Hip-Hop (I love that phrase, really) - and I am all about the old school when I'm in that rare mood for rap - I consider it a right shame, if not a flat-out crime, that groups like S. F. C. were overshadowed by the likes of DC Talk. I can understand why - DC Talk was to S. F. C. what Vanilla Ice was to Public Enemy. And if you're scratching your head over that reference, either Google them or ask your parents. Anyway, that's not to say there was any rivalry; S. F. C. does give a shout out name-drop on the track "Terror On Tape". But, I'm getting ahead of myself yet again.

S. F. C. is one of the very few hip-hop groups that graces my collection, popping in the player once in a while. Phase III is their third album, and is a pretty good collection of old school flavor. Super C is perhaps one of the great underrated rappers, the rhyming tight, inspired and rapid-fire. Married with the styles of one DJ Dove, and what we've got is an album that flows from hardcore rap to smooth and soulful and several creative points in between. Okay, so it was the metal guitar riff on the opening song "Hoods Of Good" that got my interest. But trust me when I say Phase III is a good listen for when I'm in the mood for something different. That's not DC Talk.

SACRAMENT - Haunts Of Violence

2011-06-05T06:22:00.001-07:00

SACRAMENT

Haunts Of Violence

R. E. X.

1992

The second full-length studio release from Sacrament turned out to be their final album. This sadly is almost the norm in Christian metal, especially the more extreme bands in the late 80s, early 90s period. It was even more tragic with bands like Sacrament, being one of the few genuine thrash metal bands in the so-called "Christian" arena that could hold their own against any other thrash band out there.

Haunts Of Violence, the follow up to 1990's Testimony Of Apocalypse is another slab of traditional thrash goodness, with great riff hooks, killer shred solos and rhythm section that will keep you furiously banging without going completely overkill with the speed. Just some good crunchy, heavy and raw old school thrash. The vocalist - there was a new one for Haunts Of Violence - took me a good while to get used to. I don't know, it was the more forced-sounding shouts that sounded a bit out of place, that kept me from really enjoying this album when I got it. Nothing I couldn't get past, though.

The major complaint I do have about Haunts Of Violence is the overall production. I realize that, especially in the early life of CDs and analogue-to-digital transfer, we didn't know then what we know now. But, the overall volume level is so low that my stereo needs to go well past eleven to get a somewhat decent listening sound befitting METAL. It also suffers especially on my MP3 player headphones, where the volume control tops out and it's still pitifully low. Mind you, I have the original R. E. X. release on CD. I haven't heard the Millennium 8 reissue from 2001, nor do I wish to find it, given their track record on re-releases. Retroactive Records had re-released a good remastered version of the first album, along with the rare EP, in 2005. I demand a remastered version of Haunts Of Violence. As I'm sure others do.

In any case, Haunts Of Violence is a good thrash album, and sadly one of the many rare out of print albums that have yet to be re-released properly (no, I'm not counting the M8 one). Snag this if you can find it.

The SHOWDOWN - Temptation Come My Way

2011-06-05T05:35:00.001-07:00

The SHOWDOWN

Temptation Come My Way

Mono Vs. Stereo

2007

Okay, I'm going to just come out and say this, get it out of the way immediately. I've reviewed Temptation Come My Way already. The same week I bought this album back in 2007, in fact. There's a lot of albums on this blog that I've had forever but can't remember if I've already reviewed. That comes with shuffling around various places to house my reviews over the decades, really. But with this release by stinking heavy METAL-by-way-of-Southern Fried Hard Rock group The Showdown, I distinctly remember pounding out a review of Temptation Come My Way and posting it to my old Live Journal site, then to the old Padded Cell. Problem was, when it came time to transfer it to the House Of METAL!, I couldn't find it. Disappeared, forever lost into the ether of the Internets. So this is a re-review. Because I can. Anyhoo...

Temptation Come My Way, The Showdown's second full length release, was a massive departure in style from Chorus Of Obliteration. Where the previous was heavy metalcore, Temptation is more straight-ahead heavy-as-stink hard rocking METAL. Big fat power riffs, infectious guitar licks, heavy bottom-end rhythm hooks you could catch a 200-pound Sturgeon with, and vocals that are powerful, gritty and passionate belting out some well written and thought provoking lyrics.

I'm aware of the reviews saying Temptation Come My Way is The Showdown's weakest release. I strongly disagree. Temptation is a fantastic metal album that rocks hard and hits all the right buttons. This is still a frequent player, especially in my car stereo, where cranking this sucker just feels right.

AMNOS - Dia de Trevas

2011-05-30T20:25:00.001-07:00

AMNOS

Dia de Trevas

Independent

2008

Amnos is a black metal band from Brazil. That's pretty much all of the information I was able to dig up in the narrow window between the time I'm writing this, and when I need to actually make an effort to get to bed. That's right, even METAL-heads like yours truly need their beauty rest. Anyhoo...

Dia de Trevas is, so far, Amnos' only full-length release, the music contained being black metal from the old school. From the blazing fast guitars to the blastbeats tot he shrieks, there's no mistaking this for anything else. One can also say that the low production is included with the black metal aesthetic. That may well be, but the lack of low-end, and even a lot of mid-range, makes it hard to really get into the music. Very tinny, and not well listened to on my headphones. I'm sure certain black metal purists would consider this pathetic whining from a "fake metal" poser. I say you can be brutal and still get a good sound for cheep.

Overall, if you can get past the production quality, Dia de Trevas is some serviceable black metal. Me, outside of really fiddling with the equalization settings, don't really listen to this too much for that very reason.

HOLY BLOOD - Shining Sun

2011-05-30T19:53:00.001-07:00

HOLY BLOOD

Shining Sun

Bombworks Records

2010

Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood's fourth full-length album is another slab of powerful, majestic and awesome folk metal. This should go without saying by now, but here there is a noticeable difference between previous albums and Shining Sun. First difference should be mentioned that this is an almost new band, as the vocalist Fedor Buzilevich is the only original member from the previous albums. As far as I know, anyway.

But, this being an album review and all, I thought I'd get down to the important stuff. Namely, the music. Which is, in my not-so-humble opinion, fantastic. Where on the previous albums the brutal death / black elements were up front with the folksier elements kind of in the background, here on Shining Sun both elements of the brutal and the beautiful seem to gel together into something wonderful to my jaded ears. Heavy extreme metal with death growls and blackened shrieks, coming together with flutes, stringed instruments, chanting, female singing and a bagpipe thrown in at times. The production blends all of these together, giving the music more of a melody that was not prominent in the previous music.

The lyrics are still sung in the band's native language, which is a staple of a Holy Blood album. However, I'm told that the booklet that comes with the physical CD has both Ukrainian and English translations, along with photos of the various lineups of the band during the recording process. Also, added bonus for you CD collectors, the video for the title track is included. I say that because, the copy I bought was the MP3 download from eMusic, which only included the music and a thumbnail shot of the album cover.

Overall, Shining Sun is perhaps Holy Blood's masterpiece thus far; a solid folk metal album front to back.

FINAL DESTINY - North Of Hell

2011-05-24T20:05:00.001-07:00

FINAL DESTINY

North Of Hell

Independent

1996

Well. That's the last time I get a CD without first listening to it. Why'd I get this? Well, first off, the title 'North Of Hell' sounded like a play on Slayer's 'South Of Heaven', and I couldn't find anything or anyone to give me a general idea what this CD was like. Let this review serve as a warning for those seeking heavy Christian tunage- avoid this one. Get this only if you consider Petra to be the pinnacle of heavy Christian rock. I shouldn't complain too much, I really didn't pay anything for this CD, and I was in need of a new coaster. They got a rating of 2 for at least releasing a CD. Other than that, pass.

MIRROR OF DEAD FACES - Lamentation

2011-05-22T04:59:00.001-07:00

MIRROR OF DEAD FACES

Lamentation

Creator Destructor

2008

Out of Riverside, California comes Mirror Of Dead Faces. Okay, I don't know for sure if they're still together as a band, as they haven't really released anything since this album, and the Encyclopaedia Metallum only lists their status as "Unknown". So I don't know if I should use the past tense or not; as such, I'm just going to go ahead and assume the present tense. If anyone can set the record straight, here, let me know, 'kay?

Anyway, Mirror Of Dead Faces is labeled a deathcore band, this one featuring former members of Impending Doom and Plague Of Sheol in their original ranks. The music itself leans heavily towards the melodic death metal style, without any of the "core" elements that seem to populate a lot of deathcore. No lazy chunk-chunk breakdowns, no constant sweep-pick wankery I hear a lot on metalcore, no forced growling, and definitely none of those stupid whiny emo vocals. From the get-go, it's evident that the band pulls a lot of influence from Scandinavian melodo-death, which leads me to question why Mirror Of Dead Faces is slagged with the "deathcore" label. Lamentation is clearly an album of modern death metal. Is it because they're from California, and not in fact from Europe? Seriously, sometimes I wonder if the "deathcore" and "metalcore" tags are overused by those too spineless to embraced actual METAL. But I digress.

As a debut album, Lamentation is a razor-sharp cacophony of energetic riffs and heavy fast rhythms, brutal blastbeats and death scream vocals. The music is very tight, and the production is notably top-notch. It's very crisp and clean, which brings out the brutality of the music nicely. I like the cover art, it keeps with the tone of the album perfectly, from the music to the warrior-spirit lyrics. About the only complaints I have are that the album is only 30 minutes long, with the last cut a brief acoustic instrumental, and sometimes the songs suffer a bit from repetition, which is a common problem in death metal. Otherwise, overall Lamentation shows that Mirror Of Dead Faces have the talent and chops to go beyond the label they were tagged with. This is a fine and satisfying melodic death metal album, and will probably find more time in my CD player and Walkman.

The FAMINE - The Architects Of Guilt

2011-05-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

The FAMINE

The Architects Of Guilt

Solid State Records

2011

The Famine was formed in the mid-'00s by former members of Embodyment, Society's Finest and Demon Hunter, released a demo, then got signed to Solid State Records. This is my first review of a Famine record, so I felt compelled to throw in a bit of back history, there.

Anyway, The Architects Of Guilt is the second, and now final, release for the band. I say "final" on account of the disbanding that happened soon after this release. Given the circumstances, it's understandable: Leading up to the release, their original vocalist left, with their bass player stepping in. Then, their recording studio burned down, leaving only the track "We Are The Wolves" from the original recordings. But, because their label had their back, they got everything done, and now we have this nifty slab of deathcore to hold in our hands.

And when I say "deathcore", I don't mean metalcore with badly done growls and melodic emo singing to ensure a good female fanbase. The Architects Of Guilt is some fantastic, gut-churning and face-shredding deathcore of perhaps the finest variety, fast and vicious with a bit of technicality to make this stand out from the herd. And after you've listened to a lot of deathcore like I have, that's saying a lot. Not exactly full-on death metal, but still a really satisfying listen front to back. The cover artwork seems like an unused still from a Marilyn Manson video (not a bad thing, there), but it perfectly reflects the lyrics contained in the music. Which is to say, scary, bleak and unflinching. This is not one of those sing-along, empty anthem metalcore albums. It's not blasphemous, but it's very uncomfortable, which is right up my ally.

So, in closing, I'd like to say that The Architects Of Guilt is a fine deathcore release, and must be experienced.

OPPROBRIUM - Beyond The Unknown / Serpent Temptation

2011-05-21T15:01:00.001-07:00

OPPROBRIUM

Beyond The Unknown / Serpent Temptation

Nuclear Blast / Platinum Records

2000

Once upon a time, there was a thrash metal band called Incubus, who put out a couple of albums out in the late '80s, early '90s, then broke up. After approximately ten years, the boys regrouped, but couldn't use their original name of Incubus, on account of some lame modern rock band co-opting the name in the 1990s. So, choosing the name Opprobrium and signing to Nuclear Blast Records, they re-recorded the album Serpent Temptation, and then released both Beyond The Unknown and Serpent Temptation on separate albums. Or something like that. The history I've read from the research is a bit confusing at times.

Anyhoo, this bring us to this CD, a double album in one release of both the first two albums under the Opprobrium moniker in one shot. For me, this is probably the best bang I got for my buck, as Opprobrium's music is raw, uncompromising old school thrash metal in the vein of Leprosy and Spiritual Healing-era Death: ferocious face-shredding METAL attack pushing full speed and not letting up until the final note, leaving you bleeding and twitching on the floor. Yeah, that kind of thrash.

Both Beyond The Unknown and Serpent Temptation - the later of which I have in its Incubus incarnation - are solid front-to-back slabs of thrash metal goodness. Getting both in one shot, for the price of one album on eMusic, satisfied my cheep nature as well. This thing just rips from beginning to end. It does, however, have a side effect of making me drive too fast whenever I pop it into the player in the Blood Mobile. Results may vary, but I'm fairly certain this will also cause METAL noobs to lose all control of their bodily functions. Just a warning, there. Enjoy your breakfast.

So yeah, if you hunger like I do for some good skull-splitting old school THRASH, getting this double album from Opprobrium will go far towards slaking that. Trust your Uncle NecRo.

GUARDIAN - Fire & Love

2011-05-20T03:48:00.001-07:00

GUARDIAN

Fire & Love

Pakederm

1990

The second release from Guardian was something of a breakthrough for the band. After being released from the Enigma label, they found a new lead vocalist in former Tempest singer Jamie Rowe, and was signed to Pakaderm, the imprint label of the production sibling duo Elephante on the Word, Inc. label.

Fire & Love is considered by many to be Guardian's finest release, and for good reason. Jamie Rowe brought a new level to the vocals, bringing the songs a strength I doubt the previous singer could have. The music gels completely and features some of Tony Palacios' best guitar work. The production is slick, as is a signature of an Elephante production (take that as you will).

Personally, for pure commercial appeal, Fire & Love is Guardian's best album going for melodic metal. Featuring some fantastic crank-'em-in-the-car heavy rockers with a few obligatory sappy balladeering, this is how I like to remember Guardian, before they veered off into modern rock territory.

BELIEVER - Gabriel

2011-05-20T03:41:00.000-07:00

BELIEVER

Gabriel

Metal Blade

2009

Over 15 years after releasing their last album, then disbanding leaving a gaping hole in the hearts of progressive thrash fans everywhere, the seemingly impossible, much more improbable happened: Believer regrouped, and recorded a new album. Understand, after all of those Believer-less years, it was like getting rain after a 15 year drought. And no, I don't think I'm exaggerating a bit.

Now on the Metal Blade label (very fitting, methinks), Believer's long-awaited Gabriel finds the band still in top form, retaining their signature sound with the progressing forward like they always did on each album. Heavy, mathematically technical riffs that'll blow your mind, time changes, touches of experimental elements, and Kurt Bachman's vocals that, while sounding a bit different after these years, still retains the unique snarl we know and love. For the most part, Gabriel is the worthy follow-up to 1993's Dimensions we've been waiting for.

And by "for the most part", I mean that the last four cuts on this album ("Nonsense Mediated Decay", "Circus", "Coordinates" and "Freedom"*) suddenly veer off into pure avant-garde territory. Not really metal, the only way I can describe these songs are weird and experimental. Usually I just skip them entirely, but their interesting curiosities. Overall, though, great technical and progressive thrash metal slab for the first nine tracks, then four tracks of skipable weirdness. Welcome back, Believer.

(* = the last three tracks appear as hidden tracks on the physical CD, it seems; I bought my copy as an MP3 download from Amazon, which lists the tracks as such - Uncle NecRo)

AFTERIMAGE - Codex: Triumph In The Eschaton

2011-05-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

AFTERIMAGE

Codex: Triumph In The Eschaton

Independent

2007

Hailing from Barrington, Illinois is deathcore band Afterimage, who so far has released three demos and this self-released EP. This is another one of those albums I stumbled upon while browsing on eMusic for new tunage to assail my noggin with. This six-song EP is a short but sweet collection of rather decent deathcore that shows a bit more range than a lot of standard "brutal for brutality's sake" metalcore and deathcore bands. The level of brutality this album achieves is impressive - heavy, gut-churning riffs, double bass blastbeats and breakdowns that could congeal an egg, intense death growls and blackened shrieks interspersed with metalcore shouts and some sparsely used clean melodic vocals. Rather than stopping there, though, there are some inspired progressive touches that keeps the music from just being the same-old, same-old - melodic guitar work, a violin used on "You Who Are Broken", time changes. The production is very good, and the music is tight as dried leather. Yes, I do believe Codex: Triumph In The Eschaton is one of the better purchases I've made where deathcore is concerned. Here's hoping they haven't just disappeared, and is going to grace us with a full-length of new material in the near future.

MORTIFICATION - The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine

2011-05-10T18:12:00.001-07:00

MORTIFICATION

The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine

Rowe Productions

2009

I've been a Mortification fan since that cold early morning in the first week of January 1993 when someone lent me their copy of the self-titled debut to listen to on the long ride back to Nebraska from Texas in a cramped youth group minivan. Since then, through the good and the bad, I've been a loyal supporter of Steve Rowe and his flagship metal band Mortification. I may not always like everything he puts out, and I may not always agree with what he says (especially pertaining to those who criticize his music and such), but I will always have the man's back. Brotherhood in Christ Jesus and all that.

I prefaced this review as such because, after having acquired this more recent album of theirs, The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine, I've got to say I have some rather mixed initial thoughts on the album. The past couple of CDs they've put out - namely, Brain Cleaner and especially Erasing The Goblin - have been some of the best stuff they've put out post-Intense Records. There was still some experimenting with the mix of metal, but they seemed to gel pretty good. Here on The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine (interesting title), there's still the experimentation going on, but somehow I couldn't feel the gellin'. Like a felon. Okay, now I've got that blasted Doctor Scholl's commercial in my head.

The music has a lot of variety in the metal mix, kind of a slight punkier edge to things. Which is definitely not a bad thing. The diehard "We want Scrolls part 2!" might not agree, but for me I admire Steve for wanting to branch out and keep things fresh and interesting. There are some pretty good solos, and for the most part the production and music is tight. The bass is very much upfront, but that's a given, really. The album cover...well, it sucks. Cartoonish. Maybe good for a video game cartridge from the 1980s, but not a metal album.

Overall, while a pretty good listen (I think this ranks around Hammer Of God if I were to compare it to another in the Mortification catalog), The Evil Addiction Destroying Machine just doesn't grab me as much as the previous offerings did. If I were to put my finger on it, I would have to say that this album sounds a tad bit uninspired. Not "rehash" uninspired, as there's quite a bit any fan of the band after 1996 would like. No, more like, "I need a vacation, get recharged, gain a fresh perspective on things" kind of uninspired. I don't know, maybe after a few more spins this one would grow on me.

WAR OF AGES - Pride Of The Wicked

2011-05-10T16:23:00.000-07:00

WAR OF AGES

Pride Of The Wicked

Facedown Records

2006

Second album by PA metalcore band is, I admit, a step and a half up from the debut release. It's heavy, the music is tight, and the production is quite solid. Pretty cool cover artwork as well. Thing is, for the most part, Pride Of The Wicked comes off as an attempt to ape the style of As I Lay Dying and various other mall metal bands that seem to be clogging the Christian metal scene nowadays. The whole screamo-clean vocals-screamo trade-off is really unappealing for me, and while there are some very good and infections riffs and breakdowns going on, I just can't get past the fact that I'm busy giving myself whiplash, then all of a sudden the wuss melodic whiny stuff happens. Metalcore like that doesn't really appeal to me. I know that may cheese off a lot of fans of the band, but what can I say? I really do like the last four cuts on the disc, but that's not enough for me to really pop this thing one more than once in a great while.

JESUS WEPT - Sick City

2011-04-14T05:42:00.001-07:00

JESUS WEPT

Sick City

Strike First Records

2004

Rising from the ashes of xDisciplex A. D. and No Innocent Victim came the band Jesus Wept. I can only assume their name is derived from John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible, and not the final words of Frank Cotton from the movie Hellraiser before he's pulled apart by chains. I could be wrong. I'm not the only one with this kind of sense of humor.

Anyhoo, Sick City is the first release from Jesus Wept, a five-song EP of old school hardcore. We're talking heavy as stink guitar riffs, pile-driving rhythms and hardcore shout vocals that recall the glory days of No Innocent Victim, M. O. D. and Strongarm, to name but a very few. Sick City is a short but very enjoyable five-fingered death punch, solid and heavy old school stuff. I kinda feel bad not listening to this as a 7-inch, but the spirit is still very much there. Highly recommended.

CORPUS CHRISTI - The Darker Shades Of White

2011-04-14T05:28:00.001-07:00

CORPUS CHRISTI

The Darker Shades Of White

Victory Records

2009

When this album came out, I received an email from the promotions department of either the record label or the band itself, I can't remember which. Essentially they wanted me to consider putting this album on rotation of my internet radio showgram, and offered a download of the album for promotional use. You know, radio play and reviewing purposes, that kinda thing. I turned them down politely, citing wanting to actually buy the album myself, partly to monetarily support the band, but mostly because I wanted to be free to speak my mind when I got around to reviewing the album. Which is now, obviously.

So then, Corpus Christi. This being my first album from the Cincinnati, Ohio group, The Darker Shades Of White strikes me as another in what seems a long line of what I call "mall metal". Kind of a blend of heavy metalcore interjected with the melodic tendencies of pop punk of the likes of Blink 182, usually favored by mall dwelling scenester kids wearing hoodies and band shirts purchased at Hot Topic. Another term I use is "gateway metal", something that can very much lead into interest in good actual metal. But I digress.

The Darker Shades Of White is an album of modern metalcore that is serviceable, in that it's heavy with some very good guitar riffs and breakdowns. The vocals follow the standard screaming on the verses, melodic clean vocals on the choruses, with little deviation from that pattern. The music is tight and well-produced. And I'll give that the melodic emo singing isn't so that I get physically nauseous like on a lot of stuff like this.

To put it nicely, The Darker Shades Of White isn't anything I haven't heard before with the likes of As I Lay Dying, The Word Alive, and a host of others. There is much I like about the album, as the quality is really good and the metal riffs really tight. Overall, The Darker Shades Of White is a good melodic metalcore, modern metal, mall metal, whatever you wanna call it metal album - heavy and catchy without striving to be much more than the sum of its parts. You can do worse, really.

WINTERSOUL - Frozen Storm Apocalypse

2011-04-09T15:02:00.000-07:00

WINTERSOUL

Frozen Storm Apocalypse

Nokternal Hemizphear

2010

Ah, Black Metal. Like a lot of the genres that dwell within the METAL category, it has the potential to be something great, or depending on the competency of the artists can be turned into a sad parody of itself. In the past ten-plus-some odd years since discovering this wonderful sub-genre, especially the so-called UnBlack Metal movement that was spawned as a direct answer to the overtly satanic original, I've come across much in the way of the badly-done kind of Black Metal. Some purists might say that lo-fi and bad production is a hallmark of the sound. I say, whatever. If you're going to do METAL, make it epically awesome.

Which brings us to this release from UK's Wintersoul, Frozen Storm Apocalypse. After forming in 2006, and releasing a 2-song demo (or maxi-single, or what have you), they've unleashed this full-length that, quite frankly, is pretty darn epic. This is Black Metal that is, dare I say it, technical and unrelenting in its onslaught. After the intro "Frostland", this thing just rips your face off from the rhythms that go from mid-paced to furious blastbeats, skin-shredding riffs, black shriek-to-death growl vocals, and haunting female vocals. Throw in some ice and winter-based lyrical imagery (not unlike Immortal Souls, there), and you've got a debut album that has a hard time getting off of my player.

Yeah, Frozen Storm Apocalypse I would greatly recommend you dropping everything and purchase. Highly recommended blistering cold Black Metal for you. For fans of Behemoth, Immortal Souls and Crimson Moonlight...

KING JAMES - The Fall

2011-04-05T12:08:00.001-07:00

KING JAMES

The Fall

Viva Records / Retroactive Records

1997 / 2010

Back in the early 1990s, after guitarist and Whitecross founder Rex Carroll split with his flagship band, one of the projects he founded was King James, a kinda-sorta Christian rock "supergroup" which also featured briefly former Stryper members Robert Sweet and Tim Gaines. Their self-titled debut album was, honestly, not that memorable - slickly produced melodic rock that was really lukewarm and dated, especially when you recall the shifted music scenes at the time. Star Song sent it to me to play on the college radio show back in the day; I played a couple of cuts, then gave it away and promptly forgot about it.

I bring that up to explain why I initially passed up checking out the sophomore release The Fall back when it was originally released in 1997. Though no longer on the Star Song label, and in fact being distributed independently through Cross Rhythms Music, remembering how mediocre I found the first album, I thought "Eh, more of the same," and went on with my life, without giving it a second thought. Or a listen. Yeah, I'm a horrible person. Burn me once and all that.

Well, here we are, years later, and The Fall has been re-released on Retroactive Records. And after reading many reviews referring to The Fall as a "classic" and having this Collector's Edition re-release (that's what it was listed as, seriously) as a selection on eMusic, I figured the time has come for me to buy the album and give it a good thorough listen.

And here is where I repent greatly for my past disgression. The Fall is nothing at all like the self-titled. Furthest thing from it. None of that over-produced slick melodic 80s style stuff here. The Fall is what you would call gritty, grungy and stripped down hard rock, simple downtuned guitar hooks and throaty vocals, the music is more akin to Alice In Chains. Matter of fact, I think had King James released this back in 1994...well, Star Song would have ruined it anyway. But really, The Fall is a great hard rock album, very gritty and heavy and dark. I can't get over how stupid I was for not checking this out back in the day. Better late than never, right?

As to the "Collector's Edition" tag...well, I don't see what makes this that. Other than different album cover art, there aren't any extra tracks, and I don't have the original indie release to compare remastering that may have been done. Doesn't matter. Glad I got this thing. And I would urge you to get some yourself.

STRYPER - The Covering

2011-04-05T11:52:00.001-07:00

STRYPER

The Covering

Big 3 Records

2011

Cover albums are fun, for the most part. Done right, the songs stay true to the spirit of the originals, remaining familiar while the band covering the tune puts its own stamp on it. Such is the subject of this review, obviously.

With the release of The Covering, the long-time stalwarts of Christian hard rock and metal - Stryper, in case you haven't been paying attention to the title heading - pay tribute to the bands that inspired the boys' music. And judging by the playlist on the CD, it's a pretty good variety of classic rockers these guys dig. Tracks by the Scorpions, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Kansas, Ozzy, Kiss, Iron Maiden, Led Zepplin, Judas Priest, Sweet, UFO, and Van Halen...yeah, this thing reads like a homemade mix tape soundtrack from my own high school days.

How about the music? Well, all I can say is that Stryper has indeed hit that balance of keeping the song covers recognizable, sticking close to the originals while making it unmistakable that this is indeed a Stryper album. From the opening of "Set Me Free", through to "The Immigrant Song", this music ROCKS, hard n' heavy, begging to be cranked loudly out of whatever sound system you play this from. "Blackout", "Heaven And Hell", "Over The Mountain", "Highway Star", "Shout It Out Loud", "Breakin' The Law"...heavy rockin' stuff, all with that vintage Stryper makeover.

Now, I would have been happy with just the twelve cover songs here on The Covering. But, as an added bonus (and probably to head off any accusations of loosing the faith or something like that), the album ends with the original studio cut "God", which is a great melodic hard rock tune that Stryper does best. Overall, I found The Covering to be a fantastic Stryper album, covers album or not. The band is still in top form. Bottom line, The Covering will rock your face off, indeed.

ALETHEIAN - Dying Vine

2011-02-21T18:28:00.000-08:00

ALETHEIAN

Dying Vine

Hope Prevails Productions / IronClad

2005 / 2008

Aletheian's second full-length release finds the band heading off in a very focused and tight technical melodic death metal style, resulting in a release that is heads and tails better than the first release under the Aletheian moniker (I'm not really counting ...Hope Prevails, as I consider it a re-recording of the Crutch album). Very good musicianship, great solos and structures, almost like the band was channeling Synergy-era Extol. There are moments where the production and the mix seem kind of weak, and I admit the music isn't exactly what you would call mind-blowing and highly memorable, but for a second release, Dying Vine is a pretty good serviceable technical death metal release.

The album was released independently on the band's own Hope Prevails Productions label in 2005, and then re-released on the Metal Blade subsidiary label IronClad in 2008 after the band signed to that label. The copy I have is the IronClad version, which has different (and quite frankly, better) artwork, and a bonus track at the end. I've heard from those that have the original 2005 version that there's a difference in the mixes; personally, I'm happy with the IronClad release, and have no intention of seeking out the original copy. That said, Dying Vine is worth checking out.

LIVING SACRIFICE - The Infinite Order

2011-02-21T04:33:00.000-08:00

LIVING SACRIFICE

The Infinite Order

Solid State Records

2010

In 2003, Living Sacrifice disbanded, leaving a bit of a gaping hole in the deathcore / metalcore scenes. The members went on with their lives, and after a few years and a best-of release, it looked like this was permanent. No more Living Sacrifice.

And then, five years after the fact, the band got back together. They recorded and released a two-song digital online-only maxi-single called Death Machine, and went on tour with Demon Hunter. Did that mean, then, that a new album of Living Sacrifice material was headed our way? Well, obviously yes. I mean, there's this review. That proves it.

So, yeah. Living Sacrifice is back. Did that send chills and tingles down my spine? Not really. Look, Living Sacrifice is definitely one of the top quality extreme metal bands going, in either the mainstream or Christian metal scenes. Their last couple of releases didn't really grab me, though. So it was a bit after this was released, after listening to a couple of tracks on Last.FM when I finally went out and purchased The Infinite Order.

First impressions after popping this thing into the CD player was, "wow, this is brutal." Yeah, that about sums it up. On this CD, the music leans heavy towards the death metal side, giving out blastbeats and furious guitar riffs with a lot of blistering leads that threaten to shave off your face with a cheese grater. There's a lot of variety here, keeping the entire album from sounding stale after a few songs in. The stuff here is definitely heavier, mixing in some melodic death and thrash riffs in, trusting mostly in the death vocals to carry things. Great guitar work. The Infinite Order, methinks, is probably the best Solid State-era release they've had to date, and not a bad way to re-emerge from their hiatus. It's not a perfect album, no, and there are moments where the "core" elements of their sound are evident. But overall, a satisfying brutal metal release. Fans of Lamb Of God and Slayer's later releases should dig this...

DERACINATION - Times Of Atrocity

2011-02-12T14:53:00.001-08:00

DERACINATION

Times Of Atrocity

Independent

1992

Anyone out there have the first Australian metal sampler, called Godspeed? Yes? Well, um, about the fourth or fifth track, there's a band listed as Deracination there. Yes, that one. Did you know they had a full-length demo recorded around 1992? Didn't? Well, don't feel too bad. I don't think many people realized who this band was until the Godspeed compilation came out.

Times Of Atrocity is the name of their demo. It is, as you may have guessed, a full-on death metal / grind album, in the vein of Scrolls Of The Megilloth-era Mortification. The reason this got a low rating from me is the fact that the production is really bad, almost sounding like the whole thing was miked up to a twenty dollar four-track, the hiss is so bad at times. That aside, this is a fairly well-played, albeit almost clichéd, death metal CD. The standout tracks here are "Never Coming Home", "Death By Fire", "Mankind's Search For God" and "Tormented By Darkness". The lyrics, keeping with the tried-and-true death metal topics, deal with the death and destruction of those who reject Christ as Messiah.

I would say, Times Of Atrocity would be for the serious collectors of rare death metal. Maybe, since there's been a vast resurgence of demos getting the remaster treatment, there should be a push to get this and Deracination's other demo onto one disc with better sound. But in the meantime, if you find a copy of this floating around somewhere, and you feel inclined, snatch it up.

GRAMMATRAIN - Flying

2011-02-12T14:18:00.000-08:00

GRAMMATRAIN

Flying

Forefront Records

1997

I honestly can't remember just how this particular album ended up in my collection. I don't remember ever buying it, nor do I recall anyone giving it to me. This sophomore album of modern rock band Grammatrain's was released during that period in the 1990s when I started listening to a lot of music I normally didn't like in a very misguided attempt to be more acceptable to my church going brethren and sisteren (what a time that was, there), but never did I think to myself, "You know what I need to listen to more? Grammatrain." And yet, lo and behold, here it is, languishing in my collection for over a decade until I converted it to MP3 files and gave away the CD. And since I've taken a proactive "Everything in my collection SHALL BE REVIEWED!" stance with the blog, Flying finally gets listened to.

And I never thought I'd find myself saying (or writing) this, but...I kinda like this record. I mean, sure, it's not the awesomness that is METAL, but for a modern rock band, especially a CCM band, Flying is a good, solid collection of guitar-based rock without sounding stale. Or like a carbon copy. Most of the songs rock, with a couple of mid-pacers thrown in. The closest thing to an obligatory Christian AOR song is "Peace", which occurs midway in. The song "Fuse" is easily my favorite, as it's the darkest song with a good standout rhythm structure and guitar work. The last song is a pretty decent acoustic track that doesn't come off as pretentious like a lot of acoustic music I hear. You can skip the untitled 12th track, as it's only five minutes of silence followed by the sound of a bottle rocket going off. Big waste of time and anticipation there, fellas.

In any case, the production on Flying is really good, the music is tight, and the lyrics are contemplative, with actual thought going into them. Far from being the cheesy dime-a-dozen modern CCM rock album I thought it was going to be, Flying surprised me. Did listening to this make me want to find and listen to Grammatrain's other releases? No. Did it make me want to listen to more alternative and modern rock CCM bands? Heck no. But, it is a nice brief change of pace, and very well done at that. Fans of the modern rock would do well to check this album out.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Temporary Insanity

2011-02-12T10:36:00.001-08:00

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Temporary Insanity - A Salute To Deliverance

Roxx Productions

2010

It's about stinking time that there was a tribute to Deliverance. Since their debut was unleashed to the unsuspecting Christian METAL masses back in 1989, Jimmy P. Brown's flagship band has inspired many, through its many different phases in its 25+ years. And thanks to the Christian Metal Realm community - one of the best tight-knit message boards of METAL-heads around - Deliverance has one of the better tribute albums I've heard in quite some time.

This is a two-disc set, as the response to requests for covers to include on here was pretty big. I remember watching this start as a "wishful-thinking" kind of thread post, and develop into what we have here now. We Christian metal-heads may have our differences with style and all, but when we get together for something, stand back indeed. But enough of me rambling. Let's see what we got on here, shall we?

DELIVERANCE - "Flesh & Blood (25th Anniversary Version)"
...seems odd that a band would appear on their own tribute album. Deliverance appears not only once, but three times on this tribute. This re-recording of the classic tune off of 1990's Weapons Of Our Warfare kicks the festivities off right nicely, a tight speed metal attack...

DELIVERANCE - "In U (25th Anniversary Version)"
...second re-recording, this time from the underrated Camelot-In-Smithereens release. More of a slow, moody and brooding dark metal piece, just if anything to show the artistic range Jimmy has through the years.

OIL - "Attack"
...the band Oil actually regrouped briefly just to record a couple of songs for this tribute. This first from them, a cover of "Attack" from both California Metal and What A Joke!, is ferocious. Though, the phrase "MOSH IT UP BABY!" wasn't uttered. Bummer...

APPLEHEAD - "Belltown"
...had I not known it was Greg Minier, I could've sworn it was my friend Scott Osterloh singing. Uncanny. Anyhoo, this is Minier playing with the members of Fasedown, affecting a very good cover of "Belltown" from River Disturbance; heavy, groove-laden and nice...

LAMBS AMONG WOLVES - "Greetings Of Death"
...good straight thrash cover of this D classic, found both on the Greetings Of Death demo and on Weapons Of Our Warfare...

STRICKEN - "No Time"
...yeah, Stricken is one of those bands that I really need to find their album, as here they have a very nice, heavy and chunky cover of this favorite from D's self-titled debut...

FASEULTIFIED - "What A Joke"
...Fasedown again, this time with Ultimatum vocalist Scott Waters on point, making this song sound reminiscent of Vengeance Rising from the Human Sacrifice days...which is to say, METAL awesomeness...

GRAVE ROBBER - "Awake"
...a very appropriate choice of a song for Grave Robber to cover, from the self-titled Deliverance album. Great cover from a great band...

GHOSTEMPLE - "If We Faint Not"
...a more traditional heavy METAL cover of one of my favorite Deliverance tunes, done by a band I've never heard of bun apparently has the vocals handled by Josh Kramer of Saint...good cut, there...

FAITH FACTOR - "Weapons Of Our Warfare"
...to be completely honest here, so far all I've heard from Faith Factor I haven't been that impressed with. Same holds here, as it sounds like a bit sloppy power metal cover of perhaps the best known Deliverance song...

WHISPER FROM HEAVEN - "Anymore"
...never heard of these guys. Should check them out, as they have a nice female fronted dark metal sound, not unlike Within Temptation or Luciana Coil. Good cover, very haunting and dark...

VENIA - "Desperate Cries"
...Venia has fast become one of my favorites when it comes to female fronted heavy power metal, and here on this cover of "Desperate Cries" they put their heavy spin on things; really good cover, here...

DAYS OF AFFLICTION - "River Disturbance"
...decent cove,r though most of the time the guy's vocals seem off, especially on the verses. When he goes power metal, it's good, though...

GRAVE FORSAKEN - "Bought By Blood"
...interesting take on the guitar riff, but still a good thrash cover by this Australian thrash / death metal band. Love the riff mid-way through...

ETERNAL DECISION - "Belltown"
...another band that regrouped for this tribute. Great groove metal, post-thrash, whatever you wanna call it, cover of "Belltown", one of my favorite dark metal-era Deliverance tunes going...

DELIVERANCE - "Hunger & The Thirst"
...disc two kicks off with an unreleased Deliverance song. From what sessions, I couldn't tell you. What I can tell you is it's a nice dark metal song that is tainted by the use of Autotune for that overused cybervox thing I find annoying...

OIL - "Screaming"
...second Oil appearance, and it's a heavy one, plodding metal cover of a song from As Above So Below...

The SACRIFICED - "Slay The Wicked"
...a great straight-up cover of this speed metal classic, complete with the clip from the movie King David. I really like how this sounds. Mosh time...

CORIOLIS - "What A Joke"
...another band I've grown to love over the years, Coriolis puts its industrialized dark rock spin on "What A Joke", complete with a creepy keyboard on the main riff...great cover, and something different...

KRIG - "Weapons Of Our Warfare"
...a straight-up brutal death metal cover, thereby making this the vastly superior "Weapons..." cover on here. Just sit back and let it sand blast your face off...

LEPER - "The Call"
...creepy, electro goth take on this cut from the self-titled debut. Different, dark and very good cover...

UNFORSAKEN - "Stay Of Execution"
...hm...a rather sterile cover of this song. The vocalist lacks the charisma of Jimmy, really, and the whole thing sounds flat and uninspired...not bad, mind you, just "meh"...

CRUCIBLE DIVINE - "Ramming Speed"
...a fairly straight take on this doomy cut from Deliverance's brilliant Stay Of Execution album. Pretty good cover, though the production is a bit muddled...

WALK ON WATER - "Learn"
...a cover of one of my favorite post-thrash Deliverance songs that scores just barely better than what the above mentioned Unforsaken cover of "Stay..." was. It's the instrumentation that keeps it from being flat; the vocals are totally...well, the nice way of putting it is "inadequate"...shaking my head in disappointment...

VISIONS OF REALITY - "Blood Of The Covenant"
...in this day and age of really affordable computer recording technology, there's no excuse for turning in a recording that sounds like it was taken in one room with one mic and a boom box...

SAINT SPIRIT - "Prophets Of Idiocy"
...always down for a brutal hardcore cover. And this one of "Prophets Of Idiocy" is raw, heavy and ferocious. Good cut...

BLOODPAID - "Words To The..."
...a bit more raw and heavier take on this song. Not bad, the vocalist seems to captures the spirit of Jimmy's style from the original; though, overall, there's this feeling of anemic quality in the execution, mostly from the drums...

BI-POLAR ECHO - "The Call"
...obviously inspired by the Intense Live Series version ("Take fourteen"? Yeesh), this is a decent female-fronted heavy metal cover, kinda like Warlock without the polished production values...though, the opening goofy voice made me think "Sweet Family Music" for a second. Glad it didn't turn out to be one of those back-handed covers...

INCARNATE - "Victory"
...oh, yeah. A nice straight-up cover, speed metal galloping...but then the vocals fall a bit short. Kinda buried in the mix, there, and unable to hit the awesome that Jimmy could. Otherwise, doable cover of this anthem classic...

PASTOR BRAD - "A Space Called You"
...shredmeister Pastor Brad ends things with a cover of an older obscure song found on the California Metal compilation. Here he puts his guitar skills to work, giving this a good David Zaffero polish, a great one indeed...

So there you go, then. A nice variety of genre styles, giving each their own unique spin on the music that has inspired countless bands and artists over the years. Former and current members of Deliverance being involved with this certainly was a nice plus to the project. Overall, Temporary Insanity (why wasn't that song covered here?) is a pretty solid two-disc collection, with maybe a small handful of stumbles. I bought my copy as a download from CD Baby, so I didn't get the eight page booklet that comes with the actual CD, which includes liner notes from Deliverance members, Scott Waters and Robert Gutierrez of Ultimatum, Bill Bafford of Roxx Productions and Steve Rowe of Mortification, as well as a bunch of classic band photos and old concert fliers. But whatever format you buy this in, it would make a great addition to the collection...

ROB WALKER - Strobe

2011-02-07T18:31:00.001-08:00

ROB WALKER

Strobe

Tooth & Nail Records

1996

About three years after his original band, Wish For Eden, released the very first Tooth & Nail recording (that being Pet The Fish), and having disbanded, front man Rob Walker recorded his only solo outing for Tooth & Nail with future members of the punk rock outfit Side Walk Slam. Moving along from the basic three-chord power grunge of the WfE release, the music on Strobe features more of a melodic modern rock sound, though the power chord rock is still a solid foundation. Not really that remarkable, as this isn't really that great of an album, but at least Walker didn't create a Wish For Eden Mach 2 on here. I still pull this out when I need something different, and it's the first thing I come across, but really it doesn't get played any more than a couple times a year, if that. I do like the track "Scared Little Man", as it does reflect my feelings when brooding about a past...well, let's not go there, shall we? In any case, as far as listening material goes, one can certainly do better, but Strobe is not terrible by any means.

MISERATION - Your Demons - Their Angels

2011-02-07T18:08:00.001-08:00

MISERATION

Your Demons - Their Angels

Rivel Records

2007

You looking for some good melodic and technical death metal to sand blast your face off? Look no further than this full-length debut from Swedish band Miseration. Heavy brutality from track one, the nine tracks on this sucker waste no time whatsoever with its furious guitar attacks, the crushing drums, and the vocals that maintain both the death growls and clean vocals. Some great melodic riffs and tight playing make this one of the better finds for this Midwest American metal head. Fans of Scar Symmetry and Extol need to check this one out, if they haven't already. The copy I got was from the original Rivel Records release on eMusic; there is a re-release on Lifeforce Records that feature a tenth bonus track that may be the one to scope out. In any case, though, recommended brutality, here...

CRASHDOG - Outer Crust

2011-01-20T04:29:00.000-08:00

CRASHDOG

Outer Crust

2 Jake Records / Grrr Records

1997

Crashdog's fifth full-length, and sadly last studio album as a group, is another fine collection of raw hardcore punk, full of three-chord power riffs, scrappy vocals, and socio-political lyrics that Crashdog has always been famous for. Andrew Mandell handles the vocals again, and although I'm more of a fan of previous vocalist Spike Nard, Mandell's raspy delivery have a sense of urgency that I like.

Crashdog's always been one of my favorite bands, and Outer Crust is a good old school punk album, a bit of the old school in a time of slick pop "punk". Recommended.

DIG HAY ZOOSE - Strugglefish

2011-01-20T04:18:00.001-08:00

DIG HAY ZOOSE

Strugglefish

Brainstorm Artists International

1991

Dig Hay Zoose was one of the more unique bands to grace the Christian rock scenes back in the early 1990s, a time when rock in general was shifting to more alternative flavors. Released on Terry Taylor's (of Daniel Amos and Swirling Eddies fame) BAI label to a market that was cluttered with a lot of cookie-cutter type CCM artists, Strugglefish was one of the few truly unique albums to hit the market, along with The Scaterd Few's Sin Disease a couple of years back.

As a debut album, Strugglefish is very decent. I discovered Dig Hay Zoose with their second album, and while Strugglefish doesn't sound as multi-layered as Magenta Manta Love Tree, there's a lot I like about it. It's funky, energetic alternative rock, with a psychedelic edge and cryptic lyrics, like if Infectious Grooves had the eclectic sense of Jane's Addiction. The production is a bit raw, and the vocalist sounds like he's singing several feet away from the mic, but overall the music is great for something different from the norm. Fans of Scaterd Few and anyone with an alternative streak should check this out, if you haven't already.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Never Say Dinosaur

2011-01-20T03:41:00.001-08:00

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Never Say Dinosaur [Petra Tribute]

Star Song Records

1996

Back in the 1990s, there seemed to be an explosion of sorts in tribute albums to the innovators in CCM. Most were serious projects, like the Mark Heard and Keith Green tributes; some were, um, not so serious, like the Stryper "tribute" on Flying Tart; some were fun, like the Steve Taylor tribute; and still some seemed more like a money grab for a particular label (that being the Larry Norman tribute on Fore Front Records). So it was of no surprise to anyone that one of the biggest names in Christian rock and CCM - Petra - got their own tribute album.

Since this was produced and released on Petra's old Star Song label - a company that was notorious for repackaging Petra's old material without the band's consent - an assumption would be that this tribute is another money grab for a label that hadn't had their most popular act on the roster for eight years leading up to this. Then again, unlike Fore Front Records, most of the bands featured on this CD aren't on the Star Song label; only two that I know of were Star Song artists. Plus, the title of the CD - Never Say Dinosaur - seems like a good-natured attempt at fun and wackiness. Meh. The album cover art is lame. Which speaks volumes to Star Song's overall creativity in its history. But anyway, let's check out what's on the CD, shall we?

AUDIO ADRENALINE - "Taste And See"
...at this time, Audio Adrenaline was one of the Big Three in Christian rock, alone with Newsboys and DC Talk; riding the popularity on their big smash sophomore release Don't Censor Me, so it was rather prudent to not only have Audio A on the tribute, but also start off the CD with them. This cover of "Taste And See" is a jaunty, funky modern rock cut, not bad as an opener...

WALTER EUGENES - "Judas Kiss"
...the Walter Eugenes is one of the Star Song artists featured on here, and outside of this cut featured on this disc, I'm not familiar with their work. I do know they had at least one full-length release on Star Song. Anyway, this cover of one of my favorite Petra songs has a strong U2 vibe going, mostly from the vocalist. Interesting version, really...

GALACTIC COWBOYS - "Not Of This World"
...the only METAL cut represented on the disc, and what a great one it is. I remember the band admitting they did the cover because the title fit the band's name, which is classic Galactic Cowboys sense of humor. This quirky cover would have fit perfectly on their classic Space In Your Face release; best cut on the entire disc, in my not-so-humble opinion...

SARAH JAHN - "Yahweh Love"
...another Star Song artist, this time an acoustic coffee house style cover...yeah, pass...

MXPX - "I Can Be Friends With You"
...not being a fan of the pop punk surge that happened in the 1990s, this cover by Tooth & Nail's answer to Green Day and NOFX is interesting, yes, but not much more...

JARS OF CLAY - "Rose Colored Stained Glass Windows"
...I can imagine a lot of jaws dropping after reading this, but I do like Jars Of Clay, and this is a very good cover, brooding and melodic and haunting...

KEVIN SMITH w/ PASSAFIST - "Louie's Solo"
...of all the tracks on this tribute disc, this one came out of left field, as this is really more of an original composition based on a drum solo track listed on Petra's Captured In Time And Space live album, done by one of the guys from DC Talk, collaborating with Passafist, essentially Chagall Guevara without Steve Taylor. As far as the song goes...meh...

SIXPENCE NONE THE RICHER - "Road To Zion"
...one of my favorite Petra ballads, made with much more depth and texture by Sixpence None The Richer, who also did wonders with Steve Taylor's "Bouquet" on his tribute. Haunting, beautiful cover...

The STAND - "Pied Piper"
...I don't know if this is the same band that hadn't released anything since 1992, and I'm a bit lazy to really check it out. Regardless, this is an all right retro rock cover, sounding like something out of the 1980s...

GRAMMATRAIN - "Wake Up"
...a very decent grunge rock cover of a Petra song that dates back to their pre-Star Song days, from the self-titled 1974 debut. Good choice, methinks...

CAPRILL & MY SISTER'S GARDEN - "The Coloring Song"
...female acoustic whatever with a kind of Celtic thing. I never heard of this band before getting this disc, and after listening to this cover, I still don't really care...

PLANKEYE - "All The King's Horses"
...at one point, Plankeye was pretty big in the alternative crowds. Obviously, I'm not a fan, but I must admit this is a pretty good cover...

Overall, the production on Never Say Dinosaur is rather good, and there is a good mix of styles and bands. I personally don't break this out too much, and when I do I usually only listen to a few of the songs, skipping over the majority of the tracks. As a tribute album to one of the cornerstone rock bands in CCM, Never Say Dinosaur - despite the title and album artwork - is a good one.

AS THEY SLEEP - Blacken The Sun

2011-01-20T03:20:00.001-08:00

AS THEY SLEEP

Blacken The Sun

Luxor Records

2008

As of this writing, As They Sleep has just released their sophomore full-length on Solid State Records, the label that seems to attract extreme bands to their roster like lint to a sweaty belly button. Which means that I will be unable to buy it from eMusic or CD baby like I normally do. And if this album - Blacken The Sun - is any indication, I need to just suck it up and purchase the sophomore release by other means than my usual METAL buying modus operandi.

Blacken The Sun, the debut full-length from As They Sleep, is one of those purchases I made even though I wasn't familiar with their output. They did get some glowing recommendations, and on a superficial level the album cover was pretty cool looking. Once I hit play, I was hit with some of the sickest, brutal deathcore to come out of the Motor City (that's Detroit, Michigan, for those not up on your geography). Given the proper equipment, this album can sandblast your face off if you let it. Death guitar riffs, blastbeats, full-body mosh-educing breakdowns and guttural vocals are what welcomes the hapless METAL fan here, and by the time the album ends, your black-and-blued flesh will be all a-tingle with happy. Highly recommended, especially for you sick fans of Whitechapel...

DARK LAY STILL - Through Hell

2011-01-20T03:11:00.001-08:00

DARK LAY STILL

Through Hell

Bombworks Records

2009

Once again I've discovered a CD that wants to rip my face off. Dark Lay Still's Through Hell, for the most part, had me pressed up against my seat, eyes wide and body trembling, a smile of sheer METAL pleasure spreading as that familiar tingling feeling spread throughout my gelatinous being. Save for the opening "Prelude" and "The Swordsmen Song", which are instrumentals, and the final track "Remembrance" which has the band members giving their testimonies against an acoustic guitar background, the remaining seven tracks are full-on attacks of blackened death metal brutality. Grinding guitars, blastbeats, gales of unrelenting vocal fury, with some keyboards for ambient texture. Yet another new edition of brutal METAL awesome graces my collection. Highly recommended.

WAR OF AGES - Fire From The Tomb

2011-01-19T05:30:00.000-08:00

WAR OF AGES

Fire From The Tomb

Facedown Records

2007

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians." So begins the sample on the first track, "Intro", on War Of Ages' album Fire From The Tomb. This leads into the riff that pretty much cements for the listener what they're in for: full-on metalcore brutality.

Before I divulge any further, I must make this comment about the cover art: excellent. A shirtless Sauran-like metal Viking with a skull codpiece and battle axe, standing in a snowing wasteland. That, my wonderful freaks, screams death metal. Possibly Scandinavian. Problem is, as I mentioned above, Fire From The Tomb is what you would call metalcore. More in line with the likes of Chelsea Grin or...some other band like Chelsea Grin. Something I don't normally associate with METAL Viking imagery. Normally I associate metalcore with hoodies, Hot Topic and scrawny scenester teenagers. Regardless, though...cool album cover.

Now, on to the music. Yes, Fire From The Tomb is some good metalcore, with some good guitar riffs, heavy breakdowns that force you into full-body headbanging, screaming vocals with a few clean vocals now and then, some gang shouts, and very anthemic lyrics. This is some of the better quality metalcore going, rather than the hokey "mall metal" I've been subjected to before. Pretty good stuff, check it out.

STEP COUSIN - The Evolution Religion

2011-01-05T04:56:00.000-08:00

STEP COUSIN

The Evolution Religion

Corduroy Boy

2010

Step Cousin's third album out, and what we have here is a pretty solid collection of modern thrash metal, mixed in with healthy doses of groove and death metal. From the get-go, the music on here rips and shreds relentlessly, with some rather tasty guitar riffs and pounding rhythms hither and yon. On a couple of songs, like on the title track and the song "Tears On My Pillow", audio clips of people talking are used (the one on "Tears On My Pillow" in...another language. Kinda sounds like German, but I can't really tell offhand), and there's an EPIC FLUTE SOLO thrown in the song "A Friend Like You", plus some progressive bits on the title track to make things interesting. The lyrics are, as you may have surmised from the title of the album, of the old-school evangelical style, pretty hard hitting and straight forward. The vocals utilize a mix of aggressive shouts, death growls and clean vocals. Personally, I think the metal here sounded better when the death style was used. Overall, I'd say a very good solid METAL album.

X-SINNER - World Covered In Blood

2011-01-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

X-SINNER

World Covered In Blood

Image Records

2008

World Covered In Blood marks the third album of all-new material, since 1990's Peace Treaty. Sure, there have been that demo collection, a complete re-working and retitling of the Peace Treaty album, and that best-left-unspoken of Angry Einsteins release in the mid-1990s (it really was a bad time for us metalheads). But World Covered In Blood is a collection of brand-spanking new (up to this time, anyway) material, for all of us hard rock and metal fans. So, you may be thinking, how does it hold up? Let me tell you, this thing flat out rocks. Hard.

I would call World Covered In Blood to be vintage X-Sinner - raw, hook laden guitar heavy n' gritty hard rock. Gone is the slick production that was prevalent on their first two releases (something the band wasn't happy with, especially on the original Peace Treaty). This results in a much more raw and energetic sound that really enhances the listening experience. This could actually be the first instance that X-Sinner finally got to sound like they wanted to on a studio album.

Now I realize since day one, there's been the comparisons to AC/DC. I've debated this, as I thought their earlier stuff, especially Get It, sounded more like Kix or pre-Pyromania era Def Leppard. Here, the AC/DC comparisons are a bit more apt, albeit the early Bon Scott era. Vocalist Rex Scott (who took over duties with Peace Treaty) does sound a lot like Scott more than not. And the title track, I could swear they lifted the opening riff from "Whole Lotta Rosie". But, I don't consider the comparisons necessarily a bad thing. This is high-octane rock n' roll, here. And from front to back, World Covered In Blood is a nice, heavy and long-awaited piece of hard rock awesome. Recommended for fans of AC/DC, Kix and Mainline Riders...

The 77s - All Fall Down

2011-01-02T18:16:00.001-08:00

The 77s

All Fall Down

Exit Records

1984

All Fall Down, The 77s' second album, is a relatively solid release of hook-laden guitar-and-keyboard driven New Wave rock. This album was, reportedly, picked up by the mainstream label A&M for release in the general market, which got them a bit more exposure. Along with videos for "Mercy Mercy" and "Ba Ba Ba Ba" running on MTV, this album more or less was the prelude to bigger things for the band.

As an album, All Fall Down appeals to my Child Of The 80s music sensibilities. Mike Roe is a fantastic songwriter, and it shows here in songs like "Mercy Mercy", "You Don't Scare Me" and "Caught In An Unguarded Moment". You kind of have to understand the era that my formative years as a music enthusiast is based on. That's why I recommend All Fall Down to anyone who remembers the time of New Wave dominance on the radio, as this really did hold its own I think. Anyone who got into music later in life, and especially those who only know of The 77s from 1992's Pray Naked onward, may listen to this and wonder if they happened upon a different band by mistake. Not their best, but I do recommend picking up a copy of All Fall Down as a curiosity piece. Try and find a good vinyl copy, as it does add to the experience, I think...

AZMAVETH - Strong As Death

2011-01-02T17:13:00.001-08:00

AZMAVETH

Strong As Death

Bombworks Records

2007

Normally, when I'm listening to this album or that for the reviewin', and if I happen to also be sitting at the ol' Nex Nocturnium, I'll do a little research while taking in the music. Once in a while I might come across a little nugget that may add a bit to the review. Such as this one, for the Puerto Ric0 black metal outfit Azmaveth. For instance, the band originally called themselves Exousia, but changed it to Azmaveth after two months. Couldn't find an exact reason, but my own speculations lead me to believe it had something to do with another extreme metal band from Mexico already having the name. Just speculation, mind you. If anyone could verify it, let me know.

Another tidbit involves this particular album itself, Strong As Death. Seems that it was originally released as a self-titled album back in 2004 on Deathcrush Records, which I couldn't really glean much about, as a quick cursory search on Google only brought up a Deathcrush Records that began in 2006 and died quickly in 2007 or 2008. And it had a pentagram in its logo. Eh. Either way, when I say "originally released", it's a bit of a misnomer, as the self-titled wasn't exactly released officially. So, after that, and a demo in 2004 which featured a few cuts from the full-length, along comes Bombworks Records and essentially re-releases the self-titled album, with new artwork, a good remastering, and a new title, Strong As Death. Which is a song title from the 2004 demo. And no, that song doesn't appear on this release. Ironically enough.

The music on Strong As Death (the place I bought it from had it listed as Stronger Than Death) is black metal that is strongly influenced by thrash and death metal, which is very pleasing to my ears. Some great guitar riffs and heavy blastbeats throughout, black and death vocals giving things a good blackwash, and a little bit of synths to keep things interesting. The songs vary in tempo, and there are some inspired solos, so the actual songs don't get lumped in the "good, but they all sound the same" category.

One gripe I have, and it involves the fact that there are only 7 actual songs in the 13 tracks on the album. There's an intro and outro, and all the actual songs are buffered by a brief, almost throwaway "interlude" that I personally couldn't care less about. That makes Strong As Death's entire run time to be a little over half-an-hour, certainly not long enough for a full-on METAL experience. What, Bombworks couldn't have included the other songs off of the 2004 demo? Maybe even have the band re-record them, or at least remaster them like they did the self-titled? With what I've heard on this album, certainly doing that would have slaked my thirst for the band's music. Especially since there hasn't been any word of new material outside of their MySpace page of late.

Anyhoo, all things considered, Strong As Death is a really good METAL listen, when it comes down to it. Pop this in, and I dare you not to try to give yourself whiplash...

SAINT - Hell Blade

2010-12-20T19:24:00.001-08:00

SAINT

Hell Blade

Retroactive Records

2010

Instant Saint classic. And no, I really don't think I'm over-exaggerating here. From the moment you pop this in (and you get past the instrumental first track), you are treated to one of the finer METAL albums to be produced recently. Hell Blade is classic heavy METAL you would expect from Saint - high quality, mid-paced galloping METAL chock full of great riffs, heavy rhythms, and Josh Kramer's ever-present and distinctive vocals. From the first song "The Blade" to the final notes of title track "Hell Blade", every moment of the album is Heavy METAL that doesn't let up and keeps you hooked. Lyrically, the band keeps it solidly in their classic repertoire of themes: end times, the struggle with sin and temptation, and ultimate inner peace as only Christ Jesus can give. The production is very top notch for an independent release, while maintaining that classic retro heavy METAL sound. Hell Blade secures its place among other Saint classics, like Time's End and Warriors Of The Son. Pop this sucker in, don thy denim and leather, and fly they METAL flag high, my wonderful freaks...

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Brutal Love 3

2010-11-28T06:06:00.000-08:00

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Brutal Love 3

Digital Release

2010

Part 3 in the Brutal Love series, which features metal bands from the Latin parts of the Western hemisphere, an area that has a nice fertile breeding ground for METAL, but may be overlooked outside of the specific locals. As this, like the previous entries in the Brutal Love compilations, are offered up for free download, it's easier in this day and age to expand my palate for more, shall we say, exotic metal. But enough of my bleary-brained prattling. Let's take a look at what's contained here, shall we?

HAWTHORNS - "Master Of Life"
...dark black metal-ish with doom influences; black metal shrieks and clean dramatic vocals; kind of reminds me of Synnove...

IMPERIAL DUSK - "Inflamed Dragon"
...old-school black metal that's rather "meh", especially the drums...

ZION'Z - "One Love"
...alright cut; kind of a modern metal thing, doesn't know if it wants to be rapcore or whatnow...doesn't inspire me to listen to an entire album of their stuff...

ALESSA - "Sua Vez"
...metalcore that tricks you inot thinking it's deathcore, until the melodic mall metal vocals kick in...serviceable heaviness, though...

BURN MY HEART AT SUNSET - "O Silencio Que Precede o Caos"
...with a band name like that, I expected something metalcore. Deathcore, actually, not too bad, fairly standard...

GODCORE - "Eu Sempre Quis Assim"
...well, you would think, with a name like Godcore, something besides pop power rock in the vein of Kutless or...some other band like that. Yet, lo and behold. Pass...

ELLAGRACE - "Acredite"
...heavy, aggressive hardcore metal. Not bad, though the vocalist sounds like he overpeaked the recording levels...

KRIG - "Mankind Dead Remains"
...raw, thrashy death metal, definitely one of the personal great cuts here...

VEIL TORN - "Ultimato"
...old school black metal, and by that I mean raw, blistering and atmospheric, due in part by the low production values, methinks...

ALTHAR - "Bad Dream"
...post-thrash, groove metal in the same vein of Faithbomb and Eternal Decision. Pretty good cut...

BLACK DRUMMER BAND - "Santficacao"
...melodic hard rock that would appeal to fans of...well, that kind of stuff (I honestly don't know a lot of 'em really). Not really my kind of thing, though...

DEAD SNAKE - "Terror Nocturno"
...creepy intro, followed by some fairly raw and brutal death metal. Primitive stuff, but a good effort here...

SPIRIT'S BREEZE - "Morbid Memories"
...here we go. Death metal, with some great production and songwriting. They have come a long way since I reviewed their 3-song EP ten years ago...

HASTA CUANDO - "A Trajectoria Explicita o Ser"
...heavy power metal, with some thrash and death touches, heavy on the speed. Think Dagon and Angel 7, you get the idea...

ILUMINARI - "Cemetery Of Dreams"
...female-fronted heavy melodic power metal with some prog influences. HB and Venia spring to mind. Very good stuff here...

O VERBO - "Deserto"
...yeah, um...modern rock-ish power ballad...you can almost hear the guy's soul patch...pass...

OCCULT GARDEN - "Tears Are Dried In The Way"
...synth-and-sound effects intro, then at around the 2-and-a-half minute mark, kicks in with some doomy death metal, very atmospheric...

...so there you go. A nice smörgåsbord of METAL from the Latin areas of the world. As it's one of those albums offered up as a free download, you can't really go wrong by checking this and the others in the Brutal Love series. Here's hoping these are a continuing series...

SAINT - Crime Scene Earth 2.0

2010-11-27T19:15:00.000-08:00

SAINT

Crime Scene Earth 2.0

Retroactive Records

2009

When Saint first released Crime Scene Earth, there were a lot of fans bummed that vocalist Josh Kramer only sang on three tracks. I wasn't one of those fans. I personally thought Crime Scene Earth was fine the way it was. But, in the grand cliche of "the squeakiest wheel gets the most oil", or however that saying goes, Saint regrouped and completely re-mixed, re-mastered and re-recorded Josh's vocals, and released it as Crime Scene Earth 2.0. A case of making a great thing better, or caving to the whiny fanboys in an effort to shut them up? Eh, don't really care at this point.

As it stands, although this is technically a re-issue, the remastering and inclusion of Josh Kramer on all the vocals really makes this sound like its own entity, not just a rehash with the new vocals tacked on. It really does sound better sound-wise, with the sound levels improved and the songs sounding beefier. This is some good, solid heavy METAL, good for the crankin'. Also, the new cover art is perhaps the most METAL of the Saint covers I've seen.

I wasn't planning on picking up Crime Scene Earth 2.0. I really thought the first release was sufficient to sate my hunger for Saint-related METAL. But, after giving this a shot, I must say, even if you're satisfied with the first one (I'm sure there's more like me out there), you'd might want to pick this one up as well. It's not just another rehash, and it sounds great cranked.

BETRAYAL - Leaving Nevermore

2010-11-27T05:26:00.001-08:00

BETRAYAL

Leaving Nevermore

Black And White

1999

I secretly enjoy it when a well-established and loved band changes styles from one release to another. Not so much because I laud the artistic stretching the band or artist makes (I do), but because of a morbid fascination with watching the fanbase reaction. Yeah, I've done my fare share of bellyaching, so I'm not excluded from this. But really, there's a certain amount of entertainment value with reading some of the fan boards. And once again, I digress...

Betrayal started off as a thrash metal band that gained a good amount of popularity within the Christian metal community in the early 1990s. After two studio albums, the band disappeared. Then at the close of the millennium, founder Marcus Colon resurrected Betrayal, this time as a gothic industrial hybrid that, from what I understand, really threw a lot of people. I got ahold of Leaving Nevermore a few years after it was first released, so I already knew to not expect the thrash and speed from before.

To say that Leaving Nevermore is a bit different from the previous Betrayer albums is an understatement. This is a dark industrial and ambient project, so you could probably understand the collective shock-wave coming from the longtime fanbase. As an album, depending on who you talk to, Leaving Nevermore is either a tremendous non-metal disappointment, or a pretty good electronic industrial album. Personally, having an enjoyment of both the METAL and the industrial genres and styles, Leaving Nevermore isn't too bad. Good variety of electronic industrial in the programing and such. The lyrics are deeply personal and uplifting, nice complement to the music.

Really, I kind of agree with maybe using a different name other than Betrayal for this album, but after a bit of research (meaning, 10 minutes on Google) and realizing that Marcus used the name Betrayal after praying about it, I'm cool with it. Then again, I understood what I was getting into before getting a copy of this album. Eh, bottom line is thus: Leaving Nevermore is a fairly decent and serviceable electronic industrial album. Doesn't break any creative boundaries, but it's worth checking out.

KLANK - Part Two

2010-10-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Here it is, my wonderful freaks! Part Two of the Klank interview (the first part of which, in case you missed it, can be found here). In this installment, Mr. Diolosa takes us through a VH1 Storytellers-type discussion, involving a handful of songs in the Klank repertoire. It's kind of a rare instance that he does this, and I'm equal parts humbled and geeking out at this glimpse behind these songs. So saddle up and enjoy this second parter...

Music is the universal language in which ALL CAN RELATE in some way or another... I've found that for me , it's easiest to write about what i know, what i see and what i feel... And I'm some cases how i feel to see others go through things. I like writing in the third person at times to you know. Like putting yourself in someone else's shoes and really trying to see things from their point of view... Sometimes that can be a really hardcore door to open..

One example of that in particularly is with the song "How Could You" off our "In Memory Of.." release. Basically while KLANK was on one of our first few tours, we were sitting in the van for countless hours driving... I was up talking to Ducci and he was telling me a story about how he was adopted at a really young age. He told me that as a little kid, he had written a note to his BIOLOGICAL parents. In that note, He basically took all his feelings on the situation and laid it out to them on paper in hopes that one day he would see them face to face and give it to them. He explained to me that a big part of it was "How could you do this to me?" You never even gave me a chance to be a part of your life.

I was so touched, moved and mentally beat up over his story that it struck a nerve in me waaaaaay deep down inside. I was literally balling my eyes out when he was done. I needed to hug him and tell him that i loved him. He had basically carried that note around for years by the way.... I ended up writing lyrics about this, as in the third person... Like i WAS Ducci.. Talking to his biological parents in the note. It is pretty self explanatory now that you know the background to it, but here's the lyrics to what ended up being "How Could You"

I wrote it all
In a note without regret
Everything i said
Every word i meant

Twenty years have passed
Still i feel this strong
This gaping hole you've left
Couldn't be more wrong

How could you do this to me?
Why did you give me up?
you didn't have to give me up

How could you do this to me?
Did you think of yourself
Or did you think of me?

How could you do this to me?
Why did you give me up?
you didn't have to give me up

How could you do this to me?
Could have been a part of your life
Instead you gave me away

You and I will meet
One day face to face
You wont wanna hear
What i have to say

That's for everything
That you NEVER did
I guess you'll never know
The love i have to give

How could you do this to me?
Why did you give me up?
you didn't have to give me up

How could you do this to me?
Did you think of yourself
Or did you think of me?

How could you do this to me?
Why did you give me up?
you didn't have to give me up

How could you do this to me?
Could have been a part of your life
Instead you gave me away

What I wish today
Is that you would learn
Where my mind has been
And what it is to burn

Everything I've felt
Driving me insane
Sometimes I feel guilt
Sometimes I feel pain

How could you do this to me?
Why did you give me up?
you didn't have to give me up

How could you do this to me?
Did you think of yourself
Or did you think of me?

How could you do this to me?
Why did you give me up?
you didn't have to give me up

How could you do this to me?
Could have been a part of your life
Instead you gave me away

The kicker is he has 2 great parents who adopted him and love him very much, but it doesn't change the fact of what he felt as a child growing up and basically how it messed with his head. The lyrics express that specifically. "What I wish today Is that you would learn, Where my mind has been And what it is to burn, Everything I've felt Driving me insane, Sometimes I feel guilt Sometimes I feel pain" Growing up, you have no clue what the circumstances are and why people make the decisions they do, but that doesn't mean it don't mess with your head either. Like Ducci, you end up feeling guilty like it's your fault when in all actuality it's not.

KLANK - "How Could You"

[yeah, I couldn't find a video on YouTube to accompany the song, so just stream it at his site there...sorry, I wish I could've found something with visuals as well... - Uncle NecRo]

Keeping with the subject of family and songs, another prime example of a page right out of my own journal is LEAVE. It's all about my parents bitter divorce... But more so the day that my mom actually walked out and never came back. I was only like 7 yrs old, but I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was laying on the living room shag carpet doing my math homework. Scooby Doo cartoon was on in the background, and my mom walked up to me and my brother Jamie and said "Well that's it guys....Mommy's gotta go". We were like what do you mean go? She said, "I'm leaving". Naturally my response was, "When are you coming back?" She said, "I'm not coming back... Now be good boys and give mommy a kiss". I remember crying and saying, "Don't Go... Please... I'll be good from now on... I PROMISE I will... I will". She turned away, walked out, closed the door and left and it royally fucked me up big time for a very long time. I ended up seeing a shrink... It was freaking ugly bro... So let me break it down for you by verse... Pretty self explanatory though..

Reaching back into my mind
Memories I cannot find
About the one who went astray
Turned her back and walked away

Open wound
Closing door
She won't live here any more

Reaching back into my min
Memories I cannot find

Why did you have to leave?
See what you did to me?

With tearful eyes at her I stare
A sorrow that's too much to bear

My heart pulled out before my eyes
A touching way to say goodbye

While holding on to her last kiss
I bid fare well and wave my fist

All the years that I have cried
Since a part of me has died
Struggle hard to keep my nerve
And show the love that she deserves

Open wound, closing door
She won't live here, any more

Why did you have to leave?
See what you did to me?

With tearful eyes at her I stare
A sorrow that's too much to bear

My heart pulled out before my eyes
A touching way to say goodbye

While holding on to her last kiss
I bid fare well and wave my fist

The line "Open wound Closing door She won't live here any more" was basically her leaving which opened the wound, The door closing and she is gone and her saying she wont come back. "With tearful eyes at her I stare, A sorrow that's too much to bear, My heart pulled out before my eyes, A touching way to say goodbye, While holding on to her last kiss, I bid fare well and wave my fist". Pretty obvious that I'm standing there balling my eyes out and its killing me as i kiss her goodbye. I love her and im upset, but at the same time I'm "Shaking my fist" like WTF?? You're really leaving??` "All the years that I have cried, Since a part of me has died, Struggle hard to keep my nerve, And show the love that she deserves". Years later, It still hurts and it cuts deep that she left, despite whatever the reasons were. But at the same time, she is still my mother and i love her to death and I still felt that she deserved my love. As i said to actually know the events behind the song make it really easy to understand it and it paints a pretty vivid but bleak picture.

KLANK - "Leave"

If you take the song Downside, I wouldn't describe it as political as some have in the past, but it does have to deal with world events and certain variables that are existent that we do kinda over look or even take for granted because we don't really sit and think about it. it's not stating our "Fate" as a country / world system, but some of it is basically documenting the fact that a lot of things that have to do with us and directly affects us, is basically up to someone else and their judgment or decision making for us or "on our behalf". Lets break it down:

"Life's Uncertainties, Two days are not the same, You can't tell what the outcome will be"

It's a well known fact that despite what we might say or think, none of us really know what tomorrow or the future holds. None of us!! We can believe we do or have faith that this or that would happen, but we don't really know. And so many things happen, for me at least, during the course of one day that 2 days literally will not be the same and because of that we don't know what the outcome of any day is or will end up being.

"Overwhelming peace, While racial tension breeds, Wealth and poverty both eyes to see"

Everywhere you turn, everywhere you look, Everyone is talking about peace. We all want it, vast majority of people breathe it, teach it and preach it all day every day,but at the same time there is tension. This racial tension building, bubbling and breeding and spreading all around, And it is here in our
country, not just in some distant foreign countries but right here in the USA, and our neighborhoods. Social status doesn't matter and holds no bearing when it comes to vision. As human beings we all need eyes to see. Don't matter if you're rich, poor or middle class... we all need eyes and we see through the same eyes.

"Cataclysmic minds, unite to procreate, Perverse offspring of our technology"

The most brilliant minds in the world unite to come up with such advances in technology and it is constantly evolving, advancing, moving forward in hopes of bettering ourselves like a natural progression... To better the world or even achieving peace by their contributions and we still end up with atomic
bombs and high end tools of war designed to destroy and even exterminate our adversary.

"Leaching Collaborate, Cut off your nose to spite your face, Weakening the system that buckles at the knees"

The military, government and any sort of "figures of power and influence" are all intertwined and it's THEIR efforts that are essentially hurting us as a nation. We are feeling it and buckling from it and we will end up eventually falling or collapsing as a result.

"Nuclear holocaust, Is this our destiny? Destroy our future, Perpetual Wasteland, Leaders not exempt, To their mortality, And even still our lives, Are held in their hands"

Will the ever feared "Nuclear Holocaust" actually be the end to us all? Destroying us with all it's toxic by products, forms of radiations and even pollutions? Fact is our leaders are just humans. They not perfect by any means. They too make mistakes just like everyone else and are not exempt to that
fact. Like i said earlier, our fate is kinda not our own. Our existence or fate or whatever you wanna call it is in the palm of someone else's hands.. Not ours, but the decision makers.

KLANK - "Downside"

We also have stuff that we feel is very positive lyrically...

"Blind" from our NUMB...Reborn release is what i call a "Self Help" song. We all go through some pretty crazy wacked out things in life but we can't ever let it get the best of us. We all make mistakes, it's who we are, but we need to kind of "Man Up" and do our best to learn from the mistakes and try to progress from it. But only if we all just really take a good look without the having our proverbial "blinders" on know what i mean man?. Gotta loose that Tunnel Vision and see the bigger picture. There a bridge part in the song and the lyrics go "We're plastic all the time, You wear your mask and I'll wear mine, How it's to be, We all get hurt at times, You bear your cross and I'll bear mine, it's not what you see, It's what you ought to be... Open your eyes...Open your eyes". We are plastic, were breakable, vulnerable... some might even say fragile.. and yet we all wear masks of some type. We all have some sort or burden or cross to bear it seems, but that doesn't have to own you or dictate who you are... Forget who you WERE and find out what you ARE...what you OUGHT to be!!

Blind.....
Open your eyes
Open your eyes

My eyes they see
The way it is
And the way it has to be for me
To survive in this world
Full of misery
Do you see the answers never come
Quite so easily
Be free
Forget who you were
Find out what you'll be

Open your eyes
Open your eyes

I'd die to see
A world where we could
Exist in harmony
And peace
The choice is ours
And the answers up to
You and me
The time is now
So rid yourself
Of the slavery
Forget who you were
Find out what you'll be

Open your eyes
Open your eyes

Don't be so blind
You've been lied to your whole life
It's time to stand up for what's right

Will you ever learn in time?
I chose to take back my life
I chose to take back my life

Out of darkness into light
How can you expect to find
If you don't open your eyes????

Down inside
My soul it bleeds
And cries out for the one's just like you
With no relief I wish that I could just touch you and make you complete
The only way to get back up on your own
Two feet
Forget who you were
Find out what you'll be

Open your eyes
Open your eyes

Don't be so blind
You've been lied to your whole life
It's time to stand up for what's right

Will you ever learn in time
I chose to take back my life
I chose to take back my life

Out of darkness into light
How can you expect to find
If you don't open your eyes???

We're plastic all the time
You wear your mask and I'll wear mine
How it's to be
We all get hurt at times
You bear your cross and I'll bear mine
it's not what you see
It's what you ought to be

Open your eyes
Open your eyes

Don't be so blind
You've been lied to your whole life
It's time to stand up for what's right

Will you ever learn in time
I chose to take back my life
I chose to take back my life

Out of darkness into light
How can you expect to find
If you don't open your eyes????

Don't be so blind....

KLANK - "Blind"

Another song off NUMB...Reborn is "Don't Count Me Out". Thats pretty self explanatory as well. The chorus says it best.. I may be down, but Don't Count Me Out!!!! I can take a lickin' and keep on tickin' just as good as the best of them. I know all about the daily grind and doing what you gotta do to put food on the table. Been there, done that... Still doing that. I always say no one hates there job as much as me because i could be doing so many other better things than putting money in someone else's pockets instead of mine.... and my weekly check for putting money in their pockets is MINUSCULE compared to what they make. I bust my ass and they reap the reward. That SUCKS!! I'd rather hang with my band, my girl, my friends and write some kick ass tunes man. just being real about it, but i do what i gotta do to provide. It all depends on what you are comfortable with lifestyle wise. Some people don't care. They don't work, get food stamps and settle for living like a homeless person. Not that there is anything wrong with that if that's what your into, i just like stuff, i like my little creature comforts and i like having an actual roof over my head... and a bed to sleep on. I know people that enjoy living like a pauper, but it's not for me. But I'm not going down without a fight... I get behind in my bills, rent, the dog food starts to look real appealing... but it ain't happening. ha ha ha ...

Back forth
In out
Left right
Everyday Grind

Work yourself
to the bone
what have
we become

Got no life
So it seems
that I'm stuck
In a rut

where's the light
that i seek
In this
tunnel vast

I may be down
Don't count me out
I may be down
Don't count me out
I may be down
Don't count me out
I may be down
Don't count me out

Made some mistakes
In my life
thats ok
Cause i learned
from the past
and i chose
Not to live the same

Beat me down
Day to day
Its my life
and i do

what i must
scratch and claw
as if
to survive

I may be down
Don't count me out
I may be down
Don't count me out
I may be down
Don't count me out
I may be down
Don't count me out

KLANK - "Don't Count Me Out"

In a nutshell, I like to challenge people to think. Somethings that seem to have a very surface meaning are not the actual real meanings at all.. And sometimes yes it is.. I am a wise ass like that. Somethings you can say Oh that's definitely a song about this or that a lot of times isn't really what it appears to be at all. I am really big into the double entendre or multiple meanings thing...

Thank you Uncle Necro for this chance to delve a bit into the cobweb laden areas and take an opportunity to "dig a little deeper". It is greatly appreciated and welcome anytime!!

Please hit us up on facebook at www.facebook.com/klank, and

www.reverbnation.com/klank and the official site at

www.klanknation.com

...and I should add, thank YOU, Klank, for allowing me this rare honor. So if you've never heard this guy's stuff, what are you waiting for? Clicky-clicky on the links, there...Uncle NecRo commands you...

- Uncle NecRo

KLANK - Part One

2010-09-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Since discovering the music of the artist / band Klank back in the mid-1990's via the classic Still Suffering release, "ravenous fanboy" would probably be the best way to describe my personal love of the music produced. For those of you unfamiliar, Klank is the moniker for both the man Daren Diolosa, and for the band itself, and the music is heavy, infectious, passionate, and has a great beat and you can dance to it. Recently, through the miracle that is FaceBook, I was able to do something I have been wanting to do for years, but was always a bit timid to go about doing so - conduct an interview with the man behind the music. This is Part One, where I ask the questions that popped in my head that weren't the ten minutes of "YOU'RE SO AWESOME!!!" that my brain insisted on repeating. Part Two will be up in a few days, and it's gonna be a little somethin'-somethin' special. So, without further adieu, here's my interview with Daren "Klank" Diolosa...

[as always, my questions are in bold]

Okay, so I guess I'll start with the standard opening question, here: When did you start getting into music, and what lead up to playing this kind of music?

I was a really little kid. Like 4 or 5 yrs old. I had 5 older brothers... I had a wide of variety or influences early on and i KNOW that led to my vast pallet of musical tastes. Kansas, Electric Light Orchestra (E.L.O.), The Cars, Elton John, Billy Joel.... etc etc etc

You just released Numb...Reborn not too long ago; completely redone, with a few new tracks and a couple of remixes, which sounds completely awesome, btw. What lead to this, ten years after the original release?

We wanted to basically release it the way it was meant to be released originally. Cleaner, fuller and just bigger sounding. Pat has come a long way as an engineer, programmer and mixer and it definitely shows big time. Plus now we have a lot more gear and better gear...

One thing that has remained consistent, I think, is the stark honesty in the lyrics. There's a lot of dark brooding, but also some hope, like in "Don't Count Me Out", "Burning" and "God?". Especially with the later song, the phrase "sometimes I think you hate me" takes a lot of guts to say out loud. I guess the question here is, any thoughts on this writing process?

For us, writing music is a form of therapy that helps to release bottled up frustrations and emotions that otherwise may have no outlet... We write music that we feel comes from deep down inside and a lot of people can relate because it's based on real life situations and emotions from everyday life... We write about life, how it affects us and those around us. From mood swings, bitterness, the longing for inner peace to elements of hope, happiness & even despair.

We all have to deal with these in our lives and this is our way to vent those issues. I have written about everything from my parents divorce, abuse, perseverance and never giving up, encouraging people to think for themselves to the closer than family bonds of friendship, discontent, a best friends betrayal and even questioning God and his existence. We've always referred to our lyrics as a page out of a journal or diary, but set to music. We like to consider it a form of "Sonic Therapy".

When you released Still Suffering in 1996, the album was really unlike anything that was on the Tooth & Nail label, then or since. Looking back, do you think the label was a good fit for the album, or do you think it probably would have done better on a different label?

I have no regrets about being with Tooth and Nail. I mean there is no ideal "record deal", it could always be better in some way. We surpassed their expectations in a major way. Brandon thought it was all gonna be like death metal-ish and when we sent him the Downside rough demo he nearly shit himself. He was like what.. Not what i was expecting.. but that's NOT a bad thing at all... I love it... I wanna hear more asap!!! We sold like 5 or 6 times more than what the average hardcore release was selling... So yeah it was a good fit. T & N was still very young as a label and very aggressive so it worked out well for us. We just wanted different things when it came to the next record. We asked if we could walk away and we did.

Without going into detail, I discovered Still Suffering at a time when I really needed it. The songs were raw, honest, and not very pretty, and they still resonate with that rare passion, in my not-so-humble opinion. And in the Christian market...yeah, that was a much-needed anomaly. What was the reaction to the album? And was it embraced more in the mainstream market?

To be quite honest dude, over the years we have received quite an insane amount of mail, e mail and face to face feedback from people saying the same exact thing. It came out at what happened to be a really dark time for some, or a really rough, hard time in some peoples lives and it was just what they needed to get by and get through whatever they were going through at that time. For me , as a lyricist, that was / is the biggest compliment that ANYONE could ask for because it was a dark time for me as well. Remember me calling it "Sonic Therapy"?? Because it was therapy for me as well. Thats WHY it was written. My thoughts, my feelings, my freaking brain that never seems to stop and over analyzes everything... every detail...

I think that's one thing that draws our fans and our listeners in is the realness and sincere relatablity in the words man. There are so many forms of preachy bands, and everyone has their own agenda whether religion, saving the planet, Krishna... Whatever.. We've just always wanted to jam and rock and have a good time in our own way....and along that way, if somebody gets something out of it, then that is AWESOME. I thought it would be cool if it reached at least ONE person in some way... But it reached like 40,000... and they all got something from it and that's the best feeling ever.

One kid I remember came up to me and said, 'Can I give you a hug?' I was like, 'Uh, what?' This kid told me, 'I have been freaking out and trying to find out who I am. I've thought about suicide and I am all alone. Nobody feels like I do and I can't relate to anybody. And then I heard your CD, and it's like you looked into my head and said everything I was thinking and feeling, and you said it for me.' That was the biggest standing ovation compliment that you can get, but also trying to be level-headed, and as long as people get something out of it and it helps them out along the way, that's the connection on stage and the lyrical connection that is one of the factors that has me still going. We have such a devout fan base that it doesn't matter when we put something out; they know that when we do, they know it's going to be real and it's something that they can experience. It's tangible, and it's going to rock!

Okay, I'm only mentioning this because I'm somewhat amused when I read it describing your music: "The Christian White Zombie!" Thoughts?

Well you asked for it, so I'm gonna give it to ya.... I hate freaking LABELS? Were not Rob Zombie, similar style maybe, but not him. Were NOT a christian band. I hate that everything has to be a "Christian "this or that. Disgusted with all of that. We rolled through Memphis for a gig and the local paper said "The Cristian TRENT REZNOR".. I was disgusted. Does your car salesman have to be a christian? Does your septic tank sucker guy have to be your "CHRISTIAN Septic tank sucker guy"?? Either way he's cleaning shit... Does it really make a difference to label it?

I remember we were on tour, and we got a phone call from the label. 'We ran into a bit of a SNAFU with returns. We got 500 CDs back from Christian bookstores.' And we were like, 'What? We are in Christian bookstores? Huh! OK, so what's the problem? Well... you thanked Howard Stern in the liner notes. We said OK.... and the problem is what exactly? Well, you thanked Howard Stern. 'And...what...is...the problem?! Well... He's not a Christian, and he's not a wholesome figure. My reply was Look, he was someone I spent a little time with, he shook my hand, said it was a pleasure to meet me, and wished me luck with my music and i wanted to say thank you to him. Well, he's not Christian enough for you to be thanking... Need i say more??? Ludicrous i tell you!!!

You know, there would be times when kids would come up to me at shows and say, 'Uh...my mom and dad tell me I can't listen to your music anymore. I'd ask these kids what the problem is and they'd say, My mom and dad say you're not Christian enough, you don't thank God in your liner notes, and in your interviews, you say you're not a Christian. That's when I'd set them straight. I'd say, Really? Do they dress you in the morning too? Do they wipe you when you take a dump too??? It sucks, because you have to try to be respectful, and I know what it's like, because I grew up in a Christian household. It was a very strict born again home, and that's how I grew up; those were their rules, and I had to live by it. I've been there and it sucks, but u have to honor your parents rules when u live in their house and it IS rough. But it sucks to be "called out" by a 10 or 11 yr old who is misinformed. Sure, I had Black Sabbath albums hidden in the sleeves of the Petra albums and whatever i was "ALLOWED" to listen to at that time.

We want people to know that we're not pushing anything on anybody. I have grown up in a church situation, but over the years, I've seen different things, and I'm not turning my back on anything. The term 'Christian' means to be Christ-like, so when people are going to church and say, 'You're going to burn in hell, that is not being very Christ-like. Christ would hang out with the drunks and the hookers, and he tried to guide them through example, and it's rough to try to be true to who you are and to relate that to other people who are being led through some idea that's pushed on them. You know, more people in history have been killed in the name of religion than anything... The way I see it, the best way to learn and the best way to do is to lead by example, be the coolest person you can be, whatever spiritual guideline you live by, I try to be the best person I can be. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We are who we are, we're real people, and we're trying to live our lives the best way that we can.

If you could go back and redo it, would you? And would it be better, or worse, do you think?

Still Suffering?? Nah.. no need to redoo. it was honest, innocent and genuine at its time, what try to mess with it!

How would you compare making music back in the mid-1990s, compared with doing it now, with the Internet and technology being far more advanced? Is this a good time to be an independent artist / band, compared to back then?

Making music is easier these days because every Joe Schmoe has a computer and thinks they are an engineer or remixer. So there is a mass influx of "Self recorded" things these days which is good... but a drawback at the same time.. lets face it, not everyone is great, and its easy to put stuff out and no one monitors the quality these days... Hell i HATE half the stuff i do.. i go back, re record, fix, tweek... We are mega perfectionists and its a blessing and a curse. So understand were not slagging everybody who does it themselves at all...

Yes this IS a good time to be an independent artist because there is a lot more avenues to reach people in this day and technological age.. the click of a mouse or push of a button..... BAM... know what i mean?

What does the future hold for Klank, both the band and the artist? Music? Touring? Random product endorsements?

We have been playing out a bunch, honing our craft and were trying to get out on the road for an extended tour of some type. We've been offered some festival dates next year and were gonna try and run with it. Playing wise we feel stronger than ever and were all happy doing what we do.

Numb...Reborn is out and available and we're always recording and writing and working on new music. We're hoping that by the beginning of the year, we'll be ready to release the new one titled URBAN WARFARE. The sound on URBAN WARFARE will basically be a natural progression to the next level of what KLANK is to become. It will definitely be heavy, dancy, aggressive, melodic and moving because that's what we are, but it will also continue to show our versatility and maturity as musicians as well. We never set out to be confined to one certain box or mold and that's what I feel is one of the coolest aspects of KLANK. We can remain true to our core elements, but essentially the possibilities are limitless.

The song 'Urban Warfare' itself just has such a groove and a sway to it, and the album is going to have melody, but it's just going to be a harsh track. It's not even about the speed, but the groove and the feel. We're really happy with how it's been sounding, and we're taking our time with it. Klank is like fine wine and should not be served before its time, so when it's ready, it will be ready, and hopefully, our fans will be ready... Especially because if everything goes as planned, mr DOUG PINNICK from KINGS X will be helping us on it. We've been friends for years and we really respect him personally and as a musical icon and he's way into working with us. We've actually been working on some remixes of his solo stuff for him....

Where can anyone pick up a copy of Numb...Reborn at?

iTunes.com, www.fixtstore.com/klank, cdbaby.com and all major online retailers... Its a digital download only as of now, but we will be pressing cd's up in the near future.

Any chance of Still Suffering getting the re-release treatment, or is that out of your hands at the moment?

we wanna re release it, but gotta pay the label what it "Still owes" to recoup first... Needless to say we don't have that kinda cash yet so.... for now its outta the question...

Any final parting thoughts?

The Jerry Springer moral message part of the show at the end??? Ha ha ha .... Basically we we wanna have fun, make cool tunes we dig and hopefully other will dig them too. Life is way to short so try to have fun and experience life at it's fullest.......
To Be Continued..............

[Part Two, as mentioned, coming soon]

ETERNAL DECISION - Ghost In The Machine

2010-08-22T14:22:00.001-07:00

ETERNAL DECISION

Ghost In The Machine

Godfather Records

1999

The second release from Eternal Decision - Ghost In The Machine - finds the band moving deeper with the more heavy groove metal territory from the post-thrash of their self-titled release.

I originally got this the year it came out, at one of the merch tables at Cornerstone 1999. Listening to it on the drive back, I remember not being all that impressed with the album, mostly due to expecting more of the same kind of sound that was on the debut. Tell the truth, Ghost In The Machine would have probably grown on me later that year after enough listens, had I not lost the disc a month after acquiring it. Long story, there. I may blog about it some time.

In any case, it wasn't until just recently - over ten years later - when I was able to purchase another copy of Ghost In The Machine. And as I suspected, having expanded my METAL horizons over the past decade, it didn't take too many listens for this album to grow on me. For the most part, Ghost In The Machine is a fairly solid groove metal album, with some heavy hooks and riffs going on. The vocals, compared to the debut, sound a lot more natural rather than forced, which of course tones down the "Metallica rip-off" thing considerably. Some of that has to do with the addition of a second vocalist, giving a more "modern" sound at times. Lyrically, the album tackles issues of faith and struggling with the world.

Overall, Ghost In The Machine is a fairly decent album, mixing the sensibilities of the older and newer METAL that works for the majority of the time. There are some weak points, but in the end it's a good listen.

CAGE - Science Of Annihilation

2010-08-22T13:37:00.001-07:00

CAGE

Science Of Annihilation

Music Buy Mail

2009

A year ago, I was sent a promo copy of this album - Science Of Annihilation - by the Californian heavy freakin' METAL band Cage. Obviously I'm just now getting around to posting a review of the album, something that really shouldn't surprise anyone who regularly keeps up with my reviews here. Before I tackled this one, however, I wanted to secure a copy of Hell Hammer, their previous album, and highly controversial enough to have a bit more priority over this. So I did, nailed the review, and after managing to finally get that one out of my player (it wasn't easy, let me tell you), proceeded to give Science Of Annihilation a good listen.

My first concern as I first popped Science Of Annihilation into the player inside the Blood Mobile was, how well the music would hold up to the face-melting awesomeness of the previous. Well, no worries there, as right off the bat, after the prerequisite prelude narration setting things up, the METAL blasts off your skin once again, throwing you back against the wall, pinning you fast as you're barraged with the sheer power METAL that Cage seems to excel in oh so well.

Lyrically, the songs on Science Of Annihilation fall in the sci-fi / comic book geek area; not really a concept album like the last one, and definitely not of the controversial Book of Revelation by way of the Sy Fy Channel type that stirred up that little hornet's nest on many a Christian Metal message board I've been to. No, mostly the songs are harmless sci-fi geek stuff, about Galactus, a member of the X-Men, Ghost Rider, World War II and various other "good-versus-evil" stories. Cheesy enough to be fun, while metal enough to be awesome. Like the previous albums, though, all this will do is really confuse those who are of the hard-lined "Jesus Only!" Christian metal heads. Well, at least those who don't like to think about stuff too hard. Me, I dig this stuff. Call me liberal, call me soft, call me not really a Christian. Whatever. End of review. Now I'm making myself stupid. Experience this album, or miss out on some prime METAL. Your choice.

The MOSHKETEERS - The Downward Spiral

2010-08-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

The MOSHKETEERS

The Downward Spiral

Roxx Productions

2010

I admit I didn't really know much about The Moshketeers until just recently. They were one of those many obscure thrash metal bands from the early 1990s that I've heard many veterans in the Christian metal brother-and-sisterhood rave about, but due to the rarity of their demos (the original version of The Downward Spiral was cassette-only), haven't had a chance to check out. There was Ultimatum's cover of "Locked In Chains" on Lex Metalis, which was the closest I came to hearing a song from The Moshketeers.

Recently, though, due to the trend of classic and obscure albums being re-released, I've finally been able to add The Mosketeers to my METAL dungeon, and find out why this band comes highly recommended. And I'll tell ya', though the name seems a tad goofy for a METAL band, the music on The Downward Spiral is some very serious thrash heavy goodness. The riffs and hooks are great, the music driving and heavy, with some clean thrash-type vocals. I can now see why this band came highly recommended by my METAL elders.

Kinda wondering, though, how is it these guys didn't manage to get signed to a bigger label, like Intense or R. E. X. at the time? Boggles the mind. But that was, what, 20 years ago. Wow, I feel old. Now, though Roxx Productions got the permission to re-release this on CD, along with a bunch of bonus tracks (the four track Pre-Release demo from 1996, and a demo version of "Ye!") for those of us who missed out the first time, and for those who just needed an official CD copy of their worn-out cassette. The production seems to still retain the raw demo quality, kinda muddled and not as clear as it could have been. Regardless, I've heard worse, and this is some very choice underground heavy METAL, and Roxx did well to reintroduce this lost classic. Recommended.

KILLINGTHEOLDMAN - The Violence Of Sound

2010-07-25T09:26:00.001-07:00

KILLINGTHEOLDMAN

The Violence Of Sound

Flaming Fish

2000

...to tell you the truth, since listening to 'Dementia 13', I was thrown for a loop with this CD by Killingtheoldman (pun intended). While the former leaned on the experimental ambient side of things, 'The Violence Of Sound' is a different entity entirely. A nicely done piece of dark art. Taking elements of industrial, goth, ambient (which is the default word we use when we can't really cram something neatly into just one genre pigeonhole), 'The Violence Of Sound' is just plain dark, a wonderful companion piece to dark nights and candles...

LEADERDOGS FOR THE BLIND - Lemonade

2010-07-24T20:10:00.001-07:00

LEADERDOGS FOR THE BLIND

Lemonade

R. E. X.

1995

After contributing the song "Numb" to the Demo-Lition II compilation, Leaderdogs For The Blind released Lemonade, the only full-length. While the song "Numb" was more straight-forward grunge-y hard rock, the music on Lemonade is best described as grunge-y hard rock with strong industrial flavoring. This is a pretty good release, diverse hard rock with nice groove rhythms and hooks, and doesn't get stale. The entire disc is a solid listen, with my favorite tracks being "The Yellow & Black Attack!", "Ripple", the title track "Lemonade", "Supersaturated" and "The Weather".

Bummer another album never happened after this one. There were a couple of new songs recorded post-Lemonade near the end of the 1990s, and posted on the guy's website, but so far this is the only brief glimpse at rather innovative Christian heavy music.

ILLUMINANDI - In Via

2010-07-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

ILLUMINANDI

In Via

Ars Mundi

2010

Poland's Illuminandi has been one of the few bands that are personal friends of your Uncle NecRo's - well, as personal as the Internet can allow, anyway. Since running into them on the Christian Metal Realm board nearly ten years ago, they've been very kind, generous and downright awesome, keeping in touch over the years. It also helps that their music is outright fantastic.

So, when Wojciech Zawiliński got ahold of me not too long ago about their new album, I was understandably ecstatic. Always up for some new material from these guys, and it's good to see they have been very diligent with perfecting their craft, there.

The music on In Via (Latin for "on the way") continues with their brand of metal and classical folksy mix that blends together into something hard to describe in just a couple of words, especially if you haven't listened to Illuminandi's music before (obviously I'm going to urge you to do so immediately). Saying something like "Virgin Black with more thrash and heavy metal leanings" would be a step in the right direction. Virgin Black, Venia, Believer and Saviour Machine would all be closer tot he scope of the music, and still I think that wouldn't do justice. The music is very well done, multi-layered and maintains heaviness and atmosphere throughout. The production is great. Really, I've listened to this album numerous times already, both in my car at work and on my MP3 player, and I haven't tired of it.

If you're looking for something in the vein of Gothic metal, folk metal, well-made progressive and different, In Via by Illuminandi is definitely the way to go, methinks. Highly recommended.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Electro Shock Therapy

2010-07-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Electro Shock Therapy

R. E. X.

1995

This industrial compilation, which many in the scene consider a milestone, is a mixed bag of sourts of diverse industrial bands emerging in the underground scene at the time.

Released in 1995, Electro Shock Therapy is an early look at the darker electronic side of extreme Christian music, featuring 15 different bands with different styles of industrial and EBM that really, after over a decade of personally exploring the underground world of Christian industrial, only scratches the surface of the talent that is out there. Or was out there at the time this was released. Time passes too fast for your Uncle NecRo, that's for sure.

The standout tracks: Aleixa's "Unloved", Cult Of Jester's "Master V2", Kettleblack's "Medicine Man", Angst's "Nihil Est" and the Way Sect Bloom's "Illumina". The good tracks: New Society's "Chains Of Hell", Audio Paradox's "Grace1", Situation Taboo's "Belief", Blank Face's "Sin Disease", Fear Of Faith's "Withdrawn". The tracks I more often than not skip: Arbitrage's "A. F. A. A. M. E. S. T. M.", Toxic Church's "Gastronomic Betrayal", The Terminal Generation's "Suck You Down", Neocelt's "Goodbye Freedom", and Gadget's "Amazing Grace".

Overall, not a bad compilation, and certainly an historic milestone in Christian industrial and electronic music. If you find this, by all means check it out.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Righteous Metal II

2010-07-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Righteous Metal II

Arrival Records

1991

Hey, remember my review for the original Righteous Metal compilation? If you don't, here's the review. Go ahead, read it. I'll wait. Done? Okay, good.

If you remember, the first Righteous Metal from 1987 blew chunks as a "metal" compilation. So, it should come as no surprise my trepidation to looking into the second comp put out by K-Tel's subsidiary Arrival Records. Well, curiosity got the best of me, and I was pleasantly surprised that they actually got this right for once.

Released in 1991, Righteous Metal II has a decent mix of actual metal here, with mostly a decent variety of classic metal and hard rock from the likes of Joshua ("Crying Out For Love"), Holy Soldier ("When The Reign Comes Down"), Angelica ("Harvest"), Sacred Warrior ("Minister By Night"), Novella ("Do We Just Surrender") and X-Sinner ("Livin' On The Edge"), though there are cuts from thrash bands Tourniquet ("You Get What You Pray For") and Believer ("Nonpoint"), punk thrash crossover outfit One Bad Pig ("See Me Sweat"), and something that can only be described as lame rap-metal attempt by Jet Circus ("Victory Dance").

Yeah, this one is as rare to find as chicken teeth, just like it's predecessor. Most of anyone who's a serious collector of the Christian metal, especially from this era, already have most if not all of the cuts on here, but as a curiosity and collectible, I consider much more consistent in the METAL theme than the first one. Nab it if you can find it.

A. W. A. S. - Hope

2010-07-24T17:33:00.001-07:00

A. W. A. S.

Hope

Whirlwind / Open Grave

2006 / 2007

I have this theory that A. W. A. S. stands for Acoustic War Against Satan, but that's a postulation that has yet to be firmly substantiated, as most of my research behind this band's acronym has turned up hardly anything. If anyone knows anything concrete, let me know. I'd be grateful.

Anyhoo, this is one of a few albums I got for free a few years ago when Open Grave Records - one of the bestest METAL labels out there - offered Hope as part of a bunch of free legal downloads on their label. Ultimately, this was to check out some stuff I hadn't heard before, A. W. A. S. being one of 'em. After listening to Hope more than a few times, I probably would have gotten this album even if it wasn't a free download (and since it was encoded in 128bps, I'll probably be buying a better encoded download anyway).

Hope is one really good CD of old school death metal. Blastebeats, grinding guitars, growly vocals, lyrics that will bring a smile to any Christian death METAL head; just all around extreme brutality goodness. Overall, Hope by A. W. A. S. was a good find for my collection. Death metal fans, check this one out.

KLANK - Downside Remixes

2010-07-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

KLANK

Downside Remixes

Tooth & Nail Records

1997

"Downside" proved to be the big hit from Klank's Still Suffering release, as well it should be. It stood to reason, then, as with other artists that dabbled in the industrial side of things, a remix EP was released as a supplement to the album. Call it the Trent Reznor effect, for want of a better term. I think I used that one before on another review.

The Downside Remixes, at only four tracks, is really less an EP and more a maxi-single, if not for the fact that the album version of "Downside" isn't on this. Two songs from Still Suffering are given two remixes each: "Downside" (duh), and "Animosity". As remixes go, they are definitely not filler; nor do they sound like they were just tweaked a little bit to legally call them remixes. These are interesting, very interesting, and enjoyable on their own.

Of course, my biggest and only complaint lies in that this is too brief. Only two songs were remixed? Sure, the price when this was released was $5.99, if my memory serves me right. Still, I would have gladly paid full price had the label went the Smells Like Children route and included a few more remixed songs ("Burning" and "Scarified" spring to mind) and a couple of covers.

I have no idea what this goes for nowadays, as it's been out of print for a while. I'm glad I got it at its original price back in the day. But, let's face it - it's Klank, so even then I'd probably shell out stupid money for a copy.

SEVENTH ANGEL - Heed The Warning + Live

2010-07-15T05:08:00.000-07:00

SEVENTH ANGEL

Heed The Warning + Live

Bombworks Records

2005

Bombworks Records did a very, very cool thing by doing this. See, at this point, it had been quite some time since U. K. thrash / doom metal band Seventh Angel was laid to rest in the early 1990s, thirteen or fourteen years, give or take. Since then, vocalist Ian Arkley has worked on other projects, sure, but there were those of us who not-so-secretly longed for more Seventh Angel material. It's the nature of the beast, really.

Our prayer were systematically answered when word of Bombworks Records getting the official go-ahead to release Seventh Angel's demo tape Heed The Warning on CD, given a nice remaster touch-up, along with a bunch of live material of the band playing in concert. Squees of joy commenced.

Knowing that the original demo tape of Heed The Warning was a collector's item harder to find than chicken's teeth, and going for stupid money, it's good to get this on a more readily available CD format; or in my case, I bought the album download from CD Baby. The songs sound terrific, raw thrash classics, and I have to admit I seem to like these better than the versions of the two songs that ended up on The Torment.

The live tracks that supplement this CD are of very decent quality, as they were recorded directly from the soundboard, from the information I gleaned from the Firestream Music Vault. Very listenable, and capture the band in a live setting nicely. Saddens me that this is probably the only way I'm going to experience classic Seventh Angel live; here, the songs they play span both their two full-length albums.

Overall, Heed The Warning + Live is a great collector's item for fans of Seventh Angel, and really good thrash in general. Recommended.

IMPENDING DOOM - The Serpent Servant

2010-07-15T04:53:00.000-07:00

IMPENDING DOOM

The Serpent Servant

Facedown Records

2009

The follow up to 2007's Nailed. Dead. Risen. finds modern death metal purveyors Impending Doom continuing with the heavy and brutal onslaught. The Serpent Servant is, indeed, heavy-as-stink death METAL that is thick, beefy, and makes its own freaking gravy. Blast beats, breakdowns, wicked leads, and riffs that shreds flesh, along with the brutal death vocals belting out their brand of goreship lyrics, The Serpent Servant is the perfect way to spend your night. Just pop it on, crank it up, and let this CD beat you into bloody submission.

AP2 - Suspension Of Disbelief

2010-07-14T04:46:00.000-07:00

AP2

Suspension Of Disbelief

Tooth & Nail Records

1999

Once upon a time, there was a project called Argyle Park, that was headed up by three members of the collection of musicians and artists unofficially dubbed the New York Posse: Buka, Dan Levler, and some guy who now goes by Klayton. Their lone Argyle Park release - Misguided - was a revolutionary album that made waves in the industrial scene...and also scared the earwax out of the Christian community. So, amidst unwarranted controversy, Argyle Park disappeared. Which was a massive bummer, let me tell you.

Years later, two of the guys regrouped, and briefly resurrected the musical vision under the AP2 banner, which wasn't so much a continuation of Argyle Park as it was a brand new entity.

Suspension Of Disbelief is a fantastically diverse electronic sound-scape, ranging from industrial, EBM, darkwave and ambient, a multi-textured palate with dark tones and hues throughout. And in case you're wondering, yes I did take art classes in high school and college. Not every analogy I make is food related.

I love the way this album all flows together, and that is mostly due thanks to Klayton producing. There's some guest appearances from Klayton, Klank, Mark Salomon and Joel Timothy Bell from Ghoti Hook. The lyrics are the type of darkly poetic and existential I've come to expect and love from these guys. I like how they start things off with a call-back to Argyle Park, with the "I am the damage" and the "stillborn dead soul lying from within" chant. I do, however, think the song "The Only Man I Know" sounds a bit out of place, more guitar-driven modern rock than the others. Otherwise, Suspension Of Disbelief is a fantastic album, beginning to end, and sadly the only album put out by this resurrected project.

SAVIOUR MACHINE - Behold A Pale Horse

2010-07-14T04:31:00.001-07:00

SAVIOUR MACHINE

Behold A Pale Horse

MCM / Massacre

1998

Back in 1998, when Saviour Machine was still producing music rather than rehashing collections to buffer the time between the releases like now (it's been almost ten years...when's it gonna end, Eric?), this nifty four-song maxi-single was released after Legend pt. II came out that same year.

Mostly, as the title would suggest, Behold A Pale Horse features the song of the same name that was on Legend pt. II, and probably the only one that could be considered a single. Concept albums are tricky like that. Not that Saviour Machine was ever commercial friendly to begin with.

There are three versions of the song - the album mix, which does have a couple of seconds more lead-in than the cold start on the actual album. The "ego mix" is probably best described as the audio equivalent of taking the original version and gluing several bright shiny things to it. And the "classical mix" is a stripped down version done on piano.

The fourth track is "New World Order", the lost track from Legend pt. II. The album was already running over the 80 minutes you could cram onto an audio CD, so "New World Order" was cut, and included on this CD for completists - and possibly an extra enticement to get the maxi-single. Yeah, that's why I got it in the first place. Let me tell you, after listening to the song, I realize I wasn't really missing much on Legend pt. II by its exclusion. Still, just because I'm OCD about it, what I did was rip my copies of Legend pt. II and "New World Order" to MP3s, placed it in order it was supposed to be in, and listen to it all on the MP3 player. What? Don't look at me that way.

Anyway, the Behold A Pale Horse maxi-single is a collector's item released for the uber-fans. Nothing more, nothing less. Otherwise, a casual fan wouldn't find much of interest here.